Friday Favorites!

Hey y'all, Happy August!!! By the way, how in the world is it already August?!? This year is just flying by! We have lots going on, as usual...I'll let you know my favorites, then I'll add some updates because I haven't stayed on top of this blogging thing in quite a while!

1) New Schedule - I have the flexibility to work a 9/80 schedule at work and I haven't taken advantage of that. I decided to give it a shot and I'm really excited about it! I will start my new schedule next week. I will work 9 hour days Mondays -Thursdays. On Fridays, I will alternate between 8 hour days and days off. I'm so excited about this new schedule and I look forward to having every other Friday off!

2) Mortons Visit! - Andrew & Kristian came to visit us last weekend. We had a great time hanging out and showing them around Baltimore! 

We brewed beer at Dave's

Mmmmm! I told Josh if I ever consider becoming a vegetarian, he'll need to make some BBQ for me. :-)

Showing the Mortons around Fells Point

Love these people!

We actually went on top of Federal Hill for the first time!

3) Spain! - We're going to Spain in a few weeks (more to come on that) and we booked our last room last night! There's still a lot to plan, but we've got the essentials covered now!

Now to become fluent in Spanish ;-)

4) Jamberry - I discovered Jamberry when I was invited to a party in June. I'm flipping addicted to these wraps! I hate painting my nails just for the polish to chip off in a day or so. Problem solved! 

Ignore the fat hand. That is apparently not a very good angle. :-)

5) Weekday Walk - Josh and I used to walk Bailey together almost every night after work. Now that he's working 2 jobs (more on that tomorrow), that just doesn't happen anymore. Josh came home a little earlier than usual last night and we got to go on a walk with the pup. The weather was great and we really enjoyed ourselves!

I love the wildlife around our house!

Bailey got to search for ducks...

Did you guys see that duck I almost ate?!?

Then she got to play in the water...you know, after she chased all the ducks and geese away.

New 101 in 1001!

So...I'm FINALLY posting my new list. Here's to the next 1001 days!

Start date: 7/16/14
End date: 4/12/17

Italics=In progress
Bold=Complete
Red=I didn't do it

Adventure
1) Try a new type of ethnic food
2) Try a new meat
3) Go tubing
4) Go paddleboarding
5) Go ziplining
6) Take an overnight camping/backpacking trip (before Peru)
7) Go to a random festival
8) Eat a cheesesteak in Philly
9) Eat a cannoli at the North End
10) Watch noon formation at the Naval Academy
11) Go to The Memorial Illumination
12) Take a train ride

Discovery
13) Try a new outdoor activity
14) Visit a museum
15) Visit a new winery
16) Visit a new brewery
17) Learn something new about MD's history
18) Discover and experience 5 new MD things (SO much to do here) (0/5)

Entertainment

19) Read 75 books (0/75)

20) Go Crabbing
21) Eat at 20 new restaurants (0/20)
22) Go to a professional sporting event
23) Go to a concert
24) Have friends over for dinner (0/10)
25) Host a few game nights (0/5)

Financial
26) Save for a down payment for next home
27) Reach 401K goal

28) Reach savings goal
29) Pay off Explorer
30) Pay off HVAC

For Me
31) Revamp Blog...for real this time
32) Get a massage
33) Get a pedicure
34) Write a letter to myself to open in 5 years
35) Buy at least 5 outfits that make me feel great (0/5)
36) Have at least 5 girls nights (0/5)
37) Try 5 new hairstyles (0/5)

Giving Back/Acts of Kindness
38) Volunteer
39) Do something to show appreciation for the military

40) Donate unwanted items bi-annually (0/6)

41) Leave a nice note for a random stranger
42) Pay it forward at least once a month (0/33)

43) Donate $5 for each incomplete item

Hobbies
44) Hike Old Rag
45) Try a new hobbie
46) Improve food photography
47) Learn enough Spanish to get by in a Spanish speaking country

