New Number 5

Seeing as how the season for dress boots is just about over (everything I'm seeing now is strappy and spring-y), I think I'll cross this off my list and hope for next year. I did find a pair I believe would fit, but at the time I didn't have the money to buy them. Now I do, but we're using the money to pay off our credit card instead. Damn being responsible.

So, I will remove the old number 5 from my list and replace it with a new one.

New #5: Learn to Crochet.

Someone's in the Kitchen

Okay, I finally get to check another item off my list. Last week a friend invited me out to lunch and she was going to - guess where! - Someone's in the Kitchen. So I gladly accepted her offer and on Thursday we had girls' lunch. I ordered homemade baked mac and cheese with Tillamook cheese sauce, spinach, green onions and bread crumbs on top. Delicious! My friend ordered their rice bowl, which comes with a "surprise" curry (you never know what kind they made that day). The ambiance is lovely and I definitely want to go back and try some more from the tantalizing menu.


So, I can cross Number 4 off my list: Try "Someone's in the Kitchen."

New #4: Finish Kayla's First Year scrapbook.

Two Years Later

Wow. It has really honestly been over two years since I did anything with this blog and it's both understandable and irritating to me. What's also annoying is that in two years I can only cross off one of my Five...though perhaps it makes things a bit better since I can cross it off THREE TIMES.

I successfully pulled off two nights of our church's living nativity in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and have plans for 2011 already. It was a headache, but 2010 was a million times better than 2008, so I can only imagine what joy 2011 will bring...along with the stress.

Just a few weeks after the last post on this blog Jason and I found out we were pregnant. Kayla, our daughter, is now nearly 18 months old, and is the most beautiful little girl on the planet. In 2009 we used her as Baby Jesus in the nativity scene...and she slept through ALL FOUR HOURS over the course of the two nights. She was a gem, and it was wonderful to have a live baby in the stable scene.


Since it has been two years since I've posted, I think I reserve the right to revamp my Five. So we'll check off number five:

Old #5: Successfully pull off two nights of my church's living nativity. CHECK!

And now we will create a new Five, though I'm going to leave my #1 very close to what it is now, because that is actually a short-term goal I've set for myself in the new year.

New #1: Paint my kitchen.
New #2: Get my house on the market (again).
New #3: File the pile on our computer desk (it's probably as old as this blog).
New #4: Try "Someone's In the Kitchen" (a vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Walla Walla)
New #5: Buy over-the-calf dress boots that fit.

And off we go into 2011!

#5: Order Christmas Cards & Labels

Well, not only have I ordered the cards and labels, but I have signed the cards, addressed and sealed the envelopes, and mailed the overseas cards. Jason helped, and it is always a fun part of the holiday season. I'm just waiting on a few more addresses, and then we need to buy a bunch of stamps. I love this time of year! Now if only my other four "Top Five" would go this quickly...

For my new number 5, I think I'm going to have something about the living nativity I'm putting together for my church. It's due to open in two weeks (as of tonight!), and I'm terrified and excited all at the same time. And when I say that I'm putting it together, I mean it. I'm doing everything except costumes, which another church member agreed to be in charge of. EVERYTHING else is me. Please pray!

Old #5: Order Christmas cards & labels - CHECK!

New #5: Successfully present two evenings of a living nativity at my church.

Catching Up

It's been over 4 months since I last posted. Not surprisingly, in that amount of time I've completed three more of my next five. Unfortunately, I don't have photos for all of them, but I can supply one for interest's sake.

The ones I've completed are:

#2: Try mushrooms in 3 new recipes. I did, and I didn't like them in any of the three. Which is unfortunate, but it's the truth. Now I can truly say I've given the awful fungi a fair shot, and I don't have to like them.

#3: Make plans and reservations for our New England vacation this fall. Well, it IS this fall, and our trip was over a month ago. I actually had the entire vacation planned as far as routes and hotels, including a couple of coupons for restaurants. Everything was neatly printed, hole-punched, and organized in a binder, with a cover page for our road trip around New England. I had maps with directions between destinations, our reservation confirmations, the restaurant discount coupons, and our flight information. I was so proud of myself!

