I cannot believe that it's time to start a new 101 list. This will be the third 101 list that Stephanie and I have worked on together. I can't say completed since I unfortunately haven't been able to cross all of my items off. She is a machine and crossed all of her last list off. We're technically starting a month early so the list ends at the end of the year.
After a TON of thought and work here is my 101 in 1001 List #3. Are you working through your own 101 list?
Blog
1. Finish 5 items off my old 101 listI unfortunately didn't get as much done as I would like so I thought it would be a good one!
2. Write a complete list of companies I want to pitch to and pitch to 10
I always have so many places that I think of but usually forget. This way it's a complete list. My plan is to pitch to more but I'm setting the goal at 10.
3. Have 6 blog weekend with Stephanie
We usually end up doing almost this many blog weekends since we end up with free weekends but now we're going to go official.
4. Update media kit every 6 months
Now that I actually have a media kit I need to work on updating it regularly as opposed to doing so in the five minutes before I need to send the pitch email!
5. Have 5 posts pre-scheduled per month
Scheduling anything seems to be the bane of my existence. I want to focus on my content and really building things that way since I know it's the cornerstone.
6. Focus on a social media platform 3 months at a time each year (Focusing on instagram means: post daily, promote hashtag, find 10 new accounts to follow)
I've been working on this already and have seen a good increase but I've been bouncing back and forth every couple of weeks. This is a real focus on just the one platform.
7. Improve the blog in one major way
This might mean redoing my layout, implementing an index, or something else. I haven't decided yet but I think I need do something new.
8. Take a course on how to use a DSLR camera
I've been really enjoying my new DSLR but have no idea how many of the functions work. There has to be a good class online or in person somewhere.
9. Pitch to 50% of the restaurants & desserts for free in exchange for a blog post
I found this amazing 50 desserts in Chicago that you must eat. I plan on eating all 50 (see the Chicago section below) but I would love to have them turn into sponsored posts.
10. Develop hashtag lists for common photos I post so I can just copy those each time
Making my life waaaaay easier for all my social media platforms. I also want to have a list of accounts to tag as well.
11. Work my way through the Genius Bloggers toolkit
I invested in this last fall and haven't had a moment to work my way through. I think this will be one of the first ones I want to work on.
Chicago
12. Conquer all 50 dessertsThere is an article from Spoon University that's 50 Epic Desserts to Eat in Chicago Before You Die. I want to conquer this list!
13. Enjoy 10 rooftop bars
Chicago is so well known for it's rooftops in the spring and summer. I'm sad to say I've never actually enjoyed one so here's to enjoying a Chicago tradition.
14. Take a helicopter ride over Chicago
I'm not sure how I'd feel riding in a helicopter I think it would be a bit scary but think about the amazing photographs.
15. Create a Chicago Top 50 Bucket list
I've always wanted to make my own ultimate Chicago bucket list to share with everyone. I have so many opinions and they just need to be shared.
16. Take a Water Taxi
I told one of my friends that I had never been on a water taxi and she was more than slightly mortified haha. Clearly I need to work on that!
17. Eat at every German restaurant in the Chicagoland area
German food is one of my favorites and there are some wonderful restaurants in the area. Many of which I haven't visited.
18. Experience three new Chicago ethnic neighborhoods
Some of these neighborhoods have been on my list for so long. They have amazing food and wonderful museums. When I say experience I mean a meal and something else like visiting a museum, shopping, etc.
19. Visit 10 Chicago area museums I’ve never visited before
This guy is pretty self explanatory. As always trying to cross all the museums of my list.
20. Do Metra Bar crawl
I think this would be a great way to experience new areas of the city and suburbs.
DIY
21. Make a card with Cricut for someone in my life once a month just becauseMy Cricut is one of my favorite crafting tools and cards are something I've done a couple times. This task will allow me to get better at using the Cricut and do something nice for people.
22. Roast chestnuts
We sing about it every year at Christmas and I see them in the grocery store. I want to see what all the hype is about.
23. Cook 50 new Pampered Chef recipes
What could be better than enjoying a new dish and getting to write off the groceries at the same time?
24. Have at least one meal per week with no meat
Kevin and I have been working hard to eat healthier. Going one day without meat will help the waistline and the pocketbook.
25. Knit 5 crescent dish rags for Gamma Phi sisters
I love knitting but don't need anything for myself. Knitting these dishrags is a little more challenging than my usual one and will be nice to give it to someone else.
