#83--Keep My Room Clean and Organized for a Month

This actually goes from 7/15/08-8/15/08. I was able to do this because I moved into my new place, set it up the way I wanted, and kept it nice and clean all month. I was working absurd hours, so I was almost never home. Maybe that's a little bit of cheating. Whatever, I completed my task!

Pictures :)

#46--Be Published in a Journal/Magazine

Well, I've already done this. Yes, back in January, I was "published" in the Wall Street Journal. I've outdone myself, thank goodness.

Published on page 17 of the Undergraduate Leadership Review.

Together with Hilary and Bess, we came up with a theory, wrote it up, and submitted it for publishing. A few revisions later, and here we are, shiny and published. At age 19, barely into my junior year of college, and I'm proud to say that I'm officially published (...again).

Feel free to cite me ;)

#80--Model In A Photoshoot

I had the privilege and opportunity to model with Van White, one of the photographers that CNU hires on a regular basis for events (Captain's Ball, etc.) and publicity (of the Ferguson Center/DSU). We took some pictures at Point Plaza, and had a really good time. I asked him if we could do a photoshoot involving a fire engine (yes, I'm a dork), and he said absolutely.

I think this is my favorite of the whole day, and it's one of the last ones he took.

Check out his photos at http://www.vansphotos.com

#43--Go On A Road Trip With Friends

On June 15th, a friend, her brother and I went from Norfolk, VA to Baltimore, MD (well, Towson, really) to see The Spill Canvas in concert. It took us way longer than it should have, thanks to a major accident on I-64, but we got there in time to be almost-first in line!

Notice the nice use of the seat-belt!


We left at 12pm, got there at 5pm, left around 1am, and got home at 5am. It was a very long night, but it was completely worth it. Why, you ask?


I got to meet the guys of The Spill Canvas! It was so great, I could hardly believe it. I also got to meet their Stage/Guitar Manager, Ace, who was probably the coolest person ever. I just regret not getting a picture with him :(

In any event, it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. But I definitely want to take a much more long-distance road trip with 3 or 4 friends sometime soon! I think that would be fun. Maybe New York? Who knows!

#55--Spend A Weekend Alone

This happened more by force than choice. Living by myself in a place where I don't know anyone leaves me sort of pressed for things to do. I'd drive the 40 minutes back to my school's town to hang out with friends there, but the gas just isn't worth it.

So this weekend I've spent alone. Honestly, I've been alone since Thursday evening, and I won't be seeing anyone until Monday at 10 for an interview. It's okay, though, it helps me accomplish this goal.

I've made Easy Mac and Ramen, I made myself brinner (breakfast for dinner), I've watched Home Improvement on Nick at Nite's Summer Improvement Week. I've read pages and pages in Paramedic by Peter Canning, and I've cross stitched a ton. I write blog entries and I talk on the phone. I listen to music and take long baths. I've sat on the balcony drinking tea during sunrise. I even walked down to the grocery store and just wandered through the aisles, picking things up and looking at them and checking out the people who were there too. It's boring. But the coolest part has been lying on the couch going in and out of consciousness at random times during the day, because I have nowhere to go and no one to impress.

But I'm tired of it. I guess I thought of a lot of free time as being a mini-vacation. In some ways it is, but in others...well, vacations are usually spent with other people. I don't really feel safe walking down the streets downtown by myself, so I haven't really met...uh...anyone. It's okay, though, this is what I wanted to do, and now I've done it. I feel a sense of accomplishment, but I look forward to starting my job and interacting with people on a daily basis.

#84--Live As A Nudist For A Day

Well, for 24 hours, I did just that. I'm currently living in a place by myself, so I didn't have to worry about roommates.

Basically, I just lowered all the blinds and did the things I normally do, just...naked.

Things I learned:
When cross stitching naked, be sure you know where the needle is.
Make selections from the fridge very quickly.
If you stay naked for a while, you'll forget about it. Make sure you don't walk out the door.
Skin sticks to leather couches very uncomfortably.
When you walk past a mirror, you will most likely surprise yourself. "Oh, hey, I'm naked."

