The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on my part).

This project was taken from Triplux.

I completed my first 101 in 1001 on September 15, 2008!

The things that I say I want to MAINTAIN will be counted as completed if they are maintained for at least two months. I figure that if I maintain something for at least that long, then it’ll be habit.

Tasks I have completed will be struck through and a completion date will be listed that is linked to a post about the completion of that task. Tasks that I have begun will be italicized and a beginning date will be listed.

Started: September 15, 2008
Due Date: June 13, 2011
Tasks Completed: 48
Tasks Remaining: 53

1. Make this list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. If anything was left incomplete from my previous 101 in 1001, then figure out why I didn’t do it, and see if I can rework the goal. If so, it has to be on this list (these items have a ** in front of them). Completed 9/15/08

Religious
2. Join a small group/women’s Bible study.
3. Start writing again at Reading Red Letters and MAINTAIN it. Completed 12/26/09
4. Find a church home wherever I move to after school. Completed 12/26/09
5. Read at least 10 books by C. S. Lewis.
6. MAINTAIN regular daily prayer time. Begun 12/15/09
7. **Plan a religious fast and complete said fast (probably 3 days, but that’s flexible).
8. **Read the Bible from beginning to end.

Family/Friends

9. Send Christmas cards in a timely fashion in 2008. Completed 12/30/08
10. Send Christmas cards in a timely fashion in 2009. Completed 12/26/09
11. Send Christmas cards in a timely fashion in 2010. Completed 12/15/10
12. **Go to a concert with Daddy. Completed 8/15/09

Health
13. Get serious about meal planning and menus
14. Start and MAINTAIN drinking 8 glasses of water a day.
15. Get professionally fitted for a bra at a store that sells bras in my size. Completed 8/28/09
16. Learn to eat at least 3 new fruits and vegetables (doing this one again).
17. **Start and MAINTAIN regular exercise.
18. **Reach my weightloss goal and MAINTAIN it.
19. **Start and MAINTAIN regular flossing. Completed 10/28/09
20. **Get my stomach into fit enough condition so that a pierced bellybutton won’t look ridiculous (and if I keep my courage, actually pierce the bellybutton – but even if I don’t go through with it, the option is nice to have).
21. **MAINTAIN taking vitamins regularly.
22. **MAINTAIN monthly breast self exams.

School
23. Find an internship. Completed 3/23/09
24. Complete my graduate thesis. Completed 5/5/10
25. Graduate from UNCSA. Completed 5/29/10

Career

26. Find a job upon graduating. Completed 7/19/10
27. File paperwork for LLC for virtual assistant business and become OFFICIAL. Completed 8/28/09
28. Have at least 6 clients for Tizzy Consulting.
29. Find a new format for my resume and rework it. Completed 11/8/08

Financial

30. Become financially independent from my parents.
31. Save $5 a day and deposit into my savings account (doing this one again).
32. Contribute every month to saving for a house down payment.
33. Fully fund Roth IRA in 2008. Completed 12/31/08
34. Fully fund Roth IRA in 2010.
35. Create a budget which allows me to give 10% to church and charity.
36. MAINTAIN using coupons as I grocery shop when able (many organic products do not get coupons).

Travel

37. Get a new car – and I’m the one paying for it. Completed 4/11/09
38. Visit Alaska.
39. Take another cruise.
40. See New York City when it’s decorated for Christmas. Completed 12/8/08
41. Travel to a different country.
42. Go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter once it opens.
43. **Take a vacation to Atlanta with Mama – go shopping and see an exhibit at the High Museum. Completed 1/26/09
44. **Travel to Washington, D.C. At least see major monuments, the White House, and the Smithsonian. Completed 7/10/10
45. **Mount all my hat pins somehow (this replaces the previous “buy nice map and put a push-pin in every place I’ve been”)

Personal Betterment
46. Perform 10 random acts of kindness to complete strangers (0/10).
47. Have more involved communication with my sponsored child.
48. Get up the minute that the alarm goes off every day for a month.
49. Give blood if eligible (attempting to do this one again). Completed 9/10/09
50. Write a personal mission statement.
51. Wear makeup every day for a month. Completed 5/1/09
52. Write “to be read” letters to selected people (letters to be read upon my death by the people who mean the most to me). Completed 10/15/10
53. Pay for the person behind me at a fast food drive thru (doing this one again). Completed 12/1/10
54. Write a book.
55. **Stop biting fingernails.
56. **Update my journal and MAINTAIN it.

