January 11, 2015 by Stephanie

35 Before 35

Another month has come and gone. Let’s see where I stand.

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

I am still keeping up with getting the DSLR out at least once a week with George. This last month a lot of them were for Christmas and not just with George. Here are some that I haven’t shared yet.

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

4. Tour at least one of the distilleries in the KY/TN area

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

With the craziness that was December, I did not come even close to getting letters out.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

7. Run at least 10 races (any distance) (1/10)

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

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 am still in a reader’s rut personally, but I did read a book for work. I read Visible Solutions for Invisible Students: Helping Sophomores Succeed. We are looking into starting a sophomore year experience in my office, so I am spearheading a lot of the research on it. This was an ok book, but nothing that I couldn’t have found on the internet.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

I looked up some community classes, but they are super expensive here in Columbia. If they fit into my work schedule, I might take some classes at the college since my benefits cover them.

17. Do one new recipe each month

I did two this last month.
I made a funfetti cake for Tom’s birthday. That boy loves his sprinkles. It was an ok cake. Our oven racks are tilted so it affected the evenness of the baking, which I was not aware of prior to this cake. Lesson learned.
We had these chicken pot pie biscuits this last weekend. They were delicious! I hate pies so these were a perfect substitution since Tom loves pot pies. We will be making these a lot more often!

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

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. (17/20)

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

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

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 30th birthday party.

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)

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~~

January 8, 2015 by Stephanie

Movie Review: Into the Woods

I love movies.

I love musicals.

I love movie musicals.

Whenever I see one, I envision myself singing one of the main parts and dream of being dressed up and thrown on stage as a star. Reality is I cannot sing alone, and I am too much of a perfectionist to make acting work. (Seriously in the fifth grade I beat my self up for not saying the word “the” in one of my lines for a Christmas pageant. I thought the world was over because I failed so miserably.)

So I go to the show and dream and of course sing along.

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I recently saw Into the Woods over the holidays with my SIL and MIL. It was nice for us to take a break without the kids, although I realize my MIL was still with her kid…but I digress.

This was just great. It had been awhile since I sat in a theater with an ICEE in hand. This movie was just delightful.

I love many of the actors, and they did not disappoint. The design, set, costuming, all of it was very pleasing to the eye. Who knew Emily Blunt could sing?

I had never seen a production of Into the Woods before seeing the movie. I had only read the synopsis and heard some of the music. I really enjoyed the satire and humor that is infused into the plot line.

There was a woman behind us who was not pleased with the Chris Pine song. She did not get that it was supposed to be over the top acting, which made it even funnier to me.

The story is about a couple who is trying to reverse a cursed placed on their house. It follows their adventure of collecting these items that intertwine several other fairy tales together.

Seeing that I am a fan of fairy tales and things like Once Upon a Time, clearly I would like this musical.

I don’t think they messed up any fairy tales which I know many people are worried about. I like seeing how people interpret the same story differently. Did I say that I was a fan of Once Upon a Time? The way that the stories are infused are so light that it is ok when they took some liberties with the story line.

The ending kind of caught me off guard, and I was sure that it was all a rouse. (I don’t want to ruin it for you if you haven’t seen it.) I am ok with the ending, but it was just surprising how it wasn’t really your traditional fairy tale ending.

I LOVED the music. I CAN see myself playing in the band, and envision my bass parts accompanying the melody.

I really recommend this movie for any lovers of musicals or fun times. I thought it was upbeat, funny, and hits ya in all the right places.

I will note that both my MIL and SIL said that the theatrical version is better. So I would love to see it on stage sometime. I would agree that a lot of times the theatrical version is better, so I wasn’t surprised with their comments. I did see in an interview though that many parts were shot live as far as singing goes and were not dubbed over from a studio.

Also, this is all my humble opinion. When I was looking for pictures, of course I scrolled to see what others were saying. Many out there thought it was bland and had harsh things to say about it.

Granted, it was no West Side Story, but I think this movie has its place. It was a fun little film that takes a different twist on stories that we think we know. For me, it was funny and refreshing. And again, I am a sucker for all things musical.

This review is my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

Did you see any movies over the holidays? Have you seen Into the Woods?

January 7, 2015 by Stephanie

Fit for Me Week 1

Week 1 out of 52: done.

A year doesn’t look so ridiculous when you count down by week.

