52 Things in 2010 Review

Well, I can't believe how fast 2010 has flown by. In some ways, I'm very happy to see the end of 2010 in order to hopefully move on to better and happier things in 2011. On the other hand, I look at my list and wish there was more time. However, the beginning of 2011 has started off rocky... with a severe stomach virus, no food for 60 hours, and having to say good-bye to the Scooter kitty.

The last 6 months have been both great, hellish, sad, painful and tiring. They have contained a wonderful vacation to England with my husband, some health issues, an accident with a DC metro escalator, a fall off a ladder while painting the basement, a broken oven during Thanksgiving and a car accident. There have been days that I have just felt like pulling the covers over my head and going back to bed.

My absence from baking, crafting, and blogging has not gone unnoticed by me and I truly feel unbalanced when I don't have a chance to do the things that calm and center me. I've been trying to stay positive through these last few months, but it seems difficult when the things that bring me comfort are stacked in boxes and shoved in a corner. Yes, the craft room is still out of commission, but we are getting closer. It is my #1 priority. I'm waiting on help to hang the last shelf so I can start moving things back into place...so I 'm very much hoping to have pictures soon.

I thought I'd share my final update on my 2010 list. I'm still debating if this helped or hindered me in accomplishing my goals, so a list for 2011 is still up in the air....maybe I just need to make a more realistic list (consider item #1 had 52 things on it alone).

I want to wish all my readers a safe, productive, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A key to understand my progress:

Strike through = completed
Blue = partially completed
Italics = in progress
Normal = not started
Red = didn't complete

For me
1. Make a list of 52 desserts to make and blog about in 2010. Attempt to bake/blog once a week. (8/52) - I did not do nearly as well as I had wished with this, but I actually did bake a few more things on my list but did not blog them for one reason or another.

Mint Chocolate Truffle Tart Grand Marnier Souffle Beignets Citrus Chiffon Pie Crepes Caramels Strawberry Tart with Orange Cream Butter Pecan Ice Cream Olive Oil Gelato with Balsamic Strawberries Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sugar Plum Candies Cheesecake with Stout Sauce Pecan Pumpkin Butter Triffle Raspberry Rose Vanilla Cream Cake Choux with Grand Marnier Mousseline Marshmallows Raspberry Mousse Tartelettes

Apple Cider Pound Cake Peach Creme Caramel Lemon Crumb Cake Tea Glazed Biscuit Cookies Lemon Cream Cookies Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Rice Pudding Poached Pears Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes French Silk Pie Macarons Chai Bread Plum tart Madelines Vanilla Zabaglione Peanut Chocolate Tart Chocolate Souffle Gooey Butter Cake

Bananas Foster Cakes Lemon Basil Lemon Tartlettes Strawberry Thyme Shortbread Citrus & White Tea Jelly Pistachio & Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes Yogurt & Brown Sugar Cake Pate de Fruit Rhubarb Cheese Bars Roasted Apples & Vanilla Bean Souffle Pomegranate White Tea & Honey Ginger Yogurt Verrines Cinnamon Caramel Mousse Roasted Glazed Peaches Vanilla Brown Butter & Almond Cake w/custard filling Panna cotta Pot de creme Spiced Plum Compote w/Plum Pit Cream Bread Pudding

2. Organize and maintain tags in Google Reader and Delicious.
3. Plant a garden.
4. Make and can tomato sauce (hopefully with tomatoes from my garden) .
5. Lose 20 pounds.
6. Walk 2 times per week. (1/52)
7. Lift weights 1 time per week.
8. Start an etsy shop.
9. Sign up for at least one craft fair.
10. Participate in a Photography Project365. (0/365)
11. Get a new hair style/cut.
12. Rent 10 movies you've wanted to see.
13. Complete name changing process.
14. Get new passport with new last name.
15. Make and start using reusable shopping bags everywhere, not just grocery shopping.
16. Read 5 books. (5/5)

