11 in 2011

I often hear about people who want to do 30 things before they're 30 and usually give themselves a year to complete the list. I'm not sure that I could really come up with 30 substantial things to do in a year, but 11 seems like a good number and follows my belief that odd numbers are the best. So 11 in 2011 it is. This isn't any sort of New Year's Resolution, just something I wanted to start and had to wait until the holidays settled down to to it. I made the list this past week so I have until January 23, 2012 to finish it. What's on my list, you ask? Well, conveniently enough, it's listed below.

1. Visit the Georgia Aquarium. - I guess I'm a little behind on this, but I still think it would be fun. Maybe we can wait until Alexander's a little older...his 2nd birthday, perhaps. Completed: October 28
2. Go as Dr. Who #4 (Tom Baker) or Velma Dinkley for halloween. - Ivan doesn't really like the idea of me going as a man for halloween, but I think it'd be hilarious. I did offer that he could go as #10 and I could be Donna, but he declined. I also thought he and Awesome could go as Dr. Evil and Mini-Me and he thought that'd be funny, but next year since he and Awesome already have costumes picked out. Maybe a poll for which costume I should do with a write in option...something to think about.
3. Begin writing at least 1 of my stories. - I have several story ideas that I've written in my journal. I have to start writing one of them, but which one? Hmmmm....Maybe I'll do a post with a one sentence description of each story and let there be a vote. What do you think? Completed
4. Be at least 50% of the way to my goal size/weight. - Why did I say size/weight? I want to be within 1 size of my goal, but the weight could be thrown off by having more muscle than I thought or not being able to get my butt and thighs to slim down (which I'm fine with since I like them hehe). I won't say what the weight or size are that I want, but I'll be losing a significant amount. It'll be a lot of hard work, but I'm already working at it and hoping to do more than I say.
5. Pay off at least 2 credit cards. - I'm not going to give the amount, but with moving expenses, a new baby, surgeries, and the loss of a job within the past 2 years you can imagine the high number. Again, it will take hard work and dedication, but I'm willing to do it (and so is Ivan).
6. Have Ivan give me a spa day. - He spoils me anyway, but a full day of spa treatment sounds wonderful. Completed
7. Find and buy the Muppet Christmas Carol on DVD. - This doesn't sound hard, but I've looked for this for the past couple of years and it's always sold out. I will find it and soon! Completed: February 3
8. Complete my studio. - Until we finish the basement, which is years away, the upstairs room will be my studio. I stopped working on it when I had Alexander (previously mentioned as Awesome), then there was surgery, then a slight, I guess, depression, and so on. I'm getting out of my nonsensical rut, though, and moving on. Time to finish the studio so I can start painting, crafting, and playing again. Completed: November 23
9. Paint my dresser. - My parents brought my old dresser to me. You know the type, cream colored with gold trim? It needs an update...badly. But what color? Completed: November 17
10. A 3 day weekend. - I don't really care if we stay home or go somewhere, but we will have fun and relax. No cooking, cleaning, or having responsibilities. Maybe a 3 day weekend in Atlanta with sight-seeing and pretending to be a tourist in our own city. Or maybe we'll just stay home and play videos games, watch movies, wrestle with Awesome, and eat out for every meal. Who knows, but it will be tons of fun. Completed: April 15
11. Follow my path. - Yes, it's vague to you, but not to me. There will be a public update on this within the coming months. Will I go left or right? I'm so excited to see what this year will bring! Completed: April 1

So that's the list. As the year progresses I'll post more about each and include pictures or include writings and such. Do you have a list of your own? What do you want to do this year? Whatever it is I hope God blesses you and you have as much fun and fulfillment as you want!

Guest Bath Redo

Our guest bathroom was a dark hole at the end of our hall. A brown, depressing vortex that swallowed all that is good in the world. Ok, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get how much Ivan and I hated it. The people who lived here before us loved brown because just about all of the rooms we painted brown, including the dining room (our play room) and kitchen.We decided it needed a pick-me-up so we chose a bright green as the new color. Because this is also Alexander's bathroom I wanted to make it further and paint the ceiling a very light blue (I don't have pictures of this, but it's a darker blue than I wanted. Still very fun and bright, though.). Below are the pictures of the transformation, which can be clicked for a bigger image.
The Beginning
  
Not much going on here. I had taken down all of the fixtures and other items to prepare the bathroom for painting. Don't you just hate this color? It's so blah.

Taping, Sanding and Such
  
I finally got everything taped off and the walls sanded. The paint that was on there was a very high gloss and even after tons of sanding it was still glossy. Boo.

What have I done?
   
This was when I realized that the color was horrible. It was way to yellow and would probably look better on some kind of accessory or as a color used to make something pop, not as the primary color. I ran back to the store and got a green that was still bright, but extremely subdued compared to this horrible mess.

Complete!
  
Much better. Put everything back in place and we're done. Yay!

The bathroom looks so much better. The shower curtain and accessories all stayed the same because a) I absolutely love this curtain and b) I only wanted to spend a small amount on the redo. Job well done, I say. We did add 1 thing, though. A basket with a variety of personal care items: shampoo, conditioner, razors, make-up remover, toothbrushes, toothpaste, contact solution, and a few other things. You never know when a guest (or sometimes you) will forget things and need a replacement or substitute.

2011 Goals

I actually have a lot of goals to complete this year. Not really New Years resolutions since I started some around Thanksgiving. One that will really matter here, though, is to start blogging at least twice a month. This will start tomorrow with the guest bathroom pictures that I promised a few months ago. I would upload pics and things now, but video games are calling. Final Fantasy XIII to be exact...a lovely Christmas gift from my husband. I've been putting off buying it because of the cost, but Ivan decided I should have it. Yay! Until tomorrow, friends. :-)

"A goal without a plan is just a wish." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery