Tagged

I've been tagged by Camille to list 6 completely unimportant things that make me happy. :)

1. Sunday breakfasts out with my husband-- We are blessed in Fort Collins to have a ton of breakfast options.  Every Sunday morning we treat ourselves to a morning out to eat.  To be honest, we've both been so busy lately that we've eaten out more than we would like, and the evidence has been noticed in both of our waist lines.  Moving back to the point though, we both enjoy the excellent food at many of the fine  establishments FoCo has to offer.  
2. This magazine--  I never really appreciated this magazine, but LOVE its Western counterpart.  I have always enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the West and this magazine is a perfect representation of that lifestyle.
3. Bubble Bath-- I am a sucker for bubbles.
4. Gaming--  We don't play constantly, but have a ton of fun when we do.  Plus, we have gaming at the library, and as teen point person, I need to know these things.
5. I could not live without my favorite lip balm ever.  While this is important to me, it is likely not important to the rest of the world.
6. Reading time-- I get anxious when I'm not able to read for some reason or another.  For instance, I've been working on Howard's End for a couple of months now and I am going crazy.  Yes, I've completed many books since beginning Forster.  I like the book, but it's time to move on to the mound of classics neatly arranged in my bedroom shelving.

Tag yourself!

A Day Off!

I always dread the beginning of the month because I'm usually working and don't get much accomplished at home.  There are 4 librarians where we work, so we each take a weekend to be in charge of the building.  I always take the first weekend, which I don't mind, but who wants to work weekends?  Anyways, I'm very behind on blogging, so I will write a quick, but possibly long update.

A few weekends back, Jon and I spent way more money than we should have and spruced up our little backyard.  The majority of the weekend was spent trying to get rid of rocks.  Living in a desert environment, rocks are huge in landscaping.  They take up space and don't require a lot of maintenance. Jon and I aren't fans though, so we opted for a dark mulch.  We planted some juniper trees, which will eventually allow us some privacy, and of course flowers, flowers everywhere.  I LOVE the flowers out here.  Lots of delphinium, peonies (which we didn't get, but I REALLY want some at our next house), columbine, etc.  I love the colors in our backyard. We also got some honeysuckle, clematis, and raspberry to grow along our fence and some strawberry plants, which we hope will do well next year.  The only problem with all of this?? The DOGS.  They love eating mulch and Quincey completely toppled one of my beautiful delphinium plants a few days ago.  We have some areas fenced off, but can't find enough fencing anywhere around here.  Also, our grass is completely destroyed from their urine.  I'm very happy they almost never have accidents in the house, but our grass is paying the price.  Even with the crappy grass, we're very happy with our backyard and love eating on the patio set on the cool Colorado evenings (yes, it is still cool here.)

About a week later, we traveled to Georgia for Memorial Day weekend.  This was the first time we had both been back in almost a year and it was a delightful visit.  I am particularly impressed all that was accomplished during our visit.  Jon and I traveled to Gainesville our first full day back to visit the Brenau library.  I left with a tear in my eye because looking back, I had the best job and worked with the best people.  I was so lucky to get a job like that straight out of graduate school.  We also managed to see Ashley, Adrian, Chris and Margaret, and also accomplished our main objective of surprising Jon's mom.  His dad wanted to throw a surprise party for Karen's 60th and have a lot of visiting relatives be the main surprise.  So he flew in relatives from Massachusetts and Minnesota, and we flew in from Colorado.  Karen was completely surprised, so mission accomplished.  I also got to spend some time with my parents and even visited a store that Bakerella likes (to the envy of some Colorado friends)!  I might just make some cake pops today.

So what do we have to look forward to this summer?  It's going to be crazy for me since summer in a public library means summer reading program.  When I can get away, Jon and I will be camping and exploring this place and hopefully one place in the Poudre Canyon this summer.  Jon's parents are visiting for the 4th and we'll be headed down to the Springs with the dogs in tow.  My parents will be out in the middle of the month and I hope to do some Wyoming explorations with them (and watch this).  Yes, Wyoming is my favorite state.

I plan on posting pictures of all this at some point.  For now though, it's on to positing some book reviews.  I need to catch up with my reading challenges!

1001 Goals Revisited

See below for my update.  Items in bold are either in-progress or completed.  Confused?

Start Date: July 18th, 2008
End Date: April 15th, 2011

Creativity:

1. Experiment with food design and making food look pretty (and taste good too.)  I took my first cake class in January.  I was going to continue in March, but we didn't have enough people to make a class.  Since then, I've been too busy, but it was the perfect winter hobby for me.
2. Pick up some form of sewing art.  Well, I tried to crochet again, and miserably failed.  My next hobby is embroidery!  I got a friend a gift certificate for her birthday and fell in love with the patterns.  So my next project is embroidering dachshunds on a half-apron!  I don't have a great track record, but I'm crossing my fingers. 
3. Draw and paint again .
4. Ask Jon to teach me basic photography techniques.
5. Ask Jon to teach me basic Photoshop techniques.
6. Make something with the bulk of dried lavender I accidentally bought last year.

Financial:

7. Establish a ROTH-IRA to supplement any retirement earned through an employer.
8. Start contributing to a cause... likely something to help animals and people who help animals (Humane Society or some ASPCA.)  We contributed to Toys for Tots and Dachshund Rescue of North America.
9. Make an effort to tithe more.
10. Continue to pay bills in full and on time.
11. Continue to stay credit card debt free (neither Jon nor I have ever been in cc debt) and continue to only use cards for what we can afford.
12. Pay off Wonda, my car.  I am bolding this one because my car will be paid off next month!
13. Get Jon a new car/truck, and only after my car is paid in full to avoid two car payments.
14. Prioritize major purchases for the house and only purchase another major item when the item of higher priority is paid in full.
15. Only dip into high interest savings either in a dire emergency or to use towards school.
16. Continue to contribute any small amount to the high interest travel fund.
17. Stay insured for health and dental even if unemployed.
18. Do not impulse buy books because they'll likely be donated within the year anyways.

