101 in 1001 - Final Update

Well, my 1001 days are up.  They were up on the 19th, actually.  Back when I made my list of goals, I counted out 1001 days and it happened to end on my 30th birthday.  So yes, I'm 30, and my time is up for this project!  I completed a lot of things, missed the mark on others.  Some I decided consciously not to do (just changed my mind about their importance); others, I just didn't get around to, unfortunately.  I may include them in my next list (there WILL be one, soon!).  Here's a final update on things I did or didn't do (these are items I have not addressed in other update posts):

3. Donate blood
I did not do this.  No real good excuse, although for part of my 1001 days I was pregnant or nursing.  I tried to donate blood a few times in high school but it never really worked out... they either couldn't find a vein at all, or my blood didn't pump out fast enough.  I will probably include this again on my next round.

5. Take the girls to Disney World
Done!  blogged here. 

6. Updated family picture (with Olivia), hang it up somewhere
This did not get done.  I will definitely include it on the next round!

7. Make this beautiful pink birthday cake
Nope, didn't happen.

8. Start (and keep up with) memory books/journals for my kids (probably in private-blog form, and they can be printed and bound into books every couple of years)
I did start this last month.

16. Make bread and deliver it to 5 people for no real reason
Nope. :(

21. Read "Gone with the Wind"
Nope

22. Make a rack of lamb for dinner
Nah, too expensive.

23. Organize our pictures on the hard drive (delete copies), and back them up somewhere else besides the hard drive (discs maybe?).
Didn't do this.  I think I will back them up on Dropbox though.  Next round?

24. Create a will with Garrett
I tried to start this but it didn't get done.  Next round for sure. It's important!

25. Read the Book of Mormon in 1 month
Sadly, no.

26. Frame at least 4 pictures of ancestors and hang them somewhere in our house
I have 2 up....

27. Have complete 72-hour kits for all of us
No... wow I'm really starting to feel bad here.

28. Host two themed dinner parties (holiday, or a country)
No. meh.

29. See Abbie M., somehow! (meet up in NYC??) :) (Or maybe Palmyra?)
This didn't happen but it's likely to happen this summer!!

30. Make a cleaning schedule and stick to it for at least 2 months
No

33. Have at least 4 of Garrett's fellow radiology residents (& spouses) over for dinner (not all at once)
Did this!

35. Play Jon Schmidt's "All of Me" on the piano for an audience (at least 6 people, nothing formal)
I came so close to being able to do this when we lived in Virginia.  I was pretty darn good at it.. and I played it for my piano students once.  So I'm going to count it!

36. Make an "organization wall" to keep papers/coupons/keys/etc from cluttering up our counter tops 
We got some bookshelves to help with this so I'm going to count it.

37. Make oversized envelopes like this and write love notes to my kids every day for a whole month
I actually did do this a couple of years ago, when I was pregnant with Olivia.  I made them felt envelopes with their names stitched on them, and every night in Feb I wrote them a note or left them a little gift (I was making felt food at the time, so I left those as gifts).  It was a lot of fun.

39. Organize my spices... replace the ones that are old and get rid of the ones I don't use (I still have some with my initials on them, meaning I had them when I had roommates at BYU)
This sort of happened...

40. Make this homemade memory game (or something similar) for something quiet for the girls to do at Church
Didn't happen.

43. Paint my pantry door
I was so burned out on painting after we moved in (I painted every room in the house, two coats, by myself) that I never got around to this.  Now were are moving in a year so it's not worth it!

45. Learn to use coupons better and lower our grocery budget by 20%
I don't care what they say... coupons are mostly for junk food!  We don't eat a lot of prepared foods, so it's hard for me to save much money.  In fact, since moving to Florida, my grocery budget increased by at least 20%.  Food prices are crazy here.  I don't know anyone else who pays $4.19 for a gallon of milk??  (For real, our kids are only allowed to have milk at breakfast!).  I have come to accept the fact that our monthly grocery/household budget is the same amount as our mortgage payment.

46. Read the "Little House on the Prairie" series out loud with Abby
I started this last year but I think it was a little "old" for her.. I had to explain a lot so we stopped.  I definitely want to start it up again soon though!

50. Send letters to 5 people who have influenced me in my life
No, this would have been nice though!

51. Go camping
Does the back yard count?

52. Make at least $300 selling stuff on Craigslist/eBay/yard sale
We made about $250 from what I can recall.... but I definitely want to add this to the next list since we will be moving TWICE during our next 1001 days!

53. Back up the blogs
Whoops

54. Make some reusable shopping bags and use them regularly
I reuse the Trader Joe's bags.. that counts.

55. Make an authentic Taiwanese dinner for Garrett
Didn't happen

58. Make a growth chart to hang on the wall, track the kids
I really wish I had done this, I still really want one.  I helped my brother-in-law make on in December so maybe I could figure out how to do it on my own.

