Update on My 31 Things in My 31st Year List

Last year, with my 31st birthday looming, I wrote a "31 Things in My 31st Year List" on this blog.  Here's the follow-up to that list--let's see how I did: (updates on accomplishments are in green next to the original goals)

31 Things…

1. Become more aware of what I eat, where it comes from, and how it affects my health. (Read Eating Animals).   I did read Eating Animals, along with The Omnivores Dilemma, and I saw a couple movies too-they all made me want to stop eating meat, (at least factory-farm produced meat), which I did for a few months...until I got pregnant and was craving meat... 

2. Run at least 5 races (5K or 8K). (The next one will be the Race for the Place 5K to benefit St. Lawrence Place, February 6th).  I ran the Race for the Place 5K, the St. Patty's Day 5K, the Get in the Pink 5K, and the Crawdaddy Dash 5K...then I got pregnant, so that was the end of racing season for me...I almost made it to 5 races!

3. Video tape my grandmother cooking some of her best dishes, (the ones she can’t write down the recipe for since she ‘just throws some things together’).  I am actually scheduled to do this on Saturday--we are making biscuits from scratch and Bierocks-- a German meal that my family LOVES, and only she knows how to make!

4. Video tape my sister giving birth to her second baby…(no NatGeo shots, just document the event).  Didn't get to do this because her 2nd baby, Taylor, came way to quickly--I wasn't even at the hospital yet!

5. Create something new at least once a month—(sew something, write something, cook something, make something).  Don't know for sure that I fulfilled this goal every month, but here are some examples of things I did "create" this year: my first-ever knitted scarf, currently working on a knitted baby blanket, a baby!, new cookie recipes, took some pictures with my new Holga camera, made a Gingerbread house with my nephew...

6. Take a road trip to Washington, DC. (Been wanting to go back for a couple years and just haven’t gotten around to it; Aunt LeAnn, here we come!)  This did not happen, and I'm sorry it didn't before I got pregnant, but we will still make it to DC soon, I hope!

7. Call friends who live out of town; at least one a month.  Again, probably did not happen...I am really bad at calling friends (hence the goal)...

8. Get a pedicure at least every 6 weeks; the money saved by not doing so is not worth the embarrassing-looking toes.  I think this one was accomplished.  I have nicely pedicured toes right now :)

9. Volunteer somewhere new. I am thinking of getting a Meals on Wheels delivery route.  I did get a Meals on Wheels Delivery route, and I love it--I see the same people each month, and it is so rewarding!

10. Train my dogs to walk civilly on leashes. And then take them on regular walks.  James and I started working on this last week--a work in progress, for sure!

11. Wear sunscreen more vigilantly. (Can’t promise I will not sunbathe, but I’ll at least wear SPF 15 when I do).  I have been very vigilant about sunscreen, especially since I got pregnant.

12. Start a new book club—yay!  Well, it started, and then fizzled...made some great new friends through the book club though!  Maybe we'll start it back again!?

13. Entertain people at our house at least once a month; whether it be a small dinner party or a party party…it just makes me happy.  Not sure if we accomplished once a month, (being pregnant makes entertaining not seem so appealing, especially in the first few months for me)...but, we did have at least 3 parties at our house and a few smaller dinner parties as well.

14. Frequent the Columbia farmer’s markets more often—the State farmer’s market and the All Local one.  I went to the Local Farmer's Market almost religiously until I got prego...love it!

15. Read East of Eden; a classic, and one highly recommended recently by a friend.  Still haven't finished, but it's still on my bedside table; about halfway finished...

16. Forgive myself and move on for not being able to finish Atlas Shrugged.  Done.

17. Figure out how to re-design the look of my blog and do it.  Done.

18. Learn to bake bread.  Done--definitely not perfected, but another work-in-progress.
    

Image via here

19. Make something using the immersion blender that we registered for and received for a wedding present.  I made a cauliflower/almond soup--it was pretty good :)

20. Organize my recipes.  Halfway done.

21. Take more pictures.  Done--with Holga and digital camera.  And now we have a new Zumi video camera which I love!

22. Save up for our next big vacation…which will hopefully be somewhere in Central America, Europe, or back to the West Coast…  Not done--instead, our current savings will go into a 529-College Savings Plan for baby Jones.  We did get to go to my friend Annie's wedding in Frisco, CO this summer though--that was a fun vacation!

23. Buy more fresh flowers.  I bought some from the All Local Market back when I was going regularly...need to start doing this again!
    
    Image via here

24. Write more.  I have been writing in a journal to the baby--my thoughts and feelings since I've been pregnant, that I'll someday share with him.

25. Do something spiritual at least once a week.  Working on it--sobriety and pregnancy have increased my time for prayer.

26. Eat more fresh fruit and veggies.  Done--except the 3 months at the beginning of the pregnancy when I couldn't even look at a veggie.

27. Plant (and keep up) an amazing spring/summer garden.  Done.  Mostly due to my husband's diligent work.

28. Call my grandmother at least once a week to hang out.  Done.  We had lots of fun dinners and chats--this weekend we'll cook :)

29. Learn to knit.  Done--thanks to Lara Winburn!

30. Patronize local art, theater, restaurants, music, etc as much as possible.(The Nickelodeon, Columbia Museum of Art, Trustus Theater, etc...)  Done.  I went to LOTS of movies at The Nick, and we saw Rent and Reasons to Be Pretty at Trustus.  We also got a 8-ticket package at Trustus for the upcoming season for Christmas :)

31. Forgive myself if I don’t accomplish all of these things this year :)  Done. 

So, as you can see, most of my goals were accomplished.  Obviously, getting knocked up put a crimp in some plans, and changed some things, but all-in-all I feel it was a very accomplished year for me.  Bring on 32!

