Day 75-Write on

So I have been toying with the idea of quitting this project because I have not been keeping up with it very well and have not been doing cool things. I really don't want to give it up though.
Anyways, today. I started yet ANOTHER blog.  The new blog is geared towards professional development, my experiences in growing my  career, and some advice I have learned. I will share the address once I get more blogs written on it.

Day 74-Give it a Whirl

Ouch. On Saturday I played this game called Whirley Ball. We had to drive down to Ann Arbor to play because they don't have it up here. The game basically is bumper cars and lacross rolled into one. There are two teams of different colored cars and you get plastic scoops. The object is to put the ball in the hole which is about the diameter of a large pizza. It was really fun but I cannot remember the last time I was this sore. I have whiplash really bad and my back is killing me.

Day 73-Professional Development

On Friday I attended the Young Non Profit Professional Network's national conference that was held in GR. I absolutely loved it and feel really excited as I move forward with my career. One of the presentations I went to was about joining a board. That is something I have been thinking about pursuing although I am not sure if I am ready for it quite yet. Regardless, I got some ideas on what they look for and what I should look for.

Day 72-Audit

On Thursday, I had a new experience although it wasn't of my doing. My program was audited. It went really well, and I was able to feel confidant in what I have done with the program so far. Of course, it has been a team effort so I am going to try to make sure to thank everyone for their support.

Day 71-Gifted

On Wednesday a friend and I went out to dinner and then took a trip to the World Market. I couldn't find anything I needed but was able to buy a  present for a coworker.  That was the first time I have gifted to a coworker besides throwing in money for a gift card. It felt good to leave a surprise on her desk the next morning.

Day 70-Alligator Waltze

Yesterday was my first day of line dancing. We learned one dance called the alligator waltze. I am by far the youngest in my class, so I stick out like a sore thumb, but everyone is super nice. I definitely worked up a sweat while dancing and as Adelle put it after looking at me up and down, "line dancing's not for sissies"

Day 69-Hungry and Confused

Today I went to a pizza buffet that had a very weird business model. I have never been to a restaurant like it. To begin, you walk in the door and the cashier rings up that you want a buffet and if you want water or pop. Not so weird. But then you place your things at your table and go to this back counter where you expect to fill up your pop with the many glasses they have stacked next to the pop machine. Here you are wrong, as the cashier runs to the back and fills up your cup for you. Then you don't take one of the many stacked plates next to the buffet because the cashier/pop filler is also your waitress and brings your plate to your seat. Now you have two plates because you didn't know this last part before she put the plate at your table.
Then you find out you don't actually go up to the buffet, but you look at the menu and tell the now waitress what kind of pizza looks good to you (barbecue chicken? creme brule pizza?) She does this for every member of the table and disappears. All of a sudden another waitress comes out and offers you a slice of garlic chicken pizza. You finally realize how this place works.
When the pizzas you thought sounded good come out (only takes about 7 minutes) they offer you some slices then circulate the pizza around to the rest of the restaurant and finally place any extras at the buffet.
You feel like you are all in this together because everyone's pizza gets circulated so you don't want to be the one ordering an anchovy pizza and hearing all the other diners say eww grosss who ordered that! Bring out the garlic chicken! Overall you leave, full, satisfied, and a little confused.

Day 68-Colorful

More wedding stuff! Today I made some special crayons for my little guests at the wedding. To make recycled crayons all you need to do is use any old crayons you have, peel off the paper, break up the pieces and put them in some sort of mold such as a cupcake pan. Heat the oven for 350 and put them in for about 10 minutes. Let them cool and pop them out. I use leaf and pumpkin molds for mine.

Day 67-Center of attention

On Saturday I visited my parents and was able to create my centerpieces for my wedding. Here is a sneak peak on one of them!

Day 66-Stand Up Character

On Friday night I was able to plan a girls night out with my good friend. We watched 12 stand up comedians in a competiton for Laugh Fest. The only thing really new about this for me was that I had never seen any of the comedians before. It was a good time, although the person who I voted for did not win .

Day 65-Presenting to my peers

On Thursday I was asked to lead a roundtable discussion for my colleagues. This made me a little nervous as I am one of the newer program directors, and know I still have alot to learn. I ended up facilitating 2 sessions on documenting successes and challenges. I think it went fairly well and a couple people thanked me afterwards which I thought was nice.

Day 64- Tuning In

As it has been made clear to me, I need to update the blog. On Wednesday I went to Crystal Mountain and as Mike was going to Vegas, I did not think it was safe saying we were both going to be away from the house on a public blog.

On Wednesday on my trip up to Crystal Mountain, I got really tired of listening to the FM stations so for the first time I tuned into AM radio. The only channel that came in was Rush Limbaugh (sp) I have always heard of him but didn't really know much about him. Now I know he is a conservative. Very Conservative. Not that that is a good or bad thing, just what I learned.

