82. Re-read all the Harry Potter books

This summer and fall I read all the Harry Potter books on the bus to and from work. I think I'd read the first 6 before, but not the last one. I remembered a lot from the first few books, but not the later ones. No picture for this one...

I chose this because I planned to go back and finish that last book ever since I bought it when I came out, but never did. Several of my tasks are things like this. This list is just the extra motivation to hopefully complete these things (finally!)

#17 Use our wedding china for a special dinner

Brandon wanted to have a Thanksgiving Dinner just the two of us, so we cooked a turkey the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I thought our first cooked holiday meal was probably worthy of breaking in our new china so I unboxed it all :) We bought a frozen turkey, thawed it for a few days, baked it and Brandon carved it. We also had break, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and sparking beverages. Oh yes, don't forget the pumpkin pie :) It was fun to cook and have a holiday meal just the two of us.

I chose this task because I wanted to actually use our china and not just have it sit in our cupboard. I don't have a great place to store it so it's kind of a pain to get it out, but it was well worth the effort!

BTW, get excited...lots of updates to come as I've been working on tasks, but haven't done a great job of blogging about them.

#34 Get a drivers license with my new address

I didn't work on Friday because I went to watch my sister play in state VB in Hays (her team took 4th). I didn't have to leave until mid-morning, so I went to the license bureau that morning to get a new license, with our "new" address. I changed my address online shortly after we moved, so I'm legal, but it's a pain when I show ID and have to explain that it doesn't match my current address and such. In 7-10 business days I'll no longer have that problem!

I put this on my list to remember to go and do it. Since I don't work in Johnson County, it's tricky to get there during business hours. Friday gave me the perfect chance and the line wasn't too long at all.

Sorry...no picture for this post. You'll just have to trust me!

88. Go to one of my aunt's/uncle's house with Brandon

Last week Brandon and I traveled to Sublette, KS, just south of Garden City to my Aunt Bev's house. The trip wasn't planned and unfortunately we were there under horrible circumstances. We were in Sublette for my Uncle Mitch's funeral. Mitch was in a 2-vehicle accident out in the country last Monday and didn't survive. I was in a meeting when my dad called to tell me. When I saw the voicemail on my phone, I expected it to be about one of my grandparents, and was shocked at what he told me. Mitch was 51 and left his wife, Bev and two kids-Paul, a sophomore at K-State, and Anna, a junior in high school

The funeral was Friday morning and we decided to leave Thursday morning. Brandon had some car trouble on the way home Wednesday night, so we ended up taking my Alero for the 1,000 mile trip. I'm not sure when the last time I was in Sublette was, but it's a small town so finding my aunt's house was no problem. My mom came out and talked to us in the yard before we went in to see the rest of the family. My aunt was talking to some friends but came over and told us thanks for coming and talked to us for a bit. We talked to other family that was there and talked to others who came after us. My brother came with some other K-State students not too long after we got there. That evening all of the family (Mitch & Bev's) had dinner at Bev's house and spent some time chatting. It was my sister's 18th birthday, so we had cake for her too. Her boyfriend plays football at Garden City Community College and came down for the evening too. Brandon & I hadn't met him, so it was nice to finally get to.

After dinner at Bev's, we went back to the hunting lodge where we stayed to let her open presents.

Friday was the funeral, and a hard and emotional day. Because it's a small town and Mitch was very well known, the service was in the high school gym. Mitch grew up in Sublette, and had severed as the Mayor for several years. He was also involved with his church and a coach for different sports for his kids. We got to the school around 9:15 and saw more family members who had just come in town that morning. First was the flower service with just the family. Then we cleared out of the gym while everyone else arrived. The funeral was good. The pastor knew my uncle and his family very well, so it was personal. He talked about Mitch and gave a great message. However, the highlight for me was when my Aunt got up and talked. We were all shocked and I was impressed. She thanked everyone for all of their support and care over the week, talked about how she knew that this event brought up heartache for others, was thankful for the 13 years she's had with Mitch since his first heart attack, and talked about how deep down she knew she wouldn't grow old with Mitch. She was matter of fact in her speech and didn't cry at all. She ended by quoting my Grandpa, who wasn't there because of his health, but told her: "We never know what a day will bring, but God is in every day."

At the cemetery people shared memories of Mitch which varied from fishing to coaching to guys who had grown up with him. The weather was great, and it was fitting that we were facing a corn field for this service since Mitch was a farmer.

My family used to do a lot with Mitch & Bev's family. We traveled together and just got together at each other's homes. I have a lot of memories of Mitch. At my cousin's wedding in May, Mitch & Bev sat at our table and we got to talk a lot with them. Mitch is the first close relative I've had pass away. My great-grandma died when I was a freshman in college, but of my grandparents, cousins, aunts & uncles, he's the first. I know there are many more funerals to come, because I have a large family.

