Update!

1.  For the Harry Potter movies... we got the third one through Netflix and watched that and then Zachary was smart and taped numbers four, five and six so we don't have to wait for them to come in the mail... and we can get some more Good Wife DVDs and movies that fit number 10!
2.  Doesn't exist anymore.
3.  Still done.
4.  I put $150 away from my sub job so we've got $200 of the $1200... this goal keeps slipping my mind.  Oops.
5.  Doesn't exist anymore
6.  Good news here!!  Zachary and I decided to go to Eastside Community Church.  I had been looking for small churches, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal... and so the non-demoninational one didn't come up on my search.  But it's two minutes away and I loved the first service we went to.  The sermon was very logical and followed an organized outline.  They have a small praise band and we got to sing traditional and contemporary songs- we didn't really meet anyone but Zachary went last week without me (I was on my way home from North Carolina) and he said it was the best service he had ever experienced... and he's a preacher's kid so... he's sat through a lot of church services.  I still need to listen to everything... he wants me to listen to the songs in order and then the sermon too to get the whole effect.
7.  We're trying skillet lasagna either tonight or Thursday.  So we'll see about that...
8.  I finished The Submission.  It's so, so good.  Now for the next book... I need to go ahead and get started!!
9.  o0o0o We're going to Michael Jackson's cirque du soleil concert on March 8th.  Super excited.
10.  We watched The Hurt Locker... it was intense but I thought it was really good.  We got A Beautiful Mind in the mail yesterday.  It won the 2002 Best Picture award.  I'm looking forward to watching it.
11.  Uh-oh.  Still haven't started on the community service- maybe we can do something through the new church!
12.  We haven't gotten around to any more nature trails.  Oops!

Day 19?

So ... accomplishing one of our goals has put a wrench in a few of the other goals.  We're totally scratching the Disney plan because I'm not able to ride any rides and I love those so we'll save that for later... and my heart rate isn't supposed to get over 130... and at rest, it's already 100 so training to run a 5k is not in my best interest.  But it's all good because...

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could not be happier.  So.  Goal #3, Check!

Let's see...

1.  We watched the second Harry Potter movie last week.
2.  Not gonna happen.
3.  Check
4.  We've been putting $25 dollars away each week so far!
5.  Not gonna happen.
6.  Well we went to Spring Glen UMC last week.  Zachary loves it... I'm not sold.  So we've got four more to try still.
7.  We've got a new meal on the menu... things have just been kinda crazy lately... so I'll have to update on that one later.
8.  I'm still working on The Submission... I've been reading a lot of What to Expect when Expecting.  And by a lot I mean a lot, a lot.  It's a really great resource.
9.  Haven't thought about the concert.
10.  We're getting The Hurt Locker in the mail tomorrow!
11.  Haven't started on the community service... I've been working on substitute teaching... personally, I think that should count.  Just kidding.
12.  Zachary says our trail behind the apartment can count now because we walked around the lake... I need to get on finding some more though.

Day 4

Zachary's had me walking every day.  I say that because it feels like I've been walking every day for weeks... it's been the 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  3 days.  I hate walking.  But I have this vision of when I'm stressed out- going for a run.  I've always wanted to be a runner- I admire runners.  And I watch shows like The Biggest Loser and see these people who have never exercised a day in their lives and they are able to run further than I can weighing 4x as much as I can.  I'm not saying this to be rude- I'm showing they obviously have more willpower than I do and I'm hoping Zachary can help me find the willpower to become a runner.  We'll see.  God bless him.  Anyways, we've been walking... I'm taking today off because I'm lazy and it's freaking freezing.  So I guess that's still working towards goal #2.  He's taking the training very slowly (obviously) so that I don't just quit.  I think we're going to stick to walking for quite a while.

Let's see how we're doing on the other goals... I've got a Good Wife disc coming from Netflix but once I return that, the second Harry Potter movie will be on its way.  I'm going to conveniently pass over goal #3... Goal 4- Rent was just due so let's take a breather on that one- I did save a lot of money at the grocery store yesterday though- which brings me to goal number 7.  I tried a recipe that didn't have a lot of ingredients, and most of which I already had.  I had to get two chicken breasts, bread crumbs and shredded mozzarella cheese to try our first new meal of the new year... Chicken Parmesan.  And I hated it.  Zachary liked it.  Ate his share and mine but I straight up hated it.  It still counts though!  The only other progress we made was put some Best Picture winners on our Netflix queue.  After the second Harry Potter will come The Hurt Locker which won Best Picture in 2009.

With only four days in, I'd say we're doing alright!