It was a really interesting experience, that's for sure.

#85--List 100 Things That Make Me Happy About My Closest Loved Ones

I did another set of 100 for Anni, one of my absolute closest friends.

There's nothing quite like it, honestly. It really forces you to sit down and consider every reason why that person is so close to you. It's a wonderful feeling to be reminded about all the great qualities that person has, even if you never really forgot.

As much as they are affirming for one's friendships and other relationships, I think this could be really self-affirming. After I've done a set for my closest loved ones, I think I'll do one for myself as well.

Sorry I don't have more to report, but with exams and all, life was pretty hectic. I'm going to try to do a ton this summer while I'm not in school.

Until next time!

#48--Have a Picnic in a Park

Well, my friend Paul bought a picnic basket and took me out on a picnic by the river. It was a sunset picnic, and absolutely beautiful weather. The food included:
Dryer-thawed Uncrustable Sandwiches
Pretzel Sticks
Melted Ice Cream
South Beach Diet Pudding Cups
Warm Coke

It was absolutely hysterical. He brought his MacBook Air so we could listen to music, and his camera so we could document it for the blog. It got cold quickly, but we had a blast.

Some quotes from the night:
Paul (jokingly): God, this is romantic as hell.
Me: Ummm, I think it's kind of hard to say it's romantic when "Magic Stick" comes on and we're acting like dinosaurs.

Paul (in reference to the spoon that came with the picnic basket): Who the hell designed this? It's so primitive.
Me: Yeah, it's like man's first spoon *grunts primally, gesturing with the spoon*
Paul: Ah, yes, made out of the legendary plastic tree.

I had a blast, and since we have the picnic basket, we're going to try and make it a regular occurrence to have picnics with our friends. It was great :) Another one down!

#78--Sing On The Corner of a Busy Street

During the middle of the birthday party, it was *so* hot. We decided to get some air, so we went outside, and it was raining slightly. I decided that I really, really wanted to do something in the rain, so a bunch of us thought that we'd cross off #78. Just then, it started POURING rain, and everyone wimped out and headed back inside. I was pretty adamant about doing it, though, so I was going to do it regardless. One person was going to make sure he saw me cross off a life goal, however.

Together, we went out to the street corner in the downpour and stood underneath the stop sign. I sang "Summertime," more to him, really, than to the world. We were both shivering because the rain was freezing cold and we were wearing party-clothes. Since it was about 1:30am, the street wasn't very busy, but I'm crossing this one off anyway.

When we came back inside, we were soaked to the bone. My hair got majorly frizzy and my make-up was running everywhere, but I didn't care at all because I had such an amazing and unforgettable time.

This one was a ton of fun, and I can't wait to do more like it. As we were heading back inside, he said "I'm glad I got to help you accomplish a life goal." I'm so lucky to have friends like these.

#19--Learn to Conduct

For my party, one of my friends helped me learn how to conduct "Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls. My roommate took this video, which shows me in the early stages of learning. Please forgive the poor conducting and the eye rolls...I actually got the hang of it later, but this is the only video we have!

#29--Learn About 5 New Religions

Zoroastrianism
Judaism
Christianity
Mormonism
Islam

This semester, I learned about all of these religions in depth. I learned about their histories, their prophets and leaders, holy texts, beliefs, etc. It was really interesting, and I feel like I really understand them a lot better. A lot of misconceptions I had were cleared up, but a lot of new questions were raised.

Anyway, thanks to Religious Studies 212 and Leadership 320, I can cross this one off my list!

