Ready or not...

Here goes my list:


What is this exactly?

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.
How is this going to work?
I'll post everytime I do something (seems like others are creating a seperate blog but I really don't need something else to keep track of), explaining what it was, how it went, was it hard, was it easy, I should have done this earlier, should have waited, that kind of thing. I'm going to try really hard to keep on top of this. I am reserving the right, however, to change some of the things on my list, but it won't be because of its difficulty or anything, just some things may not be important to me 2 years from now. But I will update this if/when I come to changing something.-
when something is italicized that means i've started working on it!
when something is in a differenct color font that means i've finished!
and if it's just regular, that means i have yet to start it!


*it's incomplete right now, but I'll keep adding, and updating!

1. Move back to St. Louis by December 1, 2008
2. Take at least three trips to see my little sister at college
3. Make a sincere effort to completely forgive two people in my life who have hurt me
4. Play with my kitten everyday
5. Jump off of the cliff at Barren River Lake with Jordan
6. Go on at least two more cave tours. (1/2)
7. Take Jordan to a Cardinals baseball game
8. Do a much better job of keeping the laundry caught up.
9. Get a gym membership and use it regularly.
10. Be part of a small group again
11. Read scripture and journal about it, regularly.
12. Get a tattoo with Jordan
13. Get new glasses that don't fall off my face or hurt my head
14. Take Jordan to California to spend time with my family
15. Take "family" pictures (Jordan and I, maybe Winnie too!) and send them to loved ones
16. Make a budget and stick to it.
17. Work for a highly respected company/ hospital/ clinic/ or foundation
18. Volunteer for Habitat For Humanity
19. Go on a mission trip with Jordan
20. Take Jordan to Eckerts to pick seasonal fruits and veggies!
21. Host three girl's nights (0/3)
22. Call at least two friends a week, instead of just messaging/ facebook-ing
23. Take my mom and dad to church, even if I have to drag them
24. Buy bikes with Jordan
25. Rides bikes together as often as possible
26. Finish my Bachelor's Degree
27. Buy my very first Christmas tree (a real one)
28. Check out books from the library
29. Take Jordan to 5 trivia nights with Michelle and Jon (0/5)
30. Bring 3 people with me to participate in the Race for the Cure, Relay for Life, and Light the Night
31. Build enough credit that we don't need anyone to co-sign for anything else, ever
32. Start a savings CD (Jamie, help?)
33. Take all of my favorite girls to the MO Botanical Gardens for a garden concert (0/1)
34. Play in the snow with Jordan
35. Cook a nice dinner for Jordan, or friends at least once a month (0/36)
36. Don't burn myself or the house down while attempting #35 (Stop laughing, I can hear you)
37. Buy a complete set of matching dishes, glasses, and silver wear
38. Don't dye my hair for 6 months
39. Go on vacation with Jordan
40. Take Jordan to Pointfest
41. Take Jordan to Warped Tour
42. See Coldplay live
43. Take Jordan hiking in Perre Marquette
44. Stay at a Bed & Breakfast
45. Go to a Winery
46. Go Green and start using canvas bags when I shop
47. Go to the Fox again
48. See a show at the Muny for the first time
49. Go dancing with the girls
50. Go dancing with Jordan
51. Take Jordan to the Melting Pot
52. Pay off Jordan's car, completely.
53. Bribe Jillian into really teaching me how to knit
54. Successfully knitting anything, even if it's a washcloth.
55. Vote in the presidential election
56. Getting rid of/ donating all of the things that I don't need or use
57. Become a member/ supporter of the St. Jude Children's Foundation
58. Buy a couch
59. Take vitamins daily
60. Read one book a month
61. Go to Oregon for our second honeymoon
62. Go horseback riding
63. Eat a good breakfast every morning
64. Buy tennis rackets
65. Learn to play tennis with Jordan
66. Visit/ meet Jordan's grandparents, in Michigan City
67. Take Jordan to the Cahokia Mounds
68. Go to the Ozarks
69. Have at least one date night a month with Jordan
70. Make an album for our wedding pictures
71. Join a yoga or kick-boxing class
72. Have lunch with my mom once a month (when we move back) (0/36)
73. Learn how to "properly" wear make-up
74. Spend quality time with my dad at least once a month.
75. Complete the Tour de Belleville
76. Get my wedding ring replaced
77. Never, ever stick my hand inside of a shredder or any other dangerous machinery once my ring is replaced.
78. Have the patience to let Jordan teach me how to play chess
79. Actually play chess with Jordan
80. Go to a show with just girl friends
81. Make Jordan an amazing gift for our one year wedding anniversary
82. Learn to hem my own pants (Stop laughing...)
83. Take Jordan to Disneyland
84. Visit New Orleans
85. Run it the St. Patrick's Day Marathon in St. Louis
86. Take pictures with my entire family (All four of us. It hasn't happened since I was 15)
87. Complete the marriage strengthening book that Jordan I picked out together
88. Buy an i POD
89. Learn how to use the i pod
90. Fly kites in Forrest Park at least three times (0/3)
91. Take Jordan to the city museum
92. Take Emily to the Edge
93. Support the USO by donating time or money
94. Go eagle watching with my dad
95. Go sailing
96. Go fishing for the first time ever
97. Donate money to three good causes (1/3)
98. Ride the giant ferris wheel in Chicago
99. Get coffee with Krystan as often as I can
100. Visit the Old Chain of Rocks bridge once a year for Julie and Robin (0/3)
101.

