# 32

32. Organize a family Christmas picture (1/3)

I was not able to get a group shot of each family like I wanted to, no one seemed interested at all. I was able to get a bunch of shots with Geoff in front of trees at the various Christmas activities, as well as a shot with my dad Christmas morning, a shot of Greg and Aggie on Christmas Eve, and a shot with Christopher and David on Boxing Day. At least I will have something to send to Grandma for her birthday this year, even if it isn't the great pictures like I got last year. I am determined to get real family pictures next year, and I will try to do it before Christmas.

# 13, # 16 and # 20

13. Make cookies from scratch
16. Make a dessert for Boxing Day (1/3)
20. Try at least two new recipes a month (4/68)

Not only did I make dessert, but I made three types of cookies from scratch! That is three items down (well, 16 and 20 are repeating things, but you know what I mean). I made gingersnaps, which I have made before, decorated with green and red sugar, and two new recipes, chocolate drops and sugar cookies. This time I did remember to take some pictures of the process, as well as one picture of the final display at my mom's (without the gingersnaps, those somehow never got served and ended up directly in my dad's cookie tin).

# 15

15. Make a dessert for Christmas dinner (1/3)

I was going to make dessert for Christmas, but Sue actually asked if I could make the baked spinach artichoke instead. I was in too much of a rush, so I didn't get any pictures taken, but I'm one year down!

# 24 and # 25

24. Have a Christmas/holiday party (1/3)
25. Get together with friends once a month (4/34)










This year we have to be a bit frugal, so instead of the full blown party that we had originally wanted to have, we did a small fondue party with Kristin, Austin, Christine and Tedd. It was fun and great to get people to our apartment for a change.

# 33

33. Send Christmas cards each year (1/3)

Done! Feels so good to be done with this early this year, I doubt I will be able to next year.

# 87

87. Get a new camera

Since our camera was starting to die, Geoff and I decided that we would need a new and soon. So we took advantage of Black Friday sales and ordered a new camera as an early Christmas gift to eachother. It's a Canon Power Shot SD970 IS, which is a newer version of the camera that Geoff had given me for my birthday three years ago. We are currently playing with the settings and figuring out how to use all the new features. I am really looking forward to using it at the holidays this year (and maybe on # 32, family Christmas photos).

# 20

20. Try at least two new recipes a month (2/68)

I've been slow getting this one going (like I seem to be slow with all of these), but I forgot to mention yesterday that the apple pie was actually a new recipe, which brings this item a little closer to my goal (after the complete and utter failure that was the chicken picata which I never even wrote about). The pictures are in the post below.

# 14

14. Bake a pie for Thanksgiving (1/3)

And so I did! I will admit that I had help from Geoff, but it was completely from scratch. It was an apple pie, Geoff cut up the apples for me and helped me put it in and out of the oven, but I did everything else. I forgot to get a picture of the work in progress, but here it is in my (messy) kitchen and then at my mom's before it was served (along with one of the other desserts, my pumpkin bars).

# 25 and # 26

25. Get together with friends once a month (3/34)
26. Organize a regular game night

Last night Geoff and I headed down to Christine and Tedd's for game night. I'm not sure if this really counts towards 26, since we haven't set a schedule or anything, but it's a start!

# 25

25. Get together with friends once a month (2/34)

Halloween was the other night, and Geoff and I went into the city to meet Kristin, Austin, Christine and Tedd. Good times were had by all, especially Geoff, who hasn't made it to a Halloween party in over five years.

Go here to see more photos.

# 90

90. Caption all the people in our digital photographs

This is becoming much easier with the new version of Picasa, as I can tag the photos. I'm not nearly done yet, but since I have nearly 7000 photos, it is a slow going process. I have gotten a good chunk done, but this is going to take a lot longer than I originally thought.

# 37

37. Participate in one charity walk per year (0/3)

This was a bust, due to weather and the fact that no one wanted to go if Rebecca wasn't going (she wasn't). I'm thinking that it is too late in the year to participate in something else, most of them are done by now. So this is going to be pushed off until next year.

# 64

64. Go to a concert










Geoff and I went to U2 last night, and it was amazing. Muse was the opening act, and I really enjoyed watching them. But they were nothing compared to the main act. U2 really knows how to put on an entertaining show, and the packed stadium really responded. There is a reason that they sell out their concerts.

# 84

84. Read 2 new books a month (3/68)

I just finished reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I really enjoyed it, and had a hard time putting it down. It wasn't as good as the Davinci Code, and I didn't like it as much as I liked Angels and Demons, but that also might have been the subject. It was definitely entertaining, and I would recommend it.

# 37

37. Participate in one charity walk per year (0/3)

I've signed up for the Lupus Walk for this October. Now on to the fund-raising. Here is my personal page, and I've linked it to Facebook.

# 65

65. Go to a Yankee game










Geoff and I went with his parents and brother and sister-in-law to Yankee Stadium to see the game against Baltimore. They didn't win (stupid second inning), but it was fun to get to spend some time with everyone. We don't get to do a lot of stuff with his family, but this was a good time.

