#17 - check!

#17: Create a book list.

This took me a little while, but I went through all of the books I own (I sign and date the inside of the front cover whenever I finish a book) and racked my brain to remember the books that for whatever reason I don't still have, and I made myself a list. And I put it in this book:

Instead of just doing a list in chronological order of all of the books I've read, I split some of them into different sections.  Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Kate Morton all have their own pages so that I can keep their books together.
And I know it's lame that I chose this cover because it's all the fad right now, but I deliberately chose the original quote...  I'm all about Great Britain and I'm in love with the WWI/WWII era in GB. Granted, more so pre-WWI, but whatever.  And let it be known that I resisted the pink one (I love pink more than I love GB) that said "Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake" because it was just too kitsch.

#19 - a work in process

#19: Finish a book a month.

November '12: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

I don't think I'm going to be into reviewing each one of my books that I read...but I will mention the fact that I really really really enjoyed this one.  I talked a little bit about it on my personal blog (which reminds me...I have way too many blogs) so I won't go way into it, but it's so different than any other book I've read.  I won't insult this book or the author by comparing it to Harry Potter (because it's a completely different entity) but I will say that it is nothing like it.  This book is way more about character development and social commentary than it is plot, although there is a plot, and it's just brilliant.
Loved it.

Completion of #50

#50: Come up with 10 goals a day for 9.9 days in order to complete this list.

I am pretty flexible, especially with goals..., so this one didn't turn out exactly as planned, but that's my own fault for trying to do it while starting a new job and during a holiday that I hosted at my house. However, I still count this a job well done. 99 goals were created in 10 days, and that's what matters.

My 99 in 999

My 99 in 999
Official and complete

Fun & Silly Goals
#1: Own all of the Classic Disney movies.
#2: Watch all 6 Star Wars movies in order as a marathon.
#3: Go to a for real Horror House (Panic Attack in Wilmington...?)
#4: Get a professional massage.  And try not to get addicted.
#5: Visit a Renaissance Fair.
#6: Visit a restaurant that I've seen on Food Network.
#7: Throw an amazing party that is not centered around a holiday or a birthday.
#8: Attend a play at a really old theater.
#9: Attend a Catholic Mass in a big fancy cathedral.
#10: Watch the sunrise over the beach.
#11: Buy a nice chess set.
#12: Learn how to meditate.
#13: Learn 5 constellations that I can see in the summertime and know the history behind them.
#14: Buy a classic Disney songs piano book.
#15: Start a tradition of Sunday dinners.
#16: Buy ten TPBs from my list of Batman TPBs to buy.

Book Goals
#17: Create a book list.
#18: Maintain that book list that I created.
#19: Finish a book a month.
   November '12 A Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
   December '12
   January '13
   February '13
   March '13
   April '13
   May '13
   June '13
   July '13
   August '13
   September '13
   October '13
   November '13
   December '13
   January '14
   February '14
   March '14
   April '14
   May '14
   June '14
   July '14
   August '14
   September '14
   October '14
   November '14
   December '14
   January '15
   February '15
   March '15
   April '15
   May '15
   June '15
   July '15
   August '15
#20: Read a history of the world.
#21: Finally read "Paradise Lost" all the way through.
#22: Complete a Charles Dickens novel (other than A Christmas Carol).
#23: Officially read every Jane Austen novel.
   Sense and Sensability
   Pride and Prejudice 
   Northanger Abbey
   Mansfield Park
   Emma
   Persuasion
#24: Read the LotR trilogy and the Silmarillion and re-read the Hobbit.
   The Hobbit
   The Fellowship of the Ring
   The Two Towers
   The Return of the King
   The Silmarillion
#25: Read all of the Histories by Shakespeare.
   The Life and Death of King John
   The Tragedy of King Richard the Second
   The First Part of King Henry the Fourth
   The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth
   The Life of King Henry the Fifth
   The First Part of Henry the Sixth
   The Second Part of Henry the Sixth
   The Third Part of Henry the Sixth
   The Tragedy of King Richard the Third

   The Life of King Henry the Eighth

Food Goals
#26: Make ten amazing desserts that I've never made before.
#27: Learn how to make good spaghetti sauce from scratch.
#28: Make a pumpkin pie.
#29: Make pasta from scratch.
#30: Go a month without eating any processed foods.

