Deadline Is Coming Up Fast!

I just realized that I only have another 4 and half months left before my birthday! Eeeeeeeek, I am so far from completing my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28!! Did I mention that I'm going up to Ontario again at the end of this month? For a week and half?? Time is quickly running out, I've made myself a "to-do list" of things to accomplish once I return back from my trip..

Right Away:

• Save $200 and then get my name changed (start using my married name) and get my passport updated.  
• Start a food diary, write down everything I eat for 30 days.
• Start 30 Day Shred dvd and stick with it!
• Start doing "index card a day" project, counts as art journaling =)
• Choose and purchase a 1000 piece puzzle and then work on it until it's fully completed!
• Write daily in my journal.
• Print a new copy of immigration forms, get them filled out
• Create a 2 week budget every payday and strictly stick to it! Try to save $$$.

Work on one day a week:

• Learn calligraphy
• Learn origami
• Learn 2-3 new french phrases
• Cook a new recipe, or two.
• Crochet.
• Learn how to use sewing machine.

If I stick with doing all of the above, that should pretty much take care of completing all my goals by my birthday! 

Also pretty high on my agenda is finding a 2nd job (part-time, around 15-20 hours a week) or finding a new "full-time" source of income. (( I work what is considered part-time right now, but what was once a steady 28-33 hours a week as been slowly decreasing down to barely 24 hours a week (or in next week's case.. a little over 16 hours for the week).. which is ridiculous considering all the years I've worked at this same company and that I am available to work any day of the week and at any time! Unacceptable! Must find new source of income! *reason #2937423972 not to work in retail* ))

My Legs Hurt

Soo I've been "doing" the 30 Day Shred workout dvd for ummm 4 days now, I have yet to complete 100% of a workout.. but I'm closer now than I was on day one. What I have realized is that there is a LOT of leg exercising in these workouts....... a lot of squats and lunges. A Lot. So my quads hurt, my calves hurt... but I haven't missed a day yet! My arms would probably be hurting too if I had been using hand weights ( haven't bought a set of those yet).. so yeah. I've been trying to take baths to help loosen up my muscles a bit, and I have been sleeping way more than I should. Perhaps I should buy myself some vitamins.

I also went without the internet for a couple of days this week, and I tried working on my crocheting skills. I still suck at that. I decided I wanted to make an afghan.. it's 63 different patterned squares ( part of that crochet box I bought from ebay, a little book for this project)... I started on the first one, the easiest one.. it's all "single crochet", and I started and unraveled that square about 4 times before I gave up on it for the time being, lol. So I spent many hours working on crochet and I have absolutely nothing to show for it.  Kinda disappointing, but I want to create "perfect" squares.. so if I see where I messed up, I try to fix it.  Once I am a pro at crochet, I'll be able to whip those squares up in no time! Ha! I've got a long, long way to go still. If I ever finish this afghan, it's going to be beautiful!! I chose a medium blue, a sage green, and a cream color for the yarn =)

Crochet Project #1: Touchdown Wristers

It's sooooo exciting to finish a project!! These are the "touchdown wristers" a free pattern from lionbrand.com. Lion Brand has a ton of free patterns, but does require you to sign-up (for free) to access them. and Yes, there is a matching wrister for my left hand as well.. I just don't have a picture that includes both hands. haha

I did make the space for the thumb quite a bit larger than the pattern suggested (on purpose) and I have yet to "gauge" anything (horrible of me, all instructions say you MUST do this, don't be bad like me). These are easy enough you could finish in one day if you spent enough time on them, for me.. working an hour or two every once in a while.. it took about a week to finish. I like using the multicolor yarn because it's a little easier to see the stitches, and I also like the effect it gives. Even if it makes me feel like I'm too old to be wearing these wristers because of it! lol

Look What Came in the Mail!

My box of crochet goodies came in the mail yesterday! I played around with it for a few hours, I've pretty much mastered the slip knot and chain stitch but I'm having difficulty getting a hang of single and double crochet. When I try those stitches it basically just looks like a huge mess. LOL. Also, since I'm left-handed I've been going back and forth with do I want to be a left or right-handed crocheter? I'm not sure yet which way is more comfortable!

I would have liked to have some time today to play around with it some more, but oh well! At least I'm getting my blogging done! =D

I'm Gonna Learn to Crochet!

I've decided that I would love to learn how to crochet, I've JUST purchased a crochet set on ebay that includes instructions, crochet hooks and 14 spools of yarn! I'm pretty excited about it, I'm sure it's gonna take me foooooorever to be any good at it.. but it'll be great to learn something new :)

Here's some pics from the ebay listing so you can see almost all the wonderful things I just bought:

 If you crochet.. I'd love to hear some helpful tips or see pictures of your projects! I'm really hoping I can learn to be good at it and not give up easily!

When's the last time you learned how to do something new??