Three short list items for January

Hey there - I have decided that I have three other short list items for January.  They're easy:  1) no slouching - literally - sit up straight, tummy tight; 2) use my DEMY and 3) use my crock pot more often, for something more exciting than chili or taco soup.

Sitting up straight is just a given.  I often find myself slouched over, hands in front of my belly like I'm in pain or something.  Not true.  Just comfy.  But I am sure that I can be just as comfy sitting up straight, with correct posture.  I can only benefit from it in the long run and I don't look like I was just punched in the stomach either.  Win/Win situation.  Now to implement it .... starting .... now.  If you see me slouching, remind me please.  (Thanks to my loving husband for often pointing my slouching out!  Keep up the good work and keep me in line, please.)

My DEMY is an electronic cook book whick links up to a personal account on KeyIngredient.com.  It is very cool.  With Keyingredient.com, you can either search their site for user input recipes or you can enter your own recipes onto the website.  You create your own personal "cookbooks" however you want to arrange them.  I think so far, I have breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktails.  I don't have many of my own recipes entered but I did hi-jack some recipes from a recipe site which gave Weight Watchers point information for each of the recipes.  Its just a matter of deciding what to include and doing it.  Using the DEMY is easy but that means I would have to PLAN dinner.  Something I'm not very good at.  I guess that could go on my list for next month.  I will have to put some thought into that one.

Lastly, my crock pot.  I love the crock pot.  I am clueless on how to best utilize it's convenience.  I've only made a few things in the past few months in it and they've generally resulted in either chili or taco soup.  Nothing over the top - nothing crazy - nothing .... different.  I have my eyes peeled for good crock pot recipes.  Does anyone have any to get me started?  Using the crock pot during our busiest nights (Mon, Wed and Thurs) would be a Godsend ... although Monday is taco night at our house and any type of deviation from that gets me in a world of trouble from DinoBoy.  Let the crock pot recipe search begin ... resume ... continue ...

2010 - A Year of Challenges

Although we're already past the mid-way mark into the first month of the new year, Happy New Year! Best wishes to you and your families for a happy, healthy and safe 2010.

2009 was a year of challenges in our household, to say the least. Those challenges have put a great many things into perspective and caused growth that I didn't know was even possible at this point in my life. Without getting into the nitty gritty, I am thankful for the growth opportunities yet looking forward to a new year with a clean slate and plenty of more growing, learning and loving.

On this note, I am reading a new book, called The Happiness Project. It is the story of how one woman searches for her happiness. This is not to say that she is not happy in her life already but that she's reached a point where she wants to know "can I be happier?" and devises a plan, after extensive research on the subject of happiness, of how she can be happier by doing different things each month in order to be happier. They're not life altering goals but little by little she is striving toward smaller goals which make not only her, but those around her happier as well.

While I have not finished her book, but I intend to quite soon, I know that I want to embark upon this journey as well. Let's start with what might not always be as obvious as I want it to be: I am not unhappy. I love my husband, my kidlets, my dogs, my house, my work, my friends and family. I think that there is room in my life for more happiness. The way I figure it, the more I have, the more I emit, the more I can give to those around me who may not be quite as happy as they want to be.

I haven't come up with an entire short list of goals yet, but I can tell you that one of my January goals will be to update my blog more often than quarterly. Last year my blog was sadly forgotten in the hubub of life, even though it is one of my ways of releasing stress - talking about my day's journey or my week's journey ... it was pushed to the wayside because I thought there were other, more important things that needed to be done.

So, today is the first of my many new blog entries. Sit back and enjoy the happiness, confusion and craziness that has become a part of the daily life in our household. Feel free to give your comments, I love to see them.

Happy Hump Day!

Turkey Day 2009 - Gaylord National