Major failure from Pollita85
Hello again, everyone. Well well, I cannot believe that this challenge is coming to an end already. It seems like only yesterday that I was writing my list, and I remember thinking that September 2011 was forever away. And yet here we are, September 2011.
To be honest, the last 1001 days have not been the easiest and I am so far from my goal it's unreal. I have suffered a lot of sadness in the last 2 and a half years, although I feel that I'm starting to get myself back on track now and so I do plan on starting a new 101 challenge soon in honor of my new life :)
If anyone wants to follow me or my new challenge my journal is friends only, however add me and leave me a comment and I'll add you in - I'm always happy to meet new friends!
So before I start on my list of (un)achievements, I'll give you a little information on how my life has changed since I started this challenge. January 1st 2009 I was 23 years old, I was engaged to my fiance of 6 years, I was living between the UK and the US and was in the middle of applying for my green card so I could live there permanently. I was out of work because of the impending move, but I had lots of nice things planned. Life was going well.
Fast forward to September 2011, I'm 26 years old, single after my fiance ended things 6 weeks before our wedding (and while I was pregnant although unfortunately I miscarried), I have a full time job but I'm making the move into being a full time photographer. I recently lost my Dad and my heart is pretty much broken right now. I'm 20 lbs HEAVIER than I was at the start of the challenge (even though I was still fat then...). I have dated someone since my ex-fiance but nothing serious and definitely nothing I could class as a relationship, and I'm very lonely. I'm living in the UK permanently with no plans to return to the US. It's unlikely I'll ever be able to have a child so I've adopted a fur-child instead (Golden Retriever). I'm looking into adopting a child in the next 5 years or so. I have two houses, one inherited from my dad after he died, another given by my mum, and I'll be buying a third house for investment back in Oklahoma at the start of 2012.
I guess there's a lot going on, but everything else I'll update in my private journal. Onto the challenge!
Items striked-out are completed
Items in italics are miracles in progress
Health & Beauty
- Weigh 160 lbs - FAILED - Currently weighing 183 lbs
- Weigh 150 lbs - FAILED
- Weigh 140 lbs - FAILED
- Weigh 130 lbs - FAILED
- Weigh 120 lbs - FAILED
- Take time to do my hair and make up every day - FAILED - some days I don't wear make up at all, and my hair is beyond help right now
- Don't drink any alcohol. At all. - I did pretty well with this one. I have the occassional glass of wine or bacardi and diet coke, but by 'ocassional' I mean once or twice a year. I haven't been drunk at all since doing this challenge.
- Make sure I arrange regular check ups with the doctor - FAILED - really need to go for a PAP smear...
- Buy outfits, instead of odd pieces of clothing - FAILED - I can't afford to buy clothes at all, haven't done since I started this challenge
- Get a makeover/lessons on how to apply make up - FAILED
- Wear lipstick
- Act more mature - going through all the crap I have these past few years has really opened my eyes and forced me to grow up.
- Get my depression under control, learn to handle it as well as I can - I've done really well with this. I'm completely off my anti-depressants and can even handle panic attacks myself now.
- Take my medication every day - No more medication to take!
- Get myself into a regular daily wake up/bed time routine - Pretty much done. I work very similar hours every day anyway, and I no longer feel the need for a lie in on weekends.
- Weane myself off diet coke - ha, did it for a while, went 2 months without it, then decided I didn't feel any different for it so I still drink it.
- Ensure I drink 8 glasses of water a day, minimum! - FAILED
- Go swimming once a month [0/33] - FAILED Life Achievements
- Get married - FAILED
- Be living in the US, instead of splitting my time as I am right now, by the end of the 1001 days - FAILED
- Buy a house - Completed? I inherited one and I'm buying a third in February
- Start a new business - Started my photography business part time in July 2009, currently working at being full time by November
- Be my own boss by the 1001st day - Completed I guess
Career, Money & Finance
- Pay off all my debts - Almost all, just half of a credit card to go, paid off about 70% of my debts, and the remaining balance will be cleared by the end of 2011 if not earlier
- Save at least 25% of my paycheck each month into my big move savings - I'm saving 25% of my paycheck, but not for a big move anymore.
- Make my new business successful enough to provide a decent living for me and Luis and enable me to quit my job - I'll be successfull enough to provide a decent living for me. Screw the ex though, he's not seeing a penny of it ;-)
- Save at least £5,000 by the end of the 1001 days [0/5,000] - Not been able to save much due to circumstances.
- Put all my change into a jar at the end of each day - Done - about £100 the last time I counted!
- Be more careful with my spending, and think carefully about any purchases I want to make - Done
- Make a budget and stick to it! - Done
- Stay within my cell phone plan every month (for the purpose of this, I consider £50 or less within-plan) - Done
- Get a position as a teaching assistant - Not the plan anymore
- Pass all my university classes - Done
- Learn to spend no more than what I can afford - Done
- Save 10% of my income each month into a long term/retirement savings account for Luis and I in the future - For me, yes, for Luis, no
- Pay off my laptop as soon as I can - Paid off
- Pay my mum £2000 by the end of June 2009 - I forgot I even owed her this until I read it now. I feel like a horrible daughter. Will pay her back...
