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| Where did they go?? |
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| Baxter is less than amused with both the bubbles and the baby. |
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| "I'm so happy I could drool!" |
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Bubbles with Livi
Can I just say how much I adore this little one?! I have no idea where the past seven months have gone because it really seems like she was just born. She is growing so quickly & is full of personality. She smiles at everything and is just generally the happiest baby I've ever met! Yesterday we played with bubbles.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Menu Planning
Me: "I'm hungry. What do you want for dinner?"
Derek: "I don't care. What do you want?"
Me: "I don't care. We don't have anything laid out."
Derek: "Okay."
Me: "Okay." (15 minutes later) "So...dinner?"
If you're anything like me, this is a typical conversation in your house. It's annoying, really. And this exact conversation is why we end up with pizza, McDonald's, or Arby's two or three days a week. (Franklin, 1; Petersburg, 0. There's no fast food in Franklin, so this whole eat-really-poorly-all-the-time isn't even a possibility. You eat well or nothing at all.)
I've tried to combat this issue by forming a menu every month, and it works! (As long as you follow it.) It allows us to know what we're having every day, so we can go to the store and pick up anything we need or lay out meat from the freezer the evening before so that the conversation above doesn't happen.
At the beginning of every month, I sit down, break out my cookbooks and magazines I subscribe to, and hash out a meal for every evening of the month. I generally allow 1-2 days per week for leftovers and get any requests from Derek. I record the meals in a regular wall calendar and hang it up in the kitchen near the refrigerator.
Once the calendar is full, I create a grocery list. This list is sometimes for one week at a time, and other times it's for two weeks. It just depends on if we will have the opportunity to go to the grocery store. This list is entirely based upon what we're going to be eating. If it's not on the menu, we generally won't buy it. For example, if we get to the store and I see that shrimp is on sale, I still don't buy it if it's not on the list. This has helped to reduce how much we're spending on groceries and use the boxes and cans that are in the pantry that always seems to get pushed back and never used.
A peak into part of Grandma's recipe book. I love her handwriting.
Do you make any type of menu? How do you deal with the indecisiveness of what to have for dinner?
Derek: "I don't care. What do you want?"
Me: "I don't care. We don't have anything laid out."
Derek: "Okay."
Me: "Okay." (15 minutes later) "So...dinner?"
If you're anything like me, this is a typical conversation in your house. It's annoying, really. And this exact conversation is why we end up with pizza, McDonald's, or Arby's two or three days a week. (Franklin, 1; Petersburg, 0. There's no fast food in Franklin, so this whole eat-really-poorly-all-the-time isn't even a possibility. You eat well or nothing at all.)
I've tried to combat this issue by forming a menu every month, and it works! (As long as you follow it.) It allows us to know what we're having every day, so we can go to the store and pick up anything we need or lay out meat from the freezer the evening before so that the conversation above doesn't happen.
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| January's Meals. You can see that I switched certain days around as needed. The green stars are first time favorites to try again. |
At the beginning of every month, I sit down, break out my cookbooks and magazines I subscribe to, and hash out a meal for every evening of the month. I generally allow 1-2 days per week for leftovers and get any requests from Derek. I record the meals in a regular wall calendar and hang it up in the kitchen near the refrigerator.
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| The cookbooks/magazines used for this month. The blue notebook is my grandmother's recipe book. |
I begin with an empty calendar. You can use any type of calendar--wall calendar, dry-erase calendar, chalkboard calendar. It really doesn't matter. I have an elephant calendar from my Christmas stocking. (I love elephants! That's for another day though.)
I first go through and mark off any days that I know we won't be cooking at home, or I know that we're cooking something special. For example, every other week on Thursday we eat at my in-laws' house, so I mark that on the calendar. If we're having something special for a birthday celebration, or if I'm getting together with friends for dinner, I mark that on the calendar. In June, you'll see that there's a whole week when Derek was on his own because I was out of town. I mark that in the beginning too. This makes it much easier when I'm actually putting meals on certain days.
