#20

I completed #20 (Work on one thing for Mac's birthday each month) this past Sunday, December 5th, when we had Mac's First Birthday Party! We worked up until the second guest arrived! Luckily the first to guests were very close friends and I immediately put them to work!

November Monthlies

I did better in November on my To Do List monthly items!

-I used my china - we ate hamburgers off of china haha and so did Mac!
-Jimmy and went on a real live date! We had a babysitter and everything!
-I did tons of things for Mac's first birthday party!
-I bought pretty yellow and orange flowers for the house.
-We went to MtP for Thanksgiving!
-I cooked green bean casserole for the first time and it was tasty!!!

I did not bake anything new but I did buy the ingredients for a new choc chip cookie brownie. I just never had time to bake it.

Yay me!

9, 53, 82, 101...

are done!! Crossed off! Fin!

So numbers 9 and 82 are kind of related. They both pertain to losing weight, of which I have done! I am now 2 pounds away from being back to pre-prego weight and so excited about that! I wanted to lose at least 40 pounds by the end of the year and I have so goodbye #82! I started linking to a Weekly Weigh-In hosted by a couple of bloggers that I follow, Little Miss Apricot and Marvelous Mommy and wanted to lose 25 pounds as a goal for that weigh-in. Done! I have lost 25 pounds since July when I started the weigh-in.

Oh #53. I can't tell you how excited I am to say that the time has come, as of this morning on the commute to work, the gauchos were mentally retired and when I get home will be washed and put in with the maternity clothes. I can't even tell you how long I have had these two pair of black gauchos but let's just say tooooo loonnnnggg. At least 5 years. My family will be excited to know that these pants will no longer be around! I am excited, a little sad too but it's time.

And last and probably most fun... 101! A picnic in the park! Last Thursday was Veteren's Day and a state holiday so I was off. So was Jocelyn, who also has a picnic on her 101 list. We made a plan and went to Auditorium Shores with the boys. We ate lunch, they ate leaves, Fantastic Time! It was a perfectly beautiful day for a picnic and we had a blast talking and watching our little cuties!


WhooHoo!

October Fail

Well October flew by, obviousely since we are practically in the middle of November!, and I only accomplished a couple of things from my "list monthlies".

I did do several things for Mac's party. I bought decorations, confirmed information on the cake, started designing the invitation, and purchased the pictures I needed.

I did make it to Mtp. We went in for Neeley's party and for Halloween!

Jimmy and I didn't have an official date night but we did have lunch together during the week so I will count that... it was his treat, totally spontaneous and really nice!!

I did NOT:
~get flowers
~use my china
~cook or bake a new recipe - although I did spice up a burger recipe that was already good and made is ridiculously AWESOME!

#91 is complete!

#91 Go on the Riverboat tour on Town Lake

We went on Sunday and it was great! We had so much fun doing something so Austin-y and just doing something different!

EEK!

No October pun intended with the post title but this month is halfway gone and I have done nothing toward my "list monthlies"!!

I have to...
*get flowers for the house
*use my china
*bake and cook one new recipe
*do something on Mac's party list
*date night
*go to MtP

I have plenty of time but you know how these months are flying by!!

I better get started!!!!

#21 Done!!

We got a new flat screen! Jimmy is soooo happy! He has his new tv, his blue ray player and AT&T U-verse!

# 63 is Done!

#63. Stop wearing maternity shirts. Put them away. CHECK!

I noticed this weekend that I had finally taken all my maternity shirts off the hanger! They are in a pile in my closet ready to be folded and put into the plastic container! I realized this as I was scanning my closet for stow-aways because I took all the borrowed maternity clothes back to my friend, Katie, who is pregnant again!

Now to get rid of the gauchos!! But I am about 15 pounds away from doing that!

September's Monthlies...

So far this month I have been on a roll!

I went to MtP to visit the family...


I bought some pretty flowers for the house...


I cooked a new recipe for dinner (actually I have made two new recipes this month!)...
Here is the link to the recipe White Trash Casserole! It is really tasty, really easy and I will be adding it into the recipe rotation! I don't have a picture for this one but you will see it on Becky's blog.

