Reflecting on 40 before 40 list

Another birthday is coming. (38 for anyone counting) It's a good time to look over and update my list of things I want to do before I turn 40.
 
 40 things to do before I turn 40 (May 4, 2017)

1. Take a family road trip/vacation (done 5/18/13. Trip to Kentucky for a wedding. 6/13/14 Trip to Maryland for a wedding)
   
2. Have $20,000 in an emergency fund
3. See a movie in a drive-in theater
4. Have my byline in a national magazine (not a trade magazine)
5. Have a spa day with a manicure and pedicure
6. Visit a foreign country (done 10/27/13. Work trip to Montreal)
   
7. Sing in a radio or TV commercial
8. Only keep clothes that I look good in
9. Have a will, life insurance, and written funeral plans
10. Ride in a horse drawn carriage (done 7/2015 in Chagrin Falls)
    
11. Go fishing
12. Buy a real piece of art (done 12/1/13. Bought art from ASM art show)
13. Have a signature, go-to cocktail (to drink, not to make) (French Martini or rum and coke)
14. Participate in a church group that is not music related (done 3/19/15. Church book club)
15. Have a catered party at my house
16. Grow a lemon tree indoors
17. Bake bread
18. Spend a week with no TV (done February 18 - April 5, 2015. Gave up TV for Lent)
19. Ride in a convertible with the top down (done 6/26/16. Got to drive my dad's Spitfire)
    
20. Plan and save for a 10-year anniversary trip (2017)
21. Shoot a gun
22. Go on a retreat
23. See the orchestra at Blossom and have a picnic (done Aug 7, 2016 with extended family)
24. Spend a Sunday at the Chautauqua Institute
25. Have a cocktail in the back room at the Velvet Tango Room
26. Buy a comfy bed
27. Take a first-aid class
28. See an opera
29. Eat Victoria spongecake (done July 4, 2016)
30. Send flowers to someone once a month for a year!
31. Buy the most expensive lottery ticket Ohio sells (I think it's the $30 $500,000,000 Spectacular)
32. Eat a paw paw
33. Spend a day doing random acts of kindness
34. Get up to date with making photo books and the kids baby books
35. Do something that isn't on the list but should have been (done Oct 2014. Weekend away with Mike)
36. Practice a difficult organ piece (with pedals) to perfection
37. Get a new professional headshot (done May 2015 but I don't like the bkgd the designer at work photoshopped)
38. See one of my favorite bands/artists in concert (done June 2014 Beck and Aug 2014 Wilco)
39. Invest in something custom made
40. Pie in the sky wish: Pay off mortgage

40 before 40

Yeah, it's been awhile since I last posted. I'm not going to go on about that.

Last year I turned 35, then I had a baby a week later. On maternity leave, I decided to make a list of things to accomplish over the next five years, before I turn 40. I tried to come up with a list of 40 things, but I've only got about 25 so far. (I'm open to suggestions!)

I tried to keep them achievable, because with two little kids at home, I'm not going to climb the Great Wall of China, and I have no desire to run any kind of marathon or race. I have done some of these things before, such as the drive-in movie and orchestra at Blossom, but not with kids. Can you believe I've never rode in a convertible before?

40 things (give or take) to do before I turn 40 (May 4, 2017)

1. Take a family road trip/vacation (done 5/18/13)
   
2. Have $20,000 in an emergency fund
3. See a movie in a drive-in theater
4. Have my byline in a national magazine (not a trade magazine)
5. Have a spa day with a manicure and pedicure
6. Visit a foreign country
7. Sing in a radio or TV commercial
8. Only keep clothes that I look good in
9. Have a will, life insurance, and written funeral plans
10. Ride in a horse drawn carriage
11. Go fishing
12. Buy a real piece of art
13. Have a signature, go-to cocktail (to drink, not to make)
14. Participate in a church group that is not music related
15. Have a catered party at my house
16. Grow a lemon tree indoors
17. Bake bread
18. Spend a week with no TV
19. Ride in a convertible with the top down
20. Plan and save for a 10-year anniversary trip (2017)
21. Shoot a gun
22. Go on a retreat
23. See the orchestra at Blossom and have a picnic
24. Spend a Sunday at the Chautauqua Institute
25. Have a cocktail in the back room at the Velvet Tango Room
26. Buy a comfy bed
27. Take a first-aid class
28. See an opera
29. ?
30. ?
31. ?
32. ?
33. ?
34. ?
35. ?
36. ?
37. ?
38. ?
39. ?
40. Pie in the sky wish: Pay off mortgage

Henry's birthday party

I wanted to give Henry a special second birthday party so we went with a train theme. He's obsessed with them!
We got a Thomas helium balloon, train napkins and decorations, and I made him a train cake and a train tablescape. It turned out really well.

