As you may know, I love The Office. I love watching marathons on DVD and quoting episodes with friends. When I sat down to think of my favorite moments from the show, I ended up with a list 40 items long. I really tried to narrow it down to the moments I always go back to, the ones I always have in my head, and the ones that make me laugh most. To make it easier, I limited this top ten list to seasons 1-4. Although I do love the newer seasons, the first four were absolute gold. I’m positive many will disagree on these, but trust me, there were plenty of moments I thought I just couldn’t leave out. I managed to get the list down to ten favorites, but it was really hard. That’s what she said.

Dwight hides in a box in The Alliance from season 1
Who could forget all the hilarious pranks Jim has pulled on Dwight over the years? Moving his desk into the bathroom, making him want a mint at the sound of computer restart, and putting all his belongings in the vending machine were all classics. Still, one of my very favorites was when Jim convinced Dwight to create an alliance and hide in a cardboard box in the warehouse. I can’t help but laugh thinking about Pam losing it as Dwight scooted and tipped the box trying to overhear her phone conversation.

Dwight sings about Ryan starting the fire in The Fire from season 2
When Ryan started the fire with his cheesy pita, Dwight couldn’t help but taunt him. While Ryan knew a thing or two about business and had the loving attention of Michael for the day, Dwight so perfectly inserted Ryan’s embarrassing moment into Billy Joel’s famous tune. Now whenever I hear that song, I can’t help but sing Dwight’s lyrics instead.

The office tells stories about losing loved ones in Grief Counseling from season 3
Although Jim’s pranks on Dwight are always hilarious, I especially love the collaborative pranks the office plays on Michael. One of the great ones was when Michael requested they all share stories of lost loved ones. They didn’t skip a beat, describing famous movie deaths from Million Dollar Baby, The Lion King, and Weekend at Bernie’s.

Prison Mike shares his story in The Convict from season 3
Of all Michael’s alter-egos, Prison Mike is my favorite. He kept it real and told everyone how bad it was “in the clink.” He ate gruel and had to avoid the dementors flying around. And the very best part was when he told Ryan he’d be “the belle of the ball.” Don’t drop the soap!

Michael marks the Asian waitress in A Benihana Christmas from season 3
Michael isn’t strong in the racial sensitivity area, as clearly demonstrated in season 1’s Diversity Day. But his best racial issue happened at their annual Christmas party. After having dinner at Benihana, they invited two of the Asian waitresses to join them at the party. While singing karaoke, Michael realized he couldn’t tell the two apart. So he covertly marked one of them with a Sharpie. Problem solved.

Jim dresses up as Dwight in Product Recall from season 3
This one really only needs four words: Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

Jim returns from NY to ask out Pam in The Job from season 3
I love the episode Casino Night when Jim finally confessed his love for Pam. We waited all of season 3 with high hopes they would stop messing around and date already. With the corporate job and Karen in the picture, no one knew if Jim and Pam would be separated for good. Luckily a yogurt lid snapped him back into reality and gave us the best “Yessss!” moment of the entire series. Pam’s face says it all.

Pam and Jim visit Schrute Farms in Money from season 4
Throughout the series, we received brief, but wonderful glimpses of Dwight’s cousin Mose and strange stories about their family’s beet farm. In season 4, Jim and Pam spent a night there and hilarity ensued: Mose greeted them by running beside their car, the America, nighttime, and irrigation themed rooms, manure fights and table making demonstrations, and of course, the Harry Potter bedtime story.

Andy can’t remember the KitKat jingle in Local Ad from season 4
Everyone knows what it’s like to forget something so familiar. When Andy couldn’t remember the ending lyric to the KitKat jingle, Jim wouldn’t allow anyone to tell him. So logically, he filled in the blank until he got it right. After he tried “Chrysler car”, “Claude Van Damme”, and “hair for men”, he finally figured it out. “Break me off a piece of that Fancy Feast.” (And of course, now that’s how I have to sing the jingle too.)

Holly helps Kevin buy a snack in Goodbye Toby from season 4
Poor Holly. After Dwight told her Kevin was retarded, every interaction the two of them had seemed to support it. The best moment between them was when Holly helped Kevin pick out a snack from the vending machine. She counted his change, removed a button from the pile, and showed him which row he could choose from. And, naturally, Kevin then claimed he was “totally gonna bang Holly.”