Day 63-Cheesy

Yesterday I made cheesy potatoes for the first time for a potluck.
Here is my recipe.
2 lb bag of frozen shredded hashbrowns
16 ounces of sour cream
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
A little salt

Put in crockpot on low for about 4 hours

62-We the People

I didn't pay too much attention on how the government works until I realized my job was in jeopardy. Trying to figure out how it all works is actually really difficult for me. I would be slaughtered in a political debate, that is for sure.  But yesterday I attempted to learn a thing or two about how the government operates.

Day 61- Speaking up

Today I placed a complaint into my city. The downside of working downtown is that parking stinks and I have to park in a lot a few block from work. Last week as my co worker and I were walking from our cars, we noticed syringes in the landscaping surrounding the lot. I had heard my coworkers say that it used to be a problem, and apparently it is again. I have never wrote to my city but I figured this was as good of time as any. Hopefully they will be gone soon before someone gets seriously hurt.

Day 60-Picture it

Today was so cold but so much fun! Today we had our engagement photos done. We went to downtown Holland where our wonderful photographer scouted out cool spots for us to pose. Before arriving I told Mike I didn't want any kissy photos, but when our photographer suggested it, who was I to say no? We discussed this on our way back when Mike tells me he kept his eyes open for these shots and noticed that mine were closed. Noticed mine were closed? That's an awkward photo.

Day 59-Out on the town

Yesterday I went to one of the Laugh Fest events and saw 3 stand-up finalists from NBC's Last Comic Standing. Laugh Fest benefits the work of Gilda's club, which provides free support to cancer patients and their friends and families. This was just one event of hundreds being put on this week. This morning there was a pet and owner look alike contest. Hmm I wonder what kind of pet I would look like?

Day 58- Something smells

Ahhh! My engagment pictures are two days away and I can feel ANOTHER cold coming on. This time I am prepared with a bag of onions. I halved an onion, put it on a plate, and set it on my night stand to help cure my cold. Luckily, I generally like the smell of onions so it hasn't bothered me yet. I know this is an old wive's tale but it is worth a shot! Anything is!

Day 57- Slide on through

Today I tried another mini home repair and soaped up my kitchen's drawers. I read that if drawers don't pull out easily or are sticking, to rub some soap against the tracking. So I did. I'm not sure if they slide open easier now, or if it was just my adrenaline from hoping that it worked, but I did notice a difference.

Day 56- Honored

I had no control over day 56, but it was a wonderful event. I was asked to be a matron of honor in my best friend's wedding. It is great because she is the maid of honor in my wedding so we can plan and plot together :) I have already started working on my speech. I am close with both her and her fiance so that will make it easier.

Day 55- Roy G Biv

Yesterday I color coded my closet. Kind of fun.

Day 54-Hear me out

So a few weeks ago I was watching the Grammys (I think it was the Grammys) and they were announcing the nominees for best new artist and I was sure the biebs was going to win, but to my surprise it was a weird singer or band named Florence and the Machine. I don't usually wander far from my mainstream music tastes, but I decided to give Florence and the Machine a listen today and I love it!

Day 53- Pull the trigger

Well I finally did it, besides the vendors, I made my first wedding purchase. I have been holding off because I know once I started I knew it was going to be a DIY free for all. So what was it? What was this epic moment? 6 large round white balloons.

Day 52- Kind of hairy

It wasn't a one day of something new but a week-long effort. Last week I did my hair and makeup for the entire week.  This is not all that exceptional but I don't think I have ever done it since high school. Come Thursday morning I was a little over-it and woke up late so almost stopped, but I wanted to make it the whole week so I made myself.

I don't usually do hair and makeup because I much rather sleep, however I can definitely feel an improvement in my mood when I look better. Stacy and Clinton were right after all.

I don't know if I will continue to do this, but it is one habit I hope I form.

Day 51-Buddy the Bull

So I have always avoided mascots because, quite frankly, they can be creepy. Today for work I was asked, however, to be a special guest reader in one of our after school programs for a Bull Mascot. I happily obliged because I miss being around students and that environment. Athough I was a little nervous about being around the mascot and also that the mascot would be mad I chose a book called The Little Matador.
Luckily, when I got there the mascot was no where to be found, instead I found a skinny 19 year old (just guessing on the age) named Douglas.  Douglas and I were introduced before he got into costume, and I ran my book by him.  Thankfully Douglas wasn't a method actor who took his job as a bull too seriously as he did not care that much I was reading a book about bull fighting.

