101 Things

The List

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:32:00 +0000

Start date: July 12, 2007
End date: April 8, 2010
Days left: 39

Updated: February 28, 2010
Done: 77/101

bold = in progress
~~strike through~~ = completed

~~1. Come up with 101 meaningful things to do~~ (July 12/07)

Personal
~~2. Move away from home~~ (July 28/08)
3. Stop swearing
~~4. Blog at least 3 times a week~~ (August 31/07)
~~5. Find a church to attend regularly~~ (August 24/08)
6. Read the Bible
~~7. Pray more often~~ (September 6/07)
8. Fill my paper journal
9. Be noticeably less bitter
~~10. Start drafting up business plans~~ (June 22/09)

Family & Friends - DONE!
~~11. Watch an NBA game with Andrew~~ (June 4/09)
~~12. Have lunch with an old friend~~ (October 20/07)
~~13. Play a board/card game with my family~~ (March 1/08)
~~14. Get engaged~~ (September 4/07)
~~15. Get married~~ (August 2/08)

Kids Stuff - DONE!
~~16. Take N to Disney World~~ (February 20/08)
~~17. Begin N on potty training~~ (September 28/07)
~~18. Take N to the Zoo~~ (August 15/07)
~~19. Enroll N in Montessori~~ (August 23/08)
~~20. Enroll N in swimming lessons~~ (December 5/09)
~~21. Get a Halloween costume for N~~ (October 6/07)
~~22. Take N trick-or-treating~~ (October 31/07)

Housekeeping
~~23. Get a nice address book and fill it~~ (September 25/08)
~~24. Nurse my two orchid plants back to health~~ FAILED
~~25. Print off pictures every 4 months for 2 years~~ (September 9/09)
~~26. Get rid of the clothes I don’t wear~~ (August 30/07)
~~27. Create a master list of family and friend birthdays/anniversaries~~ (October 17/08)
28. Create a living will

Health & Beauty
~~29. Stop holding pee in for extensive amounts of time~~ (August 11/07)
~~30. Grow out my hair all natural, no dye~~ (July 16/09)
~~31. Do physiotherapy exercises for back, daily for at least two weeks~~ (March 21/07)
~~32. Take a fitness class (i.e., kickboxing)~~ (May 28, 2009)
~~33. Get a professional massage~~ (August 16/08)
34. Lose pregnancy fat
35. Regain my pre-pregnancy posture and flexibility
~~36. Sleep for at least 6 hours a night, for a month~~ (April 28/08)
37. Be able to do 50 push ups in a row (25/50)
~~38. Be able to do 150 crunches in a row~~ (September 20/07)
39. Go rock climbing
~~40. Drink more water and less pop~~ (October 6/07)
~~41. Eat no candy for at least 3 months~~ (December 17/07)
~~42. Eat 3 things I’ve never tried before (1, 2, 3/3)~~ (August 20/07)

Education & Growth
~~43. Apply for scholarships for last two terms of university~~ (January 8/08)
~~44. Obtain my bachelor’s degree by April 2007~~ (April 24/08)
~~45. Graduate with Honours~~ (June 11/08)
46. Learn how to play guitar
47. Learn at least 50 ASL signs
~~48. Learn how to give massages~~ (September 29/07)
49. Learn to juggle
~~50. Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop~~ (September 10/09)
51. Get certified with Smart Serve
52. Re-learn rollerblading
~~53. Re-learn ice skating~~ (February 17/09)
54. Let Andrew teach me how to play a song on the piano
~~55. Look into RRSPs and maybe get one set up~~ (May 22/09)
56. Master writing with my left hand
57. Read 10 books recommended by friends (8/10)

Crafty Projects
~~58. Give out handmade Christmas cards one year~~ (December 19/08)
~~59. Create my own postcards and send them~~ (March 20/09)
~~60. Start up a scrapbooking project~~ (July 16/08)
61. Make a piece of jewelry and wear it
62. Make a calendar
~~63. Fully decorate a Christmas tree~~ (December 15/08)

Food & Cooking - DONE!
~~64. Learn to mix a good specialty drink~~ (September 13/07)
~~65. Bake cookies and send them to a friend~~ (November 18/07)
~~66. Try 10 new recipes~~ (January 12/08)

