My Goals for 2017

I revealed my word for 2017, HEALTH, in January but I'm a bit late to the whole 2017 goals party. That's okay! The great thing about personal goals is that you can start any time! I'm still going to refer to this as my 2017 goals list though, since we aren't actually that far into 2017. For this goals list, I had to force myself to keep it a bit more simple. For one thing, I limited myself to five major goals. I did this so that my goals list wouldn't be overwhelming. I have so many things that I want to do but I needed to choose to mainly focus on only a few of those things and I needed to choose the goals that are the most important to me at this time. I also tried to be specific with my goals. Instead of writing down to just do something more often, I decided to say how often I want to do it. I also decided not to go overboard with each goal. Of course I'd love to do these things way more than I decided, but, once again, I don't want to overwhelm myself. I put a limit on things so that I can ease into my goals more easily. I'm also happy that I have two health related goals on my list to go with my word for the year. So, without further ado, here are my goals for the year of 2017.

1) Read 25 novels: I chose this goal for one specific reason: I want to read more books. It's as simple as that. I studied English Literature in university but I don't read as many books as people would think. Sometimes it takes me months to get through a novel. It sits on my table or keeps getting packed in my purse, hoping to be read a lot more but that just doesn't happen. I become busy with other things or I just have trouble concentrating enough to sit down and read. That's just the way I am but I want to change that. I thought of setting my goal at a much higher number, something crazy like 50 or 100 novels this year, but I felt that that was much too high. I get overwhelmed easily so I often need to start things off small and go from there. I have a feeling that I'll probably read more than 25 novels this year but I'm still keeping it at 25 in my mind just so that I don't scare myself too much. I want to actually achieve this goal.

2) Do yoga every day: This one is so important! I have found that yoga helps me a lot. If I start feeling down, yoga picks me right up! I just do yoga at home in my living room. I have lots of yoga DVDs so I move furniture, set up my mat, take off my socks, put on some finger-less exercise gloves to help with grip, pop in a DVD, and away I go. My Mom often joins me and actually gets a bit mad if I start doing yoga without her. I love yoga because it helps with strength, flexibility, balance, and it helps me relax and concentrate. I feel great after doing a yoga practice. I feel happy and ready for anything. So far, I've been doing some yoga here and there but I want to do more. It is definitely something that I need to do every day.

3) Meditate every day: This is another important one. Meditation is so beneficial but I have a lot of trouble with it. My mind wanders too much so I have trouble concentrating on the meditation whether I am just meditating on my own or using a guided meditation. Meditation takes practice and we need to train our brain to meditate so I need to practice meditation much more to get any better at it.

4) Practice piano and flute once a week: I miss playing piano and flute. I used to take private piano lessons and I also taught piano. While I was in high school, I played flute in concert band. I miss all of this. I want to bring piano and flute back into my life but I'm a bit nervous to start playing again since I haven't really played much in the past few years. This is all for my own enjoyment, however, so I though that I better take it slow and ease my way back into practicing my instruments again. I decided that once a week isn't too overwhelming and I can make sure that I definitely set aside time to practice.

5) Publish blog posts three times a week: I started this goal two weeks into January and so far so good. I enjoy writing blog posts and it really helps with my writing and it gets me thinking about certain topics a lot more. I looked back on some of my old posts, thinking that they weren't so great and I actually considered deleting all of them and starting fresh but they weren't actually that bad. Some of them were pretty good. I realized that I've become better at writing blog posts and I want to keep improving. I have also been working on writing longer posts and expanding more on the topics that I write about whenever I write a post. When deciding on how often to post, I felt that three times a week was good. It isn't too much or to little and it isn't too overwhelming.

I guess I'll just have to see how it goes. I'll talk about my goals again at the end of the year to see how far I've come with them. No matter what, it's a start. And we all have to start somewhere.