Here's how the cake turned out. I think it's great. I made and frosted it the night before the party. Here's how I made it.

I started with three pound cakes and cut the tops off to make them flat.

I cut one in half to make the coal car and the log car. 

I took one cake and cut about a third off to sit on top for the caboose.

I took the remaining cake and cut a third off again and stacked it for the engine. I used three shortcakes and the extra pieces of cake to make it look right.

I kept the decorations as simple as possible because I am not that great at cake decorating! I used an ice cream cone and marshmallows for the smoke stack, crushed oreos for the tender, some fancy rolled cookies for the logs. And of course oreos and mini-oreos for the wheels.

Daddy helped make the train tracks on the table and we had the other food in boxes arranged on the track, including train-shaped sandwiches. The kiddo loved it.

Happy birthday Henry!

Our first maple syrup harvest!

We've been wanting to tap our silver maple tree ever since we moved in, but never managed to do it until this year! Mike tapped the tree on Feb 28 and a week later we had a bucketful of sap. We had a couple more bucketfuls but they fell off the tree, darn it.

Mike boiled it down and we got about enough syrup for a couple pancakes! Can't wait to use it up.

 

Beautiful elixir!

Backyard Sugarin' is the bible of maple sugaring:

Backyard Sugarin': A Complete How-To Guide, Third Edition

Bringing it back

Woah, where did 2009 go? Has it been almost two years since I posted? A lot has changed. Changed jobs, planted a garden, had a baby!

As Project Vicki gets ready to celebrate 6 years as a blog, I thought it was time to bring it back.

first strawberry!

We have wild strawberries growing in several places in our yard. This was the first one to ripen. Mike and I split it after we took the picture. It was maybe one inch tall. There won't be enough of them to really do anything, but we're excited nonetheless!

Holy Macaroni!

Project Vicki is 4 years old this month. I put my first post up in April 2004. Project Vicki started out on paper as a collection of my goals, my strengths, weaknesses, and just me figuring out who I was/am. I even wrote my own mission statement like Stephen Covey advises.

I put it online so I could update it regularly. Four years later I still don't update as much as I'd like, but it helps me think about my goals, and what I want.

A lot has changed in four years!

First post
Second post made one hour later!

Man in snow

We got socked with over a foot of snow plus the snow drifts. Here's my honey, knee-high in the snow investigating little critter tracks. When I say "critter," I really mean a frightening, smelly, stripy, stinky skunk. I'm afraid to leave the house in the morning in the dark.

february blahs

Does anyone else have the February blahs? You know, nothing is really wrong, but nothing exciting is going on. Every night I come home from work, fix dinner, maybe run the dishwasher, pay bills, then get in bed and watch tv or read. Just sort of maintaining. Not accomplishing much, not falling behind. Blah.

Now that the days are getting longer, and it's almost light out when I leave for work, I think it's time to set some new goals and reinvigorate my life.

Watch for posts about new goals.

Goal: earn $5,000 in 2008

My Goal is to earn an extra $5,000 in 2008. That breaks down to $417/month. It doesn't include any income from my primary job. And it doesn't include my husband's job, or any extra money he makes.

Jan 1: half.com book sale $6.86
Jan 24: esearch survey $3.00
Feb 8: mysurvey.com reward $10.00
Feb 12: esearch survey $2.50
Feb 21: discover cash back $40
Feb 25: etsy sale $1.64
Mar 20: discover gift card $45
Mar 25: esearch survey $2.00
Mar 31: mysurvey.com reward $10
Apr 2: half.com CD sale $11.40
Apr 3: survey reward $20.00
Apr 28: pinecone survey $3.00
Apr 30: discover cash back $60.00
May 2: pinecone survey $3.00
May 19: discover cash back $20.00
Jun 5: esearch survey $2.00
Jun 12: pinecone survey $3.00
Jun 12: mysurvey.com reward $10.00
Jun 12: opinion outpost reward $5.00

Total = $258.40

2008: You are what you eat

For the last couple of years I've tried to pick a phrase or word to describe what I want for the year. In 2006, the theme was Quality. In 2007, Make it Pretty ( i can't find a link).

