A Plan For the Year (second half)

I have FINALLY finished my plan for the second half of the year and now my year is all planned out!  And since January is almost over i figured i better report on it.

So far it has been fun having a list of things i can pull from, and it hasn't made me feel like i HAVE to do them.  So far so good!

And don't be shocked when i tell you i haven't finished my January list.  And really i still have two days left :)

I did successfully save for my Do Terra Family medicine kit!  I can't wait for the end of the next three months so i can start trying out some natural remedies on my family for sickness and pain.  Hoping that someday you won't find tylenol in our medicine cabinet!!

Our date night got changed from ice skating to dinner out with some friends.  We went to the Toasted Frog and had a wonderful time!  So ice skating will pop up in our date plans later in the year :)

My project was to make a fringed t-shirt scarf.  And i totally screwed it up!  I was on my way out the door and decided my outfit needed a little something so i grabbed a giant grey t-shirt that i had bought used to try a different tutorial on pinterest and started cutting!  It was relatively easy to do and probably would have turned out great, but the t-shirt was an XXL!  So my scarf was HUGE!  And i am not a big person, so the scarf totally dwarfed me and doubled up it looked retarded.  So i will have to try this one again.  In fact i am thinking i have a grey shirt of my own that i wouldn't mind cutting up, so stay tuned!

For giving, i planned on taking banana bread to someone who was sick.  First i didn't know anyone who was sick, cause all of my friends were getting over Influenza A.   And then my daughter got sick.  And then my frozen black bananas somehow got unfrozen and where souring and getting really mushy.  So i never did figure out another plan (cause that is the hard part!) And i am hoping maybe next month i can double back and bring somebody some sort of bread!

My recipe plans had been to try a homemade bread recipe.  I have one picked out on Pinterest and everything.  But then i started talking to some friends at church who have been making homemade bread for YEARS!  And they said they would get me their recipe.  I figure if i have someone to call with questions, and a recipe that i KNOW is tried and true, then i might actually be successful!  And since i want to transition to making all of our own bread, including sandwich bread, and since my hubby isn't really excited about this "natural kick" that i am on, i think failure is not an option.  I can just hear myself excitedly explaining to my husband that i was going to make all of our own bread and then presenting him with a wheat brick from the oven and him telling me to just buy our bread already! Well, i need all the help i can get.  So, again, my bread adventure is getting pushed to February.

My organizing was to throw away all Trans-fat from our pantry.  I threw away our Crisco.  Here is my excuse :)  We live with my in-laws, so A: i can't throw away their stuff.  B: Trans fat is in everything!  It hides as different names, Hydrolyzed yeast, partially hydrogenated oil, fully hydrogenated oil and many others.  I found it in GARLIC SALT!  I mean really!  I never would have thought to read the label of my spices!  And my other problem is what do you replace vegetable oil and canola oil with?  When i am making mayo, you don't want Olive oil and its strong flavor, and their are several other times when you need kind of a plain oil for something.  And all the ones that are safe are hard to find or expensive!  Getting beef suet from grass fed beef i don't think is even possible unless you grow and butcher your own, and that is the same thing for lard.  And you can't just sub butter for everything.  So i need to figure out that conundrum and get some on hand so that when i throw away all the bad stuff, i have something to replace it with.  Plus it would help to have my own pantry :)  So once again, this is a February project.  Or march, or April.  Just kind of whenever we move.  And ongoing cause i am going to try and not buy anymore.  Nuff said.

Whew!  Do you even want to read my plan for the second half of the year?!?  This post is long!  And if i keep postponing projects, i will never finish this list by the end of the year!  Although, i guess that wasn't the point, to finish.  Just to have a plan.

So here we go!

June:

Natural - i plan to make homemade bugspray and try it out.  We didn't have many bugs last year, but it would be awesome to not have to spray chemicals on my family.  Here's hoping!

Date - bowling and banana caramel cream desserts.  First bowling, then come home and have dessert.  Maybe we will issue a bowling handicap like you can only bowl granny style.   We'll see :)

Project - make lotion bars.  This is actually kind of a weird one to do in the SUMMER, as i am looking at my list their may be some things that get switched around.  But anyway, i bought some lotion bars and LOVE them!  They have simple ingredients and are keeping all dry skin at bay, even in the excruciating cold and wind we get here!

Giving - make salted caramel brownies and give them to our librarians.  Our librarians are FANTASTIC and super helpful!  Plus they put on an awesome story time once a week.  So they deserve a thank you

Recipe - Crispy Thai Chicken Wraps.  Need i say more?

Organize - make a Car Emergency Kit.  This is a old wipes container with things like cough drops, headache medicine, pony tail holders, bobby pin, safety pin, allergy meds, kleenex, you get the picture. All of those silly little random things that you really end up needing but never have when you are out and about.

