The Bucket List

It seems to be an ongoing thing with bloggers that I have been reading of all the things they want to do before they or their "bucket list". I have had one for a while, since I was about 16 actually and I wanted to add more stuff to it because some of the blogger that I have been reading have some things on theirs that make me want to do more than just travel. I have obviously done some of the things on my list. So in no particular order, here they are.

1. Get married - Completed August 2002
2. Have children (at least 2) - half done - Completed January 2010
3. Get a Master's Degree - Completed July 2006
4. Go to England - Completed February 2004
5. Go to Ireland - Completed March 2005
6. Go to Germany - Completed July 2006
7. Go to Italy - Completed June 2005
8. Learn to snowboard
9. Sell some of my pottery and/or my art
10. Write a book
11. Become good at sewing
12. Invent something and sell it
13. Learn to play the piano or at least one song
14. Finish scrapbooking old pictures (not sure this will ever get done)
15. Go sky diving
16. Go hang gliding
17. Kill a turkey
18. Go to Hawaii
19. Beat Tim and Dad at racquet ball
20. Build my own personal library
21. Live in a nice house - Completed October 2005, March 2008, & June 2010
22. Build the forever house
23. Go scuba diving (not sure this will happen either with my ear issues)
24. Learn to refinish a piece of furniture
25. Take up photography - Completed April 2008
26. Learn to water ski
27. Go skiing in the snow
28. Get to 135 - 140 lbs. and stay there!
29. Swim with dolphins
30. Read the classics
31. Drive a NASCAR/do the NASCAR experience
32. Go bungee jumping and yell Geronimo as I go down
33. Go to Egypt
34. Read all the books that I own
35. Go on a hot air ballon ride
36. Go to France - Completed July 2006
37. Complete my family tree
38. Be part of a Flash Mob
39. Eat waffles in Beligum - Completed July 2006
40. Eat a crepe in Paris - Completed July 2006
41. Go to the top of the Empire State Building - Completed May 2007
42. Go to a Yankee Game - Completed May 2007 (Yankee v. Red Sox-Yankees WON!)
43. Run a 5K
44. Run a 10K
45. Run a half marathon (13.1 miles)
46. Run a marathon (26.2 miles)
47. Take Max to Disney World
48. Get one of my layout published in a  scrapbooking magazine
49. Make cannolis
50. Go see the Grand Canyon
51. Go to the Mall of America
52. Go to Mt. Rushmore
53. Do all the touristy things in Washington D.C.
54. Go see a show on Broadway
55. Find my dream job/career
56. Buy my first house  - Completed June 2010
57. Be debt free
58. See the Sistine Chapel in Rome - Completed June 2005
59. See the Colosseum in Rome - Completed June 2005
60. Take a cooking class
61. Perform a random act of kindness (i.e. pay for some one's meal, etc.)
62. See the Statue of Liberty - Completed June 2000
63. Go white water rafting
64. Fly a plane
65. Go to Alaska
66. Ride a camel 
67. Grow my own food/have a vegetable garden
68. Stand on the Great Wall of China
69. Captain a boat for a day
70. Be in a movie or TV show
71. Make a movie of Max's first year
72. Finish Max's baby book
73. Get all the DVDs into digital form 
74. Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge
75. Walk over the Golden Gate Bridge
76. Go to Alcatraz 
77. Witness the Northern Lights
78. See a whale on a whale watch
79. Visit Pearl Harbor
80. Get married in Vegas
81. Go to Vegas
82. Get a 3rd tattoo
83. Ride a really long zip line
84. Break a world record
85. Drive through that big tree in CA
86. Vote (for a president)
87. Go to the equator 
88. Raise chickens and goats
89. Hear Max say "I love you" with clarity
90. Take Max to Lego Land
91. Make all handmade gifts for Christmas one year
92. Go deep sea fishing
93. Make wine
94. Go to Niagara Falls
95. Go on a cruise
96. Visit the fish market in Seattle, Washington
97. Celebrate New Year's Eve in New York City
98. Go crowd surfing
99. Ride a gondola in Venice, Italy
100. Go the the Vatican (Rome) - Completed June 2005
101. Go snowmobiling
102. Ride in a helicopter
103. Go to a St. Patrick's Day celebration in Ireland - Completed March 2005
104. Go to LA
105. Go to the World Trade Center Memorial

I know there are more but well I think that is all for now, I'm sure there will be more things that will come up what I will want to do but for now I think 105 things is more than enough things to do. Do I think I will get all of them done...no, I don't. Do I plan on trying to get a good 90% of them done, yes I do. 

BETTER : My 2012 Word

My goal this year is to be BETTER. Better about everything.

A BETTER wife.
A BETTER mom.
A BETTER person about completing my list of things and following through on things.
BETTER at eating healthy and exercising.
A BETTER photographer.
A BETTER blogger.
A BETTER scrapbooker.
A BETTER person all around.

