100 Things...

In an effort to live intentionally I've compiled this list of 100 things I want to do between now and the time I turn 35 (June 2010). I guess this is more my style than New Year's Resolutions. (I will highlight them in bold when I've completed them.)

1. Grow my hair at least 3 inches below my shoulders. (Wonderful Hubby says my hair is exactly 3 inches below my shoulders now. For some reason I thought 3 inches was longer than it actually is. 5/10/09)
2. Start walking or biking with my husband and kids everywhere we go that is under 1 mile. (Okay so I've discovered that this is just not going to happen. When Hubby gets off work at night he has no desire to walk anywhere so the boys and I will have to do this on our own. :) )
3. Watch all the Signing Time videos with my kids.
4. Finally read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. (Finished 12/9/08)
5. Begin writing down my childhood memories.
6. Visit my cousins and my aunt and uncle in Joplin.
7. Finish the Beth Moore study I started a year ago on the life of John.
8. Edit and retype the 30 day devotional I wrote a few years ago and finally give it to my friends. (I've finally started this project. You can read the devo's and view my progress here. 5/21/09)
9. Paint my living room and hallway. (Father's Day '09)
10. Stop drinking soda.
11. Reread The Little Pilgrim's Progress with the boys. (We begin re-reading this with our co-op this month! 2/09)
12. Read at least 2 books on the art of storytelling.
13. Save **** dollars in my personal savings account.
14. Try teaching an art class twice a month and see how I like it. (As of January '09 I'll be teaching art to my kids a 4 others 2X's a month for the rest of this school year.)
15. Start recycling. (again)
16. Start making my own money. (started working again 9/09...just 5-10 hours a week doing filing for a chiropractor.)
17. Have a family photo taken. (taken by family on our anniversary. 3/20/09)
18. Plant another tree in our backyard.
19. Finally visit the fire station with the boys.
20. Write my mother a love letter. (Not the romantic kind.)
21. Go fishing with my step-mother and the boys.
22. Get the sound on my computer fixed. (Done 3/1/09)
23. Lose 50 pounds.
24. Get all the bookshelves in the house organized. (For now anyway, 1/3/09)
25. Get a facial.
26. Stay the night at a bed and breakfast with my hubby. (We actually did not do this but have decided it's not the best way to spend our money right now.)
27. Learn to sing at least 5 new hymns.
28. Read A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson, all the way through this time.
29. Take a cooking class at Whole Foods.
30. Finish coloring my Starry Night color page poster then frame it and hang it.
31. Finish the Evan Moore geography workbook with the boys.
32. Stop buying lattes and other espresso drinks. (All I had to do for this one was decide and I did...I will stop buying them but will still order and drink them as my free drink when my punch card is full.)
33. Finally watch the movie Life is Beautiful.
34. Go see my grandma at least 3 times. (1st time: 12/24/08 2nd time: 3/14/09, Grandma spent a week and a half in the hospital...we visited several times and she passed away 3/18/09)
35. Clean my garage out all the way. (7/26/09)
36. Get a pedicure with my sister, my treat.
37. Become pen pals with a missionary. (I've been thinking on this one and there are more than one missionary with whom I correspond regularly via our blogs. I've decided that that counts! 1/1/09)
38. Take a class or acquire curriculum and finally learn to speak Spanish. (7/09)
39. Have a dinner party for the older people in our church who have invested so much in our family.
40. Go see David Crowder in concert again.
41. Get a new tattoo or at least figure out how much it will cost.
42. Look into the legality of painting a mural on the back side of my house, and then get started on it if it's legal. (My husband veto's this idea. But okay'd a painting on the front door so I did that instead.)
43. Build a "cabin" in the backyard.
44. Start saving 10% of our income.
45. Buy frames for the kids art and then begin rotating their work once a month or so. (6/09)
46. Stop drinking bottled water. (1/7/09 For further information see my post Breaking My Addiction to Bottled Water)
47. Reread Boundaries with Kids.
48. Start eating vegetables or drinking V8 with every meal.
49. Donate all our baby and toddler blankets that don't have sentimental value. (As a missions service project the kids at church are collecting blankets for Voice of the Martyrs Blanket and a Bible program. We donated ours 3/8/09)
50. Acquire an algebra text book to work through on my own. (Since I made this goal I realized that I have a 6th and an 8th grade math textbook and that I actually lack the skills required in the sixth grade book. This is exactly why I made math one of my goals, because it's always been my weak point. However, I'm working hard and looking forward to actually being able to teach this stuff some day!)