Goals to do with Brandon
#31: Go on 3 amazingly awesome trips with Brandon.
#32: Go on 6 small weekend trips of equal awesomeness with Brandon.
#33: Get new wedding bands for Brandon and myself.
#34: Stay at a Bed and Breakfast for my Anniversary.
#35: Watch 30 movies off of Brandon's "list".
#36: Visit Bald Head Island with Brandon.
#37: Tour Poplar Grove Plantation.
#38: Go on a picnic with Brandon.
#39: Hike part of the Appalachian Trail.
#40: Go jet skiing with Brandon.
#41: Cross at least one of the MLB stadiums off of our list.
#42: Go to an amusement park.
#43: Tour the Richmond Art Museum.
#44: Go on a camping trip and "rough it" for a few days - no cell phones!
#45: Find the restaurant in Wilmington on the river that I went to when I was in high school and take Brandon.
#46: Go on one of those cool horse-drawn tours in downtown Wilmington.
#47: See Natural Bridge.
#48: Visit Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC
#49: Climb a lighthouse with Brandon

Practical Goals
#50: Come up with 10 goals a day for 9.9 days in order to complete this list.
#51: Document all of my goals in photographs.
#52: Complete one month of "a photo a day".
#53: Compile and stick to a budget for one month.
#54: Revise my budget and then stick to it for three months.
#55: Start a retirement fund.
#56: Buy an external hard drive.
#57: Make 72-hour kits and test them twice.
#58: Start building my food storage and have a solid two months worth.
#59: Live two weeks on nothing but food storage.
#60: Learn how to can stuff and buy a pressurized canner.
#61: Get professional family photos done of the entire Cliffe family.
#62: Get professional family photos done of the entire Entsminger family.
#63: Buy a new pair of sneakers.
#64: The goal that shall not be named, but has to do with that thing that I need to get done.
#65: Buy an out-building.
#66: Buy a proper wardrobe.
#67: Buy Brandon a proper wardrobe.
#68: Pack my lunch every day for a month.
#69: Get my eyes checked this year and then again in 2 years.
#70: Buy a new pair of glasses.
#71: Send Brandon to the eye doctor and get his eyes checked too.

Personal Growth Goals
#72: Take a photography class.
#73: Begin a fitness program and stick to it for 6 weeks.
#74: Lose 100 pounds.
#75: Go on a week-long "media fast" every quarter.
   December '12 - February '13
   March '13 - May '13
   June '13 - August '13
   September '13 - November '13
   December '13 - February '14
   March '14 - May '14
   June '14 - August '14
   September '14 - November '14
   December '14 - February '15
   March '15 - May '15
   June '15 - August '15
#76: Buy Rosetta Stone and learn how to speak a new language.
#77: Do some kind of record keeping every week for the entire 999 days (not including my spiritual or perpetual journals).
#78: Maintain my perpetual journal for the entirety of 2013, 2014 and what part of 2015 is included in this 999 days.
#79: Learn how to play the piano and memorize 5 hymns from the LDS hymnal (simplified, obviously).
#80: Make monthly and yearly goals - and stick to them!
#81: Re-memorize the state capitols.

Spiritual Goals
#82: Read the entire standard works - cover to cover.
   Old Testament
   New Testament
   Book of Mormon
   Doctrine & Covenants
   Pearl of Great Price
#83: Write in my spiritual journal weekly.
#84: Take 20 family names to the temple and complete them - start to finish.
#85: Go to the temple and do all-day sessions each year on our anniversary (or around it).

