Spring Bucket List Wrap-up

Spring (at least in our house) is over. We're heading into summer, but first let's see the finally tally. 12/25

Have an Easter Egg Hunt ✓
Dye Easter Eggs ✓
Beach picnic ✓
Ride the steam train at Tilden ✓
See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm ✓
Go to the farmer's market
Make fun cupcakes
Make a fairy door
Have a cookout ✓
Visit Happy Hallow ✓
Create a gardening project for Arthur
Paint my nails a springy color ✓ -- I painted them a shade one darker than Stampin' Up's new Highland Heather
Play with sidewalk chalk
Go to a botanical garden
Visit five different parks ✓
Fly a kite
Make strawberry shortcake ✓
Have an ice cream sundae night
Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out ✓
Blow bubbles ✓
Make a rainbow craft
Host a tea party
Make dirt pudding
Bake flower pot bread
Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile:

June 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on May's goals and my progress.

Care Exchange Cards -- Success! I finished sending out all of the cards to the participants of this round.
Finalize summer plans (buy plane tickets) -- Success! Plane tickets were bought. Other plans have been made.
Figure out J's travel plans -- Success! He actually left over a week ago and will be back next week.
Institute a library ban for me -- Um... fail. I fully intended on not checking out any books except for the book club selection and any series I am currently reading. And then I went to Dublin and found so many good comics that I just had to scrap my ban and check them out. Oh well.
Clean out that darn downstairs closet -- Utter and total fail yet again.
Knock off 5 items from my Spring Bucket list -- Fail. We did a few things, but not enough.
Plan out a sample schedule for summer -- Success! We are going to have Movie Mondays and Game Night Thursdays. Plus I have a list of activities and some other smaller ideas.
Get my hard dyed -- Success, but it's not dyed yet. Because of schedules, I had to push this goal out to mid-June. However, the appointment is scheduled! I can't wait.
Schedule our first pool day -- Success.

June's Goals:

Make our Summer Bucket List (and get started!) -- I'm working on this, but need to finish.
Work out our whole living situation
Fill three bags for Goodwill -- Need to get rid of some of the clutter.
Sell books at Half Price Books -- I have one bag filled and hope to fill another by the end of the month.
Start the Library Summer Reading Program -- Last year, I got two great books as prizes and Arthur got a book and a few tickets to local attractions.
Try 5 new recipes -- Falling behind on my 52 new recipes in 2018. Need to try something new this month.
Read 25 books -- Seems crazy high, but I have a giant stack of comic trades to read.
Implement our new chore chart -- I'm putting the finishing touches on our plan.

Next up on the TBR list:

Spring Bucket List Update #3

Not a great showing, but I did finish a few more items off the list. Let's see how we've done so far this season. 8/25

Have an Easter Egg Hunt ✓
Dye Easter Eggs ✓
Beach picnic ✓ -- It was a bright and sunny day with minimal wind, so perfect! Although I did burn the top of my scalp.
Ride the steam train at Tilden (planned for May 27th)
See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm (planned for May 27th)
Go to the farmer's market
Make fun cupcakes
Make a fairy door
Have a cookout ✓
Visit Happy Hallow ✓
Create a gardening project for Arthur
Paint my nails a springy color
Play with sidewalk chalk
Go to a botanical garden
Visit five different parks ✓ -- Castro Valley Park, Seven Seas Park, Coyote Pointe, Hellyer County Park, Children's Wonderland in Vallejo
Fly a kite
Make strawberry shortcake ✓
Have an ice cream sundae night
Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out -- Went on April 19th (planned for May 24th)
Blow bubbles ✓
Make a rainbow craft
Host a tea party
Make dirt pudding
Bake flower pot bread
Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

I really need a few hot weather pieces for my wardrobe. Hoping to get shopping soon.
Still on a roll with my reading. hoping to keep this up.
I've scored a few great Groupons lately and it's going to make summer that much better.
I need to make a food list for summer. I imagine a Costco run is in my future.
Q's love of dogs is just too adorable
Two cats keep fighting in our backyard. I'm so sick of it.
Coyotes were spotted near our house after the sun had arisen. They are very bold lately.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #4

Reading: Mad Hatters and March Hares edited by Ellen Datlow. Really enjoying this collection of 18 Alice in Wonderland inspired short stories.

