My 30 Before 30 List - The Wrap-Up

Well, technically since my 30th birthday was a little over a week ago, I'm calling this the wrap up, but I'm not calling it finished. For obvious reasons. They're still things I want to accomplish, soon, so maybe I'll stretch it out, and hopefully I can actually get 30 things on it!

1. Get my Mandarin fish tattoo - would love to get this, but still sort of undecided on the location of the tattoo, and it's expensive (and I'm a cheapskate).
2. Sew myself a wearable skirt - only laziness to blame for this if I'm being honest with myself, well, that and my irrational phobia of cutting into fabric.
3. Sell at least 1 of my photographs - I think I'm going to work through RedBubble for this, I'll have a link up soon to my portfolio.
4. Paint again (canvas, not walls) - just haven't felt inspired to pick up a paintbrush, the camera has been my biggest source of artistic expression lately.
5. Embroider a pillowcase - ooh, just got a fantastic book - Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living by Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy, I intend to work on this as the weather gets colder.
6. Preserve vegetables that I’ve grown in my garden - I actually did really well with this.  I froze several bags of green beans, at least 7 two-cup bags of shredded zucchini, some cherry tomatoes, red peppers and jalepenos.  I also ventured into pickling and pickled 3 jars of green cherry tomatoes. Which, by the way are excellent, here's the recipe I used.
7. Go to a stitch and bitch or knitting group - was too shy to do this yet.
8. Volunteer - I have recently talked to a person at the Ohio Wildlife Center to start volunteering with the wild animal rescue center there, and hopefully mentor with her and learn to handle the animals and teach.
9. Run a 5K - still want to do this, but nowhere near the fitness level I need to be.
10. Read at least 5 books on my bookshelves (preferably that I haven’t read before) - Getting there, but still have a little ways to go.  The intention was originally to read five books so that I can get rid of them, however, two of the books below are Kindle books. I'm still counting them as I'm glad to have actually been completing books. I still would like to get several more books out of my house though.

• Completed books: 


• 1.Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kinsgsolver
• 2. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
• 3.The Princess Bride -William Goldman (in progress)
• 4. Winter's Bone-Daniel Woodrell

11. Invest some money for retirement (auto 401K with work does not count) - opened a Roth IRA on ShareBuilder, but haven't moved any money there yet.
12. Yarn Diet-knit down my stash - success! sort of, I haven't brought any new yarn into the house, but, I didn't do a whole lot of knitting this summer. For some reason, during the summer, I don't knit as much, I think there's just too much else going on outside. But, I did finish a couple of projects, and only started one, and it was with stash yarn.
13. Bake and frost a layer cake from scratch - talked about this and have pictures here.

14. Sell or give away 50 things that I currently own - success with this as well! Got rid of quite a few articles of clothing, shoes, makeup, books. Just as importantly, I didn't add much to replace them.
15. Paint the hutch in the dining room - no, but I got it cleaned out fairly well. I'm still up in the air as to what I want to do with it. I kind of want to get rid of it/sell it, because it takes up quite a bit of space, but, it also has a lot of storage, so, I'm torn.
16. Get into an exercise routine - I feel pretty good about this one, and am proud of the fact that I have been working out 3-4 times a week for the last three months. I really enjoy it now too!


All in all, I'm not completely satisfied with my progress, but I want to keep at it. Wish me luck! Anybody else have a list? Leave me a link in the comments, I'd love to see it!

**Disclaimer-the Amazon links are affiliate links, just FYI.**

Seriously? October?

Wow, where did September get to? How is it October already? Apparently it was a busy month and I let it slip away from me, funny how that happens, huh? Am I really going to write every sentence as a question?

Nah, but Honduras pictures and recap are coming, along with a wrap up of the 30 Before 30 list, and maybe some changes around here if I can stop being such a procrastinator. I've been doing a lot of reading and soul searching lately. We'll see where that takes me, I'm nervous, but excited!

Knitting and/or Diving

Gee, there hasn't really been much content about either of these subjects on the blog lately.  In fact, it seems like several of my posts have been about why there haven't been many posts on here lately!  Well, I never said I was good at focusing...

So, knitting, I actually have been doing a little bit of that lately.  For some reason, during the summer, I tend to take a knitting hiatus, of sorts.  Not sure why, but it happens every year.  Then, sometime around my birthday usually, I pick it up again.  Maybe it's the change of season to cooler temperatures, but I get absolutely nothing accomplished knitting-wise in the summer. 

