I’ve got some exciting news to share with you. I can officially report that I completed two items from my bucket list.

The first is that I graduated from my MFA program. I’ve obviously updated you on this, but I thought I should just report it here to make it bucket list official.

The second is that I pet an alligator. I love alligators. When I was younger (I think I had just graduated high school), I pet a random alligator in a local mall in a small summer petting zoo they had set up for little kids. I always wanted to do it again, and I had the chance this past weekend at Mr. O’s work picnic (which is really like a huge carnival, not a picnic). Not only did I get to pet the gator, but they let me hold it! I’m pretty excited about this all. Side note: I have no clue who that little kid is in the photos. I wish I could have cropped him out, but since I couldn’t, I just whited out his name badge.

 Did y’all know I have a page on the blog just for my bucket list? If not, check it out and let me know if you can help me make any of these goals happen.

Day 177: 7/29… Wolverine and Fenway both want each other to stop what they are doing and play with their toys.
Day 178: 7/30… Snacktime at work
Day 179: 7/31… Dying hydrangea.
Day 180: 8/1… Halftime at Wolverine’s first day of football.
Day 181: 8/2… Sunflower.
Day 182: 8/3… The only pic I have from this day. Weird pic where I think my fingers were moving as I grabbed the phone?
Day 183: 8/4…Family date night at Dave and Busters. We won the jackpot.
Day 184: 8/5… Making dumplings with Mr. O.
Day 185: 8/6… Grateful for my AC on a muggy summer night.

Day 168: 7/20… Looking for clovers at school.
Day 169: 7/21… I graduated today!
Day 170: 7/22… In case you didn’t notice, these peppers may be hot.
Day 171: 7/23… Making dinner. I was spoiled while at school.
Day 172: 7/24… Flowers from my brokers at work on my first day back.
Day 173: 7/25… Another graduation gift from a coworker- an azalea plant.
Day 174: 7/26…Tank Concert. Not the best pic.
Day 175: 7/27… Trying to get Fen to sleep on the floor, not the bed.
Day 176: 7/28… Outside with Fenway.

NOTE: I originally wrote this post at the end of June! I just forgot it in my draft folder I guess!

I’m obsessed with Pinterest. I have been for a long time. Once I thought I had the obsession controlled, but like any addiction, when I signed back in a few months later to “browse” because I was bored, I was instantly hooked again. I just can’t control myself; I’m a pinner.

So this past Saturday Wolverine and I started a countdown until his birthday. We used some colored paper, a hole puncher and a marker to make the tear off dates for the countdown. It was “cute” but certainly not that crafty. I’ll be honest and explain that when I say Wolverine and I made a countdown, what I mean is that I threw together a countdown while he played with his dad… but it was for him. So I promise I’m not insulting a future six-year-old’s creativity. He just agreed that making a countdown would be fun. That was his level of excitement.

So while the original countdown worked, I just wasn’t pleased with it. I knew I had pinned a few countdown photos on Pinterest, but I couldn’t for the life of me find them in my boards. My boards are super disorganized right now and totally need to be decluttered. Anyway, on Sunday morning I decided to search my pins one more time, and I found it!

The lovely ladies of Eighteen25 shared a free printable on Skip to My Lou and I had saved the pin in my Can I DIY board! So I downloaded and printed it and then Wolverine and I set off to find a frame to put it in. This was a little tricky, because when we all moved in together, I packed up much of my home-accessories (like all my frames). Finally we found a 8×10 frame, and at that point, both Wolverine and I didn’t care what the frame looked like. That’s it folks! Now we have a fancy schmancy wipe-off frame to countdown the days until his birthday.

This is soooo much cooler than what I had originally done.

Day 141… June 23: Bowling Birthday Party
Day 142… June 24: Setting up the tent in the backyard
Day 143… June 25: Salad
Day 144… June 26: My nephew sat on a wet bench at Wolverine’s Tball game
Day 145… June 27: Pho for dinner
Day 146… June 28: The kids watching the cars drive by
Day 147… June 29: Amazon recommends books from my friends in my MFA program. Go buy them!!!
Day 148… June 30: Beers outside at night
Day 149… July 1: Father’s Day gift for Mr. O circa 2011

Day 87: My bureau 4/30
Day 88: Taco Salad for lunch 5/1
Day 89: Inside my nightstand 5/2
Day 90: Wolverine is a white tiger! 5/3
Day 91: The insides of my car at night 5/4
Day 92: Growing “bugs” with Wolverine 5/5
Day 93: Our new plants: zinnias and carrots (we have parsley too, but it didn’t make it into the pic) 5/6
Day 94: HULK SMASH! 5/7
Day 95: It’s true. Eating out is better than doing the dishes sometimes. 5/8