Watching: We finished Supernatural S4 this week. Starting S5 soon.

Listening: Currently working through the back catalogue of the Bad Times Good Stories podcast. Some of these stories are hilarious.

Making: Still working through all my retiring stamp sets. And making cards for stamp club for Saturday.

Feeling: I have no idea why, but I've been so worn down the past few days.

Planning: Getting all of May's activities set on the calendar.

Loving: I took s'mores cookies and popcorn to friend's house for playdate last good. Now I'm stuck on s'mores cookies and popcorn. So good!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Q really needs to learn English soon, the screeching is becoming a bit much now...
Hoping my reading momentum continues through May.
Secured tickets to the Warped Tour for the twins and me. I might be more excited than they are.
My scores cookies went a little crazy, but they still taste good.
So much driving this week. Oh my I am done crossing the Bay.
Getting closer to a tattoo design. I need to find some time for a consultation appointment.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spring Bucket List Update #2

Not a lot of tasks checked off this section. Hopefully May goes better. Let's see how we've done so far this season.

Have an Easter Egg Hunt ✓
Dye Easter Eggs ✓
Beach picnic (too cold this month, hopefully we can in May)
Ride the steam train at Tilden
See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm
Go to the farmer's market
Make fun cupcakes
Make a fairy door
Have a cookout ✓
Visit Happy Hallow ✓ -- We went yesterday!
Create a gardening project for Arthur
Paint my nails a springy color
Play with sidewalk chalk
Go to a botanical garden
Visit five different parks -- Castro Valley Park, Seven Seas Park, Coyote Pointe, Hellyer County Park,
Fly a kite
Make strawberry shortcake
Have an ice cream sundae night
Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out -- Went on April 19th
Blow bubbles
Make a rainbow craft
Host a tea party
Make dirt pudding
Bake flower pot bread
Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile:

May 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on April's goals and my progress.

Clean out the downstairs closet -- Fail.
Read 15 books -- Success!
Meal plan for all of April -- Success! I even worked in a few new recipes.
Do a clothes clean-out for me and the boys -- Fail
Figure out our summer travel plans -- Fail
Knock off 5 items from my Spring Bucket list -- Fail. We only check off two tasks: host a cookout and visit Happy Hollow. We did make progress on visiting five parks and going to Chabot twice. Our beach day had to be rescheduled due to weather. I'm hoping May offers some good opportunities for activites.
Try 5 new recipes -- Sorta fail. I didn't get to 5 new recipes, but we did try 2 new ones...
- Spinach and Blue Cheese Stuffed Chicken -- Needed more blue cheese
- Caribbean Salmon Quinoa Bowls -- Pretty good...
Create a grocery and activity budget and stick to it -- Success!

May's Goals:

Care Exchange cards -- I had a plan to send out thank you cards to the exchange participants. I've worked through about 30% of the participants. Need to get the others sent out, but first stamps must be bought!
Finalize summer plans (buy plane tickets!) -- This is getting super close, need to lock our plans down.
Figure out J's travel plans -- He has to go overseas for work sometime soon. I need dates!
Institute a library ban for me -- Except for the book club selection and any series I'm currently reading, I am not going to check other books out from the library. Need to get back to my own shelves for awhile.
Clean out that darn downstairs closet! -- Seriously, I will tackle this one in May!
Knock off 5 items from my Spring Bucket list -- I need to be a bit more intentional this month. I'm thinking a few crafts, more parks, another visit to Chabot, a beach day, and maybe some food related ones.
Plan out a sample schedule for summer -- I like to space out our big activities and fill in with smaller and cheaper ones. Need to get on this!
Get my hair dyed! -- A friend has offered to dye my hair. We talked about what I wanted. Now we need to find a time and actually do it. This may have to get pushed to June due to schedules, but I at least want to get it on the calendar.
Schedule our first pool day -- The company has to come and do the big chemical dump, but it should be ready early this month.

