August-September Updates…

Another month has gone by, and now there are only 2 weeks until school starts! Aside from these bucket list items, I also went to a concert for Brantley Gilbert, a Taylor Swift concert, the first home Duck football game of the season, and a day trip to Coos Bay to golf at a new course! Life has been wonderfully busy, and in a week we’re going on a trip to explore Seattle, which is on my lifetime bucket list. We’ll also be taking our engagement pictures this week (I’m really excited about this!), and I’ll be working on sending out save-the-dates shortly thereafter. There are a lot of fun things left to work on during my last couple weeks of summer, and I intend make the most of them! Without further ado, here’s an update on the last month!

#10 Wedding Favors
Bubbles, candy… We’ve all received wedding favors that end up being discarded shortly after the big day (if they even make it home), and I didn’t want to waste money on something that was going to end up in the trash.  I thought long and hard about what to do, and since we are going to have a photo booth at our wedding, I decided to give out framed photo booth pictures as our wedding favors! This should be an inexpensive, fun way to remember our special day that will hopefully not end up in the trash.

#14 Yoga Workshop
I traveled up to Portland to Yoga Pearl to attend an inversion workshop from the famous Kathryn Budig, and I had a lot of fun! It was 2 hours of practicing balancing on my hands, and I was able to balance in handstand scorpion for the first time by the end of it! All of the instructions were things that my regular yoga studio, Hard Core Yoga, had taught me before, but it was nice to dedicate a solid 2 hours to working on it.

#28 Hike Somewhere New With Alex
Alex, our friend Brandon, and I all hiked up to the top of the South Sister in Oregon, which is our 3rd tallest mountain at over 10,000 feet. It was an exhausting all day hike, and it didn’t help that we ran out of water at the top, but we made it up and back! I am thrilled that I accomplished the climb, but I consider it to be a once in a lifetime experience and have absolutely NO desire to ever do it again! Of course, I took the opportunity to do a few yoga poses at the top.

#37 Do Something New With My Nails
I haven’t painted my nails for months, but I always keep my toes painted. Over the last year I’ve accumulated a storage container full of polish, and was excited to try something new. I saw someone in my yoga class with white toes, and I decided to try them out myself, adding some silver sparkles on top. I love how it turned out, and I’m considering this style for my wedding!

#49 Voo Doo Doughnut T-Shirt Challenge
Alex and I took a trip up to Portland one evening to accomplish this challenge, which involves getting a doughnut from each of the 2 portland locations, and ending at the one in Eugene. We had never been to the second location before, and it was just really fun to see each one in all of its uniqueness. I also learned that their second location is Voodoo Too, and their third location in Eugene is Voodoo Tres.  At our last stop in Eugene, we turned in our receipts and earned our free t-shirts!

#61 Do a Puzzle
I scored an awesome 1000 piece authentic Disneyland map puzzle at a garage sale, which hadn’t been opened yet, for only $1! I spent a few days putting this one together, and it was fun being able to figure out where the pieces went based on the names of the attractions in each area.

#68 Safe Haven
I love Nicholas Sparks, and have been planning to see his newest movie for ages. Alex and I watched A Walk to Remember on our 8th grade DC trip, which is when we first started dating, and we watched The Notebook the night we got back together during our junior year of high school, so his movies will always hold a special place in my heart. Alex and I watched Safe Haven together, and although it was somewhat predictable, I still really enjoyed it.

#81 Game of Thrones
I spent nearly the entire summer struggling through the first book of Game of Thrones on my Kindle. I loved the series the first time I watched it through, and loved it even more the second time I watched it through with Alex. The first book on the other hand, failed to engage me. I was incredibly surprised at how true the TV show was to the book, and was disappointed that there weren’t many more details in the book that weren’t in the show. I have since started reading the second book, which I am much more into. It’s now my goal to get through the 4th book before the season airs in the spring.

Whew!… Finally caught up again!

Another Week of Awesomeness!

