30

I turned 30 over the weekend.  I have to say it was one of the most fun birthdays I have had.  Friday night my sister and I went out to dinner with some friends from high school and then went into the Old Port to have a couple of drinks.  We had so much fun just laughing and talking.  Saturday we dropped off the boys with my in laws and relaxed until we left to go to the drive in.  The drive in in Saco was playing Epic and Iron Man 3, both of which we had seen with the boys, but hadn't been able to truly see while trying to keep 2 4 year olds focused on the movie.  We picked up dinner and got popcorn and candy and stayed for both movies!  Usually when we go we only make it through one movie, but Josh took a little snooze during Epic and I dozed a bit at the end of Iron Man so we made it through!  On Sunday (my birthday) Josh had a camp training so I took the boys to the Old Port Fest for a bit with a friend, we met up with some friends there, had a cupcake, played some games and then headed home.  The boys and I hung out the rest of the afternoon and I watched a movie and ate some frozen custard that my in laws brought over for me.  It was a great birthday!

Now I am in full on move mode at home and at school.  We have been in a temporary space for this entire school year and we have to be out of it by the last day of school.  I have started packing at home, but just can't get myself motivated plus a lot of what needs to be packed can't be packed until the last minute.  We leave on Saturday and thankfully a wonderful friend is coming over this afternoon to help entertain the boys while I do some more packing and I am taking Friday off to go to the boys' end of the school year party and finish packing.  At this point I can't wait to be at camp.  I have missed all of our camp family and I am so ready to be relaxing on West Beach with my boys.

Saturday Night Musings

Life is starting to get a little crazy around here in anticipation of camp season.  I am doing a lot of hanging out with the boys while Josh is at different events for camp.  Its a stressful time of year getting ready for camp but also a great time of the year.  The weather is getting better and we can get out with the boys a lot more.  I love spring!
We went out tonight with the inlaws for dinner to celebrate Mother's Day.  I ate WAY too much!  But there is no choice but to eat a ton when we go to the Steakhouse. :)  Josh and the boys got me a patch for camp.  It says "Scout Mom."

I like it.  

It is also now less than a month until my birthday.  Not much to say about that now.  

I think thats all for now... I am watching the Hunger Games and I really love this movie! 

I suck

I am really terrible at this whole blogging thing.  I think about doing it all the time but its usually when I am working, or out with the boys or any number of things that mean I can't blog right that second.  Right now the boys are in their room "sleeping" and Josh is making phone calls for camp and I have a little bit of time so I wanted to do an update.
I am about 2 months out from my 30th birthday and while I have big plans for many of the things still on my list, some of them will not be accomplished.  There are many reasons why and I am looking at it more like a "30 before I finish 30" list at this point.  One of the main reasons some of these aren't being accomplished is because of number twenty "being financially responsible."  We have made a lot of really good choices lately, but had one major setback that influenced the list.  Josh totalled his car at the beginning of March (he is/was OK... thank you seat belts) so we had to unexpectedly go out and buy him a new car and while we were planning on doing this, we weren't planning on doing so until August so that was a setback and pushed back a few things we were planning until next fall and spring.
So here is the update on what has been accomplished:

#2: Make our own bread - CHECK!  I have not bought a loaf of bread since September (except for once when we lost power in a storm and Josh ran out and bought a bunch of stuff to make PB&Js.... and he said he didn't like store bought bread since having my bread.)

#3: Grow a garden - kinda check.... the boys and I attempted last summer and here are the results: 

Our sad little garden

marigolds? don't know... they never flowered

These beans were doing really well... until I was put in charge of them... 

I think this summer I will try bigger containers and fewer plants and hopefully one day we will be in a house for the summer and I can grow one in the ground! 

#10: Read 10 books I always thought would be uninteresting. - CHECK, I joined a book club this winter and it has been awesome.  I love all the girls involved and they pick out amazing books that I would never have found and sometimes struggle through because they just aren't my style but they definitely helped me reach this goal! 

#11: NO SODA - CHECK!  I did not have one glass of soda for the entire year of 2012.  I lost about 10 pounds from January to June just by not drinking soda (which I promptly put back on over the summer) and even now don't drink nearly as much as I used to... but if I never have to drink another iced tea again I might die a happy woman.  I still love iced tea, but its pretty much the only non soda non water option at restaurants and I appreciate being able to choose something else now when we go out! 

#20: Be financially responsible. -  We have made some big strides towards some of our goals this year and I hope that it continues. 

#21: Finish the boys' quilts. - CHECK!!!!  This one was a race to the finish to have them done in time for Christmas and I was literally sewing while playing Santa Christmas Eve night but I finished them and I am so proud of myself for doing them.  I may never sew again but here's the final result: 

Keaghan's 

Jack's

#26: Get a job I love. - check.  I do love most of my new job, and I am sure that there are parts of everyone's job they don't enjoy so I am going to call this one complete because I like this job way better than my old job! 

