March Goal Recap

March was not a super productive month.  I was thinking back over the month to try and figure out why so I can fix it next month and I don't really have a strong answer.  I will say that we buckled down on school this month so I had no time during the day to work on projects.  I also think that my motivation dragged this month too - maybe just the season transition where everything was wet and muddy for a good portion of the month.  I hope to use spring break, the first week in April, as a little bit of a catch up time to accomplish some things I wanted to get done this month and didn't. 

With that said, here is what I did accomplish this past month: 

1. Complete 31 pages in Scrapbooking (toward my 365 total page goal) - I'm trying hard - just 9 more pages so I might have to stay up late today to finish this goal 

2. Complete February 2020 photos - Done. 

3. Complete February 2021 photos - Done

4. Complete May-June 2016 photos

5. Complete February 2011 photos

6. Take part in the March Virtual Crop

7. Order the next set of photos on April 1st - Ready to order 

8. Order the next set of album spines - Done

9. Read my books for March 

10. Complete my Decluttering tasks for April. 

11. Make my first batch of Macaroons

12. Now that the weather is turning a corner and isn't bitter cold - the basement is back on the radar!  We are planning to have some plumbing work done here soon and they need to be able to get to it HA!  So my goal for this month is to make sure that can happen. 

13. Read one chapter in my photography book and practice the skill. 

14. Pick camping dates for the summer and reserve the spots that I can  - Done (well hopefully HA) 

15. Go on one Date with Darryl - Done

16. Practice my song for recording for Christmas - the goal is page 2! 

17. Plan out the first adventure to visit a least one of the great lakes.- Done AND we visited Lake Huron

18. Update my holiday journal through Easter. 

19. Visit Flour Child Bakery since it didn't happen last month!  - Done!  We ended up with a "free Friday" as TKD was cancelled so Josh and I took off and tried it out.  Best Bagel's ever. 

20. Take boxes and bags of donation items to a donation center. - Done 

21. Set up Josh's punching bag.

22. Hang Josh's solar system

23. Set up my 52 envelopes savings plan

24. Clean out my filing cabinet

25. Organize my closet storage area/corner - Done

26. Have Darryl hang my new flag pole

27. Put up the March flags - Done

28. Plan our outside landscaping we want to do :-) 

29. Do all the "medical' visits - dentist appointments, check-ups, and even a vet appointment :-)  - Done

30.  Take our trip to where we got engaged - we go almost every year to just remember. - Done

31. Plan some fun activities/crafts for spring break.  (our friends are usually here so I like to plan a few things for fun to do so everyone isn't playing video games all day HA!)  - Well, not technically spring break as I plan to work on my goals/projects and the kids already told me all they want to do is play on their x-boxes (HA!) BUT I planned some things for Holy Week and Easter. 

32. Plan for Easter.  Done 

33. Get back to my cookbooks - make one new recipe from each of my cookbooks this month.

34. Clean the oven - a friend shared some stuff that is suppose to make the oven door look like new - I'll see if it works HA!  Hopefully on Spring break! 

2021 Week in Photos #11

 Here's a look back at our week

On Saturday we took off for the day to celebrate the 20th anniversary of when Darryl proposed.  We have tried to make a trip back to where we got engaged every year and have made it most years.  We are thankful we could go this year! 

After picking up our rental car, we drove to my old hometown so we could stop at my dad's spot.  He sure is missed every day. 

We also took time to drive past my parents house (it all still looked the same!) and to stop at the church too.  

From there, we headed to the Detroit area where we had lunch at our favorite - National Coney Island.  We always take time to drive by my old apartment where we first met before heading to Metro Beach.  

We had a beautiful day.  This is a retake of a photo I took about 5 years ago.  It's just a fun photo as we enter the park. 

Darryl re-enacted the moment :-)  

Yes, they are barefoot, standing in the water.  They did admit it was cold HA! 

After leaving Metro Beach, we headed to Sander's Candy Factory to pick out a few chocolate treats.  This vehicle was our rental car!  It was amazing to say the least!  Anyway, we drove to Port Huron so the kids could see Canada!  We love to drive and explore so this was perfect. 

This is the Blue Water Bridge that connects Port Huron to Canada.  It used to be that you could drive back and forth with ease; then 9-11 happened and you needed more documentation; then Covid-19 happened and the only vehicles driving over the bridge currently are Semi-Trucks.  

The rest of our week was busy but quiet.  The boys had well child visits and I had things to do for our co-op as far as meetings.  I felt like I ran around more this week then I have in a year!  The kids did great working on school work and actually accomplishing all of their lessons by first thing Thursday morning.  

