Our New Adventures in an Old City

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but as most of you know by now, the hubs and I just moved to Philadelphia. We also just finished writing our theses, graduated with our Masters, worked and worked and worked, as well as spent many hours with our family. So we've been a bit busy. HOWEVER. Today, our second full day in the apartment, we had a noteworthy adventure.

The story starts with me trying to be thrifty. Once upon a time (well, yesterday, actually), I found this gorgeous dresser on Craigslist for ONLY $30! 

(It looks like the top is greenish, but it's black.)

It was a huge bargain and I emailed the girl immediately. She told me the measurements (which were perfect for what I wanted to use it for) and I asked the hubs if he thought it would fit in his car, and he said, "Yeah, it should." Then he said, "we should probably measure the car."  But we didn't. (This, my friends, is a bit of foreshadowing. Take note.) 

The sky was cloudy and the weather was somewhat cool, so it was the perfect day to load and unload a dresser. We drove to the girl's apartment to get it. We use a dolly provided by the girl's apartment complex to get it onto the street, then the girl left and we started to load it into the car. And that's where everything. went. wrong. Contrary to what the hubs expected, the dresser, in fact, did NOT fit in his car. We pushed and shoved. We pulled and tugged. Nothing worked! We tried to put it in the backseat, we tried the trunk. NOTHING would make this dresser fit! I got angry and called the hubs' car a girly car (it's not, I was just throwing a tantrum). The hubs got angry and wanted to leave my beautiful dresser on the side of the road! People were gathered under a canopy staring. Why were they gathered under a canopy? you might well ask. And I would say, "BECAUSE IT WAS POURING." That's right. In the 10 minutes that we went to the girl's apartment to get the chest, God opened the heavens on Philadelphia. After a heated 30 minutes of debate (because OMG WHAT DO WE DO? IT WON'T FIT IN A TAXI VAN! IF WE PAY FOR A DOLLY WE WILL HAVE TO GO GET IT AND OUR DRESSER WILL GET STOLEN AND WE WON'T SAVE ANY MONEY ANYWAY! BUT HUBS, WE CAN'T LEAVE IT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BECAUSE I LOVE IT!) we decided to carry the stupid thing. 6 blocks. In the rain.

So today, which started as an ordinary day, culminated with the hubs and I carrying a 50-lb dresser 1/2 a mile in the pouring rain. People were so nice, smiling and commenting and being super polite. The brotherly love was evident, probably because I was smiling like a goob the entire time because I got to keep my dresser!

You want a good strength workout? Here ya go. Bring on the Warrior Dash or the Tough Mudder. My arms can barely type this post. But my dresser is beautiful.

Growing Pains

Signs you are starting to move from the "Young Woman" stage of your life to full-blown "Woman":

1) You no longer enjoy going clubbing (if you ever did to begin with)
A few summers ago, my weeks were not complete without Thursday nights. My friends and I dressed up, went downtown, and danced like the world was ending. Or in my case, danced like you would expect an awkward, clumsy white girl to dance. We often stayed out until the wee hours of the morning, and talked about our various adventures for months. It was so much fun!!..until it wasn't. It's like that one day when I was 9 and I tried to play with my Barbies. As I started pulling them out of the storage tub, I suddenly realized they weren't fun anymore, and never would be again. Even at that age, I felt a mild pang of sadness about losing that part of myself, and knowing that it would never come back.

Now, I can get dressed and go through the motions of going out, but I don't enjoy it. If I go out, I don't want to be bumped by the drunk girl who is sloshing her Cosmo everywhere, or have to juke through the crowd to avoid that creepy guy who is brushing girl's bums as they walk by. I don't want to wear a dress and heels if it's 45º outside.  Or be surrounded by packs of girls screaming greetings at other screaming girls because they haven't seen each other in, like, four hours. Although I will admit that I'm pretty sure I've done this a few times once. 

I want to go somewhere where music is background noise, and not so bone-shakingly loud that I feel like I should take cover under a desk a la elementary school earthquake drill. I want to eat and chat with my friends, and then go home at a decent hour, put on sweatpants, and watch "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" with The Hubs. Like with Barbie, I've reached the age and point of my life where going to clubs is just not fun anymore. This time, I'm okay with that. 

Correction: Me. I say that.

