101 in 1001 Update #76

 #76 - Play pickleball with the kids - COMPLETE! (February 20, 2026)

 Our kids play pickleball 2-4 times a week, and I've been begging them to teach me how to play! We went out and played for an hour and a half and it was so much fun! I can't wait to play again!

101 in 1001 Update - #66

 #66 - Complete the 2026 Coffee Crawl - COMPLETE! (January 7, 2026)

Another annual tradition that I LOOOOOOVE doing with Bri!! I will hate it when she's off at college and I'm having to do this alone!

101 in 1001 Update #61

 #61 - Go ice skating with the kids - COMPLETE (March 1, 2026)

This is one of my favorite traditions to do every year! We have so much fun doing this, and were able to bring along a couple of friends this year!

101 in 1001 Update #32

 #32 - Complete 3 puzzles - COMPLETE! (February 7, 2026)

I've actually done four so far! Great new hobby!

101 in 1001 Update #29

 #29 - Thrift trip with friends - COMPLETE! (January 10, 2026)

We always have the best time doing this! We have great thrift stores in town and we love stopping at The Swanson for lunch halfway through our day!

101 in 1001 Update #15, #37, #38, #40, #50, #70, #77, #80, #81, #96

Years ago, my sister and I started doing 101 in 1001 lists. They were very trendy and I loved it because, as you know, I love a checklist!

The premise is that you make a list of 101 things you want to do in 1001 days. I like to do some that are super easy and then some that are a little more challenging.

I started this back up this January and I've actually made some pretty good progress! I'd like to update as I complete things, so I'll update as I go along!

#15 - Track my macros for 30 days straight - COMPLETE! (March 5, 2026)

I'm back on macros and feeling amazing. My trainer helped me figure out my macros. Right now I'm at 130g protein, 57g fat, and 155g carbs. I've actually hit those for 35 days straight so I'm loving the consistency. Next week I'll be switching up my 6-week workout cycle with her, so I'll revisit these numbers at that time and see if they need any tweaking.

#37 - Get my annual mammogram - COMPLETE! (January 27, 2026)

#38 - Get my annual skin check done - COMPLETE! (February 24, 2026)

#40 - Donate 100 items from the house - COMPLETE! (January 20, 2026)

#50 - Go through my blue binder and either complete the activities or trash them - COMPLETE! (January 13, 2026)

#70 - Unsubscribe from 20 email lists (January 3, 2026)

#77 - Unfollow 50 people on TikTok who serve no purpose for me (January 3, 2026)

#80 - Track HRV and RHR for 30 days straight to see patterns (February 24, 2026)

#81 - Watch 5 documentaries (February 8, 2026)

#96 - Organize bathroom middle drawers (January 4, 2026)

Firework Salt Painting

I saved this craft on Pinterest YEARS ago. I finally set aside some time to do it with the kiddos. It shouldn't have taken us that long to do it - it's such an easy craft!

I got the idea from here.

All you'll need is:

• Table salt
• Paper (Construction paper or thicker)
• Watercolors
• Brushes
• White glue

Draw out your design with the glue. Do it thick! You can also draw with a pencil first, and then trace over it with the glue.

Sprinkle salt generously over the glue. Get it all covered! Shake off excess salt.

Get your watercolors wet and lightly paint onto the salt. Don't drag too much. The watercolors should start running if they are wet enough.

Let the project dry completely. That's it! We are by no means professionals, as you can see by the pictures, but we have fun!

101 in 1001

I have done this twice before and I think it's time to do it again! I love these lists and I can't wait to accomplish some of these things!!