Organize/Purge

57. Organize, file, and store all my notes/keepsakes from my graduate classes. Completed 10/1/10
58. Move a large portion of my items stored at my parents’ house to my place. Completed 8/15/09
59. Sell, donate, give, or throw away 101 items (doing this one again). Completed 3/27/09
60. Create a filing system for all paperwork and MAINTAIN it. Completed 1/1/11
61. Sort through all clothing three times. Completed 10/7/10
62. Sort through all of my books and BookCross or give away a LARGE amount (at least 50). Completed 3/27/09
63. Rearrange books so that they truly are according to the Library of Congress system. Completed 6/30/09
64. **Finish entering all my books into a database. Completed 5/25/09
65. FLY. Begun 3/22/09

Technology
66. Write 500 blog posts (more attainable than 1001). (163/500) Begun 9/15/08
67. Participate in Blogathon 2009 Completed 7/26/09
68. Participate in Blogathon 2010 Completed 7/16/10
69. Participate in Blog Action Day 2008 Completed 10/15/08
70. Participate in Blog Action Day 2009 Completed 10/15/09
71. Participate in Blog Action Day 2010 Completed 10/15/10
72. Participate in NaNoWriMo Completed 12/1/10
73. Build up a decent audio/visual system. Completed 6/17/10
74. Start a system for regularly backing up my computer(s) and MAINTAIN it. Completed 5/1/10
75. Complete an email purge of all unnecessary old emails. Completed 5/12/10

Entertainment

76. Read through my A-Z Challenge.
77. Join local library. Completed 8/28/09
78. Decrease my LibraryThing TBR tags by at least 71 books (to less than 262 books, which was 50% of my books when I moved to Atlanta).
79. Re-read all the Harry Potter books.
80. Re-read all the Star Wars books.
81. Read at least 150 books (40/150).
82. Reach a Gamerscore of at least 3,000 on XBox360 (currently at 2,160).
83. Go see a famous jazz musician/group in concert. Completed 2/22/11
84. See a Cirque du Soleil show I haven’t seen (doing this one again). Completed 11/21/10
85. Go see a movie at the movie theater alone. Completed 8/30/09
86. See an opera. Completed 4/16/10
87. **Complete The Sims 2 Legacy Challenge. Completed 9/15/09
88. **Finish clearing my previous Netflix queue. (344/494) Begun 12/19/05
89. **Read 75% of the list of books that my friends have sent me. (24/85) Begun 12/19/05
90. **Watch 90% of the Greatest Films in 101 Things to Do Before You Die. (102/119) Begun 12/19/05
91. **See 100% of AFI top 100 movies. (81/100) Begun 12/19/05
92. **See 75% of Entertainment Weekly’s top 100 movies. (58/75) Begun 12/19/05

In the Kitchen
93. Rework my chocolate chip cookies recipe so that it is healthier.
94. **Learn to use cast iron skillets without messing up the seasoning.
95. **Find and make a good cheese fondue recipe (may require several tries).

Just for Fun
96. Find some attractive skirts that I can wear daily (not just on special occasions) and wear them! Completed 10/28/09
97. Complete a New York Times crossword (any day of the week)
98. Be super silly – take Oprah’s product recommendation. Completed 5/2/09
99. **Learn to drive a stick shift.
100. **Win something (anything) from a lottery ticket.

