15 Things Check-in

Is it just me or did February feel like in came and went in the blink of an eye? Truth be told, I'm super excited for March to be here, for a number of reasons. Daylight savings, warmer weather, and spring just seem within reach. To top it off we have vacation coming up in a couple of weeks. A full 6 days in the mountains skiing is going to be amazing, and the weekend we get back we have a quick trip scheduled to go to St. Louis for a Halloween Haunt show. Yes, you heard that right, it's an expo just about Halloween. Stay tuned for a whole recap when that time comes around, but first, a check-in on how I'm doing on my 15 Things for 2015!

1. Try 6 new recipes that aren't desserts (and post the review/recipe on here). This may sound simple, but while I love baking I loathe cooking. Three down, over halfway there! You can find two recipe reviews here and here. The other recipe I made, which was uh-mazing was How Sweet Eat's Creamy Chicken and Buttermilk Dumplings. Seriously, make this now. 
2. Read 5 new books. I officially tabled Yes Please but I did finish Tina Fey's Bossypants this month and am currently almost done with Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out With Me? After I finish that I'm planning on switching over to a novel. Any suggestions?
3. Try something that takes me out of my comfort zone. I'm thinking I want this to be ski-related. I'm not much of a mogul/bump run person, but I've always wanted to be. Maybe tackling a couple mogul runs is the perfect way to do something I've always wanted to do while going out of my comfort zone? We'll see. 
4. Take pictures for at least 4 family functions. Nephew's birthday photos have still not been posted, but I'll work on it!
5. Hang pictures of family/friends on the walls (this sounds simple, but our home has had nearly bare walls...for almost 2 years). Yes!!! After dragging our feet for 2 years we finally put up some photos. This is the photo wall we now have above our couch in the living room. Love it!
   
6. Send a birthday card in the mail to 3 friends/family members. I'd like to up this goal to 6 after sending a friend a b-day card last month and another a Valentine's day card. Sending snail mail is so much fun and both recipients loved the cards! 
7. Do an act of kindness. Not yet!
8. Visit 3 places I've never been before. Trip to North Carolina in June is set, and I'm hoping to make it to NYC this fall to visit a friend. I also have a trip coming up in April for work where I'm going to Puerto Rico, Barbados and Trinidad (all places I haven't been) so I'm contemplating counting that....or not.
9. Follow a clean eating or whole 30 plan for a week (hopefully longer, but baby steps, right?)Trying to work up to this, but I have to admit this is a tad intimidating. I placed a hold on It Starts With Food at the library, so when a copy comes available I'll get to read it and thus (hopefully) be motivated. 
10. Work back up to running a 5k again, straight through. Since the half-marathon we did 2 years ago (yeesh, time flies) I took a hiatus from running, and have never quite gotten back in the groove. Better late than never, right? I started off so well starting the couch to 5k program, but after 2 weeks I really slacked last week. Hoping to pick it back up this month.
11. Blog at least 24 times. Truth be told I suck at this, but maybe 2015 will be the year to be more consistent! The only resolution I'm currently over-achieving! 14 posts down including this one. 
12. Clean out/organize all of the closets in our house. Hall and spare bedroom #1 closet down, 500 4 closets to go 
13. Surprise my husband in some way. N surprised me last night by ordering me a Patagonia ski coat I wanted but couldn't bear to spend the money on, and it makes me want to repay him back 1000x over. Any suggestions?
14. Do a house project. Thinking the backyard could use some love, but the temp will have to warm up a bit before that happens. 
15. Go visit a friend that lives in another state. Settling in a college town means that the majority of our friends over the years have moved, and seeing them is long overdue.  I'm thinking NYC needs to happen, and it just so happens that a good friend that moved away is living there :)

Overall, not too shabby for having the majority of the year left! Looking forward to crossing more of these off my list. 

-A