Quick Dinner- Chicken Potpie Cupcakes

You want something quick and easy to make then this is the recipe for you.  The first time I make anything it takes me forever but trust me the second time around I know this will be a breeze.  This recipe found its way to me via Pinterest however the original is here.

Modifications for next time, use a thinner biscuit and perhaps thin out the potpie broth some.  This will be made again.  Easy to pop in the lunch box on day 2 as well.

Between 13 & 14

So #13 and #14 goal was to run a 5K and a 10K.  What about an 8K?  I am going to consider the 5K checked off because even though it wasn't technically a 5K it was more than a 5K so the the 5K is covered. Right?  Right.

This was the first time I have ever done one of these.  Here was my chance to get off my butt and just do it.  I had a blast.  It was a very rainy morning so I was going to bail but I waited until the nth hour to see what the weather was going to do.  It was misty but turned out to be perfectly fine.

A before pic and an after pic.

YAAAAYYYYY STILL SMILING!!!!

This was a good lesson for me about focusing on what you can do instead of what you can't.  What mattered to me was I went out there and I did it.  It wasn't about the time it was about doing it and finishing it.

Fourth of July Treats

Every now and then I get in the spirit and do something fun for the 4th.  This year my girls and I made some Jello Jigglers in the beloved red, white, and blue.

I found the recipe through Pinterest.  I love Pinterest.  I am addicted to it.  Seriously so many ideas being shared and it is pretty darn awesome.  It was nice to sit around and relax and do something fun and stress free.  We messed up a little but who cares.  How bad can you really mess up with Jello!!

Ouch #86

I am actually about to paint my nails. Somethng you have seen before (Sally Hansen Gunmetal) but I thought that while waiting for my base coat to dry I would take a look at my 101 in 1001 and see if there was anything I could knock off my list.

March 1st. Great day to start one of the monthly tasks. Pushups how I love thee, how I hate thee. Try doing pushups after doing no type of arm exercise for the last few months. We'll see how this month of at least 10 pushups a day goes. The first 10 were agonizing but I did all 10 and realized how much room I have for progress.

If I do this every day for a month and get better my arms may actually look decent for the summertime!!!

Day One of 29

No, no, no, don't worry we are not down to day 1 of 101 in 1001, although it does seem like time flies at times thank goodness it isn't going by that fast. Which is funny because when day 1 actually does come I will be wondering how time went so fast. Anyway, enough of my rambling.

Today IS day 1 of something else though. My new job (see #29). The first day of a new job is always exhausting and I am beat. It is 10:15 and I am about to turn it in but first I just wanted to send a thank you to everyone who helped me get through this process. You don't know how much your support means to me.

Thank You, I Love You, and Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Happy February

Are you wondering where January went? Me too. I will have to say the start of the year has been pretty good. I started the 101 in 1001 which really makes you aware of how you are spending your time. I would love to spending my time relaxing on a boat on a beautiful day in Bermuda but that isn't happening. Not this month at least.

So let's see what is actually on tap for February.

- Get back on the treadmill. The first 2 weeks of January went great. The last 2, well, let's not talk about them.

-Start Fat Smash again. I have mentioned it before but I really do think the Fat Smash program works well. You have to be committed but in that first week you can feel your body changing and getting all the nasty evil sugars out of it.

-Make a couple of shirts perhaps.

-I have already started my Bible reading. As always a little behind and hoping to catch up this first week of February.

-Tackle 1 or 2 new recipes.

-I have GOT to finish knitting this sweater for my daughter. It has taken forever. It isn't hard it is just hard to knit sometimes when you don't really feel like it.

-I have a blood donation scheduled.

-Start painting my nails again. Maybe once a week or every other week. I have laid off the nail polish for a bit because I noticed they were not growing as long and strong as they used to.

-Limit the amount of time I spend reading blogs. They are addictive. I love seeing what other people are making and doing but that can really cut into my making and doing time. Maybe only read midweek and weekends. IDK.

-Ah, The Great Office Cleanout that never happened. I need to devise a gameplan for this. Seriously, we have that much paper and filing.

-Start studying for my IT certification. I have been reading general content but not a test specific study guide so I think I need to switch gears once I finish this book and start looking at books geared towards the tests in addition to the general reading.

Okay, I am stopping here...this list is starting to overwhelm me. It may not all get DONE in February but at least I have some concrete items to focus on.

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