#74--Go Out in Public Wearing Only Duct-Tape or Other Non-Clothing Material

This one was exceptionally time consuming but fun. This took the help of my two roommates, 4 rolls of yellow duct-tape from Wal-Mart, and probably 3 or 4 hours. The tape was all doubled so that none of it was sticking to me. We stuck a snippit of Fire Line tape across it like a sash for fun

It was really neat because since I was basically taped into it, it was a perfect fit for me. People seemed to really like it, and it was sort of hard to miss me at the party. We cut me out of the dress with the intent of maybe putting a zipper into it later so that it can be worn later. Who knows.

I had people sign it with a sharpie after I got out of the dress and into a different one, which was really neat. I think I'll end up hanging it on the wall of my apartment next year as a reminder both of the apartment and my list.

I think it's amazing that I have roommates that would spend so much time on this dress to help me have a great birthday and to help me achieve a life goal. They're basically wonderful.

#32--Learn How to Throw a Football

Donning my Cooley Jersey, I made my way over to a friend's apartment who was pretty adamant about helping me with this one.
"Are you ready for this?"
"I was born ready."
"Luckily, you have big hands for a girl."
"Agreed."
"Okay, just kinda grab the ball by the laces at the back and lob it."
"Don't try to spin it?"
"If you try to hard, you'll throw it at the ground."

I tried too hard, and sure enough, right at the ground. About an hour later, my arm was throbbing, but as it turns out I really wasn't too bad at it. I had a few really good throws, and even got into the 10-15 yard throws!
So maybe I'm not a pro, but I'm confident enough to cross this one off. It was also the first one I completed on the day of my birthday party, so it was pretty exciting.

#28--Learn to Draw Update!

Here's a closer-to-finished version of the drawing. This time it's scanned, not photographed.

A Quick Update

My birthday is in a few days, and I'll be turning 19. I knew I wanted to have a party, and I wanted there to be a theme to said party. I wanted it to be something neat, but I didn't know what I could to that hadn't been done before and wouldn't soon be forgotten. My roommates and I were brainstorming when I came up with the idea to do a 101 Things Party.
Rather than have people show up and feel awkward for not getting me a present, or just get trashed (as is typical at college birthday parties), we'd try to accomplish as many of my things in one day as possible. I thought it would probably be a big flop, and people would just want to be drunk, but it's turning out really well. We're going to have poster boards with my list written out, and people are going to write suggestions of how I can accomplish my tasks underneath them. Some things we're going to definitely accomplish (16, 48, 58, 73, 74, 80, 82), and then we're going to try and think up ways to do more as the night progresses. I'm so excited, and I can't wait to see how this turns out.
I'm going to take tons of pictures and do a massive update afterwards. I'm stoked! 10 days until my birthday, 8 until the party :)

#5--Forgive Someone I Have A Grudge Against

Hmm, bad grammar. Regardless.

To "you":
You hurt me deeply. I didn't realize that someone I loved so much could act that way. I always assumed you loved me as much as I loved you, but maybe you never did. But they say you hurt the ones you love, so maybe you actually did. Aside from all that, you hurt me in a way that I will never forget; I'll never forget the way it stung when you said those few simple words as long as I live.
But I forgive you. You are young and probably never realized what you did to me. It's not fair for me to hold this against you, and therefore I won't from here on out.
Sorry for the bad things I may have said to you, and the even worse things I may have said about you to my girlfriends.
Sincerely,
"me"

I let "you" know that the grudge was forgiven, but I'm not sure if "you" even knew there was a grudge to begin with. Ah, well.

#28--Learn to Draw

I'm slowly realizing that drawing is nothing more than shapes and shading...mainly shaping of shadows. With some time and patience, I can actually produce a drawing that looks like what I'm drying to draw--more or less.

This is an unfinished drawing:


of this picture:


Yes, I realize they don't look exactly alike. But this is the closest I've gotten to drawing a face that looks like a face. Eee!

P.S.--I should mention that the drawing is way better in real life. Photobooth doesn't take good pictures (of anything or anyone), so when I a) finish this and b) have my scanner again, I'll put up a high res scan of it.

