30by30: 2.) New Dinner Dishes - Cheese Fondue

For Christmas, my step-mom got me this gorgeous fondue set from Williams-Sonoma. My husband and I made a delicious cheese fondue from our own home. Though not particularly complicated, neither of us had ever made fondue before. It was a lot of fun and I think we will use it a lot. We figured out some short cuts for next time. We had some fantastic Artisan Roast Garlic bread to dip and enjoyed some medium grade champagne in our wedding Lenox glasses. It was very fun and romantic. What a wonderful way to wish in 2012!

30by30: 8.) Works of art, Sugar riding a Velociraptor

This work of art was inspired by several things. First, I recently purchased the new book 642 Things to Draw and that made me create my own version of it with additional drawing options. This drawing was inspired by one created by The Oatmeal, a Seattle cartoonist who I admire. The cat is my Siamese, Sugar , and she is riding one of the all time terrifying animals, a Velociraptor! I was terrified of that scene in Jurassic Park when the V-raptors learn how to open the doors ... shiver. Anyways, my cat is clearly awesome because she is flaunting her glory. I have done several drawings in pencil, ink and colored pencil for the two books. Between the two, I think there are more than 1,000 different subjects to draw from! I love writing prompt books, so having a "drawing prompt" book is fantastic. :)

30by30: 12.) Learn how to drive a stick - COMPLETED

This is the first accomplished task from my 30 before 30 list. I worked on driving the Volvo a lot more often and it got smoother and smoother. I figured out to deal with handling a hill and I really didn't feel bad about driving it at all by the end. If I ever participated in the Amazing Race, I would be able to figure it out.

This was a real challenge for me at the beginning, so the fact that I did it is a huge accomplishment!

30by30: 25.) Empty Storage Unit - COMPLETE

This storage unit we had to get when mom died. We cleaned it out and closed it. Man, that felt great to be saving ourselves $100 each month!

30by30: 1.) Graduate school, update

I will begin my final term at George Fox University in January 2012. I'm really ready to be done. I love school but it's taking a lot of energy to do both the work samples, working full time in the school, and doing a full-credits worth of homework. Being a teacher will always be a lot of work, but reducing the homework element will be helpful for my sanity in the long-term. At this point I just feel spread a little too thin. Christmas break will hopefully help make me a little more calm.

30by30: 8.) Works of art, Unit final, Middle School poetry books

To become a Middle School Language Arts teacher, I taught 10 lessons of poetry in a local Middle School. That wasn't all it entails, but that is the short version of the story. For the final summative assessment, the students put together poetry books of their own poems they completed during the two weeks to give to someone, if they should so choose, as gifts for their families over the holiday break. I remember doing this in 6th grade with Mr. Faber when he made these great Seashore books bound with our own drawings and data of different things found in tide pools and then we took a class field trip to the tide pools. One of my favorite elementary school projects!

For the project, the students used watercolors to decorate the covers. Each student was provided with cotton balls to smear the paint to make an abstract image. Inside the book was a dedication page, a Purpose of poetry page, a found poem, a quatrain and a concrete poem. Then I went and laminated and comb-binded them. They turned out looking really nice!