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.