Craft - Make craft clay

July:

Natural - make homemade season salt.  It is super easy, we use a ton of it and i'm pretty sure (after reading my garlic salt label) that it probably has trans fat too or some other chemical.  So homemade should be healthier AND cheaper.  My favorite!

Date - Game night!  Not sure if we will play board games or the Wii but we will eat Bacon Jalapeno Cheese ball with homemade crackers!

Project - make sidewalk paint and paint some sidewalks!

Giving - make cards for the care center (this will probably be more of Gwen and mommy will just drive and facilitate )

Recipe - campfire cones.  All of your favorite smore ingredients put into a sugar cone and wrapped in tin foil and grilled!  Yum!

Organize - treat scratched DVD's.  Time to try out some crazy tutorials and see if banana peel or toothpaste really does fix scratches!

Craft - ruffled scarf and ruffled boxers.  Scarf for me, cute little boxers for pj's for our daughter.  Both involve sewing.

August:

Natural - buy a Yogotherm ($30)  Using my crockpot works great for making yogurt, but you have to make half a gallon at a time.  And often we just don't eat it all up!  So i would like to have the option to make a smaller amount.  And a Yogotherm is the cheapest and easiest way to do it!

Date - Dessert under the stars.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can throw out a blanket and have a nice romantic evening eating Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels and Coconut Limeade.

Project - Emergency Binder (this should have birth certificates, passports, shot records, info for bank accounts, will, etc.  This is what you grab if you have extra time in a fire)

Giving - tape quarters to candy machines or donate something to WARC or Women Actions Resource Center.  It is like our local abuse shelter.

Recipe - Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers.  Again, need i say more?

Organize - wash our pillows!  Apparently you are supposed to do this once a quarter.  I'm not sure we have done this, ever.  Eeewww.

Craft - flip flop hangers.  This seems like a great way to organize and store your flip flops, especially nicer ones!  I am excited about this one :)

September:

Natural - Make homemade deodorant.  I know, i know.  You are probably thinking "WhaAaaattt?!?"  Who in their right mind wants to use homemade deodorant?  You must be weird, and now you are going to stink.  Well i might be weird, and i better not stink.  I finally found a recipe i actually want to try because the ingredients are fairly simple and i trust they will control the odor, it doesn't have a lot of oil in it (as some others do), it stays solid at room temperature (no rubbing in deodorant into my pits.  THAT is just a little too weird for me) and i can put it into a regular deodorant container (this is for conveinience and so my husband doesn't have a coronary when he sees me massaging deodorant into my pits.  Keeps everybody happy)

Date - messy twister/game night.  I am thinking water balloons maybe?  We might have to move this one back into the summer more.  And we will be munching on Crispy Spiced Chickpeas

Project - make a wrap.  This thing is so cool and i hope i can successfully create one.  You can wear it fifty gazillion ways and the tutorial has all the instructions for the ways to wear it, plus they all seem to look pretty fantastic and it seems simple to make.

Giving - Making Caramel Pretzel Brownies for our mail delivery person

Recipe - homemade goldfish crackers (get the chemicals out of our daughters snacks )

Organize - Plastic placemats for the fridge to keep it clean (this is a GREAT idea and i wish i had thought of it sooner!  It is like decor for the fridge plus it minimizes cleanup.  Which is great cause i HATE cleaning the fridge!

Craft - peanut butter pinecone bird feeder (might use a TP roll if i can't find pinecones)

October:

Natural- make Bleu Cheese Dressing.  This is my favorite kind of dressing and i haven't tried a homemade version yet, so i think its about time!

Date - ice skating and four layer dessert (my hubby's fav, the dessert that is)

Project - denim rag quilt.  I have had boxes of denim for years.  It is time they get used

Giving - leave chalk messages on friends driveways.  (i'm thinking this might get switched to the summer as well

Recipe - Homemade tootsie rolls (and then use for halloween candy!)

Organize - how to clean and re-grease your Kitchen-aid.  I am hoping i have one by then!

Craft - make date night in a bag

November:

Natural - make homemade soap and/or cleaners.  Then i can make homemade body wash, hand soap and all manner of cleaners! Woot woot!  Saving money and getting rid of chemicals!

Date - Fondue.  Need i say more?  This will be extra romantic hopefully since this month we have our birthdays :)

Project - make baby clothes quilt.  I LOVE this idea, and i hope we have most of our stuff by then so that i will have all the baby clothes i saved from our daughter and can make her a memory quilt out of them.

Giving - shoebox christmas project.  This is something our church does for underpriviledged children in third world countries.  Get a shoe box, fill with neat gifts and treats for a little kid so they have a Christmas!  I think this will be extra fun to do with our daughter, and teach her about giving.

