Kitchen and Food Updates

#44 - Research and acquire a combination blender/food processor (Completed) - Bought a KitchenAid Stand Mixer instead!
#45 - Research and acquire a working immersion blender (Canceled) - Turns out my works! Thought it was broken.
#48 - Try 24 new recipes and blog about them (14/24) - Been cooking, but only posted 3 recipes since the last update.
#55 - Go to 5 new-to-me non-chain restaurants (5/5).  Went to Luna (mexican near us) for my birthday, went to Bella Italia with a doubletakedeal coupon.  Probably went a few other places as well.  This one's done.
#56 - Do pick-your-own fruit (Completed).  Did this through my Strite's CSA. Yummy apples!

Money & Finance updates

#33 - Invest $5k into my Roth IRA ever year until I turn 30.(2/4) - Put in my 2011 investment today.
#36 - Make a spreadsheet with 2 months worth of receipts to create a loose budget (Completed).
#37 - Change over to a zero-balance budgeting mentality (Completed).
#41 - Finish consolidating half.com books (Completed).

Home and Hershey updates

Making a bulk update due to the fact that even though I haven't touched this blog in ages, things have still been accomplished!  I was waiting to have pictures, but that obviously isn't happening, so just checking things off at this point.

#23 - Re-pot my pearl plant and get it a trellis (in progress) - got a trellis!  Just need a pot large enough now.
#24 - Utilize the storage space in the couch (completed)
#25 - Re-arrange living room furniture to better accommodate new computer (completed)

#15 - Go to The Hershey Story

We went for my birthday in 2011.  I was seriously impressed with the layout and the content of the museum.  The story of Milton Hershey as well as the story of the town and the company was told in an engaging way.  Their memberships are a great value, too.  When we went in May 2011, they had a clock exhibit that was simply fascinating as well.

#14 - Participate in the Hershey Library Summer Reading Program 3 times (2/3)

I participated in the Hershey Public Library's Adult Summer Reading program the summer of 2011.  Yes, I am only posting about it now.  Lame! 

My prize from the reading program.  Haven't read it yet, though.

Here's the list of books I read (and totally haven't blogged about):
Heaven is for Real (by Todd Burpo)
Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women (by Nora Ephron)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (by J.K. Rowling)
A Thousand Country Roads (by Robert James Walker)
Anansi Boys (by Neil Gaiman)
Gentlemen of the Road - Audio Book (by Michael Chabon)
Dirk Gently's  The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Audio Book (by Douglas Adams)
One Fifth Avenue - Audio Book (by Candace Bushnell)
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul (by Howard Schultz)

#71 - Visit Heather in Boston

I took a road trip to New England the summer of 2011 and got to spend some quality time with my friend Heather!  Boston was great!   I also enjoyed a day trip to Maine (through New Hampshire) and traveling home through Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.

#16 - Go to Wamsutta Outlet in Lancaster

Mike and I drove around the outlet where I thought the Wamsutta Outlet was, and apparently it is no more.  But, I tried!  Fortunately, that was not the purpose of the trip or I would have been seriously pissed off.  So, this item is cancelled.  If anyone knows where I can get awesome deals on linens (esp seconds), let me know!

#48 - Try 24 new recipes and blog about them (11/24)

I've done 4 new recipes that are posted now.

Amazing Apple Muffins

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

Luscious Lemon Cheesecake

Rich Double Chocolate Torte

The muffins and the oatmeal were both for church functions and the cheesecake and the torte were for Easter Sunday. The Torte I had made a while back, but never managed to pots it for some reason. It was just as delicious as I remembered.

#79 - Start and maintain a flossing routine (daily)

I have been flossing consistently for just about 6 months now. My last post about this was in December which was shortly before I got a retainer that I am wearing at night. I floss every night before I put it in! Some nights I remember to floss but forget the retainer. This is obviously an on going process, but I am going to mark this complete now that it has become a solid habit (a good one! YAY!).

#66 - Do a complete organization on my gmail account (6500+ emails!)

I have purged my inbox down to about 40-50 items. Obviously this number fluctuates, but I have been keeping it down for the last few months. The last task that needs to be completed before I can call this item finished is to go through all my labeled items and consolidate and purge.

#58 - Quit Farmville, #59 - Get a Castle Age army of 200 people

I quit farmville quite some time ago, but totally forgot it was part of this list! I also quit CastleAge around the same time, so that item is canceled.

#55 - Go to 5 new-to-me non-chain restaurants (3/5)

Every April, some of the restaurants in Hershey get together for a Restaurant Week event. This usually means some great deals on local fare at the restaurants that will soon be packed with tourists. Mike and I decided to go to The Bears' Den at the Hershey Lodge. The atmosphere is fun and the decor is impressive between the faux rink boards and the section of the wall that looks like the outside of the Hershey Arena. Mike had a Chipotle burger and I had a delicious fish sandwich on ciabatta bread. We ordered from the special restaurant week menu, but there were a ton of moderately-priced items on the full menu as well. Popcorn was provided as a complementary appetizer, so we opted for dessert with our meals instead of more appetizers. The chocolate torte that I had was fabulous and Mike's dessert was delicious as well. All in all, a lovely dinner!

#50 - Buy The Bread Baker's Apprentice

I have "acquired" The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread a few weeks ago through one of my survey sites. Score! It arrived super fast and is really a beautiful book. I started reading through the introduction, but I got interrupted and haven't picked it up again. I will make an effort to do so soon!

#40 - Develop a low-maintenance, passive-income side-hustle

Well, this item has taken a big hit.  I mentioned last time that my articles on Bukisa were earning between $0.20 - $0.30 a day.  Well, in December, Bukisa changed from having in-house payouts to utilizing Google's Adsense.  Bukisa already used Adsense ads, but now instead of being paid through paypal from Bukisa, our revenue goes directly into our personal Adsense accounts. The Bukisa payout level was $10.  The Adsense payout level is $100!  Also, I am no longer making any residual income on a daily basis (ie, per view income) and am only making per-click income.  At a total of $2.11 so far since December. 

Bummer.

So, I'm not really sure how to improve these earnings.  I'm branching out a bit as I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, so to say.  So far, I have written a few articles for InfoBarrel which also utilizes Adsense as well as Amazon Associates (the amazon affiliate program).  My articles there have a total of 100 views combined, but I am still working on building my article base.

I've been back-linking using RedGage which also earns a bit of money... only about $0.80 in the last 3 months, but that amount will grow as I add more articles and photos.

I've also started reading a few blogs to get the ideas rolling of other ways to start passive income streams.  A few of the blogs include:
http://www.my4hrworkweek.com/
http://www.murlu.com/
http://www.escapingthe9to5.com/

http://cashcampfire.com/

I hope to continue to learn about passive income and find an inspiration (and motivation) to start a larger project.

#72 - Take a trip to NYC

We went to NYC with my family to see the Radio City Music Hall Spectacular at the end of December.  It was a fun day!

Mike and I in front of the tree at Rockefeller Center!