Things I Want To Do
- Skydive for charity - FAILED
- Go llama trekking with Kelly - FAILED, we don't really speak anymore
- Take a Vacation with Luis - haha, FAILED
- Travel first class - completed Jan 7th 2009
- Use my airmiles to pay for one whole trip to see Luis - I used my airmiles to pay for a trip to NYC instead
- Visit Peru, to see where Luis and his family are from - FAILED - still want to visit Peru though
- Improve my Spanish, so I can talk to my in-laws - Improved my Spanish, haven't spoken to my ex-in-laws though
- Visit one new place every year [3/3] Bahamas, Jan 2009, Norway Oct 2010, Italy Oct 2010
- Walk at least 10 more miles for AIDS in Africa with Hanson [2/10] Haven't had the opportunity to do more than 2 walks with them unfortunately.
- Take More photos - Done
- Take part in the 365 challenge for 2009 [9/365] **ABANDONED **
- Spend Christmas and New Year with Luis for the first time ever - ha, Failed
- Go dancing with Luis at least once each time I visit him [1/12] - FAILED
- See Luis graduate - FAILED (although he hasn't graduated so no big loss there)
- Hang out in a bar with my favorite band - Didn't hang out in a bar, but went on vacation with them for a week lol. I feel that kinda surpasses hanging out in a bar with them!
- Have sex outdoors - without getting caught! - Sex? What is that?
- Volunteer 101 hours at an animal shelter [0/101] - FAILED
- Get a new sewing machine - FAILED
- Finish making the wedding dress I've been working on forever (not my wedding dress, I hasten to add) - FAILED
- ...and sell said wedding dress! - FAILED
- Make a formal dress for myself - FAILED
- Make an ever growing photo album/scrapbook illustrating my not-so-baby cousin's life for when he's older - FAILED
- Write a book - FAILED
- Join the library - done
- Read one new book a month [2/33] - Read loads of books, not sure how many but done think I'm close to 33
- Join a dance class - Zumba counts, right?
- Visit NYC for real - my regular layovers in Newark Airport don't count! - Done
- Finish my Christmas shopping before December each year [0/2] - FAILED
- Host a party - FAILED
- See 5 movies in the movie theater on my own [2/5] - FAILED
- Complete the Race For Life in Swansea each year [0/3] - FAILED
- Take better care of both my cars, taking them both for regular servicing etc. - Done
- Sing karaoke, despite not being able to sing - completed Jan 18th 2009!
- Find a cheap ryanair flight to some random city in some random country I've never been to and go for the day - either on my own or with a friend - Done
- Research and draw up my family tree - something I put off doing while my gran was alive :-( - Done
- Frame and display more photos of those I love - Done
- Visit Julie and the boys in Virginia - FAILED
- Update this list with my accomplishments on the 1st of each month [2/33] - FAILED
- Update my Livejournal daily [7/1001] - ** ABANDONED **
- Throw my mum a surprise 60th birthday party in July 2009 - FAILED
- Be less bitchy, less judgemental - FAILED, definitely
- Smile more. A lot more - Done
- Be more optimistic - Done
- Live more carefree - Done
- Do something that scares me at least once a month [2/33] - 1. Sang Karaoke // 2. Wore a stupid sign around my neck in front of 4000 people for 4 hours (scared of the attention I got! But it turned out to be fun!) - Failed
- Stop worrying about every little thing - done
- Make myself more organised and tidy - Failed
- Spend no more than 1 hour a day online, Skype excluded - FAILED
- Dont let TV or the internet stop me from living in the real world - FAILED
- Make at least 2 new real life friends a year- DONE
- Stop allowing my anxiety and depression problems to prevent me from socialising - DONE
- Surround myself with positive people - DONE
- Rid my life of all negativity
- Be less selfish - DONE
- Spend more time doing things Luis wants to do, not just what I want to do - FAILED
- Make sure I see my dad no less than twice a month [2/66] - Dad and I saw a LOT of each other since 2009, which I'm glad of as he passed away very suddenly July 2011. I miss him so much I can't begin to describe it.
- Clean both my cars more regularly - UK car once a month, US car once every 3 months - FAILED
- Keep a daily and weekly to-do list to make sure I get everything done - FAILED
- Think before I speak - FAILED
- Stop cursing - Go one week without cursing - Done
- Stop holding grudges, especially when Luis and I argue - FAILED
- Make a list of 101 things I'm lucky/thankful for, and read it whenever my depression raises it's ugly head - FAILED
- Learn to make my own decisions without fear of them being "wrong" - DONE
- Look people in the eye - FAILED