Cheers,
Kaylie

Vision Boards (Positivity Exercise)

During the Fall, I made some vision boards after getting out of the hospital. I did this because I felt a bit lost when it came to what I wanted to do with my life. I'm a visual person and I had made a vision board before so I decided to make one to help me visualize and figure out my plans for the future. My first vision board ever was made at a vision board workshop at a local library and it was made on a large bristol board but I felt that it was too big. The whole point of a vision board is to glue words and pictures of things that you want in your life into a sort of collage and then place it somewhere where you will see it all the time so that the words and images will make their way into your mind. Hopefully they create a constant unnoticeable reminder in your head of what you want to manifest and eventually it will happen because you make it happen. My large vision board seemed too overwhelming. There were way too many pictures and words for my mind to take in.

This Fall, after playing around a bit with some words and pictures from magazines on a normal size piece of paper (around 8"x11"), I realized that a smaller vision board was much better. There were fewer words and pictures so it was easier for my mind to focus on them and remember them and it was also easier to narrow down exactly what I wanted from each vision board while being more artistic with the arrangements of the cut-outs at the same time. Also, I could play around with the words more and arrange them in a way so that they all flowed with each other when read in order. I made a total of three vision boards and I put them in plain frames without borders that you would normally use to display certificates. I'll talk about each vision board in more detail in this post.

My "What do I want to do with my life?" vision board:

This was the first vision board that I made out of the total of three vision boards. I wanted to create a vision board that would get me thinking in a more positive way about figuring out what I want to do in my life rather than stressing out about it all the time. I chose empowering images like that of a girl with a smile on her face and her arms in the air in a sign of success as well as that of Wonder Woman. Another image, which happens to be the biggest picture on the board, is that of a woman with her hands on a traditional image of a heart that is on her chest. I chose this image because the things that I really want to do in my life are things that I'm passionate about and I felt that this image was a good symbol for our passions. The words have to do with there being possibilities out there and how I can do what I really want and love to do. Just for fun, I covered the entire vision board in glitter glue (which is a bit difficult to see in the photo) to remind myself to have fun while exploring my interests.

My "Stress Less" vision board:

I created this vision board to focus more on keeping my mind relaxed and less stressed. The images are of activities that I love that are also relaxing and help with relaxation like meditation, yoga, and hiking outdoors. The words are reassuring and encouraging.

My "Creativity" vision board:

This vision board is all about art and creativity. I am a very creative person but I feel like I'm not focusing on the arts and creativity that I love as much as I'd like so I pasted a bunch of images of arts that I love like crafts, drawing and painting, writing, music, and photography. I also added words that are connected to creativity and at the bottom I put a little inspirational sentence about being original when it comes to art.


Those are the vision boards that I made and I'm really happy with them! I feel like I really improved since the first time I made one and really focused on exactly what I wanted to get out of these vision boards.

Cheers,
Kaylie

My Fourth Hair Donation to Cancer

In the past, I have donated hair to cancer when it got long enough that a ponytail measuring at least 8 inches could be cut. The first time was at the age of 13 years old, the second time at the age of 15 years old, and the third time at the age of 21 years old. Now, at the age of 23 years old, I have made my fourth hair donation. It takes a minimum of 8 ponytails to make a wig so I've made it a goal of mine to try to donate at least 8 ponytails within my lifetime and I'm very happy to already be half-way done!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I made the fourth cut on October 22nd, the day after I was discharged from the hospital after being there for two weeks (that's why I still look kind of sick in the photos). There were several reasons why that's when I decided to donate my hair to cancer again. I had been growing my hair long again and I was planning to enjoy long hair for a while before getting it cut short again and donating but while in the hospital, I got tired of my long hair. It would get tangled and the ends were dying. Also, I needed a nice change since being sick is no fun at all. I wanted to freshen up my hair so that it would be healthy again and I couldn't wait to get out of the hospital to get it cut. All throughout my hospital stay, I just wanted to get my hair cut. Ever since my first hair donation, I have donated hair whenever I have enough to donate at the time of a hair cut so I knew that I would definitely be donating this time since I had enough hair. I didn't even care if my hair would have to be cut shorter than I wanted.

