40x40 Update

Speaking of being almost 40...

(Am I going to stop talking about turning 40 anytime soon? Probably not. We still have nine months to go! And after that, I'll spend a year talking about how I am 40. So gear up friends. We're in this for the long haul!)

I've made some progress in my 40x40 project, which is a list of goals I'm trying to complete before my next birthday.

One of my goals was to make deviled eggs, and I accomplished that but didn't like the recipe. A couple of weeks ago, I made them again with a different recipe, and they were much better. I feel like I can add deviled eggs to my resume now. 

Another goal was to read Atomic Habits, from which I shared some quotes HERE. When I read the book, I wasn't amazed by it, but now that I've finished it and some time has passed, there are 5-6 things that have really stuck with me that I've fallen back on repeatedly to keep me going. 

I also wanted to re-establish assigned dish days for my kids. We had a good thing going for a few years with daily chores, and then when COVID hit, that's one of the routines we lost. Back in January, I implemented new dish days for everyone, and we've been holding firm so far. We've gotten Zoe to the point where she can load and unload the dishwasher mostly by herself. We still have to oversee Eva (and she fights us so bad - oh how we dread Eva's dish day!)

The most exciting goal I've met so far is paying off our truck! I planned on taking until the end of the year, but after we filed our taxes, we decided to get it done! So last week, I paid the balance, and we now own three vehicles. Wait... four... if you count the motorcycle. Wow. That's a lot of vehicles. What a joy to have no car payments for a minute (but I think we'll need to replace the van soon. We're hoping to get a year or two more out of our current one).

In my journey to add ten new healthy recipes to our meal rotation, I have found four keepers so far:

1. Air Fryer Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw

2. Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa (my family - including Scotty - only like the chicken, but I like the avocado salsa)

3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blender Muffins

4. Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

I have probably tried at least 12 additional recipes that didn't make the cut.

So slowly but surely, I'm making my way through 40 things I want to do before I turn 40. 

Another thing from the list is that I want to get updated family photos (our last ones were in 2020, so it's time). I got the appointment made. Now I need to make clothing decisions. In 2017, I let my kids wear whatever they wanted for pictures, and they loved it, but the colors and patterns were all over the place. Then in 2019, I picked matching clothes for everyone, and it didn't jive well with Zoe (it also didn't help that we had family photos taken on her birthday - she was not happy about that). In 2020, I let the kids pick their own clothes within "fall colors," and they were mostly agreeable, and the photos turned out great. I'm not sure what we'll do this time. The 2020 tactic seems best - I let them pick what they want within a certain color scheme - that way they feel somewhat in control, but the photos still coordinate. 

The other day I was talking to my friend who happens to be 30 years older than me, and we discussed how she will be 70 on her next birthday, and I will be 40 on mine. She told me that she really enjoyed her 40's, and that's what I'm planning on - really enjoying my 40's! So when I write about how I'm almost 40, just know that I'm totally embracing it. I'm enjoying this last year of my 30's and looking forward to the next decade. Bring it on!