Next up on the TBR list:

Currently #3

Reading: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore -- April's book club selection. I just started, but so far it's really interesting.

Watching: We finally finished S3, so we are on to S4 of Supernatural. Finally they introduce the angels. I had forgotten when that happened.

Listening: Arthur is still on a Black Veil Brides kick, so that's what we've been listening to in the car. I'm totally okay with listening to a little metal.

Making: I've seen the new Stampin' Up! catalog (launching June 2nd), and know what stamps sets are retiring. In May, I usually devote most of my craft blog posts to cards featuring the retiring sets. I'm starting to make the cards this week. Two sets down, sixteen to go...

Feeling: A bit stretched... Nothing super crazy happening right now, just feel like the boys have been pulling me this way and that way. It would help if at least one of the them would take consistent naps, but nope.

Planning: Tentatively starting to plan out summer activities. Nothing set in stone yet, but I'm thinking a concert, maybe a comic con, possibly a trip to the aquarium, and a ton of the usual park playdates and arcade trips.

Loving: A friend brought Butterscotch Oatmeal bars to our cookout last weekend and they are heavenly. Currently eating a little piece Yum yum!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Yesterday's adventures convinced me that I'm much happier surrounded by 18 month olds than 4 1/2 year olds.
I really need to find some new recipes for dinner. Feeling like we are in a rut...
I forgot my physical book yesterday but thank goodness, I had my phone! Reading accomplished.
Tea, tea is good.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spring Bucket List Update #1

A slow start to this season's bucket list. Let's see how we've done so far this season.

Have an Easter Egg Hunt ✓ -- We attended a hunt at our favorite indoor play place and we had a hunt at home on Easter.
Dye Easter Eggs ✓ -- Arthur and I dyed a few eggs right before Easter.
Beach picnic
Ride the steam train at Tilden
See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm
Go to the farmer's market
Make fun cupcakes
Make a fairy door
Have a cookout
Visit Happy Hallow
Create a gardening project for Arthur
Paint my nails a springy color
Play with sidewalk chalk
Go to a botanical garden
Visit five different parks
Fly a kite
Make strawberry shortcake
Have an ice cream sundae night
Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out
Blow bubbles
Make a rainbow craft
Host a tea party
Make dirt pudding
Bake flower pot bread
Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile:

April 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on March's goals and my progress.

Read 10 Books -- Success! I went way above my goal and read 15 books this month! Very excited about my progress this month.
Catch up on BOTM books -- Success! I'm completely caught up, just in time to receive my April selection.
Focus on and complete Week in the Life this month -- Success! Documented and completed.
Do something for my birthday -- Success, I guess. I had a few hours away from the kids and explored Pleasanton.
Check in with. few friends -- Success!
Keep up with Lunch planning -- Fail. Totally dropped the ball on this one.
Restart MommaStrong (exercise in general) -- Fail.
Make Quentin's 18 month appointment -- Success! He had his appointment on the 30th.

April's Goals:

Clean out the downstairs closet -- It's gotten a bit out of hand and is a catch-all right now.
Read 15 books -- Upping my goal from last month a bit. Hoping to keep my reading momentum up.
Meal Plan for all of April -- I've gotten a bit lazy with meal planning. Really hoping to rectify that.
Do a clothes clean-out for me and the boys -- Looks like it's about time to move Quentin and Arthur up to the next size.
Figure out our summer travel plans -- Need to figure out when the twins will be coming this year.
Knock off 5 items from my Spring Bucket list -- I keep forgetting that I made this.
Try 5 new recipes -- Itching for something new in our rotation.
reate a grocery and activity budget and stick to it -- Last month got a bit out of hand. Need to get back into a stricter budget this month.

