Although Justin Bieber* would tell me differently...

 As part of a month long challenge to blog daily, I am joining some honest, funny, and real women in #reverbbroads11. Day 6: List 10 things you would never do. 

In no particular order, and with varying levels of seriousness, I present my list of 10 things I will NEVER do.

10. Be in Guinness Book of World Records for longest fingernails. (It's too gross to even post a picture!)

9. Swim the English Channel. (It is cold and I'm not that great a swimmer!)

8.  Get any additional piercings. (One hole in each ear is plenty for me.)

7. Participate in a casino heist a la Ocean's Eleven. (That is one good looking group of people, though!)

6. Run for political office. People are mean and will look for every reason to smear you. I'm not thick-skinned enough to handle that.

5. Stand in line for midnight madness or early-bird specials on Black Friday. I can't think of anything that I would want that badly to forgo sleep over.

4. Become a crazy cat lady. Enough said.

3. Be ungrateful for my health. There are so many people who are dealing with outrageous medical bills, terminal diagnoses, and daily pain.

2. Stop being thankful for my loving husband. He is my best friend. He is loyal, hilarious, creative, and my perfect other half.

1. Take my family for granted. I would not trade these 90+ people for anything! It is amazing that we can all get together and have so much fun together. I am blessed that I have so many great relatives who have become friends over the years. (Video courtesy of my dad from our Winter 2009 family gathering at Virgina Beach, VA.)

*lame nod to "Never Say Never" by the Biebs. Add that to my list: I will never see that movie!

Clapboard cabin by the water

My family was never really one for doing big, elaborate vacations each year. Most of our travel has been to visit relatives (of which I have plenty!) or on school trips. For some reason, though, this heat and crazy weather has really gotten me pining for a small, weather-worn cabin secluded in the woods or on a deserted stretch of beach. The only items on the agenda would be catching up on some good novels, taking naps in a hammock, and enjoying some good food and drink with family and/or friends.

Perhaps that is the inspiration for the new layout. I am feeling a little worn and in need of a good, relaxing vacation. At least I can have some moments of respite each day as I read through all of your lovely blogs!

So little to do, so much time... wait, reverse that...

I think this recurring hiatus is why I stopped blogging a while back. I have all sorts of ideas of things that I want to write about, but I don't usually have time to write anything while I am at work (nor should I really be spending my work time updating my blog anyway), and once I get home, I just want to veg and not do anything.

I will try to do better than a once-a-month update, but in my defense, February was a short month!

Since I haven't updated everyone on the status of my 101 things in 1001 days, here it is:

#2: Seeing as how February is the month for at least one date, I can check this one off my list. For Valentine's day, we actually celebrated mostly on the 13th. Jared picked me up from work, we went out to dinner, then got some yummy gelato at Sugarland and then went to see the planetarium show at the Morehead. It was pretty cool. On the actual Valentine's day, Jared worked until the afternoon, so I went out to brunch and a movie with some of my friends from work, and then came home to make Jared and I a tasty dinner.

#10: We got together for dinner with my cousin and her husband who live nearby, and my other cousin and her kids who were down visiting for the week! I really like living close to family. This weekend I am heading to PA for another cousin's wedding and am driving up there with my aunt and uncle who live about an hour from us. It should be some great family fun.

#15: This one maybe shouldn't have even ended up on the list because I talk to my parents fairly often. Oh well, I still like being able to make that check mark!

#16: I didn't call my brother in January or February, but I did give him a call the other day. Since he isn't exactly a wordsmith, our conversation was short, but we at least got to talk a bit.

#17: I sent a birthday card to one of my co-workers from BGSU. (I sent it to her office at work... hopefully she got it!)

#72: Pay off credit card -- partially. Jared officially paid the last on his credit card on February 27! Now we will double the payments that we have been making on my card and hopefully have it done by the end of the year! After watching "Maxed Out" a few weeks ago, I at least feel really good knowing that we are far below the national average of credit card debt for our household.

#96: Get a live plant for my office -- DONE! Thanks to the generosity of one of my co-workers, I inherited a zebra plant that is doing quite well in my window. I probably need to re-pot it and give its long branches some support, but I will get there.

This last one is probably the most exciting:

#79: Find a house to rent -- DONE! We will be moving out of our apartment in July and into a cute 2-story 2 bedroom house. We signed a lease for two years, so we won't have to move again for a while after moving in. After that two years is up, who knows what we will be doing, but at least we have a roof over our heads for a few more years!

25 things about me

I have been tagged enough by people on Facebook to do this, so I guess I finally will. (Plus it's not like I've been updating here on a regular basis anyway, so I may as well write something!)

