Updated! 101 things in 1001 days

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

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 your part).

Note:

I have identified my progress by citing individual accomplishments in black and dated and/or by including a tally track (#out of#)

My List:

"So we keep on waiting, waiting on the world to change."

1. Tie a note to a balloon and let it go
2. Throw a surprise party for someone
3. Volunteer at a soup kitchen
4. Leave a 100% tip
5. Buy 5, "I saw this and thought of you" gifts, just because (0/5)
6. Adopt a child for Christmas
7. Attend 5 community events (0/5)
8. Donate $2 for every item not finished in 1oo1 days
9. Make a birthday cake for someone
10. Host a dinner party

"I'm bringing sexy back..."

1. Go 2 weeks without eating out (0/14)
   
2. Get a professional massage
3. Exercise 3x/wk.
4. Get a bra fitting!
5. No fast food for 1 month
6. Get a mani./pedi. (7/15/2010)
7. Buy myself something from Tiffany's
8. Run a 5K
9. Run a 10K
10. Get a tattoo
11. Lose 10 lbs. (0/10)
12. Find the perfect "little black dress"
13. Complete the 200 crunch challenge
14. Buy myself flowers 10 times (0/10)
15. Take a multivitamin everyday (67/1001)

"Life is a highway, I wanna ride it ALL.NIGHT.LONG."

1. Learn how to drive stick shift
   
2. Parallel park 5 times (0/5)
3. Buy a new car (7/17/2010)
4. Get a passport (7/15/2010)
5. Go on a cruise
6. Go on a roadtrip with no predetermined destination
7. Visit 5 new states (0/5)
8. Learn how to change a tire

"We are family, get up everybody and sing!"

1. Find out how I'm related to Laura Ingalls Wilder
   
2. Mail my grandparents a letter/card 1/month (7/10/10)
   
3. Go to bingo with G-pa and G-ma Ingalls
4. Go to the casino with G-pa and G-ma Roulo
5. Take my dad to a Sabres game
6. Surprise my mom by mailing her flowers (9/28/2010)
   
7. Girls day/night with my mom and sister
8. Go golfing/driving range with my dad (7/16/2010)

"Money, money, money...must be funny. In a rich man's world."

1. Start a savings account ($5 for every item checked off)
   
2. Buy an iPod
3. Start a vacation fund with loose change
4. Buy a new computer
5. Buy a bike
6. Replace all of my makeup

"Hey now, you're an All-Star, get your game on, go play."

1. Get my Master's degree
   
2. Read the news (CNN.com) for 1 month (started: 6/28/2010- 7/28/2010)
   
3. Read 5 books- I don't read, don't judge me. (1/5)
4. Start a blog- 1 post/week
5. No facebook for 1 week

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard..."

1. Go green! with my shopping bags (6/27/2010)
   
2. Have dinner by candlelight
3. Start an herb garden
4. Try 5 new foods (0/5)
5. Have a picnic
6. Cook one new recipe/week (6/143)
7. Go on a wine tour
8. Find some sort of seafood I like
9. Eat at 10 restaurants I've never been to (1/10)
10. Make ice cream from scratch
11. Bake 1/month
    
12. Try vegetarian for 1 month

"It's my life and it's now or never- I ain't gonna live forever."

1. Answer the "50 questions that will free your mind": http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/07/13/50-questions-that-will-free-your-mind/ (7/1/2010)
   
2. Complete the 365 day photo challenge: http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/
3. Learn how to iron
4. Go horseback riding (9/18/2010)
   
5. Learn how to water ski
6. Go skiing
7. Go to an amusement park
8. Watch 26 movies I have never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet (1/26) ABCDEFGrown UpsHIJKarate KidLMNOPQRSTUVWXYes ManZ
9. Go fishing (August)
   
10. Sleep under the stars
11. Go to 3 concerts (0/3)
12. Color an entire coloring book
13. Finish an entire crossword puzzle book
14. Go ice skating...outside
15. Go camping
16. Fly a kite
17. Go to a comedy club
18. Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day (7/16/2010)
19. Build a snowman
20. Go to the zoo
21. See a drive-in movie (7/2/2010)
22. Go to a Broadway show
23. Make a scrapbook for each undergrad. year (0/4)
24. Complete a 26 things photo project
25. Complete a 1000 piece puzzle
26. Pick pumpkins for Halloween
27. Send a secret to PostSecret
28. Jump in a pile of leaves
29. Climb a tree
30. Change a baby's diaper
31. Lay in the grass and find shapes in the clouds (July)
    
32. Learn how to sew
33. Go to a haunted house
34. Dance in the rain
35. Attend a midnight movie premiere
36. Print all of the pictures I want off of facebook and put them in photo albums

"And it's a great day to be alive, I know the sun's still shining when I close my eyes.."

