101 In 1001 Challenge!!

Take Two...

I posted years ago that I wanted to do this challenge, and then, in true Trish fashion, procrastinated it into oblivion. This time, I already have my list prepared.

For those who don't know, the 101 in 1001 challenge is like a bucket list, with a specific deadline and amount of goals. Let me tell you, listing 101 different things to accomplish is not an easy task. I managed to get about 25, and then looked at other people's lists for inspiration. I was able to get the entire thing written out in a few hours. For accountability I am posting it here, and will update each time one is completed.

101 In 1001 Challenge

Start Date: February 1st, 2020

End Date: October 29th, 2022

1. Learn Greek. (Edit: learn a second language... I am taking ASL)

2. Go to Disney World.

3. Get another tattoo.

4.Answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind".--Done 2/5/2021: Blog Here

5. Don't complain about anything for a week.

6. Leave an inspirational note in a library book.

7. Start college.

8. Get a promotion.--Sort of done? Started a new job with better hours, pay, and responsibilities December 2020.

9. Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet.

10. Read a new book each month.

11. Complete the 365 day photo challenge.

12. Get a passport.

13. Complete the $5 challenge.

14. Dance in an elevator.

15. Buy a car.--Done January 2021: bought a 2019 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, in my name, with no cosigner!!!

16. Say yes to everything for a day.

17. Learn a new skill.

18. Plant a tree.

19. Learn to knit.

20. Visit an art museum.

21. Make a different international dish every night for a week.

22. [Private family matter]--Done February 2020

23. Do an ancestry test.--Done- Results here!

24. Raise credit score to 580.--Done 5/2021, new goal: to 650!

25. Make one vegetarian meal a week for 3 months.

26. Reach my goal weight (130).

27. Write at least one short story.

28. Do the 100 Happy Days challenge.

29.  Go on a photo walk.

30. Go to an acupuncturist.

31. Have an "alone" day with each girl every other month.

32. Pay off my student loans.

33. Eat at the Melting Pot.

34. Take the girls ice skating.

35. Go to a convention.

36. Wear a pearl necklace unironically.

37. Pay it forward at least once.

38. Learn to navigate with a compass.

39. Donate $50 to a charity.--Starting 2/2021, I am donating $10 a month to Children's Miracle Network, for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, until the end of the year or longer.

40. Donate blood.

41. Leave 100% tip for good service.

42. Visit a secondhand bookstore.

43. Go 30 days without sugar.

44. Be an optimist for a week.

45. Ride a horse.

46. Go to a 4-H fair.

47. Do 5 escape rooms.

48. Learn to shoot/ do archery.

49. Send a care package.

50. Invest in new bedding.

51. Learn how to tie a tie.

52. Do a weeklong social media detox.

53. Have a no-buy month.

54. Have a sponsored blog post/ YouTube video.

55. Style my hair in a new way.--Done March 2020, shaved my head/ styled into a mohawk!

56. Get professional photos done.

57. Make homemade jam.

58. Make something fermented.

59. Learn to make soup.

60. Have real ramen.

61. Go ziplining.

62. Do 10 random acts of kindness in one day.

63. Clear out my email.

64. Go mini golfing.

65. Do the historical walking tour of Philly.

66. Master making crepes.

67. Have a spa day.

68. Go to 3 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives restaurants.
69. Write a time capsule letter to open at 40 years old.--done 2/26/2020

70. Make baby books for both girls.

71. Print all family photos and put into albums.

72. Go to Luzerne area for a family visit.

73. Own the entire run of Warehouse 13 on DVD.

74. Master chocolate chip cookies.

75. Host a cookie swap.

76. Visit a botanical garden.

77. Make homemade pasta.

78. Stand in two states at once.

79. Go fishing.

80. Take a skill-building class.

81. Create a logo for my blog.

82. Visit three new states.

83. Do a Zumba class.

84. Successfully make a souffle.

85. Send a secret to PostSecrets.

86. Go cliff diving.

87. Play every board game I own in one week.

88. Do a random activity at the beach.

89. Keep a thankfulness journal for one month.

90. Buy a lemon tree.

91. Complete every song in a Just Dance game.

92. Learn a professional dance style.

93. Eat an exotic food.

94. Hold a plank for three minutes.

95. Break a world record.

96. Buy all food for one week at a farmers market.

97. Consistently keep a food journal for a month.

98. Visit five places from "Weird NJ".

99. Celebrate a unique, non-traditional holiday each month.

100. Reach 100 followers on Bloglovin.--Done, as of 6/9/2021, I have 115!

101. Inspire at least one person to create their own list!

Happy New Year!!!