Last year I started a list of 26 things I wanted to complete before my 26th birthday. I thought if I had a finite list of things, I’d be motivated to cross the items off one by one. In the middle few months, life and work got crazy and I lost focus. However, I still was able to complete items I certainly wouldn’t have otherwise. With my 26th birthday come and gone, here’s a retrospective on my progress and how I plan to continue with my venture.

Things I completed:

Took a weekend trip to Sedona -- link
Read and returned all borrowed books -- link
Got a record player -- link
Saw Fountains of Wayne in concert -- link
Reconnected with an old friend -- link
Replaced master bathroom shower -- link
Watched The Godfather -- link
Organized the garage -- link
Digitally organized and archived all photos -- link
Lost 15 pounds -- link
Learned to properly cook a steak -- link
Created wedding books for my parents and in-laws -- link

Things in progress:

Replace guest bathtub -- Materials purchased and ready to be installed in May.
Host a poker night -- Poker chips and table are ready, interest has been shown, date to be set soon.
Reduce my private debt by one fourth -- I’ve set up a timeline and payment plan and have already made my first payment. I should be debt-free in a couple years.
Refresh and customize an old piece of furniture -- I have the piece already, but have been agonizing over what paint color to use.

Things I still plan on completing:

Paint the kitchen cabinets -- Just waiting for a long weekend so I can do it all at once. I may try the bathroom cabinets first as a test run.
Have a smores party -- We plan to put in some grass, a fire pit, and a nice seating area in the backyard. Then, smores for everyone.
Paint a picture for myself -- I have a few commissions lined up, but will soon after begin painting more for myself.
Learn how to change a tire -- Someday...
Take a city tour of Phoenix -- Of all the tours I researched, the Town Lake segway tour sounds the most fun. May have to wait till fall for the best weather.

Things I don’t plan on completing:

Build a piece of furniture -- Too many tools to buy and too much work. I’d much rather spend time browsing antique stores!
Try snowboarding again -- Last time I was in snowy climate, I found every excuse not to go snowboarding. Too expensive, too scary, and too much prep. I’ll stick to wakeboarding and warm weather.
Take a pottery class -- My dad and I are going to take a printmaking class instead. Fun!
Stay up all night and watch the sun rise -- I’m just too old for this, ha!
Buy a nice set of dishes and flatware -- I actually shopped around for these, priced everything, and then decided I’d rather spend my money on other things. Our IKEA plates and Target flatware are good enough for us.

While I didn’t complete most of my list, I still feel great about it. One of my resolutions this year was to complete more projects I start. I loved the process and now am considering some larger, more difficult items for my 30 before 30 list.

Last night I was able to complete one more item on my 26 before 26 list. I’d been working on it slowly over the last few months and can finally cross off #17: Organize the garage.

While our little house has plenty of closets, there wasn’t much outdoor storage for larger items and those not needed in the house. For the first couple years, we used an old storage shelf I had bought for an installation art piece during college. It had been painted so many times that the pieces no longer fit together properly. So I decided it was time to get things in order.

Here’s our garage before:

While this is nothing compared to the clutter most people have in their garages, it made the organizer in me cringe. Stacked chairs, sports equipment, Christmas decorations, and much more just sat where they wanted, occasionally falling over when we accidentally bumped against them. Not a great situation.

I had Clay help me remove the useless cabinet from the garage wall. Doesn’t he look excited to be here?

Then, I put together two new storage shelf units from Home Depot to fill the space. They were $70 each and much cheaper than any other cabinet option we considered.

And here’s the after with all of our boxes and things on the shelves. The organizer in me wanted to get all matching containers, but the thrift shopper in me said to make do with what we have.

The last step was to get some Elfa wall hooks and hangers from The Container Store to get the rest of the stuff up off the ground and out of the way. It seems like such a small change, moving the items 5 feet above where they original sat, but it makes such a difference. These items are the ones we only use once in a while or seasonally, so having them on the wall clears up walking space and keeps them out of harm’s way until we need them.

(Disregard the pile of building materials. These are simply waiting to be installed in our guest bathroom and will be gone soon!)

When we moved in, we had made it a point to always be able to park inside our garage (especially during the hot summer months). It’s easy to start packing and stacking items in there and soon your garage is overflowing with things you don’t even care about. This new system will hopefully make it quick and easy to keep things organized.