Okay, so I am going to admit here and now that this list is going to be all over the place. It will jump between ages and is in no particular order of things that I believe are more achieved than others. Its mainly written in an order that, well, I wrote this in order of remembering what I had done. I admit, I will not be writing all 101 things at once because quite honestly, I don't know if I have achieved 101 things in my life already. But here are some things that I have done (in no particular order) and remember, I will be adding to the list.
(WARNING - Is very long, includes some swear words and may be boring in some areas)
01. Given up drinking alcohol at age 21 - Yes, I know, I'm boring. But here in Australia you can legally drink at age 18 so I had been drinking and partying and pretty much a stupid moron for my younger years but at age 21, right after I met my ex-boyfriend I gave up drinking for no particular reason at all. I don't know if it was because my dad was an angry drunk or cause I didn't like what people were like when they drank. Plus, whenever I went out with my friends, I used to feel so sorry for that one friend who didn't drink and was always made the designated-driver. Now I don't drink because I want to start a family and drinking while trying to fall pregnant is B-A-D.
02. Created a working lego robot in Year 12 Information Technology Studies - Yes, I did Robotics in Year 12 and I made this little Lego robot thing with a computer chip in its middle and controlled it from the computer. It was cute and fun and made me fall in love with Lego again and I also passed that class with quite a high grade, thank you-very-much :)
03. Got my Learner Licence at age 21 (when I was ready to get it) - Okay, so if you are reading this and you know me personally you know how I felt about driving but for those that don't, let me elaborate. I hated driving. I absolutely dreaded the idea of getting behind the wheel of this huge mechanical machine and risking not only my life, but the life of the person in the passenger seat and those on the road. I had plenty of chances to get my Licence. In Australia you can get your Learner Licence at 16 and a 1/2 (well, now its just 16) and I waited until I was 21. Why? Well, besides the reason listed above, I wasn't ready. My ex wanted me to. Even paid for me to go for it three times. I knew the answers, to each test, I KNEW THE ANSWERS, but I made myself fail the test four times (one time I paid myself, just to piss him off even more) until he finally realised it was a losing battle (More on that later). Just after I turned 21, I met my (now) husband and we dated for probably about four months where he didn't even mention me driving, or ask me once to go for the test. No, I said it. And passed first go with him. So pretty much, I waited until I was ready, until I said I was ready to take the test.
04. Completed my Certificate III in Children's Studies - This was a big deal because I had just dropped out of university and had no intentions at all to restart education and just kinda got bored one day and decided to start studying. Cert III is the basis of Children's Studies in Australia. It qualifies you to have a position of Assistant in a Childcare or Daycare Centre. Throughout my studies I was shown a variety of ways to look at my position and was even convinced that I would continue my studies through TAFE and eventually graduated and enrolled in my Diploma.
05. Completed my Diploma of Children's Services - Pretty much a follow on from the above. I completed this in two years as I was working at the time and couldn't afford to go to classes all day and not work. During my Diploma studies, I realised that I wanted to continue my studies even more and was pushed to complete this. I have since worked with a variety of ages from 6 weeks old to 6 years old. I love my job and couldn't ask for a better one.
06. Moved out of home and found my independence - Okay, so I lived three blocks from where I worked, which made it easy but still. I was paying bills, buying groceries, living with other people who were not my family. This was a big deal for someone who lived with 8 other people growing up and had everything done for her. I had to wash my own clothes, cook my own food and survive on a wage of 500 a week. Not easy, trust me. But I loved it and am very glad I did it when I did, after I was ready and wasn't pushed into it.
