{40 Before 40} Nate

I think it's safe to say I've marked another one off the list! #4 is now crossed off! 

I've since found a lot of really good lists, be it a 40 Before 40, 30 Before 30, or 101 in 1001 and I've started to rethink a few of my choices. But for  now, I'll keep them as a way to think about the future. I still have 9 years before I hit the big 4-0! 

I think having 15 done and only 31 years old is pretty good! Now to start on some of the others... starting with some family portraits and a rug for my living room (I'm always checking out options!).

{40 Before 40} Update

I haven't updated my 40 Before 40 in a long time!

4 {get pregnant and have a baby} is about to happen... 11 more weeks!

5-11 {artsy stuff} ... haha... haven't even begun to deal with this stuff! It's a nice dream for later...

12 & 13 {jewelry holders} are currently half finished. Both need another coat of paint (or two) and hung up. More to come soon! Earring holder display can be seen here. 

16 - {organize crafts} done, need final post. You can see the beginning of the chaos here. There is still a little more to do as I want shelves lining an entire wall in my office (it's slanted and less than 4 feet tall, so only a few but it'll be great to have done!)

17 - {veggie garden} this was done last year and a complete joke this year. We were a tad busy. Maybe next year!

28 - {Grimm's fairy tales} I'm going to mark it done. I read the majority of them and all of the major stories that Disney turned into princess fairy tales.

38 - {making our house a home} one room completely done (minus the flooring that all needs refinished)... so it's getting closer! 

{40 Before 40} Update

On Labor Day I celebrated my 30th birthday with close friends and family. My parents had just gotten back from their trip to Alaska (jealous!) and had the party the next day. Aren't they great?!? I got some great gifts too 'cause my family rocks like that!

Anywho, this isn't about the party (sorry, no pics taken), but of my 40 before 40. I've been seeing more of these types of lists (mainly 30 before 30). I hadn't seen many when I wrote my list almost 2 years ago. That was before Pinterest went crazy though, so maybe they were out there and not easily found. So as I read other's, I think of items I could have added to mine but I still like my original 40. Except the BBQ one... 'cause my husband is great at it and likes to do it, so why bother? I still may do it. Who knows, maybe I'll have an all girl party some day at my house. Or really want a grilled hot dog or hamburger when he's not around...

My original 40 can be seen here.

10 items are officially done with many more in progress. There are a lot that have yet to be touched and I'd like to work on them within the next 5 years. The biggest one I'd love to do (well, besides baby #2) as soon as possible would be to get back to working on my photography. Thankfully for me, my parents bought me a new computer for a graduation gift. Which brings up a good topic - school is over, so I should have more time to work on said computer. That's not always the case though as this summer showed. But that's ok. Lily, Doug, my family, and my work will come first compared to the items on the list. However, many items are similar (many art related) so I'd like to focus on those too.

Speaking of my art... I never know if it's "good enough" to put online. I see other work online and think "mine's the same (or better)" but then I never get around to taking care of business. That should be my resolution ... taking care of business! Getting photographs printed, making some art, putting them online, and slowly building up a part time business. I saw a coworker friend of mine do it and hers has taken off! I am so proud of her for going after her dream that I'd like to do that too.

I'd start now but grades are calling me... the life of a teacher!

But hey, 10 items done! 25% in less than 2 years is pretty good! 

{Garden} Veggie Garden

One of the items on my 40 before 40 list was to change out rock garden into a veggie garden. So we did and I'm happy to say that we have produced enough lettuce to feed our entire family (and then some), the broccoli is pretty much done for the summer, and our tomato and tomatillos are looking really good!

As for the items on my list, it ended up that we combined 17 (plant a veggie/fruit garden) and 18 (rescue cactus garden) into one. We still need to add more plants so it includes more fruit, but for now 17 is basically done, or at least in progress as the side bar says, and 18 will be considered done as we completely removed our cactus garden. I'm ok with it being gone as many of the pots have been reused throughout the rest of our yard and many were planted with annuals to brighten up Lily's garden this spring.

Just to show you the progress of the space, here's what it used to be:

It started out being a fenced in garden that only housed the prickly pear cactus. That cactus took  up a good portion of the garden area but we cut it out and only kept enough to fill two small planters. Those are now overflowing, but that's another issue.