1. Inspire someone to make a 101 goals in 1001 days list (6/25/2010)

http://www.dayzeroproject.com/about/

you're amazing just the way you are, part 2

To answer your question, yes it is possible to have a part 2 to the previous Bruno Mars shout out. This time, however I am going to further prove how great it is to be so positive and optimistic about not only yourself and what you're doing, but what you can do for others! Here's why...

When I was in Target this morning before meeting my BFF (yeah I said it) Johnny C. for breakfast, a little old lady came up to me as I was scanning the sweater racks. She said, "Excuse me but I just wanted to let you know that you are the cutest thing." My heart melted. I'm not really sure what 'the cutest thing' means, but she was probably in her 70s and hearing her say that was so great. I'm pretty sure I got a little kick in my step for the rest of the day just because she said it. But that's not even the best part...after she said it I thought to myself, "how hard would it be to compliment a complete stranger like that?" So I have challenged myself to compliment at least 1 stranger a week for the next month. I'll keep you posted...

Shortly after this I met Johnny C. (who I have not seen since he moved to NYC) for breakfast. We hugged, said I missed you, all that jazz but when we sat down he looked at me and said, "You look really good." As you can imagine, I was smiling ear to ear and told him what had happened earlier. What a great day, right??

The lesson I have learned since my previous post about being "amazing just the way you are" is that it is okay to compliment someone if you want to compliment them. Today was a great day for me because regardless of how I was feeling about myself, I knew that someone else took the time to compliment me because they wanted to, not because they had to. It was such a great boost in my self esteem and I apparently need to wear this outfit more often :-p because even though I wasn't looking for it, people made my day just by saying what they were thinking. How often can you say you do that?

...so again, remember "You're amazing just the way you are."

you know you're a hall director when...

There's a saying around the Residence Life and Housing office that begins with "You know you're a hall director when..." because there are things we do and experience that no other could imagine. Some of those things are not to be discussed outside the office, others I feel need to be shared with the outside world because they sum up my professional life in a nutshell. So here we go; a glimpse into the world of a hall director...

1. We are reminded to promote safe sex in our buildings by picking up garbage bags full of condoms to be distributed in the residence halls. I had the privilege of carrying my bag across campus to my building at the beginning of the semester through clusters of students waiting at the bus stop. Not once did I stop to think about how absurd that might seem to the students I passed because I knew it was 'part of my job' to get that bag to my building! Students first- that's what we professionals in Student Affairs believe!

2. We handle situations ranging from students peeing on cop cars to vomit in the bathrooms to roommates fighting over who stole hairspray out of the shower caddy. At lunchtime, we have to censor our 'work related stories' because they are often too graphic to share while eating. Sometimes when we get caught up in storytelling we realize just how ridiculous our conversation is to an outsider. Imagine if your job required you to brainstorm strategies on how to get students to stop dumping Ramen noodles in the bathroom sinks- our job gets out of control on the ridiculous scale realllll f.a.s.t.

3. As advisors and supervisors we are required to fill our special forms to buy program materials, food, etc. I for one love shopping, however it is somewhat embarrassing to shop for big groups of students. It can send the wrong message to the cute stock boy in the grocery store when you walk by with a cart full of chips, cookies, dips, candy, etc. It certainly throws up a red flag in my opinion--if I saw that, I would be sure to worry about the individual's health! (I made up the cute stock boy part of it- stock boys are usually in high school but I thought it added a little dramatic effect to the story) ANYWAY below is a picture of my recent trip to TOPS...

As you can see, the amount of junk food is a little excessive. The cashier definitely thought I just broke up with my boyfriend.

This is only a glimpse into the world of a hall director. We live a life of uncertainty. Every morning when we step into our office we never know what to expect for the day. It's exciting. It's tiring. It's challenging. But most of all, it's fun. I love my job. And I love having stories that begin with "You know you're a hall director when..."

Go shorty, it's your birthday...

