2015 To-Do List: 1st Recap

So, it's time to see how good of a job I have (or haven't) been doing on my 2015 To-Do List!
 
#1. Every month, try one new idea found on Pinterest.
First, in January, I made Bubble Pizza, which was pretty good!  We may not have it often, but it's still a go-to meal to have ;) In February, I tried 2 things off Pinterest: a new way to organize my nail polish, and a way to try and clean the kitchen sink.  One was definitely more successful than the other, haha.  Last month, of course, were the delicious Jamaican Jerk Chicken tacos we made! That was definitely a Pinterest win!!

#2. Read these 9 books. (see here for the list)

I'm not doing as good in this category as I'd like to be.  I've read one full book from the list-- Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown.  I can't recommend this book enough! It honestly did have great tips, and a few recipes! Even though it might be weird if I laughed out loud while reading, there were parts that were so funny and entertaining, I couldn't read fast enough!  I did start reading, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman, but I read a few chapters and still couldn't get into it, so I had to put it down.  Now, I'm currently reading Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin.

#3. Watch five consecutive episodes of Doctor Who with Matt.
We haven't watched any episodes yet.  But hey, there are still 9 months left in the year!

#4. Find more ways to organize anything.I had to start the new year with a planner, so that was the first thing to check off of my to-do list for my 2015 To-Do List........too much there?
Like I mentioned above, I organized some of my more used nail polishes.  I love having this jar on the counter now!

I also did a really big clean out of my closets, and got rid of a TON of stuff! (Oh, by the way, there will be another big yard sale at our house this Spring! Date is TBD :)

And, because every blog post needs a picture, I thought I'd share this funny one, rather than pictures you've already seen from the above topics!  When Matt and I both saw this, the first thing we each said was, "That's SOOO Maple!!" haha She is not a fan of water!!

Happy Good Friday :)

A Big Catch-Up!

Oh my, where has the time gone?! I didn't know so much had happened that I actually FORGOT about blogging.  Not even joking.  The past month has gone by so fast, but so much has happened!  (And, I've had several people tell me that I need a new blog post up, so hopefully this will get you through! :)

For those that haven't heard, I actually started a new job a little over a month ago.  I'm still at Varina, just in a new position.  I'm now over in the School Counseling Office and it has been great! Everyone has made the transition very easy!  However, the first couple weeks were nuts because I was out some days for training, out for snow..I think by the third week I was finally there all five days! haha.

Matt was out of town for a few days for work, and Maple was NOT happy about it.  She sure did miss him.  This is when she found her new favorite sleeping spot.  We don't use our comforter, so it's usually folded up in the floor.  Well, Maple has found that to be quite comfortable and would prefer to sleep there. One night when Matt was gone, she wouldn't even stay in the den with me...she would just stay in there!  Then, there was the day I came home and found one of Matt's socks on the floor by his side of the bed, that Maple pulled out of the hamper...it was both sad and cute.

A couple weekends ago, we headed down to Eden, NC, where we usually go for the family reunion on my dad's side, known as just "The Reunion" with no explanation needed.  This time, although we did get to see a lot of family, it was for a funeral.  My Memaw was one of thirteen and one of her brothers, Uncle Troy, passed away earlier this month.  There was no question as to whether or not we'd go, so we headed on down.  Also, Uncle Troy and I have the same birthday, so I always thought that was cool!

Matt and I stopped at Longwood first to pick up Abby...when we stopped for snacks, Abby introduced me to these tall cans of Coke and I couldn't pass it up, haha.  Then Abby and I found it funny (almost too funny) that all of the snacks and drinks she, Matt and I got were all round or cylindrical.  Clearly, we had a lot to think about. haha.

We kept on driving and after lots of confustion, we met up with Mom, Dad and Vickie.

After going to the visitation, we headed out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant right by our hotel.  This Hampton Inn really is our home away from home every August!

I was so amused with the new coffee cups they have!

These were pretty appropriate for Matt and me!

On the way back home, we stopped back at Longwood to drop Abby off.  Matt suggested that we go walk around campus, and we're both glad he did!

