48. Go geocaching with my family

Completed: March 16, 2010

Before I get into our actual experience, I have to explain what geocaching is because whenever people read my list, they ask me... "What's geo-catching?" Every. Single. Time. It is pronounced "jee-oh-cash-ing." For anyone who was confused. For this activity, you grab your GPS, plug in some coordinates, and basically, go on a wild goose chase. Usually these will be set up in a forest of some sort, one that you can not just simply drive up to and complete. Most of the time, you will be stopping in a random spot on the side of the road that is pretty much the most terrifying location you have ever seen. This is when I would usually think "My family is going to kill me."

Just so that you have an idea of what the forest looks like...

You then walk into a forest with your GPS and looking for this hidden treasure (no joke, they are actually hidden). My father was the one who found this little activity for our family. We used to do them every other weekend when he had found one that was themed The Seven Deadly Sins. That was fun, and we did it a lot. Until one time, we had entered our coordinates incorrectly, which brought us into a hunting zone... Needless to say, the children were terrified. Dad thought it was hilarious, even when the sun went down and the forest was suddenly a lot like the one in Beauty & The Beast. We all know how well that went for Belle...

From that point forward, no one wanted to go geocaching... ever again. When making the list, I figured why not just go one more time? For old times sake!

Worst. Decision. Of. My. Life.

Since it was my idea, I had to participate. I am not going to lie. I thought it would be a fun afternoon with my family. Spring break, no school, hunting a treasure with my family. We found NO treasure. We pretended to be wizards, and fought with every single Harry Potter spell we could think of.

On the plus side, my dad found a family friendly non-hunting zone geocache and our location looked like this!

After we had given up on this very well hidden treasure, we walked back to the van, which took forever because my father was convinced that the farther we walked on the path, the more likely we were to find the treasure. And when everyone was ready to go home... My dad went to hunt for ANOTHER geocache. Most of us refused and took a nap in the van.

My family is hilarious... And embarrassing at times. But I love them and I am glad that we went geocaching, one last time.

81. Buy a camera to document every task on this list

Completed: February 27, 2010


This goal was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I imagined it to be something like... My dad and I making a trip to Best Buy and picking up a camera for our trip to General Conference that we had planned. But instead, two of my friends came to visit me in Toronto from London, Ontario. (I'm not that cool, to have friends come visit me from London, England.) We were shopping downtown when Daniel had the great idea of going to Best Buy and grabbing a camera for my list since he works there and could get me a discount. BRILLIANT! Off we went to Best Buy and looked around. We ended up choosing this one...

Isn't it beautiful?! It was supposed to be $200 but I got it for $168.03! AMAZING! It pays to be friends with Daniel, I'm telling you. With that, I also got a 2 year protection plan on this lovely camera. So for 2 years if anything goes wrong, like it breaks or just will not function the way I want it to, I can return it - no big deal. I have had this camera for almost a year now and I love it. It is so good! I have even dropped it a few times (which was simply inevitable, I am a total klutz) and it was fine. We were meant to be together.

Back to the actual purchasing! I got it in the afternoon/morning - very, very exciting! Our plans for the evening were to go to the Toronto Temple, so I got some pretty sweet shots of my friends and my beautiful temple.

I actually love this camera, it went with me to Utah (twice!), a couple weddings AND Nauvoo. It takes amazing photos and I could not be happier with my purchase.

56. Make a nice dinner for people I love

Completed: February 14, 2010

If there is anything I have come to realize during this entire experience is that nothing ever goes according to plan. When I made this goal, I intended it to be a beautiful dinner with a couple of close friends. All of us dressed to impress for an evening of laughter and class. The kind of class that Grace Kelly could not compete with.

I decided that because I was going to spend my Valentine's Day alone, that this was the perfect opportunity to have someone over. Mostly with selfish motives, I did not want to be that girl who sat alone on Valentine's Day eating large amounts of chocolate, caramel, strawberries and a combination of the three. All of these scrumptious treats being swallowed almost instantly and unattractively, hysterical sobs emerging, with her VHS copy of the Titanic playing in front of her. I'll never let go, Jack.

Anyways, I decided that it would be my best friend and I for dinner. I made us two heaping plates of beautiful spaghetti, set the table with my moms fine china, pulled out the dried roses and used the champagne glasses for our orange juice. It was beautiful.