Day 50- Wahoo Fish Tacos

When I was about 10 we took a trip to California. One of the things we found very funny was a REST AUR ANT with the name Wahoo fish taco or maybe it was yahoo fish tacos? at any rate I have never had a fish taco because the idea struck me as weird, but in the spirit of this blog I decided to just try it anyways so I ate fish tacos.
It turned into 2 meals because I decided I like the baddered piece of cod on its own much better. So I ended up eating them separately.

Day 49- Live United

Whoops forgot to blog last night. Yesterday I attended the Live United Awards. The MC of the evening was a local judge who was hillarious! She kept doing Lady Gaga jokes as Lady gaga was in town for the evening doing a concert. The awards were great and I wish we could have given them to all of our nominees.

Day 48 - Granted

Today was something I have been working on for several weeks, but completed today. Today I wrote and applied for a grant. It was my first attempt at writing a grant, so I don't really  know how it will go. The grant is for Global Youth Service Day which will fund a project to build 20+ bookshelves for families in our area. I will find out in a couple weeks if we are approved so wish me luck!

Day 47-Survey

Today I took a survey on my shopping visit at Kohls. Bummer because I thought if I did it I would be entered in a drawing to win something. Nope, nothing nada.
When I worked at Sears I had to tell every customer to take the survey. I hoped that no one would though, because if we got anything but positive marks our name would be put on the bad list. Yeah, the bad list.

The good thing that did come out of today was that I saved a bundle!

Day 46-Ringing in the new year

Well it happened, yesterday I was unable to do anything new. I am not going to quit my project because that would not make any sense, but it does kind of stink. At any rate.....
Today I picked out our wedding bands. It was fun to pick out Mike's band, but oh my goodness is he clueless! I think we had our funniest moment ever today....
The woman pulls out the men's rings and lets him try them on. Mike goes what finger does it go on? And starts to place it on his pointer finger. Shocked, I say,  How can you not know that! It is called your ring finger for a reason!  Then he goes, How many people do you think actually know all the names of their fingers?

Day 45-Old Stomping Grounds

Today I did something I have done before but not in about a year. Today I went back to one of the schools I worked at last year and ate lunch in the teacher's lounge with my former coworker. I was feeling nostalgic so I wanted our lunch date to be at the school where we used to eat at every Thursday. It was kind of cool digging out my old lunch box I used to bring, packing a PBand J and talking about what we have been up to over the last year. It makes me think what other friends should I call up?

Day 44- What's my name again?

My mind seems to be in a million places lately, and none of those places seem to be with my body. What I mean by that, is I find myself frequently ending up in a room or reaching in a filing cabinet or opening up a cabinet and cannot remember why I am in this spot or what I am hoping to achieve. I think this is probably common, but it is happening so often lately.
So today I tried some memory exercises to give it a workout with some techniques I found on the web.
I played some memorization games, like going from room to room and remembering a certain object in each room then going back through and adding another one on to it. Another suggestion I tried was to brush my teeth with my left hand- not that easy, and I don't think my dentist would be impressed, and finally there was another suggestion to get dressed with eyes closed.

 I don't know how much all of  these things worked to increase me memory but I do know your chances of picking matching socks with your eyes closed is pretty slim.

Day 43-Watch your step

So I ran out of ideas today so I searched once again for some hidden household tricks I could try. The first one I came across was very fitting. The author said combine Dawn dishwashing liquid and warm water and pour on icy steps and they won't be slippery. So that is what I did. I just did it about 5 minutes ago so I have no idea if they are slippery or not. They usually are so maybe this will help. If it doesn't work however, I better let Mike know, otherwise he will be in for a surprise tomorrow when he walks out the door. Yikes!

The blob in the middle is some suds.

Day 42-Darkness 2 Light

Tonight I was trained in child sexual abuse prevention. One of my members was discussing that her father is a trained facilitator for the Darkness to Light training and I was more than thrilled when he offered to do a training for our group. He brought up some good points and shared some startling statistics like 90% of cases are from someone the child knows and 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused by the age of 18. Sad. Very Sad. I suggest looking into your local child advocacy center to see if there is such a training in your area. You never know when you might need it.

Day 41-Strength

I have been having a very bad week. Usually, I try to just fall asleep. Today I decided to try something new.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6

Day 40-Spelling Bee

So there are two words that I can never spell correctly so today, since I am not feeling great at all to do anything else, I am going to learn how to spell them once and for all.

The two words I can't spell are restaraunt and definitley.

Now time to learn them.....

1.) Rest au rant

2.) hahaha there is actually a website dedicated to spelling the next one De fin ite ly
http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/

Day 39- Oldie but a Goodie

Today I ate at the oldest restaurant and bar in down town Grand Rapids.  It is called The Cottage Bar and was established in 1927. They have great burgers. I got a veggie burger and it is my new favorite burger in Grand  Rapids.  I recommend this place for a laid back meal.