61. Learn how to fold a fitted sheet
No one sees those anyway.

63. Learn how to use Lightroom better (it's like Photoshop but more user-friendly, in my opinion)
I feel like I can use Lightroom pretty well now, but I don't have the "workflow" down very well.  I'd like to work on that.

66. Start recycling more
Did this

71. Buy a necklace with my kids' initials stamped on it
I probably won't do this until I'm done having kids... then I can just get them all at once!  That's my excuse.

78. Re-do my 3-month-supply menu plan and make a shopping list (food storage)
Just reading that practically put me to sleep.

79. Learn how to use the weed-eater
I tried to do some yard work last summer but I put the wrong kind of gas in the mower.  I give up.

80. Go to a Red Sox game (vs Tampa Bay?)
Yeah, like Garrett had ANY time off last year!

83. Do Jillian Michaels's Thirty Day Shred all the way through
Started it... found another workout I like much better though.

84. Grow a successful herb garden
I would still love to do this.

85. Learn how to use Garrett's Nikon better
Still a goal...

88. For two weeks straight, get my workout done and be showered and ready for the day by 8 a.m (must work out at least 4 days each week)
This just doesn't work for me, for several reasons.  For a while I was working out with friends in the evenings.  Then, I was walking in the evenings, or going for runs in the mid-morning with my friend.  My schedule changes so much that it doesn't make much sense to plan something like this. I wish I could, though.

91. Go to a fine arts performance at UF
Sadly didn't do this

94. Be in bed by 10:30 every night for two weeks (not reading... lights out)
I was pretty close to this a few months ago.  I'll count it.

95. Meet with a financial planner
Garrett and I did this last December.  We met with a fantastic financial planner, mostly just to get to know him and his philosophies.  He was really good, and very successful, but then we found a different group that specializes in doctors, so we will likely go with them instead.  (It's weird to say they "specialize in doctors", but that's really what they do!  Dr lifestyles are really unique because of the massive amount of debt they start out with, the huge liabilities they have hanging over them, etc.  It will be nice to work with someone who is very familiar with our situation).

101. Make another 101 in 1001 list... Round Two!
Working on it!!

101 Update - what won't get done

When I first created my 101 goal list, it was because I wanted to set goals for myself of things that I really wanted to accomplish eventually.  I didn't want to always say "someday I will do that", and have "someday" never arrive.

As I study my list and try to get everything done, I've noticed that there are a few things that just don't matter to me anymore. Since they don't have anything to do with building my character or making me a better person, I'm just going to skip them.  Forcing myself to do them at this point just wouldn't make sense.  These include the following:

2. Go to a UF football game

Unfortunately, it's too late for this to happen!  I really do like college football games and it would have been a great time, but this last season, Garrett was out of town or at work during literally every home football game.  Maybe I'll have to include this on my next 101 list?  We only have one more football season here in Florida!

32. Paint/refinish the old dresser I have

Well, this old dresser is in the back corner of our walk-in closet, so literally no one sees it except for me.  Also, the bottom drawer is broken so I can't push it in.  Not worth painting.

43. Paint my pantry door

I'm on the fence about this one.  Since we are going to be trying to sell our house in a little over a year, I'm tempted to skip it.  Still thinking about it.  I wanted to paint it a really light blue.

69. Paint our bedroom

When we moved into our house, I painted literally EVERY room except for our laundry room, master bedroom, and master bathroom.  It was a LOT of painting, especially since painting the living room had me teetering on the tippy top of the ladder!  I was so burnt out by the end that I took a break and told myself I would get to the master bedroom "eventually".  Well, "eventually" never happened and the yellow color has grown on me.  I don't love it, but I don't dislike it enough to paint it.

70. New hardware on the cabinets

Not something I want to spend my money on.  I don't love the current hardware but it's fine.

92. Reconnect with a close friend from the past, build up a strong relationship again

This might sound cold-hearted but I just don't think I can do this.  It's hard to stay close to people who live so far away, who aren't family members.  People grow apart.  I just don't have time to cultivate a long distance relationship with an old friend, who I may not even share common interests with anymore.  They have their own friends, I have mine.  We'll read each other's blogs and send Christmas cards and keep up with each other, because we do care about each other, but it's just hard to keep a strong relationship going.  I hope that doesn't sound mean.

98. Go to the pageant in Palmyra

It's too late to do this before my 1001 days are up.  I really miss the pageant, though!  I went a lot in high school and then I went with Garrett in 2007, when my grandparents lived in Palmyra for 3 years.  Hopefully we can go again soon!

There are a couple more that I may be skipping but hopefully not.  Unfortunately I saved some of the hardest ones for last!  Going to bed by 10:30 for two weeks.... keeping a 2-month cleaning schedule.... learn how to use our Nikon and Lightroom better.... ugh, I'd better get to work!

