the evolution of Leni

Goodbye 27, Hello 28!

The photo above is of a drawing from my process journal. [It's just a little doodle I did during my elementary art class.]

It's officially time to make a new list! I definitely didn't finish everything on my previous list. I will update it and make a post about my progress on this past year later on this week. I will also be working on creating a 29 before 29 list!

27 was a good year, but may 28 be even better!

Ready, GO!

Countdown to 28

The countdown to 28 has begun. Actually, the whole thing is a little counter-intuitive because I'm counting down the days while counting up my age. So, the countdown is also technically a count-up. But I digress. I have 6 days left before my birthday. That means I have 5 days to complete as many items as I can on my 28 before 28 list. Clearly I will not be crossing all of the items off this year. With the expensive tuition payments, I was not able to take any of the trips that I had wanted to. [#14, 26,27]

M and I will probably not have a date picked out for our wedding, but we did pick a deadline for it: summer 2012. I think that's just as good, so I'm willing to cross #21 off.

I don't know what to do about #7. Clearly it's not budging. I wish I could say that I'm fine with it, but I'm not. I don't want it to take up a spot on next years list, but it is something that I think is important. I'm not sure whether I will put it on again, or leave it off entirely.

I tried my best, but I have not been able to get in contact with Elizabeth Garrett. [#10] I scanned facebook and did many google searches, but to no avail. The problem is that I don't know where she lives or what she does. I hope that good karma finds it her way.

I'm hoping to make plans to ride the ferris wheel at the Spectrum sometime this week. [#1] If I can find more time, I will see whether I complete and cross-off a couple more items on the list as well.

Hello, May. Goodbye, April.

We've had such gorgeous weather lately. I hope it's here to stay this time! I'm feeling rested and ready to tackle week 6. I am hoping to squeeze in even more tutoring hours this week because, as things stand, I can't afford my credit card payment this month.

On my to-do list this week:

• Practice Calligraphy.
• Go running at least twice before Friday. (Tonight's soccer game doesn't count.)
• Figure out a fear that I have so that I can confront it.
• Finish my formal science lesson write up
• Decide what to teach for my second supervisor observation visit

Busy, Busy

Lately, I have been very busy.

• working on my 28 before 28 list. 
• teaching and playing in the first grade classroom.
• attending classes.
• looking for a part-time job.
• painting.
• breaking in my new running shoes.
• reading textbooks about teaching.
• writing papers and reflection responses.
• blogging and attempting to keep up with daily blog reads.

Unfortunately, all that means less time to spend with M. I miss him.

Balboa Island

I was bored and feeling a little cabin feverish, so I took a little trip to wander around Balboa Island on Saturday.

Of course, no trip to Balboa is complete without a frozen banana. (I like mine with rainbow sprinkles.)

I am so glad that I brought my good camera because I was able to capture these shots of sea lions taking over two boats! It was hilarious (just not for the boat owners).

In the first photo, there are two sitting on left side of the large boat in the middle. (There were several more swimming around in the water!)

These two sea lions found a tiny boat to sunbathe on.

I honestly think this was the last time I went to Balboa. You can see what the frozen banana looks like in that link. 

The Great Park

M and I went to a concert in the Great Park this past weekend. I only had my little point-and-shoot camera and it didn't disappoint.

We had a little picnic dinner on the grass under the orange balloon. It was nice.

Although M and I didn't ride the Big Orange Balloon this time, we will be sure to ride it next time. We found out that they also show movies in the park. M and I will definitely be back soon.

The Official 28 before 28 List!

Compared to previous years, I really struggled with finishing this list. Some of the items were easy to come up with and were on the list since early May. The list, however, remained unfinished for months because I was struggling to find fun, challenging things to add in order to complete the list. Lucky for me, my readers came to my rescue. I used your help from this post and also this one to create my list, so THANK YOU to everyone who contributed ideas!!! Here is the anxiously awaited list.

My 28 before 28:

1. Ride a ferris wheel. Document with photos.
2. Run a half-marathon. [Nov. 14,2010!!!]
3. Paint more. A lot more!
4. Learn to make bread.
5. Learn to make dog biscuits.
6. Pay it forward. At least 3 times! [1, 2, 3]
7. Lose the poundage once and for all.
8. Go 1 month without spending money on extras.
9. Scan important documents.
10. Try to get in contact with Elizabeth Garrett.
11. Work on my handwriting and calligraphy.
12. Travel down PCH/101.
13. Wander aimlessly.
14. Visit Lor in St. Louis.
15. Master the Lion Cut.
16. Practice photography.
17. Get back into Yoga, regularly.
18. Plan a vacation.
19. Take a risk. Do something I normally wouldn't do.
20. Buy new running shoes.
21. Set a date.
22. Find a part-time job to help pay for school expenses.
23. Visit the flea market or thrift stores at least 3 times. [1, 2, 3]
24. Have a picnic.
25. Bring back Project Me.
26. Visit North Carolina.
27. Go on a sisters road trip.
28. Confront a fear.

Since it took so long for me to complete the list, some of the items have already been accomplished. After all, the list was started in May. As usual, I will cross off the items as I complete them so you (and I) can track my progress. The list will hopefully be completed by my 28th birthday on May 9, 2011.

If one of your suggestions actually made my 28 before 28 list, you should have received an email from me requesting your mailing address. I will be mailing out those little surprises to you by the end of the week!

Pain a l'Ancienne

One of M's coworkers loves to cook bread so much, that he installed a bread oven in their kitchen when they remodeled it. I mentioned to him that one day, my goal was to cook bread on a weekly basis so that I would never have to buy it again. He gave me this book the next time I saw him:

For the last couple of months, that book has been collecting dust on my bookshelf. Now that I have more free time, I decided to tackle one of the bread recipes. The recipe I made was called "pain a l'Ancienne" (M's coworker recommended that I start with that bread recipe first and then branch out to harder ones.)

I used a digital meat thermometer to measure the temperature of bread. Once it reached 205 degrees Fahrenheit it came out of the oven to cool.

I set it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting it open for the taste test.

Using the digital thermometer was nice because the bread came out PERFECTLY! It wasn't dry or raw on the inside, but perfectly moist and soft. I will definitely be making this recipe again and again.

This fresh bread will go great with the Greek Village Salad that we're having for dinner tonight!

Dog Biscuits for Boo

I made some homemade dog biscuits for our family dog, Boo. I found a cute Scottie dog cookie cutter a yard sale about a month ago, and I picked up the bone shaped ones at an outlet store in Cabazon.

At this point, I was really hoping that Boo would like them because there were A LOT!

Lucky for me, she did! I will definitely be making these for her again. They were super easy to make, fun to roll out and quick to bake.