 The Friday Night Knitting Club (Kate Jacobs),
Knit Too (Kate Jacobs),
Comfort Food (Kate Jacobs),
Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert),
On The Edge: My Story (Richard Hammond)

17. Take a crocheting/knitting class.
18. Make Ireland scrapbook.
19. Finish decorating my craft room.

For Steve and me
20. Complete Tshirt quilt for Steve.
21. Go to 5 new non-chain restaurants. - Steve reminded me that while I did not eat at many non-chain restaurants at home, I did eat at new non-chain restaurants while we vacation in England. It counts...sort of. :)
22. Go see 5 movies in the theater.

    Valentine's Day

23. Go camping.
24. Go to a Capitals hockey game.
25. Go to a DC United soccer game.
26. Take a long weekend vacation.
27. Take a picture of Steve and myself (and the kitties) once a month.
28. Save 3 months of expenses.
29. Schedule a financial planning consultation.

For the house
30. Clean out front hall closet.
31. Sew couch covers. - Since it took me about 4 months to chose paint colors for the basement, I'm still working on making a decision on fabric. I'm going broke on fabric samples though.
32. Make picture collage for stairwell.
33. Buy/make new curtains for living room.
34. Purchase and hang new blinds for the dinning room.
35. Purchase/make new curtains for dining room and kitchen.
36. Design/build/assemble closet organization system for master bedroom. - We were planning on purchasing some items from Ikea, but they recently changed their dimensions and it no longer works in our closet. So, it's back to the drawing board, but something has to be done soon.
37. Repaint master bathroom. - We have decided that we're going to be renovating the master bathroom next year (we're aiming for September), so we've decided to put this on hold and have been working on painting the basement in addition to my craft room.
38. Paint/decorate guest bedroom.
39. Repaint and change hardware on front door.
40. Hang Christmas lights.
41. Schedule and set up a yard sale.
42. Get broken window fixed.
43. Install new thermostat.
44. Fix leak in front door.
45. Purchase nut for yellow vacuum.
46. Purchase case for and organize misc screws, nuts, etc.
47. Set up coupon organization system.

For others
48. Complete Tshirt quilt for Lauren.
49. Host a holiday party.
50. Host a cookout/dinner party.
51. Send random cards to 5 people.
52. Send a birthday card to everyone on my birthday calender.

52 in 2010 Quarterly Update

Well, my second quarter post did not happen, but that has given me the chance to look like I'm accomplishing more. I've resigned myself to the fact that I won't get everything on my list done, but the list has been so helpful in motivating me to get things done.

July threw a wrench in my baking plans, but I've mentally made a new list of my priority items that I want to make, so stayed tuned for more updates. Before leaving for England, I was able to harvest many of my tomatoes and canned a few quarts of tomato sauce. I'm very interested in learning more about canning, so I'm excited for next year's garden. Here is the latest treat to come out of my kitchen.


I'm quite surprised by the progress on one of my items...I pretty much wrote the "Read 5 books" thinking that I would not even come close to accomplishing this. As much as I want to read, I get frustrated at how slow I am...my reading comprehension has always been bad and I find myself rereading paragraphs over and over because I get distracted somewhere in the middle and don't really read the words. However, in England I started reading a book that I purchased on a whim over a year ago. I really got into it and finished reading it while waiting for my flight home. The first day I was home I rushed to the bookstore to buy more books by the author.

The first three books I read are by Kate Jacobs. I found The Friday Night Knitting Club while perusing the books at Costco over a year ago and threw it in my suitcase just in case I was bored while Steve was playing on his laptop in the evenings. I didn't start reading until the last 3 days in London, but once I started, I couldn't stop. The characters developed quickly and I was very attached. There was definitely a twist in the plot that I was NOT expecting and I must have looked like a nut case in the London airport (don't want to explain why, it might give something away). The second book, Knit Too, picks up with the characters five years later and continues the stories of the women of the Friday Night Knitting Club.


