Pinterest Finds

Here are a couple of my favorite Pinterest finds that I've been creating for my 25 in 25 goals:

Modern Wall Art (made this for Amanda's 22nd birthday present).

Pizzadillas - delicious and quick meal to make.

Instagram Bookmarks: the are amazing and fun to make 

     

    

Cake Cookies

Did you know that you can make cookies from a cake mix? Well I certainly did not until yesterday. I found this wonderful new recipe on Pintrest about using a cake mix to make cookies. I think I prefer it because when cooked properly, they have a very light and fluffy taste to them. I wonder if it would work with other cake mixes, I only tried strawberry. Perhaps Funfetti would be next?

Valentine's Day Strawberry cookies with cream cheese frosting and red sprinkles. Quite delicious.

Food Adventures

This was the week of cooking and baking. I first started off with making brownies from scratch a week ago. I was excited to make these because I had fond memories of one of my college friends who made the best brownies ever, except there was one time where he ran out of cocoa powder and used ovalteen instead. It was not the same at all. But I did enjoy my first brownie from scratch experience and I cannot wait to experiment more.

This was the final product. 

It was also a chance to try something from Pintrest. I decided to make Chipotle Pesto Pasta this evening.  I dislike cooking for myself so I invited a few students over to be my testers. I was surprised how well it turned out (other than being pretty spicy). I have been surprising myself lately of how much I not only enjoy cooking but how easy it can actually be sometimes. I'm really enjoying going through these 25 Goals.

And here is the final product.

Pencil Poles

About two weeks ago, I took some students with me to my old elementary school to help turn their normal, boring, average looking poles into pencils. It was my mom's idea but one pintrest creation down! Only 24 more to go.

(left) Myself, Austin, and Nick all attended PCS at some time or another. 

The finished product. 

Goals for Year 25

(updated as of December 12)
When I turned 25 I decided to try and do some things I never have done before or just really wanted to get done this year. I created a list a 25 goals to accomplish by the end of the year. Some were big some where small, some were serious some felt silly and all, but together they made amazing memories.

Look through the blog posts over the past year with the 25 in 25 tag or just peruse through the list to see what I've accomplished in one year alone.

Here we go!

