Car Payments

well, we paid off Jared's car in October 2015, but September 2014, we bought a new car, the Minivan, so that is now a car payment for another 4 years.  We do plan to have that for at least 10 years, and we'll see what life brings us with the Nissan.  I do believe when Jared becomes partner, he will need a bigger car, a sedan, not just a little commuter car.  Hopefully, the Nissan will be able to be traded in for a bit. I don't know if I should mark this complete because the two cars we had at the beginning of the challenge are paid off, but we still have a car payment.

1001 things update

I think I may try the Crest White strips
I did register for the Turkey Trot 8K, but with my ankle I was only able to run the 5K.
I did try a nightly reminder for flossing, that didn't work
I have been reading the weekly torah portion a bit more frequently, but not consistently
I have created some basic traditions for Shabbat, but haven't really employed them consistently
I did my gratitude journal for a little bit but I found that I am not in my office regularly.  Maybe if I put it on my nightstand.
I have created new affirmations, but I don't read them in the morning.  I saved a shortcut to my phone and i will try to listen in the morning.
I really tried to do a family halloween costume of the Berenstain Bears, could not find the pieces and I didn't want to make anything.
30 things, I tried this.  I think I got bored with the outfits...since then I've done a few style challenges, and I think that's been good.  It didn't solve the problem of pairing down my closet, but it did help.
I definitely won't be doing another list.  I have accomplished many things that I set out to do.  With the move, several items became a lower priority.  At this point, I like having one project, like my recipe binder and 50 states by 50 goal to work on.

Favorite Cocktail(s)

I think this depends on the occasion, or part of the meal.

Well Drink: Gin and Tonic, with Bombay Sapphire. or a Tom Collins with a Lime
Wine: Riesling
Frozen Drink: Pina Colada
Martini: Cosmopolitan
Beer: Blue Moon, or a Cider

what's in the book I won from Becky Ozelie?

100 new customers

as of 12/24/2015, I have 49.  I'll have to hustle this next six months to get the same number as I got in the past 2.5 years.  It will have to be intentional.

Changing the Oil on my Car

I started by reading this article to get the gist of what I needed to do.
http://www.edmunds.com/how-to/how-to-change-your-oil-the-real-down-and-dirty.html
Then I read this post
http://www.siennachat.com/forum/89-general-discussion/14265-oil-change-price-dealership-vs-diy.html
and saw it's not really financially beneficial to do it myself.

I did learn that it's messy, there are quite a few more steps to this process than I would have thought.

I'm glad I took the time to learn a little something new.

New States

Well, we moved to Connecticut.  We traveled to Maine, and we will visit Rhode Island.

Trainer

I started working out with a trainer in July, irregularly, but hopefully with school starting, it can be regularly.
As such, and with my eating the Simple Rules by Bob Harper, I've dropped from 199.5 pounds to 189.6...

Each letter picture

Well, I kind of cheated on this.  The original idea was to take a picture of each letter, as it appeared urbanly.  However, that seemed to be a daunting task, so instead I created a gift for my sister in law.  I took pictures of each of the letters of her new last name, FLYNN as part of their wedding present.

 Unfortunately, the frame was not delivered before I was able to take a picture, so my mother in law had to text me what it looked like.  I think they were impressed.

20 new books from friends

1/19/2014. I posted a message on Facebook and got several suggestions.  I don't think I'll be able to read them all.  I'm also including the books I've read in book club.
Finished

1. The Story of Beautiful Girl 10/2013 Book club
2. Nefertiti 11/2013 Book Club
3. Night Circus 12/2013 Book Club
4. Interpreter of maladies from Katie Lees 1/2014
5. Rules of civility from book club 2/2014
6. Lean in by Sheryl Sandberg recommended by Lori and Diane from moms group.  2/2014
7. Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks. moms group 3/2014
8. The Husband's Secret from Laura Hacker 3/2014
9. Pillars of the Earth 2/2014-4/2014
10. House Rules book club 4/2014
11. Divergent 4/2014 Lori
12. Insurgent 5/2014
13. Allegient 5/2014
14. Me Before You 6/2014 Book Club, and Laura Hacker
15. Fault in our stars 7/2014 (This was on the list of Book Club before I left)
16. The book thief 4/2014-7/2014
17. Water for Elephants 8/2014
18. Eat pray love 9/2014
19. Orphan Train  10/2014 from newcomers' book club
20. Pride and Prejudice .  A Jane Austen recommendation from Jessica d. 11/2014

suggestions: that I never got to

Book Thief from Book Club and Jennifer Kao

The Husband's Secret, Me Before You, The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, The Language of Flowers, The Violets of March, The Kitchen House, The Sweetness of Forgetting, The Storyteller, Killing Kennedy, Afterwards, A Grown Up Kind of Pretty, The Art of Racing in the Rain. I would also say anything by Joshlyn Jackson is worth the read from Laura Hacker

