I’m excited to share another update on my second 101 in 1001 list! I’m now 40% of the way through my time, which is crazy! Normally I’d be doing check-in #4 now, so I would be doing one check-in per 100 days, but the third check-in happened during my hiatus, so I skipped it.
The good news is, I’m right on track with 42 items completed out of 101! Let’s take a gander at all of the updates since my last check-in.
2 Goals Being Changed
I’m all about my 101 in 1001 list evolving with me. Why keep working toward the list if half the items on it no longer serve me? So each time I do a check-in, I allow myself to change any uncompleted tasks that don’t make sense any more.
Here’s what I’m taking out:
- 5. Have a conversation in French.
- 20. Fulfill all of the prerequisites for Advanced Adult Aerial classes at the Cincinnati Circus.
And in place of those, here’s what I’m adding:
- 5. Have a conversation in Spanish.
- 20. Climb a 5.8 wall rock climbing.
I decided to give up on French because I’m really self-conscious about my French accent, to the point where I never want to actually speak French out loud. So, I’m switching back to Spanish, which I’m much more comfortable speaking. I haven’t had a conversation in Spanish in easily 10 years, though, so it’s still a fun challenge!
And I was so sad to have to remove my aerial silks goal, but I haven’t been able to find an aerial silks place near me to continue after the move from Cincinnati to Kalamazoo. Instead, Sean and I picked up rock climbing, so I’m keeping the goal on theme by challenging myself to do a hard (for me) wall!
11 Goals Completed
Over the past 200 days or so, I’ve gotten 11 items completed! It’s a good thing I got ahead early, because my pace has slowed down a bit, but I’m still on track to cross all of them off.
12. Create a go-to makeup routine for nice events / going out.
This has been a really fun item to work on! I haven’t been much of a makeup person in the past, mostly because it intimidates the hell out of me, but I’ve been slowly adding one item to my routine every so often to make it more manageable. I’m still evolving my go-to makeup routine, but I definitely have much more of a plan now than I have in the past!
19. Open a Roth IRA.
I got a raise during my last annual review (woo!) and instead of spending it on tacos and makeup like I wanted to, I decided to invest it in a Roth IRA. Yay for fiscal responsibility! I did some research on the best one for me and crossed this one off! I’ll be putting the extra money from my paychecks into it monthly as well.
29. Find out my blood type.
I’m so proud of myself for this one! It’s really bothered Sean that I don’t know my blood type, and every time I asked the doctor to order a test, they said I should just go donate blood because they’d tell me for free. Of course, I’m terrified of donating blood because I’m super queasy, but I did it! Now I keep getting emails asking me to donate again and I feel really guilty deleting them. Maybe I’ll work up the courage to do it again some time.
30. Drink 100 oz. of water every day for a week.
It’s embarrassing how hard this is for me! I really had to motivate myself to do it, and as soon as the week was up, I fell off the water-drinking train again. Sigh.
31. Create a skin care routine and stick to it for at least three months.
This one was arguably more intimidating than the makeup routine! There are so many pieces of advice out there about skin care that I had no idea where to begin. Luckily I found this subreddit and started adding products in one at a time! Just like with makeup, this will continue to evolve, but I’m in a much better place than I was a year ago!
32. Meditate for at least 10 minutes per day for two weeks.
I tried meditating every day for about two months, and I decided that it’s just not for me. I’m glad I tried it, but it ended up making me more anxious so I decided to cancel my Headspace subscription and look for something else.
43. Deep-dive into three features of CoSchedule so I’m fully utilizing the service I’m paying for.
I went through a lot of these in my recent review of CoSchedule! I’m definitely going to keep exploring CoSchedule because there are a ton of awesome features, so I’m really happy I did this!
57. Do a 10×10 clothing challenge.
I was underwhelmed by this one. I think I don’t have enough variance and layers in my wardrobe, because I feel like I was just wearing the same basic outfits for 10 days. I might have to try this again after really examining what my wardrobe is missing.
61. Create a “home book” with information for our bills, etc.
This was such a stress relief! I wrote about it in its own blog post if you’re interested in creating your own.