The third book, Comfort Food, is a completely different book with new characters, but I just had to read it since it had something to do with food. I enjoyed this one as well, maybe not as much as the other two since it seems a little forced, but that didn't determine me from flying through it.


The fourth book I read was Eat, Pray, Love. By now, most people have at least heard of the movie. I have yet to see the movie but I did enjoy the book very much. It was very interesting learning about her experiences with religions I'm not familiar with and it was eye-opening and intriguing and definitely made me think. I've heard mixed reviews about the movie, but I'm very curious how they adapted the book for mainstream America, so I'm hoping to see it as soon as possible.

Since Steve returned from England, we've been working on the house quite a bit. We got the broken window fixed and have made serious progress in decorating my craft room. Steve and I spent one weekend making some floating shelves and I'm trying to decide paint colors for them now. Last weekend, we took the opportunity to prime the shelves and I spray-painted some paper storage that was black and just wouldn't work in the new room. I'm going with a yellow and blue scheme and we have purchased the paint, but of course now I'm having second thoughts as I'm concerned how we will coordinate the rest of the basement. I'm hoping to have pictures of the progress soon, as I think I'm going to take a leap and start painting this weekend.

So, that's a pretty good summary of the last couple of months. I did sign up for a second craft fair in October, so I better finish this craft room soon, as I have a lot of Christmas cards to make. I realize that this is a craft blog and I haven't been crafting very much, but I'm hoping that I can start to produce a few items this weekend.

So, on to the list.

A key to understand my progress:

Strike through = completed
Blue = partially completed
Italics = in progress
Normal = not started
Red = didn't complete

For me
1. Make a list of 52 desserts to make and blog about in 2010. Attempt to bake/blog once a week. (8/52)

Mint Chocolate Truffle Tart Grand Marnier Souffle Beignets Citrus Chiffon Pie Crepes Caramels Strawberry Tart with Orange Cream Butter Pecan Ice Cream Olive Oil Gelato with Balsamic Strawberries Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sugar Plum Candies Cheesecake with Stout Sauce Pecan Pumpkin Butter Triffle Raspberry Rose Vanilla Cream Cake Choux with Grand Marnier Mousseline Marshmallows Raspberry Mousse Tartelettes

Apple Cider Pound Cake Peach Creme Caramel Lemon Crumb Cake Tea Glazed Biscuit Cookies Lemon Cream Cookies Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Rice Pudding Poached Pears Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes French Silk Pie Macaroons Chai Bread Plum tart Madelines Vanilla Zabaglione Peanut Chocolate Tart Chocolate Souffle Gooey Butter Cake

Bananas Foster Cakes Lemon Basil Lemon Tartlettes Strawberry Thyme Shortbread Citrus & White Tea Jelly Pistachio & Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes Yogurt & Brown Sugar Cake Pate de Fruit Rhubarb Cheese Bars Roasted Apples & Vanilla Bean Souffle Pomegranate White Tea & Honey Ginger Yogurt Verrines Cinnamon Caramel Mousse Roasted Glazed Peaches Vanilla Brown Butter & Almond Cake w/custard filling Panna cotta Pot de creme Spiced Plum Compote w/Plum Pit Cream Bread Pudding

