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I can now cross off #9. Change my last name on my 101 in 1001 list! Chris and I got married in October 2007, but I just hadn’t gotten around to officially changing my last name until now. It’s funny that it took me so long to change it, considering how badly I wanted to do so when I was little. When I was in elementary school, kids used to always tease me about the name Solo. They would ask if I was related to Han Solo from Star Wars, or they would ask me where Chewbacca was, and I absolutely hated being teased about it! I couldn’t wait to get married and change my last name. I would constantly pair my name with other boys’ names and figure out what sounded best (anything but Solo). Somewhere along the way as I got older, by the time I was in high school, I started to really love my name. People would tell me that it sounds like a movie star’s name, and I loved that. The Star Wars jokes were still lame, but in an endearing silly kind of way, and it was fun. Now when people ask if I’m related to Han Solo, (and yes, they still ask) I just say he’s my uncle or something.

When I married Chris Marks, I was torn about the prospect of changing my name. I love the sound of “Susan Marks” and I like the idea of Mr. and Mrs. Marks, but I also truly love my maiden name. Plus, I wanted to continue to run my photography business as Susan Solo. So, in the end I just decided I didn’t have to choose – I legally kept all of my names by turning my maiden name into a second middle name. So you can call me Susan Solo, Susan Marks, or Han Solo’s niece. 🙂

I don’t have a photo to document the completion of this item, so how about a picture of Chris and me on our wedding day, courtesy of my sister:

I have a few more updates for you on my 101 in 1001 list – I’m knocking them out this week! First of all, look at my plant:

Better, right?! I took all of your advice on how to water it, etc. and it’s definitely alive and thriving! I even see some flowers budding (!), so while I’ve already crossed #45 off, I feel better about it now.

Chris and I just finished watching the entire Arrested Development series on DVD, so #99 – check, although I don’t have a good photo to prove that I did do it. This was on the list simply because it was a show that my brother and several of my friends absolutely loved, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. We loved it, too! Buster cracked me up.

I combined items #7 – Buy a difficult jigsaw puzzle and put it together and #50 – Learn to locate all of the world’s countries on a map by buying a world map jigsaw puzzle! Completing a jigsaw puzzle was on the list as a task to remind me to always finish what you’ve started, to pay attention to the details but keep the big picture in mind, and that patience is a virtue. If you’re not sure how a jigsaw puzzle can do all of that, go buy one and get cracking! It’s also just really good exercise for your brain. 🙂

Learning all of the countries was a pretty ambitious task for me and I’m not sure how well I’ll retain the information, but I think I feel satisfied with what I’ve learned, so I’m considering that complete. It’s sad to say, but there were some countries that I couldn’t even place on a continent before, and I’m pretty sure I can at least do that now.

More item updates soon! And the craziness of my wedding season is about to really take off, so watch this space.

In honor of Earth Day today, I’ve completed #64 – Plant a tree on my 101 in 1001 list. When I first put that item on the list I thought I would physically plant a tree somewhere, and that it would be so fun and meaningful. But honestly, I’m not even sure where I’d be able to do that (I can’t even plant one in my own yard without getting HOA approval), and with my lack of a green thumb, the poor thing probably wouldn’t make it. So instead, I donated to plantabillion.com and planted 10 trees! Surely 10 trees is better than one? Check!