So clearly, my 365 project didn't work out. I want to try again, I had fun with this project! So much has changed in the past year, I can't wait to update you on it. Now, however, we have The List, Version 2.0.

Disclaimer: Some of these things I have done before. Keep in mind that this isn't my Bucket List. Just things I'd like to try, or to do again.

Stephanie's (Second) List of Goals, To Be Completed By March 22nd, 2011, at 1:38am EST:

1. Dance all night.
2. Write my initials in wet cement.
3. Survive through Stats 101.
4. Survive iTech 201.
5. Sit at the beach watching the stars.
6. Sit through a movie marathon with a BGF (Best Girl Friend).
7. Spend an ideal day on Sandy Neck with my close friends.
8. Figure out the ever complicated boy situation at hand.
9. Gain confidence in a bikini.
10. Finish one of my sketchbooks.
11. Write fifty short essays, in the form of Bitches Finish First.
12. Win a round of mini golf.
13. Win a game of bowling.
14. Attend Warped Tour.
15. Sit through an entire game of Monopoly.
16. Sit through an entire Lord of the Rings movie.
17. Spend a day baking.
18. Host a movie night.
19. Make a collage of just pictures.
20. Finish a scrapbook.
21. Find a secret spot.
22. Skydive.
23. Travel to Florida.
24. Run a half mile.
25. Go to NYC for lunch.
26. Build a fire on the beach in the dead of winter.
27. Buy, with my own money, my first official bridesmaids dress.
28. Go skinny dipping.
28. Learn to take a compliment.
29. Plant a tree.
30. Sleep under the stars.
31. Go deep sea fishing.
32. Go camping.
33. Go white water rafting.
34. Sing karaoke.
35. Party like a rockstar on my 21st birthday.
36. Have a PJ party.
37. Paint a bird house.
38. Drive in the demolition derby.
39. Donate money to the American Cancer Society.
40. Make someone cry, in a good way.
41. Give blood.
42. Surprise someone with a homemade, fancy picnic by candlelight.
43. Give my mother and father good mother and father's day gifts.
44. Swim in clear blue water.
45. Celebrate being young and alive.
46. Win a round of Beirut.
47. Travel to Las Vegas.
48. Re-read Romeo and Juliet.
49. Dress up for Halloween.
50. Spend a rainy day being lazy in my PJs.
51. Snowboard.
52. Have my mom's step-dad make us pancakes.
53. Play football with friends.
54. Learn to cartwheel.
55. Re-learn flexibility.
56. Take a yoga class.
57. Compete in a dance off.
58. Improve my snowboarding skills.
59. Camp out on a playground.
60. Go to the top of the Empire State Building.
61. Do something epic for my birthday.
62. Spend New Year's with my friends.
63. Go to an all-you-can-eat chocolate buffet.
64. Go on a sleigh ride.
65. Shop at the Mall Of America.
66. Clean the entire house.
67. Eat Canadian bacon in Canada.
68. See Niagra Falls.
69. Learn Italian.
70. Write a successful blog.
71. Travel to New Orleans.
72. Have friends over for a homemade dinner, like they do in the movies.
73. See the Grand Canyon.
74. Save money.
75. Save two-thousand dollars for a road trip.
76. Save three-thousand dollars for college.
77. Go whale watching and see a whale leap out of the water.
78. Volunteer.
79. Go horse back riding.
80. Build up my savings account.
81. Visit the National Mall.
82. Visit Ellis Island.
83. Visit Ground Zero.
84. Go to batting cages.
85. Race go-carts.
86. Take a day and go to open houses, pretending to be VERY interested.
87. Dance party in the Mustang.
88. Organize my photos.
89. Be more optimistic.
90. Obtain a credit card and be responsible with it, to start building my credt.
91. Be more harsh with myself when buying needless things.
92. Stop buying food simply because it's there.
93. Convince Mom to kick Rob out so I can move into his room.