Recipe - sweet potatoe brownies.  Wow, i know that sounds weird.  But sweet potatoes are so healthy for you and we always have to many from thanksgiving.

Organize - 10 snapshots for your phone.  Helpful stuff like your printer cartridge, your wall color and a 8 other helpful things!

Craft - make my own slippers!  This craft probably needs to be moved up as well as currently i have NO slippers and my feet are like blocks of ice!!

December:

Natural - DIY chest rub.  I LOVE this idea because we use VICKS all the time on our daughter and i would love to try a natural alternative.  Plus this sounds super easy!

Date - Ramkota, redbox, swimming and a picnic with Avocado Bacon Baugettes and Brown Butter Salted Caramel Pot De Creme.  This is our anniversary month so we are going to a hotel :)

Project - Etch some glass.  Maybe some glass kitchen stuff, maybe something cooler.  Still don't know

Giving - Christmas goodie boxes.  I do this every year because i LOVE to make christmas goodies, but i don't need to eat all of them.  Plus i love to give goodies to our friends :)

Recipe - Roasted Broccoli.  This year i have been on a mission to find new and exciting ways to prepare a variety of veggies so that they taste good and we want to eat them, and this is hopefully going to be a good one!

Organize - clean out toys and give away.  This will be in preparation for Christmas, as i am sure your children have plenty of toys too, and will just get more, why not give some away around Christmas time to a shelter or needy family?

Craft - kids dry erase book.  This should be easy!  Buy three ring binder, page protectors and dry erase crayons, print off activity sheets, insert sheets, wa la!

I took it pretty easy on myself for December and tried to pick easier projects since i know we are always extra busy then.  But i also plan on making a Random Acts of kindness list for December as i would like to do more then just one that month to remind us the reason for the season.  Hopefully i can have that done soon and post it as well!  I hope this list is helpful and not discouraging.  Having a plan is important to me and i know if i don't plan it i won't do it!  I have spend countless hours surfing through my Pinterest boards, organizing said boards so i could find what i needed and reading pins to decide if it was something i wanted on my list.  This might seem like a waste of time to some, and it certainly was a lot of time.  But now i have a plan, and specific things selected, all easy to find on my To Do board on Pinterest.  So if i am feeling board, need a purpose for the month or just want to do something new, all i have to do is consult my list.  Plus having a thought out date night, even a simple one, is going to help me show and act out love to my spouse.  That is something very important to me and that i have realized takes a lot of forethought and planning.  So those are all my reasons for this gigantic list and i post it to hopefully help you if you want to do the same!  Use my list as a starting point and tweak it to fit your family or preferences.  Add, delete or just use it as it is!  I hope this makes your life a little more colorful, a little more planned and a little more fun!

A Plan for the Year (the first half)

For the last couple of days, i have been planning out my year.

Yes, the whole year!

What?!?  you say

:)

Well, not really the whole year, but certain things that i want to do throughout this year.

 To be more intentional in doing fun things with our daughter.

To be more consistent about date nights

To take more baby steps in living and eating healthier whole foods and real foods and healthy fats

To organize something every month

To do a random act of kindness every month, and teach our daughter, and myself more about giving

To have some fun in doing a project or trying a new recipe

It has been fun, but it has also taken quite a bit of time, and i'm still not done!  I've started on my list for June, and so i still have June-December to complete, obviously.  But it is thrilling to me, to have somewhere to start my month.  Something that i don't have to think much about, just go to my To Do board on Pinterest and complete my list for the month.  Just find a day or an hour and i don't have to start at the beginning because i already have it planned!  I am excited about having some specific plans and structure to our days and to really be more intentional about things that i feel are important.  We have been greatly enjoying our morning bible stories which we started with the new year.  Our daughter gets so excited to read from her bible and hear stories about Jesus every morning and i am so thankful for her excitement!

Here is MY list, should you want to take on the same challenge:

JANUAR

Natural - I am saving for a essential oils kit to replace all of our OTC medicine after listening to an amazing webinar on Do Terra essential oils!  Here is the link should you want to listen too
http://www.modern-wellness.com/resources/webinar-makeover-your-medicine-cabinet/
I am saving $40 for 4 months.

Date - ice skating and hot cocoa ( we have a local rink where we will rent skates for $5 and then come home and make hot cocoa!)

Project - fringe t-shirt scarf ( all you need is an old solid color t-shirt and a pair of scissors!  See my To Do board on Pinterest for more instructions)

Giving - taking banana bread to someone sick ( i have a ton of black bananas in my freezer, and we are getting hit with Influenza A around here, so this shouldn't be too hard)

Recipe - Buttertop Bread (i've been wanting to try my hand at making homemade bread and eventually not buying bread, so here is my start!)

