2014 To-Do List: 4th and Final Recap

At the beginning of the year, I made a 2014 To-Do List with four things I really wanted to accomplish in the new year:

#1. Blog more reastically.
#2. Cook more.
#3. Participate in more races.
#4. Read more.

If you missed the first three recaps, they can be found here:
2014 To-Do List: 1st Recap
2014 To-Do List: 2nd Recap
2014 To-Do List: 3rd Recap

So, here we go for the 4th and final recap!

#1. Blog more reastically. 
Um, yeah. I know I didn't. haha. Until December, that is! December and my 25 Days of Christmas are the only reasons I have so many blogs in the last quarter of the year! haha

#2. Cook more.
Well, I've just really decided I enjoy baking a whole lot more than cooking.  Not to say that I haven't cooked, just not nearly as much as I had hoped when I added this to my to-do list at the beginning of the year.  I tried this awesome Monkey Bread recipe on Thanksgiving that's super easy and will definitely be making it again!!  Also, I used Memaw's recipe and made her cheeseball for the first time...so good!!  Oh, and I can't forget Maple's Christmas Cookies I made! ;)

#3. Participate in more races.
The last three months was an exciting time for races!! There was one that Mom and I were supposed to do that unfortunately was cancelled the week prior.  :(  

In October, I signed up for a virtual race to have some extra motivation in my half marathon training.  I signed up for the Halloween 10K and completed that! I came across the US Road Running website somehow, and it's very neat--you can choose from a WIDE variety of races to compete in, all with different themes.  Since it's a virtual race, you can run or walk anywhere or any time, but they do give you a deadline.  After you complete the distance, you log-in to your account on their site and log your finishing time.  Also, you can choose to sign up for either a 5K, 10K or even half marathon for some.  I don't recall seeing any marathon ones, but that doesn't mean there aren't any!
It costs under $20 to sign up, and you're mailed a race bib and finisher's medal for completing it!  You can also choose to spend about $25 dollars, and you get a shirt to go with it! I have so many race shirts, so I just wanted the bib and medal.  While you really don't get the race environment for the virtual races, as you would in a big event you go to, it's still not that bad.  You can run WHERE you want to and WHEN you want to...just sign up for an event!! Plus, it helps when you want to run a race, and there aren't any nearby at the time!

Also, I completed my first half marathon!!!!  Then came the fun Christmas races!!! First on the list was the Christmastown 8K! It was a BLAST!!  The following weekend, we all did the Tacky Light Run, which was at night so we could see all the tacky light houses! Super cool!

#4. Read more.
Yeah, so, I didn't read any books these last three months. Whomp.I started a book yesterday....if that should count! haha


And here's the final look back at the year:

#1. Blog more realistically.
Original Goal: Blog 2-3 times a week.
Accomplished: So, if I wanted to blog, on average, 2-3 times a week for the year, that meant I would've needed 104-156 blog posts.  This year, I had 100 blog posts. So I was close, but only because of December!!

I broke it down by month so I can look back and see which months I really slacked on...haha

January: 7
February: 4
March 7:
April: 8
May: 9
June: 7
July: 10
August: 6
September 6:
October: 4
November: 5
December: 27  (including this one!)


#2. Cook more.
Original Goal: Find some good recipes and cook more often.
Accomplished:  Well, I actually did a little better on this than I thought. The beginning of the year, I started out stronger when making MEALS, but then snacks and baked goods just became my "go-to" haha. I made a grand total of 13 new things (that I documented....who knows, I may have made something that I didn't blog and I've forgotten about it!!)! Hey, that's about an average of one new thing a month! haha.

In January-March, I made: Jep's Best Baked Beans, Jep's Meatloaf Choice, Willie's Famous Chicken Strips, coffee cake, BBQ bacon wrapped chicken tenders, and roasted peppers.
In April-June, I made: guacamole, mango salsa, and mango smoothies for after my runs!
In July-September, I made: Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole and orzo salad recipe
In October-December, I didn't do much, but tried a couple new recipes (see above), and I definitely remember making chex mix and pretzel rings! :) Mmmmmm.

#3. Participate in more races.
Original Goal: Sign up for more fun races I want to participate in.
Accomplished: This was my favorite thing on my to-do list!!! I had so much fun finding new races to sign up for and complete, and I'm pretty proud of all that we did! I did 8 races this year (because 2 of the races I signed up for were cancelled at the last minute; and other races sold out FAST. Maybe next year :)

In January-March: The only race we did at the beginning of the year was the Monument Avenue 10K...but that's okay...it's an annual event that we all always look forward to!
In April-June: Mom and I walked in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with some of our family friends. Matt and I also did The Color Vibe!!
In July-September: We only did one race, but this was a BIG ONE. Matt, Dad and I completed the Spartan race!!  HUGE accomplishment.
In October-December: As I just mentioned above, I completed the Halloween 10K, the half marathon, the Christmastown 8K, and we did the Tacky Light Run!

