15 in '15: Final Report

Looking back at 2015, I really was able to get a lot done.  No, I didn't manage to cross off every list item, but there's always next year (and my 2016 list!)

And now, for my report card...  I knocked out 9/15 list items.  Here's the review.


1.  Visit 2 new states.  COMPLETE!

Georgia in January; Iowa in April; Minnesota in April.

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2.  Print Instagram photos in Chatbooks.  COMPLETE!

They are happily on my coffee table waiting for visitors.
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3.  Read 12 more books.  (5/12 complete).

Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist (February)
St. John Paul the Great by Jason Evert (March)
Before Amen by Max Lucado (April)

Babywise (August)

The Harsest Peace by Kara Tippets (August)

I'm disappointed that this did not come true, but honestly, I way over-estimated my ability to read during maternity leave.
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4.  Run another half marathon.   Complete a post-baby 5K. 

Again, over-estimated my abilities after baby.  I am back to running again and WILL run a 5K and a half marathon in 2016!
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5.  Take a fun trip for The Boy From Texas' 30th.  COMPLETE!

We spent a few days at the beautiful Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, New Mexico.  If you missed the blog recapping the trip, click here!

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6.  Plant flowers in our yard and the fun pots we got.  COMPLETE!

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7.  Cook 52 more recipes in the Newlywed in the Kitchen series.  (49/52 completed).


I came close on this one....within 3 meals!  I've not yet posted all of them (have several coming soon) but I've cooked them so I'm counting it!  To see all the Newlywed in the Kitchen posts, click here.

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8.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book. 

We're still rolling on this.  Uncle Black Belt has gotten drafts down of the first 6 chapters and he's working now on 7 and 8.  I'm working on edits and photo placement and the like.  This, too, is on the 2016 list.

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9.  Complete one Bible.com study a month.  COMPLETED!


January:  New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.
February:  Breathe Spiritual Passion into Your Marriage by Gary Thomas.
March:  Praying for your Elephant - Praying Bold Prayers
April:  Discerning God's Will
May:  Hope
June:  Assurance
July:  The Lies of Busyness:  Devotions from Time of Grace
August:  Using Your Time for God
November:  Hard Questions and Adore
December :  Waiting Well and Remembering All God has Done

I'm a big fan of this app--makes it super easy to get your devotional in because it's right on your phone!
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10.  Complete 5 Pinterest projects (other than recipes).  COMPLETE!

Plant a ceramic pot garden (April)
Plant a mixed plant pot (April)
Send a birthday box to a friend (May)
Make lavender bunches (June), baby folders (August)
Homemade stain remover (September)


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11.  Knock off three more bucket list checkmarks. COMPLETE!

Meet a blog friend in person (January)
Stay at the Inn of the Mountain Gods (July)
Have a baby (September)
Visit Cadillac Ranch (December)

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12.  Order books/prints/canvases of our wedding photos.  COMPLETE!

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13.  Listen to the New Testament. 


This was the thing I'm the most disappointed in myself for not doing.  I didn't even make it through Matthew.  I just didn't get it done, no excused.

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14.  Pray Novenas for 12 friends and send them notes to tell them about it. COMPLETE!

January:  Novena to St. Anne for a friend suffering through infertility.
February:  Novena to St. Joseph for my single friends.
March:  Novena to St. Patrick for my friend and her growing family.
April:  Divine Mercy Novena for another good friend expecting a little one and a friend diagnosed with cancer.
May:  Novena to the Infant of Prague for two friends struggling with infertility.
June:  Divine Mercy Novena for a good friend going through a stressful time.
July:  Novena to St. John Paul II for a friend taking the bar exam.  Happy results...she passed!
August:  Novena to St. Joseph for a friend whose husband was looking for a job.
October: Novena to Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin for a friend having a baby.
October:  Divine Mercy Novena for a friend who lost his brother.
November:Novena to St. Joseph for a couple who got married.
December:  Flying Novena to the Infant of Prague for friends of ours making some major life decisions.
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15.  Organize my pictures. 