2020 is here, people!!!!

Obviously I am overexcited for this year. People closest to me know that last year was not my best, so I'm going to be working really hard to make sure the upcoming year is amazing, for myself and my family.

Some things I am looking forward to this year:

• getting to my goal weight
• building up my savings account
• going back to school for Psychology
• Disney trip
• consistently posting on blog and both YouTube channels

There is so much more, but those are the ones I am comfortable sharing ahead of time. Today starts my consistent posting on the blog, Youtube is going to take a little longer. Next week will continue the Tasty Tuesday and Worth It Wednesday series, with some amazing products and recipes for you to check out!

I hope you all have a great day, and Happy 2020 to you!! 



**OHHHHH, I saw a tip for this year I want to share with everyone: put the full year on any paperwork that requires a date. If you put it as 1/1/20, there is potential for an unsavory person to forge the date to make the document invalid. But, if it is written as 1/1/2020, there is no space to fill an invalid year.**

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Go me! I am making moves... in the wrong damn direction. Here are the steps I took:



1. I quit Avon in January because I got a great new job, with good pay and benefits.

2. I got settled in at the new job, liked the people, enjoyed the work, etc.

3. Company goes bankrupt after 2 months of me being there, and my store is going to close.

4. I get hired at a company, doing the same thing I had done for 4 years, at a pay decrease.



Ok, so I'm really not complaining. I am happy to have a job, and am lucky it's something I know. I just feel like I'm starting all over again, and have to prove myself all over again. And that's exhausting, especially when you factor in social anxiety and low self esteem.



My hope is that this gets me closer to my goals: being financially stable, becoming a doula (doing online courses to get certified), move into a better home. I am terrified. I know the company I'm moving to will be around for a while, but the fact that a well-known company that was actually making sales could just shut down instantly shook me a bit.



I guess that's it for this post... I sorta ran out of steam... And words. Keep an eye out for another post soon, possibly about a new business venture!  (Hint: it's nerdy.)

New Year "Resolutions"

I hate resolutions. I feel like any time I make a list of resolutions for the new year, I fail miserably. So I set a list of goals, as well as how I can achieve them. If you don't have a plan, you don't know where to start!

-Be able to hold a conversation in Greek. I swear, one day I will do this! I'm going to download an app as well as get at least one book, and choose a day to study.

-Save as much money as possible. We plan on moving into a new place around April, and with it will come added expenses. So this is especially important. I think the best course of action is to have at least $10 from each check go straight into a savings account, and to stop spending all of our change. Another good idea is to cut a daily expense out (like buying coffee at a shop) and putting that money aside instead. In my case it might end up being soda money (I am trying to quit it anyway, so saving that money is an added incentive!)

-Try a new recipe every month. I have actually started doing this already, but I want to keep it up. Today is crock pot steak and potatoes, and also homemade tortilla chips in an array of flavors.

-Work out at least 4 days a week. Ugh. I hate working out, but love the results. This is going to take a routine. I need to set an alarm on scheduled days, and just get the heck up and do it.

-Eat better. I have a bad habit of eating junk a lot. Or eating in excess. This results in me being 20 pounds over my target weight. Not good for my self esteem. So I need to really hunker down and limit myself and change my eating patterns. I need to get more healthy options (sauerkraut and homemade cucumber salad are already a staple in my fridge, but I need more.) I need to eat breakfast every day, even if it's a smoothie. And then, I have to remember to not eat 10 snacks right after.

-Write a book. This freaking goal. I got a great idea for a story a few weeks back, and now I'm sitting on it. I even told my writer friend about it, and they suggested we collaborate. Heck yes! Except I'm lazy, and more a proofreader than a writer. But, this story is so awesome, I must write it. So, my goal is to write 8-10 pages a week. I'm not sure how long I want it to be yet, either. Will it be a series? And boom, my head explodes.

