Image Credit: emilysquotes.com

Happy New Year! Cheers to 2017!

Here are my goals for January:

1. Kick off the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge.
2. Catalog all receipts and log them in our budget spreadsheet before February 1st.
3. Celebrate Al’s birthday!
4. Begin my journal adventure.
5. Start editing my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor.
6. Update my TBR list.

Here’s the breakdown:

Kick off the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge.

• Thanks to Kristian at Life Lessons Around The Dinner Table, I’m so excited to start a a full YEAR challenge!
• My plan is to publish these posts on Wednesdays, so look for a new post every single week in 2017!

Catalog all receipts and log them in our budget spreadsheet before February 1st.

• All I could think about for the last few days was the best ways to keep our mountain of receipts organized and cataloging them in a timely manner. I want to have a good picture of our budget for 2017 early!

Celebrate Al’s birthday!

• Al’s birthday is later this month!
• It falls on a Wednesday this year, so we’ll be working that day, but I’ll make sure it’s a special day.
• Surf and turf, and cookie cake! Yum!!

Begin my journal adventure.

• Remember my post titled Writing Prompt #37: Considering A “Five-Year Journal”? Well, I’m excited to kick this adventure off today. More to come!

Start editing my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor.

• I started a series called Writing Wednesdays in 2015, where I bravely shared my 2012, 2013, and 2014 National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) attempts / endeavors.
• Here’s the first post: New Series: Writing Wednesdays
• I’m excited to finally be at the point where I feel comfortable enough to start editing my first endeavor. The ultimate goal will be to get this piece to at least 50,000 words.

Update my To Be Read (TBR) list.

• This was my original post: Getting Personal #42: My First-Ever To Be Read List (TBR)
• As promised in that post, since it’s January now, I have an update to my list in the works!
• Look for quarterly updates in January, April, July, and October 🙂

Happy 2017, everyone! I’m so excited for the New Year. It symbolizes a fresh start.

Do you have any goals for January?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: pinterest.com

December was a complete blur. Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone!

Here’s the link to my December Goals post:

• Getting Personal #49: December Goals

—

Ready?

Here we go!

1. Decorate for Christmas. – Accomplished!
2. Fully clean up / clean out the attached garage. – Semi-achieved.
3. Enjoy several holiday parties! – Accomplished!
4. Donate blood. – Accomplished!
5. Create our budget for 2017. – Semi-achieved.
6. Help either a child or a family have a good Christmas. – Accomplished!
7. See Rogue One: A Star Wars Story! – Accomplished!
8. Make peppermint bark. – Accomplished!

Here’s the breakdown:

Decorate for Christmas – Accomplished!

• We bought our first Christmas tree! We enjoyed decorating it together. It’s been such a pretty addition to our living room.

Photo Credit: Al Vardaro

Fully clean up / clean out the attached garage. – Semi-achieved.

• This is something that’s still a work in progress. We were able to clean out several boxes and find places for some more kitchen items, DVDs, etc. However, we still have a ways to go before it’s completely clean.

Enjoy several holiday parties! – Accomplished!

• We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Amanda and Dan’s party on Saturday, December 3rd. I got so wrapped up in playing Exploding Kittens and Cards Against Humanity, that we didn’t leave until 11:45 p.m.!
• Al’s company holiday party was Friday, December 9th. It was a good time, with a Hollywood theme. Al even won a brand-new FitBit Alta!
• Later tonight, we’ll gather to celebrate New Year’s and Al’s co-worker Kathryn’s birthday! We’ve really enjoyed getting together with her, her husband Tim, and other friends to ring in the New Year! I don’t know about you, but I’m beyond ready for 2017 to begin!

The selfie we took toward the end of the night at Bauer’s Christmas Party.

Donate blood. – Accomplished!

• I crushed the hemoglobin test with a reading of 13.1 – Women need at least 12.5 to qualify to give. I was so excited! Plus, my favorite phlebotomist, Spencer, was there. He always makes my giving experience pleasant!

Create our budget for 2017. – Semi-achieved.

• We started the spreadsheet. I’ve been playing catch-up with our 2016 sheet, cataloging receipts for days.
• Note to self for 2017: Get envelopes and file receipts immediately, and then catalog at month’s end!

