I’m feeling so inspired right now! We’ve been looking at thrift stores, furniture stores, used furniture stores, online, Craigslist, etc. for the perfect furniture pieces we need in the house and we’ve mostly had no luck, but I’ve found lots of inspiration online and even a couple pieces in a few stores that might work (and not break the bank!) so I’m getting pretty excited! I can’t wait to share more updates and changes around our little house.

More importantly right now, I need to share the results of my 20 Before Twenty project. (Let’s just pretend the results of this aren’t almost 2 months late!) I had planned to update it on my actual birthday (May 13th), but not only did I turn 20 that day, but my family was in town and we also moved into our new apartment. It was a pretty busy weekend and after that I got all caught up in house updates and summer and traveling home to visit and vacation. So without farther ado, let’s see how I did:

1. get engagement photos taken

Done! I still haven’t completely edited the pictures or posted them on here yet, but you can see a sneak peek here and here or the practice ones here.

2. officially set the date for the wedding

HA! This we set the first time here and then turned around and changed it here. It is officially June 2, 2012!

3. try cooking new things with new ingredients (I think we might pick at least 1 new recipe a week)

Overall, this has been my favorite thing on this list. It started as a 20 Before Twenty challenge, but then I just got really good at incorporating it into real life all the time. I could still be better about it, but I’ve made a ton of new recipes, used a lot of new ingredients and gotten really good at not always making the same thing over and over again since I started this project.

4. write a substantial poem

I might be kind-of cheating on this one. I didn’t really write a “substantial” poem per say, (but then again what qualifies as substantial is anybody’s own opinion anyway) but I have written several smaller ones and I signed up for a poetry class for next semester, so I’d say that counts enough. 🙂

5. launch Drew & I’s combined design business (We’ve been working on it and I’m excited about it!)

This one has been done for a while! So long, I totally forgot that it was part of this 20 Before Twenty thing. Read about it here. Visit our website and learn even more about what our business has to offer here.

6. finish the stuff I need to do for my mom’s bow business

This one is almost completely done. I’ve re-designed her site, store, business cards, product tags, made a custom order form and re-designed her logo. I just need to order the print products. She also needs a few more pics for the online store. Even though I haven’t posted about it yet (I’m waiting until I get the finished print products in and can post about it all together) you can still check out her site here.

7. officially decide on a location for the wedding & reception

Well, this wasn’t actually completely official by my 20th birthday, but it is now, so I guess that counts. I didn’t have a chance to go home and visit the possible wedding locations before then, so I couldn’t have completed it by then anyway. You can read all about our wedding venue here.

8. go bridal shopping and try on my first wedding dress!

My older sister, Blair, and I went wedding dress shopping and I tried on my first wedding dress in Tennessee over my Spring Break this year! I found one I really liked! I went again a month or so ago with my mom and tried on more but I still like the first one I found the best! Hopefully when I’m home again we can all go and I can try on that one again and make sure it is the one! 🙂

9. sew something on my new sewing machine I got for Christmas (I have several projects I want to do)

This is where my 20 Before Twenty makes a sad face. I failed on this one. I have several projects lined up that I want to do, but during the school year I didn’t have the time to stop studying long enough to sew anything. As soon as school ended, I had to pack up all my stuff and move into Drew’s apartment and I didn’t want to unpack my sewing machine and all my sewing supplies to just have to pack them up again to move into our new apartment a few weeks later. Hopefully soon I’ll get it out again and finally give it a whirl. In my defense, I did sew this, just not with my new sewing machine. I’m also currently working on a hand-sewing embroidery sampler as well. 🙂

10. Have a Corks N Canvas date night with Drew (more about that here)

This one we decided to veto, or at least hold off on until a later date. It is expensive to go and we would rather go with a group of people. I would like to go sometime with all my sisters, but they all have to come visit me for that to work! 😉 I was also in a painting class last semester so I was painting all the time anyway. I did however get Drew to work on a little painting for his office though (although he still hasn’t finished it).

