Signs of Progress

Here's a little update on my 28 Before 28:

1. Take a cooking class at the Fort Worth Culinary Institute Central Market.

I looked into taking classes at the Culinary Institute and realized there really isn't an option to take just one class. They offer semester-long classes for people who are super-serious about cooking. And who apparently are loaded. To take a basic pastry class costs over $2500! And that's not including the chef's jacket, hat, textbooks, and all the other things you'll need to purchase. So let's just say I'll be sticking with my good 'ole Central Market classes! I know my friend Katie is always game to join me for those. :)

8. Make it through a chataranga in yoga without cheating. :D

Does a modified chataranga count? I'm definitely getting better at the version with my knees down (which is technically the only way they do it in prenatal yoga).

10. Floss. Everyday.

I went for my routine cleaning right after Clay and I discovered we were expecting. The dentist warned me about pregnancy gingivitis, which I do not want. That little extra incentive is enough to keep me flossing every night before bed! (So far, anyway.)

12. Host a craft day with my cousin Laura and sister-in-law Tara.

Although I technically didn't host it, the three of us got some good craft time in over Thanksgiving. We helped Laura get ready for a fair she was participating in to raise money for the Village of Hope. You can read more about Laura's adventures in Ghana here. So...a craft day for 2011 isn't exactly on the books yet, but I'm working on it, k?

14. Make photo books/ scrapbooks for our vacations.

So far I have gone through pictures for each of our trips and selected those I want to include in our photo books. They are ready to be uploaded to Picaboo and arranged into albums! It's just that the arranging is the most time-consuming part...

16. Try resale shopping more often.

I have signed up to participate (shop) the next Just Between Friends sale in March and I am SO excited!

18. Read 28 (or more!) new books.

So far I've read...

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan - I wanted to read this book based on a recommendation by a friend without really knowing the storyline. I was expecting it to be light and funny, but it was actually a bittersweet memoir about Kelly's battle with cancer and her father's battle at the same time. It was extremely well-written and I just flew through it in a couple of days! I definitely look forward to reading more of her work.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin - This was very interesting concept for a book, one of those "why didn't I think of that?" kind of thing. The author detailed her quest for a happier life and her monthly goals for achieving this state of bliss. While I have some issue with the concept of happiness as the ideal versus joy, there were certainly a lot of great tips to take away from this book.

Beside Every Great Dad by Nancy Swihart and Ken Canfield - This was highly recommended to me by my sister-in-law. She took a Ministry to Fathers course at ACU (which I wish I had known about!), and this was one of the texts they used. Seeing as our parenthood is impending, I thought I would get a little insight as to what I can do to encourage Clay as a dad. There is so much information in each chapter, I think I'm going to have to re-read it all several times to make sure it soaks in!

Next up: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusac and Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi.

28. Keep up with (and document) all these goals!

I think so far I'm doing pretty well. Not all my posts will include multiple items from my list, maybe just one with some pictures. But it's not a bad start, eh?