Fantasy Football

32. Play fantasy football.

I developed an interest in NFL football in 2010.  When my students told me that I had to pick a team to support, I chose the Indianapolis Colts.  I began to spend my Sundays watching bits and pieces of the games and developed a pretty decent knowledge of teams and players.

When a friend from college posted on Facebook that they needed one more person to complete their 14-person league, I jumped at the chance.  I've wanted to try fantasy football for a couple of years now.  I was (somewhat) confident that I had enough knowledge to have a decent season.

This league chose to do an auction draft.  I'm not sure that I would ever choose this option again.  I spent three hours on my computer "bidding" to get the players that I wanted.  The first player I purchased was Andrew Luck because, obviously, I wanted him for my quarterback.  That didn't work out so well since he was out for most of the season.  I would up, once I went to sleep and autodrafted for the rest of the evening, with Matthew Stafford for my back-up QB.  Luckily he did alright and I survived until I picked up Ryan Fitzpatrick and, though he too was injured, Peyton Manning.

The Patriots defense and kicker helped me place third in this league.  Not too shabby.

A few weeks after joining my first league, a friend asked if I wanted to join her league.  I figured I had nothing to lose, so I signed up.  Aaron Rodgers was my QB this time.  I'm pretty convinced that if he had ended the season with higher fantasy numbers that I would have won this league.  Instead, I took second place.

I think I am glad that the season is finally over.  I would become pretty obsessed with checking the scores of the games on Sunday and (sometimes) overanalyzed which players to start.  I would definitely play again, though.  Maybe I'll be able to find a league to join for the 2016 season.

Items completed: 50

NYE

36. Do something fun for NYE.

What comes to mind when you think about doing something fun for New Year's Eve?  It's taken me a couple of years to cross this item off of my list because I kept thinking that I needed to go to a party in order for my night to be fun. 

This year, however, I realized that going to a party on NYE isn't something that I consider fun.  Instead, I spent the majority of my evening at a friend's house enjoying good food and conversation. 

Around 11:30pm, my boyfriend and I opened a bottle of champagne and rang in 2016 curled up together.  In my mind, it was a very fun and relaxing evening, which is just what I wanted.

Items completed: 49

Sunset at the Beach

85. Enjoy a sunrise sunset.

When I created my list, I decided that I wanted to enjoy a sunrise.  As a morning person, this is something that I do frequently, especially when I swim at 5am during the summer months.  I often get to see the sun rise over the mountains while in the water.  It's breathtaking.

I recently went to Florida for the first time and found myself on the beach.  My boyfriend and I decided to spend our last night enjoying the sunset at Treasure Island.

There's a (somewhat) funny story here.

Everything was going our way.  We drove the short distance to Treasure Island and were easily able to find a parking spot. However, once we parked, we realized that we both forgot to bring our wallets!  We searched the entire car and were able to scrape together $1.25 in coins, which allowed us to spend an hour on the beach.  We spread out a blanket, cuddled together, and enjoyed the beautiful view.

Is there anything better than curling up on the beach and watching the sun set? I can't think of anything at the moment.

We wound up staying past our allotted time limit and, luckily, we did not receive a ticket.

I did not want to leave.

Items completed: 48

Star Wars Premiere

24. Attend the midnight premiere of a movie.

I am a morning person.  It's easy for me to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to go swimming, but staying up until midnight is pretty difficult. 

Luckily, most movies now premiere earlier in the evening.  I purchased tickets for the 8pm showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and was in bed before midnight. I was pretty excited about that.  I had a wonderful time at the movie with my boyfriend, even if we were in the second row.  We're not quite nerdy enough to get there more than an hour before the movie.

Items completed: 47

Buying A Real Tree

29. Buy a real Christmas tree.

It's been many years since I have had a real Christmas tree in my home (or my parents' home).  This year, I got to enjoy the fresh pine smell for three weeks.  Honestly, I think my cat enjoyed the tree more than I did.  She loved to hide among the presents and got a kick out of the ornaments. 

Items completed: 46

Adventures in Sonoita

87. Visit a vineyard.

Is there a better way to spend an afternoon than tasting various kinds of wine?  I am not an expert on wine, so I enjoyed spending an afternoon tasting all types of wine in Sonoita.

 Hops and Vines in Sonoita, AZ

 

 Hops and Vines in Sonoita, AZ.

What I learned: 

• Mulled wine is amazing.  
• There are so many wineries to visit in Sonoita.  We went to three but there were several that we did not get to experience.
• It is possible to get a bit tipsy on small samples of wine.
• Arizona makes some pretty spectacular wines.

Total items completed: 45

A Cook in the Making

75. Learn 10 new recipes.

As I've said before, I've always wanted to learn how to cook.  With a LOT of help from my boyfriend, I learned to make the following items from scratch:

1. Blueberry muffins



2. Blackberry pie bars


(Thanks for the recipe, Jackie!)

3. Strawberry peach pie

(Thanks for the recipe, Jackie!)

4. Angel food cake


(Okay, I didn't make this one for my birthday, but I don't have a picture of the one I did help make.)

5. Chicken pesto pizza



6. Stuffed manicotti

Sadly, I don't have a picture of this one. :(  

7. Breakfast burritos

The best breakfast burritos are the ones that your boyfriend makes for you before a long swim invitational. :)

8. Scrambled eggs


I know that this one sounds a bit silly, but I learned an entirely different technique for this that involves butter. 

9. Apple pie


I made this (crust included) on my own.  The lattice may not have looked perfect, but the pie was delicious.

10. Chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes



Items completed: 44