35 before 35

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35 Before 35 Update

Here we are, another month passed. I didn’t do too bad considering I was on bedrest for most of the month and had a baby, which coincidentally checks one of the list.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year

  • I made a tie and beanie for George to do some pictures with. The beanie is bigger than his whole head, but the tie worked well!

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The last one makes my heart giddy.

2. Do a photography challenge

  • My goal is to do at least one mini session with George each week for a year. I have done well so far! Granted it has only been two weeks, but you have to start somewhere. It will be fun to practice different techniques and props with him and not worry about messing it up for a client. I intend to try different angles, locations, lighting, equipment, or props each time to stretch what I can do with a camera. Also selfishly, this challenge will document the growth of the most adorable little boy.

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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

  • Done.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

  • Now that George has made it out into the world, I am hoping to get back into things with this.

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

  • Unfortunately, I keep picking books that aren’t that great so I stall out. I swear I am working on it.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

17. Do one new recipe each month

  • I really rocked this out this month. I made a taco casserole, sloppy joes, and I even made up my own crockpot recipe of chicken and broccoli mac and cheese.

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. (16/20)

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 (1/10); Documentaries (5/20)

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

  • What I am a mom?!? We made a pretty cute kid.

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35 Before 35 Update

Here we are, another month later.

Let’s see how I did this month.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year

2. Do a photography challenge

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

  • Done.

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 making my way through a fun book, but I only get through about 2 pages before I fall asleep since I normally read before I go to bed. I am hoping to carve out more time once I am not working to reading outside of bedtime.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

  • I looked up the schedule for the stained glass class, but decided that being 8 months pregnant it probably isn’t best to be working with welding tools and cut glass. So I am thinking maybe this will be a good date night after George arrives.

17. Do one new recipe each month

  • We actually have done a couple. We had banana pancakes (just bananas and eggs as the ingredients) and my mom’s recipe of green chili chicken enchiladas. Both were pretty delicious! We have started meal planning so hopefully we will have at least one new one each week…hopefully. We’ll see how long it lasts.

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18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

  • Can you believe college football starts this month?!?!?

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. (16/20)

  • We went to China King Buffet, and it was so so. The commercials definitely lied when they said it was the best buffet in town.

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

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

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 3oth 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 (1/10); Documentaries (5/20)

  • I watched a few Oscar nominated films, but only one who won Best Picture. We watched Schindler’s List a couple weekends ago. I have also been making my way through the Ken Burns Civil War documentary. It is a series, so I am still counting it since I have made it through a couple episodes.

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

  • I signed paperwork for George this week for the first time. Nothing like signing your name as “parent” on hospital paperwork to make you realize this is happening.
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35 Before 35 Update

I didn’t do so hot this month…I blame it on all the travel.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year

2. Do a photography challenge

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

  • We went to Broken Arrow, OK for a wedding. Donsies!

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

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

  • Yep.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

  • My pictures were featured in a local magazine for the art auction that I did back in March. So exciting! I also did another newborn shoot a little while ago. So fun! Anyone have any photographer needs? I would love to help you out!
Glinn Photography

This kid had the best hand expressions. Loved capturing this little guy!

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

  • Done last month

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

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

17. Do one new recipe each month

  • I made another breakfast casserole. This one was so much better than my last attempt. I am not good at doing recipe posts so click here for the recipe. It was pretty good and lasted a long time since I froze half of it.

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. (15/20)

  • We went to an ice cream place called Sparky’s in Columbia, MO this past weekend. They have the most random flavors of ice cream and make everything in house. Pretty decent!

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

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

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 3oth 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 (0/10); Documentaries (4/20)

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

I know I still have a lot of time to chip away this list, so in reality I didn’t do so bad.

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Do you have any personal challenges that you are working on?

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35 before 35 Update

May went way too fast. Here is how I did this last month.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year

2. Do a photography challenge

3. Visit 5 cities I have never been to before (4/5)

  • Tom and I had a wedding in Spencer, Iowa this month. (This one was easier to do than I thought! I will have this done next month!)

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

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

  • I think I did this. I know I sent out some mail, but I cannot recall if it was 5…

6. Become a “professional” photographer

  • I did another infant shoot this last week. The family was great! Although the belly may start getting in the way of doing some things with bending over.

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

  • My mom is in town visiting this week, so she and I went this weekend. I was expecting buildings, but it was an earthworks base, meaning they basically hid in the foliage and man-made trenches. They do have a beautiful trail you can walk, which I want to take the dogs through since it is mostly shaded.

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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 just finished “Fault in Our Stars” this weekend. So good!

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

17. Do one new recipe each month

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

19. Find a place to volunteer on a regular basis

20. Go hiking

  • Tom and did some hiking around a lake back home. I am not sure if it was text book hiking, but it was a trail in the woods…

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21. Ride in a hot air balloon

22. Go to at least 20 “new to me” restaurants. (14/20)

  • I went to three this month. In Missouri, I met up with some Clemson friends in Columbia at The Fieldhouse, which is a bar and grill place. It had decent food, but the service was awful. While we were in Iowa, I met a friend and her fiance for breakfast at American Classic Cafe. They had a pretty decent breakfast, but it was your typical diner breakfast. This weekend, my mom and I tried out a little German cafe/bakery here in town called Silke’s Old World Breads. THIS WAS SO GOOD! We just got a few baked goods and Chai teas after our visit to the farmer’s market, but I will definitely be taking Tom back for a full meal. It was quaint and had the perfect atmosphere.
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Cheese Croissants. YUMMY

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

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

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 3oth 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 (0/10); Documentaries (4/20)

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch

  • I didn’t do clothing, but my mom has been guiding me through the process of making all of George’s baby bedding. It all is looking great so far! We are also making a rocking chair cover and pillows galore.
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This is his blanket only half way finished.

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

  • Only a couple more months till we meet our little guy!
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35 before 35 Update 6

Another month down! I am officially 29 now as well with celebrating my birthday this past weekend.

I am only going to comment on ones where I feel I have an update from now on.

So let’s see how I did in April.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year

2. Do a photography challenge

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

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

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

  • This is done, but postage is expensive folks!

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

  • I went to his “Closer Than Ever” tour last week. It was AH-mazing.

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 did read a fun book this month, which I will post my review soon. I picked out a Nicholas Sparks book to get me out of my rut. (Some people don’t like Sparks, but he can always get me out of a bummer book time.) I am also working on a professional development book.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

17. Do one new recipe each month

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. (11/20)

  • I went to the Rockbottom Brewery in Nashville. I think anything I would have eaten there would have tasted good because I as so hungry. We went there after the race expo, but there was a huge wait because of all the tourists. The pizza there is awesome. I also went to The Alley here in Clarksville, who makes a wicked burger. They are also really cheap so that is a double win in my book. After the half marathon, we went to Richard’s Cafe which is a small hole in the wall place outside of Nashville that has live music and awesome food.

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

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

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 3oth birthday party.

26. Explore Nashville while we live here

  • I got a huge dosage of this when I did the half marathon since it went all over Nashville.

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 (0/10); Documentaries (4/20)

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

  • I just celebrated my first Mother’s Day, even though it is odd since George isn’t here yet.