Final June Update

I made pretty good progress in June!

2.  Completed finding a geocache!

16. I only journaled 4/5 times this month.

22.  I recently finished reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Harmless and Boy Meets Boy


32. Went to a Mets game to complete this goal.

33. Went to a Rob Thomas concert to complete this goal

35.  I recently decided on a bunch of shows to drop next tv season.  I still need to decide what new shows to try.

40.  I succeeded in being tv free once a week

42.  I made two new recipies.  One was Wine chicken with Shallots, which was delicious.  The other was Phyllo-wrapped chicken, which was also very good.

44.  I continued to cook at home once a week

49.  The night at the Mets game was our date night for the month

50.  I am considering my goal to move out of my parents' house in progress because Justin and I just signed the lease for our own apartment!  We will be fully moved in by August.

70.  So far I am up to a total of 10 days doing something outside this summer, which is a good start.

78.  I went to a park one time, so I may do this goal this summer.

92.  I finished week 5 of my sit ups, and did my exhaustion test.  I was able to do 83 sit-ups in one go!

Mid-June Update

16.  I have written in my journal 3 times so far this month, so I'm on track for that goal.


21.  I read The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin


22.  I read Goose Girl by Shannon Hale


41.  Amy, Justin and I had a game night on Saturday.  It was a lot of fun, and we got to play lots of board games.


42. I cooked two new recipes so far.  The firs twas BBQ beef sandwiches, which I made in a crock pot.  They were smoky and tasty.  The second was Mexican lasagna.  It was really easy and tasted pretty good!


44.  I cooked at home on the 9th and 16th, although I missed one week.


61.  I got my second HPV vaccine shot.  Only one more to go!


66.  I'm just about ready to say this one is complete.  I have almost fully converted to Curly Girl.  I wash my hair differently, and dry it differently.  It has gotten much curlier.  So far this month I tried two of the recipes.  I used lemon and baking soda in recipes to clean my hair.  I'm just waiting to see if I can get a Deva style hair cut before I call this one complete.


70.  So far I have done something outside 6 times this month.


75.  I went to another local event: the Apalachin Field Days.  My dad and I worked in the balloon dart booth to benefit challenger baseball.


92.  I am on week 5 out of 6 of my sit ups plan.  I think I may have to repeat the last two weeks a few times before I am ready to do 200 sit ups though.


94.  I finished week 6/12 of my walking.


Finally:  I decided to get rid of goals 38.  Make a list of 100 things I want to see, and 39.  See 20 of them.  I took this goal from someone else's list, and it isn't really resonating with me.  I still am doing the other goal of making a list of things I want to learn about.  I will update when I have replacements for these goals.

(Late) End of May Update.

Progress since the last update:

Complete!
45. Go to 10 new restaurants.  I finished this when Justin and I were in Corning.  We went to Thali of India for lunch.  It was great.  I hadn't had Indian food in a few years and was really craving it.

In progress:

16.  I journaled 5 times this month

20.  I finished The Kite Runner and Their Eyes Were Watching God


21.  I finished The Hobbit


22.  I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and The River Between Us by Richard Peck


37.  I watched my S movie: Signs


40.  I had a tv free night in all but one week of May

42.  I cooked Jerk Chicken with Asparagus and Cauliflower, which I took a picture of:

44.  I cooked at home 3/4 weeks because I didn't cook this week.

49.  For our date Justin spent a day in Corning, NY.  We went shopping at all the local shops and had fabulous Indian food.

51.  I shopped at a few local businesses in Corning, including buying something from Market Street Coffee and Tea

92.  I am restarting my sit-ups at week 3 because I lapsed a little bit and want to build my strength up more before continuing.

94.  I've completely stopped walking the past few weeks so I'll have to get back into it

Mid-May Update

First of all, I got hired as a school library media specialist for the 2010-2011 school year!  That means I have completed goal number 24, which is huge to me!

Other progress:
16.  A little behind on journaling this month so far. I've only done it once.

20.  I finished listening to Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, which was amazing.  I'll write a review next.

37.  I've watched another movie, Reign Over Me, which I have already created a post for.

42.  I've really been on top of cooking new recipes.  I've already tried four more from my Rocco Dispirito book:
1. Baked Onion Rings
2. Healthy Sloppy Joes, which were really good, made with turkey but still tasted just like a sloppy joe
3. Really good sweet potato fries, which had a good spicy-sweet flavor
4.  Healthy Philly Cheese Steak, which I really enjoyed

44.  I have been cooking at home once a week, which lets me try new recipes.

51.  I visited two local businesses.  I bought my mom's mothers day present from Tom's in Binghamton, and some hand lotion and candy from East of the Sun West of the Moon in Owego

66.  I have gone through the Curly Girl Book and have started my conversion.  I'm not going to shampoo anymore and I'm trying out a new conditioner.  I have ordered towels especially designed for getting the right amount of water from curly hair, and I'm going to try some of the home remedies in the book soon.