Here's the garden looking a lot better. We had just finished making it our rock garden in 2008 and it was turning out to be a great space. Everything in the ground was able to winter over and everything in pots (except the prickly pear in the back left corner and the hens and chicks in the bottom right) had to be brought inside. After successfully killing all but the giant cactus that first winter, and then also becoming pregnant with Lily, we realized the rock garden wasn't a match for us. But wasn't it pretty?

So, fast forward to today. The area is a decent size with lots of light, so we knew a regular veggie garden would be good for this space. We have a smaller area in our yard where our raspberries and cilantro are. I may rip out all of the cilantro and do an herb garden somewhere else but that's for next year.

We did have to fence it in. Krypto enjoys digging. A lot.

After the summer ends this year, I may do things differently next year. We're trying out different plants as we go along and although I'm pretty sure we'll be happy, I may rearrange the garden differently next year. This year we didn't plan all that well but focused on getting specific things in when we had them. We had bought some of the plants and were given others by my dad.

I'm also afraid of weeding in there because I think there are a few baby plants that may be peppers or tomatoes. After Doug mows the lawn, he puts the grass clippings on top. This helps keep most weeds away and retains moisture.

We do have plans of using more of our yard for gardens in the future. I'd like to get some sort of fruit tree, possibly two or three, and put them in our front yard or back yard. A few more berry bushes will happen too. My parents have a huge garden, so I'm not stressing over producing a lot but everything helps! We love to eat fruits and veggies and going organic, producing our own products, and showing Lily how to grow plants is definitely worth the time and energy. And now it's off to go water. We haven't had much rain here and I don't want things dying! I'll keep the blog posted when we get some good produce out of here (besides lettuce, that stuff needs NO help!)

{Life Lately} Graduation

Yesterday I graduated with my Masters degree in Teaching. I got the blue hood (the color for education) alon with about 10 others.

After graduation, we went out to my parents' house and my mom made beef tenderloin. Delicious!!!

This is what Lily did after playing around... she tucked it into her panties. She has a diaper underneath (yes, we're still working on it!). She's a goof ball for sure. And she's playin with the cat toy even though Mo, my parents' more playful cat out of the two, wasn't even around.



Guess I can mark one more thing off my 40 Before 40 List!!!

My 2nd Tattoo

A couple days after my brother passed away, I was sitting in class (yes, I went back to work - it allowed me to get my mind semi-off of things until family came in) and I started sketching random things. After a few other sketches of my brother's initials (JRJ if you're curious and yes, the J is backwards for design reasons), this one popped into my head. I worked on it and after showing it to family (and posting on Facebook), we decided to get the tattoos that Sunday.

Obviously, I got mine on my back. My cousin A got it on her wrist, cousin L got it on her foot, and cousin I got it on his arm. Mine was the biggest and the girls' are the smallest (about a quarter size maybe), I's is a little smaller than mine.

The design is going to be other places and I had also thought of doing those "in memory" stickers for cars... Anyone know where to get them? I wouldn't put his name on it, I don't think he'd like it, but the people who know would have something for him and the people who don't know would just see the design.

It's definitely not the 2nd tattoo I had in mine when making up my list. I had thought that would be the one I want for Lily or even my koi but this one is super meaningful and it was a nice experience to go through with my cousins. Some day, when we see each other again, we'll get a photo of all of them together now that they are healed.

{40 Before 40} List

Yes, technically I could do a 30 before 30 but that's SO close that I don't want to risk not getting my list done. AND there are things on my 40 Before 40 list that I know will not (and I hope won't) happen until AFTER 30. So, in no particular order (except the first four), here is my list... or the beginnings of it anway...

1. Graduate with my Certificate. I passed! - December 2010

2. Get a job. 'Nough said. My bank account will appreciate this. - I start teaching in August! Got the job in April! :) Update 5/2012 - I have the job for the 2012-13 school year too. Woo hoo!

3.Get my masters in teaching. Done, shown here.

4. Get pregnant and have another baby.  Done, see Nate. 

5. Sell 10 items on Etsy. I'd like more, but I'm not pushing it.

6. Learn how to make hand made jewelry (see links on right for all the possibilities I'm interested in learning how to do). *UPDATE DEC. 2010* - my mom bought me a metal stamping kit so I can begin!

