101 Things in 1001 days

So my friend, Kimi, who writes a fabulous blog, and column and while reading I was inspired to follow her example and set 101 goals to be accomplish 101 goals in 1001 days. There are rules, and they are as follows: Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of effort on your part).

I'm going to start today and (Kimi if you read this thanks for the wonderful idea, and I hope you don't mind if I steal some of your goals :) ) my ending date will be July 2, 2012.

I will provide periodic updates for those who are interested

Complete
Incomplete
In Progress

1. Learn to play all of the hymns in the hymn book
2. Pay Tithing on every paycheck 0/72 (if my math is correct)
   
3. Finish my novel
4. Paint my windows for each major holiday (Christmas, New Years, Valentines day, Independence day, St Patrick's day, April Fools Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving) 1/20
5. Learn to play all the songs in the Children's Hymn book
   
6. Attend the temple at least once a month 0/35
   
7. Write on my blog once a week 1/143
8. Exercise three times a week each week.
   
9. Keep a journal daily 0/1001
10. Daily personal scripture study 0/1001
11. Daily family scripture study 0/1001
12. Make pillows for my couch
13. Try a new recipe every week 0/143
14. Reach my goal weight
15. Get a family portrait
    
16. Get new chairs for the dining room
17. Get a dresser
18. House train my puppy
19. Practice Piano daily 1/1001
20. Spend at least 20 minutes a day cleaning house (excluding vacations) 0/1001
21. Read 100 new books 0/100
22. Read the entire Ensign every month 0/35
23. Pray each morning 1/1001
24. Take my nieces and nephews sledding
25. Quit swearing
26. Prepare 72 hour kits for each member of the family (0/2)
27. Fill all the soda pop bottles that I have been saving with water
28. Put $5 into a jar for me for every task completed (0/101)
29. Submit a picture I've taken to a magazine for publication
30. Get eyes checked
31. Print and frame at least one of my own nature photographs
32. Piece and tie a quilt
    
33. Start a Gratitude Journal
34. Visit a new state
35. Wear makeup daily 1/1001
    
36. Go camping for a weekend
37. Do something for a neighbor
38. Donate to friends of scouting
39. Plant a garden with different kinds of veggies than I've grown before
40. Make a list of 100 things I like about myself
41. Make a list of 100 reasons I love my husband and give it to him
42. Tell Adam I love him every day 1/1001
43. Complete a "100 Things that Make me Happy"list.
44. Write Jeremiah every week for the rest of his mission 0/35
45. Make 3 new friends
46. Put away part of each paycheck into my savings account
47. Get a new car
48. Do my hair every day 1/1001
    
49. Have PERSONAL prayer on a daily basis
50. Get out of Debt
51. Learn a new language
52. Start a business
53. Create a website for my business
54. Start a photo blog and post to it daily
55. Go on a romantic weekend getaway with my husband
56. Sew something I can wear
    
57. Try a new restaurant every month or until we have eaten at all the restaurants in Cedar City(0/35)
58. Read books by 15 new authors 0/15
59. Have a fireworks display with my family
60. Go to a parade with my husband
61. Go on a hike with my husband
62. Watch 10 inspirational movies 0/10
63. Send out Christmas cards
64. Donate 100 items to DI
65. Only drink soda once a week
66. Take a vacation
67. Complete and frame a cross stitch
68. Go to a play
69. Do something I'm scared of
70. Send a Christmas letter to family and friends
71. Bake and decorate 12 cakes 0/12
72. Attend a renaissance festival
73. Give $5 to charity for each goal I don't complete
74. Get a hutch and display the wedding stuff we have
75. Submit a poem for publishing
    
76. Have a family home evening lesson twice a month 0/71
77. Have a picnic at a park
78. Go to the kings feast at Excalibur in Las Vegas
79. Comment on 3 blogs a month that I read 0/105
80. Have 3 Girls Night Outs (0/3)
81. Learn a new word a day 0/1001
82. Build a snowman
83. Have a snowball fight
84. Take a daily multivitamin 1/1001
    
85. Put my blog in a book format
    
86. Go snorkeling
87. Clean bathroom once a week
88. Get bookshelves and display Our books (this may take mroe than one set of bookshelves)
89. Call my sisters once a week (0/143)
90. Write a letter to each of my nieces and nephews letting them know why they are special to me.
91. refinish my vanity and get it out of my parents house
92. Go on a bike ride with my husband
93. Learn how to play chess
94. Have an outdoor movie night
95. Bake a pie from scratch
    
96. Take a picture for each letter of the alphabet
97. Learn to say thank you and your welcome in 10 languages
98. Donate 5 gifts to toys for tots
99. Have Kendra and Golden and Mom and Dad over for a game night three times 0/3
100. Learn how to make jam
101. start the whole mess over again
     

05 October 2009

Darkest Before the Dawn

I'm not that much of a poet, but sometimes I feel the need to express myself through poetry, so people who read my blog will be required to endure.