Crafty Goals
#86: Create two travel maps.
#87: Compile a family cookbook.
#88: Learn how to rotate a garden and then successfully do it.
#89: Build a greenhouse.
#90: Plant a tree.
#91: Get up to date on scrapbooking.
   SVU - Freshman Year
   SVU - Sophomore Year
   SVU - Junior Year, Part 1
   Life in Burgaw
   SVU - Junior Year, Part 2
   Wedding
   SVU - Senior Year
   2009
   2010
   2011
   2012
   2013
   2014
   2015
#92: Catch up with the scrapbooks for Mom and Dad.
#93: Create Wedding photo books for both my parents and Brandon's parents.
#94: Organize my memory boxes.
#95: Sew curtains for a whole room.
#96: Frame my yearly goals every year.
#97: Create a collage of family photos (in frames) in my dining room.

Serious Goals
#98: Publish a book.
#99: Find my bliss and follow it.

My new #12

I said before that I wanted to scratch my goal of watching all of the old Dr. Who.  That really is mainly because I don't want it to become a chore, and the fact that it's not entirely realistic.  I know how I am and I know how Brandon is and we can get burned out on things and we seldom want to watch the same thing at the same time.

So, that being said, I have a new goal to replace it.

#12: Read all of the Histories by Shakespeare.
History + classic British author = win.  And I think I'll read them in chronological order.
The Life and Death of King John
The Tragedy of King Richard the Second
The First Part of King Henry the Fourth
The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth
The Life of King Henry the Fifth
The First Part of Henry the Sixth
The Second Part of Henry the Sixth
The Third Part of Henry the Sixth
The Tragedy of King Richard the Third

The Life of King Henry the Eighth

New Goals 91 - 99

This is freaking me out a little. It's that once I write down the 99, I'm afraid I'm going to change my mind or something. I have changed my mind on the Dr. Who goal already... It's not that one per week is too much, it's that I don't want to turn it into a "chore." I'll have to come up with a replacement.

#91: Read the LotR trilogy and the Silmarillion and re-read the Hobbit.

#92: Visit Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC.

#93: Go to the temple and do all-day sessions each year on our anniversary (or around it).

#94: Buy a classic Disney songs piano book.
For all that awesome piano playing I'm going to be doing.

#95: Go to an amusement park (did I already do this one? Yes, yes I did, it's number 55 in my pre-list. DANGIT!)

#95: Climb a lighthouse with Brandon.

#96: Create a collage of family photos (in frames) in my dining room.

#97: Start a tradition of Sunday dinners.

#98: Buy ten TPBs from my list of Batman TPBs to buy.

And finally:

#99: Create Wedding photo books for both my parents and Brandon's parents.

I need to replace that Dr. Who one, but other than that, I'm done.  Since that replacement is going to be my "real" final goal, I'm going to think about it for a day or so to make it really good.
It won't have anything to do with wrestling.  Brandon is making me watch wrestling right now... And I feel like my brain is rotting.

New Goals 81 - 90

Oh dear, since I skipped thanksgiving and the day before, now I have to play catch up (I'm already so brain dead that I nearly wrote "katchup"...

#81: Find the restaurant on the river in Wilmington that I went to when I was in high school and take Brandon.
1. I loved it and 2. I want to eat on the river again soon.

#82: Get my eyes checked this year and then again in 2 years.

#83: Buy a new pair glasses.

#84: Send Brandon to the eye doctor and get his eyes checked too.

#85: Go on one of those cool horse-drawn tours in downtown Wilmington.

#86: See Natural Bridge.

#87: Plant a tree.

#88: Complete a Charles Dickens novel (other than A Christmas Carol).

#89: Officially read every Jane Austen novel.
I'm ashamed to say I've only completed Emma and Pride and Prejudice.

#90: Make pasta from scratch.

New Goals 71 - 80

We aren't going to talk about how I missed two days.
But I am going to make mental note to never again start a new job during Thanksgiving week. Or any holiday, for that matter.

#71: Maintain my perpetual journal for the entirety of 2013, 2014 and what part of 2015 is included in this 999 days.

#72: Buy an out building.
And I need to make sure that it's big enough for my garden stuff.

#73: Make a pumpkin pie.
Brandon loves it for Thanksgiving and I always buy frozen, so I'm planning on making one and finding a recipe he loves.

#74: Buy a proper wardrobe.
I have the crappiest wardrobe ever.

