Ever since I read this post on a friend’s blog, I have not been able to get it out of my head.  Could I do it?  Could I even come up with 101 things?

Just in case you do not want to click over, let me sum up for you.  There is a project (with a website here) about doing 101 things in 1001 days.  They are very specific goals, a list you come up with yourself, to be completed in under three years.

I like lists.

It’s an obsession.  To clean, I use the list from Motivated Moms, and I am on my third one in fact.  At the beginning of each week, I make a list/calendar of recipes for the week.  Next, I complete the shopping list, then the list of random list of things that need to get done.  And just in case you did not notice, I like my Randomness lists and lists of websites and interesting articles I post for my handful of devoted readers (hi, mom and dad!).

It seems like a perfect fit, does it not?

I’m wondering if I can include items already in progress?  Hmmmm….  I will probably get ideas from other lists as well.  101 is a lot.

I’m going to go ahead and post this and edit as I go to add to the list.  Items in black are still to be completed.  Items in red are in progress.  Items in blue are completed.  Let’s see how we do.  I will probably do periodic posts to explain the background behind some of my goals.

What about you?  Are you up for the challenge?

1. Write a note-for-no-reason to people I love twice a month for a year.  2 months of 12 completed.
2. See the Grand Canyon in person.
3. Complete the family video for 2006.
4. Start and complete the family video for 2007.
5. Start and complete the family video for 2008.
6. Read Pride and Prejudice.
7. Learn and memorize a new piece of piano music (“classical”).
8. Read the Bible straight through. (Took 14 months to complete, admittedly began before this list…it was my goal to complete.)
9. Roast a whole chicken.
10. Make a loaf of bread.
11. Finish this list. (I’m serious – this is hard!)
12. Resume my “Valentine” journal for my hubby and present to him as a gift at the end of this project. You can read the story behind this journal here.
13. Work on a missions project, whether locally, within the U.S., or internationally.  I’m leaving the specifics vague on purpose.  I never know how God is going to work.
14. Finish G’s baby scrapbook album that my friend Jennifer put together so beautifully for me.
15. And the same for S’s.
16. Sponsor a Compassion child.
17. Go on a weekend camping trip with my family.
18. Cook one new dessert a month for two years. 2 of 24 completed.  (Jan. – Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies; Feb. – Apple Crisp; March – Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits)
19. Take the kids to the zoo at least once a month, if not more. (Zoo membership, gotta use it!) 4 of 12 completed.
20. Grow my own herbs. (This one is scary, I do not claim to have a green thumb in the least!)
21. Put together a complete wedding video with music, video and photos from our wedding.
22. Adopt another Golden Retriever.
23. Need a new goal...
24. Go on a weekend away with hubby three times during the course of this project. 1 of 3 completed.
25. Go skiing.  (something I’ve never done before)
26. Be debt free.
27. Visit a museum, any museum.
28. Repaint the kitchen.
29. Make curtains/drapes for the master bedroom windows.
30. Need a new goal...
31. Finish the entertainment center, living room remodel, and front room remodel.  0 of 3 completed
32. Buy a houseplant and keep it alive and healthy for at least six months, preferrably ongoing.  (This is probably necessary before attempting #20.) (And don’t laugh, this IS a reasonable goal for me.)
33. Take the family to a blueberry farm and let them go crazy over blueberries.
34. Grow my own vegetable garden.
35. Eat at The Melting Pot.
36. Get started on obtaining 501(c)(3) status for Out of the Valley Ministries, Inc. Need a new goal…
37. Take the kids to swimming lessons this summer.
38. Host at least six Girls’ Night Out’s at my home during the course of this project.  0 of 6 completed
39. Buy at least six more board games, adult or family (not children’s), during the course of this project.  The kind appropriate for dinner parties and having friends over.  0 of 6 completed.
40. Relearn and re-memorize a piece of music for piano from my college days.
41. Redo my front flowerbeds with actual pretty and colorful flowers. 0 of 3 completed.
42. Likewise, place two nice planters with pretty and colorful flowers, seasonally, on either side of my front door.
43. Mail a care package to a college student.
44. For one year, personally handmake gifts or purchase gifts handmade by other moms for all the birthday, Christmas and shower gifts of adult friends.  (1 of 12 months completed)
45. Watch The Music Man and My Fair Lady.  (No, I’ve never seen them.)
46. Read four C.S. Lewis books I have not yet read.  0 of 4 completed
47. I and my kids make handmade greeting cards for all occassions (except Christmas) for one year. 1 of 12 months completed.
48. Read a Shakespeare play that I did not read in school and watch a corresponding remake on film, even if its an adaptation, then blog about it.  Here is my blog post about it.
49. Express to a manager in person or via a handwritten note of the exceptional service of a particular employee(s) at least six times during this project. 1 of 6 completed
50. Go visit a faraway friend just because.
