26 before 27 Update

We did it! We made it through meat-free Lent. There were times when it was difficult. Times when my stomach seemed like a bottomless pit. An empty void that could not be filled no matter how much I ate. But then, as all things do, the feeling eventually passed and my body adjusted. We found some great recipes that I'll be sharing over the next few weeks, as soon as I find more time to write.

I've been a little absent lately due to my travels. After a 12-day trip in the United Kingdom and Spain, I had a very short work week filled with meetings about my trip and then Easter hit. After an extended weekend visiting my family, I think I'm finally starting to feel caught up on sleep. Just in time. I leave a week from Saturday to go back to Spain again. While I'm excited and still loving the opportunity I've been given at work, I must admit that I'm not looking forward to the 9-10 hour flights ahead of me.

This is my nephew. He's adorable. And smart. And funny. And he loves hunting for Easter Eggs and being outside in general.


And now for a list! Here's an update on how my 26 before 27 list is going. I think I need to focus in and get some more stuff checked off the list!

1. Go to Chicago (check! We went over Thanksgiving. Post coming soon!)
2. Find a church (we have been to the same church twice! While we haven't completely committed to it, I think it's a good start)
3. Learn to sew (yeah, I have a lot of work to do if I want to get this one done...)
4. Run a 10k (check!)
5. Cook all the printed recipes in my recipe folder (getting closer, but that darn pinterest got in my way and added more recipes!)
6. Blog 30 days in a row (check! I did this the whole month of December)
7. Read 10 books (check! okay, technically I'm reading the 10th book now. List below)
8. Ride my bike more (check! "more" is a pretty relative term, and I biked 26 miles last year in one day, which was "more" than I probably biked the whole year before that. So I call this a success so far.)
9. Bake a pie from scratch
10. Pay off my Graduate School loans (check! Paid off in December!)
11. Begin half marathon training (check! I even ran the race)
12. Plant a full garden (I have a feeling this one isn't going to happen given all my traveling)
13. Refinish the landscaping on the side of our house (I can't promise this is going to happen before my birthday unless we hire someone to do it. Otherwise, it's dependent upon scheduling a weekend and bringing in parental help.)
14. Frame wedding posters
15. Make wedding album
16. Spend the afternoon at a winery (check! I've done this twice so far.)
17. Go someplace new (check! Southampton, United Kingdom, Barcelona, and coming up..Portland!)
18. Bake bread from scratch (I was so close to checking this one off, and then my trip to Spain caused me to cancel my bread baking plans. It's being rescheduled)
19. Make homemade ice cream
20. Go on the Boulevard Brewery Tour (check! We went in January. Read my review here)
21. Visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum
22. Take a day off, for no reason (you would think this would be an easy one, but something always comes up. I will get this done in the next 2 months)
23. Join a group/do more community service (I'm thinking Junior League or Big Brothers/Big Sisters)
24. Watch The Godfather (check! we even watched the 3rd movie...)
25. Read a non-fiction book (Currently reading some David Sedaris)
26. Take one week off from facebook (check! The first week of Lent I gave up pinterest. The second week of Lent I gave up facebook. I planned on doing one week sacrifices throughout the Lenten season, but giving up facebook is as far as I got)

The books I've read so far:
1. One for the Money
2. Two for the Dough
3. Three to Get Lucky
4. The Killing Joke (some "Graphic Novel" C wanted me to read about the joker)
5. The Hunger Games
6. Hunger Games, Catching Fire
7. Hunger Games, Mockingjay
8. Water for Elephants
9. Pride and Prejudice
10. Me Talk Pretty One Day (still reading)

I hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend, full of relaxation, family, and time to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice made just for you.