For those of you keeping track (or that might just be interested), I have completed 41% of the goals listed below. Some are more in progress than others, but I feel like I am doing pretty well. Especially considering the fact that I don't need to be done with these goals until March 2, 2013. That is almost 2 years away!
1. Live in Taiwan
2. Sleep under the stars
3. Fall in love
4. Kiss in the rain
5. Go camping
6. Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day
7. Find out my blood type (done: A-)
8. Dance in the rain
9. Make a new friend (done)
10. Read 100 books (in progress)
11. Take a photography class
12. Find a personally inspirational quote and work it into a piece of art or home decor
13. Go to 5 different museums (done and then some)
14. Get a passport (done)
15. Do something that scares me to death (done)
16. Improve my posture (in progress- my current Physical Therapist feels strongly about this and is teaching me what I need to do)
17. Buy a new computer (done)
18. plant a tree
19. Make a birthday cake for someone (done)
20. Make a custom recipe book
21. Do some volunteer work (done)
22. Graduate College (May 6)
23. Visit Japan
24. Sleep in a hammock (done)
25. Teach English in a foreign country
26. Visit Choco Canyon
27. Attend at least one session in every Utah temple (in progress)
28. Go to Maui
29. Go Paragliding (done)
30. Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
31. Go ice skating (done)
32. Make a quilt (done)
33. Try a new ethnic food
34. Travel outside of the country (done)
35. walk barefoot on the beach with someone I love
36. Blog something meaningful once a week for a month (done)
37. visit teach my sisters every month for 6 months
38. Feed the ducks
39. build a fort while on a date
40. practice piano half an hour every day for a month
41. learn to say no
42. learn to speak a foreign language fluently
43. Exercise at least 3 times a week for a month (half an hour each time)
44. Become CPR certified
45. Save $ for every goal I complete
46. Get my own, personal stamp for business
47. enter a photography contest
48. be able to touch my toes
49. Reach out to an old friend (failed, but done)
50. Learn how to use photoshop (or some other photo-editing program)
51. Visit Karen in Texas
52. Find a reason to wear a fancy dress
53. Get a job I love
54. Go on an "adventure" at least once a month for a year (in progress)
55. Get some business cards that I LIKE (done)
56. Get up by 9 am every day for a month (done)
57. Save $5,000
58. Don't spend any money for 1 week. (done)
59. Save a dollar a day for a year (0/365)
60. Find someone who will truly love me for who I am
61. Read the Book of Mormon in Japanese
62. Go to the temple at 32 times to do ordinances (in progress)
63. Give someone a gift, just because (done)
64. Sell 5 items on etsy (done)
65. Visit Watkins Glen (again) (done)
66. Explore a cave
67. Journal every day for a month (done)
68. Keep my car clean for a whole month (done)
69. Finish the blanket I'm knitting (done)
70. Organize photo collection (done but needs to be done again)
71. Visit a butterfly garden (done)
72. Finish my Terry Pratchett collection
73. Learn a new craft (done)
74. Get a credit card- and pay it off every month (in progress)
75. Try 5 new foods (done)
76. Make someone else dinner (done)
77. Learn to play at least one song on the guitar (done)
78. Learn to like my smile
79. Go to Niagara Falls (again) (done)
80. Make and actually send Christmas Cards (done)
81. Go to bed every night before midnight for an entire month (done)
82. Make my own bread from scratch (done)
83. Complete my Christmas Advent Calendar
84. Visit a state I've never been to before
85. Learn to change the oil in my car
86. Make a conscious effort not to speed for one day when I'm driving (done)
87. Finish one cross stitch project
88. Make my own quote book with all of my favorite quotes
89. Finish all the initiatories that are waiting to be done
90. Go two weeks without speaking ill of anyone (done)
91. Learn to write with my left hand
92. Write a letter to someone I admire
93. Read "Alice in Wonderland" (done)
94. Share my testimony with 3 people outside of church (1/3)
95. Get all of my books on my book shelves
96. Don't spend money on anything unnecessary for one month (done)
97. Make Honey Candy (done)
98. Get all of my dolls out on display (done)
99. Finish Melissa's sculpture before her birthday (done)
100. Visit 3 National Parks/Monuments (done)
101. Buy a macro lens for my camera
So, my Day Zero goals are going quite well. I have 17 of them finished at the time of writing this post (sort of 18, but that gets complicated, so we're just going to say 17), but I have a question about one of them. I mean, I realize that they are my goals, so it is ultimately my opinion that matters, right? But I'd still like some input on this one:
#57. Reach out to an old friend
I'm beginning to realize how being ambiguous about the way one words one's goals is not a good thing. And, because of this, I'm kind of put in a rut. Or something. I don't know exactly. The question I have is as such: Let's say I "reach out" to this old friend that I haven't talked to in years. Does it count as being a goal marked off, even if they don't every reply? Or, should I define "reach out" to be more "reconnect" with an old friend? Which means, contacting them results in them contacting me in return?