94. Creat and stick to a budget.
95. Make new friends.
96. Throw a successful party.
97. Take Lauren for a spa afternoon.
98. Fall in love.
99. Buy a vintage dress.
100. Paint a picture I'm proud of.
101. Tie-dye socks, shirts, sheets, sweats.
102. Buy something I really don't need, but desperately want.
103. Go a week without straightening my hair.
104. Make a snowfort.
105. Organize my iTunes.
106. Do something romantic for Valentine's Day.
107. Make blankets like I used to.
108. Learn more about Etsy.
109. Patronize local buisnesses.
110. Send a message in a bottle.
111. Grow my hair out until I can't stand it.
112. Whiten my teeth.
113. Stop swearing.
114. Take my dad to dinner.
115. Feel healthier.
116. Complete a spin class.
117. Go hiking.
118. Run.
119. Go apple picking.
120. Go pumpkin picking.
121. Carve a pumpkin.
120. Go on a Haunted Hayride.
121. Make a dish for Thanksgiving.
122. Successfully copy my mom's recipe for cranberry bread.
123. Go to a club.
124. Edit a video to 'Weightless' by All Time Low.
125. Get absolutely crazy, at least a few times.
126. Take a long, scenic bike ride.
127. Spend a night on Sketchy Island.
128. Master 'The Secret'.
129. Go on a big date.
130. Throw a mini Halloween party.
131. Dress up and walk around town.
132. Go mini golfing.
133. Curl my hair successfully.
134. Be completely silent for 24 hours in honor of people I've lost.
135. Have a dance party with my sister.
136. Go ice skating.
137. Sail in a race, even if it's against a friend.
138. Feel needed.
139. Jump off the end of a dock.
140. Go snow tubing.
141. Go down an alpine slide.
142. Learn to play a song on the piano.
143. Learn a song on the acoustic guitar.
144. Stay a night in a teepee, whether homemade or not.
145. Visit an American Indian reservation.
146. Go to a party and just crash there, instead of leaving like I always do.
147. Make a list of 20 movies people are astonished to learn that I haven't seen, and watch them all.
148. Start re-collecting Disney movies.
149. Sew my own Ugly Doll.
150. Buy my dad a real Christmas gift.
151. Feel fantastic.
152. Solve a Rubix cube.
153. Finish Weeds.
154. Snorkel.
155. Donate my old clothes.
156. Learn the drums on Rockband on medium.
157. Get a massage.
158. Get rid of all the clutter.
159. Cuddle.
160. Skydive. Again.
161. Participate in a charity walk.
162. Create a video with Twig like her Don't Matter one.
163. Get a season pass for a mountain.
164. Change a tire.
165. Re-read To Kill A Mockingbird and The Things They Carried.
166. Sleep on a hammock.
167. Play a song on the guitar.
168. Walk to the end of Long Beach.
169. Get a hotel room and act like a tourist in my own town.
170. Go to Boston by myself, first by car and then by train.
171. Bike ride on the Rail Trail from start to finish.
172. Spend a day at Heritage Museums.
173. Make a table out of a board game.
174. Follow an entire season of a TV show.
175. Go sledding.
176. Build a snowman.
177. Get a new luggage set.
178. Stop texting in the car.
179. See a concert.
180. Fly in a small plane.
181. Watch a thunderstorm.
182. Read a book over 1000 pages long.
183. Babysit.
184. See a play.
185. Eat better.
186. Make another photo album.
187. Read a series.
188. Be young and stupid.
189. Spend an entire night watching scary movies.
190. Go surfing.
191. Spend an entire day on the beach.
192. Watch fireworks.
193. Spend the night in Boston with friends.
194. Buy and keep up with a planner.
195. Shop Sephora.
196. Start watching America's Most Wanted again.
197. Sing on expert on Rock Band.
198. Take a cake-decorating class.
199. Kayak.
200. Have a fun, spectacular, amazing year.