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| I just use a regular wall calendar. |
Next I begin searching through my cookbooks, online cookbooks, and magazines for recipes. I'm always wanting to try new recipes, so this is the perfect time to look for them. Once I find a recipe I want to use, I mark it on the calendar. It doesn't really matter what day you record it; just whatever/whenever feels right to you. If it's a new recipe, I make sure to include its location on the calendar so that I can find it later. For example, on the calendar below I listed Simple Stromboli on February 5th. It was a new recipe, so I included its location. "BHG 15th" means the Better Homes & Gardens, 15th edition cookbook. It's found on page 246. This makes it really easy to locate later. Similarly, "TOH" means Taste of Home, and "pinned" means it's on my Pinterest account.
Once the calendar is full, I create a grocery list. This list is sometimes for one week at a time, and other times it's for two weeks. It just depends on if we will have the opportunity to go to the grocery store. This list is entirely based upon what we're going to be eating. If it's not on the menu, we generally won't buy it. For example, if we get to the store and I see that shrimp is on sale, I still don't buy it if it's not on the list. This has helped to reduce how much we're spending on groceries and use the boxes and cans that are in the pantry that always seems to get pushed back and never used.
Do you make any type of menu? How do you deal with the indecisiveness of what to have for dinner?
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Honor Flight
I've always been incredibly close with my grandparents. There was only a field separating our house from theirs when I was growing up, so most days were spent with them on the farm. Grandpa was always my hero.
I can remember going to Washington, D.C. for the first time when I was in 3rd grade with a family friend. As we were walking into the Air & Space Museum, a reporter and camera man stopped us outside and asked to interview me and the other little boy for the evening news. Their question: who is your hero? My automatic response: my grandfather.
We spent many summer days riding around in the dump truck, fishing for bluegills and catfish, eating fish sandwiches at the Korner Shop, and visiting the Senior Citizen's Center where I was formally known as "Jim's Little Helper". I thought he was the coolest person on Earth and always loved to hear his stories.
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| My Senior Prom |
Among Grandpa's favorite stories to tell included his time in Cuba during WWII and the period of time when he was assigned to march at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Over and over he would reference words in Spanish that he had learned and his girlfriend, Violeta, that he'd met during the two years spent in Cuba. Over and over he would talk about the two little girls who ran up to him for a picture as he was marching at the Tomb. I loved hearing these stories (and still do).
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| Grandpa in the middle with his brothers |
He lived through the Depression, served our country during the second World War, raised a family, and worked harder than I ever imagine I'll have to in my life. It's no wonder why I consider him to be my hero.
A few months ago, Grandpa was introduced to the Honor Flight program which takes Veterans on an all expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to see the war memorials. The Veterans go and return all in one day, and all accommodations will be made for those Veterans who have special needs. He was hooked. This was the first time Honor Flight had come to our area, and he wanted to go on the trip. He had been to Washington, D.C. many times and was even stationed there for a while, but he hadn't been able to go back since the WWII memorial was constructed.
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| Grandpa on the far right in uniform with his brothers & sisters |
At 92, Grandpa doesn't get out of his house and do much anymore, but he was incredibly excited for this trip. He needed a guardian to go on the trip, and Mom was afraid she wouldn't be able to push his wheelchair all day. The trip was the day after school ended, so I volunteered to go as his guardian. For months, whenever he'd see me, he'd mention the trip that was getting closer and closer.
Finally, the day came for us to leave on the trip, and he was ready.
We met at 7am and traveled with about 20 other veterans on a chartered bus to DC where we spent the day visiting the war memorials. It was a beautiful, clear, and sunny day. There were other Honor Flight programs visiting as well, so we had the opportunity to meet other veterans from around the country. We had specific times to be back to the bus, but we were able to go and look at what we wanted at our own pace.
We started at the Korean Memorial, and on our way out toward the Lincoln Memorial, a group of kids on a school trip from California surrounded Grandpa. I didn't really know what to expect at first, but each student came up and shook Grandpa's hand, thanking him for his service. Each student was SO sincere as they took his hand and looked him in the eyes to thank him. It was incredible. This was the beginning.
We made our way around the area and back to the bus so we could head to the WWII Memorial. Unfortunately, there were some bus issues throughout the day (a bird had gotten stuck in the exhaust somehow which made the bus break down), so we decided to walk to the WWII Memorial instead of riding there. It's not a far trip for most of us, but when you're in your 80s and 90s on a 90 degree day, the walk there and back can be a little daunting.
