Hello 2014!

So wow, lots has changed since my last post 3 years ago.  Can we say "neglect"!?!

I went through a divorce and my teenagers have kept me super busy.  I went through depression, and a few wild hairs with my best friend half my age.  I even dated a few guys, some quite a bit younger than myself, but never anything serious.  I am thankful for all the people I had around to love and support me, I'm still kicking and ornery as ever!!  I finally settled down and became comfortable with my single status, and decided I was happy just as I was and didn't need anyone else, when SURPRISE!  Along came Mr. Wonderful!

With this new year, and a new relationship, I'm motivated to try my list again.  I'll admit, 101 may have been a little overly optimistic and quite frankly was hard to even come up with.  Some of the stuff on that list was goofy and random, but I will admit I had fun trying.

This year I'm going to start out with a smaller more manageable list of things I'd truly like to do this year.  A lot of these I even hope to do with my new guy.  I may add to it or adjust it later but for now, in no particular order….

1.  Kiss the man I love at midnight on New Years Eve ~ Woot!  Look what a great start I'm off to!!! DONE! ;-)

2. Pay off credit card debt ~ I know I failed at this one last time, but I'm in a better position to do so now and hopefully my tax refund will assist! *crossesfingers*

3. Go roller skating ~ I know, not really a challenge, but something fun to do!

4.  Go bowling ~ Ditto

5.  Play (and win) a game of pool ~ Yes I play slop and who said these all had to be a 'challenge', it's just getting me off my butt!

6. Take a class ~ I don't know what class yet, but I really want to learn/try something different with this.

7.  Go to a museum ~ I don't get enough culture in my life

8. Be intentional ~ something I always have to work on, intentional in my quiet time, about eating right and exercising, the list goes on…

9.  Eat healthy ~ Oh, I just said this….yeah I really need to improve.  More vegetables, less mexican food!  I already started the year doing a green smoothie challenge.  Eight days in and I've only skipped 1!

10.  Lose 15 pounds ~ I put on this much last year after my surgery.  In all honesty, 15 might be a little too much for me, but a girl has to have a goal right?  Maybe I should say 10 and I'll be super excited if I go over?  Besides if I can do those last 2, this will be a piece of cake! …oh snap, is that on my diet?!

11.  Try a new recipe ~ Again this one should be fairly simple, I try new recipes all the time.  I'll look for a healthy, low-fat one!

12.  Join my own 'Pie of the Month' club ~ So… yeah… am I contradicting myself?  Every diet allows a cheat day, right??

13.  Read 10 books ~ I said 20 last time and fell short, and I have less free time these days, did I mention a new boyfriend? ;-)

14.  Go to the zoo ~ I still don't know why I didn't do this last time.  I love the zoo!

15.  Buy myself flowers ~ Another easy one, but hey!  What girl doesn't enjoy flowers?  Maybe I can get my man to buy me some too!

16.  Run a 5K ~ Actually I'd like to challenge myself to do 3 this year at least.  My friend Christi wants me to do a half marathon with her, she's challenged herself to do 40!  She's CRAZY!!  5K is more my speed, maybe one day I'll get adventurous and do a 10K, but I really have no desire to run 13 miles in one sitting….who has that much free time??

17.  Escape for a weekend away ~ this is one of those ones I hope to do with my man….although a girls weekend would be fun too.  Maybe I'll get to do both! :)

18.  Start scrapbooking again ~ I still have all the stuff just sitting here staring at me.  And since I didn't do ANY pages the last time I put this on the list, I'm not going to set a number to it.  If I do 1 I'll be happy, and that will probably inspire me to do more anyway.

19.  Dance in the rain ~ Sounds romantic…I have someone in mind ;-)

20.  Go horseback riding

21.  Add some charms to my bracelet ~  This is always on my list.  I didn't make the 20 I'd hoped to last time, but I've added many since then.  Just 4 this month already!  Those 4 included a cupcake, a letter "T", a flower of hearts, and Big Sister charm (I lost the last one :-/).  I'm currently at 22 charms.

22.  See a play ~ I haven't been to the local theater in a long time, sounds like a good date night!

23.  Complete a challenge ~ hmmm….this has so many possibilities.  I already started the green smoothie challenge and I've been looking at some blog challenges, so I don't neglect what few followers I have left, or may gain this year.

24.  Declutter my office ~ Yes this is still on here.  Actually let's say it's on here again!  I did eventually clean my office and I even moved a bed and dresser in here.  It's a big room and I have my desk in one corner, my craft table and cabinets in another and the other half of the room has a twin bed and dresser for guests.  But….it's become kind of a catch all room again.  The rest of the house is pretty clean, this just gets so cluttered since no one else really comes in here.  I need to clean off the desk and the craft table and the pile of stuff to go through in the other corner by the closet. *sigh*

25.  Follow a budget ~ This goes along with # 2 really.  If I can do this, I can do that one.  I have a budget and I'm a nerd about updating it regularly, I just don't necessarily FOLLOW it all the time.  Not going over my allotted amount for Entertainment and Shopping every month is probably a good start!

26.  Go to a concert ~ I went to quite a few of these last time, last year, not near as many.  I do have a small one already on the books for this month and hopefully more in the future.

27.  Go to the State Fair ~ I haven't been in like 3 years, it's past time.  I'm going this year!

28.  Listen to my entire iTunes library ~ I was able to accomplish this last time and think I can do it again.  I've added to it, but not as much as I use to.  I currently have 5879 songs.

29.  Finish my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving ~ I always try to do this, don't always succeed.

30.  Watch a sunrise with someone special ~ Maybe we can do this on our weekend getaway….I need to plan that!

31.  Go stargazing ~ We did this last August, right after we started dating.  It was really fun and as soon as it warms back up, I totally want to do it again. :)

32.  Enjoy a romantic sunset ~ am I starting to repeat myself?  I know, I know, I already mentioned the boyfriend.  Boy will I be embarrassed if he dumps me before we do any of these things… >.<

33.  Go to the horse races ~ I did this with my best friend a couple of years ago, lots of fun!

34.  Go to the drag races ~ I haven't done this in years!  It'll be fun to do sometime, and there's a drag strip just a few miles down the highway.

35.  Go to Germanfest ~ I haven't done this in years either, and we're already planning to do it this year.  In Muenster in April, mark your calendars!

36.  Blog regularly ~ Not neglect anyone who is interested in reading my ramblings

37.

Dang that's all I have for now.  As I typed this up, I found that I had 4 duplicates.  So either I really wanted to do those things, or I ran out of ideas and was grasping…either way, it's a start.  Feel free to make suggestions, or if you're in the area join me to do some of these!

Here's wishing you a blessed year!  Step out of your comfort zone!