I painted a still life, a bird scene for my brother, started a mythical book shelf painting and painted 2 abstracts.

Bank of America Stadium for Fan Day!

I'll do you one better! How about #yogaeverydamnday! go 2015!

On to Drama club!

My dads: Finding Life, done!

A Mood's: Desire Map, done (but always in progress My core desired feelings are a great help.

Krista's The Gifts of Imperfection, done!

Starting New Years Day- 2015, the year of the swim!

Completed two case studies, and the results have helped many progress towards new goals!

I'm meditating every Saturday now! Woo hoo!

We are finally planning the new deck! Plan is finished and we'll get to work in the next few weeks. Should be finished by July 4th!

Thanks to Fitbit, I've met this goal, and it wasn't annoying! I've really enjoyed adding to my journal through the app on my phone, and the wrist band keeps track of my goals. I love it!

Trying Okra, Fava Beans, and Scarlet Runner Beans this year. We'll see how it goes . . .

Opps! Added that last note by mistake. Here is the real note for this goal, which by the way was MET! I still can't believe it!

Attending a meditation potluck every week now- great idea! May actually meet this goal now!

Double down on this goal! Went to a blind pig dinner called "These Southern Things" with chef and historian Michael Twitty, Mike Moore and Elliott Moss. Loved learning about the history of southern and african traditions, tasting the beauty of old world combinations, but the ambiance and history of Sherrill's Inn were just as awesome!

Did it, and I cant believe that I actually have more! This was a tough one for me!

I painted a mountain abstract that feels unfinished, but I still like it Counts! One down, 4 to go!

I started this one but didn't make it a whole month; thwarted by the holidays! I'll start again for the month of February, and make it happen!

Visited the Linville Caverns and Grandfather Mountain during a visit to Boone. I'm up to 3!

Our entry was called "Mr. Popper's Penguin Palace Parade", and while we didn't win a prize, it was really cool to go to the judging and be a part of the festivities.
The Grove Park International competition was really impressive and we all felt honored just to be included!

Mountainfest 2013 was held at the New Wray Inn in Burnsville, NC. Such a great trip and a great time with family!

Technically, I completed this one; I'm just going to do it better next time

The Full Moon cocktail is based on Full Moon punch, but I altered the recipe a bit.
It included homemade spiced rum called Falernum and lots more rum. Delish!
I also made some homemade lemoncello that was very tasty! I'm going to try lemons and oranges next!

Fall around the campfire is so awesome. We were able to include a neighbor as well

See the Biltmore Estate during the Christmas season: beautiful! but I don't think that I'll count all of the Biltmore visits as one landmark.

Got this started last year, but stalled out.
The new plan of attack: 2014 will be the year that I keep this up, under pain of pain!

So after everything was said and done, I added only one lavendar orpington to my flock, but I have a Easter hatch planned and will be adding a few more in the spring.

My youngest got a glide bike to practice balancing. By this summer, we should be on our way!

I stalled out on this one, but I'm picking it back up for the new year. Plus, my kids love the books by Kerry Lee MacLean; having everyone involved really helps!

I stalled out on this one, but I'm picking it back up for the new year. Plus, my kids love the books by Kerry Lee MacLean; having everyone involved really helps!

Both boys are joining the Ninja Kids Club! They are beside themselves with ninja-happiness.

Completed! Shoo! Now the challenge is to keep on going and work in some races. Go me!

Aubrey: Ender's Game, done!

I tried! I technically did see Shakespeare performed in the park, but I went on the wrong night, so instead of seeing Hamlet performed by adults, I saw Romeo and Juliet performed by kids.
I'll try for an adult play next year

Oh yes, 5ks are so tough. I'm not sure that I can do a full HOW BOUT A 10K!
That's right, I finished a 10K. WHAT!! And I won't even count those twice!

(1). The Mud Run was a 5K, but since that was its own goal, not sure that it counts.
2. Eblen 2013 Walk Run or Roll 10K

The book was "Ido in Autismland", and I highly recommend it to anyone that works with individuals with autism. Wonderful book. I may have met this with Ido, but I plan on reading "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" in a day sometime soon.

Highland Brewing Co - done

My son and I are working on the Ruy Lopez, which makes tons of sense to me. I'll probably get this one quickly.

I'll have to include a picture on this one, but for now, I'll just say, it was a lot of fun and smelled a lot like manure

I wrote a letter to several lawmakers on my opinions and the far-reaching implications of the outcomes in the Trevon Martin case and "stand you ground" laws. Although it did not directly effect me, as I wrote, it became easy to see how the precedents set here effect us all. I'm glad that I did this.

My oldest has started soccer, and chess, while my youngest has shown interest in basketball for the winter Kid sports are so cute!

I am reading Buddah's Mind, which includes some introductory meditation practice. As I find practice habbits that suite me, I'll post another note.

My first completion! I am putting it into the cabinettop on my husband's dresser, bottom drawer (because, if I don't write it down, I'll never find it again!).

Got the book in the mail today Started my starter over again and hoping for more lift this time. I think that I will try to perfect the wheat bread loaf that Pollan describes at the end of the "Air" chapter of "Cooked". I would really like to have a great wheat loaf recipe in my recipe box.