Organize - throw away all trans-fat (this is kinda a natural thing to, but i am challenging myself to throw out everything that has trans-fat in it.  Do you know how BAD it is for you?  And it is in ALOT!  I even found it in my garlic salt just today.  This one will not be so fun, but so much better for us :)

FEBRUARY

Natural - Saving for the medicinal essential oils kit!

Date - YouTube dat night with Herbed Garlic Parmesan popcorn and Peanut butter cup popcorn ( see my To Do board on Pinterest for a link to 2.5 hours of hilarious and clean youtube videos plus the recipes for the popcorn.  Who doesn't like to laugh?)

Project - Emergency contact sticker for my daughters car seat, also possibly make hair curlers?

Giving - leave an envelope with $2 on the red box (this idea i got from a friend and can't take credit!

Recipe - Wendy's granola bars (my sisters recipe, maybe i will have to post them when i make them?)

Craft - Wax paper and crayon hearts

Organize - 25 docs you need before you die (not that i think i will die soon, but i like the idea of having everything in one place should that happen.  Plus we still don't have a will so i would like to get that taken care of as well.  This may have to be spread out over several months as the cost for wills and living wills can be expensive )

You will have to wait till February to find out about my plans for my hubby on V-day :)

MARCH                                       (are you bored or overwhelmed yet?  I hope not! :)

Natural - still saving for that medicinal essential oils kit!

Date - Hoping to go see a UFC fight at our local restaurant and maybe have some appetizers

Project - rice heating bag

Giving - meal to dear friend having baby!

Recipe - Smothered Chicken Casserole

Organize - Make electric screen cleaner or finish grapefruit scrub ( i have a bunch of grapefruit peels i need to pulverize to make a simple bathroom cleaner and i have had the peels since last spring?  Needless to say i need to get it done, and the screen cleaner as well.  Sometimes organizing means cleaning :)

Craft - Industrial strength bubbles (i am hoping it will be warm enough to go outside and do this.  Its supposed to make bubbles that are giant and don't pop!  How fun is that?)

APRIL

Natural - last month to save for medicinal essential oils kit and then i can order it!

Date - Rocky movie marathon ( this is totally out of love for my hubby as i can not stand the movies.  I will also be making either an Avocado Bacon Bleu Cheese Baugette or Funeral Sandwhiches.  I just can't decide which!)

Project - make Gac or Playdough ( me and our daughter made this last year and she loved it!  Her homemade playdough has since dried out recently and her Gac is about done as well.  Plus it takes very simple ingredients that you probably already have!)

Giving - take cinnamon rolls to friends

Recipe - so you guessed my recipe is for cinnamon rolls!  The Pioneer Woman's to be more specific

Organize - Make laundry detergent (maybe i should rename this one cleaning?!?  I made homemade laundry detergent last spring and we are still using it and it has been great!  I want to try a different recipe this time though and see if i can find an easy liquid to make that doesn't involve grating or cooking or at least only one.  Last time i made a powder)

Craft - finish daughters bed frame ( our daughters bed currently resides on the floor as her mommy has yet to finish sanding and painting the frame that i started on last summer.  Sigh.  This was also a pinterest post, which i probably should move to my To Do board, and involves many steps, though i think it will be worth it.  I just have to do it.)

MAY

Natural - buy Modern Essentials book which will tell me how to use said essential oils medicine kit (you can find the book on www.modern-wellness.com)

Date - Movie and blizzards (movie will be red box and now i'm thinking i will make icecream instead of blizzards, probably a peanut butter cup type icecream for the Hubby and either raspberry sorbet or chocolate hazelnut gelato for me.  If i can find someone with a plug-in ice-cream maker)

Project - Anniversary decoration (wooden blocks decoupaged with pretty paper, a picture of me and the hubby and then our last name with Established 2004)

Giving - cookie mix in a jar to some people, not sure who yet

Recipe - Savory Pepper Steak (think the hubs will really like this plus it is a Crockpot recipe!!)

Organize - Clean the humidifier (yep, i should definitely call this line item cleaning, and every time i pull out the humidifier when our daughter is sick i have a nagging feeling that i should probably clean it.  At least once)

Craft - father's day hand print gift (this will involve wood and paint and i'm not sure how it will turn out but at least we have some time since Father's day isn't till June :)

So there you have it!  At least half of my year is planned and it is probably a good thing the other half isn't as it would make for a ridiculously long and (probably) insanely boring post.  If you want to join me and even do the same things i am please feel free!  You will find most of my ideas and recipes on my To Do board on Pinterest.  Happy planning!