1. Have a Baby.
Hey, it's not in my control! At some point I'll share more details on this one, but now is not the time. (and for the record, no, I'm not pregnant right now).
2. Move to a house or be actively looking for a house.
I wish. I am SO TIRED of living in an apartment. But we just aren't there yet. We don't want a house in CT because 1) we could never afford one here and 2) we won't be here forever. And, since we are still in CT for the time being, we are not actively looking for a house. When we move away and end up in a forever kind of place, then we will get back to a house as quickly as we possibly can. I think for the most part we are both done with apartment living.
3. Pay off 2 credit cards.
I (we) DID THIS ONE! We paid off 2 cards entirely and paid down significantly several others thanks to financial aid. I realize this is basically just shuffling money around, but at the end of the day, I'd rather pay back the government with a fixed reasonable interest rate than the credit card companies. And, we aren't only using financial aid to pay them down. Of course we make more than the minimum monthly payments too, but we also make very large payments 2x a year using financial aid money.
4. Lose weight.
I DID THIS ONE TOO! I am no where near my ultimate goal, but I am fast approaching my summer goal. Back in April or early May, I saw an infomercial for Jillian Michaels' Body Revolution and checked it out on line. I decided it looked like a pretty good deal, so Andrew and I ordered it and got started on Memorial Day. We've got 2 more weeks until we finish the 90 days challenge. For the 90 days, my goal was to lose 20 lbs, and I am 4 lbs away. Once the 90 days are over, I plan to start the exercise stuff over again in hopes to maintain if not continue to lose weight.
5. Visit someplace new.
YEP, I ACCOMPLISHED THIS! Last September, Andrew and I went to Bar Harbor, Maine for a long weekend for a friend's wedding. We had a great time. Bar Harbor is beautiful! Such a sweet touristy town - very quaint. Overall, quite lovely in the summer and we'd love to go back.
6. Finish wedding scrapbook.
Yeah...nope, not yet. Honestly, I haven't taken any of my scrapbooking stuff out in about a year. But, it is close to done. I am (still) waiting on photos from my rehearsal dinner, and have a few photos left to print at the end of my CD. I don't think it will take long to finish, I just need to find time and sit down and do it!
7. Finish honeymoon scrapbook.
See answer to #6.
8. Travel to a new country.
I'm saying I accomplished this, even though I haven't left North America. This is my reasoning: When you go to a new country, a large part of the experience is the food, right? Well, we couldn't afford to leave North America, and I've been to Canada and Mexico before. But, living in New Haven, there are many restaurants to choose from for various kinds of foods. Since living here, I've tried Indian food, Cuban food, Ethiopian food, and possibly others that I cannot recall at this moment. So, while I didn't get on an airplane and fly over the ocean like I desperately want to (SO much I want to see!), I have sampled cuisine from other countries, and that's at least part of the "experience."
9. Andrew.
This needs no explanation, other than to say I DID THIS ONE!
10. Frame TX Certification.
This one is so easy to do, and yet I still haven't done it. Part of it is there are other things I want to spend my money on right now. Part of it is also the fact that I don't have a classroom to display it in, which is really the reason I want it framed at all. So, no frame yet.
11. Tithe regularly.
While it is not regular, it is more than before. And, I have a plan to make it regular. Now, I just need to implement it.
12. Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
I just don't think I was made to do this one. I did it a couple of days and essentially lived in the bathroom due to having to pee all the time. Now, if I drink anything it's water or coffee, and Dr. Pepper on the weekends. It's not 8 glasses, but most days it's probably at least 4.
13. Learn to sew.
I still want to do this one, but all of my sewing friends and family are in TX. Up here, everyone knits. I'm not against learning to knit, but it would be more to pass the time than anything else. And, while someday I'd like a sewing machine, I don't have one yet so even if I could sew, I couldn't!
14. Accumulate some savings.
I think at various points this one has been done, and then undone when we needed the money. Right now, it is undone; although, once my financial aid comes through we'll put it back.