There are some ongoing goals that I want to check in on or goals that are coming up in the future, so here that goes: 

#1: Harry Potter World at Universal Studios Orlando. - This one is hopefully happening for next February (going with my 30 before I finish 30 theme here).  We have decided to go to Disney World with the boys and my parents next February vacation and Josh and I are hoping to take an evening and head over to Universal to visit Harry and his friends.  

#4: Get myself a nice piece of jewelry for my birthday. - I have a few ideas for this one and I have 2 months to decide! 

#5: Visit the south. - We are leaving in under two weeks to spend a week in North Topsail Beach, North Carolina.  We are staying at a scouting friend's house and are planning a day trip to Myrtle Beach, visiting a former student in Fayetteville, and having another scouting friend who lives in SC come up and visit.  Josh's best friend is coming with us and I am so excited to hang on the beach and celebrate the boys' 4th birthday down there! 

#7: Reconnect with old friends. 

                    AND

#8: Try extra hard to keep connections with loved ones. - I am still working on this one, but I suck at phone calls just as much as I suck at blogging.  Facebook definitely makes its a bit easier, but I need to work harder on making more real time connections! 

#9: Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal, from scratch, no cheating! - maybe this year? 

#12: Get into the size of clothes I wore in college. - I started this one too late to make the goal by my birthday, but I am working at it.  I have lost about 15 pounds and have made some changes to eating and work out habits so here's hoping!  I have to make another change though because I started doing 30 day shred but it absolutely killed my knees so I have to find something that can give me the same results but not kill me! 

#13: Visit Bar Harbor. - I am hoping this one can happen in the fall or next spring. 

#14: Have family photos taken. - maybe over the summer? 

#15: Buy a house. - This one might be a year or two out but I am hoping it will be accomplished in my "30 before finishing 30" list 

#16: Bring the boys to the zoo in Boston. - I might be able to make it for this one, but this might happen over the summer. 

#17: Go to Vermont- eat - another fall or spring possibility. 

#18: Paint pottery. - hoping to get this one in after we get back from NC. 

#19: Get all my girlfriends together. - I was hoping that this could happen for my birthday but apparently there is something going on in Portland that weekend and all the hotels are booked, so I am thinking maybe sometime over the summer I can plan this one. 

#22. Go camping. - This is definitely happening this summer! 

#23. Cook all of our meals at home for at least 30 days, no takeout, no fast food, all prepared by me! - Going for this one after we get back from NC.  I have not made it a full 30 days in a row because life gets in the way but I have certainly gotten better about preparing all of our meals and making things from scratch. 

#25: Take the boys fishing. - Looking up the requirements for my fishing license and if this one doesn't happen before my birthday, it definitely will over the summer. 

#27: Have a big family reunion, with both sides of my family, Mom's and Dad's. - maybe this summer?  maybe next summer? 

#28:  Take a dance class. - I am thinking I will be ready for this one in the fall. 

#29:  Keep up with our photos, make sure the ones from my mother in law get put on my computer and get them all organized. - This one probably could have gone up top in the CHECK section, but it is still ongoing and I need to get over there and get the newest batch so I will leave it here. 

#30: Have a baby? - This will not be happening before my 30th birthday... there are a few requirements and a few have been checked off the list but the big one for me is not having a newborn or being pregnant when we bring the boys to Disney World next year.  I want to be able to enjoy that time with my boys so it won't be happening until at least after next February.  

So there is the list.  Not bad for being two months out!  I wish I was checking all of them off, but I am pretty happy with the results.  I promise I will try to update more often and write about more than just the list.  

Time to start cracking!

So I have officially started a few of my 30 before 30 goals, I cut my hair to get the layers out and need to get another trim to get the last of them out in the next couple of weeks, I have not had soda ALL YEAR.... ok so we're only 9 days in... no biggie... do you know how hard it is in a restaurant to only drink iced tea or beer? ok... the beers not so difficult, but if number 12 is going to happen... then I need to not drink beer at every meal! :)
But the big one that I have been working on is the boys' quilts.  This all started when we were redecorating to recreate a "big boy room"... in our old house... before we moved in with the in laws, but the same theme will apply when they get a new room... in our new house... where only we live :).
I searched and searched for the perfect bedding that would match their current curtains that I love, plus go with the prints that we had ordered for them earlier this year ( see them here).  I couldn't find anything I really loved, that wasn't ridiculously expensive (remember... two kiddos=two beds) or ridiculously cheap (I don't mind paying for quality, because I hate replacing things every year or two because they wear out or look yucky).
So finally I caved and asked MIL to help me find a simple pattern that I could do... considering the last nine patch ended up with some 7.5 patches and all sorts of crazy not squares in it... so I wanted to simplify.  I ended up choosing the turning twenty pattern, which consists of large squares made from 3 different fabrics.  The idea is that you use 20 fat quarters and make them into your squares... since I was doing two, and I wanted some of the same fabrics in each, I am not sure how many fat quarters I used.... but I went and bought the fabric.  Then I let it sit over the summer (never a good idea for me... I still have a mirror and fabric in the attic that I bought AT LEAST 4 years ago... maybe more).
When we moved in with the in laws and I realized I would have a bit more time to sew since MIL has a sewing room all set up for herself so I wouldn't be constantly having to set up and take down my machine I started cutting:

This is the point where my friend, Krista, pointed out to me that women like us.... just aren't cut out for sewing... this is half of the pieces that I would need.... and I was dreading doing the rest... but I made my way through it and started sewing... I was so excited I again sent Krista a photo, the first square sewn: 

Yay!!

From there I sewed the squares into strips... to do this I had to set out all the squares on my bed and make sure I liked the arrangement... I don't have any pictures of this, because it was the most frustrating part and I had to walk away from it a few times before I got both of them just right... it took MIL and I moving around and shifting quite a few squares before I was happy... so once I got the strips sewn... I realized this was going to make a MASSIVE quilt... and they were going on twin sized beds... so I laid them out again... and with my faithful assistant Chloe, I decided which squares had to go... I only took photos of the finished product but here they are (with comfy kitty showing just how great they are going to be when finished) 

You can see the sticky notes I put on each first square so I could remember the order!  From there I stitched the strips together, and again with my faithful assistant Chloe (this time she's under the blankets!), I laid them out to check out my handy work

All thats left is to add the border, back it and quilt it.  I plan on "stitching in the ditch" to quilt, which means I will sew around the squares on the seams.  Here is what the backing looks like:

I will share more once I get more done, and will definitely share the finished products!

30 before 30

I have had this list written for quite a while, but figured now was the perfect time to post it and get started... 6 months before my 29th birthday and right in time for everyone's New Year's resolutions.  So here it goes, some have been borrowed from others' lists, but many are things that I personally have always wanted to do and figured it was time to just got on it and do it :)

1. Harry Potter World at Universal Studios Orlando.  This is hopefully going to be happening in October of this year with my Casey. :)
2. Make all of our own bread.  Hoping for this to happen once we get settled in our own house, my mother in laws kitchen isn't an optimal place but  I will be putting more effort into this.
3. Grow a garden.  Again, much easier when we get a house!
4. Get myself a nice piece of jewelry for my birthday.  Every girl deserves a good piece of jewelry!
5. Visit the south.  I would love to go someplace south of Washington DC, the Carolinas, Georgia, we shall see!
6. Pay for someone's meal, either in the drive thru or out at a restaurant.
7. Reconnect with old friends.  Some friends from college and high school that I have neglected and would like to get back in touch with and see where the relationship goes. :)
8. Try extra hard to keep connections with loved ones.  Even the friends that I have kept close with I wish we talked more and got together more often, I am going to make an effort to make that possible!
9. Cook an entire Thanksgiving meal, from scratch, no cheating!
10.  Read 10 books I always thought would be uninteresting... not sure what this one is going to look like but it might be biographies or a different genre.
11.  NO SODA
12. Get into the size of clothes I wore in college.  I am purposely not basing this on weight because I know that that won't be a motivator, but being able to go out and buy new clothes because my old ones don't fit will!
13.  Visit Bar Harbor, I love the whole island and would love to take the boys up there for a weekend or more!
14. Have family photos taken (hopefully after getting back into my college clothes size!)
15. Buy a house
16.  Bring the boys to the zoo in Boston.
17. Go to Vermont- eat... ok so this won't help with the smaller size, but there are so many wonderful places to eat in Vermont and I have never been ( I know... I live in Maine its only one state over)
18. Paint pottery...   So Casey and I took the boys to do this just before Christmas, but I had so much fun that I want to do it again with them... and without them!
19. Get all my girlfriends together... this one could get interesting, lol!  I would love to have all my girlies get together either at a party or out to dinner.
20. Be financially responsible.  I have a goal in mind and would like to get there in the next year and a half... it really has to do with reigning in spending and thinking about purchases.
21. Finish the boys' quilts.  I started them in September and have made some major progress but will need some major motivation to finish it in the next year and a half.  The quilting part will be the hardest part for me because I have never done it before.
22. Only get trims, no true hair cuts.  I have started this one already, I got a cut a few weeks ago to cut out the layers and will continue to just get this cut trimmed to see how long my hair will get!
23. Cook all of our meals at home for at least 30 days, no takeout, no fast food, all prepared by me!
24. Get a new laptop... I am missing the up key and the enter key is broken, so it would be nice and will hopefully work out to get myself a new MacBook Air to keep everyone updated!
25. Take the boys fishing.  I loved doing this my Dad as a kid, and we have a great place to do it camp so this should be able to happen a lot this summer.
26. Get a job I love.  I like my job, but I really want to find one that I love and fits me perfectly, may not happen in the next year and a half, but I would love to be closer to the right job for me.
27. Have a big family reunion, with both sides of my family, Mom's and Dad's.
28. Take a dance class... I loved this in high school, I need to do it again.
29. Keep up with our photos, make sure the ones from my mother in law get put on my computer and get them all organized.
30. Have a baby?  Throwing this one on here, but not sure if it will happen... the original plan had been to be done by the time I was 30 and I would like to have 3 children, so this may happen, it may happen later after we have settled in the house and accomplished a few other personal goals.

So there we have it, I will keep you all updated on the progress!