Unfinished

In July 2009, I started a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. I tried to make reasonable goals, although some of them (like finishing my degree or traveling internationally) were loftier than others. I finished 60 items. Here’s a look at the things I didn’t cross off, and why. (Some of these I already talked about in a progress evaluation last summer, so if this sounds familiar, you probably read it already.)

1. Eat a Kong Kone
The local grocery store, Macey’s, has a giant soft serve ice cream cone. I tried to eat one once and threw up. Um. Why do I want to try again?

2. Go fishing
Jarom went fishing a lot last summer, when he had Fridays off. Once he brought home a catfish, still alive, and did all the killing sorts of stuff. I am a little bit not up for that.

3. Keep the house tidy for 1 week
I possibly did this, without noticing. But more likely I made it 2 days and then the kids went back to their usual destructive selves, I went back to my usual crazy-busy schedule, and the house went back to its usual disorderly state. Maybe I can give this a try again once we move! 

4. Catch a butterfly
Don’t laugh, but large butterflies scare me. They remind me too much of bats. (For Kendy.)  

9. Make a pillow
Tricky with no sewing machine. 

12. Potty-train Evan
Okay…this was my biggest hope from the list, aside from finishing my degree. It went decently for a while, but sadly, potty training is not entirely up to me. Big sigh.

13. Memorize the state capitals
Everyone else did this in elementary school, right? I never did. You’re welcome to give me a pop quiz just to laugh. Geography is by far my worst subject. I maybe know a dozen state capitals. (For extra laughs, give me a blank map of the U.S. and ask me to label the states.)

14. Donate blood
I had an appointment to donate blood one of the gazillion times they had a drive at BYU. It was right after a class, so I’d already be on campus and someone would already be watching my kids. Somehow it fell through – I cancelled and planned to reschedule, but it never happened.

15. Fly a kite with Evan
I blame June for this not happening. She is the most impossible to control child outdoors, and flying a kite requires being outside. Rarely do I get a chance to take Evan on an outing without June as well.

19. Hike the Y
I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! My 1001 days ended on April 19, 2012, the day of graduation, and I had a great plan to hike the Y that day – as a way to celebrate graduation, but also because living in Provo (on and off) for 10 years without hiking the Y is an accomplishment itself. But with preparation for graduation and having family in town, I didn’t end up having time, and now I’m waiting for Jarom to have a free weekend so I don’t have to carry both kids up alone.

21. Watch It’s A Wonderful Life
What can I say? Christmas movies are just not my thing. Also, I typed “Wonderflu” at first, which sounds like a terrible but maybe awesome thing.

25. Bring my total reading to 100,000 pages since 2004
So close! I’m over now (100,368 pages as of the end of May), but at the deadline I was at 97,254. Still – that’s impressive, right? If you’re curious, my current average is about 11,000 pages per year. That’s about 40 books of 200-300 pages each.

26. Get a pedicure
I’m surprised to see this on the list, because feet make me uncomfortable, and I definitely don’t want someone touching my feet. At all. Ever. I can’t picture paying someone to touch my feet. Gross.

27. Drink an entire bottle of Martinelli’s
It sounds fun, but I’ve tried a couple times, and actually…it isn’t fun.

28. Go Christmas caroling 
Hey! Let’s combine singing and being in a crowd, two things I’m not good at!

40. Take a picture of my kids every day for a month
I’d love to do this, but remember how unphotogenic my kids are? We got a replacement camera last month, so it’s possible this will happen at some point, but “every day” is a big commitment.

42. Invent a recipe
Jarom is great at this. He invented a Thai-inspired Mahi-Mahi dish that was amazing, and he makes up ice cream flavors all the time. I, on the other hand, prefer to stick to the recipe. I’m just not daring enough to try something on my own.

45. Go camping
With kids? Still scared! At the time I made this list, Evan was only a few months old, so it may have seemed reasonable. We’ve gone camping with relatives who had young kids. The closest we got is staying at my grandpa’s cabin for a few days; it’s in rural New Mexico. It doesn’t quite count, I think.

50. Make this mirror
Fortunately, I don’t even like the mirror anymore, so I don’t feel bad about skipping this.

51. Fill up my Moleskine journal
Well…it’s half-full. I even started putting in doodles and grocery lists, but I haven’t written much at all.

52. Write in my journal at least once a week for 6 months
Not even close, though this year I’ve been right on track with my calendar journal.

57. Eat 5 servings of fruits/veggies daily for a month
Sorry.

58. No fast food for 2 months
Sorry again.

61. Find an album for our wedding photos
We have 5×7 photos and I don’t want a square album. Apparently this is hard to find. Want to find one for me? I’m really picky.

68. Travel internationally
Again, this was written when Evan was young, and I wasn’t planning on having another baby right away or going back to school full-time. (Did I tell you my diploma came in the mail?! It’s official!!) Jarom went to Korea for a month while I was pregnant with June (yes, it was tons of fun for both of us), but I’ve still never left the country. (I do have a passport, though. For the photo, they apparently tried to correct my skin tone, which looked too pale, so I’m glaringly orange. Awesome!)

74. Bake madeleines
My madeleine pan doesn’t fit in my toaster oven :( but will fit in my real oven when I move!

75. Make maple-walnut cup pies
While I was pregnant with Evan, we found someone (on KSL or the like) who had a walnut tree in their yard but was allergic to walnuts. They offered to let us come pick as many as we wanted for free! Jarom found a recipe for maple-walnut pie and, since we have only a small toaster oven, he modified it to be pies in a cupcake tin. (This doesn’t sound like an original idea anymore, and you’ve probably seen it lots of times, but Jarom was pretty much the first person in the universe to think of it!) I’d love to make them again, but we seldom have walnuts in the pantry and I don’t think of it at the grocery store.

76. Pick fresh fruit off the tree
I wish I could count Jarom for all of these. Whenever he gets fruit at his grandma’s house, I happen to be too grouchy or dealing with kids. (Synonymous?)

79. Go to the lighting ceremony at Temple Square
2009 – Jarom busy with law school.
2010 – new baby.
2011 – both of us busy with school.
2012 – no excuse, right?

82. Host a Murder Mystery dinner
Ambitious! I actually am a terrible hostess, have a tiny kitchen, and have nowhere to seat or feed enough people for a Murder Mystery dinner. I’d love to be invited to one, though.

85. Grow herbs in the kitchen
We currently have chives growing in a jar on our kitchen windowsill, but didn’t put them there until May.

89. Buy a bike trailer for Evan to ride in
We borrowed one for a little while from Ben & Krista. The kids LOVED it. Now I just have to put it on my extremely long list of things to save up for.

91. Write a living will for myself
Still a great idea!

92. Do yoga 5 times
Still a great idea! I’m not a morning person, so getting up before the kids do sounds like torture, and by the time the kids are in bed (and actually asleep instead of laughing and/or screaming at each other) I just want to do…nothing. Not even yoga.

93. Write a personal statement for my law school application
I’m not entirely convinced that I’ll go to law school. It’s a nice thing to say, because I like the idea of having another big goal for myself, but we’ll see how things play out. Maybe we’ll be living in Korea 10 years from now, and law school won’t even be an option. Who knows?

94. Read the Book of Mormon in 1 week
I hate to admit it, I completely forgot about this goal. It will certainly be a big time commitment for me – maybe you could remind me!

95. Bring cup pies to the sisters I visit teach
Especially since we’ll (hopefully) be moving out of our ward at the end of the month, now is the perfect time to make cup pies. It won’t count for my list, of course, but there’s nothing wrong with bringing baked goods to a friend! (Hint hint.)

96. Grow a hyacinth
I love hyacinth…I have a hyacinth perfume that I got several years ago, and it always reminds me of when Jarom got back from his mission and we spent all our time together. How unfortunate that he doesn’t care for the smell at all. Maybe a fresh flower would be preferable, then. I’ve heard you can grow hyacinth indoors any time of year in a special jar, but obviously never put the right amount of research into doing it.

97. Watch at least 1 extended edition Lord of the Rings
I know. I know.

100. Do the assigned reading for church before class for 2 months
June just barely went into nursery, so I finally get to go to all the meetings without kids – pretty much for the first time in over 3 years. (Evan had just barely gone into nursery when June was born.) I’ve been doing pretty well recently, and I hope it keeps up!