101 in 1001 – an update one year in!

All things considered, it has been a quiet six months for me – when it comes to goal fulfilment anyway. Work and the move up north kept me rather busy, and I definitely found myself checking in with the 101 in 1001 list less often than I did for its first six months. And, of course, much of it is currently impossible (can’t see myself heading off to Europe anytime soon!)

I would definitely say it’s still been a successful six months, however, and one year in I can say with confidence that I’m glad to be doing 101 in 1001. It’s fun and it serves as a great source of inspiration whenever I’m feeling a bit unmotivated or bored!

You can see my first update from six months ago here. Building on that, I’ve managed the following over the last six months:

13 goals completed (for a total of 29 in total so far!)
5 goals partially completed
1 goal that will have to be dropped or modified
Most completed category: Home (8/12 goals complete)

So the last six months has looked a little something like this!

Eaten in five new-to-me restaurants (#2)
Visited Te Arai, Mangawhai Heads and Waipu beaches (#14)
Visited Lake Tomarata (#15)
Visited two new-to-me stores in the area (#18)
Had a break with Hayden and without Amelie (#23)
Took Amelie skiing (#24)
Made something for our home (#29)
Cleaned out my closet (#44 and #46)
Celebrated the first year of Hayden’s business (#52)
Celebrating graduating with my Master of Public Policy (#57)
Chose a school for Amelie (#70)
Started playing tennis regularly (#78)

I’m also well on my way to achieving a few more goals, namely visiting three new-to-me restaurants in the Mangawhai area (#17) – just one more to go! Also, there is only one more birthday for Amelie and one more Christmas to go before this list ends, and so far we’re tracking well for celebrating both those occasions with our usual traditions every year (#53 and #55). I’m also doing great when it comes to having made Christmas cookies with Amelie every year (#68) – oh what a hardship, am I right?! – and the photo book for Amelie for 2020 is ordered and on its way as I type (#74).

Once again, I have a goal that will have to be updated or modified. I was planning on bringing a small pension fund I have overseas back to NZ (#90) but after looking at the tax implications and the transfer fees, I’ve decided it’s better where it is until I actually retire. Now all I have to do is not forget about it between now and then…I should have put ‘investigate bringing it back’ rather than actually saying I’d do it! Lesson learnt.

The goal I’m most surprised about achieving is #2, because it’s an Auckland-based goal and I no longer live in Auckland! However, I do still go back regularly, and literally as I was writing this I realised I had lunch out with my colleagues last time I was there at Tuitui, the new bistro at Auckland Museum. Adding that to Lobster & Tap, Sid at the French Cafe, Andiamo, and NSP, and it’s been a pretty good year for trying new (to me) places in Auckland! Again, what a hardship, haha.

The two new-to-me stores I visited in Mangawhai are Meant to Be and Joseph Taylor Homewares. They’re both great. We’re really lucky here – as well as Mangawhai having everything you need, even though it is definitely a small beach village, we’ve also got a lot of cool, small, special shops. I do intend to write up a guide on my favourite places around here, because I honestly do think it’s just the most magical little place!

There are a couple of goals that I feel a liittttlllle, um, cheaty marking as done! Like marking off two goals for cleaning out my closet. Technically it’s totally true as I did clean out my closets at the apartment and at the country house, but mostly that was because of the move up here, let’s be honest. Also, choosing a new school for Amelie – that’s 100% done, we know where she’ll be going when she turns five, but there’s not a lot of choice up here! When I wrote that goal, I wasn’t sure whether to send her private or public. Now, we live in an area where there are no private schools so that quickly became a very easy task. On the flip side, a lot of the Auckland-based goals are going to become harder to achieve now. Swings and roundabouts…

Overall, my main takeaway from the last six months is that I’ve done more than I felt I had! And it’s been a really really lovely time. The goal I most enjoyed was definitely taking Amelie skiing – such a wonderful little break for us all! And it feels really good to have celebrated a successful first year for Hayden’s business, and graduating from my MPP programme. So much has changed over the last year. I’m really proud of all of us.

I am once again not surprised that I’ve done so much in the Home category; it’s only to be expected when you move and make your holiday home your permanent home! I’m really excited to do more in the family and work categories over the next six months though. As for the travel category…well. We’ll see! Haha. We’ve already bought season passes for the mountain for next winter because we kind of figured international travel probably still won’t be a good idea then, even with the good vaccine news. How many times can I tick off ‘take Amelie skiing?!’