#75: Buy Brandon a proper wardrobe.
So does Brandon.

#76: Re-memorize the state capitols.
Don't judge me.

#77: Find my bliss and follow it.
I'm funny about numbers and 77 is my favorite number, do this one had to be my favorite goal. I'll probably change it later, but for now it's #77.
But on a note related to the goal: this needs to happen. Period.

No, Anne, having a goal about eating more sweet potato soufflé is not acceptable. But you should still eat more of it.

#78: Pack my lunch every day for a month.

#79: Go a month without any processed foods.
I've done this before, and it's hard at first, but so worth it.

#80: Learn 5 constellations that I can see in the summertime and know the history behind them.

New Goals 61 - 70

#61: Complete one month of "a photo a day."

#62: Learn how to meditate.
You know, proper mediation, where my mind is clear of all thought.

#63: Go on a camping trip and "rough it" for a few days - no cell phones!

#64: Learn how to make good spaghetti sauce from scratch.

#65: Visit a restaurant that I've seen on Food Network.
It doesn't matter if it's from "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" or "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" or whatever, I just want to visit somewhere that I've seen on there.

#66: Catch up with the scrapbooks for Mom and Dad.

#67: Buy a new pair of sneakers.
I've had the same pair since high school...which some people might find shocking, but since I wear flip flops most of the time in my spare time, it's not that big of a deal.  But now that I'm a working girl (even thought I've been a "working girl" for 3 years...oh my gosh it took me way too long to get to that point in life) and I can't wear flip flops to work, I need some new shoes.

#68: The goal that shall not be named, but has to do with that thing that I need to get done.
I'm sure I could be more vague, but I think that's vague enough. Not that it matters, because Brandon is the only one who reads my stuff, and that's only because I make him.  Oh, hun, I am going to enter in your contest, don't worry.

#69: Maintain that book list that I created.
If I learn how to maintain it, it will become a habit and I will do it FOREVER!

#70: Write in my spiritual journal weekly.
This will hopefully encourage me to do spiritual things more often.

I play this game on my phone called "the Simpsons: Tapped Out" (I call it "Simpsonville"...which is very incorrect) and you build a virtual version of Springfield and get to meet the characters from the Simpsons and whatever.  I find it sad that I wanted to just make a goal about that.  You earn money for doing things (fake money, unfortunately) and I'm saving up to buy the Thanksgiving balloon of Santa's Little Helper.  But I was going to say something like "purchase all of the available land spots in Tapped Out"...I'm a loser. Whatever, leave me alone, I need to go harvest my tomacco.

New goals #51 - 60

Some days I hate my life, and today is one of those days. I am in a bad mood, I don't feel good and I'm tired. Grumpy Anne doesn't make for very good goals, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway while I watch House Hunters.

#51: Visit a Renaissance Fair

#52: Hike part of the Appalachian Trail.
Even if it's just a teeny tiny part.

#53: Go jet skiing with Brandon.
I went as a kid and remember liking it a lot.

#54: Cross at least one of the MLB stadiums off of our list (see destinations above).

I am checking out a list of 1,000 ideas for a bucket list (I know, that's kind-of cheating) and I just saw one that says "Learn your grandparents' native tongue"...check. I should put that down as a goal. Does it count if I've already accomplished it (25 years ago)...?

#55: Go to an amusement park.

Oh my gosh, I still have 5 more *facepalm*

#56: Lose 100 pounds.
...did I really just write that?

#57: Tour the Richmond Art Museum.

#58: Build a greenhouse.

#59: Frame my yearly goals every year.
Like this:

#60: Buy a nice chess set.

The end. And just in time for the end of House Hunters.  They picked the first one.
I'm still grumpy, tired and don't feel good.

New Goals 41 - 50

I have reached the point that I knew I would...  I have reached "the wall" in this process. So I think I am going to sit here for the next hour or so and do other things on the internet and write things down as they come to me.

7:21 pm
I can do this.

7:42 pm
Perhaps I should make this my 44 in 444 instead of 99 in 999.

#41: Create a book list.
This is for all of the books I have ever read and will ever read.

