Goals: Around the House

One of my perennial goals is to hang family pictures in our home.  When we first moved into this house ten years ago this week, I was stuck.  I wanted to badly to have this house feel like home, and yet we had just gone through the psychological trauma of de-personalizing our old home so that we could sell it.  I was afraid of nails!

I have improved over the years, and there are a couple of places in our home where I have put up a gallery wall.  Command adhesive strips have really helped--if I want to move the pictures, they don't leave any holes in the wall!

Last summer (as in 2014) we finished our basement.  We had some shelves built into one wall, and last year, I put in most of these pictures.

 

 It was a good start, but other than that, the walls were left blank.

 

And that's a lotta wall space!

 

On our California trip, I brought home cards to frame as souvenirs.  Once we got home, I chose some pictures and ordered enlargements from Snapfish.  I have used Snapfish since back when I used film in my camera--I have pictures from when my son was born on their cloud.  (That son just turned 12 over the weekend.)  And then I took advantage of all of the great coupons at Joann and Michael's last weekend.  And today I used every last command strip in the house for this--the start of our new basement gallery wall.

 

Here is how it looks next to the bookcase.  There is plenty of room to the left of the frames to add on as we go.  We have many years of past vacations I can add.  In fact, I ordered some prints from our 2014 vacation just today.

 

I am learning that "slow and steady" is the way to go when making a house into a home!

Goals Update from June

I know I'm a broken record, but I can't believe another month has already finished!

As you scroll through the post, you can see that I am taking pictures...I just haven't had any printed out in a while.  There's a summer project for me!

Fitness:  Not happening at the gym, at least for the summer.  I am going to be content with walking the dog around the neighborhood for now.

 Reading/blurbing:  still going strong.  Will post the blurbs around the 15th.

New Recipes:  Totally nailed this one.  Here's what we tried new:
Chicken Francaise (epicurious): the restaurant favorite, just as good at home
Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken (Dinner A Love Story): going into the rotation.  Actually just going to start putting yogurt on everything because it's so tasty, but I digress.

 Fried chicken with Spicy Raspberry Honey (Good Housekeeping): I don't usually love raspberries, but this spicy honey was the bomb.
Ice Box Cake (Good Housekeeping): it's a dessert, but it was so pretty!  Definitely too big for just us.  It's a showstopper for a party, though.

 Strawberry and Arugula Salad with Manchego Fricos (Better Homes and Gardens): pretty good, but I really didn't have enough balsamic to really get the full effect.  Will probably make again.
Grilled Romaine Salad with Tomato & Corn Tumble (Better Homes and Gardens): summer on a plate.  Definitely making again.

 Some of our Summer Goals include going to the beach frequently, reading as much as I possibly can, and having a picnic dinner.

 I haven't decided whether I am going to enter this year's Grange Fair.  The booklet came in the mail last week.

 I have two shawls I'm working on.  One I started last year; the other I started last month.  I hope to have them finished by the time the weather turns. Although it would also be nice to have at least one of them to fend off chill of overzealous air conditioners.  Slow and steady is the motto for the knitting.

Enjoy the Fourth of July this week!  Happy Summer!

April-ish Goals Update

April marked the start of baseball season.  We only have one child who plays baseball, but it is enough to throw the whole schedule off kilter.  Fortunately, some of the kids' other activities are winding down for the year, so life from 4-9pm is becoming slightly more manageable.

Cooking: Try One New Recipe per Month.  This was a big fail.  Most of April's dinners were about making something that could be eaten by part of the family at 4:30 and again by the rest of the family at 8:45.  It wasn't pretty.  But I am trying harder in May.

 Last weekend I sat down with the latest issues of my magazines, and I pulled out four new recipes to try this week, so I'm feeling all Mission Accomplished for May.

Fitness/Health: Go to the Gym Regularly.  I am having two issues with this goal: not getting to do what I want to when I'm at the gym and just getting there in the first place.

