101 in 1001 – Do 101 things in 1001 days.
A few years ago, my friend Brandy at Not So Average Mama wrote a post about a challenge: 101 in 1001 Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
I commented on it..and then she “triple dog dared” me to write my own….Man..a dare? I guess she knows me too well…I cannot pass up a dare. So I wrote it….and pretty much forgot about it.
However, I have come to realize, I am not getting any younger, my kids are getting older, and I want to get things done – Fun stuff, chore stuff, stuff that most of the time I push away because I am ‘just too busy’. But you know what, that excuse is not going to fly anymore. So here I am at the challenge again. (You can see my old list here, I may have pulled a few still on that list!)
Now, my list is a combination of a “bucket list,” “fun list,” and a “chore list”. Things to do on my own, things to do with my family.
The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past – frequently simple challenges such as New Year’s resolutions or a ‘Bucket List’. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.
My start date is: Tuesday, April 22nd 2016
End date: Monday, January 18th, 2019
1. Write letters to my kids and husband once a month – Or journal letters to them – at least 12.
2. Plant a tomato plant – and keep replanting until I can get it to stay alive!
3. Visit 40+ NEW cities – even if just for a few hours
4. Create road trips from those cities so that someone else can follow them.
5. Clean out my room completely – It is an utter mess full of work, bills, pictures, half created projects. It’s a freaking nightmare.
6. After my room is clean, re-do it so I feel like it is a sanctuary for me. Any ideas?
7. Clean out the closet in the guest room. That stupid closet is packed high and tight with who the heck knows what. I am actually afraid to open it for fear it call comes crashing down on me and no one will find me for days.
8. Every month, de-clutter with three bags – One trash, one giveaway, one sell online (or giveaway).
9. Make two new recipes a week
10. Make pickles – You know, like Claussen – the refrigerated ones that are crunchy.
11. Take a cake decorating class
12. Learn how to use my DSLR properly
13. Start a side business to save for some of the trips I want to take.
Booth, etsy, SOMETHING I can do well
14. Walk everyday
15. Lift weights everyday – No, I don’t want to be a body builder but as you get older, you lose muscle mass quicker and muscle helps you lose weight.
16. Lose weight – Lose 40 pounds, my ridiculous addiction to soda has really packed on the pounds
17. Re-do my blog so it is more user friendly and clean.
18. Take MomDots “No Blog to Pro Blog” class.
19. Drink 64 oz of water a day
20. Clean out my own closet. Remember my guest room closet – Yea, that is the same as my own closet.
21. Take vitamins everyday.
22. Get 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day for a month (and keep it up)
23. Start the Dave Ramsey Money Maker Plan – and follow it through!
24. Write 5 blog posts a week
25. Pay off truck
26. Go to Disney again with my family (before my kids get too old!)
27. Run a mile without stopping
28. Run two miles without stopping
29. No fast food for a month
30. Make a cookbook (even just for myself!)
31. Put boxes of pictures in albums
32. (After 31) Print pictures and put them in albums
32. Go to an apple orchard
33. Make apple recipes from the apples at the apple orchard
34. Visit South Dakota to visit family members, with a side trip to Colorado to see other family members.
36. Take the kids to Washington, DC
37. Get a physical every year
38. Take the kids berry picking
39. Go to a concert with my kids
40. Tie a secret to a balloon and let it go
41. Join a pool league or a bowling league
42. Read 10 biographies, autobiographies
43 . Make ice cream from scratch
I made Toffee Coffee ice cream from scratch and it was much easier than I thought! 8/2016
44. Put back splash in the kitchen and re-paint it
45. Get a lemon tree and keep it alive!
46. Go to Texas, and make a stop at my friend Brandy’s house.
47. Answer AND blog my answers to the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind.
48. Landscape my front yard
49. Open an online bank account
DONE – Opened an online account 7/4/16
50. Send flowers to both my sisters for no reason
51. Write a will
52. Create a Memory book of my Mom
53. Visit 10 museums
54. Research and find small investments for the future.
55. Make my blog a full time income
56. Get rid of recipe books that I don’t use (I have so many it is not even funny)
57. Apply for Wheel of Fortune…I could totally win!!!
58. Mail ‘special’ items – Only I know what these are.
59. Visit relatively close “Bar Rescue” bars that are still in business.
60. Write a review of the books I read.
61. Get my palm read
62. Create a will
63. Listen to 101 artists I haven’t heard before
1. Black Foxxes – Husks | 2 Arctic Monkeys – Do I wanna know? | 3. Contains 10 Favorite Sons of Anarchy Songs | 4. Noah Gunderson – Family |
5. The White Buffalo – Oh Darling What Have I done | 6. The Distillers | 7. Shovels & Rope – Lay Low | 8. Mazzy Star – Into Dust |
9. Bon Iver – Flume | 10. Sharon Van Etten – We are Fine | 11. Katie Herzeg – I hurt Too | 12. Mirel Wagner – The Road |
64. Clean out hall closet – I can bet you know what that looks like.
65. Make a change jar and don’t spend it. When full, put it into savings account.
66. Do breathing exercises every day.
67. Put 10.00 into online account for ever goal I make on this list.
68. Give away at least 10 things on Freecycle
69. Shop at a Farmer’s Market 2x a month while they are open
70. Grow huge sunflowers with my kids
71. Organize blog/picture props
72. Re-Read “Where the Red Fern Grows”
73. Buy a shredder and shred all old documents
74. Make Salsa that tastes like Salsaritas salsa!
75. Collect and reuse rainwater
76. Participate in a “walk” for a cause
77. Cook 50 recipes for my “Recipe Project” – These are recipes from my family, handed down, or found on index cards.
78. Complete 4 (or more) 1000+ piece puzzles
79. Inspire someone to write their own list
80. Become more involved in the blogs groups I am in.
81. Try BBQ at 10 different restaurants – Ones that specialize in BBQ of course!
82. Publish an e-book
83 Go to a play or musical – My mom used to take us as kids and I always loved them. There is nothing like seeing a performance in person.
84. Go see am NHRA drag race.
85. Replace old, gold light fixtures
86. Paint doors in house (room doors)
87. Get rid of old, gold, door handles in my house.
88. Put up SOMETHING in my bathroom to hang by clothes, pjs
89. Create or find something to hang my jewelry
90. Where all my jewelry at least once, if not – Get rid of it
91. Take an adult education class
92. Do the 100 Days to Happy challenge – Will it work on a negative nelly?
93. Research old phrases – Cup of joe, negative nelly, etc.
94. Make our backyard porch larger
95. Leave a 100% tip
96. Build/ Make one of those neighborhood libraries
97. Make 10 DIY activities from Pinterest
98. Get posts moved from City Unwrapped (my, now closed, magazine and website)
a. Published all posts from the May/June 2014 issue! Complete!
b. Published all posts from the July/August 2014 issue! Complete!
99. Drive the Cherokee Foothills National Scenic Highway.
100. Blog about each task as I finish it.
101. Start a new 101 in 1001 List.
PHEW!!! That was hard…guess I better get busy now.. HAHA!
Woooohoooo! I’ll get mine up!
Woo hoo! We will keep each other in check this time!
[…] which will eventually lead me to my goal of trying to replicate Salsarita’s salsa (on my 101 in 1001 list). And with the summer months here in full swing, who couldn’t resist a crisp, fresh salsa […]