100th Post AND 30 Before 30!

I've been trying to write this dang post for the last 3 days now but in order to prevent myself from further annoyance I have decided to post incomplete. 

This is my 100th post! While that's nothing to many bloggers, it's a lot to me because I assumed I would have gotten bored or distracted with blogging by now and quit. Instead, I actually still enjoy it:) 

Since it's my 100th post, and it happened to fall pretty close to my birthday, I decided to create a list of 30 things I want to do before turning 30. (In 3 short years, yikes.) 

How about if I just pretend I'm 3 again instead? (maybe 2)

It turns out that when you try to create a list with a certain amount of numbered items it's impossible to think of that exact number of things. So, for now I give you 21 things I want to do before turning 30 and I will add on to the list as I think of things that I have always wanted to do, but have never done. Feel free to suggest things below but don't be offended if I don't use them. I'm trying to put stuff that is important to me or that I have wanted to do and that are realistic. There's plenty of other things I could add to the list if it was a "before I die list" but I don't think will be realistic in the next 3 years. Also, I don't want to add stuff to the list just for the sake of adding things. Know what I mean?

Mkay. Without further ado, I give you...

 30 (*ahem* 21) things to do before turning 30!

1. Have a baby

2. Throw someone a surprise party

3. Meet a blog friend in real life

4. Be debt free besides the mortgage

5. Toss 365 "things"

6. Organize all my photos

7. Do photography as an LLC

8. Create a way to not forget birthdays/anniversaries etc.

9. Read one book a month (36 total)

10. Travel somewhere I've never been.

11. Do at least one random act of kindness each month (36 total)

12. Learn to play golf

13. Learn to bake bread like Grandma

14. Build some type of furniture using real tools

15. Be able to sew, knit, crochet, or quilt (at least) something easy.

16. Volunteer at a soup kitchen

17. Write a cookbook

18. Send a handwritten letter at least once a month

19. Go hunting with my husband at least once

20. Sell design work on Etsy

21. Start a tradition for our family

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

7 Quick Takes {11}

Zippety-do-da it's F-F-F-Friday again!

Which means, you can find me linking up over at Jens. 

1. I always get so ridiculously excited for Friday's and I don't even care. It's also August which just happens to mean it's my Birthday month!! Hopefully I don't get too annoying because my Birthday isn't until the 31st so I get to drag it out for the whole month. Seth just loves it when I do that:)

2.You know what else this lovely little month happens to bring? A vacation! And boy do I need it. Seriously, it has been way too long. I'm considering trying to talk Seth into moving to Europe so we can get 6 weeks of vacay like they do over there. Somehow I don't think this will be quite as easy as the DVR was. Anyway, one week in the beautiful Caribbean should tide me over for a couple months. 

3. I'm making pickles this weekend! Canning them that is. I've been stockpiling all of my little pickling cucumbers for the past week and I'm hoping they turn out okay. Canning just makes me feel like a little Betty Crocker. 

4. I have what I like to call a Love-Hate relationship with paying bills. I hate paying bills like water and electric because I know they are never going to go away. Ever. I do love that they are relatively small bills though in the grand scheme of things. I hate paying bills like my car payment, Seth's student loans and the house payment because these are much larger bills to pay. However, I do love knowing that someday these bills will be paid off and we won't have to pay them again. Plus what's not to love about transportation, education and home sweet home? #AmericanDream

5. Every year, since graduating, I can't help but suppress the smothering feeling of wanting to go back to school every time the back to school supplies hits the shelves. I seriously love and always loved school. Those beautifully sharpened pencils, stark white notebook pages and un-chewed pen caps get me Every. Single. Time. Maybe someday I'll go back for a teaching degree so I can stay in school the rest of my life while bringing home a paycheck. Enjoy it while you can kids. Before you know it you will be wishing for nap times and dreaming of the day when your biggest decision was the slide or swing-set. 

Stay in school, you fool.

