30 Before 30 Progress

6. Journal for 30 days.

I thought this was going to be an easy thing to cross off my list but it wasn't. In February, Beezy bought me a journal. He knew that this was one of the things on my 30 Before 30 list and it was also one of my Valentines Day presents. Yes, I have this blog but it's also available for anyone to see and read. Strangers can stumble upon it, ex friends, co-workers etc. I may post about my life to the interwebs but there is just some things that I want to talk about but never on the blog. Having a journal is a place that I can do that in.

 

I started writing in my journal on February 12, 2014 and finished on April 27, 2014. I did 30 days over that time period. In that time, I also visited San Francisco, Napa and Puerto Rico. I was a little busy but I was able to get 30 days in. I plan on continuing to write in it whenever the urge hits me. I love this journal and I love  being able to write down everything that I've done during the day. What I'm thinking about and the things that I'm hoping for and dreaming about. As for the journal itself, I love the strap that let's me hold it all together. I'm really glad Beezy got it for me... good choice!

So there you have it another thing off my list.

Maybe once I fill this journal up, I'll start another one. For right now this one will be just fine.

30 Before 30 Progress

5. Visit the Castle Winery in Napa.

One of the many things I've wanted to do since moving to Sacramento was to travel the short distance to Napa, California. On Friday, April 4th and in less than two hours, I arrived to Castello di Amorosa also known as the Castle Winery. Technically the winery is in Calistoga but is considered a part of Napa since it's right there with it and many other wineries. Castello di Amorosa is known as the Castle winery because obviously it looks like a castle.

As far as wineries in Napa go this one is fairly new. It was built and finished in 2007 and since then it's become one of the greatest. The winery is considered a boutique winery because it only bottles about 25,000 cases a year compared to larger wineries that bottle about 250,000 cases a year. The wine made at Castello can only be found and bought at the winery. It's not available in stores outside of the winery.

 Outside the Castle after the tour.

 some of the grounds

We did the standard tour and tasting. It lasted about two hours and didn't seem too rushed or too slow. We were able to see the entire property and taste 10 different wines.

 touring the property

 tasting

 

Everything about the Castle was as authentic as possible. The owners had as much as possible brought over from Italy. They flew painters over, fixtures, scoured the country for authentic historical pieces of equipment etc. They really tried to do it right. I think they succeeded. The winery was great and I think I'll probably go back in the fall for the stomping of the grapes. I was glad to be able to cross this one off my 30 Before 30 List!

30 Before 30 Progress

1. Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

On Friday, February 21st I headed over to San Fransisco, home of the Golden Gate Bridge. I've been there numerous times and crossed it by car but I had never walked it. I had always wanted to but each time I had been there I never had enough time. This time I made a special trip just to walk the bridge. Here's some photos from the day and a beautiful one it was.

Walking it!

A view from the bridge!

Love the color of the bridge and it was such a clear day. No fog! I loved it!

 

 

So there you have it! I crossed another thing off my list and had a great time doing it!

30 Before 30

29. Get a house plant and keep it alive.

On Saturday, I headed to Ikea for a little shopping trip. I had picked up an Aloe plant there about a year ago so I knew they had a few live plants. The Aloe plant from a year ago is no longer alive because apparently I don't have a green thumb. When I looked over their plant selection, I decided to go ahead and get another house plant. This time I went with an Elephant Foot Palm. It won't require as much watering and it doesn't need direct sunlight.

It's name is Dumbo. Now the trick will be to keep it alive. I know these can get really big but I've been assured that won't be for years. Look how big these things get...

I'll keep you updated on Dumbo...

30 Before 30 Progress

Don't for get to enter my gift card giveaway!

23. Put a message in a bottle and place it in the river or ocean.

I've always seen this done in cute movies and have known a few people who've put them in the ocean so I thought it would be something fun to do. I actually bought my bottle and wrote my message back in October.