#5: Give a lesson to someone in how to play steel drums. This happened a VERY long time ago...I think shortly after I posted that blog in June. I did have a picture of this taken, but it wasn't on my camera, and I never managed to secure a copy. I gave an hour-long lesson to my friend Bridget, who has always wanted to play the steel drums, but has never been given the opportunity. I promised I'd give her another lesson when she returns from South America where she is currently serving as a student missionary. She did well, by the way.

Below is a photo from our trip to New England.


That's Jason and I at Fenway Park in Boston (home of the Red Sox). We're standing on the famous Green Monster on our $12 tour of the stadium, which was well worth it.

So, since I've used 3 of my next five, I need three new ones. Here we go:

Old #2: Try mushrooms in 3 new recipes. CHECK!

New #2: Get our garden boxes built.

Old #3:Make plans/reservations for our NE vacation. CHECK!

New #3: Replace at least 2 windows in our house.

Old #5: Give someone a lesson on steel drums. CHECK!

New #5: Order Christmas cards and address labels for mailing them.

A Big Day!

I have completed three of my next five, and now have the challenge of coming up with three new ones. Here's what I've accomplished:

#2: Create an exercise and better eating plan and stick with it for two weeks. Today marks two weeks since I began my exercise plan at Curves for Women. I've also been avoiding desserts (except one on the weekend as a treat), eating less dairy, and trying to limit my portions. I've also been attempting to include more fruit and vegetables in my diet and fewer sodium-rich products. So far, I think I'm doing well - not perfect, but well. I feel so much better about myself already, and I'm looking forward to the 15th of June, which is my next measuring day after my initial startup at Curves. (Scary, but exciting!)

#4: No ice cream until June 1. I did it! It was SOOOO hard, because ice cream is my favourite dessert, but I did it. My most challenging moments were when I visited my parents over Memorial Day weekend (they stocked up on ice cream while we were there), and then when Jason and I had a French fry craving and satisfied it at Dairy Queen. Oh I longed for a Blizzard! But I was strong. And to celebrate, on June 1 I DID go to DQ and ordered a small Blizzard. Strangely enough, it didn't taste as amazing as I expected it to.

#5: Research freelance writing and copy editing. This I have done. And, to make this post even more incredible than it already is, I already have my first freelance job! I am writing an article for Amistad International for their 2008 newsletter. I might also be doing some copy editing for them. Secondly, a librarian I know (no, it's not my husband) is in chairing a committee that is producing an instructional book on how to set up a library, and I have put in a bid for copy editing it. Unfortunately, it has to be written before it can be edited, so it may be a while in coming to me. That's fine; I will wait. So recently I met with a communications professor who has been doing freelance editing for quite a while, and she gave me some great tips on getting started and reporting income for tax purposes, and how to charge clients, etc. It was very helpful, and I think I finally have my foot in the door for freelancing. Now to get the rest of me through the door...

So...numbers 2, 4, and 5 - exercise and eat better, no ice cream until June 1, and researching freelance work: CHECK!

New #2: Try mushrooms in 3 different recipes. (Note: I notoriously hate mushrooms. But I'm trying to branch out and be adventurous.)

New #4: Get in contact with at least 2 classmates I haven't heard from in several years.

New #5: Give someone a lesson in how to play steel drums.

#2: Figure Out Where to Plant a Garden

Well, we've finally scoped out a spot and made some plans for a garden. NOW is the time to be planting, but that's not happening because...there's a 40-foot pine tree in the middle of our future garden.

I've called a local tree company for an estimate, but have yet to receive a reply. (My first request was left in a pocket and discovered a week later in the employee's dryer.) So I'm patiently waiting for the estimate...but probably only "patiently" because I have so many other things to do.

Anyway, I'd post a photo of the spot, but my camera is (still) in the shop...another call for which I wait patiently.

The point is that we now know where our garden is going to go, and we just have to get it started. I'll post photos as soon as I get my camera back.

Old #2: Figure out where to plant a garden - CHECK!
New #2: Create an exercise and better eating plan and stick with it for two weeks. (Baby steps, ya know!)