Day 38-Chocolate Overload

Is there such a thing? If so, I felt it tonight. Tonight I went to a benefit for GVSU's Women Center. It was called Indulge in a Cause and they had a silent auction and all the chocolate you could ever want. I attended along with some of my coworkers, but it was also nice to go as an alumni of Grand Valley.
I still feel slightly awkward at networking events like this, but I managed. Whenever I ran out of things to say I would just look down at the packet they handed us with intense interest. I now have prizes 1-14 memorized.

They did a wonderful job with the event. The chocolate was fantastic, the jazz band was great, decor was superb, and prizes were very appealing. I will definitely go back next year-with an index card of conversation starters.

Day 37- Kinnecting

Sorry-am writing this a day late but did do this yesterday. Wednesday is weekly fun-night and this week for the first time I played kinnect. It is so amazing what technology can do. I mean Wii used to be mind boggling to me and now that is even one step behind! One thing that is creepy about the kinnect is that it takes pictures of you during your activity. With everything being connected to the internet nowadays I worry that someone could connect your camera remotely and be watching you while you are just lounging around in your living room- having no reservations about the pants you may not be wearing or the nose you might be picking.

Day 36-Smell the Roses

Today I visited a local florist shop to buy a bouquet. Someone had told me to go to a place like Meijer because they have just as nice flowers, but I like supporting the mom and pop stores. Well unfortunately this isn't a heart warming story about how great of experience it was, because I am less than impressed. Okay I guess I should be more lenient because it is the day after Valentine's Day, but it was slim pickings at the flower shop. As I was looking over a few of the arrangements, a woman told me that they had more flowers in back and they could make up something new. Then she said someone would be in to help me in a minute and left. Well that person was not helpful at all. and did not offer to make me anything in the back after I hinted that the bouquets I saw weren't exactly what I was looking for. I ended up choosing the best of the worst and it was $10 over my price range to boot. I won't say the name of the company-I wasn't that upset to publicly bash them, but I won't be recommending them either.

Day 35-Happy Thanksgiving?

So yesterday we had pasta and as that is the only romantic food I know how to make,  today I decided to make Thanksgiving Dinner for Valentine's Day. It went over really well with Mike and gave me time to exercise my cooking skills. I made turkey (boneless), stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn. I have never made any of those things besides corn so I was a little stressed out. I did not have time for a Pumpkin Pie but luckily I had a candle which smells like a mix of pecan pie, apple crisp, and pumpkin rolls. So I lit that for dessert and ate a snack pack. All in all it was a nice night.

Day 34- like a Natural Woman

 I am trying to learn more about natural remedies or at least using products from around the house for my beauty needs. So today I was rummaging around the house  and found a carton of Epsom salt my best friend had gifted me for a craft project.
I googled uses for Epsom salt and found there were several. So tonight I simply used epsom salt to make a face wash. Combining a plain facial soap and the salt created a really nice exfoliant cleanser. My skin is unbelievably soft and this is so much cheaper than what I would have picked up at walgreens. I also saw that you can use the Epsom salt to help with oily hair and a hair volumizer.

I think the next time I make my soap bars I am going to add some Epsom salt to make an exfoliant soap bar. A couple drops of peppermint oil and wow I think that would be a very invigorating experience!

I finished off my face wash with applying some tea tree oil to blemishes. If you choose to do this though, make sure no one is around as tea tree oil has a very distinct smell that takes some getting used to.

Day 33- Complimentary chocolate?

I am writing this a day late because I was busy staying the night on the concierge level of the JW Marriot. Does that sound braggy? It is.
Mike and I decided for Valentines Day to do a staycation (sorry for the buzzword) and spent the evening in Grand Rapids.
I have never stayed in a hotel in Grand Rapids before. It makes me wonder how many people have stayed the night in a hotel in their hometown. It was a great experience- At first, I felt a little like Pretty Woman. Not in a paid escort kind of way but in a I am not sure if I should be here kind of way. But it turns out the concierge level isn't as fancy shmancy as I thought it would be. Our room was beautiful and we could oversee all of Grand Rapids-including Rosa Parks circle which was nice.
We had access to a lounge where the concierge gave you free beer and wine and snacks. They said they were going to be serving dessert but when we went there there was one cookie and some candy. I took a bag of M and Ms and Mike took a Snickers. We enjoyed a couple glasses of wine and beers overlooking the river then left for the comedy show at the Bob.
We had a great time overall and it was so nice to only have to drive 10 minutes to get home.

Day 32-Plop plop fizz fizz

Today I made a science experiment using alka seltzer. We made a video of the experiment but are having a difficult time loading it to the computer. But I got the idea from Science Bob. You can see his video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WayviQkusxI

Day 31-Spuds

Our good friends had us over for dinner tonight and for the first time ever I ate scalloped potatoes. and I got seconds! I've always hated potatoes- But someone told me that your tastes change every 7 years, so just recently I decided to see if it was true. I feel like a whole new way of eating has opened up for me. Potatoes seem like a good way to get full if you don't want to eat meat.
At any rate I was not sure what scalloped potatoes were. I thought they were just slices of potato sitting in cream. But low and behold they are actually in cheese. Yummy delicious cheese.

