Way back when, a few months after I first started following the blog of the talented mentor and friend, Melissa Jill, I borrowed (not stole, ’cause Melissa’s the first to encourage you to share in this industry 
), the idea of adapting a 101 in 1001 list.
What, exactly, is that? Many of you have probably heard of this, but to the unfamiliar, it’s a list of an assortment of goals you want to accomplish over the course of nearly 3 years. Thanks to Melissa, I created my first 101 in 1001 on Jan. 1, 2008. Then, I promptly forgot about it. (Here it is, if you’re curious). When Melissa recently blogged about her version 2.0 of her 101 list (’cause, you know, she actually FINISHED her first one!), I got to thinking it’d be nice to give my own 101 a fresh new start (and the attention it deserved).
Looking back at my old list, I’m amazed to see I accomplished over a third of what I wrote down. As Melissa writes in her blog topic on the subject, people who write down their goals are much more likely to be successful in reaching them, and I couldn’t help but think she was on to something. So here’s to tackling everything that’s on this list of mine (and as you can see, I’ve left a small bit of wiggle room to add a few more goals too!). They may not all become reality, but if you don’t visualize ‘em first, how do you know how much you’re willing to try, eh? Wish me luck!
START DATE: March 7, 2010
END DATE: December 2, 2012
UPDATED (with some new goals): February 7, 2012
1) Travel Europe (Completed 7/10)
2) Visit New England (Completed 5.30.10)
3) Visit Seattle
4) Take a picture of myself visiting NYC in Times Square (Completed 4/23/10)
5) Go sledding (Completed 12.27.10)
6) Take a hot air balloon ride
7) Take a fun vacation to Michigan with Nick
8 ) Visit a friend in a different state at least once a year
9) Pay for the meal of a stranger (drive thru counts!)
10) Help a local charity on a monthly basis for a whole year
11) Read the Bible in one year
12) Join a church I love
13) Get into the habit of reading daily devotionals
14) Adopt a family at Christmas
15) Ring the bell for the Salvation Army
16) Read three books a month for a year (completed 2011)
17) Watch the entire series of Friday Night Lights
18) Art direct and create a video with my Canon Mkii
19) Create a coffee table book of family pictures
20) Create a coffee table book of our Europe travels
21) Spend an entire day with my remaining grandmother (sadly, I can’t fulfill this one 
but I’ll just ask that if you do your own 101 list and have surviving grandparents, you put this on yours FOR me )
22) Tape record/videotape grandmother sharing stories about how she and grandpa met (Completed 8.1.10)
23) Babysit for a friend and/or family member at least twice in 2012
24) Put a bun in the oven (had to throw that one in! 
25) Cook dinner three times a week for six months
26) Create a easy-to-search cookbook for my favorite recipes
27) Migrate my old favorite music into one place
28) Practice yoga regularly
29) Run another half-marathon
30) Revamp my living room
31) Put flowers on the graves of my deceased grandparents
32) Research a well-known photographer
33) Replace the roof on our house
34) Cook Indian food (Completed 6.2.11)
35) Make an awesome homemade pizza that will beat out delivery and share that recipe with y’all
36) Start an herb garden (Completed 6.8.11)
37) Knit 3 projects a year
38) Sit down at the piano once a week — even if it’s for 15 minutes
39) Create a collage of prints of my travels; hang them in the living room (Completed 7.22.11)
40) Have Nick and I’s pictures taken professionally again (Completed 8.16.10)
41) Visit my friend Aly in Chicago
42) See an awesome concert with a friend
43) Redesign my Web site
44) Work on SEO for my Web site
45) Develop packaging for my products (Completed 4.20.10)
46) Take a monthly picture of me and Nick
47) Shoot my first maternity shoot (Completed 6.11.10)
48) Go to another photography workshop
49) Attend WPPI (Completed 2.20.10)
50) Devote one night a week to being social media free
51) Keep inbox to number less than my age (soon to be 30!)
52) Take a writing class
53) Do something that makes me afraid
54) Read 12 business books in a year
55) Blog about taxes and other business aspects of photography
56) Do an at-home session with a family
57) Create Christmas ornaments for my past wedding clients of each year (12.23.10)
58) Shoot a session at the state fair
59) Shoot a newborn session
60) Get letterpress business cards made (Completed 3.22.10)
61) Begin a client referral program
62) Hang a hammock up in the backyard (Completed 6.24.10)
63) Bake a pie. From scratch. (Completed 7.30.10)
64) Take a family vacation
65) Clean out my closet annually
66) Purchase the 35 1.4 lens (Completed 8.12.10)
67) Purchase a laptop (Completed 12.17.10)
68) Implement PayPal as an option for clients
69) Keep a gratitude journal
70) Take a jewelry class
71) Read a classic novel (Completed 2.18.10)
72) Go fishing with Nick
73) Ride in a bike ride with Nick
74) Join PPA
75) Learn how to play cribbage (with Nick)
76) Throw a party for someone
77) Go to a taping of Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me in Chicago
78) Complete a Photoshop tutorial
79) Take pictures of my college campus (for myself)
80) Have my photography work published on a style/wedding blog (Completed 10.3.11)
81) Have my photography work published in a magazine
82) Begin fostering relationships with vendors I work with
83) Create a canvas from my work
84) Shoot a session for free
85) Take swimming lessons
86) Pick and watch 10 classic movies
87) Go to a fancy New Year’s Eve party (Completed 12.31.10)
88) Have a date night once a month with my husband for an entire year
89) Make a mix CD for a different friend every month for a year (Completed April 2010-April 2011)
90) Create a birthday list of family’s birthdays and send a card out to everyone for their birthday. On time (for a change).
91) Pay off our car
92) Organize my spice cabinet (can you tell I’m Type A?)
93) Share a short story with my readers
94) Start a Tumblr account (Completed 2.11.10)
95) Memorize a song on the guitar, record it and share it (just for fun)
96) Discover the beauty in poetry
97) Go waterskiing (Completed 6.27.10)
98) Buy a really amazing chef’s knife and learn how to sharpen it myself
99) Watch the entire series of The Wire
100) Learn how to side braid my hair
101) Apply the William Morris philosophy to my house and pick a few projects to tackle (read more about that from my friend Jules here)
by Gail Werner
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