For the first anniversary of my 29th birthday

The first anniversary of my 29th birthday is four months away. I set some goals on my 29th birthday, and I thought that it would be a good time to review them. Somehow saying it publicly makes me feel more accountable than whispering a tiny resolution to myself.
Here goes:

1. Paint my bedroom walls.
Haven't done this yet. But I have paint samples. I just need to commit.

2. Improve upon my housemaking skills
I have my moments. But this could definitely use a touch up. I think when I wrote this I meant "have a clean house more often." I don't think that has happened very much.

3. Quilt, bind, and hang my wallhanging that I love so much
I spent a few days in December quilting this on my sewing machine. It was a good experience. Time consuming, but not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. It is bound too. I just can't find the pins to hang it...

4. Establish a daily routine/schedule. This involves getting out of bed earlier.
Maybe I'll whisper this resolution to myself.

5. Become pregnant.
Ah...this one is a bit difficult. I did manage to become pregnant last week. However as we watched the time's square ball come down on New Year's eve I felt that familiar cramping and bleeding. Familiar because this is the third time I've miscarried (once before Claire, once before Kyle; I'm sensing a pattern). I just knew it wouldn't work out, so while I was sad for a couple days, I'm really okay.

6. Be more physically fit.
Wow. I've failed this one. However we got Kinect for our XBox and playing those games is a serious workout. So I think I'll make progress soon.

7. Quit texting while driving
Did I really commit to this? I totally forgot.

8. Begin writing seriously and consistently
I did begin. A couple things.

9. Finish and print my wedding album
DONE!

10. Teach piano lessons again, and devote some time weekly to enjoying my talent
DONE and DOING!

11. Become a coupon-using grocery shopper
I used a coupon or two a few weeks ago. But I'm overwhelmed with the whole thing. Sometimes I feel like I'll be sucked in by all the "good deals" I don't really need.

12. Recharge my love-affair with the scriptures
I'm half way there. My primary teaching calling has really helped this. I loved the Old Testament, and I'm so excited to teach from the New Testament because of the New Testament teacher I had at BYU.

13. Index 1000 names each month
I have months where I spend hours indexing. And weeks where I spend all my days and nights doing family history to get names ready for the temple. And I have hundreds. I think that counts.

14. Sew a bag/purse for myself
I have a scripture case in the works

15. Do a kind thing every day
I really hope I do.

16. Play with my kids more
I think I'm doing okay here. We got some fun games and toys for Christmas, so that should add to it.

17. Read to my kids more
Doing pretty good with Kyle. Claire gets at least one book a day. Kyle gets more when Claire's at school.

18. Blog with pictures more.
Did well at first, but haven't done so great lately.

19. Appreciate the sunset more often
DONE! We have such a great view from our house. This goal is specifically for my Grandma Holcomb. For a number of years we called each other when the sunset was particularly lovely. She's in the hospital right now. She's almost 95 and not doing well. I will continue to see the sunset for both of us.

20. Get back to cooking from a monthly menu
Not done.

21. Actively strengthen friendships
We've never had extremely close friends wherever we've lived. Mostly because we moved nine times in seven years. But we've been abundantly blessed with friends here in Ogden. For example, for our neighbor gifts this year we had 42 that we came up with off the tops of our heads. 42! And we couldn't cross anyone out. In the past we've maybe had 15. This is good. So good.

22. Talk to my sister more
Suzy got married in October, so that really helped.

23. Finish my quiet book project that began like three years ago (BRITTEN!)
I didn't realize I'd said that. I better do something about it.

24. Tell my husband I appreciate him more
I have appreciated him more...but I can always do better.

25. Find one way to be more "green"
We planted a garden over the summer. It kind of worked. I'm really going to delve into it this year.

26. Potty train Kyle
DONE!

27. Actually plan family night lessons instead of having impromptu lessons
We've done pretty well lately.

28. Play the piano in church
DONE! In July I accompanied Claire to "Come, Come Ye Saints" then played a piano solo after she sang. Same thing with "Away in a Manger" last month.

29. Actually try some of the crafts/food/sewing projects I bookmark
I've done great with this.

30. Plan the party for next year---convince Lee (my cousin who was born 3 days before me) that we should repeat our 15th birthday party in some way with all our old friends
We'll need to start planning soon. And congratulations are in order for Lee who got engaged over the Holidays. I don't know that I've ever been happier for someone to be engaged.


In summary, eight months in I've done pretty well on half of these. I really need to get going on the other half as I'm a little behind.

But something that should be celebrated, which didn't make it to the list, is the fact that I finally found something to clear up my acne! I got acne for my 27th birthday. Over the last three years I've tried EVERYTHING. I've tried prescription pills and creams and everything over-the-counter. Nothing has even made a slight improvement. Then last month I got a sample pack of Oxy Clinical in the mail (click the link and you can get a free sample too). Within days my acne was clearing up. I bought the actual product (not too cheap, but about the same as everything else) and a bunch of people have noticed, so I'm sure it's working. In fact, yesterday I put on my makeup and didn't have to use concealer on anything. A first in years. I can't tell you the difference this has made for me.

And if you read that whole post you must be my mother or mother-in-law. Or super bored. Thanks for reading though!