Help either a child or a family have a good Christmas. – Accomplished!

• Just days after making my December Goals post, a friend from college put out a call to for help. She wanted to help a former student of hers and her family have a good Christmas.
• I went shopping for the two girls, ages 12 and 15. I thoroughly enjoyed buying some horses with hair they could style and brush, along with a pair of jeans and two sweaters apiece.
• I wrapped everything up and met Amy for lunch in Hampton on Monday, December 19th. She was so appreciative! My heart was full.
• On Monday, December 26th, Amy sent a Facebook message that had a photo of the girls and their mom, all smiles. It was a fantastic Christmas for them, and they were overflowing with gratitude and appreciation. It felt awesome to contribute.

See Rogue One: A Star Wars Story! – Accomplished!

• Al and I first saw it in XD at our local Cinemark theater on Thursday, December 15th. It was very good. The theater was buzzing with excitement and the atmosphere was awesome.
• Then, our friend Drew came down to stay with us that Friday. We saw it at Paragon Theaters in Newport News on Saturday, December 17th. It was good to see it again – There were things that I had definitely missed the first time around.
• I will admit, although it was very good, The Force Awakens still has my heart.
• Cannot wait for Episode VIII!

Make peppermint bark – Accomplished!

• Here’s the recipe I used: Almost-Famous Peppermint Bark
• The hardest part was standing up for nearly an hour to melt both kinds of chocolate. However, judging by the look and smell from last night, it’s gonna be delicious.

Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished next to 6 out of 8 goals. Hooray!!
• The two goals that were Semi-Achieved: The weekends this month were exceptionally busy this month, and I wasn’t as diligent on weeknights as I would have liked to be.

Did you have any goals for December?

Come back tomorrow to see my goals for January!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: quotesgram.com

Here are my goals for the month of December!

1. Decorate for Christmas.
2. Fully clean up / clean out the attached garage.
3. Enjoy several holiday parties!
4. Donate blood.
5. Create our budget for 2017.
6. Help either a child or a family have a good Christmas.
7. See Rogue One: A Star Wars Story!
8. Make peppermint bark.

Here’s the breakdown:

Decorate for Christmas.

• We just bought our first Christmas tree! We’re excited to set it up in our living room and decorate it!
• Red and green are so festive!

Fully clean up / clean out the attached garage.

• We cleared out two of the end tables last weekend, so one whole wall is clean now!
• We plan to go through boxes and containers a little bit every weekend!

Enjoy several holiday parties!

• Amanda and Dan’s annual gathering is this weekend.
• Al’s company holiday party is next weekend!
• At the end of the month, we celebrate New Year’s and Kathryn’s birthday!

Donate blood.

• I’m trying again this weekend!

Create our budget for 2017.

• We started a spreadsheet in July, and we need to fill it out for the rest of 2016, and then create a new worksheet for next year.

Help either a child or a family have a good Christmas.

• Having been raised in a church that has participated with Angel Tree, Salvation Army stockings, and Operation Christmas Child, I always try to do something extra in the month of December.
• I’ve already volunteered to be a Christmas elf to help a college friend help a family she knows, but I want to do a little bit more than that.

See Rogue One: A Star Wars Story!

• This has been the most anticipated movie for us this year!
• This is one that we are going to see multiple times!

Make peppermint bark.

• I discovered this a few years ago, and it’s super easy to make!
• I love peppermint during the holidays. Plus, it has white chocolate! Yum!

That’s all I have for December! I can’t believe it’s the last month of 2016!!

Do you have any goals for December?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: brainyquote.com

Hi, my amazing readers!

I’m stunned – It’s the end of October! Wow!

Here’s the link to my October Goals post:

• Getting Personal #38: October Goals

—

Ready?

Here we go!

1. Prep the house for our first overnight visitor! – Accomplished!
2. Donate blood! – Did not accomplish.
3. Plan our Halloween costumes! – Accomplished!
4. Decorate the house for fall! – Semi-achieved.
5. Clean up the clutter and plan my office space! – Accomplished!
6. Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation. – Did not accomplish.
7. Celebrate birthdays – Mom’s and Mia’s! – Semi-achieved.
8. Read at least two books on my 2016 Reading Challenge list, and publish those book reviews. – Semi-achieved.
9. Join the Portsmouth Public Library. – Accomplished!
10. Read through Megan’s cookbook, and try at least two of her recipes! – Accomplished!
11. Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals. – Accomplished!
12. Get ahead with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments. – Accomplished!
13. Get excited for our wedding anniversary getaway! – Accomplished!

Here’s the breakdown:

Prep the house for our first overnight visitor! – Accomplished!

• This one was a little wonky. Our original visitor wasn’t able to come down during the weekend of October 14th due to a work schedule conflict. It actually worked out okay – There were some unexpected changes that weekend, and Al and I ended up moving a good chunk of furniture from my parents’ house to ours.
• However, Al’s parents stayed with us this past weekend! It was awesome. We had a great time. They stayed overnight on Friday, and then went to see some of our family yesterday.

Donate blood! – Did not accomplish.

• I was so close. My favorite phlebotomist, Spencer, was able to work the drive at the beginning of October, for the first time in over a year!
• Unfortunately, I just barely missed the mark. For women, you need a score of 12.5 for hemoglobin, and I got to 12.4. Argh!
• I’m beefing up my vitamins and investing more research into iron-rich foods. I will give again in December!

Plan our Halloween costumes! – Accomplished!

• We went to Kathryn and Tim’s annual Halloween party on the 22nd as a wizard and witch headed back to Hogwarts. We had matching Griffyndor ties, collared shirts, and dress pants. We also showed off our wands from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Decorate the house for fall! – Semi-achieved.

• I showed off my painted pumpkins, and I was able to give another stylized “V” one to Al’s parents! Mom was so excited – She can’t wait to put it in the house on the farm!

Clean up the clutter and plan my office space! – Accomplished!

• I finally got so fed on a Sunday night that I turned into a tornado and went to town. It’s still a work in progress, but I have all my doll items in an organized pile now.
• Plus, there was enough floor space to move the vintage yellow couch into another corner! I can’t wait to transform that space into my reading nook.

Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation. – Did not accomplish.

• This didn’t happen. I’m still writing letters!

Celebrate birthdays – Mom’s and Mia’s! – Semi-achieved.

• We went out to dinner with my mom and dad to Szechuan Inn, a great local Chinese place. Mom had a great day!
• We’re hoping to meet up with Mia in November to celebrate her. They were super busy in October, and Nick and Savy both got the plague after attending a wedding!

Read at least two books on my 2016 Reading Challenge list, and publish those book reviews. – Semi-achieved.

• I finally finished Go Set A Watchman!
• Here’s my review: Book Review #19: “Go Set A Watchman”
• Currently – I’m deciding which book to tackle next.

Join the Portsmouth Public Library. – Accomplished!

• I marched in there after the blood drive on October 1st. The man that helped me was wonderful! I’m hoping to visit next Saturday to check out my first books!

Read through Megan’s cookbook, and try at least two of her recipes! – Accomplished!

• I successfully made Burger Bowls and Chili-Lime Sweet Potato Fries!
• We’re gonna look through the Shrimp section next!

Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals. – Accomplished!

• I officially signed up! Woohoo!
• I started emailing Penni, who posted in a forum that she was essentially left high and dry by her “match.” She’s wonderful!

Get ahead with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments. – Accomplished!

• I finished my midterm exam ahead of time, and I feel like I did well. We graded them in-class on the 25th. I missed a few questions, but I got all of the extra credit right! I’m pretty sure I scored a high B or a low A.
• I put in some good work on both folders last weekend and this weekend. Everything is due at the end of November, and I feel really good right now.

Get excited for our wedding anniversary getaway! – Accomplished!

• We’re going to Hatteras Island, North Carolina! We love the beach, and I can’t wait to show Al all that Hatteras has to offer. We are so excited to get away, and enjoy our first anniversary!

Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished on 8 out of 13 goals! Woohoo!
• The three goals that were Semi-Achieved: I’m happy that I was able to do as much as I did this month!
• The two goals that weren’t accomplished: I’m excited to conquer them in November and December!

Did you have any goals for October?

If so, how did you do?

Come back tomorrow to see my November goals!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: quotesaddicts.com

Here are my goals for the month of October!