As we moved closer to the memorial, I noticed flags. There were tons of American flags being held along the sidewalk, kind of like what you see along the sidewalks of a town on patriotic holidays. I pointed them out to Grandpa, but he didn't really know what they were for either. As we walked a little closer, we could see that there were people holding them. A motorcycle group lined both sides of the sidewalk, each person holding an American flag. We began our walk through the 100 or more people gathered in the group, and as we walked, each member stopped us to shake Grandpa's hand and thank him for his service. This continued with every member in their group and every Veteran in ours.
We reached the end of the line only to discover a mass of people leading up to the entrance of the memorial. I wondered if there was a special event going on that day that I wasn't aware of and if I should find a different way around to enter into the memorial. As I pushed Grandpa forward, the crowd separated into two lines around us, and everyone began clapping and cheering. There were thousands of people along the sides of the walkway looking and cheering. Most said something specific to Grandpa; others shook his hand. It finally occurred to me that they were here for all of the Honor Flight veterans. Some were there with their families. Others were there as school groups. There were people who just looked like tourists and other people dressed in suits. There were some people who were in costumes (who were later jazz dancing in the area) and some in motorcycle gear. They all stood together and cheered as we made our way through into the memorial.
We toured the memorial, took some pictures in front of the West Virginia pillar, and explored for a little while. Grandpa had the opportunity to talk to people from all across the country and tell his stories. He was asked by kids in several school groups to take his picture with them (all the while I'm thinking, "These kids are so nice. I can't imagine my students being this respectful and asking for pictures."), and he was able to meet Senator Bob Dole.
We were able to catch a bus to take us back to our regular bus, and we all rested for a while under some shade trees. The nice comments and greetings continued while we were waiting outside of our bus, and we had the chance to talk with some New Jersey folks on an Honor Flight trip before getting on the bus to head home.
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| Each veteran received a packet of "mail" with letters, cards, and pictures school kids from the area made for them. |
The day was incredible. It's amazing to see your personal hero treated as an all-around hero by SO many people. I think all of the veterans had a great time on the trip despite some unexpected bus problems. I hope that Honor Flight does some more trips for Veterans in this area because the statistics are staggering for WWII and Korean veterans (1,300 die every day in the US).
If your family has a WWII, Korean, or Vietnam veteran, I strongly suggest looking into the Honor Flight program. It is truly a remarkable experience that your veteran deserves to have.
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| Everyone's looking great at the end of a long but wonderful day! |
For more information: www.honorflight.org
Sunday, April 6, 2014
25 Things to Do Before Turning 25--Revisited
Last year I decided I would create a list of different tasks I would like to accomplish before turning 25. While I didn't get to mark everything off of my list (only accomplishing 12 of 25), I feel like I was still pretty successful! Let's recap:
25 Things To Do Before Turning 25
1. Read 25 books.
I love reading and can't wait until the summer every year when I actually have time for it. I'm not sure what these 25 books will be yet, but I'm excited to start making a list.
I read this year like never before; it was fantastic! However, I didn't quite hit the 25 book mark. Here's a few of my favorites that I stumbled across:
2. Grow a bountiful garden.
Last year we successfully grew tomatoes and jalapenos in our miniature garden space. This year we're hoping for tomatoes, jalapenos, cucumbers, bell peppers, lettuce, onions, & strawberries. The onions and lettuce are looking pretty good so far!
Success! We managed cucumbers too! It was still a super small garden because we didn't have much room, but this year is going to be even better! (We tried cabbage, but it didn't amount to anything.)
3. Road trip/vacation with the girls
My roommates and I have always wanted to do a girls' trip somewhere, but we never had money for such things. Now that we're either out of college or have jobs (for the most part), it would be the perfect time to do it! A beach trip is planned for next month & I can't wait!!
This was SO much fun!! We only went for the weekend, but we had a fantastic time! I hope that we're able to go again soon!
4. Learn to quilt
Grandma quilted a lot, and I love having things that I know she actually made. I hope to be able to give my kids & grandchildren something like this in the future, too.
When I found out that my sister was going to have a baby, I couldn't wait to get started on a baby quilt! It was actually a LOT easier than I had originally expected, so I'm looking forward to making another one.
Derek and I try to switch between his church and my church every Sunday, but it doesn't always work out. I want to become more devoted to my spiritual life by ensuring we attend church more often and improving my relationship to God through prayer.
I debated crossing this one off, but I think there's always room for improvement when it come to our faith and spirituality.
