2010 Goals Update

so far 2010 is going swimmingly! well, mostly. things are crazy busy at work, home life is fabulous; however, i have been fighting a wicked case of homesickness. boo on that! although, living a ridiculous number of miles away from your friends and family can make one feel sad from time to time. so i guess the feeling is normal?

on a lighter note, i am cruising though my goals! yay for me!

we tried a new dinner recipe this weekend: chicken stuffed with goat cheese (with herbs). it was pretty good. i've discovered i'm not a huge goat cheese fan, but it did taste yummy with the chicken! probably not a recipe i'll be jumping up and down to make again, but it was a new recipe!

i've been eating more fruits and veggies by eating a banana or apple in the morning and broccoli with hummus in the afternoon. woot.

took 2 dance classes this week: jazz and hip hop. loved the hip hop, but i'm feeling meh about the jazz dance class. the choreography wasn't really my style; it felt more like modern dance with jazz hands (jazz hands jazz hands jazz hands!) instead of jazz dance. so i'm thinking about jumping into ballet this week. it's always good to get back to the basics of dance.

i started the office clean-up! holy cleaning batman! but, i can now see the floor and my desk, so i call that progress! just need to find a few organizers, touch up the paint (possibly change the paint color...), add an area rug, and figure out how to decorate the blank wall. any ideas?? my sewing machine is the only thing on that wall.

i haven't yet started a budget, but i have started being extremely cautious of how we're spending money. i think that's a good start.

so there's the update! so far so good! let's hope i can continue this progress into next month.

new years goals 2010

i'm not one for making new years resolutions. i never stick to them and usually forget what the resolution was my mid-january! so instead of making a resolution, i'm going to make a list of goals and monitor my progress throughout the year. i'm hoping that by posting my goals, i'll be able to hold myself more accountable and actually remember the goals i made. so here we go!

for 2010, i will take better care of myself: mind, body, and soul.

Make a real budget and stick to it.
Read the Bible in it's entirety.
Make at least one new recipe per month.
Try snowboarding.
Be more patient by remembering that people are doing the best they can with what they have.
Eat more fruits and veggies.
Take dance classes twice a week.
Audition for the dance scholarship in August.
Finish my office/creative space.
Stop complaining about things beyond my control. Instead of complaining about things within my control; change them/make those things better.

i think that's it for now! it's a pretty solid list, i think. i'll be updating as i complete goals :) maybe make some new ones mid-year of i'm making good progress!

Happy New Year everyone!! Make the most of each day, you never know when your time is up :)

snow tires!

i adore living in the great state of minnesota. i honestly do. so much to do, so many places to go, and pretty pretty snow! the only thing i hated about snow is driving in it. perhaps it's because my lil' civic couldn't handle the slippery road conditions, causing white knuckles and migraines. sure sliding around corners is fun when no cars are present. in fact, i'll admit, i secretly would make my car slide around corners for the fun of it! however, i don't enjoy the sliding around corners when other cars are present. or, oh, i don't know, trying my hardest to get up a slightly snowy hill to find my tires just spinning spinning spinning, until 10 minutes later, i'm finally up that small hill with a long line of traffic behind me, cursing at me, and God knows what other sorts of gestures!

for the past couple winters, my husband and i have talked about buying snow tires. "they'll make such a big difference!" he says. yea right. i was skeptical. extremely skeptical. my solution was to sell the lil' black beauty and get a big SUV with 4-wheel drive. unfortunately, the budget says no go on the new car. so finally this winter, we ordered the snow tires.

i drove with them for the first time today. oh. my. God. i have been missing out! what a huge difference! still a little slidey at parts, but not nearly as bad as it had been! in fact, driving in snow is no longer a terrifying experience for me! sure the commute this morning was long and slow, but i didn't have to worry about spinning out or not being able to make it up that hill or sliding around a corner into the cars stopped ahead!

my advice to those in snowy climates: SNOW TIRES!

lessons learned in ice resin

i decided to play with a new medium today for making necklaces: ice resin!! the wonderful thing about ice resin is that i can create those beautiful dome necklaces that i adore so much. today was the first trial using ice resin and here's what i learned:

1) mix a smaller amount! i had to throw away too much unused product. next time i'm mixing half of what i did today! (1/4 of a cup next time...)
2) mix gently! otherwise, lots and lots of bubbles to get out. no fun.
3) thoroughly seal the paper before pouring the ice resin. oh yea, and allow adequate dry time for the sealed paper.

the most important lesson learned today is lesson 3. if the paper isn't sealed (and dried) thoroughly, the ice resin seeps through the paper causing a dark, discolored look. which = not pretty!

next time i'll take my time and not be so anxious to play with the resin and hopefully my necklace will turn out fabulous! wait. not hopefully. it WILL turn out fabulous!

p.s. as soon as i have fabulous necklaces made, i'll sell them on etsy.com and i'll post a link to my online store at that time.

it's the most wonderful time of the year...

so i just got done with the 1st annual cookie baking/mimosa drinking/movie watching day. what a success! we made super yummy cookies, drank super yummy mimosas, and then watched one of the best christmas movies ever: elf! the only thing that would've made today even better is if my az ladies could've been here :) days like these make me so happy yet so homesick at the same time. strange how that works!

wheat thins...

wheat thins are my crack. i can't leave any wheat thins in my line of sight or I will eat them all. seriously. all of them. i'm addicted. i have to hide them from myself or i'll eat an entire box! damn you, wheat thins, for being so tasty!!

and i digress.

Open Letter to AZ Weather

Dear AZ Weather-

While I appreciate your desire to remind those in the great warm state of AZ what cold weather feels like, I do have one concern. I will be visiting AZ for Christmas and have but one request. Please please please bring back the warm weather Arizonans have come to know and love, if only for the week of 12/23/09 - 12/29/09. You see, living in the frozen tundra known as South Central Canada AKA Minneapolis, MN, I already remember what cold weather feels like. In fact, the current temperature is -5 degrees. There is no need to punish the already punished. So it is with great respect and admiration that I ask you, AZ Weather, to please warm up to at least mid-70's while I am visiting.

Sincerely,

Me