Weekly Menu

 Another week of eating HA!  There isn't any exciting going on over the next week or two so I'm just planning on cooking some of our favorites, maybe trying a new recipe or two and maybe making a plan for summer eating so we don't eat the same thing every single week.  

Friday - It's eat out night!

Saturday - Dinner at mom's 

Sunday - It's pizza night! 

Monday - Chicken club crescents and Fries 

Tuesday - Taco's!  I had plenty of taco meat leftover from last week so I froze it to use again - makes cooking super easy for sure! 

Wednesday - Chicken Alfredo/Spaghetti, salad, french bread

Thursday - French toast sticks, sausage/bacon, manderian oranges

March Reading Goal

 

I'm running behind this month so I'm just now getting to posting my actual reading goal but, no worries I haven't started reading nay of them yet.  Don't get me wrong, I'm reading, just not these books.  

My two non-fiction books are "She's Still There' and "Ruined".  Then I have two fiction books outside of my Kindle that I want to read.  

As the weather warms up, I find it easier to read books because I love sitting outside on my swing in the sun and reading for 20 . . 30 . .. 60 minutes.  I'm hopeful that as spring arrives I can not only read the books of the month but also catch up on the ones I'm "behind" on from previous months.  

Weekly Worship - Andrew Peterson | His Heart Beats (Audio Video)

I've missed a few weeks!  I am an Andrew Peterson fan because his songs are stories and just so unique.  

2021 Week in Photos #10

 Here's a look back at the last TWO weeks (since I missed posting last week!) 

This is what most of our days look like . .. notice the cat is on Nate and the dog is next to Josh.  Just add me to the empty spot on the couch and there's school. 

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The big event last week was Nate completed his Tae Kwon Do testing and earned his brown belt.  He has worked really hard to get to this level and has big goals for black belt testing in a few years. 

Our one big event this week was St. Patrick's Day.  We had our tradational dinner and some fun with St. Patrick's Day 'stashes and glasses. 

Weekly Menu

 Welcome to another week of eating :-)  We enjoyed some of our favorite winter meals last week (and it worked out well since it got a little chilly last week and we even had a winter weather advisory  . .. that gave us not one flake of snow HA!)  This week it's more some of our simple favorites.  

Friday - We always eat out on Fridays.  I think my kid would be upset if we didn't HA!  Most weeks we get Chinese on Fridays but because we have plans on Saturday, I think we will stick close to home and try to keep our eating out budget a little lower :-) 

Saturday - We are heading out for the day to celebrate the 20th anniversary of when Darryl and I got engaged.  

Sunday - Since we can't get together with my mom on Saturday, we will gather today for dinner.

Monday - A carry over from last week - Chicken Club Crescents and Fries.

Tuesday - Taco Tuesday - we haven't done that in quite awhile! 

Wednesday - BBQ Cups, Potato Salad (I little hint at spring), and 

Thursday - Stuffed Shells, Green Beans and Garlic Bread. 

Weekly Menu

 Darryl and I both fought a little bought of some sort of intestinal bug this week - not enough to knock us out but it knocked us low.  It altered what I felt like cooking so I have a few carry overs this week.  Plus Darryl spent an afternoon/evening with his dad driving him to get his first covid shot and back home so he was gone for dinner on Thursday and I cook "easy" when he is gone!  Anyway, here's the plan for the week which includes  . .. . .St. Patrick's Day!! 

Friday - The plan is to eat out like normal.  

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's 

Sunday - Pizza (week 2 of free food on our gift card!) 

Monday - Lasagna and Garlic Bread

Tuesday - Zuppa Tuscana and French Bread

Wednesday - St. Patrick's Day!  Our traditional meal of Stuffed Cabbage, Crash Potatoes, Rainbow Jell-O Salad, and Green Pudding.  Yum!  

Thursday - Chicken club Crescent roll-ups and French fries 

Sorry I haven't posted much lately - I'm really focused on school right now so we can stay on task and finish early!  By the time I sit down at night, I'm focused on planning for the next day of school!  

2021 Week in Photos #9

Here's a look back at our week! 

Saturday - Sunday - We had a weekend away to celebrate Darryl!

One of Darryl's birthday gift was a night at a brand new hotel in downtown that we have watched be built over the last year or so.  We were on the 10th floor with an amazing view! 

We are treated to an amazing sunset! 

We ordered pizza and had it delivered - the pizza was amazing!  

This hotel is shaped like a piece of pie and sits on a super small lot - as we watched it go up we all wondered how in the world they would fit any rooms in it!  Every room has an amazing view because of the shape of the building. 