This past Thursday marked Janelle's 22nd birthday. She got some gifts, but so did I- miss Angeline came to visit! Anddddd with that came a more tangible gift for me; a copy of the new Train CD! I've liked the past few hits from the album and wanted to see what else they had on the new CD. So, I decided to start this post by sharing one of my favorite songs on the album with you- it's called Parachute. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2botW18oJo

Okay, on with some fun stories from Janelle's birthday extravaganza. We started the weekend on Thursday with a home cooked meal from yours truly. Now when I asked Janelle what she wanted she said the 'potato things' that I make. Every time she comes for dinner she wonders if I am making them, so I'm beginning to think I should write my recipe down and start makin' some money because they are apparently that good. After telling her we needed something to go with them, she came up with turkey burgers (the recipe I borrowed from Darci :-p) and some asparagus. The meal was p.r.e.t.t.y. good if I do say so myself. To cap it off I tried my hand at making some apple crisp. It was good- but needs a little work. I need to find a good recipe for starters; I googled easy apple crisp and the result was okay, but there's gotta better. We also did gifts. Ang got her a 'grown up' gift for her apartment...a big ol' mirror that she can take with her wherever life takes her next. I decided to buy her first Vera Bradley accessory- a new wallet. She always talks about one of my bag's pattern so I got it for her knowing she liked it and that it wasn't too overwhelming for a first timer :-p Let's see if she catches the bug like I did...

Friday I had a full load of work on my plate, so I didn't get done until late afternoon (same time Janelle's office hours ended.) After decompressing for a few, we headed to happy hour to catch up with Ang. We ran into a few people we knew, but for the most part we just sat and chatted for a few hours. We waited around to see what was for dinner (as we always do) and once we saw ziti we knew we were going to have to make a decision about where we were going to go. Luckily, Janelle's family likes to give gift certificates out like they're going out of style so she always has one for practically every restaurant. Long story short, Janelle treated us to dinner at Applebee's Friday night :-) Yay for Friday!...brace yourself, Saturday's festivities were the most exciting...

About 2 weeks ago I came up with an idea for Janelle's birthday. When we realized we would not be going out of town as we had originally planned, I wanted to find something different for us to do. So, as I was thinking of ideas I remembered passing a horseback riding place on my way back from apple picking a few weeks before. Janelle loves horses and used to ride. So, I looked into it and found the contact information. After confirming with Ang that it was a good idea and that she would be game, I made a reservation. I was really excited because we were going to surprise her with it. All went as planned and she was SOOO happy. It was a blast.

Now, I must say I have been on a horse one other time in my life and it was in Tennessee when I was on vacation with my family probably 8ish years ago. I tried masking my fear to the best of my ability, but when all was said and done they knew I was pretty nervous. It doesn't help that the first horse we saw was a huge work horse that was the size of my house.

After learning that when you get on the horse you are what's called 'mounted,' I was informed that my horse needed to be in the back of the group because Spirit (I can think of a few other names that are more appropriate for this horse) did not like when other horses were behind her and had a tendency to try to bite at them. So, if you can picture it- me on top of the horse, the horse whipping around to bite the one behind her...you can imagine the new found terror I had now that I was 'mounted' on this friendly horse. Thankfully, Spirit behaved..for the most part. I say that because my horse was the only horse, besides the horses the leaders were on, that liked to gallop to catch up to the group. Again, the first time that happened you can imagine the words and gestures coming from me. They say you're in charge of the horse...that is an absolute lie. I had no control whatsoever over Spirit. But we made out just fine and I can say that I enjoyed the experience.

For dinner we decided to go to Brix. It was the first time any of us had been there so we were pretty excited. There was a wait (go figure) so we slipped over to The Blue Frog to enjoy a glass of wine while we waited. I sampled a few and found one I really liked and clung to it for the night. Wine is something else. It makes you feel funny. I can't describe it, but after one glass my cheeks were rosy. When our table was ready we sat down to enjoy a GREAT meal. Other than the wait, the food was amazing. We ordered veggie fries (fried zucchini, asparagus, and sweet potatoes) for an appetizer, Janelle got pizza, and Ang and I both got pasta dishes. Mine was an Absolut white creamy sauce based dish and it was great. I didn't get to eat much of it because I filled up on everything else, but I will definitely go again. Be advised if you plan to eat there have the night free because it took quite a while for us to get our food. Other than that, two thumbs up.

It was a busy 3 days..especially after a busy work week, so I really needed to recuperate today. I ran some errands, but mostly cleaned my apartment and did laundry. I have a busy week ahead of me, so I needed to get the chores out of the way.

I'll leave you with one last thing that I learned at the ranch...the horses that look like spotted cows are called painted horses....to me there is no difference, but apparently because they are two different animals it's a big deal :-p

Have a good week!

home sweet home

Being 2 1/2 hours from home is convenient when it comes to needing a weekend away or a quick trip home just because. However, the past few times I have been home I've noticed a pattern in activities which is fine, but funny because I never really noticed it until now. These things include but are not limited to:

1. Getting off an exit before my exit to meet my parent's at the country club to have a drink and/or eat dinner. No matter the day or time I can always count on this pit stop. I've never realized how much time my parents spend there until I noticed this on my way home from the club last night. And usually when I'm there the old men are being inappropriate (or funny in their minds) so it's either awkward or really funny depending on the topic of conversation during that visit.