I didn't write a New Year's resolution because I never follow through with them so I thought the word BETTER would kind of be a blanket effect on all that I want to accomplish this year. There is one thing that I want to do here on the blog to make myself more accountable and that is my Project Life posts. I did do Project Life last year but kind of fell off the wagon in September/October time frame. I am going to complete that project this week but with that being said, I do not want to fall behind with this years Project Life. So if I said that I'm going to post the weekly layouts here it might make me more accountable in doing them. I still really love that project and want to play with some different ideas that I have recently seen on other people's blogs and/or scrapbooks. So I think Tuesdays or Wednesday will be PL day. I'm excited because I think I'm going to print more pictures at home this year as Tim got me a new printer for Christmas. A printer specifically for photos. YEAH for pictures.

Okay, so with that being said, I'm going to download my cards and print my pictures for this past week's PL.

Here's to the New Year and to being BETTER!!

December Daily - Day 1 & 2

Last year I did December Daily along with Ali Edwards and it is still my favorite scrapbook. The stuff that I forgot that happened last year is really cool to look back on. I have done all the foundation pages and although some of them I think are really awesome, there are others that I was more in the "let's just get this done and not freak out about this" because honestly, something in there is better than nothing right? I had all intentions on posting my foundation pages but atlas, blogger didn't want to cooperate with what I wanted to do and well I just got lazy and didn't care that much so I figured I would post them as I do them, the BEFORE and AFTER. So, without further a due...Day 1 and 2. I haven't printed the pictures yet but they are as done as I'm going to do them. 

There will be a story that goes along with this on the front. I had the camera set up on interval timing to take pictures while I read Max a story. The thing was the camera light would come on to let you know that it was going to take a picture and Max looked at it every time. It is kinda funny. I'll be back tomorrow with Day 3 and hope to get these printed and put in my album. Yeah for the Christmas season. 

Updated To Do List

I have so many things to do and such a short amount of time to do them in. So with that being said, let the list begin.

1. Finish Theresa (Tim's sis) birthday present. It's next week and I haven't even started so I guess you would say, start Theresa's birthday present.
2. Finish blankets for Gabby and Noelle.
3. Figure out what I'm going to do for my sister's Xmas present since she has not given me the wedding pictures to do her scrapbook. (hint hint Bri if you are reading this).
4. Buy Xmas PJs for Max
5. Buy Max's tux t-shirt for his birthday.
6. Put the finishing touches on the deck so we can be done with that very large home improvement project once and for all.
7. Buy pumpkins to carve this weekend.
8. Finish Mom's Xmas present.
9. Get caught up on Project Life, I'm only a month behind now instead of 4 like I was before. Making progress on that front.
10. Order stuff for December Daily album.
11. Figure out what kind of family picture we are going to take for our Xmas card
12. Mail the 6 boxes of stuff that have been sitting there for months on end
13. Make new Christmas stockings for us, I have really cute Grinch fabric.

I think that is all for now, if that isn't enough. Need to get going so I can accomplish some of those things on my list today...I hope anyways.

My To Do List

I have so many things to do and such a short amount of time to do them in. So with that being said, let the list begin.

1. Finish Theresa (Tim's sis) birthday present. It's next week and I haven't even started so I guess you would say, start Theresa's birthday present.
2. Finish blankets for Gabby and Noelle.
3. Figure out what I'm going to do for my sister's Xmas present since she has not given me the wedding pictures to do her scrapbook. (hint hint Bri if you are reading this).
4. Buy Xmas PJs for Max
5. Buy Max's tux t-shirt for his birthday.
6. Put the finishing touches on the deck so we can be done with that very large home improvement project once and for all.
7. Buy pumpkins to carve this weekend.
8. Finish Mom's Xmas present.
9. Get caught up on Project Life, I'm only a month behind now instead of 4 like I was before. Making progress on that front.
10. Order stuff for December Daily album.
11. Figure out what kind of family picture we are going to take for our Xmas card
12. Mail the 6 boxes of stuff that have been sitting there for months on end
13. Make new Christmas stockings for us, I have really cute Grinch fabric.

I think that is all for now, if that isn't enough. Need to get going so I can accomplish some of those things on my list today...I hope anyways.

A Little Bit of Baking

Tim has had to work late pretty much ever day for the past 2 weeks and tonight and tomorrow night he will be working even later, like till about 11 p.m. and tomorrow till about 1 a.m. So his office has a party/dinner each year on these two days. Tim asked me to make dessert. He asked me to make the chocolate chip cookie dough truffles, which I still am, but I wanted to make something a little more over the top. I think I accomplished that.