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Just 'Cause

I am having a stressy day today--pulling together the details for a 5K race with over 200 participants is not easy...and in the cold and rain no less. Especially when people don't do what they say they're going to do...ugh!

So, instead of thinking about it for the next 5 minutes, I am thinking of the pedicure that I will have tomorrow afternoon when it is all over.

Here are my new favorite colors:

Metro Chic Sephora by OPI:

image via here


Fashion by deborah lippman:
image via here

{I don't actually own this exact color, but I did find a Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear polish that is pretty similar at Walgreen's, it's called Celeb City Frost}.

OK, thanks for indulging me in that 5-minute escape.
What are your favorite nail polish colors?

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Do-Gooder Monday

Some chances to do good this week:


1) Register for the first ever Race for the Place 5K run/walk to be held this Saturday, February 6th at 8:30 am. All proceeds from this event will benefit St. Lawrence Place, a transitional housing program for homeless families in the Midlands. {I work at SLP and have been helping organize this event, so I'm a bit biased, but you should do it!}

Sponsors include: BlueCross BlueShield, Bank of America, 621 Athletes, Pupcakes Pet Boutique, Doc's Barbeque and Southern Buffet, Edisto Irrigation & Landscaping, Pinnacle Physical Therapy, Shandon-Wood Animal Clinic, Cottage & Vine, Ed Robinson Dry Cleaners, Chick-fil-A, Young Chef's Academy, Allegra Printing, Piggly Wiggly, Colonial Life, and Mad Platter!

There will be a Fun Run for kid's under age 12, and Chick-fil-A will be on-site with the cow and free food, as well as Young Chef's Academy with an activity for kids and Ed Robinson Cleaners with a raffle for free dry cleaning!

image via here

2) Eat at Village Idiot in 5 Points tonight--100% of sales from 4-close today will be given to the Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund!

image via here

3) Go to the Junior League's Clean Sweep event at the Fairgrounds this Saturday, (after the race of course!) 8am- 2 pm; $2 for parking and $2 admission; at 12:30-1 pm the sale closes and then from 1-2 pm you can pay $5 to fill up a bag as full as possible with donated items such as DVDs and music, linens, books, home and garden items, etc...a junk-finder's dream! And all the proceeds go to help the Junior League fund community projects for local non-profits.

Know of any other charitable events going on this week?

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31 Things in my 31st Year

So, tomorrow, (as in less than 1 hour from now), is my 31st birthday. Wow. Still sounds old.

Here is my list of 31 Things to accomplish in my 31st Year. Some are pretty simple and some are a bit more challenging, but exciting all the same:

31 Things…

1. Become more aware of what I eat, where it comes from, and how it affects my health. (Read Eating Animals).

2. Run at least 5 races (5K or 8K). (The next one will be the Race for the Place 5K to benefit St. Lawrence Place, February 6th).
   

3. Video tape my grandmother cooking some of her best dishes, (the ones she can’t write down the recipe for since she ‘just throws some things together’).

4. Video tape my sister giving birth to her second baby…(no NatGeo shots, just document the event).

5. Create something new at least once a month—(sew something, write something, cook something, make something).

6. Take a road trip to Washington, DC. (Been wanting to go back for a couple years and just haven’t gotten around to it; Aunt LeAnn, here we come!)

7. Call friends who live out of town; at least one a month.

8. Get a pedicure at least every 6 weeks; the money saved by not doing so is not worth the embarrassing-looking toes.

9. Volunteer somewhere new. I am thinking of getting a Meals on Wheels delivery route.

10. Train my dogs to walk civilly on leashes. And then take them on regular walks.

11. Wear sunscreen more vigilantly. (Can’t promise I will not sunbathe, but I’ll at least wear SPF 15 when I do).

12. Start a new book club—yay!

13. Entertain people at our house at least once a month; whether it be a small dinner party or a party party…it just makes me happy.

14. Frequent the Columbia farmer’s markets more often—the State farmer’s market and the All Local one.

15. Read East of Eden; a classic, and one highly recommended recently by a friend.

16. Forgive myself and move on for not being able to finish Atlas Shrugged.

17. Figure out how to re-design the look of my blog and do it.

18. Learn to bake bread.
    

Image via here

19. Make something using the immersion blender that we registered for and received for a wedding present.

20. Organize my recipes.

21. Take more pictures.

22. Save up for our next big vacation…which will hopefully be somewhere in Central America, Europe, or back to the West Coast…

23. Buy more fresh flowers.
    
    Image via here
    

24. Write more.

25. Do something spiritual at least once a week.

26. Eat more fresh fruit and veggies.

27. Plant (and keep up) an amazing spring/summer garden.

28. Call my grandmother at least once a week to hang out.

29. Learn to knit.

30. Patronize local art, theater, restaurants, music, etc as much as possible.(The Nickelodeon, Columbia Museum of Art, Trustus Theater, etc...)
    

31. Forgive myself if I don’t accomplish all of these things this year :)

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