Recipes and crafts

1. Make 10 new recipes

2. Use my bread machine at least 3 times

3. Try 5 local restaurants that are new to us

4. Make candied apples

5. Make a floral lantern

6. Make pretty envelopes

7. Create glamour glassware

8. Make a candy cane decorative stand

9. Make candles in teacups

10. Make snowball soap surprises

11. Make creme brulee

Travel

12. Go to one Macon Bacon game

13. Go to one Macon Mayhem game

14. Go to Savannah Children’s Museum

15. Visit Atlanta Botanical Gardens

16. Ride the Santa Express at Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

17. Visit Tallulah Gorge (whole family)

18. Visit Gibbs Gardens

19. Take the kids to the Hogg Mine

20. Visit Helen, GA. (whole family)

21. Go to Callaway Gardens (whole family)

22. Go to a monster truck rally

23. Go to Fernbank Museum of National History

24. Visit a planetarium

25. Go with the family to the Biltmore House

26. Take the kids on the SouthStar Trolley in Augusta

27. Go to Wild Animal Safari (whole family)

28. Go to Noah’s Ark (whole family)

29. Visit Pebble Hill Plantation

30. Go to Andersonville

31. Visit the Biblical History Center (whole family)

32. Do the CFA tour in Atlanta (whole family)

33. Visit the World of Coke (whole family)

34. Visit Babyland

35. Visit The Breman Museum (whole family)

36. See one show at the Center of Puppetry Arts

37. Go to Tellus (whole family)

38. Go to Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class

39. Visit the Tubman Museum

40. Go to 5 fun events that aren’t local

41. Hike the Ocmulgee trail again

42. Hike the Amerson River trails again

43. Go tubing with the kids

44. Visit Radium Springs Garden (whole family)

45. Visit Providence Canyon (whole family)

46. Go to the Georgia Southern museum (whole family)

47. Visit the CDC museum

48. Go to the Habitat for Humanity Global Village & Discovery Center

49. Visit the Vidalia Onion museum

50. Go out of state for our girls trip

Health-related

51. Run a 5K.

52. Complete Lee Labrada’s full plan at least once.

53. Get my hearing checked

54. Do 10 pullups in a row.

55. Do 30 pushups in a row.

56. *Personal health goal*

57. Walk/run/bike 100 miles

Giving back

58. Pay for the person behind me in a drive thru

59. Adopt a child for Christmas every Christmas

60. Extend a loan on Kiva.org

61. Help with Party with a Purpose at least two times

62. Volunteer with Meals on Wheels at least 3 times

63. Work at a food bank at least once

64. Give a minimum of $100 to Stephanie and Daniel

65. Do 20 acts of random kindness with the kids

66. Give a minimum of $100 to Christian and Hannah

Financial

67. Make $100 a month on Mturk at least 12 times (1/12)

68. Save $1,000 in a separate account from our savings account

69. Pay off the Discover card.

70. *Personal financial goal*

71. *Personal financial goal*

72. Have 5 months minimum with no eating out

73. Do at least one no-spend month (for “wants”)

74. Make $200 on Mercari or eBay

Just do it

75. Create an emergency car kit

76. Read 50 books per year.

77. Catalog every book in the house

78. Finish all the pork in our freezer

79. Leave Stephen 10 random love notes throughout the 1001 days.

80. Leave Brianna 10 random love notes throughout the 1001 days.

81. Leave Hunter 10 random love notes throughout the 1001 days.

82. Finish my chronological Bible plan

83. Get a passport

84. Get recertified for CPR

85. Vote in Georgia

86. Get a Georgia drivers license

87. Organize pantry and buy organizing tools (make the pantry look nice)

88. Spend one weekend unplugged

89. Complete the #100happydays challenge

90. Find an escape room that Bri can do 

91. Do 25 of the things on my Pinterest boards

1. https://thetalbertreport.blogspot.com/2019/10/firework-salt-painting.html

92. Have family pictures taken

93. Clean the photos off my phone

94. Mail at least 10 snail mail letters

Business-related

95. Level-related goal for R+F

96. Customer-related goal for R+F

97. Business partner-related goal for R+F

98. Go to convention at least once

99. Financial goal for R+F

100. Learn how to really utilize my Instagram profile

101. Complete 70 things on this list by July 11, 2022.

Third Week of June AKA Daddy Was Gone

No, you didn't miss a week. I didn't take ANY pictures during the second week of June, I guess. Or else I've already put them in another blog. Who knows. This week in June Stephen was gone to Camp Anchorage with the youth group so I was a single parent for a few days!

But first - we got Rock Band from the Blaise yard sale fundraiser that I helped out at. It didn't come with drumsticks but we quickly remedied that by using some that the Kirbys gave Brianna when she was just a baby! Brianna and Hunter LOVE the drums. It is too funny to watch them play!

For Father's Day we were able to have a cookout with Stephen's family. His grandma has chickens, cows, and ducks so Brianna was thoroughly entertained!!

Here she is showing me around the chicken coop:

Now she is showing me how you feed the ducks:

Inside, Grandma Betty reads to Brianna and Hunter. She knows that even when the kids keep on moving, they are still paying attention to a good story!

Classic picture of Bri - in motion - jumping on a couch.

A few days later at Grandma and Grandpa's, Grandpa caught a snake for the kids! Just their size. He was just a tiny garden snake. Perfect for them to watch in a small bucket.

#14 on my 101 in 1001 list (kind of forgot about that, didn't ya!) - Grown Sunflowers. Done and done! These are the seeds that were given to us by a volunteer at Brianna's school. She thought they were watermelon seeds. This picture doesn't do them justice - they are now over 7 feet tall!