Travel & Leisure
~~67. Travel to a foreign destination~~ (December 22/07)
~~68. Go for a fall foliage hike~~ (October 8/07)
~~69. Go to a nice outdoor coffee shop in a small town~~ (August 31/08)
~~70. Be a tourist in Toronto~~(May 24/08)
~~71. Go on a picnic~~ (July 29/07)
~~72. Go to a show (Home, Bridal, One-of-a-kind, etc.)~~ (September 8/07)
~~73. Build a snowman~~ (February 27/10)
~~74. Do a jigsaw puzzle~~ (January 5/08)
~~75. Get more stamps in my passport~~ (December 22/07)
76. Have my picture taken with Santa
~~77. Visit and shop at a farmer’s market~~ (June 12/09)
~~78. Watch professionally set up fireworks~~ (February 20/08)
~~79. Travel somewhere by train~~ (August 15/07)
~~80. Take a road trip~~ (August 26/07)
~~81. Have coffee or dessert at Symposium~~ (September 22/07)
82. Take photo booth pictures
83. Finish a book of Sudoku puzzles (46/100)
~~84. Attend a wedding~~ (August 4/07)

Giving a Little & Social
~~85. Host a party/get-together~~ (September 13/07)
86. Send a care package to someone
~~87. Volunteer with children with disabilities for at least 4 months~~ (January 17/07)
~~88. Make a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child~~ (November 3/07)
~~89. Meet some new people~~ (October 5/07)

Finance & Money
~~90. Accumulate $15 000 in savings account~~ (January 8/08)
~~91. Get another credit card that gives me rewards~~ (September 26/07)
92. Learn how to do my own taxes
~~93. Contribute $15/month to RESP for a year~~ (January 31/09)
~~94. Go one week without spending money~~ (September 8/07)

Getting a Little- DONE!
~~95. Start a Disney DVD collection~~ (October 30/08)
~~96. Buy a digital SLR~~ (December 31/09)
~~97. Buy a Nintendo Wii~~ (October 1/09)
~~98. Buy a KIN shirt before I graduate~~ (November 21/07)
~~99. Buy a University of Waterloo sweatshirt before I graduate~~ (December 7/07)
~~100. Buy a dress I feel beautiful in~~ (July 14/07)
~~101. Buy Adobe Photoshop~~ (September 10/09)

As of February 27, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:13:00 +0000

73. Build a snowman

It finally snowed enough here for the snow to actually stay on the ground. But since we don't have a yard, we had to borrow my parents' front yard to build our snowman.

Nathan started out helping but he got bored pretty quickly and just wanted to put the face and arms on it.

But Andrew convinced him that it needed it a bigger head.

As of January 12, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:44:00 +0000

Okay, here's the thing. I'm bored of my 101 list. Each time I scroll through the list, I see the same few ones I haven't accomplished yet and I'm just getting so sick of seeing them not crossed off. It's a little discouraging, you know? I am ready for a brand new list with exciting goals. Goals that I can actually accomplish, because let's be honest here, I made this list when I was still in school, out of boredom, because I had stayed up all night at one of our "eat overs" - Andrew and Jasmine can attest to that.

(In fact, Jasmine thought I was insane for making a list, but look at where we are now. A bunch of us have a lists!)

Now, I feel like I've grown a little. I know myself a little better and I don't really have anything to prove to anyone. Some of the things I put on that list, I don't even know what I was thinking - like really? #28? I'm going to live forever, remember?

So while I keep on trucking with my old list, I'm going to start a new list. And I'm going to have it on my regular blog as well so it's easier for me to keep track of. Hopefully, I'll have the list compiled in time to start on my birthday! It's in exactly 1 month.

Am I allowed to have two lists going at the same time? Who knows. I'm pretty sure I can do whatever I want with my goals.

As of December 31, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:54:00 +0000

96. Buy a digital SLR

We finally got one!

This was sort of an impulse buy but I really wanted one and Christmas was in the air so Andrew told me to just get it.

It's been a while since I've had an SLR in my hands. I'm so excited to play with it and learn how to see things I normally wouldn't have seen.

As of December 5, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:15:00 +0000

20. Enroll N in swimming lessons

I finally signed Nathan up for swimming lessons!

I think it's so important for kids to learn how to swim, especially after there were soooo many drownings this past summer. I really wanted to get him started last season but we were a little bit late with the registration and I learned just how competitive city folks are.

I had to get up before 7 this morning and click 'refresh' about a million times, but when I finally got in, I got the class we wanted and we're all set!

Now, if only we can guarantee that he'll go into the pool with the instructor and other kids without a fuss. That would make all this worth it.

