Tuesday, February 2, 2016

My 1001 Days are Over



I can't believe it, but it has snuck up on me: my 1001 days ended on January 19, 2016. While I didn't accomplish everything on my list, I'm still pretty proud of the things I DID finish. A year ago, I wrote about the things I accomplished in 2014, and here's what I've been able to cross off since then:

Run an obstacle race
My husband and I participated in an obstacle/mud race held in Auburn, AL. I wrote about my experience and what I learned from the race here.

A photo posted by Kalyn (@kalynlouise23) on


Grow my own vegetables
Last year, we planted jalepenos, banana peppers, and habanero peppers and they grew successfully. This year we want to plant potatoes, romaine lettuce, squash, and of course more peppers.

We closed on our first house together on December 4th, 2015. We refinished our kitchen cabinets right away and have several more renovations to work on throughout the year.

Give a handmade gift
I've given several hand made gifts over the past year, but my favorite was the ring dish I created using this tutorial. I made several for myself, of course.

Make my own Christmas cards

A photo posted by Kalyn (@kalynlouise23) on
I did a little "humblebrag" post on being pleasantly surprised with the results of taking our own photos a few months ago. I turned a few of them into our Christmas cards.

Host a dinner party
We love having people over for dinner! I've said before that my love language is cooking/serving food - I can't get enough of it! My goal for 2016 is to have monthly dinner parties at our new house.

Make Ice cream from scratch
We borrowed an ice cream maker from my inlaws and made ice cream a couple times last year. I'm a HUGE ice-cream fan, so I definitely have plans of making it again this year!

Watch a play at a local theater
There is a theater just down the road from our new house, and over the summer (before we moved) I went several times with a girlfriend to watch some plays. My favorite was a western-themed dinner show!

Watch a Cirque du Soleil show
We watched Zumanity when we went to Las Vegas in September.

Decorate for a holiday
I have been trying to decorate for ALL the holidays. Last year wasn't a big year for décor because I knew we'd be moving but this year it's on like Donkey Kong.

Set a savings goal
In 2014 we set a savings goal to put a down payment on a house - we were able to reach it and actually have some money left over after we bought our house! This year our savings will go toward more travel - our plan is to go back to Canada this summer and next year we will go to Europe.

Buy a piece of original art
For our first anniversary in October, I had our vows written by Brooks in her beautiful calligraphy/handwriting. Best purchase ever! I also recently purchased an original watercolor painting of my wedding bouquet, but it isn't completed yet. I seriously can't wait to get it.

Go kayaking
We went over the summer with a group of friends and then again when we were in Canada. I love any kind of water activities so this will definitely be happening again this summer.

Carve pumpkins for Halloween
This was so much fun - I felt just like a kid again.

Visit 10 new places.
I didn't cover new places last year, so here's everywhere I've been over the past two years:

-New Orleans, LA
-Charlotte, NC
-Greenville, SC
-Cinnamon Beach, FL
-Orlando, FL
-Las Vegas, NV
-Jekyll Island, GA
-Banff, AB, Canada
-Shuswap Lake, BC, Canada
-Oak Mountain in Birmingham, AL
-Sugar Mountain, NC

I didn't think I'd reach my goal, but we thankfully were able to have a lot of opportunities to travel recently and hopefully we will make it to ten new places in 2016!

The past 1001 days have included a whirlwind of life changes for me - including moving, marriage, pets, and new jobs. When I created this list of goals, a thousand days seemed like it would take forever, but time has really flown. If or when I do decide to make a new list of goals (maybe thirty before thirty?) I think I will try to set some more realistic ones rather than silly things like graffiti a bathroom stall.

Looking back, the past three years have been more than wonderful, and of course I can't wait to see what the next ones have in store!

Have you ever set a massive list of goals for yourself like 101 things in 1001 days? How successful were you in crossing them off?

11 comments:

Macy V said...

You were able to achieve so much, marriage and buying a house are such huge things! I started a link-up for 101 in 1001 lists a few months ago and it has been so encouraging to follow along with other peoples lists.

Emily Ballard said...

Wow!! That's so awesome that you were able to complete all that. So cool to look back on and see that you're actually LIVING. Where did you purchase the watercolor painting of your bouquet from? What a cute idea!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, you accomplished so much! What a fun 1001 days. :)

Unknown said...

It was so inspiring to read the things you finished. You had a great period in your life and it was full with wonderful things.

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

good job girl! i don't think i will even complete everything on my 30 before 30 and i think i started that list when i was 27 lol. 101 things is a lot.

we saw zumanity on our honeymoon, and it was good but we'd also just seen absinthe a few days prior and it was the same except more humour / less 'sensual', lots of tricks and moves and all that jazz. they were both good but we enjoyed absinthe more.

i might do a 101 in 1001 after my 30th (eep) but i think i might end up putting silly things on there that aren't actually going to happen, so we'll see.

i changed a bunch of stuff on my 30 before 30 because i changed, you know? i didn't want to do things just because they were on a list (like i was obsessed with buying a new couch, but then i got over it lol).

sounds like you accomplished a whole lot in 1001 days, regardless of whether it was on your list or not, that's still awesome!

Amy @ Getz Girl on Fire said...

Sounds like you had a lot of awesome life changes and accomplishments! 101 was a lofty goal so good for you! I just created a 50 before 50 list . . . you've got plenty of time to accomplish lots more things! So exciting!

Steph G said...

Nice work! I love lists like these. You've had such a big couple of years and you were still able to cross off so many things :)

I did a 30 before 30 and I loved it! I'm trying to figure out what to do next... maybe a 101 in 1001 :)

LRunyan said...

Wow, you did so many great things!! I think your Christmas card looks great-nice job! Congrats on your new house too!

Unknown said...

Considering all you've accomplished in your 1001 days though I'd say you came out a winner! Plus no humble brag needed because those photos did rock!!

Jenn said...

I love the 101 in 1001 list! I'm about a year away from the end of my list and only half done. Eeek. I do feel like it helps me focus on things that I want to do. Then again I have no problem changing any goals that are unrealistic, mainly due to moving or having a high risk pregnancy. Its the spirit of it that counts to me. Are you thinking of doing another round of 101 in 1001?

good days said...


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