92.  I just finished week 3 of the 200 sit-up challenge

94.  I just finished week 5 of my 12 week walking program

End of April Update

April wasn't super productive for me, but I did make headway on some of my goals.

16.  I only journaled 2 times this month instead of five, so I'll have to try better next month.

20.  Finished two more books getting my total to 6/50

24.  I've been searching for jobs every week.  I had an interview this month but didn't get the job, and I'm still waiting to hear back from another school district.

37.  I saw a few new movies this month, which I blogged about already.  My total is up to 9/26

40.  I have managed to keep up with the goal of have a tv-free night once a week

42.  I cooked two new recipes this month, jalapeño poppers, and Chicken Marsala, bringing my total to 4/20

44.  I cooked once a week while I was at home.  I went away one week during April, but other than that I've been cooking away for my family.

49.  This month's date with Justin was pretty low key.  We went to a flea market and then out to lunch at the Skylark diner.

61.  I got the first of three shots for the HPV vaccine, so I'm on my way to completing this goal.

63.  I went to my two different doctors to discuss my current medical concerns.  I could check this off now, but I'm going to wait to see if I want to go back for bloodwork to see if I have rheumatoid arthritis, since I put that off at the last doctor's visit.

64.  I am doing very well with my goal to find techniques for managing anxiety.  I am in physical therapy for some of my physical symptoms.  I've been getting more into breathing exercises and meditation.  Also, the doctor gave me an herbal supplement to help.  I am not going to mark this complete yet, as I'm also working on a self-help program through the book When Panic Attacks that I think will help me.

72.  I recorded four more flip videos of the various birthday celebrations for my sister, bringing my total to

92.  I have finished week 2 of the 200 sit up challenge program.

94.  I've been doing well with walking, getting through week 4 of the 12 week program.

Final March update

I did pretty well getting through what I wanted to do this month. I haven't finished another goal completely yet, but I have good progress for some.

10. I've sorted through my pictures from England. I have about 200 I want to print, and it will probably cost at least $50.00 to do that, so I'm going to work on saving money.

16. I actually journaled five times this month! It didn't even seem that hard, so go me!

20. I finished another adult book: The Paradise Snare by A. C. Crispin.  I'll write an entry about it soon.

22.  I read another YA book which I'm counting as my "G" book:  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.  Again, I'll create a book entry soon.

24.  I kept up with my job searching.  I even went to a job fair for educators.  This past Monday I had a job interview, and I have another scheduled for mid-April

26.  I organized my professional development papers from grad school in a nice binder, separated by type of information.

35.  I ranked my tv shows by how much I like them so that when I start cutting them out it's easier

40.  I had a tv free night every week, which I always enjoy.

42.  I am going to cook a new recipe today, so I will probably post pictures later.  I am making meat pies, which are kind of like English pasties.

43. I bought binder sleeves for my recipes and organized my printed recipes in my binder

44.  Cook at home once a week.  I usually cook on Wednesdays, of which there were five in March.  I cooked on 4/5 of these weeks, which is still pretty good.

45.  Another restaurant that was new to me:  Carrabas Italian Grill.  I really enjoyed it.  We had Sangria to drink, which was yummy.  It was Friday in lent so I had spicy fish chowder and then manicotti.  Toped it all off with delicious tira mi su, a pick me up indeed!

46.  Justin and I also tried another beer.  We bought a six-pack of Saratoga Lager, which I thought was pretty good

49.  Justin and I had our date night to celebrate his 25th birthday.  We went out to TGI Friday's for dinner and drank girly drinks.  We then went to Barnes and Noble and wandered around a bit.

67.  I am not going to do my Wii fit or yoga goal yet, instead I've started to tackle some of the new goals I added on.

94.  I have started my new walking goal by completing week 1 of the 12-week program.  I am now in the middle of week 2.  For the most part I am walking 15 to 20 minutes a day.

Day 48 Update

Almost to the benchmark of 50 days, and I'm still working on my list a little bit each day!
Here is where I am on my progress in February:

8.  Go Ice Skating:  Complete!  I think this is the first goal that I have finished completely.  Justin and I went skating in the Olympic speed skating oval in Lake Placid, NY.  The oval is outdoors, which was really cool.  I will post pictures later.

16.  Journal 5 times a month.  So far I am behind again.  I've journalled twice so far, but I'll make it up before the month is out.

