Please encourage me as I attempt to do 108 new things in 2008. Well, new, or things I just haven’t done in a really long time.

A big thank you to those who sent me suggestions for my list. I have added your name next to your suggestions.

And as things are accomplished I will cross them off the list and add a photo when appropriate (i.e. not #9). It’s all about the proof, my friends.

1- Learn to knit (Thank you, Sherrie!)(1/09/08)

2- Hang something on my bedroom wall - a photo, a candle holder, some art, a calendar - something! (This would truly be a first) (and it was a calendar)
3- Volunteer for a worthy cause (Janet). And I will add that it has to be in addition to English School, because I began volunteering there in 2007.
4- Sing karaoke (Janet)
5- See a play or ballet performance (Janet)
6- Spend a whole (non-sick) day lounging in bed with movies, books, etc. (Janet)
7- Make homemade ice cream (Janet)
8- Go back to my college town for a visit and see Meaghan (Meaghan)
9- Take a bath by candlelight (Kate)
10- Go to an opera (Simon)
11- Try a new game (Simon) (Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 on Wii - hilariously fun!) and Rock Band!
12- Read José Saramago's The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (Simon)
13- Run a half marathon (10/25/08)
14- Take a walk at a park I have never visited before (Kate suggested going for more walks)
15- Read The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Neiffenegger (Renee)
16- Watch or Re-watch Friends Season 9 "The one with Rachel's number" (Renee)
17- Have a taco night
18- Read the entire Harry Potter series
19- Visit a state I have never been to, and not just a drive-through. Please see the map in the right-hand column for where I've been – well, the places I can remember visiting.
20- Visit a country I have never been to. Please see the map in the right-hand column for where I've been. Any suggestions on where I should go?
21- Make a bacon, avocado, lettuce sandwich
22- Plan an entire date day
23- Throw a party
24- Learn to rollerblade (this will actually shock me and all of my family if I can manage to do it)
25- Go on a trip with my sisters
26- Take a dance lesson
27- Try a new type of cuisine
28- Make biscuits from scratch
29- Go to an arts and crafts fair
30- Learn to juggle
31- Go skydiving (this will depend on funds)
32- Go to a concert (7/12/08)
33- Play miniature golf
34- Go bike riding (well, first I need a bike…)
35- Go horseback riding
36- Create a scrapbook
37- Read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Kari)
38- Read Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
39- Read A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
40- Read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister: A Novel by Gregory Maguire
41- Read Son of a Witch: A Novel by Gregory Maguire (I didn't enjoy this one)
42- Read Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
43- Read Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres
44- Read Persuasion by Jane Austen
45- Read Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
46- Read Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides
47- Read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Kari)
48- Read Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
49- Read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
50- Read Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire (I didn't enjoy this one)
51- Read The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
52- Watch the movie Juno (10/02/08)
53- Have a ‘Pride and Prejudice Day' that includes watching the entire 1995 A&E version and the 2005 version (anyone care to join me?)
54- Read Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials Trilogy
55- Watch Stardust
56- Re-watch the entire British version of The Office, including the two Christmas specials
57- Try a new restaurant in Marietta
58- Try a new restaurant in Atlanta (It was La Tavola Trattoria Restaurant - absolutely wonderful!)
59- Baby-sit my niece - she is due to arrive in May! (Steph)
60- Run three miles without stopping
61- Bake a cake
62- Go on a picnic
63- Leave a server a 100% tip (but only for great service!)
64- Have a facial
65- Create a handmade card and send it
66- Participate in a Texas hold ‘em tournament
67- Finish a crossword puzzle
68- Go to a comedy club(April 13, 2008)