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ring around the roses...

My wedding ring is gone...

But I was very VERY fortunate to walk away with all that I did.
At work the other day, Laura and I were shredding old deposit tickets. The shredder that we were using is brand new, industrial size... It's capable of completely demolishing anything from plastic to paper to disks.

BUT, it gets jammed up a lot.

Normally all you have to do is turn the power switch off and pull the clogged paper/ plastic out from underneath the metal shredding teeth. Even though you have to do it completely by touch it usually only takes about ten minutes. Not a big deal, I've done it many times before and nothing bad has ever happened.

Well, while Laura and I were shredding tickets, the machine gets junked up with plastic. Ok, not a big deal. Laura was having back trouble that day so I turned off the shredder, knelt down in front of it and stuck my hand inside of the beast (by the way, the little logo/ mascot for this shredder is a giant bulldog with a spiked collar, growling with giant sharp teeth, it's more fitting than you can imagine).

So I stick my left hand up inside of the machine and carefully feel around the very sharp, stainless steel teeth and start picking out the hunks of plastic and paper. I had almost finished cleaning out between the teeth and I bumped something with the tips of my fingers...
Before I realized what was happening there was a loud metal clank and two rows of sharp stainless steel teeth crashed into the back of my hand, pinning my hand inside of the shredder. Doing my best not to panic I tried to wiggle my hand out of the teeth, wasn't going to happen... one of the teeth was shoved up between my finger and my wedding rings.

At this point Laura is freaking out and goes and grabs Danny, one of the controllers, and they are trying to figure out how to get my hand out. Now, none of the three of us can actually see into the machine because my body is blocking the inside of the shredder and when you lift up the top, all you can see are two or three of the many rows or rotating teeth. We tried for about fifteen minutes to get my hand free, but nothing worked because no matter what I did I had a giant metal tooth between my finger and my wedding ring. At this point my hand is falling asleep from lack of bloodflow, and I'm beginning to freak out. Finally, we all came to the decision that I had to get the ring off my finger, otherwise we'd probably have to call 911, and that would cause panic and rumors and the paramedics would probably have to separate my hand from my ring anyways.

So Danny grabbed the squirt bottle of oil that we fill the machine up with and he starts spraying it through the teeth on the top and I can feel it slipping through onto my fingers and hand. Immediately I start wrenching my hand in every way to try and find a way to get the ring off of my finger and eventually it works. Slowly my ring slips off my finger, staying hooked to the metal teeth.

