101 in 1001 - 15 Month Update
Key for list reading:
in progress
finished
January 4, 2009-October 3, 2011
Career/Education
1. Complete a second year of national service through AmeriCorps. I'm halfway through my second year with NC Campus Compact at Pfeiffer University.
2. Apply for graduate school(s). 3 applications completed to UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Greensboro, and NC State for a Master's in Public Administration.
3. Get accepted into graduate school(s). Was accepted into NC State and UNCG, need to make a decision by April 15th.
4. Make sure the proposed Volunteer Center at Real Job becomes reality.
5. Get grant funding to help said Volunteer Center. Yeah...some things are just out of my hands. The Volunteer Center never came to fruition because there were other things to take care of first, and it just wasn't a priority of my supervisor or the administration.
6. Present at a professional conference. I presented on AmeriCorps and NC Campus Compact at the 2009 NC Campus Compact Student Conference in November.
Arts & Crafts
7. Complete at least one crafty project for myself.
8. Complete at least two crafty projects for other people. I made two knitted strips for two baby blankets for future children of Olivet staff, and I also made (and am currently making) throw quilts for Kate and Caitlyn's wedding presents. I also helped make no-sew fleece blankets for Olivet's service project for MLK Day and for MNA's SuperConference for AmeriCorps Week, both of which benefited local children going into foster care.ALSO I made James an illusion skull scarf for Christmas.
9. Learn to play two songs competently on guitar. [0/2]
10. Learn one new crafting technique. Learned how to double knit, and learned a little bit on quilting. Currently attempting to learn how to crochet.
11. Participate in a community theater production.
12. Teach someone something crafty. I kind of taught my mother how to double knit (kind of as in...she can do it but not without me holding her hand), and I taught people how to tie no-sew fleece blankets.
Culture
13. Read through the list of books I've set down for myself (currently 42 books, add-ons inevitable). [21/42] Just finished the entire Hitchhiker's Guide series and Ines of My Soul. Also somewhat absorbed by comics and graphic novels now.
14. Watch the movies set down on the same list (currently 41, including sequels, probably more to come). [18/41] Finally watched Dr. Strangelove!
15. Watch four musical acts live that I've never seen before. [5/4] I've seen Hammer No More The Fingers and Superchunk in the Triangle area. I prefer Hammer No More to Superchunk, though (April 2009). Also have seen They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton in Charlotte (March 2010) and Ben Folds in Raleigh (March 2010).
16. See a movie in theater at least every other month. I'm...doing tolerable with this, I guess. It's harder here because I don't really have friends with whom I can go out to movies, but I think I've seen a movie every month except August, even though November's and December's movies were up in Michigan.
17. Finish two nonfiction books. [2/2] I read a biographical account of having Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder) in order to better understand a friend. Also read "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" by Sarah Vowell.
18. See five plays. [0/5]
19. Send in a postcard to PostSecret.
20. Leave five random notes in books at a bookstore. [0/5]
21. Visit four museums to which I've never been. [4/4] I've been to the North Carolina Historical Museum (September 2009), the North Carolina Natural History Museum (September 2009), the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo (December 2009), and the West Virginia Museum (April 2010).
Travel
22. Visit three states west of the Mississippi River. [2/3] Went through Missouri and stayed in Arkansas for a week for Olivet's Alternative Spring Break to the Heifer Ranch.
23. Visit two national historical sites of interest. [2/2] Visited Lincoln's Tomb in Springfield, Illinois (March 2009) and the West Virginia State Capitol (April 2010).
24. Venture across the Mackinac Bridge.
25. Go on three roadtrips unrelated to service trips. [2/3] Drove by myself to North Carolina to accept my position at Pfeiffer (April 2009) and drove with Jeff and two other people back home to Michigan for T-Gives (November 2009).
Finances
26. Go one month without using my credit card.
27. Pay bills (cell phone, cable/internet, Sallie Mae student loan, credit card, car insurance, any medical bills) on time, in full (as money situation will allow) for six months straight.
28. Save enough money to open a CD.
Health & Food
29. Lose 5 pounds.
30. Memorize two good recipes. [1/2] Memorized my mom's beef stroganoff recipe, and even altered it to be make with ground turkey instead.
31. Go veggie for a month. [0/30]
32. Make a pie from scratch.
33. Successfully make three ethnic dishes. [0/3]
34. Lose 10 more pounds.
35. Learn some basic yoga.
36. Go without chocolate for three weeks.
37. Get physical therapy for my knee(s).
38. Lose 15 more pounds.
39. Pray/meditate once a week for two months.
40. Make bread from scratch.
41. Learn how to make two cocktails.
42. Find another good local beer.
For Goodness Sake
43. Recycle once every other week for four months. [0/8]
44. Contribute $100 to charitable causes.
45. Give blood four times. [1/4] I gave blood in November for the first time in a few years, but due to incipient medication issues, I won't be able to do so again until after I start graduate school.
46. Get no new plastic bags from the grocery store for four months.
47. Buy vegan shoes.
Friends & Family
48. Take my siblings out to lunch for their respective birthdays. I took my brother and his girlfriend out to lunch for his 31st birthday.
49. Schedule regular phone-dates with at least three people I see less than once a month.
50. Call my parents once a week. My parents and I are pretty good about calling each other, even if it's just for a few minutes each week.
51. Talk with my sister once a week. It was hard for a time when she didn't have her cell phone, but now that she has the internet we talk for a few minutes every couple of days.
For Me
52. Get another piercing.
53. Go through clothing every six months, donating everything that doesn't fit or I haven't worn for a year.
54. Live without internet for three straight days.
55. Find an affordable lauryl/laureth sulfate-free organic shampoo & conditioner. I found a vegan shampoo & conditioner line at Target that I really love, and it's ~$7/bottle.
56. Keep a dream journal for two months.
57. Get a professional bra fitting.
58. Stay on top of doing dishes for two weeks. [0/14]
59. Buy Wellies that fit and are cute.
60. Post a day in my life via pictures.
61. Learn how to change my own oil.
Love
62. Initiate a date.
63. Get involved in a romantic relationship as equals. Yeah. So. That. I was involved in a romantic relationship that lasted longer than my previous "official" relationships, but I have since broken it off due to long-term incompatibility. We're still really good friends though.
64. Write a love letter.
Various & Sundry
65. Correspond with a penpal for six months.
66. Make snow angels.
67. Stretch my lobe piercings up at least one size.
68. Grow something from a seed. I got some Chia herb pots for Christmas 2008, and set up marjoram, basil, chives, and thyme up in the windowsill. Thyme was the first to go, then marjoram (I think from lack of sunlight...there's some ivy that grows up around the spare bedroom's window). I had to throw them all away when I moved to North Carolina though...
69. Go camping.
70. Research candidates and vote in the 2010 election.
71. Spend a night under the stars.
72. Have a picnic.
73. Make a piece of jewelry.
74. Go to a non-UMC religious service.
75. Barbeque.
Add-ons
76. Obtain a valuable (in experience, mostly) internship during graduate studies.
77. Send a package or postcard to someone every other month.
78. Get a tattoo (would like a Celtic tree of life circled by a Celtic knot...possibly between my shoulder blades?)
79. Find a reasonable apartment for the 2010-2011 year.
80-101 are reserved for later. A lot is going to change in my life in the next few years and there are definitely going to be a lot of new things that I will want to accomplish in that time.