February 2014 {101 in 1001 Update}

February 2014 -- 101 in 1001 Update

Our Goals

1. Add a member to our family.
2. Pay off all student loans. 

3. Visit NYC. 

4. Take a long road trip. 

5. Sell something on Etsy  

6. Have Dad's Crawfish in Louisiana.  

7. Take a trip to Louisiana at least once a year. (3/3)  

8. Host a holiday in our home. 

9. Go camping.

10. Build a real fire.   

11. Rent or buy a house. 

12. Decorate the outside of a house for Christmas.   

13. Stay at or Visit the Biltmore. 

14. Serve in a soup kitchen. 

15. Grow our own tomatoes.

16. ******* 

17. Give an item away each time we buy something new (clothing, housewares, etc).  

18. Go on dates at least every other week.  

19. Complete a blog series together.

20. For one month, don't buy anything extra. 

21. Contact our family members/parents at least once a week.

22. Go to a shooting range. 

23. Go sailing.

24. Get involved in a community service group.

25. Go on a mission trip.

26. Read at least one book a month for a year. (12/12)

27. Start a small business. 

29. Buy a new Christmas ornament each year. (2/3) 

30. Get a massage.  

31. Send a card to a friend or family member just for fun. 

32. Begin a photography business (big or small).  

33. Eat at a local/non-chain restaurant every time we travel. 

34. Visit a new place together once a year. (2/3)

35. Ride in a hot air balloon.  

36. Attend at least one festival a year in the state where we live. (2/3) (2012: Spring Fest, 2013: BBQ Fest)

37. Stay at a B&B. 

38. Floss more- at least once a week. 

39. Give a 100% tip. 

40. Go see a musical. 

41. Eat a new type of food. (Korean, African, etc)

42. Repurpose a piece of furniture. 

43. Watch a sunrise and photograph it. 

44. Explore secret paths.

45. Do something nice for someone anonymously. 

46. Pick fruit at an orchard.  

47. Get a library card. 

48. Go to a garage sale together. 

49. Celebrate our Golden Birthdays in style!  

50. Make homemade ice cream. 

51. Learn a new hobby together.

Leslie's Goals

52. Lose my desired amount of weight.  

53. Continue to utilize this blog to document our lives especially once we start having children. 

54. Get a Skype account and use it. 

55. Paint something worth looking at (not just a wall)  

56. Add at least one cross to my cross collection. 

57. Learn to make the best sweet tea my husband has ever tasted. 

58. Make homemade marshmallows.  

59. Sell/Give away at least one cake or cupcakes that I've decorated for a party/gathering/birthday/etc.

60. Plan a scavenger hunt for Matt. 

61. Bake and decorate each of Matt's birthday cakes. (2/3) 

62. Rake someone's leaves.

63. Meet up with at least one other blogger whose blog I read. 

64. Complete a blog series or post about our wedding, including the planning. Just for my own sake :) 

65. Continue mailing out birthday and anniversary cards to our friends and family. 

66. Invite someone to stay with us for a weekend or longer at least once a year. (2/3)

67. Complete a vlog.

68. Go fishing.

69. Make a point to call my closest friends as often as possible, not just texting. 

70. Take a continuing education class related to Autism or other childhood disorders.  

71. Find a yummy Low Country Boil recipe and cook it. 

72. Take at least one picture of Matt and I every time we travel.

73. When we take a long trip (5+ hours one way), drive so that Matt doesn't have to. 

74. Take a trip to visit a few special friends (we know who they are).   

75. Take a cake decorating class. 

76. Read a book, write a blog post about it, and link up with a book club blog.

Matt's Goals

77. Run a 5k. 

78. Take a photography class. 

79. Take Leslie to an air show. 

80. Make a picture frame out of an old or hand-made window frame.  

81. Go to a college football game.

82. Get a dog.  
83. Get a new camera lens.  

84. Make my wife cry in a good/romantic/sweet/you get the idea way. 

85. Give Leslie a love letter at least once a month for a year.  

86. Visit Chimney Rock, N.C. 

87. Wear a suit, and look good doing it. ;) 

88. Visit a new, to me, zoo. 

89. Watch the Flyers destroy the Hurricanes in Raleigh (hopefully with Leslie).  

90. Fix something for someone.  

91. Cook something new and exciting. 

92. Swim in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

93. Make something from scratch. 

94. Do something with Granddad. 

95. Journal more often.

96. Learn all the words to OR learn how to play one of Leslie's "high school days" favorite rap songs.

97. Teach something to someone.

98. Ride a horse.

99. Surprise Leslie with surprises.  

100. Spend an entire day, literally the entire day, in bed. Hopefully not while sick. 

101. Figure out how we will finish all 101 things on this list. 

Ours: 32/51 // Leslie: 17/25 // Matt: 19/25 // Total: 69/101

The Sunshine Award

Dawn from Sunshine of Mine tagged me for the Sunshine Award recently. It's just a fun little blog thing.
I'll share 11 random things about myself and then answer Dawn's fun questions! :)

1. I can say the alphabet backwards.

2. Matt and I plan for all of our children to have the initials MMM and all boys will have the same middle name, same with the girls.

3. I used to throw the shot-put in high school.

4. My 21st birthday was on the same day that Hurricane Katrina hit.

5. Matt and I were married on 1/1/11 at 1:11pm and Mason was born on 11/1/14.

6. I love to read and had gotten away from it in the last few years then I started reviewing books for the blog and it renewed my excitement for reading and I've been reading more and more!

7. I moved away from home on 1/14/07 (7 years ago). Since then I've lived in Monore, LA, Birmingham and Montgomery, AL, and Spartanburg, SC.

8. I had never dated anyone until Matt and I began dating/courting. Nor had I kissed anyone.

9. We didn't say "I love you" until the day we got engaged and we didn't kiss until our wedding.

10. In college, I considered being an Occupational Therapist, Teacher and then decided on Speech Language Pathology after a family I babysat for said I might like it. They were right.

11. Matt and I don't have cable. We love watching TV shows on our iPad though. :)

Dawn's Questions:

1. What's your favorite thing to do on a Saturday?
Well, if it happens to be a Saturday that my husband has off, we will usually spend the day together as a family doing something fun. If I'm home with Mason and Matt is working, I will play with Mason and when he naps, I'll usually nap too or read a good book.

2. Where is your favorite place to shop?
Lately, I've been shopping at Target a good bit. We received some gift cards for Mason as well as for me, so it's a "free" place to shop right now! :)

3. What is your favorite childhood memory?
Hmm, this is a hard question. I guess my most prominent memories (at least for today) revolve around my grandparents.

4. Would you rather cook or eat out? 
Cook...95% of the time!

5. What is something you have learned being a mom that you didn't expect?
Some people just don't know when to not give advice! :)

6. If you had an unlimited budget to spend on a vacation, where would you go?
This year, New York City!

7. What is your favorite book?
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

8. What is the best thing about your hometown?
The local donut shop ;-)
and the fact that my family and childhood friends are there

9. Do you prefer a small town or big city?
Actually, kind of in between. Not too small, not too big

10. If you had $1000 to spend on anything, what would it be?
Right now, I'd probably put it in a savings fund for a bigger car one day.

11. What are your favorite blogs?
Blue Eyed Bride
Life in the Green House
Pursuit of Pink
Sunshine of Mine (duh!)
A Blonde Ambition
and soooo many more!

Thanks, Dawn!