15 in 2015

When I made my original post I mentioned I had seen it on another blog. I couldn't remember which one and wasn't able to go back and find it at the time to give credit. She just recently posted an update. So I am now able to link back to her blog and can give credit where credit is due!

The original blog and blogger  is Kasey at the Bat. She is super cute and I came across her blog through a giveaway. You should check her out! I really enjoyed her post about #deflategate. The image of Marshawn Lynch dancing made my day!! 

15 in 2015 l vol. 1

Last month I made a list of 15 things I would like to do in 2015. I have been working on doing some of them and I wanted to do an update to help keep myself accountable.

1. Do a different kind of family vacation other then the beach. Matthew and I have tentatively planned a long weekend trip to Nashville for this fall! I would have liked to go this spring, but October seemed the best time for us to go. Spring was too soon for us to set aside the funds and I refuse to do anything that involves being outside and not near water during the summer. We are also talking about doing an over night camping trip close to home in the spring. Finley loves camping, so I am sure she will be thrilled!!

 2. Make one craft project a month. I kept my project simple this past month. I got new make-up brushes and wanted them out and looking pretty. So I made these super simple mason jar holders. I wont lie... I am still finding silver glitter all over the house, but I like them and I already had the stuff to make them. So easy peasy.

3. Learn a new skill. I haven't started this yet, but I did have a friend invite me to a knitting group she has been going to.

4. Double the size of our garden, plant something we wouldn't normally eat, and can enough veggies to last us at least half the year. We can't do this until the spring.

5. Slim down my closet. ummmmm.... I sorta did this...... I did pull out a bunch of items to donate..... but I may have purchased a few new items... I did get rid of more then I bought. So that counts for something, right?

6. Clean out and organize the whole house. I am doing well with this. I did miss last week because I was in Atlanta for the week visiting family. So I will have to catch up this week or work on it another time. The nice thing is, last weeks room was our master. Which is small with minimal furniture and storage. So we don't have too many places to put things!

7. Eat at one new restaurant a month (and possibly blog about it...).  We did eat out several times this past month. Probably more then we normally do. We ate at 2 chain restaurants, a local Mexican place that I don't recommend, and a coffee house called The Camp House. This was probably the most interesting. I didn't take any pictures because I decided to blog about it after we went. We didn't eat dinner there, but we did have an appetizer and drinks while we watched our friends band play. The service was a little slow. I ordered a Vanilla Latte and it took around 20 minutes for me to get it, and then it wasn't that great. I had to had a ton of sugar, and even still it was hard to drink. Our friends ordered a hummus appetizer which was pretty good. It is a very hipster place and I feel like it is hyped up a lot among locals and it wasn't really deserving of it. It had great atmosphere and nicely decorated, the food was good but not outstanding, I didn't finish my coffee because it was so bitter, and most of the entertainment was questionable. Our friends band did a fantastic job and was the most entertaining!! They had some "story teller" between the 2 musical acts. The "story tellers" were slow and the topic was Greek Mythology. Things got very adult at one point and I was left feeling a little uncomfortable. I would go back to see our friends play again, but I am not sure I would choose to go there just because I wanted to.

8. Complete the 52 week photo project.  So far so good, but we are only 4 weeks in! I am a little late on week 4. I am hoping to get it up today. Being gone all week really threw my days and schedule off!

9. Read my Bible and journal everyday.  I am doing OK with this one. I took last week off, but I am back at it today. I haven't started to write in a journal yet. I have one picked out on Amazon, but we need to order a few other things. I am hoping to get get it this week or next!

10. Read through The Story Book Bible with Finley. We have made it a point to read at least 1 story a week with Finley. 

11. Drink more water (as always). I was doing well with this until we went out of town last week. When I am with my family there is usually an unlimited supply of diet coke. Today I am back at it though.

12. Go to the gym 2-3 times a week. Womp-womp-womp. I have only been going once a week. 

13. Grow my hair out. This is a work in progress. I actually need to go get it trimmed soon.

14. Ride our bikes more. This is one of those that has to wait until it warms up.

15. Run a 5K. This is another womp-womp. Well sorta... I just haven't signed up for yet.

15 things to do in 2015

I like lists and goals. I don't mention them much on here because I tend to forget about them and never update. But I saw this on another blog earlier this week and really liked the idea (I can't remember which one... if I find it I will link back to it.) My plan is to try give an update at the end of each month about my list.

So here is my list of 15 things I want to do in 2015

1. Do a different kind of family vacation other then the beach. Matthew and I have talked about doing a small family vacation again this year. We have hit up most of the good beaches on the Southern East Coast, so I would like to go some place new. I have always wanted to go to Connecticut or Vermont during the fall. Or maybe even just go out to Nashville for a weekend.
2. Make one craft project a month.
3. Learn a new skill. I mentioned this last year, and I did try but it just didn't work... but I really want to learn to knit. Or I would like to take a photography class.
4. Double the size of our garden, plant something we wouldn't normally eat, and can enough veggies to last us at least half the year. I put all this under one because I feel like they all kind of go together. We did a garden last year and loved it! We definitely learned the hard way on some things, but we were not scared away. We want to go bigger and better this year!!
5. Slim down my closet. I have a lot of clothes and shoes, and not much space! I use to get rid of things all the time, but then would go looking for something and realize I didn't have it anymore. So I got in the habit over the last few years of not getting rid of anything. Now things have gotten a bit out of hand and half the time I don't even know what I have.
6. Clean out and organize the whole house. Truthfully Matthew and I don't keep a lot of unnecessary things. But we are human and we do collect some clutter. Our guest room is the worst! Matthew says it is where things go to die. I found a 14 week home organization challenge at A Bowl Full of Lemons and plan on doing it. Every week is a new room and she will post a cleaning check list at the beginning of each week that you can print out. Last week was the kitchen and this week is the laundry room. So far so good!!
7. Eat at one new restaurant a month (and possibly blog about it...). Matthew and I tend to get into food ruts. We find a place we like and then we go to that place over and over. Chattanooga has some great local places to eat. So when we moved up here 2 years ago we decided we would try 1 new place a month. We created a spread sheet that keeps track of how much the places cost, which one of us ate there, and if anything stood out to us about the place. We have had so much fun trying new places and I have been throwing around the idea of making that part of this blog.
8. Complete the 52 week photo project. There are a few different kinds of photography challenges out there. One of the other major ones is the Project 365, where you take a photo a day for the whole year. I wasn't sure I could do a photo a day, but I can surely do at least a photo a week. Maybe next year I will try out the Project 365.
9. Read my Bible and journal everyday. I am horrible at doing this. I will go through spurts where I do really well, and then something happens and I just stop. I am currently doing the study with She Reads Truth and this makes it so much easier!
10. Read through The Story Book Bible with Finley.
11. Drink more water (as always).
12. Go to the gym 2-3 times a week.
13. Grow my hair out. I chopped my hair off right after we got back from Nepal for the first time. I regretted my decision almost immediately. The lady did a horrible job and I have spent the last year growing it back out and trying to fix the damage she did. I have finally found a hair lady that I love and trust.
14. Ride our bikes more. Matthew and I got bikes last year after we got Finley one for Christmas. I'd like for us to be able to take them downtown and ride together as a family more often. And hopefully get Finley more comfortable on hers so we can take the training wheels off!
15. Run a 5K. I said I wanted to do this last year, but never got the chance. This will be the year I do it!!

What are some things you would like to do this year?