Day 30-Behind Enemy Lines

I have to thank my former roommates for this one-tonight I played laser tag. I haven't played since I was 12, so when they suggested we play for our weekly fun-night, I was stoked. In preparation I wore all black-sweatpants, long sleeve T, sweater, boots, gloves, hat and even my coat. Apparently I was the only one to take it seriously because everyone else came in regular street-wear. Our first game I did really well and came in 4th out of 24 people. The second game was not so hot as I went on a couple of missions and found my self hunched in a corner with about 4, six year olds huddled around me lasering me into a bloody pulp. That game I ended up being number 20. But you can't say it wasn't for lack of effort.

Day 29-Strike a Pose

Today's idea came to me at work this morning as I sat at my desk stretching my arms out in a yawn. I have lost so much flexibility in the last few years-so why don't I do something about it? Stretching feels great, I never do it any more, and it helps you fall asleep.  So tonight, I did stretches before going to bed. It is devastating how little I can stretch now. In my prime, I could do the splits, heel stretches, do a back walkover, and touch my foot to the back of my head. Now, I can't even touch my toes.
I did about 10 minutes of stretches and saw immediate improvement, but it is something I would like to incorporate into my night time routine.

Day 28- Spring Cleaning

I really wish I could say this was not out of the box for me, but today I unpacked from my move from over a year ago. I had several boxes and bags of things still full of odds and ends that I have never sorted through since I moved out of my apartment. I always just clean around them when I am picking up. Like they were pieces of furniture that belonged along the perimeter of my room.
When I got home from work I did not allow myself to get on the computer and cleaned straight before I could lose the energy I had built up.
Things I came across:
-A silver earring I received for a high school graduation present
-3 dollars
-Tuesdays with Maury
-Notes from taking the Massage Boards
-20+ socks

Day 27- Green and Yellow

Today I hosted a Super Bowl Party. It was also the first Super Bowl where I cared who won! Mike is a huge Packers fan and I guess it has rubbed off on me.
I named all of the food to make it Packers or Football oriented. Rodgers' Rice Krispies, Penalty Poppers, and Macaroni and Cheeseheads were just some of the deliciousness we had going on.
Our living room was PACKED with people and we had to do some strategic seating arrangements to fit everyone in.
Overall it was a great time, lots of good food, and of course Green Bay won.
Day 27 was a great success!

Day 26-ISFP

Tonight I took the Meyers-Briggs personality test. Very tired so I will edit this tomorrow and discuss it more.

Day 25-How do you spell that?

I've seen these done before and always thought hey, I could do that! So I did....

Day 24- Get down, turn around, go to town

Super excited for this to start---today I signed myself up for line dance lessons. Yee Haw! I have some fond memories of linedancing. In jr. high I took linedancing as one of my seminar selections and did I have fun or what! I actually think I took it twice because our teacher hurt her foot and she wanted me to help her  teach the next class. (not to toot my own horn or anything)
Fast forward 7 years later...
One night, back when I lived next to a night club, I walked over on a Thursday and found that it was country line dancing night. I was so sad I didn't know any of the dances because everyone was having so much fun. I had to just stand to the side and pretend I wasn't interested in their boot scootin boogie.

Ahh I can't wait till classes begin in March!

Day 23- Snowfridge

I decided to take advantage of the snow we got and I made a snowfridge for our Super Bowl party coming up this weekend. I am not sure why I did not think of this before-it screams college, but better late than never. I decided to put it on our backporch for easy access. It only took me about 15 minutes to make and luckily my neighbors did not come out while I was making it.

Day 22- Love letters

As I was waiting for the blizzard of 2011....Today I made homemade Valentines.

Day 21-Chick-N

Okay this will be the last food one for a while because it seems like that is all I have been doing and the point of this project is to get out of my box, but today an old friend from college was in town and is a vegetarian so I thought it would be the perfect time to try a vegan restaurant. I was a vegetarian for a long time, and after that chili fiasco on Saturday, I am ready to give the meat eating another break. I forgot to take any pictures but the restaurant is fairly new and is called Stellas. The decor indoors and out is wild. Skulls, gargoyles, arcade games, dark inside but pops of bold colors. In a word I would describe it as Rad.
The food was good too, although the fries were too spicy for my taste. I got the vegan "chicken" sandwich and my friend got the vegan chili and hamburger. They served our drinks in mason jars which was pretty cool too. Both of our meals came under $10 so not a bad deal. I definitely plan on going back. I hope it stays open-we were the only customers in the place.