2. Organize and maintain tags in Google Reader and Delicious.
3. Plant a garden.
4. Make and can tomato sauce (hopefully with tomatoes from my garden) .
5. Lose 20 pounds. - I'm actually about half way there. England was very good to my waist line as we did a lot of walking and I've managed to keep all of it off. I'm hoping as the weather cools a bit more, I'll be more motivated to go for walks with Steve.
6. Walk 2 times per week. (1/52)
7. Lift weights 1 time per week.
8. Start an etsy shop.
9. Sign up for at least one craft fair.
10. Participate in a Photography Project365. (0/365)
11. Get a new hair style/cut.
12. Rent 10 movies you've wanted to see.
13. Complete name changing process - Steve and I decided to refinance so this is helping me get in gear. This is helping me change the name on the deed which I was way to lazy to do before.
14. Get new passport with new last name.
15. Make and start using reusable shopping bags everywhere, not just grocery shopping.
16. Read 5 books. (4/5)
The Friday Night Knitting Club (Kate Jacobs),
Knit Too (Kate Jacobs),
Comfort Food (Kate Jacobs),
Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
17. Take a crocheting/knitting class.
18. Make Ireland scrapbook.
19. Finish decorating my craft room. - This is what I've been doing a lot of since Steve returned from England. I've picked the new paint colors and Steve and I have been spending our weekends building some floating shelves. Labor Day weekend was very productive and we'll be slowly working on painting over the next week or two because of needing to phase all my craft supplies.

For Steve and me
20. Complete Tshirt quilt for Steve.
21. Go to 5 new non-chain restaurants.
22. Go see 5 movies in the theater.
Valentine's Day
23. Go camping.
24. Go to a Capitals hockey game.
25. Go to a DC United soccer game.
26. Take a long weekend vacation.
27. Take a picture of Steve and myself (and the kitties) once a month.
28. Save 3 months of expenses.
29. Schedule a financial planning consultation.

For the house
30. Clean out front hall closet.
31. Sew couch covers.
32. Make picture collage for stairwell.
33. Buy/make new curtains for living room.
34. Purchase and hang new blinds for the dinning room.
35. Purchase/make new curtains for dining room and kitchen.
36. Design/build/assemble closet organization system for master bedroom.
37. Repaint master bathroom.
38. Paint/decorate guest bedroom.
39. Repaint and change hardware on front door.
40. Hang Christmas lights.
41. Schedule and set up a yard sale.
42. Get broken window fixed.
43. Install new thermostat.
44. Fix leak in front door.
45. Purchase nut for yellow vacuum.
46. Purchase case for and organize misc screws, nuts, etc.
47. Set up coupon organization system.

For others
48. Complete Tshirt quilt for Lauren.
49. Host a holiday party.
50. Host a cookout/dinner party.
51. Send random cards to 5 people.
52. Send a birthday card to everyone on my birthday calender.

52 in 2010 Quarterly Update

I can't believe we are almost to the middle of in the middle of April already (I started prepping this post 2 weeks ago). I thought I'd do a quarterly post to update my progress on my 52 things. I wish I was a little farther along, and I can see a few things maybe not happening, but I feel I've gotten more done so far this year compared to all of last year.

So, on to the progress.

Hair Cut

I finally did the post wedding chop, about 1 1/2 years after the wedding. It had been a long time coming but I wanted to do something good with this opportunity, so it took a bit longer to grow out for donation. With the warm temperatures rolling in, it was only a matter of time until I was cursing it sticking to my neck (I was already cursing at it every time I ended up getting it stuck between my back and a chair) and despite not having an end style in mind, I took a leap of faith and trusted my stylist.

Before:

After:

It ended up being a bit shorter than I normally would like and it actually requires a little work in the morning (compared to air drying) but I'm getting used to and enjoying it quite a bit.

Passport

I just got it in the mail this week, just in time since Steve and I are planning a vacation to England for this summer. So excited to have this finally completed...now just on to updating the credit cards and we'll be all set with this name change thing.

Craft Fair

As you've seen in my previous post, I participated in a craft fair at work and it seemed to go very well. I'm quite excited and it was great motivation to making new cards and getting all my ideas out of my head.

Garden

The garden is in the ground. I didn't start from seed this year, but I found a local garden center that has some great looking plants. Last year, Steve and I built a planter that fits over the railing to our deck and it's become a great herb garden. It's 5 steps from the kitchen and it's so convenient for fresh herbs all summer long. The oregano carried over from last year, but we need to plant more basil, rosemary and parsley.