Home
48) Organize master closet
49) Organize garage
50) Organize laundry closet
51) Finish drawers on our bed
52) Paint kitchen ceiling
53) Paint second guest room
54) Replace door in guest bedroom
55) Make a new menu board
56) Organize kitchen drawers
57) Buy our next home
58) Get a new comforter for our bed

In the Kitchen

59) Try 75 new dishes

60) Make Pasta from scratch
61) Learn to make Paella
62) Make homemade ice cream/gelato/sorbet
63) Make sushi

Life/Relationships

64) Create a will
65) Create a living will

66) Get death wishes from parents
(I know it sounds morbid, but I don't want to be worried with figuring out what to do at such a difficult time)

Marriage
67) Do a Bible study together
68) Have lunch together, during the work week (0/10)
69) Drive somewhere random together, with no destination in mind
70) Do something new and completely random together
71) Do something creative with our wedding vows
72) Make activity jars for when we can't decide what to do
73) Go on at least 2 dates per month (0/66)
74) Learn something new about each other
75) Watch our favorite childhood movies together

Mind/Body/Soul
75) Read the whole Bible
76) Complete a Bible study
77) Reach my goal weight...again
78) Hike Machu Picchu
79) Complete the 100 pushup challenge
80) Complete a 10K in an hour or less

Personal Development
81) Take and pass the GRE
82) Start Grad School
83) Learn the basics of our new camera


Pets
84) Take Bailey on 1 trip per year (0/3)
85) Teach Bailey something new
86) Try a new activity with Bailey

Random

87) Repurpose an article of clothing
88) Get wedding dress cleaned 
89) Make a photo book of our travels

Travel
90) Visit Philadelphia

91) Visit a new state
92) Visit Dolly Sods

93) Take a spontaneous weekend trip

94) Visit a new country

95) Go back to NY

96) Visit Spain

97) Visit South America

98) Visit Iceland

99) Visit the Vegas Strip
100) Visit a non-coastal state west of the Mississippi (not including the Vegas trip)

101) Make a new 101 in 1001 list

101 in 1001 Results

I haven't blogged in approximately FOREVER! I didn't even realize this had passed! I've been keeping it in mind, but I had completely lost track of time. I plan on making some changes to my blog, so I'll post my new 101 in 1001 list once I update!

I didn't do so well with this...I didn't complete 33 items, so I had to donate $165. If you know me at all, you know I absolutely love animals...probably more than I like people. I chose to donate to MidAtlantic Bully Buddies. They are a bully breed focused dog rescue in my area. They foster all of their dogs until they can find good homes for them. I have always had a soft spot for Pitties & other bully breeds, so this was a pretty easy choice for me!

I'm a really big list person. I make lists for everything. If you've never heard of 101 in 1001, I'll fill you in a little. Basically, you make a list of 101 present tasks you would like to accomplish in 1001 days (or 143 weeks, or 32.89 months, or 2.74 years). The tasks must be specific with a goal that is measurable and clearly defined. They should be realistic and stretching, so they should represent some amount of effort. 

Why am I doing this? I think it's a great way to keep life interesting. If I don't have tasks, or goals in mind. Life just flies by and I don't even realize it. Of course it will still fly by, but at least I'll be doing everything I can to enjoy every minute of it. This is a great way to document that! 

I started making my list for this well over a year ago. I never really kept up with it. In the end, I just threw things on the list to fill it up. I found the list not too long ago. I don't even want to do half of the things I put on there any more. For example, I was supposed to watch a bunch of classic movies. I don't remember how many, but it was a lot. I should have known better than to put this down. I usually don't care for older movies. Don't get me wrong, there are some I would like to see, but I found myself looking through Netflix, trying to find classics. I would just cringe when I saw the movie posters and things for them (yes, I'm quite shallow when it comes to movies...I appreciate the glam and technology we have today over whatever it is people see in the classics). What would you put on your list?

Start date: 6/16/2011
End date: 3/13/2014

Italics=In progress
Bold=Complete
Red=I didn't do it

Cooking

1) Make a meal with things only from my garden (or mostly, I can use eggs, seasonings, oils, flour...those types of things...otherwise I would just have to make a salad)
I'll try for this one again when we have the space to have a decent garden. 