Having enough hair to donate at the time of that cut isn't the only reason why I donated at that time. I also wanted to do something nice for someone else. While I was in the hospital, I felt kind of useless because I couldn't do much since I was sick. People had to do things for me and I am so grateful for everything that my family, doctors, and nurses did. People will reassure me that it's okay that I wasn't able to do much but I still felt kind of bad. That's just what happens when you're sick and especially when you're the kind of person who is very independent and used to having to do most things yourself. You feel like a burden on other people when you're not able to do everything that you usually do and have to get a lot of help. So, I wanted to do something that would help someone in a big way. Donating a ponytail of my hair to an organization that can use it to make a wig for a woman living with cancer was the nice thing that I wanted to do for someone and it was something easy enough that I could do right away after getting out of the hospital.

For my last donation as well as my current donation, I donated to the Canadian branch of Pantene Beautiful Lengths, an organization that makes wigs for women with cancer. If you're interested in donating your hair to cancer and you live in Canada, the Canadian branch of Pantene Beautiful Lengths is definitely an organization that I have had a very positive experience with and they have a page on their website with all of the information that you need to make the cut. If you live in the U.S.A., there is an American branch of Pantene Beautiful Lengths where you can send your hair donation.

Cheers,
Kaylie

My Box Of Places That I Want To Go To

In the movie Eat, Pray, Love, Liz's friend is going to have a baby and shows Liz a box of baby things that she has been keeping under the bed. She has been wanting a baby for a while so this was her way of hoping and preparing for one. Liz states that she also has a box under her bed, but that hers is filled with things for the places that she wants to travel to. It's a bit different in the book: Liz's friend still has a box of baby things but Liz describes the excitement she had when the magazine that she worked for told her that they were going to send her on a writing assignment to New Zealand. For this post, the movie's version of the scene is the one that's important.

I watched the movie a few years ago and that scene is one that I always remember. The box of travel things is basically like a vision board, except for the fact that you should be able to actually see your vision board all the time. I have many places that I want to travel to, so I thought that it would be fun to make my own box of places that I want to go to. I decided to just find a box that I had that was big enough and fill it with free travel brochures, travel guides, travel booklets, travel magazines, travel maps, etc. that I could order online. As each of these arrive at my house, I place them in the box.

I now have something that I can physically take out and look at. I can peruse the information and learn more about the places that I want to travel to someday. When I'm thinking of where I want to go next, I have all sorts of options already waiting for me and I have information already at my fingertips to start planning the trips. So far, I have travel material for Newfoundland, Alaska, New Orleans, Hawaii, California, New York State, and Austria. There are many other places that I want to travel to so I'm still working on adding all of them to my box.

This activity can be done for anything that you want to do in the future (just like Liz's friend's box was for the baby that she wanted to have). The possibilities for this activity are endless! Choose a box that you like whether it is a box that you already have or a box that you buy, and fill it with things that have to do with whatever it is that you want or want to do in the future. I recommend putting your box somewhere where you will see it all of the time and make sure to open it up and look through it often to remind you of what it is that you want.

Cheers,
Kay

Another Goal for 2016: Productivity

So I missed another day of publishing a blog post. This time was different from last time, though. This time, I got so caught up in doing something else that I forgot to write a blog post. I have decided not to be too hard on myself, however, because I usually have trouble concentrating on things for a long time. I was working my way through this week's modules for a free online course about musical notation. Things like this (learning courses) are the types of things that I normally have trouble concentrating on but I was actually able to concentrate on it for a while so I'm happy about that.

I guess this blog is my place to talk about things like that, how I have trouble concentrating and how I try to keep up with things. There are all sorts of challenges in my life that I am trying to work my way through. I'm trying to improve. I'm trying to become better at working on things. I'm trying to become better at concentrating on things. I'm trying to continue to learn more about the subjects that interest me. Winter is the perfect time when I'm stuck inside a lot. Once spring and summer come along, I'm going to want to spend more time outside. I've thought about bringing my hobbies outside with me during the warmer months. I could bring whatever I'm working on whether it be art, writing, studying, reading, etc. Maybe I'll bring them with me to our swing in our little garden area that we have dubbed our zen garden. Or maybe I'll bring them with me to the table on our front porch or to the lawn chairs beside our pool. Maybe working outside will give me a boost when it comes to productivity since it will be a change of environment.