69- Go to an art museum
70- Go to the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern
71- Be a tourist in my own town, including taking lots of photos
72- Decorate my office
73- Try a new haircut (well, I don’t know if ‘try’ is the right word here…)
74- Read outside
75- Watch a sunrise
76- Watch a sunset
77- Stay at a nice bed and breakfast
78- Have a spa day
79- Buy a new dress
80- And matching shoes
81- Visit the New World of Coca-Cola
82- Visit the Georgia Aquarium
83- Eat breakfast for dinner
84- Make homemade bread
85- Try a new fru-fru drink [a.k.a. fruity alcoholic beverage]
86- Buy a cookie cake for no reason at all (and of course share with a friend!)
87- Have a girls’ night
88- Send an overseas friend snail mail
89- Go antiquing (Kole, you up for it?)
90- Help someone find a job
91- Watch home movies with my family
92- Cook with my mom (French toast - yum!)
93- Take an unplanned trip
94- Buy a CD
95- Get something published in a magazine under my name (I get published a lot, but not as me)
96- Pay off my student loans (3/14/08)

97- Write a short story
98- Visit my high school alma mater and attend a football game
99- Go to the beach
100- Be at the hospital when Steph’s baby is born
101- Be at the hospital when Barb’s baby is born
102- Make a key lime pie (I think I should be able to create my favorite dessert) (It was wonderful!)
103- Make S’mores
104- Start a water balloon fight
105- Do a puzzle with my dad
106- Send my nana a card
107- Try a different dish at my favorite restaurants (at Murphy’s Deli, La Parilla and Outback)
108- Finish a knitting project

13 comments:

Senegal Daily said...

When you're ready to tackle the baking projects, you just give me a ring and I'll set up the web cam and Skype. We can have a virtual cooking date!

Sid said...

Question ... why 108 things? Why not 100?

Anonymous said...

Congrats on being debt free! I'm probably going to be taking your place on the debt list shortly--I'm very close to signing my life away for my masters, too.

By the way, I noticed number 55 on your list is another one of those things that we have in common: I just watched Stardust for the first time the other day, and I have to say it's probably going to go on my list of favorite movies EVER. Good stuff! I have it on DVD...let me know if you're ever in the mood for Stardust and Loco's! :)

~Jules

Amber Dawn said...

nicole, i'm friends with kari and stumbled on this the other day. i think this is great, and will have great admiration for you if you complete it! i made a list of things i want to do this year and haven't even started on one of them yet.
i did notice that one of the things was to help someone find a job. as someone who's been job hunting for about 9 months i'm curious why this is on your list? something you have a heart for? or do you have experience with this, etc? care to help a complete stranger? :)

Anonymous said...

What a great idea with the 108 new things to try, I love it! Maybe I'll start that next year, cause this year is already booked with new things I would have never dreamed of doing. For one thing being in India. Another piercing my nose (in India), the list could go on and and on.
Keep up the accomplishments. Miss ya.

Amanda

Anonymous said...

Hey this gives me a great idea for next year. Congrats on the school debit!! Also wouldnt the Florida trip count for a trip with the sisters? Also for a country to visit how about Costa Rica... Ill go with you :) Have you been to TN.....

Love you, Arin

Sarah said...

oh my gosh this is such a wonderful idea!! I can't believe you paid off your student loans!! It gives me hope!

CLAP!CLAP!CLAP! said...

Leia José Saramago's O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo ...
"How can we believe in a creator God of the universe, whether that God created the human species? In other words, the existence of man, indeed, is what proves the absence of God."

Senegal Daily said...

For number 28, may I recommend:
http://jkmassonrecipes.blogspot.com/2006/03/southern-girls-biscuits.html

And still no number 9 crossed off?? Shame, shame.

@TuttleMan123 said...

Hey Nicole,
You better get crackin on this list! LOL
Only 130 days left! gogogogogo!

@TuttleMan123 said...

Looks like progress is being made, keep up the good work...tick tock tick tock! 88 Days to rock!

Unknown said...

Hi Nicole! I'm very impressed that you are checking items off your list. But...not to be pessimistic or anything...2008 is rapidly coming to a close - crazy! I remember when you created this - it's flown by! I hope in these last two months of the year you have fun checking lots of items off your list!

Chao,
Kate

Glenn and Cile said...

Still working on this? Hate to add pressure to you...