Goals that I made progress on in the last 2 weeks:
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| Orange and blue are a definite, just not sure on the exact shades |
1. Plan our wedding - we sat down for a few hours and decided to start the planning with figuring out the venue (location, location, location - am I right?). I should note that we have a pretty good idea of what we want (colors, theme, attire, etc) so its really just figuring out the specifics. Plus, the wedding is still 410 days away (yes, I'm counting). Follow my pinterest.com/wedding board for more.
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| Defining the ceremony space with a doorway, backdrop, and trees |
3. Read 24 books - continued reading through Storm of Swords and moved from 65% to 73% these last two weeks. J and I are reading through all the Song of Ice and Fire books together/ out loud, so we average, maybe, a chapter a night. Last Monday I also started reading through Divergent, I'm currently at 24% complete, and I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the week (since I need to average reading through 2 books per month).
4. Complete a Norway quilt - I pulled fabric and figured out the measurements of each piece and its looking like I may need to make more than 9 squares. Plans to sew up the first one by the end of the week.
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| Each pile of color = 1 block, except the grey which will be the +'s in the corners of each block, white is the background |
5. Give up candy for 1 month - Last candy eaten was on July 9th so I'm at 18 days. This goal seems so silly but it is, honestly, really difficult. I've seen plenty of things that say throw all the candy out but that seems like such a waste so my still sealed candies I've been including in swap packages (though I didn't have that much when I started on this goal). I've decided that when the 1 month is up, I'm going to continue restraining myself because: 1. I'm an adult and there should be no reason I eat candy every day and 2. I've already experienced so many benefits (more energy, not feeling like I'm always hungry, weight loss!) that the immediate gratification of sugar just isn't worth it.
8. Fold 1,000 origami cranes - J & I sat down and learned how to fold one! I'm hoping to use them in our wedding so I need more paper that matches our wedding colors or just use white (which may be what ends up happening). 1 down, 999 more to go!
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| Unfortunately our cats think that paper is a tasty treat so the morning after folding these, the red one lost his wing tips and face... |
12. Walk Worf 5x per week (Bonus: Take a long walk without the gentle leader) - Worf and I have taken up walking towards the max stop that J gets off at to meet him somewhere in the middle. The pup started on Prozac on July 7th and has greatly improved that we've been able to walk most days without the gentle leader. He does get agitated with his leash more easily now (easy agitation being a side effect) so that's unfortunate but he is calm enough to learn that being outside isn't so scary. He definitely still has room to improve considering he still acts like we're abusing him (screaming and crying only the way an abused dog can and dropping to the ground when he doesn't want to do something). I should note that he acts this way all the time when we're trying to get him to do things like go outside/ on a walk and not to the car, eat his food (there's been several days where he doesn't eat all day and avoids his food bowl), or even take a treat for doing something good (so much for positive reinforcement).
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| "Nobody loves me... except those humans that give me treats all the time and take me on walks and play with me and let me go everywhere with them..." |
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| 10 minutes into the hike (on top of Sherrard Point), J and Worf looking totally thrilled, and post-hike selfie (2hrs later) freezing cold but pretty stoked that we hiked 5 miles. |
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| Our view of Mt. Hood (fog) vs a clear day's view of Mt. Hood (photo found here) |
19. Blog 2x per month - how does 3x for July sound!? Yup, I'm awesome :)
20. Get a full doctor's check-up - scheduled (ugh!)
21. Daily devotion and journal nightly - I was actually really concerned I would completely fail on this one right away but I haven't missed a day! I discovered an app, The Fabulous, that has made making a morning and nightly routine much more simple. A [no longer] secret goal of mine was to also add brushing and flossing to my nightly routine and I haven't missed a day of that either. My teeth are way more white than I have seen them in a long time (another benefit of less candy and cutting back on coffee) and I catch myself smiling every time I walk by a mirror (yup, I'm a dork).
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| Every morning... |
22. Finish all UnFinished Objects (UFO)/ Works In Progress (WIP) - 3/17 completed
- Polka dot blouse resized - I've had this shirt for several years but at XXL, it was just too big for me. I was always afraid of ruining it so I didn't even attempt to bring in the side seams... until now. It was a simple fix (put it on and pinched in the sides, equally, until it was the right fit) and I think I look pretty cute in it. Completed 7/24/15
- J's old polo into a shirt for me - Turned the shirt around, took off the pocket, brought out the neck line (but kept the buttons), and brought in the side seams for a more feminine figure. I think I may need to close the neck line a 1/2in on either side at the shoulders but it fits wonderfully and is crazy comfy! Completed 7/24/15
- Cat purse (needed hole for flipping sewn shut and hardware for the strap to be put on) - completed 7/24/15
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| I'll eventually remember to take before photos |
- Christmas quilt (started with 1/2 of front pieced) - the entire front is now pieced, all fabric cut and partially assembled for the backing. I'm not sure how I'm going to quilt it, though (please, I need suggestions!), so further progress is going to be put on hold until I can figure that out.
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| Getting back to it, matching up points and lines, progress from 7/23, and final front pieced shot from 7/24 |
- Sand display - I added 3 new jars to my display. I got a jar and sand from Englewood Beach, Florida in my Viva La Villains swap. The other two jars were from my mom this last week (super cute mini mason jars) and the sand was from my Grandparent's trip to Hawaii in 2013. I have probably another 15 baggies of sand/ rocks that need jars and I probably need another shelf at this point.
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| Sand in order of when they were obtained |
- Pacman menu board - technically not a UFO since it was finished and just needed hung. It is now up, in use, and dearly loved. Each of the note cards has a meal on it, some are recipes while others are just pick-one-of-each-category cards. For example, this week we're having a meat and veggies 2 different days so there are two note cards labeled as so, with all the choices on the back. Using paper clips on the side, the meat choice and veggie choice is indicated. Having everything on note cards makes it easy to both plan for a month's worth of meals and write out a grocery list for what we need.
There you have it! I'm doing better than I had expected and am motivated to continue strong. I do admit that it all seems fairly easy right now, being that I am unemployed still (boo!) but I know (well, hope) that things will speed up soon and I'll be able to contribute more to the saving money goals and paying for that wedding we plan on having. Here's hoping! I update the 24 by 25 page every Friday evening so check that out. Also, I have more crafty finishes not mentioned here that you can check on on the crafty finishes page (duh). Finally, tune in this evening for the edited Loki crochet pattern that I made for my Viva La Villains partner - That is, the original pattern is not mine but, to help others, I kept notes on all how I understood the original directions and the changes I made. If you're not of the crocheting-craftiness variety, that's totes okay! I hope to see you again in 2 weeks (August 8th). Live long and prosper!
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