I do have some folders set up, all of my cd's of wedding, maternity and newborn pictures in one place, and photos saved off of my phone onto the computer.

15 in '15 List Update: September and October

Well.  It turns out having a newborn makes keeping up with a list near impossible.  There was not much done for several weeks, but we are back on track now!  Here's the update.

Summary (for those of us keeping score):
I've completed 7/15 items.
I've made at least some form of progress on 15/15 items.

Here are the details.

1.  Visit 2 new states.  COMPLETE!

Prior months recap:  Georgia (January), Iowa (April), Minnesota (April)

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2.  Print Instagram photos in Chatbooks.  COMPLETE!

They are happily on my coffee table waiting for visitors.
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3.  Read 12 more books.  (5/12 complete).

Prior months recap:  Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist (February), St. John Paul the Great by Jason Evert (March), Before Amen by Max Lucado (April).

Haven't read a thing.  I've really got to get on this one.
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4.  Run another half marathon.   Complete a post-baby 5K.  (Minor progress.)

I'm back to running again and it's SLOW going.  But, it's going.  You take what you can get, I've learned.
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5.  Take a fun trip for The Boy From Texas' 30th.  COMPLETE!

We spent a few days at the beautiful Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, New Mexico.  If you missed the blog recapping the trip, click here!

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6.  Plant flowers in our yard and the fun pots we got.  COMPLETE!

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7.  Cook 52 more recipes in the Newlywed in the Kitchen series.  (21/52 completed).

Prior months recap:  5 through end of February; 10 through the end of April, 14 through the end of June; 19 through the end of August.

The last two months I've added the following recipes:  crockpot chicken and stuffing and apple crumble.

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8.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  (Some progress made).

Prior months recap:  As of April, we had Chapters 1-4 finished and were just starting editing on Chapters 5 and 6.

Uncle Black Belt has been editing and adding to, he's sending me the updated version any day now, so hopefully we can keep moving on this.

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9.  Complete one Bible.com study a month.  (8/12 completed.)

Prior months recap:
January:  New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.
February:  Breathe Spiritual Passion into Your Marriage by Gary Thomas.
March:  Praying for your Elephant - Praying Bold Prayers
April:  Discerning God's Will
May:  Hope
June:  Assurance
July:  The Lies of Busyness:  Devotions from Time of Grace
August:  Using Your Time for God

I didn't manage to keep up with this one (clearly didn't learn enough from "Using Your Time for God" eh?  Will double up the next two months to be sure and get 12 completed.
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10.  Complete 5 Pinterest projects (other than recipes).  COMPLETED!

Prior months recap:  Plant a ceramic pot garden (April), Plant a mixed plant pot (April), Send a birthday box to a friend (May), Make lavender bunches (June), baby folders (August).

I've actually managed to complete 6 projects....over achiever!  I made some really easy homemade stain remover.  I'd read great reviews and wanted to try it myself.  I am happy to report it works great!


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11.  Knock off three more bucket list checkmarks. COMPLETE!

Prior months recap:  Meet a blog friend in person (January); Stay at the Inn of the Mountain Gods

Going to go ahead and call having a baby a bucket list checkmark.  Women should get multiple checmarks for that nonsense!

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12.  Order books/prints/canvases of our wedding photos.  COMPLETE!


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13.  Listen to the New Testament.  (Minor progress made).

Prior months progress:  Matthew 1-10.

I have got to get this in gear.  

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14.  Pray Novenas for 12 friends and send them notes to tell them about it.  (8/12 completed).

Prior months progress:
January:  Novena to St. Anne for a friend suffering through infertility.
February:  Novena to St. Joseph for my single friends.
March:  Novena to St. Patrick for my friend and her growing family.
April:  Divine Mercy Novena for another good friend expecting a little one and a friend diagnosed with cancer.
May:  Novena to the Infant of Prague for two friends struggling with infertility.
June:  Divine Mercy Novena for a good friend going through a stressful time.
July:  Novena to St. John Paul II for a friend taking the bar exam.  Happy results...she passed!
August:  Novena to St. Joseph for a friend whose husband was looking for a job.
September (that month is a blur after giving birth, so I doubled up in October!)