6. Sew an outfit
Why buy clothes when you can make them? I've never been a super stylish person (not that I wouldn't want to be), but I'd love to make something that I'd be proud to wear.
Nope...this one didn't make the cut. I would still like to try to make a sundress, so maybe it'll happen this year.
7. Become less passive.
I have never been aggressive. My elementary school basketball coach always told me that I needed to be more aggressive, but I never changed because was always afraid of hurting someone. This idea has continued throughout my life. When someone is rude to me, I counter with kindness. If I'm told to do something that I'm not happy about, I don't object. I certainly didn't inherit this trait from my mother! I'd really like to be less passive and learn to take a stand for myself.
I don't think this has really changed much, but at the same time, I haven't really felt the need to be less passive. Perhaps removing myself from certain situations has helped with that.
8. Explore our nation's capital
I've had the opportunity to explore DC twice in my life, but it's been over a decade since the last time. I'd really like to get the chance to actually walk around and explore as an adult in order to fully appreciate what is there. We're actually planning on a weekend getaway here for our anniversary!
This was a blast! I wish we would have had more time to go exploring because we didn't get to see everything on the list. We were able to visit the WWII Memorial, Arlington, and the Archives though, which is something that I've always wanted to do.
9. Take a food tour
Any time we go to spend some time in a city, I research what there is to do in the area. The last several cities have all offered food tours. I think it would be so much fun to travel around to various restaurants and try the tastes of the city!
I hoped that this would be something we could do while in DC, but we ran out of time. Maybe this will be the year!
10. Learn 25 new recipes
I love food. This is probably pretty obvious with my appearance and most of my blog posts. Anyway, I'm always looking for new recipes but am usually too much of a chicken to actually try them. I hate wasting food and am afraid that if a recipe doesn't turn out well, we'll waste the food. Despite this, I'm going to try at least 25 new recipes and hopefully turn some of them into family favorites.
This was BY FAR the easiest one to cross off the list. I've been creating a dinner menu the last several months and using various websites and magazines to help create new and diverse dinners for us every day.
11. Start an exercise regimen
A year ago this item would've been "Lose X number of pounds." Rather than focusing on losing weight, I'm going to work on developing a routine of exercising. This may just be walking three or four times a week, but regardless it'll be more than what I'm currently doing.
We began running/walking last summer, but as the summer wore on and the weather turned cold, we stopped. This is still one of my biggest goals.
12. Increase our savings
I want to own a house. I also want to have children. Both of these things require money and lots of it, so it would be really nice to get our savings up to a place where we could afford these things.
I also debated crossing this one off too. We were able to increase our savings (although not by much), but then we bought a house which pretty much emptied it out. We've been slowly working on building it back up again.
13. Pay off credit cards
This is probably pretty self-explanatory.
Nope. Still working on it, but we're not quite there yet.
14. Begin an active search toward buying/building a home
It'll be so nice to own our own home! Our lease ends next May, so hopefully we will be able to locate either a home or some land by my birthday.
Yes! In November, we became official home owners! It's thrilling to know that we don't have to worry about painting a wall or having our lease run out. We can do whatever and decorate however we want now because it's our home!
15. Declutter my house
This is an ongoing process in my house. I have to make a conscious effort to sort through, throw away, and donate my stuff because I've always been a bit of a pack rat. If I don't constantly try to organize, I get very overwhelmed.
I worked pretty hard on this last summer and while moving. There's still some work to do, but everything now has a place it belongs and isn't just thrown somewhere.
16. Develop & stay up-to-date on a blog posting schedule
I've really been enjoying writing my blog posts, and from what I hear, there's several people who have been enjoying reading them. I currently don't have any type of schedule or predetermined ideas for posts, so developing something will help me to stay up-to-date without long periods of nothing.
This was probably my biggest failure on my list. Instead of blogging more often, I pretty much went off the grid. I've found that writing for myself is a way to relax, so I'd still like to just take the time to sit down and let the words flow from my mind onto the screen.
17. Learn to can vegetables
I feel like this is a necessity in life. It's so convenient to have vegetables on hand during the winter months--especially ones that you know are healthy and grown organically. I'm hoping that we'll be able to can some of our garden vegetables this year!