We also had baby birds. I never did learn what type of bird laid these eggs. Brianna and I diligently checked on them every day, taking care not to scare the mama when she was on the nest. Within just a couple of weeks we were rewarded by seeing the new baby birds! Just two days later they were already gone from their nest. I would love to see more before the summer is over!

And our blueberries finally turned! I love having blueberry bushes plus the blueberries from Sandhills Farm 2 Table. That means we ALWAYS have blueberries in the fridge and the freezer and that makes me happy!

And... lima beans! Right next to our sunflowers! Very random. We only got three beans, never harvested them because it didn't seem worth it, and the plants are dead now.

Stephen was gone to camp with the youth from church for one week so I kept his spirits up by sending him pictures from my phone!

#93 - Purge our freezers at least one time

I have to admit that one thing I've gotten really good at over the past year or two is meal planning. (If you're unfamiliar with my "frugal" blog, check it out here. I blog about my weekly meal plan ever Monday.) But there are still times that I wonder what is lurking in the bottom of our chest freezer, and what's gotten pushed to the back of our inside freezer. Now, our inside freezer is at about 75% capacity, and our chest freezer outside is at about 40% capacity (or less perhaps) so all they needed was a little organization!

Yesterday when I had a babysitter available (the hubby), I completely emptied out both freezers and rearranged them in a way that will hopefully make meals even easier! Plus, we have tons of frozen venison (from the last 3 deer Stephen has killed, I believe), tons of random meats (we buy a huge package from a local butcher), and tons of frozen vegetables (clearanced items and leftovers from our food co-op). It's just nice to know what you have. I mean, I knew we had a lot of venison cube steak, for example, but I had no idea we had almost 15 pounds worth. Same with our venison burger and ground beef. I had no clue that we had over 20 pounds of this stuff. I mean, I never went out and purchased meat, but I just didn't really know. You know?

It's so nice to go to the outside freezer now and see all my pretty freezer meals on top and know that there is a plethora of meat to choose from underneath. All neat and tidy. And only the essentials are inside - breakfast items like waffles and burritos, as well as quickie items like breadcrumbs, frozen berries, and cheese. Never again will I pay full price for cheese wondering if I actually have cheddar hidden somewhere in my freezer. Now I know!

#8 - Make homemade cream of chicken soup

I never seem to have "cream of..." soup on hand when I need it, although I consider it to be a pantry staple. So last night when I needed it for a recipe and didn't have it, I figured it was easier just to make it myself then to run out to the store. Turns out it really is that easy.

#95 - Find A Way That Works For Me...

#95 on my 101 in 1001 list - Find a way that works for me to keep up with chores, appointments, etc.

Two kids, one spouse, running the food pantry at church, teaching youth group, doing part-time work mystery shopping for three companies, and finding any other money-making opportunities to make up for my lack of a job outside of the home doesn't leave a lot of free time.

Include household chores, spending quality time with my kids and spouse (together and separately), making sure I spend quality time reading my Bible and praying, taking extra time to make things myself so I don't have to buy them, couponing so that I don't have to pay full-price for stuff, and blogging on three blogs, and free time has just evaporated into a poof!

When Stephen deployed last May, I decided to take the time to figure out how to keep up with all my chores and all my appointments without getting confused and without feeling stressed. I scoured the Internet looking for something that would help me. Most of the time when I found something that worked for someone else, it didn't fit my lifestyle. But eventually, I found something. And then it worked for six months. And then it continued to work. Suffice it to say, I love this schedule. I don't feel stressed about the household unless something else takes up more time than usual. For example, when I do the Angel Tree, I usually am out at the church around 30+ hours a week for three weeks, not to mention making sure my personal shopping is done and everything. But those hours that I'm out at the church instead of at home tend to throw a wrench in my perfect cleaning schedule. Fortunately, I have an understanding husband. :) Sickness is another wrench, vacation is, and having family in town. Sickness is the only "wrench" that I dislike - all other reasons are more important to me than having a clean house!!

So I am sharing this with you. I hope that it helps you. I hope that if it doesn't help you, you can tweak it to make your life easier.

I even figured out how to make it a Google Document... I think. Hopefully this link will take you to my Excel Spreadsheet and maybe you can edit it and print it out for yourself? I'm not sure - I've never used Google Documents. I accept advice. :)

If you enlarge that picture you can see my spreadsheet for October as an example. You'll also see there are many instances where I didn't get my chore done - obviously there are going to be plenty of "it's just been one of those days" days!

