Tomorrow I Turn 28

You guys. One day until I'm 28. Where did this year go?! Let's check back with where I was a year ago. Hmmm let's see. Still not married. Still no kids. Still have one cat. What we really should focus on here is that I made it another entire year without adopting more cats. That's an accomplishment people. Now let's see how I did on my list of the 28 (er 29) things I wanted to do before I turned 28. I don't think it's going to be pretty...

How cute is this ice cream cake my family got my Dad and I for
our joint birthday celebration on Sunday?! Love it!

1. buy a DSLR camera and take photography lessons - Completed 10/27/13. Okay so I haven't actually taken lessons, but I'm going to count this one as a win. My dad has taught me some things I swear.
2. run 1,000 miles - Okay so this one I know I did 1,000 miles of cardio. Was it all running? No. I ran 596 miles before my knees started bothering me in July, and I tried to tough it out until September, but I decided to take a few months off and stick with the elliptical, stairmaster, walking, and group fitness classes until January. I'm going to count this as complete because the circumstances were out of my control? Just give it to me. You'll see I failed on quite a few others if you keep reading...
3. find a church to attend - FAIL. Mal and I went to church a few times in April and planned on making it a weekly thing, but then we got busy. The only time I regularly go to church is when I stay in Topeka. This needs to change in 2014.
4. go to a movie by myself - completed 1/20/13. I went and saw Les Miserables all by myself.
5. learn to ski - Completed 2/23/13. I skied at Snow Creek in Weston, MO. I also only made it a few hours before I wimped out and headed inside to the bar to watch KU basketball. Priorities.
6. make a budget that I actually stick to so I can save more money for a house - I might not have actually created a budget per se, but I did buy my first house on 2/14/13 so that counts. Also C is attempting to keep my spending in check (attempting is the key word).
7. read 8 new novels - Hit this one out of the park! I'm currently on book #12. Here's what I've read - (1) The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan, (2) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, (3) Little Bee by Chris Cleave, (4) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, (5) Someone Could Get Hurt by Drew Magary, (6) Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, (7) The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, (8) Wild by Cheryl Strayed, (9) Power Moves by Karl Welzein, (10) The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian, (11) Divergent by Veronica Roth
8. take the GMAT - FAIL
9. try 10 new restaurants - (1) Room 39, (2) The Majestic, (3) Brewbakers, (4) Salsa Grill, (5) Avelluto's, (6) The Beacon, (7) Chez Elle, (8) The Farmhouse, (9) Nara, (10) The Filling Station..and many more. I've been an overachiever with this one for sure. Of course...the goal with the food.
10. try 12 new recipes - Another food one complete. Maybe next year I should have all food related goals. Then I would be an A+ student. Here's what I made - (1) Chocolate Ganache, (2) Avocado Feta Dip, (3) Tomato Basil Soup, (4) Pineapple Lemonade Sangria, (5) Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas, (6) Blueberry Muffins, (7) Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, (8) Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball, (8) Funfetti Cookie Cake, (9) Sugar Cookie Bars, (10) Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, (11) Red Velvet Shortcake Cookies, (12) Roasted Bacon, Mustard, Walnut Brussels Sprouts, (13) Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole
11. run a half marathon and beat my PR (1.56.28) OR run a full marathon and beat my PR (3:56:22) - I ran Rock the Parkway half marathon on 4/13/13 and finished in 1.48.59. Go me!
12. complete a 365 photo a day challenge - Completed 4/30/13
13. avoid fast food for an entire month - Completed February 2012.
14. sing karaoke - FAIL
15. take a trip to a state I’ve never been to - I went to cities I'd never been to this year. I spent time in Charleston, SC and Athens, GA. Although these aren't new states I think I can go ahead and count this one as complete since I traveled a lot. Right?
16. attempt to eat a Paleolithic or vegetarian (haven't decided which) diet for an entire month - FAIL
17. learn to french braid - Watched a how-to YouTube video two days ago. It counts.
18. celebrate three unusual holidays - National Taco Day 10/4/13. National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day 11/12/13 - Ok so maybe my pizza wasn't quite the works, but I did consciously eat pizza that night because I knew it was a national pizza day of some sort. It counts. National Microwave Oven Day 12/6/13 - Yup I heated myself up a fancy Lean Cuisine. I'm so gourmet.
19. host a girl’s night every other month - Bachelorette watch party in January, Housewarming party in April, multiple summer cook outs (I said cook out and not BBQ Cory so you don't have to correct me), Mexican fiesta in October, Friendsgiving in November, NYE party coming up this month. Guests weren't limited to the female variety, but the Tindahs and I still hosted some great get-togethers so this one is a win.
20. only use reusable grocery bags - FAIL
21. make my bed every day for a month - Completed March 2013
22. get a promotion - Completed 5/2/13
23. take a spinning class - FAIL I was planning on going to SoulCycle this morning, but it was cold out and sleeping in sounded much better than walking around with a bruised butt all weekend. Maybe next year...
24. buy a KitchenAid stand mixer - Completed 12/26/12
25. send snail mail to one family member or friend each month - thank you note to Molly in January, but after that month this was a big, fat FAIL
26. learn to knit - FAIL
27. floss every other day - FAIL
28. conquer my biggest fear - hold a snake - FAIL. C dragged me into Petsmart at least three times, but the closest I got to holding a snake was timidly peering at the glass from 3 feet away. Maybe next year... Actually probably not.
29. learn to shoot a gun - FAIL. I haven't done this yet, but I think I'm going to learn over Christmas so maybe this is only a partial fail?