Next up on the TBR list:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

I'm losing the never-ending battle of having a clean living room... Guess I just need to kick everyone out of the house...
Still in a weird reading rut. The last few books haven't been great. I'm really hoping this changes this coming week.
Arthur's so excited to dye Easter eggs this week. I keep holding him off to keep them fresh. I think today's the day.
Feeling a brain dump is needed.
The downstairs closet needs to be cleaned out. Not looking forward to that task.
I need to make a clothing-needed list for the boys. We just got their sandals for this year, but I'm sure they will need a few more things.
Debating about various local attraction memberships. Thinking we will drop Chabot when it runs out (May). The zoo has been renewed until April 2019. Should we replace Chabot with something else? Need to explore our options.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Spring Bucket List 2018

I almost completely forgot about this! Thankfully I remembered in just the nick of time. I've been thinking about the activities we want to do before the summer comes.

Have an Easter Egg Hunt
Dye Easter Eggs
Beach picnic
Ride the steam train at Tilden
See the baby goats/sheep/pigs at the farm
Go to the farmer's market
Make fun cupcakes
Make a fairy door
Have a cookout
Visit Happy Hallow
Create a gardening project for Arthur
Paint my nails a springy color
Play with sidewalk chalk
Go to a botanical garden
Visit five different parks
Fly a kite
Make strawberry shortcake
Have an ice cream sundae night
Visit Chabot twice before our membership runs out
Blow bubbles
Make a rainbow craft
Host a tea party
Make dirt pudding
Bake flower pot bread
Go berry picking

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

I've had a couple of mediocre reads in a row this past week and I really need something great to read...
I went a little crazy with buying beverages at the store this week. But they all look so good!
Really enjoying listening to the sound of rain this week.
Berries are back at the store. Yeah!
Q's been babbling even more this week. Maybe we'll get an English word or two soon.
Itching to do a craft destash this month.
I need to get back to time blocking to increase my productivity.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #2

Reading: Demonglass and Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins. After some more adult reads, I'm taking a bit of a YA break to finish this series.

Watching: J and I have been on a movie kick lately. I actually made a watch list in my bujo because I keep forgetting the movies I want to watch. Now we can look at the short list, pick something to watch, and cross it off! (I'm a huge lister and completionist over here.)

Listening: I downloaded some albums onto my Apple Music app and one of my selections was the new Black Veil Brides album. I love some metal every once in awhile!

Making: I'm trying to finish a month in our family Project Life album from last year. Currently working on April and May. Plus, I'm documenting Week in the Life this week so I'm mentally planning spreads and stories for the album.

Feeling: Last week, I felt very scattered in my tasks and plans. This week, I'm much much more focused.

Planning: I've got a few new craft classes scheduled for April and May. I need to prep the rest of the card kits. I've also got Spring Bingo scheduled. Now I need to plan out my make n takes and finalize the prizes. Finally, I've still got one project to design for March stamp club and I need to start thinking about April stamp club (last in this round).

Loving: My birthday was yesterday! We don't usually have anything big planned, but I do love commemorating it in some way. The retreat a few weekends back acted as my big present, but I also made sure to have a dessert and a few other little self-care items the day of.

Next up on the TBR pile:

March 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on February's goals and my progress:

Read 15 Books -- Success! I read way more than 15 books.
Gather documents for TK registration -- Fail? So much crap I need to pull but a ton of documents have be a from a specific time period. Seriously very confusing...
Make Dentist Appointments -- Fail. Never got around to this one.
Make Eye Appointments -- Success! Arthur and I both got exams. His eyesight is great for his age. Mine is not, but that's not a surprise. I ordered my new glasses and am just waiting for them to be ready (takes longer due to my ridiculously high prescription).
Buy flowers for the house twice -- Fail. We acquired some flowers right before Valentine's Day so I did have some flowers in the house.
Paint my nails twice -- Fail. Didn't even do it once.
Make three new recipes -- Success! I made a dinner, a new side dish, and a new cocktail this month.
Make donuts twice -- Fail.
Blog drafts for Feb and March -- Success!
Have fun at the retreat!!!! -- Major success! It was such a great weekend!

