today is the end of 1001 days. that sounds like a lot, doesn't it?

1001 days ago, I sat down and created a list of 101 things I wanted to do. The list has evolved a bit over the 1001 days, and a lot of things didn't get accomplished, but the lessons I've learned since then have blew my mind and made me so happy.

The biggest thing I learned? That I've changed. A lot. Case in point: When I first created this list, I put "host a Bible study" down (which I accomplished), and now I'm not even sure where I sit with religion and faith. I've fallen in and out and back in love since then. I studied abroad in China and proved to myself that I'm stronger and way more of a badass than I thought I was. I've moved halfway across the country, and I've opened a wedding photography business, which wasn't even on my radar back then.

It's been a roller coaster. Here's the full list, what was accomplished and what was not:

Not Yet Started
In Progress
Completed

Total (70/101)

Travel (10/14)
1 Go to China

2 See Boston again

3 Take a road trip

4 See Niagara Falls

5 Go to Austin twice

6 Go to D.C. (MOVED here. Oops?)

7 Go to Canada

8 Keep a travel journal (Done in China.)

9 Visit a friend in Lubbock

11 Take a spontaneous day trip (My friend asked me where I wanted to eat dinner, her only rules were "IN Texas." We drove 100+ miles for dinner. It was worth it.)

12 Rent a cabin in the mountains and go snowboarding

13 Go fishing

14 Send five people postcards from a trip

Job/Education (7/10)
15 Study abroad
16 Complete two years of Chinese (Rocked 3!)
17 Take the LSAT (this was miserable.)

18 Take a fun class, just for kicks (Criminology. Changed my life - this is when I started volunteering/working with rape crisis centers.)

19 French 101
20 Apply to work at Sky Ranch/another Christian camp (didn't get the job. a good thing, looking back.)

21 Learn to play at least one song on the guitar (Sold my guitar instead. Oh well.)

22 Lead a Bible study

23 Graduate from Texas A&M

24 Finish the list of 50 banned books (33/50)

Health/Wellness (10/19)
25 Lose 15 pounds (7/15) (Actually lost 17 then gained like 10 back.)
26 Go one week without cheese
27 Spend one week as a vegan

28 Drink only water for one week (Ha! Like I could live without coffee and wine.)

29 Start and finish out a yoga class

30 Workout five times a week for six weeks (Sincerely tried to do this a hundred times, but there just aren't enough hours in the week)

31 Go for a walk 20 times (20/20)

32 Give up coffee for 2 weeks (separate from #29)

33 Do 100 sit-ups, 3 times a week, for six weeks

34 Donate blood at least twice. (2/2)

35 Do 15 pushups a night for two months

36 Do 20 pushups a day for two months

37 Do 25 pushups a day for two months
38 Master a basic jump in snowboarding

49 Play tennis once

40 1/2 marathon

41 Bike everywhere for a week

42 Go kayaking

43 Try skiing

44 Eat ice cream and don’t feel guilty afterward

Blog (3/3)
45 Get a blog makeover
46 Blog every day for one month

47 Meet a blog/internet friend in real life

Writing/Photography/Hobbies (4/7)
48 Find a new hobby
49 Write every day for a month

50 Finish a story!

51 Send said story to publishers
52 Enter a photography contest (opened my own business instead. sounds good.)

53 Buy a Canon EOS Rebel XSi (or better).

54 Complete a Wreck This Journal

Personal/Random. (32/39)

55 Fill a stack of post-its with inspirational messages and leave them places

56 Donate to Pantene Pro-V Beautiful Lengths

57 For everything I don’t do, donate $1.

58 Go to a concert.

59 Call Mom every day for a month

60 Cook a fancy meal

61 Clean out my closet and give away clothes

62 Attend a music festival

63 Attend an art festival

64 Go horseback riding

65 Go on a picnic

66 Fall in love.

67 Suck it up and get my eyebrows waxed

68 Get at least one tattoo

69 Spend at least six months single

70 Donate $150 to a non-profit

71 Send off one friend (of many) joining the military

72 Send someone flowers totally randomly
73 Volunteer at an elementary school

74 Plant a mini-garden.
75 Plant a tree

76 Get a bike

77 Go one week without making a list

78 Watch the sunrise with someone important
79 Live alone.

80 Sing karaoke.

81 Buy something at a flea market

82 Send in a secret to Post Secret

83 Watch 100 new movies (100/100)

84 Listen to 30 songs produced before 1990 (Beatles don’t count) (30/30)

85 Write my future self a letter (via futureme.org)

86 Watch the sunset

87 Project 365

88 Sit by a window in a café on a busy street and people-watch for a whole day

89 Buy another pair of TOMS

90 Start and finish an Ayn Rand book

91 Donate 1,000,000 grains of rice on freerice.com (12,000/1,000,000) (1 million? WTF was I thinking?)

92 Take pictures in a photobooth

93 On the last day, read my letter from #85

94 Do some kind of sky-diving/bungee-jumping type thing
95 Create the Life List

Grown-up things (4/6)

96 Be a college graduate and like it.

97 Buy more professional clothes

98 Buy nothing but food for two weeks

99 Pay off loan

100 Learn how to cook Thanksgiving dinner from start to finish

101 Try 20 new recipes (20/20)

Some of the things that didn't get finished were accidental, or they were habits that died out. Some of them I look back and I think, "Really, I thought I'd be able to do that?" (The half-marathon is a good example - I don't have a lot of cartilage in my right knee, I am physically incapable of running 13.1 miles.) Some haven't happened yet, but they're scheduled, so I'm counting them as done. (I'm donating my hair to Pantene Pro-V on June 20th at 5:15 pm EST. I'm just saying.) One of them (#90) I've started but I haven't finished yet, and another one (#94), I'm working on completing. 

Now, the exciting part. As you guys see, #57 is "For everything I don't do, donate $1." So that means I owe a charity $31. Obviously, not much, but every dollar counts, right? Here's the thing: I want you guys to pick the charity. Nominate your favorite charity in the comments section - tell me who they are and why you like them. I'll pick, donate, and let you know who I picked. :)


Happy Thursday!