Goal Number 8: Successfully transfer to a college where I feel comfortable - Complete!

Today when I got home from work, there was a big white envelope addressed to me from Emmanuel College in Boston.

My heart started racing.

My palms started sweating.

I started screaming to my boyfriend, who was outside working on his car. "Ben! Ben! Ben! I got a letter! It's thin, that's supposed to be a bad sign. OMG OMG OMG OMG."

He climbed out of the back of his car (where he had just finished ripping up all the carpet) and looked at me freaking out with a curious expression. "Open it."

So I did.

The first thing I saw was "This is your place. Welcome." written on the front of a folder. This wasn't enough for me to believe I was in. Inside the folder was an letter congratulating me (!!!!!!!!). I'm in! I'm into my dream school!

I'll be honest. I began to cried as I was jumping around, screaming for joy. Ben hugged me and jumped with me and congratulated me, and tonight we went out with our friend, Ethan, to celebrate. Tomorrow night I'm celebrating with my best friend.

I still cannot believe it.

Goal Number 155: Own a wardrobe I'm proud of - Completed!

I finally have a closet that I don't mind picking through to find a good outfit. It still needs work, and I plan on trolling through eBay (latest addiction, I think so!) to find some Spring-y looks for the coming months. Some girl in my Early Childhood Education class was bragging about how she found an entire wardrobe at a thrift shop for $50. I was amazed but skeptical. Anyway!

A picture of my full closet:

My closet has never looked so goooooood.

Goal Number 151: Look like an American Eagle model - Completed!

I'm wearing a striped navy and white sweater, American Eagle dark wash jeans, and a white scarf (technically from Forever 21, but no labels make it look like it could be from American Eagle).

Ahhh clothes. I feel like I finally own a collection of clothes that I'm proud of. Hey, wasn't that another goal?!

Goal Number 106: Do something romantic for Valentine's Day - Completed to the best of my ability.

I had to work a nine hour shift on V-Day, and Ben worked too. So we ended up going out for ice cream with my sister and her boyfriend, which wasn't romantic, but it was something.

Goal Number 105: Get an article published in a magazine - Completed!

See? This is what I get for neglecting this blog.

I was actually published a month ago. I wrote an article for my mama's business and it was published in Cape Cod Life. I don't have the link for you right now, so you'll have to take my word for it. :)

Goal Number 111: Grow my hair out past my shoulder blades - Completed!

I haven't had my hair this long in a million years. Ever since I can remember, I've loved the short cut for how light it is and how easy. I've made some serious cutting mistakes that I'll forget someday, usually involving Procuts.

This was my favorite short haircut, back when I was a junior in high school. I had dyed my hair red and I was a fresh little monkey. If I had as much confidence then as I do now I probably would've scared my boyfriend away.




I'll probably rock this look some time in the future, since I have the confidence to make this a part of me, rather than something to hide me.

(Ugh. One of the comments on my old Myspace pictures is from my exbf. I was trying so hard to forget his mean Canadian existence.)

Anyway, my long hair!



Yeah. That's the same heart as in the last picture. My boyfriend was having fun with window markers back in June 2008. Above the heart is I ♥ SG, and on my window there's BZ+SG in a heart with a little 'aw!', plus an evil hamster.

Just noticed I have the same cell phone too. I think it's time for an upgrade.

Goal Number 38: Not Criticize My Body - Completed!

Did you know that your weight is as programmed in your genetic makeup as your height is? No, really. Look around to your family, your mother and your sisters and your cousins. Maybe there's one really lucky one who's tall and slender (my sister is). But really, look at their body types. Don't you look pretty similar?

I've known for my whole life that I resemble my mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and my great-great-grandmother. There's a picture in the basement of the five of us taken when I was only a baby. Obviously, my resemblance isn't apparent, but theirs is. And we all have the same body type. Good enough, but we have the bulge around the hips/stomach area.

I was reading an article today in my English textbook. It was really interesting. It talked about how exercise and how it doesn't always help with weight loss. However, it still has it's benefits. Those who completed the study of a good diet and exercise not always lost weight; those who didn't lose any still lowered their cholesterol and blood pressure.

I mean, think about it. I know that I've been on diets before, and they've worked (Prom Dress Disaster Diet of 2009 was the most "successful"), at least for the time being. But after I stopped dieting, the weight came right on back, and the fat seemed to have brought it's friends. According to the article, dieting causes your body to think it's starving, and when you stop dieting, your body stores more fat than it would normally.

So today, I was able to look in the mirror at my hips and what I affectionately call my 'Buddha belly', and think that it wasn't my fault. Sure, my eating habits could improve and I'm not going to stop exercising, but I'm happy not to criticize myself for something that isn't my fault.

Goal Number 26: Build a fire on the beach in the dead of winter - Completed!

Today, my child psych class was cancelled. So Ben and I decided to do something fun; we headed to the beach.