64. Invest in an essential oil diffuser and find 5 scents / combinations I enjoy.
I actually got an essential oil diffuser and a big pack of essential oils for Christmas this year! (Thanks Dan, Lesley, and Cara!) It was really fun to play around with a bunch of combinations. I’m favoring candles right now over the essential oil diffuser because they add a bit of coziness to my space while I work, but I’ll definitely be bringing it back out in the spring and summer.
88. Try 25 different dark beers.
I’m so glad I added this to my list. When I was writing the list, I wanted to like dark beers, but I just… didn’t. I figured I needed to try a bunch of different kinds and maybe I’d come around to them, like I did with IPAs. And I was right! I tried the 25th dark beer last week, and I’ve definitely come around to them. There’s a time and a place for them, but I’ve definitely found my taste for stouts and porters.
16 Goals in Progress
And finally, I’ve made at least a little bit of progress on 16 other goals!
1. Beat my previous 101 in 1001 record of 42.
So close! I’m currently tied with my previous record, so once I cross off one more, I’ll get to cross off this one, too! Two birds with one stone.
2. Reread A Song of Ice and Fire.
Ugh, George R. R. Martin is a genius. If you’re unfamiliar, A Song of Ice and Fire is the name of the book series that was adapted into the tv show Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones is actually the title of the first book in the series, but it’s shorter and catchier than A Song of Ice and Fire, so they used it for the show! I’m currently reading book 3 of 5, and I hope to have them all reread before the final season comes out in April!
3. Read 75 books.
Slow but steady wins the race! I’m up to 27 of these, and I hope to be at 50 by the end of the year. You can follow my progress over on Goodreads!
4. Read (or attempt to read) and get rid of 25 books that I already own.
Making progress! I’m up to 14 of 25. It helps that our neighbors have a Little Free Library, so as soon as I decide to get rid of a book, I just have to walk out the door and it’s gone!
16. Pay off our student loans.
We’ll be rid of these eventually!
35. Schedule blog posts and newsletters at least one week in advance for a month.
I should be able to cross this one off sometime in March! I’ve made awesome progress getting ahead of my “evergreen” content (things like goals, 101 in 1001 check-ins, and Sunday Scratches don’t count because they’re too time-based in their content), so I just need to stay on top of it.
37. Donate at least $250 to the ACLU of Kentucky via my business income.
I’m up to $111! I’ve got some more set aside as well, so that will be bumped up soon.
42. Rebrand the InDesign Adventure Guide.
Get ready, because I’m relaunching this soon! Stay tuned for an update next week. 😊
45. Try out three new series on the blog.
I’ve tried two of three so far, and I’m enjoying both: home tours and my morning routine! They’re more on the lifestyle side of my blog than the blogging and design side, so that’s been fun.
55. Organize the bathroom closet.
I’ve got it “organized” but I definitely need a better shelving system in there. I need to think on it more, so I’m not ready to cross this off yet.
56. Organize the basement.
I’ve shuffled some things around, but just like with the bathroom closet, I need a better system.
59. Reorganize and consolidate my photo files.
I haven’t made much progress with this, but I’ve at least audited how many photos I have to organize (it’s a lot). It’s on my monthly goals list for this month, so hopefully I cross it off soon!
77. Complete the Give a Craft Beer Trail Passport.
We’re up to 11 breweries of 16! Of course I just found out two new ones are opening soon, but that’s still exciting! We’ve made much slower progress over the cold winter, but I imagine we’ll be checking out more once it heats up again.
86. Experiment with 10 different cocktail recipes.
So far I’ve made tequila sunrise! Not exactly a giant step forward on this goal, but progress nonetheless.
89. Try 10 different amber beers.
I’ve tried two amber beers now! I have the feeling that since the other two beer items on the list are complete, I’ll be trying a lot more ambers in the coming months. I had an amber at Gonzo’s, which is a great brewery near us, and an amber at Latitude 42, which is one of our favorite breweries because their food is amazing.
93. Learn to make 3 different types of latte art with our espresso machine.
Ugh, latte art is hard! I haven’t mastered a single type of latte art yet, but I’ve been trying!
Woo! I’m excited that I’m still on track even though my rate has slowed down a bit. My goal is to cross off 37 items in 2019, and so far I’m at 3! Wish me luck!
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