6. I think I've previously mentioned that my mom is a nanny for a little one year old girl named Charlotte. She is pretty much adorable as can be and my mom texts me a photo just about every day of Charlotte's OOTD. Let's just say this girl has some seriously cute clothes. Since she's not mine I don't want to post photos of her but trust me. Anyways... here's part of the text convo from my mom that makes me smile:)

7. I stopped by my Grandma's yesterday during lunch. Her garden tomatoes haven't turned red yet so I dropped off some of mine for her with some additional produce. Conveniently enough she had just finished baking bread and gave me a loaf. Warm-out-of-the-oven to-die-for homemade bread. I guarantee Grandma has given out thousands of loaves of bread in her life and I have had many of them. However, a lot of them are frozen (cause it freezes beautifully) and I have to wait for them to thaw. I forgot how amazing it is straight out of the oven though. Grandmas are the best!

Some of my haul for the week.

Carb gold!

4th of July Recap

Warning: Photo overload in this post!

I'm disappointed that this holiday is over so quickly. It's probably a good thing though because I'm still exhausted from all the shenanigans. Good thing it's almost the weekend again:)

It was a fantastic 4 days away from work and filled with lots of food. 

My hubs made it home Wednesday night, just in time to shower and change before heading to a 3rd of July party. We ate some food, drank some drinks, and watched people try to blow things up. What's not to love?

Excuse me, it was so cold, I wore a sweater. In July. 

My cousin Sophia and my husband have a very love-hate relationship. 

Sophia and I just have a Love-love relationship. 

No one was harmed during the exploding of these explosives. 

Thursday morning I got a little sleep while Seth mowed the yard. His favorite thing to do. Seriously, it is. I cut up some fruit to take to the family reunion at my Grandma's and we picked up a bucket of fried chicken. Oh yum, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

What? You don't cut your fruit into star shapes?

Lots of people showed up to Grandma's and after saying the pledge of allegiance and praying we chowed down on all the food. 

Grandpa leading the group in The Pledge. Enjoy the socks. 

Julie, would you like some carbs with your chicken? Why yes, I think I would thanks!

Perhaps a slice of Peanut Butter Pizza as well? Don't mind if I do!

It was then time to relax and enjoy our adult bevvies while watching little kids. So responsible, aren't we?

Maybe my husband and I have reclining lawn chairs. 

My cousin Dominic and his girlfriend with the most patriotic
hand-painted cooler I've ever seen!

I don't even know. Yankee doodle dandy maybe?

Just eating a brownie before her sister can steal it from her. 

Since a bunch of the cousins were decked out in our matching apparel we thought it best to take a photo. Obviously, we ordered our Grandparent's shirts as well. What Grandparent's wouldn't love a "Time to Get Star Spangled Hammered" shirt?

Cheers, America!

Here's a terribly unflattering photo of me with some of the cousins. You're welcome. 

Me and hubs. Mildly freaked out by overly skinny wrists.

We were the entertained by a hearty rendition of "cups" courtesy of my cousin Michael. 

Seth managed to hit not one but two triples in the family softball game. His team won. nbd.

Good thing he hit the ball far because he's not too fast. Sorry love.

Then we ate some more (not to be confused with a s'more) before enjoying all the night time fireworks.

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying the fireworks.
Notice Grandpa never changed out of his shirt:)

It was definitely an amazing 4th and no one lost an eye. Bonus! Can't wait until the next one:) 

Spray Paint Love!

You see, I'm what many people might call indecisive and a touch ADD. Just ask my husband and he will tell you I can't even clean without flying from one room to the next before ever finishing anything. I get bored easily and have a strong urge for instant gratification. I blame the digital age for that one. So, starting new projects always sounds like a good idea but ends up just being a half-finished-pile-of-stuff stacked up in the garage or a spare bedroom. FOREVER. 

Well, yesterday I was Inspired by my new bloggy friend Kala. I decided to quit being indecisive and to take the plunge into a project I've been wanting to do for approximately 3 years now. And no, that's not an exaggeration. 

After work yesterday, I skipped my normal Thursday night workout (for more reasons than just this project) and headed to Wal-Mart for some puppy food. Seriously, I feel like all I do is buy puppy food. Pretty sure our grocery budget has doubled because of Gunnar. Anyway (see, ADD) while at the ole' Wally World I happened to stumble across the painting aisle. I decided on a can of yellow gloss spray paint and a few sheets of sandpaper before rushing out of the aisle in case I should see another color and change my mind 12 thousand times. I checked out and headed home determined to complete my projects that night!

What were my projects you asked? Well, 3 years ago my grandparents realized I like cool old things, like blue mason jars, oscillating fans and lanterns. Apparently that means I like all old things, which  I won't argue, but that means they gave me a few treasures. My Grandma (who this blog is named for) gave me her old yellow milking stool that she had when she was a little girl along with a neat old lantern. 

The lantern had the original glass in it until my dog broke it (while it was in it's pile of junk in the garage) but it's still pretty cool without the glass. Both of these items were covered in rust and dust and were looking a little bit rough, overall. 

So I dug out my stool and lantern, which were at this point in the junk room inside my house, and decided to get to work sanding. I just scrubbed all over with my sand paper until I got bored and figured, "eh, good enough". I washed off both items to remove all the dust and grime and then patted dry. Since I also happen to be impatient (it's that instant gratification thing) I decided the stool was dry enough to give the paint a go. I pulled off the lid of my spray paint and went to town. After several light coats I let it dry and started on the lantern. Several more coats on the lantern and then the stool and then the lantern and I was thrilled!! They turned out adorable and I can't wait for them both to dry completely so I can bring them inside to place proudly somewhere. 

I think I have definitely been inspired to branch out into the world of spray painting a bit more:)

Oh, and it was cheap!

Sandpaper - $3 (with a bunch left over)

Spray paint - $3.50

In Sickness and In Health

I've found it a little hard to think about or actually write blog posts this week because so many things seem trivial compared to what is going on in the lives of those close to me right now. So, in a moment of clarity, I decided that I should write about what is going on in life with those close to me. Duh. 

First up, my sister-in-law Sara found out just last week that she has a brain tumor. Scary stuff. She's not even 30 and is a mother to my 3yr old nephew, Ryder. The tumor was discovered when she had some terrible chest pains and drove herself to the hospital. They did some tests and couldn't find anything but decided to do an MRI (I think??) because she has been having bad headaches and problems with her vision. That's when they discovered the tumor towards the front part of her brain. 

Needless to say, my husbands our family has been a little shaken up this past week. Prayers have been constant as we all pray that the tumor will be safely removed and life will return to "normal". At this point in time, we don't know if it's cancerous or even much more than that it's a tumor and it needs to be removed.  Sara and her mom will be going to meet with the doctors again tomorrow to discuss the surgery that is planned for Monday. 

My husband has been a little researcher every night after work as he looks for information on brain tumors. With all his searching it seems that Sara's symptons are pointing to a more positive prognosis than a negative one which helps to make us all feel a little better. He has been so great at being optimistic which is so important during a time like this. We all hope that he is right when it's all said and done. 

I can't even believe how strong Sara has been this past week. I know I would be an emotional disaster if I was in her shoes but she doesn't let it get her down. She laughs and jokes with everyone like she always has. Instead of worrying about herself she is busy worrying about everyone else and making sure that she doesn't inconvenience anyone. I seriously admire her strength and continue to pray that she keeps that strength. 

Hoping to post some good news soon on this!

Next up is my Grandma Pyle. The Grandma that says, "It Freezes Beautifully" to just about everything and has always been someone I completely look up to. She is who I hope to be when I "grow up"(along with my mom) and who has always been a great moral compass for me. I can't count the times I've asked myself, "What would Grandma think/do?" She has never met a stranger and most people in town refer to her as Grandma Pyle even if they're not related. 

Grandma has always been not only young at heart but way younger physically than most people her age. She is now in her early 80's but up until recently has acted as if she was 50 or younger. Honestly, most people have to keep a slight jog to keep pace with her as she heads down to chase the geese out of her garden. 

Well, since about Thanksgiving time or so she hasn't been feeling very great. She had a couple vertebrae in her back that were cracked causing her lots of back pain. The doctors fixed the vertebrae though and she is still having terrible back pain as well as stomach pains that so far the doctors can't seem to figure out. It's scary and sad to see someone who is usually so full of energy sit around all day and hardly move because of the pain. She has been in so much pain she hasn't been going to daily Mass as she has her whole life and has even missed a lot of Sunday Masses these last couple months. This is how we know it's pretty bad. Grandma doesn't miss Mass. Ever. 

We're all hoping and praying that the doctors figure it out ASAP because we need Grandma to be back to her normal self. I know she wants to feel better soon too. Especially, with gardening season right around the corner. Hopefully she will get in to see a specialist soon and get the problem, whatever it is, fixed. 

If you have any prayers you want to send my family's way I know they would very much appreciate them!