Wednesday, January 29, 2014

101 Things in 1001 Days: #70 - Complete 3 fitness challenges from Pinterest


When I am in my gym routine you can find me on the elliptical just about anytime day or night. The thing I lack sense joining a new gym is strength training. I hate exploring new gyms and trying to find the machines I want so I gravitate towards cardio and very rarely (unless I have a gym buddy) do I venture anywhere else. This has left me with one problem, my tummy. I can run my little heart out but it will never make my tummy firm. (Although it does help keep it flat!) So following the 101 things in 1001 days I am going to choose my first fitness challenge from Pinterest that will hopefully (cross your fingers) firm up my tummy. Tomorrow is the day I will begin the:

30 Day Abs Challenge

 
I will be posting a follow up after I complete this challenge (February 28th) and will be including a before and after picture. (cringe)

Let’s see if these things really work!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

101 Things in 1001 Days: #26 - Add 50 New Amazing Recipes to My Recipe Book & #28 - Make 25 recipes out of my cookbook collection

 
Beef & Bean Taquitos
(Budget Bytes Cookbook by Beth Moncel)
 
 I have come down with a nasty cold and to cheer me up Joe picked up one of the cookbooks I have been waiting for. I follow budgetbytes.com closely and am happy to have am advanced copy of her first cookbook. When I am sick I am known to crave some pretty weird things. Tonight I had a taste for some taquitos so I headed into the kitchen. New cookbook in hand I created some pretty amazing homemade taquitos. This recipe can be a little tricky and a pain to get the taquitos to stay rolled but if you have the time and patience I urge you to give this a try.


Also, don't forget to pick the new Budget Bytes cookbook it is amazing!

#26 - Add 50 new amazing recipes to my recipe book
4% Complete
 
#28 - Make 25 recipes out of my cookbook collection
4% Complete
 


Thursday, January 23, 2014

New Years & 1st Visitor of 2014

I know I am a bit behind schedule but...

Happy 2014!

This year we had the pleasure of Joe’s brother visiting us over New Years. We spent New Year’s with some great friends and had nice quiet night in.  Joe’ brother was planning on staying for a little less than a week but the weather had other plans. The day before he was scheduled to fly out his flight got canceled with no reschedule date. He attempted to contact the airline with no luck. The airline finally contacted him 24 hours later and rescheduled him to fly out in three days. It really worked out in our favor because we got three more days to visit and just hang out. I also got my 1st ever snow day! The boys did explore the city together but because we had just gotten home I choose to opt out and let them have some male bonding time while I unpacked and got the house together.


 I hope everyone had an amazing Holiday season and got to ring in the New Year with the ones they love.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

101 Things in 1001 Days: #26 - Add 50 New Amazing Recipes to My Recipe Book


Shepard's Pie

A quick easy dinner to throw together and enjoy in less than 60 minutes. This dish is one of my husband's all-time favorites so I was determined to find a great recipe. The recipe was found on AllRecipes.com and was tweaked just a tad by yours truly. It did not seem all that appealing to me at first but I have to say it was surprisingly tasty! Try it for yourself and let me know...


1 recipe down and 49 to go!

#26 - Add 50 new amazing recipes to my recipe book
2% Complete

Monday, January 20, 2014

The Gap Winter Clearance

I received a $40 Gap giftcard for Christmas and  was waiting for just the right moment to cash it in. I got an email this morning informing me that The Gap was having a one day sale. I spent about a hour browsing and actually found it difficult to spend the full forty dollars. Here is the result of the bargain hunting:
 
 
All for:
 
I have to say that this was a successful day of bargain shopping!


Friday, January 17, 2014

Friday Favorites: Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies


In my married life I enjoying baking and cooking for the two of us. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a recipe turns out wrong or doesn’t taste as I thought it would. Before I even step foot in the kitchen I take the time to research online any recipe I am thinking about making. When it comes to baking I will type in any type of cookie/cake/pastry that sounds good to me at that moment and begin shifting through the results. I really rely on comments ad reviews from other bakers/cooks. I try to read the good bad AND ugly so I know if I need to adjust the recipe in any way. While trying to find the next hidden gem to add to my recipe book I came across a recipe for Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. My husband is not into rich sweets but I can’t get enough so I decided to try them out. This recipe is now my go-to if I am having a major chocolate craving. BEWARE: This recipe makes a million cookies and they are addicting. (I usually eat two and take the rest to work) Recently my skin has been having harsh reactions to chocolate so I thought I would share the recipe and let someone else indulge.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

101 Things in 1001 Days


Most bloggers have started their lists in previous years but I was inspired. 
What a fun way to motivate yourself to do things you already wanted to achieve.
Here I am bringing up the rear with my 101 Things in 1001 Days list.

