The Dirty Thirt-een

13s are popping up all over my year this year- and I am hoping that my black cat bad luck doesn't win out. Maybe 2013 is going to be awesome this year. With that being said- here are my 13 goals- not so much resolutions- but 13 things I want to accomplish this year.

1. To make it a habit to get up and workout- not just for the wedding- at least 3 times a week. After the wedding, because right now it is pretty much everyday!

2. To read 13 books. This might sound lame, but I never read the Harry Potter books- but I have seen every movie- and LOVE them, so I want to take that challenge. After I finish this book Kevin asked me to read- Beyond the Badge.

3. To really get into my Bible like I did a long time ago and pick apart the word and really grasp what God is trying to teach me.

4. To pick back up my prayer journal and write out my prayers. I know I feel like I am much more in tune with staying focused when I write out my heart to God. Maybe this will allow me to get back on track with my life to have this piece consistent.

5. To invest in 13 people over the course of a year. I miss spending time with the youth girls I had and hope I can meet some new students at our new church. I also just want to find some new friends to hang out with.

6. To look the best I have ever looked on my wedding day. I only get one shot- and I will be danged I am not going to look back at my pictures and say- good grief why didn't I work out harder.

7. To make it a point to go to 13 different places this year. Whether in my state, region, or out of country- 13 new places.

8. To become a better crafter. I love my sewing machine- but I need to learn to use it to the fullest extent. I also need to organize my space in a way that is an environment that is inspiring. Let the decorating and organizing begin!

9. To pray for my fiance and when the time comes, my husband, specifically and intently. Not just a Please God bring him back home alive prayer, but prayers that will change his world, his being, and his mind. Prayers that he can have all the tools he needs to lead our family closer to the cross. Prayers that even when I am frustrated with him, that God would set him apart to do great and mighty things for the Lord. Prayers that give encouragement, light, and hope for when he is defeated. And most importantly, prayers that his relationship with the Lord would be far greater than any relationship he and I could ever have.

10. To walk my dogs at least 3 times a week. Seems easy to you- but you try walking The Calm, The Lazy, and The Crazy. One listens, one does not, and one refuses to walk or put on the collar. They just have to stay in "jail" all the time and I really need to make it a point to get them outside more.

11. To not live beyond my means. Up until October of last year- shopping was a HUGE part of me. I LOVE to shop. I love to shop for clothes. But- I told Kevin I wouldnt shop for clothes until Spring. I can honestly say- I didnt spend but $20 on myself for 3 months! I had to have a pair of shoes the day after Thanksgiving- but that is the only thing I bought for myself in THREE MONTHS. I dont think you realize how huge of a deal this is for me. It is quite epic honestly. I did break my rule and went shopping New Year's day because I had giftcards- and spent some money that wasnt on gift cards- but 2 dresses, 1 skirt, 3 shirts, and 2 pair of shoes for $50 counts as a win in my book. I will try and only go shopping when I have extra money- or a real need for something. It has been kind of interesting to see what outfits I can put together and repurpose. On with the thriftyness!

12. To have a better relationship with my family. Most importantly with my parents, but also to my extended family that is within an arm's reach. I need to visit more often and invest in my sweet cousins. I just need to come around more and not sit at home all the time.

13. The last one. I want to do something that is much greater than I can imagine. I do not yet know what this is, but I want to do experience something incredible. Set me up God, because your ways are better than mine.

There you have it folks. The dirty Thirt-een. Do you have a list? Make it happen.

Bucket List

Saturday I crossed off another Bucket List pin. The pin was to host a themed party. I helped some dear to my heart friends with their kid's birthday party. I was in charge of decorations and food. And I made the invitations. I think it all turned out well, it was nice to help with the party, even though:


1. NO one RSVP'd until the night before- 3 Friday night and 1 Saturday morning!!
2. No one RSVP'd, but showed up at 4:30 and the party didn't start til 5 (Really- you think this is ok?)
3. I didn't make enough cupcakes because we didn't know at all who was coming
4. I made the cupcakes and then put the teddy graham on it and they got soggy, so I had to redo them
5. I dropped 12 of the cupcakes and the bears all broke into pieces and my pool blue icing look like I had licked them before displaying them
6. Of the 5ish people that RSVP'd, 30 kids were there. Interesting math!
7. The lifeguard didnt get there til like 5 til 5 to open up the pool
8. The present I thought was cool wasn't exactly "make a good face" worthy to Nathan

