101 Update

Being as it’s  a new year I think it’s time for a 101 list update. I think it’s a great time to look at some things I’ve crossed off my list and think about some things to check off in the coming months!

Kindness

1.       Write ten random letters or emails to family members and friends letting them know how special they are to me (1/10)

*sent my BFF, Juli, a card this week just for being awesome. She has been so supportive throughout my pregnancy and it means so much to me to have her in my life. I can’t wait for her to meet our little one!

Settled

7. Refurbish the dining room hutch

*We completed this project in the fall! I didn’t take before and after pictures of the project, but I will find some old pictures of the hutch and take some pictures of how it looks now. We removed the top, sanded down the ‘gouges’ and marks then painted it a pretty light grey. Hubs also got the metallic spray paint and painted the hinges a pretty silver color (much better than the brass they were). We replaced the knobs with antique looking glass knobs and it looks so pretty in our entry way. Now all I need is some artwork for above!

Creative

23. Write my master’s capstone (thesis) and enjoy the creative process

*Done as of December 17^th!!! I am actually really proud of the finished product and enjoyed writing

Joyful

28. Have five Mommy-daughter days with my mom doing something new (1/5)

*went on a lunch date and shopping with the daughters and mom’s in September. My SIL and MIL, Mom and I had a great time!

Growing:: literally and figuratively

39. Graduate with my master’s degree (!!!!!)

40. Pass the Practitioner of Human Resources exam (PHR)

*not done, but in progress! I am planning on taking the exam in May!

43. Successfully plant a vegetable other than upside-down tomatoes

*we successfully planted green peppers this summer!!! They turned out GREAT and didn’t stop growing until the end of October!

Healthifying

55. Take a multivitamin every day for a month (30/30)

*I’ve successfully taken a multivitamin every day since July! Being preggers makes you very aware of nutrients for your little one!

59. Get a flu shot every year (2/3)

Playing

67. Have at least one friend get together every other month (9/14)

*We’ve had a ton of get togethers with friends lately. We had Chip and Kristin down before Christmas for a night out on the town. We had dinner at a local gastro-pub and went to see a local Christmas light display. The weekend after Christmas we had our friends Ariel, Ben, Gina, John and Brittany over for a game night- so much fun!

69. Plan awesome 30^th birthday for husband
*we had a blast at his 30^th birthday party in November- huge success!

Purchasing
87.  Buy a DSLR camera

*In progress- have the camera in our possession for a trial run. Our friends Chip an Kristin upgraded their DSLR. We were thinking of buying their old one before baby comes. As a very generous gesture, they let us borrow it for a little while to make sure we like it. WE DO! I’ll be purchasing it formally from them next time we see them. J

Baking/Cooking

98. Make Christmas cookies every year (2/3)

*cookie day in December was a huge success! Over 400 cookies were baked!

I’d say I’m on the right track. I have a lot more to cross off this list in the next year and a half! Better get cracking!

Weekend Delivery and a 101 Update

:::Boy, did this weekend deliver:::

I had such an awesome time with family and friends! On Friday my little brother and his GF came up to visit from Richmond. They will both be seniors this coming fall at VCU. We made dinner, caught up, had a Wii dance off/bowl off then played a card game. Not to brag or anything, but they let me win I won all three! Saturday we woke up, hand breakfast and the girls went to get pedicures while the boys went out to grab last minute items for my birthday BBQ. Everyone started to show up around 3. We ate, played Apples to Apples (SUCH a fun game!) and had a bon fire outside until 3 am. I really hope our neighbors don't hate us, but we had a blast.

Yesterday Hubs, my friend Kelly and her BF and I went out to brunch in a little historic town by us and walked around a little bit. When we came home, Hubs and I relaxed- hard. We watched the entire first season of Breaking Bad. Yes, that means we watched 7 episodes in one day. Have to admit- it's interesting!

This week I'm committing to at least three two a day workouts. I have a girl’s beach weekend coming up this weekend! Can't wait to spend a whole three day weekend with my girls living it up!

It's been a while since I've done a 101 list update so I thought I'd catch up:

5. Send an email or letter three times complementing a job well done at work (2/3)

Last week, I sent an email to a fellow employee thanking him for his great partnership and copied his boss.

15. Explore two more states/regions I've never been to (1/2)

Vegas. ‘Nuff said.

23. Write my master’s capstone (thesis) and enjoy the creative process

In process! I've started my literature review as of last week!

