11/28/10

Amber's 30 X 30

I've created my list of 30 things I want to accomplish before I turn 30. I'm giving myself plenty of time, but I'm sure I will still struggle with completing everything on this list. Time moves so quickly, I'm not sure how to get a handle on it. At least with this, I'll have goals.

Here it goes in no particular order:

1) Have my hair professionally dyed a dark auburn.
2) Go on a 'real' date with Jeff once a month, no family members invited.
3) Blog once a month.
4) Update my wardrobe with at least 5 fun and totally non-essential items.
5) Lose 20 lbs, feel more fit.
6) Take a road trip.
7) Organize the garage and all our tools.
8) Re-vamp the office. It needs an overhaul.
9) "Grow up" our decorating style a little.
10) Paint the hallway and stairwell.
11) Frame the dried flowers from our wedding.
12) Print the disposable camera pictures from our wedding.
13) Make a window treatment for the kitchen window.
14) Complete 5 crafts from the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts.
15) Find at least 5 go-to recipes from "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cook Book."
16) Take better pictures with my Nikon.
17) Write, record, memorialize my grandparents history.
18) Sew something.
19) Decide if I'm going back to school and for what.
20) Stop drinking caffeinated soda.
21) Tithes.
22) Pray more.
23) Go to the temple once a quarter (4 times a year)
24) Read the Book of Mormon again.
25) Get preggo.
26) If preggo, decorate the cutest nursery ever!
27) Read 6 books.
28) Reduce our monthly expenses by 10%
29) Learn how to play my favorite piano song from the Sense and Sensibility movie.
30) Take a trip with just Jeff and I for our 30th birthdays.

Now, the explanations. This is more for my record keeping of course, so in the future when I am wondering "why am I doing all these pointless things?", I can read this and remember. I wish I could do the whole bloggy "after the jump" thing, but as I am technologically impaired, I'm writing this in plain sight for the world to see (or one of the 3 people that may glance at this blog once a year). The writing below is boring, I beg you, turn away now.

1) Have my hair professionally dyed a dark auburn: I've always wished I had curly red hair. Bottled hair dye just doesn't seem to work for reds. I'm going for realistic here.

2) Go on a 'real' date with Jeff once a month, no family members invited: Every movie or dinner I get the question, 'Can so or so family member come?' Now I love family too, but just the two of us would nice every once in while.

3) Blog once a month: Just write more, practice makes perfect.

4) Update my wardrobe with at least 5 fun and totally non-essential items: I tend to only buy things that have purpose and can be used over and over (and are priced under $30). This leads to a very basic and dull wardrobe. I need to spice things up!

5) Lose 20 lbs: I am not ready to say good bye to my looks just because I am getting older, I should try and get them back while I am still young-ish.

6) Take a road trip: Even if we are too poor and the only trip we make is camping in Zions, I'm good.

7) Organize the garage and all our tools: This is more for Jeff (and my sanity).

8) Re-vamp the office. It needs an overhaul: Seriously, it's gross and it is taking me way too long to get it all put together. I've had it decorated in my head for at least a year.

9) "Grow up" our decorating style a little: Things are looking a little one dementional at the Bame house. We need to take our style up a notch and get a little more . . . MORE.

10) Paint the hallway and stairwell: It again, has been a year with paint testing strips on the wall. Decide and conquer!

11) Frame the dried flowers from our wedding.

12) Print the disposable camera pictures from our wedding: I have to be the laziest person in the world, or the cheapest. I can't decide which.

13) Make a window treatment for the kitchen window: As much as I enjoy people driving by on the street seeing what I'm watching on the TV I think I may just cover up the kitchen window.

14) Complete 5 crafts from the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts: I really should give quilling a try.

15) Find at least 5 go-to recipes from "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cook Book": Let's face it, cooking something, anything, will be an improvement. How I made it to 28 without being a good cook, a good homemaker, and childless is beyond me. I need to get at least 5 easy recipes memorized, so I can pull them out in times of need in the future.

16) Take better pictures with my Nikon.

17) Write, record, memorialize my grandparents history: I've been thinking about this for years and just need to do it while I still have the ability to.

18) Sew something.

19) Decide if I'm going back to school and for what: I have been knocking around going back to college ever since I graduated. I can't decide if I want to get my teaching certificate, a masters in public administration, or just get a certificate in something totally different - like a synographer or something.

20) Stop drinking caffeinated soda: I hate being an addict.

21) Tithes.

22) Pray more.

23) Go to the temple once a quarter (4 times a year)

24) Read the Book of Mormon again: venturing into the Old Testament wouldn't be a bad idea either.

25) Get preggo: Sometimes I worry I've already missed my shot at motherhood, other days I don't know how mothers can survive, I just know I've been ready to experience the craziness of motherhood for some time.

26) If preggo, decorate the cutest nursery ever! Let me be honest. I already have the majority of the items to decorate a nursery for either a boy or girl picked out. Color schemes? chosen. Crib? picked out. Yep, I'm 'that' girl, talking, thinking and planning for babies that have yet to be conceived.

27) Read 6 books.

28) Reduce our monthly expenses by 10%: We need to bring down our monthly bills. Our power bill is insane, we are paying for internet on our phones and for our computer. We really just need to get smarter and make our money go further.

29) Learn how to play my favorite piano song from the Sense and Sensibility movie.

30) Take a trip with just Jeff and I for our 30th birthdays: Even if it's just to Mesquite, although I'd love to take Jeff on a cruise, jet to New York, or go see the Grand Canyon. How has this boy not experienced these things yet?

11/9/10

Jeff turns 28!

Last month I threw a birthday party for my hubby Jeffery's 28th Birthday. I was so excited for it, I started planning it in July after my birthday.



I already posted about prepping the back yard for his birthday. I had to really spruce up the backyard because with so many of us just in our immediate families, it'd be the only place big enough to hold all of us for dinner. It was still pretty snug, using both inside and outside.

It started with the Bame’s doing what they do best, watching whatever game was on TV that day. They even did this at our wedding reception...



The Jones' were outside in the middle of some conversation of course. My dad was the cook that night, cooking the shish kabobs on the grill that I gave Jeff for his birthday (my present was a whole backyard kind of a theme, I love theme presents).





The shish kabobs were getting done right around the time the game ended. Perfect timing. We had a pretty good spread if I do say so myself.







Somehow Lora still ended up sitting at the kids table- LOL!



On each of our tables I had a candle in a pickle jar, a bottle of lemonade (both decorated by Jade and I for the occasion, and some pens and paper.



The Pens and Paper were for a fun little project I had going that night. I love the "30 before 30" lists I see on the web everywhere and I really wanted Jeff and I to create our own. I know you are suppose to create this on your 29th birthday but I figure that Jeff and I are such procrastinators that we needed to give ourselves two years. (As it is I don't think we'll even have our lists put together before Thanksgiving and we started this on Oct 8.) On each table and inside I had the jist of the project explained on signs I created.



Underneath I had a couple of yarn braded lines with mini clothes pins where everyone could clip their papers from the tables with their ideas of what Jeff should do before he turns 30.



I like this because it kept the conversation on Jeff during dinner and made it feel like this really was all for him on his special day.

After dinner we went back inside where I had a couple games planned. We played 3 different Minute to Win It games: Chocolate Unicorn, Back Flip, and some balloon game for the kids. These seem a little silly at first, but they are actually really fun to play, and I tried to pick games where people could play and still keep their dignity in tack.





If you are really prepared and tech savvy you can even hook your laptop to your tv and watch the instructional videos that minute to win it has on their website. (I couldn't find the right cables that day.) We weren't tech savvy but I did make little prizes that correlated with Jeff and each game.



After the games and while we waited for the cupcakes to finish being frosted I read out the cards everyone had written about what Jeff should include on his 30 x 30 list. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Graduate college (mine)
2. Die your hair purple with yellow strips (Jade)
3. Make a baby; potty train them; read a book on how to raise a child (Sage)
4.Give your wife 30 gifts (Nanette)
5. Write your own comic book instead of reading so many (Jade)
6. Go 30 days without playing video games (Nanette)
7. Vote Republican (Nanette)

Finally, it was just time for some jello cupcakes and conversation.





Later, I tried to clean up really quick, most the kids met up to go to a movie that night. I had a really good time, and even though I think I could have made some changes to make everything run smoother, it turned out really well. Most importantly I think Jeff enjoyed himself. For our 30th birthday's we want to take a big trip to together, so a nice big bash for 28 was supper fun to put on.


(I'm an aweful wife, with all my running around, this is the best shot I got of him all night.)

***I got some of my b-day decorating ideas from posts on perfect party blog***