#42: Visit Bald Head Island with Brandon.
Bald Head Island is a posh island off the coast of NC that I love and I really would like to take Brandon.

#43: Publish a book.
Typing this makes my whole body clench.  This is something that I have wanted to do for years, but whether it is because of fear or self-doubt, I haven't done it, and I want to. {Still freaking out a little.}

8:14 pm
Yes, I am, in-fact, watching "Bridezillas, where are they now?" on television.

#44: Watch the sunrise over the beach.
I live on the coast - might as well do it!

8:27 pm
Well, I'm past an hour...

#45: Sew curtains for a whole room.

#46: Tour Poplar Grove Plantation.

#47 Make monthly and yearly goals - and stick to them!
This means that they have to be r.e.a.l.i.s.t.i.c!  Otherwise they'll never happen. Realistic, Anne, realistic.

8:48 pm
Only 3 more to go! I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

#48: Go on a picnic with Brandon.
Location to be determined.

#49: Get professional family photos done of the entire Cliffe family.

#50: Get professional family photos done of the entire Entsminger family.

9:01 pm
Man, that was rough.

New Goals 31 - 40

#31: Go to a for real Horror House (Panic Attack in Wilmington...?)
I have been through a few rinky dink things at fairs and such, but I've never been through a legit Horror House, and I really really want to.  Wilmington has this one called Panic Attack around Halloween and we didn't get to go this year, but I'd like to see it.

#32: Get a professional massage.  And try not to get addicted.
Never had one but I'd like to.

#33: Do some kind of record keeping every week for the entire 999 days. Blog, journal or take a picture.
If nothing else, I will take a picture with my phone.

#34: Learn how to play the piano and memorize 5 hymns from the LDS hymnal (simplified, obviously).
I have been trying to learn to play the piano since I was 8. Okay, that's a lie, I took a few lessons when I was about 8 and got a few songs under my belt that I can still pluck out on the piano, but I never practiced...or the piano teacher at Cripple Creek left...or something, so I didn't keep it up. But I have always wanted to know how to play.  I have never been willing to put the work into it, though, obviously. So, 996 days from now I will know how to at least play 5 hymns.

I'm beginning to think I've bitten off more than I can chew.

Speaking of chewing -

#35: Make ten amazing desserts that I've never made before.
I have made cakes and a few pies, but there is a whole world of dessert that I have never explored, and I want to.

I really want to do a Family History goal, but how does one gauge how far along they are on Family History??  I can't say "complete my genealogy" because that won't happen in a lifetime. There is always more to learn, always more to discover. That's almost like saying "find out all there is to know about the history of the world" - not possible. But, I can do something as a goal, I suppose.
 
#36: Take 20 family names to the temple and complete them - start to finish.
That includes male and female.

#37: Make 72-hour kits and test them twice.
Test them as in go camping and take nothing with us but the 72 hour kits.  That's awesome because that means we get to go camping, and that might work for the weekend trips from goal #28. I shouldn't say Goal #28 because I'm going to rearrange these... I'll change it when I do.

#38: Start building my food storage and have a solid 2 months worth.

#39: Live two weeks on nothing but food storage.
This will be after I've obtained quite a bit, obviously.  Eat what you store and store what you eat, right?

#40: Learn how to can stuff and buy a pressurized canner.
I think it's called a pressurized canner.

New Goals 21 - 30

You may or not agree (hey, guess what, it doesn't matter, because they're my goals!) but I'm not going to consider yesterday a skip because:
1. I had already written them down. I took my own advice and wrote them in a draft on Thursday night after I posted my last post so I didn't forget them.
2. I would have posted if I hadn't gotten a call from my new job saying "hey, can you come and do your orientation tonight? I know it's short notice, but you won't be able to do it for two weeks if you don't do it tonight" and then I didn't get home until late. And didn't remember until after midnight and I had gone to bed.

So without further adeu (is that how you spell that? I'm sure french isn't on my computer's spell check), here are my goals 21 - 30.