Here's a picture of his family and my grandparents at my grandparents' 65th anniversary celebration in June. This was the last time I saw him.

Hopefully we'll get to go back to Sublette or to another aunt/uncle's home for a happier occasion before the 1,001 days are up. It was really good to be back there, even though the circumstances were less than desirable.

I put this task on my list because I had a lot of good memories at many of my aunt & uncle's homes. We don't travel to their houses much any more because my grandparents are all in Oberlin and not able to travel. I want Brandon to see their homes and make memories with family aside from at holidays in Oberlin.

#29 Go to a movie at the downtown KC theatre

My first task is complete! Last night after work a couple of my co-workers and I went out to dinner in the P&L. After dinner we went to see Julie & Julia at the new AMC in downtown KC. This theatre opened in May and is pretty nice. AMC's headquarters are in KC, just downtown the street from this theatre and across the street from where I work. This movie experience was unlike any other. We had assigned seats, nothing too amazing about that, but I've never had those for a movie before. The bathrooms had separate sinks and hand dryers in each stall. The theatre had about 70 seats and there was a foot rail in front of our seats. Finally, the chairs were super comfy---much better than those at the AMC 30 in Olathe.

The movie was cute and made me want to read more about both of the main characters. I don't have any desire to cook through Julia Child's cookbook, but she does have a pretty amazing story. Some of the food looked pretty amazing, but a lot of it just seems like a ton of work!

I chose this task because I ride past this theatre on the bus every afternoon and didn't want it to just be something I ride by every day. Plus it gave me a good excuse to spend some time with work friends outside of the office...other than going out for lunch. Ok, 100 more to go!

101 tasks in 1001 days

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in 1001 days
Start Date: August 1, 2009
End Date: April 28, 2012

Church/Service
1. Join a Church
2. Attend a service at COR's Olathe campus
3. Participate in a COR ministry event
4. Attend an Ash Wednesday Service
5. Sponsor an Angel Tree child at Christmas
6. Donate money to 3 charities
7. Switch to reusable bags for our grocery shopping

Cooking
8. Bake a pie completely from scratch
9. Make Swedish pancakes
10. Bake Goldie's Pound Cake
11. Make spritz
12. Make fried chicken
13. Bake cinnamon rolls
14. Bake a cake from scratch
15. Bake scones
16. Cook one thing from every cookbook on our shelf
17. Use our wedding china for a special dinner completed 11-21-09
18. Bake and decorate sugar cookies
19. Cook 3 meals in a crock-pot
20. Use all 20 spices in my spice rack (not at the same time)
21. Make a pizza from scratch

Entertainment
22. Watch all the movies we own that I haven't seen before
23. Watch 10 movies off the AFI top 100 list I haven't seen before
24. See the Nutcracker ballet
25. See 3 live musicals (1. Wicked 12-6-09)
26. Go to an NFL game
27. Update the music on my ipod
28. Go to a live concert
29. Go to a movie at the downtown KC theatre completed 8-18-09
30. Attend a dinner theatre
31. Watch the Anne of Green Gables movies
32. Finish Legos Star Wars on PS3 with Brandon

Financial/Organization
33. Buy a new car
34. Get a drivers license with my new address Completed 10-30-09
35. Scan documents and put originals in the safe deposit box
36. Backup my computer
37. Scan all of the cards in my wallet
38. Determine how much we should keep in savings and build it to that level

Hobbies (new & old)
39. Get all pre-wedding scrapbooking done
40. Make wedding scrapbook
41. Organize post-wedding photos
42. Finish my "seasons" cross-stitch
43. Re-learn how to play piano
44. Take one photo a day for a month
45. Knit something
46. Sew 3 tablecloths
47. Color an entire coloring book
48. Go geocaching
49. Finish my 50 state quarters collection

House
50. Get the rest of our wedding presents from Brandon's parents' house
51. Clean out my room at my parents' house
52. Landscape our yard
53. Frame and hang our KSU diplomas
54. Get new bedding
55. Purchase name art for our front room
56. Organize my jewelry
57. Organize my closet
58. Make tie backs for our curtains
59. Get rid of boxes/gadgets in laundry room
60. Frame and hang wedding pictures
61. Acquire DVD versions of the movies I still have on VHS

Exploring Kansas City
62. Go to a T-Bones game
63. Go to the KC Jazz museum
64. Eat a 3 BBQ joints I've never been to
65. Visit Johnson County Museum of History
66. Shop at Zona Rosa
67. Attend a NASCAR race at the KS Speedway
68. Try all of the Mexican places in our neighborhood that we get coupons for
69. Visit 20 of the KC fountains

Personal Enrichment
70. Build a snowman
71. Build a gingerbread house
72. Read the manual for my cell phone
73. Get new glasses
74. Write 12 handwritten letters
75. Make an address book
76. Try 5 new drinks at Starbucks
77. Post to my blog every day for one month
78. Write in a journal every day for one month
79. Update the pics at my desk every six months
80. Advance to a higher position at Key