After I pull my hand and arm out Danny gets underneath the shredder with a flashlight to try and see if he can knock my ring loose... No luck. He said that the space that my hand slipped through was so small that he couldn't believe my hand actually came out at all, and he couldn't even see my ring.

So, we decide to turn it on, hoping that the ring is towards the bottom of the shredder and that when the teeth rotate it would just fall out onto the floor.

Great idea in theory, but it didn't work out that way. For whatever reason my ring took about ten seconds to come out and when it finally did it was broken into a couple different pieces, gashed, dinged, and scratched to beyond recognition. The only thing that wasn't completely destroyed was the diamond.

After that, I took the pieces back to my desk and sat and thanked God for letting me keep my fingers.

Thankfully, I'm married to one of the sweetest men on earth, and Jordan wasn't mad at all. The first thing he said was "We can replace it. Thank God you didn't hurt your hand."

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home

My whole life... one place has never meant so much...

Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule.
-Frederick W. Robertson

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there's a darkness deep in you...

I have a terrible feeling
if I said the things that are ripping at my heart

the people that heard them
would not understand.
and some might not forgive me.


I'm sorry that I'm not what you wanted.

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three little birds

Danny and Rachel's wedding
October 20, 2007














Jordan and Danielle's wedding
December 15, 2007
















Owen and Jillian's wedding
August 16, 2008














I pray with all of my heart, that each and every person on this earth gets to experience the love, the joy, the strength, the courage, the hope, the faith and the unending laughter that we have been blessed with.

Thank you for every precious moment
Thank you for every little thing...

I love you both, more than I could ever tell you.

-And above all else, put on love, which binds all things together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:14

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When will we find it...

Russia invaded Georgia today.

When I was reading the story this afternoon at my desk one of my co- workers, who is 44 years old, asked me what I was reading. I told her that it was the latest news article reporting on the Russian invasion of Georgia, and this was her response:

"No they didn't! Why would Russians come all the way over here to attack Georgia? Isn't the Pentagon somewhere in Virginia?"

... At this point my jaw was on the floor and I very graciously held back every remark that came to flooding into my head...

I then told her that she had misunderstood me, and that Russia had invaded the COUNTRY of Georgia, not the state. Also that the Pentagon is in Washington D.C., which is neither in Virginia nor Maryland, but is it's own kind of entity.

By this point our conversation had drawn the attention of two of our other co- workers ( one is a college student, who hopes to become a teacher, and the second is in her 50's and WAS a teacher for almost 20 years). They looked at each other in dismay, and then the college student decided to blurt out:

"What? There's no COUNTRY named Georgia! You're making that up!"

and the other ladies nodded in agreement.

I don't think I can accurately describe for you the amount of disbelief I was experiencing in that moment... Really?? Three women. Three educated women, who work in a corporate office for a very large company. Women who have immediate access to every form of media that exists...

So, I pulled up google maps for them, and assured them that I wasn't just creating a country, and showed them the tiny place under Russia, called Georgia. Then I read a part of the article out loud for them and they all went back to their desks completely silent.

Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but I am...

It is terrible that I had to convince those three women that a legitimate country exists.
It's understandable to not know for certain where it is,
there are tons of tiny countries in eastern europe and the middle east, but not knowing that it exists entirely...
We live in a wonderful country that provides us with relatively inexpensive education, and the ability as well as the means to learn as much as we possibly can about anything in this world.

So many people fought so hard for education, and to this day people still do.
It's the one of the best tools that we have to save lives, change lives, improve the our quality of living, open doors to the rest of the world, dissolve indifference, empower minds and hearts, and truly change the world...
And these three women don't even know a little world geography.

These are the same women who, on a daily basis complain about the state of the economy, gas prices, politics, minimum wage, how stupid other people are...and how unfair things are.