1. Read 25 new books
1. Liesel and Po by Lauren Oliver
2. Healing for Damaged Emotions by David Seamands
3. God Went to Beauty School by Cynthia Rylant
4. Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
5. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (and Other Concerns) by Mindy Kailing
6. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
7. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
8. Helen of Pasadena by Lian Dolan
9. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
10. Legal: the First 21 Years by Jonathan Walton
11. The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell
12. Out of Solitude by Henri Nouwen
13. Your Mind's Mission by Greg Jao
14. Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal
15. Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller
16. Who Pooped in the Park by Gary D. Robsen
17. Real Life by James Choung
18. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie 
19. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Saenz
20. Penguins Hate Stuff by Greg Stones
21. Zombies Hate Stuff by Greg Stones
22. Love is an Orientation by Andrew Marin
23. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
24. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
25. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
2. Visit 25 new places
1. Snarf's Sandwiches in St. Louis, MO
2. St. Charles, MO
3. Dune Point State Beach in Malibu, CA
4. Old Los Angeles Zoo
5. Saladang in Pasadena, CA
6. Solstice Canyon in Malibu, CA
7. Eurekea Burger in San Luis Obispo, CA
8. Raku Sushi in San Luis Obispo, CA
9. Firestone Walker Brewery in Paso Robles, CA
10. Barrelhouse Brewery in Paso Robles, CA
11. Road to Seoul BBQ in Korea Town, Los Angeles, CA
12. Menchie's Frozen Yogurt in Granada Hills, CA
13. Freddie's Frozen Custard in Bakersfield, CA
14. Zuma Beach in Malibu, CA
15. Neptune's Net in Malibu, CA
16. Salsa and Beer, Van Nuys, CA
17. Runyon Canyon, Hollywood, CA
18. Good Pho You, Granda Hills, CA
19. Zaika Indian Cuisine, Bakersfield, CA
20. Tea Bar, Bakersfield, CA
21. Pike Brewing, Seattle, WA
22. Space Needle/Seattle Center, Seattle, WA
23. Olympia Roasting Coffee Co, Olympia, WA
24. Kalama Burger Bar Inc., Kalama, WA
25. Stumptown Coffee, Portland, OR
26. Golden Road Bewing, Glendale, CA
27. New Delhi Palace, Pasadena CA
28. Saigon Deli, Fresno CA
29. Pizza Factory, Bishop, CA
30. Fraizer Park, CA
31. Forest Home, Ojai, CA
32. Seoul Sausage Company, Santa Monica, CA
33. Blockheads Shavery, Santa Monica, CA
34. Sweet Snow, Northridge, CA
35. Reality LA Church
36. Flour + Tea, Pasadena CA
3. Meet 25 new people that are not work related: I need to know their name, where they are from, and where they are going.
1. Older couple on metro (great story)
2. Norrette from H.O.P.E.'s House
3. Pastor Chuck and Pastor Dre from H.O.P.E.'s House
4. Carol - my racing friend from Downtown Dash
5. Toro, my roommate's guitar playing friend
6. Angela, a woman who lives in our apartment complex
7. Monica, from H.O.P.E.'s House (lots of new church friends)
8. Damon from the 168 Film Contest I helped out at
9. Kristina from the 168 Film Contest I helped out at 
10. Kokeb Shi, Sol's Friend
11. Randi, Jenel's Friend
12. Marshall and Alexander - the bagpipe players at the warf
13. Anna, the waitress at Marche in Seattle who got us onto the hotel rooftop
14. Lisa, the woman from the doughnut shop in Seattle (it was her birthday)
15. Austin from Tennessee - attending the WDS conference/Voodoo Doughnuts 
16. Nate also from Tennessee - attending the WDS conference/Voodoo Doughnuts 
17. Jonathan too from Tennessee - attending the WDS conference/Voodoo Doughnuts 
18. Katie at Chris and Jane's wedding
19. Beth at Chris and Jane's wedding
20. Mike from A Night of Scenes at H.O.P.E.'s House
21. Brandon from A Night of Scenes at H.O.P.E.'s House
22. Shannon, family friend, Jacob's, girlfriend
23. Mac, family friend, Jessica's, boyfriend
24. James from Texas, serving the Global Intern Trek food
25. Beth from The Toloumne Lodge 
26. Reality LA - Encino Community Group
4. Lose 25 lbs 
1. Finished on April 1st
5. Get rid of 25 things that I don't need
1. 12 items of clothing
2. The four boxes donated to the Girl's House Garage sale that probably had 50 items in it