Yikes I only completed 62% of my list. That's even worse than I was expecting. Guess I need to try again this year, but first I'm going to go enjoy my weekend in NYC! xoxo

Happy 1/2 Birthday to Me!

How am I already 27 and a half!? OMG this year is seriously flying. I'm a little scared to check back on my list of 28 Things Before 28. It isn't going to be good...

No these aren't actually from today. I didn't buy myself cupcakes for my  half
birthday. Not saying it isn't something I would do...just that I'm at work right now so it isn't possible....and I'm trying to eat healthy. Trying being the key word.

buy a DSLR camera and take photography lessons - should I treat myself to a little half birthday present this evening?! Better check the bank account...

run 1,000 miles - I'm at 510 miles right now so I'm a little behind but I think 1,000 miles is still within reach...assuming I actually train for the half marathon I've signed up for in October.

find a church to attend - uhhhh fail. Mal and I went to church one weekend then things got busy.

go to a movie by myself - completed 1/20/13. I went and saw Les Miserables all by myself

learn to ski - completed 2/23/13. Skied at Snow Creek in Weston, MO

make a budget that I actually stick to so I can save more money for a house - completed 2/14/13. Bought my first house and closed March 21st!

read 8 new novels - (1) The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan, (2) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, (3) Little Bee by Chris Cleave

take the GMAT

try 10 new restaurants - (1) Room 39, (2) The Majestic, (3) Brewbakers, (4) Salsa Grill, (5) Avelluto's, (6) The Beacon, (7) Westport Cafe and Bar,

try 12 new recipes - (1) Chocolate Ganache, (2) Avocado Feta Dip, (3) Tomato Basil Soup, (4) Pineapple Lemonade Sangria

run a half marathon and beat my PR (1.56.28) OR run a full marathon and beat my PR (3:56:22) - Ran Rock the Parkway half marathon on 4/13/13 and finished in 1.48.59

complete a 365 photo a day challenge - completed 4/30/13

avoid fast food for an entire month - completed February 2012.

sing karaoke

take a trip to a state I’ve never been to

attempt to eat a Paleolithic or vegetarian (haven't decided which) diet for an entire month

learn to french braid

celebrate three unusual holidays

host a girl’s night every other month - Bachelorette watch party in January, Housewarming party in April (even though it was co-ed), BBQ in May (also co-ed but still counting it),

only use reusable grocery bags

make my bed every day for a month - completed March 2013

get a promotion - completed 5/2/13

take a spinning class

buy a KitchenAid stand mixer - completed 12/26/12

send snail mail to one family member or friend each month - thank you note to Molly in January, Feb-May FAIL

learn to knit

floss every other day

conquer my biggest fear - hold a snake

learn to shoot a gun

I thought it was going to be bad, but not that bad. I've only completed NINE things. I've seriously been slacking. Time to get to work. I need to get my butt to church, start cooking (maybe vegetarian??) instead of eating out, and watch some YouTube videos so I can teach myself how to french braid. Hopefully I can add at least one more book to the list while I'm on vacation next week. I've failed at actually reading my last two book club books so I'm bound and determined to finish this one. Now, does anyone know any unusual holidays I can celebrate, or have an extremely friendly, non-terrifying pet snake I can borrow?

