I have a tendency to get overwhelmed. Can you tell.. you know since I’ve been MIA for about a week? I mean just the task of blogging is too much for me. And working out is just plain daunting. Yet I continue to beat myself to death and put far too many things on my plate. So when I can’t accomplish everything I am angry at myself and end up doing nothing I set out to do. Why? I think it’s because I also have a tendency to just give up. I feel overwhelmed, and in my own way of fighting back, I do absolutely nothing. I evolve into the laziest person alive because I either work too much, need time to myself, or insert any other irrational reason here.

Then I saw this 101 in 1,001 days list floating around different blogs. The list began with an idea at Day Zero, followed by your wishcake, Cusp of Normal, Sara McGinness, Love, Shannon, and Ashley.Star. Yes it took all these people making lists before I finally decided to join in. I really sat on it for a while, cautioning myself against a new list to obsess over. I didn’t want another thing around to pressure me when really sometimes all I feel like doing is nothing.

Then I realized, this could actually be just the motivation I needed. A point in the right direction. By taking the time and thinking carefully about the things I wanted to accomplish, the way I wanted my life to be, I could use this list to boost me out of my laziness and channel my energy into the things that were important to me. This wouldn’t be a chore, but a choice. I specifically chose items that were tangible, ones that I could achieve. So you’ll see a lot of doing such-and-such for thirty days, ten times, etc. I’m relying on the idea that if you do something for thirty days it can really make an impact on your life. So we’ll see. Otherwise these next 1,001 days are just going to end up being expensive.

The Healthy Steph

1. Run a half marathon
2. Maintain a bedtime routine for 30 consecutive days
3. Do 30 minutes of exercise everyday for 30 days
4. Go to a yoga class at our gym
5. Play tennis with Cale
6. Finish eye therapy so that I don’t need glasses anymore (Dr said no need. so cute reading glasses it is!)
7. Walk the dogs every morning before work for one week
8. Spend an entire day without touching a computer or my PDA (ten times): 7/18/2009
9. Spend an entire day outside, from sunrise to sunset
10. Go entirely vegan for 30 days
11. Go an entire week without turning on the TV: 3/23/2009 – 3/29/2009
12. Go on ten bike rides
13. Make a workout playlist on my iPod and update it at least three times
14. Be able to swim a 200 IM again
15. Take the dogs on a hike ten times: 10/31/2009

The Married Steph

16. Plan three surprises for Cale
17. Design our new wedding photobook and have it made
18. Make new copies of our wedding video and put together with wedding photobook
19. For one month, first thing every morning, give Cale a kiss
20. Do Cale’s chores for him three random times: 3/28/2009, 10/18/2009
21. Stick Cale’s towel in the dryer and have a warm towel for him once he gets out of the shower five times (3/1/2009)
22. Dress up in corresponding Halloween costumes one year
23. Dress up and go to one fancy-pants dinner
24. Dress up and make him a five course dinner at home
25. Go to a concert that Cale would want to go to
26. Go on a date night 15 times: 2/27/2009, 3/21/2009, 11/13/09, 2/14/2010
27. Go an entire month without falling asleep with the TV on:
28. Finally decide on “Our Song”: Calico Skies by Paul McCartney
29. Go to a spa together to get pampered (2/14/2010, couples massage. aka the best day of my life)

The Well-Traveled Steph

30. Visit the UK
31. Go camping in Yosemite
32. Visit three new states in the US
33. Go tequila tasting in Mexico
34. Camp on the beach with my husband and the dogs
35. Perfect a British accent
36. Do all the tourist-y things in San Francisco
37. Visit five of the “1,000 wonders of the world”(The Las Vegas Strip at Night, Yosemite National Park)
38. Take ten spontaneous weekend trips with my husband (Not counting Bakersfield): Santa Cruz 3/29

The Intelligent Steph

39. Read one philosophy book
40. Finish my Jane Austen novels
41. Get the Intellectual Devotional and make time for it each day for one month: 2/16/2009 – 3/16/2009
42. Complete at least half of my Masters in Tax degree
43. Complete a French Ecole lesson a day for a month
44. Watch three French Films: (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Le Battement D’Aile du Papillon, Il y a longtemps que je t’aime)
45. Watch three Spanish films
46. Speak Spanish for an entire day
47. Learn a new Spanish word a day for a month
48. Learn a new English word a day for a month: 2/13/2009 – 3/13/2009
49. Finish ten books (The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, My Lobotomy, It Sucked and Then I Cried)

The Creative Steph

50. Complete one whole year of a photo a day
51. Have an album printed of my photo a day year
52. Write in journal once a week at least for three months
53. Finish Cale’s afgan
54. Learn to play 3 songs on the guitar
55. Get prints of my photos made once a month for six months and update the ones in my cubicle
56. Take a photography class (online or in person)
57. Paint one painting that I love

The Practical Steph

58. Start a “House Down Payment” separate savings account
59. Pay off the remainder of our credit card debt
60. Pay off my car early
61. Organize our digital photos and back them up at least bimonthly
62. Go two weeks without purchasing anything in a store
63. Finish backing up all home videos to DVDs (Mom don’t kill me if it really does take this long, but really… it might!)
64. Go an entire month without stepping foot into Target
65. Get re-certified in CPR
66. Use my Mint.com account to make a budget and stick to it for three months: Feb 2009
67. Get things in order “If Something Happens to Me”

The Domestic Steph

68. Have people over to our house for a BBQ
69. Host one holiday dinner (so what if it’s just flag day)
70. Make 1 recipe from Veganomicon weekly for 1 month
71. Plant and Maintain my garden for an entire season
72. Teach the dogs one new trick
73. Make breakfast every Sunday morning for four weeks
74. Make hand squeezed orange juice
75. Print new pictures for the frames in our living room once a year
76. Make prints of pictures from all trips taken and put in a photo album
77. Bake a birthday cake and use my pretty cake stand
78. Go to an antique store and find one “perfect find,” whatever that may be

The Kind-Hearted Steph

79. Volunteer at an old folks’ home
80. Go three days without complaining
81. Send out 10 hand-written cards or letters for no reason (2/10)
82. Donate money each Christmas to a charity: 2009
83. Complete five random acts of kindness
84. Let five people know the five things I love the most about them
85. Send out five “just because you’re you” gift packages

The Vain Steph

86. Update my hairstyle once a year (2009)
87. Get botox
88. Buy a pair of Christian Louboutins
89. Figure out how to wear eyeliner without looking goth
90. Tell myself one great thing about myself every morning for one month
91. Open up my Lucky magazine and pick one outfit to buy for myself, accessories and all. Then buy it.
92. Find a swim suit that I actually love
93. Buy a skirt to wear to work and actually wear it at least ten times: (2/10)

The Living-Life Steph

94. Ride a rollercoaster
95. Go to a country music concert in boots, wranglers, and cowboy hat (whiskey optional)
96. Go Scuba Diving
97. Attend a professional soccer game
98. Use my bocce ball gift card
99. Find and make my own signature martini
100. Go wine tasting
101. Swim in the ocean