 

 

On Thursday, December 5, 2013 I went over to Folsom with the mission of completing this item on my list. It was a beautiful but freezing day!

 

 

I walked down the historic Truss Bridge and dropped my bottle into the water.

 

I don't know where it will go or if someone will ever find it. Either way it's out there in the world and it's a mystery. If someone finds it, I gave them my e-mail address and this blog address so maybe a few days, months or years down the road I'll hear something. If not that's ok too.

I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see. Have you ever found a message in a bottle or dropped one in the water?

30 Before 30 Progress

9. Walk around my neighborhood (I've never done this since I moved to CA).
I finally completed this one! I thought it would be one of the easiest but it's actually hard to find the time to walk around your neighborhood instead of driving it. On Saturday, October 26, I finally found the time. I look a 25 minute walk around my neighborhood. I tried to walk down the side streets that I never really drive and make a loop back to my house.

During my walk, I noticed a few things about my neighbors. Most of them seem to take really good care of their lawns. They have the grass mowed and it's very green. They have plants and trees and have good curb appeal. They also have some really nice iron fences. I was so inspired by the walk, I came home and pulled some weeds up from my yard. I really need to stay on it but it's hard to do everything by ones self. I would like to get a new iron fence around my house but I'm pretty for sure that would be pricey.

I think the next thing I really need to do is stain or paint my privacy fence. I've wanted to do this all summer long but it's just SO hot here in the summer. Maybe now that the days are getting a little cooler (aka from 90-100 to 75-85). I'll have to look into this and recruit a friend. I'm sure it would get done a lot faster. Since some of the boards are newer than others, I think my best might be to paint them. Hmm... decisions.

Anyways, I've marked another thing off my list and I feel I know a little bit more about my neighbors.

30 Before 30 Progress

15. Make three new desserts.
I wanted to add this challenge to my 30 Before 30 List because I tend to find myself making the same things over and over. I figured if I made it a mission to make at least three new desserts, that I would be adding to my already good list of desserts and could make them my specialties. Well after buying ingredients and whipping them up, two were a success and one was a complete fail. Let's jump right in!

1. Peanut Butter Pie. Success!

I would love to share the recipe with all of you but it came from my mother and she would kill me if I shared it to the world. I can tell you though, it does include a gram cracker crust and lots of peanut butter.

2. Vanilla Ice Cream Cake. Success!

The ice cream cake ingredients include:

1 quart of vanilla ice cream

family size pack of vanilla oreos

Sprinkles

2 bottles of caramel syrup

1 tub of cool whip

 

How to make it: Crush the oreos into a fine layer and place in 9x13 pan. Melt caramel over the oreos and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove pan from freezer and then add the ice cream evenly over top. Freeze again for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and then add another layer of caramel and freeze again for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and spread the entire tub of cool whip over top. Add sprinkles and place back in freezer for an hour.



3. Fruity Pebble Cookies. Fail!

Ingredients:

1-3.4 oz vanilla pudding mix

1 cup of white chocolate chips

1 cup of fruity pebbles

sugar

flour

butter

baking powder

 

I followed the directions exactly like they asked. However, these cookies turned out so awful they were not even edible. I literally scraped them into the trash. 

So even though one of the desserts was a complete fail. Clearly. I was able to make three new desserts and cross this one off my list! I've got two desserts that people loved and maybe I can keep experimenting to get a good third one!

30 Before 30 Progress

18. Make something in a crock pot.

In my 29 years of life, I had never made something in a crock pot. I had never even owned one. When I added this to my list of 30 things, I knew this one would be a two part challenge. First I would need to buy a crock pot and second I would need to make something in it. I hadn't planned on completing this till later on in the year but when I saw that Khols had this Hamilton Beach crock pot that's normally $49.99 on sale for $19.99 it had to happen!

What made it even better was the fact that I had received a card in the mail from that was good for $10.00 off any purchase. Once tax was applied, I only paid $10.79 for the crock pot! Then the hard part began... I had to figure out what to make. I settled on a pork roast and got all the ingredients together.



I've got the pork roast, the potatoes, carrots, celery and even a little onion. I added the instructed amount of water and then the 8 hour wait began.

 

Then of course some of the results...

Granted I should have taken a photo as soon as it was done but instead, I dug right in and then remembered to get a photo. Either way the crockpot was a total success and really easy! Now I have to get a cookbook with some recipes so I can keep on using it. Here's to another thing being crossed off my 30 Before 30 list!

30 Before 30 Progress

#28- Visit the Redwood Forest and hug a tree.

While I was in Crescent City, California, I visited the Trees of Mystery. On Friday, September 6, 2013, I crossed another thing off my list. I hugged a Redwood Tree inside part of the Redwood Forest.

The Redwood trees are insanely huge. They are the tallest and widest trees that I have ever seen in person. They are also some of the reddest trees I have ever seen. The tree that I'm hugging wasn't even the biggest one I saw. That's how big they are! I understand why people travel so far to see them. I drove seven hours north to see them but some people come from other countries to see these giants. If you ever get the chance, get out to the redwoods and hug a tree. It'll definitely make you smile. I know I did. 

30 Before 30 Progress

#8- Write letters to the people who mean the most to me.

I can cross this one off my list. On Friday, August 30th I sat down and wrote letters to people who mean the most to me. While I'm not going to share the contents of these letters, I will tell you that I sent them to my mother and my two best friends: Kristin and Erica. I've known them both for at least ten years. We went to college together, we were in the same sorority together and we've got years and years of memories. They aren't just friends, they are family.
Letter writing in this day and age has became a lost art. I make it a point to send out cards multiple times a year. This gave me a great excuse to put pen to paper and write real letters to some people who mean the most to me.

Number 8 is complete.

30 Before 30

On June 17, 2013 I turned 29 years old. In the weeks that followed, I knew I wanted to start a 30 Before 30 challenge. I just couldn't decide what to put on my list. I didn't want to read other people's lists and add random things to mine just because that's what others were doing. So I sat around for almost two months and thought hard about what I wanted on my list. I wanted to include things that I had never done or experienced. I wanted things that I needed to work on and things that I've always thought about doing but just hadn't taken the time to do. So after much thought, this is the list of 30 things that I will be trying to accomplish before I turn 30 years old on June 17, 2014.

I'm doing this list for me.

1. Walk Across the Golden Gate Bridge. Completed on 2/21/14
2. Pierce my ears.
3. Learn to quilt or sew.
4. Ride in a hot air balloon.
5. Visit the Castle Winery in Napa. Completed on 4/4/14
6. Journal for 30 days. Completed 4/27/2014
7. Take a vacation that's out of state and over a week long. Completed 7/26/14
8. Write letters to the people who mean the most to me. Completed 8/30/13
9. Walk around my neighborhood (I've never done this since I moved to CA). Completed 10/26/13
10. Hike a section of the Grand Canyon.
11. Make an emergency bag.
12. Try acupuncture.
13. Go to a shooting range.
14. Learn how to take a compliment.
15. Make three new desserts. Completed on 9/27/2013
16. Finish the white bedroom quest.
17. Do an anonymous good deed/pay it forward.
18. Make something in a crock pot. Completed on 9/20/13
19. Volunteer for a charity or donate money.
20. Write a will.
21. Ride a horse.
22. Catch a fish.
23. Put a message in a bottle and place it in the river or ocean. Completed 12/5/13
24. Paint two oil paintings.
25. Buy only gas and food for 30 days.
26. Tour the Hoover Dam.
27. Watch the entire Sopranos Series.
28. Visit the Redwood Forest and hug a tree. Completed 9/6/13 
29. Get a house plant and keep it alive. Completed 1/10/14
30. Get a tattoo. (Don't freak out yet mom).