Reading
81. Read all the books I own, but haven't read
82. Re-read all the Harry Potter books completed November 2009
83. Read 10 books off the BBC Big Read List
84. Read Little Women
85. Read the New Testament
86. Read 10 current popular children's books

Travel
87. Visit 2 new baseball parks with Brandon
88. Go to one of my aunt's/uncle's house with Brandon completed 9-17-09
89. Go to my church at home's Swedish smorgasbord
90. Spend a weekend in St. Louis
91. Visit Bryan, Ohio
92. Stay at a B&B
93. Visit 5 states Brandon & I haven't been to before
94. Spend a day in St. Joseph
95. Spend a weekend in Branson
96. Send 5 postcards

Wellness
97. Exercise 3 times a week for 6 weeks
98. Lose 20 pounds
99. Drink only water for one week
100. Wear my contacts 3 times a week for 6 weeks
101. Take a vitamin a day until the whole bottle is gone

Vacation!

Brandon & I survived our first summer vacation :) We drove to Virginia for a family reunion and so I could meet some of Brandon's family and see where they live. (Note: both of Brandon's parents grew up in VA, but moved to KS before Brandon and his brother were born.) Here's the run down of our trip...pics are on facebook.


Day 1

We got up like a work day, grabbed donuts on the road and drove all the way to Lexington, KY. Not so much to share for this day :)


Day 2

We drove to Suffolk, VA-where Brandon's gma lives. We got there just before dinner. His parents & brother and family had been there for a couple days already. We had tacos at his gma's and spent the evening getting settled and relaxing.


Day 3

We went with the whole family to VA beach for the day. In the morning we went Dolphin watching...and saw LOTS of dolphins, which was pretty neat. After lunch, we went to the VA aquarium. It was a lot of walking, but fun. Then we went to a HUGE seafood buffet. We ended the day with duck pin bowling. You use a small ball...kind of like a shotput. It doesn't have holes either. The pins are smaller too. There aren't many of them left in the country and they don't manufacture the equipment for them either. We had fun, but it's a lot different from normal bowling. I beat the whole family and made my "nephew" cry :(

Day 4

This day we went to the family reunion...the main reason we all went to VA in the first place. It was for Brandon's dad's family. I met his dad's only brother and his family for the first time there. We also met a bunch of other extended family. The food was really good and the reunion didn't last too long. We got the award for the longest distance traveled.

Day 5
We went to church with Brandon's gma. It was a smallish church and the preacher mispronounced Bible names. Brandon's dad & I pulled out the Bible's in the pews to make sure. After that we had lunch out in Suffolk and I had the best chocolate eclair cake ever. My MIL, SIL & I went for a walk around the neighborhood and chatted. When we got back, Brandon's Aunt Sylvia & her husband Glenn were there. We spent the rest of the evening with Brandon's mom's family and I met more people I hadn't before.

Day 6
We split up for the day. Brandon & I went to Norfolk. We started the day at Nauticus, a nautical museum, with a lot of Navy exhibits. Next to the museum is the USS Wisconsin, a navy ship you can walk around. You can't go inside, but it was still really night. One of the highlights of the trip. That afternoon we took a harbor cruise on a sailboat. I'd never been on a sailboat before. I got slightly sunburned, but not bad.

Day 7
We left Virginia this day and headed north to Baltimore. We were planning to spend the afternoon at the Inner Harbor, but spent it in traffic due to a fatal motorcycle wreck. We got there in time to eat at the Inner Harbor and walk to Camden Yards. I really like that ballpark. We saw a crazy game too. The Orioles played the Red Sox and were down 1-10 in the 7th and after a rain delay came back and won 11-10. It was pretty exciting, but made for a late night!

Day 8
We drove to Lancaster County and spent the morning in Amish Country. After lunch we went to Hershey to Chocolate World. The rest of the day we spent driving to Ohio.

Day 9
We drove to Cincinnati for an afternoon game. I wasn't quite as impressed with this park, but the game was fun. We sat in the outfield, so it was view I'd never had before. This game was close too...Reds won 3-2 in 10 innings. After the game we drove to Louisville and ate at White Castle & went to a real putt putt golf course.

Day 10
This day we explored Louisville. We started the day at the Louisville Slugger bat factory which was pretty cool. We got a personalized bat. Then we went to Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. It was neat to see, but not a very good tour or gift shop. We had lunch there and I had a Kentucky meal....Mint Julip, Hot Brown, and Kentucky Nut Pie.

Day 11
We spent the day driving home...we got back to KC early evening and went out for mexican food (on the 4th of July) and then watched fireworks at the Great Mall. Pretty impressive show, but it took FOREVER to get out of the parking lot afterwards.
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