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.  

Progress

Things have been busy around here... Josh has been working a lot for camp starting to get things going for this summer,  so I have been home a lot with the boys.  This past week was school vacation for us and the boys so we went to Manchester to try and get some family photos done, using a Groupon I bought earlier this year.  I made the appointment for Monday, not thinking that it was a holiday.  It was SOOO busy, it was a little rushed and the boys just weren't ready to warm up to a new person taking their photos that quickly.. so it didn't work out... so family photos another time!!
Then Josh had to go and work at winter camp so it was just me and the boys.  We decided to check out the Children's Museum of New Hampshire... we had a fantastic time and when Daddy came home the next day, he took the boys back again!

On a more 30 before 30 focus (aside from the family photos) I ordered 3 pairs of pants in a smaller size!  Getting there on my goal of getting back into the college size.  I have been watching portions, staying away from snacks, and still haven't had a drop of soda since the beginning of January!
I have also been working on the boys' quilts.  I started to work on the border and hated it... here's a couple pictures to show you what it looked like:

I didn't like the colors around the border... I was just feeling like it took away from the center squares and couldn't get them to line up correctly.... so I took a little run to Marden's to pick up something I thought would work better.  And it did.  Here's the new border: 

I love it!  So this past week, in any minute I could find that Josh was home with the boys, I worked on finishing up the backing and the middle flannel piece.  All I have left to do is quilt it and bind it... that may take me a while since I have never done that before, but I think I'm ready for it!  

In other news, we are gearing up for the boys' birthday party which will be happening in just one short month and a half.  They have decided they want a Thomas party now and so I have been scouring the internet trying to find all things Thomas and birthday!   Look for more details once we get closer! 

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!

My new way to drive myself crazy

When the boys were born we had a great nursery for them with matching cribs, matching bedding, fun colorful furniture and awesome prints on the wall.  It was very neutral and not too babyish.  Now that they are toddlers and sleeping in real beds, I wanted to find them the best bedding to match what we already had for them.  Their curtains could transfer over, as well as most of the furniture and some of the decorations.  Plus we ordered these awesome prints from Etsy that have song lyrics and they look a little like this but different colors:

So I wanted to find the perfect bedding to go on their new twin beds that they would be moving into when we got home from camp (more on what happened to burst that bubble later).  I looked at Pottery Barn, I looked at Land of Nod, Target, Macy's, JC Penney... I looked everywhere, I even looked at Walmart... I hate Walmart. 

I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, in the right colors or size... so I decided I would do it myself.  Why not?  It can't be that difficult to make a blanket right?  I had done it once before, it hadn't been perfect, but it serves its purpose... I decided I was going to do a Turning Twenty pattern... how hard could it be, its just squares sewn together right? So I went to JoAnn's Fabrics and bought a bunch of fat quarters and half yards to get myself started... realized I needed a whole lot more and went to Marden's... and realized I needed still more and went back to Marden's... At this point I have all the squares cut, and have started sewing... so far I feel like it is going well, and I will show you when it is done, as long as it gets done!  

It will be interesting to see what happens once I get all the squares sewn and have to start sewing them together, because I honestly have a hard time sewing in a straight line, and I want these to come out really well so that the boys will be able to enjoy them for a long time.