While this past month was a busy one with school starting and George’s birthday, I managed to get things marked off the list!

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

2. Do a photography challenge

• FINISHED! I am still not a perfect photographer, but I definitely know that I am made some vast improvements over the past year with getting my camera out at least once a week. An added bonus is having pictures documenting George’s first year. I managed to keep up with the challenge of taking weekly photos of him! Here are some of the last pictures that I haven’t shared yet.

• I don’t think I will still get it out each week because that was somewhat of a challenge, but I think I still want to do at least once a month. I do want to challenge myself to get IN FRONT of my camera a little more this year. I have hardly any pictures of me and George.

3. Visit 5 cities I have never been to before (7/5)

4. Tour at least one a winery, brewery, or distillery

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

6. Become a “professional” photographer

7. Run at least 10 races (any distance) (4/10)

8. Go camping with Tom

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

10. See Tyrone Wells live as many times as possible

11. Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville

12. Water ski with my dad

• We went to the lake at the beginning of August to visit my dad and step-mom at their new condo down there. I was able to get up on the skis quite a bit. It was awesome! George wasn’t as fond of the lake as I was, and I am hoping that changes since I love the water. But at least he was stinking cute!

13. Do a 5K with my mom

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

• I have a lot of books on the docket. I have been doing a good job reading at least a few pages each day.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

17. Do one new recipe each month

• I did two this month.
• Chicken Noodle Casserole-This is ok. It makes a lot, but it wasn’t our favorite recipe. Tom thought it was too spicy, which isn’t saying a lot on the scale of spicy fyi. Since he didn’t really like it though, I probably won’t make it again.
• I had found a Salisbury steak recipe on Pinterest but the link is broken when I went to make it. I had already bought those ingredients so I made the actual recipe up from other salisbury steak recipes. I modeled it mostly off this one. I used 1/4 tsp of onion powder instead of an onion, and french onion soup instead of beef gravy. This was SOOOOO delicious! It is super quick and easy to make too. I am always in the search of recipes that take less than 30 minutes and aren’t pasta, so this was a huge win! So yummy! Tom and George thought it was great too!

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

• I don’t think it will happen this year, but I am excited that it’s back in action! I starting to teach George the cheers!

19. Find a place to volunteer on a regular basis

20. Go hiking

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

22. Go to at least 20 “new to me” restaurants. (28/20)

• While I was in Iowa, we went to Zombie Burger in Des Moines. Pretty delicious! I had a pretty straight forward bleu cheese burger, but they have some really creative sandwiches like one with a mac and cheese bun.

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

25. Do something unique and new for my birthdays

26. Explore Nashville while we live here

27. Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 20 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning) Movies (2/10); Documentaries (7/20)

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch

29. Do a personal devotional/bible study on my own

30. Be a mascot for an event

31. Go on our honeymoon (preferably somewhere tropical)

• Well the plan to go somewhere for our 5th anniversary next year I don’t think will work. It really isn’t practical right now to do something big and extravagant with just purchasing a house. So we have started a savings bank just for this to start putting away each month to make it more practical down the road. I’ll keep dreaming about beaches and fruity drinks in the meantime.

32. Host an annual NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship game party

33. Go on a mission trip

34. Be on a recreation volleyball team

35. Become a mom

• Little man is one! And his first word was “mama!”