Like I said though, I've actually been working on a project; the Cinnamon Grace shawl by Katie Harris.  I'd link to my Ravelry project page, but there aren't any pictures there anyway, so you're not missing anything!  I did (finally!) finish my 1st Lace Shawl (Dane Shawl by Jane Tanner), but still haven't blocked it, so, no pictures there either, sorry about that...

And, as for diving, we've been doing a little bit.  My first student just received her PADI Open Water Certification card in the mail today!  She said she was so proud, she took it to work with her to show it off!  I am very proud of her as well.  It was a tough first couple of dives, but I knew she could do it! 

First, she had some difficulties with equalizing her ears in the pool.  Then, in the open water dives, she was nervous, had troubles equalizing again, kept getting frustrated and we ended up having to call the dive.  The second time out didn't go so well either, she didn't have any problems equalizing, but was extremely stressed about the mask clears.  Admittedly, the mask skills are the most mentally stressful for most people, but she was really having problems, and panicking.  I was really concerned that she wasn't going to get calmed down enough to do the mask skills, and if she couldn't, I couldn't certify her.  Finally, she worked it out in her head, calmed herself down, and nailed the first partial clear in shallow water.  Then a full mask clear.  Then the mask removal.  Then she did another full mask clear.  She had it!  We moved to the deeper platform at 20 feet, she did all of her mask skills flawlessly, and it was smooth sailing from then on!   She's a tough cookie, and stubborn too, she was going to get it!
On a related note, we leave for Honduras in a week and two days.  Not that I'm counting or anything...  Have a great Friday!

Getting Serious On You

I know I don't usually touch on "serious issues", but I recently read a post by Sarah {The Student Knitter} about women and our weight issues, and it really hit home for me.  If you've been reading here for any length of time, I talk about working out and diets and my struggles occasionally, most recently, here.  Growing up, I was always the girl who could eat what I wanted and not worry about my weight.  I naturally had a fast metabolism, and just by luck, I had good genetics.  In the last year, it seems my metabolism slowed considerably, and I've put on 20 pounds. Yeah, I know, 20 pounds doesn't seem like much to a lot of people, but when you're only 5 foot tall, and take into account my prior weight, it's a 20% gain.  And it feels like a lot to me.  It probably shouldn't, but it does.  At first, when the weight started to creep on, it didn't bother me much, I joked about it.  But as it crept up to 20 pounds and stuck, and my clothes weren't fitting, it started to bother me more and more.  I would look in the mirror and really not like what I was seeing.  I would talk about dieting and working out, but, I'm not exactly known for my willpower, and the exercising would last maybe a couple of weeks, and the dieting, well, maybe a couple of days. 

It goes back to judging our worth or attractiveness by our pants size, or the number on the scale, and that sucks.  Why has it become more acceptable to complain about our weight and appearance than to be happy about it.  How many women do you know would say that they're fine with their appearance?  I don't think I know any.  What would you think if they did?  Would you be surprised?  Proud? Jealous? Think that they're lying? Or conceited?

Anyway, sorry to get all serious on you, but it just got me thinking.  Now I'm actually starting to enjoy working out, and I've stuck with it for almost 2 months now.  Even though I've only lost about a pound and a half, I feel better, stronger and healthier.  Maybe that number on the scale isn't so important.

Weekend Plans

I wanted to just drop in quickly, we're getting ready to head down to Conley Bottom at Lake Cumberland for the weekend.  My parents have a houseboat there and this is the first time Jeff and I have gotten down there this year.  We're looking forward to a weekend of boating and relaxing and it looks like the weather is going to cooperate! 

I'm sorry that I haven't been terribly active on here but I haven't been taking many pictures lately and I feel like a slacker if there aren't any pictures on the post!   Have a great weekend!

Inspiration

Love, love, love Sharon Montrose's animal prints!

 I think I want them all!  Look at the baby porcupine!

She makes even the "not-so-cute"* animals look great.

*This does not reference otters, because otters are totally cute! 

Have a great weekend!

Shoot Me Now, Or Why I Hate Shopping for Jeans

I finally found a couple pairs of jeans today, and I only had to try on about 10 pairs this time.  This is probably the 4th time that I've went shopping for jeans in the last 6 months and only the first time that I've been successful.

I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say I'd rather be shot than go shopping for jeans.  Maybe just with a paintball gun.  Something painful, but not actually dangerous.  Ugh.

I always say that I go to try on jeans until I either find a pair or become homicidal.  There's a reason I only have 2 pairs of jeans that fit me.

Also, while I'm complaining, I've been working out 3-4 times a week (that's the good part!) for the last 5 weeks and not lost 1 pound!  Not one!!  While I can tell that my muscles are firming up, the problem areas are not improving, and again, no weight loss whatsoever.  It's so frustrating.  I'm glad that at least I am physically feeling better, with more energy, or I'd have no motivation at all to keep at it. 

