Emily Marie is Me

54. Figure out the deal with curtains  (9/4/2017) (After getting both sets of curtains up, I decided to wait to say this one was "done" until after I got curtains for the kitchen too. But...technically the thing was to "figure out the deal with curtains" not "get curtains up everywhere you want them". And after doing both these windows, especially the big one, I think I have successfully "figured out with deal with curtains". It just took me a little while to come to this conclusion, so it is out of order in terms of completedness. Kind of bugs me, but I'll move on. haha) Back at the end of March, we were looking to move to a bigger place. We loved our ward and neighborhood, but we just felt cramped. With both of us on computers a lot for work/education we needed an office, in addition to the two rooms for sleeping baby and parents. Within a month, we had found a duplex and were moving. However, this lovely little place has MASSIVE win...

14. Acquire all the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books (9/23/2017) I remember reading the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books multiple times in elementary school. They were always some of my favorites. I've always wanted to own them. You can easily get a set online, but I'm kind of picky. They say to not judge a book by its cover, but I do. If there's a book I grew up reading, I want the same cover as the ones I read back then. I was the same way with The Chronicles of Narnia and the Goose Girl series, and I was with these too. Luckily, there's a wonderful site called thriftbooks.com  that has tons of books for sale from old libraries, individual sellers, etc. including lots of older books - with the older covers! I put the original Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle boxed set on my wishlist and watched it like a hawk. It said on the listing that they only have one or two available every few months. When I went to buy Daisy's book this month, I double checked it and it was there! Very good con...

52. Make raspberry peach jam (9/16/2017) My very good friend Amanda and I have known each other for about 10 years. I remember going to her house in middle and high school and they always had the best jam ever. I always wished that I had some of my very own, and I've always wanted to learn how to make jam/can fruit. So this goal accomplished more than one wish of mine! The recipe and process was easier than I thought it would be, and it went faster with two sets of hands. We got together at about 9:30 on Saturday morning to go hunting for peaches and shopping for raspberries and jars. We were thinking of going to the farmer's market, but then we ended up finding a fruit stand on our way to get canning jars and stopped there to save time. We got a huge box of really good peaches for $22! And we helped the lady figure out the technology she was trying to use to process cards haha :)  When we got back to my house, we went right to work. I was more grateful for my count...

47. Go to a festival or fair (9/11/2017) For this goal, I went to the Utah State Fair! I feel like I got the full experience, minus the rides, and it was FUN!! To document this one I will be posting LOTS of pictures, some featuring my terrible posing.  Enjoy! Dairy Council of Utah's Ice Cream Tent (aka - heaven) We paid $3 and got to eat as much ice cream as we wanted!!    Sheep, Goats, and Cows, oh my! I have a new love for sheep and goats. This one had a twin that was jumping on a trampoline. They were 5 days old and SO CUTE!! I don't understand how they judge fruits and vegetables. Unless they just pick the biggest ones... HUGE sunflower. That's a 6ft ladder. There were many kind of art, including a butter sculpture! And there were so many amazing cross stitch pieces! I may try to put one into the state fair.. No fair would be complete without something deep fried. Jonathan ch...

55. For one month, plan and make at least 2 meals/week (9/7/2017) For our whole marriage I've been really bad at planning meals and making healthy dinners. We usually eat terribly. But I want to change that! So during the first weekend of August I planned about seven meals and did some major grocery shopping. I later came up with a few more. These are the meals I planned and the weeks I made them: Week of August 6th - Chicken & Broccoli Casserole, Chili & Cornbread Week of August 13th - Salisbury Steak, Chicken Taquitos Week of August 20th - Rainbow Wraps, Italian Dressing Pasta Week of August 27th - Mock Tacos, Oven Baked Chicken Week of September 3rd - Chicken Burritos, BLTs (There were a few small meals that I "planned," like I decided the night before that I was going to make Mac & Cheese the next day, but I didn't keep track of those. Obviously.) A few things that helped this goal go smoother: - Shredding chicken in the crock pot an...