2) Compile a cookbook of my favorite recipes

3) Cook lobster at home

4) Try 50 new dishes (50/50) (*=favorite) - 1/28/13

* Chicken Spaghetti
* Chicken Bruschetta Pasta
Red Velvet Pancakes
Crab Pretzels
Cheddar Bay Biscuits
* Lemon Blueberry Pancakes
Peanut Butter Cookies
Pumpkin Pancakes
Horseradish Crusted Beef Roast
Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
Crab Wontons
Crab Dip
Avacado Basil Pasta
* Hamburger Steak with Gravy and Onions
Chicken Enchilada Puffs
Baked Chorizo Ravioli
* Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas
Cookie Dough Dip
Turkey Tortilla Soup (This recipe, but with turkey leftovers!)
Farfalle di Pollo al Sugo Bianco
Chicken Bryan
Salmon Cakes
Turkey Enchilada Spaghetti (this recipe, but with turkey)
Mexican Chicken Casserole
Baklava
Pan Fried Onion Dip
* Chicken Parmesan Bake
* Healthy Sweet Potato Skins
Corn and Cheese Chowder
Quinoa "Burgers" 
* Mushroom Risotto
Brocolli Quinoa Casserole
Roasted Veggie Enchiladas
Veggie Frittata
Mashed Cauliflower
Colcannon Cakes
* Oreo Truffles
Lemon Drop Cupcakes
Single-Serve Monkey Bread
*Hashbrown Casserole
Jalapeno Popper Dip
Beer Bread
Beer n Bacon Mac n Cheese Bites
Crockpot Baked Apples
Mocha Silk Pie
*Twice Baked Cauliflower
Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken
Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Quinoa Kale Risotto
Barramundi Osso Buco

5) Make pasta from scratch

Entertainment 

6) Go crabbing

7) Eat at 10 new restaurants (10/10) - 1/2/11 

Alewife

Harpoon Hanna's
Fuddrucker's
Riptide by the Bay
Burger Bros
Cadillac Ranch
Akbar
Pacific Coast Dining Company
Ellicott Mills Brewing Company
Claddagh Pub

8) Try a new type of ethnic food-12/2/11-Indian YUM!

9) Try a new type of food (ingredient)- 8/29/11-Buffalo

10) Go to a comedy club

11) Watch all of the Star Wars movies

12) Go to a shooting range (1/24/12)

13) Host a Super Bowl party - Woohoo...GO HAWKS!

14) Host a game night

15) Go to a new theme park (Hershey Park)

16) Go ice skating

17) Drive in DC

18) Go to an Oriole's game

19) Go to a horse race - (Decanter-4/21)

20) Go to a regular season NFL game

21) Attend at least one home and 1 away NC State football game a season (5/6)

22) Attend 1 NC State basketball game a season (2/3)

Financial

23) Pay off credit card debt

24) Pay off student loan debt (1/25/13)

25) Start 401K/Roth IRA

26) Build our emergency fund to 3 months

27) Build our emergency fund to 6 months

28) Start meal planning again

29) Find a way to make a steady supplemental income 
I did one better, I found a better job!

For Me

30) Get a massage (10/21/11)

31) Have my house cleaned (11/5/11)

32) Write a letter to myself to open in 5 years

33) Get a manicure and pedicure

34) Buy at least 5 new outfits that make me feel great (5/5)

35) Make a list of 100 things I love/that make me happy to put in craft room

36) Learn to change a tire (and actually change one)

37) Ride a horse again (3/9/12)

38) Take a class on a subject that interests me (Access)

39) Get a new passport (3/3/12)
40) Either sale/donate/or find another use for my wedding dress

Giving Back/Acts of Kindness

41) Donate unwanted items bi-annually  (6/6)