I thought 2 months would be a reasonable amount of time to at least look semi-presentable in a swimsuit when we go to Honduras.  The goal was only 5 pounds, 10 tops and firming up.  Doesn't look like I'm going to make it.  How annoying.

Cat For Sale!

I'll cut you a great deal, even cover shipping!  She's got some lovely traits, such as:
-Playing in her dirty litter box!
-Not grooming herself!
-Biting people, repeatedly!
-Sleeping most of the day, well, until you are almost ready to go to bed, and then she's ready to play!
-Helping you while you're on the computer, by jumping on the keyboard.  She especially likes to turn on the Caps Lock key!
-Sharpening her claws on the cabinets!
-And many more!

Oh, I'm just joking, I'm not really going to sell (or even get rid of) Gil.  But doesn't she sound nice?  She's lucky she's cute, because she's about as rotten as they come. 

I know I haven't had a kitten in a long time, but man, I don't remember them being this crazy, and biting this much!  That's really what's making me the craziest.  She's a biter!  You should see my arms.  She'll just be laying in your lap in the chair and her ears go back and she attacks your arm. I'll grab her and drop her on the floor and she just keeps coming back over and over to bite you!  I just bought a spray bottle yesterday, to squirt her with when she does it, hopefully that will help.  Bad kitty...

A Redneck* Good Time

 *Disclaimer-I can describe this as redneck, as I am one.

The other night, Jeff and I were sitting on the couch, doing nothing, when he turns and asks me, "Hey, it's a nice night, why don't we take the 4-wheeler out to your grandparents?"  I tell him, "Only if I can take my camera, it's almost sunset." (sunset = great light)  So, we load 'er up, and head out.  We take it across the creek and I get off to start walking and take pictures, and he takes off to go fast.

I snap a couple of pictures in the amazing light.  He takes a couple of laps around the pasture, then comes back to trade places with me.  I take a quick cruise, and we both remember how much fun the 4-wheeler is.  It doesn't get out much anymore, so we tend to forget.  We've talked about selling it lately, but I think that will get pushed out again.

There's also a little sentimental value in the 4-wheeler.  4-wheeling is actually how Jeff and I started dating.  I ran into a friend from high school at another friend's baby shower and got invited to go hang out and ride 4-wheelers with her and her fiance and Jeff.  I wasn't doing anything else that evening and it sounded like fun, so off I went.  I ended up having a good time, and Jeff was fun to be around, but didn't think much about it.  Three weeks later, while I'm at work, I get a voice mail on my phone from Jeff, asking me out.  I was shocked!  Not in a bad way, but I hadn't given him my number, or gotten any kind of vibe from him that he was interested in me.  He had sought out my number himself and got up the nerve to ask me out.  So I got my nerve up to call him back and go out with him.  And nine years later, we're still together.

I'm a few days late, but the anniversary of that first date was August 3rd.  Happy Anniversary Jeff, I can't wait to have many more years of hillbilly fun with you!

Hooked on Exercise? Me?!

When my mom called me a couple of weekends ago and said, "Hey, I saw this infomercial last night, it was some exercise tapes, can't remember what it was called, but I think it started with a Z.  Anyway, it looked really fun!", I admit, I was skeptical.

A little backstory; my mom will occasionally see something random on tv or a magazine, call me up, describe it extremely loosely, (so there's a good chance I have no idea what she's talking about), and say let's go do it!  How about tomorrow?!  Usually I'm the one doing a little bit more research to figure out the details and the when's and where's.  And thus, I discovered Zumba.

When I first looked at the website, I'd heard of it before, knew it to be like an aerobic class with dancing and Latin/R&B type music.  Thought it looked kind of fun, but I'm not really a fitness class type person.  I mean, I'm pretty good at laughing at myself, but still a little nervous about looking really stupid in front of people.  I also was a little surprised that my mom wanted to do this, she's not usually one for putting herself out there, way more shy than me.  But, she was just so darn enthusiastic about it, so I looked up local classes and we went the following Tuesday.  And dang it if it didn't turn out to be really fun!  Our first class was an hour of just straight dancing, which was fun, but we went to a different class the following week, and did some toning with the dance, and man, were we sore the next day! (and the day after that for that matter)  Went for the third time yesterday, and she made us do walking lunges.  A lot of them.  I fully expect to be sore for another day or so, but still intend to go back again next week!  I think I'm hooked on exercising... how did that happen?