11. You’re having lunch with three people you respect and admire. They all start criticizing a close friend of yours, not knowing she is your friend. The criticism is distasteful and unjustified. What do you do? Speak up; tell them my honest opinion. If they are people that I respect, then I will give them the benefit of the doubt that their opinion is based in honest experience. I would probably say things like "In my experience . . ." or try to give some perspective based on what I know of the person.

12. If you could offer a newborn child only one piece of advice, what would it be? "Try it, you'll like it!" - Yo Gabba Gabba

13. Would you break the law to save a loved one? Um, yes. Thus also satisfying my urge to be an outlaw and gunslinger.

14. Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity? Many many times. I work with people with disabilities and I am constantly thrown on my haunches by how wrong my assumptions are or how something totally purposeless (in my eyes) turns out to be communication, expression, or new-found ability.

15. What’s something you know you do differently than most people? I write my letters backwards and upside down, I do math in my head in ways that are way more complicated (needlessly) than other people (my husband and I compare on a regular basis),

16. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy? Because I'm weird, unique and just plain different, and so are you, and so is everyone. We're all just a little special

17. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back? Teach a college course, but I'm afraid I'll be spread too thin, and am waiting for my kids to grow up a bit. Probably a bad excuse, as they will only require more of my time as they become teenagers.

18. Are you holding onto something you need to let go of? I know that I have in the past, but because of fun self-help stuff like this, I let them go, and I really can't think of anything. Woot!

19. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why? I am pretty happy living in the state that I'm in, but if I needed to move to another country, I might choose Italy. It is where I still have relatives, and the culture appeals to me.

20. Do you push the elevator button more than once? Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster? Alright, alright now you "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind" you. No need to ridicule the impatient people, but since you are asking, No, I don't.

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are? 27? I don't know if everyone feels this way or not, but I think as I age, my perception of my personal wisdom has receded. If you'd asked me this when I was young, I would have said 80s, ten years ago, it would have probably been in the 60s. Right now, it is hovering just above "too silly to actually be responsible for anything of any importance" age.

Which is worse, failing or never trying? Mos def never trying. Mos def. Failing is necessary for succeeding, and once you get your taking-it-personally emotions out of the way, is really where most of the fun is.

If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? Because we are creatures of habit, and naturally afraid/suspicious of change. Probably because we get too comfortable with a life that makes us happy in some ways, but when the other not so great parts happen, we are not motivated enough/ find enough security in the good to do anything about it. Others view the bad as a means to an end, never thinking to look for a more desirable means.

When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done? I think, and certainly hope, that the answer will be "no". My favorite quote is from Moby Dick about a character named Bulkington. In noting how this man sets sail on voyage after voyage with no desire for the safety of land, in defense of independent thinking, Ishmael notes "so, better is it to perish in that howling infinite, than to be ingloriously dashed upon the lee, even if that were safety!"
It reminds me of my grandfather, and of people who live their lives through thoughtful and deliberate action. I strive to live my life this way.

What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world? I wish that increasing a people's access to freedom did not necessarily increase their ability to do others harm.

If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? An easy answer is raising my kids, and being with family. Those things give me the most happiness, and OH if I could only get paid to do them! Otherwise, probably being creative, or problem solving. Maybe homesteading.

Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? I am definitely doing something that I believe in, but I am probably also settling, as there are higher levels at which I can do more good. This is also not the only thing that I believe in, not "my calling", as they say.

If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently? I would actually be doing it just the same as I am. Although, I do think that I would need to hit upon a way to make a decent living doing what I do.

To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken? Somewhat. I think that a willingness to try, to be open to new experiences, to let life teach you lessons and others to teach you from their experience, all have a lot of influence. But life is life, and we are but leaves in the wind of whatever

Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things? This is a toughy. I think that if you asked the people who know me, they would say that I value both very highly, but that considering whether or not I am doing the right things takes up a large plot of rel-estate in my mind. My husband says that I am empathetic to a fault on occasion, constantly assessing how my and other's actions will make other feel. No matter how pleasing it may be for me to do something the right way, doing the right things seems more important.

After researching the plan, and working out a schedule, ended up just downloading a free C25k app for my phone
Talks to me and everything; the helper robot revolution has begun! -8- (me with open arms).

http://www.eventbrite.com/org/1194486281

Got tickets for the July 11th Blind Pig: "Game On", a pop up featuring Brian Whitman of Ben's Tune Up (brought to us by the former head chef of The Admiral)
Woo Hoo! Game on indeed! Here's to the hubs for a sweet surprise

Alex's favorite: Looking for Alaska, by John Green
Jill: Sara's Key

1. Alveolated- Pitted or filled with cavities
2. Synesthesia- A disorder where specific senses become linked.
3. Unami- the taste of savory
4. Wemble- to go back and forth between two choices without making up your mind (Fraggle Rock word)

My first attempt: 6/13/ 2013 A good start! I think that I got everything close to awesome, except for one tiny detail, the taste I have a starter, that seems questionable, I skipped the float test (a mistake that I won't repeat) and I added one packet of store-bought yeast to my wild batch.
I've been going off of the "Cooked" description instead of using "Tartine Bread", but rest assured, the book is in the mail, and I'm sure I'll meet this goal before the summer is out!