Friday, December 2, 2011

22 Accomplishments: November Update

So I haven't done one of these updates in a l o n g time.  Sadly I haven't really done anything off of this list.  But life and school have been so crazy and those come first before a list of fun things to do.  
In the last 3 months this is what I've completed:


-Painted the chair for my room.  It is red and looks great!  
-Took monthly family photo on Thanksgiving.
Books: (I'm switching it from 20 to 15.  I think that is more likely to actually happen.)
-One Season of Sunshine by Julia London.  Wonderful book!  Couldn't put it down.  A definite read.
-Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.  Good book.  Very interesting to learn so much about the icon.  Had to read it for a class over Thanksgiving break.  Read it in about 3 1/2 days.  Yikes!
Movies: 
-The Bridge on River Kawi.  Very unrealistic.  I can guarantee you that being a POW in WWII was not that easy.
-Platoon.  It didn't feel like the movie was ready to end when it did.
-The Lost Weekend.
-How Green Was My Valley.  Pretty good.  Started to lose interest in the middle though.


This is what my list looks like now:
1.  Make dinner for a family who is going through a tough time. (Dinner: January 22, 2011.  Care Package: July 21, 2011)
2.  Get back to my ideal weight.--half way there!
3.  Finish college.
4.  Get a 'big girl' job.
5.  Go a day without getting on the computer (or getting on the internet via iPhone.) (July 4, 12, 23)
6.  Send birthday cards to all my good friends. (January, February, March, July, August, September) (No friend birthdays in April, May, or June, October)
7.  Make a Christmas advent tree like this one.
8.  Fix and paint my desk chair in my room.
9.  Try 5 new foods. (Soy beans, raspberries, Apple dumpling, mango, fried pickle)
10.  Create (and do) a cleaning schedule to keep my room better organized.
11.  Take a family photo each month for a year. (January, February, March, April, May, June, August  (July), August, September, October, November)
12.  Do a 52 week portrait challenge. (Have completed 47 weeks so far)
13.  Feel more comfortable cooking, especially meats. (August)
14.  Plant tulips in mom's garden. 
15.  Make Wrist Key Chains.  Found here.
16.  Clean out my closet.
17.  (Finish the quilt I started 4 or 5 years ago.)  Make a quilt.
18.  Learn to make French Toast.
19.  Reach $2100 PCV  in my Silpada sales for 3 2 months. (February)
20.  Go on a family trip.
21.  Read 20 15 books.
  Here is the list I've read so far:
1.  Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
2. Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah
3.  Marrying Daisy Bellamy by Susan Wiggs. 
4.  Borrowed Bride by Susan Wiggs
5.  The Child Called It by David Pelzer.
6.  What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
7.  Dear Cupid by Julie Ortolon
8.  The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
9.  The Beach Club by Elin Hilderbrand
10.  The Opposite Of Me by Sarah Pekkanen
11.  One Season of Love by Julia London
12.  Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
22.  Watch every movie that made 'Best Picture' in the Oscars.
 Here is the list: I've marked off the ones I've already seen.  There are a few that I've already seen, but I need a refresher before I check them off the list.  (Too bad, I could cross off another 6 movies...)
*Note: The ones that are marked out but don't have a date by them are movies I've already seen in the years past.
1928 Wings (April)
1929  The Broadway Melody
1930  All Quiet on the Western Front (June) 
1931  Cimarron (May)
1932  Grand Hotel (May)
1933  Cavalcade (June)
1934  It Happened One Night (April)
1935  Mutiny on the Bounty (April)
1936  The Great Ziegfeld (June) 
1937  The Life of Emile Zola
1938  You Can't Take It With You (July)
1939  Gone With the Wind
1940  Rebecca (May)
1941  How Green Was My Valley (November)
1942  Mrs. Miniver (July)
1943  Casablanca
1944  Going My Way
1945  The Lost Weekend (November)
1946  The Best Years of Our Lives (June)
1947  Gentleman's Agreement (May)
1948  Hamlet
1949  All The King's Men
1950  All About Eve (March)
1951  An American in Paris (September)
1952  The Greatest Show on Earth
1953  From Here to Eternity
1954  On the Waterfront (June) 
1955  Marty
1956  Around the World in 80 Days
1957  The Bridge on the River Kwai (October)
1958  Gigi (March)
1959  Ben-Hur (August)
1960  The Apartment (July)
1961  West Side Story
1962  Lawrence of Arabia
1963  Tom Jones
1964  My Fair Lady (May)
1965  The Sound of Music
1966  A Man for All Seasons (September)
1967  In the Heat of the Night
1968  Oliver
1969  Midnight Cowboy
1970  Patton
1971  The French Connection (March)
1972  The Godfather
1973  The Sting (July)
1974  The Godfather Part II
1975  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1976  Rocky
1977  Annie Hall
1978  The Deer Hunter
1979  Kramer vs. Kramer
1980  Ordinary People (June) 
1981  Chariots of Fire (June) 
1982  Gandhi
1983  Terms of Endearment
1984  Amadeus
1985  Out of Aftrica
1986  Platoon (November)
1987  The Last Emperor
1988  Rain Man (September)
1989  Driving Miss Daisy
1990  Dances With Wolves
1991  The Silence of the Lambs (February)
1992  Unforgiven (September)
1993  Schindler's List
1994  Forrest Gump
1995  Braveheart
1996  The English Patient
1997  Titanic
1998  Shakespeare in Love (March)

1999  American Beauty (June) 2000  Gladiator
2001  A Beautiful Mind
2002  Chicago
2003  The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
2004  Million Dollar Baby
2005  Crash
2006  The Departed
2007  No Country for Old Men
2008  Slumdog Millionaire
2009  The Hurt Locker
2010  The King's Speech

Week 48


Week 48
November 27, 2011

Just trying to stay strong.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Week 47

iPhone
Abby is not much of a cuddler.  She likes the close comforts of being in the same room with you.  But she does not like to be held or cuddled.  Abby also does not like anything laying on her.  She likes to lay on top of blankets, pillows, paper (pretty much anything), but she does not like things on top of her.



I woke up early Saturday morning and was not in a good mood.  My stress level is off the wall.  Honestly I do not know how I am still functioning.  So the first thing I did was bring my pillow out to the living room and vegged on the sofa....all day long.

Without any help or motivation, Abby jumped up on the sofa and layed down right next to me.  I was cold so I pulled the blanket over us.  Abby didn't move.  She layed there next to me for the next hour.  She didn't sleep. She didn't move.  She just layed there.

It amazes me how well she knows me.  She is a dog.  She can't communicate.  She can't understand what I'm saying.  Yet she knows my personality.  She knows when I need to be comforted.  And she knows exactly how to do so.

I love this dog more than words can say.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Week 46


First hot chocolate of the season.

Yum.

Working on homework.

(Not fun.)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Acorn Cookies

I made something from Pinterest!


Acorn Cookies!
They were very yummy.
I brought them to both of our Thanksgiving dinners.
And we didn't come home with any.
I'd call it a success! 


Even though these cookies were easy, they were a little time consuming.
Having to unwrap a bag and a half of chocolate kisses is a lot.


Ingredients:
1 bag of Hersey kisses
1 bag of nutter butter cookies
1 bag of chocolate chips

Directions:
Melt some chocolate chips in the microwave.
Dip Hersey kiss into the melted chocolate and attach a nutter butter cookie.
Dip a chocolate chip into the melted chocolate and attach to the other side of the nutter butter cookie.

Note I put them in the fridge before I added the small chocolate chip on top.  This made the chocolate harden and made it less messy.