Completed #13 | Cook dinner for my parents

Christmas Eve is my parents' wedding anniversary. When Brian and I moved in together towards the end of this year, we discussed the possibility of hosting either Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas Eve dinner. Not entirely confident in my cooking skills, I opted for the easy way out and chose Christmas Eve dinner. We hosted my parents and brother and everything went really well. Instead of doing a formal sit-down dinner, we made appetizer-type foods. It worked out well in the end because everyone took turns playing Rock Band and whoever was free, just picked at whatever food we had. We made spinach dip, deviled eggs, red potato bites (this was the favorite by far), pigs in a blanket (Brian's specialty), lasagna, caesar salad in crouton bowls and a few other dishes. All in all, I think it came out pretty good for our first try!

#59 | Pay off credit cards (1/2)

I don't have an unhealthy level of credit card debt but it was a monthly payment none-the-less. Due to the current financial crisis (and no fault of my own), when I received a letter from my credit card company indicating that my interest rate was going to go up by 7%, that was the incentive I needed to pay one off. I got my holiday bonus and did just that.

Completed #55 | Take part in a charity walk or fundraiser

When I initially put this on the list, I did not expect to actually create a fundraiser as a means to check it off as completed. I didn't even have this list in mind when we sat down and talked about doing something to help.

On December 5th, our neighbor across the street suffered second-degree burns on his hands, back, neck and ears when his home was overtaken by a fire. He is gradually recovering however the home in which he lived, along with all of his and his teenage son's personal belongings were lost. They were left with nothing during the holiday season and are being forced to rebuild in uncertain economic times. As a result, Brian and I put together flyers and distributed them to the neighbors essentially putting ourselves as the point of contact in collecting donations for the family. We immediately began receiving donations and were able to take the teenage son shopping for clothes within days. As of January, we've collected close to $3,000 in cash, checks and gift cards and received countless other offers for clothes, furniture, housewares and linens.

Overall, what we did was very small in comparison to the support this family received from the community and his neighbors, especially at a time when everyone was pinched for the extra money on account of the economy and upcoming holidays. We were just happy to be able to help and to offer some financial comfort to the family immediately after the fire.

Completed #3 | Visit Washington D.C.

fter several years of pestering, Brian and I finally made our way down to Washington D.C. He had a race in Maryland on Sunday and we took an extra day off of work on Monday to visit the National Mall.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

#10 | Visit 10 New Local Restaurants (1/10)

The use of the word "local" in this goal is a bit confusing. Really what I intended was to find ten restaurants in areas that we frequently travel to so that we could find a new favorite. If we visit, say, Dallas this year - something like that wouldn't count because we don't routinely go there. However, certain other areas (i.e. North Conway, Maryland, etc.) are up for grabs because we generally go there at the very least once a year.

In any event, given that we are in money-conserve mode for the wedding, we haven't been going out to eat at actual "restaurants" lately. Last weekend, we took a few hours to take a ride on the motorcycle up to Cold Springs in New York. It is a very quaint but beautiful location. Brian and I immediately fell in love with it and have arranged for our engagement pictures to be taken there later in the fall. There are no chain restaurants on Main Street in Cold Springs. They are all Mom 'n Pop type places. For lunch, we ate at the Silver Spoon Restaurant. The food here was very good. I had a Turkey BLT wrap and Brian had a Philly Chicken Cheesesteak which he raved was the best chicken cheesesteak he's ever eaten.

What caught my attention was a certain section on the menu. The owner wrote a short passage as to how he came to this country from Egypt with the dream of opening and operating his own restaurant. It talked of his endeavors in achieving this goal and I thought it was very touching. The irony in all of it was that the restaurant was named Silver Spoon and the gentleman owning the establishment most certainly was not raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. I was impressed with how nice the staff was and the owner's story, along with the food (of course).

Completed #93 | Get a pouch to collect coupons and use them

This task was completed yesterday after I frantically looked all over the place for a Michael's coupon that I saw in a bridal magazine a few weeks before (Random Note: Michael's coupons have become my best friends since I started wedding planning). My best guess is that its still in the magazine somewhere as I never did find it. In any case, I went to Target and found a Real Simple pencil case and pouch to keep my coupons. I used a 20% off my entire purchase coupon at Michael's yesterday afternoon. Many of them are wedding related for stores like Michael's or Things Remembered but some of them are for Hunter's dog food and pet medication. They are all in one place so when I come upon a coupon I may make use of, I'll throw it in there. The tough part is going to be cleaning it out every few weeks to get rid of all the expired coupons. I'd hate to know how much money I've wasted by being too lazy to find a coupon I had seen. Hopefully this helps with that problem. We need all the help we can get now that we are in money-conserve mode for the wedding!

