6/26/11 Update

My List:
Finish by: June 8, 2011
34 things to finish (12 done, 23 to go)

MAKE (3/3)
1. 2. 3. 1 new meal [made mashed sweet potatoes, oatmeal pancakes, and cream puff cake]

LEARN (0/2)
1. To drive a stick
2. To drive the manual feature in my Mazda3

READ (1/11)
1.-10. Read 10 Pulitzer Prize winners in Fiction
11. The whole Bible

TAKE (1/1)
1. A yoga class

GO (4/6)
1. To a wine vineyard
2. In a hot air balloon
3. To the beach
4. To a shooting range
5. On a great date
6. To the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis

STOP (0/1)
1. Biting my fingernails

GET (1/2)
1. My car paid off [finished Nov 2010]
2. Laser eye surgery [not going to happen due to finances]

DO (2/9)
1. Go skinny dipping in clean water
2. Plant and grow something in a garden
3. Decide where to live after school is finished [Got a job in and am living in Indianapolis]
4. Find a teaching job [Teaching at Clay Middle School in Carmel, IN]
5. Fast for a day
6. Be a guerilla gardener
7. Sell a Threads of Hope quilt
8. Write a new list
9. Finish doing this list

4/22/11 Update

My List:
Finish by: June 8, 2011
35 things to finish (11 done, 24 to go)

MAKE (3/3)
1. 2. 3. 1 new meal [made mashed sweet potatoes, oatmeal pancakes, and cream puff cake]

LEARN (0/2)
1. To drive a stick
2. To drive the manual feature in my Mazda3

READ (1/11)
1.-10. Read 10 Pulitzer Prize winners in Fiction
11. The whole Bible

TAKE (1/1)
1. A yoga class

GO (3/6)
1. To a wine vineyard
2. In a hot air balloon
3. To the beach
4. To a shooting range
5. On a great date
6. To the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis

STOP (0/1)
1. Biting my fingernails

GET (1/2)
1. My car paid off [finished Nov 2010]
2. Laser eye surgery [not going to happen due to finances -- hopefully buying a house!]

DO (2/9)
1. Go skinny dipping in clean water
2. Plant and grow something in a garden
3. Decide where to live after school is finished [Got a job in and am living in Indianapolis]
4. Find a teaching job [Teaching at Clay Middle School in Carmel, IN]
5. Fast for a day
6. Be a guerilla gardener
7. Sell a Threads of Hope quilt
8. Write a new list
9. Finish doing this list

2/13/11 Update

My List:
Finish by: June 8, 2011
35 things to finish (9 done, 26 to go)

MAKE (3/3)
1. 2. 3. 1 new meal [made mashed sweet potatoes, oatmeal pancakes, and cream puff cake]

LEARN (0/2)
1. To drive a stick
2. To drive the manual feature in my Mazda3

READ (0/11)
1.-10. Read 10 Pulitzer Prize winners in Fiction
11. The whole Bible [in progress]

TAKE (1/1)
1. A yoga class

GO (2/6)
1. To a wine vineyard
2. In a hot air balloon [Conner Prairie]
3. To the beach [spring break!]
4. To a shooting range
5. On a great date
6. To the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis

STOP (0/1)
1. Biting my fingernails

GET (1/2)
1. My car paid off [finished Nov 2010]
2. Laser eye surgery [not going to happen due to finances -- hopefully buying a house!]

DO (2/9)
1. Go skinny dipping in clean water
2. Plant and grow something in a garden
3. Decide where to live after school is finished [Got a job in and am living in Indianapolis]
4. Find a teaching job [Teaching at Clay Middle School in Carmel, IN]
5. Fast for a day
6. Be a guerilla gardener
7. Sell a Threads of Hope quilt
8. Write a new list
9. Finish doing this list

2010: 77 Books (plus two I read twice!)

So what did I read in 2010? 77 books! A combination of non-fiction, Pulitzer Prize winners, classics, and young adult novels! An * indicates I read the book for the second time, but I only reread 5 books, so not too bad! Here’s shooting for 100 in 2011!

Night
Half the Sky
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince*
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*
The Hiding Place
Something Borrowed
Something Blue
In My Hands
The River Why
Phantastes
The Book Thief
William Tyndale
Found
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
Vienna Prelude*
Prague Counterpoint*
The Hunger Games (I read this book twice in 2010)
Catching Fire (I read this book twice in 2010)
A Boy Called It
The Lost Boy
The Other Boleyn Girl
Halfway to the Sky
Soldier’s Heart
Early Autumn
Scarlet Sister Mary
The Fellowship of the Ring
Mrs. Dalloway
Laughing Boy
King Leopold’s Ghost
Emmitt Till
Watership Down
The Poisonwood Bible*
Uglies
Beautiful Creatures (half)
Mockingjay
Woods Runner
American Born Chinese
Pop
The Westing Game
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Same Difference
Crucible
Wicked Girls
The Education of Bet
Alice in Wonderland
Bud, Not Buddy
Stargirl
Down the Rabbit Hole
Juvie Three
Newsgirl
Emergence: Labeled Autistic
Monster
Looking for Alaska
The Grimm Legacy
Kira Kira
How to Say Good-Bye in Robot
A Step from Heaven
The Chosen
Jellicoe Road
Nickel and Dimed
Educating Esme
Three Cups of Tea Young Readers Edition
The $64 Tomato
Reading in the Middle
Mango Shaped Space
Homeless Bird
Before I Fall
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
The Last Speakers
Heart of a Samurai
Boys Without Names
The Death Defying Pepper Roux
Whirligig
Trash
The Last Summer of the Death Warriors
Life as We Knew It
Stealing Heaven
Impossible

1/2/11 Update

My List:
Finish by: June 8, 2011
35 things to finish (6 done, 29 to go)

MAKE (1/3)
1. 2. 3. 1 new meal [made mashed sweet potatoes and oatmeal pancakes]

LEARN (0/2)
1. To drive a stick
2. To drive the manual feature in my Mazda3

READ (0/11)
1.-10. Read 10 Pulitzer Prize winners in Fiction
11. The whole Bible [in progress]

TAKE (1/1)
1. A yoga class

GO (1/6)
1. To a wine vineyard
2. In a hot air balloon [Conner Prairie]
3. To the beach (preferably Destin)
4. To a shooting range
5. On a great date
6. To the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis

STOP (0/1)
1. Biting my fingernails

GET (1/2)
1. My car paid off [finished Nov 2010]
2. Laser eye surgery

DO (2/9)
1. Go skinny dipping in clean water
2. Plant and grow something in a garden
3. Decide where to live after school is finished [Got a job in and am living in Indianapolis]
4. Find a teaching job [Teaching at Clay Middle School in Carmel, IN]
5. Fast for a day
6. Be a guerilla gardener
7. Sell a Threads of Hope quilt
8. Write a new list
9. Finish doing this list

10/24 update

My List:
Finish by: June 8, 2011
35 things to finish (3 done, 32 to go)

MAKE (0/3)
1.-3. 3 new meals

LEARN (0/2)
1. To drive a stick
2. To drive the manual feature in my Mazda3

READ (0/11)
1.-10. Read 10 Pulitzer Prize winners in Fiction
11. The whole Bible [in progress]

TAKE (0/1)
1. A yoga class

GO (0/6)
1. To a wine vineyard
2. In a hot air balloon [Conner Prairie]
3. To the beach (preferably Destin)
4. To a shooting range
5. On a great date
6. To the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis

STOP (0/1)
1. Biting my fingernails

GET (0/2)
1. My car paid off [in progress]
2. Laser eye surgery

DO (0/9)
1. Go skinny dipping in clean water
2. Plant and grow something in a garden
3. Decide where to live after school is finished
4. Find a teaching job
5. Fast for a day
6. Be a guerilla gardener
7. Sell a Threads of Hope quilt
8. Write a new list
9. Finish doing this list

The Amended, Extended 101 Things in 1001 Days List

The Official Site: www.triplux.com/dayzero

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Adjusted Mission: A one year extension to finish doing the things on my list that I still want to do!

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific. No ambiguity in the wording. The result must be measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of effort on your part)

My List:
Finish by: June 8, 2011
35 things to finish (0 done, 35 to go)

MAKE (0/3)
1.-3. 3 new meals

LEARN (0/2)
1. To drive a stick
2. To drive the manual feature in my Mazda3

READ (0/11)
1.-10. Read 10 Pulitzer Prize winners in Fiction
11. The whole Bible [in progress]

TAKE (0/1)
1. A yoga class

GO (0/6)
1. To a wine vineyard
2. In a hot air balloon [Conner Prairie]
3. To the beach (preferably Destin)
4. To a shooting range
5. On a great date
6. To the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis

STOP (0/1)
1. Biting my fingernails

GET (0/2)
1. My car paid off [in progress]
2. Laser eye surgery

DO (0/9)
1. Go skinny dipping in clean water
2. Plant and grow something in a garden
3. Decide where to live after school is finished
4. Find a teaching job
5. Fast for a day
6. Be a guerilla gardener
7. Sell a Threads of Hope quilt
8. Write a new list
9. Finish doing this list

101 Things in 1001 Days

The Official Site: www.triplux.com/dayzero

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific. No ambiguity in the wording. The result must be measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of effort on your part)

My List:
Finish by: June 8, 2010
101 things to do (65.4 done, 35.6 to go)

MAKE (4.7/5)
1. A quilt
2. 10 new meals 7/10 (poppy seed chicken salad, apple cranberry salad, market salad, chicken packets)
3. 3 different kinds of Christmas cookies 3/3 (butter cookies, mocha crinkles, chocolate snowballs)
4. A baby blanket
5. Granola bars

LEARN(5/8)
1. More Spanish
2. To drive a stick
3. To drive the manual feature in my Mazda3
4. How to cook turkey
5. How to cook a good ham
6. How to play poker
7. About China
8. About hot air balloons

READ (1.9/12)
1. Pulitzer Prize winners in Fiction: 1918-1929 10/11 [in progress]
2. Pulitzer Prize winners: 1930-1939 0/10
3. Pulitzer Prize winners: 1940-1949 0/8
4. Pulitzer Prize winners: 1950-1959 1/8
5. Pulitzer Prize winners: 1960-1969 1/9
6. Pulitzer Prize winners: 1970-1979 0/7
7. Pulitzer Prize winners: 1980-1989 0/10
8. Pulitzer Prize winners: 1990-1999 2/10
9. Pulitzer Prize winners: 2000-2010 2/11
10. Phantastes by George MacDonald
11. Spend a rainy/dreary day at the library reading as many Newberry Award winners as I can
12. The whole Bible [in progress]

TAKE (2/3)
1. Ballroom dancing lessons [8/22 Dinner & dance lesson at Fellowship]
2. A Zumba class
3. A yoga class

GO (7/15)
1. To a wine vineyard [Amy, planning to do in spring 2010 at the Biltmore]
2. To Alaska
3. In a hot air balloon [Conner Prairie]
4. To Destin again [Erin]
5. To Washington DC [Bridget, 10/08]
6. To a shooting range
7. To see the Holocaust Museum created in the movie Paperclips
8. To a movie alone
9. To a concert alone
10. On a great date
11. To the Frist again
12. Visit Melissa in Little Rock [Nov 08]
13. To the symphony [Kailin]
14. To the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis
15. To the driving range

STOP (0/1)
1. Biting my fingernails [in progress]

