40 x 40

Tomorrow is my birthday.  35 this year.  Over the last couple of months I have felt inspired to start a 40 by 40 list - a list of 40 things I would like to accomplish by my 40th birthday.  Some of things I want to include are long-term goals or just items that I know won't happen in the short term, so I thought it would be good to give myself the next 5 years to accomplish everything.  Part of my reason for starting this blog was to provide some accountability for this list.  I figure if I have it posted on the internet for anyone to see (even if no one reads it) I would be more determined to accomplish each item.  It is still a work in process (not quite up to 40 items yet) and will be revised throughout the process, as needed.  For now, here is my list:

1. Pay off debt
2. Start a new job
3. Finish a quilt
4. Learn to crochet
5. Take the kids to Disneyland or Disney World
6. Go on a vacation with my husband - just us
7. Make a family recipe binder
8. Make a meal planner
9. Finish a filing system for all paperwork and keepsakes
10. Write a will
11. Get a tattoo
12. Learn to can food
13. Go on a zip line
14. Get the backyard in order & build a clubhouse for the girls
15. Start a blog to track my progress with this list
16. Exercise regularly - 3 times a week
17. Get new living room furniture
18. Finish fixing up the inside of the house
19. Get and stay organized
20. Complete a scrapbook for each of the girls
21. Have all 40 items listed by my 35th birthday (this didn't happen, so this is one that will be revised a bit)
22. Finish Christmas stockings
23. Write down the girls' birth stories
24. Make at least 1 recipe out of each of my cookbooks
25. Frame and hang my favorite pictures
26. Frame or finish my cross stitch projects
27. Fix up the front yard
28. Stop drinking so much soda
29. Make time to do something creative each week
30. Plan ahead more for dinners
31. Live a "greener" life
32. Be comfortable with who I am and what I believe; don't be so concerned with what someone else might think or if my beliefs will offend anyone
33. Train for & complete a mud run, obstacle course, or similar event
34. Take the girls on a beach vacation
35. For one year, make all gifts that I give

So, it is almost complete.  It's not really a "bucket list" as some others are that I have come across, but it is filled with things I want to accomplish.  If anyone is reading and has any ideas for the last 5 items to complete the list, I would love to hear them!  I can now cross off item #15, so I am already in good shape.  I'll post updates as I complete each item.  Let's see how long it takes me...

Merry (Belated) Christmas, Dad!

So, I often come up with a great idea and when I actually try to implement it, the reality is a bit of a fail compared to how I pictured it in my mind.  That happened with one of my dad's Christmas presents this year.  I wanted to make some of the presents I gave this year and for my dad I decided to make him some BBQ towels.  He is a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys and the Oregon State Beavers so I thought it would be fun to make some towels to showcase those teams.  My first thought was to embroider the team emblems on some towels in coordinating colors.  However, when I actually started to try that I quickly realized it wasn't going to work out quite so well.  I ended up making him another version, based off of this tutorial for Grillin' Towels from Craft Whatever that I found on Pinterest.  (If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, you can find me here).  However, since this all happened the day before we were planning to exchange gifts I didn't have time to get all of the supplies together and get them made that day.  So he got an IOU on these.  I finally finished them a couple of days ago. 

I think they turned out great and am pretty pround of myself, especially since I just started sewing again for the first time since 6th grade.  The tutorial was great, very easy to follow and understand.

I have to say, I'm getting hooked on sewing.  I'm most interested in quilting at the present moment and have some projects already in the works that I will post about as I finish them.  I also have some other smaller sewing projects in mind that I will include as well.  There is a ton of inspiration on the web.

I'm linking up to Tuesday Time Out at Reasons to Skip the Housework, Show Me What Ya Got Linky Party at Not JUST A Housewife, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story, TOO Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Catch A Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Friday Link Party at Creation Corner, Wednesday's Wowzers at Oopsey Daisy, and Crafty Scrappy Happy me at Crafty Scrappy Happy.

Intimidation

This blog thing is intimidating.  I think that has something to do with my lack of posts since I decided to take the plunge (not to mention the sick kids, but that's life).  I'm still learning the technical side of blogging and it is a slow process.  There are all of these little things I would like to do to the main page of my blog but I don't know how and haven't really taken the time to try and find out.  I'm hoping to have some time for that soon.

I'm also not one to take a lot of pictures, and since I have been reading many other blogs for about a year or so, I realize that one of the things I enjoy on those sites are the pictures accompanying the commentary.  So I feel pressured to include pictures, but it just isn't something I think of during the day.  I think that is something I will need to work on.  I don't even have a picture on my profile, so I definitely need to change that soon!

I have a few projects that I have been working on and hope to be able to show on here soon.  I'm teaching myself to quilt and am almost finished with my first 2 mini quilts (I just need to do the bindings on them so they will hopefully be done soon).  I have another mini quilt I started that is meant to be part of our Valentine's Day decorations but at this point I'm pretty sure it won't be finished for this year, at least not by Tuesday!  I also just finished a late Christmas present for my dad.  He got an IOU on this one as my original idea was better in theory than it was in practice.  I actually remembered to take picutres, so I will post that here shortly.

For anyone who might be actually reading this blog (Aubrey), please bear with me as I slowly get the hang of all of it.  And if anyone has any tips, I would love to hear from you!