I’m now just about four months away from my end date on my 101 in 1001 challenge, so this will be my last checkpoint before the final count in October. I’ve thought many, many times over the past couple months of just ending my challenge early (esp. because many of these will likely not be relevant in the next couple months, as we’re planning on moving). I very well might still cut the challenge a little early, but if I do, it won’t be until we are in a new house/place and more settled in general. With that in mind, the beginning of October actually still makes sense, at least for all the non-home items.
We shall see.
Here’s where I currently stand on my list—it actually is looking better than I thought it would!
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101 in 1001
Start Date: January 11th, 2018
End Date: October 7th, 2020
Note: There are affiliate links in this post, which means I may get a small commission on any sale made at no extra cost to you.
Health + Fitness
- 1. Run a half marathon in under two hours
- I went to the chiropractor a bunch of times back at the beginning of the year, which helped my back a ton. I also tried to get back into running around the same time. Then my back started hurting again. It’s beyond frustrating to be so limited in my physical activity, but I don’t know what else to do. Not planning on being able to do this one, at least not until we figure my back out.
2. Go six months without drinking any Diet Dr. Pepper3. Try out a new exercise class- 4
. Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight 5. Have a sugar-free month- 6. Complete a 12-week BBG (Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide)
- Sigh. I so desperately want to be able to cross this one off, but it just might not be meant to be. I started it (again) last month, and my old back injury flared up (again). It’s really too bad, since I saw great results from the 10 weeks I was able to complete before, but I don’t see how I can try to do this again until my back is really, truly fixed.
7. Try 3 new hikes- Since the pandemic hit, we’ve been trying to go on family hikes more as it’s one of the few ways we can really get out of the house safely. I carry Mathias on my back (so I can take pictures) and Matt carries the baby in the Bjorn carrier, and we go as long as Raven can hold out for. It’s been a lot of fun!
- 8. No fast food for two months (including pizza)
- Hmmm…we’ve definitely gotten pretty close on this one since both Matt and I are now eating gluten-free, but we’ve still given in and gotten fries a few times.
- 9. Get 10,000 steps avg./day for a month
- This goal seems super ambitious at the moment because I’m struggling to even average 5,000 steps a day over the course of the month. I know this would be easier when/if I’m able to get back to my normal (well, what used to be normal) level of exercise and cardio, but until then? Not counting on it.
Financial
- 10. Complete emergency fund ($10,000)
- For up-to-date progress reports on our financial goals, check out the series I started a few months ago, which details (with real numbers!) exactly how we’re doing on all our current financial goals. We’ve got about $4,000 in this at the moment.
11. Rollover Matt’s 401k to a Roth IRA12. Buy a bigger vehicle- Now we’re just in the process of paying this off early…
- 13. Pay $3000 extra on the mortgage
- Once again, see the new series for the exact numbers, but this one has been extremely low priority, and even more so since we’re planning to move soon.
14. Set up a sinking fund for car repairs15. Open up savings accounts for the kids- I opened up an account for Hyrum a few months back, so I’m all caught up on this one.
16. Replace our laptop- We used some of the money from the sale of our car to buy a new laptop, and it is AMAZING. Honestly, I feel like it saves me 30 minutes a day, just because I’m no longer having to wait for Internet pages to load, the laptop to boot up, etc. And the best part is, because I do almost all of my blogging on the laptop, I can count it as a business expense.
Personal Development
- 17. Reach 100% fluency on Duolingo (French)
- I finally logged back on after being off of it for probably a year and a half or so, and…it appears they’ve knocked me back to Level 0. Sigh. I’m planning on tabling this one until Matt and I get to go back to his mission (in Quebec) sometime hopefully in the next five years or so, which will give me motivation to pick it back up again.
18. Set up Facebook page for produce co-op19. Perfect my homemade pizza20. Type up the rest of my mission journals- 21. Learn 3 new songs on the guitar
22. Establish a personal morning routine + stick with it for a month- 23. Cook through a whole cookbook
- I had been making steady progress in cooking my way through The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner, but since Matt (and then I) went gluten-free, it’s been harder. It really shouldn’t be, since many of the recipes are naturally GF or are adaptable, but I’ll admit that my motivation has tanked for this one since his celiac diagnosis. I’ve currently made 118 out of 208.