Please comment. Seriously. And if I get 10 different people to comment, I'll send you each a coupon-code to my Etsy store, offering you some sort of discount.
(Please note: all 10 comments must be in by one week from today, Monday the 9th at 6pm.)
Well, guys, I think Taiwan is really going to happen!
Side note. It's funny, you know? I start to feel like, because I am not afraid to chase my dreams, I intimidate people. Going to work for Disney, though, taught me that just because I dream about doing something doesn't mean it can never come true. I know, I know. Disneyland, Where Dreams Come True, blah blah blah. Seriously, though. It was a dream I'd had ever since I was little, and I went for it, and it happened. And, while I didn't love every single minute, I still loved that I was fulfilling my dream. I proved myself that I can do things, and I can do them without having someone to hold my hand every step of the way.
Which brings me to Taiwan. I can do this. I am making this happen. I am getting support along the way, but no one else can make this happen except for me. Dad and I had our passports arrive in the mail today, and that was really the first step. Last night, I emailed my Brother O. and asked him to fill out my Academic Reference Form. Today I emailed my Bishop for the Character Reference and took the Employment Reference form to my supervisor at work. Then I called ILP's office to talk to the Taiwan rep about her experience, among other things, and set up my interview while I was at it. Next Monday, that's what I'll be doing.
Also, my Day Zero Project goals? Coming right along. I got my credit card today and just have to pay it off every month to check it off. And I have completed 12 other goals now. Things are looking good in life!
(Also, FeFe sent me some GREAT Trifecta pictures the other day, and I have rarely laughed so hard over a picture, but those ones did it.)
I am totally in love with a new movie. Robin Hood. I think I need the soundtrack, and also to see it a few more times before it comes to DVD. And then I'll buy the DVD. (Also, I had no idea who Russell Crowe was/is, other than being some famous dood. So my love of the movie has little to do with him.)
Made the Trifecta an appointment to go PARAGLIDING in two weeks! We will also be going to Timponogos Cave. That makes two goals to check off my list.
Dad and I went and applied for our passports today. Fees paid, pictures taken (awkwardness abounded at that appointment, but you get used to it when you're me). Now we just wait. I am saying goal accomplished.
I finished The Sister's sculpture. Before her birthday. Mission accomplished, and really adorable, too. Take a look at it on my Other Blog.
I went the whole of Tuesday without speeding at all. Very hard. Didn't even go 1 mph over the speed limit, as best as I could tell. I think I annoyed a lot of people that day.
I purchased a quilting book at work the other day (with my points, so, really, I didn't spend any money on it. Sweet.). It has a few other projects in it, but I'm super excited to find the perfect fabric to make the perfect quilt. My only issue is that I want to continue in the tradition of hand quilting, and I'm not so sure how that is going to work out. Quilting frames are not cheap, and I haven't the money with which to buy them.
I found a photography contest to enter. Now I just need to take the Perfect Picture.
My car is still clean since I washed it last Saturday. Well, except for the fact that it rained tonight while I was at the theater, so I guess I might need to wash it again.
I have been attempting to spread the word of my Etsy Store, in an attempt to accomplish my goal associated with that. I have also relisted and listed a bunch more photos. Go look. (Banner at the end of this post links directly to my store.)