1. Prep the house for our first overnight visitor!
2. Donate blood!
3. Plan our Halloween costumes!
4. Decorate the house for fall!
5. Clean up the clutter and plan my office space!
6. Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation.
7. Celebrate birthdays – Mom’s and Mia’s!
8. Read at least two books on my 2016 Reading Challenge list, and publish those book reviews.
9. Join the Portsmouth Public Library.
10. Read through Megan’s cookbook, and try at least two of her recipes!
11. Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals.
12. Get ahead with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments.
13. Get excited for our wedding anniversary getaway!

Here’s the breakdown:

Prep the house for our first overnight visitor!

• Right now, the plan is for one of our good friends to come visit our house during the weekend of October 14th. I’m so excited!

Donate blood!

• As this post goes live, I’m at church volunteering at the blood drive. It’s easy to remember – We host blood drives on the first Saturday of every even-numbered month. This time around, there’s a delicious pancake breakfast that’s made by the local high school’s field hockey team as a fundraiser!
• I’ve struggled with anemia since I was diagnosed in college. I take a daily multivitamin with 100% iron, and I also try to eat a well-balanced diet of iron-rich foods (Red meat, dark leafy greens, whole grains, and a handful of other interesting foods). Usually, since you can give blood every 56 days (eight weeks), I’m able to give a pint and then miss a drive. I was able to give in August, but fingers crossed I can give today!

Plan our Halloween costumes!

• We had this discussion a few days ago in the car. In the past, we’ve dressed as similar characters or part of a team. We’ll keep hashing out ideas!

Decorate the house for fall!

• A local woman paints designs on plastic pumpkins, so I asked for one with a stylized “V” and one with the Green Bay Packers logo. They look amazing, and I can’t wait to put them on the front stoop!
• Pinterest is both a blessing and a curse!

Clean up the clutter and plan my office space!

• This coincides with prepping the house for our first overnight visitor, but I’m itching to clean out the clutter in my future office space and plan it out!
• We have a lot of empty boxes laying around that need to go in the recycling bin.
• Since my parents handle the nut orders for Mom’s PEO chapter every fall, they’ve put us on notice for the sawhorses and plywood in our garage. We want to get it cleaned out, anyway, so one of us can finally put our car in there!

Recap my 44 for Bill Movement participation.

• I’m not quite done with my letters, but you’d better believe there will be a post here when I’m finished!

Celebrate birthdays – Mom’s and Mia’s!

• My mom’s birthday is in the beginning of October, so I’m hoping we’ll celebrate with dinner as a family, and maybe a movie!
• Our future niece, Mia, turns 11 this year. We have a few gifts lined up for her, and we can’t wait to give them to her!
• I also want to get better at sending birthday cards and the like to my relatives. My Aunt Marny’s birthday is at the end of October, and I definitely want to send her a birthday card on time this year!

Read at least two books on my 2016 Reading Challenge list, and publish those book reviews.

• I feel so far behind! I’m about halfway through one of the books now, and I’m motivated to keep that train going.

Join the Portsmouth Public Library.

• Finally! Better late than never. Accomplishing this will definitely help me with the reading challenge!

Read through Megan’s cookbook, and try at least two of her recipes!

• Megan’s cookbook is called The Big 15 Paleo Cookbook: 15 Fundamental Ingredients, 150 Paleo Diet Recipes, 450 Variations.
• Neither Al nor I are Paleo, but I’m excited to try some new things!

Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals.

• It’s absolutely happening this month! I saw a few Facebook posts from Kristian about her pen pal, and I want those feelings, too!

Get ahead with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments.

• At this point, we’re almost halfway through the semester. If I can concentrate for 3-4 hours per weekend, I’m confident that I’ll ace my midterm and get ahead with my work. I want to fully enjoy our wedding anniversary getaway in mid-November!

Get excited for our wedding anniversary getaway!

• We’re headed toward the mountains of Virginia in mid-November. I’m getting more excited every day! It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married for almost a full year!

That’s all I have for October!

Thank you, readers, for all your comments and encouragement! You have no idea how much your words mean to me – They keep me going!

Do you have any goals for this month?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: askideas.com

Hello, everyone!

I can’t believe we’re at the last day of September. This month seemed to fly by!

Here’s the link to my September Goals post:

• Getting Personal #33: September Goals

—

Ready?