Daily chores:
First I have daily chores. Every day my goal is to exercise, have no dishes in the dishwasher that are clean or dirty in the sink, do one load of laundry from washing to drying to folded and put away, sweep the kitchen and dining room, clip and file 25 coupons (so I don't fall behind), and spend time on my devotions. I do make the beds every day but I didn't put it on the spreadsheet because it's just a habit.

I read two great posts on one of my favorite blogs that helped me decide what chores I wanted to do every day. Here is her opinion of three chores to do every morning and here are her three chores to do every night. I don't necessarily agree with these chores but it may help you.

Weekly chores:
Every week, at some point, I have the goals to clean the bathrooms, mop the floors, clean out the refrigerator, dust all rooms, clean the windows, clean my car out completely, change the sheets on all the beds, change the towels in all the bathrooms, clean the microwave thoroughly, and sweep out the garage.

I usually change the sheets on Mondays just because it's the beginning of the week and I like a fresh start. Same thing with changing the towels on Sundays. Other than that, I might dust on a Tuesday this week and on Friday next week. I love not feeling like I have to dust on Wednesday or I have to mop on Friday. The schedule is flexible.

Every other day chores:
Every other day I vacuum and make sure the counters are decluttered and sanitized. Obviously these chores get done more often if necessary, like all the other chores.

When Stephen came home from deployment I realized this schedule worked well while he wasn't here, but when I added in quality time with him, I had less time to spend on household chores. I asked him to take over the chores of vacuuming, sweeping the garage, and doing dishes. Of course he was perfectly willing to do it - we'd pretty much always split chores, but primarily because I just couldn't keep up with it all. Now I was learning how to keep up with enough that he can come home from work and relax and just hang out with us rather than worry about the house.

Let me know if you attempt this and it makes your life easier. That's my hope for you! And if not, maybe it will at least give you some ideas. Some of you probably have kids who can do these chores as well. I know Brianna has helped with unloading the dishwasher, laundry, and cleaning the windows, but there's just not a lot that a 2-year old can reach! Or that I trust her to do just yet!!

Good luck!

#77 - Get Rid of 365 Material Items

I'm so tired of all this stuff we have accumulated (the blame is shared between Stephen and I, although for some reason we have a lot MORE stuff since having two kids!) so when I made my 101 in 1001 goals I wanted to get rid of 365 items.

So far I've donated/sold/trashed 940 items in just over one year.

That doesn't count anything that wasn't already in this house (i.e. if I bought a sweater and then donated it, I didn't count it towards the number).

175 of those items were books. Whoa.

I would keep counting these items but I'm getting really tired of having to pay attention to writing down everything I get rid of. I would say we're doing pretty good with getting rid of things - the real question is, are we taking in less than we are giving away or are we still just accumulating more stuff??? I don't know the answer to that. I do know that on vacation I bought four long-sleeve shirts which I desperately needed, and I came home and got rid of eleven shirts I knew I would never wear again. I guess as long as we don't hang on to the stuff that we don't need, and buy the stuff we do need, it should always balance out.

Go here to read a great post on clutter that I put up on the blog back in May.

#17 - Make Cookie Cutter Ornaments

Finally, I get to cross something else off my 101 in 1001 list!

Yesterday Brianna and I (and kind of Hunter) made cookie cutter ornaments. What an easy craft, and they turned out so cute!

I stopped by a local thrift store this morning and bought some Christmas cookie cutters - a sleigh, an angel, a teddy bear (I guess that's not really Christmas...) and a gingerbread man. They were 25 cents each. I had scrapbooking paper that Leila left here after she designed Brianna's nursery. (Thank you Leila!) And I already had the beads and ribbon I used. CHEAP!

First, you're going to want to trace the ornament onto a piece of patterned paper or you can photocopy pictures onto card stock. I did it on a cutting board because for my first ornament, I cut it out using an X-Acto knife. I highly recommend just using sewing scissors - the knife worked well but I had to go back around and fix the jagged edges.



Trace the ornament onto the paper:


Cut it out:



Dab craft glue (I used tacky glue) along the cookie cutter's edge. Press the paper in place and let dry. Thread a ribbon through a needle; poke between paper and cookie cutter, and wrap ribbon around top of cutter. Slip a bead over ribbon's ends; knot.



As you can see, I tweaked it a little bit. The beads I had wouldn't fit through the ribbon I had (and liked), so instead, I just used two beads and knotted the ribbon at the top.

Voila! Easy Christmas ornaments, and these would make a cute gift too!