Yes, I'm aware it's January. Yes, I'm aware that today's high was a toasty 40. And yes, I'm aware that we're nuts.

But it was so much fun.

I got to drive on the beach, and as revenge for taking a turn too fast and slamming my head into the door (opposite the side I was sitting on), I slammed on the breaks to stop. He hit the dashboard, but no worries, I was only going 20. :)

Goal Number 194: Buy and Keep Up With a Planner - Completed!

One of my more practical goals, this was pretty important. I bought a little blue planner from CVS, which is currently sitting on my kitchen table with all my school things. I've already put all my major assignments for school in it and my week looks pretty booked. Oi.

Anyway, a planner is just what I need. I currently have a 3.6 GPA (my highest ever!) and I don't want that to drop. Maintaining that GPA is enough motivation for me to work extra hard at school, even with the additional class I'm taking and the additional hours I'm working.

I feel good, getting back on track and completing some of these goals. Winter break was a stressful time for me, but I'm much happier getting back into routine. :)

I've lost track of what week this is.

Goal Number 110: Send a message in a bottle.
Chances are, what with the currents around here, my bottle wouldn't make it very far. It might make it up the Cape, or it might go to Maine. But, then again, there's also the chance that it would make it to Canada, or even Europe.

Goal Number 186: Make another photo album.
Ben and I currently have two photo albums-one of our first summer together and one random one. The last one was completed over a year ago. Hello?! We're slacking!

Goal Number 194: Buy and keep up with a planner.
I love being organized, but then again, whenever I buy a planner, it tends to fall by the wayside. I'm determined not to let that happen again.

Goal Number 195: Buy a daily calendar for 2010.
I love those rip off ones. Maybe I'll be able to find one at the mall.

Goals Numbered 4, 44, 61, 62, 87, 135, 158, 159 - All Completed!

Goal Number 4: Swim with dolphins. - Completed!
It cost my dad three hundred smackaroos for my sister and I to swim with dolphins. Being the great man that he is, he sprung for the expensive one. The one where it was more than just hanging out, the one where we actually got to hold on to them and have a belly ride. It was sweet! We went to Dolphinaris in Cozumel, Mexico, and basically got right in with them. We spent about an hour swimming with a female dolpin named Olympia, and we got the pet her, hug her, kiss her, and hold onto her fins and was dragged across the pool. I would definately do it again, and I was so excited to share it with my sister. Muh sista muh best friiiiiend.

Goal Number 44: Swim in clear blue water. - Completed!
So it wasn't technically at a beach, but! The dolphin home was connected through a gate contraption that was part of the ocean, so if you ask me and my sister, it counts. They certainly weren't living like those poor dolphin souls at Sea World.

Goal Number 61: Do something epic for my birthday. - Completed!
I turned nineteen on December 30, 2009. I hung out with my boyfriend, my sister, and my friends Adam and Ethan. We went to eat at Red Robin and I let them drive my car. We then went to my friend Sam's house because she had just gotten back from Colorado. I had a really good time, and it was certainly better than a lot of birthdays I've had.

Goal Number 62: Spend New Years with my friends. - Completed!
Ben, Ethan and I decided that spending New Years together was better than spending it alone, or at a party with a ton of drunk people we didn't know. So we rented a scary movie, turned out all the lights and attempted to get scared. Paranormal Activity scared ME, but apparently they weren't fooled. (Sure Ben, sure.) :)

Goal Number 87: Act like the rich bitches my sister and I aren't on our cruise. - Completed!
My sister and I went around that whole week saying 'I don't like the vibe in the VIP' every time someone gave us attitude about the stuff we paid extra for. We weren't total mean girls (I doubt we have it in us) but we did get a little snooty. I think my dad was the worst, though. I think he had his nose the highest.

Goal Number 135: Have a dance party with my sister - Completed!
First night, before we even left port: Out of our excitement, we found the channel on the TV with all the music video. The Offspring's 'You're Gonna Go Far, Kid' was on. Our dad and grandmother were standing outside on the balcony. We closed the curtains and turned up the volume and danced around the room like crazy people. I was proud of her for knowing the words.