For 2008, my theme is: You are what you eat.
I'm not only talking about food, but about life. In other words, garbage in, garbage out.

At work it means that if I put in hard work and thought, I will get good results and a good reputation.

At home it applies to eating of course, and exercise. If I don't exercise, I get fat. Eat junk? Get fat.

And it applies to my other goals, such as crafting, if I don't make the time to work on it, how can I expect to get any results?

If you watch BBC America you may recognize the phrase from the show, You are what you eat, where a nutritionist visits a fat person, calls them fat and disgusting, then gives them a healthy eating plan and exercise goals. Makes you want to swear off bad food and only eat veggies.

One thing the host talks about and I'm trying to take to heart is that you can learn to like any kind of food. (even green beans!) And she says You don't have to like it but you have to eat it. I can picture telling that to my kids someday!

2007 wrap-up

I'm a little late with my wrap up of 2007.

First, one of my goals was to earn an extra $5,000 outside of work, and not including wedding presents! I fell short, making $1,341.30. I'll keep the same goal for 2008.

I found $11.23 in change since June.

I made a To Do in 2007 list:
* Get married
* Eat at a celebrity chef's restaurant (Bobby Flay, Wolfgang Puck, etc.)
* Attend the opera
* See a piano concert
* Continue my 2006 theme of Quality
* Live out my theme for 2007 Design: Make it pretty
* Have a craft design published again
* Do something at work worthy of adding to my resume
* Designate April as Career Readiness Month. Make a portfolio, update resume, etc.
* Save up and pay cash for my wedding.
* Get in shape for the wedding.

Looks like I didn't quite do everything I wanted.

And I always like to end the year with
Good Things of 2007
- getting married!
- winning an ASBPE award (an award for writing)
- having a craft design published
- meeting our wedding fund goal
- buying a house
- really learning and using Photoshop and InDesign
- making and designing my wedding as I wanted it
- honeymoon
- paying off my car loan early
- Puerto Rico in Feburary

Good things 2006
Good things 2005
Good things 2004

Deciding where the money should go

This isn’t a finance blog but I do have some financial goals over there on my list. A couple weeks ago Mike and I had a “State of the Union” financial meeting, and made some big decisions.

First, we’re going to try living on one income, mine. We’ll take $500/month from Mike’s pay and use it to accelerate debt payoff. And the rest of his pay will go to savings.

We also upped our 401k contributions to get each of our company matches.

We decided to pay off my car loan. We’ll take that monthly payment, add it to the $500, and start a "debt snowball" (here’s a link to Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball explanation). First we’ll pay off Mike’s student loan, then mine. By the time we’re through with that we will be able to add an extra $1100 to the mortgage payment each month. In theory. The biggest point is that we’ll have all debt paid off except the mortgage in early 2009, instead of 2012.

Of course things will change and emergencies will crop up. But at least we are in charge of our money, not the other way around.

P.S. The "State of the Union" idea came from the blog Make Love, Not Debt

we bought a house

Right before we got married, Mike and I found and bid on this house. A month and a lot of headaches later, we are set to close next week.

I am documenting our trials on a blog called Nesting Newlyweds. It will be more of a decorating blog as we move in.

Finding change

Back in June I challenged my now-husband to a contest to see who could find the most change on the street.

He won that month but I continued to look for change and have recorded my takings.

Contest month: June 2007: Mike $2.12 Vicki: $1.68
July: $1.62
August: $1.02
September: $0.73
October:$2.55
November: $2.93 (dimes were everywhere!)
December:$0.70

Total change found: $11.23 (not including Mike's $2.12)

Total: $10.53

hitched

Excuse my absence, I've been busy getting married! Details soon.

My lastest press

The November issue of Pack-o-Fun magazine features one of my earrings designs.



I can cross another thing off my list of things to do in 2007.

catching up

It has been a long time since my last post. Been busy with wedding stuff.

Here's a status on some of my goals
Earn extra $5k: $1,059.46
Find change in the street: $4.20 since June 1

More posts to come soon.

the winning breakfast

I managed to find a recipe for biscuits and gravy and fixed breakfast in bed for my honey last weekend.
Here's the proof:

(it doesn't look appetizing to me but I was told it was good)

In other news, we hit our goal to save $10,000 for the wedding! Very exciting.

I lost

Even this penny with a heart in it couldn't help me win the Change Contest.


Final score
Mike $2.12
Vicki $1.68