goals for 2011 - the 27th year

i started this list earlier in december and thought i would try for 27 goals for my 27th year, but before i knew it i was way beyond 27. and that's ok by me; not having a number to get to means i'm not forcing myself to put things in here i don't mean. i really enjoy that they are all fun, easy goals and totally do-able. but at the same time if i don't do them all, it's perfectly fine. this is my kind of goals list: fun and reminders but not diligent. hope you can laugh and smile over them just as i do!! so in no particular order, here are my 96 goals for 2011; join me in some of them, will you?


1. Skydive
2. Tattoo/sleeve?
3. Healthy eating habits
4. Keep inspiration notebook going
5. Make more money
6. Develop organizing skills more
7. Work at improving crossfit skills
8. Crochet hat/scarf/shawl
9. Make steps/progress towards ideal body
10. Dye hair a funky color or part of hair
11. Create/sew a shirt with a cool back
12. Make video of grama’s stories
13. Take all kinds of pictures
14. Travel with Al
15. Create savings accounts/fund -> retire, house, Colorado, wedding, kids
16. Wakeboard & snowboard as much as possible
17. Remember to tell people when they make you happy/how you feel
18. Wear your fancy shoes!
19. Cook with veggies -> try new veggies
20. Send people stuff snail mail -> cards, letters, gifts
21. White board posters on wall for lists
22. Lead by example: driving, common courtesy, strangers
23. Less computer time! Esp. facebook
24. Make conscious/better decisions when shopping: food & clothes
25. Train for warrior dash -> learn to run
26. Batting cages: have Johnny & Lon teach me to hit
27. Ride my bike
28. Consider lip ring
29. Read the Lord of the Rings series
30. Watch all my movies
31. Read my Nancy Drew books
32. Be anti fast food
33. Volunteer
34. Play basketball!! <3> visit him and papa regularly
38. Hand out with old friends: Megan, Brooke, Laura
39. Learn to play hockey: play in a game
40. Horseback riding
41. Paint nails as teenage mutant ninja turtles
42. Sew! Make all projects from class
43. Go sledding/tubing -> build snowman, snowball fight
44. Use PD Pappys gift card
45. Visit Wanda’s ice cream stand & Nelsons in Stillwater
46. Color. Paint. Draw
47. Doodle more, like I used to
48. Learn new, fabulous appetizers to make
49. Try out tummy tamers pills consistently
50. Take vitamin & fish oils daily
51. Learn to plant & grow veggies and flowers
52. Rake leaves and jump in them
53. Master rock band :)
54. Play more board games & cards
55. Drink less alcohol, keep up with water. Learn to like wine
56. Get a dog. That has great ears
57. Gain self-confidence and self-esteem; better self image
58. Try real boxing/kickboxing/martial arts
59. Rollerblade; preferably with Meg & Manda
60. Don’t let tv shows run you life/schedule
61. Be outside a lot!!
62. Listen to my full cd’s -> find new music
63. Play my flute more often
64. Speak & learn Spanish more
65. Learn to use photo shop & really use a nice camera
66. Play Sudoku often
67. Wear what I want, when I want no matter what: clothes & hair
68. SMILE!!! All the time and at people (it won’t kill you)
69. Wear your dresses! You really do love wearing them
70. Remember how it feels to receive things & know that people were thinking of you: so do that for others: give.
71. Stop and help people, especially in the winter. You know you want to so why not do it?
72. Don’t stop sleeping! You are an 8-10 hour/day person
73. Get over your wanting to be someone/everyone’s favorite; it’s never gonna happen and only hurts you.
74. Continue to attempt to change the human nature of assuming the worst
75. Blog more, especially about your life status quo. It will be interesting to go back and read later on in life.
76. Soak up the sun; winter will be here before you know it.
77. Have picnics outside.
78. Get a grill basket so you can grill the veggies that you love. (ps. Learn to grill)
79. Spend more quality time with the little ones around you; they really can astonish you & brighten your day.
80. Push yourself. Conquer fears, be uncomfortable.
81. Take advantage of summer!! -> cabins, boats, lakes, fishing, etc etc etc
82. Get a hammock
83. Get a subscription to a magazine
84. Get a facial
85. Forgive
86. Never stop learning, esp from those around you!!
87. Do the happy dance when you feel like it :]
88. Learn new corny jokes
89. Laugh every day!
90. Visit family in other states
91. Reduce my plastic footprint on the earth
92. Get with the times & get a new phone
93. Use the stairmill for a full cardio workout
94. Burn my candles
95. Take more bubble baths
96. Put my dishes in the dishwasher (mom!)

