This is how we take over the world.

Project 52, 2012 Edition

2012-01-11T07:19:40Z

I love making lists, I really do! So how could I resist making a list of 52 things I want accomplish during the year? I know its a week late, but this year didn't have the best start and I was busy working on other crap. Oh well, things are really looking up now and I am excited to start crossing things off my list. Here it is...

1. Add items to long term food storage

2. Blog 12 times (1/12)

3. Buy and hang a new magnet board

4. Buy an external hard drive and save pictures and important documents

5. Clean out and detail my car

6. Clean out closet and donate clothes I don’t wear

7. Comment on 5 different blogs a month (3/60)

8. Complete 21 day on CLEAN

9. Complete more goals than last year

10. Consolidate my student loans

11. Donate blood

12. Earn a dual teaching credential

13. Find a new job

14. Find a new way to do my hair

15. Finish Aaron’s mission scrap book

16. Get a massage

17. Get studio teaching license

18. Go 30 consecutive days without carbonated drinks

19. Go on a bike ride with Aaron

20. Go to 2 pro sports games (1/2)

21. Go to a shooting range

22. Go to Catalina Island

23. Go to Disneyland 10 times (0/10)

24. Go to the dentist

25. Go to the Getty Museum

26. Go to the temple 10 times (0/10)

27. Have family pictures taken with Chelsea

28. Make 5 home made gifts and give them away (0/5)

29. Make 5 things found on pintrest (0/5)

30. Make going to the gym a habit again

31. Make my own decorations for 3 different holidays (0/3)

32. Memorize all 13 articles of faith (4/13)

33. Move closer to Aaron’s work

34. Organize and clean the garage storage

35. Organize my scrapbook supplies

36. Organize under both beds

37. Learn 3 new recipes (0/3)

38. Print pictures and put in a photo album

39. Put my profile on Mormon.org

40. Read 15 new books (0/15)

41. Read 2 non-fiction books (0/2)

42. Read both General Conference Ensigns

43. Read D&C cover to cover

~~44.~~ ~~Reread Jane Eyre~~

45. Scan mine and Aaron’s Patriarchal Blessings

46. Score a goal in a hockey game

47. Send out Christmas cards

48. Sew something for myself

49. Take the History CSET

50. Teach Chelsea 2 new tricks (0/2)

51. Visit 3 new places with Aaron

52. Write in my journal 24 times (0/24)

As you can see I've already completed one goal (Jane Eyer is an awesome book, if you haven't ready it you should!) and I have started on a few other goals. I hope I will get more done this year than I did last year! Wish me luck.

Goodbye 2011!

2012-01-02T23:47:21Z

My 2011Project 52 Wrap up. Let’s see how I did…

1.Back up all our pictures

-I got as far as buying an external hard drive, but it wasn't compatible with a mac so I returned it.

~~2.Bear my testimony in sacrament meeting~~
-I was terrified and I cried through the whole thing, but I did it

3.Blog 24 times this year
-only14/24

~~4.Build up our savings~~
-Feels good to have some rainy day money. I want to keep building it though.

~~5.Donate money to the Perpetual Education Fund~~

6.Double our food storage
-I didn't get anywhere close to doubling it, but I did add to it and I learned how to use it, which is pretty important

7.Fill up my Jones bottle with change
-It’s not even a third of the way full, I don’t know why I love collecting change, but I do.

8.Finish Aaron’s mission scrapbook
-I got a good chunk of it done, then I started teaching and had no time to even think about it

~~9.Finish my Master’s degree~~
-It’s so nice to have that piece of paper!

10.Finish my nativity count-down
-Didn't even look at it all year

~~11.Finish putting together 72 hour kits~~
-Now I have to think about changing out some of the food

~~12.Get a collar made for Cali~~
-And for Chelsea

~~13.Get more stamps in my National Park Passport~~
-Thanks Yosemite for my stamp!

