Project 31...My year in review

Today I am 32! Last year on my birthday I created a list of 31 things I wanted to do before I turned 32 and called it Project 31. I have loved working on this list and am excited to post 32 things I want to do before I turn 33 but that will have to wait until tomorrow...Here is my Project 31 report.

1. Figure out how to light a fire in my fireplace. I am sure this doesn't sound highly complex but you should know that it does require going to a fireplace store and buying one of those things that will turn the knob in the floor that makes the gas go on and then teaching/threatening my boys to stay away from the fireplace and finally convincing my Paul that it isn't dangerous and I am just not sure it is worth such effort.

2. Reduce our number of costume boxes by half. Check. When you have 15 boxes full of bizarre dress ups, hats, wigs, glasses, and many unidentifiables it is actually quite easy to reduce the number by half.

3. Spend two straight weeks in Driggs with my boys. We spent about 10 days in Driggs this summer, it was wonderful, and I am counting it.

4. Get back on a pair of snow ski's. I keep waiting to get back in shape before I put on a pair of ski's but my diet dr. pepper, protein bar, and candy diet just isn't doing the trick so no ski's yet.

5. Get to church on time with my entire family. Check.

6. Go on vacation with my husband. Cinevegas.

7. Plant something. Surprisingly rewarding.

8. Bake my own bread. I bought some yeast.

9. Start wearing an apron when I cook. I had intentions of also making the apron that I would wear while I cooked but unfortunately it is still sitting half finished in a box in my craft room. I am however able to check this one off due to the efforts of a dear friend who made and mailed me an awesome apron.

10. Get current on my scrapbook projects. Not even close. But I have a plan and will be carrying this one over.

11. Learn a new TBD craft skill. Yep.

12. Sit on top of a mountain and think. I really regret not being able to check this one off. It is simple and I had a lot of opportunities. I mean I live near mountains, I vacation in the mountains and depending on how you define mountain I could be sitting on top of one if I only hiked a few minutes from my front door. But I didn't take the time. I don't get much "alone" time and hardly any during daylight hours, so I am not punishing myself, I am just a little sad that I didn't find a way to make it happen.

13. Read a photography book. I did my research an bought two highly recommended books for the camera that I have. They are still sitting on my nightstand...unread.

14. Take George tubing behind the boat at Hebgen Lake. I loved our Hebgen Lake vacation this year and actually ended up taking both George and Charlie tubbing with me.

15. Learn to use PhotoShop. Not yet, but it is part of the plan for this year.

16. Decorate my bedroom. Yep.

17. Ride a roller coaster. I am counting the kiddie coaster at Bear World. Not what I originally had in mind but a roller coaster all the same.

18. Go down a water slide. My boys love water slides and we have a great and really inexpensive place just ten minutes from our house.

19. Get rid of stuff I don't need or use. Major progress here.

20. Potty train George. Yes. However, a couple of weeks ago he took off his pants and underwear and pooed on the carpet, then told me he was sorry he didn't know he was going to poo. Really?

21. Go on a hike. Travis took us on a crazy hike to a rope swing. How we made it there and back with so much stuff and so many kids who needed to be carried I don't know.

22. Snowshoe. I have only snowshoed twice but I really like it and if I only spent more time in Driggs in the winter I would be able to check this one off the list.

23. Read 30 books. I went a little crazy on this one. Read a lot of brain candy and a little bit of trash.

24. Develop a signature soup recipe. Check. If you haven't tried it you should.

25. Put up outside Christmas lights. Paul actually gets most of the credit for this one but I am still checking it off my list.

26. Make drapes for my family room. I found some awesome drapes at Urban Outfitters that I couldn't pass up so I now have drapes hanging in my family room even though I didn't make them. I did however hang the curtain rod...No small feat.

27. Paint the rooms in my basement that I haven't already painted. My dad gave us a big screen t.v. for our theater room which motivated me to paint it along with the other remaining still-pink-from-the-previous-owners rooms in our basement and I love my basement now. However, it is cold and we can't figure out how to push the heat down there.

28. Go white water rafting. I really wanted to do this but we just couldn't make it work this summer.

29. Go to Arizona. Easter in AZ is the best.

30. Write more thank you notes. I think I wrote fewer thank you notes this year than I have ever written (or not written) before and that is sad because a lot of people did a lot of thank you note deserving things for me this year.

31. Take Charlie on his first 4-wheeler ride. Check. Charlie adores going on rides and I love that he snuggles into my lap and enjoys the scenery.

p.s. Stay tuned for Project 32.

