30x30 a little over a month to go...

Dang. I'm not sure if I did anything since my last post on this! But my sister brought up my 30x30 and I realized that I better get going.

Here we go:

I'm not doing so hot on this 30 x 30 thing! But I have 6 months to finish...

Here's what's left:

1) Run a half marathon - DONE!

 
2) Watch the Star Wars Trilogy - DONE!

3) Learn a foreign language - So I have decided on Spanish. I've bought a few books and just found out last night that my brother in law has Rosetta Stone and said I can borrow it when he's done!! I really need to learn Spanish because in the last few weeks I've had a few Spanish only speaking patients. I know a lot of the basics now with medical words. I've learned pain and eat, drink, etc. but I have a LONG way to go. But I'm working on it. As long as I'm working on it before I'm 30 I'm going to count it.

4) Have 2 of my 4 children - DONE!

5) Take up golf - This is going to be hard now that it's freezing, but we'll continue to work on it.

6) Write a short story - In progress...

7) Complete an indoor triathlon - DONE!

8) Watch Gone with the Wind - DONE! 

9) Watch the Godfather - DONE!

10) Play in a poker tournament at a casino - I talked to my brother in law last night about this one. We might go to a casino soon so hopefully I can knock this off my list. :)

11) Decorate the kids rooms - This will be done around Christmas! We decided to get the kids bunk beds for Christmas so when we pull everything out to do that, I'm going to paint and get some stuff for the walls.

12) Shoot a gun - DONE! I went to a shooting course with my neighbor Jeff. I wasn't any good at it. At all honestly. But I shot a gun and can cross it off my list. And I don't need to do it again. :) 

13) Go back to school - DONE!

14) Learn to drive a stick shift - Must do...

15) Learn to french braid hair - DONE!

16) Get into cooking - We are sticking to our budget and cooking at home so this is happening. Not done yet because we aren't consistent enough but it's beginning to become consistent. We'll call this "in progress".

17) Finish entertainment center - DONE!

18) Register to vote in St. Louis City - DONE!

19) Consistently dedicate one night a month to a date night - Tonight we're going on a double date with my sister...we'll count this for November...

20) Start a savings account - DONE! I've had a savings account with little money in it but now Nick's name is on the account and we're going to start having a portion of Nick's paycheck go to this. So it's starting small, but hey, it's starting. And I'm counting it.

21) Make my own recipe - yeah, I've been slacking on this. Will work on it...

22) Go back to Signature Room in Chicago - Maybe for my 30th??

23) Go on a family vacation with my whole family - This is still the case: We have this one planned!!! Unfortunately it's planned for a few months after I turn 30, but it's before I'm thirty one so I'm counting it.

24) Start college funds for the kids - Ok, yeah must do...

25) Consistently have a clean house -Just got done scrubbing the kitchen and doing all the dishes after breakfast. I'm definitely better at this. Just have to keep it up.

26) Get into exercising 3x a week - Thinking of canceling weight watchers and joining a gym. I'm so used to being up at night now that it's hard for me to ever get out. I don't want to go running at midnight outside and I have Gretchen with me every day at home. If I joined a gym I could use their babysitting or go at night if I join a 24 hour gym. So that's my plan.

27) Reach my goal weight -Weight watchers isn't working for me this time. I'm addicting to food and wasting $42.95 a month. So I'm canceling weight watchers. And like 26 said, I'm thinking of joining a gym. That will help. So will eating at home. So I think this one is doable.

28) Finish my brewery quest - 1/3 of the way there. 5 down, 10 to go. I can do it!!!!

29) Read the Lord of the Rings trilogy - This one might not be done before I turn 30 but if I get one down or at least am getting into it before 30, I'll count it...

30) Become a nurse!! - DONE DONE DONE!!!

13 done, 8 in progress and 9 to get started/done. We're getting closer. :) As always I'll keep you posted. 47 days to go!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I can't believe that it's already almost December!?!?!?

Where the heck has time gone? So not much is going on with us. Literally not much at all. We had a great Thanksgiving with family. We went to my Dad's side in the morning for brunch and to Nick's sister's in the evening. It was great to only have two things to go to. We had time to go home and take a nap in between events. And it really made us enjoy the time that we were there. Less complaining and whining on the kids part. ;)

Of course I didn't get a picture of anything because I'm super slacking in that department. I PROMISE I'll do better at Christmas!!

But something that came up at Thanksgiving (at both events actually) was that fact that I'm almost 30...EEK!

So my sister brought up my 30x30 and I realized how far behind I am and how much I haven't updated. So get ready for another post about my 30x30. Your favorite thing to read about I know!

On another note, I can't believe that Christmas is less than a month away. I think that I'm going to take full advantage of Cyber Monday. I plan on doing most, if not all, of my Christmas shopping in my PJ's in front of the computer.

Happy Thanksgiving and almost Happy December! Yikes!

Brewery #3 - Ferguson Brewing Company

This week I tackled another brewery: Ferguson Brewing Company. I was lucky enough to get a sitter (my parents live near there) so Nick could come too. We got a small group of people to go and had a blast!

I hadn't eaten much that day so I made sure to eat a good meal while we were there too. I highly recommend their beer cheese soup. Their crawfish Po' Boy, not so much. Just being honest.

But the beer was pretty good! I think this whole brewery quest with me grading the breweries etc is a bad idea. I'm not gonna lie, I like beer. So automatically everyone basically gets at least a C+. Give me a decent beer and you're an automatic B. But this is part of a quest, so grade I will.