Wasn't it gorgeous? Well, this is where things started to go south. My friend sent a me a text message. It went a little something like this...

Friend: oh hai, i can't come tonite cuz my evil step mom kidnapped me.

Julie: what?

Friend: lol, jk. my godmother is taking me shopping for ugly clothes that i don't like and who doesn't care that i have a life outside of my godmother/goddaughter relationship.

Julie: oh... i guess i'll see you at school on monday...

Friend: yee. peace & blessings.

Well... It was not exactly like that. But you get the gist. She was not going to be able to attend our extremely classy evening. What was I to do? This night could not go to waste. Well, I called up another friend and she was available for the evening. (This is the benefit of having friends who are single - I AM TELLING YOU.)We decided together that we would invite our lovely Sunday School teacher to dine with us for the evening because after all, she is single too. But when we called her, she had plans with her kids. Who does that?! Make plans on Valentine's Day. Doesn't everyone just sit at home devouring delicious chocolates on Valentine's Day? And watch the Titanic? Well, apparently not.

We ended up going back to my house and having a casual candlelit dinner. My sister got home sooner than expected, and joined us. It was a beautiful evening altogether.

The dinner was the total opposite of what I had imagined. But it was nice, I got caught up with a friend I had not spent time with in ages and I realized that I make stinkin' amazing spaghetti. I learned that you can have a lot more fun having dinner with someone than you can crying over your inability to be Kate Winslet or Leonardo DiCaprio. Overall, nothing went as planned and it was exactly what I needed.

21. A-Z reasons of why I love being Mormon

Completed: February 7, 2010

I don't know why I really wanted to do this. I guess it's because I have such a hard time covering my entire testimony in a 2-5 minute talk. I got to make a list that reflected just a few things that I love about my church. The church just makes me so happy and it honestly gives me the strength and courage, I feel, that I need every day. I had the opportunity to make this list with one of my very close friends, who is pretty new to the church. How did we show our Heavenly Father that we're grateful to have this knowledge? List off some of the truths that help us get by day to day. It was easy as ABC.

Atonement & Articles of Faith

Book of Mormon

Celestial Kingdom

Doctrine & Covenants

Eternal Families

Fasting, Family Home Evening & First Vision

General Conference & Genealogy

Hymns

Immersion (Baptism)

Joseph Smith

Kirtland & King James Version

Living Prophet

Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Missionaries

Nauvoo (I actually *LOVE* Nauvoo)

Ordinances (Temple)

Patriarchal Blessings, Plan of Salvation & Priesthood

Questions Answered & Quorum of the Twelve

Revelation

Spirit & Standard Works

Testimony & Temples

Urim and Thummim

Visiting Teaching

Word of Wisdom

X-altation (This one was a stretch...)

Youth/YSA Programs

Zero Doubt & Zion

You can just call me Molly Mormon...

why would julie do this?

Now, a lot of people find it rather admirable that I have made some sort of bucket list at my 'young age.' But honestly, I've always had these goals. I just wrote them down. More importantly, I now feel obliged to do them, which is amazing. I'm really excited to have such a huge list of cool things to do. I have finished 15 of the goals on this list already! But I still have MANY left to do! So hopefully I can get all of them done. Here is a copy of the facebook note that I made when I started the list back in February.

Alright. I know it's February, but I really wanted to get some solid goals down this year. 2010 is supposed to be big. I stumbled upon (with a nice little shove from my friend, Dan) the website dayzeroproject.com and I was totally inspired.

The whole idea of this project is to create a list of 101 things, goals, tasks, anything really that you would like to accomplish in the next 1001 days. Over the last couple of months, being in grade 12 and all, I have really been trying to make my life goal centered. I know that when I, hopefully, go off to university next year that school work will be taking over my life. This is my way of making sure that I keep doing things that I enjoy.

I ENCOURAGE EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO READS THIS TO MAKE A LIST OF THEIR OWN.


Simply making this list has really helped me decide what is really important to me and what is not.

Last thing, Dan told me that when you're doing this list you have to document it. So my plan is to have a camera and take pictures all along the way, and keep a souvenir box. If you have any other ideas for me, LET ME KNOW! I wouldn't mind some creative suggestions!

And finally, here is the actual list :)
Enjoy.

