Updated 101 in 1001

I've seen this 101 in 1001 days blog "project" a few times before, but have never really paid much attention to it. I've been meaning to start it for a while now, and finally decided to do it. The only thing was that I underestimated how hard it would be to come up with 101 things! It took a while.

Not familiar with the 101 Things in 1001 Days project? Check out this website.
The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable, or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of effort on your part).

Start Date: November 1, 2010
End Date: July 28, 2013

Marriage & Family
1. “Date night” with Hubs once a month (9/33)
2. Surprise my husband with a gift just because
3. Get married (Completed July 10, 2010)
4. Talk to home every weekend (21/132)
5. Plan a trip to Halifax (Completed Feb 2011 for trip in June 2011)
6. Buy a house (In the works Feb 2011)
7. Have a baby
8. Visit Hubb's family for Christmas (Completed December 23, 2010)
9. Celebrate 1st wedding anniversary (Completed this upcoming Sun)

Mind, Body & Soul
10. Lose 10 lbs
11. Go a week without weighing myself
12. Complete some form of exercise at least 3 times per week
13. Read at least one book per month (3/33)
14. Give up soda for a week
15. Learn a new recipe and cook it at least once a month (4/33)
16. Get a hobby
17. Get my first massage (Completed Nov 20, 2010)
18. Have another manicure or pedicure (Completed February 15, 2011)
19. See a sunrise and sunset in the same day
20. Hike a really large hill (Completed Nov 2010)

21. Go on our honeymoon (Completed Nov 15, 2010)
22. Do something for myself at least once a month (10/33)
23. No dessert or cookies at work for 2 weeks
24. For one week, go to bed at 9:00 p.m. just to read
25. Clear the dinning room table off to eat dinner there again (Completed Jan 22/11)
26. No tv for one week
27. No eating after 8:00 p.m. for a month
28. After baby, get back to pre-pregnancy weight

Home Is Where the Heart Is
29. Put new carpeting in the spare bedrooms (Completed August 31, 2011)
30. Finish our wedding album
31. Buy a new vaccum (Completed December 27, 2010)
32. Get a new bed (Completed April 2011)
33. Get a new dining room table (Completed June 2011)
34. Empty entire fridge, clean it, then put everything back in (Completed March 20, 2011)
35. Reorganize kitchen cabinets and paint them
36. Defrost freezer twice a year (0/6)
37. Buy a new house (Completed March 15, 2011)
38. Finish Painting 2 spare bedrooms (Completed August 28, 2011)

All Work, No Play
39. Upgrade our camera (Completed Nov 4, 2010)
40. Get a new washer and dryer (Completed Sept 2010)
41. Stay on top of the house cleaning (10/33)
42. Start a wedding planning business
43. Help Hubbs with his business

44. Get a permanent job (Completed June 2011)
45. Get another term at my current job (Completed Jan 20/11)
46. Take 3 courses at work

Hit the Open Road
47. Take a spontaneous road trip (2/3)
48. Travel to a foreign country (Completed Nov 15, 2010)
49. Visit Newfoundland
50. Visit friends in Winnipeg
51. Go camping at least once each summer (2/3)
52. Have a picnic in the park we got married
53. Visit the Buchart gardens in the winter
54. Visit Hubbs friends in Alberta

I ♥ Food
55. Update my recipe book with new recipes (At least once a month (8/33)
56. Go out just for dessert
57. Go Out for Breakfast (5/5) (Completed March 26, 2011)
58. Don't eat out for an entire month
59. Make homemade pasta
60. Try something new at least 3 times a year (7/9)
61. Make banana bread with all the banana's in the freezer

Friends Are Forever
62. Email my best friend once a week (4/146)
63. Send Christmas cards each Christmas (1/3)
64. E-mail friends at least once per month (1/33)
65. Catch up with an old friend
66. Have a party or dinner party (Completed June 2011)
67. Send birthday cards to all friends/family in 2011

Pinching Pennies
68. Save for a house (Completed February 22, 2011)
69. Set up retirement savings

Cha-Ching
70. Pay off all debts (Completed August 2011)
71. Pay off LASIK Surgery (Completed February 22, 2011)
72. Buy a second car
73. Budget for a vacation

Pay It Forward
74. Clean out closet and donate to charity (2/3)
75. Donate to Christmas charity
76. Buy something from a thrift store that supports a charity
77. Donate money to a children's charity (5/6)

Just for Fun
78. Go skiing
79. Go to the beach
80. Go to the fall fair
81. Buy a pumpkin from a pumpkin patch and carve it
82. Go to a local museum
83. Take pictures on all our excursions
84. Have a Christmas cookie exchange (1/3)
85. Decorate for Christmas

Hobbies & Skills
86. Blog once a week at least (8/33)
87. Learn to cook more things
88. Get some family tradition recipes
89. Make a scrapbook
90. Read a book a month (3/33)

Capture the Memories
91. Get wedding album (Completed May 2, 2011)
92. Print photoes of each year's events and put in photo album
93. Get photos printed to hang in home
94. Take more pictures
95. Complete 101 in 1001
96. Send more pictures to family

No More Procrastinating
97. Pick pictures for wedding album (Completed Jan 24/11)
98. Clean out email accounts
99. Start an excercise routine

101 in 1001
100. Start a new 101 Things in 1001 Days list once this one is completed
101. Get friends in on this project

Reno's Part 2

Just when Hubs and I finally got all the reno's done and paid for we decided to go back at it. We decided to work on our spare bedrooms since neither of them had been touched since we moved in. We basically put beds in and set them up. Initially, we set out to paint the bigger of the spare rooms to get it done since we had the paint sitting around. Then it turned into ripping off the trim and baseboards. We started talking and decided since the room was basically empty, we might as well go look at carpeting. We have been wanting to replace the carpet since we moved in because there were stains on it, and based on the condition underneath of the carpet we pulled up in the living room, it definitly needed to go. We bought the carpet for our bedroom at End of the Roll, which is an awesome place to pick up flooring at a discounted price, and decided to go back to see what they had.