I Pray for guidance as the world crubmles around me.
The last fading light leaves the sky, as I beg it to set me free.

I grasp at the stars but even they lose their light.
I grasp all around me, flailing, trying to put up a fight.

The I hear a voice in the dark. A whisper so quiet and still,
"Hush now, my child, for I know my will,
Each promise I made, I will fulfill.

Each trial you go though will make you prepared for what is to come,
So when it's all done, you can come home.

When your heart is troubled, and you don't feel you can go on...
Remember these words, 'It's darkest 'fore dawn.'"

11 September 2009

I don't have a witty blog post title.

So I am a slacker. This has been determined in MANY previous posts. But I wanted to hit the highlights of the past....while. The last time I posted I told you about my adventures in Indio, CA. Well we had the chance to head up to see our Gale family and we did a couple of things that are noteworthy. First of all, we added a member of our family.....

His name is Hercules. He's naughty and sweet and loving and such a brat. He chews on my favorite shoes and poops in the house. He eats out of the garbage and hogs the bed. And I absolutely couldn't love him any more. He sits on my feet and follows me around He loves me unconditionally and when I put him in time out, I'm still the first person he runs to when he gets out. We bonded instantly and he's so sweet.

We also took a trip to the cabin where Adam spent every summer until he was probably 16. It was so beautiful, and I was more than a little jealous of the beauty of Mill Hollow, and the unique experience he had. It's one of the places he talks of most fondly. They didn't have TV, or a phone. The only electricity they had was at night for three hours. They would listen to the radio or their mom would read to them, or they would go out and watch the beavers or just look at the stars. I got a glimpse of the beauty of the area and I want to share some of the things I saw with you.....

This was my favorite view of all :)



This was a stream right next to the cabin where he stayed.


This was known as the "old dead tree", although it is not truly dead...it just looks that way. it was on top of a mountain that they hiked to. I, unfortunately didn't Hike it, I just have a good zoom on my camera.



This is Heart lake.



This is my lovely niece Sky. She had a luau at her preschool and this is what she wore! She's such a cutie!

Thanks Mom and Dad Gale for letting us stay with you for an entire week, and letting me work from your home. We love you! Thanks for taking us up to Mill Hollow. It was a great experience.

05 September 2009

Red Hair, Red Skin and Killer Pumpkins

Well it's been almost a month since I've blogged. Sadly, I don't have any pictures from the many many fun things i have managed to squeeze into my life.

I've had two Barbecues. The first one was on June 21st. One was kind of a way to get everyone to my house to see where I live. It was also the first time I ever tried to barbecue using a charcoal grill. It was...interesting. I wasn't sure exactly HOW to use a charcoal grill, and so it took SUPER long to cook everything. It was Okay though because we had a lot of fun. There were races run, cartwheel competitions, push-up competitions and all kinds of physical activity, while we were waiting for our food to cook. (Thanks Dad for your help in finally getting it cooked)

The other was a couple of weeks later for Adams birthday. We found a park that both Adam and I just fell in love with. We set up there and grilled some hamburgers and hot-dogs and then went back to our house and had Ice Cream cake (which we ate for another two weeks).

After that life was quiet for awhile. Until about a week ago. I was starting to feel stressed. Anyone who knows me, knows when I get stressed, my hair bares the brunt. So now instead of black, or even a dark brown or even blonde....I'm a redhead. Think Weasly twins. It was supposed to be auburn, but it's more ginger. It's fun and I actually really like it. I haven't had anyone hesitate to say the like it either. :) So once again, I lucked into it working well for me.

This past week I spent with my family in California. It was a BLAST. While checking in I played tag with Tim, Dewy, Gage and Lacie. It was really fun, but really hot. The whole time it was about 118 with about 20 percent humidity. We were either in the room or in the pool, to try to survive the heat. It was really fun. We played games, and swam, watched movies and ate. The food was fairly healthy (mostly) and all of it was yummy. The only problem was, my sun block was broken. Day one I put on SPF 50 spray suntan lotion, which I used to swear by. By the time I got in, I was in some serious pain, and we are talking about two hours in the sun. The only thing that saved me was my Kukui oil. Day two SPF went down to 30, but I put on rub on sunscreen. So my burn was less sever on day two, but still deepened. On the day we left I don't think that I got anymore burnt, but that's probably because the sun decided to hide behind the few clouds. It was, however, too late. My skin almost matched my hair.

It was a long time without my husband, and I missed him A LOT. When he came to pick me up he had made me some beautiful paper roses. I had so much fun and I REALLY enjoy being with my family, but it was SO good to be back with my sweet husband. When we got back to the house, he took me out back to see my overgrown garden. Even though it was dark. It has become HUGE. My pumpkin plants are taking over the garden. I'm concerned that if their growth doesn't stop soon, they will take over the whole yard. I go to look at my zucchini or summer squash, or even my other pumpkin plants, and they have woven themselves into the plants. They set up anchors and grow spikes. It's almost like something out of a horror movie. Hopefully the pumpkins will be as big as the plants...