24. Try a dozen new cookie recipes25. Go a week with no t.v. time (including movies)- 26. Fill up a sketchbook
- I’ve done five or six sketches, but I haven’t pulled it out in several months. While I would love to get more into sketching and painting, I also recognize that there’s a season for everything, and now is probably not the best season for pursuing this particular hobby. I’ll probably just stick with photography until the kids are a bit older.
Spiritual
- 27.
Read theBook of Mormon in Spanish - 28. Visit 3 new temples + do ordinances (1/3)
- Most of the temples are currently closed or mostly closed because of the pandemic, so I don’t even know if this one will be possible. The good thing about our move coming up is that once they do start opening up, we’ll be close to several that we’ve never been to before. Each temple is unique in structure, exterior, and outside garden areas, and each one is made with the finest quality of craftsmanship and materials. It will be fun to go through those ones down south of this that we never have before. (P. S. You’ll notice that I’ve linked a bunch of things mentioned in this section in case you are unfamiliar with my faith.)
29.Find 100 names for the temple30.Complete temple work for 15 people- 31. Make family history photo flash cards
- 32. Index 1,000 names
- Currently just over 50% of the way there, at 521 names. (Click on the link above to find out more about this genealogical service that anyone can do.)
33. Study allGeneral Conferencetalks of201734. Study all GC talks of 201835. Study all GC talks of 2019- Just finished this one in April, right around the time that the April General Conference aired.
- 36. Study April GC talks of 2020
- I’ve started on this one, but I’ve only read about 4 talks so far (out of over 30).
- 37. Re-read Jesus the Christ
Books
- 38. Read 5 books off of my 100 Classics list
- Almost there! I’ve currently read four, and I’m about a third of the way through my fifth (The Age of Innocence).
- 39. Read five books recommended by five different people
- I’ve read books from four (see the whole list of recommended books here), which is up one more from the last update.
- 40. Read 15 books off of the Newbery list
- I’ve currently read 7, which I’ll list below. No new titles since last update.
- 41. Read 5 books off of the Pulitzer list
- I’ve read four: The Stone Diaries, The Snow Child, The Dutch House, and Gilead. Once I finish The Age of Innocence, that will knock off this goal as well.
- 42. Read 12 books off of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list
- I’ve read eight. Five of those double counted from the lists above, then Sense and Sensibility, Rebecca, and Ethan Frome. No new titles since the last update.
- 43. Read 50 books I own (28/50)
- Still not looking likely that I’ll finish this, but maybe once we move, I’ll be forced to start doing reading from my own shelves more depending on how well-stocked the new library is. I had read two more of my own books since the last update.
44. Re-read 5 books- I completed this one, and then some! This goal got me back in the habit of rereading again, which has just been fun.
Travel + Fun
- 45. Visit Capitol Reef
- After we move, we’re actually going to be quite a bit closer to these first two places on the list, but with all the travel restrictions currently in place, I’m not sure if this will be the year I finally see them. But it’s only a matter of time!
- 46. Visit Goblin Valley
- 47. Visit a new state
48. Celebrate a holiday I normally don’t- Right after quarantine and social distancing started, I got pretty into doing some fun things to keep up morale until we got more used to it. One of those things? A St. Patrick’s Day “Green Feast.” We normally ignore that holiday completely (or pretty close to it), but it was fun having an excuse to do a themed dinner and pull out all the green. It was a good reminder that a little bit of extra effort goes a long way!
- 49. Visit the ocean
- Blergh. Our Hawaii trip got cancelled thanks to the pandemic, and we’re not sure if we’ll have the chance to go back, at least not in the near future. Such a bummer.
- 50. Go horseback riding
51. Go to the condo in St. George- 52. Go to a musical or play
53. Go fly a kite54. Go on a picnic
Blogging + Writing
55. Break even with blog expenses/income- 56. Make $500 profit in a year from blogging
57. Reach 100 people on my email list- Have you signed up for my email list yet? About once a month, I send out an email just to subscribers that’s more personal, and I try to include things I’m working on, some good books I’m reading lately, quotes that have made a difference to me, etc. I reached my first 100 subscribers awhile ago, and it’s been such a fun way to connect with you all in a different way!
58. Have a post get 1,000+ views59. Have a post get 2,000+ views- 60. Optimize 20 old posts for Pinterest
- I think I’ve done 14? I’ve been pretty bad at keeping track on this one.
- 61. Make 100 new entries in The Motherhood Diaries
- I’ve written 30. I love the posts I’ve written so far, and I definitely want to make more of a habit of actually writing in it. Always so much I want to do, and so little time!
Photography
62. Take another photography class- I signed up for an annual membership to Bluprint (which is unfortunately going out of business), and I watched Andrew Scrivani’s class on Food Photography. I learned a ton, and it definitely reminded me of the importance of investing not just in new equipment, but in my education (in fact, I should be investing MORE into my education than my equipment most of the time!).
- 63. Go to an event with the Cache Valley Photographers’ Group
- 64. Complete a self-portrait photo project
- 65. Pare down photos from 2013-2017
- Seeing as how I’ve taken between 10K – 19K pictures a year since then (yes, really), this is SO DAUNTING! But I’ve at least started, mostly because I’ve started weeding stuff out when I’ve been putting together the photo albums mentioned in the next section.
66. Buy a macro lens67. Buy a tripod- 68. Buy a full-frame camera
69. Give a free photo session to someone in need70. Launch photography webpage- 71. Back up all photos
Family + Relationships + Service
- 72. Complete 1,000 book challenge with Raven
- Since our library has been offering pick-up service throughout this whole pandemic, we’ve been taking full advantage and getting plenty of new pictures books for the kiddos. However, our number currently sits at 885, which makes me wonder if we’ll be able to hit the goal before Raven starts kindergarten. At the very least, we should hit it by the end of the challenge hopefully!
- 73. Create a recent family photo album
- I’ve expanded this in my head to catch up on printing out multiple photo albums until we’re basically current. I probably should have split this goal up, as it seems huge as it is. I have finished two and have picked almost all of the photos for the third, but I still have at least 5 more albums after that before we’d be current, so this will likely not happen before the end of the challenge.
74. Sign Raven up for preschool75. Go on 20 dates with Matt- Thanks to my mom helping us out a bunch with the kids while we went house hunting (and thanks to our anniversary being in May), we have officially exceeded this goal.
76. Sign Raven up for swimming lessons77. Give/send 12 handwritten notes or letters78. Get family pics taken twice- We actually got them taken a third time recently! Extra credit!
- 79. Take an overnight trip with Matt
80. Leave a 100% tip at a restaurant- The restaurants in town literally opened up again to dine-in eating on our anniversary, and we left a big tip, hoping that it will help during this time that’s so hard for so many restaurants.
81. Buy someone a just-because gift- 82. Give someone flowers
Home + Organization
Almost all of these are currently null and void since we’re putting up our house to sell in the next little while. It will be fun to start making a new list though for when we find our next house!
83. Get bed for guest room- 84. Fix plumbing out back
- 85. Update at least one light fixture
86. Install shelves in the upstairs bathroom- 87. Install book racks in kids’ room
- 88. Complete built-in bookshelves
89. Plant at least two fruit trees90. Build a sandbox out back- 91. Put shiplap up in bathroom
92. Buy curtains for downstairs family room93. Grow pumpkins94. Buy throw pillows for upstairs couch- 95. Do a refresh project of 50 Weeks to Organized
- This is kind of getting done by default as we’re packing everything up to move. I’ll probably count it as complete because of that!
96. Plant an herb garden- 97. Make a canvas print to hang in our bedroom
- 98. Hang pics up in downstairs family room
99. Buy fresh flowers every month for six months100. Buy/get a grill- 101. Review emergency preparedness + Make a will
- We’d started focusing on building up our food storage just before COVID-19 hit, and we were so grateful! Now we’re trying to use up most of it before we move, and then we’ll start over again. Since Utah also got hit with an earthquake in March, we did a little bit of emergency prep after that, but it’s still something I need to break down into a step-by-step goal to make sure we get everything in order.