51. Walk around the block with the boys everyday for a month and see if the habit sticks.
52. Make sure my kids get in bed by 9 p.m. every night for a month and see if I can keep it up. (We redid our bedtime schedule and all is now going well. 3/09)
53. Acquire a new world map for the wall by the computer. (Ordered the Operation World Wall Map 1/3/09)
54. Read a book about Thomas Edison to the boys. (12/19/08)
55. Get into the habit of spending no more than an hour a day on the computer.
56. Treat my husband to a day of record shopping, my treat (with a spending limit of course).
57. Sort and organize my big box of pictures. (2/2/09 Thanks to scrap booking night at church!)
58. Write a letter to each of the missionaries I pray for.
59. Write a thank you note to each person on staff at the church I attend. (I finished these 12/5/08 and will deliver them this weekend.)
60. Print and frame a photo of my dad, us girls and our kids and give it to my dad.
61. Plant lots more flowers in my front yard.
62. Go see a play put on in the park.
63. Get up at 7 a.m. every morning for a month.
64. Resume the habit of praying with my kids every night. (finally got back in this habit 3/09)
65. Limit video game time in my home to 1 hour or less each day. (2/3/09 Began a new system...the boys earn 1 gold coin for getting through a little school work with a good attitude and 1 gold coin for doing chores with a good attitude. Each coin can be redeemed for 15 minutes of video game or computer game time. They can only earn 2 per day and can save as many as they want if that's what they choose.)
66. Memorize at least 30 verses from the book of Proverbs.
67. Have a "Friend Day" open house type party to celebrate my friends and love on them.
68. Spend an afternoon at the park with Hubby, just the two of us.
69. Write a short note to each of the kids I teach at church telling them what I enjoy about their personality.
70. Learn to bake with Stevia.
71. Watch at least a few of the Love Comes Softly videos. (Watched the first one a month or 2 ago and can't seem to get my family to agree to watching any more of them. 4/09)
72. Take a road trip to Washington, MO to visit Matt and Gretchen. (I didn't actually take the road trip but they were able to visit us here and that counts! 2/09)
73. Read The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. (Finished 3/8/09)
74. Have an art party with my kids, my nieces and my nephew.
75. Make morning glory muffins for my sister.
76. Make almond pineapple upside down cake for Hubby. (birthday cake! 7/2009)
77. Do some strength training a couple of times a week for 3 months (and then don't quit).
78. Find and train a back up missions teacher in case I need to be out of town or get sick. (7/09 A couple of wonderful middle school girls will be my partners!)
79. Repair or replace the ripped chairs in the kitchen.
80. Finish painting the house. (Thanks to Hubby's friend Bill this is now done!! 5/09)
81. Get curtains for my bedroom windows.
82. Paint a mural on the boys bedroom wall.
83. Build a bat house and hang it in an appropriate place.
84. Update our emergency kit. (3/16/09)
85. Get a first aid kit for the car. (3/16/09)
86. Put together an "At the park fun kit" for the car that includes bug "houses" and butterfly nets.
87. Get a new pair of earrings to wear everyday. (Wonderful Hubby made me some for our anniversary. 3/20/09)
88. Go to a homeschool conference. (I've never been to one.)
89. Write a story book for each of my boys.
90. Read the book of Isaiah in The Message.
91. Stop eating frozen pizza, french fries, etc.
92. Learn to cook on the grill.
93. Declare one 24 hour period a week TV free for the boys and I and then stick to it for at least 2 months.
94. Get into the habit of folding my laundry and putting it away as soon as it comes out of the wash.
95. Find a co-leader for my Thursday night Bible study. (Thanks Jenny! 1/20/09)
96. Make a map of the United States with the boys.
97. Buy myself some new sharpie markers and start drawing with them again. Not sharpies but nice set of colored markers 3/20/09)
98. Get some new plants for the inside of the house. (I've planted grass in containers indoors and been given philodendron plants 6/09)
99. Read a book written by A. W. Tozer.
100. Write at least 5 new poems. (#1 written 4/26/09)