101 Update

9. Attend a reunion with our dinner group friends from med school

Sadly, I just don't see this happening in the next 6 months! Garrett works every other weekend for the next 5 months and he has boards coming up, so.... unlikely. But, we have gotten together with Rob and Haley several times, plus Garrett stayed with some other dinner group friends when he had a fellowship interview in North Carolina.  I'm going to have to count that!

15. Run a race or attend an event that benefits Parkinson's disease

I haven't  been able to find any local races or benefits, but in October I read about an app that donates money to Parkinson's research, based on how many miles you run, walk, or bike.  Basically, it's an app for your phone and it was donating $1 for each mile, and it even donated $3 during one weekend.  I was sure to go on some extra walks (and a run or two) during that time.  I'm going to have to count that!

59. Give up sugary treats and snacks for 2 weeks straight

I just finished up a "healthy eating challenge" in October.  We were allowed to eat 2 desserts per week, but I usually skipped them because it was easier for me.  I find that if I give in to a craving, the cravings come back so much stronger later on (a few hours later, or the next day). It's easier just to not give in.

Upcoming:

5. Take the girls to Disney World
We are planning to go in January or February!

6. Updated family picture (with Olivia), hang it up somewhere
Now that we are finally all living under one roof, and Garrett is working normal hours, hopefully we can take a picture soon!  Maybe over Thanksgiving.

95. Meet with a financial planner
I have contacted the people we want to use and I am in the process of setting up an appointment.  Hoping to get in before Thanksgiving.

Soon to come: a blog post about things I'm not going to be able to finish by the time 1001 days is up. Either because I've run out of time, or because it's just not important anymore.

101 Update

Still working on my 101 goals.... it's time to get serious because I only have just over 7 months left!

14. Family history project - work on it with my grandparents

There was a separate goal of scanning all the slides from my grandparents' house, but this is a separate family history goal.  I helped my aunt and grandma upload over 100 photos onto Familysearch.org.  We labeled ("tagged") everyone so that all my relatives can see them in their own Familysearch accounts.  We also typed up some stories, letters and obits.  It was a lot of fun.

48. Go to the dentist (I have only been once since I got married.... oops)

Ok, so I sort of did this back in May.  A guy at church was graduating from dental school and needed to do some very specific types of fillings -- between the teeth -- for his finals.  He did free exams to see if people needed any done.  Well, I promise you I brush my teeth at least twice a day, but I always have cavities between my teeth.  Always, every single checkup for years I would have at least one that needed to be filled.  I figured that since it's been so long since I've seen a dentist, for sure I would have at least a couple for him to choose from.  Plus, if I did need the work done, not only would it be done for free, but I would get paid $100.

How ironic that I had no cavities between my teeth?  I good thing, I guess.  Maybe I already have fillings between all my teeth?  Anyway he also told me that I don't need any fillings anywhere, but that a few might need to be replaced in the next year or so.

60. Pack Garrett's lunches for him for 1 month

I usually help Garrett pack his lunches (or, midnight snack depending on the shift).  I haven't ever done it for a month straight, but I have helped consistently and that was my goal.  It's been impossible to do it for a straight month because I don't think he has worked "days" for a straight month for at least a full year.  Lots of mid shifts, late shifts, and overnights.

17. Give up soda for good

Done!  Honestly I will probably have one here or there but I will never again drink it regularly (and even "regularly" for me was only about once a week)

More to blog about this week, like the first day of school and other happenings around here.  Stay tuned!

"101" Update

Just about 8 more months to complete my goal!

And, as a sidenote... some of my original goals just don't interest me anymore, so I'm going to switch them out with something else.  I'll blog about the switches when I do them.

20. Learn to french braid hair

Thanks, Emma, for letting me experiment on your hair!  I know it's not perfect but it's a heck of a lot better than I used to do.

I've also gotten halfway decent at french braiding my own hair.  I don't wear it out like that, but I like doing it for sleeping in.

101 Update

Here's the latest update on my 101 project...

42. Be less dependent on paper towels (I use them for everything!)

Done!  I recently got some Norwex products and I am loving them!

49. Have 6 months of expenses saved up in our emergency fund

Also done!  It's actually more like a "comfortable" 8 months, and it could maybe be stretched to almost a year if we really tried.  This was a really hard one and took a lot of dedication but it feels great to have.

74. Take a trip to Target and only buy things on my list

Did this last week.  I took the girls to Target so that we could peruse the toy aisles and Abby could tell me what she wanted for her birthday (I didn't just want to buy for the sake of buying something - I wanted to get her something she actually wanted).  So, I had nothing on my list to buy that day and we walked out with nothing... just a phone full of pictures. ;)  (We ended up buying her a music box with a ballerina on the top - she loves it)

Up next...

