#12. Don't watch tv for an entire week

I was just going to wait til I went to Colorado to complete this goal, but not having a TV in my room during the final weeks of school helps too! I have gone about 2 months without watching very much tv, and true, I've caught up with my guilty pleasure (The Amazing Race) watching it on hulu, but i haven't actually parked my rear in front of the tube for hours on end like I did when i had over 1,000 channels and a DVR haha. I have no idea what's going on on American Idol, so my ears have been saved, and I haven't been watching Extreme home makeover, so my tears are saved. I've come to the conclusion that TV is bad for my overall health so once I move into my new place, I don't know if I'll be so quick to get cable now that I know I CAN survive without Oprah!

#20. Go kayaking or canoeing

I FINALLY got to put a canoe in the river! I've wanted to do this for as long as I've lived in Columbia, and not really sure why it took me this long to do it. A friend of mine is a river guide for Adventure Carolina, one of the places that sells/rents kayaks and canoes and does guided tours of the Broad, Saluda, and Congaree river. We went up Broad river in a spot that's relatively calm compared to Saluda, and we paddled out to where it meets up with the Congaree. It was a short way, so hopefully I can go again soon and stay out there a little longer. Glad summer is finally here!


Also, my number of semesters in grad school is about to increase exponentially because I just got an interview for med school! It's the rehabilitation counseling program, and the two classes I took this past semester are actually a part of this program not social work, so they will be able to count towards this degree. Not sure if I'm still going to pursue my drug and addictions certificate, I more than likely will, as it's only 12 more hours. The semester is technically over, but I still have work I'm doing for one of my classes....welcome to grad school!

#23. Try 20 new wines

Last night, Stephen and I went to Riverbanks Wine Tasting in the Garden and it was alot of fun! There were 27 stations each with 2-5 wines to sample and a few small tables of finger foods. I am not much of a wine fan (as you can see, my average rating was a "1") but I did find a white wine that I really loved, the Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc. There was a table of Japanese wine and sake, and I've never had a cold sake before but I really liked the Gekkeikan Zipang Sparking Sake! There was also one table of RJ Rockers beer. The one I tried was a peach beer and I loved it, so I'm hoping Flying Saucer has this and I can count it towards my 50 new beers. I still haven't found a red wine that I really love, but the more I try, the more I'm sure I will start to appreciate them.

Melissa's Adventures to Wonderland

#94. Get a new piercing


I drove to Asheville, NC and got my rook pierced!!!!! I love it so much. It only hurt for a minute or two! My friend Chris got his tragus pierced. We didn't drive all the way to NC just to get pierced though, I would have done that in Columbia, but I have been wanting to go back to Asheville since my sorority retreat there a few years ago. We wanted to visit some of the shops in the downtown area, namely, WONDERLAND! (which is the coolest shop in town-especially if you're as obsessed with Alice in wonderland as I am)

Asheville is such a great town. The view driving into town is amazing, the people are down to earth, there are tons of local artists and musicians playing in squares, it's a very clean city, there's a lot of personality to that place. Chris actually was mistaken for a local and a group of tourists asked him for directions...and he actually gave them correct directions! haha that was pretty funny, I know he felt at home in that town! I would really love to live there for at LEAST a short while some day. It's only 2 hours away from Columbia, which I was surprised by, I definitely thought it was about 3 hours. Knowing that, I will absolutely be making a trip again sometime during the summer to do some hiking.

Relay for Life

#72. Participate in Relay for Life and walk for Edna Grace
#9. Volunteer 24 community service hours with ESA (3/24)


USC held their annual Relay for Life and it was great seeing the sisters again! Especially Molly, Britney, and JSharp ;) I walked in honor of my former band director, Edna Grace. She is an amazingly strong woman who has battled breast cancer for as long as I've known her. She went into remission while I was in high school but the doctors found more cancerous cells fall of 2008. She went through chemo again and last April I lit a luminary and dedicated my fundraising for her. I gave her the breast cancer awareness shirt "I fight like a girl" and it is now one of her favorite shirts!

She is one of the most courageous women I know and she doesn't let anything stop her or get her down. In the same year she was going through chemo, she lost her brother, after she had just lost both of her parents in 2007. This time last year was such a tough time for her. So today, I promised myself I would keep her in my thoughts and prayers as I walked around the track at Relay. And I thanked God that we still have our "Ms. Grace."