Our herb planter and the bell pepper plants.

Although I'm the only one that likes peppers in the house, I couldn't decide between red and yellow, so I got both! I'm hoping these will bear many peppers for daily snacks to help try to lose those 20 pounds. In addition to these, we planted 4 tomato plants (a Roma, an orange heirloom, and a good slicing tomato called Champion. We also planted a Patio tomato which is suppose to be great for container gardening.

Two of our tomato plants.

We also planted two zucchini plants, a yellowneck squash plant, and 2 cucumber plants, along with some romaine lettuce and spinach. I can't wait to see what comes of this year's garden.

Steve's T-shirt Quilt

I spent some time last weekend working on planning the pattern and I'm hoping to have some pictures soon. After that, it's the point of no return and I'll be cutting the t-shirts. I'm not sure if my marriage will survive if I screw this up since these t-shirts are so beloved...wish me luck.

Baking

Well, the baking isn't going so hot. Everything is turning out great, but I am so behind. I get on a roll but then something comes up and I just get forced out of my kitchen. But every time I look at the list I get so excited about it that I want to take a week off and bake 24 hours a day. If only our bank account would allow that. Look for a new post on the baking blog soon.

And a few more things...

Not necessarily on MY list of things to do this year, but we took our tax return and purchased a new large flat screen TV and a new (nice) console for it. We actually shopped around a bit and still have about $1000 left to invest in the house. We're hoping to make it stretch a bit, but there are so many little projects that are adding up. I'm hoping to use the extra funds for the new closet organization system and maybe paint my craft room, which will knock off a few more things on my list, but we also want new hardware for the front door and the blinds in the dining room are officially kaput.

So, on to the official list.

A key to understand my progress:

Strike through = completed

Blue = partially completed

Italics = in progress

Normal = not started

Red = didn't complete

For me

1. Make a list of 52 desserts to make and blog about in 2010. Attempt to bake/blog once a week. (4/52)

Mint Chocolate Truffle Tart Grand Marnier Souffle Beignets Citrus Chiffon Pie Crepes Caramels Strawberry Tart with Orange Cream Butter Pecan Ice Cream Olive Oil Gelato with Balsamic Strawberries Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sugar Plum Candies Cheesecake with Stout Sauce Pecan Pumpkin Butter Triffle Raspberry Rose Vanilla Cream Cake Choux with Grand Marnier Mousseline Marshmallows Raspberry Mousse Tartelettes

Apple Cider Pound Cake Peach Creme Caramel Lemon Crumb Cake Tea Glazed Biscuit Cookies Lemon Cream Cookies Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Rice Pudding Poached Pears Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes French Silk Pie Macaroons Chai Cupcakes Plum tart Madelines Vanilla Zabaglione Peanut Chocolate Tart Chocolate Souffle Gooey Butter Cake

Bananas Foster Cakes Lemon Basil Lemon Tartlettes Strawberry Thyme Shortbread Citrus & White Tea Jelly Pistachio & Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes Yougurt & Brown Sugar Cake Pate de Fruit Rhubarb Cheese Bars Roasted Apples & Vanilla Bean Souffle Pomegranate White Tea & Honey Ginger Yogurt Verrines Cinnamon Caramel Mousse Roasted Glazed Peaches Vanilla Brown Butter & Almond Cake w/custard filling Panna cotta Pot de creme Spiced Plum Compote w/Plum Pit Cream Bread Pudding