#24

When I set the goal to develop a signature soup recipe I envisioned something totally original, something with curry, something hearty. Instead I perfected my chicken tortilla soup. It isn't original and there is no curry but it is hearty and easy and that has to count for something.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
4 chicken breasts (I use frozen because I HATE raw chicken)
1 packet of taco seasoning
3 cans of black beans (rinse them and don't use any of the black water)
1 can of kidney beans (rinse them and don't use any of the water)
4 cans of diced tomatoes
3 cans of chicken broth (I use low sodium)
5 cups of frozen corn
4 oz of lime juice

Garnish with:
cilantro
avocado
cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips

Put your chicken, taco seasoning, and chicken broth in the crockpot and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Take out your chicken and cut into bit size chunks or shred. Strain the liquid from the crockpot and pour into a pot on your stove (alternatively, you can finish this up in your crockpot if you have the time - I never do). Add the chicken, beans, tomatoes, and corn, bring to a boil and then let simmer for 10 minutes. Add the lime juice to the pot during the last five minutes. Garnish with any or all of the garnish items (I prefer all).

Other Options:
Lara likes to puree the tomatoes before adding them because she has a texture thing with tomatoes.

If you decide you want to make this at the last minute you can cook your chicken on the stove instead of in the crockpot. When I do this I add two packets of taco seasoning because it doesn't have time to soak into the chicken as much as it would in the crockpot.

This recipe makes a lot of soup and I usually freeze at least half of it.

NaBloPoMo

In honor of NaBloPoMo I will not only be posting each day but will also fill you in on a project (little or big) I have worked on that day. November is like spring cleaning month for me...The onset of the cold weather awakens something in me and I become surprisingly motivated to get my house in order.

Projects on the docket for this week:
Today: Finish the report for work that I haven't had time to finish because I have been too busy procrastinating to really put in a solid effort.
Monday: Clean and organize all the cupboards in my kitchen and laundry room
Tuesday: Print pics and finish Charlie's first year scrapbook
Wednesday: Finish #2
Thursday: Take down Halloween decor and put up Thanksgiving garb
Friday: Work on #19
Saturday: Work on #10
Sunday: Work on #10

Potty Talk

I must admit that I am pleasantly surprised by how easy #20 turned out to be. However, as with all things George, there are still a couple of things that puzzle me. For example, when I am home George nearly always comes to find me and asks me to help him go potty. I usually tell him "go get started and I'll be there in a minute" and he always replies "you get started now too." If I am not easy to find George will go out on the deck, pull down his pants, pee off the deck, pull his pants back up, and come back inside all by himself. So first of all, how did it occur to him that he could or would want to pee off of the deck? Second, why is it possible to pee off of the deck by himself but not in the toilet by himself? He always claims that he needs me to help him get his pants up and down, but having spied his peeing off the deck shenanigans I know this isn't the case. Other places George likes to pee include on the tire of the car, in the grass, off the porch, and the other day I caught him trying to pee on the "circle" (a covered man hole) in the road in front of our house. The poo part took George longer to get the hang of and there are many interesting, funny, disgusting (depending on who you ask) stories that accompany that portion of our potty training adventures but I'll save our poo stories for the next installment of potty talk. Consider yourself warned.

#7 and other stuff

I have to admit that when I added #7 to my list my expectations were low. A dixie cup and a pea seed would have been enough for me to check this one off my list. However, I am really excited to report that thanks to some brotherly love and $11.50 an hour our front flower beds are now free of weeds and full of day lily's, daisy's, cone flowers, and burning bush. We also hauled in dirt, laid that black stuff that keeps weeds out, and threw some ceder chips down. I had so much fun planting that I now have plans for much of the rest of the yard. There is going to be some major gardening happening around here come next spring.

One of my day lily's.

Charlie loves to push his little tikes car and takes his pushing very seriously.

...and yes, I am one of those mothers who lets her one year old walk in the street and play outside without shoes or pants. In my defense it is a way cute picture and he was being supervised.

Me: "Where are you going?"
George: "We going to summer camp mom."

George (continued): "Charlie, we going to summer camp. Over there Charlie."

Charlie pushed George up and down the sidewalk several times. He is a strong kid and even turned the car around with George on top.

Painted finger nails again...Paul's not happy about it.

Ten minutes later...George decided he needed a broom so he could be a witch and also wanted to wear his "thumbs" which is what he calls his gloves. Last week when I was out gardening he went inside and found his snow mittens. He likes to wear them when he "gardens".

