3 Down 97 To Go

Last Spring I made a list of 100 things I want to do before I die. Recently I "revamped" the list and this is it. The reason I am putting this online is because I figure if people know about this it might create some form of accountability/encouragement.
There really are 100 things so if you don’t want to read that much I suggest you stop now. Also, if you think a post this long is annoying or too self indulgent let me know and I will take it down and shorten future posts.
ENJOY
100 Things To Do Before I Die
1. Get a passport
2. Go to Italy and see the Coliseum
3. Fly across an ocean
4. Visit Ireland
5. Kiss the Blarney Stone
6. Save a life
7. See a miracle
8. Laugh until I cry (DONE!)
9. Make a difference to someone
10. Take a road trip without a plan
11. Take turns driving with someone straight through the night
12. Play a song on the piano with both hands
13. Step foot in every state
14. Have a big front porch
15. Write a book
16. Make someone’s day
17. Kiss someone in the rain
18. Go to Disney World
19. Go on an overseas mission trip
20. Help someone anonymously
21. Waste a whole day goofing off
22. Fast
23. Do something no one thought I could
24. Do something I never thought I could
25. Learn to sail
26. Sign a petition (DONE!)
27. Spend a morning with God with minimal distractions
28. Go somewhere by myself
29. Ride on a Harley Davidson
30. Impress someone
31. Do something for a stranger
32. Go a whole day without looking at a clock
33. Pull off a huge prank
34. See something beautiful with my own eyes
35. Change the oil in my car by myself
36. Surprise someone with something they have always wanted
37. Build something
38. Pet an exotic animal
39. Grow something that people will eat
40. Cook a meal for Grandmother
41. Send Mom and Dad on a vacation where they don’t pay for anything
42. Do something spontaneous with Mom
43. Go on a vacation with Meredith
44. Surprise Tyler
45. Buy something big that I want but in no way need
46. Take a spontaneous trip (by plane) with someone I love
47. Make a fool of myself to make someone else feel less awkward (which I have probably done)
48. Publish a book of funny poems for children
49. Leave a huge tip for someone who needs it
50. Surprise a room full of people.
51. Teach someone something useful
52. See the sunset in the Southern Hemisphere
53. Shake hands with someone famous.
54. Stand up on a surf board
55. Mail a letter to someone in another country
56. Have a white Christmas… but just one
57. Inspire someone
58. Go somewhere I never thought I would
59. Give something that is important to me to someone who needs it more
60. Take a sign language class
61. Be in the studio audience of a television show
62. Drop something glass from a high window
63. Take a trip by train
64. Write something that moves someone to tears
65. Get something published in a magazine
66. Buy something with another country’s currency
67. Tour a Civil War battle field with Dad
68. Swim with dolphins
69. Go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans
70. Meet someone who is over 100 years old
71. Thank people in a speech
72. Catch a fish with my bare hands
73. Make a cake with four layers- different sizes
74. Go to a movie I’ve heard nothing about
75. Go white water rafting
76. Make friends with someone from a completely different background (DONE!)
77. Sleep under the stars
78. Invent something
79. Buy a meal for a stranger
80. See one of the 7 wonders of the world
81. Christen a boat
82. Eat Breakfast at City Café at 4 am
83. Read the whole Bible, Gen.- Rev., in order
84. Go to the Olympics
85. Go to a Super bowl
86. Send a message in a bottle
87. Plant a tree
88. Learn to juggle three things
89. Go up in a hot-air balloon
90. Scuba dive
91. Make something and wear it
92. Cook something French
93. Go to Cedar Point
94. Go to a Spa
95. High five a stranger- sporting events don’t count
96. Cry because I’m happy
97. Start a fire without a lighter or match98. Zip line in Hawaii
99. Walk into a restaurant (or something like that) and order “the usual”
100. Be in the front row of a concert.
Thank you for your time

*Betsy reserves the right to alter this list in the even of a change in her tastes and/or better ideas

Welcome Home Girls

My apartment is super cute now… just throwing that out there. I got some pictures last Christmas to hang up in the living room, because I said it looked like boys live there (we literally had NO decoration but a really crazy fake flower thing that for some reason I refuse to throw away, sorry mom). But what I learned last year is 2 pictures (I’m counting the pictures Audra gave me as one, because they all go together therefore can not be separated) does not a cute girl’s apartment make, and that’s what I wanted. Not super girly but I wanted the place I live to be feminine and fun. What other time in life are you able to have your own place and make it as girly as you want? I just wanted people to walk in and tell that girls live there by the decorations, not just by the cleanness and lack of suspicious odor. So this Christmas I acquired a few more pictures and what not and I am proud to say: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! So now it is cute and a little girly while still being a place where both sexes and hand out comfortable. The fact that there is more stuff on the walls does WONDERS for the living room but because of what the pictures are of (Jack Vettriano prints, pictures that Audra took in Italy, a glamour shot of the stadium and a framed picture of Denny Chimes, along with some other stuff) it is not an estrogen overload.


I am aware that the décor of my once sparse living room is of no interest to anyone but me and possible mom, but if you’re reading this sentence then you’ve read the whole thing so I guess I win anyway.

new major, new classes, new coat, new year

I started my new classes Monday, and it really could not have come at a better time. Because a certain football team was busy in Pasadena the day after classes were scheduled to start, (ahem, ROLL TIDE) the capstone pushed the start of the spring semester back from the 6th to the 11th and as a result we started school on a Monday instead of the traditional Wednesday half week start up. Lucky for me the full week of work and class does not bother me for two reasons.
1. I am so excited about my classes and after my first days I think I am really going to enjoy them (but only time will tell)
2. We have next Monday off so our first full week is followed promptly by a three day weekend Thank you, Dr. King.

It has been surprisingly cold but we lucked out by the weather being in the 30’s and 40s rather than the 20’s or the, uhh, teens(?). It has gotten close to the single digits at night, but I don’t have to walk all over campus at 11:00pm, so who cares? I was not thrilled with the temperature when I locked my keys in my (running) car this morning (don’t ask), but I could not have asked for a prettier day and I had a cup of coffee in my hands which soothed my chagrin.

Despite the weather I have been comfortable sporting a new coat around campus (old coat but new to me). What do I wear when I am not on campus and want to look a little more put together and what not? None other than a happy new coat Santa brought me. It is a classic style and yellow (don’t judge till you see it) like a technicolor Bugsy Malone.

The new year is (as it always has been) closely followed by a new age for this girl. My 21st birthday is fast approaching meaning I will soon leave my 20th year behind, which by the way went by much faster than year 19 which was lack luster at best. So with January 26th on the horizon everyone is getting very excited because that means it is time to start getting ready Tyler and Beth’s really big birthday… I’m just sayin’.

New Year's Resolutions

1. Keep real food at my apartment (also throw out food/milk as soon as it expires and not just leave it in the fridge)
2. Cook more
3. Do laundry at regular intervals (not just when I completely run out of stuff to wear)
4. Try and keep my apartment cleaner
5. Don't grow up too much