While I didn't necessarily can much of my garden, I did learn how to can jalapenos! Derek loves being able to just open the fridge and throw some jalapenos on his nachos or a sandwich whenever he wants.
18. Make homemade ice cream
Yum. I've been wanting to try this for a while, but just haven't had the opportunity.
I had forgotten that this was on my list! I received an ice cream maker from Mom for Christmas this year. I've only tried vanilla and chocolate so far, but it is seriously fantastic. I can't wait for my blueberries to bloom for some blueberry ice cream!
19. Get to the top of Seneca Rocks
Probably the most famous attraction in our county is Seneca Rocks. People from all over come to scale the rocks or just walk up to the top. I think it's only appropriate for the people who live in the area to make it to the top and see what all of the fuss is about. However, after nearly 25 years, I still have not made it up. This is going to be the year it happens.
Nope...still haven't made it.
20. Visit & Explore a new city
I love to travel. I mean, really love. So, I'm always really excited to go somewhere new and explore the different features that make each place so special. I think we're going to be making a trip to Baltimore later on this year, so hopefully I'll be able to check this item off the list.
For part of our vacation this year, we went to Baltimore and explored the Inner Harbor. I hadn't been to Baltimore before, but since it's so close to DC, it made sense to go explore one weekend. We had a nice time, especially touring through the aquarium, but I'm not sure I have much of a desire to go back anytime soon.
21. Paint something
Painting is so peaceful and therapeutic. Anytime I sit down and paint, I can immediately feel stress leaving my body. We "inherited" most of our furniture, and a lot of it could use a good face lift. I've been doing some research on how to paint and add legs to get a certain look, so hopefully I'll be able to do something along those lines this year.
We had a bookshelf in our living room that was unfinished, so I decided to turn it into a nice aqua/turquoise. It's currently in our bathroom for the medicine basket, Q-tips, and other frequently used materials.
22. Build a piece of furniture
The old chicken coop at Grandpa's fell down. It hadn't really been used for years and was pretty worn, so it was no surprise when it finally fell. I'd really love to take some of the wood from it and build a piece of furniture. I've been thinking about making a small kitchen island or something similar.
I was so hoping I would be able to do this last summer. This is one of the first things I'm going to do this year. I want to make a new dining room table!
23. Stop biting my nails
I'm the last of my friends to bite her nails. Most of the time I don't even really bite them..I pick at them until they tear. I would love to have long and strong natural nails.
I'm working on it. My nails are currently about the longest they've been all year, but I know that in a few days, one will either break or I'll get stressed out and pick at them.
24. Write letters to friends via snail mail
No one writes actual letters any more; it's almost like a lost art. I'd really like to start writing to friends and keeping in touch through letters instead of just texts.
I've started trying to make sure I send cards more frequently, but haven't actually written any letters.
25. Spend more time with family
This is always something that should be worked on in my opinion. We get so caught up in an everyday schedule that it's sometimes hard to find time for each other. We currently have dinner with our families once a week, but it'd be nice to increase the amount of time spent with them and do activities other than just dinner.
We still try to eat with my family and Derek's parents once a week. Sometimes it's less frequent and sometimes we see each other more than that. It's just still quite difficult to get together with everyone's schedule being so different.
25 Things To Do Before Turning 25
1. Read 25 books.
I love reading and can't wait until the summer every year when I actually have time for it. I'm not sure what these 25 books will be yet, but I'm excited to start making a list.
I read this year like never before; it was fantastic! However, I didn't quite hit the 25 book mark. Here's a few of my favorites that I stumbled across:
- Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, Veronica Roth
- I know these are getting a lot of attention lately, but I seriously could. not. put them down! I began to feel like I really knew the characters personally and just can't get enough. Veronica Roth is fantastic (and did I mention, she's only 25?!)
- The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
- Because this was considered a "West Virginia" novel, I wanted to read it. I didn't expect to stumble into the wild life of the Walls family. It's definitely a great read!
- Bossypants, Tina Fey
- I love Tina Fey! I found 30 Rock on Netflix and decided I'd give it a try. Around the same time, I decided I'd read this book. I found that right after I watched an episode, Fey would write about that episode in the next chapter of her book. Give it a read if you're looking for a laugh.
- Inferno, Dan Brown
- I discovered Dan Brown in high school. He had only published four books at the time, and I couldn't get enough of them. A few years ago, he published Inferno and The Lost Symbol. I still haven't read The Lost Symbol, but Inferno definitely didn't let me down; like always, it was thrilling, mysterious, and included travel full of description.
Last year we successfully grew tomatoes and jalapenos in our miniature garden space. This year we're hoping for tomatoes, jalapenos, cucumbers, bell peppers, lettuce, onions, & strawberries. The onions and lettuce are looking pretty good so far!
Success! We managed cucumbers too! It was still a super small garden because we didn't have much room, but this year is going to be even better! (We tried cabbage, but it didn't amount to anything.)
My roommates and I have always wanted to do a girls' trip somewhere, but we never had money for such things. Now that we're either out of college or have jobs (for the most part), it would be the perfect time to do it! A beach trip is planned for next month & I can't wait!!
This was SO much fun!! We only went for the weekend, but we had a fantastic time! I hope that we're able to go again soon!
Grandma quilted a lot, and I love having things that I know she actually made. I hope to be able to give my kids & grandchildren something like this in the future, too.
When I found out that my sister was going to have a baby, I couldn't wait to get started on a baby quilt! It was actually a LOT easier than I had originally expected, so I'm looking forward to making another one.
Derek and I try to switch between his church and my church every Sunday, but it doesn't always work out. I want to become more devoted to my spiritual life by ensuring we attend church more often and improving my relationship to God through prayer.
I debated crossing this one off, but I think there's always room for improvement when it come to our faith and spirituality.
6. Sew an outfit
Why buy clothes when you can make them? I've never been a super stylish person (not that I wouldn't want to be), but I'd love to make something that I'd be proud to wear.
Nope...this one didn't make the cut. I would still like to try to make a sundress, so maybe it'll happen this year.
7. Become less passive.
I have never been aggressive. My elementary school basketball coach always told me that I needed to be more aggressive, but I never changed because was always afraid of hurting someone. This idea has continued throughout my life. When someone is rude to me, I counter with kindness. If I'm told to do something that I'm not happy about, I don't object. I certainly didn't inherit this trait from my mother! I'd really like to be less passive and learn to take a stand for myself.
I don't think this has really changed much, but at the same time, I haven't really felt the need to be less passive. Perhaps removing myself from certain situations has helped with that.
I've had the opportunity to explore DC twice in my life, but it's been over a decade since the last time. I'd really like to get the chance to actually walk around and explore as an adult in order to fully appreciate what is there. We're actually planning on a weekend getaway here for our anniversary!
This was a blast! I wish we would have had more time to go exploring because we didn't get to see everything on the list. We were able to visit the WWII Memorial, Arlington, and the Archives though, which is something that I've always wanted to do.
9. Take a food tour
Any time we go to spend some time in a city, I research what there is to do in the area. The last several cities have all offered food tours. I think it would be so much fun to travel around to various restaurants and try the tastes of the city!
I hoped that this would be something we could do while in DC, but we ran out of time. Maybe this will be the year!
I love food. This is probably pretty obvious with my appearance and most of my blog posts. Anyway, I'm always looking for new recipes but am usually too much of a chicken to actually try them. I hate wasting food and am afraid that if a recipe doesn't turn out well, we'll waste the food. Despite this, I'm going to try at least 25 new recipes and hopefully turn some of them into family favorites.
This was BY FAR the easiest one to cross off the list. I've been creating a dinner menu the last several months and using various websites and magazines to help create new and diverse dinners for us every day.
11. Start an exercise regimen
A year ago this item would've been "Lose X number of pounds." Rather than focusing on losing weight, I'm going to work on developing a routine of exercising. This may just be walking three or four times a week, but regardless it'll be more than what I'm currently doing.
We began running/walking last summer, but as the summer wore on and the weather turned cold, we stopped. This is still one of my biggest goals.
I want to own a house. I also want to have children. Both of these things require money and lots of it, so it would be really nice to get our savings up to a place where we could afford these things.
I also debated crossing this one off too. We were able to increase our savings (although not by much), but then we bought a house which pretty much emptied it out. We've been slowly working on building it back up again.
13. Pay off credit cards
This is probably pretty self-explanatory.
Nope. Still working on it, but we're not quite there yet.
It'll be so nice to own our own home! Our lease ends next May, so hopefully we will be able to locate either a home or some land by my birthday.