07. Tried smoking cigarettes and hated it - This is a serious one. I hated cigarettes my entire life. When you grow up with everyone around you smoking and they all tell you "Oh, don't do this, its bad for you" you kinda have conflicted feelings. I hated the smell, the look, and the fact that it turned not only your teeth yellow, but your walls yellow as well. I tried them once (a whole total of 4) when I was in Year 9. The first time I tried one, I snuck all 4 smokes and a lighter from my mothers handbag. I then hid them in my pocket and told myself I would try one before school, at the bus stop before anyone else arrived. I got to the bus stop ten minutes early, lit one up and finished the whole thing - soon after throwing my stomach contents up all over the ground. The second time was in the toilets at school with a friend who said sharing one would be easier. Nope, threw up again. Third time was with my crush who said it was easy and tried to show me an easier way to smoke it. I did and had to hold in the vomit I wanted to spew all over his shoes. I proceeded to and he never spoke to me again. The final time I tried a cigarette, I was at home and it was five in the morning. Thinking I would never be caught, I lit up. I then proceded to drop the smoke onto my homework at the time and it quickly burned. I never touched another one.
08. Broke up with my ex - I was in that relationship for almost two years. I didn't last long in them. From the very beginning of our relationship I knew my friends and family didn't like him but I was smitten and I didn't care. There was a whole 5 years between us (I was 19 and he was 24) and it was like the summer romance you never have in real life. At first it was great, he was sweet and kind and gentle but then it started to get weird. The whole licence thing was an issue (see above #3) and I think that was the catalyst of our relationship going down the toilet. For Valentines Day 2009, we decided we were not going to get presents for each other. When the day came, I invited him to my house for a dinner with my parents and he gave me a gift. He made me feel really bad because I hadn't gotten him anything and he thought I was only joking about the whole not getting him anything. A week later I surprised him with a promise ring - a ring to say yes I would one day marry you. The day I gave him that he said we needed a break. He said it had something to do with the licence and something to do with Valentine's Day. So we (he) decided to put us on a break. That meant no seeing each other but we would attend a friend's wedding we were invited to. He didn't even kiss me or hold my hand. Soon after the wedding, I said enough. I texted him that we needed to talk and after a three hour screaming match at each other we broke up. I heard from a mutual friend that not even a week after we broke up he started seeing someone so I don't feel bad at all about it.
09. Hopping on a Plane in May 2009 and flying to Melbourne for a Week - It may not sound like much, but this week away from friends, family and my ex changed me as a person. My friend Christine whom I have know since 2006 from university lived in Melbourne and had accepted me as a week long visitor to her state. I hadn't been to Melbourne before and I hadn't been on a plane since I was 10. I booked my flight and was in Melbourne sooner that I thought. Upon arrival, I slept for the better part of twenty-four hours (jet-lag) before being taken to see the centre of Melbourne. Holy effing hell - I want to live there. Melbourne is amazing and beautiful and the people are so nice. My third day in Melbourne we went shopping and I decided to chop all my hair off and dye it black. All gone. Almost two hundred dollars later, I left the hairdresser feeling different. I posted the picture of my new haircut on Myspace (this was before Facebook set off) and I got so much love. I was surprised. After a week of great shopping, great food and amazing people, I returned home to find my life a little different. People I had wanted to notice me long ago finally did and my attitude towards people changed. I fell into a casual relationship that opened me up as a person and changed to be the woman I am today.
10. Married the love of my life - Plain and simple. No explanation necessary.
(I will admit, at this point I started to think quite hard to things I had achieved.)
11. Winning a Short Story competition - I won this with the help of my Year 10 English Teacher who gave me the form and told me to write. I wrote a 1000 words short story and sent it in, not thinking it would even come close to winning. I did, and holy crap did it feel good.
12. Seen a stage-show - In Melbourne, I seen Miss Saigon on stage and I fell in love with theatre. Now, I have a deeper and passionate love for theatre and old films. I now go to the theatre in my town each month to watch the new show and I love it. Makes me miss Drama classes from High-School.
(the next couple a pretty much interlinked)
13. Overcame my fear of roller coasters - For my 22nd birthday, my boyfriend (now husband) and I went to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. We went to various theme parks and at most if not all of these parks, there were roller coasters. I am not a great fan of roller coasters. I hate heights, I don't trust the safety guards and I am scared I am going to fall out when I go upside down. But when we went, my boyfriend convinced me (I have no idea how he did it) to go on a roller coaster. And another. And another. Until I had been on all the roller coasters from all the parks we visited. And I must say... not to bad. I closed my eyes when we got really high, held on for dear life when we went upside down and tried so hard to not scream. I didn't fall out, I didn't pee myself and I didn't die. Yay!