15. Read at least 1 new book a month.
YES! I've been trying really hard to read new books, and have done a pretty good job! I've read Heaven is for Real, The Shack, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse, The Lost Symbol, Mini Shopaholic, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Unlocked, Shades of Blue, One Thousand Gifts, Her Mother's Hope, Her Daughter's Dream, Same Kind of Different As Me, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, The Last Battle, American Education, Building Classroom Discipline, and Effective Strategies for Teaching in K-8 Classrooms. Chances are, there are other new books I've read that I just can't remember right now! I heart reading!
16. Get life organized.
Well...this one is difficult to do. And, some areas of my life are too difficult to attempt organizing right now. I have organized the medicine cabinet. I have also organized our DVD collection. Our closet and our shoes are organized. My grad school coursework, etc. is organized. So there. Some small parts of my life have been organized. Others remain in chaos for now. Hoping to get some more things organized sometime soon.
17. Do a light clean once a week.
Here's the thing. I HATE TO CLEAN! I like things to be clean, but I hate to be the one cleaning. So, all in all, this one was an epic fail. But, I'm mostly okay with that. It's not like we don't clean, we just don't clean as regularly as we should. But, please bear in mind - if you are coming to visit us, we will clean! I promise.
18. Do a deep clean once a month.
See #17.
19. Cook a four course meal.
I haven't done this one yet. I've found some good recipes to try out though. Maybe when our diet is over, we'll celebrate with this one.
20. Have friends over for dinner once a month.
Almost all of our good friends have babies. This makes it difficult to have them over because they have schedules. Also, surprisingly enough, not everybody likes Tanner (I know, I don't understand it either). And, combine Tanner and babies and people get nervous. Oh well...
21. Cut Dr. Pepper consumption by half.
I DID THIS ONE! I probably did more than half. Generally speaking, I now have Dr. Pepper (or soda, since DP is so hard to come by up here) with lunch on Saturday and Sunday. If for some reason we eat out more than those 2 meals, I have one then too, but it's rare that that happens.
22. Do 1 outdoor activity a day in the Fall, Summer, and Spring.
I discovered something - I'M NOT OUTDOORSY GIRL! (Actually, I already knew this about myself, but hoped I could change it. Turns out, I don't handle change well. Oh well...) I tried to do this one for maybe a month before giving it up. I'd walk Tanner, or go sit by the pool, or eat lunch outside. And, I enjoy all of those things, but not every day.
23. Organize craft stuff.
Most of my craft stuff is either at my parent's house in Waco or packed away in a friend's basement because we don't have room here. Alas, craft stuff not organized.
24. Clean out clothes.
I DID THIS ONE! I have gone through my clothes several times now and gotten rid of things that were too small, or I didn't wear anymore, or that I'd had since high school.
25. Go through college papers and toss or organize.
Nope. Most of my stuff is already organized from college classes. I discovered a lot of the loose leaf papers were actually my husband's.
26. Do 100 sit-ups/crunches a day.
I started off doing this one and made it for several months. But, I got out of the habit after my surgery and just never got back into it. I'm okay with that.
27. Make a budget and stick to it.
SORTA KINDA DID IT. We haven't really written down one, but we have limits for groceries and things. And, we've gotten to where we are able to spend cash (ok, debit card) almost always instead of a credit card.
28. Resolve gallbladder issues.
DONE! So thankful to have this one accomplished. I had surgery to remove my gallbladder trans-vaginally back in March 2011 and have felt great ever since (aside from about a 1 week recovery period...that part was NOT fun).
29. Start running.
I DID THIS ONE. However, if you read it very closely, it says "start" and says nothing about continuing. Last summer, I tried running. I used the C25K app and did it for about a month. I found that not only do I hate running, I quickly get side stitches, shin splints, sore ankles, etc. Not worth it. I started, and I stopped.
30. Have a t-shirt quilt made out of college tees.
IN THE PROCESS OF DOING... I picked out all of my tees to use. I got them all to my mom so she can get a quilt made for a Christmas or birthday present. It's too expensive for me to pay for, and mom offered, so I of course jumped on that offer! Love my mom.
So, there you have it. 30 before 30 successes and failures, all of which I'm okay with.
