Things to do for 2014 - January Update

January is almost over and I'm glad to have started some of these.

1. Complete the first two levels of Rosetta Stone - German

2. Read 25 books - Last year, I read 16 books, four short of my 20 book goal. This year I've upped it to 25 as I don't feel I read nearly as much as I should.

Finished reading:
- The Yard by Alex Grecian

I have a couple books on the horizon for me - one will be published in Feb/March and Alex Grecian's 2nd book. I think for my next reading adventure, I'll go with something scary.

3. Spend less time on the computer in my non-working hours

4. Maintain the blog with regular posts - I've come up with a tentative schedule for postings, but it is still a work in progress.

5. Go through the Digital SLR for Dummies book and improve my photography skills.

6. Continue to photograph Gimli and Merida.

7. Lose 20 lbs. - Last year, I struggled with this and am struggling with it again as the year begins. I was doing well, then I stopped exercising and all the progress I did was lost.

January 31 2014
- down 4 lbs to 144
- lost an inch
- I've been working out my arms and they look a bit better. Not chiseled or anything, but you can see the muscle start to take shape.

8. Finish painting our house - We have 3 bedrooms to paint this year.

9. Frame and put up our pictures.

Have gotten the layout for 2 rooms so far. Working on the living room next.

10. Go to The Arboretum at least once a month - weather permitting.

11. Discover local restaurants/bistros etc in my city or in the surrounding areas.

12. Take more pictures of Mike and me.

13.  Enjoy our backyard.

14. Surprise someone.

15. Put in more flowers/shrubs etc in the yard

16. Move off of "Medium" on the drums in Rock Band and to "Hard".

17. Complete the Minas Tirith 3D puzzle

18. Take up running. I'm nowhere close to the point of doing a 5k of straight running, but it's something I want to do. The ultimate goal is to do one of the RunDisney events at the parks.

19. Put in a smaller garden in the backyard.

20. Organize the spare bedroom so it actually looks like a bedroom and not a place to shove "stuff".

21. Scan in our baby pictures.

22. Start putting together our Disney album.

23. Start cooking more Trinidad type food.

24. Work on the corgis' recall.

25. Travel to a new place.

26. More to come...

Wordless Wednesday - Snow Face

Rawr

It was one of those long days of looking at code, making incremental steps, (in the right direction!), that my brain is done for the day.

Instead, I give you Gimli and Merida pretending to be a water buffalo and a lioness.

Saturday Smiler - Dude, snow!

Flat Corgi Friday - Sun Chair

It's been frigid here this month and I hope this sun chair brings a little warmth to us all.

Wordless Wednesday - Sharing

Hugs

It's National Hug Day today! Here are some hugs:

5 things - January

1. I've been working on exercising and losing weight. I intended to start at the beginning of the year, but the cold and loss of appetite around Christmas time exacerbated my weight loss. So far, I've lost 4 lbs and roughly 1 inch.

2. Merida likes to watch television. She seems to prefer animal shows because she can focus on the animal and watch it move across the screen - ie lions, dogs and bears. She doesn't actually bark at the tv, but she will run up to it and stare.

Gimli doesn't really care about the tv, I don't think he pays much attention to it, if at all.

3. I've started walking the dogs on the street. The sidewalks are too crazy and I lost one of the grips for my boots. The streets at least have a bit more traction on them and it's a bit safer.

4. We've started giving Gimli a bedtime cookie because he seems to have an upset tummy in the mornings. It seems to be helping and he's more eager than ever to go to bed... I wonder why?

5. Some wise ass decided to trademark the word "Candy". Does this mean I'll have to change my nickname? What about the blog name? Will I have to pay for the rights to use MY OWN NAME? I always thought "Candy" was in the public domain - sort of like "Happy Birthday"? If Mike wants to say: "Happy Birthday Candy!", does he have to get permission first?

I question these things because it makes no sense whatsoever.

Saturday Smiler - Long Nose

Can I come in?

Flat Corgi Friday - Merida and the 3 bears

In the movie Brave, Merida's 3 brothers are turned into bears. We felt we had to showcase just Merida in this one :)

What was 2013?

Apologies for the lateness, but 2013 was:

January

Gimli glowed in the rising sun

I went to Trinidad

February

Gimli and I found the red wubba buried in the snow

Gimli went looking for his dog friend

My dwarf went under snow

I tossed a dwarf!

Gimli won the best smile contest!

Gimli wanted bar service

March

It was Mike's birthday and we spent it aboard the Disney Fantasy!

Posing on pirate night

Our plate from Palo

Relaxing on his birthday

I pretended to be Marilyn Monroe

April

Gimli posed with Bombur the Squishable

Gimli thought he could hide under Mike's wheelchair

We had an ice storm and lost one of our branches

May

Gimli borrowed the neighborhood children's chalk and left his mark.

Gimli met a lovely Greyhound

We met a lovely little puppy

June

Merida!

Learned how to pounce

Sat next to her big brother

July

The corgis learned to line up

Gimli reminded us how to smile

Merida told me what she thought of my bra

August

Gimli turned 5 years old!

Gimli and I went to the Arboretum on our own

Corgi snuggles!

They met a new friend!

They didn't go swimming.

Merida got to see her sister!

Merida's dad!

September

We walked in the Bark for Life to raise money for Cancer

The corgis shared a toy

Merida lost a few teeth

October

The corgis posed with the pumpkins

Mike went as Carl

I dressed as Isabella for Halloween

A praying mantis showed up in our yard

November

Merida was a bad little puppy

Merida had her first taste of snow

December

Seafood feast in The Keys!

I held an alligator!

Airboats on the Everglades

My birthday at Walt Disney World!

Snow romps!

Gimli taught Merida all about Christmas