101 Wednesday, #2

Remember that time I told y'all I would start doing 101 Wednesdays, but then didn't update for a reallllly (ridiculously, embarrassingly) long time? Yeah. I'm not really sorry, but I can pretend I am.

I was going to do it, but then I carried on living my life. 

Good news is that leading my life consisted of tackling a few things on my list. Specifically, I can report that I crossed off numbers 4, 19, 59, 78, and 92 and started on quite a few more. And here is my synopsis of living my life and crossing things off lists (which is my FAVORITE)....

Like smiling, only with lists

4) Pass Texas Bar Exam: I found out on 05/02/13 that I passed. I'd like to be all cool and say I was really reserved and totally expected to pass, but the truth was I was drunk because that was the only way my mother could tolerate me that day (thus she enabled my margarita habit) and that I nearly had a stroke in the backseat of my own car (she was driving, given my impaired condition) when I heard the joyous news. I got sworn in this Monday (05/13/13).

Pretty sure I did something akin to this in my car.
The spinning may have been because of margaritas, though. 

19) Participate in a 5K: a few weeks before I took the Texas Bar Exam, I was clearly experiencing a bout of dementia, and thus signed up to run in a local 5K benefiting the Lion's Club Camp (great cause, people). I then ran it THE WEEKEND AFTER MY BAR EXAM. I'm going to let that sink in for a second. To say this was ambitious was an understatement, especially given my tendency to hate running and life in general after such a harrowing event.

Then I went, and I won the damn thing. It was 3.35 miles long (a quarter mile longer than the 5K is supposed to be), and I ran it in 28:02, which means I actually ran faster than a 27 minute 5K, which has always been a goal I wanted to meet. I even got an award and everything. (Note: I won the entire woman's event, and that was partially because the fast awesome beasts of women were running the 10K and left me to my rookie 3.1 miles, but DAMMIT, I'LL TAKE MY AWARD AND MY CONGRATS AND THAT IS THAT.)

59) Drink the requisite 8 glasses of water every day for a week: I started trying to do this around the beginning of January, and around the end of March, I not only started doing it, but I made it a habit. I'm now drinking 8-10 (or more) glasses of water every day, and I'm glad I embarked upon one thing that may benefit my health in the long run.

Now if only I could break my horrible crack and list addictions...

78) Roast marshmallows around a campfire: my little brother was slated to have a sleepover for his 12th birthday, complete with marshmallows and ghost stories and all that. I made him adorable invitations to said event, which he went and distributed to his friends..including GIRLS. :) Imagine my mom's chagrin when one of the girl's moms texted her inquiring about the "co-ed sleepover"  (all in good fun). Long story short, everyone came over, a good time was had by all, and I ate those GINORMOUS marshmallows normally reserved for chubby bunny games at church lock-ins.

(Also, if you never played chubby bunny in a church lock-in, I don't particularly feel sorry for you, because it ruins your ability to enjoy marshmallows for a really long time while simultaneously making you unattractive to the opposite sex for however long it takes them to mindbleach your grotesque and contorted face from their memories.)

92) Meet up with at least one of my twitter friends in real life: while taking the Texas Bar Exam, I got to meet Zilly and Amby!!!! THIS WAS AWESOME. THEY ARE AWESOME. I lerve them. And I am now resolving to meet more of my twitter friends in real life. Kayla, YOU'RE NEXT.

(Amby and I went out for dinner the night before the exam, which calmed my nerves, and she gave me an adorable "bar exam gift bag" which was precious and awesome and DID I MENTION I LERVE HER? Zilly was kind enough to cart my ass down to the testing site and not strangle me when I got too annoying--because let's not lie, I'm annoying and those tests don't exactly bring out the best qualities in people.)

101 Wednesday #1 (17, 54, and 81)

101 Wednesday. The day where I update you on my list and tell you what new and awesomely exciting things I've managed to cross off. This won't happen every Wednesday, because I'm not deluded enough to believe I'll actually accomplish one thing every single week. (Who knows, though?) (Also, I think it's safe to say I'm obviously not ambitious.)

Since I created my 101 in 1001, I've crossed off three things. It was shockingly easy to do. :)

#17 - Reconnect with two old friends

A few days ago, I received a text message from one of my oooolld high school friends. Rather than recounting it, I'll let it speak for itself.

Without even realizing it, I made a date with two very old friends, and we had a GREAT time chatting and reconnecting. I got my sushi fix, we got to catch up, and I can assure you that they have not packed on the pounds. (We actually all look almost the same as we did in high school, which we finished almost eight years ago.)

Probably the funniest moment was trying to figure out who in our original high school (in 11th grade, we swapped to an advanced boarding school) hadn't married (like us). We came up with two. Then Friend 1 asked "Who do we know that we went to (original school) with that got their advanced degrees?" Friend 2: "One of the girls we just named who isn't married." Me: "Naturally."

Ahhhh, the South. Where people seem to strive to be married, divorced, and laden down with children by the time they're 25.

#54 - Make Christmas cookies with my little brother

I have absolutely NO SHAME in informing you that I DO NOT make gingerbread. I tried a couple of Christmases ago using my mother's recipe, which calls for SIX cups of flour. After chilling, I was met with something roughly the size, texture, and hardness of a basketball.

(NEVER AGAIN.)

So a few days before Christmas, I picked up a box of gingerbread cookie mix (no judging), got out my cookie cutters, and ripped my little brother away from his electronics. Hilarity ensued.

Then we feasted.

Don't pretend like you're not drooling. 

#81 - Buy myself a piece of jewelry

The day after Christmas, I happened upon an ebay search I saved a while back. You see, after I graduated from law school, I wanted to use the money I received as gifts to buy the most perfect awesomest gift to remember it by EVAR (which I elected to be a ring with a red stone). And since I wanted it to be perfect, I still hadn't found anything by the end of the year. 