As of September 9, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:11:00 +0000

101. Buy Adobe Photoshop

When I got the Mac a couple weeks ago, I downloaded GIMP. It's a program that basically has the same functions of Photoshop, without the big price tag. So now that I have GIMP, there's no need for me to get Photoshop, and so I'll just say that this goal has been achieved, because the "spirit" of this goal was to get some sort of photo-editing software.

That being said,

50. Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop

… is also going to be replaced with GIMP. About a week ago, I was reading through some of my regular sites, and I saw Amanda, over at kevinandamanda.com, was looking for help to make some font charts! I love fonts and it seemed like an easy project, plus it'd give me a reason to start learning how to use GIMP so I signed up and made a couple charts for her.

Keep an eye out for those! You can tell which ones I made because Amanda was kind enough to let me advertise my blog on the bottom of the charts :) Thanks, Amanda!

As of July 16, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:06:00 +0000

30. Grow out my hair all natural, no dye

It's official! All the dye that was still in my hair has been chopped off. I am dye-free!

Oh, and thanks to Jay for lending me her macbook (for school of course.. well, and the obligatory work-break photobooth fun :) yay!)

As of June 12, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:09:00 +0000

77. Visit and shop at a farmer's market

This trip wasn't really anything special. My sister and I dropped by the farmer's market at Sherway Gardens to kill some time before the mall opened.

Basically I ended up getting asparagus and green onion - not special at all. The prices weren't even that great. It's just that they were local (yay) and organic (yay). I'm not really into either of those things but I figure it's worth a couple dollars to get some good wholesome food and help out the local peeps.

As of June 4, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:40:00 +0000

11. Watch an NBA game with Andrew

At first, I was going to cheer for whichever team Andrew was cheering for but when I asked him, he said he was cheering for both. (Yeah, way to sit on the fence there..) I ended up cheering for the underdog so last night was really disappointing for me.

Luckily, we were over at our friends' place so that helped to soften the blow. Otherwise, I'd be a mess. And that is why I cannot watch sports regularly. It's way too emotional for me.

As of May 28, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:24:00 +0000

32. Take a fitness class

My sister signed me up for Lululemon's Yoga Crawl yesterday and I did my first ever yoga class at Kula, downtown. I was a little uncomfortable when we first walked in. Everyone knew each other (mostly Lulu staff) and we had no clue what to do. We eventually got ushered into the tiniest change room (although, it was really beautiful), changed and went into the studio.

When I first got into the studio, my first thought was, "crap, I should have come here earlier to get the back row". But we found some spots close to the door and settled in. Good thing Jay had some idea of what to do, otherwise, we'd look real foolish.

Anyway, I slowly caught on to what each of the poses were. I was always half a step behind everyone else, glancing around at everyone to see what they were doing. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the class. I really felt all my muscles working and I have never sweat that much from working out, ever. I guess that's partially because the room was 27degrees as well. In sane. It was just challenging enough and I was able to push myself to do some of the (what I thought were) harder poses. I'm a little more flexible and a little more balanced than I thought.

All in all, it was a good experience and I'd definitely do it again for the work out. I was a little weirded out by the chanting, but other than that, it was good.

My favourite line of the day: "In yoga, everything is optional" haha

As of May 22, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:57:00 +0000

55. Look into RRSPs and maybe get one set up

I didn't really put too much effort into finding out about RRSPs. I knew I'd have to get one set up eventually but seeing as how I don't have an income right now, I didn't think it'd be feasible. Enter TFSAs. Tax-Free Savings Accounts are a pretty new thing. I heard about it near the beginning of the year but I really wasn't in the mood for researching another investment vehicle, nor was I in the mood to move my money around so I let it go.

Then, a couple weeks ago, Andrew's parents brought it up. I figure if it's something they'd bring up with us, it's worth looking in to. So yesterday we met up with their financial advisor to sign some forms and now we're the proud owner of TFSAs (and life insurance). Yay for long-term investments!

As of April 19, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:27:00 +0000

57. Read 10 books recommended by friends

The Penelopiad - Hannah
The Namesake - Andrew
Kite Runner - Jaynelle
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Miranda
Remember Me? - Jasmine
Biggles Goes To War - Andrew
Time Traveler's Wife - Miranda
Can You Keep A Secret - Jasmine
The Last Lecture - Jaynelle
Into Thin Air - Jaynelle

I finally got another two recommendations from Jay. I finished The Last Lecture, which was an inspirational read for me. It was a really quick and easy read for anyone who likes a Tuesdays With Morrie type book.