Goal Number 158: Finish painting my room - Completed!
Well technically my mom completed it. But it was done! My room went from being half blue, half green to being one hundred percent green. It looks amazing; it's super bright and comforting.

Finally, Goal Number 159: Have a real bed again - Completed!
Another surprise! I have a real bed! What was once just a box spring and matress on the floor is now a real day bed, with white iron and everything.

I promise you, I am still here!

My lack of updating is frustrating me. I have completed many of my goals the past couple weeks, and I want to give you the amount of time you deserve explaining my experiance with each one. This is the first time I've been on the computer in awhile, and unfourtunetly, I'll have to skip blogging again-I have to work in two hours and I have errands to do. Shoot, I know. But I'll be back shortly with tales of my birthday, New Years, and aboard the cruise ship Carnival Imagination!

Goal Number 57: Join a Gym - Completed!

Actually, my mom bought this gym membership for my sister and I, promising that she would continue to pay for it as long as we used it.

I went last night for an hour and ran on the tredmill, plus did some elyptical. Though I'm confident in my body (free at last from insecurities!), I haven't been feeling healthy. And this will help.

Goal Number 150: Buy my dad a real Christmas gift - Completed!

Usually, I buy my dad something like shirts for Christmas, and I used to give him my school picture every year. Hello, generic and boring, I'm Stephanie. How very nice to meet you here again.

This year, my sister and I (and Ben) got him a digital portable picture frame, which I used to put pictures of my sister and I on it.

He's going to love it.

Weeks Lucky Thirteen and Fourteen: So much to do, so little time!

I depart in a week and six days for my cruise, so I'm going to combine these two weeks into one posting.

Goal Number 87: Act like the rich bitches my sister and I aren't on our cruise.
My sister and I are not at all rich. Or, for that matter, bitches. Our Daddy is not the most extravagent man in the world. He doesn't go 'all out' for ANYTHING except travel. On the trips we've taken to Disney, we rented our own huge house with our own pool and hottub. This time, we have penthouse suite and VIP status, whatever that means. We normally live in the lower class, ahem, but for four days we're going to get a taste of the high life. Mmmmhmmmmm.

Goal Number 4: Swim with dolphins.
Daddy promised. 'Nuff said.

Goal Number 44: Swim in clear blue water.
Please!

Goal Number 61: Do something epic for my birthday.
I asked my friends to clear their scheduals. Now I just have to figure out what's epic enough for me.

Goal Number 62: Spend New Year's with my friends.

New blog!

I've begun a new venture, as they say, since this blog o' mine was beginning to vear off into more rant mode than goal mode, a direction I did not want. So, if you'd like to add my random blog (aka fashion, food, friends, family, adventures, life-as-I-know-it blog), please feel free to do so!

It's Always Sunny in Massachusetts, my new blogbaby.

Week Twelve: Christmastime is upon us!

No, seriously. When did it sneak up on me like this?!

I never completed either of my goals last week. Phooey on me. I can list off a billion excuses for this, but I'll spare you and just chalk it up to my own neglect. Oh well. They'll be done eventually.

Goal Number 6: Sit through a movie marathon with a best girl friend.
Once upon a time, an old friend of mine broke up with her first serious boyfriend. Distraught followed, as it often does with sophomores of high school, and her and her two best friends, me and another girl, sat through a movie marathon together. One all nighter and nine movies later, I can't sit still through one movie, never mind three. Three is my goal.

And, in relation to that...
Goal Number 16: Sit through an entire Lord of the Rings movie.
FML on this one. I fast-forwarded through the entire series on my fourteenth birthday with my cousins. I basically got that a tree walks, battle scenes, walking walking walking, boring boring boring. But I get just short of smacked every time I say I've never officially seen it, so here goes nothing.

Goal Number 18: Host a movie night.
Maybe I can change this one to plan a movie night, since I'm not the one with the giant HDTV in my living room. Oh, Samaaaaaantha!

Goal Number 147: Make a list of 20 movies people are astonished to learn that I've never seen and watch them all.
Topping this list would be The Goonies.

Winter weather means movie time.

Oh, lookie here! An award!

Big thanks to Kathy and Seashell from Two Hands Full of Daisies for this award. They're so good to me!



So, I have to write ten things that make me happy, then tag ten friends? Well, I only have five followers, so you're ALL winners!