October: Novena to Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin for a friend having a baby.
October:  Divine Mercy Novena for a friend who lost his brother.

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15.  Organize my pictures.  (Minor progress.)

The Boy from Texas assisted me and got all of the photos from my iPhone onto my computer.  Gotta start somewhere!

15 in '15 Update: July and August

So....this will be the last list update before The Baby from Texas arrives.  Let that sink in for a minute.  Holy moly!

Summary (for those of us keeping score):
I've completed 6/15 items.
I've made at least some form of progress on 13/15 items.

Here are the details.

1.  Visit 2 new states.  COMPLETE!

Prior months recap:  Georgia (January), Iowa (April), Minnesota (April)

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2.  Print Instagram photos in Chatbooks.  COMPLETE!

I'm happy to report that the Chatbooks have arrived and are happily on our coffee table.  I now have photos from every day of 2014 and it's really fun to look back and see what was going on!  Special thanks to College Roomie for giving me gift cards for Christmas to pay for this little project!

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3.  Read 12 more books.  (5/12 complete).

Prior months recap:  Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist (February), St. John Paul the Great by Jason Evert (March), Before Amen by Max Lucado (April).

Babywise.  I've had several friends follow this book with their babies and they got those kids sleeping through the night before the mom went back to work from maternity leave.  I'm sold with just that prospect.  I think that for someone as Type-A as me, having a schedule for this baby is going to be helpful.  We'll see!

The Hardest Peace.  I learned about the author's heartbreaking story when she wrote a beautiful letter to Brittany Maynard about the author's choice not to end her life, but instead to live it out despite the terminal cancer that would eventually kill her.  The book, as you might expect, is heartbreaking, but it is also beautiful.  Repeatedly the author speaks of trusting God, even in the hardest, most impossible situation.


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4.  Run another half marathon.   Complete a post-baby 5K.  (No progress.)

Still waiting to be post-baby to start working on this one.  I'm eyeing a Turkey Trot over Thanksgiving, but that may be a bit ambitious....

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5.  Take a fun trip for The Boy From Texas' 30th.  COMPLETE!

We spent a few days at the beautiful Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, New Mexico.  If you missed the blog recapping the trip, click here!

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6.  Plant flowers in our yard and the fun pots we got.  COMPLETE!

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7.  Cook 52 more recipes in the Newlywed in the Kitchen series.  (19/52 completed).

Prior months recap:  5 through end of February; 10 through the end of April, 14 through the end of June.

This month, I added recipes for grilled chicken salad; red, white, and blueberry pie, salsa verde chicken pasta, brisket dinner, and peach cobbler pancakes.



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8.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  (Some progress made).

Prior months recap:  As of April, we had Chapters 1-4 finished and were just starting editing on Chapters 5 and 6.

No progress this month, but this is going back on the priority "to do" list!

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9.  Complete one Bible.com study a month.  (8/12 completed.)

Prior months recap:
January:  New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.
February:  Breathe Spiritual Passion into Your Marriage by Gary Thomas.
March:  Praying for your Elephant - Praying Bold Prayers
April:  Discerning God's Will
May:  Hope
June:  Assurance
 
July:  The Lies of Busyness:  Devotions from Time of Grace
August:  Using Your Time for God

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10.  Complete 5 Pinterest projects (other than recipes).  COMPLETED!

Prior months recap:  Plant a ceramic pot garden (April), Plant a mixed plant pot (April), Send a birthday box to a friend (May), Make lavender bunches (June).

This month I wrapped up project #5 when I made baby shower folder gifts for College Roomie and the Oklahoma Girls. 


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11.  Knock off three more bucket list checkmarks.  (2/3 completed).

Prior months recap:  Meet a blog friend in person (January).

This month I crossed off my goal to stay at the Inn of the Mountain Gods. I had heard all about this place for years and had never been there.  It is absolutely beautiful and peaceful and I really enjoyed going for The Boy from Texas' 30th!

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12.  Order books/prints/canvases of our wedding photos.  COMPLETE!

