Catch up continued

Blogger only allows 20 labels per post so I had to separate my update into two.

82. We finally got the remaining rooms in our house painted. The living room, hallways and laundry room are a beige color. I love the new, more finished look.


87. I have finished two photo albums of our international travels -- our trip to Switzerland back in 2006 and our recent trip to Paris and the Netherlands.


88. I made Natalie and Claire "Pinkalicious" cupcakes -- pink frosting and cake!.


90. I recently tried Pop's and Mez in Durham. Both were pretty good.

94. I recently watched The King's Speech (2010) -- great movie!  And we also saw The Hurt Locker (2009).

95. I've sent out the following birthday cards -- my dad's, sister's, brother's, mother-in-law's, and Emile's aunt's.

99. I'm not doing very good of keeping track of the wines I've tried but I know I've tried at least 4 since the last posting. Now I'm pregnant and won't be drinking again for awhile so it may be hard to meet this goal.

Catch up time

Although I don't post often, I have been mentally keeping track of my 101 goals that I've finished or worked towards.  Here's my latest:

7.  Emile, the girls and I took our first family vacation to Carolina Beach on the coast of North Carolina.  While there, we also spent a morning seeing Wilmington.  Two new locations in North Carolina!

14.  Earlier this summer, we took the girls blueberry picking.  It was actually our first time also.  They loved it.  They both did great picking only the blue fruit.

15.  While in Carolina Beach, we flew a kite with the girls for the first time.  Claire loved it.  Natalie was more interested in going back to playing in the sand and waves at the beach.

27.  I just got another massage today at the Falls Day Spa near my house.  First time going there.  It was wonderful!

29.  I did wear a bikini again to the beach one time this year early in the summer before getting pregnant again.  Thankfully, my stretch marks from Claire had actually already disappeared but wearing a bikini still felt challenging since I'm not as fit as I used to be ... but still not bad!

32.  I have been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables as snacks and although I'm not planning on cutting out carbs, I'm defintitely doing better.

34.  My splurge on myself was a new Coach hobo bag.  I got it at a outlet store in South Carolina and I love it!

40.  Emile and I did get a chance to go somewhere for our 10 year Gordo Day (our nickname for our dating anniversary).  We went to Paris for a few days before one of Emile's work conferences.  It was wonderful and our first trip together somewhere without the girls that was just for the two of us. 

41.  We did finally meet two new families in our neighborhood.  We co-hosted a barbeque in which two new families game.  One I've run interacted with since then but the other we haven't seen around yet.

42.  I may have had another girls night out since the last update but I know there was at least one when a friend was leaving town.  A bunch of us got together for a dinner at her house.

43.  As with #42, there may have been another but Emile and I did recently go out two dinner and a movie here in Raleigh and then also to a movie when we were visiting family in Minnesota.  We also went out to dinner and a movie a few months ago (we go to a lot of restaurants and movies!).

45.  Natalie is now taking ballet and loves it.  Claire will more than likely be taking it in a year as she's already into dancing a lot.

46.  The girls went to the ocean for the first time during out trip to Carolina Beach in July.  They loved it!

47.  I just finished Claire's 1 year photo album last weekend.  Just in time for her to turn two in 2.5 months.

49.  While at Carolina Beach, we took the girls to the NC Aquarium in Fort Fisher.

59.  I've recently finished reading Something Borrowed and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

68.  I have successful putting money away in savings for retirement for over a year now.

69.  After speaking with our financial planner, our approach to the girls school has changed.  The money will come out of a different source so setting it aside right now is not necessary.

78.  I have finished decorating the girls bathroom and the breakfast room.  I don't have photos yet of the breakfast room but here is the bathroom.

31. Get tonsils removed

I have been busy these last few months in tackling some of my 101 goals.  The biggest was getting my tonsils removed on January 21 (#31).  It was by far the most painful thing I've done to date; even more so than my two c-sections.  One advantage to getting my tonsils out is that I wasn't able to eat as much.  And thus, of course, I dropped some weight -- the last few pounds of my pregnancy weight.  I've gotten back to my pre-pregnancy weight (#28)!  It's such a relief to be back to this stage.  I also definitely slept in and didn't feel guilty...multiple times while recovery (#39). 

Since the last post, I've done the following other things:

• Emile and I tried a new restaurant in Raleigh -- Mura Japanese Restaurant (#43, #90).  It was wonderful, although I don't think it was that much better than some of the other sushi restaurants we've frequented.  While there I tried a new wine, although I don't recall the name (#99).
• I bought a stand mixer finally!  I tried it out by making a crust for the banana cream pie that I made from scratch (#88).  It was wonderful! 

• Emile, the girls and I had a picnic at Baileywick park (#12).  It was a lot of fun and something we plan to do frequently this summer.
• I spoke to my doctor about getting a mammogram.  My previous OB doctor had recommended getting a mammogram at around 31 because my aunt got breast cancer at 36.  My new doctor doesn't think it's necessary at my age (now 34) because under 50, a mammogram is not that accurate.  If anything, he recommends doing gene testing instead which I'm looking into.  I have agreed that doing a mammogram now would not be the way to go so I'm removing that from my list since it's no longer applicable (#30).
• I hung out with some girl friends twice in the last two months (#42).
• I've read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (#59).  Great book about HeLa cells.  I highly recommend it, for even the non-scientist.

