#35: Create & Complete "Family Book - 2006"

I finished up the last of our Family Scrapbook from 2006 tonight. These are so much easier than our current ones are going to be because we took so few pictures! Only big events were photo worthy, not our everyday life. I'm making these scrapbooks very basic, the focus is definitely on the photos, not any fancy scrapbooking techniques. The photos are what I'm most interested in anyway. Here's one page from the book...

#26: Read 15 Books (1/15)

My goal is to read 15 books during these 1001 days. I've read one so far and I'm on to the second. When I started this, I was reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, but I didn't want to count that book since I was already half-way through it. I finished it and now the second book in the series. 

I really liked this book! It's a bit darker than what I typically read, but I've really enjoyed reading them. I had to speed through this second book because my husband starting reading the first and is flying through it. I didn't want him to have to wait for me! Now I'm on to the third, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. I've heard it's just as good as the second so I'm sure I'm in for a treat!

#79: Weekend Getaway without Little Man (1/3)

As I've already mentioned, we went to the mountains and visited Biltmore Estate this weekend without our Little Man. It was so relaxing to be on an adult schedule and just enjoy each other without the constant toddler interruptions. Even though we enjoyed our time away, we were so excited for him to wake up from his nap when we got home so we could give him lots of hugs and kisses - we missed him!

Self-portrait on the Blue Ridge Parkway on our drive back to the mountain house after a long, hot day at Biltmore.

#2: Visit the Mountains (1/3)

This weekend was spent in the NC Mountains - a place I love to go to relax. I'm a beach girl at heart, but there's something so peaceful and calming about the mountains (after we get to our destination - those mountain roads are SCARY!). 

We were celebrating my hubby's 30th Birthday for this trip sans our little one. I am not a late sleeper, so while my sweet honey slept in, I enjoyed coffee on the deck while having my quiet time and reading my book. A doe and her fawn even walked through the yard Saturday morning and stared right at me. They must have known I wasn't a threat because they took their sweet time nibbling berries and leaves around the yard. 

#1: Visit Biltmore Estate

My hubby and I had a weekend away in the mountains (#2) by ourselves (#79) to celebrate his 30th Birthday. We had a great time! Our first day we visited Biltmore Estate. That place was amazing! I really loved Antler Hill Village on the property which had a "Kitchen Garden", Animal Barn, and a winery - that sounds like my kind of place! The house was quite impressive, but that was more for my history buff hubby. Not quite the nice fall weather I was hoping for - it was 90+ the day we visited Biltmore. I was hot & tired by the end of the day!

The rest of the weekend was spent eating way too much and relaxing to a level that should be illegal. It was fabulous to just lay around, watch football, read, eat, and spend time together.

Note: Even though we toured the winery at Biltmore and enjoyed the tasting, I'm not going to count it as #11: Visit a NC Winery. I want that to be a separate and unique experience.

#58: Start Canning Something New

A sweet friend of mine (who is expecting twins!) gave me two bags full of apples from another friend's tree. Understandably, she didn't have the time or energy to do anything with them so I gladly accepted!

These apples obviously aren't shiny and polished from the grocery store, but they smelled and tasted delicious (a little tart). They did have some bad spots that had to be cut out - no big deal.

I used my trusty peeler-corer-slicer that my grandmother gave to me. This thing is a lifesaver when working with apples!

Apple slices waiting in a big bowl...

I've only canned applesauce in the past and I don't add sugar. The reason I can get away with that is because I use a variety of apples - some tart and some sweet. This gives it a great taste with no need for added sugars. Well, this batch was tart and I only had these apples, so I had to think of something different to do. I looked at my Ball Blue Book of Preserving and decided to try my hand at Apple Butter and just canned apples in a light syrup (can be used later for baking or pureed into applesauce if I find some other apples to mix in).

It tastes great, but I'm not sure I got the consistency right (I'd never actually eaten Apple Butter before).  I was afraid of pureeing the apples too much because the recipe warned against liquefying the apples. I have no idea if the apple butter turned out like it was supposed to. Nevertheless, I'll take taste over texture any day!

#34: Create Family Book - 2005

It's amazing what motivation a list can make! Tonight we didn't have much on TV we wanted to watch, so we turned on something mindless and I worked on our family scrapbook for 2005 (I'm mostly a digital scrapper). I've decided to do one for each year of marriage, sort of like a family yearbook. I took WAY fewer pictures before Little Man came along, so I didn't have too much to work through with this album, which made it come together quickly!

I wanted to show some of the pages, but they all (but this one) had personal info that I didn't want on the web. So here is one page from our Honeymoon. Simple & sweet, but memories all in one place.

It is amazing to me how much digital cameras & picture quality have improved in the last 5 years!

 So, #34 is checked off the list! Well I guess not technically since it's not printed yet, but that's the easy part thanks to Costco, so I'm declaring it official!

The Challenge: 101 Goals in 1001 Days

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching outside your norm.

Why 1001 Days? 
The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is enough time to allow you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks.

Start Date:  September 7, 2010
End Date: June 4, 2013

(using this calculator)


This post officially checks #100 off my list!

This wording was taken almost verbatim from Becky's 101 Goals in 1001 Days. I loved how she had her list divided into categories, so I did the same.