Right Now

Yup. It has been nearly a month since I've written a new post. Major blogger fail.

Between the Big 12 Tournament, closing on my house, moving into my house, taking on a couple different baking projects for some friends, the NCAA tournament (still heartbroken the Jayhawks lost), and attempting to have some sort of a social life, I feel like I haven't had more than 2 seconds to sit down...let alone even think about getting out my computer to blog. Fingers crossed I can start getting back into a regular routine this month. My health and my sanity are depending on it! 

I thought the easiest way to get you back up to speed on what has been going on in my life was a Right Now post so here we go...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*obsessing over *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

All the changes I've made to my house in the first week, specifically the new paint colors. So far I've painted the front entry, living room, dining room, hallways, and my bedroom (and I use the word "I" loosely seeing as I put primer on one wall then supervised the remainder of the painting. Shout out to Scott for being awesome and basically painting everything!). Obviously it is still a work in progress, but it is already so much better! No more red and puke green. Yay!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*working on *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Eating healthier and getting back into a regular work out routine. I've been eating out way too much, drinking way too much, and working out way too little. I foresee a juice cleanse in my future...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*thinking about*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Whether or not I should suck it up and run Rock the Parkway in a few weeks or opt out of this race (even though I've already signed up). I hurt my knee skiing a month or so ago and was unable to run for a few weeks, and then I just haven't really gotten back into the swing of things (aka I've been totally lazy and going out Friday and Saturday nights has sounded way better than getting up to do long runs on Saturday and Sunday mornings). I did one 9 mile run two weeks ago, and it was torture. I guess I'm going to suck it up and try to do a long run this coming weekend so that will determine whether or not I will be participating. Wish me luck.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*excited for *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart tomorrow after work to hopefully buy a dining room table/chairs and some accent chairs for the living room. Oh the joys of being a homeowner haha.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*can't live without*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lowe's. It's stupid how many times I've been there in the past week. Ridiculous.

I'm also pretty sure I would have had several panic attacks/nervous breakdowns without my roommate Mal. We may or may not have already called the police to come check out a possible home invasion (which now that I'm thinking clearly was probably just me being stupid and having the garage door opener in my purse). She was also an extremely good sport when I managed to lose our house key (that I swear was in a zippered pocket) during our run...okay fine it was really a walk... and lock us out of the house on Thursday evening. At least we followed it up with margaritas and Mexican....and wine and animal crackers after that. Did I mention I need a total diet overhaul? Yikes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*on repeat*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Currently obsessed with Heart Attack by Demi Lovato and Mama's Broken Heart by Miranda Lambert. Both real gems!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*devouring *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A better question is what haven't I been devouring. Seriously. I'm out of control. I'm way too terrified to step on a scale, and I've been avoiding jeans like the plague.

The worst part is I'm doing it to myself. Of course I had to get celebratory
cupcakes for Mal's first day at her new job! At least we only ate half...

I suppose I need to man up and see what kind of damage I've done the past few weeks. Maybe it is time I complete another one of the things on my 28 Things Before 28 list and try out the Paleo diet this month. We shall see.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*thankful for*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Everyone who has helped with out with random miscellaneous household tasks the last few weeks. Couldn't do it without you all!

I went skiing...and survived

Well I can check another thing off my 28 Things Before 28 list! On Saturday I went skiing with some friends at Snow Creek, and while I can't say that skiing is my most favorite thing to do now, I'll admit it was fun.

Thankfully my friend Scott was a real gem and volunteered to be my ski instructor for the day saving me some cash as well as the embarrassment of taking lessons with a bunch of kiddos (who were obviously wayyyyy better than me). Many thanks to him for being extremely patient as I know I wasn't the best student, and also an even bigger thanks for putting himself in the line of fire as I hurtled down the slopes out of control the first few times. He may or may not have fallen more than me! :)

In case you need proof that I actually did it, here is a video that Scott took. What's funny is I felt like I was FLYING, but in reality I'm going at snail pace compared to everyone else haha.

If given the choice between the beach and the mountains, I will still 100% always chose the beach, but at least now I can say I've skiied (and I was terrified enough skiing the "slopes" in Missouri so I can't imagine what it would be like on an actual mountain). Someday when I'm a grown-up (because 27 is not grown up) and married with a family if they want to go skiing you will find me cozied up by the fire with a book and hot chocolate. I'm just not meant for cold weather....and most definitely not winter sports.

