Eating Right!

Hi everyone, is it Friday yet? These 6am mornings are not fun at all, I feel so tired still, where is the energy I had just before Christmas? Hopefully it will return soon.
 

At the start of a new year I always like to focus on good health and eating right. I honestly can't say that I'm doing that too much yet. There is still a load of 'junk' (by which I mean delicious chocolate) laying around here that I can't seem to stop eating! And I am in the terrible habit of snacking after dinner on cheese and crackers (there's no chips in the house, we've eaten them all and I refuse to buy more!). I am trying to eat right and have been buying fruit like crazy. One main reason is that Kristen is eating it now too. She would rarely eat fruit, watermelon during the summer and that was about it, hardly ever an apple, sometimes a strawberry here and there, but this past week she's been eating the berries I've bought, and the cherries. Since last weekend I've been to the store 3 times to stock up on more fruit. This was my latest purchase yesterday. . . . 

 Blueberries were a great price this week, only $1.98 per tub, the raspberries were nearly $5 for the same size! No raspberries for us this week ;-) Those oranges you see are delicious, I forgot the name of them, honey somethings? Only $4.98 for the whole tray! And they are so juicy and sweet, I eat like 3 or 4 a day!

I was trying to play with the 'Bokeh' on my camera, getting the front of the oranges in focus with the back of the picture blurred!

I know I've mentioned this magazine before. . .

There are some yummy recipes in this month. Cheryl made a yummy chicken soup with sweet potatoes this week, she gave me some to try. 

 It was really very tasty, also had kale and mushrooms in it.

I'm thinking of making this for dinner tonight, but using chicken instead. Kristen likes couscous and broccoli so I may just put everything on her plate separately but I'll do mine like this with the oranges.  And I will try and NOT snack on the cheese after dinner. Perhaps a greek yogurt and fruit will be my dessert :-)

Are you eating healthy? Or are you still nibbling on the Christmas Candy like me? !!

The fog is lifting. . .

Hi everyone,

I can't believe we're already in to the 10th day of this new year and I'm only just starting to feel somewhat 'normal'. I've hardly done anything since I packed the Christmas decor away (ok, truth be told it's STILL not all put away, some boxes are still in the dining room!), so I've hardly got anything to blog about ;-) 

I finally got in touch with my ENT (Ears, Nose Throat specialist) office yesterday, hoping to get an appointment to see my Dr but he is booked solid this week til Friday morning! No kidding, I'm sure I'm not the only one around here suffering badly with all these allergies. Thankfully they were able to call in a prescription to my local pharmacy and I went yesterday to pick it up. Can I tell you I'm already feeling SO much better this morning. SO MUCH better that I actually went up to the gym with Cheryl at 8.30am!  My hearing is still a bit 'fluffy', feels like theirs cotton wool stuck in my left ear, but it's not as bad as yesterday so I know it's improving every hour. 

I'm still not doing much around the house, other than laundry, dishes, knitting and reading ;-)  So I have no pictures to share. But I can't have a post without pictures (I sometimes do, but it's rare!), so here's one final Christmas photo (or two), I found these pics on my other camera and forgot I'd taken them. Remember the pretty candy cane vase I made . . . 

 The week of Christmas I bought some lovely red carnations to put in it - they lasted all the way through new year too :-) Sadly last week I threw the vase away! The can was all rusty from the water and there's no way this would last a whole year in the garage with the other decor, I would think the candy canes would melt once it got over 100 in there during the summer. It was a cheap make, just $2 for a box of canes, soI'm sure I would do another one next year.

 You can see more of Jason's Christmas windmill in this picture. We've always wanted one of these and I found one a couple of years ago on Ebay.

And with all my talk of knitting, if you're wondering what's on my needles at the minute, it's this. . . . 

It's called the Dahlia Cardigan. Mine is in a light blue. I've knit most of it and am working on the first sleeve at the minute. I'll be sure to share photos once I am wearing it :-)

Down Time, and a review!

I've not done much this week, not much at all. I thought I was getting better from these allergies, but they've just eased off a little, not totally gone! And they're still draining me, I still have headaches daily, still stuffed up, still coughing, I have hardly any energy at all -what's a girl to do?  Well, I could knit or I could read . . . . Or, I could do BOTH :-)  And of course that's exactly what I have been doing, knitting and reading - two of my favorite things!

A few months ago I was contacted by a local writer! Jeremy came across my blog then emailed me to ask if I would be interested in reviewing a book he was soon to have published. I wasn't sure whether I would or not at first, I'm not really that good at writing reviews, I either like a book or I don't, or I think it was just ok! But I thought about it and finally said yes, I'd read the book and review it for him. I thought at the time the book was a novel, but it's actually a collection of short stories.  To be honest I've never really read short stories other than a few from 'Chicken Soup for the Soul'!  

A passionate December love affair.
The meeting of an unexpected traveler.
The consequences of protecting a young new acquaintance.
A journey into an unknown past.

In the stories of While I’m Still Myself, Jeremy Lane eloquently describes the life changing impact of the brief encounter, showing that life and love are not shaped by an entire lifetime, but by the fleeting moments with unexpected people in unexpected places.

I've really enjoyed reading these short stories, I'd like to read more. "A Brief Encounter"! It makes me think about the reasons people come in to our lives, some for a reason, some for a season. I would think it must be hard to write a short story knowing you have to develop the characters quickly so as to captivate your audience - just my opinion, because I really know nothing about writing stories - but isn't that what we like about the novels we enjoy, getting to know and like (or dislike) the characters involved. I think Jeremy has done a great job with these stories, the characters were warm and very likable, I like his style of writing. I can see myself reading more of his stories on my Ipad at bedtime. You get a nice sense of accomplishment when you read something from beginning to end, just before you turn out the light :-)  I don't want to say anything about the actual stories themselves, for fear I would give too much away. I will say I think my favorite story was 'The Guest' :-)

While I'm Still Myself is due for release on January 10th. You can also check out some of Jeremy's other books on his website JeremyMarkLane.com They're available on Kindle, Nook and other devices!