7. Have photography printed professionally either on paper or stretched canvas. *I should clarify that I have done this before (on paper) in college, but nothing came out of it except some pictures in a portfolio in my closet. I want them TO SELL.

8. Be a vendor at an art show/convention. 

9. Learn how to knit.

10. Learn how to crochet. (And honestly, learn the difference between 9 and 10).

11. Become really familiar with my sewing machine where I don't have to rely on others to help me all the time (hence the reason I don't sew as much as I wish I would).

12. Make an earring holder for my bedroom. DONE! See here. 

13. Make a necklace holder for my bedroom. DONE! See here. 

14. Go on a "honeymoon" with Doug. What would it be called if it was over 6 years later? "Adult only" sounds weird but that's what it would be. DONE! Seen here.

15. Find a physical activity that I enjoy long enough to lose weight and get in shape with. Swim aerobics? Kickboxing? Swimming with Lily? Hmmm...

16. Organize all my crafts into one spot. I have an armoire I'm thinking about so that I don't have any excuses not to use all the crap materials that I own are put to use instead of taking up space.

17. Plant a garden (besides flowers) and actually take care of it by weeding, watering, fertilizer/compost, etc. I really want some blueberry bushes, raspberries (we have three so hopefully they will grow next year!), cherry tomatoes, and a pear tree or something fun. - I'm marking this done, although we'd love to add some more plants as we continue living here. BUT things are surviving our really dry, hot summer!

18. Rescue our cactus garden and find some hardier varities that will live in Missouri through our winters. Or find a good spot to winter over the varities that can't and not let them die like we did two years ago (you know, when there was this little baby around here that took all of our time...). - DONE. Our cactus garden was turned into a vegetable garden!

19. Refinish a piece of furniture correctly (our one piece that we did for Lily's room needs some help).

20. Eat more fruits and vegetables.

21. Learn how to make lemon bars from scratch (that are actually yummy).

22. Create/find a buttercream recipe that holds up the Missouri heat AND tastes as good as my old boss's recipe does.

23. Make my Aunt Sue's recipe for potato rolls and have them be edible. (I also need to get the recipe, so Beth, if you're reading this, can I have it?)Attempt #1 - 2/1/11 - did not go well. Will try again as this goal needs to be EDIBLE! - UPDATE 4/12/11 - I did it! I think they could be a little better but they were edible and everyone enjoyed them! I'm going to try to make them again this weekend (I think). UPDATE Christmas 2011 - made 'em again. I think they need to be taller but they were good! Also made them for Thanksgiving too. I think this one is done!!!

24. Go on a family trip just for the fun of it (out of Missouri). - DONE! January 2012

25. Ride in a train.

26. Go to the beach (I don't care which one but a real beach on either the West or East coasts). - DONE! January 2012

27. Read at least 10 "classics." I've already read some of the books on this list so my 10 wouldn't include those previously read.

28. Read the original versions of the Grimm Brother's fairy tales. UPDATE - 4/12/11 - I'm about halfway done with their book.

29. Walk in a 5K marathon, such as the Susan B. Komen's Race.

30. Get my second tattoo. Still thinking about my third though.

31. Make THIS cake.

32. Have a backyard/house party for friends and family.

33. Make a family tree. (I have some ideas so we will see what happens).

34. Travel abroad with Doug (and possibly Lily and Nate).

35. Have professional portraits done as a family.

36. Buy a rug for our dining room. EDITED 6/17/12 - I'm going to move the living room rug into the dining room, so this will now be "buy a rug for our living room"

37. Build (or help build) a doll house for Lily. It may double as a book shelf like this one at Pottery Barn. (Can you believe the price of that?!) - Picked it out, my dad built it for a Christmas present

38. Make our house a home and remodel various rooms to better fit our needs/likes/dreams.

39. Have a savings account with at least $5000 in it or whatever is necessary to cover at least 3-6 months worth of bills.

40. Be able to BBQ by myself (without Doug, although he's great at it so I really don't have to know how, but it would be nice).

Here are some other lists of 40 before 40... - Random European Lady #1 - Random European Lady #2