As soon as we got out of the car, Matt noticed that something was going on in the Student Union rooms, so we joked that we should post on Facebook and ask if any RAs were having programs and we'd stop by.  As we walked down Brock Commons and got closer to the Student Union, the front doors were open so we could see.  Matt pointed out the huge gaming screens and I said, "Isn't that usually Phi Mu Delta's event...?!" and we slowed down.  Matt kept looking and said, "yep, I see our letters."  We didn't say anything, just walked in, and one of Matt's brothers jumped up to see him immediately!  It was GREAT seeing everyone's reactions to seeing Matt (not many of them know me anymore; it's sad we've been gone so long!)!  

We did run into a few Longwood grads and RAs, too! Jesse (left) and I worked on the same RA staff in The Hams my senior year, and he was also one of Matt's groomsmen. Danny (right) also worked on The Hams staff with Jesse and me.

P.S. Like my Pi Day shirt? It was, indeed, Pi Day :)

Last week, we tried a new recipe, found on Pinterest: Jerk Chicken Tacos!  When we were in Jamaica, the jerk chicken and jerk steak were AMAZING!!  This jerk chicken was quite the same, but it'll definitely do!  Also, if you go to the original link, you'll see that we did ours slightly differently.

Ingredients:

chicken

Jamaican Jerk Seasoning

mayonnaise

tortillas

taco toppings (we only had lettuce, cheese and cilantro, but Matt did add salsa on his, too!)

The recipe was super simple:

1. Cover your chicken in jerk seasoning and grill it.

2. While this is cooking, make the jerk mayo: mix 1/3 cup of mayonnaise and 2 teaspoons of Jerk seasoning.  Top your tacos with this!

3. When your chicken is done, cut into strips or bite sized pieces.

4. Assemble your tacos and ENJOY!!

Saturday, in the windy cold morning, we saw all the fun sights along Monument Ave in the Ukrop's Monument Ave 10K! We do this every year, but this year wasn't like all the others.  We weren't trying to beat a time.....we didn't even RUN.  It was weird and I really did miss running it, but I know we would've been disappointed with our time if we ran anyway.  Matt hasn't been feeling well, and my feet have been hurting a lot lately, so we walked with Mom and some family friends!  Walking definitely made the 6.2 miles feel TWICE as long, and the cold didn't make it that much better, either!  Either way, that's another 10K in the books for us!  And, there's always next year!

Waiting to start:

We passed Ronald McDonald..

and this was one of the most creative costumes we saw! (I was bummed I couldn't get the whole DreamWorks sign...)

Now that I've done a pretty much month-long catch-up, I will TRY to be better about blogging! This month clearly got away from me!

Nail Polish & Baking Soda

That title is really catchy, right?  Not to mention random.

My nail polish has almost always been stored in this green, round storage container, that came in a set of three containers that fit within each other.  No matter how stuff got moved around, I just always knew that in the middle sized green container was my nail polish.  Well, that worked for years.  Since we moved in to our house almost two years ago, my nail polish has stayed in our upstairs bathroom.  As I started getting new ones, those and the colors I use the most just stacked up in our medicine cabinet in the downstairs bathroom.  It got on my nerves SO much.  Finally, on Pinterest, I came across a way to store nail polish, and I immediately knew that's what I wanted to do.  If you're interested in a new way to store yours, check out this site.  (That link is to the pin on Pinterest, but it does take you directly to the website.) They have other ideas, too, but this was the best one in my opinion.

Also, I randomly came across this pin for cleaning your sink and drain out.  It's probably a very common method for cleaning your sink & drain, but I had never done it before, so I decided to try it out.  It's just sprinkling baking soda around and scrubbing it with a sponge.  The result: yeah, it worked.  It didn't work any better than what I had been doing, so I don't anticipate using this suggestion from Pinterest any more.  Oh well.  Not all Pinterest attempts are successful.

So, I think today's post deserves a "check and check" for my 2015 To-Do List.  One check for trying something new I found on Pinterest and one check for organizing anything. haha.

Bubble Pizza

Last week I tried a fun recipe I saw on Pinterest: Bubble Pizza!  When I first saw it, I thought it was interesting...but it looked fun to make and I figured it would taste good!  Turns out, it was fun to make and it did taste good.  Matt preferred the corner pieces..which had the crispiest crust. haha. If you need a quick/easy/fun meal for one night, I definitely recommend it!

