Checkin' 'Em Off!

Well I've checked off "travel outside the US" and also "go to the beach" because I did both of those things while in ITALY with my sister! Yeah! I have pics and want to blog about that more, but just haven't had time yet.

Also, today I baked what turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL red velvet cake for my coworker Kristin's going away party. It was a challenge - probably because I picked an overly complicated Martha Stewart recipe - but I was really happy with how it came out. Here are some pics:

This Just In!

I apologize for the shaky camera work here, but I thought my eyes looked really pretty. And this is my blog, so blurry photo with the pretty eyes it is!

Anyway, you can hopefully deduce from this picture that that blur of blue and gold is my new passport! It came in this week. I'm posting this here because this means I am one step closer to potentially crossing off number 5 on my Travel list - go to another country! I am in the works of planning a trip to Italy to meet up with Ashley! Just the two McMinn girls (well, one current, one former) traipsing around Europe together... I really hope it comes together and we can make it work.

PS. I organized my shoes. #14 under Household, ch-ch-ch-check!

Gimme a P! Gimme an R! Gimme an O!

Gimme a c-r-a-s-t-i-n-a-t-i-o-n! What's that spell? PROCRASTINATION!!!!

That is the name of the game these days, folks. I haven't really focused and done any of the things I was hoping to start so far this year. I did watch all the episodes of Arrested Development, which was delightful, but I can't just do all the items in my "fun" categories and leave the other stuff untouched! (Side plug: This is one of the great TV shows of our generation... if you haven't seen it I beg of you to go forth and do so at once!)

One thing I am making progress on (6 days and counting!) is giving up icecream for one month. I am doing this for Lent. So far I have wanted icecream about 10 times, but have not given in! Not even a Frosty or a milkshake! I'm trying to decide if a fudgescicle or popsicle would be cheating. Please give me your opinion on this in the comments section! (Ugh, why did I google search my favorite kind of icecream all to get this image? Torment! The things I'll do for you, readers.)

Hopefully this weekend we will work on cleaning out the other half of the garage, which is on this list. We want to be able to get Ben's new car in there! Luckily it is a Honda Fit so it doesn't need too much room!

And one other thing that is in the works is a visit with (some) of my Kansas relatives. I am flying to Kansas City in March to meet my mom, aunts, and grandma for their annual girls weekends. Even though I won't see everyone from Wellington, I am grateful that I'll get to spend time with some of them soon!

Okay, I promise next time I'll have more to report!

Update for 2008

Well, I went ahead and crossed two more things off the list - salad eating and X-files watching.

Salad - I have definitely been eating at least one salad a week, sometimes more, and am slowly finding them more enjoyable. I don't want to overstate my affection for them - I'd still usually almost always rather have something else. But I have found myself actually wanting salad every once in a while, which is good progress for me!

X-Files - Not only have I watched nearly every episode on TNT and Sci-Fi Channel, but for Christmas I actually got the box set of all nine seasons. So consider me set! Now I'm going back through and watching all my top episodes from each season. Man, what a great show that was. And with the writers' strike still dragging on, there isn't much else on regular TV anymore, so this is a good filler.

And now for some of the things I'd like to see myself make progress on within the next couple months:

• Cleaning and keeping clean our bedroom, which is currently an atrocious mess.
• Research some online design courses and costs.
• Get serious about doing what it takes to accomplish number one goal of weight loss... this will mean tackling lots of items in the health and wellness category!
• Clean my office at work... I think it would help me stay focused and happy in my office.
• Decide whether or not we are going to Italy and if so plan that trip asap.

That is all for now... stay tuned!

Bookcases are DONE!

Well everyone, I am happy to report that at long last our lovely bookshelves are finished! Backstory: we bought these bookshelves and our tv stand at an unfinished furniture store last spring, and decided to stain them ourselves. I finished the tv stand right away, after which I realized from experience that it was harder and more time consuming than I imagined, and so the dreaded bookshelves sat... and sat... and sat some more, until finally we got it together and just did it already! Sanding, conditioner, two coats of stain, and two coats of sealant later... finished!

I was so happy with how they turned out, and it is great to be able to look at the three pieces and realize (a) we did that and (b) we saved a lot of money!

Here they are...

Visited Schermerhorn! Also, I can die now.

Tonight Ben and I randomly got an invite to this thing at the Schermerhorn from our friend Carolyn. It was the first ever induction ceremony for a new Nashville institution, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. I went for one reason only, which I will tell you about in a minute, but let me just say it was such a great night!

For the purposes of this blog, I did in fact visit the Schermerhorn, which is the new symphony hall here in Nashville. It is a stunningly beautiful building and it was a real treat to actually go inside - up until tonight I only ever drove past the lovely grounds. Here is the inside of the concert hall:

Plus, random fact, a guy from my church and his company did all the wood floors throughout the building. Great job Bill!

So the Schermerhorn was lovely, and I'm checking it off the list! To find out why I can now die a happy woman, visit my other blog at http://amyelizabethjames.blogspot.com.

Works in Progress

Okay, some updates...

French Fries - This is going well, so far I haven't missed them too badly, except the other day when we got Chick-fil-a. I confess I stole one of Ben's fries. Just one!

Bookshelves - We are so close... just one more clear coat to go! I will post some pictures soon.

Salad - I wasn't going to officially start this one, but I might as well because I have been eating a good number of salads recently. I was inspired by trying and LOVING the delicious Quesadilla Explosion salad at Chili's. Just look at it!

It is beautiful and tasty. Anyway, obviously I can't afford to be eating out every day, so I started making my own with lettuce, cheese, a few tortilla chips, and fajita chicken strips. Mmmm!

X-Files - Man I stinkin' love this show! I used to watch it when it was on in the 90s with my dad - he would monitor if he thought a particular episode was too scary. Now I am watching it by Tivo-ing repeats on TNT and Sci-Fi channel. I think I may actually want to invest in getting all the seasons on DVD. Seriously, if Ben can have all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H, I can have 9 seasons of X-Files. Anyway, I think I am getting close to the end of Season 7... I'll keep you posted!

That's all for now!