 It is called Reese Peanut Butter Cake and boy does it look awesome, I just wish I was going to be able to eat it. The cake is chocolate cake, made from scratch and it is egg less. It looked very moist. The filling of the cake is a layer of chocolate peanut butter fudge with chucks of Reese peanut butter cups. I had to dump the chocolate on top and let it harden before I could frost it with the peanut butter frosting. Oh, don't kid yourself, there is nothing healthy about this cake, I'm sure it is about 1000 calories a slice but damn does it look good. I have included the recipe below as it pulled it from several different sites.

 Reese Peanut Butter Cake
Cake

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup sifted natural unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted, then measured)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Line pan bottoms with parchment paper. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Whisk 2 cups water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla in medium bowl to blend. Gradually add water mixture to dry ingredients, whisking until batter is smooth. Divide batter between prepared pans (scant 3 cups each).

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs still attached, about 28 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 15 minutes. Cut around cakes and turn out onto racks. Peel off parchment and cool.

Filling

• 8oz semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 8oz heavy cream
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup Reese's peanut butter cups, roughly chopped

Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Pour it over the chocolate in a medium bowl. Whisk until the chocolate melts, then whisk in the peanut butter until it's all incorporated and smooth. Set aside 1/4 of the filling for the first layer of frosting. Cool the other 3/4 completely, then gently stir in the peanut butter cups.

Frosting

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Cream together the butter and peanut butter. Add the vanilla, then the sugar. I beat mine until it was pretty fluffy.

Assembly

Place one 9-inch round on a cake stand or plate. Cover the top in the peanut butter fudge filling. Place the second 9-inch round on top. Using the reserved filling, spread a thin layer on the outside of the cake. Refrigerate until the fudge is set and firm to the touch.
Slather the whole thing in the peanut butter frosting. Decorate with peanut butter cups.
**The only thing I would change about this recipe would be to make sure that your peanut butter frosting is smooth and creamy. My was a little clumpy but it still tasted good, just didn't look all that great and didn't spread very well on the cake.

I also saw a recipe for Sugar Cookie Truffles. They looked interesting and thought I would try them. They are okay, not my favorite and I would make them again, but not for myself. I'm sure everyone at Tim's work is going to love them but I have had better truffles. The recipe is below.

Sugar Cookie Truffles



Ingredients1 16 oz. package of sugar cookie dough
2 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz white melting chocolate OR 1 cup white chips
1 Tablespoon shortening
sprinkles for garnish

Directions
1. Bake cookies according to package directions until CRISP and cool completely. (You will likely have to cook them a little longer than the package instructs.)

2. Add the cookies to a blender or food processor and process until the cookies are fine crumbs. Add cream cheese and process until they begin to hold together. (You can also do this part by hand, which is what I did. It was messy but it worked. The mixture is going to feel a little dry, which is OK.)

3. Line a cooled baking sheet with wax or parchment paper. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on sheet. Freeze about 20 minutes.

4. Melt white chocolate and shortening according to package directions. Dip each ball into melted chocolate and add sprinkles while wet.

5. Allow to dry completely before storing, covered, in the refrigerator.

Link to webpage where I found the sugar cookie truffles
http://www.mrsbettierocker.com/2011/02/sugar-cookie-truffles.html

Hoping for a Little Light

Today is a big day for Mom. Recently we found out that she has breast cancer. I huge shock to us all! We all thought that she was moving on to the next chapter but God decided that to insert this one chapter unexpectedly. As a family we are all dealing with it in our own ways. I am here in Oklahoma checking my phone for updated text via Manny, Mom's boyfriend, watching my FB to see if people have posted on her wall that I have forgotten to update on what was going on (sorry Shelly and Drew), and checking my email to see if anyone has written.

Today is Mom's surgery to remove the lump she found a few months back. We know nothing. Not the stage, not if it has spread, not how long she is going to have to do radiation & chemo. Not anything. I think it is just very frustrating. I'm a concrete person. I like to know the facts. For example, child labor will suck, being a parent is hard, marriage is work. I hate hearing, your mom is going to be okay. She will pull through. Everything is going to be fine. Does anyone really know the answers to these questions...no, not yet. Do I hope my mom will be okay, of course I do. Do I think she is going to pull through, absolutely. Is everything going to be fine...Define what "fine" really is to a person.

I'm not a glass half empty kind of person but I am a the glass is half full but it isn't all the way full, it could fall over and be almost empty but still have a little bit of milk left in it. So here I sit, waiting for the glass to fall over but also knowing that it might be just fine and someone is going to come around and fill it up. Hoping all is alright with my mother and that everything is fine and we can all move on to what is next for all of us.

**Edited**Mom is doing well. Surgery went okay, they took out the lump and it was a little bigger than expected and some of the surrounding lymph nodes. The lump as about the size of a baseball. We still won't really know anything until they do the biopsy on the lump and those results won't be for another week or so. She should go home sometime this evening. My father and Manny are both with her. I have spoken to them both. Hoping, wishing, praying for a speedy recovery for my Mom. Love you Mom!!