#4. Read more.
Original Goal: Read more books for fun.
Accomplished: The middle of the year is where this to-do list item succeeded!!!!  This year, I read a grand total of 34 books!

Here's the breakdown by quarter of how many books I read:

January-March: 2
April-June: 12
July-September: 20
October-December: 0

And here's a list of all the books I read:

Melissa Explains it All by Melissa Joan Hart
Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure
Growing Up Duggar by Jana Duggar, Jessa Duggar, Jinger Duggar and Jill Duggar
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
Si-cology 101 by Si Robertson with Mark Schlabach
The Duck Commander Family by Willie & Korie Robertson and Mark Schlaback
Mates, Dates & Cosmic Kisses by Cathy Hopkins
Mates, Dates & Chocolate Cheats by Cathy Hopkins
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Killer Cupcakes by Leighann Dobbs
Innocent in Las Vegas by A. R. Winters
Why 26.2? by Bonnie Jean Schaefer
Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson with March Schlabach
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Hairspray and Homicide by Cindy Bell
The Women of Duck Commander by Kay, Korie, Missy, Jessica and Lisa Robertson
The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre by Elisabeth Crabtree
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Side Effects May Very by Julie Murphy
Cruel Summer by Alyson Noël
The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
A Sixteenth Summer Novel - Pulled Under by Michelle Dalton
How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

2014 To-Do List: 3rd Recap

It's that time again! Time to check back in with where I am in my 2014 to-do list.  No procrastinating here, so here we go!

#1. Blog more realistically.
Let's see, in my first recap, I had only blogged 18 times in 3 months; in my second recap I had blogged 24 times; and in the past three months, I've blogged 22 times.  Meh,not bad, but could be better. Dear Self, please get better at this.

But, the next recap will definitely top the rest, because that will include December, which will include my 25 Days of Christmas posts--they'll be here before you know it!

#2. Cook more.
I've been helping more, but when I look back, it seems like our summer was so busy that we just did something quick, or we weren't even here!  However, I did try a couple new recipes.  This Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole was pretty good.  I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken part in it, but the baked potato part was great!

I also made this orzo salad recipe, but when I didn't find orzo in the pantry like I thought we had, I just used some other pasta noodles instead.  Still tasted great to me, and it was really great to take to work in my lunch! Also, in that pasta recipe, I used mozzarella cheese instead of feta cheese.

Without sounding like I'm trying to make excuses, I did honestly have better intentions of trying to cook more, but a lot of the time, it just didn't work for our schedules.  Matt is off Mondays and is always home from work before me, so most of the time if it's a crock pot meal, he preps and starts it on Monday, or starts dinner first anyway. I'm very thankful for him and his love for cooking!!

Within the next three months, especially around Christmas, I know more baking will definitely come :)

#3. Participate in more races.
Well, of course we completed the Spartan race!! But, that's the extent of races for these three months, it seems. Bummer.  However, assuming all gets better -*fingers crossed*- there are several fun races to come for the last three months of the year!!

#4. Read more. 
Since I was off for the summer I really knocked this one out of the park! Here are all of the books I've read since July 1st:

• Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien
• How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
• Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
• Hairspray and Homicide by Cindy Bell
• The Women of Duck Commander by Kay, Korie, Missy, Jessica and Lisa Robertson
• The St. Valentine's Day Cookie Massacre by Elisabeth Crabtre
• To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
• Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
• Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler by
• Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
• Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy
• Cruel Summer by Alyson Noël
• The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
• No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige
• Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
• Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
• A Sixteenth Summer Novel - Pulled Under by Michelle Dalton
• How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

Boy, am I missing summer and having SO much free time to read, now!! I'm only on my second book since school started!

If you missed my other 2014 To-Do List Recaps, here are those links for you:
1st Recap
2nd Recap

2014 To-Do List: 2nd Recap

We just got back from Disney last night and I know many people are waiting to see more of those pictures (and don't worry, there are PLENTY!!), but I haven't had a chance to upload those pictures to my computer yet, and my computer is already taking too much time just to open Blogger to write this post! There will probably even be several posts about our trip to Disney, because there's just so much to share!!

However, to get pass the time until then (and I'm not planning on it taking too much time to get to it!) it's time for the 2nd recap of my 2014 to-do list! If you missed the first recap, you can read it here.

#1. Blog more realistically.
In my mind, I still didn't blog as much as I wanted to, but, it was an improvement from last time! My goal was to blog 2-3 times a week, and I guess I'm sitting at an average of about 2 times a week. Not horrible. I blogged 8 times in April, 9 times in May, and 7 times in June. Hopefully since it's the summer and I'm not working now, I'll have more time to blog and share what we've been up to!

#2. Cook more.
I really slacked off on this goal the past three months! I didn't cook as many full meals, but I did try new recipes! As far as dinners go, the only thing I can probably do without help is spaghetti and toast, but even then I always call Matt in to check behind me, because I'm always worried I'll leave a piece of meat uncooked in the sauce! haha.
Some of the more snack-time recipes I tried were guacamole, mango salsa, mango smoothies, and, uh, whoops, looks like that's it! haha.
Note to self: You're on summer vacation. There's no reason why you can't learn and try to cook more. haha.