101. On June 13, 2011, publish a new 101 in 1001.

• 12/18/2005 -- 101 in 1001 – 67.33% Complete
• 7/19/2006 -- About
• 7/27/2008 -- Longest Meme Ever (Day of Blogs ’08 #32)

The software that I use for this it Book Collector, and it is well worth the $30! From their website:

Create a comprehensive book database

• List all book information: Genre, Subject, LoC & Dewey classification, etc..
• Include personal details like purchase date, store, location, read-it, etc..
• Catalog chapter lists, characters and book creator credits
• Link your book entries to e-book or audio-book files.

Then enjoy browsing your home library on your computer

• View your book database as a list or as gallery of cover images.
• Group books by author, publisher, genre or any other property.
• Find books quickly, either by title, author or anything you want.

I use the CueCat barcode scanner to scan all the books in. It doesn’t always 100% work, but for the uber cheap price, I’m OK with that (I bought mine on eBay for $14).

Just the tools of the trade !

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/27/2008 -- Children’s Literacy Initiative (Day of Blogs ’08 #42)
• 7/26/2008 -- Recycled Reading Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #17)
• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?

This post is for the Day of Blogs 2008! I am blogging for Children’s Literacy Initiative. For more information about what I am doing, please click here, or you can sponsor me!

• 7/27/2008 -- Longest Meme Ever (Day of Blogs ’08 #32)
• 7/26/2008 -- More Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #18)
• 7/26/2008 -- Another Book Meme (Day of Blogs ’08 #12)

Yes, I have been a very sucky blogger the past few months. Grad school + job = NO FREE TIME. Pity me, please?

OK, so last I spoke was when Nana passed away. I was in Georgia for about a week helping with funeral arrangements and the like, then I came back to North Carolina.

My kittens did great while I was gone (AJ watched them for me), and they also gained names! I named the one with more white on his face Oscar (for Oscar Peterson) and the other one is Miles (for Miles Davis). There will be more pictures to come, though they haven’t grown AT ALL since I got them (which, I shouldn’t say that too loud – they are precious and adorable, I like their size now, LOL). They love to cuddle with me and they are SO GOOD together – I can’t imagine ever seperating them. I feel bad because I am gone so much of the day, so I don’t get to spend nearly as much time with them as I want to, but since they have each other, I know that they’re doing just fine. They just really like to cuddle when I come home!

The next week was utter chaos because it was holiday at Starbucks, so crazy busy, and I also had one week to get ready for Christmas. AJ and I had a lovely Christmas on the 21st, and on the 22nd I had Christmas with his family. On the 23rd I drove to GA, had Christmas with MY family, and then drove back on the 26th.

On the . . . 29th? . . . I woke up at about 3:30AM with really intense pain in my lower right abdomen. I could barely stand up, and it made me throw up it hurt so bad. I was able to get to the computer, saw that the right side is the appendix side, and decided I didn’t want to risk it. I called AJ and woke him up and he got me to the ER. It turns out that I had a ruptured ovarian cyst, so the next week I was off my feet a bit and then taking it pretty easy. I feel much better now, but man that hurt!!!

Classes started back on January 4th, and it has been NONSTOP since then. At the moment my rotation is in the development office, and it’s very time intensive. My schedule most days is something like this:

Rotation: 8AM-9:30AM
Class: 10AM-2PM
Rotation: 2PM-4:30PM
Work: 5:45PM-11:45PM

Note that I get about 8 hours off . . . and those are the sleeping hours . . . try fitting homework and sanity time in there. I’m exhausted. Luckily, there are only about 4 more weeks of this rotation and then I switch to something a little more laid back, so if I can just hang in there.

I’m getting really tired of school. As I go through all my classes, I realize that I’m not really learning a ton. I don’t say this to be cocky, I just got a really great undergrad education, and my instincts are usually pretty good. If it weren’t for the darned three letters that I need to get a job (MFA), I probably would be just fine to have skipped all this. I just have to keep reminding myself that I’ve only got about a year and a half before my internship, and while that’s technically still school, it’s really a job too, and it will be in an office somewhere (or something . . .)

I have missed being able to be online. I feel like I’m losing a little bit of myself because of all the craziness. Summer will be a welcome time. How is everyone else doing (is anyone even reading my blog anymore)?