2. We usually end up doing something on Saturday (I come home Friday night and leave sometime Sunday) This weekend's planned activity was traveling to Letchworth to watch my sister run in a 5k. For the first time EVER after she was done racing and we were done eating our boxed lunch (which was a total FAIL becauseeeee they put mayo. on both the veggie wraps and the turkey wraps...yuck-o) I didn't want to stay and look at the falls because we have been there so many times. It was really a sad thing for me to blurt out, but I was ready to just be home for a few hours and didn't think it was necessary to walk around. But don't you worry soon we will be back in the car leaving once again to travel to my grandparent's house and then out to dinner for my parent's anniversary. It never fails, we always eat out at least one night out of the weekend <--which is a-okay in my mind!

3. I usually end up leaving with some kind of edible something. Last time I was home my mom was gracious enough to buy all of our favorite beer (my brother and sister were both home as well) so as you can imagine our fridge was stocked for what...I'm not too sure. So, my treat for that weekend was taking beer back to Cortland. My mom said as I was leaving, "usually moms send cookies, I send beer." This time, I already have a pile started in the fridge- feta cheese and parsley. By tomorrow when I leave I'm sure I'll have a bag full of things I 'need.'

I'm sure there are many other things to list, but as you can imagine a trip to the Ingalls residence is never shy of a few laughs. It's always nice to hop in the car and spend some time with my 'rents but don't be fooled, they are not strangers in Cortland either :-p

you're amazing just the way you are

Buckle up blog buddies, you could be in for a long ride through this post. A few new, interesting things have happened since my last post and they could lead me all over the place as I tell the different stories. So don't say I didn't warn you as you are scrolling down through and skimming stories to a what seems to be never ending amount of words....I'll say it now, I told you so.

Let's start with my new favorite song that I listen to at least 3 times a day.

When I first heard this song I thought it was the Jonas Brothers and right away I said no matter what I can't like it. And even after I found out it wasn't them I still thought it was a typo or that Bruno Mars was the Jonas Brothers and they just grew up and got a new band name. Nope! Completely different band with a singer that could be mistaken for one of them. BUTTT regardless, I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it- the words, the beat, everything about it. When I hear it I get happy. Ever since I started listening to it religiously I have either thought to myself or told someone around me that for some reason I can relate to it. No I don't have someone telling me I'm amazing and sure I have doubts about myself on days and that would be a nice pick-me-up but it's something about how positive and beautiful the song is! Forgive me if I'm making you sick to your stomach for being too sentimental, but for real I love this song because frankly I love how it makes me feel and that it reminds me to smile :-)

Alright, alright...enough about that. The next thing that branches off of my crazy obsession with that song is the fact that I have had some serious self reflection time these past few weeks. No I have not been meditating and saying "ohmm" with my legs crossed or participating in yoga (THATTTT experience is a story for another day.) Instead, I've just really been able to sit down and think about what I want for myself in the near future. I really wanted to challenge myself to think outside of my professional goals because for the most part I am extremely proud and happy with where I am with that. I wanted to focus more on me-- the me that I wake up to every morning. So that of course started with my physical appearance...

For starters, I have made it a new goal of mine to replace my make-up, clothes, shoes, and everything related to help reward myself for things such as my job and all of the work I have been doing and will be doing. That means that even though I was already a regular at the malls on the weekends, I will be turning my attention to not necessarily going shopping to go shopping, but to find new clothes that for once I am buying and not financial aid :-) Not only do I have to replace much of my wardrobe to build a professional wardrobe, but I want to do it for me. I've always liked to shop, but for some reason knowing that I earned that money that will buy me new sweaters and shoes is rewarding in itself. And if you are reading this and thinking I am absolutely ridiculous I ask you to not judge me and realize that I love shopping and I love dressing nicely, therefore this IS something that is important to me! In addition, I have been visiting the 'home' section of many stores to fill the walls and space in my new apartment. That is still a work in progress, but it will come together with time. I'm on the hunt for a new tv and a dining room table---I'm such an adult!