14.Go to a concert
-I’m really sad this didn’t happen, unless seeing the JABAWKEEZ counts

15.Go to a UCLA football game
-I’m really shocked this didn’t happen. We have been going to games since we moved back to California

~~16.Go to the beach 4 times~~

17.Go to the Temple 12 times
-Made it 8 times this year, I didn’t help that my recommend expired and I didn’t get it renewed for 3 months

18.Keep up with going to the gym 3 times a week
-Not so much

19.Learn how to edit video
-I could have made this happen, but didn’t

20.Learn how to play the piano
-Nope

21.Learn how to read music
-Nope

22.Learn how to use photo-shop
-Nope

23.Make a box garden
-Nope, apparently a north facing balcony is not conducive to growing things

24.Make a DVD of our Europe trip
-Nope

25.Make morning prayers a habit
-It happens more, but its definitely not a habit yet

26.Master 3 new recipes (things that Aaron will eat)
-Only 2 Mac N Cheese and Rolls

27. Memorize math facts

-I'm a terrible teacher, I still use my fingers to add and subtract... oh well

~~28.Organize 2nd bedroom~~

~~29.Organize Aaron’s childhood photos into an album~~
-I put this off all year, then knocked it out in about an hour on the 30^th

~~30.Organize my closet~~

~~31. Organize my night stand~~
-It’s nice knowing where things are

~~32.Pay off the Malibu~~
-Yippee!

~~33.Plan a weekend getaway for Aaron and me~~
-It was in Paris

~~34.Re-read Pride and Prejudice~~
-Oh Mister Darcy! I finished it just a few days ago

~~35.Reach my goal weight and stay there for at least a month~~
-Thanks to the Clean Diet

36.Read 15 new books
- Only 10/15

37.Read articles from the Ensign every month
-I did for the first 6 months I think, but forgot about it

38.Read every book club book
-All but 3 I think

~~39.Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover~~
-Done

~~40.Read the Book of Mormon for 30 consecutive days~~
-This was actually pretty easy

41.Receive a dual credential
I’ll do it this year

~~42.Run a 5 k~~
-I ran the whole thing!

43.Send out thank you notes
-I am terrible at these things

~~44.Sew something and give it away~~
-I made a few blankets and 2 “hooder hiders”

~~45.Sew something and wear it in public~~
-Made a skirt and wore it to Target, not sure if I’ll ever wear it again

~~46.Start collecting books for my classroom library~~

47.Stick to my “monthly cleaning plan” for 6 months
-What cleaning plan?

48.Stop living in CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome)
-Nope, I need at least a 30 min. notice before anyone is allowed to come over

49.Submit my pictures to JonesSoda.com
-Nope

~~50.Visit Aaron’s grandparents once a month~~
-Burbank is far, but it’s worth it

51.Visit the dentist
-I tried, but he didn’t take my insurance

52.Write in my personal 52 times this year
-26/52

I completed 23 out of 52 goals. As a teacher I look at that and see an F. Oh well, I was never to concerned about my grades.

I am currently working on making a list of goals for 2012. There will be a few unfinished 2011 goals making a comeback for this year, hopefully I will make it happen this time around.

Project 52 Update

2011-09-27T01:04:09Z

Week 40

(sorry no pictures for this post)

I haven’t completely forgotten about my goals I set way back in January, but almost. Luckily some of my goals were already on tack to happen so I have a few more to cross off my list. Yay for me!!!

Completed goals:

# 9. Finish my Master Degree! It is such a wonderful feeling to be done with school. I have my diploma and it is hanging in my classroom. That’s right I also got a job as a teacher! (more on that in my next post)

#12. Get a collar made for Cali. I did this when I got a collar made for our new puppy Chelsea.

#13. Get more stamps in my National Park Passport. I made Aaron stop at the ranger station in Yosemite to get one. The rangers were so excited to stamp it for me they forgot to charge us the $20 entrance fee!

#16. Go to the beach 4 times. Two of the time I went it was too cold to swim in the ocean, but I was still there!

#30. Organize my closet. When we put our house back on the market for the 3498439 time I decided it was time to purge and clean it out. Felt good to get it done.

#33. Plan a weekend get away for Aaron and I. We went to Vegas for his birthday. I didn’t do much of the planning, but I’m still counting it as done.

#46. Start collecting books for my classroom. I have a pretty good little start, although I still need sooo many more! Donations are welcome…

Goals in progress:

#3. Blog 24 time this year. I have 13 done with this post, so I’m over half way done.

#4. Build up our savings. Its slowly getting bigger, very slowly, but at least it’s not shrinking right?

#8. Finish Aaron’s mission scrapbook. I was working on it almost daily for a week, then I got a job and it stopped. But all the pictures are organized so it should be quick once I get going again

#15. Go to a UCLA foot ball game. Season stated a few weeks ago and I’m bugging Aaron to take me to their next home game.

# 17. Go to the temple 12 times. I’m getting my recommend renewed tomorrow and plan on going soon after. I think I’ve only gone about 4 times this year.

#39. ~~Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover~~. I’m now in Helaman. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

#45. Sew something and wear it in public. I have a half made skirt I just need to take the time to finish it.

I know I wont finish all my goals, but I am so okay with that. It just feels good to see my accomplishments from this year! Go me!!

Notre dernier jour à Paris

2011-08-08T21:40:43Z

Our last day in Paris. Also our 6 year wedding anniversary!!!

We started the day with a little shopping, which is a wonderful way to start any day!

Then we got on some bikes and rode down to the Panthéon.

After looking around and finding Voltaire's tomb we took our bikes down to the Palais Garnier - Opéra national de Paris

Such a beautiful building, and even prettier on the inside!

I would have LOVED to have seen a ballet here!

We spent way to much time there taking an extremely boring tour of the building. They didn't take us anywhere we couldn't have gone on our own we could have read all the information from a pamphlet in half the time. We weren't allowed into the actual theater because of the rehearsals going on. But it was beautiful inside so I am glad we were able to see it!

Then we headed to the Musée du Louvre. About time right? We took a Rick Steve's guided tour that took us to all the good stuff.

Like this painting of Jesus when he used "lasers" to burn holes into St. Francis of Assisi's hands, feet and side... yes that's right, awesome!

And the Crown Jewels

and yes, we fought the crowds to see Ms. Lisa

We decided to head back to the apartment to rest, shower, and change for the night.

Feeling refreshed we took the Metro down to Trocadero for dinner. Then we decided to spend the night walking around and enjoying the view of the Eiffel Tower.

My last crepe in Paris. Soooo good!!

Before calling it a night we added our lock to a bridge over the Seine. Apparently it's the cool thing to do in Paris so we had to do it. We are so French.

Our flight left the next day. We had such a great time. Thank you Tata and Pierre for letting us stay in your house and taking care of us while we were there! We love you guys and hope you can visit soon!!!

Les Catacombes & The Left Bank

2011-07-08T19:30:31Z

Paris: Day 6 & 7

I’m feeling like this little series of mine is dragging so I’m consolidating days 6 and 7.

Day 6

We rode bikes again to another corner of Paris to visit the Catacombs, amazing. We tried to go there last year, but it was closed due to theft and vandalism. Luckily it was open this time around, definitely one of my favorite things we saw. Before even going in there is a warning….

After walking down a loooong spiral staircase and about a half mile of underground tunnels we finally came to the bones

so

many

bones!!

When we were finished with all the dead people we took our bikes to the Musée Rodin. We didn’t spend too much time here. The Most interesting thing was in the garden

you might recognize this guy.

I loved all the people waiting in line to sit and mimic his pose for a picture.

He had the pose down the best.

The last stop of the day was the Musée de l'Orangerie which holds some of Monet’s largest paintings.

Day 7

We decided to spend the day exploring the Left Bank of Paris. Our first stop was La Conciergerie. This is where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before eventually being sent to the guillotine.

MaireAntoinette's actual cell which was set up just how she would have had it (She had money to pay for a private room)

We also visited the Church they used in The Davinci Code and saw the “Rose line” according a note left in the church there is absolutely no truth to anything in the movie and the line is something totally different… yeah right!

The Rose Line

the skinniest building in Paris

Shakespeare and Company bookstore where Ernest Hemingway and others hung out in the 1920s

The oldest tree in Paris, planted in 1602

We ended the night having dinner across the street from Notre Dame

I had the most amazing French onion soup. Or is it just onion soup? Whatever, it was good!!

Montmartre

2011-06-28T21:52:00Z

Paris: Day 5

Another wonderful day! Aaron and I took Velib bikes up to the northern part of Paris to a district called Montmartre. We parked our bikes and hiked up the hill.

Sacré Coeu

Aaron enjoying the view

We followed Rick Steves’ walking tour and saw some amazing sights. Montmartre is known as the Artist district, famous painters like Picaso, Renoir, and Van Goh lived up here.

The Moulin de la Galette. This is the backdrop for Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette

Van Goh lived on the top floor of this building from 1886 to 1888

This is a statue of St. Denis who was sentenced to death for spreading Christianity. A Roman soldier beheaded him, but St. Denis popped right up, picked up his head, and kept walking.

I have no idea what this is, but it reminded me of The Awakening in DC

One of my favorite movies of all times! I wish we could have gone in for a show, but its pricey and some of the girls are little naked… so maybe next time.

We then rode our bikes down to the center of Paris.

When you step on this you are destine to return to Paris. We made sure to walk all over it!

Another statue of St. Denis holding his head.

We walked up to the top of Notre Dame.

Aaron taking in the view of Paris.

Then we went down to the Holocaust Memorial.

Over 200,000 Parisians were shipped off to concentration camps from this point.

The back side of Notre Dame

Project 52: Update

2011-06-20T23:35:01Z

I’m taking a break with my Paris posts to remind myself that I set some goals a few months ago. I have been working on some, and I’m thinking about forgetting others. So here is what I have completed since my last update…

#2—Bear my testimony in church. It came at the end of a talk I was asked to give, but I’m counting it. Getting up in front of all those people scares me!

#28—Organize 2nd bedroom. We put our house back up on the market so I needed to get that done.

#31—Organize my nightstand. We got new (smaller) nightstands so I had to get rid of a lot to make it work. I actually know what’s in it…. For now.

Not my nightstand, but our matching dresser that I took a picture of

#42—Run a 5k. I did this a while ago. I finished in about 32 minutes! Maybe I’ll do another one just because.

My number tag for the 5k

#44—Sew something and give it away. I have made two things and given them both away. The first thing I made was a “hooter hider” for my sister who just had a baby. Then I made a rag quilt for my friend Shawna’s baby girl.

Heather's "Hooter Hider"

The rag quilt before I sewed it all together

It always feels good to cross some things off my list, but there is still so much I want to do!

Right now I am working hard on # 9—Finish my masters degree. I will be turning in my thesis on Saturday!!! I feel like I have been trapped in my house doing research and writing. I am pretty sure the couch is forming to my body. I should be working on it right now, but for my sanity I have been taking some breaks.

Good luck with all of your goals!

Jardin de Monet a Giverny

2011-06-17T05:44:18Z

Paris: Day 4

This was one of my favorite days! We drove out to the Village of Giverny. Claude Monet moved out there, built a home and landscaped gardens so he could have something to paint. The grounds were beautiful! There was two different gardens, the water gardens, (my favorite) and then the more traditional gardens.

A view of Monet's house from his water gardens

Doesn't this look just like a painting?

Me and my Tata. I miss you already!

In a Monet painting

I would like to have this as my backyard.

I loved this flower. I need to ask my dad what it is and if it will grow here.

We were also able to go into his house. I felt right at home, all the walls were painted in bright colors. (You would have to see my parents house to understand, it must be an artist thing)

Inside the house. (Pictures were forbidden)

I could live in this house

Once we got back into the city we decided to go for a bike ride. Paris has a wonderful bike rental system. Take a bike from one station and leave it at another. The first 30 minutes is free, the next 30 minutes is only one Euro. Throughout the week we rode these bikes ALL OVER the city.

We went up the Arc De Triumph. It is amazing that this was built so long ago.

View from the top

Then went shopping (remember how I said this was one of my favorite days?) and had dinner on the Champs Elysees before calling it a day.

I wouldn’t mind reliving this day!

La Tour Eiffel

2011-06-13T22:25:16Z

Paris: Day 3

Last time we went to Paris we decided to skip going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were told that the lines were so long, and once we actually got to the top we were too far up to really see anything.

This time I decided I would wait in line and take in the bad view anyway. I mean, who goes to Paris and skips the Eiffel Tower?!?! (not us this time)

Aaron and I at the top. It was freezing up there

Luckily we found a website that allowed us to buy tickets online for a specific time. That way we could skip the lines. It was totally worth it.

Aaron wrote our names on the top of the Eiffel Tower. How romantic!

The view at the top was nice. We could see in every direction, but you can’t really tell what is what from up there.

When we were ready, we took the elevator down to the second level and then took the stairs the rest of the way down. The view from the second level was the best. We were above everything, and we could tell what we were looking at.

After a yummy lunch on Rue Cler we walked over to Hotel des Invalides. What used to be a VA hospital was converted into Army Musems and Napoleon’s final resting place.

Napoleon’s tombs were enormous! The French love him.

We only went into the World War II exhibit in the museums. They had a lot of amazing artifacts!

This coat still has mud on it from the trenches of World War II. Amazing!

It was interesting looking at the War through the French perspective. Even though they were our Allies, they had a completely different experience than US did, (at least according to my US History classes)

Could you imagine Hitler asking to have his picture taken in front of the Eiffel Tower?

Bienvenue au Chateau de Versailles

2011-06-04T18:01:25Z

Paris Day 2

After a rough night of sleep ( I woke up at 11pm 2:30am and 5am) Aaron and I were up for the dat at 7 am and hungry. We decided to go for a walk and stop at a café for breakfast. Guess what, NOTHING is open in Paris at 7am!! The streets were empty. We walked around for a while before we found a crepe stand that was open. So good!

I’m secretly glad that this was all that was open, nothing beats a ham, cheese and egg crepe for breakfast!

Later that day we went to one of my all time favorite places, Versailles. We went there last year and I fell in love. I could spend hours walking through the main chateau,

The Hall of Mirrors. My favorite room in the palace.

and then another few hours exploring the gardens and watching the fountains,

Aaron's favorite statute our of the hundreds on the grounds.

They still use the same technology they used when the place was built to run the fountains, gravity.

and then another day altogether wondering around Marie Antoinette’s little Disneyland/garden. It is so beautiful.

Do you see Marie Antoinette’s initials?

Tata, Pierre and Gwendolyn were able to spend the afternoon with us. It was so much fun visiting them!

She missed her home land so she did what anyone would do, she had a little village built in her gardens to remind her of home.

The history of the place fascinates me. This was definitely one of my favorite days on our trip. I hope I will be able to visit again!

Hey, Want to go to Paris?

2011-05-27T01:42:36Z

Paris: Day 1

About two months ago Aaron and I decided we wanted to take a trip using some of our tax returns. We thought going out of the country was out of the questions because flights are so expensive. We started to talk about taking a trip to New York and Boston. When we looked into using our credit card miles for a flight Aaron realized we had enough to get us a free flight to Paris. After spending a few hours on the phone with the credit card company and the airline, and face-booking our friend who lives in Paris, we had two round trip tickets!!! We would be leaving in just over a month.

It all happened so fast. Even as we were sitting in the airport I hardly believed it was happening. We left at about 1:30 in the afternoon, and arrived in Paris around 10 am. (1 am at home). We were exhausted, but we knew we had to stay awake as long as we could to avoid major jet lag.

After getting settled into the apartment, and showering we were dragged around the city. I hardly remember that first day. Luckily we were forced to take some pictures.

We went to eat at the only restaurant with a view of everything in Paris, called deli-cieux. It was so pretty, but they stopped serving food for some reason so we hot drinks and hung out for a while, before going to another restaurant right next to the Louvre.

After eating, and going somewhere to buy our museum passes for the week we went back to the apartment and crashed.

to be continued...

HAPPY BIRHTDAY!

2011-04-02T04:52:00Z

Today is my friend Marly’s birthday. This post is dedicated to her...

Marly and her husband moved into my ward about a year after Aaron and I moved in. I was so excited to see new young married couple in the ward, (especially because they also did not have kids). Sadly Marly was called into the primary presidency shortly after moving in and I never really got to know her.

Marly, Me, Shawna, Erin right after seeing New Moon

Let me tell you a little about my friend Marly. She is AWESOME! She grew up in Buffalo New York and still has a little bit of the East Coast attitude. She is not afraid to put you in your place, (myself included). But she is never mean about it. It really comes in handy when we work out together. She pushes me and MAKES me do my best.

Marly pushed me to finish a 5k in just over 30 minutes

She is a blast to hang out with. If I am having a bad day I know seeing Marly will cheer me up because she is always positive and happy.

Marly and I at a Little Penolope Lane headband party

She is very creative and great at throwing parties. (see the post below about the baby shower, I give most of the credit to Marly for making it fabulous!)

Karen, Me, Shawna, Marly at Shawna's shower (Marly brought the hats)

Our husbands are very similar (like they are both named Aaron) and we have really bonded with that. It is because of them that we are both Lakers, Dodgers, and UCLA fans. We know way more about sports than we ever wanted to.

We have also had a lot of the same struggles. It has been so nice to have someone who really understands what I’m dealing with to talk to and look to for support.

Hiking in the Southern California wilderness.

I am so grateful that I know Marly!

I hope you are having a wonderful Birthday Marly! Thank you for being my friend! Love you lots!!!!

Baby Faye

2011-03-27T22:10:00Z

My friend Shawna is having a baby girl in May. Marly, Karen and I decided to throw her a tea party baby shower last Saturday. It turned out perfectly.

We asked a friend of ours to draw a picture for the invitations. They were absolutely perfect!

My amazingly talented little sister Vanessa, came and took some picture for us. Aren't they beautiful?

My favorite picture.
Marly made the black, white and pink ball decorations and the food was delicious!

I am excited to actually meet the little girl without a name
(I have suggested Rachel, but I'm not sure if they will use it)

Thanks to everyone who came and everyone helped out! The baby shower was a success!

Project 52 Update

2011-02-28T22:43:00Z

I am actually making some progress on my goals and wanted to do an update to keep me accountable and motivated.

Completed goals:

#5. Donate money to the Perpetual Education Fund

#32. Pay off the Malibu

#40. Read the Book of Mormon for 30 consecutive days

Alright so I haven't actually finished very many, but I have started on a lot and am going strong with those. Here is a list of what I am currently working towards.

#3. Blog twice a month

#6. Double our food storage --I added to it at last month's Relief Society meeting

#9. Finish my master degree --I just finished one class on Saturday and I started the next one today

#17. Go to the temple 12 times --I've been twice so far

#36. Read 15 new books --4 down 9 to go

#37. Read articles from the Ensign every month

#38. Read every book club book

#39. Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover

#42 Run a 5K --I'm running one on Saturday

#52. Write in my personal journal once a week --I only missed one week this year

I think I'm off to a pretty good start, but there are some I'm not sure I'll get to.... Oh well.

Good luck with your goals!

Picture Post

2011-02-11T03:21:00Z

So one of my 52 goals this year was to blog twice a month. January = FAIL. February is not looking to hot either.

So here are some pictures I've taken on my phone that I thought about doing whole blog posts on, but then changed my mind

Rose Bowl tickets we won at Aaron's Christmas work party.

We sold them on ebay so we could go to Pahrump, NV for my extended families Christmas party. (Aaron won some major points for this one)

Cleveland Browns game, Day after Christmas

**Side note: When people say they would rather be cold than hot because you can always put more on, but there is only so much you can take off are full of crap!!! I was wearing a turtle neck, sweater, hoodie, jacket, scarf, two beanies, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of socks up to me knees, ugg boots, hand warmers in the gloves, feet warmers in the boots, and a blanket on my lap and I was still FREEZING!!! What else could I have put on?!?!

Club in downtown Pittsburgh.

I seriously LOVED Jimmy Eat World and Underoath in high school!!! (Thursday, not so much) At first I thought they were playing together, add a ska band and it would have been a show created just for the 17 year old me.

I love my cat!

She some times thinks she is a contortionist. She will try and squeeze into just about anything, like my lunch pail on top of the refrigerator.

I leave for work before the sun comes up. Some days I like it, most days I don't!

So here is post one for the month. There is a good chance it will be the only one... Oh well.

THE END