I did two beer flights while there. The first one had the following beers:

Oatmeal Stout: I'm a fan of stouts. I like coffee stout, oatmeal stout, whatever stout! This was a pretty good one. Not my favorite, but definitely good.

Pale Ale: Like I just said, these can be boring and I had to say it, but this one kind of was. I'd much rather have a Schlafly Pale Ale than this one.

Pecan Brown Ale: I like pecan ales. They are just different enough. Pale ales can be boring, so this adds a little something.

Belgian Wit: This was a good beer. I really liked this one. It had a slightly fruity flavor, like most wheats and I liked it. One of my favorites.

The second flight I did had the following:

Seasonal: Pumpkin Ale: ordinarily I love anything pumpkin. Not kidding. ANYTHING pumpkin. Lattes, candy, and especially beer. But this beer disappointed me. Not a fan of this. :(

Golden Blonde: A VERY light beer. Too light for me. I like a little more flavor to my beer. It was a hit at the table I think but not for me. 

Seasonal: Octoberfest: Now this was a hit. I like Sam Adams Octoberfest and I wasn't sure if this one would hold up but it did for me. I liked it. Another one of my favorites.

Hefeweisen: The last beer and the last of my favorites. I love Hefeweisen beers. From anywhere really and this one also didn't disappoint.

You can see on this one that there are two flights. Jim copied me (or I copied him, I really don't remember who ordered first) but it was completely unintentional. We just happened to order the exact same thing.

Overall I had a great time with the people and the location but it wasn't that fantastic for me. The beers were good but not great and while I loved my soup, the rest of my meal was sub par and took forever to come to the table.

Me and two of my favorite girls being goofy.

I give the Ferguson Brewing Company a B-. I'd go back but I'm not in any hurry.

Dommie's New School!!

So I JUST realized that I never posted about Dom's first day of school!! OOPS!

So here's a recap. Dom's been in his school for exactly one month. And he loves it. He's already making a lot of friends and he's learning to spell and read already! He has homework every night which is an adjustment but in a good way. He also has a very set schedule which is different from his last school but I think that's good for him too.

Here are some pictures from his first day:

I seriously can't believe he's so big! But I love the school and I think this is a great place for him!

Routines

It's taking us awhile but I think we're finally getting into our routines. All of us. Life is a little crazy around this house most of the time but in a good way.

Dominick is in his new school and doing very well. It will be one month tomorrow. I'm so happy for him and love that he's learning so many things every day. I don't even mind doing homework with him because it means he's learning. He has friends and it seems like he's adjusting extremely well. My big boy is SO big!!

Annabelle has been in her school for about a month and a half. She's doing great too. When I drop her off now, she gives me a hug, then a kiss, then another kiss, then she waves goodbye and she's off. Breaks my heart a little but she's happy and that's all that matters. Her speech has improved but definitely still has room to improve so we're keeping an eye on it. We'll probably go to a place and get another evaluation done but I'm happy for her and happy that I'm understanding more every day.

Gretchen is ONE now!?! Holy cow this past year has flown. She's doing so many things. She can take about 3-4 steps at a time and I'm so proud of that big girl too! She's babbling all the time and for the most part a happy baby. She is definitely a mama's girl. More so than any of the other kids. If she can see me, and I'm not holding her, she's screaming for me. If she can't see me, she's fine. But I better not be in the same room. She goes to a sitter 1-2 days a week and to my mom's maybe one day a week and the rest of the time she's home with me. We're learning how to get things accomplished and still have fun at home. It's a work in progress.

Nick is pretty settled in at his new job. I think he's doing well. He's putting in a lot of time and effort so I hope he's doing well! He's been pretty stressed trying to make sure everything is perfect but I think he's settling in.

I am done with orientation!! I am officially an RN on my own! Yay!!! I go to work tonight and get to do everything on my own and I'm thrilled! I love what I do and I especially love getting to do it without a shadow, no offense to my preceptors!!

Nick's mom is helping us in our routine. When I work at night, I don't get home until 8 am the next day. Nick leaves for work at 6:20 so we have an hour and forty minute gap with no child care. She's been coming over in the morning and helping out. It's been amazing. I hope she doesn't get too tired of it!! Because we need her and love her and appreciate it a TON.

All in all, we are getting there. Just in time for fall. My second favorite time of year (after March madness, of course!).

Oh fall. That's another post all by itself.

But we're getting there. On another note, now that we're getting into a routine, I only have 4 more months on my 30 x 30...better get to work! :)

Happy Wednesday!!

Crock Pot Steak Dinner?? Not so much...

It was ok I guess, but nothing like what I was expecting. It kind of became a soupy mess...

I think I'll stick with soups and pot roasts in the crock pot.

Steak Dinner!

I found this on facebook...

"Use a thick 3/4 inch steak
Pour a 1/2 cup A1 or Heinz 57 sauce over meat
cover with a layer of foil
add foil wrapped potatoes
and foil wrapped frozen corn cobs
cook on low for 6 hours
Full steak dinner any night of the week! This can also be done with thick pork chops or chicken breasts and BBQ sauce. The whole meal cooks in the slow cooker."

I'm trying this out tonight! I'm really excited. We're using the "Tucker's Place" Steak Sauce, because it's awesome and then I'm going to do a rub on the fresh corn (not frozen). I'm hoping it turns out fantastic!! I'll keep you posted...