42) Leave a 50% tip

43) Leave a nice note in a library book for someone to find

44) Donate $5 for each incomplete task to charity

45) Send a care package to a soldier

46) Volunteer

Hobbies

47)  Re-vamp the blog...it's been the same since I started it

48) Scrapbook wedding

49) Scrapbook honeymoon

50) Build a piece of furniture

51) Re-upholster or paint/dye an old chair

52) Re-finish a piece of furniture

53) Read 50 books (50/50)

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels
Pretty Little Things
The Men I didn't Marry
Gone with the Wind
The Pretend Wife
Of Mice and Men
Murder by Family
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl who Played with Fire
I'll be Home Soon
The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
The Hunger Games
Pictures of You
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
The Pride and the Prejudice
Water for Elephants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Accidentally Yours
Breaking the Rules
Nights in Rodanthe
Deadly Little Secret (Touch Series)
The Notebook
Deadly Little Lies (Touch Series)
Deadly Little Games (Touch Series)
Deadly Little Voices (Touch Series)
Dead Until Dark 
Living Dead in Dallas 
50 Shades of Grey
The Help
Club Dead
50 Shades Darker
50 Shades Freed
The Lucky One
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
The 5 People You Meet in Heaven
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Hidden: A Bone Secrets Novel
The Wedding
Pretty Little Liars
The Choice
Left Behind: A Novel of Earth's Last Days
The Vow
Tribulation Force: The Continuing Drama of Those Left Behind
Gone Girl
Sharp Objects
Dark Places
Extra books:
Nicolae: Left Behind #3

 54) Attempt to make wine/brew beer

Home

55) Update kitchen counters

56) Update kitchen cabinets

57) Make a piece of art to display in our house

58) Add something I love to every room of our house

59) Decorate guest room - I will probably keep adding, but I am content with the way this room looks. It is probably one of my favorite rooms in our house so far.

60) Decorate living room

61) Find use for empty space in kitchen and utilize it

62) Install functional storage in laundry closet doors - Unfortunately, this is not possible due to the bi-fold doors we have. The space we have does not allow for the french doors I originally wanted.

63) Build deck - We decided this wasn't worth the money it was going to cost for the short amount of time we will spend in this house.

64) Fence in yard - Our yard is so small, we've decided it's really not worth it.

65) Landscape front yard

66) Establish a cleaning schedule

67) Make a household binder

68) Get a safe for important things - 1/18/12

69) Decorate master bedroom

70) Get TV for State Room - 2/10/12

Life/Relationships

71) Start retirement or other type of savings plan for Daddy (because he will never do it himself)
72) Create a will (Josh and I)
73) Create a living will (Josh and I)
74) Get supplemental life insurance (3/1/13)
75) Make 10 cards to send to friends and family (0/10)
76) Take another family vacation - Due to time/schedule restrictions, we have not been able to go out of town with family, but we have taken a day trip with each side of the family...Hershey Park with Josh's and DC with mine. Since this satisfied my goal of getting out of the house & doing something different with our family, I counted this.

Marriage

77) Take a full day for us to relax together once a month (22/33) - I stopped counting this. It just wasn't happening.

78) Take family pictures at least once

79) Have 2 dates per month (66/66)

80) 50 random acts of kindness for Josh

81) Not get pregnant

Mind/Body/Soul

82) Get back to my wedding day weight

83) Run 1 mile

84) Run 2 miles

85) Run a 5K

86) Complete some sort of exercise program

87) Find a church

88) Answer the 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind

Pets

89) Take Bailey swimming

90) Teach Bailey to put away toys

91) Teach Bailey to "say your prayers"

92) Teach Bailey to bring beer

93) Make and organize a file for Bailey

Travel

94) Go on a cruise - We decided to go on an all inclusive rather than a cruise.

95) Take a spontaneous weekend trip

96) Tour a Wine Trail

97) Visit 5 new towns in MD (5/5)

North Beach, MD
Hampstead, MD
Frederick, MD
Sykesville, MD
Keedysville, MD

98) Visit a new state (DE -7/30/11)

99) Go back to NY

100) Travel outside the country (other than a cruise) - We went back to Mexico to celebrate our 3rd anniversary & we visited the Dominican Republic in February, 2014!