17. Give up soda for good - I don't drink much of the stuff anyway, but I really just need to stop altogether.  Everything I've read about it just sounds disgusting.  I haven't had any for a few weeks now so maybe at the one month mark I'll consider that as long enough to mark it off as "done"...
24. Create a will with Garrett - it's just plain irresponsible that we don't have one.  Not that we have much stuff to leave to anyone, but we do have 3 cute kids that would need to be taken care of.
66. Start recycling more - for some reason recycling confuses me.  What can be recycled?  Do I have to wash it? Which bin does it go in?  I just need to read up on FL's rules and get going on this.  We already have two bins for crying out loud.
72. Buy a five year journal and keep up with it - I am going to buy myself one for Valentine's Day.  I know I could just use a cute notebook but none have enough pages, or they have way too many.  I'll probably just buy this one... I saw it in person at a bookstore and it looks good.

#12 - Artwork

#12 on my goal list is to buy a piece of original art.

But, it's not really the "buying" part that is important... I just wanted something nice on our walls, something that you couldn't find in everyone else's home.  Since art can be expensive, though, I decided to just make something myself.

First, I came across this print from Gus and Lula on Etsy.  I loved it and I knew it would go perfectly in the girls' room.

So, with Garrett's (major) help, I made this:

I love how it turned out!  It's hard to see how big it is here, but it's about 42 inches long and about 30 inches tall - pretty big!  I was going to put it above the yellow crib, but it makes me nervous to have something so heavy hanging so close to the baby, so we moved it to another wall.  It looks so bright and cheery in the girls' bedroom, which is a mix of yellows, pinks, and some aqua (I really need to get some pictures up!).

Garrett did most of the work: he cut the pallet, connected the boards together, measured for the "sunbeams", and even made and cut out the stencils for the words.  All I really did was paint it.  And, since I already had the white and aqua paint, it only cost me $4 for the yellow paint and 50 cents for a cheap sponge paintbrush.

We both loved working on this project - it was easy, and fun to work together with Garrett on something.   So, here's to #12 - get some "original" artwork in our house!

(Also, take a minute to look around Gus and Lula's etsy shop... everything is so cute!)

101 Update

Originally, #32 on my goal list was to paint/refinish an old dresser I have.  We've had it since we got married (and I'm pretty sure it's one that I had growing up), and it's nice and solid and definitely a keeper.  It was in our bedroom in Utah, then Georgia, then Virginia, and all that time I wanted to do something with it but just never got around to it.

So, when I made my 101 goals, I figured that I should finally get it done.  However, it's not really a priority anymore because #1 - it's inside our walk-in closet now, so it's not really part of our "bedroom decor", so I don't care how ugly it is.  And #2 - I have done a couple other furniture refinishing/painting projects over the last year and I've decided that I really don't like doing it!  I'm not patient or meticulous enough to do a very good job.

That being said, I did swap this out for a different furniture-painting project... one that I cared about a lot more, so I really tried to be patient and make it look nice.  I painted the crib yellow, and I think it turned out really well:

I used spray paint, and actually enjoyed this project more than I thought I would.  It was a little bit frustrating that I had to use so much paint (a ton just went flying into the air, between those darn spindles), but it was all worth it in the end.

Another goal that I feel like we can safely cross off the list is #38, Teach Abby to read.  She got pretty good over the summer with me, but she has improved significantly since she started kindergarten.  I'm actually pretty shocked with how well she's done.  Garrett and I are really proud of her!  She can read several books now, only needing help once in a while with a word here or there.  It's so much fun to see her reading and she seems to really love it.

Progress

I have not forgotten about my 101 in 1001.  Here's what I'm up to (blue = done, red = working on it):

10. Plant a successful garden with at least 8 different plants.


Our garden was great this year!  We had roma tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, basil, jalapenos, red peppers, strawberries, lettuce, and carrots.  Some were more successful than others, but I'd consider this year's garden an overall success. Counted!

41. Be together with my whole family (parents, siblings, in-laws & kids) and get a nice family picture

Just did this in Pennsylvania!

44. Read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey

Did this a few months ago.  It was pretty good... I only say "pretty good" because I didn't really learn all that much, but that's because I listen to his radio show a lot, and a lot of it is common sense, so I had heard most of it before.  But, it is a great book and I highly recommend it to everyone.  

45. Learn to use coupons better and lower our grocery budget by 20%

Hmm... kind of working on this, but not working too hard.  Honestly, I don't think it's going to happen.  I just met someone who moved here from Los Angeles, and she couldn't believe how expensive our groceries were here (wow).  When we first moved here, I had to increase our grocery budget quite a bit, and I think my real hope was to get it back down to where it used to be.  However, I don't think that's going to happen and I'm okay with that.  Back in the day (medical school), we were eating a lot of Ramen and boxed mac and cheese... pretty much anything that was cheap.  Now that Garrett is making a stipend, we have some extra wiggle room in the budget and I'm happy that we can buy more nutritious food, even if it comes at a higher price.  I'll probably tweak this goal a little bit to reflect something more important (but maybe try to keep it on the same topic -- grocery budget/food).