26. Create an over sized backyard game with Bill for the WI house
Most of the weekends we spend in Wisconsin there is always down time where we're hanging out, twiddling our thumbs. It would be fun to be able to play a cool over sized game like connect four.
27. Do a photo video recap of each year
I love making these little recap videos. I think it's a great way to remember the year that's passed and get ready for a new year.
28. Learn to make 5 new dishes that I love (i.e. naan from scratch)
There are certain dishes or recipes that I love but would feel so nervous making on my own, like homemade naan. Well it's time to get out of my comfort zone.
29. Finish three scrapbooks
I have several started and it always seems to take forever for me to finish. Like how I started our 2012 honeymoon one last year and haven't done anything with it since December. *hangs head in shame*
Family and Friends
30. Use up everything in my gift drawerI'm an early buyer of Christmas gifts but sometimes this means I forget about what I bought and buy something else. So it stays in the gift drawer for way longer than it should! Going to clean out that drawer and give everyone the gifts that have been hanging out.
31. Send out virtual Christmas, birthday, anniversary and other occasion cards each year
On my last 101 List I sent out physical cards but since we're working on cutting back on clutter and costs it's time to go digital.
32. Write down family recipes
I don't want recipes like my grandpa's sauce and meatballs to be lost so my plan is to write down all of the family recipes. Good thing we don't have tons of them!
33. Have a Lane day once a year
Last year I took a vacation day my Mom, Bethany, Elowen, Lane and I spent the morning enjoying the Bartlett Depot Museum and lunch at a train themed restaurant since Lane loves trains. I want to have a day like this where it's all about Lane and we have fun and bond. Gotta stay the favorite!
34. Have a ladies’ thing once a quarter with Mom & Bethany (dinner, fun event, etc.)
We did pretty well with a similar task on my first 101 list so it's time to bring it back. Plus I know that Bethany could use more adult time since she's been a stay at home mom.
35. Have brunch/lunch with Rachel once a quarter
Life can get really busy and you don't even realize that it's been almost 6 months since you've actually gotten together in person. Time to fix that!
36. Get together with Becky once a quarter
See #35!
37. Dinner at the table with Kevin twice a week WITHOUT distractions
We are good about having dinner together but there is usually some sort of distraction. I don't want us to get any further into that hobby
38. Do a making thing with Jackie once a year (ie mosaics, etc.)
This has really developed into our thing that we actually do things! Last year we tried out hand at glass blowing ornaments and we've made mosaics. Here's to trying our hands at new crafty things.
39. Host one get together once a year
Now that we're in a bigger place we could totally have some people over but do we? Noooooo. That requires cleaning. Maybe after we're most of the way through our year of organizing we'll be good to go haha.
Finances and Adulting
40. Save up 7k in our travel fundWe want to go places and seem to have expensive tastes. So we're going to work hard and save hard for those trips.
41. Take care of three Dad related things (transferring Ancestry account, etc)
With Dad's passing there have definitely been things that have been left out there and need to be taken care of. I can help out by doing the leg work so it's easy for my Mom to do the final bit.
42. Pay off at least half of both of our cars
Man it was so nice not having debt for those few years but when your cars are on their last legs you need to get a new one. I was able to use corporate perks to get better prices so these cars weren't as pricey as they could be. We don't want to hang on to that debt longer than need be though.
43. Double the amount of our investible assets
More saving ... see another theme appearing here? We've got big future plans so it will take a lot of saving.
44. Complete taxes in January each year
The last couple of years we've waited until our tax guys very last day. No more running around at the end. We're going to be a lean mean tax submitting machine.
45. Go without eating out for a month
To achieve those saving goals it's going to take some sacrificing and one area we can do that is our eating out. Plus it's never the most healthy meals either.
46. Create important documents like a will, power of attorney, etc
We don't have any of these documents. I know that since we're young and don't have kids it's not quite as important right now. It's better to have them done and only need to be updated later.
47. Figure out where to live next
This debate has been raging for YEARS! We still can't agree. Time to fix that.
Fun
48. Do every puzzle we ownSo many puzzles so little time. Going to make that time now. There are some that will be sent out to the garage sale after this too.
49. Attend a live taping of Judge Mathis
He's one of my favorites and I think it would be so much fun to see a live taping.
50. Read all the books in the O’Malley Saga by Bertrice Small
These are some of my favorite historical romance novels. I've never read every single one in the series though since some are out of print. I'll have to start combing my local libraries to find some.
51. Kick Stephanie’s butt at Disney music trivia
She's already pretty much said I'm going to do this but I want to make sure that we actually do this. We've only been talking about it for almost two years!