Yes! In November, we became official home owners! It's thrilling to know that we don't have to worry about painting a wall or having our lease run out. We can do whatever and decorate however we want now because it's our home!
This is an ongoing process in my house. I have to make a conscious effort to sort through, throw away, and donate my stuff because I've always been a bit of a pack rat. If I don't constantly try to organize, I get very overwhelmed.
I worked pretty hard on this last summer and while moving. There's still some work to do, but everything now has a place it belongs and isn't just thrown somewhere.
16. Develop & stay up-to-date on a blog posting schedule
I've really been enjoying writing my blog posts, and from what I hear, there's several people who have been enjoying reading them. I currently don't have any type of schedule or predetermined ideas for posts, so developing something will help me to stay up-to-date without long periods of nothing.
This was probably my biggest failure on my list. Instead of blogging more often, I pretty much went off the grid. I've found that writing for myself is a way to relax, so I'd still like to just take the time to sit down and let the words flow from my mind onto the screen.
I feel like this is a necessity in life. It's so convenient to have vegetables on hand during the winter months--especially ones that you know are healthy and grown organically. I'm hoping that we'll be able to can some of our garden vegetables this year!
While I didn't necessarily can much of my garden, I did learn how to can jalapenos! Derek loves being able to just open the fridge and throw some jalapenos on his nachos or a sandwich whenever he wants.
Yum. I've been wanting to try this for a while, but just haven't had the opportunity.
I had forgotten that this was on my list! I received an ice cream maker from Mom for Christmas this year. I've only tried vanilla and chocolate so far, but it is seriously fantastic. I can't wait for my blueberries to bloom for some blueberry ice cream!
19. Get to the top of Seneca Rocks
Probably the most famous attraction in our county is Seneca Rocks. People from all over come to scale the rocks or just walk up to the top. I think it's only appropriate for the people who live in the area to make it to the top and see what all of the fuss is about. However, after nearly 25 years, I still have not made it up. This is going to be the year it happens.
Nope...still haven't made it.
I love to travel. I mean, really love. So, I'm always really excited to go somewhere new and explore the different features that make each place so special. I think we're going to be making a trip to Baltimore later on this year, so hopefully I'll be able to check this item off the list.
For part of our vacation this year, we went to Baltimore and explored the Inner Harbor. I hadn't been to Baltimore before, but since it's so close to DC, it made sense to go explore one weekend. We had a nice time, especially touring through the aquarium, but I'm not sure I have much of a desire to go back anytime soon.
Painting is so peaceful and therapeutic. Anytime I sit down and paint, I can immediately feel stress leaving my body. We "inherited" most of our furniture, and a lot of it could use a good face lift. I've been doing some research on how to paint and add legs to get a certain look, so hopefully I'll be able to do something along those lines this year.
We had a bookshelf in our living room that was unfinished, so I decided to turn it into a nice aqua/turquoise. It's currently in our bathroom for the medicine basket, Q-tips, and other frequently used materials.
22. Build a piece of furniture
The old chicken coop at Grandpa's fell down. It hadn't really been used for years and was pretty worn, so it was no surprise when it finally fell. I'd really love to take some of the wood from it and build a piece of furniture. I've been thinking about making a small kitchen island or something similar.
I was so hoping I would be able to do this last summer. This is one of the first things I'm going to do this year. I want to make a new dining room table!
23. Stop biting my nails
I'm the last of my friends to bite her nails. Most of the time I don't even really bite them..I pick at them until they tear. I would love to have long and strong natural nails.
I'm working on it. My nails are currently about the longest they've been all year, but I know that in a few days, one will either break or I'll get stressed out and pick at them.
24. Write letters to friends via snail mail
No one writes actual letters any more; it's almost like a lost art. I'd really like to start writing to friends and keeping in touch through letters instead of just texts.
I've started trying to make sure I send cards more frequently, but haven't actually written any letters.
25. Spend more time with family
This is always something that should be worked on in my opinion. We get so caught up in an everyday schedule that it's sometimes hard to find time for each other. We currently have dinner with our families once a week, but it'd be nice to increase the amount of time spent with them and do activities other than just dinner.
We still try to eat with my family and Derek's parents once a week. Sometimes it's less frequent and sometimes we see each other more than that. It's just still quite difficult to get together with everyone's schedule being so different.
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