Annie’s Bucket List Update

Beautiful spring flowers at Logan’s Trading Company in Raleigh.

Holy cow it’s April. Where the heck has the time gone?! I cannot believe the time has come for me to recap and update my bucket list. C and I came up with the idea that this week would be a good week to share the updates and revisit our goals since we are a quarter of the way through 2013 (omg!).

As some of you know, I typically do a birthday bucket list. Last year, on my personal blog, I posted my official “30 before 30” list switching it up a bit and allowing myself some more time to reach the more ambitious goals I laid out for myself. I will be updating and recapping that list on my personal blog over the next few weeks before I turn another year older so keep your eyes open for that. But in the beginning of the year, C and I both posted our bucket lists for 2013. I like to think of mine as a more condensed, focused version of the big list. I’m pretty proud and how far I’ve come so far. Take a look:

1. Get healthy and stay healthy. January was non-stop working out. February I was sick. March was super busy. Excuses, excuses about the gym but I feel I’ve semi-made up for that with my eating habits. Being conscience of what I’m putting in my body keeps me focused on the overall goal. For the second quarter, I’m planning to start Ripped in 30 tomorrow and see how I do with that. I’m not a workout DVD person so this should be interesting. Hoping for at least 5 lbs. lost after the first month. Let’s do it!

2. Become financial stability or something quite close. Since the beginning of the year, we have paid off my car, 2 credit cards, and will be making our last payment on a third in 2 weeks. Small dent=PROGRESS.

3. Cook more. Ah yes. The CSA was a bust, total rip off in my opinion. It was so convenient but too much money. Now that the weather is getting warmer we MUST make it a point to go to the farmer’s market on a regular basis. We did really well with meal plans for a while and are finally getting back to it. Hopefully we can get that schedule back and stick to it. BUT we have been cooking a lot. So much, in fact, that when going out to eat is suggested, I think twice. That has never happened. I think a lot of that has to do with wanting to know exactly what’s in my food and feeling good about what I’m eating!

4. Grow a garden. Haven’t started this one yet. I’m planning to sit down in the next few weeks and see how long we will need for fall veggies. The lawn is getting its first trim of the year this weekend so it will be only natural for me to want to clean it up. 

5. Learn to sew. Nope.

6. Write creatively. Not so much but it’s coming. Actually, I need to work on some in the next few weeks. Someone has put me to the challenge and it’s not really an option. It will be good for me and probably just what I need right now… like a vacation.

7. Get more involved in finishing our house. Yes, this has happened. Stay tuned for details in a week or so.

8. Less pinning, more doing. Recipes count right? I’ve been using Pinterest for those. 

9. Start an Etsy store filled with… something I haven’t created yet. Yeah, no. This has been increasingly on my mind over the past few weeks though. I tell ya what, warm weather is one of the best motivators out there. I can’t wait to get outside and start spray painting everything.

10. Give back. This has definitely been and will continue to be done. In February, Crystal, husband and I volunteered for Wake Relief, a local emergency food bank that provides for those who have applied but not gotten food stamps yet. Basically, every third Saturday, volunteers get together to assemble bags of food, diapers, toiletries, and other necessities and hand them out to people who have applied and been approved for the temporary help. It was good and we definitely want to go again. We tried to sign up for March but it filled up quickly.

Also, I recently chopped off somewhere around 11 inches of hair. It went straight to Locks of Love. I couldn’t imagine just throwing that hair in the trash when it’s so easy to donate it. I just can’t understand how people don’t think of this.

How’s your bucket list or resolutions (what were they again?) coming along? Check back on Thursday for Crystal’s update to her list!