Update on 101 in 1001

So Kak reminded me about this 101 in 1001 list that I made almost a year ago, and it's the first time that I've gone back and looked at it since I authored it. I had a number of "secret goals" that I didn't post on my blog, but I had written them on a Word document that I saved onto my computer that was my master list. However, due to an unexpected hard drive crash, that file (along with all my others) went into the black hole of oblivion, something that I now consider often when relying on my computer to store important data. So I have changed those goals to new ones, since I can't remember what they were. So let's see how far I've come in my first 292 days. 709 days to go!

101 in 1001

The idea is 101 goals to meet/things to do in 1001 days...
1001 days will take me from today, January 10, 2009 to October 9, 2011
(from 23 and single to 26 and married for two years!)

The Key:
Not started
In progress
Accomplished
New (replaced) goal
Fun commentary by Megan!

1. Get married
   
2. Get my third tattoo after I turn 25 ~ less than a year to go on this one... and I haven't even been thinking of ideas
   
3. Read the Bible all the way through ~ something I started and then it tapered off... good reminder
4. Grow a vegetable garden
5. Send out Christmas cards in 2009 or 2010 ~ 2009 was a bust, guess I better get on this!
   
6. Learn to live in the secret place
7. Make a habit of reading before bed
8. Buy seasons 2 through 5 of ER
9. Buy some sheet music and practice my reading skills to the point where I feel semi-comfortable sight reading ~ how about "obtain" some sheet music? I found some good free stuff online!
   
10. Spend one month eating locally
11. Visit Washington D.C.
    
12. Make this fancy lemon-cranberry cake that is kind of out of my baking realm
    
13. One candlelit and music-filled evening with Joshua
14. Take dance lessons
15. Take a Tai-chi class
16. Get a professional massage Went to this wonderful Japanese spa called Shoji the day after we got married... incredible! I told Josh that for Christmas we should just go there again and that should be our present to one another.
17. Stay at the Grove Park Inn during winter and lounge in front of their cavernous fireplace
18. Visit my cousins
19. Take a trip with Josh to the Outer Banks
20. Walk across the Mile High Bridge at Grandfather Mountain
21. Spend time listening to my grandparents’ stories and write some of them down
22. Be 100% okay with disappointing people
23. Dig for the answers to my spiritual questions, and discover why I’m asking them
24. Participate in a 3-day walk
    
25. Plan a progressive dinner party
26. Initiate a conversation with a stranger when I don’t feel like it
27. Wear a size four and stay that way
28. Make a habit of thinking differently
29. Quit soda for a year (again)… ~ Coming up in 2010...
    
30. Get contacts
31. Give away the clothes in my closet that I haven’t worn in over a year Except for some sentimental pieces...
    
32. Build a bonafide snowman
33. See what’s at the end of the yellow rope in the caves of Rumbling Bald Only more mystery!
    
34. Have an emergency fund built up completely
35. Pay off debt
36. Learn to make biscuits from scratch from Grammy
37. Learn to sew
38. Make a quilt
39. Create a filing system that is actually useful
40. Own the game Settlers of Catan thank you, Joshua
    
41. Make a homemade pie
42. Visit the Biltmore Estate when it’s decorated for Christmas, preferably with snow on the ground outside ~ no snow when I visited for Candlelight, sadly
    
43. Carry on a Christmas tradition with Joshua
44. Hike up Cold Mountain
45. Run in a race of some sort
46. Ride my bicycle at Bent Creek
47. Hike to Graveyard Falls
48. Pick blueberries at Black Balsam
49. Tutor someone in ESOL ~ her name is Amanda and I love her!
    
50. Memorize the book of 1 John
51. Visit the Library of Congress
52. Start taking people's portraits
    
53. Spend at least three weeks in Nicaragua
54. Become fluent in Spanish ~ thanks to Amanda, this might be a possibility
    
55. Introduce my sister-in-love to a particular someone who shall not be mentioned here
56. Complete the wedding day chela photo sequence
57. Buy a book about waterfall hikes in WNC
    
58. Read a book of poetry
59. Make spanakopita ten times (2/10)
60. Spend another luxurious day at Shoji Spa
    
61. Read all of my National Geographic magazines from 2008 (0/28)
62. Live in our own place
    
63. Spend a day reading by a waterfall
64. Run 10 miles on the Mountains to the Sea trail
65. Make the most comfortable bed possible for Joshua and I (down feather pillows, down feather mattress pad, high thread count sheets, duvet)
66. Get my CDL
    
67. Have a dog
68. Have a cat
69. Travel somewhere by train
70. Have $3,000 saved toward a trip to Europe
71. Become a Legacy tour guide at Biltmore Estate
    
72. Take a road trip out West
    
73. Hike to the top of Mount Mitchell
74. Use teeth-whitening strips
75. Exfoliate regularly
76. Do tech work for 20 Godspell shows (10/20)
    
77. Change my diet to the point where at least 50% of what I put in my mouth is raw
78. Start a collection of board games that could rival Heather Heather’s
79. Become proficient on guitar
    
80. Grow out my hair until these 1001 days are up (excluding trims of up to two inches)
81. Buy a bookshelf
82. Slide down Sliding Rock ten times (0/10)
83. Write, shoot, and edit a documentary on Doris Howard
    
84. Hike up to the top of Looking Glass Rock
85. Hike to the top of the Mount Pisgah Summit when the autumn foliage is at its height
86. Go camping
87. Take a trip with Matt and Breanna
88. Email Deborah regularly
    
89. Try to find Skinny Dip Falls
90. Visit all 14 state parks in Western North Carolina (0/14)
91. Take a trip with Joshua to Highlands/Cashiers, NC and hike as much as possible
92. Read 50 books (0/50) ~ Since I haven't been keeping up with this list, I haven't recorded how many books I read in 2009. Oh well.
    
93. Learn to make banana bread
    
94. Go stargazing with Joshua ten times (2/10)
95. Go to India with Joshua
    
96. Wear a different necklace every day for two weeks (0/14)
97. Discipline myself to work as unto the Lord, not unto men.
    
98. Make a work of art and send it to K-Smeltz
99. Go on a plant-gathering expedition for tincture making.
    
100. Take my sister-in-love on a trip
101. Enjoy every moment of my wedding day I think the only unenjoyable part was after four hours of taking photos (before the wedding) when my feet hurt and I was hot and just wanted to sit down and cool off and marry this man already!

So I think I unintentionally accomplished more than I thought I would! In order to complete my list I'll have to actually start thinking about it, though...

Autumnal

Autumn has arrived, complete with gusty cold winds that send golden leaves swirling through the air and bright blue skies that simply cannot be rivaled. It just makes me happy.

Happy because my cheeks get rosy from stepping outside. Happy because it's wonderful weather for drinking my favorite french vanilla hot chocolate and mulling cider that I bought locally and spiced perfectly. Happy because I wore a scarf for the first time last week, one that was knitted for me by a loved one. Happy because we've piled our bed with blankets and are cold enough to snuggle together for warmth when we crawl underneath the covers at night. Happy because it's finally fireplace weather!

The foliage isn't at its peak yet, but it's a beautiful process. I am so grateful that I live here, and that nature declares the glory of God in such a breathtaking way, right outside my bedroom window.

Right now Joshua is learning to make herbal tinctures from our friend Vicki, and I'm sitting at her laptop, feeling cozy and content and hopeful. There's a teakettle boiling on the stove, and we just cleaned up dinner dishes, and there's a playful cat digging through a recyclable shopping bag at my feet. It's just one of those perfect atmospheres, you know?

I know. And I'm joyful. :)