My Favorite Things: Two Months In // 2017 Goal Progress

Hello everyone, can you believe that it's nearly March?!

I can't. February was weird and it flew by.

I set a bunch of goals I am really excited about for 2017, I had fun actually working toward them in February, as January was kind of one-track mind kind of month!

Goals for February:

1) Finish upacking/storing away items. /get settled in new space.

Check - We did ok and also pitifully at this. We stored away all the empty boxes, we put a lot of packed boxes in the basement to store long-term, and we did empty some of the boxes. I was given a fun little sorting cart from my MIL to store my scrapbook stuff. Seriously... almost everything fit in it... and I'm so freaking excited! We started doing a 28 min clean (the length of KC's playlist) and it really helped us kick it into gear organizing-wise. :) Hopefully we can keep going and be done ASAP! We have people coming over early in March!

2) Send some snail mail

Check - I sent some mail starting with my blogger snail mail exchange with Kelly & Stephanie. It was so fun to write letters back and forth! If you'd like to join let Steph know, she'll add you to our FB page! :) I also sent a few things to friends living out of state. :) An improvement, but I hope to send more things next month!

3) Finish last section of travel mini album, film video for it.

Fail - I didn't do this! But at least my scrapbook stuff is organized now! :) I did share my mini mini album video earlier this week though! :)

4) Have friends over for a game night!

Check - No, it was busier than we thought it would be for a full on game night (snacks, etc.) ... but we did do a game night with my SIL and her fiance. It was impromptu but fun! :)

5) Meet my sister's baby!!

Check - Yayyyyy! My sister had her BABY!!! EEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's perfect. See lots of lovey pictures and gushy words in this post...

6) Plan out KC's bday week!

Check - I did pretty well at this! I got a family dinner + game night planned on his actual bday, and a game night with friends a few days later. There are things in between... because bday WEEK. I can't disclose those though... just in case he reads this! I also got all of his presents and I just need to wrap them! :)

7) Try making egg muffins for breakfasts.

Fail - Nope. I had really good intentions. We have at least 20 eggs right now. LOL

8) Read 5 Books

Check - I read 5 books in February. I finished Blossom Street Brides, Soulless, Ever the Hunted, Throne of Glass, and Where'd You Go Bernadette. The first one was not great, and Bernadette drove me crazy.... but the others were fast, fun, and fairly gripping. You can read more about some of those here, (I read a ton of these in the first week of Feb, so I threw them into the Dec/Jan post!) and you can read about the others next week!

9) Start learning about Hygge

Fail - Nothing yet...but I did buy a book and get one from Netgalley too.

10) Prep some food for busy day meals

Check - I did fairly well at this with KC's help! We tried to take it easy and make some dinners that didn't take a ton of work. A few rotisserie chickens with potatoes and veggies. Some pasta with veggies..., stir fry, etc. Sandwiches for lunch. I feel like around the second week of the month we got into a better groove with cooking or meal prepping. I hope to continue through the rest of the year.

Total: 7/10 - Very good, I'd say! :)

Other Updates (aka we're soooo social) LOL:

My friend Juliet was in town from Taiwan! It was great to catch up with her a bit and get some info about her wedding! I'm so excited, and I can't wait until she is back in March for a longer period of time! :) :)

We saw Pippin (the musical) at a local performing arts center. It was a part of their "broadway" touring program, and the show was great. It's kind of a weird one if you haven't seen it.... but we enjoyed it overall.

We prepped a ton of freezer food for my sister and her husband. One day = 40+ servings of frozen foods! :) :) We made chili, pulled pork, enchilada casserole, chicken broccoli rice casserole, and a pasta bake. Hopefully that will make life with a newborn a bit easier. :)

My friend Rachel and I have been doing the preserving challenge via food in jars. January's food was marmalade, you can check out the one we made - here. February was salt preserving. I didn't know what that was... but basically tons of salt = bad environment for bacteria. So you don't have to can/seal/etc. the salt preserved things! We made a soup base (bouillon equivalent) from veggies and you guessed it, salt. Read about that, here. I can't wait to use it. It lasts 4 months in the fridge and a year in the freezer! :) Bring on the soups! + it was super easy! We also made a cilantro citrus salt... which I have no idea how to use... but am looking forward to it! Read about that one, here. haha And by "we" I mean... I zested some lemons and then had to run... and Rachel did all the rest of the work!