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13.  Listen to the New Testament.  (Minor progress made).

Prior months progress:  Matthew 1-10.

I have got to get this in gear.  Hoping to use the motivation from the devotionals about spending time wisely and the lies of busyness to help me get cracking!

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14.  Pray Novenas for 12 friends and send them notes to tell them about it.  (8/12 completed).

Prior months progress:
January:  Novena to St. Anne for a friend suffering through infertility.
February:  Novena to St. Joseph for my single friends.
March:  Novena to St. Patrick for my friend and her growing family.
April:  Divine Mercy Novena for another good friend expecting a little one and a friend diagnosed with cancer.
May:  Novena to the Infant of Prague for two friends struggling with infertility.
June:  Divine Mercy Novena for a good friend going through a stressful time.

In July, I prayed a Novena to the Saint John Paul II for my friend taking the bar exam.  Goodness knows that's a stressful situation and I'm confident she knocked it out of the park!

In August, I prayed a Novena to St. Joseph for my friend whose husband is looking for a job.


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15.  Organize my pictures.  (No progress.)

15 in '15 List Update: May and June

Well kids, we're halfway through 2015.....it's time to get crackin'!

Summary (for those of us keeping score):
I've completed 3/15 items!  WOO HOO!!
I've made at least some form of progress on 12/15 items.

Here are the details.


1.  Visit 2 new states.  COMPLETE!

Prior months recap:  Georgia (January), Iowa (April), Minnesota (April)

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2.  Print Instagram photos in Chatbooks.  (No progress).

I have no reason for not having this done, especially after College Roomie gave me gift certificates to pay for this for Christmas.

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3.  Read 12 more books.  (3/12 complete).

Prior months recap:  Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist (February), St. John Paul the Great by Jason Evert (March), Before Amen by Max Lucado (April).

This period:  Although I've actually been reading quite a bit, I've not finished any more books.  I'm about halfway through with Babywise (plan on finishing that by the end of July!) and I've been brushing up on my financial sense with an 800-page money management book that I don't know if I will ever actually finish, but it's extremely helpful as a reference!

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4.  Run another half marathon.   Complete a post-baby 5K.  (No progress.)

Gotta have that baby first.  But, I did receive a jogging stroller as a baby shower gift from my mother in law and sister in law, so we've got the gear to make this one happen!

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5.  Take a fun trip for The Boy From Texas' 30th.  (Location determined!)

We're T-minus one week from the birthday trip and I cannot wait!  Mountain resort, horse races, The Boy from Texas....it's gonna be awesome!

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6.  Plant flowers in our yard and the fun pots we got.  COMPLETE!

I think we got all but two of the pots up and going.  Probably half are still blooming and looking great!

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7.  Cook 52 more recipes in the Newlywed in the Kitchen series.  (14/52 completed).

Prior months recap:  5 through end of February; 10 through the end of April.

These past two months, I added 4 more recipes:  Pioneer Woman's Sour Cream Noodle Bake, Summer Grill Tacos, Pioneer Woman's Bowtie Pasta Alfredo (plus broccoli), and French Toast,  I'm gonna need to pick this one up if we're going to make the goal by the end of the year!

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8.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  (Some progress made).

Prior months recap:  As of April, we had Chapters 1-4 finished and were just starting editing on Chapters 5 and 6.

No new progress.  Totally my fault.
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9.  Complete one Bible.com study a month.  (6/12 completed.)

Prior months recap:
January:  New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.
February:  Breathe Spiritual Passion into Your Marriage by Gary Thomas.
March:  Praying for your Elephant - Praying Bold Prayers
April:  Discerning God's Will

This period:  Not going to lie here, I had to do some major catching up on this goal the last week of the month, but we made it!!

May:  Hope  (This was a short, 3-day study, that included several verses for memorization.  My favorite:  "As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more." - Ps. 71:14.)

June:  Assurance  (This was another short plan focused on scripture memorization.)

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10.  Complete 5 Pinterest projects (other than recipes).  (4/5 completed.)

