25 for 25 Update

Given that my 25th year is a little more than halfway two-thirds (what the heck!) over, I thought it would be a good time to check in on the progress of my 25 for 25. I've been greatly successful with some of my goals, and with others, notsomuch. Good thing I've got plenty of time to work on these things! I'm pretty pleased with how the year is going so far, though. 25 is doing alright by me!

The Update

*dun-dun-dunnnn*

1. Read 12 books (1/month) – fail. I’m in the middle of approximately six different books right now, but just can’t seem to finish any of them!

2. Go to the gym (or exercise somehow) 4+ days per week – success! I’m averaging 5-6 days a week, at least since I started recording on my Fitness Log.

3. Cook 24 new recipes - things I've never made at all, not just changes (2/month) – erm. Not sure on this one. I’ve made quite a few new things, but I’m not sure it’s been the 14 new recipes that it should be if I were on track. Must do better!

Some of the things I've made so far:

• Southwestern Quinoa Salad,
• Sneaky Meatball Subs,
• Poached Salmon Pasta Salad
• Oreo Cake

I need to get myself back in the kitchen to experiment - I've been sticking with my "safe" recipes, and that completely goes against the goal. This week I'm making chipotle black bean burgers - how's that for branching out?

4. Create my recipe book/compilation – fail.

5. Increase savings by $7000 – well, we bought a car… so needless to say, this one is not going quite as well as we hoped.

6. Visit three places I’ve never been – one down! Our trip to Nashville last month was a big one. I'm working on getting some other things scheduled - like a trip to visit a sweet friend in a few weeks! 

7. Blog/write regularly (at least 2x/week) – success! I’ve been doing quite well keeping up with this business. Gold star.

8. Take a vacation with C that is somewhere neither of us have been – done! Nashville killed two birds with one stone. And we loved it!

9. Watch 12 new movies – Done! And I'm pretty sure we've probably seen more than 12, but here are the ones I can think of off the top of my head:

• The Ides of March
• 50/50
• War Horse
• Moneyball
• The Vow
• Safehouse
• Hunger Games
• The Avengers
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Ted
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
• Prometheus

We love watching movies, both new-in-theaters and new-to us, which is why this list is a mix of both. We make good use of our Netflix subscription!

10. Sort, organize, and give away all the things I intended to when we moved in – this is a work in progress. We have done well with cleaning out some clothes and some other random things, but there is definitely more that could be recycled.

11. Get to my goal weight – Pretty dang close. It’s been a long road, but I’ve been doing really well this year. I know this goal is not very specific, but that’s something I prefer to keep personal (for now, at least).

12. Increase my “usual” weight for all exercises at the gym – done – except for one track! I just can’t seem to increase my bicep weight and keep it up successfully. Weak little arms!

13. Run two races – done. I've actually done three already this year, and I'm registered for three more before the year is over! I am so pleased with myself regarding this goal - I had no idea that this would be the year I'd become a runner.

14. Finish the office – nope. The office has turned into the cat room, and still has a ways to go.

15. Plan a fun outing with my mom and my sister – not yet! But something this fall, hopefully.

16. Send 12 pieces of “just because” mail – About halfway. I’ve sent a few cards and packages. Need to do more!

17. Have a dinner party – we had a great party for C’s birthday! I’d like to have another, though, a “just because” party.

18. Go to all the Smithsonian museums (again) (the major ones) – big time fail. Haven't been to any!

19. Bake the perfect cake for each of my family members’ birthdays. Success! (ish) – baked an amazing one for C’s birthday [which I proclaimed the best cake ever], but not for my mom – she didn’t want cake! I did make a yummy berries-and-ice-cream dessert, though. I've got an idea for a German Chocolate cake for my dad this month - sure to be an adventure!

20. Craft something for each holiday without spending a lot of money/decorate for cheap – I made a cute wreath for Valentine’s Day, and I found some fun, cheap decorations for St. Patrick’s Day on sale at Michael’s. As far as the other holidays have gone, though, we’ve been basically decoration-less. Whoops. But decoration-less is cheap, too….

21. Pay off credit cards – one paid off and closed! The other, not so much. But we have made plans in this area, so we’re doing ok.

22. Make a wedding album and hang wedding prints – no and no. My sister made us a wedding album, but I’d like to make another with more pictures. I printed and framed a few pictures, but have plans for a gallery wall. Hasn’t happened yet.