 When the kids were little, I'd drop them in the kiddie care at the gym and go about my business.  Now, the girls have taken the orientation classes and they can use the fitness center (i.e. treadmills, bikes, equipment) with me.  Bobby can't take the orientation until he is ten.  Sometimes, we sign the kids in at the pool and let them swim while Rob and I work out in the fitness center.

These plans don't always go smoothly.  The pool might be closed for lessons, or there's not a class for the younger kids to go to, or (and this one is the worst for me) the fitness center is so full that there's not enough equipment for us all to use.  The last few times I have gone in, all the elliptical machines have been taken.  I am going to have to rethink my workouts.

As for just getting there in the first place, I am resorting to the old trick of scheduling.  I have written it into my calendar.  Going at four o'clock is the perfect time because the kids have had enough time to get home and have a snack, and we're back home with plenty of time to get homework done before dinner.

At Home: Print pictures, put them in albums.  Nothing like a trip to Disney to get me motivated to print pictures!  I even printed pictures from last summer's beach trip.  Now they are all in this photo album.  

I'd like to raise the stakes, though.  Our most recent albums have all been of trips and vacations, which is fantastic, but there aren't any candid, not on vacation pictures in the books.  I'm going to charge the batteries and bring the camera out of hiding this month.

2013--because I can't think of a better title

I'm a wee bit grumpy right now.  I can't seem to upload any pictures to the blog.  Serves me right for taking off the better part of December, I guess.  Seriously, though, my phone used to magically talk to Blogger--all my phone's pictures would already be there for me to select.  And now?  Nothing.

 

Let's move on, shall we?

 

The Blogosphere has been full of reflections and resolutions, of mantras and of words-of-the-year.  I do not have a word for the year, but I do have some good ideas to work toward.  I have to thank Anne from Modern Mrs. Darcy for her post today.  It really helped me give a structure to my ideas.  Plus I may have borrowed a couple of her ideas, but I'm giving credit to the source!

 

 

The Goals for 2013:

 

Writing

 

Be here more often.  Like at least once a week.  Maybe give this blog a direction.  It's kinda all over the place...when I'm here, that is.

 

Health/Fitness

 

The family joined the Y last month.  I would like to be there at least twice a week doing something.  Back in November, I fell in the driveway and landed on my back, and it has taken me just about a month to feel back to normal, so I'm not in any rush to get crazy at the gym.  I just want to be moving around more than I have been.

 

And that not-so-little puppy needs her exercise, too!  I am the primary walker-of-the-dog.  Honey and I go out for our evening constitutional (I get such a kick out of saying that--with a British accent, of course) most nights after supper.  Weather depending, now that we're into winter.  (That fall in the driveway was a snow- and puppy-related incident.)  So, keeping up with the walks is the goal.

 

Reading

 

For the last few years, I have kept a Moleskine notebook just for me to write down books I'm interested in and books I've read.  My goal for this year is to expand my "what I've read" list beyond just the title and author.  I want to include a short blurb--favorite character or scene, whether I liked it or not--something to help me remember the book a little better. 

 

At Home

 

Take more pictures.  Preferably with an actual camera, but the phone camera will do (if I can figure out how to upload them to the computer).

 

Print out the pictures!  This is one of those goals that I am borrowing from Anne.  Most Decembers, I find myself scrounging to put together a photo calendar because I go for months without uploading pictures.  If I print them, they will get put into albums.  And the kids really do love to look at the pictures.

 

Plan the weekends a little better.  Make a dreamy/practical list (another great idea from Mary Beth at Salt and Chocolate) for each weekend. 

 

In the Kitchen

 

Try one new recipe per month.

 

Let the little ones help, if they want.  Especially if I'm baking.  I tend to want to do all the baking by myself, but I know I'm wasting opportunities with the kids when I shoo them away. 

 

 



So there they are.  Nothing too onerous, and I daresay most of them will be fun.  I'll see you back here real soon.  With pictures.

Happy New Year.