I could go on and on about all the mess ups, but it was a good party. Pool parties are the way to go. My snacks and cupcakes got gobbled up. One kid, when going back for his second, said, these are the best cupcakes I have ever had. So, he made my heart smile a little- even if my bears looked like they were drowing instead of floating. Another cute kid from church had 3- so my secret ingredient did work. I found an awesome shark online and this was the highlight of the party- even if I didn't make it completely- it was still my suggestion- and that counts in my book. And I fixed him up for the party. And I did do the fin and the eyes and helped with the teeth!  ;) But Compliments to Mr. Brett who did most of the work. The shark saved the day!

Bucket list still needs some work, so hopefully I can get some of it done this week!

Bucket List 4 & 5

Two in one day. That is always a plus.

-Got to a Spring Festival: I went to the Dogwood Festival in Atlanta. Piedmont Park is really pretty. The festival was really kind of lame. I love art, but who brings $500+ to a park? In cash. Too much of stuff I would never buy. Just really different items and paintings. Some of them were really boring, and some of them- I know I have seen my cousins make prettier pictures that what they were selling.

It was nice to visit though.

I hiked a State Park not on the list for right now because I decided to change out one. Sweetwater Creek State Park. Should be called "Atlanta's hidden gem". A few miles past Six Flags sits this HUGE state park. No skyscrappers. No marta. No traffic. Not much noise. And the complete essence of bliss in nature. There are lots of shoals and the peaceful enviroment by the creek is amazing. Really good trails that have been maintained. I did fall on a large rock and have a nasty cut/bruise/scrape on my leg, but the views were worth it. I highly recommend you visit here. You won't be disappointed. And the park was super ecofriendly in their buildings for the office and bathrooms. They recyle everything. And I mean everything.

So, a few down, a whole lot more to do in the month of May. I hope I can at least get to 2-3 more parks before June.

Bucket List #3

Eat Vegan for a week. As trivial as it seems, I wanted to do this. I knew I was going to do it this very week- the week before my impending time away on a ship. I wanted to be frugal with food, lose some extra weight, and honestly look hot in a bikini. So, as vain as that sounds- I started on Monday.

I have come to just realize a lot just in 2.5 days. Our dependency on animals is much more than it needs to be. I thought I would struggle greatly with not having dairy- but thanks to Almond Milk- I'm fine. If you know me, you know I am not much of a meat eater anyway. I don't mind cooking it or eating it, but I get so bored with it and sometimes just want nothing to do with it. So I knew that part would be easy.

Here has been my menu up until now:
M-b:mixed fruit; snack: nuts; l:chickpeas, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, and a green apple; d: leftover whole wheat penne w/ tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, spinach; snack: chocolate almond milk
T-b: Puffins pnut butter cereal (vegan cereal that is awesome) w almond milk (vanilla); l: kidsize oatmeal raisin bar, 2 scoops of pnut butter; snack: corn tortilla chips; d: 7-grain meatless "chicken" strips, mixed vegetables sauted in italian dressing, and baked fries; snack: Berry Rounds (like a fruit popsicle, but no stick)

Tuesdays dinner was so good. I think I will buy this product again for sure! You should try it: Gardein makes it and it is in the frozen foods aisle at Kroger.

If you want to try eating Vegan, I highly encourage it. I read a book this summer called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle- I strongly encourage you to read it as well. It will change the way you view food. I didn't eat a banana from August until last week (only because I had no other options at my parents) because of reading this book. Read it.

Here is the recipe for the Berry Rounds (trust me, you will love it!)

1 can of pineapples w/juice (mine was the rings, so it had 4 in it, soaked in its own juice)
4 strawberries (large)
7-8 blackberries
1/2 box Coconut Vita water (comes in a small juice sized-box in multiple flavors, I used coconut with pineapple)
A splash of Almond Milk- vanilla

Puree all of the ingredients together but the Almond Milk. My blender has a smoothie setting, so that is what I used. After I blended all of this, then I put the almond milk in, just enough to make the liquid contents rise up an inch- so 1/4 of a cup I guesstimate.

I poured the liquid into a 6-muffin pan. (Spray the pan before, because I didn't, but the eventually come out when you run the bottom of the pan under warm water). Stick in the freezer. I froze mine for 3+ hours and then removed then from the pan and put the individual servings in a tupperware container in the freezer.