51. For one day at least once a month for twelve months, do not touch my computer.  (Oh, the horror…)  o of 12 completed.
52. Do this service advent calendar for one of the Christmases during the course of this project.
53. Attend a concert.
54. Attend a Deeper Still or another Living Proof Live event.
55. Memorize two scriptures a month for the next year.  2 of 24 completed
56. Attend a musical.
57. Send a handwritten encouragement note (one each) to pastors/ministers/staff at our church during the course of this project.  1 of 10+ completed.
58. Sign up for a walk for a cause close to my heart.
59. Begin piano lessons with my 4 year old with a preschool piano method series.
60. Learn how to french braid.
61. Go hiking in the mountains.
62. Start recycling on a regular basis.  (I know, I know…)
63. Either stay in a cabin in the Smokies or go home to Kentucky, but somehow find a way for my children to play and sled in the snow!
64. Watch the movie Pride and Prejudice.
65. Become more knowledgeable about wine and food pairings.
66. In order to do #61 and #58, I need a regular exercise program in place.
67. Do some kind of thankfulness/praise project for one year…listing them out on a daily basis.
68. Have a family movie night and slumber party on our living room floor.
69. Do an art or craft project with my kids once a week for the next year.  2 of 52 completed.
70. Learn how to make good cheesecake.
71. Learn Spanish (or rather, re-learn what I learned in high school) along with my husband, and teach our kids some in the process.
72. Pay for the food of someone in line behind us in a drive-thru.
73. Buy a new dress and go out on a dress-up date with my hubby.
74. Learn John 3:16 in Spanish.
75. Take an online class.
76. Research the possibilities for training a dog to be one of those dogs that visits people and kids in the hospital – a therapy dog.  (Although, the hubster would say that might be too much for me, I’ve always thought that was such a neat ministry.)
77. Read books that I own that I have not read yet.  1 of ?? completed
78. Plan to go on at least one date night a month for the next two years.  (5 of 24 completed)
79. Write out my and hubby’s love story – how we met, dating, etc.  Much older versions of our kids and grandkids may be interested.  And I may need to be reminded in my old, old age.
80. Try new combinations of eye shadow and blush and actually wear them in public.  (You have no idea how much this prospect terrifies me.  I tend to stick to old favorites.  It really does need to be a goal, don’t laugh as much as you want to.  Ok, go ahead, laugh.)
81. Go on a boat ride through a swamp.  A real, classic, big-trees, still-water, snakes-and-alligators swamp.  (I know, totally random, but it fascinates me for some reason.)
82. Volunteer with hubby at a Habitat for Humanity project.  (Don’t you love how he is being enlisted throughout this 101 in 1001  project and does not even know it yet?)
83. Plan a surprise party for someone.  (No, I do not know who yet so don’t get your hopes up.  Just sounds fun.  Do you think God had surprise parties in mind when He gave us the Thou-Shalt-Not-Lie commandment?)
84. Have friends over for dinner or lunch or dessert or something at least nine times during the course of this project.  1 of 9 completed.  (Why nine?  I don’t know, random number.  I’m getting list-delirious at this point.)
85. Write a “Letter to the Editor” to a magazine or a newspaper or some online publication expressing my respectful likes or disagreements with an article or feature.
86. Replace the flourescent light fixture in my kitchen with something not flourescent.  Anything not flourescent.  Flourescent lights are evil.  I hate them in my kitchen.  (Yes, I feel strongly about this.)
87. Expand my musical horizons by acquainting myself with the music of at least one or two new artists a month for a year.  Any style.  0 of 12 months completed.
88. Attend a play.
89. Celebrate the half-birthdays of each of my children so they can experience a summertime birthday party.  At a waterpark.  Or something like that.  0 of 2 completed
90. Renew our passports and get passports for the kids.
91. So we can go visit another country whether it be via a cruise or other type of planned vacation.
92. Give some hot coffee to the trash collectors on a cold morning when they are on our street.
93. Participate in a blog giveaway carnival.
94. Start my own bloggy carnival/meme.  (I know…a girl can dream, but it’s worth trying, isn’t it?)
95. Participate on a regular basis in at least three blog carnivals.  3 of 3 completed
96. Watch one Academy Award Best Picture movie a month for twenty-four months.  2 of 24 completed. (Feb – Out of Africa, 1986; March – West Side Story, 1962; April – Amadeus, 1985)
97. Watch the entire Godfather series.  (Nope, never seen those either.)
98. Finish a cross-stitch project that I started years ago. (Sad…)
99. Give a plate of homemade cookies or brownies to a crew of construction workers.  (They work hard!)
100. Attempt to make homemade ice cream.  (Of course it came to mind when I mentioned brownies…)
101. Send flowers or a card to someone in the hospital or rehab whom I do not know and who really needs some encouragement.

Wowzers!  I reached the end!  You have no idea how hard that was.

I reserve the right to edit this list at any time.  Right now, I am going back to the top to check off #11.  I have to start off feeling like I’m accomplishing something, right?

Here’s my deadline:  Friday, November 4, 2011

Cool:  11/4/11