46. Read the "Little House on the Prairie" series out loud with Abby

We have started this!  So much fun, I love these books.

86. Get (or make) new throw pillows for the couch

Done!  I wanted to use a bunch of different, summer-y colors and prints, and I bought most of the fabric from fabric.com.  I also got new pillow inserts (the old ones were pretty tired and worn).

89. Take the kids to a U-pick farm

We've been strawberry picking and blueberry picking (a couple times).

93. Frame (& display) some pictures of the girls that I have taken

See the pictures on the wall in the living room picture above?  There are two pictures there that I took.  Done!

96. Teach a class

I taught a Sunday Relief Society class in July (Relief Society is the womens' organization at church).  My lesson was about "Creating your own Zion".  Basically, creating Zion wherever we live and not waiting for Zion to come to us, or to be created for us.  So many of us live in transition (always looking forward to the next thing), and we forget to live in the moment and create a peaceful life where we currently are.  It was a good discussion and I enjoyed teaching it.

99. Have ten quilts in my etsy shop

Hmm... this one is getting hard!  I had 9 quilts there for a long time, then I gave one away here on the blog.  Since then, four more sold, so I only have four there now.  And... with the baby coming, I don't see myself making 6 quilts any time soon!  But, you never know when the quilting bug will bite again so it could very well happen.  I won't rule it out just yet.  I do still have over a year and a half to meet all 101 goals.

There are a few edits I'm looking to make, too, but I'll talk about those in another post (this one's getting pretty long).  All in all, I think I'm making some good progress!  It's nice to have some goals written out, and it's even nicer to get them crossed off!

Go Gators!

When I was 8 or 9, my mom took my sisters and me to a BYU gymnastics meet.  I loved it and have been wanting to do the same thing with Abby and Ellie.  Fortunately, living in a college town presents many of these fun opportunities to us!

Late Friday afternoon I got a text from one of my friends at Church inviting us to go to the UF gymnastics meet with them.  It was pretty last-minute, but it turned out that it was the last meet of the season and I had been wanting to take the girls sometime this year (UF is ranked #1).  So, we hurried through dinner and rushed out the door!

I was a bit wary about the whole thing, since it started at 7 (bedtime!) and the girls hadn't had any sort of quiet time that day.  But, I was pleasantly surprised.  It turned out that there were 5 or 6 other families from Church there, so we had quite a crowd to sit with and Abby loved sitting with all her little girl friends.  Ellie was happy once someone gave her a bag of popcorn. (It turned out that so many people from Church were there because we were competing against Utah and there are a lot of Utah alumni at Church.  So, we were sitting among many people in red Utah attire.  It was pretty scary). :)

Ellie loved the parallel bars ("monkey bars!") and the floor routines.  She kept dancing in front of her seat each time a new song would start during the routines.  A couple times she said to me, "I wanna try!!" and tried to run out of our row so she could run down to the floor and do a routine.  So cute.  The floor routines were really exciting to watch, and each of the UF girls integrated the "gator chomp" into their routine somehow.  It was a lot of fun.

Abby loved pretty much everything about it.  She seemed enthralled by the girls and quizzed me on the way home about gymnastics. "How old were they?" "Why did their outfits have sparkles?" etc.  I think the whole thing really made her want to do some gymnastics.  I remember having the same dream when I was a little kid... and I actually did take a class once or twice.  Hopefully someday we can put our girls in some fun classes like that.

Here's to another one crossed off my 101 list!!

101 Update - #4, Garrett's Birthday Trip!

Whoa, would you believe that I'm still alive??  I can't believe it's been so long since I posted (and it's getting annoying that I'm starting my posts like this over and over again).

I'm still working on my 101 in 1001 list.... I have a feeling that I'm going to have to step it up pretty soon.  I'm about 1/5 of the way through (timewise) but I don't think I've done 1/5 of the things so far.  However, I'm thinking of switching a few of them out for other goals, but I'll update you on that in the next couple weeks.  My priorities have changed a bit, and some of the things that I originally thought I wanted to do just aren't that important to me anymore and I don't feel like doing them (for example, painting my dresser (#32).  It's tucked away in our master bedroom walk-in closet and I just don't care how it looks anymore).

But, I HAVE done some things lately!  Here's an update of two of the things:

64. Frame an updated family picture and hang it up in our house 

I finally did this!  I framed this picture that was taken back when we lived in Virginia.  Sure, it's still a year old, but we are still a family of 4 and we pretty much look the same, so I'm happy with it.  It's definitely better than the one we had before, which was taken when Abby was 5 months old.

And, #4:

4. Plan something awesome for Garrett's 30th birthday (June 2012) 

Done!  And, we already did it!
The first week of March, Garrett took a couple days off and we went with our friends Rob & Haley to Siesta Key, FL for a few days.  Garrett can't take time off in April, May, June, and most of July, and Haley just turned 30 in February, so we combined their birthdays and celebrated them both in March.