Start Date: 7 February 2010
Finish Date: 3 November 2012

Financial:
1. Have my first year of university paid off by the end of the following summer (ie: tuition 2010-2011 paid by summer 2011)
2. Get a scholarship
3. Save 3,000 (excluding #5)
4. Get a full time job
5. Put away 10$ every time I complete a task on this list
6. Find a great/affordable apartment
7. Donate 3$ for every goal I do not complete

Education:
8. Get into university
9. A minimum of a 75% average
10. Take a recreational class
11. Get every assignment in on time and complete for 3 months
12. Finish 4 assignments 48 hours in advance
13. Plan for my Masters
14. Make a list of 20 books I want to read and read them all

Spiritual:
15. Read the Book of Mormon
16. Get in the habit of daily prayer
17. Read 100 general conference talks
18. Make a list of those talks in the order of which affected me most
19. Mark my scriptures at least once every time I open them for 2 months
20. Spend a day learning about another religion (Catholicism, Islam, Judaism)
21. A-Z reasons of why I love being Mormon
22. Spend an entire day reading the scriptures
23. Read my PB once a week for three months
24. Graduate from seminary
25. Read a book by a General Authority

Health:
26. Get a pool membership and use it
27. Get back to my grade 10 weight
28. Run 5km without stopping
29. Stop having fast food for 6 months (including subway and shwarmas)
30. Drink only water, real fruit juice and milk for a month
31. Give blood Completed: April 15, 2010
32. Sign my organ donor card
33. Do the hundred push up challenge

Performing/Artistic Skills:
34. Write a play/musical
35. Sing a solo
36. Make a painting that I like enough to hang
37. Learn to play a song that I love on guitar
38. Compose a piece for the piano and write it down
39. Direct my play/musical

Travel/Sight Seeing:
40. Go on a road trip with friends
41. Go on a road trip with my siblings
42. Go to Europe
43. Visit Peggy’s Cove
44. Visit the Canadian Rockies
45. Visit every exhibit at the Smithsonian
46. Spend the day at the Holocaust Museum
47. Spend a day in Ottawa’s Parliament
48. Go geocaching with my family
49. Visit Times Square

New Skills:
50. Learn to cook 4 full meals without help
51. Keep room clean/organized for 2 weeks straight
52. Make cookies and deliver them to someone I would like to be closer with
53. Learn how to make sushi
54. Learn to meditate and do it every day for a week
55. Do 5 photo shoots of people in my life that I find beautiful
56. Make a nice dinner for some people I love
57. Memorize a Shakespearian passage
58. Take a picture of myself everyday for 100 days and make a video of it
59. Get my G license
60. Get 4 pairs of jeans on sale, different occasions
61. Learn how to bake a pie
62. Learn how to make apple sauce
63. Spend a day picking strawberries and making jam

Personal Challenges:
64. Go out of my way to be nice to someone who dislikes me
65. Get artwork for every song on my iPod
66. Write 10 letters to people who have changed my life
67. Write down every moment that hurt me and burn the paper after
68. Make a list of 100 things that make me happy
69. Cast an educated vote in my first election
70. Reverse pick-pocket someone
71. Spend a day with my grandparents, ask them about their life
72. Wear my hair straight everyday for 2 weeks
73. Unplug for a week – no electronics
74. Keep a gratitude and why journal for a week
75. Keep a dream journal for 2 months
76. Make a list of my favorite 25 qualities
77. Reread the Harry Potter series
78. Keep in touch with one of my high school friends, at least one message/phone call a month
79. Write a missionary once a month for 2 years
80. Do my laundry every week for 5 months
81. Buy a camera to document every task on this list
82. Do 50 things on the “We Are What We Do” list (wearewhatwedo.org)

New Experiences:
83. Go on a hot air balloon ride
84. Try 10 foods from different countries
85. Watch the sunset and sunrise in one night
86. Have a slumber party (3+ people, planned)
87. Write myself a letter to open in 10 years
88. Leave an inspirational letter in a book
89. Pull an all-nighter
90. Go ATVing
91. Go horseback riding
92. Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet
93. Go to the Film Festival
94. Go to a professional sports game and buy a shirt
95. Go to a concert with a family member
96. Get a mani/pedi
97. See 2 plays in Toronto
98. Go on a picnic, basket and all
99. Re-visit my favorite 4 places to go as a child

Organization Skills:
100. Write in my journal every time I complete a task
101. Read the 7 Habits of the Highly Effective Teen and live what I learn