On that same note, I have ordered some new business cards from Promo Pixie (on Etsy), and judging from the image she sent me, I am going to love them. Word.
I am more than 2/3 done with the blanket I am knitting. Good thing, too, because I'm getting tired of that craft again. Also, yarn lint is getting everywhere.
I keep looking at the doll I have sitting in a box in my office and I think about getting them on display. That's about as far as this goal has heretofore gotten. Maybe tomorrow, before work, I will get a jump on this for reals.
Other plans for tomorrow include seeing The Karate Kid with The Dad and The Sister, cleaning my kitchen from when I made dinner tonight, and going to a job that will soon make me break out in shingles on a regular basis. (That is a story in and of itself, which I am not currently at liberty to blog or even talk about. Especially since I do not yet know all of the details. Someday, though, and probably soon, I will share.)
And, hey. While I'm at it, the basic rest of my schedule for the next week.
Sunday: Church. Presidency Meeting. Visits. Home Teachers are coming over. Need to schedule Visiting Teaching myself. Dinner with the familia.
Monday: FHE, weather permitting, actually sounds exciting. I may go this week, just to give the bishop a shock. No work, thank goodness, thus I will spend a good hour or so cleaning my house. I especially need to dump all the trash and clean someone's poo-box. And vacuum.
Tuesday: Close at work. Same story as always.
Wednesday: Dentist appointment to get my teeth cleaned. Not my idea of fun. Especially considering the fact that it is fairly early in the morning when I'd rather be sleeping. At least I will be able to go home and take a nap, though. Close at work, again.
Thursday: OPEN at work. Weird. Afternoon is currently promising a nice nap. Probably.
Friday: OPEN at work again! Have no other plans, yet.
Saturday: OPEN at work for the third day in a row, but only because I managed to get someone to trade shifts with me. Immediately following work, I shall drive up to the North country. I expect to get into town around 8. Not sure what the rest of the evening entails, except for sleep.
And, there you go. A bunch of side notes to keep you sufficiently satisfied, I hope, as well as updates on the goals I am working on and have already accomplished. 994 days to go! Also, a bunch of random crap about my coming week that you probably could care less about. The end. I am sleeping now.
Something you may or may not know about me: I'm a list maker. I love lists. They make me happy, they make me feel organized, and I think they're fun to make. Whenever there is a list to be made at work, I am the first to volunteer. People think I'm strange for it, but there you go. That's me. I love me my lists.
So, naturally, when Alishka blogged about the Day Zero project, I thought: "Awesome! A really long list! This sounds fun!" It took me a while to come up with 101 goals, but I did it (with some help and suggestions from a variety of different sources (thanks, Sources)), and now, I blog it. Because what's better than a list? A list that I can blog!