Prior months recap:  Plant a ceramic pot garden (April), Plant a mixed plant pot (April).

This period:

First up, I sent a birthday box to ND Friend!  I got the idea here and failed to take any photos of my finished product.  But her birthday came not too long before she was due with her first baby and I figured that having cupcake supplies arrive in a box might be the perfect way to celebrate her big day.  I gathered up some fun napkins, cupcake liners, a contraption to let you fill your cupcakes with cream or frosting, a box cupcake mix (that included frosting!) and shipped that baby off to Chicago!

Second, I made some dried lavender bunches to freshen up the house!  (Idea from here.)  You might remember that lavender is one of the plants that I was growing in the pots and it did very well.  A few days ago, I trimmed the upper portion of the plants, let them dry a couple of days, and just tied the bundles with little bows.  We've got one in our bathroom and one in our bedroom and the scent is lovely!

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11.  Knock off three more bucket list checkmarks.  (1/3 completed).

Prior months recap:  Meet a blog friend in person (January)

Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  This is not good!  However, I think that July is going to allow me to knock two checkmarks off the list, so there is still hope.
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12.  Order books/prints/canvases of our wedding photos.  COMPLETE!

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13.  Listen to the New Testament.  (Minor progress made).

Prior months progress:  Matthew 1-10.

This period:  I've made no progress.  These next two months I am going to get through listening to the gospels if it kills me!

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14.  Pray Novenas for 12 friends and send them notes to tell them about it.  (6/12 completed).

Prior months progress:
January:  Novena to St. Anne for a friend suffering through infertility.
February:  Novena to St. Joseph for my single friends.
March:  Novena to St. Patrick for my friend and her growing family.
April:  Divine Mercy Novena for another good friend expecting a little one and a friend diagnosed with cancer.

This period:

May:  Novena to the Infant of Prague for two friends struggling with infertility.  After attending the Feast Day of the Infant of Prague while in Prague a couple of years ago, I am a huge devotee to this Novena.  I've got two very dear friends who have been dealing with infertility issues and wanted to pray this especially for them.  Hoping for news of babies on the way soon!

June:  Divine Mercy Novena for a good friend going through a very stressful time.  Taking time to intentionally pray for mercy and peace for her hopefully helped her as much as it did me!

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15.  Organize my pictures.  (No progress.)

Why?  Because I'm lazy.  That's the only good reason.

15 in '15 List Update: March and April

Thanks to the fact that starting around April 10 I am no longer throwing up every day (just feeling nauseous most of the time), productivity has greatly increased on this here list!

Summary (for those of us keeping score):
I've completed 3/15 items!  WOO HOO!!
I've made at least some form of progress on 12/15 items.

Here's the details.


1.  Visit 2 new states.  COMPLETE!

Prior months recap:  Georgia (January).

This period:

In April, I loaded up in the pick up with The Boy from Texas and my Dad and we headed north in search of a new ram.  This journey made my first trip to Iowa and completed this list item!  Blog on this coming soon.

But, because I'm an over-achiever, I also added Minnesota to the list of places I've been!  I had a work conference in Minneapolis at the end of April.

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2.  Print Instagram photos in Chatbooks.  (No progress).

I have no reason for not having this done, especially after College Roomie gave me gift certificates to pay for this for Christmas.

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3.  Read 12 more books.  (3/12 complete).

Prior months recap:  Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist (February).  

This period:

St. John Paul the Great by Jason Evert

"Don't waste your suffering."

"All things can be offered up as a prayer, and the intensity of suffering is not as important as the degree of love with which one embraces each cross."

Before Amen by Max Lucado

"A sincere heart cannot mis-pray."

"Your suffering is your sermon."

"You are never more like Jesus when you pray for others."

"Ingratitude is the original sin."

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4.  Run another half marathon.   Complete a post-baby 5K.  (No progress.)

As I mentioned last time, this was one of those list items that The Baby from Texas created a little need for modification.  Instead of a half marathon, my plan now is to complete a post-baby 5K.  But don't you all worry....I still plan on crossing half marathon #4 off my list next year!