And they have no idea what they're talking about...
They're just spouting what they've heard other people say.
They make rash decisions based on opinions, and incomplete facts.
They're proving stereo-types, and hurting themselves, and encouraging ignorance...

I really wish that people would start opening their eyes. There is a whole world out there, begging for you to love it, longing for us to care. I hope I never stop learning, and I hope that people always find a reason to keep asking questions, and to keep searching. We only have a little time here, and we have to do the very best we can with the time that we've been given.

Everyone has to stop wasting so much...
We have the potential to bring light into the dark
If we'd just open our eyes and our hearts.

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Sunday Survey

The "rules" are as follows:

1. Link to the person who tagged you. (I had to look up on google how to do that. haha)

2. Post these six rules on your blog.

3. Write 6 random things about yourself.

4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.

5. Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




I'm sorry Jillie
I'm not as computer savvy as you dear,
so I don't have the smallest idea how to link to you,
but I'll do this anyways
Just for you





1. I was arrested when I was seventeen years old. The other people is the situation will remain nameless, BUT when we were finally caught, we had already broken the law, and I'm sure a few moral codes, on various different levels. That night we had successfully burned a couch that we had picked up off the side of the road- in the middle of a construction zone, sped down backroads at speeds that I'm not sure that truck was supposed to be able to handle, none of us wearing seat belts. I, myself had stood up through the sun/ moon roof and shot bottle rockets out of my hands, while the truck was going ridiculously fast, and THEN, when he cops finally found us and pulled us over and searched us they confiscated our "illegal fireworks" and we found out that there were concealed weapons in the car... Oops! After laughing hysterically at a very angry officer, we got off the hook by some miracle and to this day you will not find a shred of evidence that the event ever took place.

2. I set my dad on fire once. We were all sitting at the dinner table for thanksgiving one year, and Emily was a baby, so I must have been 5 or 6. My mom loves candles, and every year for the fall season she sets out this really cool set of four blown glass candle holders, that year was no exception. Also, that year was the first year that I got to have "big kid silver-wear". Well, needless to say, my tiny mind was fascinated by two things: the candles, which were burning less than two feet away, and my giant silver fork. And while my mom and dad were putting the final touches on dinner, I decided it would be a great idea to stick my giant silver fork INTO the tiny flickering flame... (Jamie, please don't let Jax near candles, EVER)... and I would quickly put the fork back down onto my PAPER NAPKIN every time my mom or dad would come in and place something down on the table. Well, this went on for probably thirty minutes and I had HELD my fork inside the flame for a pretty long while when my dad came whipping around the corner and said "Danielle!!! Put that fork DOWN!!!" Well... I did. On the paper napkin. Poof!! the whole table was on fire. I have no idea how it happened, but I guess the fork was just hot enough, or I knocked little embers off of the candle, but somehow my napkin and very quickly the table cloth too, caught fire. My dad, luckily has pretty quick reflexes and he ripped the table cloth off the WOODEN table, and in the process caught his whole arm on fire. He still has the scars, so does the wooden table, and we don't have family dinners very often anymore. Oh, and I've never stuck any form of silver-wear into a flame again.

3. My husband proposed to me in an ice skating rink.


4. In elementary school I attended a private catholic academy in London, England. Yes, I wore a hideous uniform, yes there were nuns, yes they are terrifying and they WILL hit you with rulers, and yes, we played "Bloody Mary" in the bathrooms beneath the church attached to our school... I know, I'm a bad person, but I was like 8 years old... At least it wasn't a ouiji board.

5. I have a blood disease that I was born with, which manifests itself in my eye.

6. When I was 10 years old, a tornado touched down in front of our house and sucked part of the roof off. My dad was outside, going for his daily run when the storm hit, and after it sucked part of our roof off and ripped apart our neighbor's shed, it caught up with my dad and followed him down the street! He decided not to tempt fate and hide in the wooded area two blocks from our house, all he had were scrapes and a couple bruises.


that was fun, but I don't have anyone to tag who hasn't already been tagged.

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