We had a great time.  On a Wednesday night, we drove up to Savannah so that we could leave the kids there during our trip.  Thursday morning, Rob & Haley met us in Savannah and we carpooled down to Siesta Key.  It was fun carpooling together and made the drive seem much shorter (in my opinion).  We talked about everything -- politics, the future, our memories, medical school, radiology, our kids, Church, our current lives, education.

We rented a little 2 bedroom condo about a block away from the beach.  It was PERFECT and we got a great last-minute deal.  We arrived in Siesta Key in the afternoon on Thursday, and spent the afternoon/early evening just sitting on the beach talking and watching the sun set over the Gulf (and relishing in the fact that we weren't chasing kids left and right!).  Once the sun was down, we went back to the condo, changed clothes, and went out for a night on the town!  Actually, we aren't that exciting, we just went to a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican place.

Oh, and we played a late night game of Settlers, too:

On Friday, we spent a leisurely morning at the condo getting ready for the day.  Garrett and I went running along the beach together, and Rob & Haley went out for breakfast.  After we all met up, we headed to downtown Siesta Key for some kayaking!  We rented two double kayaks and did a 3.5 mile loop around a big island near the coast.  It was fun, and the best part was that it took us to a remote, white-sand beach that is pretty much only accessible to boaters.  It was so nice and QUIET.  We swam for a bit, but mostly just sat in the sand and talked, napped, and read.

Kayaking worked up quite an appetite, so afterwards we went to a local grill & bar for some fish tacos - really good!  Then we headed.... back to the beach, of course.  Haley and I laid out and relaxed once again, and Rob & Garrett did a little fishing down the beach a bit.

Later that evening, we walked about half a mile from our condo to St. Armand's Circle, which is a downtown-ish area (basically a huge traffic circle with 4 roads off of it) that is full of shops and restaurants.  We did some browsing at the shops, and had a late dinner of brick oven pizza.

On Saturday, we went to the farmer's market in downtown Sarasota.  It was really nice - I LOVE farmer's markets.  And, I have to say... I think Sarasota must be the capital of the world for people with dogs in strollers!!

We got some great fresh food at the market, filling our cooler with fresh veggies and some fresh pasta.  Then we hit up the beach one last time for some more relaxing and sunshine.  Later that afternoon, we drove halfway back to Savannah, stopping here at our house for the night to break up our trip a bit.  We made an awesome dinner with our farmer's market finds, then spent the evening just talking (we also had another couple here, who became good friends with all of us up in Newport News last year and now they live here, only about a mile away from us actually!).

The next morning the six of us had breakfast together, then headed to a local lake on campus to look for some gators.  We found a couple, but nothing big unfortunately.

We headed back for Savannah later that afternoon and got there just in time for dinner.  And, just like I predicted..... Abby started crying the second she saw us walk in the door.  She really didn't want to go home!

On Monday morning, Rob & Garrett did a little more fishing from the Woodbury's neighborhood dock, and Haley & I spent the morning/early afternoon in downtown Savannah, down on River St (and I got to eat some much-needed sushi!).  We finally headed home Monday night after dinner - it was a late night but a great end to a wonderful weekend!

So, Happy (early) Birthday to Garrett, soon to be the big 3-0!  It's so nice to get away together, without our kids, to spend some time reconnecting and relaxing.  We were so glad everything came together, even if it was all pretty last minute.  This is not the first trip we've taken together without the kids, and it certainly won't be the last!  Big thanks to the people who watched our kids this time around!

Oh, and I also can cross off two more from my list - #56, try pistachio ice cream.  I sampled some when we were getting some ice cream at St. Armand's Circle, on our way out of town to start driving home.  It was good, but not good enough for a whole bowl... I settled on my go-to favorite, choc chip cookie dough!

And, #100, take a nap on the beach.  Definitely dozed off a few times.  Loved it.

101 Update

I'm still working on my 101 in 1001..... here's the latest:

37. Make oversized envelopes like this and write love notes to my kids every day for a whole month.
I'm planning on doing this throughout February!  Besides "love notes", I'm also making a bunch of little gifts to give them each day.  I' m really excited about this and will blog about it soon.  Until then, it's in "red" (in progress).


19. Have a fondue night 
We did this with some good friends on New Years Eve.  We did cheese and chocolate fondue.  It was great!

47. Get a new phone (I've been due for an upgrade for over a year now)
I got an iPhone 4s about a month ago.  Love it!

68. Have a nice bed (new throw pillows, new duvet cover)
I love seeing a beautiful bed and I've always wanted one.  You know, the kind that you want to snuggle up in as soon as you see it.  But, I struggled with knowing what my tastes were and what would be "lasting" for me.  My tastes change pretty regularly, so I knew I needed something classic because I can't just go changing the bedding when I get tired of something.  So, after being married 7.5 years, I finally have a bed that I love to see when I walk into the room.  I'll keep it in "red" though, until I share some pictures.  Soon.