On Sunday morning we headed out and checked out a few art displays downtown.  This was one of them.  The alleyway was all set up for summer.  It was pretty cool and we love things that are outside! 

We then drove to Lake Michigan.  It's my happy place and seeing it in the winter is just as amazing as in the summer.  Above is the pier - encased in ice.  Don't worry, we did not walk on it . .. just took a photo! 

The fog was so thick!  And it was kind of drizzling.  But, it was still amazing! 

There were huge "ice burgs" breaking off and floating down the channel.  It sounded awesome. 

Monday - Friday . .. we did school :-)  Well, we finished school by Thursday and enjoyed Friday.  Josh spent the night at my mom's Thursday evening and Nate had TKD on Friday but otherwise it was a pretty quiet week. 

Weekly Menu

 Here's the plan for the coming week:

Friday - It's our weekly "order out/eat in" night :-) 

Saturday - Dinner at my mom's! 

Sunday - Pizza!  I actually won a gift card a few weeks ago to our favorite pizza place so this week and next week our dinner is free! 

Monday - Lasagna and Garlic Bread.  Lasagna is one of my favorite comfort foods but I have not made it from scratch in quite a while!  I decided that before it gets to hot for true comfort food, I'd better make it!  

Tuesday - Beef Drip sandwiches and French Fries.  This is another favorite winter meal because it simmers on the stove all afternoon and makes the kitchen feel warm and smell amazing! 

Wednesday - Zuppa Tuscana and French Bread.  So, apparently this weeks theme is: Recipes we love one more time before it gets too hot to cook HA!.  This is another one that we love! 

Thursday - Chicken Carbonara and Salad  I haven't made this pasta dish in a long, long time but it sounds just tasty so it's time to make it again! 

March Goals

Welcome to March!  February seemed really long, didn't it?  I'm not really sure why other than it was the coldest month and we had more snow in February than the whole winter combined!  I've decided to do this months goal post (get it - goal post) differently - I usually do a "bunch" instead of individually listed goals but this month it is one per number!  I feel like I have so much that I want to get done but there are a lot of random things! 

1. Complete 31 pages in Scrapbooking (toward my 365 total page goal)

2. Complete February 2020 photos

3. Complete February 2021 photos

4. Complete May-June 2016 photos

5. Complete February 2011 photos

6. Take part in the March Virtual Crop

7. Order the next set of photos on April 1st 

8. Order the next set of album spines

9. Read my books for March 

10. Complete my Decluttering tasks for April. 

11. Make my first batch of Macaroons

12. Now that the weather is turning a corner and isn't bitter cold - the basement is back on the radar!  We are planning to have some plumbing work done here soon and they need to be able to get to it HA!  So my goal for this month is to make sure that can happen. 

13. Read one chapter in my photography book and practice the skill. 

14. Pick camping dates for the summer and reserve the spots that I can

15. Go on one Date with Darryl

16. Practice my song for recording for Christmas - the goal is page 2! 

17. Plan out the first adventure to visit a least one of the great lakes.

18. Update my holiday journal through Easter. 

19. Visit Flour Child Bakery since it didn't happen last month! 

20. Take boxes and bags of donation items to a donation center. 

21. Set up Josh's punching bag.

22. Hang Josh's solar system

23. Set up my 52 envelopes savings plan

24. Clean out my filing cabinet

25. Organize my closet storage area/corner

26. Have Darryl hang my new flag pole

27. Put up the March flags

28. Plan our outside landscaping we want to do :-) 

29. Do all the "medical' visits - dentist appointments, check-ups, and even a vet appointment :-)  

30.  Take our trip to where we got engaged - we go almost every year to just remember. 

31. Plan some fun activities/crafts for spring break.  (our friends are usually here so I like to plan a few things for fun to do so everyone isn't playing video games all day HA!) 

32. Plan for Easter.  

33. Get back to my cookbooks - make one new recipe from each of my cookbooks this month.

34. Clean the oven - a friend shared some stuff that is suppose to make the oven door look like new - I'll see if it works HA! 

February Goal Recap

February slowed down . . .alot.  We really focused hard on school which meant I had less time to work on some of my goals.  I did get a lot of time to scrapbook though thanks to a few snow storms!  

1. Complete 28 pages in Scrapbooking (towards my 365 total page goal).  I actually have a list of more specific goals as well and this month the goal is to scrapbook Jan-Feb 2016, January 2020 and 2021.  I also set a plan each month of what photos to order from the other years I haven't completed yet.  (For the record, I'm hopeful to finish out this year with 2016, 2020, and 2021 completed.)  There is a virtual weekend crop in February that I'm specifically planning to use for January 2021 photos.  1) I completed Jan-April 2016 2) January 2020 is done 3) January 2021 is also done.  4) I participated in the February Virtual Crop 5) I also completed January 2011.  I feel good about what I got done! 