• 7/19/2006 -- About
• 7/22/2008 -- Are you ready to stay awake?
• 9/15/2008 -- 101 in 1001 #2 – 47.52% Complete

This post is very picture heavy, so read on at your own peril !

This year I decided to tackle my storage issues, which encompasses the outside patio storage closet, my guest room, and the closet in the guest room.

I had Christmas decorations piled up in my living room from bringing them up from Florida, so the first thing I did was pull out everything from the outside closet so that I could put all the Christmas decorations in there.

I didn’t sort them yet – I figured when I had finished everything else I would pull them back out and use them! And when I got them out to use them, I would then sort through them. I put everything else back into the closet as well except for some things that needed to go to work. My reason for doing this was so that I had a living room to work in for all the rest of it. I then proceeded to pull EVERYTHING from the guest room into the living room. First I had to pull all the things out of the room so that I could even get to the back of the room and the closet.

And of course, the closet.

Then came the sorting. I began with all the paper clutter. I store all my financial stuff and school stuff in my desk, but since I haven’t been able to get to the desk, the papers have all been collecting in piles on the floor and I have an entire box of binders and such that I haven’t even used for school this year. So the first order of business was get all the papers in order so that I didn’t lose anything important while I was shuffling things around.

Oh yes . . . the desk!

I managed to organize the entire trimester’s worth of handouts and assignments into one 1″ binder! I was so thrilled to toss out all the excess. I’ll also note that the reason this was possible was because most of my class notes are on my computer – how much clutter have I saved myself from by keeping everything organized on my laptop? I also got the past couple of months worth of my bank and credit card statements all straightened out too (I keep all my receipts, but since I couldn’t get to my desk, they were all in a big pile waiting to be “processed”). It’s nice not to have all that floating around, just WAITING to get lost!

In my progress report I said that I wanted to get done before Thanksgiving, but the contingency plan was to put whatever was left into the closet and come back to it after my family left. Unfortunately, that is what I had to do, and I got slowed down even more because I got sick! Of course.

The day after Thanksgiving started decorating for Christmas. I put out all my Nutcrackers and my nativity set, and then left the tree for last night. Since I included sorting my decorations as part of my storage organization project, I first sorted through all my ornaments. There was a bag that I set aside that would be great for a little girl (but are a little too young and pink for me), and the rest I put on the tree. I also am donating a few other decorations to Goodwill that I don’t think I will be using anymore (some nutcrackers in poor condition and some stuffed animals.

So, without further adieu, my AFTER pictures!!!

The guest room:

The closet:

The desk:

Where the decorations were . . .

And where they are now (please notice that there are two boxes that I was able to get rid of a few boxes and I labeled the ones that I kept as I sorted through everything)!

And, of course, the back of my car (plus two more bags that are still in my apartment, but I had to take them out to use my backseat, LOL)!

One of the hardest things that I found about the challenge this time around was letting go of some things that I’ve carried from apartment to apartment the past few years . . . things that I don’t really ever use, but think “oh, I could use that one day!” It was also hard to let go of some of my sentimental Christmas things that I never use anymore. I love that I’ve finally got my closet functioning so that I know where things are and everything is compartmentalized (things that are longer term storage as well as better paper management). This is so exciting, and since the room isn’t a wreck any longer, it is a room that I can actually USE!

Almost all the purged stuff is going to Goodwill. There are a couple of things that have been relocated in the apartment, but seriously, they would all fit in a purse. It’s all getting out of here, and that is so refreshing! This apartment has so much more room now, and I know that I will better be able to function myself as well as having guests over!

I really hope that I win this challenge because I put a LOT of hard work into this (especially considering that I work 30+ hours a week, am a full-time graduate student, and hosted my first holiday with my parents coming from Florida, my brother coming from his university, and my boyfriend, who I had not shared a major holiday with yet). Sorted through so much stuff, and have made my life so much more functional. In all honesty, just finishing the challenge feels like winning to me, and the prize is an apartment that works!!!

I can’t wait to read everyone else’s challenge posts!

