So I was reminded by Karen’s post that I haven’t updated my 101 in 1001 in a while. Honestly, it’s because working 2 jobs and being in grad school is VERY time consuming, so I haven’t had a whole lot of time to work on it. I’m also a little sad, because there are several things on my list that I don’t think I’ll be able to do by September. I console myself with the fact that I made this in college with no idea of where I would be in two years, so I had no way of knowing that I would only see my parents for a weekend here or there every four months or so (so how can I possibly #8 “go to concerts with Daddy?”) or that once I left Wake I would lose a lot of my ties to the school (I need the library to #25 “make the Parables DVDs,” but I have to have a current student with me to do that, and most of the people I know have graduated).

All things to keep in mind when I make my new 101 in September (yes, even if I don’t finish this one, I still intend to make a new one, and you may see me revamp some of the current items for the next time). Just because I don’t get finished by the deadline doesn’t mean that a lot of these things aren’t still important to me. And honestly, many of these goals were stretch goals to begin with (see me rationalizing?).

Anyways, back the (very) few that I have completed now!

#34 (Get a pet)- I have two of the most adorable little kittens ever sitting on my bed snuggling with each other. This one is done

(Photo take 5 minutes ago.)

#62 (Switch all lightbulbs to CFLs)- I actually did this when I moved into my new apartment in July
#66 (No more plastic grocery bags - only canvas) - I started doing this last year and actually made a habit of it around New Year’s. Every once and a while I forget to bring my bags in, but not usually.
#91 (Organize recipes) - My recipes are very much more organized now, though I can tell this will be an ongoing effort for me . . .
#95 (Attend 5 year high school reunion) - I wanted to go to my 5 year high school reunion, but I couldn’t go back to FL because of school and work. This made me sad, cause I haven’t even spoken with a lot of my high school friends in YEARS. So . . . I guess I’ll try for the 10 year?

So now I’m more than halfway finished - woo hoo!!! I’ll be honest, I’ve done a lot more than I thought I would! Here’s hoping that I can achieve the rest!

Yes, I know I have been practically nonexistent the past couple of months - working 2 jobs and being a full-time grad student is very . . . time consuming.

However, lest you forget I am still here, I thought I’d bombard your feedreader in celebration of my third blogiversary. Yes, Suspension of Disbelief is 3 years old today. Quite a bit has happened to me since I started my blog. I’ve graduated from college and started graduate school - twice. I’ve gotten my first AND second non-summer jobs, I’ve lost both of my grandmothers, I’ve adopted kittens . . . and so much more!

Thanks for sticking with me, even if I’m not consistent AT ALL. It still makes me feel appreciated to know that you are here when I do have the time to blog. And I promise, at some point, things will settle down enough so that I can get back to a bit more regular blogging routine. Thanks for your support!

I sure hope that my entry gets counted - for some reason I thought we were supposed to post our results on December 1, and today I realized it was supposed to get posted today, but I was at work and didn’t get home until after 1AM EST . . . so I’m hoping that this goes through by the deadline of 11:59PM PST!

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

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For me, Christmas starts when Santa goes across the screen at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The holidays are officially here!

TiVo, in a rare moment unreliability, decided to delete the parade before I got a chance to watch it. Grrr . . .

So I started Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Mama and I went and bought a very real(istic fake) tree for my apartment. My first Christmas tree! I brought up all my Christmas decorations from Florida the last time I was home, so I put out all my Nutcrackers and my nativity set, and then left the tree for another day (since I wasn’t feeling well).

Last night I got the tree all set up - AJ helped me by putting it together and helping me fluff out all the limbs (he’s pretty good at it, LOL)! I then 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. Drumroll please . . .

This is my lovely decorated apartment !

My first Christmas tree!

And a little close up of some ornaments:

Some of the ornaments are newer, like the little Cavalier King Charles Spaniels that look just like Ella and Olive and the little Moravian star to remind me of Winston-Salem, NC (where I attended both undergraduate school at Wake Forest University and graduate school at North Carolina School of the Arts). Others are very old, like the pink sand dollar with a Nutcracker (this was given to me when I danced in the Nutcracker for the first time) and the blue and yellow angels (these hung on my mother’s Christmas tree when she was a girl)!

As I have mentioned, I have a Nutcracker collection, so here is a look at it:

Hmm, let’s get a little closer! Here are Steinbach wisemen . . .

And Steinbach Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare!

And a few more that I have on a bookcase near the kitchen (the short one on the left was my mother’s first nutcracker from before I was born - it’s the first in my collection)!

And my nativity set - I just got this last year and LOVE it!

The only thing I’m missing is an Advent wreath for my table, but that may have to wait until next year.

So, now I’m ready for Christmas for the first time in my adult apartment. Ahhh! I’m so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!