Started Date: January 16th 2014
End Date: October 13th 2016

Married Life & Home Life
1.       Start a family
2.       Renew vows at our church so our marriage is recognized by the church
3.       Purchase a new bed and bed frame
4.       Finish decorating our apartment
5.       Purchase extra seating for living room (recliner or love seat)
6.       Go to church 20 times
7.       Purchase two new sets of blinds to match the new one
8.       Wash dishes and have a clean sink for two weeks straight
9.       Get my husband’s Family Crest made into a pendant for his necklace
10.   Give the same pendant for my brother-in-laws 25th birthday
11.   Have 10 outdoorsy dates during summer
12.   Purchase a new Bedding Set
13.   Take a romantic weekend away
14.   Get all of our paperwork organized
15.   Organize the storage closet

Finances
16.   Be debt free
17.   Pay off the Corvette (Step to complete #1)
18.   Have $20,000 liquid savings in the back
19.   Have $10,000 in my new 401K
20.   Spend any overtime income – 1/3 Cash - 1/3 Debt - 1/3 Savings – for one year
21.   Put $1,000 into savings in one month
22.   Do not purchase any clothing for three months

Hobbies
23.   Be up to date with my scrapbooking 2012-current
24.   Increase my book reading challenge every year
25.   Read all the books on my book shelf
26.   Add 50 new amazing recipes to my recipe book
27.   Make a cake that tastes great and looks great
28.   Make 25 recipes out of my cookbook collection
29.   Read all the Harry Potter Books
30.   Purchase a professional camera
31.   Blog at least 10 times a month for a full year
32.   Only use good quality pictures on my blog for a full year
33.   Finish Madison’s Quilt
34.   Cook Thanksgiving Day Dinner
35.   Make 3 recipes from Pinterest
36.   Create 3 DIY crafty items from Pinterest
37.   Complete outline for my book
38.   Start writing my book
39.   Make 5 new flavors of ice cream
40.   Purchase a Cast Iron Skillet
41.   Create a watermark for my photos
42.   Acquire 25+ followers on my blog/bloglovin

Adventure & Travel
43.   3rd visit to Aruba
44.   Visit 5 new cities
45.   Have a vacation somewhere new outside of the U.S.
46.   Visit home twice during summer
47.   Visit Katherine in Texas/Seattle
48.   Go on a cruise
49.   Go to the beach 5 times in NY or NJ
50.   Visit home 5 times
51.   Have 10 family members visit
52.   Have 10 friends visit
53.   Purchase 3 adventures form Groupon/Livingsocial
54.   Go camping
55.   Go snowmobiling
56.   Go to Niagara Falls
57.   Go to a Aquarium

Personal & Fitness
58.   Go to the gym 100 times
59.   Get fit and keep fit for a whole year
60.   Give up alcohol for Lent
61.   Give up chocolate for Lent
62.   Run for 60mins without stopping on the elliptical
63.   Run for 90mins without stopping on the elliptical
64.   Go to the gym three times a week for three months straight
65.   Get a new tattoo
66.   Find three new hiking trails around my house
67.   Go on a hike 20 times
68.   Juice 15 times in one month
69.   Prepare a weeks’ worth of lunches every week for a month
70.   Complete 3 fitness challenges from Pinterest

Work & Education
71.   Get into a four year school
72.   Be on track to graduate within one year
73.   Complete 2 full years at my new job
74.   Get 2 raises
75.   Change my major to Accounting
76.   Work 100 hours of overtime

Fashion & Beauty
77.   Put energy into my work outfits for one month straight
78.   Wear a dress during summer 25 times
79.   Learn 5 new hairstyles
80.   Using the new hairstyles, style your hair 20 times
81.   Keep 10 items from Stitch Fix Boxes
82.   Wear each Stitch Fix item 20 times
83.   Learn 5 new makeup techniques
84.   Use the new makeup techniques 10 times

Random
85.   Spend a white Christmas with my family here in New York
86.   Have a garage sale
87.   Repair the Audi to 100%
88.   Buy my LV purse
89.   Use our Fondue Set
90.   Use our Pressure Cooker
91.   Use our Mini Pie Maker
92.   Use our Food Processor
93.   Send out birthday cards to family & friends for a full year
  
New York Living
94.   Visit the Empire State Building
95.   Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
96.   Have pizza at my Husbands favorite pizza place in Brooklyn
97.   Explore Central Park
98.   Go to the Central Park Zoo
99.   See a Broadway show
100. Go to Coney Island
101. Visit 5 other New York landmarks/attractions