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5.  Take a fun trip for The Boy From Texas' 30th.  (Location determined!)

Once again, the exciting surprise news about The Baby from Texas sort of put the kabash on our plans to go to either Ireland or Hawaii.  But I'm actually really excited about the replacement!  We'll be headed tot he mountains of New Mexico to enjoy staying at a beautiful resort, watching the horse races, dancing, shopping, and relaxing to ring in his big birthday.

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6.  Plant flowers in our yard and the fun pots we got.  COMPLETE!

Because The Boy from Texas was on call over Easter Weekend, I decided that it was the perfect time to get some flowers planted!  I got 4 awesome pots for our wedding and there were actually two more big pots left by the prior owners of the Little House on the Prairie.  Everything looked so pretty.

Sadly, a week later, a huge hail storm hit and a there were a few plant casualties.  But, most survived so we're still good!

Blue bonnets are a 'bloomin!

Here we have marigolds, lavender, and blue bonnets.

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7.  Cook 52 more recipes in the Newlywed in the Kitchen series.  (10/52 completed).

Prior months recap:  5 through end of February.

This month, I added 2  more:  Rosemary Chicken with Cornbread Dumpins,  Spinach Popeye Muffins, Mom's Chicken Bacon and Rice Casserole, Mom's Macaroni Salad, and LD's Potato Salad.

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8.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  (Some progress made).

Prior months recap:  We were editing and hoped to have Chapters 1-4 done soon.

This period:  Chapters 1-4 are finished and we're in the editing stage of Chapters 5 and 6.  Slowly but surely!

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9.  Complete one Bible.com study a month.  (4/12 completed.)

Prior months recap:
January:  New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer.
February:  Breathe Spiritual Passion into Your Marriage by Gary Thomas.

This period:

In March, I read "Praying for your Elephant - Praying Bold Prayers."  I really enjoyed this one that encourages you to pray big and expect big results!

In April, I read "Discerning God's Will" and thought it was quite good as well!

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10.  Complete 5 Pinterest projects (other than recipes).  (2/5 completed.)

The farmer's daughter in me took over and I got busy on some plant projects!  First up, I planted my ceramic pot garden.  I took my inspiration from this pin, but actually like mine better.

The Boy from Texas planted the trees and handled the mulch. :)

Next up in the yard, I planed a mixture of plants in a pot hoping to end up with something that looks like this at the end of the growing season.

We'll see how it grows...

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11.  Knock off three more bucket list checkmarks.  (1/3 completed).

Prior months recap:  Meet a blog friend in person (January)

Nothing new to report here.

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12.  Order books/prints/canvases of our wedding photos.  COMPLETE!

Thanks to sales on canvas photos, prints, and photo books, I was able to knock this baby out.  First up, I had a coupon code for a free Shutterly book, so I made one of our wedding day.  Next, there was a big sale on canvas prints, so I managed to get one 16x20 canvas ordered of what is probably my favorite wedding photo.  Lastly, back to Shutterfly sales, they had 40% off of everything, so I ordered several prints and got some really cute photo frames from Hob Lob (half off) for each of them!  I'm really happy about how this list item turned out!

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13.  Listen to the New Testament.  (Minor progress made).

Prior months progress:  Matthew 1-10.

This period:  No new progress made.  I have got to get on this one and have no excuses!

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14.  Pray Novenas for 12 friends and send them notes to tell them about it.  (4/12 completed).

Prior months progress:
January:  Noevna to St. Anne for a friend suffering through infertility.
February:  Novena to St. Joseph for my single friends.

This period:

In March, I prayed a Novena to St. Patrick for one of my sweet friends and her growing family.

In April, I selected the Divine Mercy Novena for another good friend expecting a little one and another friend who was diagnosed with cancer.

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15.  Organize my pictures.  (No progress.)

When it's all cold and snowy and I'm stuck inside, this would be a great time to tackle this project.  What have I done instead?  Napped and watched junk tv.  Awesome.