I find that a change of environment helps with concentration. At home, I often get bored of the room that I'm working in and want to move my work elsewhere. Working in new places like various libraries has shown to help me work. I'll be in a different location and suddenly I get a lot of work done. Accomplishment makes me happy. I get a burst of pure joy when I'm able to tick something off of my to do list, especially since I procrastinate on a lot of the things on my to do lists. I write so many lists and most of the things won't get done for days, maybe even never.

Well, here's to being more productive. Another goal for this year.

Cheers,
Kay

A Love Letter To My Blog For Its 3rd Anniversary

To my dearest blog,

Tomorrow is your 3rd anniversary, so I want to express how deeply grateful I am for you. When I published my first blog post on February 13, 2013, I didn't know what would become of you. I had hopes of watching you grow very quickly, of spending lots of time with you, of doing great things together. Sadly, I neglected you. I started off posting a few times a week but then I posted less and less often. Large gaps of time stood between each blog post, and I can understand if you were lonely or maybe even afraid of what would happen to you. But I came back. You see, I needed you. I had so much that I needed to say to the world. So much that I needed to share. I knew that you would be the perfect helper.

I took my time giving you a makeover and planning all sorts of posts that I would start sharing. And then? I started blogging again. I shared my feelings. My observations. My thoughts. My stories. My life. It felt so good! I finally had a way to open up my mind and let everything out. You became a dear friend, once again. I could turn to you when I had something to say. In these few weeks since I started blogging again, you have become a sort of therapy for me. I used to bottle everything up until I would explode. Now I can share my experiences and unpack them. I can break them down and figure out what to do about them. I can share all of that here and I hope that it helps some people.

I'm sorry, darling, that I didn't post anything on your 2nd anniversary last year. Do understand that I was thinking of you. I didn't forget you. I just didn't know what to write about anymore. I think you could have helped me, though. I went through a lot of stress last year, trying to figure out who I am and in which direction I wanted to go with my life. I still am. At least I have you now.

So many amazing things have happened in my life and so many sad things have happened too. I'm ready to start sharing my stories with you and the world, well, at least the internet world. I look forward to many more years, dear blog. Many more anniversaries. Many more posts. Many more stories.

Love,
Kay

Some Dance To Remember, Some Dance To Forget

There are certain lyrics from the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles that really resonate with me; "some dance to remember, some dance to forget." Whenever I hear those lyrics, I relate in so many ways. You see, I bottle things up inside of me. I bottle them up and, most often, don't release any of those emotions, whether they be worries, fear, anger, sadness, or the feeling of being overwhelmed that I know oh so well. I get overwhelmed easily, so when I bottle up my feelings and they swirl around in my mind and they don't leave me alone, I feel like I just want to scream, and sometimes I do. When I bottle things up, I hold onto them and I don't let them go.

Now, some people want to remember the past and others want to forget it, just as it says in those lyrics. But the thing is, we cannot and should not follow only one of those choices. There are parts of the past that we should remember. We should obviously remember the good times but we should also remember certain bad times; the ones that we can learn from. I believe that this is one of the most important reasons that history should always be taught in school; we learn from our ancestors. We learn from their accomplishments and their mistakes and we should do the same when looking at our own pasts. Of course, there are certain memories that we need to simply accept and let go of. Forget about them and move on. Take the lessons away from them and leave the rest in the past. This is what I need to do with all of those feelings and bad experiences that I bottle up inside of me; I need to accept that these things happened, learn from them, and then release them from their prison that is my mind. I need to let them go.

