13 in '13: April Update

March got away from me, so I didn't update on my 13 in '13. I am pretty proud that I still remember my goals from January. Can you believe we are already 1/3 of the way through with 2013? Crazy!

We are doing okay at this one. I did have to dip into our savings account because someone (not me) double paid our mortgage this month. Actually our next bill isn't due until July.

We bought some shelves. Nothing has happened with them, but they are purchased, so that's something.

We have had 3 people make cash offers and then back out. Boo. My brothers have been doing some repairs, and it should be officially listed soon. I am so over this one.

At the end of February I had read 2. I am adding An Ice Cold Grave, I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell, Undead and Unappreciated, and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? All fluff. But my total is up to 6 for the year. And I am in the middle of another Betsy Taylor book now.
**I do see that none of these books have any substance**

                                            

Awful. I am doing so bad at this one. May is a new month. Hopefully I can get it done. If I do get my 12 hours done in May, I will treat myself to some new workout shoes.

                                          

See above. I was actually doing really well on this for awhile. Now that the weather has been so much better, there really isn't an excuse.

I volunteered for my school's track meet and I signed up for the next one as well. I really do like watching my students participate in their events, and they love seeing us there as well. I also have signed up to help out at a 5k in June. I did the same thing last year, and it was so much fun!

In March I went on my first ever girls trip. My BFF was in Vegas with her in-laws so I flew down for a couple of days, she ditched her kid and her inlaws and we had 30 hours of fun :)

You probably saw it above, but I took a quick trip to Vegas. Craig and I have also been planning some fun times for summer break. 

I still haven't made progress on sewing, canning, and painting. I still need to purge my stuff. I will do more of that when we clean out the garage.

How are your resolutions?

5 things you have been waiting for

I was tagged by the lovely Erin to post 5 random things about myself.  She actually tagged me yesterday, and I knew that if I didn't jump on it, I would forget. So here you go... 5 things you always wanted to know about me.

Does anyone actually wash their face like this?

I have never been able to get a good skin care/face washing routine. The only time I was consistantly washing my face was before my wedding and I was using Proactiv and then I felt like my skin was burning off and my pillowcase bleached out. MY PILLOWCASE BLEACHED OUT! AFTER I RINSED MY FACE OFF! That freaked me out, almost as much as the drying out and burning that ended up happening.

I have a weird obsession with airports. I actually really love them. When we are going somewhere, I like to get to the airport early, not only to get through security safely, but just to enjoy the airport. I do not like going through security. Ever.

I really want to do some sort of fun color in my hair. Not the whole head, but some peek-a-boo color. Then I think to myself that I am 31 and it would look ridiculous on me. But then I think, who cares? There's nothing in my job that stops me, except that I spend 8-9 hours a day with 14 year-olds and they will tell you if you look stupid. (They also tell you when you look good... really they say what ever pops into their mind. They have no filter.)

Because I spend so much of my time with 14 year-olds, I notice myself talking like them. Today I said these phrases: "that's pretty dope," "Who dat?" "You best be working" and "awesomesauce."  No, I'm not proud of any of that. However, much like Angi, there are plenty of slang that I find ridiculous: "natch" (which is gross sounding, and makes me think of lady parts), "sitch," and "totes." I also don't like "fave" and "def," however I use those frequently because I am a terrible speller, and I just give up.

I really like mediocre movies that are not really targeted towards me. Con Air and every Fast and the Furious movie jump in my head right away. I really have no idea why I like them. But if they are on, I will watch it. No matter what. There are plenty of other mediocre movies that I like a lot, but those are more targeted towards my demographic. My husband really cannot stand most movies I like, or at the very least, he makes fun of me for liking them. I went through a period of time where I really liked indie movies (or I pretended to like them to seem cool). I mean I really did like Garden State and The Good Girl, but if I was faced with Con Air or Garden State, Nick Cage wins hands down.

I really do want to get to know all of you better. Let me know if you post one of these 5 things posts! (That is my way of taking the easy way out and tagging everyone.)

5 for 5 week 12, and my weekend

This weekend I Sunday we...

went took advantage of the great weather and had a little picnic at the fishing hole. It is actually a little out of the way county park right on the river that isn't well known. We packed up a lunch and headed out there. After lunch, we played some bocce, and then took some time to read by the river.  Fantastic.

Now let's take a look at something not so fantastic...

My goals from last week.

1. Drink a full water bottle at work everyday.
2. Have everything ready for the next day before I leave work.
3. 2 classes at the gym.
4. Go to Ulta.
5. Go to the bank.

Erika called me out for putting "Go to Ulta" on my list. What can I say, I wanted a win :) I seem to have forgotten where my gym is, that must be why I haven't been there in a while.

Here are this week's 5...
1. Confirm with our DJ for the last two dances of the year.
2. Give the pets their flea medication.
3. Finish reading Undead and Unreturnable
4. Go to one class at the gym. (baby steps people, baby steps)
5. Paint my nails.

Yes, these don't seem like the most challenging of goals this week. This week is the last week of the grading period, so I will be spending quite a bit of time at school grading and listening to kids' excuses on why they shouldn't be failing. (but seriously, my class is super easy. You shouldn't have an F any way.)

Have a great week! What are your goals for the week?

DIY Coffee Creamer

I pin a lot of stuff (like most people on Pinterest.) I have done my fair share of trying things out, and unfortunately I have had plenty of Pinterest fails. Sometimes I tread very carefully when I try out new things. When I saw this pin for DIY coffee creamer I was interested but I wasn't getting my hopes up.

Source

I love the flavor that coffee creamer adds. BUT I hate the mile long list of ingredients on the back of the bottle.

Isn't it crazy that milk isn't even an ingredient?

The recipe was fairly simple: 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 2 cups milk, and a teaspoon of xantham gum. She had a bunch of variations/flavors to add to her base recipe. After looking through her variations, I chose to add 1 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to make coconut cream. Add all the ingredients to a bottle and shake. Easy peasy.

I decided I had to try it immediately, so I made myself a cup of coffee and poured some in. Almost immediately after I poured it in my mug, I noticed some lumps floating to the top. Not appetizing. I actually threw out that mug and tried again. I shook the creamer more this time before I poured it in. Still, a few lumps, so I stirred it in a bit more. My nose told me that it wasn't curdled, so I went ahead and tasted it. It was delicious. I am not sure what the little lumps were (maybe from the sweetened condensed milk?) but I didn't notice them as I was drinking. The next morning (today) I opened looked inside my creamer bottle and noticed a lump of something floating around. Ew. I poured all of my creamer into the blender (after it passed the smell test) and blended it together. When I poured it into my coffee, it was kind of foamy and thick. After talking with the home ec teacher at my school, I think the culprit is the xantham gum. I have never worked with that stuff before, and I know it is a thickening agent. I didn't notice anything after I stirred my coffee.

I am going to finish off this bottle (or at least try to) and then I will try again, without the xantham gum. I don't think this was much cheaper than the store bought creamers, but I feel better about drinking it. I am pretty excited to try some other flavors. I have been thinking about making vanilla caramel next.

How do you take your coffee? Have you tried to make your own creamer?