Summer Bucket List

After being inspired by the many Summer Bucket lists on everyone else's blogs, I decided to make my own Summer Bucket list.

Some of these activities I already have planned like a girl's beach trip and some outdoor concerts.  Some I have never done before like making a meal just from Farmer's Market stuff, seeing the symphony at Koka Booth, and watching an outdoor movie.  And some I just want to do again because they are fun!

What's on your summer bucket list?

Good Bye 2012

I had such big plans for my Christmas break.  I had 12 consecutive days off!  That is probably the most time off I have ever had!  Unfortunately my plans we derailed.  On the 22nd my tooth started to hurt a little.  By Christmas day I was in soo much pain!  I took about 30 Advil just to make it through the day.  I couldn't sleep because the pain was unbearable.  I called my dentist's emergency hotline since their voice-mail said they were closed until Jan. 2nd.  They called me in a prescription for Vicodin and made an appointment for the next day when my dentist would be back in town.  I took a Vicodin every 3-4 hours and slept pretty much the whole day.  He saw me the next day and said my tooth had died and there was an infection.  He said they have to clear the infection and then do a root canal.  So my vacation has consisted mostly of this:

Painkillers, antibiotics, reading, watching TV and sleeping.  It has been pretty miserable.

There have been some bright spots.  I got to see Christmas at the DPAC twice and it was amazing!  (If you want to watch the whole thing, it is now online HERE).  I got to eat at Angus Barn with my family and at a great restaurant in Durham 604 at West Village with one of my favorite work friends.  I cooked for my family on Christmas Day.  And we threw a baby shower for my BFF.  (whole post to come on this later)

I'm ready for 2012 to go though.  It has not been my year and the last month has really been the icing on the cake.  I have done some amazing things and gone to some amazing places with some amazing people...

Snowshoe

Half Marathon

Kayaking

San Diego

Beach Month

San Diego (round 2)

Vegas

State Fair

And many other memories like watching two of my good friends finally say "i do" at the beach, seeing Wicked for the second time, have not one but two fun wine and design nights, getting scared at the Haunted Farm again this year, other fun races like The Franklin 5K, Chic-fil-a 10K, and Color Run, and many fun days and nights with great friends.

But this year has been frustrating and I am ready for a fresh start.

Kayking for the first time!

I finally marked something else off my list this weekend!  #9- kayak- is DONE!  I don't know why it took me so long to do this one.  One of my friends from my small group said she was interested in trying it so I was like YES! Lets GO!  I had been waiting for a friend to do this with. So excited to finally mark it off my list!

It ended up being four of us.  We ended up going with Frog Hollow Outdoors and did the West Point Millpond Impoundment one on the Eno River in Durham.  None of us had been there before but it was really nice.  We went around noon and when we got there we drove around and finally saw a tent set up with some kayaks.  It was only $18 each for 2 hours which was just perfect.

We each got our own kayak.  We paddled upstream to start, but it was very easy, very flat, and hardly any current to paddle against.  It was so relaxing!  We just chatted and lazily paddled along.  We all talked about how this would be the perfect date.  It's relaxing and you can talk, but you have something to do too so not super awkward.

We got to a spot we could not paddle through because of the rocks and it was so shallow, so we pulled our boats up on the shore and walked a short way to this neat swimming hole.

We hung out at the swimming hole for a while.  Some guys from Durham Fire and Rescue were there getting a lesson in how to save people from rapids. We watched them get their lesson for a while, floated in the water a little, and ate some snacks while we hung out on the rocks to dry off.

When we got back to our boats there was a couple in a canoe trying to navigate through the shallow water and they were getting nowhere.  We tried to tell them it was too shallow, but the guy was bound and determined to make it work.  He even stated yelling at his poor date in the back about how they should do it.  So lesson learned- Get your own boats just in case you are with a hard-headed guy so you can pull your boat on shore and just let him try to prove his point without getting yelled at.

We paddled back downstream  (more like floated).  It was so relaxing!  The prefect weather, perfect surrounding, perfect company!

Frog Hollow Outdoors has many other kayaking options and now I want to try them all.  There is also a company in Raleigh- Paddle Creek- That has a wine tasting and a moonlight kayak trip that I want to do too (especially with a boy I like!)  Definitely something I will be doing again!

Sorry for being MIA

Hi remember me?  I feel like it has been so long!  I have been so busy.  What have I been up to?

I read some books (full reviews coming soon on the Bookshelf blog):

Fishbowl- 3.5 out of 5 stars

Love Lies- 2 out of 5 stars

Fifty Shades of Grey- 4 out of 5 stars

I have been busy trying to figure out what to do with all the veggies I have been getting in my CSA box each week.  It's only been two weeks but so far all the veggies have been things I would never buy at the grocery store.

Week one was kale, lettuce, turnips, and mizuna.  I made kale chips (will post about that tomorrow) and ate the turnips raw with some hummus or on a salad with the lettuce.  They were both yummy.  I ended up throwing away the mizuna.  It was supposed to be like arugula but it looked very wilted after about a week.