83. Do Jillian Michaels's Thirty Day Shred all the way through
I am six days in!  Besides that, I am running/walking 2-3 miles most days with my friend.  Running in January.....in Florida.... in low-70s weather.  Gorgeous.

Abby's birthday is this week so I'll do a post on that soon.... here's to a great week!!!

101 in 1001 update

The ones in blue are newly "completed", and the rest are ones I'm (still) currently working on.  Not going to add any new ones to work on until I get a few more of these done:


1. Establish a better flossing routine

I'd say this has been successful!  I floss at least every other day, which is pretty darn good I think.  I'll count it done.

4. Plan something awesome for Garrett's 30th birthday (June 2012)

Still working on this!  It's hard because I keep finding good deals for things online, but of course I can't book anything yet because I am not sure what days Garrett will be able to take off!  So I think the first step is getting Garrett (& friends who are joining us) to take time off, and then working out the rest of the details.

19. Have a fondue night

Will hopefully happen in January.  Bowl game party.

24. Create a will with Garrett

Um, still no closer to doing this.  I keep forgetting!  That, and the fact that we really haven't discussed/can't agree who we want our kids' guardians to be.

34. Host book club

Done!

38. Teach Abby to read

She is doing better all the time!  Still not reading sentences or anything, but some words here and there.

49. Have 6 months of expenses saved up in our emergency fund

Still chugging along here.... 

57. Learn to make bread as good as my mom's

I'd say this has been a success!  Thanks, Mom, for the recipe!  I'll have to post it here sometime, it's sooo good!

62. Make pasta from scratch 
I did this on Wednesday.... it was SO GOOD.  Sadly, I don't have a pasta roller so I had to roll it out by hand, which was REALLY hard and it was kind of "thick" as far as pastas go, but it was still amazing.  I made butternut squash ravioli with a sauce made from caramelized onions, mushrooms, and blue cheese.  Yum.

75. Buy a new sewing machine 
I actually bought a new sewing machine in September, but forgot that it was even on my 101 list, so I didn't mark it as "done"!  The truth is, when I wrote this goal, I was thinking of buying a really nice sewing machine, with all the bells and whistles that quilters love.  However, my current sewing machine broke and it was a cheap-ish machine to begin with, so rather than paying to get it fixed I just replaced it with the exact same model from eBay (for less money than fixing the first one).  So, I suppose that this "counts" as buying a new machine, especially since I no longer see myself buying one with bells and whistles in the next 3 years.

82. Plan (& execute!) something great for my parents' 30th anniversary, hopefully with all my siblings (it's in March 2012)

Still hoping to do this sometime next year, but we haven't talked about it yet.

99. Have ten quilts in my etsy shop

I have nine quilts there, and a tenth quilt top waiting to be basted and quilted!

Lately (& my 101 update)

I have the Instagram app on my ipod, and decided a fun project would be to take one photo a day for a year.   It's fun to just record a little photo snippet of our day - maybe something fun we did, or something we ate, or just anything really.  I'd like to do something fun with all of them at the end of the year (make a little book, or frame all the tiny pictures a couple frames and display them in our house, or something like that).  Sometimes I post my daily picture on Facebook, but usually I just keep it in my Instagram (if you have Instagram, you can follow me @hwoodbury.  (Yes Mom, you should be able to get Instagram on your iPad and follow me!)

We haven't done anything too crazy lately.  Went to Savannah for the weekend a while back.  It was fun - it's nice to live just 3 hours from family.

We still don't know what we are doing this Labor Day weekend but hopefully we can plan something fun - maybe a day trip to a Gulf beach?  Maybe camping?  Maybe nothing?

Garrett and I had our 7-year anniversary in August.  Seven years!  We don't buy each other gifts for our anniversaries - instead, we decide on something we want to buy together.  This year: we'll (*I'll) be putting together our 72-hour kits, so that's where the money is going.  Romantic and exciting, huh?  But, it's something that needs to be done, and we've put it off long enough (it's also on my 101 in 1001 list).  I also spent some time last week organizing our food storage, that was exciting.  We bought risers for our bed so that we could put our #10 cans underneath it.  It's coming along pretty nicely and it feels good to know we have lots of food stored in case a natural disaster comes.  I saw pictures of grocery stores that were completely cleaned out because of people panicking about Hurricane Irene last week.  It's an eye-opener, for sure, and I'm glad we (hopefully) won't have to be among the panicked people rushing for food in case something is coming.  It's nice to feel secure about having our food storage.  We have lots of rice, but I'd like to stock up on more beans, flour, sugar, and powdered milk.

