16 in 16 Report: January - April

Okay, I am guessing maybe I'm just bad at these things, but I swear these lists are harder and harder for me to keep up with.  I blame a little red headed boy for distracting me.  Here's where things stand after the first four months of 2016.

1.  Run a half marathon. Keep running during the pregnancy. (So far, so good.)

So....once again, a baby is going to prevent this list item from happening this year.  No worries though, I will run a post-two-babies half marathon in the future!!  For now, I'm hoping to continue running during my pregnancy.  Last time, I was so sick and losing so much weight, I had to stop in the first trimester.  This time, I'm good to go!  Here we are in the second trimester and I'm continuing to run (just a mile at a time) several times a week.

2.  Continue monthly photos of The Baby from Texas until he is one year old.  (7/12 complete)

Although the 7 month photos were a couple weeks behind schedule, we took them so we're calling this one a success so far.

3.  Read a classic.  (No progress)

4.  Go on 5 dates with The Boy from Texas.  (2/5 complete)

I'm going to count our afternoon at a pig show for this one.  BB's Grammie watched him and we just hung out watching our friend judge a county stock show.  Probably not the classic date, but we really enjoyed it!

At the end of April we went to a 4-H fundraiser and had an absolute blast.  BB spent the night with his Grammie and we really enjoyed a kid free evening of dinner, dancing, and sleeping in the next day!

5. Send an encouraging note to a friend once a month.  (4/12 complete)

January: I sent a little note along with a book to a friend who recently found out she was pregnant. 
February: Failure.
March:  Failure.
April: I made up for the last yep months by sending 3 in April. First, I sent notes and onesies to 2 pregnant friends. Second I sent a little note and some stationary to a friend contemplating a new adventure.

6.  Go to adoration twice a month.  (4/24 complete)

January:  I went to St. Hyacinth, down the road from my office one Thursday and while on a work trip I found a tiny little perpetual adoration chapel in Waco.

February: I went to my very favorite Adoration Chapel while on a work trip to College Station.

March:  Failure.

April:  I went to St. Hyacinth down the road from my office.

Going to have some major catching up to do on this one. Why is it something that is one of my favorite list items is so easily set aside?

7.  Read 5 new books. (1/5 complete)

I recently finished "For the Love" by Jen Hatmaker. I  love everything she writes, but this one was hands down my favorite.  Here are a few of my favorite quotes.

"The gospel is perfectly demonstrated through the daily labor of parenting."

"Do not look sideways for answers."

"Theology is either true everywhere, or it isn't true anywhere.  If it isn't also true for a poor, single Christian mom in Haiti, it isn't true!"

"God measures our entire existence by two things:  how we love Him and how we love people.  If you get this right, you can get a million other things wrong."

8.  Knock off three more bucket list check marks.  (No progress)

9.  Cook 20 new recipes.  (6/20 complete)

You can see all these recipes if you click here.

- Potato skins
- Stuffed bell peppers

- Turkey cranberry wraps 
- White green chile chicken enchilladas
- Chicken stir fry
- Cajun chicken pasta

10. Pray the Divine Mercy 200 times.  (9/200).

I'm way, WAY behind on this one for no reason other than I've not made myself do it.  Getting serious now.

11. Add 10 new clothing items to my wardrobe.  COMPLETE!

I was able to knock this one off the list completely thanks to Stitch Fix and my Christmas gift cards!  I've added the following items to my wardrobe.

- White jacket
- Polka dot sweater
- White work shirt
- Orange flowy shirt
- Grey sweat shirt
- Green sweat shirt
- White cut out shirt
- Wrap dress
- Black blazer

- Work jeans 

You can see several of these here.
12. Make 4 Shutterfly books. (2/4 complete)

So far I've knocked out 2 Shutterfly books thanks to the free book deals they offer!  First up, I made one book of my pregnancy with BB.  Second, I made a photo book of  his birth.  I am not a scrapbooker and there is no way I'd have time to keep up with something like that, but these books are so quick and easy to do that they work great for me!