#21: Watch 30 movies off of Brandon's "list".
Brandon has a list of movies that he wants to watch with me and I am ashamed to say that we haven't watched any since we've been married. 30 is one a month, with a little room to breathe.

#22: Go on a week-long "media fast" every quarter.
I have an obsessive personality, and I am obsessed with media. Television, internet, video games, movies, my iPhone, Pandora, etc.  I understand that I need a break from these things every now and then, so for a week once a quarter I am going to take a fast.  I'll have to strategically time it so I don't miss anything important (midnight release of "the Hobbit", for instance {which is coming up soon!!!}, or during family vacation).

#23: Learn how to rotate a garden and then successfully do it.
I love to garden, even though I typically lose interest somewhere around the end of July. But I'd really love to learn how to rotate my vegetable garden so that I can get more nutrients into my soil (the old fashioned way).

#24: Buy Rosetta Stone and learn how to speak a new language.
When I originally typed this the other day, I said "how to speak Spanish and French" AH! Well, Spanish isn't really a "new" language for me, as I've taken 8 semesters of it, however, I am most certainly not fluent. But I would love to learn a new language, like French, Italian or Gaelic.  I doubt they have Gaelic on Rosetta Stone, though. I think I would eventually like to know Spanish, French and Italian. We'll see which one I learn first.

#25: Start a retirement fund (Ah!).
Oh my gosh, that's such an grown-up thing to do. I'm not a grown-up.  I'm an adult by age, I suppose, but I'm certainly not a grown-up.  I once read a quote by C.S. Lewis that said something about how he hoped that he never sunk down to becoming a grown-up. Oh, let me see if I can find it. 

“Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

 Okay,  okay, that doesn't say exactly what I remember it saying.  I remembered it more in a Peter Pan kind of a way.  None-the-less, I still don't feel old enough to be doing things like starting a retirement fund.  And that quote is certainly something to live by.  that is my life philosophy.  My brother said to me the other day that I was strange for doing things like listening to Disney songs on Pandora, but who cares! I like to sing along sometimes, darn it.  Right along with my Wicked songs.  And Into the Woods. Into the woods to Grandmother's house!  There are giants in the skyyyyyyyyy.
Moving on.

#26: Finally read "Paradise Lost" all the way through.
I've taken two classes where I was supposed to read this.  In-fact, one of those classes was a John Milton class...and I still didn't read it. I suck, let's move forward. I'll read it now.

#27: Buy an external hard drive.
We've had one before, but it crashed.  I want this primarily for my pictures. I suppose I have plenty of room on my computer...but I'd still like to have one.

#28: Go on 6 small weekend trips with Brandon.
It's not all about the huge trips, and I'd really like to start doing small weekend trips.

#29: Get up to date on scrapbooking.
 - SVU - Freshman Year
 - SVU - Sophomore Year
 - SVU - Junior Year, Part 1
 - Life in Burgaw
 - SVU - Junior Year, Part 2
 - Wedding
 - SVU - Senior Year
 - 2009
 - 2010
 - 2011
 - 2012
 - 2013
 - 2014
 - 2015
The thought of all of this freaks me out a little bit. But I WILL do this!

#30: Organize memory boxes.
I have tons and tons of memory things that I want to keep, but they are all shoved in cardboard boxes and I never look at them.  I really want to get those pretty boxes that are all the fashion right now and organize everything - which really goes along with my scrapbooking goal because those boxes have a lot of things that will end up in scrapbooks.

Now I have to come up with another 10 for today. Awesome. 
:)

New Goals 11 - 20

Well, day two and going strong!
I actually had to stop myself short last night from going past 10 because they just kept coming to my mind - hopefully I don't forget any...perhaps I should just do a draft in future if that happens again...

#11: Document all of my goals in photographs.
I love taking pictures and I love doing that for the intent of record keeping. So, there you go.

#12: Watch all of the old Doctor Who seasons.
That evens out to about one disk a week...I think we can handle that.

#13: Compile a family cookbook.
For quite some time now I have wanted to compile a cookbook filled with family recipes and loved recipes of those whom I love, so I am finally going to do it!!

