Category Archives: 25 before 25

25 Before 25: How Did I Do?

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Since I turn 25 today, I thought I’d better look back at my 25 Before 25 list that I wrote in October and see how many things I was able to cross off of my list.  The answer?  Not as many as I’d hoped.  Life just got in the way!  There were a lot of unexpected things that happened between then and now.  There are some things that I’ve been working on, but didn’t feel comfortable crossing off the list quite yet.  I put a side note on others that didn’t work out as I’d hoped.  Oh well!

I’m working on a 30 Before 30 list and will let you all in on that fun soon.  At least this time, I’ll have a good five years to complete it!

25 Before 25: Take C to the Zoo!

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Hooray!  I can cross off #10 on my 25 Before 25 list.  We took C to the zoo for the first time, and he…was generally indifferent.

Sure, he started out with a smile...

He enjoyed seeing some of the fish, and he smiled at the monkeys.  But the sound that he made the most during our trek around the zoo?  The sound of a loud yawn.  Yeah, my child was bored at the zoo.  He was more interested in watching the other children than seeing the animals.

We saw some bears fighting!

He thought that was pretty cool.

After he saw the bears fighting each other, he wanted to give me some of his sweet baby kisses.

And one of his darling baby hugs.

The animals that we were able to get closest to were the prairie dogs.

He had fun leaning over and peeking at them.

Then I made them pose for a picture. :)

We finished off the trip with a visit to one of our favorite exhibits – the penguins!  C was very ready to go home at this point.

"No more pictures, please!"

Even though Hubster and I enjoyed the zoo more than C did, I’m still happy that we took him to experience it.  I hope he’ll enjoy it more when he’s a little older! ;)

25 Before 25: Read a John Grisham Novel That I Haven’t Read Before

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I adore John Grisham novels and can devour one of them in a few days’ time.  Since C was born, I lost the free time and the concentration to do so.  I’m so happy to say that I’ve completed #1 on my 25 Before 25 list and just read “The Litigators” over the weekend!

While “The Litigators” is admittedly not Grisham’s best work, I was still thoroughly intrigued.  I found myself completely engaged in the life of the main character, David Zinc, cheering for him to succeed.  “The Firm” and “A Time to Kill” remain my favorite Grisham reads, but “The Litigators” did not disappoint.

25 Before 25: Blog Daily for 30 Days

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I did it!  I completed another of my 25 Before 25 goals by blogging for 30 consecutive days.  I’m pretty excited about this goal, because I didn’t think I’d be able to do it.  Something always distracts me and my blog posts are the first thing that get pushed to the side.  Now I’ve fallen into a good routine.

Tomorrow, I’ll be giving you all a break from my incessant blogging and you’ll be hearing a new voice!  My friend and fellow blogger, Rachel, will be doing a guest post for you all.  Hope you will enjoy her perspective on thrifty ways to DIY! :)

#12 Unplug for a Weekend: 25 Before 25

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I can’t believe it!  I convinced Hubster to “unplug” while we were on our two-day vacation!  Another one of my 25 Before 25 goals was to unplug for a weekend/two-day span.

I thought that we were going to have a difficult time.  We’re very tied into our email, social media and (for Hubster) sports.  Much to my surprise, the time flew by and we didn’t really miss being connected at all times.  We kept ourselves very busy with vacation things – we enjoyed the resort’s waterpark, theme park, fitness facility and lobby.  We explored the monstrous resort’s hallways, convention center and coffee shop.  We slept in!  Oh, the beauty of a full night of sleep! :)

Have you ever unplugged?  Was it easy for you?

#5 Decorate for Christmas: 25 Before 25

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I’ve completed #5 on my 25 Before 25 list!  This weekend, we decorated for Christmas.

Since space in our apartment is at a premium, our Christmas decorations are in storage in our home state by my parents.  We bought a little 4-foot prelit Christmas tree last year.  We’ve decorated it with a few little ornaments.  My favorite one is C’s first ornament that I picked out, commemorating the Green Bay Packers’ Superbowl victory in the same year that C was born.  :)

Merry Christmas!

#24 Complete a 5k: 25 Before 25

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I’ve completed #24 on my 25 Before 25 list!  Last night I completed my first 5k!

After much convincing, Hubster decided to run it with me.  I’m so glad that he did.  He was in cross country and track in high school, so I consider him my running expert.  If it wasn’t for his tips along the way, I probably would have thought I was going to die.  Then I wouldn’t have achieved one of my 5k goals: Don’t die.

Hubster had awesome tips for me, like opening up our stride going down hills.  Or when I thought my shins were going to explode, he told me it was okay to step to the side and stretch them out.  I learned that, while doing the Couch to 5k was helpful, practicing on a zero incline treadmill was NOT helpful.  The course had a ton of large hills, which made me feel like my preparations were useless.

I had three goals for this race:
1. Don’t die.
2. Don’t be the last to cross the finish line.
3. Run it in less than 45 minutes.

I’m happy to say that I achieved all three goals, with a time of 41:46!  I’m so excited.  I’ve never been a distance runner, and have never run 3.1 miles in my life.  In fact, I’ve never run more than one mile in my life.

My next goal is to bring my time down to 30 minutes.  Now I know that I need to throw some inclines into my workouts in order to properly prepare myself.  I think that cutting 11:46 off of my time between now and spring is a pretty attainable goal.  :)

Woohoo! 

 

25 Before 25

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Before I found out that we were expecting C, I created my first “25 Before 25″ list.  It involved a lot of traveling (one of our favorite things to do!), paying off our student loan debt and other things that just aren’t as feasible now that we have an infant.  I still love the idea of coming up with 25 new things that I’d like to experience and accomplish, so I decided to revise my list.  I only have about eight months to complete this new list, so they’re very short-term goals!  I’ll be posting updates as I accomplish them.

Have you ever created a “bucket list” or something like it?

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25 Before 25

1. Read a John Grisham novel that I haven’t read before. Completed 3/5/12
2. Set aside 10 minutes each day for God.
3. Blog daily for one month. Completed 1/30/12
4. Take a picture every day for 30 days.
5. Decorate for Christmas.  Completed 11/27/11
6. Watch The Godfather Trilogy with Hubster. Completed 5/21/12
7. Open an IRA. Completed 6/28/12
8. Go on one date per month with Hubster.
9. Take a baby sign language class with C. (Tried in January. Failed. Adjusting to meds for PPD was rough.)
10. Take C to the zoo. Completed 5/16/12
11. Try geocaching.
12. “Unplug” for a weekend. Completed 12/14-12/16
13. Volunteer.
14. Create a monthly payment strategy to pay off our student loan debt. Completed 4/15
15. Gather my expired coupons and send to military personnel via The Krazy Coupon Lady.
16. Create a digital scrapbook of C’s first year.
17. Find a delicious homemade macaroni and cheese recipe. Completed 6/26/12
18. Cook a Thanksgiving meal and invite any friends over that don’t have plans for the holiday. (Hubster had worked a lot that month. Decided to have a quiet family holiday instead.)
19. Bake C’s first birthday cake. Completed 4/29/12
20. Complete Phase 1 of the The South Beach Diet with Hubster. (Lasted for a week, but without carbs I didn’t have enough energy to keep up with C.)
21. Go vegetarian for 1 week.
22. Work out at least 3 times per week.
23. Complete Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred. (Did P90X instead!  Way more difficult!)
24. Complete a 5k. Completed 10/21/11
25. Complete a second 5k and get a better time than the first. (Didn’t fit in another race before my June birthday, but am planning to run one in November!)