6 months remaining!

I have crossed quite a few goals off since my last cumulative update and I have several in the works. Let's so what's left.

3. Get a passport - I plan on getting our pictures taken for this over the weekend as part of C's birthday and filing our paperwork this week.
4. Go to Las Vegas - Booking this trip in the next few days. I am meeting up with my bestie!
5. Make a coffee table - Still waiting on C to wrap this one up!
6. Go to Costa Rica - Hopefully happening in the next 15 months or less, likely not in the next 6 months. Stupid economy!
8. Take a hot air balloon ride - I wish Austin had a huge festival for this. I have been to ones like Steamboat Springs, CO. That would make this alot easier!
9. Learn to Scuba - Likely not happening
11. Make wedding album - I have tried to get ahold of our photographer. Apparently her email address is no longer valid. I am going to have to try and snail mail her.
13. Lose 25 pounds (10/25) - Slowly chopping away at this.
18. Finish love seat project - I need to just do this!
19. Go to Yellowstone - not happening.
20. Start house hunting - We got scared away by the crazy lady at the bank.
21. Buy a house unless we have a sudden windfall of money, not happening.
23. Buy a car - no need.
24. Get a couples massage with the hubby - hoping somewhere has a good discount for Valentine's day. Anyone know??
28. Find a new church - I need to accept that nothing will replace my church family I grew up with. then maybe my standards won't be so high.
32. Get back into yoga - I need a yoga buddy. SMD why don't you live here!?
36. Find a job I love - I love spending days with little miss Eve, but it is just temporary until she goes to school in the fall. sigh.
37. Buy a china cabinet - harder quest then I imagined. I can't find an antique one that is just right. ie exactly like my moms.
38. Finish buying china (nearly done!) - Just have 6 soup bowls to buy and maybe a platter.
40. Get wedding dress cleaned - I recently got some dry cleaning referrals for places in town. I just couldn't bring myself to ship off my dress.
43. Learn how to make Creme Brulee - I have purchased ramekins and have looked at recipes, now I just need all the hours it takes to make it.
44. Help SMD get a new job and relocate - this has officially become a lost cause. She is not moving anytime soon and certainly won't be closer to me :(
49. Find a fabulous swimsuit - I think I have to go to a swimsuit store for this so I can find a long one piece.
55. Buy a designer purse - At this point I would take any purse that I loved. I can't find a new bag at all. boo!
56. Make a fountain for the patio - Waiting on the hubby...
60. Learn about investments (401k, ira, etc) - I have a much better understanding of these now, wonder if I should cross it off?
67. Visit a Texas winery - I have been to one, just wasn't able to partake in wine since I was working...
68. Go to Big Bend Park - Likely not happening
69. Make a new piece of stained glass - i have a piece in mind I just need to see what glass I need to buy.
70. Finish dining room chair project - my sister claims every time she visits that she is going to help me with this, but she hasn't. She was even here in December!
71. Take an art class - I think I should count a scrapbooking class for this that I have taken. It isn't the sort of class I had in mind, but I think I should count it.
78. Adopt an animal through the WWF - I can't decide what to adopt!
80. Volunteer at an animal shelter - How do I go about doing this?
81. Learn to play chess - I guess I could ask hubby to show me this weekend...
87. Go to the Texas State Fair - I think I missed my chance on this one.
88. Learn how to decorate a cake - need to sign up for a class, but it would be more fun with a friend!
90. Go parasailing - sigh
95. Scan and print wedding photos (or order prints) - See #11.
100. Make a new list of 101 things - in progress
101. Blog about all 101 - in progress

Well that leaves 40 things. I wish I was farther, but at least I have made progress in the last 6 months!

#61 File Taxes

Just finished filling in all the forms. We actually got the W2's in the mail before February this year! Glad to cross this one off my list.

#17 and #84 Decorating the Bedroom

Before

After

When we first moved to Austin we had to pieces of real furniture. Our bed and my beloved drafting table. We had a crappy MDF bookcase from college that we stacked our clothes on in the closet and another smaller set that we used as nightstands until we bought furniture. One of my goals for this list was to decorate our bedroom because it was the last room to get done. No one ever really sees it so it went by the wayside. Well it is done!

Here you will note hand-me-down dust ruffle (not our colors!), the cheap nightstands and the down comforter that you need for maybe one week in Texas. There are no pictures of the other walls because there is simply nothing there to show, just empty space.

Now there is a much cooler quilt and a much more stylish dust ruffle. My dad made the floating nightstands to match the dressers we purchased. I love them! Both of the lamps are from Target as is the bedding. Our new body pillow is our headboard. It is perfect for what we need now. Maybe when we move, something else will be done.

Here is a close-up of the frame on my nightstand. My sister made this for me as my Matron of Honor gift at her wedding. It is pictures of us all through childhood. :)

Here is a close-up of the poppy painting I made. I painted the sides to match the quilt so it pops against the wall. The quote says "You're my favorite person" and it is something that my husband says to me all the time. :)

This is on the wall that has the door and the entrance to our closet.