11. write another creative non-fiction short story

I didn’t write an official story to count for this one, but I blog about non-fiction stories that happen in my life on a daily basis here, so I think that counts.

12. get a job for this summer

Well, this is a tricky one. My goal for this summer was to get an internship at a design or stationary shop here in New Orleans. So far that hasn’t happened. However, I’ve been back and forth this summer between New Orleans and Nashville/Southern Illinois/vacation, so if I had gotten an internship, it might not have worked out so well with my schedule. The summer isn’t over yet though, so it still could happen. I have been working though. I babysit and I also work for P.S. Designs. Running your own business is always a full time job. So far this summer I have done two whole blog designs, designed three logos, helped Drew with the graphics and coordination of multiple websites, designed and printed playdate cards and business cards and I still have more to do. 🙂

13. start a bible study that Drew & I do together

I bought Drew a new Bible and an engaged couples Bible study book for Valentine’s day and we’ve started it together. We should have already been done with it by now, but at least we’ve started it.

14. Make a budget/spending plan for Drew & I

This is going well so far. Especially now that we have utility bills in addition to rent and his car payments. We are good at saving money on things and not spending money on things that we don’t have the money for. We have enough for what we need and make it all work. We do need to put more money aside specifically for wedding expenses though.

15. Continue my healthier-self diet & start going on more walks

We started out really well with this, but we’ve slacked a little lately on the potatoes/pastas/cookies/ice cream, but overall this semester we have eaten much healthier. We both drink only water most of the time (except for lemonade occasionally) and use pretty much all fresh vegetables, herbs, fruits and meat. Throughout the spring we got better at spending more time outside and taking walks, but now that New Orleans summer is here, we don’t get nearly enough exercise or outside time. I hope to improve on that soon. I’ve been thinking about getting a bicycle lately too. I think it would be nice to go on bike rides together in the early evenings. 🙂

16. work on decorating Drew’s apartment so it feels more “homey”

We did work on this a little, but then soon switched it from Drew’s apartment to the new apartment. The new apartment definitely feels more “homey” than Drew’s old apartment did, although I think it was majorly helped by the addition of separate rooms and our stuff being combined together. It has also helped by our additions such as the closet renos, real furniture like our couch and desk, laundry/organizational updates, and by curtains and decorations and other little things. It is definitely still a work in progress though.

17. finish my 50 hours of community service for my scholarship that I need this semester

I was left rushing to finish this one towards the end of the semester, but it is all done. 🙂

18. make my creative portfolio of all my art and design work

I originally planned to do this with all my artwork, but I decided to hold off on that for now. I improved so much in my art over the last few art classes that I have taken that I feel all my old work is pretty outdated. I’m going to wait to work on this until I have more newer pieces for my portfolio. I did however partially finish this with my design work. I added my logo portfolio to our website, here, and I’m in the process of getting my design and print portfolios in order.

19. get my first apartment

That one is pretty obviously done. It is all I ever talk about anymore. 🙂 See our new house when we first toured it, here, and right before we moved our stuff in, here.

20. work on the design for my wedding invitations and other various wedding planning

The design for the all the wedding paperie hasn’t been officially decided on yet, although I have had about a thousand and one ideas for it. It is really, really hard to design things for yourself. I have the hardest time making a decision on any of the designs that I come up with! Although I feel like I am getting closer. I might have a few semi-final ideas. 🙂 Other than that, I have the wedding venue booked, the photographer booked, I’ve talked to caterers, I’ve talked to florists, I’ve tried on wedding dresses, I’ve bought my earrings (random, I know), and I’ve got a million and one inspiration photos for bridesmaids dresses, table decor, and the list goes on and on. I still have a lot to do, but I do feel pretty good about what has been done so far. 🙂

So, where does that leave us?

Completed……………..13
Not Completed………..1
Vetoed…………………….1
Revised…………………..3
In Progress………………2

Not too shabby. To my standards at least. Which luckily are the only ones that count in this project. I just have to finish up my design portfolio, print my mom’s business stuff and decide on my wedding paperie. Oh yeah, and break out the sewing machine. Wish me luck! 🙂