52. Do three things within walking distance of our condo (i.e. Lynfryd winery tasting, Roselle fest, etc.)
Most people think that there isn't much to do in the suburbs but even in a smaller burb like Roselle there is tons to do. Lots of which is actually within walking distance of our condo. This is definitely a good summer task.
53. Read 10 books just because I'm interested in them
I've had specific books ones on the last couple of lists and while I wanted to read the books they just weren't interesting at that time. I was finding other books that didn't fit the task to read. So now I'm just going to enjoy it.
54. Go mermaid swimming
Seriously this is a thing and I'm so excited!!
55. Participate in Disney bar trivia night
Several bars in the area have Disney trivia nights and I need to go and dominate!
56. Go to drive in movie
Drive ins are a dying breed and I want to experience this iconic American past time before they're gone.
Improve Myself
57. Track what I’m eating three days a weekTracking my food has always been really difficult. I start out really well and they fall out of the habit. I know that when I do track I see results. Just gotta do it!
58. Track spare time for two weeks each season and fix one time suck
I keep saying I have too much to do and not enough time. I know it's not the case. There are time sucks that just dominate my life some days. If I can figure out what they are I can fix them.
59. Break a bad habit
We all have habits that we know are bad ones. Sometimes these habits can affect your health, sanity and entire life. I'm hoping I'll be able to one of my bad ones, I haven't decided which one yet.
60. Dabble three times
My color analysis was a Dabble and I love how I could learn something new but not have to fork out a lot of dough. Especially if it ended up being something I didn't really enjoy. Dabble has topics on everything too so I can try something totally out of my comfort zone.
61. Complete a 5k walk each year
Bethany has gotten into 5K runs but I don't enjoying running. I told her I would do walks with her. We have already signed up to do an inflatable one in September so I've got one on the calendar!
62. Watch a Ted talk per week
Everyone is always talking about how awesome Ted talks are. I had been avoiding them for whatever weird reason. I actually started this task already and have loved these talks. I told Kevin I would send him the ones I thought he should hear and it's been every one so far.
63. Take two classes at the local community college
I have no clue what I will take. Maybe a language class. Maybe a history class. Who knows but I love learning so I thought it would be fun to do a more structured class.
64. Reach my daily step goal at least three days per week
Sitting at a desk most days can make it really difficult to get your daily amount of steps in. Sitting at a desk all day doesn't allow me to be active and loose weight. Gaining wait yes but not loosing. If I can keep up with getting my steps goal I feel it will help with my long term health and fitness goals.
65. Invest in myself
I usually try and spend as little money as possible on things that can actually improve me. Now that I'm actually an adult and feeling it I've decided to invest in myself. I think my investment will be hiring a trainer for a year. I want and need to loose weight but this time around I know it's going to take more work
Organize
66. Organize my childhood photos (birth-high school)I'm sort of dreading that I put photo ones on the list again. I've realized over the years that these projects are just so HUGE. I'm hoping if I only work on the organizing part I might be able to accomplish them.
67. Complete year of organizing
In case you've missed it Kevin and I are in our year of organizing. It's been interesting so far and we're still plugging away. Hopefully by the end of the year we will be a lean, mean, organized machine.
68. Go through all of my stuff at mom’s house
I've done this before but now that I'm a few more years later it's time again. I've realized that nope I've never actually touched that textbook from my masters program or looked through that box. I don't have much left there but it's time to give her back that space.
69. Go through all of Dad’s records and pull the ones I want to keep
We've already started this project sort of but I want to make sure I'm keeping the historical documents. Like the program from his installation at his first church or his college grades.
70. Stop treating my car and purse like a storage space
I am so terrible about just plopping stuff in both of these spaces. Then I don't touch whatever it is for months. Seriously months. It's so ridiculous I can't even.
71. Keep "All Mail" in each of my emails under 500
As Stephanie can attest I've been working on getting my "All Mails" down to that number the past few weeks. I'm hoping to start off or at least pretty closely start off the new list below 500 on all three of my emails.
72. Update my address book, make it a complete address book by adding email addresses and important dates
My current address book is a couple years old at this point and I know people have moved. I love the idea of having all the important info in one place. Dad was really good about this.
73. Organize my grandmother’s photographs
See number 65
Professional
74. Identify and simplify 10 things that stress me outSo much could be simplified in my life. I know it could be. Kevin knows things could be simplified. We just need to work on doing it.
75. Apply for SHA (Seminar on Historical Administration) or ynpn cohort
These both seem like really opportunities for me professionally. I want to do something that will advance my skill set.