# 84

84. Read 2 new books a month (2/68)

I just finished Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella. I really enjoyed it. I liked the first one so it is no surprise that I liked the sequel as well. I do plan on reading all the books in the series at some point.

# 76

76. Find a new job

Tomorrow I start my new job at the Maritime Hotel. Finally!

# 45

45. Have a monthly date-night with Geoff (1/34)

So last night Geoff and I went to dinner and a movie. It was nice to get out like that, since we don't do it very often. I wasn't the biggest fan of the movie, we saw District 9, but it was ok. It very much reminded me of Cloverfield, which I also wasn't the biggest fan of.

But yay for seeing a movie in an actual movie theatre.

# 84

84. Read 2 new books a month (1/68)

So I just finished reading Sign of the Cross by Chris Kuzneski. It was okay. Definitely a quick read, but not amazing. I do like books that deal with conspiracies and alternate theories of religion, but there was something about this writing style that I just didn't enjoy very much. Maybe it was the way that he ended every chapter by saying that some big change was going to happen soon. Then again, it was entertaining, and what more can you ask for from a book?

# 98

98. Create a blog for this journey

One down, one hundred to go.

The List

Home
1. Move into a two bedroom apartment
2. Save towards a down payment
3. Go through and clean out my closet
4. Get a hutch to organize plates, glasses and dinning area
5. Get a Blu-Ray player
6. Get a bookshelf
7. Start using "green" cleaning products
8. Do a deep clean of the apartment once a month
9. Go through and organize items in Dan and Sue's basement
10. Frame more pictures around the apartment

Cooking
11. Make bread from scratch
12. Make cake from scratch
13. Make cookies from scratch
14. Bake a pie for each Thanksgiving
15. Make a dessert for each Christmas dinner
16. Make a dessert for each Boxing Day
17. Make something for each family gathering
18. Learn to wok
19. Use the crockpot for dinner sixty times
20. Try at least two new recipes a month

Family/Friends
21. Visit Grandma for her 100th birthday
22. Have people over for my birthday
23. Have people over for Geoff's birthday
24. Have a Christmas/holiday party each year
25. Get together with friends once a month
26. Organize a regular game night
27. Have brunch with the girls every two months
28. Host a dinner party for friends
29. Have both parents over for dinner together
30. Send/give birthday cards to all immediate family
31. Send pictures to Grandma at least 4 times a year
32. Organize a family Christmas picture each year
33. Send Christmas cards each year
34. Scan old family photos
35. Do more research on Mom's side of the family tree
36. Do more research on Geoff's side of the family tree

Church/Charity
37. Participate in one charity walk per year
38. Participate in the midnight run at church once a year
39. Find a volunteer opportunity to participate in
40. Attend Easter sunrise service each year
41. Get involved in a church group
42. Attend Sunday services at least twice a month

Marriage
43. Save money for a 5 year anniversary trip
44. Take a beach vacation with Geoff
45. Have a monthly date-night with Geoff
46. Stay in and cook dinner together once a month
47. Go on a picnic with Geoff
48. Spend a weekend with Geoff and no interruptions
49. Take a site seeing trip to Philadelphia with Geoff
50. Take a site seeing trip to Boston with Geoff
51. Take a site seeing trip to Washington DC with Geoff
52. Go to the Bodies Exhibit with Geoff
53. Go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Geoff
54. Go to the Cathedral of St John the Divine with Geoff
55. Go to the Cloisters with Geoff
56. Go to a musical with Geoff
57. Go to a play with Geoff
58. Go to a Cirque de Soliel show with Geoff
59. Get marriage certificate corrected
60. Finish wedding scrapbook

Personal
61. Renew my British passport with my married name
62. Renew my American passport with my married name
63. Learn a new language
64. Go to a concert
65. Go to a Yankee game
66. Go to a Rangers' game
67. Go to the Statue of Liberty
68. Go to Ellis Island
69. Go to the top of the Empire State Building
70. Go to the Museum of Natural History
71. Spend a day in Central Park
72. Spend a day downtown
73. Take the Circle Line
74. Go on vacation somewhere I have never been before
75. Revamp and update resume
76. Find a new job
77. Get a certification in event planning
78. Organize all paperwork
79. Pay off debt
80. Increase emergency savings by three months
81. Do not go out to eat for one month
82. Have breakfast in bed
83. Keep my New Years resolutions
84. Read 2 new books a month
85. Go one whole day at home without touching the computer or blackberry
86. Get a new laptop
87. Get a new camera
88. Print and organize photos
89. Back up digital photos
90. Caption all the people in our digital photographs
91. Learn to knit
92. Learn to crochet
93. Take ballet classes
94. Take tap classes
95. Take jazz classes
96. Work out three times a week
97. Get back to the size I was when I started J. Mendel

The List
98. Create a blog for this journey
99. Take pictures of this journey
100. Put $5 in savings for each completed item
101. Make a new list of 101 things

The Mission and Rules

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Time Period:
August 12, 2009 - May 9, 2012

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 organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.