#77 and then some

Well, we finally made it out the gun range, and it was very interesting. I was quite nervous, because I've never liked the idea of guns, but since we have one in our house, I knew I needed to learn the basics at least. Our gun is a .38 Special handgun that Mike's dad received upon graduating from the Police Academy in the 1970s. It was easy to shoot, but it doesn't have a safety, which makes me uncomfortable leaving it loaded in the house. Maybe we'll invest in a new gun with a safety for home protection purposes. I keep thinking of all those kids that accidentally shoot themselves or their siblings using their dad's gun.

After the experience, I'm still not in favor of guns, but I think I have a firm grasp of how to safely use one. We got to shoot our handgun, along with many other types of guns. It was a bit fun firing the automatic rifles at the close-range target.

I've been spending lots of time lately focusing on my garden. This year, I'm focusing on researching and learning more about organic techniques and the seeds and plants. I am really enjoying studying the information available, and I'm even considering studying horticulture in grad school (as opposed to information science). Maybe that's just a current passion, though - we'll see.

Hopefully, I'll have lots of great garden pictures and stories to post in a few weeks. I'm still working on the rest of my list, but time is ticking, and I'm very aware that much of it will not be accomplished. It was pretty crazy of me to include so many expensive things on there. I definitely haven't had the funds in this economy for many of my list items. I guess I still have a year and 5 months, so I shouldn't feel so defeated. I'll keep you posted on any further progress.

Not giving up...

Wow, it's been so long, but I haven't given up on this list. As my 1,001 days are ticking away, it's becoming pretty apparent to me that I won't be able to accomplish all 101 items. I'm still having a blast trying, though, and I'll keep going until my days are up. I'm planning on making a new list at the end of this, and I'll be much better qualified to make an achievable one.

In the past few months, a lot has happened. Mike & I got married on October 3rd, and it was beautiful. We went to Puerta Aventuras, in Mexico for an incredible honeymoon. Now, were mostly relaxing when we're not working, and making little adjustments here and there to strengthen our marriage.

I've been reading a lot, studying for my GRE, and just trying to plan for the future. I'm not sure where we'll go or what we'll do, but I'm grateful to know that he'll be by my side through everything.

Hopefully, I'll be able to accomplish some of the more exciting things on my list, and I'll post wonderful pictures and exciting stories to back it all up.

Just a brief update...

Well, I've gotten a little carried away with life lately, and I haven't been in the right place to write about it, but I have been keeping up with my list - I just haven't been writing about anything. It's been a great summer full of fun, work & stress, which all seem to go hand in hand. I've been on a trip to Alaska, one to South Dakota to visit the grandparents, and a mini-trip to Dallas to visit friends, family, the new Dallas Cowboys stadium, and Six Flags. All in all, it's been fun, but I still have so much to do for the wedding, and it's less than 5 weeks away. The funny thing is, I keep planning more things that have nothing to do with the wedding. Mike & I are going camping this weekend at Krause Springs, and then we're going to Schlitterbahn on Labor Day, so we've got a lot going on. Hopefully, I will find some free time to finish all the wedding stuff. I hope everyone's doing well!

The first two pictures are from Alaska (Family in front of the Hubbard Glacier, Ziplining through the Alaskan rain forest), the next two are from South Dakota (wild buffalo at Custard State Park, Mount Rushmore), and the last picture is of Mike & I at the Cowboy's new stadium - it's gigantic!

Slowly Progressing through my 101 List

Well, I've been super busy working lately - I've been working about double the hours just to make the same amount of money I used - so my days off are only every couple of weeks and I haven't had a lot of free time. I've been trying to accomplish some things on my list, but I've only succeeded at starting things or just slowly progressing.

For example, I managed to do about 3 weeks worth of my Couch to 5K program in the last couple months (#20), and I managed to watch all three of the Godfather movies (#83). We also went to Walburg in attempt to accomplish #43, but Dale's Essenhaus (which has the famous burgers) was closed that day. Instead, we ate at the Walburg Restaurant which has a very interesting German buffet. I can safely say I'm not a huge fan of german food, but I'll eat a brautwurst any day. Other than that, my free time has been spent working on my garden, as you can see from the pictures, and slowly planning the wedding one tiny detail at a time.