Things that make me happy:

1. When my boyfriend treats me well, which is basically all the time.

2. The fact that I'm going on my first cruise ever with my father, sister and grandmother in exactly three weeks. Which, to add, only leaves me three weeks to get ready...

3. Mindless television, like iCarly and Family Guy.

4. My family, my friends, and my boyfriend's family, especially when everyone is getting along.

5. The fact that I'm getting a better hold on my life. I haven't ever felt this positive about my future before.

6. My new iPod.

7. Living in such a beautiful place, close to the beach and the mountains.

8. Snowboarding.

9. My two dogs and two cats, Chloe, Oliver, Floyd and FiFi.

10. Happy dreams. :)

Thank you again!

Week Eleven: A funeral and goals this week.

My family is huge. I have aunts, uncles, cousins (of the first, second, third and fourth varieties), grandparents, great-grandparents, great-other-relatives, so forth and so on that I see on a semi-regular basis. We all, with one or two exceptions, live in New England, centralized, naturally, on Cape Cod and Nantucket.

I'm famous for saying 'my cousin once did', my friends stopping me to ask me this cousin's name and my connection to him or her. Example:
Me: "Oh my God, this one time, my cousin and I--"
Samantha: "Which cousin?"
Me: "Hayley. The one that's closest to me in age and lives in Vermont and is my mom's mom's sister's daughter?"
You get the picture.

Anyway, with a family so large, there is always something going on. For example, my Aunt Karen (aunt by association, that is. She's so close to our family she's like my mother's sister) called my mother the other day in tears because my cousin, Ryan, failed at life once again. "Oh, Stacey, it's just awful! Ryan had a friend over when he wasn't supposed to and I kicked him out!" Now, my remedy for this is that you just send the boy to military school, or juvi, and be done with him.

My point is, that there's always some sort of thing going on. This week, it's a funeral.

Now, some of you may remember last month, an aunt of mine died of swine flu, ahem, H1N1. I wasn't close to her, as she ran away from the family a long time ago, but I am close to her daughter. However, this time, it's a little more serious.

Ready? Because I'm only going to say this once.

My mom's dad's brother's wife passed away yesterday from pneumonia, and I remember her so very well because she always came over here from the island to celebrate events with us like birthdays and weddings and Christenings, her daughter, Danielle, and my mom are very close and Joanne, my aunt that just died, loved me and loved to talk to me about my life and really seemed to care, not just in that 'I'm curious' sort of way, but a real way.

Long story short, I will be attending her funeral. It really sucks, especially for my Uncle Danny. They were married forever, your typical old island couple, and they were best friends. She was too young. I assume she was about sixty.

That turned out longer than I had planned... Side note, though, I'm thinking about starting an entirely separate journal for these random thoughts and going-ons in my life. Anyone opposed?

Anyway, goals for this week are!

Goal Number 150: Buy my dad a real Christmas gift.
I have gifts.com to thank for making this goal easier. Seriously, I'll leave a link at the bottom of my post today. You plug in what the occasion is, your budget, the giftee's age, personality and relation to the gifter, and the website magically shows you pictures and gives you links to pages and pages of potential gift items. Some of the gifts are unusual, perfect for those who have everything and claim they don't want anything else. Like my dad.

Goal Number 93: Convince Mom to kick Rob out so I can move into his room.
Long story short: Mom sublets rooms in our house to make a little extra money. She and my father have since before they got divorced. Daddy doesn't do it anymore since he makes enough money to support himself, but Mama still does. However, this renter, Rob, is "a total creeper" as my friends put it. Although, good news! He sent my mom a text the other day saying that his need in the room may change, as he is hoping to move in with his girlfriend next month. HELLO BASICALLY-MY-OWN-STUDIO. Okay. It's a room. But it's twice as big as my bedroom with a kitchenette, a double bed, and a private entrance. Plus, cable hookup. Some decorating/deorderizing will be in order, but it's workable.

PS: Don't feel bad for me about losing my aunt. I've lost a lot of people in my life and been to way too many funerals for someone my age, but death is just a part of life. I've accepted that. I mean, it's tragic and it sucks, but it is what it is.

PPS: I've solved your gift-giving qualms. You can thank me later.