Food:

19. Bake at least one confection per week, excepting vacations.  I've followed this one for the most part.
20. Grow an herb garden.
21. Bake bread more often and learn how to hand knead.
22. Better icing technique and piping skills.
23. Attempt a fancy pastry like a napoleon or an éclair, or reattempt the French macaroon.
24. Practice new cooking recipes to become a decent cook and not focus so much on baking.
25. Get used to high altitude baking.
26. Bake a soufflé (stole this one from Amanda.)
27. Start getting milk products from a dairy delivery service instead of the grocery store.  I love having a milk service.  The quality far surpasses the store.
28. Learn how to cook an authentic foreign dish.

Fun Times:

29. Get a dog and successfully train and socialize it.
30. Get a bike and use it.
31. Host some form of a get-together once per quarter.
32. Have board/card game nights as much as possible.
33. Watch all Doctor Who DVDs available on Netflix.
34. Go see a drum corps show if they come to Denver at any point, since I haven't been to one in a while.
35. Watch one watered down horror movie with Jon... during the day time... when it's sunny.
36. Watch the original Star Wars trilogy.
37. Attend some sort of theater event.
38. Go to at least one festival (food, Renaissance, etc.) 

Health/Environment:

39. Pick up an activity/hobby that requires exercise and/or being outside.
40.Walk as much as possible.
41. Join a club of some sort in Fort Collins to meet new people.
42. Make an effort to get out more.
43. Do not commute to any job more than 30 minutes, unless our financial independence relies on it. School would be an exception.
44. Continue using reusable bags at grocery stores.  
45. Eliminate coffee to very special occasions and drink only tea for caffeine needs.
46. Drink only one soda per week.
47. Replace all lamp bulbs with energy efficient ones.
48. Get a physical once every 3 years.
49. Go to the dermatologist every other year.
50. Wear sunscreen when exposed to the sun for long periods of time.
51. Learn to ski (I've never tried.)
52. Eat red meat at the most twice per week, preferably less.
53. Eat at least 3 servings of fruit/vegetables per day.
54. Start stretching and become limber again.
55. Learn how to shoot a gun.


Home/Organizing:

56. Never leave dishes unwashed.
57. Plant flowers and bushes around the house and maintain them to become a better gardener.
58. Decorate tastefully for Halloween, Christmas, and Easter.
59. Do not decorate for Christmas before the day after Thanksgiving (yeah, I might fail at this one.)
60. Devise a storage system for kitchen items.
61. Dog-proof the house.
62. Put up dry wall in the garage and devise an organized system for Jon's stuff.
63. At least make plans to have the basement refinished so Jon can have his office/man cave.
64. Get a bedroom set.
65. Establish the guest room.  We now have a real bed in the guest room ever since acquiring the sleep number bed.  My parents will no longer have to sleep on air mattresses!
66. Make a set and realistic house cleaning schedule and stick to it.

Learning/Career:

67. Consider schooling for possible new paths and try to avoid student loans to finance education.
68. Pick up French and Italian again, or learn Spanish, as it is more practical.
69. Read at least 3 history texts, mainly in European history (one on England, one on France, and one on Eastern Europe.)
70. Take a business or entrepreneur course if switching careers.
71. Re-read The Elements of Style by Strunk and White since I'm awful at grammar and writing, as well as other grammar books.
72. Have at least a part time job by October, whether it be as a librarian or something else.  
73. Vote in 2008 election.

Personal:

74. Get married and change my last name. I still need to change my life insurance though...
75. Make an effort to start my marriage off on the right foot by establishing alone time, us time, and keeping communication open.
76. Establish a living will.
77. Consider pregnancy or adoption by the age of 29 (having a child by 30.)
78. Be less private about my relationship with God, but do not overstep boundaries and do not rub religion in people's faces.
79. Attend church more often.
80. Get to know the in-laws better, as well as my own family.
81. Learn how to drive a stick shift.
82. Have my hair cut at least 5 inches sometime after the wedding.  Oh boy was it cut!
83. Make an effort to be more social and pursue quality friendships.  

Reading:

84. Read 100 classic novels that I have not previously read.
85. Read one book outside of my comfort zone.  I'm doing a book club for seniors.
86. Read and complete a Tolstoy novel (Anna Karenina was a failure for me.)
87. Read all current and past Printz, Newbery, and Caldecott Medal Winners.
88. Attempt the Lord of the Rings trilogy again.

Travel:

89. Visit at least 10 national parks that neither Jon nor I have previously visited.
90. See New Zealand.
91. Visit at least 2 of the 4 states I have left to see in the U.S. (Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, Idaho.)
92. Get back to Europe, preferably England again, but I wouldn't complain if I visited Prague, Greece, or Italy either.
93. Camp at least once per year.
94. Go to Dinosaur monument.
95. Take the Colorado Train
96. Drive through Independence Pass.
97. Take Jon to Devil's Tower and Little Bighorn.
98. Renew passport (can't travel internationally without it!)
99. Find a good and safe place to board the dog(s) when traveling.
100. Go home at least once a year.
101. Visit the Northeast again during summer.