23. Plant a garden of something and maintain it long enough to produce something – I attempted to plant herbs… didn’t go so well. We do have mint and basil, though! I think I planted too late in the season. Sad. Not enough mint or basil to actually do anything with, but pretty sturdy little plants nonetheless.

24. Learn something new (what is TBD) - honestly, I'm not sure where I stand on this one yet. I've learned a lot I think, especially about fitness, working out, running, and the likes, as well as how to eat healthier and take better care of myself. I was picturing this to be a bit more of a concrete goal, though - I want to actually take a class or something. We'll consider this one to be "in progress."

25. Go wine-tasting – check! We’ve been to Tarara twice now (April and July), and had a blast. We also found ourselves at Old House Vineyards after C's cousin's baby shower in June. We have been talking about doing a multi-winery tour in the fall. That sounds like so much fun!

Writing this post has been a great reminder of all the things I set out to do this year - I see some new recipes in my future, and I'm definitely going to try to finish some of the books I've started! I've got a little over four months left of my 25th year (holy cow, really?!) and I know I can cross a few more things off this list!

It's a crazy town, full of neon dreams*

I'm so excited!

This time tomorrow, we will be well on down the road, headed for our summer vacation destination....

[source]

Nashville!

We (my parents, C, & I) are headed to country music heaven, and I almost cannot stand how excited I am about it. I've never been, and I can't wait to just immerse myself in all-things country music. Cowboy hats, cowboy boots, big belt buckles, and honky tonks are calling my name.

As if that wasn't great enough, C and I will be making a pit stop for one night on the way back home, to make a short visit to our old stomping grounds...



[source]

Blacksburg!

(aka home to Virginia Tech)

It's been more than a year since we were "home," and we just can't pass up the opportunity to spend a little time in our favorite place. It's going to be glorious.

This is the "big" trip we're taking this summer, and we've really been looking forward to it. We're hitting the road before the sun comes up tomorrow (11 hour drive ahead of us!) and I'm actually even looking forward to the car trip - I kind of love road trips! There's just something about getting in the car and heading off down the road that is appealing to me - I think it brings back childhood memories. Growing up, we were forever hopping in the car and heading off to wherever was our next destination. We were a traveling family, and always had fun! C & I have been compiling our favorite country music to listen to on the way down, it's our first road trip in the new car we bought in March, and it's been awhile since we've been somewhere new, so this should be fun. Not to mention, we're crossing something off the 25 for 25 list: visiting somewhere neither of us have ever been. Perfect!

One thing that always worries me before a trip, though, is how I'm going to get my workouts in. This time is no exception! I've checked to see that there is a gym in our hotel (there is, and looks like a good one!), armed myself with a few good "no equipment needed" workouts (just in case), and I'm looking forward to hopefully getting in a run or two. I'm cautious about running in unfamiliar places, as everyone should be, but I'm hoping to find somewhere good in Nashville to get out at least once. Hopefully, a run in Blacksburg will be do-able, too - I really never took advantage of what was around me in college, and I'd love to get in a few miles on those familiar streets. I'm packing my running shoes, and will go where the road takes me.

Don't you worry, though - I'm not leaving you empty-handed! I have a couple of things planned for Typically Late while I'm out of town. Be sure to check in and see what's going on while I'm bee-boppin' around Nash-Vegas!

*Title from Jason Aldean's song "Crazy Town" -- highly recommend!

Have you ever been to Nashville? Any recommendations for things we simply MUST do while we're there?? Do you love your college town as much as C & I do? Because I would give a limb or two to be back in college in that sweet, small town for a bit...

It sounded good... in theory...

Last night, we experimented for dinner. And that experiment turned out to be… one big “eh.” Not exactly successful, but not exactly unsuccessful. It happens.

I made Poached Salmon Pasta Salad from Laaloosh, using frozen salmon fillets that I purchased a while back. A few modifications, based on the ingredients I already had at home. Here’s what we learned:

• Poaching salmon is easy! Water, white wine, lemon juice, and shallots make for a delicious cooking liquid. I think that, next time, we’ll just poach the salmon and eat it by itself.
• We don’t like capers. The recipe called for three tablespoons – I only put one, and we still both recoiled a bit from the taste.
• I like a Greek-yogurt-based sauce more than C does. Even with a spoonful of honey added, it was a little too tart for him.
• We can poach! This was definitely one for the “new recipes” item on the 25 for 25, so chalk one up in that category.
• This is going to make smelly leftovers, and I will be the leper of the office. Sigh.

Picture evidence:

Poached Salmon Pasta Salad

So much potential.

I should have taken a picture of the salmon poaching, because that was far more exciting, but I forgot. Whoops.

To add to the situation, my sister sent me this picture of her dinner last night:

Homemade pizza. We were jealous.

On the bright side, this was a filling meal, and pretty healthy. The fish and yogurt were great sources of protein, and having a little bit of whole-wheat pasta got us our carb fix, without overdoing it. However, we probably won't make it again. Using my mom's official rating scale, I deem this one a recipe I wouldn't serve to company. Oh well!

Anyone else have a meal fail lately? Tonight's menu features pork tenderloin - which is relatively foolproof!

Sunday Funday! Wine-tasting in Leesburg

Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week already. Hooray!

There is so much going on in my head that I don't even really know where to begin. Let's see...

• I have some thoughts about April 16th that I haven't yet been able to formulate into words. I will, though. May take a few more days.
• I have not one, but two (maybe even three) recipe posts in the works. We've been eating some delicious things at our house!
• This past weekend was jam-packed! My uncle came up to visit from North Carolina and we did so many fun things. It was so important to me to have some good, quality family time, and we definitely were able to do that.
• Woke up this morning to the news that Backstrom's one-game suspension was upheld & he will not be playing in Game 4 tomorrow - so mad about this. The NHL's inconsistency when it comes to suspensions, fines, punishments, etc, just infuriates me. 
• On Monday, I went to ULTA and bought the Naked palette by Urban Decay. YOU GUYS. Why didn't anyone ever tell me about this amazing box of fabulousness? I've only used it twice now, and I am in. love. My eyelids will never be the same. Eyeshadow dreams come true!!

So random. Like I said - a bajillion little things bouncing around. Plus lots going on at work. And one bill pollen fog constantly surrounding my head. Great times over here, clearly!!

~~~
One of the things we did with my uncle over the weekend was head out to a local  winery! (Cross that off the 25 for 25!) We had an absolute blast. As a wedding gift, my cousin and her husband got C & I a one-year "Vine Club" membership at Tarara, which is close to where we got married, out in Leesburg. Each quarter, we get three different bottles of wine shipped to us, and there are lots of other little perks to being in the club that we had yet to take advantage of. So, when I got an email saying there would be a pick-up party/tasting for this quarter's wine, I knew we had to go! C & I plus my parents, uncle, and a family friend loaded up on Claritin and sunscreen on Sunday and went out to enjoy the day! We tried some yummy pizza from a traveling brick-oven pizza company (possibly the most amazing thing ever), listened to live music, and tasted lots of wine. It was the ultimate Sunday Funday! The weather was absolutely beautiful. I hadn't been to Tarara since I was way too young to actually enjoy the wine, so it was a lot of fun to do the tastings and actually learn a bit about the wine we were taking home. I'm so glad we went!

#instagram both of these were excellent - love the Boneyard label though!

<3

  

The property at Tarara is beautiful!

#instagram

My cute parents

Uncle Dale, Mom & Dad!

Mama & I

Sent this picture to my cousin thanking her for the gift!

Cindy, me, and mom

fam <3

Found this in an antique store we stopped at in Lucketts - L2, go buy it!

While we were at Tarara, we found out about their summer concert series, called "Wine Rocks!" They have different musicians come out every Saturday night June-August, and it sounds like a lot of fun. One of the bands they have playing in July was started by someone that L2 knows from high school, so I think we'll definitely have to put that one on the calendar!

The whole family (minus C - playing flag football!) went to PF Chang's for dinner on Sunday night... there are no words for how good that restaurant is. Plus, the customer service is great! They forgot to put in one order, and the manager came over to tell us about it very quickly, took it off our bill without us even asking, and brought out some bowls of soup for us to pass around and taste while we waited. Very impressed! We will absolutely be back.

Nat waiting for our table

The Official List: 25 in 25

I said in the very beginning of the year, on my birthday, that I was going to make a list of 25 things to do this year, while I'm 25. It's taken me much longer than anticipated to actually come up with this list, because I wanted it to be really good (good meaning fun, special, doable,ambitious yet realistic). However, I've finally done it - it's taken me until the end of February, but I have my list of 25 in 25. Without further ado...

25 in 25

1. Read 12 books (1/month) - I have fallen down on my leisure reading, even though reading is one of my favorite things to do. I'm determined to do better, and pick up a book or my Nook much more often this year.

2. Go to the gym (or exercise somehow) 4+ days per week - this is mostly a continuation of what I already do, but I really want to ensure that I keep up with my exercise.

3. Cook 24 new recipes - things I've never made at all, not just changes (2/month) - C & I enjoy cooking, but we also have a few tried-and-true recipes that we tend to always fall back on. Time to find some new dishes!

4. Create my recipe book/compilation - I have a folder in my email titled "Recipes" that contains about a million emails to myself with yummy looking things. I want to find a way to compile all these into something I can actually use.

5. Increase savings by $7000 - this is a goal for C & I to work on together, and mostly just means that we want to have this much more money in our accounts by the end of the year. Whatever combination of ways that requires.

6. Visit three places I’ve never been - Self-explanatory. Go new places. Big or small, doesn't matter - just new. 

7. Blog/write regularly (at least 2x/week) - There was a time in my life when I was writing daily (journaling, poetry, fiction, essays - all sorts) and trust me, that is not now. I am good with words, and I need to exercise that strength.

8. Take a vacation with C that is somewhere neither of us have been - this is similar to #6, but with a twist. C & I often go places that one of us has been before, so that we have some familiarity but get to enjoy the newness of doing it together. I want to go somewhere neither of us has been!

9. Watch 12 new movies - I have all my old favorites that I watch for background noise when I'm doing other things or just because I love them. Time to branch out!

10. Sort, organize, and give away all the things I intended to when we moved in - I tried to clear some clutter when we moved in August, but between wedding planning, getting married, and all the holidays, it kind of fell by the wayside - plus we gained a ton of stuff after the wedding! Definitely time to purge.

 

11. Get to my goal weight - this means losing 15 pounds. The end.

12. Increase my “usual” weight for all exercises at the gym - I want to push myself harder, and do more. I know my body is capable. It just takes effort, practice, and patience.

13. Run two races - any length, any where, any type, just run.

14. Finish the office - the "office" in our house has become the catch-all room. We need a filing cabinet, a desk chair, and some organization, badly. I'm determined to make this room functional.

15. Plan a fun outing with my mom and my sister - I think it would be a lot of fun to go somewhere and do something, just the three of us! We could use some re-connecting time that doesn't involve weddings.

16. Send 12 pieces of “just because” mail - who doesn't love to get mail? I'm going to send cards, letters, pictures, whatever. My friends and family are worth the time and effort!

17. Have a dinner party - I can't wait to do this. I'm so excited to have a house and a patio and a yard, and I want to entertain! To me, this means eight or more people, three or more courses, decorating, dessert, the works!

18. Go to all the Smithsonian museums (again) (the major ones) - I've been to just about all of them, but many not since I was much younger. These valuable treasures are sitting in my backyard, just steps from my office - time to revisit!

19. Bake the perfect cake for each of my family members’ birthdays - I love baking, and I love the feeling I get when I create a treat for someone. I want to bake, from scratch, a sweet something for each of the people who are special to me this year!

20. Craft something for each holiday without spending a lot of money/decorate for cheap - we don't have much by means of decorations since we're brand new home-havers. I love holiday decorations, but I don't want to spend a lot or get cheap stuff that won't last. I can do this myself!

21. Pay off credit cards - self-explanatory, as well. I have one card that I need to pay off and close, and one that I use randomly - it's important to have credit, but also important not to take advantage of it.

22. Make a wedding album and hang wedding prints - time to do something with all those wedding pictures! If I don't do it this year, it will never get done.

23. Plant a garden of something and maintain it long enough to produce something - we have a small backyard, but plenty of space to use. I'm not sure if this will be herbs, or some veggies, or strawberries - but I want to do something, and have something fresh to use in our cooking.

24. Learn something new (what is TBD) - education should never end. This will be expanded later!

25. Go wine-tasting - because I've been saying for years that I want to, but I just never do. This will be the year!

So there you have it. My 25 in 25 - all the things that will make this year amazing. I've been alive for a quarter of a century, and I'm going to celebrate, damn it!

Right this second...

I've seen this on a few other blogs, and figured it would be a good "right here & now" post to do every so often - just so I can document for the future!

at the moment

time: 11:41 AM
location: in my office
weather: partly sunny (from what I can see out the window) and 52 degrees (from what the thermometer on my computer says)
eating: nothing - already had lunch today!
drinking: water
loving: quiet days in the office
wondering: how many WW points the dinner I plan to make is - better put it in the recipe builder and find out!
enjoying: my Camelbak water bottle - it's pretty snazzy. Makes drinking more water more fun!
accomplishing: some editing on a report
thinking: about all the things I need to get done at work this week!

And now, just because it makes me happy to look at, I give you this:

Sunset from the first night of our honeymoon - Jekyll Island, GA

PS! I know that it's the last day of January, and I never finished updating my list of 25 for 25. I'm going to! I've been trying to come up with some great things, but it's proved to be harder than I thought. I'm getting it done, though! I will finish the list ASAP.

Lean, Green Delicious Machine

Over the weekend, I experimented with my first new recipe of 2012! I rounded up my ingredients, and made my first batch of the infamous “Green Monster” smoothies. I started with the recipe provided by Iowa Girl Eats a few weeks ago. 

Ingredients

• 1 frozen sliced banana
• 1 Tablespoon peanut butter
• 1/2 cup 0% Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt
• 1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (or other kind of milk)
• 4 cups baby spinach (or more, or less)

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

I put a bit more peanut butter than called for (probably 1 ½ tablespoons) and subbed a plain vanilla yogurt that I had in the fridge for the Greek yogurt. I used regular skim milk rather than almond milk, and didn't measure out a full cup - just poured some in til it seemed like enough liquid.

It was pretty delicious, and I really was shocked by the fact that it didn’t taste like spinach at all! I will admit, I blended it for what I thought was a long time, but there were still little bits of spinach that I could feel myself biting down on. Other than that, I was impressed! What a simple way to get lots of healthy things into your body, all at once! My only other comment about the recipe that I used is that it claims to just be one serving, but I found that it made way more than enough for two – so I drank half, put half in the fridge, and had it again later when I got hungry again. I made this around 10 AM on Saturday morning, and didn’t feel even a smidge hungry again until after 1 PM. Pretty impressive!

Behold… the green monster!

I made another batch last night, and made a few changes to my recipe. I bought a few cups of Chobani Greek yogurt when they were on sale at Target this week, and made sure to get a couple vanilla ones. So this time, I used that (6 oz) and left out the peanut butter – I didn’t mind the flavor last time, but it was pretty intense, and the peanut butter/banana combo isn’t really my jam. This time, into the blender went a frozen banana, a diced frozen peach (from summer – delicious!), and the segments from an orange, plus the spinach, milk, and yogurt. Hit “liquefy” on my blender and left it on for way longer than last time, hoping to get rid of all the little spinach flecks. 

Chalk this one up as a success! I loved the fruitiness of it, rather than the heaviness of the peanut butter, and the vanilla Chobani really added some tang that the regular vanilla yogurt didn’t. I poured my smoothie into two freezer-proof containers and stuck ‘em in the freezer. Grabbed one this morning and brought it to work with me – can't believe what a healthy breakfast I’m having! (Although I’m sure if anyone actually saw me drinking it, I’d get some strange looks – the color is seriously GREEN!) I’m really happy with this recipe experiment, and really glad I decided to go for it! I think in the future I’m going to add some wheat germ – then this smoothie will take me straight back to my childhood, when we used to have blender drinks for breakfast all the time! My mom was a genius – now I know just how healthy that “breakfast milkshake” was!

25 for 25.

In honor of my 25th birthday (today!), I am making a list of 25 things I'd like to do in the next year. I never really make resolutions, and I prefer to just set goals for myself. This year, though, I decided that I want to take it a step further, and set out to come up with 25 great things to cross of my list this year. I haven't fully come up with all 25 yet - this is a list-in-progress. As I come up with the rest of the things I want to do (hopefully all determined before the end of the month!) I will update the list. Some of the things are fun; some of them are practical. All are ways to make my 25th year the best yet.

Here's what I have so far:

1. Read 12 books (1/month)
2. Go to the gym (or exercise somehow) 4+ days per week
3. Cook 24 new recipes - things I've never made at all, not just changes (2/month)
4. Create my recipe book/compilation
5. Increase savings by $7000
6. Visit Ashley in NC
7. Blog/write regularly (at least 2x/week)
8. Take a vacation with C that is somewhere neither of us have been
9. Watch 12 new movies
10. Sort, organize, and give away all the things I intended to when we moved in

I'd like to come up with a few more "big ticket" things, in order to push my boundaries this year, as well as a few more things that will just improve my life. I'm making a conscious decision to do great things for myself this year - there's no time like the present!

My 25th birthday has been pretty sweet. Spent time with my family, husband, and best friends, and did the things I enjoy doing (which involve eat good food, going to the gym, and going to Target - I'm easy to please!). I'll round out the weekend with a quiet dinner and some football on TV with C. Here's to the next 25 being as wonderful and blessed as the first 25.