2. Organize and maintain tags in Google Reader and Delicious.

3. Plant a garden.

4. Make and can tomato sauce (hopefully with tomatoes from my garden).

5. Lose 20 pounds.

6. Walk 2 times per week. (1/52)

7. Lift weights 1 time per week.

8. Start an etsy shop.

9. Sign up for at least one craft fair.

10. Participate in a Photography Project365. (0/365)

11. Get a new hair style/cut.

12. Rent 10 movies you've wanted to see.

13. Complete name changing process.

14. Get new passport with new last name.

15. Make and start using reusable shopping bags everywhere, not just grocery shopping.

16. Read 5 books. (0/5)

17. Take a crocheting/knitting class.

18. Make Ireland scrapbook.

19. Finish decorating my craft room.

For Steve and me

20. Complete Tshirt quilt for Steve.

21. Go to 5 new non-chain restaurants.

22. Go see 5 movies in the theater.

Valentine's Day

23. Go camping.

24. Go to a Capitals hockey game.

25. Go to a DC United soccer game.

26. Take a long weekend vacation.

27. Take a picture of Steve and myself (and the kitties) once a month.

28. Save 3 months of expenses.

29. Schedule a financial planning consultation.

For the house

30. Clean out front hall closet.

31. Sew couch covers.

32. Make picture collage for stairwell.

33. Buy/make new curtains for living room.

34. Purchase and hang new blinds for the dinning room.

35. Purchase/make new curtains for dining room and kitchen.

36. Design/build/assemble closet organization system for master bedroom.

37. Repaint master bathroom.

38. Paint/decorate guest bedroom.

39. Repaint and change hardware on front door.

40. Hang Christmas lights.

41. Schedule and set up a yard sale. Conveniently our HOA holds a community yard sale and I was able to secure a space, so I have little over a month to go through the house and make some tough decisions!

42. Get broken window fixed.

43. Install new thermostat.

44. Fix leak in front door.

45. Purchase nut for yellow vacuum.

46. Purchase case for and organize misc screws, nuts, etc.

47. Set up coupon organization system.

For others

48. Complete Tshirt quilt for Lauren.

49. Host a holiday party.

50. Host a cookout/dinner party.

51. Send random cards to 5 people.

52. Send a birthday card to everyone on my birthday calender.

Craft Fair - Complete!

Well, I did it and it turned out pretty successful. I'm actually quite happy and proud of myself for not chickening out. I made a profit, even after the table fee, so that's got to count for something. At least it was successful enough that I plan on doing the next one in October, which I think will be more fun for me because I LOVE making Christmas cards. I have so many plans...now I just need to find the time to actually execute them.

I thought I'd share some pictures of my set up.

My table.

I wrapped a few empty boxes with kraft paper and wrapped them with some spare ribbon to make the cards more visible and to add some height to the table.

I'm currently putting together some posts of my favorite cards, so stay tuned! This was also one of my things to do this year, so I will be posting my quarterly progress soon and this makes for a great check mark.

52 Things to do in 2010!

So, as you can see by the date of my one and only post, I haven't been very successful in accomplishing many things in 2009. I've kind of been drifting lately, mostly because I'm so overwhelmed with all the ideas running through my head. I've seen others post goals for the year, and I thought I try that this year...making myself a little bit more accountable for things I want and need to do.

Some of these are for me, some for my husband and others, and some are for the house. Some are big, some are little, but when I feel a sense of accomplishment, I feel happy and that's what matters.

A key to understand my progress:

Strike through = completed
Blue = partially completed
Italics = in progress
Normal = not started
Red = didn't complete

For me
1. Make a list of 52 desserts to make and blog about in 2010. Attempt to bake/blog once a week. (8/52)

Mint Chocolate Truffle Tart Grand Marnier Souffle Beignets Citrus Chiffon Pie Crepes Caramels Strawberry Tart with Orange Cream Butter Pecan Ice Cream Olive Oil Gelato with Balsamic Strawberries Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sugar Plum Candies Cheesecake with Stout Sauce Pecan Pumpkin Butter Triffle Raspberry Rose Vanilla Cream Cake Choux Pastry Marshmallows Raspberry Mousse Tartelettes

