#29: No TV or Movies for One Week for Me or the Girls

This one was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Mostly because I decided to do this during what turned out to be a very difficult week for me physically.  I had these big ideas of all the wonderful things we would do instead of watching TV and instead we were lucky to even leave the house most days. 
We really don't watch TV a ton, but it does get turned on every day usually.  I noticed that the girls adapted to this a lot better than I expected.  They played together, colored/drew, danced, and used their imaginations.  Only occasionally did I hear "Mom, I Want To Watch A Movie!!" 
The hardest part was after the girls were in bed, because most nights Neil and I vege(is that how you spell it??) around watching shows.  I got a lot of reading done. :)
I'm glad I did this, but a little disappointed that it didn't turn out exactly as I was hoping.  Maybe we'll have to try it again on a better week...

#70: Make Detailed Plans for My Salon

**Seven New Posts!  Don't miss all the excitement! :)**


I really enjoyed completing this goal.  It's always fun to dream, right?

I decided I was going to call my salon "The Thirsty Hair Saloon" and design it after an old west saloon.  I don't think the picture is easy to see, so I'll just highlight some of my favorite parts.
In the lobby will be a Grub Bar where you can choose some refreshments.  The receptionist are is called the "Welcoming Posse".  There will also be a mechanical bull that you can ride while you wait.  The doors leading to the floor will be swinging doors.
I named each section to go along with the "Old West" theme.  The Nail Table is called "Happy Hooves", the Waxing Station is called "Waxing Depot", the shampoo bowl is called the "Watering Trough", my storage area/color bar is the "Tack Room" and my stations are the "Hair Stables". 
Like I said, this was really fun to plan and I hope someday that I can make this dream a reality. :)

#67: Graduate!

I am done with school!!!!  It still doesn't feel real.  I finished my hours on Sept. 13 and graduation was on Sept. 21.  I completed Honors and Deans List (More on that later since those are two separate goals.) and am loving having some actual family time during the week!!

This is the face of an official Cosmetologist!

 Sammy was nice enough to be my model for graduation.  Doesn't she look great?!

 The Happiest Family In The World!!

#58: Do a Service Project for a Family Member or Friend

This has also been done for quite a while.  At first I decided I would wait to blog about it so that the people we chose to serve wouldn't suspect that it was us, but since I am the worst secret keeper/liar in the world they knew pretty much right away.
I'm not going to go into details about what our service project was because I don't want to feel like I'm boasting about serving, but this goal is done! :)

#46: Ask Neil to Choose One New Thing to Teach Me

This may shock some people, but until a few months ago I had never operated a lawn mower!  It was always my brothers' job when I was younger and I never felt it was necessary to change that.

At the beginning of the summer Neil's mom asked Neil and I to take care of the yard at her rental house which is just a few blocks away from us.  Neil thought it would be a great time to teach me to use a lawn mower since the yard is pretty big.

It went well at first.  Until I broke the lawn mower.  One minute I'm walking along just fine, the next the handle is no longer attached to the mower.  Oops!  (In my defense it wasn't anything I did, I was just the lucky one who happened to be using it when it happened!)

Luckily we had an extra lawn mower, so on I went.  I finished the backyard and moved to the front.  Not even one pass in the lawn mower died.  And wouldn't start back up.  That's right, I went through two lawn mowers on my first time ever using one!  

I tried to tell Neil it was a sign that I shouldn't be mowing lawns, but he didn't think so.  A couple weeks later we got a new lawn mower and I've have mowed the lawn almost every week since then.  I really don't mind it that much.  I'm glad Neil decided to teach me this. :)

#43: Potty Train Taylor

This goal has been done for a LONG time!  I can't take much credit for it being done.  Taylor pretty much decided on her own that it was time for her to start using the big girl potty and that was the end of diapers for us.  She is Amazing!  Almost immediately she was staying dry all night and when she did have an accident in her sleep she would immediately wake up and let us know.  (As opposed to Holly who will sleep all night and then inform us in the morning after she's slept in it all night! Gross!)
It's been so nice to not have to change diapers anymore!  Hooray for Taylor and her independent and stubborn nature! :)

#39: Take the Girls Miniature Golfing

We. Love. Trafalga.  I'm glad that I had this as one of my goals because we had a blast!  The girls are going to be pro golfers in no time.  (Much sooner if we would take them as often as they asked to go which is almost every day.) 
We started our experience with the miniature golfing.  The girls loved the black lights.  Afterwards we let the girls play in the arcade.  They didn't want to ever stop playing the games and earned a lot of tickets. 

 Neil helping the girls with their golf stance.

 Holly loved getting everybody's balls out of the hole.

 They were in heaven!

 All of us.

#34: Make a Snowman with the Girls

Obviously this goal has been completed for quite a while since there was snow on the ground. :)  This was a tough one for me because I Hate being cold-which sort of limits my desire to touch snow.  I didn't get any pictures of myself helping with the snowman, but I did help them with it.   The girls had a blast doing this and after the snowman was built they decided it would be fun to start a snowball fight.

 Putting on the face.

Showing off our masterpiece.

Giving kisses.

 They decided the snowman needed hair.

Snowball fight!

#73- Do the Dishes First Thing Every Morning for 2 Weeks

For Honesty's sake, I didn't always do this first thing in the morning, but if not first thing, it was done after lunch. I figured I could count it because I did them every day, which is a feat for me. :)