The first picture is of most of the garden from the back - it's completely disorganized and overgrown, but I'm still learning. The next picture shows our green leaf lettuce, green onions, oregano & some zinnias that just decided to grow in the middle of everything.


The last picture is of the zucchini and cucumber plants. I've since managed to get those into cages so they're more structured now. The only thing we've harvested is basil, oregano, chives, lettuce, spinach & mint (I think). So far, we have no actual vegetables, but I'm hoping to get some in the next few weeks.

We're leaving for an Alaskan cruise this week, so hopefully I'll be able to cross a couple of things of my list, and if not, I'll at least have some awesome pictures to post.

Drinking the Cava

So we finally heard back from the City of Austin about Mayfield Park for our wedding. They reserved October 3rd for us, but there's still a slight chance we can have October 10th instead. October 3rd is a good date because it happens to be the weekend that UT does not have a football game. However, ACL Festival is being held in Austin that weekend, which I guess could be both good and bad. I would hate for our friends to buy 3-day passes to ACL fest and miss out on their favorite band because it coincides with our wedding. So anyway, I'm waiting to find out about October 10th before I send out Save-the-Date cards. I'm just thrilled to know that we definitely can get married sometime in October at the place we really wanted. Mike & I split the bottle of Cava last night to celebrate.

#66 - Planting the Spring Garden

Sorry for the long gap between posts, I've just been filling my free time with wedding planning and family and not 101 stuff. However, I've been spending lots of time in the garden the last couple months.

#66 on my list was to plant a flower garden in the front yard using the compost we started last spring. I know the picture doesn't show much of anything, because I started my flowers from seed this year to save money, but I did top the seeds with our homemade compost. It was funny to see what came out of the bin: some of it looked like garden soil, there were lots of worms and rolly pollies, and lots of stickers from the fruit veggie peels that got tossed in. We'll have to be much better about what we put in there next year. I took this picture over a month ago, so now there are lots of sprouts (I planted 100 Gladiolus bulbs in this section), and hopefully I'll be able to post some pretty flower pictures soon.

In the vegetable garden, we outdid ourselves and bought way too many seeds. Once everything gets sprouting, it's going to be one overcrowded garden. #71 was to plant 3 new types of veggies each year. This year's garden will produce (hopefully):
1. Asparagus*
2. Zucchini*
3. Cucumbers
4. Beefsteak Tomatoes
5. Cherry Tomatoes
6. Tendergreen Garden Beans*
7. Black Turtle Beans
8. Green Onions*
9. And 10+ types of peppers ( Serranos, Jalapenos, Anaheim Chilis, Cascabellas, Anchos, Poblanos, Green Bell Peppers, Cayenne, and a bunch of colorful peppers I thought we could maybe use for wedding decor - we'll see)
10. Basil
11. Sweet Basil*
12. Oregano
13. Cilantro
14. Green Leaf Lettuce*
15. Spinach
16. Mesclun*
*New plants for 2009, I've had experience with the rest

I't looks like I'll be busy in the garden for the next 6 months or so. Hopefully everything will turn out great and I'll find a way to use it all. Last year we had so many cucumbers, we were eating them for every meal of the day, and I brought large batches of cucumber salad to my friends at work weekly.

Any way, I'm still waiting to hear back from the City of Austin about the wedding date. I have a bottle of Cava chilling in the refrigerator for when we find out, and I'll be sure to post about it.

Wedding Update

Well, I've been updating my 101 list, but I've just been too busy (or lazy) for posting. I had a great Thanksgiving in Austin with my family, and then Mike and I made the 10 hour drive to El Paso (with the dogs in the backseat) for Christmas. It was my 3rd time to El Paso with him, but it was the first time I drove there, and my first "El Paso Christmas". Things were very different over there - I met lots of primos, tios, and tias, and we ate lots and lots of tamales and carnitas. It was all fun and delicious, but I missed my traditional College Station Christmas.