#3. Participate in more races.
Let's see, since the last recap, I've only done a few races.  I walked in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with some of our family friends.  That evening, Matt, mom and I were supposed to be running in the Glow Run, which we were really looking forward to. But, due to the weather, they cancelled it, and the outcome wasn't pretty. They didn't bother to reschedule, but said we could switch our registration over to another one of their races, but, it's really not that convenient for us to just up and go to Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania, or any of the other states for this 5K. There was nothing closer to us, so we just lost out. Luckily, we did get our shirts from packet pick-up the day before. Then, several weeks later, Matt and I did The Color Vibe, which was a lot of fun! It might seem like I'm not doing more races like I'd hoped, it's just that the majority of them are in the fall/winter!

#4. Read more.
Okay, I think I blew the 1st recap out of the park on this goal. haha. Spring Break was during this last 3-month time period, and I read several books that week, which helped with this goal! Here are all of the books I've read in the past 3 months:

• Reshaping it All (I finished it--I was almost finished reading it when I did the 1st recap)
• Growing Up Duggar
• Titanic: Voices from the Disaster
• Si-cology 101
• Duck Commander
• Mates, Dates & Cosmic Kisses
• Mates, Dates & Chocolate Cheats
• Wicked
• Killer Cupcakes
• Innocent in Las Vegas
• Why 26.2?
• Happy, Happy, Happy
• When You Reach Me (this was my flight read to and from Disney!)

I love that I've been making more time to read for fun! I have a list of books I'd like to read, so we'll see how many of them I can get through over the summer!

2014 To-Do List: 1st Recap

At the beginning of the year, I posted some things on my 2014 To-Do List. Instead of waiting until December 31 to look back at the year to see what I accomplished, I decided I'll do a post every three months to check back and see how I'm doing on this To-Do List. Here's the first check-in!

#1. Blog more reastically.
Unfortunately, this is probably the one thing on my 2014 to-do list that I haven't stuck with the most. My goal was to aim to post something on my blog 2-3 times a week.  When I look back at each month so far, in January I only had 7 posts, in February I had 4 posts, and in March I had 7 posts, including this one. I have no clue why February was the worst, and I only posted an average of once a week! Well, maybe it's because we had so much snow this year, and you can only post but so many pictures of snow before it gets old! haha I hope I'll get better at this one throughout the year! I'm thinking I will...because with warmer temperatures, I'll get out and do more, and have more pictures to share!

#2. Cook more.
I definitely have stepped up a little bit more in this area! haha. I really love flipping through Miss. Kay's Duck Commander cookbook that Matt's parents gave me for Christmas! I've made Jep's Best Baked Beans, Jep's Meatloaf Choice, and Willie's Famous Chicken Strips. I've also made coffee cake, BBQ bacon wrapped chicken tenders, and several other things where I've had Matt's assistance in making sure it comes out edible...haha. Sunday evening, I tried a Pinterest recipe and made these delicious roasted peppers! YUM!

Here's Matt's way of "topping the meatloaf with bacon." So worth it though! haha

 

If you'd like me to share any of these recipes, let me know and I can do that in a future post!

#3. Participate in more races.
Actually, just three days ago was the first race of the year to check off the to-do list. We ran in the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K on Saturday, and for the most part, I was pleased with my time. I really wanted to finish in under an hour...even if I finished at 59:59. Matt and I finished in 1 hour and 17 seconds. SEVENTEEN. SECONDS. I can't believe it.
Well, without it sounding like I'm making excuses for myself, I never trained in the rain (which we ran in on Saturday), and I had no intentions of hurting through the whole race. First it was my foot, then my knee.  I never got tired, I was just ANNOYED more than anything that I was hurting. However, my head wasn't hurting (until after lunch) so I definitely won't complain about that!
Regardless, it was fun! After completing it, Matt, Dad and I waited for Abby and Mom, and we got to see a lot of the fun costumes!

Apparently, even in 2014, there are still people who don't know how to take a picture on a phone...Sad.

#4. Read more.
I've definitely gotten a good start on this to-do list! The first book I read this year was the first one I got for Christmas, Melissa Explains it All by Melissa Joan Hart. I'm now just about finished in the second book I got for Christmas, Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure. I only have a few more chapters to go! This book is really neat, because at the end of each chapter are healthy recipes. I've made one so far, fresh salsa, which I lovvvee. It's so simple: just tomatoes, red onion and cilantro. All to taste. I even took it to a small covered dish lunch we had at school on Friday, and everyone loved it!  Next up to read is my third book from Christmas, which Mom had to pre-order for me. It came earlier in the month, and she sent it to me via "The Pony" so I'd get it at school. (The Pony is like a mail delivery system only through the schools, Central Office, etc.) I have a few more books on my shelf to read after that, so I told myself to stop buying more books until I finish reading all of these! haha