29 Things Before 29 (or New Years Resolutions)

You don't have to tell me. I'm more than aware I've been a complete failure at blogging the last two months. I just haven't felt particularly inspired nor have I had an abundance of free time (even though I was off work for an entire week). I was too busy eating cookies, watching movies, and working on a puzzle. Give a girl a break. I live a really exciting life. I know. Anyways, since it is almost NYE and I still hadn't done my 29 things before 29 list I thought I could just roll it all up into one big resolutions/goals/things I need to accomplish post. Sound good? Great. Here we go...

1. Blog at least once a week.
2. No alcohol or sweets for a month. The alcohol part? That will be easy. The sweets? Lord help me.
3. Find a church to attend. This must happen this year.
4. Get my new website up and running. More on this to come. Hopefully soon :)
5. Buy/hang curtains in my living room and bedroom.
6. Take photography lessons.
7. Take a Bikram yoga class.
8. Travel abroad. Europe. Mexico. Canada. Wherever!
9. Increase my savings account by changing my automatic funds transfer from $50 to $100 a week.
10. Walk at least 10,000 steps every day for a month. I just got a Fit Bit for Christmas so I'm kind of obsessed. :)
11. Call a friend I haven't talked to in awhile on the way home from work at least once a week.
12. Say "I love you" more and mean it.
13. Eat a paleo or low carb diet for a month. Again, this will be very difficult for a carb lover like myself.
14. Read 12 books.
15. Try 12 new recipes (bonus points if they aren't desserts).
16. Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This one is kind of cheating because C and I are already planning on going there in March, but I've wanted to go forever so whatever. This one's a freebie!
17. Milk a cow. Random you may say? It sounds fun...and I just really want to visit Shatto Milk Company sometime this year. I might die of happiness if I'm able to bottle feed a baby cow. Soooo stinkin' cute!
18. Sing karaoke.
19. Buy a house plant and keep it alive for 6 months. Let's be honest. There is no way it will live for year. Baby steps.
20. Swim with manatees or dolphins.
21. Go for a hot air balloon ride.
22. Send snail mail to a friend or family member each month. I know I had this same idea last year, but I failed miserably, and I always love getting fun mail so it's time to return the favor.
23. Buy my parents dinner.
24. Have a garage sale to get rid of everything still boxed up in the basement. If I haven't used it in almost a year I really don't need to keep hanging on to it.
25. Buy a piece of jewelry that signifies all I've achieved so far.
26. Take a spinning class.
27. Try 12 new restaurants.
28. Visit at least one state I've never been to.
29. Hold a snake. I didn't have enough courage to do this last year. Maybe 29 is the lucky year? We shall see.

Hopefully these are a little more achievable than last year. Happy New Year friends! Cheers to 2014!

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

The Great Cookie Swap 2013

Last year I was a little late to the party (and had just started my blog a month or so earlier), but this year you better believe I had the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap on my radar months in advance. This was such a fun way to get into the holiday spirit and a great way to try different cookie recipes (not to mention gain a few pounds along the way but whatever. So worth it). Here is what I sent to my matches, Kaitlin, Chrissy, and Kendra, which an adaptation from a Better Homes & Gardens recipe. Hopefully they enjoyed their sweet treats!

Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies
yields 24 cookies

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, cut up
1 tablespoon red food coloring
vanilla Almond Bark
pistachios, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut in butter and red food coloring using a pastry blender until mixture resembles a fine crumb. This is going to take awhile, but hey, it will just make you feel a little better about all the dough and cookies you're about to consume. Who needs a Bowflex or Shake Weight when you have a pastry blender?! Guns of steel here we come!

Once the dough starts to cling together, remove from mixing bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Form mixture into a ball, kneading until smooth. Roll dough to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut out dough with a cookie cutter of your choice. I used a cut little flower about an inch wide. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Please scraps together and re-roll until all dough has been used.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until centers are set. Transfer cookies to a wire rack or wax paper to cool. While cookies are cooling, chop pistachios until they are a fine crumb. Melt almond bark in the microwave in 30 second increments. Be sure to stir between each round to avoid over cooking. Dip half of each cookie into the melted chocolate and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Let stand on wax paper until set then enjoy!

Thursday Thoughts with Jen - Vol 21

Happy Thursday! Lets jump right into it.

1. Awhile ago I mentioned I had a running list of baby names on my iPhone. Well I can happily say my top two girls names (I don't have favorite boys names because well, that just can't happen. I will have girls if anything) did not appear anywhere in the 100 Most Popular Baby Names of 2013. What are they you may ask? I'llllllll neverrrrrrr telllllllll (spoken in a similar creepy, sing-songy way to Brittany Murphy in Don't Say a Word). 
2. Speaking of children, why didn't Elf on the Shelf exist when I was a child?! Seriously. I feel like I really missed out. Luckily I have fun co-workers, and for the second year in a row we have some traveling work Elves on the Shelves. Jingle hasn't visited me yet this year, but I'm anxiously awaiting his arrival.

   

   Jingle chilling in a peppermint marshmallow bubble bath last year. 

3. Every company should have four day work weeks. No exceptions. Last week I only had to work Monday, Tuesday, and a half day Wednesday, and it was ah-maze-ing, and I'm not even asking for that! I just want one more day. Give me Friday. Give me Monday. I don't care. I'll stay as late as I have to Monday-Thursday, but that extra day off would be so fantastic. 
4. Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments are far superior to ALL other ornaments. While I hate shopping when there are large crowds, every year I make an exception the day after Christmas to go to Hallmark to buy ornaments half price. I have my eye on way too many this year. 

   

   photo from hallmark.com

   

   photo from hallmark.com

   

   photo from hallmark.com

   

   photo from hallmark.com

   

   photo from hallmark.com

5. I'm having major anxiety about what to get people for Christmas. Surprisingly C was the easy one to shop for even though he is ridiculously picky. My dad is a different story. His birthday is December 17th so I have to get him TWO presents. Does anyone have any good ideas? I think I've got one, but I'm at a loss for the other. Help me!
6. So I tried eggnog for the first time on Thanksgiving, and as much as it pains me to say this, I kinda loved it. I've always alleged I hated eggnog (although I can't even remember the last time I'd had it prior to last Thursday). Oh how I wished I would turn up my nose in disgust, but no. Quite the opposite really. I can't stop thinking about having more. Why oh why does it have to be so caloric? I mean 200ish calories for a cup before the rum is added?! That is just madness. 
7. On Tuesday morning my group fitness teacher informed us only 12% of Americans work out on a regular basis. Twelve. How sad is that? We need to get our butts into gear, and stop making excuses (myself included). Last week I only worked out once. This week I've gotta do better...especially I'm guzzling down eggnog. What are your favorite workouts to do in the winter? I'm such a baby so all my activities are of the indoor variety.

   

   Long sleeves are necessary even when I'm at the gym...at least for the first 5 minutes or so. 

8. Are you a morning person or a night owl? I am most definitely an early riser, and this list of 23 Signs You're a Morning Person proves it. I feel like such a failure when I don't get out of bed by 8:00 a.m. on the weekends even if I have nothing to do. Most weekdays I'm up and at 'em by 4:15 a.m. I realize I'm crazy, no need to tell me. I blame my mother. 
9. Lastly, I just downloaded an new iPhone app called QuizUp and you should ALL download it so we can play. It's really fun I promise.