 

My thanks to Jeremy for the opportunity to review his book.  

Set Backs!

I was hoping to accomplish so much this week, most especially getting the Christmas decorations put away, and after that I wanted to make a start on 'prettying' up the house!  I love January for that 'fresh start' feeling, I'm always ready with great intentions of decluttering, cleaning out cubboards and closets, organizing my 'stuff'. Surfing around blogland AND Pinterest really gets me motivated - but am I doing any of this? NO!!!

Instead I'm feeling lousy, feeling run down, feeling like I have no energy whatsoever, and to be honest it is BUGGING THE LIFE OUT OF ME!! I hate when I don't feel 100%. Just two days ago I felt great, ready to get back to the gym (I went and worked out for 75 minutes with Cheryl), ready to start eating healthy again, planning menus and grocery shopping for all that yummy fresh stuff I love. And today, I can hardly pack a few baubles away without having to take a rest on the sofa! It's no fun I tell you. I do feel better than I did yesterday, but still, I just don't feel like I have enough energy to do all the things I want to do - hence the reason I'm sitting here at my computer desk for a rest, after putting more of the upstairs Christmas stuff away.

One day at a time . . .  isnt' that what they say. I'll just do a little, one day at a time.

So, did you notice my new header? I changed out the background from Christmas to 'every day', and I added a photo to the header, that was taken a few years ago when we first moved to Texas. This was part of the view from the house we had built. Kristen was only 3 yrs old at the time - I thought I'd share with you the 'front' of that picture that Jason took that day.Why? Because I haven't taken any new pictures this week . . .

and  . . . because I LIKE it :-)

OK, so rest over, I guess I should go try to do something else around the house. All of the Christmas stuff is packed away, I'm happy to say, but it's still sitting in the hallway waiting to go in to the garage. Once I get a little cleared up I am thinking of taking photos of around here and adding a 'Home Tour' to my blog! Don't hold your breath though, it could take a while. Have a great day, I hope you're feeling 100%, and if you're not, I hope you get better soon.

Cedar Fever?!!

I can't believe I'm sick again :-(  but I think this time it is just allergies. Cedar Fever has started in Austin, for those who don't know about it it's when the Cedar trees here start to pollenate.

From December through February, many people experience an itchy, runny nose, sneezing, nasal blockage, excess tearing and itchy eyes. Others complain of itching of the palate, throat, or ears, and postnasal drainage. Some have fatigue, mild headache, facial discomfort, sore throat, partial loss of sense of smell, and sensation of ear plugging. If you experience the above symptoms every year during these months, the chance is great that you have Mountain Cedar allergy.

I have ALL of those symptoms :-(

I hardly slept last night, my throat was so sore. My nose and head are stuffy, I'm congested again and just feel really run down. I hope it's short lived. Kristen usually suffers a lot with cedar allergies but so far she seems ok this season, although she did mention her throat was a little sore this morning too!  

I didn't get to the gym yesterday because I wanted to get a lot of the Christmas stuff put away and now today I will probably have to skip going because I just feel so crappy! And I still haven't finished putting all the decorations away. It seems never ending! I will be trying to do that today despite how yucky I feel.

A couple of weeks ago I bought two new Santas at Kohl's but I didn't get to show them to you, here they are (before they get put away for another year). . .

  

Of course they were on sale :-) Originally $43 each, with a whopping 70% off!!!! I'll do the math for you, that was just over $13 each!!!

A New Love!

It's my least favorite day of the year! The day I start taking down the Christmas decorations. Not because I'm sad or anything, I'm like many of you, ready to put it all away and freshen things up for the New Year - I just hate doing it!! But it has to be done! I did the living room today, but I didn't make a start until after 11am when I got back from the gym. Tomorrow I will pack away the rest.

I've been surfing around blogland a lot these past few days, and I love seeing everyone's 'favorite decor posts' from 2011. Many of you are already starting new craft projects for around the home! I find it very inspiring. I haven't done much crafting for a while now (other than knitting Christmas gifts, which took a lot of time throughout last year, but I didn't mind doing at all). One of the things I'm loving as I surf around is  . . . . BURLAP!!!  Yes, you read right, I am falling in love with burlap ;-)  I bought a burlap table runner last year from Etsy. I love it, it's so versatile and goes with just about any theme I want.

I loved it in the Fall . . . 

 I loved it at Christmas!

I definitely want to buy some soon and make something myself, although what, I just don't know yet. I've been getting some great ideas from Pinterest though . . . 

 napkin rings to match the table runner!

 or simply use it to wrap a gift!

 I would love to incorporate it in to my Christmas decor next year!

 and I'm thinking of sewing some stockings for decoration or to use as a gift holder?

 I love how this table is decorated!

 and another gift package I thought was lovely. Monogrammed too, how cute is that!

What about you - what are you LOVING right now?

Happy New Year!

It's here - 2012! I hope you all had a wonderful night last night, however you chose to celebrate. We went next door to our friends Cheryl and Steve for their 'annual bash', this year it was a 70's theme. I have a ton of photos, I just posted them to Facebook and posting them here for my Sis and anyone else that doesn't check Facebook :-)

 

 

So, I'm ready to start the new year, with a lazy day on the couch!!! What are you doing ;-)