10 guilty pleasures & funny habits

after seeing elsie's cute and adorable and funny blog post with the same title i got the urge to do one for myself (and to finally get another blog post up). so here are some of mine:

1. microwaves!! it's pretty much the only way i know how to "cook" anything (although i have been making myself eggs lately... which must be done on the stove :]

2. i have an obsession with collecting things. it's not really ever the same thing all the time, just get addicted to one thing or another and collect it. examples: beanie babies, stuffed animals, movies, shoes, keychains, snowboarding hats, nancy drew books, sunglasses, dresses, blankets, boots, black clothing... i'm sure there are more. i collect collect collect and rarely ever get rid of them (hence the many boxes full of my junk in my mom's basement). although i did just get rid of a bunch of movies at a couple of garage sales this summer!! and made some money on them!!

and i have NO idea where i got this whole collection thing from... (sarcasm as my mom has endless amounts of giraffes...) :]

3. i cannot ever do anything that has the color combinations of green & red or green & yellow. green & red being christmas and this is only allowed for christmas related things :) and green and yellow being packers colors and we cannot do anything to help out the enemy :} (hence why there is blue font inbetween this red #3 and the green #1)

4. i really really dislike walking into anywhere where there will be a large group of people inside, especially when i've never been to the place before. large crowds of people are in-and-of-themselves scary and awkward enough on there own but then to have to be the first one to walk in and have everyone look at me is just not for me. (which also plays into my fear of having to sit in front of a whole bunch of people and be stared at, which i just conquered a bit by riding on the zamboni at the gopher's hockey game). this can be bad when a guy is trying to be nice and open a door for me; i will awkwardly stand there and ask them to go in first...

5. potato chips and french fries. or really any form of fried potatoes. or really just potatoes in general!!

6. sometimes when i'm nervous or in a nerve wracking situation i find myself pulling on and playing with my ear lobes. very random, i know, but i don't know where it stems from or why i do it but i do :)

7. i have to have my toe nails painted at all times (i feel naked if they are not painted) but hate my finger nails to be painted.

8. guilty pleasure movies: 10 things i hate about you, the object of my affection, romeo & juliet (with leo), uptown girls, mean girls, wild hearts can't be broken, tommy boy. if i'm in a bad mood or if they're on tv i will always watch them!!

9. jared allen!!! and kind of the minnesota vikings in general but i heart jared allen! i now have a purple jersey for him, a black jersey for him and a t-shirt with him on it!! :)

10. when i wear a ring i always switch it from one hand to the other through out the day. i only have large, cheap rings that only fit on my ring finger and they can get annoying on one hand or will turn my finger green so i switch them up. :) and sometimes when on my left hand causes people to say "congrats" ;)

just a lil tidbit

a facebook acquaintance of mine posted the following very helpful information :) i'll be sure to test it out next time...
Hung over? Choose asparagus. When South Korean researchers exposed a group of human liver cells to asparagus extract, it suppressed free radicals and more than doubled the activity of two enzymes that metabolize alcohol. That means you'll feel like yourself again twice as quickly.

2nd sew project

here is the second project i made for my sewing class. a drawstring gift bag with 2 fabrics.

it was a little time consuming, especially in the measuring and cutting departments but it's very cool and with some practice could become a quick project.

i've only done one more project after this one (which reminds me i still need to photograph it) and then i haven't kept up. but i figure i'll have plenty of time come winter and snow (and i'm hoping that comes soon, this humidity is no fun!!)

target field

in july, i finally got out to see our new outdoor baseball stadium for the minnesota twins!! not only is the stadium beautiful, but i got to take it in girl's night style with some of my softball buddies! it was a blast (although we did standing room only tickets in an effort to be cheap, and it was TOO much standing!!). we got to walk around and take in different angles of the stadium. and the twins won!!! great times!! oh and we got interviewed to be on japanese tv in tokyo.
the field/stadium truely is beautiful!!

my girlies and i!!!

sew sew

there are some very crafty ladies that have awesome blogs that i follow. (here and here) a while ago 2 of them posted about an online sewing class they were offering. i have really wanted to be able to sew well for as long as i remember and know how to do multiple things with a sewing machine. i pondered the class and decided against it. well, it just would not leave my head; i dreamed about the class and all i could accomplish after learning so many new things... then i say the last call for the class and decided i just needed to do it. i really really wanted to and i could do it at my own pace for up to a year.

so i signed up for the class, and began reading the beginning posts. i just kept getting more and more excited!!! after printing the supplies list, going through my current sewing objects and cutting coupons for joanne fabrics, i was ready to start stocking up and preparing to start. after 2 trips to joanne, some cleaning out of a craft closet, and reading over the beginning blog posts i finally began the first project tonight!!!