Week 2 I got beets, red leaf lettuce, scallions, and swiss chard.  I already threw away the red leaf lettuce because it wilted after just 3 days.  I have a recipe for the beets and scallions.  Look for that on an upcoming Pinterest Wednesday post.



So far I am not loving the CSA.  The way it works is you pay for the whole year (mid May-Oct).  It comes out to be about $11.75/week and you get a grocery bag full of random fruits/veggies delivered to my work each week.  It has forced me to eat more veggies and try things I would never buy, but can I get some regular old green beans or peas or something?  And a girl can only eat (and store) a certain amount of lettuce each week.  Enough with the greens!

I took a fitness test at work.  It was for National Employee Fitness week.  We had to run 1.5 miles, bike 1 mile, do as many sit-ups as you could in 1 minute, as many push-ups as you could do in 1 min, and a wall-sit for as long as you could stand it.  We were supposed to try to beat the president of our North America Group's times/numbers, but considering he is a super in-shape guy who did the 1.5 mile run in like 9 minutes and I still can't even run a mile in 9 minutes I didn't come close.  I did the 1.5 miles in about 15:20, the 1 mile bike in less than 4 min., the wall sit for 90 seconds, and about 25-30 of the sit-ups and push ups. 

I have made progress on The List.  It looks like I will hopefully be going on a kayak trip June 9, I only have 77 chapters left to read it the Bible, and I am on my way to the healthy weight range and beginning treadmill training to run a 9 minute mile so I can declare myself in the best shape of my life.  Now I just need to find a cute boy to take me fishing and kiss me in the rain.

I finished my sewing class and made a pair of PJ pants.

I still need to hem them because we ran out of time.  But due to a mix up and them only having 1 sewing machine for the whole class, we get to take another month long class in September for free!

I also went to see this for the second time and it was great even though they didn't do justice to my favorite song "I'm not the girl".

I've also been super busy at work.  I just got to create a Pinterest account for Lenovo US!  I love Pinterest and don't think twice about pinning things or setting up new boards on my personal account but for some reason I was so nervous setting one up for Lenovo!  Would people follow us?  What should I pin?  Please do me a HUGE favor and FOLLOW US!  I promise I will try to pin good stuff and not be annoying or overwhelming.  PLUS we will be having an awesome contest on there in a few weeks for Back to School and you could win a new computer with accessories or an Android tablet!!

I'm going to try to get back to a regular posting schedule.  Thanks so much for still following despite my silence lately.

New Year's Goals

Here are my goals for 2012:

1. Finish my 30 Before 30 list before my birthday in August. (2 years late but hey at least I will finish)  In order to complete it here's what is left:

• Get in the best shape of my life (working on it)
• kayak
• catch a fish
• kiss in the rain
• read the Bible all the way through (almost finished with the OT)

(I've already completed upgrade one room in my house. I need to write a post about it)

2. Run a half marathon (hopefully in April)

3. Pay off my car early.  (I am supposed to be done with payments April 2013, but I would like to pay it off early if possible!)

I also liked the idea from last year of something to start, something to stop, and something to keep.

I would like to start eating healthy on a more consistent basis.  No more cheat days that turn into cheat weeks that turn into taking the whole month off.

I would like to stop complaining so much.  I am sick of complaining.  Complaining is so unattractive.

I would like to keep running.  I took almost 3 weeks off during December from my 10K training plan and I was so afraid I was going to have to start all over.  But my body stayed in shape better than I thought it would.  I started off doing 2 miles walking/running at the lake last week.  Then I picked it back up yesterday and ran 5 miles and walked 1 for a total of 6 miles!  It wasn't super easy, but I did it.  And according to my bodybugg I burned over 3,000 calories yesterday!  I must keep running in my life to get those kind of numbers!

What are your goals for 2012?

List progress

ohmygosh I am so glad Blogger is back up!  I was kind of worried I might lose my whole blog and have to start all over again.  That would have been tragic!  Don't scare me like that again Blogger or I may have to switch to that other blogging platform!  Now onto my slightly delayed post I wrote yesterday...

I haven’t marked anything off my list in a while. But I am slowly making progress with the remaining items:

#1- Get in the best shape of my life. Ok, so maybe I should have defined what “best shape of my life” means. My whole life I could barely run a mile. Even in high school when I played soccer I hated Mondays because that was the day we ran the mile. I have been steadily making progress with my running. I run 2-4 miles 3-5 times/week. I’ve ran three 5Ks in the last 6 months and even though I said I was done for the summer, I am running another one this weekend. But my body is nowhere near the “the best it has ever been”. I’m not the size 4 I was in high school. I can’t even fit in most of the clothes I wore just 4 summers ago. I’m working on that part of it. But does “best shape” mean what my body looks like or what it can do? Oh well, all I know is I’m not ready to mark this one off the list yet.

#9 kayak- It is the perfect kayaking weather right now. I’ve looked in to options around Raleigh and it looks like it will cost about $40-$50 if I do it around here. Last year I was going to sign up for a kayak excursion through the NC Aquarium while I was at the timeshare we have at Atlantic Beach. Well, it was sold out. They have that as an option again this year and it is only $20. I could do that, but I think the one in Raleigh would be better (way less hot if I do it now!). Hmmm…I can’t decide. What do you think?