2. Read my FIVE books in my plan this month.  Record them in my Pinterest folder of what books I read this month.  Why 5?  Simple - I have one left from January, two pre-planned for February in the non-fiction section and then I picked up two newly released fiction books from my favorite book store (shipped for free!) that I would like to ready this month as well. Welp, there's a reason I got all the scrapbooking done - I didn't read much HA! 

3.  1000 hours outside - My goal this month is to introduce this concept to the family and actually track the time outside.  Playing in the snow, tossing a football, ect. - just track the time that is outside without over planning it.  Fail

4. Decluttering Calendar/List - The goal is to get through week 5-8 on my "52 Weeks" list.  Done! 

5. Order the Macaroon making kit on Amazon.Done! 

6. The basement - The end goal is to have a well organized, useful basement.  So, my goal this month is progress. I do have a "silent" goal of trying to do just one thing a day in the basement - it can be cleaning off a shelf, bringing up one box of things to donate, or cleaning out one bin but again, any progress is something so even if I only clean off one shelf or carry up  one box all month, that counts! February turned bitter cold which means my basement was super cold too!  So I did nothing in the basement except laundry HA! 

7. Read one chapter in my photography book and PRACTICE the skill.  Nope. 

8. Put all memorabilia in albums that are already done (I have a whole file drawer full of things that are sorted by date that need to get put in albums)  I completed 3 years worth so far and have 3 years left to do! 

9. Pick camping dates for this summer and reserve the spots I can. Not done yet

10. Go on one date with Darryl. Done

11. Practice the song I picked to record for Christmas - the goal is to learn page one. Done

12. Plan out the first adventure to visit at least one of the great lakes. Note done

13. Get some spines imprinted - I will usually be placing an order each month for pages so I'd like to order 2-3 spines depending on the year I'm ordering for at that point. Ordered 4 spines this month

14. Update my Holiday Journal with ideas from the Superbowl and Valentine's Day.  Look ahead at plans for St. Patrick's Day and Easter Done

15.  Plan something fun for Darryl's birthday as well as take the boys shopping. Done

16. Visit Flour Child Bakery - it's a bakery I follow on Facebook in a town not far from home.  I've wanted to go and buy treats but never have - this is the month to do it since it is Valentine's Month after all! Every time I planned a day to go, we got a snow storm.  HA!  Maybe in march! 

17. Take the boxes and bags of "donation" items that are currently in both vehicles and drop them off somewhere (we have a few local charities that accept donations vs. Good Will) Everything is still in the vehicles!  It was too cold to work outside! 

18. Clean out Darryl and my closet - get rid of clothes and shoes we haven't worn in years and turn all the hangers backwards (it's an organizational trick - at the end of the season, any hanger not turned around - that item needs to go!) Also organize our dresser and make a list of summer clothes we both need. Nope

19.This one is hard to measure - I need to start organizing/decluttering/setting up the "Toy/Lego Room" in the basement.  Yes, it is technically on the 52 Week list but I don't have it on there until fall.  This is kind of like the rest of the basement - I need to just start with the first bin (blocking the walkway HA!), sort it, and make a home for it.  Whether I get through one bin or 5 bins - it counts as something. Again, it's been too chilly in the basement to acomplish much 

20. Make a drive to the Lakeshore.  I love Lake Michigan.  Whether it is frozen or not - just to be near it is so peaceful and it grounds my soul and brings me peace.  Now that football is wrapping up, we will have some free time for some drives and this is one that is on my list.  (Another is to visit Michigan's Covered Bridges but we might need to start that one next month HA!) Done!  It was cold, drizzly and foggy but the lake is still my happy place! 

21.  Here are my misc. items that need to get done. A) Josh got a punching bag penguin for Christmas that we need to set up - get some sand to add as a weight and blow it up. I did get the sand but we seem to get snow storms on the weekends so hauling it outside to fill it up was not high on the list.  B) My mom made beautiful shadow boxes for each of the boys for Christmas that we need to get on the walls. Done C) Josh got a new solar system set to hang from his ceiling but he wants it measured out correctly so Darryl needs to help get that accomplished.  D) Clean the "piano corner".  I'm revamping how I store my scrapbooking stuff so that opens up that corner :-)  E) Set up my 52 envelopes of saving plan