Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Lessons

"There is a lesson in almost everything that you do, and getting the lesson is how you move forward. It is how you enrich your spirit." -Oprah Winfrey 

Monday, January 2, 2012

Resolutions

A friend of mine posted this online and I absolutely love it! I'm going to add a few of my own side comments for good measure.

Twenty New Year's Resolutions for Twenty Somethings
  1. Before you status update, Tweet, Tumble or Instagram, pause and say to yourself, “is it entirely necessary that I share this morsel of thought with my entire social network?”and if the answer is not, “yes, I absolutely must,” then step away from the Internet.  I wish some people would really take this to heart. Granted, everything I put up on the Internets is definitely not worthy of everyone's viewing and definitely not thought provoking, however, one of my favorite things that one of my girlfriend's says about people who use the Internet to express their emotions: "Write it in your journal, or put it in a card."
  2. Know which candidate you’re going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, and know why.
  3. Enough with the 14-day juice cleanses. If you want to lose a little weight quickly, eat less and exercise like crazy. If you want to lose a lot of weight slowly, do whatever Jennifer Hudson did.  I feel like we are all enough to understand that crazy diets do not work, but people in their twenties and older still do them.. I'll never understand why.
  4. If you really like the person you’re hooking up with and would like them to be your boyfriend/girlfriend, find a way to tell them, and hope for the best. If you don’t and wouldn’t, stop.  More people should take this route, and I should have done so as well in a few past circumstances. What's the worst that could happen?
  5. Find a way to save approximately 300 dollars and spend it on a flight to see a friend or family member who lives far away.  Noted! The experience of traveling to see one of your favorite people definitely outweighs three unnecessary trips to Target.
  6. Please stop liking the Kardashians, all of them. It’s not helping anyone, least of all the Kardashians.  More specifically, please stop paying ANY attention to Kim. I've actually fallen a little bit in love with Kourtney and Khloe, but Kim has got to be the worst person in America.
  7. Spend less than or equal to the money you earn each month.  Going to promise to at least try to work on this.
  8. Wear clothes that fit you, especially to work.  HA!!!!
  9. Call someone on the phone at least once a week, and speak to him or her for at least ten minutes.
  10. Start preparing now to get over the fact that Facebook is probably going to change again in six months. You’re not going to deactivate your account. You don’t know how.  I also don't know how to unfriend people or restrict them from my profile information. It's getting a big ridiculous... oh, look - there I go complaining about Facebook.
  11. Wait 30 seconds before you look up a fact you can’t remember on your phone, and try to remember it using your brain. This is what the olden days were like.
  12. Replace one terrible reality show you’re currently watching with one wonderful scripted show currently available on television.  Swap suggestion: Real Housewives of Anywhere for HBO’s Enlightened.  Unfortunately I can't follow this one. The RH franchise has sucked me in and I don't have much room in my life for anything else to watch.
  13. Try that food you think you don’t like but have never actually tried, unless it’s brussels sprouts. They really don’t need any more attention.  I'll never understand why people hate on brussels sprouts. They're delicious.
  14. Cut one person out of your life who you truly do not like and add one person who you truly do. Note: not on Facebook, on Earth.  I think I'm finally at a point in my life where I truly enjoy everyone in my life. I think... I'll have to get back to you on that because now tomorrow I'm going to get a phone call from that one person I really want to cut but can't seem to find the scissors to do it and I'll remember the fact that there are still people in my life that I truly do not like.
  15. If you’re still blacking out regularly, you should stop.  Who said 2012 meant not having fun?
  16. Volunteer once over the next 90 days.  You’ll feel really good about it, and probably end up volunteering again over the next 275.
  17.  Tell someone who you love that you love them on a more regular basis. To their face, not in a text.
  18. Back up your entire online life onto an external hard drive, especially your photos.  This is something that I seriously need to work on.
  19. Crap or get off the pot. This applies to whatever thing you’re not doing that you should just sack up and do already.  Wonderfully said.
  20.  And in the eternal words of Tom Haverford, “TREAT YO SELF!”  If you have never watched this video, do it now. And seriously, treat yo self.

Do I have to go?

Back to work and reality tomorrow after a very nice, long break! I spent it relaxing, sleeping in, and catching up with some fantastic people. It feels like the two weeks went by extremely slow, which was alright with me!

Along with the reality of being back to work, I'd also like to get a good routine down of working out at least a few times a week (pray for me?), and actually COOKING my dinners at home. This will hopefully save me money and calories! I've already cooked the last two nights at home, which I promise you is an accomplishment for this Spinster.

Last night I had my New Year's Day staple of cabbage, black beans, and cornbread, and tonight just some leftovers with mac & cheese and a hot dog. Maybe it wasn't anything extravagant, but I hate to make dinner so it's a big deal for me!

I've been collecting lots of recipes on Pinterest lately, and making sure they are all realistic for me. When I see just one spice that I don't have, or an item that I wouldn't know where to look for in the grocery store, I move on. I should probably get over my phobia of making anything with more than three ingredients, but... baby steps. I am excited because I received one of those recipe exchange chain emails and this time I finally participated. I passed along a fantastic pizza dip that I had at a Christmas party a few weeks ago -- the best part, it's super simple!! How simple? you may ask...


Pizza Dip
1/2 lb sliced pepperoni
2 8oz pkgs cream cheese
2 cans condensed Cream of Celery Soup
Cut pepperoni into quarters; add cream cheese and celery soup (do not dilute).
Put in Crock-Pot on low and cook for at least 4 hours, stirring often as it begins to boil.
It's done when the cream cheese turns orange from the pepperoni.

New Year, New Shoes!

I've been promising myself forever now that I'll start working out, or at least get back to walking on a regular basis, or do SOME sort of physical activity. The only pair of shoes that I have to work out in right now are beat! I've had them for probably 5 or 6 years and they are some bulky Asics. I decided to treat myself to a new pair of running shoes in order to help with my motivation to get active. I've looked all over because a) I'm picky about what I like, b) I'm really cheap when it comes to this kind of stuff. I don't want to spend more than $50 on running shoes that, let's face it, won't get a ton of use. (At least I'm being honest with myself.) So yesterday, I ventured to Kohl's with my sister and just happened upon this pair that I loved! They were also only $44, what a steal! Here's to hoping I get some good use out of them in 2012!