Anyway, since New Years, I've been spending most of my non-working time trying to plan our wedding. After lots of research and venue searching, Mike & I finally decided on Mayfield Park, which is a beautiful park in Austin full of flowers and palm trees and even lots of peacocks. We fell in love with it instantly, and we're both psyched about the wedding. We're hoping to have it on October 10th, but since the park is owned by the city, we won't have a date officially set until the end of March. I'll keep you all posted.

I think that's mostly it for now. I'm just working, planning, and enjoying my life here with friends and family.

Back from Spain...whew!

That trip was such a whirlwind! There was some drama and a few difficulties to endure, but overall, our trip was amazing. My favorite part was horseback riding in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The scenery was breathtaking! We drove from Barcelona (Northeast Spain) 8 hours south to Galera and Granada (Southern Spain), and along the way we saw castles on hills, mandarin orange groves, almond groves, olive groves, the Mediterranean Sea, many traffic circles and crazy road signs. The drive was entirely surreal.

I will share many more details as I get pictures uploaded, but for now, the most important thing is that Mike & I got engaged! It was incredibly romantic - we were sipping wine and watching the sun set between the mountains outside of our "cave house" that we rented. We're both really excited. More to come soon...

#30 - Substitute Teaching

So for #30, I set the goal to sub for 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes, because they are all the grades that I am getting certified to teach. While now I've subbed for most all grades (except 3rd, I think), I can finally cross this one off my list. I wanted to find out how each grade level compared and which I preferred, and I think 7th and 8th is what I'd like to teach. However, I really loved the 2nd grade class that I subbed for. 5th grade was the worst, and 4th came in second. Middle School = major headache. I've gotten lots of great experience, and hopefully someday soon I'll be able to put it to use in my own classroom.

On another note, I'm leaving for Barcelona in the morning, and the excitement is being replaced by the stress of travel. Mike and I are going to IHOP late tonight to discuss all of our last minute details, which we do every time we take a trip, and it seems to help me unwind a bit. I'm not a big fan of IHOP, but it's the only thing open late around here aside from Village Inn and fast food. I'm sure I'll have lots to post when I return. My dear friend Carla is due to have her first baby girl on November 26th, and I'm crazy excited to experience that with her. That's all for now...thanks for keeping up with me :o)

#65, #76 & #92 - Busy month!

So on Columbus Day, Mike & I drove down to Austin to take his Dad to the airport. We both had the day off and decided to hang around Austin for a bit, so I suggested we check out some furniture stores. I had been complaining about our bed for quite awhile and was more than ready to get a new one. We ended up buying an entire King size bedroom set, which we're both in love with and have been sleeping great ever since. Which led me to #76, "Buy a new mattress." While shopping for it all was stressful and we were in a big time crunch to find one because our furniture was quickly delivered, it was all worth the stress and money. Now I'm just waiting for my new duvet cover to come and I need some more art for the walls, but I'm quickly on my way to having a fully redecorated Master bedroom.

Also, while in the process of clearing out the old dressers and making room for the new furniture, we came up with 188 items to donate to Goodwill (and we still have lots more to sort through and donate), so I also completed #65 in the process. The same day our furniture came, the local theater company in Georgetown, the Palace Theater, was putting on a production of "The Producers," and I was able to score a free pair of tickets through Free Night of Theater. Mike was less than enthusiastic because there was a UT game on, but in the end, we both loved it and were so glad that we decided to go. So I also completed #92, "Attend a performance at the Palace Theater."

I've been working on many other goals this month. I finished the 2nd Twighlight book, and today I finished my 2nd week of the Couch to 5K program. Also, Mike & I went to see Railroad Earth (a bluegrass/rock band) at Antone's a few nights ago, which was surprisingly enjoyable. And I've been working a lot on cooking more at home and keeping the house clean. All in all, it's been a great October, but I can't wait for my Spain vacation in November.

Widespread Panic

Last night, I attended a Widespread Panic at The Backyard with Mike and his dad who was in town visiting. The show was very high energy, and lots of fun, except for when they sang "Chilly Water" and everyone started throwing water bottles into the air and I got kind of wet. Other than that, I really enjoyed it. I'm sad that it's the last show I'll ever see at The Backyard (it closes this week and is moving somewhere else), because I have lots of good memories of concerts there. I saw Widespread Panic there last year, and I saw David Gray and Damien Rice with Terrie there a few years ago. I know there were many more, but my mind is drawing a blank. Anyway, it was a good show, and I'm glad I went with him.