15 in '15 List Update: January and February

So the surprising addition of The Baby from Texas to the midst sort of slowed down my 15 in '15 accomplishments these first two months.  Other moms assure me that I'll stop throwing up and being so exhausted I'm asleep at 9:00 every night soon.....let's hope they are right because this list needs some work!

All total, I've made at least some form of progress on 8/15 items.  I'm on track (of ahead of schedule) for 5/15 items.  Here's the low down.


1.  Visit 2 new states.  (1/2 complete).

In January, I headed to Atlanta to speak at the Southern Dairy Conference.  Georgia has officially been checked off the list!


2.  Print Instagram photos in Chatbooks.  (No progress).

I have no reason for not having this done, especially after College Roomie gave me gift certificates to pay for this for Christmas.

3.  Read 12 more books.  (1/12 complete).

I just finished Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist.  She's got the best writing style, she's hilarious, and I wish I knew her in real life so we could be friends!  Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from the book:

"It is not hard to decide what you want your life to be about.  What's hard is figuring out what you are willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about."

"When I pray, I ask for God's help, that I will be able to see something I wasn't able to see before, or at least something I wasn't able to see before, or at least trust Him to do the seeing."

4.  Run another half marathon.  (No progress....likely will not happen!)

So yea, having a baby in September means that half marathon I had planned for the end of July is kinda out of the question.  And the odds of me being ready for a half marathon by the end of the year after having a baby are probably not that good.  We'll play this one by ear (there is always Tulsa in November....) but it may get modified to be running a post-baby 5K.

5.  Take a fun trip for The Boy From Texas' 30th.  (No progress.)

So the plan for the big trip to either Hawaii or Ireland has been baby proofed as well.  We're kinda needing to keep vacation days for the big arrival, so we're looking at a few ideas of long weekend trips that might work better for us at this point in time.

6.  Plant flowers in our yard and the fun pots we got.  (No progress).

Well, the pots are officially placed on the front porch waiting for action, but because it keeps snowing, there is nothing planted yet.

7.  Cook 52 more recipes in the Newlywed in the Kitchen series.  (5/52 completed).

Things on this front were really rolling, and then morning sickness hit.  At this point, we're just excited if I can handle the smell of food and choke it down, so gourmet meals have been put on hold.  Hopefully I can get back on track though!

8.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  (Some progress made).

We've been editing on this and hope to have the first four chapters done within the next month!

9.  Complete one Bible.com study a month.  (2/12 completed.)

I really enjoy the Bible.com app.  I'm not very techy, so I resisted for a long time, but several of my friends use it, so I decided to try!  It makes it so easy to do my daily reading, particularly when I'm on the road.

In January, I did the "New Day, New  You" study by Joyce Meyer.  It was a great way to kick off the New Year!

In February, I completed the "Breathe Spiritual Passing Into Your Marriage" study by Gary Thomas.  It was a great study to help you keep the focus on the bigger picture and purpose of your marriage.

10.  Complete 5 Pinterest projects (other than recipes).  (No progress.)

I'm hoping the baby pins I'm finding will motivate me to really get rolling on this.

11.  Knock off three more bucket list checkmarks.  (1/3 completed).

- Meet a blog friend in person.  I actually did this twice, first when I met Dairy Carrie in Atlanta (and learned we were both secretly pregnant and due on the same day!) and second when I met up with my long-time blog friend, Katy, in Washington DC.  Katy requested an official Figuring Out the Plot name, and I deem her Dixie in DC.  If you are not a reader of her blog, go here now!

Me and Dixie in DC posing in the subway station.

12.  Order books/prints/canvases of our wedding photos.  (No progress.)

Another that I just need to sit down and get cracking on!  We've pretty much got the new house decorated, except that we have one---ONE---wedding picture in the entire joint and it's a 5/7 in a frame on my nightstand.  Fail.

13.  Listen to the New Testament.  (Minor progress made).

I was doing so good on this one, listening as I drove to work, but then I somehow stopped doing that and kinda forgot.  Back on it now!  I've currently made it through the first ten chapters of Matthew.  Onward.

14.  Pray Novenas for 12 friends and send them notes to tell them about it.  (2/12 completed).

This is easily my favorite list item.

