End of July...

So I realize we're halfway through August, but for some reason I didn't ever post my End of July post.  So here's where I stand on  my list as of the end of July.

12.  Pie of the Month Club ~ I waited until the last possible moment to make myJuly dessert pie.  But on 07/31/14 we had Peach / Blueberry Pie.  It was yummy!  Although I had previously promised Chocolate / Peanut Butter so my audience was a little disappointed.  I had peaches and blueberries in the fridge I needed to use before they went bad, so I swapped.  Sorry...the Chocolate Peanut Butter should be coming up soon...

Peach Blueberry Pie a la mode

13.  Read 10 Books (13/10) ~ I'm over, but that's ok.  In July I read two more books.  Ladies Night by  Mary Kay Andrews.  I enjoyed this one.  It had me hooked from the first chapter!  And while it may have been a little predictable, it was a pretty good story.  I finished it in about 3-4 days.  I also read An Ex to Grind by Jane Heller.  This one wasn't too bad, but it was even more predictable.  I finished it in about a week or so.  I started a 3rd book, but couldn't get past the first chapter and ended up taking it back to the library, so it's really not even worth mentioning.

23.  Complete a Challenge ~ Complete fail on the Ab & Squat Challenge.  I stopped even sooner than I had the last time :-/.  But my daughter suggested a new one!  I thought about adding it as a new item on my list, but I don't think I even have enough days left in the year to finish it!  Her suggestion was a challenge to wear all the shoes in my closet!  Challenge Accepted!  You've probably already been reading about them here...

Shoe Challenge

24.  Declutter my Office ~ I am actually just about done with this!!  I did some rearranging and the room formerly known as the office, is now a guess room!  The room will still share space with my craft space, which is the only thing I have left to clean up.  I'll post pics of the finishes product soon, but here what the "office" space looks like, which now shares with the game room.

Office Space

25.  Follow a Budget ~ So I've been doing pretty good with my existing budget the last few weeks, but I'm about to encounter some changes to my income, but also have some new expenses that were not previously budgeted for.  Gonna have to do a total revamp of the ol' budget and start over I guess. *sigh*

27.  Go to the State Fair ~ The State Fair of Texas opens Friday September 26 and runs through October 19, and tickets went on sale last week!! They'll announce the Big Tex Choice Awards winners in September, I can't wait to see what they've come up with this year!

28.  Listen to my entire iTunes Library (3088 / 5907) ~ So yeah....this task may have become more daunting than I originally planned.  I did have my work laptop in the office with my Mac and my iTunes list so I could listen while I worked.  But I've recently done some rearranging and don't work in this office anymore.  So since last month I haven't even gotten through the M's yet!  :-/

29.  Finish my Christmas Shopping ~ I started!  LOL I've only gotten one thing so far, but I'm dying to give it to her already.  Anyway...but budget cuts are a coming.

40.  Go to a Rangers Game ~ I mean of COURSE I went to more games...duh

Great seats with Great friends

Love this couple!

43.  Try a New Restaurant (11/12) ~ Tried a couple of new places that I had never been to before, one I feel like everyone else has already tried because I've been hearing about it for ages, the other has been around for a while, but it was totally new to us.

Hard 8 BQ ~ I have been hearing about Hard 8 for a long time, everyone raves about how great it is.  Honestly, I wasn't impressed.  It isn't any better than anyone else's BBQ in my opinion.  The way they display the meat on the smokers was kind of neat, but then you had to stand in line, under an outdoor, enclosed patio structure with the smokers...in JULY...in TEXAS!  It was stifling hot and I went home smelling like smoke!  Then you get inside and have to find an empty spot at the end of the table with people you don't know, kind of like a cafeteria.  As much as they charge, I would have been just as happy somewhere else.  Sorry for my somewhat negative review if this place is one of your favorites, but I'm all about atmosphere, and this wasn't anything special to me.  The food was good, it's just probably not a place I'll be hurrying back to.

The Abbey Inn ~ This place was kind of cool.  It's like an English Pub and had some interesting things on the menu, for Texas.  The food was pretty good, I had the Open Faced Roast Beef Sandwich.  It had a pretty cool atmosphere, though we went for lunch so the  crowd was small and quiet.  

I got some stuff I'm looking into, in order to start checking some more stuff off....I feel like I'm running out to time with it already being August, and you'll probably have to wait another week or two to even hear about! :-P