6. Actually try 25 things on my Pintrest boards
1. Pencil Poles
2. Chipotle Pesto Pasta
3. Alphabet Pilates
4. Valentine's Day Cake Cookies
5. Standing Abs workout 
6. Chalkboard mirror 
7. Couch to 5k
8. Instagram Bookmarks
9. Mini corn dog muffins
10. Must-Have Apps for Writers
11. Rolo Stuff Ritz Crackers
12. Modern Wall Art
13. The Pizzadilla
14. At Home Speakers
15. Coffee ice cubs
16. How to Tie a Long Scarf
17. Top 10 Songs for Running
18. 200 Running Songs
19. Easy Mac and Cheese
20. Pitch Perfect Drinking Game
21. Fitness at Home
22. Sharpie Mugs 1 (I did 18 of these so I'd count them as 4 items) 
23. Sharpie Mugs 2 
24. Sharpie Mugs 3
25. 30 Day Push Up Challenge
7. Write 25 handwritten letters
8. Learn to cook 15 new dishes
1. Brownies from scratch
2. Chipotle Pesto Pasta
3. Valentine's Day Cake Cookies
4. Mom's Dump Chili
5. Mini Corn Dog Muffins
6. Rolo Stuffed Ritz Crackers
7. The Pizzadilla
8. Turkey Sliders
9. Chicken Salad Sandwiches
10. Corn and Black Bean Salad
11. Cofee Ice Cubes
12. Easy Homemade Mac and Cheese
9. Get coffee/tea/ice cream/etc. with 15 old friends
1. Frozen yogurt with Maise 
2. Coffee with Noemi
3. LA Adventure with Melody
4. Burgers with Meghan
5. Sushi with Nene
6. Smoothies and Beach with Nicole
7. Twinship Adventure Time with Sol
8. CSUN Tour with Yi-ki
9. Hike with Sarah A
10. Pizza with Meg
11. Get Shaved with Justin
12. Corner Bakery with Peter
13. Lunch with Kathy
14. Lunch and laundry with Christina
15. Denny's with Lengyel, Brendan, and Nate (and many others)
10. Physically record 10 family stories
1. No Pants
2. Mom
3. Dad
11. Memorize 10 passages of scripture
1. Proverbs 3:5-6
2. Philippians 4:4-7 
3. 1 John 1:9
4. Luke 4:18-19
5. Isaiah 61:1-3
6. Psalm 103:1-5
7. Psalm 40:1-3
8. 1 Peter 1:3-7
9. Philippians 4:12-13
10. Ezekiel 11:19-20
12. Find 10 new musical artists (or new albums) and recommend them to someone else 
1. JJ Heller - Loved 
2. Pentatonix - Radioactive (Imagine Dragons Cover)
3. Lindsey Sterling
4. Sara Bareilles - Brave
5. Ólafur Arnalds - Old Skin
6. Todderick Hall - Wizard of Ahhhs 
7. Birdy - Skinny Love and The District Sleeps
8. Ylvis - What Does the Fox Say and What's the Meaning of Stonehedge
9. The Head and the Heart
10. Beta Radio
13. Watch 10 movies I can't believe I haven't seen yet
1. Jumanji
2. The Hobbit
3. Butter (after watching it, I can't believe I hadn't seen - so good!)
4. Family Weekend (same deal as Butter)
5. 50/50
6. The Breakfast Club
7. The Amazing Spiderman
8. Fast and Furious: Toyoko Drift
9. Fast Five 
10. Fast and Furious Six
14. Give up 4 bad habits - turns out I focused more on developing new habits 
1. Gained - gratitude 
2. Gained - writing consistently 
3. Gained - consistant prayer times 
4. Gained - taking space for myself 
15. Run 2 5K's 
1. Glendale Downtown Dash
2. No official 5k but have run 3.2 miles several times since 
16. Blog once a week
1. January - success!
2. February - finished!
3. March - almost didn't make but pulled through at the end
4. April - completed!
5. May - done with!
6. June - accomplished!
7. July - win!
8. August - literally once a week and that's it
9. September - a struggle (NSO got the best of me)
10. October - not totally
11. November - thankfully yes :) 
12. December - will be done
17. Blog in another language (probably Spanish, maybe Italian)
1. Espanol 
18. Learn to drive a stick shift
19. Create a piece of art to frame
1. Modern Wall Art
20. Learn a new skill
1. Really wanted to learn how to play a musical instrument, but I learned how to do push-ups better and I'd say that's a pretty sweet new skill. 
21. Begin to learn another language (Spanish, Italian, and ASL are my top 3 to choose from now)
1. Practicing my ASL while at work. I have half of the alphabet down and a few words. It's a work in progress. 
22. Write something and send it to be published
1. Working on the poetry skills
2. Working on a book idea... possible portion here. 
23. Go out dancing
1. Had a dance party at Exponential and I busted a move or two
24. Write a song
1. Green Christmas
25. Face a fear
1. Heights Part 1: Standing on a cliff's ledge
2. Heights Part 2: Going up the Space Needle