101) Make a new 101 in 1001 list

Friday Favorites!!!

Wow...has it really been over a month since I've blogged?!? Life has gotten a little crazy, so I haven't had the spare time to devote to blogging. Don't worry though, the crazy is really good. Hopefully I'll have more details in the coming months. (No, it's not baby related). So...here goes for my Friday favorites:

- Teeth Cleaning - We had our dentist appointment this week. We had to re-schedule it twice due to snow, so I was glad it finally happened! Maybe it's weird, but I love having my teeth cleaned!

- Game night - Last Saturday, we had another couple over for games. We had a nice, low key night at the house, but it was tons of fun! I can't wait for the next one!

- Snow - We've had a good amount of snow this year! We had a couple inches a few times then 6+ inches on 2 separate occasions. Bailey has been loving it! I really enjoy the snow, but I'm getting a little tired of the cold weather!

This was after I arrived at work one day a few weeks ago. With the windchill, it was around -20 this day. This Southern gal is NOT cut out for negative temperatures!

This is Bailey pouncing for her stick. I love watching her play in the snow :-)

- Skype - I got to Skype with my niece this week. I love that little girl so much, we should definitely do it more often!

- Vacation - Speaking of snow and cold weather...we decided last year when we went to Mexico during hurricane season that we wanted to go somewhere warmer in the winter. During the past few weeks, we've been planning our trip to the Dominican Republic!!! I'm quite ready for it! Our 10 day forecast shows a chance of snow on 5 days! The 10 day forecast for DR shows some scattered showers, but weather in the mid 70s to mid 80s. Yes please!

- Honey Pig - If you ever have to opportunity to eat at a Korean BBQ restaurant...DO IT! you choose your meats and they're grilled right at your table. It's similar to Hibachi, but better in my opinion. It was just our personal table, and I like the intimacy of it. The downside is you leave with your clothes smelling like the food you had, but it's worth it!

 This is the duck BBQ that Josh picked. I chose Bulgogi, which is marinated, thinly sliced beef. Both were awesome!

- Superbowl - I was more excited about the Superbowl this year than I have been any other year!

4 former Wolfpack players got to play on Sunday and I am SO excited for all of them! I was pulling hard for the Seahawks, but I wouldn't have been horribly upset if the Broncos would have won. Nate Irving still would have gotten a Superbowl ring. Fortunately, the Hawks were able to pull out a win! Congrats to Russell Wilson, JR Sweezy & Steven Hauschka!!!

- Spontaneous date night - After we finished getting our teeth cleaned, we realized that I was completely out of it when I booked our appointment, because it was rush hour! We didn't want to spend a ton of time in traffic, so we decided to go out for Happy Hour at On The Border. We were planning on using the time to be productive and trip plan, but it was worth putting it off one more night :-).

- Happy Hour x3- On Wednesday, we met friends at DuClaw for a beer release and yet another Happy Hour! Another thing you should definitely try if you ever get a chance is duck fat fries. They're delicious! We have another Happy Hour planned for tonight with Josh's work team. After tonight...I'm back on my vacation diet...seriously this time!  

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone has had a great start to 2014!

I have no complaints. We kept it low key and brought in the New Year with the Smiths at our house. 2013 was a great year and it passed by so quickly! I look forward to seeing what 2014 brings our way.

I thought it might be a good idea to post my resolutions. Here we go...

1) Get back to my goal weight - I reached it in 2013 but put it right back on. This time I would like to keep it off!

2) Get organized - I plan to tackle the house one room at a time. We need to do some serious de-cluttering and organizing. I plan to start the first major part this weekend in the craft room. Before and after pictures to come!

3) Meet our financial goals (that we haven't specified just yet).

I would also like to take advantage of the time we have and travel as much as possible. We hope to start trying for a baby in about a year and a half...so we want to see as many places as we can before that happens :-). 

What are your resolutions?

2013 Recap

2013 was a pretty eventful year. Here's what happened...

January

We spent New Years at home with the Smiths. Low key, but a great time!