#14: Get new wedding bands for Brandon and myself.
We were in that struggling college student phase when we got married and got cheap rings from Walmart.  I love my engagement ring and I'd really like to get a set that tie into how it looks.

#15: Attend a play at a really old theater.
When we were in Boston a few years ago we went to see Wicked at the Boston Opera House and I fell in love with the Opera House almost as much as I did with the musical, and I'd like to go see another play. Not necessarily at the Boston Opera House again, obviously.

#16: Compile and stick to a budget for one month.

#17: Revise my budget and then stick to it for three months.
The plan for this is to stick to it for three months and just figure out how budgeting works in my life and go on from there.  Since the two of us have never really had a "set" income amount, this has always been difficult, but as that has changed, so has my idea of budgeting.

#18: Begin a fitness program and stick to it for 6 weeks.
I've started and failed many times...but I figure if I stick to it for 6 weeks, then it will become habit and it won't be so hard. That's the plan, anyhow.

#19: Stay at a Bed and Breakfast for my Anniversary.
I've always loved the idea of a B&B, and my 5th anniversary is coming up, so... (hint, hint, hint)

#20:  Attend a Catholic Mass in a big fancy cathedral.
There's something about attending a church service that is so steeped in tradition that is appealing.

New goals - 2-10

We already established goal #1: come up with 10 goals per day for 9.9 days (which, might I add, it is convenient that it is a partially self-accomplishing goal).
Here are 2 - 10.
I think I'll write them all down in blogs and then rearrange them later, because I can't have a blog that doesn't have like-things together. :) You should see my book collection... my brother said to me, "what's so difficult? just throw them up on the shelves." NO!!! I can't have Shakespeare next to Twilight (yes, I admit that I do own one of them...), that would be chaos. Shakespeare goes next to Milton, Beau, duh.
Anyway.

#2: Finish a book a month.
You know, I considered making this two per month, but I'd like to make this realistic and attainable.  And working 40 hrs/week sometimes doesn't allow me to do that...especially with so much television to watch...

#3: Go on 3 amazingly awesome trips with Brandon.
This does not include: trips that only include going to Kansas City or Bath County (where our parents live).  If we happen to stop by either one of those places, that's different.  These three trips are intended to incorporate some of the places under the "Destinations" tab at the top of the blog.

I keep stopping myself from asking Brandon "what do you think I should put on here?" because for once I need to do something for myself and not rely on other people.

#4: Create two travel maps.
I've always wanted maps that have cork board behind them and I am able to stick push-pins in them, so that is exactly what I'm going to do. I even know where I'm going to hang them up in the bedroom and what places are going to get pinned.

#5: Read a history of the world.
Self-explanatory, really. I even have the book already and everything.

#6: Watch all 6 Star Wars movies in order as a marathon.
Brandon loves them and they're one of "those things", you know?

#7: Read the entire standard works - cover to cover.
Old Testament
New Testament
Book of Mormon
Doctrine & Covenants
Pearl of Great Price

#8: Take a photography class.
I've always wanted to do this. I love taking pictures.

#9: Throw an amazing party that is not centered around a holiday or a birthday.

#10: Own all of the Classic Disney movies.
I should start a list of these at the top of the blog too...that way my husband can keep an eye on them and buy them for me... :) (especially when they come out in new editions...like Cinderella is right now...)

A shock of reality

I decided to get on here and do a little blogging today, and I did the math on what date it was going to be in 999 days (okay, okay, I looked it up on the internet because I'm too lazy) and I realized that it's my birthday! But...not only is it my birthday...it's my 30th birthday...

And then it hit me...
IT'S LESS THAN 1,000 DAYS UNTIL I'M 30!!!
Cue panic....

I would say "and then I composed myself" or "then I got over it" but NO! I'm still freaking out a little bit.  This sums up how I feel:

I'll get over it, I suppose.  And in the meantime...I need to make this a meaningful, useful time in my life (right...?).
So, here goes. I'm creating a 99 in 999. An official, typed words on web page list.

Let's begin, shall we?

Goal #1: Come up with 10 goals a day for 9.9 days in order to complete this list.