Crossing Off My List

                                                  
I decided I needed to read the book The Fault in our Stars by John Green.  All of my  eighth graders were becoming obsessed with it as well as many other books by him.  I had watched multiple videos of his on his YouTube channel that he shares with his brother, but I just never got around to reading the book.  I knew it was a romance book about a girl with cancer, and I figured it would follow the typical story line.  It is sort of like when you read a book with a dog as a main character.  You know the dog is going to die at the beginning.  The rest of the time is trying to figure out when it is going to happen.

I should have known this book was going to be different.  If you have never had a chance to watch a video of John Green's, please take the time to do so now.  This blog post will be waiting for you when you are done. 

In typical Green fashion, the book was filled with witty banter.  Although I don't know many sixteen year olds who talk like Hazel and Augustus, I remember that feeling of wanting to sound and appear older than you really were at that age.  They kept me entertained throughout the entire book with their dialogue with one another.  It is true that it is a story about people dealing with cancer.  Green does not shy away from the emotions that I would imagine many teens feel with this.  He makes sure to portray them openly and honestly. 

As with many Young Adult Literature nowadays, this is a book for the ages.  It should not be pigeonholed in the category for teens only. 

Trying a New Start

This is my third attempt at blogging.  I am hoping third times a charm?  To start off this new/old adventure, I am going to attempt a project my cousin's fiancee started.  It is one of those Internet challenges that are all over the place.  This one is 101 Things to do in 1001 Days.  I am hoping to accomplish most if not all of the items on my list.  If nothing else, this blog can help keep me motivated to work on them! I have until February 22, 2017 to finish these.  Some of them are already done, and I will try to create blog posts to describe the more interesting ones.

Personal and my Little Family Ideas:
1. Have another baby
2. Take a girls' weekend
3. Get a haircut from a salon, not just Super Cuts
4. Walk three miles a day for a week
5. Catch up on my reading list
6. Walk the Stations Garden in St. John, Indiana
7. Learn how to fix my hair
8. Get a pedicure
9. Lose 10 pounds
10. Lose 20 pounds
11. See a play downtown
12. Spend a weekend in a hotel downtown
13. Go to Garretts
14. Take a walk on the Lakefront
15. Walk around Downtown
16. Give up social media for a week
17. Buy a new outfit for meeting my goal weight
18. Make salsa from ingredients in my garden
19. Grow an herb garden
20. Go to a Festival Downtown
21. Keep my same phone until February 22, 2017
22. Learn how to do a French braid
23. Learn how to sew
24. Learn Arabic
25. Get a tattoo
26. Get on top of a building
27. Go to a Paint and Wine class
28. Visit a local brewery
29. Go to a Sox Patio Party
30. Visit the "Waterfall" in Worth
31. Go apple picking in the fall
32. Go berry picking in the spring/summer
33. Go to a Farmer's Market
34. Take an artsy picture of the Fountain on Western Ave.
35. Watch the fireworks Downtown
36. Relax on my new patio in the backyard
37. Learn the settings on my camera
38. See a movie alone
39. Do one of my walking tour cards
40. Buy something on Etsy
41. Create a piece of artwork using my Cricut
42. Have one day where all the laundry in the house is done
43. Cook enough so I don't eat out for a month
44. Make Meatless Monday a thing for one month
45. Go on the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier
46. Go to the top of Starved Rock
47. Update my blog once a week for a month
48. Try five new Restaurants (Horse Thief Hallow, D.O.C. Wine Bar, Tavern in the Green, Shoeless Joes, Clancy's)
49. Buy a Kate Spade purse
50. Pay off one car
51. Have a fish fry and invite people over
52. Fix the paint in my bedroom
53. Fix the paint round the window in the living room
54. Take a family picture by Grandpa Casey's brick
55. Have a homemade photo booth at a backyard bbq
56. Figure out how to make "Photostrips"
57. Pay off my store credit cards
58. Donate $25 to five different charities (White Sox Charities, ACS, Alzheimer's Research, HannahStrong, Fire Up a Cure)
59. Get Smitty groomed
60. Clean out my garage
61. Go to the zoo
62. Visit EIU
63. Do one DIY project on Pinterest
64. Make a flower box
65. Paint my bathroom door
66. Buy a fancy dress
67. Visit Marie in Arizona
68. Get a family portrait done
69. Redo the nursery
70. Figure out Photoshop 2
71. Buy a newer version of Photoshop
72.  Pray the rosary every day for a week
73. Walk the Prayer Maze
74. Eat a salad before dinner every day for a week
75. Read The Fault in our Stars
76. Go see the movie

Extended Family Ideas:
77. See Jimmy and Abby get married.
78. See Faries get married
79. See Sam and Michael get married
80. Send, in the mail, a birthday card for each member of my immediate family
81. Explore photo shoot locations with Erin
82. Meet baby Olivia
83. See Malifacent with my cousins

John Specific Ideas:
84. Take John to a Fire game
85. Go to a library event
86. Have a Mustache Bash for John's first birthday
87. Bake John's first birthday cake (third one)
88. Make some decorations for John's party
89. Have a smash cake photo session
90. Take "Police Car" picture of John
91. Take "Christmas Tree" picture of John

Work Ideas:
92. Make flower pens for students who need to borrow one
93. Stick with my Interactive Journals all school year
94. Make Classroom Rules banner
95. Go to a workshop over the summer
96. Teach three novels (Nothing but the Truth, Fever 1793, Outsiders)
97. Try some of the new reading strategies with my students

Joe Specific

98. Go away for the weekend without John
99. Go on five dates with Joe (Hometown Days, Fall on the Green, Porky's Rib Fest, Dave and Busters, Coopers Hawk)
100. Get Joe a wedding ring that fits
101. Surprise Joe with his favorite dinner (after I figure out what that is...)