We paid off the last of our student loans!!! Woohoo!

February

Bailey turned 2. I can't believe how much she has grown!


The Ravens won the Super Bowl and we took off a day of work to go to the parade.

March
Our friends Nikki & Bryan had their beautiful triplets 2.5 months early, the day before our dating anniversary!

We celebrated our 12th dating anniversary! We went to Flying Dog for our first tour then out to dinner with friends. We had a great time!!!

Josh's cousin got married in VA.

Love weddings!

We FINALLY finished our bar.


We got the biggest snow of the "Winter" on March 25th.

April

We got sod put in and our yard looks SO much better!

Before and immediately after. It's still pretty green in January!

We celebrated Easter with my family here.

Natalia stayed a week with us.




We updated our master bathroom by painting, replacing the light fixtures, faucets and mirrors, AND by painting the cabinets and adding new hardware.


Cabinets Before                                                   Cabinets After


We went from this...


To this.

May 
Our niece, Ally was born!

We celebrated the 2nd anniversary of us buying our home!

We went to NC for Sherry & Aaron's wedding!

We went to NC for Natalia's 6th birthday party


We had to replace our HVAC.

I finally reached my goal weight (then put it back on over the next few months).

June
I hosted my sister's baby shower.

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary in Mexico!


...during hurricane season


July
I ran my first 5K/Mud Run!


Baby Zachary was born


August
Our nephew, Jaden was born!


September
We took Bailey for her first hike.


We updated the guest bathroom.

I ran my first 10K.

I finished in 1:08:10. My goal is to finish in less than an hour this year.

October
We went to Busch Garden's for Jen's birthday.


We flooded our kitchen and ruined the ceiling in the State room.


...then we fixed it


We went to Raleigh for the State v. Clemson game.


November
We went camping with Bailey for the first time.


We went to California!


December
We bought our SUV!


We celebrated Christmas at our house.

I got a Vitamix AND we got a new camera. We got a Canon 60D! Now to learn how to use it :-)

Bailey posing for the new camera :-)

We went to NC to spend Christmas with our family and friends.

Then we ended 2013 just the way we started it. Hanging out here with the Smiths. Except this time, baby Zachary was with us!

New Family Member

Nope...no baby for us, but we got a new car! Well, new to us. Josh and I have been considering buying a second car for quite a while. Our work schedules are getting less flexible and it's just getting harder and harder to share a car. We've done lots of research and talked to friends. We have known for quite a while that we wanted to buy an Explorer next, but we were going to test drive the competitors just in case. We needed to go to the Honda dealership to get the Civic serviced one weekend in December. We were going to drive the Pilot while we were there anyway. We actually weren't able to get an appointment, so we decided to just go drive Explorers instead. I was fine with that. I don't care for the way the Pilots look, I just felt like I should give them a chance. 

I've been keeping an eye on Explorers for months. I was hoping to buy a new one and Josh wanted to buy a used one. I didn't mind buying a used one, but I was having a very difficult time finding used ones that had everything we wanted. I checked our company's discount website not really expecting to find anything and I found a 2011 Explorer that had leather seats (a must for both of us) and a tow package (a strong preference for Josh). That was great, but the price was awesome! We decided to go ahead and test drive it. We thought we would go drive it, try to talk them down a little more, then hopefully buy it later in the week if we liked it. We didn't expect them to come down much at all based on our last car buying experience. We drove it and we loved it! I didn't look at all the features when I saw it online, but it turned out it had EVERYTHING on our wishlist, not just the must haves. It was in great shape. We drove it and we loved it! 

I was sold, but Josh was determined to get a them to come down another $1,500 on the price. At first, they just came down $1,000. Josh told them no. The salesman said that was the best they could do on that day and asked if there was anything else they could do to change our minds. I said they could throw in the extended warranty. They came back and said they could come down the $1,500. Woohoo!

We got it at the perfect time too! It's nice having a 4 wheel drive vehicle in the snow!

So, here it is!

We've had it for a month now and we love it!