Completed #68 | Create Wedding Checklist & To-Dos

In recent months, I have set up a few blogs. Obviously, my 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days, a House Blog which tracks our renovations to the new home and my Wedding Blog. My Wedding Blog serves several purposes but the main one being to keep myself organized. The other reason is so family and friends who are actually interested in the intricate details can follow along with our progress. In any case, I made the monster of all wedding checklists and post updates on each task as they get completed (similar to this blog). Depending on the day, I either feel completely overwhelmed that there is so much to do and other days, when the reality kicks in that I still have a year to go and people have planned a wedding in much less time, I feel reassured knowing that I'm going into this as organized as can be. Check out my Wedding Blog (and checklist) here.

#28 | Take dogs swimming 5 times every summer (1/5)

This isn't a "completed" post but taking the dogs swimming is in the works! I will admit that the only reason I added this was because we took the dogs swimming earlier this summer (pre-List) and they enjoyed it so much that I would feel bad if we didn't do it more often. Putting it on my List was an added incentive. They swam for a good hour today near the boat launch at Lake Sebago in Harriman and are now totally wiped out. I've posted a video of Hunter at his swimming spot but it was not taken today - it was from the first time we brought him to the Lake. Please disregard the camera shake, apparently its pretty difficult to maneuver a 100 lbs Siberian Husky and a point-and-shoot camera with video above water (also disregard the pastey white legs, that was before I evened out my tan for the summer!) :)

Completed #8 | Watch a sunrise

I guess I had some free time on vacation because I was able to knock another one off of my list. Well, free time coupled with the fact that the beach is probably one of the best places to watch the sun rise. I rolled out of bed at around 5:30AM, threw on a sweatshirt and walked up to the beach on a Tuesday morning. Apart from some early morning fisherman, there was nobody else roaming around that early. I had to wait for a while but the waves, seagulls and cresent moon held my attention long enough that I didn't face plant into the sand and fall asleep. The sun eventually came up and I took quite a few shots.

I wasn't too impressed with myself as far as the quality of shots were concerned but I'll have to try a little harder next time. I have a hard time with cooler colors to begin with and I was aiming to find a slow shutter speed to render the waves more silky. I aimed but unfortunately, I think I missed.

Oh well, better luck next time! I still completed my number eight!

Completed #81 | Play Scattergories

Brian and I joined the rest of my family down at the Jersey Shore for a few days. The Friday night before we left, I ran over to Target to buy Scattergories. I used to play with my parents, aunt and uncle when I was younger but apparently the game itself has gone missing over the years so I had to buy a new one. In any case, my mom, dad, aunt, Brian and myself ended up playing on Sunday night. Some of the answers were pretty funny given that we either had a few glasses of wine in us or our name was Brian (who needs no alcohol to have a sick and twisted sense of humor).

The goal for this year's shore trip was to stay as far away from Rummikub as possible given last year's incident with Brian telling us we were all cheaters so Scattergories accomplished that. It was peaceful in comparison and nobody got up from the table pissed off.

Completed #84 | Buy a planner and organize my life

When completing this list, the first item I was eager to strike off was number 84. I desperately need to get organized. Shortly after posting the initial journal entry, I was on my way to Staples on Eighth Avenue to buy a planner.

These are a few things that I have attempted to do to keep myself on track (so I had these ideas in mind when finding an organizer):

(1) I try to maintain a calendar. Between wedding appointments and due dates, birthdays, home renovation appointments at Brian's house, bills becoming due, doctor's appointments and Brian's race schedule - there's a lot to keep track of. My cell phone has a calendar feature but its a pain in the neck to add entries and not so easy to see things relative to each other (i.e. knowing that I have three birthday parties in three weeks in the month of August).
(2) I've mastered "To-Do" lists. At any given time, you can look through my handbag and find a folded up piece of paper with a numbered list on things to do. Everything from paying my student loan payment to washing the dog is on there. It definitely helps to keep things from falling between the cracks. The downfall is I usually loose it somewhere between writing it up and completing all of the tasks.
(3) I try to maintain contacts whether it be in my phone, through Outlook or in archived folders in my email.

Naturally, the planner that I selected needed to be able to handle the most mundane tasks of my personal life all the way through planning our wedding for next fall and our kitchen/bath renovations at the house. Luckily, there is such a thing. The Mead Day Runner it is! I'm feeling pretty accomplished so far! :)

My List

The Mission: 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 my part).

Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. 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 organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
(a) Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.
(b) Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.
(c) Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.
(d) Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.e. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

Here is my list:
1. Visit Niagara Falls
2. Visit New Hampshire (New England states) in the Fall
3. Visit Washington D.C. (Completed: 11/10/2008)
4. Visit 5 new places I have never been (0/5)
5. Do a “touristy” thing in Manhattan
6. Visit 5 landmarks in New York State
7. Take a vacation for a full week (7 days)
8. Watch a sunrise (Completed: 7/29/2008)
9. Go to a broadway show
10. Visit 10 new local restaurants (Completed: 1/10)
11. Learn everyone’s birthday
12. Send XMAS letter with pictures
13. Cook dinner for my parents (Completed: 12/24/2008)
14. Make XMAS ornaments for family
15. Go fishing twice with dad
16. Bring Mom to the spa and out to dinner (0/2)
17. Make a scrapbook with every family member’s photo
18. Make a family tree
19. Make a cookbook with all of our family's favorite dishes
20. Establish a tradition
21. Have a BBQ
22. Surprise Brian
23. Go on the boat with Brian
24. Play miniature golf
25. Go go-kart racing
26. Teach Hunter how to be off a leash
27. Take dog for walk every day for a month
28. Take dogs swimming 5 times every summer (2008: 1/5)
29. Bring Hunter on a vacation with us
30. Learn a new language (conversational level)
31. Learn how to sew 3 things (0/3)
32. Read 10 new books (0/10)
33. Learn how to use Photoshop
34. Learn how to use BHG Home Design Software
35. Learn to cook on a grill
36. Learn how to change a tire
37. Take a photography course
38. Make a “portfolio” containing 10 pictures (0/10)
39. Read all of my photography books
40. Enter a photo in a contest
41. Submit 10 photos for critique on Nikonians (0/10)
42. Create photobooks of all our trips
43. Take a picture with 10 people I love and write about our relationship
44. Upload new photos on Fotki every 3-6 months and send an email update to family and friends
45. Complete 26 things
46. Learn to run 3 miles straight
47. Take a kickboxing class
48. Learn how to do my hair 3 different ways (0/3)
49. Learn how to cook 5 different dishes (0/5)
50. No junk food for one week
51. Take multi-vitamin every day for a month
52. Go for a massage
53. Get a new hair-cut and style
54. Drink three bottles of water every day for a month (0/30)
55. Take part in a charity walk or fundraiser (Completed: 12/7/2008)
56. Do at least 5 hours of volunteer work (0/5)
57. Donate to 5 charities (0/5)
58. Make a loan through Kiva
59. Pay off credit cards (0/2) (Completed: 1/2)
60. Pay off one student loan
61. Set up Quicken to better track my finances (and use it at least once per month)
62. Create a feasible budget and review each month
63. Find 10 successful ways to alleviate anxiety (0/10)
64. Find 10 things that genuinely make me happy (0/10)
65. Don’t eat out for 1 month
66. Beat Brian at Scrabble one time
67. Do a blog post for every item on this list as I complete it
68. Create Wedding Checklist & To-Dos (Completed: 8/6/2008)
69. Stop cursing
70. Sell items on eBay or donate no longer used items
71. Find a new hobby
72. Write Thank-You notes
73. Make a new 101 List in 1001 days
74. Attend a sporting event (drag racing doesn’t count)
75. Lay out my outfit the night before, including shoes and accessories, for 20 consecutive work days
76. Send someone flowers for no reason
77. Watch a movie at the drive-in
78. Make chocolate-covered Oreos
79. Make deep fried Oreos
80. Make an effort to spend more time outside in all seasons and partake in an activity that is linked to that season. (0/4)
81. Play Scattergories (Completed: 7/27/2008)
82. Update my resume
83. Drive a quad
84. Buy a planner and organize my life (Completed: 7/21/2008)
85. Pick my own fruit/vegetables
86. Start a journal
87. Play Wii with Carlee
88. Go to a sidewalk fair
89. Write a note to an old professor
90. Go swimming
91. No ice cream for a month
92. Empty my email inboxes and archive mail (Completed: 9/6/2008)
93. Get a pouch to collect coupons and use them (Completed: 8/17/2008)
94. Send a care package
95. Sell something on eBay
96. Donate clothes that have not been worn in the last two years
97. Make 3 home décor items (0/3)
98. Stain a piece of furniture
99. Grow a rose garden
100. Help Mom paint the stairway and any other room she wants
101. Keep a plant alive for longer than a year