Turning 27

I was sort of indifferent about my birthday this year.  I don't mean to be a party pooper, but there isn't anything special about turning 27... it actually just makes me realize I'm that much closer to 30.  And while turning 30 isn't a bad thing, it just seems like there are so many things I should accomplish by then and time is  flying by.

In light of my recent birthday and this reality, I went ahead and updated my 30 Before 30 and was able to cross some things off the list.  Feel free to help me prioritize what's left.

1. Take a pottery class  this is still a hope

2. Spend a weekend in the Big Apple  maybe this winter?

3. Read the whole Bible

4. Become a dog owner 

5. Move with Jake to a new place for both of us  does our new house count?

6. Host and cook a holiday meal for family

7. Travel to another country  we went to Haiti last July

8. Try my hand at cycling or a spin class, maybe form a hobby

9. Go on a mission trip

10. Visit a castle

11. Visit a vineyard on the west coast 

12. Become very involved with or work for a charity/non-profit  I am trying to continue supporting St. Vincent's through the Red Thread Promise

13. Run more than one half marathon in a single year 

14. Take a spontaneous trip (less than a week's notice)

15. Keep reading... I'd like to average reading a book a month, which equals roughly 64 new books by my 30th birthday 

16. Discover my signature dish and perfect it  my veggie lasagna is pretty good

17. Confidently wear a bikini... in public, not just at the pool

18. Take a "girls only" trip

19. Buy a piece of art (not necessarily anything fancy, but a piece I love and appreciate) 

20. Pay off more than 50% of our school loans

21. Be more proficient on a Mac than a PC  a newer Mac would help

22. Become more versed in Adobe Creative Suite

23. Swim with dolphins

24. Take a professional quality photograph; I want people to assume I bought it

25. See/meet someone famous

26. Revamp an old piece of furniture  I've finished a few pieces 

27. Throw/Attend a baby shower for either Alison or Dani (I'm ready to be an aunt)

28. Talk about/start trying for kids

29. Learn to ski or snowboard

30. Buy a house  we are still getting used to this fact ourselves

A day late and a dollar short

In case you haven't already noticed, I'm always a day late and a dollar short.  I never paid attention to the Twilight Series until after the first movie came out... and that's just one example.  Another is Friday Night Lights.

I vaguely remember when this tv series came on (circa 2006) and although the commercials seemed appealing I wasn't sure where I was going to find the time for another tv show.  Well, years later after friend after friend told me how much I would like it, I've finally finished watching all five seasons.

What can I say about it?  To start, I absolutely loved it.  I'm sort of glad I got into after the seasons were available on Netflix because I'm not sure I could have waited a week in between each episode or months for the next season.  Poor Jake had to deal with me monopolizing the tv the past few Saturdays, which I don't feel bad about because I liked the show too much to turn it off.

I thought I might be able to narrow down my favorite characters to a select few, but it turns out I love almost the entire cast.  What I will say is despite a large portion of the cast changing midway through, I preferred the characters in the later seasons.  I loved the stories early on too, but there was something about East Dillon that really hooked me.  Coach Eric Taylor and his wife, Tami were hands down the reason I kept watching though.  They truly had a great marriage and the show was only enhanced by the characters coming in and out of their lives.  Of course, Tim Riggins wasn't tough on the eyes either.

Since I literally just finished the watching the last season I could probably talk about the show for hours, but I don't want to overshare and spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. If you haven't watched the series I would highly recommend it- you can find all five seasons on Netflix and it won't take you more than a month to get through it, talk about $8 well spent.

I'm back

I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post.   Our move and traveling for work hasn't helped much, but it feels like things are starting to slow down you may actually hear from me more often.  Here is a bit of the things that have been in happening in my corner of the world.

-We bought our first home!  It took less time than we planned to get things moved over and we are unpacked in all of the common spaces.  I still don't feel comfortable navigating my way through the kitchen, but at least we have enough space for everything and my roaster doesn't need to be stored in the linen closet.
-I went to Cancun and Orlando for work.  I love to travel and Cancun was really nice, but being away while we were still in the process of getting settled was stressful.
-I turned 27!!!  More to come on what that means in regards to my 30 Before 30.
-Jake and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary!

our moving announcement

cookie dough cupcakes for my birthday from Jenn Cakes-A-Lot