When I'm telling you I searched far and wide, I did. Rubies are hard to find, and I wanted a deep red stone. I considered garnet as well, but nothing I found was right. I wanted yellow gold. I wanted it close to my size so it wouldn't be difficult to resize. I wanted big, but delicate. I wanted something I could wear for-ev-ver. (Squints' voice from The Sandlot.)

I searched in jewelry stores. On ebay. In pawn shops. Nothing was perfect. 

Until this particular ebay search. A beautiful garnet ring popped up. In my size. In yellow gold. Flanked with white sapphires and diamonds. 

And now it's mine. 

My....precioussssss.

101 in 1001 (Or: my addiction to lists is showing)

The 101 in 1001 days challenge has been around for quite some time, but (like always) I'm just now getting around to it.

I've decided to start today (12/20/2012), and it will end on September 17, 2015 (09/17/2015). (Jesus that's a long time away.)

As I complete them, I'll cross them out, and hyperlink to any blog entries I may have composed about particular goals I accomplished. And I really REALLY want to finish these goals. 

For convenience and ease of grouping, I put them in specific categories. 

Professional Goals

1)            Pass Louisiana Bar Exam

2)            Take a case to trial

3)            Land a great job

4)            Pass Texas Bar Exam

5)            Win a difficult case

6)            Take and pass the Patent Bar

7)            Become accomplished enough in my career that I feel comfortable speaking to undergrad students in my old department about it

8)            Speak to undergrads about career options with respect to my experiences

9)            Write a legal article and submit it for publishing

Personal Goals 

10)        Buy a house

11)        Pay off my student loans

12)        Start a savings account

13)        Become an expert at something

14)        Build or refinish a piece of furniture

15)        Build a budget and stick to it for one month

16)        Do one thing I have always said I would NEVER do

17)        Reconnect with two old friends

Self-Betterment 

18)        Donate 100 hours of pro bono time

19)        Participate in a 5K

20)        Discover a healthy activity I love doing

21)        Don’t cuss for an entire day

22)        Read ten classic novels

23)        Develop a nighttime skin/winding down routine and stick to it for two weeks

24)        Watch five classic movies

25)        Complete one, real, honest-to-God pullup

26)        Take a spin class

Altruism

27)        Write someone a thank you note for influencing me in a positive way

28)        Send someone a care package

29)        Hand write my grandmother a letter

30)        Digitally store and create at least one photo album for my mom

31)        Knit my little brother a scarf

32)        Buy someone a gift just because I can

33)        Give blood

34)        Plant a tree

Educational Endeavors 

35)        Educate myself about the stock market (at least 2 books)

36)        Reeducate myself about ancient history and modern geography (at least 3 texts)

37)        Revisit learning Latin

38)        Visit a museum

39)        Visit the Smithsonian

40)        Go to an orchestra performance with my little brother

Artistic Endeavors 

41)        Audition for a movie or show

42)        Take a painting class

43)        Participate in another play/musical

44)        Watch a Broadway play

45)        Sew something that I’m not embarrassed of

46)        Visit the opera

47)        Perform a musical number with my little brother

48)        Put an Earl the Squirrel story into writing, and make brother illustrate it

49)        Watch a stand up show/routine

Cooking

50)        Make homemade bread

51)        Make a homemade cheesecake

52)        Discover my signature dish

53)        Take a cooking class

54)        Make Christmas cookies with my little brother

55)        Create edible gnocchi

56)        Make a homegrown pesto

57)        Plan and execute an elaborate dinner, complete with tapered candles and music

Autonomy

58)        Do the dishes every night for an entire week

59)        Drink the requisite eight glasses of water every day for an entire week

60)        Go to bed by 11:00 every day for an entire week

61)        Get up at 6:00 every morning for an entire week in order to work out

62)        Change my own oil at least once

63)        Go through ALL old pageant clothes and donate, sell, or trash 90% of them

Travel Plans 

64)        Travel to NYC

65)        Take Josh to New Orleans

66)        Travel abroad

67)        Go camping

68)        Attend my 10 year class reunion

69)        Visit the Grand Canyon

70)        Visit somewhere with crystal clear waters and snorkel

Electronic Age

71)        Digitally store and sort all of my old photos online

72)        Fix an electronic of some sort

73)        Create photo albums of all my precious moments

74)        Finish photo editing photos for important moments (graduation, vacations, swearing ins)

75)        Store all of my old schoolwork digitally and get rid of all the paper I scanned

76)        Organize all of my files and documents

Just because I can.... 

77)        Get my concealed carry

78)        Roast marshmallows around a campfire

79)        Decorate a gingerbread house

80)        Take a partners dance class

81)        Buy myself a piece of jewelry

82)        Buy a hammock and lay in it

83)        Try eyelash extensions

84)        Plant a garden

85)        Frame and mat my diplomas

86)        Read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy

87)        Grow, dry, and drink my own tea

88)        Mail a secret to Post Secret

89)        Pay for a fancy meal for me and the bf

90)        Compose a list of 101 things I’ve already accomplished of which I’m proud

91)        Have a day at the spa

Online Presence 

92)        Meet up with at least one of my twitter friends in real life

93)        Write a blog entry once every day for a week

94)        Break 500 followers on Twitter

95)        Redesign my blog

96)        Market my blog in such a way that I become more mainstream and relevant/pick up   more followers

97)        Blog 10 haikus

Grown Up Stuff 

98)        Host Thanksgiving

99)        Throw a dinner/themed party

100)    Discover and add three new vegetables to my diet

101)    Stand up for one person who is being ganged up on, regardless of the setting