In January I prayed a Novena to St. Anne (the grandmother of Jesus who was barron for over twenty years herself) for a friend suffering through infertility.

In February, in honor of Valentine's Day, I prayed a Novena to St. Joseph (patron saint of worthy husbands) in honor of my single friends.


15.  Organize my pictures.  (No progress.)

When it's all cold and snowy and I'm stuck inside, this would be a great time to tackle this project.  What have I done instead?  Napped and watched junk tv.  Awesome.

15 in '15

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something.  So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make new mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it.  Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”  ~Neil Gaiman

Happy New Year!  Is it just me, or does everyone else equally love January 1?  The start of a new year, clean slate, the world is an oyster....all that jazz!

Flashback to when we were fun....now we're old and tired.

Y'all know how much I love lists.  I decided that in order to keep myself motivated this year,  I would come up with 15 things to do in 2015.  Here they are in no particular order.

1.  Visit 2 new states.  I would really like to (eventually) see all 50 states.  I figure I can pull that off if I keep adding a couple a year.  This one should be okay thanks to my job, which should be taking me a few new places this year.

2.  Print Instagram photos in Chatbooks.  Super Mom mentioned these books you can have printed of your Instagram photos.  I really want to get this done with my 365 photo challenge!  Lucky for me....College Roomie gave me gift certificates for Christmas to do just this!

3.  Read 12 more books.  I've sort of fallen off of the reading train and need to get back in gear here.  I've got a ton of books sitting on my shelf just waiting for me to get rolling!  I've got a mile long list of books to read.....I'm going to start with Max Lucado, Shauna Neiquist, and Unbroken (which I just learned about over the weekend and need to read so I can see the movie).

4.  Run another half marathon.  Every one I do makes me want to feel that way again!  I'm keeping my options open, but I'm leaning towards going back to my roots and running San Francisco in July!

5.  Take a fun trip for The Boy From Texas' 30th.  Yep....he's still 29.  Such a young 'en. I am so, so excited about this birthday trip.  We've got a few options, some big, some smaller, but regardless of where we go, I think a trip to celebrate him is in order.

6.  Plant flowers in our yard and the fun pots we got.  We got some amazingly beautiful outdoor flower pots for our wedding, so I'm really excited to do some landscaping and get those babies full of flowers!

7.  Cook 52 more recipes in the Newlywed in the Kitchen series.  My goal is one new recipe a week.  So far, I've managed to stay ahead of that, so hopefully I can continue on!

8.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  This one is a major priority for  me.  We've got 7 months down, have 5 more to go.  We will have a draft by the end of the year if it kills me.

9.  Complete one Bible.com study a month.  I'm not much of a techie, but when I finally listened to my friend who suggested the bible studies on the Bible.com app, I loved it.  My goal is to do at least one study every month this year.

10.  Complete 5 Pinterest projects (other than recipes).  I pin stuff all the time that looks so cool and really doable....and then I don't ever follow through!  This year, I'm going to get my rear in gear and complete at least 5 projects!

11.  Knock off three more bucket list checkmarks.  Again, I just need some motivation to keep some checkmarks moving.  I'm hoping to knock out some good ones this year!

12.  Order books/prints/canvases of our wedding photos.  We have so many absolutely amazing photos to choose from, but I want decisions made and photos ordered!  I've got lots of friends who put this off so long that they skip right over the wedding pictures and have to put up baby photos.  I want to enjoy the wedding photos for a while!

13.  Listen to the New Testament.  A couple years ago, my church did a series called "Truth comes by hearing."  I never finished listening to the New Testament, but I will be doing that this year!  I figure that driving 45 minutes to work each day gives me the perfect time to do my listening and get this one checked off the list.

14.  Pray Novenas for 12 friends and send them notes to tell them about it.  I'm so excited about this one.....I'll be seeking intercession from different saints for different friends over the next year.

15.  Organize my pictures.  I have multiple computers with multiple folders full of multiple pictures.  It's sheer freakin' chaos.  I swear, I am going to get organized on this front if it kills me!