Wow! I can’t believe I’m already halfway through my fourth 101 in 1001 list, but sure enough, it’s been 500 days since I kicked it off.
If you’re unfamiliar, a 101 in 1001 list is a list of 101 things you’d like to accomplish in the next 1,001 days, which is approximately 2.75 years. It’s longer than a new year’s resolution, but shorter than a bucket list, which is a really helpful timeframe for me to wrap my brain around!
I’m currently on my fourth iteration, with the next one starting immediately after one ends. I try to check in roughly every 100 days, so let’s see where we’re at now that we’re halfway through.
4 Goals Completed
While I’m still *technically* behind, I’m making regular progress, which I’m very proud of! Here are the four goals I completed in the last 100 days.
9. Hike 5 times.
I finally got my fourth and fifth hikes in back in August and September! And of course have gone on more than 5 hikes since then. I figured that would be the case—once I start, I’ll remember how much I liked it and want to do more! We finished up the list with Dune Ridge Trail at Indiana Dunes National Park back in August and Ledges Trail at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in September.
31. Landscape the front yard.
Whew! We finally feel proud of our front landscaping now that we finished wrapping the edges of the flower beds in brick. We’ve got plenty we still want to do (we’re not a big fan of lawns in general, so we want to bring the landscaping further down toward the street), but it at least no longer feels like an overgrown afterthought.
47. Travel to 5 Holiday Inn Club Vacations resorts (not including Orange Lake Resort).
I’m so excited to have this one crossed off my list! I work for Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and we have 32 resorts across the U.S. and Mexico, but before this list, I had only been to one: Orange Lake Resort, the one we stay at each time we fly in for work. (Seriously, I’m beginning to know that place like the back of my hand.) I visited my fifth resort outside of Orange Lake in October: Mount Ascutney Resort in Vermont! It was such a great trip, and I’m so glad we made the effort to stay at the resort.
72. Make something with macrame.
Macrame is one of those hobbies that I’ve always wanted to do but never really devoted the time to. I made hemp and embroidery floss friendship bracelets like it was my job back in grade school, and macrame is basically the adult version of that. I got supplies for myself back in August, but they sat in my office closet for two months. Finally I bit the bullet and made a hat organizer for myself over the weekend! (More on that later.)
10 Goals in Progress
Meanwhile, I’ve got another 10 goals in progress!
1. Beat my past 101 in 1001 record of 68.
Slowly but steadily getting there! I’m feeling very confident that I’ll beat the record that I set during my second 101 in 1001 list this time around.
3. Get a Duolingo French score of 30.
My best friend is French, so I’m trying to learn French despite only having learned Spanish up until recently. 😅 Duolingo tracks your CEFR score as you progress, and I’m trying to get to level 30 by the end of this list. That means I will be able to “handle simple conversations about daily topics.”
As of check-in 4, I was at level 10, and I have since gone up to level 14! I’m about halfway to level 15 now. I’m trying to practice every day, and am currently on a 122 day streak! (Sure, there are a handful of streak freezes in there, but nobody’s perfect.)
13. Finish my allergy shot treatment.
I’ve had pretty bad allergies all my life, and back in December of 2021 I finally got retested and started allergy shot treatments. (When the allergist came back into the room to see the results of my test, she took one look at me and said “oh you poor thing.” So if that gives you an idea of my allergeis…)
Typically the process takes 3-5 years, depending on how often you go and how extreme your allergies are. I’m currently getting my allergy shots at least once per month! Although now that I’ve hit my deductible, I’m trying to go even more often so that it’s cheaper, and then I can back off again starting in January. [Insert obligatory comment about how broken the healthcare system in the U.S. is.]
37. Organize my baseball hats.
I mentioned earlier that I’ve successfully made an item with macrame, and it’s my baseball hat organizer! I made a long, thin design with macrame and knotted some metal clips all the way down. I use those to attach my hats by the bill, and voila—a long line of my baseball hats! Of course, I have so many hats that I still need to make a second one, so this item can’t be crossed off quite yet. I’m planning to start the second one this week, though!
78. Publish 15 blog posts (excluding 101 in 1001 posts).
I really want to get back into blogging, but I’m having a hard time making it a habit again. Which is very evident by the fact that I wrote no other blog posts between check-in 2 and check-in 4, and since then I’ve only written one other. But it’s a fun one! Florida in February, Or: That Time I Met Joey Fatone. (Yes, he’s as delightful and kind as you want him to be.)
79. Read all of my Book of the Month picks.
I’ve been a Book of the Month subscriber since November of 2021, which means I’ve acquired a LOT of books. I set out aiming to read all of my BOTM picks during this list, but the problem is… I keep buying more. I started at 42 at the beginning of the list, and I’m now at 79, so my list has NEARLY doubled. Thankfully I’ve paused my subscription for now, so it shouldn’t be growing more for a few months.
That being said, I’ve read 6 more books since my last check-in: The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer (loved), The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (really liked) The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center (enjoyed), The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren (really liked), This Spells Love by Kate Robb (meh), and You, Again by Kate Goldbeck (also meh).
80. Read and / or get rid of 25 books I already own.
On a similar note, I’ve got a LOT of books that I’ve picked up over the years (especially from Little Free Libraries; I have a hard time saying no to free stuff) that I want to simply read and get rid of. I just need to… actually read and get rid of them. Since my last check-in, I’ve read and given away one more book: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn.
82. Read the Animal Ark series.
I absolutely loved this series when I was in grade school. In fact, it made me want to be a vet when I grew up, despite being extremely queasy and unable to imagine putting an animal down. In my last 101 in 1001 list, I collected all 50 books, and this time around I’m reading them all. I was in a bit of a slump with them, but this past weekend I sat down and finished the book I had been reading: Dolphin in the Deep. That means I’m now 22 books down!
85. Read 10 self-help books.
I read another self-help book this month! It’s not your typical self-help book, which I really enjoy. It’s called Goblin Mode by McKayla Coyle, and it’s basically about how to be cozy and weird and anti-capitalist. My kinda book! I highly recommend it.
91. Watch all of Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
And finally, I’m still trucking my way through Drag Race. Fun fact, my husband’s second cousin was one of the big names in Season 5, and since I had never seen it, I decided to finally watch all of them. I’m currently in the middle of Season 14 of 16. I’ve only watched 5 episodes since my last check-in, but cozy season feels like a great time to grab some popcorn and watch some dramatic reality tv.
So there you have it! Halfway done, and 42 goals complete. While I’m not technically on track for all 101 items, 42% feels like really solid progress. I can’t wait to cross even more off soon!
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