Monthlies left to do:
Use my china - Done
Bake a new recipe - Didn't make it :(
Date night - Nope :(
Go to a new restaurant - Went a few days after, Oct 3 :) I'm counting it! haha

August List Fail

UPDATE: I was just checking my monthlies totals to make sure they were right and I never counted the cupcakes I made for Amanda's birthday party towards my "Bake New Recipe" list. I thought I had posted about them... I may have some where but I made Lemon Poppy Seed and Lime cupcakes! (Jan. 11, 2011)

Well August is gone and I didn't use my china or buy flowers for the house. But That's ok. I know that this list will not be completed 100% but as long as I try my hardest it will still be a success. I think I have said before that I wish that when making the list I had not done so many "monthly" requirements. Next year, January through May, will be hard for me to complete a lot of the monthly tasks but I will try. (That is when my job gets pretty busy)

But I did gather pictures from December to August for Mac's birthday center piece and that fulfilled my "Do one thing from Mac's birthday list" task. So all is not lost!

I can't believe it's already September!! I think this month I will try to get my monthly tasks out of the way early, seems like a better plan!! haha

#59 Gets Marked Off

I bought new running shoes!! That was #59 on my list! When I go run today my feet are going to be sooooo happy!! These shoes are the Wave Rider 13 by Mizuno. I really like the Mizuno running shoes and have bought them exclusively since I started running in 2008 after trying Nike and New Balance.

I went to RunTex. I always go there. They are so helpful and it's nice because they are runners too so they know what type of shoe to put you in!

Gone with the Wind

August is practically gone and I still have a few things to get done for my "monthly list duties" but I also have TWO things that I can cross off my list as done!

I did have Jimmy change the AC filters so I can add that to the "started" part of my list.

Jimmy and I had a little impromptu date night two Fridays ago (I tried to have the "real" date night with him last night but you can click here and read my post from today and see how that turned out) So last Friday... I got home from running and before I started supper Jimmy asked if I wanted to go to Ramos. I didn't hesitate, YES! I didn't want to cook, I was tired and a margarita sounded amazing!! So we packed up the baby and off we went. We had a great time, Ramos is always a winner. It is so nice that Mac is still at an age right now that we can take him out with us and he isn't a little terror (yet). So date night for this month is checked off!

Things To Do:

I need to finish finding pictures for the center piece of Mac's birthday party, that is my "one thing a month for his party".

I still need to use my china this month... maybe I can do that tonight. (Oh man, what are we having for supper tonight!??)

I need to buy flowers for the house!

Things that are DONE!

#46 Roadtrip! See this post for details :)

#73 DIY project. Flip Flop Flowers. I made these flip flops for the beach trip. It was fun to do and the girls liked them. I didn't have the right glue so I'm sure the flowers will fall off sooner than later but they served their purpose in Port Aransas!



I started to take pictures of "How To" on the flip flops but I ran out of time and didn't take all the pictures but if you want to know how to make these then click here. This is the blog where I found the project.

New Recipes...

Well August is here and I am lazy. I have already taken care of my monthly "Bake/Cook one new recipe..." but I haven't posted about it yet! And I did both of those the first week of August!

For the new supper recipe I made Cha-Cha-Cha Casserole. Yeah the name is weird and especially for me because my best friends dog's name is Cha Cha... I won't be calling the recipe by it's real name but I will be making it again because it is soooo good and seriously easy!

Cha-Cha-Cha Casserole (from "Simple Recipes for Hearty Meals")
1 can (about 7 ounces) whole green chiles, drained
1 pound ground turkey or chicken
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp chili powder or to taste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can (about 14 ounces) diced tomatoes with green chiles
2 cups frozen corn, thawed, or canned corn, drained
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
1 cup (8 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced green onions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 8-inch square backing dish with cooking spray. Cut chiles in half lengthwise; place in single layer in prepared dish.

2. Spray medium nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Cook and stir turkey, onion, garlic, chili powder, salt and cumin over medium heat until turkey is no longer pink. Add tomatoes with chiles; cook 10 minutes or until liquid evaporates.

3. Spoon turkey mixture over chiles; top with corn and beans. Sprinkle with cheese and crushed chips. Bake 30 minutes; let stand 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh tomoato and green onions.

**What I changed to accomodate my pantry**
- I used hamburger.
- I used the diced green chiles, 2 cans to equal 8 ounces, instead of the whole chiles.
-I used cheddar cheese instead of Mexican blend.

It really is good and simple. I can't wait to have it again. Jimmy loved it!

The new dessert recipe. I made two different cupcakes for my friend's birthday party. I have pictures of some of the steps but I was trying to cook and chase a crawling baby so I will just post the semi finished product of the Lime Cupcakes. (The other cupcakes were Lemom Poppyseed)



Lime Cupcakes (from a blog I can't remember right now.. :/...)
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup self rising flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp finely grated lime peel
green food coloring, optional
3/4 buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with cupcake papers. Whisk both flours together, set aside.

2. Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then next 3 ingrediates (the batter will look curdled).

3. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions.

4. Spoon into pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until tops spring back when touched lightly with finger. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely. Top with Lime Vanilla Buttercream: Simple vanilla buttercream recipe with lime zest and fresh lime juice. **I didn't add the lime zest to mine.

Here is a list of the other "Monthly 101 items" I need to tackle for August.
- 1 item from Mac's birthday To Do list
- use our china
- buy flowers for the house
- go to MtP*
- date night

* I won't be able to check this off for August because the only weekend I can go home Mom, Dad and Randall will not be in town so I will be going home Labor Day weekend. I can't check it off but I did try and I think that counts.

#3, Check for July

Yesterday for lunch Erica and I went to Mighty Cone on South Congress to eat. It's one of the trailers in the trailer parking lot of food. We had never eaten there so it fit my criteria on trying a new place and since July is running out I had to get somewhere!!

I am so glad we went! Fun, different and wow, the food really was great! I had the chicken avocado cone and the chili-dusted fries with Sweet Leaf sweet tea. The chicken and avocado were fried put in a flour tortilla, topped with slaw and some sauce and served in a cone. AWESOME!



Erica had the same chicken avocado cone as I got but she ordered fried pickles so we could share our sides. They are fried pickle spears which I am hesitatant about since I am a fan of fried pickle slices but man these were awesome. The breading was great and the dipping sauce was amazing!

I think this is a good testimony to the awesomeness that is Mighty Cone!
And it was such a pretty day to eat outside... this was our view from under the umbrellas!
If you get a chance definitely check out Mighty Cone! I am going to take Jimmy soon!

China in July

I broke out the china last night! Jimmy sat down to the table and said "Wow you got out the good plates, are you working on your list? You can cross it off now." I told him I had a while before I could cross it off because it was a once a month thing for the duration of the list but I am closer to my goal! He even commented on how pretty the plates are and that made me smile!

I also made a new dinner recipe last night and it was so good! Jimmy said it was Fantastic, haha. So I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Cajun-Style Beef and Beans (From Simple Recipes)
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 can (15oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14oz) stewed tomatoes
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
3/4 chredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown beef and onion in large skillet over medium-high heat 6 to 8 minutes, stirring to break up meat; drain fat.

2. Combine beef mixture, cooked rice, beans, tomatoes, and Cajun seasoning in 2-to 2 1/2-quart casserole. Bake, covered, 25 to 30 minutes, stirrig once during baking. Remove from oven; sprinkle with cheese. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes before serving.

So simple to make but here's what I will do next time. 2tbsp of the Cajun seasoning was a bit much so I will try 1 1/2 next time to see how that works. I had everything ready and was waiting on the rice to cook so next time I will start that as soon as I get home that way we can eat faster! Or I will cook extra rice one night and have this dish the next night.

Here is the recipe for Hot Chocolate cupcakes I made...(From Betty Crocker)

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups Betty Crocker SuperMoist devil's food cake mix (fron 18.25oz box)
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons vegetabel oil
1 egg
1 cup Bett Crocker Whipped vanilla frosting 9from 12oz container)
1/2 marshmallow creme
1/4 teaspoon unsweetened baking Cocoa

1. Heat oven to 350 for shiny metal pan (or 325 for dark or nonstick pan). Place paper baking cup in each of 12 regular size muffin cups.

2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and egg with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionlly. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

3. Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cook in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4. In small bowl, mix frosting and marshmallow creme. Spoon into small resealable food storage plastic bag; seal bag. Cut 3/8 inch tip off 1 corner of bag. (Or spoon mixture onto cupcakes instead of piping.) Sprinkle with cocoa.

AND I went to Mt. Pleasant for my monthly visit home... click here to read about it! So all that is left for the month is to try a new restaurant!

New Dessert Recipe July

Last night, with 3 days to spare, I made a new cupcake recipe for my List. I made Hot Chocolate Cupcakes! They are pretty tasty too, even with the mistake I made!! I didn't think about picking up the camera until I had frosted the last one but I did take a picture of the final product.


Had I read the directions I would have seen that you only use 1 3/4 cup of the Devil's Food Cake mix, not the whole box! I wondered why the batter was so thick! I wanted to make these to see if I liked them because I might have them at Mac's birthday party. I will definitely test them out again, using correct measurements, but as of now I like them and they do taste like hot chocolate!

I will post the recipe later, I forgot the book at home today.

2 Down 99 To Go!

Well I have officially crossed two items off my list! #16 and #30 have been completed!