1. Live in Taiwan
2. Sleep under the stars
3. Fall in love
4. Kiss in the rain
5. Go camping
6. Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day
7. Find out my blood type
8. Dance in the rain
9. Make a new friend
10. Read 100 books
11. Take a photography class
12. Find a personally inspirational quote and work it into a piece of art or home decor
13. Go to 5 different museums
14. Get a passport
15. Do something that scares me to death
16. Improve my posture
17. Buy a new computer
18. plant a tree
19. Make a birthday cake for someone
20. Make a custom recipe book
21. Do some volunteer work
22. Graduate College
23. Visit Japan
24. Sleep in a hammock
25. Teach English in a foreign country
26. Visit Choco Canyon
27. Attend at least one session in every Utah temple
28. Go to Maui
29. Go Paragliding
30. Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
31. Go ice skating
32. Make a quilt
33. Try a new ethnic food
34. Travel outside of the country
35. walk barefoot on the beach with someone I love
36. Blog something meaningful once a week for a month
37. visit teach my sisters every month for 6 months
38. Feed the ducks
39. build a fort while on a date
40. practice piano half an hour every day for a month
41. learn to say no
42. learn to speak a foreign language fluently
43. Exercise at least 3 times a week for a month (half an hour each time)
44. Become CPR certified
45. Save $25 for every goal I complete
46. Get my own, personal stamp for business
47. enter a photography contest
48. be able to touch my toes
49. Reach out to an old friend
50. Learn how to use photoshop (or some other photo-editing program)
51. Visit Karen in Texas
52. Find a reason to wear a fancy dress
53. Get a job I love
54. Go on an "adventure" at least once a month for a year (0/12)
55. Get some business cards that I LIKE
56. Get up by 9 am every day for a month
57. Save $5,000
58. Don't spend any money for 1 week.
59. Save a dollar a day for a year (0/365)
60. Find someone who will truly love me for who I am
61. Read the Book of Mormon in Japanese
62. Go to the temple at least once a month (0/32)
63. Give someone a gift, just because
64. Sell 5 items on etsy
65. Visit Watkins Glen (again)
66. Explore a cave
67. Journal every day for a month
68. Keep my car clean for a whole month
69. Finish the blanket I'm knitting
70. Organize photo collection
71. Visit a butterfly garden
72. Finish my Terry Pratchett collection
73. Learn a new craft
74. Get a credit card- and pay it off every month
75. Try 5 new foods
76. Make someone else dinner
77. Learn to play at least one song on the guitar
78. Learn to like my smile
79. Go to Niagara Falls (again)
80. Make and actually send Christmas Cards
81. Go to bed every night before midnight for an entire month
82. Make my own bread from scratch
83. Complete my Christmas Advent Calendar
84. Visit a state I've never been to before
85. Learn to change the oil in my car
86. Make a conscious effort not to speed for one day when I'm driving
87. Finish one cross stitch project
88. Make my own quote book with all of my favorite quotes
89. Finish all the initiatories that are waiting to be done
90. Go two weeks without speaking ill of anyone (0/14)
91. Learn to write with my left hand
92. Write a letter to someone I admire
93. Read "Alice in Wonderland"
94. Share my testimony with 3 people outside of church (0/3)
95. Get all of my books on my book shelves
96. Don't spend money on anything unnecessary for one month
97. Make Honey Candy
98. Get all of my dolls out on display
99. Finish Melissa's sculpture before her birthday
100. Visit 3 National Parks
101. Buy a macro lens for my camera
I keep thinking about blogging again, but then I don't. Usually because the internet dies just as I get to the blogger dashboard. IT HASN'T DIED YET TODAY, THOUGH, SO KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED! We may get this post out, yet. (Also, it promises to be very picture heavy. Sorry. Sort of.)
So once upon a time I said something about how I reallyreallyreally want to go to Taiwan next year and teach the English to small chiddlers. Well, there are currently two itty bitty glitches to this plan. 1) I don't have a college degree, despite the fact that I did attend BYU for 4.5 years (don't ask. I don't want to talk about it). and 2) I don't have a passport. I am happy to say that, $35 later, I am doing something about point number uno. Today (actually, more like 5 minutes ago) I applied as a transfer student to the college here in town. I have every intention of getting my AA in 2 semesters (I may hate myself while I'm doing it and want to die, but I don't feel like Town College can be THAT hard. They accept everybody. Seriously.) (also, hello, did you know that I can get an AA in PHOTOGRAPHY?? I did not know this. We'll see if I actually stick to that or just go with the AA in Arts (it might be easier/faster)). I also have found a buddy to hold my hand and take me down to the post office to get my passport picture taken and help me out with the application process. (Hey, Jess, you're still down with this, right? RIGHT? It will make us even, Right?) I am also occasionally looking into other options to get myself to Taiwan, but I mostly really do want to teach the English, and I feel like this is what I'm supposed to be focusing on right now.
Second line of blogging, We went to Florida a few weeks ago! We being my family and me. Stayed on the beach at Fort Meyers and it was pretty awesome. The water was a little cold, but nothing like that Pacific Ocean. It didn't take long to get used to it and it actually felt pretty good after the initial shock. And guess who braved the ocean and ACTUALLY got in it? Past her knees?
Miracle.
We also had this fun time where people at the beach kept talking to us. Which is cool, I guess, but I am not a chatty person. Dad and Sister took over that category for us. We had this preacher dood named Patrick (I think?) start talking to us, though, and he was awesome. He is a priest of a Spanish congregation and has a dog that seriously KNOWS the word "fish" and what it means. He'd say, "Is that a FISH?" and she'd go darting into the ocean to try to find it.