13. Hike in Palo Duro Canyon.  (No progress)

I'm a bit concerned about whether my big ol' pregnant self can pull this one off, but I'm not taking it off the list just yet.  Hope springs eternal!

14. Complete a  52 week challenge and a monthly family photo.  (Minor progress)

I've managed to get behind here, but I'll be catching up in the next few weeks!

15.  Keep up with my perpetual calendar.  (Minor progress)

I'm way behind again.  I'll get on it.  Why is it that I don't take the time every night to just stinkin' write something down.  I keep it right next to my bed for crying out loud!!

16.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  (Minor progress)

We are rolling on this one!  Uncle Black Belt is writing away and I've got Chapters 1-5 completely finished.

Bonus: Project 365 with the girls. (So far, so good!)

In 2014, High School Friend, College Roomie, Mrs. Arizona and I completed this. When the three of them all agreed to do it again, I could not chicken out. 

16 in '16: The List

Because I enjoyed the 15 in '15 list so much, I decided to renew this little idea for another year. Here's my list of goals for 2016!

1.  Run a half marathon.  I would be lying if I said I was not a bit nervous about this one.  Yes, I've run 3 before, but none of those were after I had a baby.  Both the physical training and the time commitment make me a bit nervous, but I know this is something I need to do for myself!

2.  Continue monthly photos of The Baby from Texas until he is one year old.  I have so enjoyed taking his photos with the same props every month.  I think having a year full of them will be awesome!

3.  Read a classic.  This was originally on my 30 by 30 list and it's still not done.  I swear, this is happening in this year if it kills me!

4.  Go on 5 dates with The Boy from Texas.  I always heard people talk about date nights and never really understood what the big deal was.  Then BB was born and it didn't take me long to see how important it was to take some time to connect with your spouse without screaming and spit up being involved!  Going to have to beg the grandmas to help out with babysitting in order to accomplish this one.

5. Send an encouraging note to a friend once a month.  I love sending little notes in the mail, so this is an easy thing to include on my list. 

6.  Go to adoration twice a month.  Adoration is something that is so good for my soul, I have got to get back into the practice!

7.  Read 5 new books.  Last year, I aimed too high with 12.  This year, I'm going with a nice round number of 5.  I've got several books that I'm wanting to knock off the list....starting with For The Love by my girl Jen Hatmaker!

8.  Knock off three more bucket list check marks.  I just keep rolling on the bucket list, slowly but surely.  A little trip to Alaska will likely provide a couple of these checkmarks in one swoop!

9.  Cook 20 new recipes.  Again, last year, I aimed way too high wanting to cook 52 recipes.  This year, we're going to cut that down and aim for 20.

10. Pray the Divine Mercy 200 times.  The Divine Mercy Chaplet is one of my favorite prayers.  Having gone to the shrine in Poland and this being deemed the Year of Mercy, what better time than to intentionally pray this chaplet.  I keep my rosary beads on my dashboard and it's pretty easy for me to pray either to or from work every day.

11. Add 10 new clothing items to my wardrobe. I realize this seems like a silly thing to include as a goal.  But I'm not much of a shopper.  I don't like trying on clothes, I don't like spending money, and I've been about the same size since 8th grade.  I'm terrible about just wearing the same old outfits.  I'd like to make some fun additions to the wardrobe this year!

12. Make Shutterfly books. I've got codes for free photo books from Shutterfly and I plan to use those to make one book of our maternity photos and one book of BB's newborn photos. 

13. Hike in Palo Duro Canyon.  I've heard this is great fun and feel like now that I'm living in the Panhandle, it's something I should do!

14. Complete a family photo 52 project. Several friends have done some version of this, so I'm joining in.  I want to take a family photo of the three of us every week this year.  I think it will be fun to watch our little family change as BB grows!

15.  Keep up with my perpetual calendar.  I love my perpetual calendar and it seriously takes no time at all to update it every day.  Why, then, have I sucked at it so badly?  No more!  I'm getting it in gear!

16.  Finish Uncle Black Belt's book.  This is something I really, really want to get done.  It's too easy to put this on the back burner but I am going to get it in gear and we are going to have this done in 2016!