What I did last week:

Saturday-Ran for 30 minutes on treadmill [My legs are still sore from this. I don’t even remember the last time I ran like that. It was a good run but awful at the same time.]

Sunday-45 minutes of yoga

Monday-30 minutes of cardio on the Wii [I have a video game-Fit Coach-that you can personalize your workout. It keeps up with your progress too. It doesn’t have the best weight/strength training, but it has really decent cardio and yoga. I don’t think I have had the same workout twice in the 5 years I have used it.]

Tuesday-30 minutes of yoga

Impressed by:

I am impressed with myself for actually getting up at 4:45 this week to make a workout happen. I am also impressed that I ran as much as I did for that 30 minutes considering it has been close to a year since I have gone on a good run.

Struggled with:

Getting up at 4:45am. I DO NOT wake up quickly. I know I am not a morning workout person, but it really seems like the only time I am able to get some time in besides the weekend. I know my workouts aren’t the best when I work out this early because I usually am still waking up when I am driving to work. It is all a process for me and one where I prefer not to be carrying weights or doing jumping jacks. I was cranky pants every morning.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

Since my goal was to workout at least 3 times, I would say I hit that one out of the park.

What is my goal for next week?

I want to figure out a better schedule. I know it takes time to get used to new things, but I have tried soooo many times to make morning workouts work. THEY NEVER WORK. For me at least. Half the time, I use the plank/cobra/anything-that-is-remotely-close-to-lying position as an excuse to lay my head on the floor and fall back asleep…So since I am being self-aware, I need to find a way to make working out after work do. Tom and I are figuring out a new schedule so that both of us can get what we need and not have to wake up before 5.

Fitness Thoughts:

It is hard to make this [working out] a priority with schedules of today. Work and family take precedence, and there is little or no time to exercise. Tom and I talked the other night that if both of us worked out for an hour in the evenings (assuming it is not at the same time since one of us needs to be with George), we would not see each other until 7, but really closer to 8 if you include travel time, which is when we are gearing up to put little one down for the night. I think this is why often it seems like a chore to people. I need to remember to make it fun. Hence why having it at 4:45 am is not a good idea for me. That is not fun.

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Or getting out of my sweet sweet bed.

Do you do early morning workouts? How do you get motivated to get to a workout?

January 6, 2015 by Stephanie

Crochet Wavy Baby Blanket

My niece wanted to model off the blanket. She also insisted on taking my scrap yarn for a necklace.

I recently made this blanket for my cousin who is due any day now with her baby boy. There have been three babies (hers included) in the last year on my dad’s side. So many great-grandbabies for my grandparents!

I had been avoiding chevron patterns for a long time because every one that I had seen seemed really complicated. This one is more wavy than chevron but it is pretty close.

I used Vanna White yarn. Did you know that Vanna had her own yarn line? It is not traditional baby yarn, but it was hard to find these colors in traditional baby style. It is still soft in my opinion. I used two skeins of each color.

I used this video as my guide. I am really loving using Youtube for patterns!

I really loved how it turned out, and it was really easy unlike many other chevron patterns I have attempted.

I have another blanket I need to make for another bundle of joy maybe arriving on my birthday. I also have some other blanket projects up my sleeve. Time to put to use that gallon trash bag of yarn we moved. (Yes this is true life.)

Any good patterns you would like to see me try?

January 2, 2015 by Stephanie

Hitting Thirty

There is something about 30 that seems so adult.

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It is appropriate that the year that we (Tom and I) turn thirty is when every thing came together for us as adults.

Today is Tom’s birthday.

My Tough Guy

He has the job of his dreams.

He has a miracle baby.

I am a pretty good catch if I may say so.

Yep his adult life is pretty good.

I think that his 30th year is going to be his best yet!

Tom, here are some things to consider now that you are in your thirties.

I am so proud of my hubster and all that he has been through to get him to where he is today.

I hope that he has the best day. (He will say it is pretty awesome. They are at the gun range all day at his job, and we will end it at a Mexican restaurant tonight.)

Our family pitched in to give him an Xbox one for Christmas and birthday, but I wanted to do something from just me too.

And who doesn’t love celebrating birthdays but also extending it into a birthday week (or in this case 10 days)? I saw a lot of people do 12 days of Christmas with their families, and I thought it would be easy to do something similar for his birthday.

I have 10 days worth of gifts. If you want to see what he gets, I will post the goods once he opens them on Instagram.

Here is today’s gift.

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