• I also read Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran a few months ago but forgot to list it (#59).  It was also a very good book.  A historical fiction (my favorite).
• I finished decorating our bathroom (#78).  I'm pretty happy with it.

• Another one that forgot to list before was that I have started helping Emile with the gardening and landscaping (#79).  I will doing more this summer also.
• I was going to make homemade green cleaning products but I instead decided to go with the green products available in the store.  I've switched over all the products I have been using for Method products (#83).
• I recently spent a weekend in Charleston, S.C. with my bookclub friends (#8).  It was a blast.  While I was away, I also didn't use the internet or computer (#92) and no TV for two days (#98).

• While I was in Charleston, I got to try five new wines:  Honey Moon Viognier, Biltmore Riesling, Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc, Jacob's Creek Pinot Grigio, Mirassou Pinot Grigio (#99).  All very good!
• I've sent out one birthday card to my mom (#95).

I've tried keeping up on my Wikipedia reading but I've slacked.  I did read up on HeLa cells recently.  The following is a summary:

• A cell type in an immortal cell line in scientific research.
• Cells derived from cervical cancers cells taken from Henrietta Lacks.
• Cells were propagated by George Gey.
• Neither Lacks nor her family gave Gey permission, but, at that time, permission was neither required nor customarily sought.
• HeLa cells were used by Jonas Salk to test the first polio vaccine in the 1950s. Since that time, HeLa cells have been used for "research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and many other scientific pursuits".

#67. Wikipedia search - Brazilian Carnival

A friend from college spent a year in Brazil and always talked about Carnival.  I've heard about it hear and there over the years but never really new exactly what it was about.  I thought it was time to look into it more.  The following Wikipedia information can be found here. 

• Annual festival held 40 days before Easter
• The term "carnival" comes from carnelevare, which means "to remove/raise meat" since part of the tradition is to abstain from consuming meat and poultry.
• Carnival is the most famous holiday in Brazil
• Festivities last for about a week, day and night
• The consumption of beer accounts for 80% of the annual amount and tourism receives 70% of Brazil's annual visitors
• Modern Carnival originated in Rio de Janeiro in 1641.

#67. Wikipedia search - The Queen Mother

I'm watching The Queen and it got me interested to learn more about The Queen Mother (Mum) whom I haven't read much on yet (I've read a lot on the Tudors). So I did a Wikipedia search and discovered a lot of new things:

• Her full name is Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon
• She is a Queen consort (i.e. by marriage) as she was married to King George VI
• King George VI became King when his brother, then King Edward VIII, abdicated (denounced the throne) to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.
• She lived to be 101 years old.

Plus a lot more information which can be found here. So it looks like I've started my Wikipedia goal. Now to remember to read something once a week for the next year.

73. Half Marathon

After my pregnancy with Natalie, I ran a half-marathon as a way to get back in shape.  I decided to do the same after I had Claire.  I completed my 2nd post-pregnancy half marathon (#73) on November 7th.  I actually even ran it a minute faster per mile and didn't feel nearly as sore as I did after the first one.  I may have to do this again.  Also, during my training, I finished doing 30 days of the 30 Day Shred (#72) (although not 30 days in a row) -- I like doing that workout once in awhile, but lets face it, working out everyday straight with 2 kids is just never going to happen.

I also voted (#93) in something other than the Presidential election on November 2.  It was actually a great feeling to be contributing in that way.  I plan to continue voting during more elections.

A few weeks ago, Emile and I went to see True Grit (#43) one evening.  It was a great movie; one we'd recommend.  And of course, it's always wondering getting time away with just my husband.

I made a curtain (#81) for our guest bathroom which I'm very proud off.  I think it actually turned out well.  Having finished the curtain also means I've finished decorating another room in the house. Plus I have finished my office. Two more rooms done (#78).

Last night I finally finished and order Natalie's 2nd year photo album (#48).  Now to finish Claire's 1st year. 

Since my last post, I've only sent out one birthday card to my father-in-law (#95) but there are a lot of birthday's coming up!

Although we didn't take Claire because she's too young, we did take Natalie to see her Oma's production of the Nutcracker (Continental Ballet Company) (#26).  She loved it and even got to dance with the lead, "Clara", after the performance backstage.  Here's my favorite photo from that day:

Shortly after Claire turned 1 yr. old (December 3), I weaned her from nursing (#52).  She was exclusively breastfeed for the entire year (i.e. no formula), 12.5 months.  I'm proud of myself for doing this for both of my girls!

I also organized the storage room, finally (#80).  It is so much easier to get to things, and so much more room, now that it's organized.  Emile and the girls helped assemble a shelf system.

My friend Jenny has started a professional photography business, Sweet & Sunny Images.  We had her take a family photo (#97) of us for our Christmas card this year.  I love how it turned out so much that we got a 16x20 print made that we'll be framing for our living room.

Apparently I've been pretty busy with these in the last few months.  I've completed an additional 9 since the last time I posted!