Apple Cider Pound Cake Peach Creme Caramel Lemon Crumb Cake Tea Glazed Biscuit Cookies Lemon Cream Cookies Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Rice Pudding Poached Pears Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes French Silk Pie Macaroons Chai Bread Plum tart Madelines Vanilla Zabaglione Peanut Chocolate Tart Chocolate Souffle Gooey Butter Cake

Bananas Foster Cakes Lemon Basil Lemon Tartlettes Strawberry Thyme Shortbread Citrus & White Tea Jelly Pistachio & Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes Yogurt & Brown Sugar Cake Pate de Fruit Rhubarb Cheese Bars Roasted Apples & Vanilla Bean Souffle Pomegranate White Tea & Honey Ginger Yogurt Verrines Cinnamon Caramel Mousse Roasted Glazed Peaches Vanilla Brown Butter & Almond Cake w/custard filling Panna cotta Pot de creme Spiced Plum Compote w/Plum Pit Cream Bread Pudding

2. Organize and maintain tags in Google Reader and Delicious.
3. Plant a garden.
4. Make and can tomato sauce (hopefully with tomatoes from my garden) .
5. Lose 20 pounds. - I'm actually about half way there. England was very good to my waist line as we did a lot of walking and I've managed to keep all of it off. I'm hoping as the weather cools a bit more, I'll be more motivated to go for walks with Steve.
6. Walk 2 times per week. (1/52)
7. Lift weights 1 time per week.
8. Start an etsy shop.
9. Sign up for at least one craft fair.
10. Participate in a Photography Project365. (0/365)
11. Get a new hair style/cut.
12. Rent 10 movies you've wanted to see.
13. Complete name changing process - Steve and I decided to refinance so this is helping me get in gear. This is helping me change the name on the deed which I was way to lazy to do before.
14. Get new passport with new last name.
15. Make and start using reusable shopping bags everywhere, not just grocery shopping.
16. Read 5 books. (4/5)
The Friday Night Knitting Club (Kate Jacobs),
Knit Too (Kate Jacobs),
Comfort Food (Kate Jacobs),
Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
17. Take a crocheting/knitting class.
18. Make Ireland scrapbook.
19. Finish decorating my craft room. - This is what I've been doing a lot of since Steve returned from England. I've picked the new paint colors and Steve and I have been spending our weekends building some floating shelves. Labor Day weekend was very productive and we'll be slowly working on painting over the next week or two because of needing to phase all my craft supplies.

For Steve and me
20. Complete Tshirt quilt for Steve.
21. Go to 5 new non-chain restaurants.
22. Go see 5 movies in the theater.
Valentine's Day
23. Go camping.
24. Go to a Capitals hockey game.
25. Go to a DC United soccer game.
26. Take a long weekend vacation.
27. Take a picture of Steve and myself (and the kitties) once a month.
28. Save 3 months of expenses.
29. Schedule a financial planning consultation.

For the house
30. Clean out front hall closet.
31. Sew couch covers.
32. Make picture collage for stairwell.
33. Buy/make new curtains for living room.
34. Purchase and hang new blinds for the dinning room.
35. Purchase/make new curtains for dining room and kitchen.
36. Design/build/assemble closet organization system for master bedroom.
37. Repaint master bathroom.
38. Paint/decorate guest bedroom.
39. Repaint and change hardware on front door.
40. Hang Christmas lights.
41. Schedule and set up a yard sale.
42. Get broken window fixed.
43. Install new thermostat.
44. Fix leak in front door.
45. Purchase nut for yellow vacuum.
46. Purchase case for and organize misc screws, nuts, etc.
47. Set up coupon organization system.

For others
48. Complete Tshirt quilt for Lauren.
49. Host a holiday party.
50. Host a cookout/dinner party.
51. Send random cards to 5 people.
52. Send a birthday card to everyone on my birthday calender.

A few notes:
1. I'm reserving the right to edit these as time goes on, but hopefully I won't be removing any, just adding some because I'll be so successful. ;)

Wish me luck!