2) Babies.
Every few days, Facebook announces that someone else I know is pregnant. Family members, friends, and coworkers have started asking when I plan on having kids. My doctor gave me the prenatal spiel at my last appointment. Despite the overwhelming interest in my reproductive habits, the idea of having a child terrifies me. On the one hand, I'm quite vain. My hips are already a black hole that sucks in every bit of junk food I eat. I worry that If I incubate a tiny human, they will go supernova. (I don't know if this is an accurate metaphor, but I have never claimed to be an astronomy expert. I actually got a B in Astronomy, so there you go). Secondly, if I have a child, I will have to be careful not to screw it up and end up with a bully, a serial killer or this:

Oh, the horror!

Yet sometimes, I find that I am actually excited about the process of baking a bun, usually after I see things such as these:

 

because OMG HE COULD LOOK JUST LIKE THE HUBS, HOW CUTE!!!!

This feeling usually passes when I remember how we are broke ALL. THE. TIME. If that isn't effective, I search Youtube for "Temper Tantrum." Works every time.

3) What can you eat? Oh, nothing.

I'm not sure how I weighed 90 lbs in high school, considering my normal lunch was Ho-hos and Mountain Dew. I'm sadly not joking. Michelle Obama wasn't around to lead the charge against childhood obesity, and it wasn't that high on the Bush agenda, what with the Axis of Evil flapping about causing trouble. But I digress. If I ate that for lunch every day now, I would weigh approximately 234725 lbs and have a complexion reminiscent of a pizza. Or perhaps the moon.

4) Who wears short shorts? Not this girl.
This year, I put on my tiny denim shorts, looked in the mirror, said, "It is time!" and promptly threw them in the trash (well, not the trash. That was for dramatic effect. I am actually going to sell them at one of those clothing resale shops, because, as I mentioned above, I'm poor).  They haven't gotten any smaller, and I haven't gotten any bigger, but I no longer feel comfortable wearing them. Even The Hubs said, "they make you look young," and considering I am about to start a PhD program, "young" is not exactly the image I'm going for. I remember being a teenager and thinking about how sad I would be when I was too old to wear trendy clothes. Now I remember this and laugh because this is what teenage girls are currently wearing:

What? That's not a teenage girl? Oh my goodness, that's Justin Beiber. Wow. Well, it was an honest mistake.

A haiku about my current grad school experience, and the reason I've not been posting

Inspired by my friend Louise and NaPoWriMo, I am stepping out of my hole for five minutes to present you with this haiku:

The life of a grad 

student is at times like The

Shining, with less blood. 

Fin. 

Craft 2/9

Sorry for the unintentional hiatus. My life has been engulfed in a flurry of activity the past few weeks. Between interviews, my comprehensive exam, homework, thesis writing, data analysis, and working, blogging has been the last thing on my mind. This means that I have a lot to talk about over the next few days, though, so hopefully I can get more than a couple of posts written. 

Today, since it is already a week late, I wanted to show my craft project from February. To introduce this, you should first know that my bathroom is not yet fully decorated. It has been a work in progress since we moved in. "How long have you lived in this apartment?" you may wonder. "Four weeks? Four months?" No, try four years. FOUR. YEARS. Unfortunately, I have neither the money nor the attention span to finish decorating. Every room is a mish-mash of wedding gifts, flea market finds, and my sad attempts at crafting, with very little cohesion in the decor department. I thought my bathroom was small enough that I could focus my decorating attempts and actually complete a room. Unfortunately this was not true, but I have narrowed down a theme:

Yes, that is exactly how I feel. I love birds. I loved them before they were hipster (which, I guess, makes me somewhat hipster, but that is neither here nor there). Anyways, I decided to decorate my bathroom in birds. Unfortunately, I chose the worst possible colors. I scoured flea markets, home stores, and Etsy. NOTHING comes in these colors, certainly not bird decor. However, I have finally made something that I can put in my sad little mish-mash bathroom, if I will ever print it out and find a frame for it.

To make this word collage, I googled "bird silhouette," pasted an image into Word, and, used text boxes and different fonts (and my wonky color palette), create this image. After I was finished, I deleted the silhouette, and voila! A beautiful picture with a bird on it! That is made of birds! A BIRD MADE OF BIRDS. I'm sure hipsters everywhere are rejoicing. So there you have it. Two crafts in two months. My productivity levels are through the roof!