#10 catch a fish- I keep telling my friend to let me know when her dad is taking her son fishing so I can tag along. Hopefully it will be soon.

#18 upgrade one room in my house- so I painted my Master Bath, hung some pictures, and installed a new faucet but I never touched up around where I got paint on the ceiling. I am working on re-doing my home office/gym/guest room. I also hung curtains in my living room. But the main thing I want is hardwood floors! I feel like I need to get the hardwood floors to mark this off my list. But I might not. Who knows. If the home office/gym/guest room turns out fabulous and I touch up the ceiling in the master bath maybe I will just consider it done and save that money for something like paying off my car early.

#26 Kiss in the rain- HA!! Yeah right! I think the only way this one will ever get marked off the list is if I die and heaven turns out to be one big long romantic comedy. There are no kissable boys even remotely on my radar. Let alone someone I could have my “movie love” moment with.

#27 Read the Bible all the way through- The Bible has 66 books. I have finished 12. I am getting closer to finishing Romans through a study my small group is doing and I am working my way through Luke with the sermon series my pastor is doing. I’ve done studies on Esther, Galatians, and Proverbs so those are covered. I gave up on the chronological plan I was using and instead just read in order they are written with the Bible app I have on my phone. I just finished 1 Samuel and it was actually a pretty good story- lots of action and adventure. I will say switching to The New Living Translation was a huge help! So thanks to you all that suggested that!

#29 Attempt Surfing- I am going to mark this one off at the beginning of August when I go to the beach. The NC Aquarium has a class for only $25!

So that’s it…just 7 things left. If you are just joining the blog I am already 30. I made my 30 Before 30 list a few weeks before my 28th birthday and apparently 2 years just wasn’t enough time to accomplish everything. So now my goal is to complete my list before I finish this year of being 30 on August 12, 2011. Fingers crossed!!

Pause & 30 Before 30 list checkpoint

First of all I want to ask all my readers to stop and say a prayer for Egypt.  I subscribe to the blog of a girl who lives in Egypt.  Early last week she posted something about the protest before it was in the news, before anything had grown in momentum.  She was going to protest with her brother.  She was scared, but knew it was important to take a stand.  To show support for something she believed in.  I can't even do that in everyday life, so I admire her courage.  She is a girl I relate to through her blog. She has a lot of the same thoughts, dreams,and aspirations I do.   These people in Egypt are humans just like you and me.  Yes, their culture and homeland is different, but we humans are more alike than you can imagine.

Then her internet access was cut off and she had a friend from outside the country post updates.  I wanted to know what was going on there and have been trying to follow the story but it is hard for me to even wrap my head around.  I just can't imagine what these people are going through.

And if you think just because we live far away from all the distress, don't fool yourself and think it doesn't affect us.  I just saw a reporter interviewing a group of Murbarak supporters and they told her to go away and that they hated Americans.  She tried to ask them why they hated Americans and they said "Because you are not a good person...we hate Americans."  Then they forced her and the crew to flee in their car while they beat on the car and threw rocks.  Why?  Why is there so much hate, anger, and violence?  I don't know enough about either side and I don't know why they hate Americans so much, but it scares me.  I know Americans aren't perfect but I would never look another human being in the face and tell them I hate them just because where they are from.  The violence between the protesters and police scares me.  The politics behind it all scares me.  All that is happening to the infrastructure and daily life in Egypt scares me.  Please pray for Egypt.

Now to something less heavy.  I wanted to pause and look back at the list that started this whole blog.  I have 8 things left on my list and I still plan to mark them off in the next couple months:

1. Get in the best shape of my life- I think I am almost there.  Not weight or body wise yet, but I am running more than I ever have and doing weights regularly.  I am going to run another 5K in April and want to come in under 31:00.  I want to do an 8K, 10K, and half marathon eventually. 

9. kayak- hopefully in the spring I will be able to convince some friends to help me mark this one off my list.

10. Catch a fish- maybe in the spring my favorite 4 year old can show me how to catch a fish!

18. Upgrade one room in my house- I attempted this one with my bathroom.  But I think I made it worse.  I SUCK at painting.  I will never do it again.  It I can fix the trim maybe I will consider this one done, but there are so many other things I want to do to my house.  Here is a sneak peek at the bathroom:

Old bathroom- not bad, but needs improvement

New bathroom

Turquoise stripe on one wall

Obviously I can't stay inside the lines- and yes I did use tape

21. Go skinny dipping- I have plans to mark this one off my list.  I've been skinny dipping before, but it is time to go again.  I'm just not going to tell anyone when or where until it is done.

26. Kiss in the rain-  I don't know about this one.  I am very cynical about love right now.

27. Read the Bible all the way through-  I have been trying.  This one is so hard because the Old Testament is sooo hard to read.  It has crazy stories that make your jaw drop and then very long passages about lineage or long detailed instructions for building the Temple or what to bring for their offerings.  But I do have at least 7 books marked off.  Tons more to go though.

29. Attempt Surfing- I hope to do this one just before my birthday on my annual beach trip.

Any advice for any of the things left on my list?