March's Goals:

Read 10 Books -- I'm lowering my expectations for next month.
Catch up on BOTM books -- I'm running a book behind right now but want to catch up.
Focus on and complete Week in the Life this month -- This may be a crafty goal, but it will take a bit of life planning also.
Do something for my birthday -- It's coming super soon... what should I do?
Check in with a few friends -- There are a few friends I definitely want to check in with this month.
Keep up with Lunch planning -- I was doing well and then I fell out of the habit.
Restart MommaStrong (exercise in general) -- I need to do this.
Make Quentin's 18 month appointment -- Just a reminder

Next up on the TBR list:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

For my monthly photos, I'm going to take daily selfies. Trying to be brave, but honestly this ideas scares me.
Bought three pieces of clothing at Target this week. Two actually fit! Very excited at the results.
Need to decrease my simple carbs, but damn bread is so good...
Today feels like a good day to restart an exercise program.
I currently have a glut of tea in the house and am loving it.
Quentin is on the verge of talking and it's so exciting!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Scar tissue pain is the absolute worst. Not having a good week at all...
Crazy drama on The Bachelor this week and I am so here for it!
Reading a ton of comics this week and it's got me excited for reading again.
I'm counting down the days until the retreat. Seriously can't wait. I want to package and go right now, but need to wait...
Itching to go shopping for clothes this week but financially probably not the best idea. Arthur needs new clothes first.

Next up on the TBR pile:

February 2018 Life Goals

Let’s check in on January's goals and my progress.

Make a Dermatologist Appoitment -- Success. Turns out all my moles are benign.
Make Eye Appointments -- Fail. I just never got around to this one.
Make Dentist Appointments -- Fail.
Make My Doctor Appointment -- Success.
Check in about TK for 2018-2019 -- Success I guess. I check in and registration opens on March 1st.
Discuss Spring Break Plans -- Fail. Totally forgot about this one.
Finalize Retreat Numbers for February -- Success! I've even got a chunk of the nonperishable groceries bought!
Restart Meal Planning/Budgeting -- Success! After a couple of stock-up store visits, I'm back in track.
Check in with Reoccurring Boxes -- Success! I canceled a few boxes, checked in with a few, and continued with a few.
Supervise the Q1 Care Exchange -- Success! We have a few packages outstanding, but the deadline isn't until Feb. 5th. So far, we're doing good.
Send Out All January Cards -- Success!
Update Birthday List -- Success! I went through and wrote out all the birthday. Easy peasy for sending cards.
Read 3000 pages and 10 books -- Success! I actually surpassed my goals with 18 books read and over 5000 pages. I know that I won't be able to keep up this pace, but it was nice to start the reading year off right.
Schedule Winter (Jan-March) Activities -- Success!

February's Goals:

Read 15 Books -- I did so well in January, I want to keep up the momentum.
Gather documents for TK registration -- Registration opens March 1st, so I need to get the documents together this month.
Make Dentist Appointments -- Carry over goal
Make Eye Appointments -- Carry over goal
Buy flowers for the house twice -- Trader Joe's and Sprouts have had such pretty flowers lately. I need to brighten up my kitchen this month.
Paint my nails twice -- I painted my nails over the holidays and forgot how much it makes me happy. Need to keep this going.
Make three new recipes -- Part of my yearly goals is to make 52 new recipes. I did a few in January, but need to pay attention and make sure I add some new ones this month. I do have a Kofta Patties recipe ready for next week.
Make donuts twice -- I got a donut cookbook for Christmas and have yet to use it. Granted I was gone for a few weeks, but I'm back and want fun donuts!
Blog drafts for Feb and March -- Trying to get back into the swing of things on the blog.
Have fun at the retreat!!!! -- I'm so looking forward to this! I haven't been away overnight from Quentin ever. Momma needs a few days to recharge!

Next up on the TBR list: