New things in the New Year

Last year (wow, it's NEXT year already!) I was invited to join a group of people in a project. The project is called Counting By 12s. Everyone involved will be completing 12 different goals a month for 12 months. Meaning I will have done 144 things by the end of next year.  Guess what, you can join in too! 

I wanted to share my 12 things with you as I will be posting about this throughout the year. Don't worry, I will still be posting recipes and tutorials (even more of both!) Ready? Now remember, I will be doing each of these things 12 times (one time each month!) 

1. Volunteer 2 Hours. I want to give more this year. More of myself. I want to volunteer a minimum of 2 hours every month. I haven't volunteered in a while and I am really looking forward to it. 
2. Finish One Piece of Artwork. I have been neglecting art for far too long. I want to have 12 pieces done by the end of the year! I want to explore new mediums and revisit some old favorites.
3. Take Leela to One New Place. There are so many things I planned on doing when I became a mom.. most didn't happen the way I planned, of course. I still want to take my daughter to new places so this is one I'm really looking forward to! I want to take her to OMSI, maybe a play, music shows, etc. I'll figure it out along the way I suppose!
4. Cook One Unfamiliar Food. I'm just trying to stretch my culinary self here. I am usually game to try new foods but I just forget to check out different markets to find them! Hopefully we'll get some great new recipes out of this!
5. Give Away One Box of Unused Items. I'm sure that many of us could simplify. We have so much junk that I start to feel anxious. It's the first and I will have a box filled by the end of the night. AND this isn't a box filled with garbage. It's only things that could be useful to someone else. So all of those icky stained baby clothes? Trash. Nice and barely worn clothes that aren't going to be used anymore go into the box. 
6. Learn a New Hula Hoop Trick. I've been talking about this FOREVER. I want to be GREAT at this one day. So while one new trick a month won't make me a master in a year, it will push me to keep consistent with it. 
7. Record and Post One Cooking Video. Oh..em..gee! This one is so scary for me. I really want to do it though! I think that it helps you A.) Understand my babbling and B.) Get to know me better. If you have any suggestions for videos please post them in the comments below!
8. Random Act of Kindness. I'm just going to do something for someone. NOT pay for everyones Starbucks because well, really, if you can roll through the coffee shop you probably don't need as much help as other people. Well yeah you may be spending your last dollar on sweet sweet coffee but then you probably need more help than I can offer! (hehe!) 
9. Create and Post Craft Tutorial. Alright, ya'll! I'm going to be posting more tutorials this year!!! I love making things so I'll be posting at least once a month with a little how-to. 
10. Surprise Date Night.  Because we've only been out like twice since my 2 year old was born. One of those times was a HORRIBLE disaster. I'm going to plan some secret things to do and then get a babysitter for the evening/day/whenever. 
11. Explore New Ceremony or Gathering (Or Temple, Church, Etc) I love learning about everything. I would love to experience more faiths and how they celebrate together. I'm going to go to 12 totally different places and report back on what I saw, how I felt, etc. I'm so excited about this one. And nervous! What if I dress inappropriately  Or say the wrong thing? I'll have to get over that, am I right?!
12. ONE BIG THING. This, is obviously, the big one! I've got ANOTHER list of 12 things that I want to do in the year. They are harder, scarier or just things I want to try but not necessarily repeat. For example I have participate in a 5k mud run on the list. I can't do that every month but I can do that in June!! I also have one that is to wear a dress every day for a month. I am a jeans girl for SURE so this will be crazy hard for me. Who knows, maybe I'll convert to dresses only.. maybe I'll be cursing it by day three. This is the beauty of this project! The rest of my BIG THING list is *secret* for right now but I will be revealing each month as they are done. 

NOW.. if you'd like to see what's up with this whole thing and play along please visit the website: http://www.countingby12s.com/ 

** I am also committing to posting to the blog consistently and I will be adding a new post each week where I link up to some of my favorite recipes, tutorials and WHATEVER from other people! 

(Here's a picture of tomorrows recipe to add a bit of color [and hunger pains.] It's baked vegan chicken fried steak with black pepper miso gravy. YUM. YUM YUM!!!!)