It sometimes feels like I'm at war with my own mind, like my mind is partly disconnected from me, but connected just enough so that when I am fighting with it, I still feel like I am fighting myself. This is what it felt like when I was germophobic at an obsessive compulsive level for a few years starting in high school. It really feels like you have no control over your own mind. When it comes to the feelings that I bottle up, it feels like my mind is incapable of letting them go. I even tend to act out how I would react to something that hasn't even happened. These things usually have something to do with events or people that have angered me in some way. Instead of learning from the experience and letting it go, I hold onto them so much that I waste time thinking that those events might repeat themselves or that that person might show up again and that I have to be ready. I become defensive, even though nothing has happened yet and even though I don't even know what is going to happen. What I need to do is stop worrying about it and move on because it is holding me back.

When I dance, I want to remember, accept, learn, and move on. That's a lot of things to do while dancing, but it's worth it if it helps to let go of bottled up emotions. Either I can do that, or I can just enjoy the dance and not really think about anything except for the music and my feet.

Cheers,
Kay

We're Dancing With The Demons In Our Minds

Hello friends!

It's been a while, hasn't it? I apologize for the blog silence; I take full responsibility for it. When I started this blog, I thought that it would be fun. I thought that I would publish posts a few times every week and that my blog would grow into something wonderful. Instead, I posted a few times a week and then posted only once a while until I was hardly posting at all. I have thought about what happened, what prevented me from continuing my blog as I had planned, and I realized a few things, one of which is that the concept of writing and maintaining a blog scares me. I don't have a lot of experience with web design or writing for a public audience so, I'm scared to try and learn about web design and I'm also scared to publish posts until I know that everything is absolutely perfect.

That's a big thing that has been stopping me from doing what I want: perfectionism. When I was little, I was a bit of a perfectionist and, although I have learned not to be so hard on myself about things, the perfectionist in me still comes out once in a while and scares me out of doing things that I want to do. I've learned over the years that our minds can be our greatest enemies. It's like the lyrics in Eurovision 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw's song "Heroes": "We are the heroes of our time/ But we're dancing with the demons in our minds." Sure, you could interpret "dancing with the demons in our minds" as going along with evil ideas or doing bad things, but I interpret it differently. We go along with what our minds tell us instead of choosing what we want. It's like the angel and the devil on your shoulders, one telling you to do good things and the other telling you to do bad things except in this case the demons in our minds are preventing us from doing what we want to do with our lives. They are putting us down, telling us that we are not good enough. They stop us from moving forward.

Moving forward is a big thing for me. It would be a huge accomplishment! I have never been diagnosed with anything, but I have been dealing with a lot of things going on inside my mind for quite a few years now, starting in high school. I've talked to friends and family about what I go through and I also just deal with it on my own. Maybe I should talk to a doctor about it but for now I just try and learn how to get through it on my own. I want to move on. I want my mind to be my friend, not my enemy. I want to stop dancing with the demons in my mind and start dancing along in life, doing all of the things that I want to do, all of the things that I want to accomplish.

This blog is one of the things that I want in my life. I want to write. I want to share my stories, my experiences. I want to share happy things. I want to share fun things. I want to show everyone all of the great things that we have in our lives but I also want to show people that they are not alone if they are going through a tough time. Maybe this blog will help me deal with the challenges that I face. I have already been writing things down, trying to figure out what to do and how to deal with everything that is going on, and it definitely helps. Transferring thoughts to paper instead of letting them continue to swirl around and wreak havoc in my mind helps a lot. Maybe putting them here on this blog will help too.

Thanks for listening!

Cheers,
Kay

My Plans for 2015!

Lot of people like to make New Year resolutions and I am no exception. Instead of making only one or a few, however, I like making several goals for myself. It's great to make a list of goals or plans because writing it down and seeing it, whether it's attached to a bulletin board or fridge or it's in a notebook, can really help you stay motivated! So, here are my personal goals for 2015 as well as my plans for my blog in 2015!

Personal Goals

A lot of the personal goals that I have for myself for 2015 (and 1.7 years after that) are in my 101 Things in 1001 Days list which I already talked about in a post and which you can follow updates on through the 101 in 1001 tag.