14. Cuddle a Koala - This was the best! In all my long years of being Australian I have never, never ever ever ever, held a koala. Patted a kangaroo, sure. Held a baby crocodile, easy. Never have I held a Koala and OMG it was awesome.
15. Played with a Wombat - Same as above, so truly un-Australian if you haven't played with a wombat. I had him all to myself and I left with a hole in my jeans from him chewing on my pants leg but it was awesome.
16. Swimming with Dolphins on my birthday - Okay, I must admit, this was not planned. We woke up that morning and he said to me, "Do you want to go to Sea World today?" and I said, "Yeah sure." Cause we're cool like that. We drove there, the drive was amazing and upon arrival I seen a sign that said that all interactions with animals were half price - today only. MY MOTHER EFFING BIRTHDAY! So he told me I could swim with dolphins. On my birthday! Are you freaking kiddin' me! The wetsuit was uncomfortable and the water was freezing, but I got to swim with, touch and interact with dolphins! My favorite animal in the mother-buzzing world.
17. Created a Gingerbread house from scratch - my sister and I have said for the last ten or so years that we would make a Gingerbread house for Christmas and last Christmas we finally did. Okay it melted and fell apart because it was a effing 38 degrees day but still, I thought it was a pretty good effort.
18. I can bake - Yes sirree I can indeed. I can't cook or nothing, but baking, you're darn-tootin' I can. I love baking, especially anything with banana in it. I love baking because it makes the who house smell really sweet. And whenever I bake, I get to lick the spoon :)
19. Survived a diabetic episode - So, my husband is a Type-1 Diabetic so he has highs and lows and has had many since we started dating. The first time it happened, I was scared shitless. I had no idea what to do. I woke up and he was pretty much unconscious He was sweating, his eyes had rolled back in his head and he wasn't responding to me at all. I didn't know what to do. I called the Ambulance and then his grandparents (both diabetics) and my dad. They all told me to keep calm, take deep breaths and I would be fine. I had five ambulance officers in my tiny flat that morning and I have to say, it was quite daunting. They all said I did great, that I did what I was supposed to do. They took him up and dad took me up to hospital because I didn't think I could do this by myself. Five hours, a few bags of IV fluid later and he was awake. He apologised and said I did good. Since then, I have had it happen a handful more times but now I know what to do.
20. Experienced a Church Baptism - full story here.
21. My dogs survived parvovirus - Well, we lost one dog. Okay, so we have two dogs, Bonnie and LuLu. LuLu is Bonnie's daughter. We also owned LuLu's father, Dash. Soon after we moved into our new house, we had nine straight days of rain and the soil in our backyard got really, really wet. We don't know if the parvovirus is in our yard or if it was brought in from the neighbour dogs, but our dogs got sick. I went outside to feed Dash (who was only 2 years old) and he was laying in the yard and wasn't moving. I called the Vet and they had us bring him in. They gave him a relaxing drug and said they would call back and tell us how he was. He died that night and they put it down as "probably parvovirus." Soon after we lost Dash, LuLu was starting to get really sick. We didn't want to loose another dog, especially a ten week old puppy, so we booked her and Bonnie into a different Vet and took them in on the Monday afternoon. They both tested positive for parvovirus and the Vet said they would need to stay in overnight and maybe even longer. I cried all night. We picked Bonnie up the next day - supposedly the antibodies in her body from when we had her vaccinated as a puppy were helping her still and she had beaten it and was fine. Only $500. LuLu was worse. She stayed in for almost a week and the Vets kept telling us that she was strong and really fighting it and they think it was because she was still drinking from her mother and some of Bonnie's antibodies were in LuLu. The Vet said it wasn't our fault and that parvovirus could appear in the ground anywhere after large amounts of rain. Lulu came home (with a $2000 bill) and was fine. I still miss my Dash, even though he was a bit of a ditz, but I'm glad we saved two of our dogs.