76. Create my own professional portfolio website
I've got the URL and the back end of the website ready to go. Just need to work on getting content up there. Like most things in my life it's about taking time for content! Another theme for this list : D
77. Publish an e-book
I think it would be neat to publish one on museums or Chicago. I have NO idea how to do that. If anyone knows let me know.
78. Track my PC expenses and earnings closely for 6 months to see exactly how much I’m making
I know that I make some money from Pampered Chef but I have no idea how it compares to my expenses. Gotta work on that.
79. Get rid of all of my old Pampered Chef catalogs in a business productive manner (i.e. leave at dentist etc.)
I have so many catalogs from past seasons. I hate to just toss them since I spent money on them. Going to work on figuring out places that are willing to let me put them out. Good for business and it gets them out of the house.
80. Complete Digital Archive Specialist Certificate program
I've known about this certificate for a few years but as a whole it can be sort of pricey. Sometimes you might have to go somewhere else for an in person class. I think it would be so beneficial for me though.
81. Write a professional article
No clue what it would be about but I want to do it!
82. Apply for and win an award for a professional conference
I've done this for the museum but I'm talking about a personal one. I'm not sure if I can do this at this point since many awards are for people who have been in the field longer. We shall see.
Secret
83. Secret Stephanie item84. Secret Goal 1
85. Secret Goal 2
86. Secret Goal 3
As usual I've got some secret goals. I'm not going to tell you what they are at this point! You'll just have to wait and find out. Stephanie also has something secretive that she won't tell me but told me it's a secret goal. Hopefully she'll reveal it April 1 because the suspense is killing me!
Style
87. Invest in a new winter coatMy coat is close to being done with it's life span. I'll definitely need a new one sometime within this list. I usually go for a cheap one. I'm thinking maybe a longer down one since we do live in Chicago.
88. Finish my holy grail make up quest
I've been working hard on this during the current list but won't finish it.
89. Wardrobe app
I want to track my cloths and make new outfits. I tend to wear the same thing over and over again. There are some apps out there that could help with this issue.
90. Figure out a signature outfit that makes me feel amazing
Feeling amazing has not been happening lately. I don't want to feel the way I feel in clothes anymore. I decided that I need to find that outfit that just makes me feel amazing, sexy and glow. We should all have that outfit.
97. Invest in three classic must have pieces
Getting older I'm realizing that investing a little more in a piece that will last multiple years instead of one and not make my feet or other body parts feel like crap is very important. Plus having a classic piece that never goes out of style is very handy.
92. Save up money for and have done laser hair removal on two areas
I've been looking into options. Some people have also mentioned Tria. I'm just really sick of shaving. It's sooooo annoying.
93. Paint nails twice a month
I always seem to want to paint my nails at the worst possible time, like right before dinner. So then I never do. I'm hoping if I schedule it out I'll actually paint them. Plus pampering oneself is always a good idea.
94. Learn three great ways to wear a blanket scarf
I've got a couple now and every time I try and wear it Kevin says something like "is it supposed to look like that." That does not instill confidence in my scarf tying abilities.
Travel
95. Long weekend trip to Indy & stay in train car at Crown Plaza Downtown Union StationI found this hotel online when looking up random things and it looks super cool! Taking a trip to Indy would be a nice long weekend for us since it's only a three and a half hour drive.
96. Visit Williamsburg, VA
Kevin and I have been talking about visiting my aunt and uncle who live in Williamsburg for like 4 years. We just need to commit and do it!
97. Sit down with Kevin and make our ultimate travel bucket list
Planning for London was a bit last minute and we missed out on deals. This really happened because we were debating where to go. Since we both know we want to do more travelling it would be nice to have our bucket list (in order of importance) ready so when those amazing deals pop up we're ready to book.
98. Invest in two smaller suitcases for smaller trips
I only have a really large rolling suitcase and a hanging one. We've had to borrow smaller ones from parents. Since we're planning on taking more trips it makes sense to save up and invest in these. Already letting family know about this for our upcoming anniversary!
99. Eat at 1 Triple D restaurant during each trip we take
I love finding Triple D (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) restaurants to enjoy on our trips. They're always fantastic. Bethany already has one on the list for Texas next week.
100. Visit Charleston, SC
I just booked our hotel for this trip, we're going for a long July 4th weekend! So stoked for all of the amazing history in this city.
101. See the Northern Lights
This one was on my first 101 list and I wasn't able to cross it off, darn clouds. I really want to see them so badly. So here's to planning for this opportunity.
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