28 Things Before 28

When I was younger I used to think being 20 sounded so old. 25? That was basically middle aged. At 25, I thought I would have the world figured out. I would most definitely be married. I would have at least one kid (a girl, Mackenzie) and possibly a second (another girl, Kennedy). Your guess is as good as mine as to why those were my names of choice back then, but nonetheless I would be a grown up. 

Theta Bid Day Party 2005: Theme - Where You'll be in 10 Years.
This. Picture. Is. Terrifying.

Yet here I am turning 27 today, and I still feel like a little kid. When I'm sick, I call my mom to come take care of me. When something breaks or I need career advice, I have my dad on speed dial. When I go into a liquor store to buy Skinnygirl Margs I still get nervous because I feel like I shouldn't be old enough to buy alcohol. No joke. It also probably doesn't help that I look like a 12 year old, but that is beside the point...

Today I am 27. Am I married? No. Do I have kids? Absolutely not. Maybe my life hasn't played out like my 10 year old self had planned, but you know what? I'm totally fine with that...even happy that it hasn't! I am still much too self-centered to be married, let alone provide for a family (taking care of my cat is all the responsibility I need thank you very much). So in honor of my 27th birthday I am compiling a list of 28 things I want to do for me before I turn 28. 

1. buy a DSLR camera and take photography lessons
2. run 1,000 miles - might have done this in 2012 but didn't keep track
3. find a church to attend
4. go to a movie by myself - completed 1/20/13. Went and saw Les Miserables all by myself
5. learn to ski - completed 2/23/13. Skiied at Snow Creek in Weston, MO
6. make a budget that I actually stick to so I can save more money for a house - completed 2/14/13. Bought my first house and closed March 21st!
7. read 8 new novels - (1) The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan, (2) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, (3) Little Bee by Chris Cleave, (4) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, (5) Someone Could Get Hurt by Drew Magary, (6) Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, (7) The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, (8) Wild by Cheryl Strayed, (9) Power Moves by Karl Welzein, (10) The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
8. take the GMAT
9. try 10 new restaurants - (1) Room 39, (2) The Majestic, (3) Brewbakers, (4) Salsa Grill, (5) Avelluto's, (6) The Beacon, (7) Chez Elle, (8) The Farmhouse, (9) Nara, (10) The Filling Station..and many more. I've been an overachiever with this one for sure. Of course...the goal with the food.
10. try 12 new recipes - (1) Chocolate Ganache, (2) Avocado Feta Dip, (3) Tomato Basil Soup, (4) Pineapple Lemonade Sangria, (5) Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas, (6) Blueberry Muffins, (7) Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes, (8) Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball, (8) Funfetti Cookie Cake
11. run a half marathon and beat my PR (1.56.28) OR run a full marathon and beat my PR (3:56:22) - Ran Rock the Parkway half marathon on 4/13/13 and finished in 1.48.59
12. complete a 365 photo a day challenge - completed 4/30/13
13. avoid fast food for an entire month - completed February 2012.
14. sing karaoke
15. take a trip to a state I’ve never been to
16. attempt to eat a Paleolithic or vegetarian (haven't decided which) diet for an entire month
17. learn to french braid
18. celebrate three unusual holidays - National Taco Day 10/4/13,
19. host a girl’s night every other month - Bachelorette watch party in January, Housewarming party in April,
20. only use reusable grocery bags
21. make my bed every day for a month - completed March 2013
22. get a promotion - completed 5/2/13
23. take a spinning class
24. buy a KitchenAid stand mixer - completed 12/26/12
25. send snail mail to one family member or friend each month - thank you note to Molly in January,
26. learn to knit
27. floss every other day
28. conquer my biggest fear - hold a snake
29. learn to shoot a gun

You will notice there are actually 29 things on the list. This is because I'm OCD and I will be super annoyed with myself if I only make it through #27, but I seriously do not know if I can complete #28. Snakes TERRIFY me...just ask my sisters or my friend, Marina. They used to hide plastic snakes in my shoes that would send me into hysterics. Even thinking about those creepy little things gives me the shivers.

So I'm off! I've got exactly one year to complete 28 (maybe 29) things before my 28th birthday. 

Wish me luck!