Click here to read my original post from January!

What have I gotten done so far this year?!

NOTE: I am totally at this VERY MOMENT writing this blog post from the Amtrak Crescent Line Train and am currently somewhere about an hour south of Atlanta. What a dream come true! Read on to see what progress I have made on the annual TO-DO list!

1.GROW A BIG GARDEN. I think I have done pretty well with this one! My garden this year has definitely been the biggest I’ve had in about 12 years. I put a lot of thought in to what I wanted to plant—->i.e. what I want to EAT!  Mr. Smith and I eat a LOT of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, and potatoes. It was too late to plant the onions and garlic (but those are definitely on the TO-DO list for fall!!!) but I planted all the rest of those foods.  Marked off the to-do list? YES!

2. FINISH TEE SHIRT QUILT.
That is a big NO. But look at how sweet Patti was when she sat on it and helped supervise me the last time I worked on it! Honestly, I just haven’t been feeling the quilting much this year, even when it was cool out. My crafty feelings ebb and flow though, so I’m sure I’ll come back around to it…maybe by the end of the year and in time to check it off the list, lol.

3. RIDE BIKES WITH MR. SMITH TO THE MCFADDEN FARM. While I have certainly not achieved this EXTREMELY lofty goal, for the purpose of this to-do list I’m going to call it a SORTA…just look at that snazzy bike though! Mr. Smith built me that totally gorgeous bike and I have been going on the weekly ride through Gastonia that Ride-A-Bike hosts. The ride is about 9 miles long, and while that is certainly not 45 mountainous miles, it is something!

4. READ 50 BOOKS. I secretly thought I would reach this goal by mid year but I haven’t– I might by the end of summer though! So far I’ve read 37 books in 2017 . I’m gonna call this a YES since I am well on my way to hitting the original goal, but lets bump the year end goal to 75. I’m a wild woman, so sue me XD

5. GO ON A TRAIN RIDE. Ya’ll. I just told you that I am writing this ON A TRAIN AS I TYPE, right?! Besides this ride,Also, Mr. Smith bought us tickets (as a birthday present for me!!) to ride the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad later this summer. We’ve been trying to do this for about a year and finally found a date that works for us, is on the steam engine train we want to ride, and isn’t The Polar Express XD (it IS actually kinda complicated, lol)!

6. PURGE THE DOOM SHACK.
Ughhhhh. The Doom Shack. I’ve actually made some pretty good progress on this one. While it is certainly not as much as I would like to have gotten done, it’s something.  I made a goal for myself at the beginning of the summer to take a load of stuff to donate once a week and I’ve pretty well kept to that so I’ll call this a SORTA. I think it’s also progress worth noting that I’m even ready to get rid of some of this stuff. I’m getting there.

7. SET UP THE POUT HAUS. This one is a SORTA. AGAIN, I haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked, but in all honestly, things are moving right along. Once I get back from vacation, my SOLE priority is getting this place READY…ready for doll parties AND art projects AND YouTube filming AND pile sorting AND time traveling…you know, the usual stuff.

8. KEEP UP THE BLOG. This one is a small yes. I think I’ve been doing okay with this goal. My first year in the school system took some getting used to and this coming 2nd year is bringing some new exciting challenges. I hope to be a bit better so I’m giving myself a quantitative goal: one post per week. Hold me to it! At the very TINY I least need to keep up Tiny Tuesday!

9. HELP ANIMALS IN NEED. I had hoped to have accomplished more with this but it hasn’t happened yet (so I’m gonna call this a no). Pretty much the only thing I have done so far is donate eight old pillows to my local shelter to use as bedding.  There may still be time to foster some kittens once I get back from New Orleans. I *really* want to foster a litter of kittens.

10. KEEP TRYING 2-D ART. This is a work in progress just like the rest! I’m doodling here and there and definitely still going to Journal Junkies so I will call this a yes! I’m so glad I started this goal. A big thanks to Miss See at my school for the encouragement!

There were a few additions:

EDC BAG. I HAVE (that’s a YES) put together a little EDC set up for my truck! I was going to do a post about it on here but I may turn it into a YouTube video instead! Don’t worry–I’ll definitely let y’all know when I do. Everyone should have at LEAST a small “every day carry” bag with life essentials for emergencies.

SAVE the $$$.  Ehhhh, let’s call this a sorta. The idea is implemented I just hope to do more of it, always.

Learn to ID trees. A big NOPE. Maybe someday.

MID YEAR UPDATE.  YES! Of course I accomplished this one! What do you think THIS is?! 🙂

Now for more coffee! I’m going to watch the world roll by on this train ride!