22. I tried ice-skating - I did this in Melbourne and it was so fun. I fell on my arse countless times and left with a frozen bum but it was fun and that was all that mattered.
23. I have worked with a variety of age groups - In my work, you can work from Babies (6 weeks) to Pre-Schoolers ( 6 years.) I have had the good fortune to work with a number of different ages over the period of my working with children and have come to find something with all ages that I find fun and exciting. I love babies, they make me want one. Toddlers are the best at whatever they do. Three year olds can be terrible but say the cutest things. Pre-Schoolers know when you're upset and when you need a cuddle and have so much attitude, its crazy :)
24. I have read all 7 Harry Potter Novels - I know its no big deal now, but ten years ago, well, maybe more, before the films, no one had even heard of Harry Potter and thats what makes me angry about the whole thing. This fantastic story has been ignored for the better half of - well, however long - but when they make a movie, everyone reads the books. I read the first three books before the first movie came out and I thought, "Yeah, okay, I can get into this." Granted, the films made me fall in love with Tom Felton but that's another story. I actually pre-ordered the remaining four novels after that, making sure I never missed a book.
25. Seen a live Rugby League game - I was not a big fan of football when I was younger because my father ( who played footy ) was so into it that I just walked away whenever a game came on. When we went to Brisbane when I was 16, Dad got tickets to see a Broncos vs. Raiders football game. I took a book along because I knew I would be bored. OMG! Best experience ever! So much fun and the atmosphere and attitudes towards football are so different at a live game.
26. Met Dallas Crane - So before I met my husband, or my ex, I was a single girl living it up with my Uni friends and going out and having fun. One friend, Nadia, was into alternate bands and invited me to a band playing in our town. Dallas Crane. I had never heard of them and I had never seen a band play live. On the way there, Nadia played music through her car of the band and I thought "Yeah, these guys are pretty cool." Well, the show was awesome and I met the drummer after the show and we smiled together and he reminded me of David Bowie and I just.... swooned.
27. Danced on Stage - At the Dallas Crane show, we were dancing and having a great time and because my friends and I were right at the front, we could see everything. The final song they sang was "Factory Girls" and during the song, the singer put his hand out to me and asked me to come on stage. I screamed like a fangirl, and came up. My friends came up as well and we danced on stage to alternate rock and even got kisses on the cheek.
28. Gone for Surgery - Last year, I got a boil. And the boil turned into an abbess that was quite large. The skin started to get black and I couldn't walk, drive or sit without being sore. So I went to hospital and they said "You need surgery." I never thought that my first surgery would be for a boil. After starving myself for two and a half days, I finally went in. I remember going downstairs, meeting the doctors and after that, nothing. I woke up two hours later with an itchy scar and a craving to sleep for days on end.
29. Gotten a Tattoo - After returning from Melbourne, I decided another life change was in order. I woke up one morning and decided to go and get a tattoo. I got the Tibetan symbols for Life, Love, Hope, Family and Death tattooed on my spine. It hurt like a mother-buzzer but I did it.
30. Hosted a dinner party - Seven months ago my husband and I got a few friends around and had a dinner party. There was drinking (not by me, of course), laughs and stories. We had great food and good conversations. It made me wonder why I don't have them more often. I want to have at leas one every six months.
31. Learn CPR and First Aid - Okay, I admit, I need it for my job. But still, its good to know and updating my knowledge every six months is a must. Plus, I'm the only one of my workmates that knows so much about Diabetes.
