This morning as I was rummaging through a pile of office crap. I came across all of my iBooks. An iBook for those that may not have attended U of I’s Urbana campus is a paper student weekly planner. During both undergrad and graduate school I religiously wrote everything in my iBooks. So I kept all my iBooks since 1998 to be able to look back at what I had done when I was in college. As I started to read my iBook entries from 2000-2001 (the year I turned 20) I stumbled upon my TO BE COMPLETED WITHIN 10 YEARS LIST Oh No! I did one of the worst things ever with goals. I wrote them down and then didn’t kept them in sight so that I could evaluate and revise them if necessary. Alas, it has been 10 years and I guess now is as good a time as any to evaluate and revise them.

1. Obtain my Bachelor’s degree from U of I (DONE and DONE)
2. Travel outside of the country. (Honeymooned in Italy)
3. Get my black belt in Tae Kwon Do (1st Dan obtained in Sept 2004)
4. Get accepted to a prestigious graduated school and then choose one to attend. (U of I counts)
5. Obtain an advanced degree from a prestigious graduate school. (MS in LIS – August 2004)
6. Land a job. (DONE)
7. Get married. (Jason and I got married on May 27, 2006)
8. Get a book published. (I’ll have to think about what a want to write about)
9. Have two kids (1 girl and 1 boy). (NAILED IT! Nicholas & Akilah)
10. Buy a house large enough to host my family for the holidays. (DONE)
11. Make 6 figures $$$$$$ (YEAH I’ll keep working on that my current salary is available to the entire world online thanks to the DI)
12. Learn how to play an instrument. (I don’t think failing Expert Level in Rock Band counts)

So 9/12 out of isn’t too bad. I think I’ll need to break down the remaining 3 goals and make them SMARTER to see if I can actually check everything off this list one day. Now if only I can remember what I was rummaging through the office for in the first place 😉

Akilah has started trying some solid foods. Here is a couple of pictures of her in the high chair eating rice cereal

Akilah 4 months eating rice cereal

Akilah (4 months) eating rice cereal

Aside from starting to eat solids, she loves to make sounds and is becoming more mobile. Her latest accomplishments include scooting backwards, sitting up for short periods of time and pushing up on her hands and knees. She is not yet crawling but she may just surprise us all next month.

Nicholas is still full of energy and really enjoying his new classroom. Now with both kids at the ECDL there are more things to pack up in the morning so Nicholas gets to use the backpack that Granddaddy Solomon bought him (and pictured below). He carries his blanket and empty bottles/diapers for his sister in the backpack. Nico really enjoys being able to help out in the morning.

Nicholas with backpack

Akilah always smiles when she hears her brother’s voice. Even when Nicholas politely says “Be quiet and listen to me Akilah” she will smile, continue making sounds and at times break into laughter. So I guess it has started early (the younger sibling totally disregarding what the eldest says). Can’t wait to see what happens when they get older and want to play with the same toys 😉