This is Tequila, the Preacher's Chocolate Lab. Love her.
On one of our strolls down the beach, we found this thing. It was squishy and seemingly alive. Found out it was a Sea Slug?! Then Dad threw it into the ocean and it INKED and I thought it was bleeding and dying and was so sad. But it was just ink. And then it came back to shore with the waves and I touched it and tried to make it feel better. I doubt I succeeded, but I felt better for trying to comfort it from it's flying trauma.
I know it doesn't look like much, but it really was pretty cool. Clicking HERE will take you to a picture of a Sea Slug in the Ocean instead of on the Beach. Also, Googling "Sea Slug" brings up some really cool images. You should try it! They come in many awesome colors.
Other forms of wildlife we saw on the beach include:
a Sand Dollar (alive!) (OK, admittedly, we found this IN THE OCEAN, but we brought it to the beach to show the Parents, then took it back to approximately where we found it)
Snails (We found many) (This was all in an attempt to find the most awesome sea shells. All the good ones, unfortunately, were taken. Those snails. So "shelfish." Jerks.)
Starfishies (This one was huge and bigger than my head, I am pretty sure.)
And also hermit crabs, but I didn't get any good pictures of them. I do have a video or two, but am not loading that to the internet at this time.
Dad and I took a trip out to Naples to go on a Manatee Boat Tour (No See, No Pay! Thank you Barry's Boat Tours! We saw, we payed, and it was worth EVERY PENNY, if only because I got to see...
A mommy and baby! They are so cute. I kind of love them a lot. Someday I would like to feed one and be in the water with one. You would not have wanted to be in the water with these ones, though, if only because of this guy and his many friends:
Other things we saw and did include going to a botanical garden
To the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford estates
(And if you follow me on Twitter, then you have probably already seen this picture of the Partially Eaten Dead Fish)
And we also went to the Shell Factory (no pictures of that) where I got many dollars worth of sea shells that I have no idea what to do with, but they are cool and therefore worth the money.
So that's been my life lately! Now it is back to working and the real world.
And then there's my experience. Happily, I did not lose my teeth. But I did go skydiving! Yesterday at 8 am my Felix came and picked me up for our next Big Adventure. We then proceeded to drive to my Kyle's house to pick him up. The Trifecta jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at about 10 am yesterday morning. Best. Thing. Ever. Kind of I was worried about losing my shoes (when you're falling at 120mph and your shoes aren't tied on, it's a valid fear) but they stayed on the whole way down, landing and everything.
The view, while being very... brown, was still incredible. I have never seen that much sky/ground so uninterrupted. You could see for miles! We jumped from 12,500 feet, so it only makes sense. My Tandem person pointed out LA, Anaheim, San Diego, and a bunch of other directions to me. It was kind of overwhelming, really, but so worth it.
I'll post pictures as soon as I get them from my Felix.
I can now cross two items off my list of Things I Want to Do Before I Die: Work for Disney. Go Skydiving.
My insurance company finally approved me taking Lexapro. So I took it like.. half an hour ago and I'm feeling pretty dead right now. I am SO TIRED. I should just go to bed.
And if you're wondering again: Do you know how hard it is to watch your best friend accomplish everything you dream of before you? Marriage, small child, being sealed in the Temple, having own photography business....
It's Easter. That means Lent is over. But that doesn't mean I'm quiting my goal. Just so you know. It does mean that I'm keeping it and adding to it another one, of which I am not speaking of just yet.
B.C. Copyright Johnny Hart 3/31, 2002 (this being the comic I was looking for last year. I had to scan it myself. Oh, well.)
I may be a day late, but that's better than never. Anywho, I've decided as a part of this Lent thing that I am going to refrain from speaking ill of any of the people I live with for a whole, what is it... 40 days. Please support me in my endeavor.
I thought about participating in Lent last year. And then I didn't. This year will be different, though. Mr. Gymnast? Just for you I am going to give up my non-smiling face while I'm at work. Yeah, I smile.