#46--Be Published In A Magazine/Journal

Well, as it turns out, I was published in the Wall Street Journal on January 25th, 2008. You can read my letter to the editor here. It's pretty short, but hey, I was still published!

I'm going to mark this one as being done on 1/25/08, even though I didn't realize that it was done until today, thanks to my dad!

...Yay!

#34--Learn How to Shoot a Gun (Well, Preferably)

Well, yesterday I headed out to VA Beach to do some shooting with one of the guys from the rescue squad. He brought a few guns; I shot the .22 caliber rifle (which is apparently older than he is!), and the .9mm Glock 17. The Glock was my definite favorite!

Turns out I'm not that bad of a shot! I had the best aim with the rifle, but I didn't do too shabby from 25ft with the Glock.
I can't wait to go back; I'm definitely hooked. When I'm 21 and allowed to buy a handgun, I think I'm going to for sure.
Well, consider this one done, but not done forever. I'll let you know when I go back ;)

#88--Send a Care Package to a Long Distance Friend

So I feel awesome about this one. I got everything together, put fun sticky notes to explain it, and shipped it the 564 miles. It was nothing big--just a moleskine we're sharing, a small book, and a tin of lip-shaped band-aids. She got it today, though, and she liked it a ton!
I really like sending mail, I've decided.

So there goes another one off my list!

#23--Learn the Rules of Football

I think I have this one down. I know them well enough to not just *watch* a game, but understand it, haha! Now hopefully this will help me with #93--Attend a Redskins Game! Now I just need to learn to throw the ball, and I'll be unstoppable!

One more finished, now let's see if I can keep this up.

#1--Have A Steady Pen-Pal

As of right now, I have four! There is a girl in Australia, a soldier in Fort Knox, a girl in England, and a soon-to-be EMT in Northern VA. I'm very excited about all this, because it means I get a constant stream of mail! I had a pen-pal at one time in Russia, but it was taking so long to get her letters and for her to get mine, I think we sort of forgot about each other. In any event, I can't wait to cross this one off--I think I'll consider it completed if I can keep this up for at *least* 6 months.

#41--Eat Something I Think I'll Hate, #92--Go To The Gym At Least Once A Week

#41--Today for my roommate's birthday, we went to a Korean restaurant. I tried Kimbap, a type of Korean sushi. Now, I love sushi, but this kind had beef, pickle, egg, carrot, and avocado. I was definitely skeptical, but I tried it and it was so good! A definite plus for the night.


#92--I think I need to explain this a bit. By "once a week", I mean once a week while I'm at school and have gym access. So anyway. I'm going to the gym tomorrow with my friend Rob...also, I did 20 sit-ups this morning, and I'm about to do 20 more. I feel really good about this.

#72--Keep A Steady Journal

Alright, this one is kind of hard to measure exactly. As of 1/1/08, I've been keeping two journals. One is a generic Target brand journal in which I write, and the other is a small moleskine which I use to do a sort of visual journaling/scrapbooking. The small one is a "theme" journal, if you will. I don't use them *every* day like I should, but I use them quite frequently. I'm not crossing this one off yet, but I just wanted to give you an update. When I finish either of the journals, I'll cross it off.

#85--List 100 things that make me happy about my closest loved ones

Well, I have 5-7 people in mind that I want to do this for. Tonight, I completed the first. I don't feel comfortable posting the actual list online, but here is a random sampling:

6. I love the way you worry about me.
26. I love your dedication.
33. I love knowing you're always supporting me.
88. I love how we share stupid inside jokes.
99. I love how passionate you are about the things you love.

Once I finish the other lists, I'll be able to fully cross this one off.

#25--Learn How to do Makeup

I did my eye makeup today based on the advice of an Origin's makeup counter lady and according to this guide:


I don't have a picture of it on me, but it turned out really nicely! I'm excited, and I also learned how to do my lipstick (again without a picture). I'll take one the next time I do it, and I'll be sure to post it.

I'm crossing it off the list, yay!