32. Created a personal library - And meaningful books I might add. I have always had a passion for a great novel but recently I decided that I needed to be more selective about the novels I read. I now have a collection of novels to be proud of and historic collections as well. So proud of myself :)
33. Own an iMac (after I said I would never use one) - Yes, I am an Apple freak. I have the phone, the laptop and the computer. I always said to myself that I would never use IOS and as far as Apple products go, I would only have an iPhone. I got the phone and I loved it. I am still using one now. After that, I fell in love with the beautiful iMac computers. They're just so pretty. My boyfriend bought me one for Christmas last year and in about March I also upgraded to a MacBook Air. I don't know if its the iJustine videos on YouTube that made me get one, but I am glad that I did. Cause its awesome and I love it.
34. Bought a Car - Only about three months after getting my licence I decided to buy a car. I couldn't test drive it or drive it out of the lot after I get it because I was only on my Learners but I bought myself my first ever (brand new, I might add) car that I paid for myself. Well, still paying. And I have owned it for almost three years. Holy crap that's gone fast.
35. Gotten my Ps (provisional licence) - A year after getting my Learner Licence and 200 hours of driving practice and five driving lessons later, I passes my Ps and was allowed to drive by myself. OMG, it was amazing. I loved being alone in the car and actually able to listen to music when driving (In Australia you can't listen to music when on your Ls)
(Now I am starting to scratch my head and really think hard about what to write)
36. Pressed every button on an elevator with a stranger inside - I was eighteen, I was stupid. It was fun.
37. Get banned from High-School Netball for being to rough - I didn't like being shoved so I shoved back. Probably a little to hard, but still, I was shoved first.
38. Have never broken a bone - I used to get so jealous of kids in primary and high school that would get to miss out on PE class cause of their broken appendage and I would always ask to have a go on their crutches. I sprain things all the time but never break.
39. Tried Sushi - I used to live on Sushi and Coffee at uni but after a very bad experience with it, I got really sick and just went off it.
40. Got a really bad sunburn and spent the entire summer indoors - I was that burnt that I couldn't move without help. I pretty much peeled my entire top layer of skin off. I blistered all over and was pretty much a hermit for the summer of 2001-2002 (Christmas time) and had to have aloe vera applied morning and night so I wouldn't itch. Worst. Summer. Ever.
41. Went skinny-dipping - I was young and foolish and it was the cool thing to do.
42. Baked cookies and brought them to work - After my workmates found out I baked, they challenged me to prove it. I made a batch of peanut butter snaps and took them in. They lasted a whole ten minutes. I think I proved my point.
43. Slept for the longest time in my life - 27 hours isn't that long is it? I think it was the jet-lag.
44. I remember old wives tales my mum told me - Growing up living with my Mum, my Aunt and my Grandmother, you learn a lot of things that will get you through life. I have learnt three things that I still do now: #1. Hot tea bags on your eyes are better for conjuntiveitus than any cream or eyedrops. #2. Honey in water makes you feel better when you're sick. #3. Holding a silver spoon in your mouth while chopping onions doesn't make you cry.
45. Researched spirituality - I was brought up in a home where you talk about God like you talk about anything else. We weren't religious and I wasn't pressured to content to one specific religion. When I told my mother in Grade 6 that I no longer wanted to do Religious Study, she wrote a note for me and I stopped going. When I found out all my friends from Primary school were going to a religious school, I begged my mother to send me there. I didn't understand the obsession with religion until I was much older and until I researched it and learn about religion on my own, I couldn't see what other saw.
46. I have a great relationship with my family - Well, most of them. We spend every Sunday night at my parents house for dinner and my mum is always there for me when I need her. Dad's always good for a laugh and a chat and my brother and sister are the weirdest people I have ever known but I love them more than anything.
47. Jumped in puddles of water - Because I could and I used to love it as a kid and wanted to relive those memories.
48. Been on a Jet-Ski - Its only happened recently and it was fun.
49. Hugged a random person - I seen someone with the "Free Hugs" sign and hugged them :)
50. Given a cup of coffee to a stranger - I went out to dinner one night and sat with these two old ladies and because they let me sit with them because there were no chairs left I bought them a cup of coffee each to say thank-you. Cause I'm nice like that :)
To Be Continued .... ..... .....
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