"bride for Tom" and "husband for Margaret" from Stefanie Quick

"the general's daughter". I also enjoyed the sequel, "up country" and different character but same author "plum island" (Nelson demille) from Stefanie Quick. she has the paperbacks. also from Cliff. plus gold coast and charm school

Wool, Shift, and Dust by Hugh Howey from Aaron Dobbins

Eat pray love? Water for elephants? from Stefanie Quick

The Four Agreements. Also The Power of Now by Eckhard Tolle. from Colleen Goidel

Happiness project from dawn morse

Pillars of the Earth, by Ken follet. sequel world without end
fall of giants, from cliff

unbroken
art of racing in the rain
catch 22
golden compass
Game of Thrones
, all from Jenna

success principles by jack canfield
a child called it by Dave Pelzer
The why cafe by john streletsky and knight in shining armor by Jude devereux. from Betty

Loved all the books by Diana Gabaldon....start with Outlander....Starz is doing a series on it this summer from Ann P.

, Janet Evanovich is fun. Start with One for the Money

Lost City of Z and Endurance: Shackeltons Incredible Voyage. Endurance was really good. from Cliff

My all time favorite book is The Physician by noah gordon. The second book in the trilogy, Shaman, was equally as good, the third book was awful. But the first two can actually stand alone, but read The Physician first. Shogun by james clavell. I love long, historical fiction and all of these I have read numerous times. November 22, 1963 by stephen king was excellent, not creepy. Most Nelson demille books are good, but The Charm School was excellent. I have read every single book that Michael Connelly has written, one of his series is The Lincoln Lawyer and the other is Harry Bosch, homicide detective series. Should be read in order but both excellent series. Love the author. The stephen king book that I cant remember the name, but was about a super flu being released and 99% of the people on earth die and what happens in the aftermath was also one of my favorites, read many times, but really, really creepy. It was one of his very early books. Aunt Fran


Divergent Series, from Lori

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is one of my all time favorites. Also, have you read books by Jane Austen or George Eliot? Great reads. Another great classic author is Alexander Dumas . I would recommend starting with the Count of Monte Cristo Jessica D.

Water for Elephants, and Sarah's Key. Kristin C.

Opting Out?: Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home by Pamela Stone from Camille.

Books I started but didn't finish

• Catch 22, Sorry Jenna, I tried and tried and tried!

I got a  LOT of suggestions, more than I could read.  It took me just over a year to read these 20 books.  I love to read, and other people are much better at picking out books than me.  Reading this reminded me how successful people often have 4 books going at a time.  I've figured this is how I could be dividing up those 4 books

• Parenting & Marriage.  Because as the kids grow, I have new stuff to learn.  Plus, I've learned that Jared is not the same person I married, nor am I him.  Our life together has taken us down some twists and turns, but no matter what I still love him.  Sometimes, I have to learn that over and over.  I don't want to fail at this, of all things, so I must keep working on it.
• Self help.  Managing your mind.  This is an area that I rarely read, but I think I could really benefit from
• Career. Including recommendations. this may be a little more difficult to constantly be reading something new; however, there is a lot of Mary Kay books out there, and this may be more of a read it again type of section
• Hobby & Fun reading. This is basically what I read on this list item. I love reading for pleasure. Through high school and college, reading was for studying or what was assigned.  As I became an adult, it's been an escape, I fly through books again.  However, I reason that I can't always use reading for fun - that I'll have to spend my time reading other things too.  Perhaps I'll cycle through one type of book at a time.  I can't keep my mind around more than 2 at a time.
• Fiction
  • historical fiction
• non fiction
  • biography
• wanting to learn about a new subject, topic, hobby

I guess I need to section of the rest of these and figure out if any of the recommended books can fit in to these new sections.

Nanny

I found a babysitter on care.com.  Her name is Molly, she's a college senior and she comes several afternoons per week.  Beginning this week, as Caitlyn is now in Preschool 3 mornings per week, Molly comes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons.  This arose out of a need for some time away from the kids, after the move.  We will see how much I can get done while they are both in school, but she has been a great find.

Join a Temple

We joined Greenwich Reform Synagogue just before the High Holidays!  We felt very welcomed by the congregants as well as the Rabbi.  It's a small congregation and we are excited they have a lot of opportunities for learning for the kids.

Long Exposure Photo

I didn't realize we had done this when we first moved in!

http://silverfamilyil.blogspot.com/2014/07/july-4th-sparklers.html

Take Pictures Of The Whole House, As If For A Magazine Cover (Before & Afters)

Well the purpose of this task was to clean out and make our house look beautiful.  Since we are going to be moving, the best we can do is clear out and stage it.  The "after" pics are what our realtor took.  Since this project  will be finished before we move back, this is the best this house is going to get

Entry Before

Living Room Before

Living Room Staged

We moved the two armchairs, and wine bar to storage...The train table is not yet gone, but is going to be sold.