The List

So on New Year's Eve, we had just gotten home from Charlotte- we had driven seven hours on Friday from Jacksonville to Charlotte... checked in at the hotel, changed clothes, went to a rehearsal dinner, went back to the hotel, Zachary went to the bachelor party, we went to sleep around 3:00 AM, woke up, Zachary went to the wedding for pictures, I packed for the ride home... went to the wedding... stayed for a little bit of the reception and took the seven hour drive back home.  After that whirlwind we were not in the mood to do anything big for NYE so we sat together and thought about what exactly we wanted the next year to bring to us.  I thought it would be neat to come up with twelve goals for us to achieve in 2012.  We think these goals will lead us to be healthier, smarter and happier!

Before the Olson Wedding!

1.  Watch all the Harry Potter movies.

Zachary was called Harry Potter in basketball games because he was one of the few white guys and had the dark hair... I've only read the first book and I've seen bits of pieces of different movies but we wanted to get the whole Harry Potter experience in order!  We watched the first one a few weeks ago but we've got all the rest ready to go in our Netflix queue (separated by a few Good Wife discs for when Zachary's on watch)

2.  Run a 5K together.

This one is by far the scariest one for me.  There have been many times when I've gotten to where I can run a mile but I haven't got past that and I haven't been able to maintain it.  I get bored with walking/running... I prefer group classes like Yoga, Pilates, Step Aerobics... but Zachary loves running so much and I think it would be awesome for us to be able to do that together.  I'm hoping we can find a 5K that is for a cause we believe in.

3.  Make a baby.

Zachary and I have been talking about kids since were... probably 17 or 18.  We've got names picked out and Zachary lovingly watched "The Business of Being Born" with me.  We've got some work to do- like finding a good doctor/midwife, making sure Jeannie is done jumping on my stomach every time she needs to go out, etc. but we're excited about the idea of a little Holliday to hold and love and change and... all that good stuff.

4.  Save $1200.

We want to put at least $100 a month.  This may seem like a contradiction to number 3 because babies are expensive but Zachary's getting a raise this year and we want to take advantage of that and use it to help us save.  Hopefully we'll save more than the goal but it's somewhere to start!

5.  Go to Disney

Zachary's parents gave us tickets to Disney for Christmas last year... like 2010 last year and we have yet to set aside the time to do it.  We are definitely homebodies so it'll take some planning and effort for us to actually pack up and travel but we're going to make it happen!

6.  Find a church family.

Being part of a church family was essential in our relationship.  We met in middle school and were separated in eigth grade, going to different middle schools but were reuinted in high school.  I always had a crush on Zachary... he was the guy I dreamed about marrying but never thought it would happen.  My aunt went to the church Zachary's dad was the minister at and most of the family would go to Christmas Eve service there with her each year.  Eventually, my aunt talked my parents into starting to attend the church which I really think led us to have the relationship we ended up having.  Now that we're in Florida and I don't have a job or my college friends around, a church family would be a wonderful thing to have... just in general but also for when Zachary goes on deployment.  It can definitely be lonely on Zachary's watch days.  So we don't just want to find a church- we want to find a church family.  We've tried two churches so far and I'm hoping that when we go to the one we'll end up at, it'll strike us when we walk in.

7.  Try 12 new meals.

Zachary and I eat pretty well.  Pepper steak, Mexican night, breakfast for dinner, spaghetti, chicken and vegetables, and grilled chicken serve as regular meals for us but we want to spice it up a little and introduce a few more into the mix.  I'm the pickiest eater I know so 12 new meals will be a challenge but hopefully a few of our experiments will turn into favorites!

8.  Read 12 books each.

I love to read but I rarely make time for it.  We can read some of the same books but we definitely have different styles of what we like to read.  I think Zachary's going to start with our Christmas gift from his parents- Dave Ramsay's Financial Peace Revisited.  I've applied for a library card and have had my account activated but I just have to take in a few documents to prove my residency and then I have a plethora of books to choose from.  I want to read a mix of non-fiction and fiction... I love young adult novels but I like mysteries too... this should be a fun goal to achieve.

9.  Go to a concert.

Zachary's pretty tolerant of whatever music I listen to so this shouldn't be too hard but again... we don't usually go out and do things so it will take some effort to actually plan it and leave Jeannie behind for a night but it will be fun and will give us good memories.

10.  Watch 6 Best Picture Award Winning Movies.

Let's see- I've seen The King's Speech (2010), Chicago (2002), Titanic (1997), Forrest Gump (1994), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and I'm not going to look any further back.  Zachary and I will have to agree on 6... that may be a challenge!

11.  Complete 12 hours of community service each.

We're planning on doing most of these together... this is another minimum... hopefully we'll find somewhere we really enjoy volunteering at and we'll be able to do more but, again, it's somewhere to start.

12.  Go on 6 nature walks in different places.

This is one we worked on today!!  As we were walking (as we're going to do every day until Zachary feels like I'm ready to start running a little bit... he's obviously my trainer), we went to a little nature trail at our apartment.  It was really short but it's a start again... I'm hoping we'll see some really pretty sights and it'll help us work towards goal #2!