Day-20 Baked

A lot of my new things have centered around food lately. Food is probably the easiest way to change up the routine. Today I decided to get all domesticated and made apple crisp for the first time. It pretty good, but I could really use an apple corer. I used Betty Crocker's recipe.

Day 19-Is it chili in here?

Today Mike and I decided to rub elbows with the towns folk and went to a good old fashioned chili cook-off. So we headed on down to the American Legion and sampled chili from about 10 contestants. I do not like hot things and I do not like to eat red meat so I knew I was getting myself into something I might regret. It was pretty fun though, despite losing the skin off my tongue and getting sick afterwards.  It is fun to try new things and get away from the city every now and then.

I voted for a white bean and chicken chili and Mike voted for a tequila white chicken chili.

Chef Boy R D? No. Chef Charlie.

Day 18- MMM Que delicioso!

Mike and I went to the Beltline Bar tonight  for dinner and he conveniently left his wallet at home. I didn't mind though, he picks up the tab most of time time anyways. The wait to sit down was long, the food was good (world famous wet burrito (chicken)), and the service was fantastic. She was completely on point, one step ahead, and wasn't annyoing in the slightest. It really made up for the 30 minute wait. So tonight for the first time, I didn't try to tip by the 20% (ish) etiquette, I tipped based solely on service.

Day 17-Something Fishy

Back to work today. I was struggling without my morning pick me up of a crisp diet coke so I was very much ready to go to lunch today. For some reason I was craving a tuna sandwich. So I googled tuna sandwich in Grand Rapids, come to find out there was a restaurant within walking distance downtown that I had never tried before. So today I tried a new restaurant. I followed my stomach North a couple blocks and over to Gardettos, Ghirardelli's, Gardellas Tavern.
It was a nice small, bar style restaurant. There were mason jars filled with peanuts with a candle on top of each table. I don't think we were supposed to eat the peanuts. I was seated close to the front door so it was a little more brisk than I would have liked. And their pop machine was down when we got there. I have never heard of that before. Overall I would go back there, maybe when the weather is nicer.
You may be wondering how the tuna sandwich was. Well I'm not sure, because I got turkey.

Day 16-Tapping into my problems

Today from the advice of Oprah, I gave myself time to meditate. I decided I rather watch a video on how to do it than read an article so I searched on youtube. Admittedly, I am a card carrying member of the fastforward generation.  So when I started looking at all of the videos with their deep explanations of how meditation works and the history, I felt myself growing impatient. I want to meditate now dang it..and fast!
Eventually, I came to my senses and gave a woman with the username averagegoddess a shot and it was pretty interesting.
She explained a technique called EFT Emotional Freedom Technique. She described it as acupuncture without the needles.
This is how it worked. You think of something that is bothering you. You give it a rating of 0-10.
Then tapping these 9 different parts of your body, you recite what is bothering you but say despite this you still love and accept yourself. Then after you tap all the parts you rate yourself again. This is supposed to release the blockage of upset feelings.

I tried it twice-once for something that has been bothering me personally and the second time was for my flu to go away. I still feel the same, but I figure the first time is just a test run and I will need to keep doing it repeatedly.

If you are looking for a MUCH better explanation than I can give please see her video:

Day 15- Sealed shut

Still not feeling great, so today I looked up simple home remedies to cure the flu or cold. I found this very interesting idea to put unpeeled onions in bowls around the house and it is supposed to help relieve symptoms of the flu or prevent it. Unfortunately we were out of onions so I wasn't able to try it.
However googling household tricks did lead me to what I was able to accomplish for today's new thing and that is unsealing a sealed envelope without damaging it. All you have to do is put the sealed envelope in the freezer for a couple hours and then use a butter knife to open it up. I wanted to see if this actually worked and it did-sort of.
The first envelope I tried was a piece of junk mail from a credit card company.

After 2 hours in the freezer the seal would not budge. So I tried using a different envelope that I had licked shut and after an hour it came open easy breezy. I was then able to re lick it shut making my previous entry undetected. This probably was a far more impressive skill back when people actually used the postal service, but nevertheless it was fun to feel sneaky.

Day-14 Will you be my Valentine?

Ugh, today I had the flu so I knew doing something new would be a challenge. Luckily I had an idea that was simple but was important to me. Today I sent my niece a Valentine's Day surprise. I really don't think I spoil her enough and now she lives far away in Florida, so I don't want her to forget who I am. I couldn't find any decent valentines day toys so I ended up sending her a book.

Day 13- Can you keep a secret?

Today, with some reluctance, I wrote my secret to postsecret. I have always thought about doing this, but was afraid someone would find out it was me some how. I am obviously not going to post it on here, but I would like you to visit postsecret.com to see other people's secrets if you have never been there. They are updated every Sunday. Maybe you would like to send in your own?