As of March 20, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:10:00 +0000

59. Create my own postcards and send them

At the very last minute, I was asked to send out invites to my friends' baby shower. I didn't really have the time to design cards or anything so I just opened Powerpoint, designed something simple and got them printed out as photos at Walmart. I know they're not the best looking and I couldn't really save them at a better resolution and they came out a little pixelated but I did the best I could.

On the back, I stamped a dotted line in the middle, just like normal postcards, drew a map to the church and addressed them to send. I'm not entirely sure they made it to their final destinations (the moms, who I was sending to, were already invited ahead of time) but these are my postcards and they were sent!

As of February 17, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:27:00 +0000

53. Re-learn ice skating

Andrew and I went skating tonight with some people from our 'small group'. It's been a while since I've been on ice and I was a little worried with how much I would suck. However, I decided that this time, I wasn't going to hold myself back and be all tense with worry and it worked out pretty well. I was actually really surprised when I hopped on the ice because that's just something I don't normally do. And then skating off and not falling? Well that was another surprise for me.

One of my goals was to relearn skating so that when it comes time for Nathan to start skating, I won't be one of those parents who just sit on the sidelines and wave as my child passes. I want to be out there on the ice. But I also want to be on my feet. So I'm glad I got this chance to show myself that I can do it and I'm not a complete failure.

I'm also really happy I don't suck because now that Andrew has skates as well, we can probably go more often. There's something about skating out in the night air (with no boards around the rink) that makes me happy inside.

As of January 5, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:14:00 +0000

74. Do a jigsaw puzzle

I had fully intended on finishing this puzzle in one day. But after the first day, my eyes were hating me and I was hating the puzzle for having no definite "sky" or "ground" colours. I mean, normal puzzles are bad enough when they have a huge sky and you have to figure out which blue piece goes beside which blue piece. This puzzle was a bit of a pain because each piece could be either sky or water. Anyway... half way through I stopped (you know, for sleep and stuff) and before I started again, I had to Google to see if this was in fact a jigsaw puzzle (because when you spend that much time staring at tiny pieces, you get a little worried that all the work put in won't count) and it is. Thank goodness.

The third day, I went snowboarding and got a concussion. I came home that night trying to put pieces in but after about 3 I decided sleep might be a better idea. I finished it the fourth day and let Andrew put the last piece in because we were originally supposed to do this puzzle together but I decided I wanted a project for myself and started this secretly without him knowing. He obviously eventually found out as it's sitting in the middle of our bedroom.

As of December 19, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:29:00 +0000

58. Give out handmade Christmas cards one year

Earlier in the month, one of my cousins stopped by so we could work on wedding invitation envelopes for one of my other cousins. It was a really simple project and I really didn't do that much but it was just enough to get the artsy in me excited about doing crafty projects again. I've been meaning to make Christmas cards for quite a while now and decided that this year was a great time to start. Of course, that required me to go out and buy an excessive amount of "supplies" (Andrew was not pleased).

One of my card designs included a snowman. I didn't realize how hard it was to keep my snowmen consistently the same, until I looked at the final product and found I had a nice family of snowmen of different shapes and sizes. I had one that was perfectly shaped, one who was anorexic, one who was obese, one with a potbelly and one who was really tall. We don't discriminate around here, don't you know.

As of December 15, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:03:00 +0000

63. Fully decorate a Christmas tree

I thought I'd start with something simple. Some lights, some tinsel and some ornaments. Nothing fancy. I liked the blue-silver idea so I went with that. I also like the red-gold idea but I figured I can try that next year.

This tree was actually Andrew's parents' but they let us have it. They even gave us all their ornaments as well. I put up what I liked (I'm not a big fan of clowns...) which might seem limited but I figure over the years, we'll also build up our own collection of ornaments so I'm not going to rush out and spend more money on them right now.

It looks a little bear but I like keeping things simple. Maybe next year I can get a little help and then we can spend a little more time dazzling it up. But for now, our little Christmas tree is perfect the way it is.

As of October 30, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:04:00 +0000

95. Start a Disney DVD collection
After looking through our DVDs again as I was putting them away, I realized just how many Disney DVDs we already had. But there's always room for more and it wouldn't be fair to just cross this one off the list. So, we let the little guy pick one more for his little section of our credenza. We were at Best Buy, walking up and down the aisles of DVDs. When he saw this one, his little face lit up and he exclaimed, "I like cars!" and promptly picked it up. (Behind that box is a huge, smiley face.)

As of October 17, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:00:00 +0000

24. Nurse my two orchid plants back to health
I've been contemplating how to document this one for a while now. My original goal was to bring my two orchid plants back to life. I wanted to prove that I wasn't a total failure at taking care of plants and orchids are supposed to be really hardy plants. But not hardy enough. One of them suffered burn injuries when I accidentally placed a tea light candle under one of its leaves. After a while, it only had one leaf and the stem left and Andrew took the liberty of taking it out of its misery by knocking off that one last remaining leaf off the stem. The other plant, I don't even know where it is. A little before I moved, it disappeared. I think my mom took it and put it in her room. It's probably for the best. Plants seem to thrive under her care. So there it is. My first failed goal. (I guess it really didn't help that I was only home once a week to water and care for the plants but if anyone decides to give me another orchid, or any other plant, I promise to try harder and take better care of it!)

27. Create a master list of family and friend birthdays/anniversaries
This one was supposed to be another 'project' of mine. I was going to make a book out of all these special dates but I started collecting the dates on an Excel file and well, that's where it will remain until I get another urge to be creative. I think the wedding really sucked all the creative juices out of me.

As of September 25, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:35:00 +0000

23. Get a nice address book and fill it

I bought this cute little address book this past summer from a little store on Mainstreet Unionville (on sale, too). I have been meaning to fill it but with all the wedding planning and moving, I barely had a chance. It sat in my work area at home (my comfortable little space I reserved for my stuff on the floor because I had too much wedding stuff to fit on a desk) and after I moved, it sat on our desk, empty. But now that things are settling down, I finally found a moment to accomplish this goal. All those addresses I collected for the wedding sure came in handy!

As of September 2, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:44:00 +0000

5. Find a church to attend regularly
We've been going to Andrew's church every week since we've gotten married. Last weekend, I decided (because it was mostly just me who didn't think this was a good idea) that it'd be okay if we stayed a while. My reasons for not staying there was because they didn't have a good children's program for Nathan (because they don't really have any other children his age) and because they didn't have a good group for Andrew and I to join. But, this is probably the most convenient church for us to be attending right now so we'll stay.

69. Go to a nice outdoor coffee shop in a small town
This past weekend, we went camping with my family and their friends. Every year, we find a nice little town to invade and go for ice cream. This year, we ended up at Bloomfield's The County Cafe and Wine Bar where I ordered myself a Vanilla Creme. It was a scoop of smooth Kawartha's vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso. Yum!

As of August 25, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:58:00 +0000

#19: We did it! We went to Weston Montessori's open house today and ended up registering our little monkey for their Casa program this fall! It's so exciting. He went to the open house with his grandparents last week and he remembered exactly where his favourite toys were. I can already tell he's going to have his favourite centres and be a little reluctant to go to other ones but that's what we're paying big bucks for the teacher to deal with.

I can't believe he's going to be going to school already! Him with his smart little outfits and his backpack. I can't wait. But at least he'll be doing things that he enjoys with other little kids. I'm sure he'll appreciate friends who aren't 20 years older than him.

As of August 20, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:09:00 +0000

#33: On the last day of our honeymoon we "ran out" of things to do so we figured since we had a few hours to kill, a massage at the spa might be a nice way to end off the vacation. And, oh mi gosh, my body savoured those 50 minutes like it was bits of heaven. It was aching for more when the masseuse said she was done. I need to do this massage thing more often.

#57: I finally got a chance to fly through a few books over the honeymoon and it was quite enjoyable! I love being able to just pick up a book and read it without interruption (although, being interrupted by a quick sip of a mai tai is always welcomed).

The Penelopiad - Hannah
The Namesake - Andrew
Kite Runner - Jaynelle
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Miranda
Remember Me? - Jasmine
Biggles Goes To War - Andrew
Time Traveler's Wife - Miranda
Can You Keep A Secret - Jasmine

As of July 16, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:25:00 +0000

#60: I finally made use of all that scrapbooking stuff I've bought over the years and made part of my wedding guestbook! It took us almost two hours to make 4 pages but it was so worth it. I can't wait until I get rich to buy more stamping and scrapbooking stuff (because that stuff is soooo expensive! but sooo addictive).

As of June 26, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (btsoi.) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:48:00 +0000

#57: Of course, because I left my own books at home, I had to ask Andrew for a recommendation of one of his and this is what I'm adding to the list: Biggles Goes To War.

The Penelopiad - Hannah
The Namesake - Andrew
Kite Runner - Jaynelle
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Miranda
Remember Me? - Jasmine
Biggles Goes To War - Andrew