With carpet samples from our carpet and hardwood in hand we headed back to the store to find something that would go with our current selections. As luck would have it, they had the exact carpet we put in our bedroom (we were shocked since we bought our carpet almost 6 months ago and weren't expecting to find it still there). We decided to buy enough for both spare bedrooms so our rooms would all match. Within the next week or so they are going to come install the new carpeting in the 2 bedrooms. This meant we had to move everything out of the smaller spare bedroom and paint as well. We figured its easier to paint when we aren't worried about the carpet, so last night we ripped off baseboards and trim in the other bedroom and painted it as well.

So thats what we have been up to this weekend, busy with more reno's... Pics will soon

Fall is around the corner

It's funny how I couldn't wait until summer arrived and some days I feel like I'm still waiting for it to show up. Now as we are nearing the end of August, I can't wait for fall to arrive. I can't wait for leaves to change colors, the air to turn cooler and the comfort foods that come with fall. I think what's making me so excited for fall this year, is to celebrate all the new holidays for the first time in our house. As the days roll by, I think about Thanksgiving and Christmas and having lights and a tree up. Where we were renting before, we didn't have a lot of space for a big tree and we both agreed we would wait until we bought a house to buy a Christmas tree (so we can see what will fit/work in our space). 

Before fall arrives we plan on painting our 2 spare rooms and putting in new carpet and baseboards. We actually hope to get one of the rooms painted while I'm off the next 5 days. We also hope to get in a trip to Mexico. We've been trip searching the last few months, and prices are slowly starting to come down. We might have to wait a few more weeks to get within the timeframe we want to go for the price we want. I also want to lose a little weight before we go away so to make myself a little more accountable, I'm going to start fitness Fridays on my blog to keep myself feeling obligated.

Oops, I missed my 1st blogaversary

For some reason I had it in my head that I started blogging in August of last year. Well, when I went back in my archives to find out the exact date I discovered I actually started my blog July 31 (oops). Hubs inspired me to start blogging and I'm so glad he did. I never kept a journal as a child so its kind of nice to be able to look back at events or things I/we have accomplished that have been documented. To celebrate my first blogaversary here is a link back to my first ever post http://amanda-newb.blogspot.com/2010_07_01_archive.html.

New addition to the family...

While at work on Wed, I got a call from Hubs saying he took our car for its regular maintanence and started looking at other cars. I didn't think to much of it until I got another call from him saying he wanted to bring a car by for me to look at. I humored him and said ok. He brought the car by a while later and I have to say I was pretty impressed. It's a newer version of our car, with a few more accesories such as cruise control, heated seat heat levels, and the ability to control various options right from the steering wheel among other great options. He ended up going back to see if he could wheel and deal them with my agreeance with the only 2 rules of 1)Payments have to be equal to or less then what we pay for our car now 2) We get a decent trade on our current car. I'm happy to say that Hubs succeeded and we went back to sign the paperwork when I finished work. We are now the proud owner of a 2012 Ford Focus Hatchback and are absolutely loving it.

Babies, babies, babies

First off I have to congratulate my friend on the birth of her son a couple days ago. She is the one I posted about in my previous post. Luckily her son was born healthy at 5lbs 1 oz even though he is 2 months early. Momma was able to go home a couple days ago and baby Andrew just has to grow a little more, then he gets to go home.

I know I posted something similar a few months ago, but it seems a whole new set of babies have cropped up since then. Between July and Dec there are the following babies coming into the world:

-July 1st Hubs friends wife had their first (boy)
-End July Hubs best friends wife had their 3rd (girl)
-Hubs cousin's girlfriend had their 1st (boy)
-Aug 10 My friend had her 1st (boy)
-Coworkers sister had her 2nd a few days ago (boy)
-My boss's wife is due the end of Oct (surprise)
-Friend from work just found out his wife is having a little girl, they are due end of Nov
-Coworker will become a 1st time grandma in Dec
-Another coworker just announced she is pregnant with #2

That's a total of 9 babies, so no wonder I'm starting to get baby fever again. It also seems that our family is jumping on the bandwagon. While up visiting Hubs family a few weeks ago they started asking when we were going to have kids. When we went to visit his Grandfather in the hospital, he even told us to hurry up and get on it, lol. While out with my mother in law shopping yesterday the topic came up again because apparently she wants to start buying some cute baby things. Even people at my workplace are asking since apparently its our turn to have a baby.

By no means are we going to rush into having a baby because people are asking and we would like to do a few more things before it happens. However, Hubs and I are talking about it a little more often lately. I think we've decided to wait and try next summer. We'll have had the house for just over a year, been married 2 years at that point and we both agree we should be ready by then.

Thoughts and Prayers

One of my good friends from work was admitted to the hospital earlier this week to stop her from going into labor. She is 30 weeks pregnant at this point so we are all hoping baby will stay put for a bit longer. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Happy 18th Birthday Corey

Today is my younger brother's 18th birthday. I can't believe where the time has gone. Like my sister, I think of him as my baby brother, even though he towers over me now. It's weird being at work and having summer students younger then them working with me!  I wish I could be there to celebrate with you bro, hope you have a great day!


                                 Happy Birthday Brother!!