20.  I have finished another adult novel:  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  I'll post about it later

21. I've finished the first children's book for this goal by reading Over Sea and Under Stone, the first in The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper.  I've also just finished the second book, although that won't go on my list.  I'll be writing a post about this one as well.

24.  Get a job.  No luck, but I've been continuing my search every day.

37. I have my "W" movie for the list: Whip It,  I'll post about it later

40.  So far I have had one night a week in which I am tv-free after 7 pm

42. Make 20 New Recipes:  I haven't tried a new one recently, but I went through all of my cookbooks and put post-its on recipes I want to try.

43. Keep Recipes I like in one binder.  I made good progress on this one so far.  I typed all of the loose and hand-written recipes I had in my binder onto actual binder pages.  Next I need to make a system for keeping track of the rest of my recipes.

44. Cook at home once a week.  I have been keeping up with this.  So far this month I have made Shepherd's Pie, chicken pot pie, and potato leek soup.

49.  Justin and I had a date night on Valentine's day.  We got dressed up and went out to eat at a really nice restaurant.

67.  Wii fit or yoga 3 times a week.  This did not work out this month and I'm going to try again next month

68.  Emergency car kit:  I have created a list of what I want, but have not bought it yet

72.  I took three good videos on my flip last weekend at the Empire State Games.  I'm not sure if I want to post any here yet.

83.  This is my two-week review although it is a little late, and i'll do another before the month is over.

85.  I cashed in my first jar of change today.  It was mostly pennies so I just got $16.00, but at least it's something.

Get cooking!

I've started goal number 42, to make 20 new recipes.

I started out with a recipe from my new Top Chef Quickfire Cookbook. It was Leah's Grilled Bread with Bacon and Egg. The dish is meant to be a breakfast amuse bouche, but Justin and I made them more full-sized.

This was the best breakfast I've had in a long time. It is a piece of good toasted bread, topped in a delicious mix of tomato, red pepper flakes and shallots. Then it is topped with bacon, a sunny-side-up egg, parmesan cheese, and a fried sage leaf. The tomato and shallot mix was one of the tastiest things I've ever had. I would eat that on toast every day. The fried sage leaf was also incredibly delicious. I felt like a real chef making something like this, and I'll definitely do it again.

Update: Day 13

Well this is my first official update. I haven't gotten too much big done yet. I'm still in the organizational stages of this list. I haven't finished getting my blog set up or anything, but I'm happy with my list at least, which is a good start.

Here is what is in progress:

24. Get a job as a school library media specialist. I had an interview last Friday. They are going to have a round of second interviews of people they liked. Hopefully I get called back.

35. Cut down on the number of TV shows I watch by 1/3. I have created a list of shows I currently watch in order to determine the number of hours I need to cut down. This information is on the tasks main page.

37. Watch 26 movies I've never seen starting with each letter of the alphabet. (2/26)
I've now filled "O" by seeing Once and "L" by seeing Leap Year. My next post will be brief thoughts on the movie.

40. Stop watching TV after 7 pm 1 night a week (2/123) I've been doing alright with this one so far

42. Make 20 new recipes (1/20) This one is going to be pretty easy because I like cooking. I will shortly be posting about the food I made: a breakfast dish from my new Top Chef Quickfire Cookbook

44. Cook once a week while living at home. So far I've cooked once each week: Barbecue pork sandwiches and chicken parmesan.

66. Switch to curly girl hair method. I've started to do this, but I haven't switched to all of the techniques yet. So far the biggest thing I've done is switched my conditioner to one without "cones," which cause build-up on the hair. I've also been cleaning with conditioner instead of shampoo.

83, 84, and 85: All have to do with monitoring progress, blogging, and saving change to fund my list. So far so good.

42. Make 20 new recipes

I consider this goal complete when/if: I have completely cooked or baked 20 recipes that I never have made before

Why this is on my list: I love cooking, and trying out new things. This will have me looking through my cookbooks and other places for good recipes I've never tried

This goal will be tracked through occasional posts on this blog:
1.Grilled Bread with bacon and egg
2. Irish Meat Pies
3. Jalapeño poppers
4. Chicken Marsala
5. Onion Rings
6. Turkey Sloppy Joes
7. Sweet Potato Fries
8. Philly Cheese Steak
9.  Jerk Chicken with Asparagus and Cauliflower
10. Smoky BBQ beef sandwiches
11. Mexican Lasagna
12. Wine Chicken with Shallots
13. Phyllo Chicken
14. Rocco's Mac and Cheese
15. Black bean soup with guacamole
16.  Ina Garten's Chicken Piccata
17. Lentil Roasted Garlic Soup
18. Ina Garten's Orange carrots
19.  Ina Garten's Fruit parfaits
20.  Rocco's French Onion Soup
Goal Status: in progress (20/20)