Day 12- How ya doin' puddin'?

I wasn't able to post this sooner, because I ran out of time, but for day 12, I made pudding shots. We were invited to a  friend's birthday party and I wanted to bring something along. I had heard about pudding shots but never had had them. Well nothing has changed there....
The party started at 7 and I started making them at 6:30. Then I read the directions and found out they needed to be frozen over night. Whoops! I still made them but decided to ditch the idea of bringing them to the party and left them in my freezer. As I am not much of a hair of the dog kind of gal, I haven't tasted them yet so I can't vouch for the taste.

If you are interested in the recipe, here is what I did. I made a chocolate and vanilla batch.

1 large chocolate instant pudding or 1 large vanilla instant pudding
1 1/2 cups of cold milk
1/2 cup mint baileys
3/4 cup of vanilla vodka
8 ounces of whip cream

Blend the first 4 ingredients and then add in the whip cream. Pour into plastic cups and freeze over night. I topped them with whip cream to fancy them up.

Day 11-The elephant in the room

Today I discovered my secret calling and made towel animals just like they do on the cruise. Youtube has a ton of ideas from turtles to monkeys. After a few failed attempts at the monkey, I decided on this nice elephant. Unfortunately we don't have matching towels either, but I think the sunglasses really helps him pull it off.

Day 10- One of THOSE couples

Mike came up with this idea last night as we were getting our work clothes ready....Today I dressed up as Mike's twin. I always think those pictures where the entire family wears the same thing is so corny. But I could not resist this comical moment. Enjoy!

Day 9- Thrifty Fun

Yesterday I went shopping to prepare for today's new thing, because today I wore a thrifted outfit to work. I always go to New York and Company, JC Pennys, or Kohls for my work clothes, but I decided to try my hand at thrift store shopping. I went to a small Goodwill store near my house. I was starting to worry 5 minutes into shopping that I was going to have to pull off some serious Sex and the City wardrobe styling because I was not finding any good items. Luckily my persistance paid off and I found a cute Old Navy Cardigan in perfect condition. I also bought a pair of brown pants to go with it (the pants did not end up fitting when I got them home and washed). But my favorite $3 deal of the day was the purse I got. I have been looking for a more professional purse and Voila! it showed up right before my eyes- and appears to never have been used. My favorite part of wearing the outift was when I found out that one of my co-workers bought her mom this cardigan for $20 this winter. Score one for Amy!!

Day 8- You're so Vain

From the suggestion of a friend, today I decided to draw a self portrait using sharpies. Not my best work but there is some resemblance in the hair. Those red dashes are supposed to symbolize the redness of my skin-I was not mulled by a cat.

Day 7- Soap Box

What I had planned for today's new thing fell through, so I ventured over to the Hobby Lobby to pick up a new hobby. After browsing the cross stitch patterns of kittens in baskets and rows of pipecleaners and clay I settled on soap making. So today, I made homemade soap. I may have cheated though, because as I was telling one of the AmeriCorps members about purchasing the kit, she jokingly pointed out that I should have just used rendered animal fat.

Making soap this way is really quick-like 5 minutes quick. All you have to do is heat the soap up in the microwave for about 30 seconds  or until it is liquid, stir in a couple drops of scent ( I purchased peppermint and fresh rain) and a couple drops of dye,  pour it into a mold and BAM you have soap.
I wanted to add something to one of my bars of soap so I used one of the decorative metal keys Mike's mom gave me for Christmas and put it in one of the bars. (I love keys)

Overall I had fun making something and it was good clean fun. ( pun intended)

Day-6 Parlez vous francais?

We got a Netflix subscription for Christmas, so today I checked out some of the movies that were reccomended for me based on a quiz I took on my past favorites. Apparently Netflix thinks I am worldly because I found this little gem:

I know it looks like any other typical romantic comedy, but it is actually a foreign film, so for today's new thing, I watched a French film. Actually, I am not sure if it is French or not, but I think that is what they are speaking. The hard thing about watching a foreign film is you can't multi task if you don't know the language.  I tend to play tetris or facebook when I watch anything at home, but I knew one quick status update would leave me scratching my head over the plot (slow as it may be). I actually like the movie very much, it is not deep or an artistic masterpiece, but a good chick flick.

Day-5 Dress it Up

WOW. Today, for the first time, I shopped for a wedding dress. I felt so much pressure to find "the one". It is so overwhelming to go through all the beautiful gowns there are so many decisions. The hardest part was when I narrowed it down to two, I really could have gone either way. Maybe I have two soul-dresses. I did end up picking one though, and am trying not to think about the other one. We related it to breaking up with a boyfriend. It is best to quit cold turkey and it is going to take a bottle of wine and a night of talking crap to truly get over it.