• 12/5/2006 -- The Closet Caper!
• 12/18/2005 -- 101 in 1001 – 67.33% Complete
• 9/15/2008 -- 101 in 1001 #2 – 47.52% Complete

For this year’s 30 Day Organizational Challenge, I’m tackling my storage situation. A little background: I moved to a new apartment in July. For the first time I am living in an apartment all by myself, but it is a two bedroom apartment. I feel like I’ve got my own little house – this place TRULY feels like it’s mine! When I moved in, I got the kitchen all set up, the living room is all nice and homey, and my bedroom has everything just where I want it. The only problem? All that stuff that didn’t really have a place to go, so it got tossed into the spare bedroom/office (with a little overflow into the outside storage closet). And I just kind of . . . left it all there. 5 months ago. And about a month ago I went to my parents’ house and brought back all my Christmas decorations (Christmas at my place!!!) . . . and I just stuck them in the living room because there was no other place to put them.

So for my challenge, I am getting my storage situation all figured out! I’ve got a massive closet in the spare bedroom as well as a great storage closet outside by my little patio area. I’ve also got my desk which, once I get my computer actually set up, will provide great storage. And since I’ve already sorted through the rest of the apartment as I was putting things away from moving in, all the stuff in my apartment that could be purged is in that room – so not only am I anticipating using my storage space, but I’m also sensing a trip to Goodwill.

Here are a few before pics – I have more, but you’ll just have to wait until November 30 to see the whole process!

Patio Closet Before

Guest Room Closet Before

Guest Room Before

It’s time to get organizing!

• 12/1/2007 -- Storage Solutions
• 12/5/2006 -- The Closet Caper!
• 10/31/2007 -- Works for Me: 30 Day Organizational Challenge!

A simple little tip that I have found makes my life SOOOOO much easier! If you have a laptop computer and are anything like me, you take your laptop EVERYWHERE . . . to your bedroom, to your living room, on vacation, to a friend’s house – it’s all fair game. However, you probably have a desk (or desk area) that is the “home” of the laptop, where all your stuff plugs into it. And the most important thing that plugs in is the power cord.

However, it’s reeeeeeeeeally annoying to have to crawl under your desk in the unflattering and uncomfortable effort to unplug that power cord so that you can take it with you. But you have to have the power cord when you’re on the go!

Here’s my solution, and it’s so simple it sounds stupid. Buy a second power cord. They’re usually not that expensive, and the time and effort it saves you is immeasurable! Have one that is permanently located at the laptop’s “home” and one that you leave bundled up in your computer bag. Any time you go somewhere, take the one that is bundled up. When you come back home, your other cord is still plugged in and you’re ready to go.

Saving some time and still being addicted to my laptop (LOL)? Works for me!

• 6/15/2006 -- Thursday Thirteen #45
• 12/1/2007 -- Storage Solutions
• 10/3/2007 -- Tipping Etiquette

Today was a little more productive. This morning I got my welcome packet (I feel welcomed), my textbooks (book bag heavier, wallet lighter), my ID card (with my senior year high school picture on it – yes, it is 6 years old), and my mailbox number and combination (which I will likely never use). I feel quite official now, and I’m excited that once again I can get the student discount at the grocery store – woot!

Then, this afternoon, we had a for real meeting with our program faculty members – 8 students, 2 teachers. Close and personal, eh? It was great to get to go over all the material that we had received in bits and pieces the past few weeks. We didn’t really learn a lot of new stuff, but I feel significantly less scattered now, and that’s nice. Also excited to hear that my laptop (which runs on Windows Vista, not XP) is not going to be a problem in my computer class. We’re gonna stick Office 2003 on it (I have 2007) and life will be dandy.

Still don’t COMPLETELY know my schedule as they are still working out the rotations for us (we each spend some time in marketing, development, box office, etc.), so I STILL can’t tell Starbucks what my hours are going to be. That has been more than frustrating, but I did find out enough to get by for the next week or so, so hopefully this will get resolved and my life will be complete.