25. Create “pre- engagement” photo book of hubs and I (2007-2010)

Hubs actually created volume 1 of our True Love Story for our one year anniversary. He is so sweet and romantic! I lost it! He wrote the first half of the book which included our story from the day we met through our wedding day. He used my blog story of our wedding as my contribution. SO sweet!!!

30. Go on a brother/sister weekend trip (skiing?!)

Vegas!

31. Cook a dinner with BFF Julie for our parents annually (1/3)

This happened in February. I'm late on this update!

41. Send six handwritten cards/letters (3/6)

Last week, I sent three handwritten cards to family and friends.

42. Grow an herb garden

I've successfully grown chives, rosemary and parsley

43. Successfully plant a vegetable other than upside-down tomatoes

We have tomatoes, eggplant and peppers growing in the back yard!

44. Successfully plant upside-down tomatoes

We have tomatoes growing- not of the upside down variety but I think they count!

46. Host at least one holiday dinner per year (1/3)

We hosted Easter

47. Lose 10 pounds (3/10)

3 down as of Saturday!

57. Exercise (30 minutes) 5 days a week for three months consistently (1/12)

Started this last week

77. Get 4 pedicures per year (3/12)

Self explanatory

78. Whitten teeth ever six months (1/5)

Self explanatory

84. Run United CP race in Philadelphia with Mom

Ran this in March!

92. Write a love letter once every six months (1/6)

Wrote love notes to Hubs for our one year <3

Have a great week everyone!!

Cheers!

Cait

Hott-Mess

... So remember all that "me time" I was posting about here? Well, I have slipped back into old habbits.

Crap!

With three grad classes and new house tasks, I am once again forgetting about my own sweet self.

I am doing a great boxing class twice per week with my friend P and we are getting our butts kicked but I haven't been to the gym since my trip to Detroit two weeks ago.

Not good. Not happy. Fixing it.

I saw a great pin on Pinterest that says "Today I will love myself enough to go to the gym". I will be printing this out and posting it in my bedroom... and maybe even my cube at work.

To further my "hott messness"...I noticed last week that I have not painted my nails in a month! A MONTH! To some, it sounds riddiculous that this would bother me. To me, this is a big deal. Painted nails make me feel confident and put together. So tonight- I have a hot date with my mani/pedi set after a nice long run on the treadmill.

This hott mess is getting back on track ASAP!

List update: Below are the 101 list items that are in progress or completed!

5. Send an email or letter three times complementing a job well done at work (1/3)
- I sent an email to the boss of one of the guys in my office who always helps me with my InfoPath forms. I hate those forms and he always assists with a smile. I wanted to make sure his boss knows how friendly and helpful he is.

6. Buy a home with my husband
HOLY COW! I'm a homeowner!

9. Buy a living room set
Check! Pictures of the house will be in a future post...

11. Hang window coverings on all windows in each major room (Kitchen, living room, master bedroom, guest bedroom, rec room). I really think this makes a house a home. (5/5)
done! Notice I said windows... I still have a slider to cover but the windows are done!

15. Explore two more states/regions I've never been to (0/2)
Can't really cross this off, but a trip is planned for the baby bro's 21st!

31. Cook a dinner with BFF Julie for our parents annually (1/3)
This weekend is the anual parents dinner at our new house. Post on that this Sunday.

34. Save $100 every month (5/36)

46. Host at least one holiday dinner per year (0/3)
hosting Easter

56. Do a detox diet for a week
Did yeast free. loved it.

67. Have at least one friend get together every other month (4/14)
We are hosting a chopped competition March 10th. Can't wait!

73. Grow out hair to mid back length and enjoy it
We are there! I'm getting my hair done soon- I'll post a pic after. It's also a hott mess right now. :-/

77. Get 4 pedicures per year (1/12)
Got one for new years eve

92. Write a love letter once every six months (1/6)
Wrote Hubs a poem (a cheesy one, at that) for Love day last week.

94. Go on a walk or work out with my hubs once a week for six months (1/24)
We started this one with a walk on Saturday

95. Try at least one new dinner recipe per week (someone else’s) (20/143)

96. Create one new recipe every other week (my own-EEK!) (10/71)

98. Make Christmas cookies every year (1/3)

Cheers!
Caitlin

A life and list update

First things first, our house is almost ready!!!!! We are expected to go to settlement on the 11^th of January. We are SO excited. We got to go to our “pre dry wall” meeting a few weeks back and it seems like it’s progressing at lightning speed ever since.  Below are a few pictures.