My main big goals for 2015 are the following:

• Put my Crohn's Disease into remission (or at least heal the inflammation in the end of my large intestine)
• Go geocaching more
• Read more books for fun!
• Start doing more meditation, yoga, and exercise
• Spend more time outside

Blog Plans

I also have new and exciting plans for my blog, one of which is to blog more! Also, I want to have a proper blog schedule (which I still need to work out... this is in progress).

I will also have new content (or I'll be talking about some things that I've talked about before except I will talk about them a lot more): 

• Geocaching (news, stories, and tips): I'll talk about my own geocaching adventures and share my thoughts on news as well as share my own tips! For example: what to pack in a geocaching bag, tips for creating creative geocaches, etc.
• Nature/outdoors: I like geocaching, hiking, and spending time in nature so I want to spend more time outside and write about it too! I'll write about outdoor adventures that I have and also my feelings about nature (because it's such a beautiful thing!)
• Book/poem reviews: I will review and share my thoughts on books and poems that I read. Some of the books that I will talk about include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Inferno by Dan Brown, as well as Shakespeare plays! Yes, I'll be talking about both classic and contemporary literature!
• Journal prompts: I'll share journal prompts that my readers are welcome to use. I'll use them too and share some of the things that I write.
• Eleanor: During the summer, I bought a wooden mannequin. It's an artist's mannequin used for figure drawing. I named her Eleanor and she gets up to all sorts of crazy shenanigans and I'll share stories about her!
• Gratitude lists: I want to write many more gratitude lists! Gratitude lists are amazing!
• 101 Things in 1001 Days updates: Every month, I'll be sharing updates on the progress that I'm making with my 101 Things in 1001 Days list.
• Sharing my journey of living with mild Crohn's Disease: I have mild Crohn's Disease so it's a part of my life. I have been trying different things lately to try and heal the inflammation in my intestines. At the same time, I try not to let it get me down and I continue to work at living a life full of positive energy.

Of course, I'll also be writing more about living a life full of positive energy and I'll also still be sharing photos of my dog, Finnlegh!

What are your plans for 2015?

-Kaylie

My 101 Things in 1001 Days List

One great motivational technique is a list of goals! Writing your goals down a great step to start with before you actually begin your goals. I think of it as a way of convincing myself that I actually really want to a certain goal. I have so many goals that I want to complete that I decided to make a 101 Things in 1001 Days list. 101 Things in 1001 Days is an idea by the Day Zero Project. Basically, you make a list of 101 goals that you want to complete within 1001 days (that's approximately 2.7 years). 

For my list, I divided my goals up into categories. The categories are: Health & Wellness, Fitness, Nature/Environment, Reading, Writing, Blogging/Online Work, Music, Art, Family, and Miscellaneous. The Miscellaneous category is for goals that just didn't really fit into any of the other categories. Lots of people divide their goals up into categories when they post about their lists on their blogs and you'll see that they may have chosen different categories. I chose the categories that were important to me so if you want to put your goals into categories too, choose ones that are important to you! When I made the list in my Day Zero account, I couldn't divide my goals up into the categories so I just put my goals for each category together. In this post, you'll see that my goals are divided up into the categories and if you check my actual list on the website, you'll see that my goals appear in the same order as you see them here.

Check out my list and follow me on the Day Zero website to track my progress! I'll also be doing monthly updates of my progress here on my blog! You will be able to find all of my progress updates through the 101 in 1001 tag!