On a side note, the orientation schedule has a lot of things that are not required for grad students . . . but it doesn’t really say that on the schedule. As a result, I’ve gotten a lot of free time this week (I took off from work since orientation seemed to be so involved). What am I doing with this free time? Why, goofing off with AJ and spending WAY too much time with the cats. They’re so awesome – I really want kittens of my own . . .

OK, off to bake cookies – if you’ve had my cookies, you know what you are missing. If not – trust me, you wish you did !

• 1/12/2006 -- Thursday Thirteen #21
• 12/18/2005 -- 101 in 1001 – 67.33% Complete
• 1/23/2008 -- Holidays, Hospitals, and Higher Learning

Seriously kids, that’s not computer generated! That animal actually exists!

Image found at Treehugger.com

• 1/18/2007 -- Thursday Thirteen #37
• 10/15/2010 -- Blog Action Day 2010 – Water
• 10/15/2009 -- Blog Action Day 2009 – Climate Change

1. First off, I have 4 friends that I read pretty much religiously – every time that I get one of their posts in my feed reader I immediately go to their website, and I often comment. These friends are:

Bug – An Indian Summer
Mouse – My Bitch Files
Brittany – Bitter Amalgamations
Amy – Perches in the Soul

2. Lisa @ justagirlintheworld.com – she’s the mastermind behind E. Webscapes and Blogs-About Hosting, and she’s also super nice and funny. She doesn’t post a ton, but I always read when she does. And, to top it off, she’s famous! She’s currently writing WordPress for Dummies!

3. And two of my favorite “mommy bloggers” – Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer and Anne from PalmTree Pundit! These ladies always have great parenting anecdotes, links to great articles and sites, and an uncanny knowledge for what’s going on in the blogosphere!

4. And of course, Leanne at Intricate Art. Her beautiful art always lifts my day!

5. To get my OCD fix, I always turn to the organization queen at I’m an organization junkie! – she’s the best. She has great organization tips all the time, as well as neat and creative uses for bins, baskets, and more. Plus, she hosted that great Organization Challenge last year that forced me to get my closet into shape!

6. Stephanie over at Back in skinny jeans knows all about what’s going on with our self-image issues. She uses all the senseless reporting on celebrities to showcase our culture’s obsession with thinness – and she’s not taking it anymore. It’s refreshing to see someone with a healthy world view so prominent in the blogosphere.

7. Mama over at mamaVISION is an ex-model who lived through the horrors and is here to share all the nitty-gritty with us. Her real life experience in the fashion industry shows us how women are literally killing themselves to be beautiful and skinny. It’s disgusting, but it’s all true, and my heart aches. I’m glad that she lived through it and is now strong enough to share with the world.

8. I could not live without Lifehacker. It is an AMAZING site. Updated constantly, this site shows the latest downloads and techniques for making technology work for us instead of the other way around. From backing up your computer to managing your finances to figuring out the most efficient way to grocery shop, this site is on top of things.

9. As the proud owner of a Palm Treo, I have to post my favorite resource for programs and products for my Treo – Treonauts. This site is a wonderful resource for any questions you may have about Treos.

10. And my two favorite gadget sites – CrunchGear and Engadget. They are on top of the latest in technology news, constantly updating with reviews and announcements, with a healthy dose of commentary. Invaluable for any technophile!

11. For interesting religious commentary on current issues, I turn to ThinkChristian. The slant is a little more intellectual and theological, but still down to earth enough that I don’t feel like I’m reading a text book!

12. For quick headlines that are of interest, SmartChristian.com is the way to go. The posts don’t really say much, but I’m always directed to interesting material!

13. And to round things up, my two favorite green sites – TreeHugger and WorldChanging. These sites update constantly to show the latest in the news, renewable resources, sustainable design, and basic green living. If you want to learn anything at all to help our planet, these sites are a GREAT starting point. Not too much political agenda, they’re designed as resources to help us figure out the smartest and greenest way to live.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Leave me a comment and I’ll give you a shout out!

• 8/10/2006 -- Thursday Thirteen #23
• 1/26/2006 -- Thursday Thirteen #23
• 12/29/2005 -- Thursday Thirteen – 19