The Hardest Thing...(Accomplished: 13)

Running a marathon will be easy, compared to that.

But I'm proud of myself. I'm a big girl. I'm ballsy. I'm worth it. I'll be back, 110% in a few days.

Life is so interesting, and I'm excited to see where it takes me next.

<3,
Jillian

They've arrived! (75)

The bobby pins that I won came today! :)







Probably the highlight of my Valentine's day weekend :P


<3,
Jillian

A Thon Story (Accomplished: 18)

As you may already know, I'm on a committee here at Penn State for an event known as THON. It's a 46 hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon that raises money for The Four Diamonds Fund, which is based in Hershey, PA and helps children and their families that are suffering from pediatric cancer. We've been working hard for months, and now THON is only seven days away!!!



Tonight, I received an email from a girl on my committee that said she had been having a rough week. One of her sorority sisters was diagnosed with leukemia in October. She left Penn State to go through chemotherapy, and after three rounds of intense treatment, she passed away a few days ago. The girl's name? Jill.

This story changed my perspective on THON immediately. It seems to give new meaning to what we're THON-ing for. Life is already so short, and it's horrible that cancer makes it shorter for so many people.

After hearing this story, I immediately thought of our 101 project...because life is short, it feels good to know that we're doing the things we've always wanted to do rather than just putting them off for later. I remembered Number 18 on our list: Donate $100 to charity, and knew exactly what I wanted to donate my money to.

I have to admit though...I didn't donate exactly $100. Typing in 101.00 in the amount line just felt so much more symbolic... :)

And part of the reason why I shared this whole story is to shamelessly promote THON...you can donate, too, at thon.org !

Live your life. Love your life.

<3,
Jillian

More reading! (Progress 23)

yeah it seems basically all we can do is read... but its midterms week for me and i had a final project due last week so i've been pretty busy...

this weekend i finished the adventures of huckleberry finn, raghav's book from the list. it was a fun story even though the accent was sometimes hard to read and tom sawyer just pissed me off haha.

i also read dogs of babel, daniel's book. the story was incredibly interesting

Reading, Reading, Reading... (Progress: 33)

Today, I finished Pride and Prejudice! I love a good love story (although this is not really a typical lovey-dovey type of love story), and that's all I'll say on that because I don't want to ruin it for anyone that hasn't read it.

I actually started reading Don Quixote online before reading Pride and Prejudice, but after purchasing the book from the bookstore, I have become a little intimidated...




You can go ahead and laugh at my lame pictures now. But seriously...940 pages? Yikes.

I apologize for the lack of updates this past week...its been a tough one. I bought Slaughterhouse-Five last week, and I want to start that one tomorrow.

<3,
Jillian

My first finished scarf! (Progress: 7)

I finally finished my first scarf! It's a gift for my mystery moraler on my team for Thon. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:






I'm no America's Next Top Model, but these will have to do :)

I will be off to Wal-Mart soon to buy a knitting kit!

<3,
Jillian

one more book down... (progess: 33)

today i finished the metamorphosis and other stories, by franz kafka. it was actually pretty interesting. all of the stories were short and unsettling, whether it was a man turned into a fly or an uncomfortable description of a execution "apparatus." to be honest i only had this book because we were supposed to read it in hodges and then i was going to read it over summer when we were in prague, but that never happened. when i actually got around to reading it it was much shorter than i had assumed and i actually enjoyed a bunch of short stories as opposed to a novel. i don't think his style is well suited for longer works. but if you are looking for some stories to slightly creep you out but leave you intrigued to understand more, kafka is for you.
(i'll work on keeping these shorter, we are reading way too many books to pain you with long descriptions haha)
on to my next book! huck finn or dogs of babel, i haven't decided yet.

<3
Meaghan

AHHHH!!!! (Accomplished: 75)

I won something, too! A pair of rhinestone bobby pins...hahaha. Check it out here:

http://fabulousfunfinds.blogspot.com/2009/01/oh-faro-giveaway.html

And here's the email they sent:

Hello 101 in 1001,
>
> You have been selected as the winner of Oh Faro's
> rhinestone bobbies! Please send me your shipping
> information before midnight 2/3 PST or a new winner will be
> selected.
>
> Congratulations,
> Heather
> Fabulous Fun Finds

I'm going to wear these in my hair every day!

Here's hoping one of us wins the cat genie, too. Or the fridge.

<3,
Jillian

Accomplished: 75!

i won a contest!!

http://www.twittertshirtblog.com/2009/01/30/we-have-a-winnergiveaway-1/

true, it's no cat genie/refrigerator/trip to the bahamas and true only 13 people entered, but i did win! haha

now i just have to wait and see if i actually get my t-shirt

<3
meaghan