1) I really like to be in control of myself. This is partly why I've never been drunk, hate roller coasters, and don't enjoy gambling.

2) I really would like to get another dog. Not a "matchy-matchy" dog, but one that pairs well with Emma.

3) I want to have kids. 2 or 4 probably, not 3 (so there isn't a middle child) unless we had twins.

4) I am trying not to use a lot of my vacation and sick days so I can build up time for maternity leave, even though we aren't planning to have kids for at least a few more years.

5) I cannot wait to have a house of our own. I would really like to paint walls and have built-in bookshelves.

6) While I cannot wait to have a house, I pretty much hate housework. I try to blame our dog for our house being messy, but it really is mostly my fault.

7) A boy in my 5th grade class called me "Sarah the Sumo" almost every day when I would walk home. I still think about that when I'm having a "fat" day.

8) There are very few things that I miss about being in Ohio. I thought moving away from home would be harder than this.

9) At the same time, I would love to get a job at one of several colleges or universities in Ohio later in my career.

10) I have mixed feelings about going back to get my PhD. Some days I think I would love to get back in the classroom learning and have the option of teaching in a grad prep program. Other days I don't really want to have a job that would require me to have a PhD.

11) I go to bed at or before 10:00 p.m. almost every night. I have a really hard time staying up past then.

12) Since we moved, I have been asked on at least 5 occassions if I am more than 21 years old. Apparently I look quite a few years younger than the 25 that I will be turning at the end of March.

13) My summer jobs in Gahanna gave me a love of horticulture. I sometimes find myself missing being able to landscape and prune shrubs/bushes/trees and getting my hands really dirty.

14) I feel like a black sheep in my husband's family because very few of them have even been to college and I have a Master's degree. And I made Jared move out of Ohio.

15) I don't really think that my family understands what I do.

16) My faith was really strong when I was in college because I was surrounded by other people who had really strong faith. Now that I haven't been actively involved in a church for quite a while and have been out of a community of faith, I feel like I am back at square one.

17) I really miss singing in a choir.

18) I enjoy riding the bus to work every day. It is so nice to not have to worry about driving, parking, or gas prices.

19) I have pretty much completely separated myself from who I was in high school. This matter is exhibited by the fact that I only invited two friends from high school to my wedding.

20) I used to write poetry on a pretty regular basis. I had a couple of my poems published in the Ashland Poetry Press yearly magazine.

21) I hate running, but would really like to finish a 5K before I turn 30.

22) I wish my brother and I were a lot closer than we are. When we were in high school we were pretty close. I feel a little guilty for being at college when he was dealing with some tough issues.

23) I think about my friends and family a lot more often than I actually pick up the phone or a pen to let them know I was thinking about them.

24) I am glad that I work in a place with quite a few people my age and that we are starting to hang out a bit outside of work. I feel bad that Jared doesn't have any real friends down here.

25) I am the luckiest girl in the world because Jared is the best husband I could have ever prayed for. He cooks, cleans, lets me sleep in, makes me laugh all the time, and moved to NC for me. I probably don't tell him enough that I love him, but I hope he knows it.

101 Update

I am a little more than a week into my 1001 days, and I actually have started a few of the things on my list! I think having a list is a great technique for me to actually get tasks done, because I really like the satisfaction of crossing things off!

#8: Call at least one friend a month to catch up. Since returning to work this week, I have talked with two friends/colleagues on the phone for at least 30 minutes! CV and I never went to school together, but we met when she interviewed for the assistantship I had at BG. She got my e-mail address from a listserv e-mail I sent and we have been communicating that way for about a month. I finally got around to talking with her on the phone about grad school, her transition, and life in general. It is funny, but if we would have ever been in the same place for a while, I'm sure we would have been good friends.

Yesterday at lunch, I called CP since I haven't talked with her since before the fall semester started. It was really nice to be able to catch up for a little bit. Perhaps she will apply for jobs in my neck of the woods like I suggested...

#15: Talk to my parents at least once a month on the phone. I'm not sure it really counts, but I called the other night to make sure that they were still planning their visit in a week!

#26: Start and finish the 100 push-up challenge. I printed out the 6 week plan and intend to do my initial test this Saturday. Sore arms, here we come!

#37: Get back in the habit of going to the dentist every 6 months. I scheduled a dentist appointment for myself yesterday. In two weeks, I am going to the dentist!

#38: Get my vision checked once a year. I also scheduled an optometrist appointment yesterday. January 23 is going to be a fun day in doctor's offices!