#16 was get life insurance for Jimmy. We did that last night. He didn't have any at all and after having Mac it just seems like the right thing to do. I already have two policies but I now have another one! We went with Farm Bureau and Ken our agent is very, very helpful. He made sure that what we got was going to work for us now and in the future. I think we are going to be really happy with the way we set everything up!

#30 was pay off WellsFargo Visa. I actually did that last Thursday but forgot it was on the list until I just looked at it! So happy to get that out of the way and no we don't have extra money now, that money is just being rolled over to pay for all the dental work that I have to have done... which we started today, with a root canal, it's currently throbbing, yay.

I also ordered First Bday Party supplies for Mac's party. That gets me a tally mark towards #20.

For this month, that is quickly coming to an end, I still have to go to MtP (headed that way this weekend), bake a new dessert, use my china, and try a new restaurant!!

New Recipe for July

"Take It Easy Posole" was my new recipe for the month (#14 on the list). It was so easy to make and it had a great flavor to it. These are the only ingrediants plus a cup of water that I needed.I did add some hamburger but it really didn't need it. I just added it for Jimmy. It does call for hominy and I found out half way through dinner that Jimmy doesn't really care for it. I will probably make it again and leave out the hominy and just see how that works. I also left out the cilantro because I always buy cilantro and it ruins before I use it or before I can use all of it so I just saved my .33 cents haha. This is the finished product.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it out!

1 6 3/4-oz package Spanich rice pilaf mix
1 14-oz can vegetable broth or reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 14 1/2-oz can golden hominy, rinsed and drained
1 4 1/2 oz can diced green chile peppers
1 16-oz can low sodium tomatoes, cut up
1/2 cup snipped fresh cilantro
Fat free dairy sour cream (optional)
Snipped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. In a large saucepan combine rice mix, seasoning packet, broth, water, oregano, and cumin. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Add hominy and undrained chile peppers. Continue cooking about 5 minutes more or until rice is tender. Stir in undrained tomatoes and the 1/2 cup cilantro. Cook and stir until heated through. If desired, garnish with sour cream and additional snipped cilantro. Makes 3 main dish servings. The recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens Everyday Mexican Cooking magazine.

I put sour cream and cheese on ours. Sour cream is never optional at my house... we put it on everything!

Date Night

This weekend was awesome and Saturday evening turned into Date Night! We had a great time couch shopping and ended up eating at Ramos! We ended the evening with a little Braveheart action/kill'em dead/romance movie...I had never seen it and Jimmy thought that was awful so while we were at Target buying diapers (yes date nights have changed a bit for us) he went and bought Braveheart so we could watch it. And I am now, too, a Braveheart fan!

Working on #81

Here is the link to my Weekly Weigh-In post on my other blog to show my efforts in completing #81 on my list!

A List With In A List

Ok, just to keep myself straight on the things I need to be working on this month to stay on track with my 101 List I have made a List To Do List...

*Do one thing for Mac's First Bday Party.
*Date Night.
*Cook a new dinner recipe.
*Bake a new dessert recipe.
*Use my china.
*Go to Mt. Pleasant.
*Try a new restaurant.

Did I mention I love LISTS?! I really am not kidding around when it comes to list making...

"Weekly Weigh-In" Week 5

I have officially started working on #81!! Click here to read my post but to prove that I am not kidding around here's my scale picture in all its glory...

July Flowers

I am happy to report that I have started working on item #2 from my list! I bought flowers today when I went to the grocery store! They were cheap and I decided why not. 1 month down, 11 to go!

And Away We Go!

I have created a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. I was inspired by my friend, Monica, who has a 101 list and thought "I could do that". So I started writing out a list of things I might want to do and before I knew it I was seriously examining my life. Over the two weeks that it took me to complete my 101 list I had come to a profound understanding of how I spend my time and the things that seem to have become priority. This list is going to be more than a project for me. It's going to serve as a base for a change of ways and a shift of priorities.

So with this list in hand and 31 months to complete it I expect to cross the finish line a changed person. I hope I can complete my list but if I fail in the attempt I know I will still win with the experience. So here's to my list, my journey and my new found awareness and respect for my life and those who fill it.

The rules are simple. Click here to read more about the project.
1. Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
2. Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

My start date is today, July 1, 2010! My end date is March 28, 2013. I will be blogging about my completed tasks here so check in on me and see how I am doing. Pictures will be posted, I just hope that I can remember to take step by step pictures of some of the recipes and different projects that I tackle. It's going to be fun and it's going to be a learning experience too! Wish me luck!