For Those of You Who Like to Run, I Salute You

I have never liked to run. The crowning achievement in my running career was my freshman year of high school, when I finished the required 10-minute mile for cheerleading tryouts in 6:29, after faithfully running with my dad every evening for a month. It has only gone downhill from there. Last year, I could barely run .3 miles without stopping to walk. I got shin splints. I couldn't breath. My side hurt. Every running excuse there was, I had it. I hated running, and I did not understand how some people could run multiple miles at a time. It was unthinkable! 

So naturally, I wanted to sign up for a 5K. I know this makes no sense, but I have this innate urge to challenge myself. If there is something I find difficult, I must do it. It involves pain? Bring it (except pregnancy...when I'm pregnant, I'll probably get an epidural around month 8 or so, just in case). Anyways, for awhile I was all talk and no action. I had only been running to warm up before my actual work out, and I had not even looked at the 5K listings. Then, a miracle happened. 

I was doing my pre-workout warm-up run last week, and I just kept going. I felt something strange, and it wasn't shin splints or back sweat. Was I actually ENJOYING this? Holy cannoli, Batman, I was! I ended up running a little over a mile. It was a fitness miracle. I was so inspired that I went home and signed up for the Color Run, which brings me a step closer to completing #13 on my list. Today, I ran another mile and enjoyed it again! I still can't really believe it. So this post is for all of you who, like me, think running is stupid, but still have 5K dreams. This is what I think has brought me closer to enjoying the dreaded treadmill (or outside trail, whatever floats your boat):

1) I made a playlist 

If there is anything I hate more than running, it is running without any sort of sensory distraction. This is not including something to read, because I firmly believe if you can read while working out, you are not working out to your full potential. That's just me, though. If I have the right music, I get an extra burst of energy that pulls me through the terrible task of running. Here are some suggestions from my playlist:

• Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk
• Dreaming of You by The Coral
• Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO
• Bodies-Drowning Pool
• Run the World (Girls)-Beyonce
• All I Do is Win-DJ Khaled (I absolutely love this song to end on, because I don't feel like I'm winning anything while I am running, but when I get off that treadmill, I feel like I've conquered the world.)

2) I worked my muscles

I didn't run more than 5 minutes at a time for almost an entire month, but I lifted a lot of weights and did a lot of squats. Although it's only been a month, I can already tell a difference. I have much more energy than usual, and my muscles are more defined. I can get through a 10-minute run/sprint on the treadmill instead of a 5 minute walk/jog like I used to. 

3) I gave myself a goal

There is nothing that motivates me more than a deadline. I know that I am going to have to run a 5K in a couple months, and I don't want to finish last. Or not finish at all, because 3 miles is a lot. 

4) I'm not going to give up

I know that there will be days that I will NOT enjoy running. There will be days when running will be the last thing I want to do. But I will power through it and be thankful for this body that can accomplish amazing feats (like running over a mile)! At least until I've made it through the 5K...we'll see how long this running thing lasts after that. :) 

The Liebster Blog Award

I know that this is a post upon a post, which is a huge venture in productivity for me, but holy cow, I've been nominated for a blog award! The Liebster Blog award is "intended to recognize worth, lesser known blogs and to help expose their work." 

Thank you so much, Alyssa at Castles in Europe, for liking what I post enough to recognize it!

To accept the Liebster Blog award, you have to do a few things:

1) Thank the give and link back to their blog.
Check! Again, thank you Alyssa! If you had not already received this award, I would no doubt be nominating you, as I LOVE to read your blog. 

2) Share five things about yourself

• I really love classical music. NPR is my favorite radio station.
• I make lists like a mad woman...I guess you guys probably already knew this about me (see here and here), but I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have to-do or to-buy lists all over the house. There is one on my coffee table right now.
• I am about to graduate with my master's and am applying for doctoral programs in my chosen field, but my secret dream career is to be an actress. 
• I am crafty, but according to the hubs, I'm only successful when the project can be completed in an afternoon. He's right. I had two windows in the trunk of my car for about two years. Sadly, this is also not an exaggeration. They would probably still be there if we had not broke them last year while changing my tire.
• Whenever I get cold, I say "boosh." Up until the last year, I thought it was normal to say that when you're cold (like saying brrr), but I have since been informed multiple times that it is not. 

3) Answer the five questions presented with your nomination

How did you get started with your blog? 
I like to write, and reading some of my favorite blogs gave me the urge to start my own. Originally, this blog was to document my move to Los Angeles, California a few years ago, hence the name "Why I'd Want to Live Here." Death Cab for Cutie has a song about how awful LA is, and at one point it says, "I don't know why you'd want to live here." This blog was going to be my answer.
The big LA move was the first thing in my life that I felt was noteworthy enough to write about. However, after that fell through, the blog stuck around. Every once in awhile, I still felt the urge to write, and when I came up with the idea to do yearly lists, I had something to post about. Publicizing my goals holds me accountable. Although I feel that this blog is mostly a random mish-mash, I need a topic to give me ideas when I'm all out, and that usually does the trick. 

What is the most challenging part of having a blog?
There are two things that I have difficultly with. The first refers to the creativity aspect. Sometimes I have a tough time coming up with a post that I think others would want to read. This explains my spotty posting history. If I try to write something and I'm not really into it, I don't post it. 
I also worry about sharing too much. I know that I don't have a massive following, and the people that do read this blog probably know me personally. Sometimes I will write something that I have strong feelings about or that reveals something more personal about me, but I won't post it because I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with the vulnerability that comes with that. I have a post that I absolutely love, but I have been sitting on it for months because it's a tough subject. I might post it eventually. We'll see. 

Ten years from now, what do you see your life looking like?
I wish I had an exciting answer for this question instead of the standard 2 kids, white picket fence. Hopefully I'll be doing research on the brain, teaching neuropsychology at a university somewhere. Wait, scratch the hopefully. I think if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen if you put forth the effort, so I WILL be doing brain research and teaching at neuropsychology. The hubs and I will have been back to Europe and we will have 2.5 kids and a dog. Of course, if I pursue my other dream, maybe I will be a world famous actress. Who knows where life will take me?

If money were no issue, what is the one thing you'd like to do most?
Travel. If money were no issue, I would spend my life seeing different parts of the world and learning about different cultures. Maybe the hubs and I would even live in a sail boat (That's actually HIS dream. I'm not kidding).

What is one of your favorite quotes?
"Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself"
Harvey Fierstein 


4) Ask five new questions to your nominated bloggers

• How did you get started with your blog?
• Who (or what) influences and/or inspires your writing?
• Where would you most like to travel?
• What are some things on your bucket list?
• What is the kindest act you have ever witnessed (or partaken in?)

5) Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

My top five picks are.....

1. Louise of Louise in Person
2. Lorissa of Beautiful Somehow
3. Brittany of The Fancy Poor People
4. Amy of In These Shoes
5. Natalie of Natalie the Nerd

It's possible that The Fancy Poor People may have over 200 readers, but I know all of these blogs are on the smaller side and aren't giant, corporate, compensated blogs. Besides, I love them all and think that others should enjoy them as much as I do! 

6) Copy and paste the award on your blog.
Check! I found a fancy little gif. See?

7) Hope that the people you've sent the award to forward it to their five favorite up-and-coming bloggers and keep it going! 

Dear Sweaty, Overly Serious Gym Men,

Yes, I know that this is the free weights room and I am a girl, but please stop looking at me like I am a nun in a bar. It makes me feel like this: 

True, it is often so saturated with testosterone in here that I swear my chest shrinks a little the moment I enter the room, but, as all of you are over the age of 3, I would assume that you have had some contact with members of the opposite sex aside from family (although maybe I am giving you too much credit). The point is that a girl shouldn't be an oddity. 

Yes, I know that I am lifting about 12 pounds less than your elderly great-grandfather could lift, but I am getting there. Besides, before you judge me, you might want to consider that many of you have worked your chest so much that you are beginning to resemble a goomba. Not from the Mario video games, but the movie. Here is a reference shot:

There is an ideal head to body ratio, and you are dangerously close to blowing it out of the water. It's okay to tone it down a bit. 

I know that some of the weights you lift are unimaginably heavy and you have to heave and grunt like a dying elephant each time you struggle mightily to pull them off the ground. Secretly, though? I feel like you might be showing out a little. I'm not sure why you would think those noises are enticing, though. Too much Discovery Channel and not enough experience with actual women, perhaps? 

Also, it's working out. It should be somewhat enjoyable. Try not to take yourself too seriously. I don't. I threw my arms in the air when I finished my run the other day, and I caught myself dancing to "I'm Sexy and I Know It"....

Actually, maybe that's why you're all staring at me. Please disregard this last post (except the goomba thing, I definitely mean that). 

PS: I can see you looking at my bum when I do squats. I know you're trying to be subtle, but there are mirrors everywhere, so good luck with that. 

Craft 1/9

I finished my first craft project today. I know, it's the 28th, so I was cutting it close on the one per month deadline, but I did finish it. How many of you have lasted this long on your new year's resolutions, hmmm? 

To preface this project, I want to explain my reasoning behind it. The hubs and I have been together for a ridiculously long time, considering how old we are. To put this into perspective, we have been together 60 times longer than Kim Kardashian was married to...well, who really remembers his name, 486 times longer than Dennis Rodman was married to Carmen Electra, and 1,911 times longer than Britney Spears and the guy named after George from Seinfeld were married. 

Anyways, for those of you who are not aware, when you are together for longer than a celebrity marriage, you start to get comfortable with each other, and you stop shaving your legs every time you will see him, or start letting her pluck your eyebrows. This is great! You have made it past the eggshell stage, the "I just want them to be happy" stage, the "Of course I wake up looking this good" stage, to the "this is who we really are" stage. At this point, you can truly connect with each other...over the same dinner at the same restaurant, at the same time each week. That's right. Unfortunately, when you are SO comfortable with each other, life happens, and you get married and you both decide to go to school and get your masters AT THE SAME TIME and you work and you pay bills and you do homework and you pay bills, and you attend classes and do research and work some more, and you sleep sometimes and two years into your graduate programs, you realize that you can't remember the last time you went on a proper date that didn't involve sweat pants or cactus legs. (Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration...a couple of months ago we went out and it was great, and I am pretty sure he shaved his legs for the occasion, but that doesn't flow very well with my point, which is that sometimes, when you have been together long enough, your dates start to look remarkably similar.) 

So, how do you improve your (already admittedly pretty awesome) marriage? You can use the Better Marriage Blanket...

Or you can do an easy, cheap craft. I think we both know what the obvious choice is. 

Unfortunately, the marriage blanket is a bit expensive for me ($120!?!?!?!?), so I chose the craft. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the Better Marriage Date Night Jar Thingy:

So simple, so easy!

Are you tired of going through the same question on date night? 

Never fear, fellow decision avoiders! I have just the thing to solve your marriage-date woes!

All you need are colored popsicle sticks ($3 at Hobby Lobby) and a jar ($2 and some change at Hobby Lobby).  You should probably also have internet access, or a healthy dose of creativity. Me? I have the internet creativity, of course! 

Now that you have the required materials, all you need to do is use the internet your mind to come up with all kinds of exciting date ideas and write them on the popsicle sticks! I separated mine based on the color of popsicle stick. 

Orange popsicle sticks are free dates. For these, I have things like board game night, racquetball (free at our school, since we're students), a Wii sports tournament, and a blanket fort/popcorn/movie night.

Yellow sticks have dates that require little planning and are under $20. Some of the things I have listed on these are "driving range," "arcade," or "minor league baseball game." I also have one that requires us to go to a flea market, split up, and find a gift for each other under $10, and one of my favorites is the Bookstore Challenge, which I am extremely excited about. 

Red popsicle sticks list dates that require a little more planning, and/or will probably cost more than $20. These include things like a dinner cruise, going canoeing, and a progressive dinner, in which we get an appetizer, entree, dessert, and drinks from 4 separate restaurants. 

My hubs and I love to travel, so of course I had to include travel dates. Green sticks are for trips that require a full day, but little money aside from travel expenses. Some of these include a hiking trip in Arkansas, a trip to Eureka Springs,  and free activities in St. Louis, like the zoo, Science Center, and Grant's Farm. 

Blue sticks are travel dates that require (1) more money, (2) more time, or (3) more planning. These include things like going to an amusement park, camping, or my personal favorite, a nowhere trip, where you pick a random direction and drive until you want to stop. 

Finally, I only had two purple sticks in the entire pack, so I put one of our names on each stick. If we choose to draw a purple stick, that person has to plan an entire date on their own so the other person can be surprised. 

I am so excited to use this that I am having trouble waiting to draw a stick until this weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many of the dates that the hubs showed interest in. Hence, I think that this project was a great use of my time, even though I probably should have been finishing my neuropsych summary. Oh well, carpe diem (That's YOLO in smart-people talk)! 

(Although I am so Pinterest savvy creative, I did not come up with this on my own. See here for the original project.)

Happy Year!

