Friday, December 30, 2011

reflection and resolution

I love this time of year, the end of it. It's a time for reflection and resolution. love. it.


I thought I had done pretty well on my list of resolutions but it seems that I only managed to cross run a (baby) triathlon, make and stick to a budget, clean up and keep my computer organized (and blog reader) and make more lists. So that leaves me with seven overlooked resolutions...


1. Take an academic course.
2. Sew (crafty goodness!).
4. Get a tattoo (or two).
5. (Look into) taking piano lessons.
7. Compile Grandma's recipes and history of my house.
8. Spend more time outside off of my list. 
10. Stick to a cleaning schedule.

That's okay though, I had a pretty damn good year. It was spent training for the triathlon, loving Matt and the kitties, and friends and family, eating and drinking lots of good food and drink. 



I'm taking a smaller approach to 2012's resolutions. Last year I separated my word, balance, from my resolutions but this year it is a resolution of it's own. Expanding on balance and looking at my list of 26 things before 27, which I have yet to post, where I saw a lot of the word "conscious" I chose intentional. The word struck a chord with me while reading this post from Kyla. 


"taking a moment to savour the little moments that knit everything together can slow down time to a stand still." -miss roma
As I work to have more balance in my life with health, good food, laziness, excitement, solitary time and friendship I want to be more intentional with that thought process. I don't want to feel overwhelmed, but consider my decisions and the alternatives thoughtfully.

I'll carry this word with me through 2012 and while tackling these four resolutions.
  1. lose weight. get fit. but seriously, lose a serious bit of with like a final goal of forty to fifty pounds. whew! it's going to take some serious work and i'm glad (very, very, glad) to have matt along with me to get this done.
  2. save at least $3000! and be more financially responsible. this year i learned to really budget and next year i need to learn how to SAVE and not over spend.
  3. be on time. i tend to be a tardy to things and all this achieves is stress. seriously, i'm an adult. it's time to be timely.
  4. develop solid communication skills. i feel awkward in somea lot of social situations and i'd love to be the person who always felt comfortable and could put others at ease. 

That's it. That's all she wrote. Four goals for 2012.


tips on resolution making and keeping:
elsie.  no meat athlete. today's letters.


talking about resolutions, reflections and things for the new year:
kelle (home in michigan!) plus a birthday post.  rachel investing in 2011. gentri lee's fun goals. a recap of a full and lovely year from ashlee. a look back from lisa leonard. the lovely couple of today's letters 2011 review.

one little word:
cherish. up.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

wrapping & shopping & kitties

It's here now, Christmas eve eve.
It brings four Christmases, lots of family, 11 days off, celebrating the new year! I can't wait!

exciting things are taking place today like...
wrapping all the gifts and taking care of this mess.

hanging out with these kitties.

can you see our tiny stockings in the back? 
we'll be filling those with treats for the first time.

and grocery shopping for tapasChristmas.



Have a wonderful Christmas Eve Eve
& enjoy the celebrations!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

a holiday evening

Last night I spent some of the evening writing holiday cards, sniffing this candle (my favorite scent!) and drinking egg nog.


dazzling / original




It was lovely.

 Lulu thought so too.




Do you send Christmas cards? Would you like to receive one? I'd love to do a swap!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

pumpkin cookies!

You know Rachel Wilkerson's a-mazing pumpkin margaritas?!  If you've made them you'll remember!

Just so you know, you'll have a bunch of leftover pumpkin after you strain out what need for the margs. I didn't know what to do with it... but then I started seeing recipes for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Pumpkin* chocolate chip cookies? mmm. Sign me up!

I combined these three recipes... Streaming Gourmet's Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies / Just Bella's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies / Rachel's Pumpkin Up: Butterscotch Pumpkin Cookies. I'm not sure why I didn't just go with one (probably, because I wanted to feel bloggery. food blogger, with recipes and action shots, I. am. not. oh well), but the cookies are pretty fantastic so I'm not going to complain. 

Be sure to check out the recipes above and here is my varition!


WET INGREDIENTS
3/4 granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup canned pumpkin 
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 


DRY INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger

Add ins of your choice. Walnuts may be good. Today I did chocolate, butterscotch and white morsels!

 

INSTRUCTIONS
 
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add pumpkin and beat well. Then add eggs and beat well. Finally add vanilla and beat well.

3. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, about 1/3 at a time and mix well after each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula.

4. Spoon batter onto cookie sheets that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or lightly buttered. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let sit for one minute after removing from oven. Then cool on wire racks.

SUBSTITUTIONS!:
NO EGGS?! 1/4 cup applesauce & 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
NO BAKING POWDER?! 1/4 teaspoon baking soda & 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar


I'm taking these to our THIRD Annual Cookie Day at work! mmm. There will be all sorts of goodies. 


*I'd say 80% of the time I type pumpking.
 It happens to be a yummy fall beer.
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