Ingredients:
1 can of Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits
15 ounce jar of pizza sauce
Pizza toppings - we only used pepperonis...I think next time, we'll add more toppings!
4 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbps of Parmesan cheese
Oregano to taste - I left this out

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut each biscuit into quarters, and place in greased baking dish.

3. Add your toppings, and then pour the sauce over everything.

4. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
5. Take off the aluminum foil and cover in shredded cheese and Parmesan cheese.

6. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted, and you have the crust you want.  I think I did it for 8 minutes....will probably go longer next time.

7. ENJOY!

And, if you remember my 2015 To-Do list, one thing was to try something new each month that I've found on Pinterest.  January = check!

A Fresh Start

We spent all day taking down our Christmas decorations; Matt did the outside and I did the inside.  In addition to taking everything down, I was also reorganizing all of our Christmas decoration boxes.  During Christmastime, Matt asked me about the boxes and why "this" was in "that" box.  It made NO sense to him, but I knew exactly what it meant.  The boxes may not have made any sense at all,, but I knew where everything was! haha.  Now, the boxes are more organized (but I know not perfect).  I made a list for each box for what was included, and for the most part, like things are in the same box.  The next step will be making actual labels for the boxes.  Hopefully next Christmas will be a bit easier when it comes to decorating!

 

I love starting every year off with a new planner!  If only you had been with me when I went to pick this one out.  Poor Matt was with me, trying to get other shopping done, but instead, our trip ended up with me chasing him around Target with 2 or 3 planners in my hand because I couldn't decide which one to get! haha

I ended up getting this Sugar Paper planner and some colored pens--I love having everything color coordinated! But, since only 4 came in this pack, I need to find more colors, haha. (The important things, right?)

So, step one of my 2015 to-do list item of organizing anything is complete! I have my planner started for the year, and hopefully it will help keep my life organized....at least a little bit.

I've been searching Pinterest high and low for other ways to organize some things, too.  Thanks to everyone who gave me ideas for storing/organizing my scarves! I'll be sure to let you know the outcome of that!

On another note, since Christmas, I've been hooked on watching the new Hallmark movies that come on every Saturday night at 9:00.  Last week's movie, Surprised by Love, was great, and so far, tonight's movie, A Novel Romance, is too!  If you need something to watch, I highly recommend them :)

2015 To-Do List

I really liked my 2014 To-Do List that I had for last year, so, I decided I would do it again! I liked how I checked back every three months to see my progress, and how the final post summed up everything! It's neat to see how much I've accomplished.

This is what I've put together so far for 2015, but I'm not saying new things won't be added...that's definitely an open option!

#1. Every month, try one new idea found on Pinterest.
This can be anything: recipes, tips, crafts, etc....can't wait to see which 12 things I end up trying!

#2. Read these 9 books.
After last year's list, it's very apparent that I do have time to read more books for fun...I just have to make that time.  I do still want to continue reading for fun of course, but this year, I'm adding specific books to that category.  Here are the ones I have so far.

9 books to read if you love Friends
Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Yes Please by Amy Poehler  (this site also recommended Bossypants by Tina Fet...I've read it and HIGHLY recommend it!)
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Never Can Say Goodbye edited by Sari Botton
Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown

If you have any other book recommendations, send 'em my way!

#3. Watch five consecutive episodes of Doctor Who with Matt.
This one is not a mistake, haha. (I hope.)  Matt loves this show, but every time I try to watch it, I'm so lost.  Then, Matt tries to explain things to me, and I just can't wrap my head around ANY of it.  Most of the time, I either came into the episode late or just wasn't paying 100% attention.  Matt asked me to give him FIVE episodes to see if I would actually like the show.  As much as it might hurt my head at least to start, I'll give it a go!

#4. Find more ways to organize anything.
This is the OCD-ness in me kicking in.  I love for things to be organized, but I feel like everything is always done the same way. I'm hoping that with the help of Pinterest, and any ideas you all might have, that I can find some new ways to organize things...like my massive amount of necklaces or various lengths that can't all fit in one jewelry box....or all of my scarves--what's the best way for you to organize them?? 

Like I mentioned earlier, I may add to this list as we get further into the year, but this is what I'm starting with!

Anything you're hoping to do this year???