I didn't make any new year's resolutions this year. I figured that since I do the "26 Things While I'm 26," I have enough goals that will very likely not be reached. Adding New Year's resolutions would just be kicking me while I am down. However, since I never shared my 26 things, I think the beginning of 2013 is a good time to do it:

1) Read 26 books (I've already decided which ones) and

2) Watch 26 movies (again, predetermined) 

3) Increase our savings account

4) Decrease our student loans 

5) Move out of this small town 
It's time for us to start a new life elsewhere...but where, we have yet to decide. It depends on if we are accepted by any PhD programs. Spontaneity: it's not for the neurotic. 

6) Graduate with my Masters

7) Do a pull-up, dadgummit! 
This was one of the failures of my list last year, and I am DETERMINED to make it happen this year. It would be helpful if my arm muscles were larger than a waifish Disney princess, but you have to start somewhere, I suppose. 

8) Stop cursing.
Contrary to what I would like my sweet grandma to believe, I sometimes catch a bad case of sailor mouth; this usually occurs comorbidly with my road rage. Unfortunately, as I will probably be having children sometime in the future, I should probably stop, as I don't want to rub off on them.

9) Blog more. 
Looking back on my past record of blogging, I have already almost accomplished this. Woohoo, productivity!

10) Go skydiving
The hubs won't do this with me. Anybody else up for it?

11) Take a road trip with the hubs
After our European vacation, I feel that we should take it easy for the next year or two, due to the lack of rubber band banks in our pockets. However, I love to travel, so giving it up completely is out of the question! YOLO, right? (Actually, I hate when people say that. You can use that excuse to justify any questionable behavior, like eating chocolate cake for breakfast, cheating on your hubs, or watching The Happening.) 

12) Cut out soda

13) Run a 5K
Another failure from last year. How depressing. Good thing I'm studying psychology! 

14) Complete a Tough Mudder
This one is probably unfortunately going to be downgraded to a Warrior Dash. I'm not pleased about this, but I can't get together a team, and this is an event that requires teamwork. My little brother seemed excited to do it, but you have to be 18. I tried to get the hubs on board, but he was less than enthusiastic. I guess the idea of exposing himself to 10,000 volts of electricity was a little discouraging. What a wuss. :) 

15) Go to Oklahoma
We live less than 100 miles from the Missouri-Oklahoma state line, and it's one of the states I haven't been to yet, so I want to go. I'm not really sure what we'll do there, as Oklahoma is one of the bottom 10 states on my personal "Desirable Locations" list (also making the cut are Mississippi and Idaho...I'm sure these states have some fantastic qualities, but when a state is known for obesity or potatoes, it doesn't seem to have a lot going for it. Granted, I live in Missouri, and I went to school in a town where there were houses with toilets and/or washing machines on the front lawn, so who am I to judge?). 

16) Go to City Museum in St. Louis

17) Complete my thesis (!!!)

18) Throw stuff away
I have a confession: I am a bit of a packrat. I still have all of the cards we were given for our wedding, I have items that I haven't used in years but have kept because it was a gift from someone I cared about, and I have old magazine issues that I have yet to read but believe that someday, it will happen. I also have about 349 Victoria's Secret bags. I have not reached Hoarder levels yet, but I do have a slightly cramped apartment, and my dining room/craft room/office/study is kind of ugly and unorganized. So, I'm going to try to loosen the strings of sentimentality and let some things go. I may have to call for one of those giant dumpsters...

19) Volunteer

20) Perform more random acts of kindness

21) Make a 4 or 5 course dinner
I love to cook, when I have time. On Pinterest, my recipe board is called "More Julie than Julia" because I am not necessarily a fantastic cook, but I try really hard.

22) Make one Pinterest craft per month.
I stole this idea from one of my friend's blogs. I am a little late in the game, because I just added this to my list today, but I figure I have nine months to do nine crafts. I'll try to document my results for my readers' amusement. I try to be crafty, but it ends up more like this:

                                          (Image from craftfail.com)

I think we all know which picture is most representative of me.

23) Learn to drive a stick

24) Do this:  

and

25) Start getting up earlier
I waste so much time sleeping! I hate that.


26) Watch the entire Star Wars saga on blu-ray
We got this set for Christmas, and although I have already seen each one, I haven't watched them subsequently. We just finished Episode II a few nights ago, and I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by Episode I (I actually enjoyed it, for the most part), but Episode II is still as terrible as I always remembered. (Anakin, stop whining, you big lard. Hurry up and convert to the dark side, because I am not a fan of your teen angst and bad acting). 

So, I have 9 months to accomplish this list. Hopefully, my success rate will be higher than last year's sad 52%. Honestly, though, if I can do a real pull-up, I will feel accomplished.