Charlie of course needed a broom of his own.

George has been working hard on his peddling. He likes to go up and down the sidewalk and pretends that the seams in the cement are railroad tracks.

Super cute Charlie face.

George took this picture of me. I was trying to jump into the frame because it was obvious he was pointing in the wrong direction. He kept telling me, "Smile bigger mama."

number 31

My half birthday is coming up this week and I am looking at my list again. Today we crossed off number 31. Charlie loves the 4-wheeler. He narrates our rides with animal sounds and exclamations of pure joy as we pass cows and horses.

Look what I made!

On my birthday I decided that I wanted to learn a new craft during my 31st year and am now feeling all sorts of craftiness pumping through my veins.

I found this tutorial on one of my favorite craft blogs and decided to give it a try. I used a straight stitch sewn in a messy freehand pattern around the perimeter of the appliqué instead of the satin stitch the tutorial recommends and am really happy with the way they turned out.

I was able to machine appliqué a dozen onsies in about three hours though I think it will go much faster in the future now that I know what I am doing.

afternoon church

One of my birthday goals this year was to get to church on time with my entire family. I should clarify that the intention of this goal wasn't to arrive to church on time every week but rather to do it at least once in order to see what it was like and determine whether or not it is something that we want to commit to as a family. This past Sunday was the day that we made it happen. In fact all four of us were sitting in a pew about half way to the front of the chapel five minutes before the meeting started. Unfortunately, even with a bag full of books, toys and snacks Charlie only lasted 15 minutes before he was just too loud and Paul took him out to the foyer for the rest of the meeting. Our church starts at 1pm and ends at 4pm this year and though the meetings are usually great and I love the people we go to church with, this time slot is really just unbearable. Charlie and George both take naps at 1pm every day and though George can go without his Charlie is completely committed to his afternoon nap. Needless to say after three hours of church our entire family was completely exhausted. Once we got home I put Charlie down for a nap with the intention of waking him up for dinner. Paul and George laid down on the couch to watch a movie and fell asleep and I fell asleep reading a book. This late afternoon napping created a crazy sleep schedule on Sunday night and carried over into Monday and even Tuesday. So I have decided to see if our neighbor would like to babysit Charlie on Sunday's. I am going to put him down for his coveted nap before we leave for church and then she will be here when he wakes up. I think this will make for a much more enjoyable Sunday experience for our entire family and make it possible for us to continue to attend all three hours of church and maybe even arrive on time.

one down, 30 to go

Last week I decorated my bedroom (this consisted of hanging up pictures I have been meaning to hang up for quite some time, a little rearranging and the purchase of some throw pillows for my bed) and crossed the first item off my birthday list. One of my New Year's resolutions is to make my bed every day (something I have never consistently done in my life) which is quite fun to do when you have a cute room and fun pillows to throw on the bed (hooray for a New Year's resolution I can keep). Paul took this picture of George and me chillaxing this afternoon. You will notice that the pictures above our bed look like they were hung to resemble the bars on the AT&T Wireless commercials (Paul's analogy not mine). Let me just say baby steps people, baby steps. Maybe next year my birthday list will include leveling the pictures hanging above my bed...maybe it won't. I'm not telling.

Project 31

Today I turned 31 and decided to create a list of 31 things that I want to do before I turn 32.

1. Figure out how to light a fire in my fireplace.
2. Reduce our number of costume boxes by half.
3. Spend two straight weeks in Driggs with my boys.
4. Get back on a pair of snow ski's.
5. Get to church on time with my entire family.
6. Go on vacation with my husband.
7. Plant something.
8. Bake my own bread.
9. Start wearing an apron when I cook.
10. Get current on my scrapbook projects.
11. Learn a new TBD craft skill.
12. Sit on top of a mountain and think.
13. Read a photography book.
14. Take George tubing behind the boat at Hebgan Lake.
15. Learn to use PhotoShop.
16. Decorate my bedroom.
17. Ride a roller coaster.
18. Go down a water slide.
19. Get rid of stuff I don't need or use.
20. Potty train George.
21. Go on a hike.
22. Snowshoe.
23. Read 30 books.
24. Develop a signature soup recipe.
25. Put up outside Christmas lights.
26. Make drapes for my family room.
27. Paint the rooms in my basement that I haven't already painted.
28. Go white water rafting.
29. Go to Arizona.
30. Write more thank you notes.
31. Take Charlie on his first 4-wheeler ride.