Also, I started my Couch to 5K program last week, and it was a lot more difficult getting back into running than I had expected. I felt like I was dying on the first day, but it's been getting easier. I'm going to do my best to stick with it. Other than that, I'm just working and getting ready for Spain.

Camping at Inks Lake State Park, etc.

Mike and I had the "pleasure" of camping at Inks Lake State Park this week. As usual, he really enjoyed himself, and I was reassured that I'm not much of a camping type of girl. It didn't help that the bag of clothing and toiletries I packed got left behind. However, the lake was beautiful, and we got the exact site that we wanted - large and about 10 yards from the water. The dogs had a blast swimming and racing each other for the frisbee, Mike fished for hours and caught nothing, and I read US Weekly. I'll just be sure to double check the trunk before we go camping next time.

On another note, I finished reading Twilight today, and I can't wait to start the second book in the series. The middle of the book got a little mushy for my taste, but it had an awesome climax.

Also, I got to sub for a music teacher today and had to teach songs to Kindergaden through 2nd graders. It was both interesting and exhausting to say the least, but the Principal at the elementary school liked me and booked me for next week, too. While it's fun at elementary, it's not helping me with my middle school teaching goals. We'll have to see what happens.

And best of all, Mike & I bought plane tickets to Barcelona for a spontaneous trip in November. I'm sure I'll be able to take care of some list items over there (maybe riding a train will be involved). I'm so thrilled about the trip, but haven't made any plans yet, so if anyone has any Spain or Europe recommendations, I'm all ears...

Just a few changes...

So after taking some advice from Chloe, I decided to adjust the biweekly and tri-weekly events on my list, #4, #17, and #23. Rather than trying to do something 2 or 3 times each week, I'm giving myself a little slack in case I'm on vacation or something. I just assigned a flat number for each item (250 meals cooked for mike, 300 trips to the park with the dogs, and 400 weight lifting sessions at the gym). I think this will be much better for me, and hopefully I won't procrastinate until the last few months and then go crazy.

On another note, I just started reading Twilight, which is the first book in the Twilight Saga series, and I am loving it. The movie comes out in November and I'm so excited! I recommend that you read it if you haven't yet.

Harder than I thought...

So I've been trying to stay on top of my 101 list and be productive for the past two weeks, but it's turning out to be much more difficult than I imagined. There are some list items that are continuous that I would love to remove (such as lifting weights 3 times a week), so I might end up doing a little reassessing. Also, there are other items on the list that are turning out to be trickier than I imagined to accomplish. I bought my external hard drive to back up my computers, but as of now I only have my Dell backed up. It turns out the external drive can't be configured to back up both a mac and a pc, so now I'm in the process of using the flash drive to transfer my files to the Dell, which is very tedious.

While I haven't been able to cross anything off the list other than #30 (Complete substitute training), I have been making progress towards some others. I just finished my first book for September, Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life. Her second book, Are you there Vodka? It's me, Chelsea, which I read in August, was the funniest book I have ever read - I highly recommend it. My Horizontal Life was also funny, but I preferred her second book. I just hope she writes more and that they continue to improve. Until then, I will just watch her show religiously.

Finishing the list...

So I finally finished my 101 list, and I am very eager to start! I would start now, but it seems to make a lot more sense to wait until the 1st of September, seeing as how many of my goals are monthly. I drew inspiration for many of my list items from many others' lists on-line, and I'm excited about all of the fun ideas that I found. The first 40 items were easy to come up with, but then it took me another 2 weeks to finish my list. Now that it's complete I continue to think of more ideas, so I've had to add some new ones and remove some things from my original 101. Hopefully, I will be able to stick with what I have now. My dear friends Terrie and Ryan are also starting on Sept. 1st, so I'm glad to have someone to motivate me and compare notes with. Yay! I can't wait to start!