38. Collect shells along the beach with Avie.

FINALLY my daughter actually likes the beach this year!! I was so excited that the past few times I took her to the beach she played in the sand and went in the water so I knew it was time to do this 101. I am in the process of re-decorating our house with chic beach decor and have this antique Mason pickle jar that is almost as tall as Avie that we've been wanting to fill with shells. So now we have a place to display the shells that we found on her first time collecting. We had a great time walking around and picking up all sorts of shells off our favorite beach: Perdido Key.

58. Do something special for Matt for all his hard work.

I truly have the best husband in the world!! (I hope every woman thinks that of her husband) He is the hardest working person I know. He manages being a full-time father/husband, works full-time and goes to school full-time yet he ALWAYS makes time for all the fun family stuff and ALWAYS makes us feel loved. Words cannot express how thankful I am that I am able to stay home and raise our daughter and god willing, future children. I am so proud of him for being the upstanding man that he is and I know he is going to lead our family to greatness.

Since I know he lives and breathes Miami Hurricane football, I thought it would be appropriate to do something nice for him that involved his favorite team. I bought a Miami flag and was going to have the flag pole attached to the house and have the flag flying when he arrived home from work on September 7, 2009. It was perfect timing because that was the first Miami game of the season. At the last minute he decided to take Labor Day off and take the family to the beach - what a nice guy! So instead of surprising him with the flag already hanging, he helped me put it up. It was the thought that counted and he was very excited so all in all it turned out nicely. Especially since Miami won that night against one of their biggest rivals: FSU!!

*REVISING* #'s 2, 26, 27 & 44.

#2: Take the family to Sandestin for the day.
I just realized that the condo we vacation at every year is on the border of Sandestin and we've been down there to the Wharf several times and never realized we were actually in Sandestin. I need to think about what I will do in place of this.

- NEW #2 - Go Yoloing

#26 & #27: Do 3 sets of 20 sit ups everyday for one month. Do 3 sets of 20 arm strengthening exercises for one month.
About six weeks ago I started a basic work out regiment that I use to do before my daughter was born that combines a 1500 daily calorie intake with cardio and strength training. Unfortunately with my genetic make up that I've inherited from my father's side of the family, I have high cholesterol. At my yearly exam, just recently, my levels were still high from last year. So I am making a life changing routine and working out DAILY. After I started working out regularly again, I realized that #26 and #27 were a joke because they were too easy for me. I am going to remove these two items from my list and re-post two new items later once I've put more thought into it.

- NEW #26 - Sew my own Christmas stockings to hang from the fireplace.
- NEW #27 - DIY a tile back splash in our kitchen.

#44: Take the dogs to a dog park.
I thought living so close to the Gulf of Mexico there would be plenty of fun water dog parks to take my two furry babies to but not so much. Some neighbors of ours and some friends told us that the dog parks down here are horrible and the beaches they are allowed to go to are infested with parasites. Can I get a cup of 'no thank you'! So I need to research something else for my pups.

-NEW #44 - Do a food detox for one month.

19. Read one parent/self-help book a month for a year. (5/12)

#5 - AUGUST 2009 - The Rope by C. Mason Weaver

As cited on Amazon. com, "The search for economic freedom has been confused with the desire for a great job. This book looks at the hidden forces keeping most of us trying to please the boss and not reaching our own goals. It is a book designed to change ones way of thinking."

About 6 years ago I had the great pleasure of hearing Mr. Weaver speak at a conference and he literally blew me away!! He has a way of saying things and is a 'no excuses' type of guy which I just love!

19. Read one parent/self-help book a month for a year. (4/12)

#4 - JULY 2009 - Parenting by THE BOOK by John Rosemond

I had read some great reviews on Rosemond and was very interested in reading this book which is his most popular and most controversial book. I learned so much about the history of child rearing and how up coming generations of children are heading for disaster. One doesn't have to look far to see that children of today are out of control. Just take a trip to the grocery store or the mall! At the end of the book he writes that he's "concerned about the future of America. Functional child rearing strengthens culture, and dysfunctional child rearing weakens it." He drives home the conclusion that part of the problem is the way parents manage their children, not that their children were born to be forever wild. It all starts at home. I really enjoyed this book and got TONS of helpful tips that I know I may need to implement in the future. I especially loved in every chapter his reference to how "grandma use to do things".

"If you depart from God's plan in any area of your life, you will experience more (and more serious) problems than you would have encountered otherwise. America has departed from God's blueprint for child rearing. My intent is to help parents understand and properly align themselves with God's blueprint for child rearing." He clearly reminds the reader that God makes nothing complicated which was such a fresh reminder to everyday life.

35. Don't eat snacks past 9 PM for one month.

I started this on Sunday, July 19, 2009 and ended on Monday, August, 17, 2009.

This task opened my eyes to how much I snack after 9 PM. Once I would get Avie down for bed, I found all this extra time to realize I wanted a snack. This certainly got me on track to watching what I eat. It was hard a few times to stay on track because during that month, I took two one week trips to visit family and friends. I am proud to say that I resisted the urge to snack when everyone else was but it was not easy. *patting myself on the back* Now that this task is over with, I have disciplined myself to really re-think ALL snacking once Avie has gone to bed at 8 PM.

My husband told me many years ago that it takes 21 days to form a habit. I did some research and found out that he really wasn't just making it up. Dr Maxwell Maltz wrote the bestseller Psycho-Cybernetics. Originally a Plastic Surgeon, Maltz noticed that it took 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in the amputated limb. From further observations he found it took 21 days to create a new habit.” Since then the ‘21Day Habit Theory’ has become an accepted part of self-help programs.

*UPDATE* 82. Take her other clothes and put them in the yearly Mom2Mom sale at the Pensacola Fairgrounds.

After doing a lot of purging and cleaning in preparation for our subdivisions annual yard sale, I realized that there are WAY too many plastic tubs in our attic that are full of Avie's clothes that she has out grown. I'm starting to weed through all the tubs, keeping all the designer and really nice outfits so when we do get pregnant again and if it's a girl, I will still have clothes to use. But the out grown clothes situation was getting out of hand. The yearly Mom 2 Mom sale is coming in town this September and I wanted to start selling some of the clothes now to make room in our attic for things that really need to be up there. I registered today online to become a consignor for this upcoming sale so it's a done deal. Now I need to get busy and get these clothes tagged and put on hangers. I have less than 30 days to go!!

UPDATE: It was a successful first time being a consignor. I had a total of 55 pieces and sold 30. After the $10 consignor fee and giving 30% of my makings, Avie walked away with almost $86. Not bad for only 2 hours worth of work!