Can you believe that September starts tomorrow?? I love Fall, and I'm determined to love it this year, even though it will continue to be scorching hot and feel like summer for another month at least.  Some of my cousins are starting at BYU this year and I always feel so nostalgic when I see their updates of Facebook.  I'm so jealous!  That's such an exciting time in life and sometimes I miss it.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was moving into the dorms (Kimball Hall), meeting everyone in my new ward (we were with Gates Hall), buying books, starting classes, learning to get along with many roommates.... so much fun (most of the time). :)

 I'm starting one of my "101 in 1001" goals tomorrow - reading the whole Book of Mormon in one month.  Normally when I read my scriptures, I like to take my time looking at footnotes, cross-referencing, and just studying in general.  However, I think it's good every once in a while to just read it straight through, to really read it like a story and see what insights come from that (maybe jotting down some notes here and there, but mostly just reading).  Then, when I'm done at the end of September, I'll start  back again at my slow/studying pace.  I'm looking forward to this project and hopefully I'll have enough time to accomplish my goal.

Other things I've started from my 101 project:

8. Start (and keep up with) memory books/journals for my kids (I've started a private blog for each girl, and once or twice a week I write a post about her and what she is doing.  I need to also start including more pictures.  When I was born, my mom started a little journal about me and I just love reading about when I was a baby and a toddler.  I want my kids to have the same thing.) (I'm not going to cross this off until I've kept up with it for at least 6 months or so)

38. Teach Abby to read.  Slowly but surely....

49. Have 6 months of our emergency expenses saved up.  We are working on this.  Again, slowly but surely.... I think we probably have about four months saved up so far.

68. Make a nice bed.  I ordered some fabric online and plan to make some nice throw pillows in the next couple of weeks.  I'll share pics when I'm done and cross it off the list!

72. Buy a 5-year journal and keep up with it.  In case you are unfamiliar with these: 5-year journals are little journals that have 365 pages in them.  On each page there are 5 sections, one for each year.  For example, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.  At the end of each day, you jot down a couple of lines about what you did that day, or what you are thinking about, etc.  The idea is that you can glance on a page and see how far you've come over the years, on every single page.  Oct 1, 2011 and Oct 1, 2015 on the same page (with the other years on there, too).  Anyway, I've been wanting to buy one from Amazon for a while now, but I think I've decided to just buy a cute notebook that's cheaper, and write the dates in myself.  So, I'm working on that and will share pics when it's ready to go.

77. Figure out where to store my #10 cans of food for food storage.  I've pretty much done this, so once I share pictures here I can cross it off the list!

98. Go to the Pageant in Palmyra. To my family: can we plan on this next July??  To Abbie: I need to see you!  I first have to make sure Garrett can take time off next July, but I'm hoping that if he asks soon, it could happen.

This Fall is going to be great.  My mom's coming in September, we are going to Savannah for a long weekend (& family baptism) in late October, hopefully a trip to Charleston in there somewhere (or meeting up in Savannah? Something!), and Christmas in Savannah this year.  So much to look forward to!

101 in 1001 - painting shelves

In reality, I probably could have filled my entire 101 list with things I want to get done around the house.  There is so much I want to do - nothing major, but just little things here and there.  Some cosmetic things to the actual house, and some re-doing of furniture that we currently have.  I'm not in a hurry, though, and we certainly don't want to put much money into the house since we're only here 4-5 years, but it's still fun to think about what could be done (and, as an aside... I was just reading an article online that listed our city as the #3 city in the U.S. as far as smart places to buy real estate right now!  In the next 10 years, they think values here will go up 50%.  To be honest, I don't know how much I can really believe those kinds of "projections", but it sure was nice to see.).

Anyway.  One of the things I did list was to repaint the girls' dollhouse shelf (#76).  My parents gave it to them a couple years ago (they bought it at a flea market) and I've been wanting to paint it but just didn't know what exactly to do with it.

Here's the final product:

Although, I probably shouldn't say "final" product... I hope to eventually get some wood filler between the gaps, then paint over it so there is a more seamless look between the roof and shelves, for example.  But I really like how it turned out!  Lesson I learned: oil-based primer totally ruins your paintbrushes, and it reeks up your house.  I painted it in the office but it still made the whole house smell just terrible for a few hours.  But, it's just too humid right now to paint outside so maybe some future projects will have to wait.

So, the girls' room is coming along.  It's looking much better, considering it looked like this just a week or two ago:

Yes, bubble-gum pink - I don't know how they slept in there it was so bright.  As you can see in the first picture, I went with a very neutral color for the walls.  It was actually one of our options for the living room but we went another direction in there, so I used it for this room.  I hope to paint the bed soon too (glossy white).  The pack n play isn't in there anymore - Ellie is sleeping on her crib mattress on the floor until we can find a trundle bed.  There is a window in this room, too, that gives fabulous light (especially in the morning).  I'll share more pics as the room comes together.

So, I have two things done from my list! (The 101 header was also on my list, #81).  99 to go... not sure which one I'll take on next but I'm sure I'll blog about it once it's done.