I took one and semi mashed it up in a cup- not so much like a slushy because it wasn't liquid, but like Italian Ice. It was awesome!

Next time I make them, I am going to add a few teaspoons of protein powder. This would be a great recovery snack from a workout!

Hope you enjoy- tell me how you like it!

1st & 2nd Bucket List Completion

A few weeks ago, I made a Bucket list for Spring. Saturday St. Patty's Day 2012- I started on the list. I want to hike all of the State Parks in GA. I have done a few, so I am just trying to catch up since there are 63! Ive done Black Rock Mountain, High Falls, and now Hamburg. I called 2 of the youth that hang out with me a lot and told them I was picking them up and we were going hiking. I packed a picnic lunch and off we went.

I have been to Hamburg many times before, but never hiked it. This was supposed to be a 3.5 mile hike. I am not sure, but we hiked for 3 hours- and I am fully confident it was more like 4 something. We climbed over logs, made out way through briars, and sweated it up. Abby and Ansley are seriously the loudest people I could have chosed to take with me, but we made the most of it.

Here is the injury report:
Abby's legs looked like a cat attacked her because of the serious briar scratches she got.
She also FELL and busted it in front of some fisherman. I couldn't help but die laughing, but also thinking- my gosh please tell me your ankle isn't broken- we are too far into this hike for that.
I have 2 HUGE scratches on my left leg from a briar that literally tore my skin open. It was bloody and now is infected :( and a few others on both legs.
I also received a blow to the face from a downed branch/limb/javelin that knocked me out in the face. Had I not had on my huge sunglasses, I think I would be a cyclops. I am making jokes, but I cried and seriously got the crap knocked out of me. I have a bruise to prove that one as well.
Ansley was the least scathed. She has a few scratches, and got whacked in the back once, but nothing else.

We had our picnic (with a blanket bucket list #2pin) near the water fall and it was so pretty and peaceful. At the end of the day, we all felt super accomplished. It is cool to knock off 2 pins from the bucket list and put them in the bucket! I hope that they all get in the bucket by the end of May!

Bucket List

It is perfectly fine for me to say I have had a rough past 2 months. Rough might not even begin to explain it. Miserable would be a good word. BUT, I decided the other day that I need to quit thinking about all of the negative things and actually work to making positive memories. (My friend told me JUST last night- in response to how does your heart heal after your boyfriend dumps you and your dog dies- "Time..but you cant dwell in the past. And if you do, why dwell on the sad negative things. think of the good things".  So profound. So risky. So true. I want to live in the present and not dwell on the past. So, thank you friend who sent me that text. I have it locked for future reference when I have a pity party again.

I made a Spring Bucket list the other day. Sounds lame, but it is more of working towards goals for me. I got out some clothes pins, a small pail from the flowers my mom sent me on Valentines day, and some cardstock and tape. I made a list in my planner and then transferred each item to the pin. My Graduate Assistant will tell you if I don't write things down, it doesn't happen. Seriously- how did I get voted Most Dependable in High School??? I have no idea. Because if I dont physically write down things- they don't happen or don't exist.

So- I wrote down the things I want to accomplish between March and May. Some of them are really awesome- and some of them may seem incredibly petty to an outside viewer, but I want to do them.

A few of the things are: Hike/visit all of the state parks in GA (there are 7 to visit in this time frame); Sew something from a pattern; Write a song worth singing (I have so much in mind for this); Paint a picture worthy of hanging (Because I cant stand painting something and then it not being cool after a few months); Go to a Braves Spring game; Go camping- with a tent (I have only done this once in my life and I really just want to do it again). I think there are about 25ish bucket list things. I have a lot of work to do. But I have to get myself out of this self pity party that I have been having. I want to make some new memories and learn to love life again.

I hope that in reading this you will think of all the things you would like to accomplish in yoru life and make a bucket list. I started short term, Right now I don't have a MAJOR bucket list of things to do before I die, but there are these things that would add to the satisfaction of my present state. Live in the present; dont dwell on the past. 

I have always said "Your past is in the past for a reason, you can't change it, but you can prevent your future". Whether you make a "bucket" list or set out to change your life, I know that good memories are much more becomming than negative ones that way you down. You grow from positivity. Negativity kills. Your choice.