We also had some brunches, meals, etc. with friends. It was my mom's birthday and we baked her a cake from Cake Magic. It was strawberry chocolate. YUM. I still can't figure out why the chocolate cakes turn out drier than the vanilla ones though... thoughts?

We also got invited by my SIL and her fiance to help them beta test a new escape room at Breakout Lawrence. We didn't get out, but damn was the room cool! They ranked it a 9/10 on the toughness level (15% ideal breakout percentage!). We gave a little bit of feedback since it was new, but we think it's an awesome room! It's civil war themed, how cool is that?! It makes me want to go back again!! :)

I tried on and FINALLY ordered a bridesmaid's dress for Juliet's wedding! I was kind of agonizing over which one to get, and the ordering time is extensive and often expensive too. Luckily I tried one on and found out I could order off-the-rack at nordies and just get it altered. Plus the color I wanted was on sale. #winning Eep it's convertible and I cannot wait to wear it! I feel like a mermaid in it... even in the dressing room. hahha But obviously, very much more importantly I'm so excited to watch one of my BFFs get married!

KC and I went to see Moulin Rouge at Alamo Drafthouse. It's such a good movie, but we don't watch it a lot since it's kind of long and sad.... but it's a classic and I'm so glad that we went to see it on the big screen! I don't think I had seen it in at least 7 years...? Oh, it was glorious. Now I just want to be Satine for Halloween... haha Also, I always start out thinking Ewan McGregor is kind of a funny choice.. and then he woos me with his song. LOL It's so great. Elephant Love Medley is a classic KC and me road trip jam. haha Also, I have to say this movie means significantly more as an adult than it did as a teen. If you'd like to read my rambly thoughts and mostly just a lot of photos and GIFs related to Baz Luhrmann movies... then check out this post...

And I FINALLY went to the dentist like a champ*. I guess they just do the x-rays and exam now when you start a dentist? Anyhow, I have a cleaning scheduled for KC's bday. Awesome. LOL I'm going to have to get some work done... but whatever, I'm just going to make myself do it. If you want to read about my personal journey or dental anxiety, check out this post!

Also, we made another batch of homemade vanilla extract. YUM! :) Check out the SUPER EASY recipe, here.

I also started doing a tiny bit of bullet journal style "habit tracking" this month! I went back and used my planner retroactively... which helped! Turns out, despite the move, I'm not doing too badly. I have definitely noticed that I either read, or I work on creative projects, I don't really do both in a given day. Maybe on a weekend. It's fun so far, and I hope to enjoy it as it evolves. I'd like to mood track too. Does anyone else do bullet journalling of any type?

I also started doing a bit of sketching and playing around with water colors and my aqua pen. It's really such a clever tool that makes water color much more enjoyable for me. I wouldn't say that I'm very good, but I am having fun. I don't usually create things just to enjoy creating them, so it's a nice change! :) I also had to buy some of Jane Davenport's mermaid markers because.. 1) Mermaids, obvs. 2) how gorgeous are these colors?! 3) obsessed with brush pens right now 4) they them at my local Michael's so after a coupon they were just $25!

We did end up going back to the breakout place and ended up breaking out of the Y2K room. It was super fun. We got out just at the last minute. It's definitely better to do it in bigger groups, but I was proud of us, and it was a fun thing to do with friends! :)

Also, biggest surprise of the month?! Getting $40.48 back from our apartment deposit! What?! We expected to get NOTHING back. Especially since they didn't give us the cleaning sheet until the day we left last minute for work driving to Nebraska. LOL. I'll take it! :P

We also saw P&P at the Alamo Drafthouse. It was delightful, a "girlie night" so people could swoon and cheer as much as they wanted (a lot...). ha. KC went with my friend Jessica and I and it was fun.

We also started watching Miss Fisher's and we're almost done. It's fabulous as everyone says it is! :P

Goals for March:

1) See Beauty & the Beast - GAH
2) Read 5 books!
3) Have an epic KC Bday Week!
4) Read at least 2 Netgalley books
5) Bachelorette / Shower plans for Juliet
6) Shower plans for SIL
7) St. Patrick's Soiree?! - last year we did and it was so fun!
8) Read one book from an under-loved genre (2017 goal list)
9) Finish two more months in my 2016 PL album
10) Do one extra workout every Tuesday

How was February for you?

What did you accomplish?

What are your goals for March?

Linking up with Kristen and Gretch for, What's New With You?