24 July 2009

How much is that doggie in the window...

So the other day we had an interesting experience. I was getting ready for the day and I heard a rustling in the other room. Feeling brave, I went to investigate. I knew Adam was upstairs so there were about a hundred thousand thins my mind was thinking it could be. The room was empty so I went to look out the basement window and to my surprise I found this little fellow...


He's a sweet little prarie dog. He was fairly tame but had fallen down the window well and was stuck. So we made a rescue attempt. Well you can imagine he was fairly frightened. So Adam bravely reached down and pulled out the bucket he was in and he took off like a shot. Poor guy was scared to death. Just because I thought he was so quite and sweet here's another picture...


Ever since this incident I've been singing how much is that doggie in the window....poor Adam must be going nuts. Anyway he was really cute and I miss him.

On another note I was really angrey because worked so hard on my garden and it was being eaten alive. I was so frusterated because we couldn't QUITE afford bug killer, so Adam went online and found a way to kill earwigs...in a soup can put about an inch of oil and then add some soy sauce to attract them. Bury the can up to about a quarter inch from the top and put the excess dirt around the edges so they can get it. Well the first night there was about 70 earwigs in the mixtrue. I couldn't believe it. My garden is doing so much better. Thanks Honey for being so wonderful.

27 June 2009

Battle of the Weeds and GNO

So I finally have an area where I can start gardening. I'm really excited about this....and I've already learned a lot. I've learned mostly about weeds, because before you can start planting....you have to get rid of them. I've also learned that the people before us didn't really have much of a garden because some of the weeds I've been battling have roots nearly as thick as two of my fingers that go half way to China! There are some weeds that are like okay, I don't belong here you can take me. These are so easy to pull. Then there are weeds who know they don't belong there but don't want to go. I had to work a little to get them out. Then there are the devils weed. I fought with one for prolly half an hour. I won...mostly. These are the weeds...





As a child we would love these, they have little seeds that look like cheese wheels, so we called them cheesies. We would harvest the "cheese" and eat it. As an adult, I hate them. They hate me. We are not friends, nor will we ever be. I will wage war against these weeds until they have been completely exterminated. At least in my garden. And my lawn. And maybe all of Cedar City.

A brief farewell to our Beta Gus Gus who we will miss. He came with us cross state three times, and I've had him since before we got married. how long are Betas supposed to live? Just looked it up....they should live about 3 years....that's how old he was so I guess that's good.

There is one more thing I would like to post before I go...my mother in law's family has a girls nite once a month it's fun. All the Aunts, Sisters, Cousins, Nieces over the age of 18 get together for dinner. It's a laugh. We have a really good time. I was wondering if anyone down here in Southern Utah would be interested in doing something like that. Leave a comment and let me know and if it's something people are interested in, I will organize it.

09 June 2009

Home at last

Adam think's I've put this off long enough, so I will post about our move....in. It was amazing, dangerous and overwhelming. I'm bruised from head to to (almost literally) but everything is inside and we are in our new place. We couldn't love it anymore. We got here about 11 AM on the 1st of June and got the keys to our new place. The bishop came over and welcomed us to the ward (I've never had that happen before love it here already) and that help would arrive by 5 PM. We started moving some of the lighter boxes inside, and then relaxed for a little while until my parents got here around 3ish. One of the young men came a little after they did and that's when it got busy. I swear to you this boy, Damonie, would have moved the whole truck by himself. But Dad did a good job keeping up with him. A 54 year old Man keeping up with a 12 year old boy who could bench press his mom....pretty impressive. So by the time the EQ and Young Men showed up, all that was left was the couches and the washer and dryer. I did help, I got kicked in the head by a chair, and I don't know what I was carrying when I hit my shin, but I've got a nice bruise there, and the whole heel of my hand has been bruised from setting up the bed....anyway back to the story. A few people showed up around five...and then more people,...and then more people...all in all about 15 people came to help out. I was so greatful I almost cried. They got our couches inside and even set up our washer and dryer. So now we just have piles of boxes everywhere. I will post pictures of our new place when we get it a little more organized, and then I will post what I'm going to do to the place...muah ha ha ha. I have premission for accent walls, and I'm going to make couch covers and pillows for the couches, and I'm getting excited just thinking aobut it. Anyway, it's going to be wonderful, and I finally feel like we have a home...not just a house. I love sitting by the window and looking out and seeing the beautiful mountains, and the sky....We also found out that we are going to be loosing our ward....it's being split up, which makes me sad, even though we haven't been to it yet...we've already been shown so much love. And thank you to all who helped with the move out, and the move in.

04 June 2009