I am not going to post a picture of the dress I went with, but here is a picture my mom took of me and my faux bouquet.

Day 4-Bed and Breakfast

I added extra mints to make up for the mismatched bedding.

I am pretty excited about today's new thing. My parents are in town to watch Cirque Du Soleil tonight and for the first time ever, I am hosting my parents at my own home. I had to rush to get things ready because they came a little earlier than the check-in time I gave them. After work I rushed to the store to buy some things to make their stay enjoyable. I picked up-

Grocery Store Flowers

A box of Kleenex

2 new tooth brushes

Andes mints for their pillows

A bottle of Evian

A glass bottle of coke
Muffins and Pancake mix
Chocolate chip cookies

I was pretty dissapointed they didn't have have the trial size soaps and shampoos- I thought that would be pretty cool, but I am happy with the supplies I got. Tomorrow they will be offered a complimentary breakfast of sausuge, hashbrowns, toast, and eggs.

If they open the Evian, they will be charged $9.

Day 3- Snail Mail

I don't think I have written a letter since I was 6- back when I thought writing words was really cool. So today I decided to write a handwritten letter and it turns out writing words is really cool. Hopefully grandma thinks so too.

 It wasn't too hard to think of something to say, I tried to think of ways to incorporate birds into my letter but couldn't come up with anything (bird talk always wins her attention)

I have no idea what grandma's mail situation is, but if it is anything like mine, I think she will be pretty happy to see my purple and pink note note among her bills and credit card offers.

Day 2-Kibbe and Bits

I just got home from bowling and am really tired so I confess this won't be my best blog but I wanted to get it in  before midnight....

On Wednesdays I tutor at a local elementary school during the noon hour. Every week I pass by a restaurant that Grand Rapidians rave about -Marie Catrib's. I've always wanted to try it but never made any effort to go- especially by myself. I knew that it served food from different ethnicities that I've never experienced before, so today for my new thing I decided to go into the restaurant before tutoring and order something off a menu that I have never heard of.
My original plan was to sit down and eat by myself-as I have never done that outside of fast food, but all the seats seemed to be taken and it is a smaller establishment. Fortunately they have a to-go deli side so I was able to get something quick before heading out. Looking over the menu, I tried to find something that made me stop and say "huh??" I decided on Vegetarian Kibbe.




I had no clue what I was going to be getting and was equally unsure of how to pronounce it. I placed my order and confirmed with the employee that it is pronounced Kib-be. When my order was up he handed me a brown takeout box and asked if I wanted a napkin or fork. I had no idea what form Kibbe was going to take so I declined and hurried out the restaurant. When I got to my car I opened up the box much to my delight there was something that appeared to be a wrap. I examined it and took a bite. It was awful.

Okay that is just my opinion and I am sure there are a ton of foodies who would think it was delicious.I tend to go for the noodles, sauce, and cheese diet-sometimes throwing corn in for good measure. But I know I am not a good food critic.

 From what I could tell it had ground meal, tomatoes, red onions and yogurt in a tortillaish wrap with lots of spices. I swear I tasted cinnamon. I ate half the sandwich because I put all that work into trying something new, but I think from now on if I go to Marie Catrib's again I will try something like chicken salad.

Day 1-Toughing it out

Okay time to kick this project off! For day one, I decided to face my grade school fear. No, not change in the locker room, but close and equally embarrassing- I did pull ups at my gym.

My normal routine lately has been 30-45 minutes of treadmill and then a couple weight lifting machines. Today I decided to change up my routine and used the elliptical (not that out of the box for me) and then searched for a machine I would have normally been too scared to try.

After scoping out all the machines I've never done before, I decided on the pull up machine. Being exercise machine illiterate, I asked an employee to demonstrate and then hesitantly tried for myself. As the employee stood there watching if I could do it properly-I had Mike snap a photo. I think I look happier than I was in the photo- I was struggling to get my self back up and thinking about how much it sucked in elementary when I wasn't strong enough to pull myself up in front of the whole class.

So I am pretty happy with Day 1, I learned how to use new gym equipment and I think I will continue to use it with my new found knowledge.

Tomorrow is the Day!

Tomorrow, January 11th, will be the start of my first 365 day project. I have been so intrigued by the other blogs-why not start my own? My project will be doing something new everyday-something I have never done before. I will be doing things that are out of character for me, that are not part of my normal routine. Although, there will be some things that might come up that I've always wanted to try but haven't put the effort in until now.
I am hoping this blog will hold me accountable to trying new things and rethinking ideas and methods that I have grown accustomed to.
I am going to need some help thinking of 365 ways to think outside the box. If you have ideas which are small or big that I could complete over the next year please let me know.
I will try to document the year through photos as much as possible to keep this interesting.
I look forward to completing the project and to see what new things come into my life!