LR 2 Before

Dining Room Before

Dining Room Staged

The barstools were moved to storage and the room is no longer used as storage!

Kitchen Before

Kitchen Staged

I really worked hard to clear off the counters...this room is hard to keep clean.

Kit2 Before

FR Before

FR 2 Before

FR staged

We donated and stored a bunch of the kids toys.

Coat Closet Before

Nursery Before

Nursery (Caitlyn's Big Girl Room) Staged

In between the before pictures and now, Caitlyn got a big girl room, so there is not much that remains, aside from the walls and the lamp!

Nursery 2 Before

Josh Bed Before

Josh Staged

We stored a bunch of the miscellaneous things from Josh's room.

Josh 2 Before

Josh 3 before

Hall Bath Before

Hall Bath Staged

Just hid most of the kid stuff!

Guest Room Before

Guest Room Staged

Put two big dressers in storage and got rid of the kid stuff to either my sister's house, a friend, or donated it.

Guest 2 Before

Guest Closet before

Guest Closet Staged

The luggage went in to storage and the board games are in that box!

Guest Bath Before

Guest Bath Staged

Just picked up.

Office Before

Office 2 before

This room was not ready for the pictures, but I am still working on it!

Master 1 before

Master Bedroom Staged

some furniture went in to storage and we changed the bedding; since I never even got around to pricing the hugeness of this room to be painted, I had to embrace the purple, so the bedding was neutralized and the windows in the bathroom really make this room much brighter!

Master 2 before

Master closet before

Master Closet Staged

We edited the amount of thing on the shelves

master 3 before

master bath 1 before

master bath 2 before

Master bath staged

Opening the blinds and moving the towel bar makes a big difference

 We didn't make any changes to the house on the outside, but it's so beautiful in this pictures. Spring is here!

 I am going to miss dinners on this deck

 We finally got gazebo furniture last summer, and now we are moving away and won't be able to enjoy it.

though the kids do enjoy the playset, it's a shame they only had one summer with it.

I hope the people that rent this house, love it as much as we do and take good care of it.  I know we'll do our best to take care of the house we end up renting.

Banana Bread/Muffins

Ingredients:
Dry:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp Baking Powder

Wet:
1/2 c. margarine, softened
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. Brown sugar
2 eggs

Other:
2 ripe bananas
Optional: walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Spray bread pan/tin with non-stick Spray
3. combine dry ingredients.  Set Aside
4. In a mixer, cream sugars and margarine
5. Add Eggs one at a time
6. add bananas (and walnuts if you like those)
7. Add dry ingredients in batches, mixing to combine
8. Pour in to cake pan or muffin tin
9. bake for 75 minutes for cake.

Can be doubled and baked in a 9x13 pan for the same amount of time.

DSLR CAMERA

we bought a new camera.  Jared had received quite a few gift certificates from work for projects he has done.  A friend of mine had made some recommendations.  I saw a daily deal at best buy, so we pulled the trigger and bought it.  Chalked the rest of the cost up to Jared's birthday, and it was ours!  it really does take nice pictures of the kids, now to just upload the pics!  And I'll look for a groupon for classes to take to practice using it.  Maybe this digital photography through the year book will be a good place to start.

Mashed (Sweet) Potatoes

This would work well for either regular potatoes, or sweet potatoes.

1. Placed washed potatoes in pot, cover with water.
2. Boil for 10 minutes for each potato.  2 potatoes= 20 minutes, 4 potatoes = 40 minutes
3. Drain.
4. Place potatoes in large food processor.
5. Blend until smooth. 
6. Add butter and milk, garlic salt to taste for potatoes.
7. Add butter and brown sugar for sweet pototoes.
8. Serve immediately, they get cold quickly.

I don't peel the potatoes...there's some good nutrients in there!

Bike trailer

I found a bike trailer on Craigslist.  If this snow ever melts, we'll go for a ride.

Scan Photos to Digital

I had found a Groupon for this company.  Scan Photos to Digital.  I only had about 30 pictures to scan, but it was super easy.  Drop off and a few days later it was ready for pick up.

Set up items - Pre-plan

1/20/2014.  i've just finished entering most of the items into my Remember the Milk app.  planning out items that require monthly or long term planning, as well as scheduling the majority of the items, so I am not overwhelmed with a lot at the end.  I hope this will allow me to complete more than the 55% I completed last time.

5 more recipes: French Toast

French toast:
dried out challah bread, cut thick
eggs
vanilla
milk

whisk the wet ingredients together.
dip bread in mixture, for a few seconds on each side to absorb in
cook on medium high heat in a saute pan