So, I hope you have enjoyed my "resolutions". If you have trouble keeping to yours, I highly recommend reading PUSH by Chalene Johnson. It helps you not only set goals, but achieve them.

My Own Personal Challenge

I suck at being organized.

I really do try. I have calendars, and lists, and all the stuff that is supposed to help you be prepared. I just suck at using them. I leave things for the last minute (my mother used to say I was a heavy procrastinator... I say it's ADD. Look up the symptoms for girls. Go ahead, I'll wait.) I just always find something else to do, and when I look up, 5 hours is gone. Yesterday, my baby woke up from her nap, and I swore it was around 4pm. All of a sudden, it's 6pm and the dishes are staring me down. Oops.

So, this year it is my intention to be more organized, and set specific goals to help benefit my family. I want to save money, be more productive, and be healthier. Here's the first few steps of my plan.

Save Money

1. Set up a budget. I have already done this at everydollar.com. It is incomplete, but it has a few of my bills as well as my savings account plugged into it. This site gives tips for how to budget, save, and prepare for the future.

2. Build up my savings account. This one is huge. I plan on putting at least $10 into savings each month. It may not seem like much, but as a person who had $1 in there for a year, it definitely adds up. Also, I WILL NOT WITHDRAW IT. We have a habit of transferring money out as soon as we put it in. So, I plan on breaking that habit. The longer I leave it in there and build it up, the more interest it will earn. (Capital One has a decent savings account with no minimum balance, and Bank Of America offers a "Keep The Change" program that rounds up your purchases and deposits it into your savings account from checking.)

3. Sign up for cash back sites. There are plenty of these around if you know where to look.

If you have kids, Upromise is great. You can not only start saving for your kids' college, but it will help you set up an account to use once your kid is ready to go.

Inbox Dollars gives you a ridiculous amount of ways to earn money. You do tasks and once you hit $35, you can cash out for a gift card or check. Also, they link to the Game Show Network site as well as Bing, which gives you even more ways to earn money.

Then, there's Ebates, which gives you cash back to shop. You just have to go to their site and find the store you want to shop at.

Be More Productive

1. Reread Push. This may seem like more procrastinating, but it's actually a really crucial step. Push is set up as a step by step guide to aid productivity and allow you to reach your goals.

2. Download a task app. I already have a to-do list on my phone, as well as a calendar. However, I don't look at either of these. So, I am experimenting with a few different apps on my phone to streamline the process.

3. Make a daily list and stick to it. Every night before I go to sleep, I will make a list of the things I want to get done the next day, and I will make sure it is all done before 6pm. To take it a step farther, I will set alerts to remind me throughout the day that certain things need to be done.

Be Healthier

1. Make sure to eat breakfast every day. I constantly forget to do this! I wake up at 7:30am, and before I know it, it's noon and I still haven't eaten. Even if it's a shake, at least I am getting some nutrients.

2. Work out at least 3 days a week... to start. It is pretty hard to find time to work out unless it is 10pm. At that point I just don't want to do it. So, I am going to ease back into it. I will even add it to my planner so I don't forget.

3. Drink more water. So far this year I am doing good with this. I used to drink soda the majority of the time. Now I have soda maybe once a week at most. When I want flavor I make iced tea, or sometimes have juice. Eventually I hope to get my snacks on track as well.

Hopefully this year goes well and I can update you in a few months with my progress! What are your goals for this year? Comment below!

Changes!

For the month of November, I have decided to push myself to make some changes. Some will be small, others not so much.

Some small changes: revamping my website, making a to-do list every day, and meditating daily.

A few BIG changes: reaching out to at least 2 people a day about Beachbody, doing more challenging workouts weekly, and creating a monthly meal plan.

All of these are focused on growth, both for myself and my family. I need to make changes if I want to go different places, as we all do. People wonder why they aren't getting the lives they desire. It's because they are afraid of change. I was there too. But, I have realized fear is just worry... about things that may never even happen. If you keep living in fear, nothing will happen, good or bad.

So, I have decided to take a leap of faith. Just push harder and see where it takes me. And when I begin to feel nervous our afraid, I can meditate to regain my center and realize there's nothing to fear.

If you have been thinking about doing something, but are afraid what may happen, DO IT ANYWAY! Something bad may happen, sure, but something amazing could happen as well.