Here we go!

1. Complete my first full 30-day blogging challenge! – Accomplished!
2. Enjoy my six-year dating anniversary with Al.- Accomplished!
3. See Emily G. before she jets off to London! – Accomplished!
4. Keep on track with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments. – Semi-achieved.
5. Attend the Chambers Family Reunion.- Accomplished!
6. Work on an exciting wedding anniversary surprise for Al! – Accomplished!
7. Join the Portsmouth Public Library. – Did not accomplish.
8. Play catch-up with my 2016 Reading Challenge. – Semi-achieved.
9. Read the September book and attend my first book club meeting with Sarah H. – Did not accomplish.
10. Make at least three new recipes. – Did not accomplish.
11. Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals. – Did not accomplish.

Here’s the breakdown:

Complete my first full 30-day blogging challenge! – Accomplished!

• I did it! I had a lot of fun with this challenge, overall.
• There were a few days where I almost didn’t post, mainly because I had forgotten to write it up in advance and came home dead tired and didn’t feel like I had any energy to write anything. However, I keep thinking of this goal, and it kept me motivated!
• If you’re curious, here’s the post that started it all: Writing Prompt #7: “30 Day Writing Challenge” (Day 1)
• I’m not planning to do a challenge in October, but I would like to do one in November. I’m thinking every other month from here on out. Suggestions / recommendations are welcome!

Enjoy my six-year dating anniversary with Al! – Accomplished!

• Our dating anniversary fell on a Sunday this year, and it was lovely. We enjoyed a quiet day at home, and then we went out to Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake to the Cinema Cafe. We discovered that on Sundays and Tuesdays, the tickets are only $1.50! Score!!
• We enjoyed seeing Independence Day: Resurgence while we stuffed ourselves with glorious food. We split the spinach artichoke dip. Then, I had the amazing beer-battered shrimp and a hulking amount of popcorn, while Al had the gyro and a salad.

See Emily G. before she jets off to London! – Accomplished!

• Al and I drove up to Williamsburg to meet Emily and three other friends (Her boyfriend, Andrew; Emily’s good friend, Michelle; and Michelle’s husband, Brett) for lunch on Saturday, September 10th. We ate at this great place called Food For Thought. Yummy!

Keep on track with my Trial Prep & Discovery Practice assignments. – Semi-achieved.

• I made excellent progress with my Homework Folder this month, but not so much on my Trial Notebook. I’m playing catch-up with that one right now. Hoping to get ahead in October!

Attend the Chambers Family Reunion. – Accomplished!

• This will be explained in a new Adventure Time post, coming to the blog next week!

Work on an exciting wedding anniversary surprise for Al! – Accomplished!

• I can’t say much about this one, but a lot happened, and I’m eagerly awaiting our anniversary getaway!

Join the Portsmouth Public Library. – Did not accomplish.

• Every weekend in September was jam-packed. I didn’t have any time to read much of anything new this month, either. Hopefully, if I get my car back in time tomorrow, I’ll go sign up tomorrow afternoon!

Play catch-up with my 2016 Reading Challenge. – Semi-achieved.

• I barely had time to breathe this month!
• I did make progress with Go Set A Watchman, but I haven’t finished it yet.

Read the September book and attend my first book club meeting with Sarah H. – Did not accomplish.

• The book club moved the meetings to the beginning of every month, and I won’t be able to attend the one in October, since it falls on my mom’s birthday!
• I wasn’t able to pick up a copy of the book, since I haven’t yet joined the library and the price of the book online was a little too steep for me this month.

Make at least three new recipes. – Did not accomplish.

• We stuck to staples this month – Pizza, a few frozen meals, salads, and a few marinated meats. This will come up again in October!

Sign up for a pen pal through Geek Girl Pen Pals. – Did not accomplish.

• Having hardly any time to breathe, this didn’t happen. However, I’m determined to make it happen in October!

Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished next to 5 out of 11. Not bad!
• The two goals that were Semi-Achieved: I’m happy with the progress!
• The four goals that were Not Accomplished: This was frustrating, but there were certain circumstances that made these goals nearly impossible to achieve. I just need to carve more time to read!

Did you have any goals for September?

If so, how did you do?

Come back tomorrow to see my October goals!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