95. Go miniature golfing.

We went miniature golfing here in Emerald Isle, and it was so much fun! Liam is finally old enough to enjoy it, and wanted to go again when we finished. We will definitely do this again soon!

73. Fly a kite.

This year, during our beach vacation in Emerald Isle, we finally planned ahead and bought a decent kite to fly on the beach. We all took turns flying it, and it was a lot of fun. Liam loves his "lizard kite". We'll try this again next year!

25. Write a novel from start to finish.

So here's where I jump around and do the happy dance! Technically, this was a book I had started a few years ago, but after taking a few writing classes, I basically ended up rewriting the whole thing. I finished it last night, coming in at 97k words, which is on the high end for romance, but not terrible. Now, I am on a mandatory 2 week break from even peeking at it, and then revisions begin. Then I can pass it on to my writing group for critiques, and then maybe possibly start shopping around for an agent.

I'm not convinced this book will sell, but it's been a great learning experience, and I am already beginning to map out my next project. I am so excited, and also terrified at the prospect of having actual people other than me start to read it! :)

36. Go to the movies 5 times (3/5).

I went to see Something Borrowed with the girls from Book Club. We had all read this book about 5 years ago and loved it, and were excited to see the movie. There were a lot of changes from the book, but I really enjoyed it. It was cute, and funny!

April 2011 Progress

Completed in April: 2/101
Current Total: 40/101

5. Read 101 books (94/101).
I read 6 books this month, bringing my total to 94.

62. Go strawberry picking.

This morning we finally made it strawberry picking. Liam is running a fever this weekend, but we had promised him last night we would go this morning, and he was in a good mood and had his heart set on going, so we went for just a little while. It was a lot of fun. I don't know why it has taken us so long to go do this - I think we may go back next weekend! :)






Having a taste




Our loot. 6 lbs for $8! Tonight we're going to be making strawberry muffins and strawberry ice cream.

6. Volunteer.

Last month, I signed up as a volunteer with Carolina Boxer Rescue. We adopted Lacy from them in 2006, and I had been wanting to find a way to help out. Someday I hope to foster for them, but in the meantime, I will be helping with rescue transports and home visits. Today I helped drive Brutus to his new foster home.

He was a sweetie and slept most of the ride in the car. We got to hang out together for about fifteen minutes in Benson while we waited for the next transport driver to arrive. Here is a picture of him sniffing around:

I am looking forward to more opportunities to help out!

March 2011 Progress

Completed in March: 5/101
Current Total: 38/101

5. Read 101 books (88/101).
I read 2 books this month, bringing my total to 88.

I crossed off 5 things this month! I hope I can keep up that momentum! :)

60. Start eating more sustainably.

I mentioned last year that I was waiting to cross this one off until we had joined a local produce CSA, and this week we received our first box from Backyard Produce. Now, remind me to photograph our box again in a month or so when it is filled with fresh strawberries and other summer goodies! This week, we requested salad mix, collard greens, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes and a few other items. This is local, organic produce grown here in NC and delivered to our door. We are so excited about it!




Liam and I couldn't wait to slice into a fresh tomato. He ate almost the whole tomato himself!

So, prior to joining Backyard Produce, we had been doing our best to improve our eating habits where we can. We made many trips to the farmer's market last year to buy local produce, but it's a solid 30 minute drive for us, so this will be so much more convenient! We buy all of our meat, dairy and eggs at Whole Foods, which is mostly local, and the beef is all grass-fed, which is much more sustainable (and healthy) than corn-fed beef.

Someday, I'd love to join a meat CSA, but this is not practical for our budget right now. For now, I am very happy and satisfied with our efforts. Yay!

1 year to go!

*gulp*

I am SO far behind! I have crossed off a few things this month, and have a few more in the works, but I have a lot of catching up to do. I'd say that Carolina Boxer Rescue will probably be receiving a sizable donation from me on March 28, 2012 LOL! Oh well, it's all for a good cause, right? :)

Number 100 on my next 101 list will be "finish more tasks than I did on my first 101 list!"

Pressure's on now - I'd like to make it to at least 75!

92. Introduce Liam to Gloria.

So, I wasn't sure at first whether to cross this one off, since I had envisioned a face to face introduction when I created the list, but I won't get that chance again before this 101 list expires, and I think that Skype technically counts just fine. When I start my next 101 list, I'll add "introduce Liam to Gloria in person!" :)

You may know I'm a big fan of Gloria Estefan, have been since high school. I'm part of this amazing group of fans called Conga Online, and Bill, Liam and I recently traveled to Miami for Conga Bash 2011. This was our 6th Conga Bash (my 5th, I missed the last one when Liam was an infant). Gloria had attended every previous bash, and I had really hoped she would continue the tradition so that I could introduce her to Liam. I was just a college student when I first met her, and she was around when Bill and I got engaged (she actually knew about our engagement before our own parents!), and after we were married, so it would really mean a lot to me to introduce Liam to her.

Well, she was not able to attend this year...however, she did join us via Skype during our EEI tour from her family ski vacation out in Colorado. We were in a conference room with her on the projection screen at the front. Bill, Liam and I were at the front of the room, so I put him up on the end of the conference table so that he could see. He was very excited to see Gloria, and had even brought along his favorite Noelle book for her to sign if he got the chance. As soon as she saw him on the table, she was like "Oh hi!" and started talking to him. He Skypes with my mom at home, so he understood what was going on, and was very excited to chat with Gloria for a minute. Susan got this photo of Liam chatting with Gloria:

Later on, as Gloria was still talking, Liam started getting bored and said very loudly "I want to go back to the hotel now!", interrupting Gloria (and embarrassing me!). She was like "what?" so I put him back on the table where she could see him, and she spoke to him again and offered him candy (not cool Gloria, since no one actually had any LOL!).

While I was not able to get myself on screen to tell her whose little boy she was talking to at the time (I was too far off to the side), I did get a chance to pass along the message later on, and received a message back from her, so I think that counts as introducing Liam to Gloria! :)

51. Spend an entire day without turning on the laptop / no internet.

This weekend I actually went 48 hours with no internet or computer while we were on our girl's weekend in Charleston. It was so relaxing to be unplugged from the world while we were away. I could never do it at home, but on vacation I really enjoy it. I'm going to make it a point to take at least one vacation a year where I don't bring the laptop.

14. Try 5 new foods (5/5).

While we were visiting Charleston this weekend, I noticed that all the restaurants seemed to feature "She Crab Soup" on their menus. It sounded interesting, so I decided to try it since it is a local specialty. It was good. Crab is not one of my favorite types of seafood, but I enjoyed the soup.

74. Visit 5 places in the NC region I've never been to before (5/5).

This weekend, I visited Charleston, SC, with my book club friends. It was such an awesome trip, and I got to visit another place in the NC region I hadn't been to before. Charleston was beautiful - I only wish we had been able to stay longer.

February 2011 Progress

Completed in February: 1/101
Current Total: 33/101

5. Read 101 books (86/101).
I read 1 book this month, bringing my total to 86.