70. Make 10 meals in the Crockpot.

For my first "official" crockpot meal (I have used my crockpot many times before - but never documented it) I chose a vegetarian version of J's favorite meal - chili.

This Black Bean Chili  was super easy to make - thanks to my dear friend, Mr. Crockpot.  I love the functionality of the crockpot - throw everything in, set to "low", arrive home from work to a home-cooked meal. yum.

This recipe used a ton of different types of beans - which I LOVE.  I, however, do not love the gross oil and added chemicals to the beans in the cans.  After rinsing and cleaning them they looked much better...

But I think after this experience, I will be buying dried beans.  Better for the earth and less gross things added = win/win! 

After cooking for close to 10 hours - the chili looked like this:

...and closer look

I topped mine with a little fat-free sour cream, while J opted for his go-to Frank's Hot Sauce.  Truthfully - I am not big on spice - but I added a bit to mine - and it totally kicked it up a notch.

J really enjoyed it - so it's safe to say this will be made again.  Plus, it was great to come home to a warm meal after the cold and rainy day we had!

71. Make 80 new recipes.

A few weeks ago I tried a new recipe from my girl Ray Ray and boy, did I pick a good one - we made RR's 30 Minute Stuffed Young Zucchini.

Sauteing the mushrooms and onions!

One of my favorite parts of this recipe was the yummy bread stuffing.  We chose to use a piece of my Dad's fresh home baked bread.

Yum!

After toasting the bread, buttering it, and throwing it in the food processor with the basil leaves - it looked like this.  Oh, and it smelled heavenly.

The zucchini were hollowed out and sprinkled with olive oil, and salt & pepper to prepare them for the filling. 

After filling the zucchini with the veggies and bread mixture - they looked like this.  They were ready for the oven and I was ready to eat them.

The final product! I wouldn't change anything about this recipe.  The sweetness of the bread and butter balanced perfectly with the tanginess from the veggies.  An overall win! 

38. Make a Newlywed Map.

I stumbled across this project a few weeks ago in my search for some DIY wedding ideas for our wedding next year. (yay!)  If you have never heard of a newlywed map - the idea is pretty basic.  Basically, it's a map mounted on foam board with tacks indicating the places you and your partner have traveled together.  Neat, right?

J and I chose to frame ours after completing it.  I used several Michael's coupons so this project only ended up costing us a little over $40.  Which is pretty good considering the map was ordered online.  (P.S. - National Geographic has a great selection of maps for this project.)

The materials!

After carefully applying spray adhesive and rolling the map over top, we used a rolling pin to help smooth out the edges.

When the glue was dry, we placed the tacks and then hung it right above over TV in the living room.  I really love maps as decorations. 

Below is a closer look of the map and the places J and I have traveled together.

All the islands from our January 2010 cruise!

Now we just need to work on getting some tacks on other continents! :)

15. Go to the NYC Transit Museum.

A few months ago, J and I took a weekend trip to Brooklyn to go to the NYC Transit Museum.

This might not be everyone's cup of tea - but for some reason - I am fascinated by the subways here in NYC.  My first few weeks of work - I would come home and tell J about all the crazy things that happened on the subway - to which he usually replied, "uh-huh, yep, seen that too."  But seriously where can you find ballet performances, a one-person band (complete with CDs for $1), and a man who would rival some gymnasts for greatest-back-flips-in-a-moving-car all in one place?

But what really made me interested in the subway was when I was stuck in it.  Literally.  One hot summer workday evening - I was coming home from work - only to find myself stuck somewhere between 42nd St. and hell on the E train.  The signals and tracks were down as an electrical problem promptly turned off all power in the train.  So let's re-cap - no light. no air. no announcements. It was bad.  So bad - that the train had to limp itself to the closest station - where its passengers had to walk through the tunnels to get onto the station platform.  It was in walking through the old rail tunnels that I had two thoughts:

1.  Thank god I had worn sneakers that day instead of flip-flops.  You do not want to know what is discarded onto subway tracks. gross.
2.  The tunnels look really old and creepy. I must know more about them.

Thus, my quest for NYC subway knowledge was born.

The Transit Museum itself is awesome.  I highly recommend it to anyone living or visiting New York.  It is built inside a shut-down station and houses old rail cars, turnstiles, old bus interiors, and various transportation artifacts.

Oh and you can climb inside everything.  Perfect for us big kids.

Original ticket booth from the station.

J inside one of the original subway cars from the early 1900s.

One of the neatest parts of the station was this working command center.  The green lights still light up and indicate trains traveling along the rail lines.

My only wish is for the platforms to look like the above one everyday at 9 and 5!