I’m just knocking these out like crazy! I had a very laid back and fun filled week checking things off the list and making me feel productive. Here’s the recap:

#4 Hire a photographer (for my wedding)
I have been struggling with this one for a long time now, because I wanted someone to take really nice, professional pictures, but I didn’t like the outrageous price tag that often goes along with it. We have a friend who takes amazing pictures and I wanted him to be our photographer, but since he’s one of the groomsmen, that wasn’t going to work. On my search for the perfect photographer I scoured the ads on craigslist and thought I found the perfect match until several emails later when I discovered that she was based out of another state and was going to require airfare, 2 nights hotel stay, a rental car, and gas, on top of her price for the work! I went back to craigslist and was thrilled to discover J-C Photography. They are a husband and wife team based out of a town about an hour away from me, and they do wedding photography as a side business, and they photographed another wedding at my venue last year! I met with Jackie and was absolutely thrilled with the shots they had taken and how warm and friendly she was, and I loved their price even more! I’m convinced that I found the perfect match for our needs, and I’m glad to have this item checked off the list!

#5 Hire a caterer (for my wedding)
This was another big struggle for me – I wanted to be in charge of preparing my own food, but my parents really strongly pressured me to find a caterer instead so I wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of it. I have searched around for a while, but with over 300 invited guests, I wasn’t interested in the price of any caterer I found, the least expensive starting around $10/person and only going up from there. After much deliberation, I made the decision to stick with my initial desire to be my own caterer, and am working on planning a sandwich bar and salad bar. I think it will go really well with my wedding being outdoors in the heat of summer, and I’m really looking forward to planning it all!

#8 Collect/clean glass bottles/jars
I have been hitting up lots of garage sales for inexpensive vintage bottles and jars and have also been collecting liquor and wine bottles, as well as other neat household jars and am very happy with my collection so far. This is just a small piece of the collection I’ve amassed, and I think I’m going to end up with a very nice assortment to use as vases at the wedding.

#21 Use my new food dehydrator
I was housesitting at a place where they have 2 rows of apple hedges/bushes (no idea how they get them to grow that way, but it’s neat!) and I took advantage of the abundance of fruit to try out my food dehydrator that I had gotten on sale at Amazon a while back. There were also a few bananas that were about to spoil, so I sliced those up as well. I turned on the dehydrator and in the morning, voila! Dried fruit! I was very happy with how it all turned out, especially the bananas and will definitely be using my dehydrator again in the future.

#25 Make a pie
Continuing on with the abundance of apples, I decided to make an apple pie! I used this recipe for the crust (doubled for top and bottom) and this recipe for the filing. I think it turned out great! I also whipped up a batch of almond milk vanilla ice cream in my ice cream maker and it made for the perfect sweet treat for a hot summer night!

#29 Handcuff myself to one of my sisters
I initially put that I wanted to do this for 4 hours, but my sister, Haley, and I didn’t start until 8:30 at night and we took it off around 10:00 so she could get ready for bed. It was a fun for a while, and definitely made us laugh. =) (We used a scarf.)

#36 Learn how to do a new hairstyle on myself
So I didn’t exactly learn how to do anything new, but I did get my hair cut with layers for the first time in years! My sister, Hannah, and I went in to get free layered hair cuts from the Aveda Institute in Portland, where up and coming stylists needed practice subjects to take before and after pictures showcasing their skills at layered cutting. I was a little apprehensive about letting an amateur work on my hair, but our stylists were great, and they had to ask their instructors to check their work along the way. The only downside was that it took 2 hours! I was glad that they took their time and did a great job though, and hey, it was free!

#52 Drive thru backwards
This one was fun! My sister, Hannah, really wanted ice cream one night, so it was the perfect opportunity to knock this one off the list! We had a blast, though I was a little bummed that the McDonalds employees weren’t at all amused. The last person we talked to relayed a message from the manager that if we went through backwards again, they would refuse to serve us. Oh well, it was cheap entertainment!

#54 Chinese fire drill
Now that my sister, Hannah, finally has her license, we were able to do this one! For those of you who don’t know, a Chinese fire drill is when you come up to a red light and all the people get out of the car and run around to a different seat and continue driving. Hannah was nervous though, so we did it at a stop sign in a neighborhood instead of at a red light. It was still fun though!

#58 White water rafting
Alex and I hadn’t been white water rafting since we were kids, so I took advantage of a great deal on Living Social to experience the adventure at a discount from River Trail Guides. It was relaxing, fun, and we even ended up in the same boat as one of my favorite high school teachers, Mr. Davis, who taught me Spanish. I had also babysat his two daughters who were now much older, and it was really fun seeing them all again.  We had a great time, and I would definitely go back again!

#88 Grilled Cheese Grill
Hannah and I stopped at this food cart in Portland after our hair cuts. I had heard about it from another blog I follow and was excited to give it a try. The double decker bus was definitely a fun, unique touch, and the sandwich was greasy, but good. I got a basic grilled cheese with pesto, and my sister got The Preschooler, which was a basic grilled cheese with the crusts cut off. I think I’d go back with Alex sometime, because he would probably be interested in trying something like The Cheesus, which is a hamburger that uses grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun, and I’d be interested in trying a dessert sandwich.

#89 Buffalo Wild Wings
We finally got a BWW in my town a couple months ago, and hit them up for their wing special night. It was perfectly comfortable in their outdoor covered porch, and it was fun to try different wing sauces. We don’t eat wings very often, and discovered the hard way that “boneless” means fried – I definitely will get the regular ones next time. It was fun though, and I’m sure we’ll be back again.

#94 Try the infinity dancers pose with my sisters
I (like many people before me I’m sure) saw this beautiful picture on Pinterest of 2 girls doing dancers pose and making an infinity sign, and since I regularly do yoga and my sisters have danced their whole lives, I thought we’d have little trouble being able to copy them. Boy was I wrong!

Here’s what it was supposed to look like:

And here’s what we looked like:

#97 Eat Indian food
Alex and I hadn’t eaten Indian food since we were much younger, so we were excited to try this one. We went to a lunch buffet so we could sample a little bit of everything, and it was good! The decor was really neat too, with fake trees inside, and fake foliage attached to the ceiling, which was painted to look like the sky so it would feel like you were eating under a tree. Our favorite was the Chicken Tandori and there was also some good creamy spinach dish and some yummy potato-like things. There was chicken that was colored bright red with tasty spices, and for dessert – a delicious, light, sweet treat made with coconut milk, rice, and some little berries. A lot of the time we didn’t really know what we were eating, but it was really good and fun to experience! We’ll definitely be back!

Catching Up…

Almost 4 weeks of bucket listing to blog about… I’m behind! I took a day trip up to Portland with one of my sisters to check off a few items, then flew out to Hawaii for 5 days to celebrate my aunt’s wedding, and then was house sitting back to back weeks for different families! I’ve been living out of a bag for weeks now, and it feels so wonderful to be home! And now to get caught up on my bucket list blogging from the month of July…

#6 Figure out wedding cakes
I have asked a small handful of family and friends to make one or two cakes/desserts each so that we will end up with a table full of a variety of sweet treats, and I think it is going to turn out wonderfully! I still need to ask a few more people, but I would say that this one is fairly well taken care of for now.

#9 Collect photo booth props
Obviously, I plan to have a photo booth at my wedding, and I have been very busy collecting props from my trip to Bins and from garage sales (more on both of those below)!  I now have a fun selection of fun scarves, ties, hats, boas, and more! I also still need to make props on a stick for people to hold up, like lips, mustaches, and glasses, so I’ll be adding that as another item on my list (it just keeps on growing!)

#13 Outdoor yoga
I experienced doing yoga outside one morning during my visit to Hawaii. I woke up really early on my own and took a couple of beach towels out to the edge of the pool (right outside the back door of our condo) to serve as my yoga mat. It was the first time I’ve ever tried doing a routine that I made up as I went, and after doing the poses on one side, I kept forgetting to do them on the other side. It felt very different to be staring up at the sky as I went through poses, and I found it more difficult to keep my balance. I’m not sure if this was because I was using the beach towels as a yoga mat, or because I’m used to having a ceiling to fix my gaze onto rather than an endless expanse of sky… maybe it was both. At any rate, I spent around 45 minutes working up a sweat and then enjoyed a savasana of staring up peacefully at the sky.

#18 Create a summer playlist
I finally compiled a list of around 60 songs before I took off to Hawaii, though I’m constantly editing it. I always think of another song I want to put on it and later decide to take a couple tracks off that I find myself skipping over. A few of my favorites are “She’s My Kind of Crazy” by Emerson Drive, “Chloe” by Emblem3, “Crazy Beautiful” by Andy Grammer, and lots of Floridy Georgia Line.

#22 Take pictures with an underwater camera
My cousin, Jared, bought a Lifeproof case for his iPhone, so we took some fun underwater pictures while we were snorkeling in Hawaii! It definitely makes me want to get one too!

#23 Buy a dress for Hawaii
I wanted to buy a new dress to wear to my Aunt’s wedding in Hawaii, and I found this fun teal one from Target.com. I ordered several different styles online with free shipping from my Red Debit Card, and took back the ones that didn’t work out to the store. I think I picked a great one!

#24 Get a bikini body (for Hawaii)
I have wanted to get rid of my excess belly fat for a while now, so once summer started, I attended a few weeks of boot camp classes, hit the gym, and did several days of multiple yoga classes in a row. I also swore off drinking alcohol for the last couple months before the trip, and I found that I really didn’t miss it.  I was already eating fairly healthy foods, but I added in even more healthy options, like quinoa, almonds, avocado, and more salads. I still have a little more I’d like to get rid of before my wedding next summer, but I was pretty happy with how I looked for Hawaii. I also took the opportunity to do some yoga poses on the beach!

#31 Shop at “The Bins”
The Bins is the nickname for the Goodwill Outlet store in Milwaukie, OR. I had never been to one before, but it was quite the experience! My sisters had gone last year, and I had wanted to check it out ever since. Basically, it’s where Goodwill sends items that don’t make it to their stores, or that were in the stores too long and then get pulled off the shelves. They pile things in bins based on their category (clothing, household items, toys) and wheel them out into long rows where people dig though them looking for their next hidden treasure. Everything except furniture and heavy items is sold by the pound. My sister Hannah and her friend Avan went with me, and for a whopping $10.81, I was able to get a few sweaters and shirts for my sister (Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, Nordstrom), a few sweaters and shirts for myself (Roxy, H&M, Old Navy), and several bags of photo booth props – hats, scarves, ties, fun bags, a boa… It came out to somewhere around 6 pounds. While we were shopping, we saw a pair of guys with tails, and had an old lady talk our ears off in some other language, maybe Italian? It was definitely an experience, and I would love to go back again sometime!

#32 Garage Sale-ing
I have been wanting to do this for ages, but I always forget until I’m either too busy, it’s late in the day, or it’s not the weekend. Finally, I got myself organized last week on Thursday, and made a game plan of the areas of town I wanted to hit, which were mainly my neighborhood, the neighborhood I was housesitting in, and another neighborhood that was having a 28 family garage sale and was kind enough to provide a printable map.  I walked away with some awesome treasures! A lady was kind enough to sell me a large storage bin filled with her late father’s collection of antique glass bottles that I will use as vases at my wedding for only $20. There were soda bottles, milk bottles, liquor bottles, and small medicine bottles, and they are going to look stunning! Another lady was kind enough to sell me her late mother’s collection of  very nice scarves for my photo booth for only a quarter! I also found some neat vintage drawers that I will stack up on my dessert table to hold the cakes, as well as a vintage wooden tool box and a vintage wooden soda tray to use as more decorations. I also came into possession of a shopping bag full of picture frames that will be used at my wedding, and a number of other treasures. Altogether, I didn’t spend more than $40, and I ended up with some awesome items for my wedding!  I also set aside several $5 bills for the $5 bill challenge, and the envelope is starting to fill up!

#48 Salt and Straw
I had been wanting to visit Salt and Straw for a long time now, which specializes in small batches of ice cream made with local, high quality ingredients in a variety of odd flavors. I finally got to experience it on my day trip to Portland with my sister Hannah and her friend Avan, and holy moly it was amazing! I didn’t think it would be possible to enjoy flavors such as Arbequina Olive Oil and Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Black Pepper, but I did! I sampled so many delicious flavors, and my favorites were the Strawberry with Cilantro Lime Cheesecake and Sea Salt ice cream with Caramel Ribbon, and I decided to eat a full cone of the latter. It was so delicious! I can’t wait until I get the chance to go back again!

#51 Volunteer
Last summer I tried to volunteer in my church’s Sunday School, but I never got a call. This year I signed up again, and got to volunteer last weekend with the 1st-5th graders! It was a lot of fun getting to be around kids again, and I showed a few girls how to make a certain kind of beaded bracelet that I used to make when I was a kid. I also helped lead a small group discussion with the 1st-2nd graders, and prayed for their prayer requests, some of which melted your heart, and others where outright hilarious! I had a great time, and will be back again to help out next weekend too!

#74 Despicable Me 2
I LOVED the first Despicable Me, and also thoroughly enjoyed the sequel. If you haven’t watched them yet, do it! They will keep you laughing and the littlest girl Agnes will melt your heart with how adorable she is!

#93 Paint my windshield wipers
The black paint on my windshield wipers had severely peeled off, and I was regularly getting blinded from the glare, so I finally bought a $3.49 can of matte black spray paint and went to town on transforming them. It was my first time using spray paint, and it was a lot of fun! I applied 2 coats for good measure, and they turned out great – I no longer get blinded by the glare!

#95 Red Wagon Creamery
I was so excited to discover that Red Wagon Creamery was supposed to be my local Eugene version of Salt and Straw (which I absolutely LOVED), but I was thoroughly disappointed by the ice cream. First, there weren’t very many unique flavors when we went. Second, the samples didn’t all “wow” me with their amazingness. Third (and worst of all), they left an awful thick filmy layer in our mouths. I got a blackberry/vanilla ice cream, and while the sample must have had a ton of blackberry, the cone I got was almost plain vanilla. Alex got a smoky salted caramel which had a really strong flavor at first, but it got old really fast. And that awful flavorless film that accumulated in our mouths was just terrible. I don’t know what they put in their ice cream to make that thick film, but it was the first time in my life that I actually dumped ice cream down the drain when I got home, so I could just enjoy the cone. I really wanted to love their ice cream, but I doubt I’ll be back any time soon after that experience.

#99 Antique store
Remember Hollywood Video stores? Well when they all went out of business several years ago, a new antique store popped up in one of their old buildings, and they kept the old sign and called it Hollywood Treasures and Re-Runs. I’ve driven by it a number of times over the years, and finally stopped by last week to browse. It was soooo neat to see all of the old things that created a snapshot into the past.  I was looking for more things I could use for my wedding when I discovered the perfect thing –  a mini trunk! In lieu of a gift table, my wedding is going to have a gift trunk which I found on craigslist a while back and spray painted it teal to match my wedding colors. I was still trying to decide what to use for a card box, and was initially looking for an antique bird cage to use, when I found the mini trunk! It matches perfectly with my decor, and I just need to give it a good coat of spray paint (one of my new obsessions) and it will be perfect!

Large teal trunk for gifts

Small new trunk for cards

Whew – I’m finally caught up! Hopefully I won’t get so far behind again. Hope you’re all having a fabulous summer (I know that I am)!

Teeth whitening & Magic Mike

#43 Teeth Whitening Pinterest Idea
I found this neat DIY idea on Pinterest to whiten your teeth at home for a fraction of the cost of whitening strips, and I was excited to try it out! It only required a little bit of toothpaste, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide, and I was able to find those last two items at Target for 50 cents each. I mixed a little bit of each into a small cup, and used the mixture to brush tonight, rather than just my toothpaste alone. After a couple minutes of brushing I noticed that the mixture was getting a little bit abrasive against my gums and the roof of my mouth, and after rinsing it all out, my mouth tissues felt a little bit raw for a couple minutes. The feeling returned back to normal within a few minutes though, and my teeth felt so smooth! It felt just like after getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist. I have used whitening strips before, but  I have sensitive teeth and they have always inflamed my sensitive areas, so I was happy to not suffer any sensitivity with this method. Another thing I don’t like about the strips is that they only cover your teeth in the front of your mouth, leaving the back ones to continue darkening over time. With this method, the whitening covers all parts of all your teeth. I also like that it is only recommended to use this concoction once per week, and then even less often as you achieve your desired results. I did look into a few different methods of DIY teeth whitening, and felt that it was relatively safe to use this method because it only contained toothpaste, which I already use, baking soda, which is found in many dental care products, and hydrogen peroxide, which is found in whitening strips. I stayed away from other concoctions that required lemon juice as I read about how the extreme acidity is not good for your teeth. Time will tell if my teeth become whiter, but at least they feel extra smooth and clean!

#69 Magic Mike
I have wanted to see this movie since it came out, and I finally got the chance! I used to have a bit of a crush on Matthew McConaughey from when he was in the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, so I was really excited to see him in another movie, and Channing Tatum is gorgeous, so naturally I was thrilled to get to look at him. I was a little disappointed that Matthew McConaughey isn’t nearly as attractive as I used to think he was, but Channing Tatum and several of the other guys were smoking hot! I was a little disappointed that the story line involved drug use, but I enjoyed the rest of the story for the most part. And I really enjoyed looking at all of the washboard abs!

River float, s’mores, yoga pics, and more!

#86 Buy a window punch/seatbelt cutter
I’ve been talking about getting one of these nifty tools to keep in my car in the highly unlikely event that my car becomes submerged in water so I can break the window and get out, and I finally ordered one from Amazon. It arrived a few days ago and is now safely stored in my car. Yay!

#60 Float the River
The weather has finally gotten into the upper 80’s to low 90’s, which means it was to float the river again! We rounded up a couple friends and had an absolute blast on Friday, soaking up the sun and staying cool. I’m sure we’ll be back for more in the near future!

#63 S’mores
We spent a day of this gorgeous weekend camping with our friends Patrick and Amanda and they put me in charge of bringing ingredients for S’mores! We had the choices of regular and cinnamon crackers, regular or strawberry marshmallows, and milk, milk with almonds, or dark chocolate. As you can imagine, they turned out delicious! The strawberry marshmallows must have melted on their way to the store though, because they were a big sticky (yet delicious) lump in the bag.

#78 Extras (Uglies #4)
I read the first 3 books in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld earlier this year, and I absolutely LOVED them! The fourth and final book called Extras was really an entirely different story line from the first three books, and didn’t even involve the main character from the previous stories until about half way through. I was a little bummed to have to learn an almost entirely new set of characters, but I still enjoyed reading it. If you haven’t read it yet, I strongly recommend this series!

#15 Yoga pictures in nature
I have seen so many beautiful pictures of people doing yoga poses in the outdoors, and I really wanted to try some for myself. Since we were camping at Crescent Lake where there was a gorgeous view of Diamond Peak in the background, it was the perfect photo op! I’ll share a few of my favorites. =)

Blueberries, watermelon Oreos, and wedding plans

#2 Finalize Guest List (for wedding)
I finally condensed my multiple lists of guests into just one, and we have 310 people being invited! Yikes! I think I got everyone, but I’m sure we’ll add a few more over the next year. At least now this gives me an idea of how many Save The Dates and invitations we’re going to need. Plans are moving along!

#62 Pick Blueberries
It feels like just a few days ago I looked at our blueberry plants and saw green berries, but today they were bursting with ripeness! It was a cool and cloudy today, but it’s supposed to be really hot for the next week, getting up into the 90’s, so I took advantage of the cool evening to knock this one off of my list. I only made a small dent in the multitude of plants, but at least it’s a start!

#90 Watermelon Oreos
I was getting a little worried about not being able to find these in stores, since they’re a limited edition flavor for the summer, but I was thrilled to see a full display of them at my local Target last night! When I was at the checkstand, the cashier even mentioned that he didn’t realize that they were back in stock, and the told me that they sold out really fast last time. When it was time to eat them, it was fun to see the pink and green inside, and to taste the fake watermelon flavor that reminds me of my childhood favorites: Lip Smackers watermelon chapstick and watermelon jelly beans. I’m sure I’ll share lost of them with my family and friends!

“No sew” blanket, movies, and roller derby

#45 Make a “no sew” fleece blanket
Over the years I’ve seen lots of people with those cozy looking double layered fleece blankets made by tying the edges together, but I’ve never made one of my own… until now! I looked online for a tutorial and I came across this neat braided edge design, so I decided to try it out! I started by laying the fleece out and trimming the edges so they were straight, then I matched the two layers up and trimmed them so they were even. I then went around the edges and cut 1.5 inch slits and then cut little holes in the middle of them and used a paperclip to pull one piece through the other, making the neat braided pattern. It was a really long process that took FOREVER but I’m very happy with the finished product! It is really warm and cozy, and I didn’t have to deal with a sewing machine to make it!

 

#66 Watch Beautiful Creatures
I really enjoyed reading this book series and was excited to see the movie, but it came out in theaters when I was in the middle of reading the series, and it came out on DVD when I was in the middle of lots of studying last term in school, so I kept putting it off. When Redbox sent me a free rental code, it was finally the perfect opportunity to check this one off! I must say that I  enjoyed the books much more than the movie, but I’m glad that I finally got to see it.

 

#73 Watch Monsters University
I LOVE Disney movies, and was so excited to hear that Pixar was coming out with a prequel to Monsters, Inc. I marked it in my calendar and Alex and I went to see it on its opening day! It was really cute, and I’m so glad I got the chance to see it!

 

#41 Watch Roller Derby
One of my nursing school friends competes in roller derby, and it sparked the idea that I’d like to watch it sometime. Since they were having a “brawl” right here in my hometown, I decided to seize the opportunity and check it out. One thing I was surprised by right away was that the skating rink was just a flat hard floor, rather than the raised wooden rinks that I’ve seen on TV and in the movies.  I was also really surprised to see 7 referees in the center of the rink at all times. When I started watching, I thought I’d be able to figure it out on my own, but after several minutes of confused puzzling over what was happening, I resorted to google to learn the basic rules. Google gave me the general idea of what was going on, but I was really happy to meet up with my friend “Miss Kitty La Rue” during a halftime break and she explained things in a little more detail for me, while we watched other teams compete. I really loved the fun names that the skaters had, like Wonder Dread and Jala Pain Yo. I’m really glad I got to experience something so completely new and different!

Door of Inspiration, Ice Cream, and more!

#39 Make a “Door of Inspiration”
My bed directly faces my bedroom door and for months now I’ve been wanting to decorate it with things that inspire me. I’m so glad I finally got around to it! I’ve been pinning inspirational pictures and quotes for ages, so I went through and printed out my favorites and turned my door into a life-size Pinterest board of inspiration! I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!

 

#20 Use My New Ice Cream Maker
I purchased this awesome ice cream maker on sale over the winter and have been dying to try it out! My fiance, Alex, had a sore throat tonight, so it was the perfect opportunity to take it out of the box. This was a different type of ice cream maker, because it had a bowl that you froze ahead of time, rather than having to put in ice and salt while it churned. I had actually put the bowl in the freezer shortly after I purchased it, but just hadn’t gotten around to trying it out. Since we had lots of frozen strawberries, we decided to try making strawberry ice cream.  According to the recipe booklet that came with it, it was okay to substitute any milk-like products for the heavy cream, so we opted to use a coconut flavored almond milk that we had on hand and it turned out like a delicious sorbet! I am definitely excited to try more recipes and use it in the future!

 

#84 Pulp Fiction
It was on my bucket list last summer to watch Pulp Fiction, but I never got around to it. Since Alex and I were having a laid back day, we decided to watch a movie and he mentioned that he wanted to watch this one, and Netflix had it streaming, so we did! I had no idea what this movie was about, but it turned out to be very long and definitely R rated. Since this movie was made about 20 years ago, it was different to see people smoking indoors and really crazy to see a lot of big name actors such as Bruce Willis, John Travolta, and Samuel L. Jackson when they were much earlier in their careers. I’m glad that I can now say that I’ve seen such a popular movie, but I definitely have no desire to see it again.

#44 $5 Bill Challenge
I first heard of this idea on Pinterest and thought it sounded like a fun thing to try – basically, you set aside every $5 bill you obtain and after you accumulate a sizable amount of money, you use it to pay for something special. I have no idea what I would want to spend the money on, but I’m interested to see how much I could end up saving, especially since I use cards to pay for almost everything. I went through my wallet tonight and pulled out two $5 bills and we’ll see how much I end up with at the end of summer!

Aerial Yoga

#12 Aerial Yoga

My lovely yoga friend, Ardyn, invited me to go to an aerial yoga class with her and it was so much fun! It was such a different feeling to be swinging above the ground while putting yourself into different poses.  Many parts really reminded me of playing on the swings when I was younger, and I felt an exhilarating child-like joy throughout the class. I had such a great time and will definitely be back for more!

2013 Summer Bucket List

Wahoo!!! Summer is here! After a grueling 9 months of nursing school, I am officially half way done and SO ready to enjoy my summer! My list this summer isn’t quite as extensive as last summer, but it should still prove to be a great adventure!

Summer 2013 Bucket List

Wedding Plans:

1. Take engagement photos
2. Finalize guest list
3. Send “Save the Dates”
4. Hire a photographer
5. Hire a caterer
6. Figure out wedding cakes
7. Make sample batch of snack mix
8. Collect/clean glass jars/bottles
9. Collect photo booth props
10. Wedding favors

Yoga

11. Try hot yoga
12. Try aerial yoga
13. Outdoor yoga
14. Attend a yoga workshop
15. Take pictures doing yoga in nature
16. Work towards lotus pose
17. Work towards King Dancer pose

Other Fun

18. Create a summer playlist
19. Make bottle cap coasters
20. Use my new ice cream maker
21. Use my new food dehydrator
22. Take pictures with an underwater camera
23. Buy a dress for Hawaii
24. Get a bikini body (for Hawaii)
25. Make a pie
26. Hang a sign over a toilet that says “This Way to The Ministry of Magic”
27. Homemade popsicles
28. Hike somewhere new with Alex
29. Handcuff myself to one of my sisters for 4 hours
30. Blind makeovers with my sisters
31. Shop at “The Bins”
32. Garage sale-ing
33. Feed ducks/geese
34. Learn how to do the cup song
35. Tie dye
36. Learn how to do a new hairstyle on myself
37. Do something new with my nails
38. Donate 20,000 grains of free rice (freerice.com)
39. Make a “Door of Inspiration”
40. Homemade microwave popcorn
41. Watch roller derby
42. Try applesauce
43. Try teeth whitening Pinterest idea
44. $5 bill challenge
45. Make a “no sew” fleece blanket
46. Make a shower cleaning wand
47. Buy “Tanga Trash”
48. Salt and Straw
49. Voodoo Donut t-shirt challenge
50. Learn pain meds for school

Didn’t Get Around To Last Summer

51. Volunteer
52. Drive thru backwards
53. Buy coffee for the next person in line
54. Chinese fire drill
55. Sun tattoo (using nail polish this time)
56. Random chat generator
57. Wildwood
58. White water rafting

Encore From Last Summer (Because It Was So Much Fun!)

59. Pick up beach glass
60. Float the river
61. Do a puzzle
62. Pick blueberries
63. S’mores

Movies to Watch

64. Pay It Forward
65. Sixteen Candles
66. Beautiful Creatures
67. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
68. Safe Haven
69. Magic Mike
70. West Side Story
71. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
72. The Neverending Story
73. Monsters University (in theaters June 21)
74. Despicable Me 2 (in theaters July 3)
75. Disney movie marathon

Reading List

76. I Capture the Castle
77. Beyonders #3: Chasing the Prophecy
78. Extras (Uglies #4)
79. The Great Gatsby
80. Enders Game
81. Game of Thrones
82. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
83. The Sign of the Beaver