GET (10/12)
1. My car paid off [in progress]
2. A logo created for Threads of Hope
3. A digital camera
4. Laser eye surgery [Got glasses 10/28 to transition to soft lenses, then Lasik]
5. All new underwear
6. Rid of things I never wear
7. New cell phone
8. Christmas ornaments
9. Another massage
10. Sewing machine
11. A pedicure [for Bridget's wedding]
12. A manicure

INTANGIBLE (4/5)
1. Accomplish something impossible [Taught a cat how to play fetch]
2. Be in two places at once [Was in Washington DC and Virginia at the same time]
3. Offer someone hope [Threads of Hope]
4. Do something very brave [10/09 Said good-bye]
5. Give someone a voice

DO (30.8/40)
1. Run a sub-27 minute 5K
2. Go skinny dipping in clean water
3. Go geocaching [Erin]
4. Play in the rain [Erin]
5. Plant and grow something in a garden
6. Run a sub-2-hour half marathon
7. Decide where to live after school is finished
8. Find a teaching job in 2010
9. Fast/cleanse on 5 days 4/5
10. Go to a pottery making place [with Carol]
11. Cut my hair for Beautiful Lengths
12. Vote informed in all local elections 3/3
13. Vote informed in all national elections 2/2 (primary and main)
14. Tie a message to a balloon and let it fly [12/12 At my going away party]
15. Put a message in a bottle and drop it while on the cruise next summer
16. Fly a kite
17. Write a children’s book [Puffy Muffin & Roxy stories]
18. Run a 5 hour (or less) marathon [Oct 2008 ran DC Marine Corps Marathon in 4:35:04]
19. Find and reconnect with an old school friend
20. Paint the watercolor project
21. Take more pictures with digital camera when purchased
22. Use photoshop to edit my pictures
23. Make sure my mutual fund is well invested
24. Make a list of all the books I own
25. Make a list of all the cds I own
26. Decide whether to stay at Fellowship or not [Staying at Fellowship]
27. If not, find a new church
28. Finish painting my bedroom
29. Back up important computer documents [Used mozy.com]
30. Run a sub-4:30 marathon [Ran Chicago Marathon in 4:16:47]
31. Set up a meeting with CJ to discuss bookstore/starting my own business
32. Start recycling
33. Take a cooking class
34. Listen to all my iTunes songs (11days worth!)
35. Send a secret to www.postsecret.com
36. Find a church in Indianapolis
37. Finish writing this list
38. Be a guerilla gardener [Erin, Meredith, Morgan]
39. Write a new list
40. Finish doing this list

Hello world!

Ah yes, just another WordPress blog. More than that, another WordPress blog transferred from Xanga. For all my previous entries, please visit www.xanga.com/allisonjoy04. If you can give me an EASY way to move all my Xanga posts to WordPress that doesn’t involve downloading crap or RSS feeds, awesome. If it’s hard, I’ll just live with the click back.

I haven’t posted regularly on a personal blog in forever. Most of my blogging now happens at www.teamoneverse.org or even www.wordpress.com/pulitzerbookreview. I also run www.wordpress.com/threadsofhope which is really dormant since I work part-time and don’t have money for fabric! But I edit posts for a friend at www.2200miles.com as well. And all of those are WordPress blogs. Can you see why I ended up migrating here?

At any rate, most of my blogs here will probably be to update my 101 Things in 1001 Days list. The full list will be in a later post. I’m about half way done which is nice, but I know there are many items on the list that won’t be finished by next June. Oh well. I did my best! And life happens. When I made that list I didn’t know I’d be going back to school and living with my parents. That automatically makes several items obsolete (like spending $1000 on eco-friendly things — I never go shopping now). In fact, several things on the list that I knew would never happen (like making curtains for my room because my room at home already has them) were over-ridden by moving home and school related things. I wrote the list so I can change it, right? For that matter, I’m taking off the eco-friendly item and replacing it! Excellent. This is getting better already!