Snow, Snow Angels, Snowman = FUN

The blizzard season is upon us once again which means no happy campers here. Cold, messy, crazy roads. Kids out of school and driving each other crazy. Cabin fever. Sounds fun!!! Okay, I am making this sound terrible when it only started last night. We woke up to no school and roads coverd in snow. I still had to work but that really consisted of studying. Reading 190 pages of IT material isn't the worst thing but in order to give my mind a break I suggested to my youngest (DD#2) that we tackle the driveway. She was game so off we went.

Really I wanted to make my snow angel, #80 on my Day Zero- 101 in 1001. Yes, that is me being crazy in the snow!! The snow should have been deeper but tomorrow it will be. I'll go out tomorrow and do it again. Darn :-)

The interest in shoveling was diverted pretty quickly into making a snowman. FUN!!! She made the initial ball and we rolled it back and forth across the driveway to at least make it look like we were getting some snow out of the way.

It was perfect snowball snow. So fun, but my oldest (DD#1) was missing out on the action so we told her to get something on and come out. Seriously. This ball of snow grew fast and that thing was heavy. We got it out of the driveway and rolled it all through the yard. Our neighbor even came out to help AND my husband got in on the action.

It started hailing while we were out there but everyone was determinied to finish the snowman with whatever we could find quickly. Scarf, sticks, carrot, banana peel, and racquetball balls. Resourceful!!



It is the little things that turn into the best memories. I think my kids and I will remember this for a long time. I know I will.

Baked Apricot Chicken

One recipe down and 29 to go. Baked Apricot Chicken was on the menu tonight. Allrecipies.com shot this recipe of the day to my inbox over the weekend and it seemed like a winner. I didn't follow it to a tee but it turned out pretty good. From the comments it seems like most people switched up the dressing they used. The original calls for Italian but I used Catalina. It gave it a very sweet and sour sauce kind of flavor.

The verdict:
Me: liked it, will try the original recipe next time
Husband: for some reason he said it smelled like pork so he didn't want to go any further
Child 1: edible but she isn't big on sweet and sour but she did eat a piece or 2
Child 2: at first didn't like but then it grew on her and she kept going back for more

I made it with brown rice and brocolli. The sauce tasted great on the rice as well.

2 out of 4...I won't add this to the full time rotation in its current state, tweaking will need to be done

Day Zero Project- 101 in 1001- Let's Go!!

The countdown begins. In 1001 days if everything goes as planned I will have done lots of things that I have wanted to do. Things pertaining to my health, my career, my family and friends, giving back to others, and just other randomness that I want to do.

You may have heard of this referred to as the Day Zero Project or 101 in 1001. I first heard of it a few weeks ago on a blog and my intial thought was AWESOME!!! I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions this year but once I heard about the Day Zero Project my list was started. I also tried to get my kids on board and write lists. One did and one is partly there. My list is one of the tabs at the top of my blog. I'll be updating it as I progress.

Coming up with 101 goals seemed a bit daunting at first. About 1/3 of the way through I got a little stuck but in no time I was at 101 and then 106. The list was pared back down to 101 just to stick to the program. What is great about this is it allows my to tackle short and long term goals. Some may take a day, a week, a month, a year, or all 1001 days.

Looking at the list some of them may seem trivial but the seemingly trivial ones will probably be some of the most meaningful. There a couple things on this list that are scary to me (i.e speaking in front of a group) but I am purposely trying to push myself out of my comfort zone. For me it all about growth. I have so many things to work on and when I look at this list it will surely promote growth in all aspects of my life. I love who I am now but I am so excited about who I am becoming.

If anyone cares to join in and write a list please send me a link or share your list. Reading others lists was fun and it was inspiring to see how many items they were able to accomplish. Also if you have every done this before please share your story.

So this is it. I am tackling my list 1 day at a time.

THIS IS DAY 0!!!

My 101 in 1001 List

Do You DIY?

Any DIYers out there? Of course there are. Hopefully in 2011 I will rely more on my DIY spirit than just buying what is available. With my recent venture into sewing and knitting I think I am finding my inner craftiness and am wanting to go the DIY route more often.

The next major project I am undertaking is redoing my daughter's bedroom. Yikes. We were brainstorming last night and came up with a few ideas.

1. Take the doors off of her closet and use curtains instead.- By doing this we don't have to worry about what her closet doors will be hitting when she swings them open. Plus by picking the right fabric she will have the exact look she wants. I love looking at fun fabrics

2. Vanity and desk.- Yes the little diva wants a vanity for all of her makeup and stuff. She needs a desk too so we are thinking of just doing a long table/counter type thing that one portion can be her vanity and the other her desk with some type of shelving in between.

Love this that I found at Kobbleit.com:

(Photo Source: Kobbleit.com)

And this with so many options and so much potential to customize:

(Photo Source: Instructables.com)

So there you have it. It looks like I want to become a master carpenter in 2011. Power tools, safety goggles and all. Looks like fun!!!

What is your DIY obsession?

10K.. Who Me?

What? Run a 10K? I have never even done a 5K!! I haven't been to the gym in 6 months!! It's to, cold!!

In other words, every excuse in the book. Those were my response to a New Year's Eve call from a friend telling me that he wants me to do a 10K with him in April. His response. "You have 4 months."

So it looks like I will be training for a 10K. I really need to lay off all of the reasons why I can't do something so on the first day of 2011 I found a 30 day plan to get me to 3 miles. Not 30 consecutive days but what you should be doing for each of 30 workouts. I'll start with that and see how I do.

Cross your fingers for me. I am going to need some good workout vibes on this one!! Workout 1 is done and I don't feel bad. I know that I am not in the shape I used to be but that is all in the past. I am looking forward to wiping the slate clean and starting 2011 fresh. It will hold great things for me. Nothing like taking a good thing (me) and making it better (a better me)!!