The next thing on my 'to do list' is to get back in shape! For those of you that know me, I've always stayed fairly active. However, the past 4 years have really taken a toll on me --- I'm not saying I don't love my bod, but it'd be nice to get back in shape to the point where I was maybe when I came to college? If not that, at least to a point that I feel comfortable with and can notice a difference with not only the way the jeans are fitting me around the waist, but also in the choices I make to continue to maintain what I will hopefully accomplish in this area. To clarify, I'm not saying I am unhappy and all of that, I'm just saying there is a certain level of fit that I am aiming to reach and a few cheers along the way wouldn't hurt :-p On that note here are some things I have/will try:

1. P90X- Janelle and I started that this week and long story short, it is a great workout but probably not ideal for me for a few reasons. The first, I broke my wrist twice and it never healed properly making it very difficult to do a lot of the exercising that require supporting my entire body with my arms, etc. So that was one down fall. The other is that Janelle and I tried to do it together but our schedules just don't line up enough for us to do it consistently. For me, I feel like I would need to do this program with someone simply because the videos are so boring! So, unfortunately it seems I may have to retire early (after 2 days of it :-p) and find something else that'll work for me...aka #2

2. Cortland just announced at the beginning of the semester that starting this year all faculty and staff can use the fitness facilities for free. Now I have never been much of a gym-er, but I'm going to try to get a routine down so when it comes to be the winter months I still have an option when the outside is ruled out. For now, I will explore that routine but also work in time outside running/walking as I have been doing here and there since the summer. I just haven't quite been able to find the one thing that keeps me motivated to get out there and do it....hopefully this public post will be a reminder of how badly I want to do this for myself and it'll give me a little boost! I will welcome any suggestions you have though....:-)

Finally (the not physical appearance part of the reflection) in all of the time I spent thinking about me (sounds so selfish!) I realized that I need to cut myself a break. The reason: I've really beaten myself up lately about my lack of dating or even effort to get to know new people. But when I think about it, I realize that just like everyone keeps telling me- timing is everything. I have no doubt that I'm ready to have fun and meet people and put myself out there, but when it's right it's right and that's not necessarily for me to decide. So, from here on out I'm going to do my best to remind myself to smile and let it be...

because like Bruno Mars says, "you're amazing just the way you are...."

perfect fit

About two weeks ago during training I assigned my staff a rather unsual task: take a piece of the staff 'puzzle board' I created and make it their own. I didn't have any expectations of them just that it was to be completed by the first staff meeting (which was tonight.) After going through some housekeeping items and few other important bits of information, we gathered around the table and revealed our puzzle piece designs.

I kind of made this activity up thinking it would be a cool way of showing all of our unique qualities and it allowed us to express ourselves in whatever way we wanted to in a) a short amount of time and b) in a limit amount of space. I think one of the most important parts of the role as a student staff member is to remember that uniqueness is not a bad thing. I really enjoyed coming up with a way of expressing some of the things that are important to me and I think my staff really enjoyed the activity too. Here are some pictures of the end product...

Caitlin forgot that we chose a certain side of the posterboard to decorate, therefore her piece did not fit. But it made room for a few laughs and added some more 'uniqueness' to the puzzle! :-)

This is my piece...

I wanted to not only include things that I really like/enjoy, but a few things that let my staff know a little bit about me without pouring it all out on the table. As you can see, my name is made out of road map stickers because I love to travel. I can't wait to have the opportunity to travel more than I do now. The background of my piece (even though it's hard to see) is made up of a pattern of two different paper designs: 1 is fall leaves and 1 is music notes. Fall is my favorite season. I'm already looking forward to the changing leaves and crisp air. And music is important to me not only because it's my outlet and all of those types of things, but music is something my whole family has in common and it has always meant something to me. When I was in high school I played the alto-sax in jazz band and it was mostly because my sister played when she was in school. I liked playing, but I liked knowing it was something we had in common more than anything. Scattered across my piece are hockey figures. I LOVE hockey. The game, the players, the music, and the beer and nachos. I love it all. I'm hoping I can get to a few more Sabres games this year...and I will of course be a regular at the C-State games. Hockey is something my dad and I really enjoy and therefore makes me feel closer to him. Finally, my piece is surrounded by soccer balls. In high school sports were my life. Soccer especially held a special place in my heart, again, because I was able to play with my sister and then continue to play through my high school career. I was an area all-star, the whole nine yards. But I decided to put soccer on there not because I love the game, but more to remind myself to follow my dreams. I wanted to play soccer at Cortland. I set myself up to play- and then talked myself out of it. To this day I wonder what it would have been like and so soccer not only remains one of my deepest passions, but it serves as a reminder to pursue my dreams no matter how scared I might be. My hope is to coach one day and through that I will continue to spread not only my passion for the game, but the message of never letting yourself or others stand in the way of your dreams.

So many more things could have gone on that puzzle piece to represent my life, but a little mystery never hurt anyone.

Until next time...