Health & Wellness

• Meditate everyday for a month and continue
• Write in a gratitude diary once a week for a month and continue
• Don't say anything negative for one day
• Overcome my phobias
• Try Tai Chi
• Grow my nails again
• Improve my posture
• Drink more water everyday
• Floss everyday for a month and continue
• Put my Crohn's Disease into remission
• Figure out a healthy eating plan that helps my Crohn's Disease
• Learn how to make 10 healthy recipes
• Eat healthier snacks
• Limit salt and sugar intake
• Limit processed foods
• Have a vegetarian day once a week for a month and continue

Fitness

• Create a morning stretch/workout routine
• Do yoga everyday for a month and continue
• Walk my dog everyday for a month and continue
• Jog everyday for a month and continue
• Do the 200 squats challenge
• Do the 100 push-ups challenge
• Do the 200 lunges challenge
• Do the 200 crunches challenge
• Start lifting weights
• Be able to do the splits
• Be able to do a headstand for one minute
• Learn more Charleston moves

Nature/Environment

• Watch the sunrise and sunset on the same day
• Watch the sunrise on the Winter and Summer solstices and the Fall and Spring equinoxes
• Do a nature walk once a week for 2 months
• Plant a huge garden and use the vegetables in all sorts of ways
• Go foraging for plants, berries, etc. that I can use
• Learn more outdoor survival skills
• Learn how to use a compass
• Climb Ishpatina Ridge in Ontario, Canada
• Go for a long snowshoeing hike
• Go on a hike with my city's hike club
• Go geocaching for an entire day once a month
• Get up to 1000 geocache finds
• Build an inukshuk on the side of the road
• See the Northern Lights
• Go for a picnic in a park
• Take a nap in a hammock
• Climb a tree
• Learn to identify 10 constellations
• Use less water
• Use less electricity
• Recycle everything that can possibly be recycled
• Start composting
• Go for a day without technology

Reading

• Read 100 books
• Read 100 poems
• Memorize 10 poems
• Read 10 French novels
• Read 5 non-fiction books
• Read all of Shakespeare's plays
• Read all of the Sherlock Holmes books
• Read in a park

Writing

• Write a novel
• Write a children's book
• Write a book of poetry
• Write a book of short stories
• Get my writing published
• Get a story published in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book
• Win NaNoWriMo
• Win Camp NaNoWriMo
• Write in my diary at least once a week
• Use a writing prompt that I have found or created each week
• Write a letter to myself to be opened when the 1001 days are over
• Answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"
• Update my resume
• Learn how to write with my left hand

Blogging/Online Work

• Make a plan and schedule for regular blogging
• Update my blog's About and FAQ pages
• Put a donation button on my blog when I start blogging more and get more visitors
• Start a CafePress shop

Music

• Practice piano for 20 minutes everyday Monday to Friday for a month and continue
• Practice flute once a week for a month and continue
• Get my grade 8 RCM piano certificate and grade 2 RCM theory certificate
• Learn to play the accordion
• Learn to play the violin
• Write a song (lyrics and music)

Art

• Start sketching regularly
• Learn how to paint flowers well with watercolours
• Complete a colouring book

Family

• Have a board game night with my family
• Have a movie marathon night with my family
• Have a craft/art night with my family
• Bake Finn bun with my family
• Cook an entire meal for my family

Miscellaneous

• Start and complete driver's ed
• Get my G2 driver's license
• Use the French language more in my life
• Learn Spanish
• Expand my vocabulary by 100 words
• Learn how to crochet
• Learn how to use a sewing machine
• Learn how to use a memory palace
• Say "yes" to something I would not normally do
• Start wearing a watch everyday

You should definitely start a 101 Things in 1001 Days list too! What would you put on your list?

-Kaylie

Completed Goals: Grow my Nails

A goal that I have had for a very long time has been to grow my nails. Since I was a kid, I've chewed and picked at my nails. I've had people encourage me to grow my nails and I've really wanted to but I would always just keep chewing them or picking at them and they would always be short because of that.

I noticed that I didn't chew or pick at my nails when I wore nail polish so I have tried that a few times but I would just start again when the nail polish wore off. In August, I put on nail polish and left it on until it started wearing off and then I took it off. I saw that my nails had grown quite a bit while the nail polish was on and then I just kept letting them grow. I finally broke the habit. The photo above is what my nails look like now. My nails haven't been this long for a while. I love them!

It feels so good to finally accomplish this goal!
-Kaylie