first up: cloth napkins (2 sided) here is my first one and i love it!! i still need to iron it and figure out how i'm going to close it. (the blog post calls for ric-rac or some kind of fancy edging but the ric rac was too expensive for my taste.) so i don't need to do the edging like the post calls for but i may do it any way...

polka dots and...

stripes!!!

i ended up making 3 tonight (thinking i'll eventually make either 4 or 8 total) but the cutting is what took the longest; having to measure the lengths and square up the corners... so perhaps i'll move on to the next project and come back for more at a later time.

a quick snap shot of my work station and tools. some off brand sewing machine and a cute little sewing cubby filled with a bunch of great and handy tools!!

to grandmother's house we go

for mother's day, my momma, aunt judie, cousin angi, aunt marlene and i went up to my grama's up north. i, unfortunately didn't take any pictures of the people i was up there with, but did get some cool shots of some of the old stuff at grama's along with the beautiful outdoors that is the north shore.

lake superior!!

beautiful rivers everywhere up there

birch trees are pretty much my favorite!!

baby's turn 1!!

well once again it's been a long time since a blog post but this one's a good one :) at the beginning of may the twins turned one!! i can't believe they're that old already. i hit up the dollar store for some supplies and threw them a small party. they enjoyed the balloons. until they popped. :) they are getting so big and like real little people.

birthday boy!!

birthday girl!!
someone's ticklish!! :)

such big blue eyes!

playin with balloons.

kyle smiles - more

i was lucky enough to again get to watch/play with kyle. he's so smiley and so frickin cute!! i got to snap pictures of him outdoors this time (which is great; i definitely need natural light when i shoot) and i feel good about the pictures i got of him this time. i feel as if they are really him and his smile!!he would go above this bar and say "cheese" then would go below it and "cheese." back and forth many times! it was so cute and hilarious!!

this is his big cheese face; you can see the emphasis on the "eee's" in his eyebrows :) and you can see his alfalfa hair sticking up

such a happy boy!!

he is so easy to watch and so fun to play with, especially for a little boy! he's very ticklish and loves to play with trucks and blocks. he's very particular in his block building but then loves to knock them down as well! such a good boy!!!

avacados & guac

i used to hate guacamole. well at least i would say i hated it; i don't think i had ever even tried it but the look of it grossed me out enough to say i hated it. however, not too long ago i finally tried some homemade guac and i fell in love!! i love it soo soo much!! every time i'm at the grocery store i have to snag a few avacados. i make my own "homemade" guac from it. meaning i mix the avacado meat with a little bit of salsa. :)

in having the avacados i've also noticed how cute the shell bowls are once i've cleaned them out!! if ever i was to have a dinner party or something of the sort where i might serve guacamole, i would definitely want to serve it in these!! :) i just really like them

spring time

spring has sprung. and actually here in minnesota it has been feeling more like the beginning of summer with the temps being so high. i can't complain about it because it's been gorgeous but the 40-50 degree weather is my favorite and we seemed to have skipped right over it... hopefully it'll come back and sooner rather then later... this past weekend i layed outside and read and it was so beautiful i had to snap a few pics.

with all the rain we've been getting the grass is finally green!!

although the rain has also brought the pollen which means my allergies are in full force. hopefully they'll be gone soon!!

puppies too

not only do i love babies and baby time but i love dogs and dog/puppy sitting too!! i got this pleasure in early april for some good friends while they went to the bon jovi concert!! my little baby boz (my favorite dog in the world and the best dog!!) came over along with his new brother, titan. titan in a chesapeake bay retriever (a chocolate lab look-a-like but with a different coat/fur that makes them even more of a water dog then labs). he is 12 weeks in these pictures and is gonna be a big boy!! :) he has giant paws and is super tall but not used to his long legs yet. :] he is really cute and has crazy light green eyes that look kinda exotic with his brown fur.

here are pics of the brothers playing in our backyard.

they're about the same size. for now...

boz tends to be in control as of now; like the big brother. and he's the one who will always get the ball and bring it back to me. titan just kind of waits for boz to get it then tries to take it outta his mouth :)

i was trying to get a picture of titan's face and eyes but this is the best i got because he kept moving :) would have been a good pic but the camera focused on the grass instead of titan..

and my little baby! and his wonderful ears!! i just love him!!

lil eva!!

eva is 3 months now and is still sooo cute!! she is coo-ing and smiling and soo wiggly! i was thrilled to get to watch her for a night while manda and johnny took in a wild game! she just makes me smile!!awe. look at that smile

such a sweet face!!

i adore her profile!!

and eva likes to watch wheel of fortune too!! :)