This is the opposite side of the room. We purchased these dressers from Furniture in the Raw and stained them ourselves. We also purchased the stylish knobs.

This is a painting my sister-in-law made us for our wedding. The best part is that is looks just as good when we have our glasses off laying in bed.

Photos on my husband's dresser. He think pictures of us in the bedroom is weird, so we have various items we have photographed.

Here are the photos on my dresser. My sister helped me pick out all the photos and put them in their frames.

There you have it. The only thing that isn't new is the black-out curtains, as they are necessary for the security lamp that resides under our window, and the mattress.

Aww

Check out the wonderful Mollie's new wedding website. Hubby & I made page 7 of the couples section :)

#25 & #91

This past weekend we went camping at Bastrop State Park. While it was a bit chilly at night we had a good time, I didn't even complain ;) It is amazing how roasty toasty you can be with down. My hubby picked this park for two reasons. 1-It is a beautiful pine woods that has no cedar within many miles. A blessing for my allergies. 2- The park used to be part of the ocean so it is sandy. With all the rain we have recently had, it meant it wasn't a giant mud hole.

The view from our tent. So pretty.

Delicious marshmallow...Yum!

After we roasted marshmallows we spread out a blanket and checked off another item, star gazing. A while back I bought my husband this chart. It is a star chart that glows in the dark! Way better than blinding yourself by turning on a flashlight in the total darkness. We spotted Orion, Andromeda, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Gemini and the little dipper. Not too shabby.

Products I love

I am one of those people that always gets stopped in stores to help other customers find something or to comment on what I am buying or remark on something I am wearing. It is a strange phenomenon, but it happens at every type of store I go to. So I thought I would share some of the products I currently love and often get asked about.

I love my OPI Russian Navy nail polish. It is both purple and blue depending on the light. I adore it!


I have been trying to "go green" when it comes to some of my household cleaners. I have tried several products out, but they have never worked as well as I would like. This all purpose cleaner from seventh generation works great! It cuts through grease and cleans up stainless steel.

I have been looking for a hair new product since my beloved Aussie cream got discontinued. I have tried a dozen products, but nothing was ever quite as good. I really love this styling cream. I have only made it a month with this product, but so far I really like it. It smells great, isn't crusty, and leaves my curls structured but soft.


This is actually a product that was recommended to me while I was in Target. Lemi Shine works better than Jet Dri and other similar products. It leaves the dishes spot free and helps with the hard water we have here. You just toss some in with your detergent and wallah! clean dishes without the city water smell.

This is by far one of the best changes I have made. We always used Cascade and the like in our dishwasher. Never really thought about changing until our dishes just didn't seem to be getting all the way clean or they had a lingering smell. I decided to try out Palmolive's eco dishwasher gel and love it. It is also better for the environment and is phosphate free!

There you have it. Just a few products I love.

Third Anniversary

The traditional third anniversary gift is leather. My hubby got me a new camera strap with leather ends. While our third anniversary was a couple of months ago, it took hubby awhile to find the perfect strap for me (I guess I am picky) and then a bit more time to get it put on.

I love this strap because it is not the standard Canon strap (that screams boring) and because it is more comfy and less sweaty! My strap was purchased locally at Precision Camera, but you can find more mod products at their website. My strap is the Stone fabric and it was $6 cheaper to buy it at Precision (even cheaper if you factor in shipping).

#50, #33 & #97

I recently had a boudoir session with Adrienne Huebner. We shot on a very cold, but sunny, day outside in December. The cold was worth the amazing shots we got. Because of this event I bought several sets of expensive lingerie (#33) and I splurged on a pair of shoes I will likely never wear again (#50).

I am making an album for my hubby for his birthday at the end of January. On the very first image in the book I have written a love letter to him on. This takes care of item #97.

If you are contemplating getting pictures done, do it! I highly recommend Adrienne. She makes you fell really comfortable and helps you out with the poses. She is also up for almost anything including a short hike on a chilly, 38 degree windchill, day! Also, a shout out to Ashley who helped me out that day :)

Did you really think I would post a half naked picture!?

#38 China

Since I posted this a little while back we have received a bunch of our remaining pieces as Birthday and Christmas gifts! We just need 6 more soup bowls and maybe a larger platter and then we will have all the pieces we want. I am so excited. Now to find my dream cabinet...

January goals

I have tons of real 101 updates coming soon. I have actually crossed a few things off my list. Somehow the last three months of the year always get away from me. sigh. In the meantime here are some household goals I will be trying to accomplish this month. For me, January is all about cleaning and organizing.

• Catch up on Quicken (I am more than a wee bit behind)
• Clean out closets and dressers
• Donate any items we don't wear or need anymore
• Shred outdated files
• Back up and sort photo files
• Clean out the pantry
• Start a list of what is in the freezer
• Start a weekly cleaning schedule and encourage C to help :)

That is all I can think of right now. I will report back at the end of the month and let you know how the list went!