This is hubs in our "master bedroom" during the pre-drywall meeting.

This is me standing in our kitchen, where the sink will be.

Since our house is SO close to my job, I like to "pop in" on my lunch breaks to see how it's coming along. I'm already so in love with our little nest. Last week when I drove by, all of the siding was on! I was also able to walk through to see the drywall in place. I took a few pictures on the blackberry.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving visiting with family and friends. I will do a separate post on that this weekend.

Yesterday was a great day. I had my year end performance review at work and it went very well. I really enjoy what I do and love the people I work with. It was very nice to hear that my bosses feel I am doing a great job and they love having me as a part of the team. I am excited to see what 2012 has in store for me career wise. Additionally, last night was my last graduate school class of the semester. It felt GREAT to turn in my final paper. It will be nice to have over a month to think about things other than school! Hubs has to study this weekend, he finishes up with finals next week. Since he has to study, I have an excuse to go shopping! (You know, to give him peace and quiet ;) )

In other news, I’ve made some progress on my 101 list. Below are my “updates”.

Settled

6. Buy a home with my husband- on 1/11/12 at 11 am, we will be home owners!

Daring and Adventurous
17. Try five new foods (2/5)- oysters- tried them grilled at Husby’s Aunt and Uncles house, not a fan and calamari- tried while out to eat and LOVE!

Joyful

28. Have five Mommy-daughter days with my mom doing something new (1/5)- had a wonderful Christmas cookie baking day with my mom, BFF and her Mom last Saturday. SUCH a blast.

Financializing

34. Save $100 every month (3/36)

Growing:: literally and figuratively

45. Go one entire day without complaining, once a month (2/30)

Playing

67. Have at least one friend get together every other month (2/14)- we got together Thanksgiving weekend with our dear friends Chip and Kristin. They made us an awesome dinner and we caught up on everyone’s happenings. The same weekend we also got together with our friends Ariel and Ben for dinner and drinks at an awesome Italian place in my hometown. Such good food and good company! We will count these get-togethers as one since they were on the same weekend. This weekend we are having dinner at our friend’s Gina and John’s place for dinner, drinks and fun. J I love getting together with everyone.

Beautifying

73. Grow out hair to mid back length and enjoy it- I would say it’s there! I just got bangs this past week to “spice things up” and I LOVE them.

Baking/Cooking

98. Make Christmas cookies every year (1/3)- see above!
Cleaning

101. Organize/re-file all of the “important papers” in our office/guest room and keep them organized for six months (0/1 then 0/6)- tackling this project this weekend!!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cheers!

Caitlin

Exciting news and list updates!

So I have a few posts I’m working on:

1.       Our wedding day recap

2.       Two of my best friends weddings, also this summer

3.       Home building progress

I am hoping to have at least one completed this weekend, pending the completion of my huge literature review project for my master’s program (yuck).  For now, here are a few fun things going on this week and a 101 list update!

Two of my closest friends welcomed their baby girl in to the world this past Tuesday. Hubs and I could not be more excited for them. Everyone is happy and healthy! We can’t wait to meet her!

My BFF Julie’s birthday is this Sunday. Big shout out to her!!! Happy birthdayyyy, you party animal.

The fall is officially here and I am loving it!  This is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp air, crunchy leaves and anticipation for the holidays. Hubs, pup and I are going to pick out pumpkins this weekend and take a hay ride. We have a tradition of carving super fun pumpkins and roasting the seeds! We always get three, one for each of us.

List update:

Below are the tasks I’m going to attempt to start in October and November:

Number 20: Rekindle my relationship with Photography: Complete at least 5 “photo shoots” (0/5).

I am hoping my friends that welcomed their baby girl on Tuesday will allow me to take some newborn pictures of her and a few family shots. Again, I am cannot wait to meet her!

Number 32: Spend at least 15 minutes of quality time with Dutch daily for a month (0/30). (This means more than snuggles on the couch- playing with toys or walking is a must)

 Starting Monday the 10^th of October, the pups is getting extra lovin’!

Number 33:  Have a “tour D.C.” day with my Dad

Dad and I need some Dad and daughter time and I think this time of year is perfect for a tour. I might ask him to come down in the next few weekends.

59. Get a flu shot every year (0/3)

Hate shots, but it’s go time.

93. Eat dinner at the dinner table once a week for six months (0/24)

Lets go hubs, time to give up the tray tables!

I’ll update on my progress as we go! More to come in the next few days! Happy weekend everyone!

Cheers!
Caitlin