Complete: 76. Crochet an amigurumi

Another one down! So far so good!

I've always wanted to make cute crochet animals, but I've always felt intimidated by it. I'm a knitter, for one, but I have a little bit of crochet experience.  Assembling things seemed tough, too. But once I sat down to it (and with the help of some good instructional videos), it wasn't too bad!

I made this cute guy:

And bonus, I made some blueberries!

I guess more complex ones would be tougher, and I know mine aren't perfect, but these were pretty fun! Perhaps I'll even make some more. 

41 items complete!

Complete: 39. Take an internet course (and BONUS ITEM!)

Hey guys! I'm doing it! I got one done for this week!

Creativebug had a free week of classes, so I took advantage of it for #39. I took Basic Line Drawing with Lisa Congdon, who is lovely. Her style is super cute and I loved her videos. Heck.

We learned to draw flowers, geometrics, then used those to decorate found photos and incorporated hand lettering in, as well. Here's some of my work!

I super enjoyed it. I think videos/classes are the best way for me to learn - it really helps me to have an example and then do it myself. I'm seriously considering a subscription to Creativebug for a little bit, too - there are a few more classes I'd like to take. Or maybe I'll just buy all of Lisa's classes individually. :)

Also, I did a thing: 

SURPRISE!

I've always wanted to shave my head, but never had the guts to commit to it by putting it on the list. But I think I deserve credit for it, hahaha. I'll leave it open for now, but this is going to replace one of my items by the end of things. We'll see what doesn't get done. Let me know if I'm super breaking the rules, but even if I am, I don't think I care.

Hope you're all having a lovely week!

Complete: 56. Run a fun 5K

As you might remember, I ran a 5K back in March, but it was a bit laughable in the fun department. My favorite part was the apathetic teenagers running the homemade "obstacles." So I decided to try again with the Bubble Run. It didn't turn out to be a true 5K - it was only 2.5ish miles - but it was certainly fun. Well, fun enough. It needed more bubbles.

Running through the bubble bogs really only got your legs:

They did have bubble cannons at the finish line, at least (but these bubble were really wet):

So overall I guess it was fun! And even if it wasn't a true 5K, it's more in line with what I had in mind. Good enough! We are now officially in the "cutting myself slack" phase to get as many done as I can. Definitely not counting on getting the 85 completed that I was goaling for. I'll be happy to get 60, I think. I have 20 weeks left, so if I try to have one completed every week until then, I'll hit 59. I think that's reasonable. 

And completing one every week is doable! I've made progress this week: I started taking an internet course today (#39) and we found a cute old lady at the county fair advertising a square dancing class in town so we'll probably do that (#63). We did have friends offer to teach us some basics in social dance, but I'm not sure if that counts. I also found out there's a Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association so I can switch to that for #90 - gotta practice! Adventure Time wraps up in September, as well (#92). I've been reading too many library books, so I need to get back on track there, but I have been making good progress with Shakespeare (#14). It's just too tempting when the library will mail things to me! And I do still have to have fun as per #38, so I won't try too too hard. :) A lot of the items will be finishing up in December, too, so I'll get a nice boost right before my time runs out. Totally doable! Getting stuff done!

Complete: 5. Make 10+ recipes from Cooking With Dog

If you haven't seen Cooking with Dog, you should remedy that right now. It's a delightful YouTube cooking show featuring the mysterious chef and her wonderful dog, Francis. Here is what I made under their tutelage:

1. Omurice - it's basically a ketchup rice omelette, but it is one of my very favorite Japanese foods

2. Gyudon - which is basically an excuse for me to eat pickled ginger. 

3. Chicken curry - this one was a bit of miss, unfortunately

4. Iri Dofu - a tofu veggie scramble that we liked a whole more than we thought we would

5. Matcha panna cotta - which was apparently worse than the chicken curry as I didn't even bother to photograph it

6. Pork Shogayaki - ginger and pork - what more could you want?

7. Hamburg Steak - I made tiny ones

8. Inari Zushi - My very favorite sushi, though not many know about it - it's sushi rice in a fried tofu skin. Chef makes hers even more delicious with the addition of carrots, seaweed, and mushrooms

I made both of the above for a delicious bento lunch:

9. Dry curry with beans - Hubster really liked this one - I think it was a bit rich for me. I also super failed on that egg, hahahah

10. Potato Salad (Japanese style) - such a good one to end on - it doesn't look like much, but it is DELISH

I think part of me has always known how much you can learn on YouTube, but besides the occasional tutorial, I've never really sat down and watched instructional videos. This goal makes me want to actively look for more videos that can help me. I hope I can learn more about many topics in the future!

August plans!

Apologies for last week's not super informative post, hahaha. Blogging while traveling is kind of the worst.

So I am now officially retired. Or unemployed. I guess you can call it what you will, but I prefer to think of it as a very early retirement.

My 30-day project for August is making sure I have some fun everyday, hahaha. Maybe that's a cop out, but I really want to follow my whims instead of working too hard this month. I've had kind of a hard time adjusting to life here, so I think taking some time to enjoy myself will be beneficial. And we all know that I enjoy working on my list, so don't worry! I'm sure I'll still get things done.

Focus items:
reading: Yakitate manga (#2), Shakespeare (#14), church bios ((#43), shelf books (#60)
watching: Good Eats (#3), foreign films (#77)
cooking: Good Eats recipes (#3), international recipes (#69)
making: calligraphy cards - so many August birthdays! (#6), coloring book (#16), bottle cap magnets (#18)

I also have plans for a truly fun 5K (#56), and I might get a free trial for Skillshare or a similar site for my internet course (#39).

I also also have plans to play Stardew Valley, read books for fun, and watch lots of dumb TV. I can't wait.