Meatless Mondays

Traditionally, I have never been a HUGE meat eater. Especially red meat. And especially the fatty stuff.  Sure, I love a good cheeseburger, pot roast or good steak.  But, a meal without meat doesn't bother me a bit.  Given a choice of chicken or steak in any restaurant I always pick chicken.  I gravitate towards it.  My husband on the other hand is a HUGE meat eater.  He was brought up with Southern unhealthy eating habits for sure! Not a meal unless it has meat.  He is a very heavy eater, many of our meals are heavy, which is fine, but probably should happen on a more occasional basis.  It is just a matter of getting creative.  I love a Mediterranean diet.  I could eat at Pita Jungle every single day.  I need to be better about portion control, but I love that style of eating.  Yum.

Along with the yoga, comes a lot of perspective into one's eating habits.  Many Yogi's are vegan or vegetarians.  At the very least, most that practice seriously are pretty healthy eaters.  I have been reading a lot about different life style's and have had many friends cut back on their meat intake and notice favorable increases in energy, lost weight, less bloating.  So, I am intrigued.  Not too the point of total vegetarianism (though I probably could do it, Neil, NEVER gonna happen!) but I thought, in the interest of our pocketbooks, waistlines and health, about going meatless one day a week.  Meatless Mondays has a nice ring to it. And I must have heard of it somewhere because there is a whole website dedicated to just such a thing.  Perhaps I need to research some yummy, healthy recipes for my husband, no meat certainly doesn't mean no flavor.  Now I just have to convince the hubby of that! Anyone have any yummy tips, tricks or recipes for healthy, vegitarian, affordable dishes??

Living Room Makeover!

I have had my mother in law in town for the last 2 weeks and it has been such a blessing! We were able to tackle many household projects that I have been putting off.  And today, my hubby was nice enough to help with some drilling and heavy lifting and we really made great progress! He finally mounted our TV and we got curtains hung.  It finally is starting to look like home! I took pictures along the way to document our progress.  I am pretty proud! Not quite HGTV but I'll take it.  Still have some stuff to do.  I would love to paint (or let me rephrase, be able to have someone else paint), not sure what to do about the dang cords, and still have a shelf to put up in the entry.  But we have some a long way!

When we moved in.  Ugly vertical blinds, tiny ceiling fan and ruined carpet.  Yuck.

Little better with new blinds, new fan and hung a picture

LOVE the hardwood

My niches, round 1.  Too cluttery and not cohesive at all.

How it looked this AM.  Pretty plain.





Our house is taken over by brightly colored plastic stuff!

My, um, helper????

I got this, Mom

Don't even try taking it away. Seriously.  Stage 4 freak out.

And the after!

Removed some pillows, added curtains, rearranged knick knacks

still lots 'o plastic, but not so bare!

Yep, the baby stuff never escapes!

My newly hung TV and two candle sconces I got for $1each

Redesigned niches.  Much better.  Less clutter.

What do I do with the cords??! Arrrrr

Thanks to my sweet hubby!

New family photo.  Does the 'S' look silly??



We still have a lot to do, but we made great progress in the kitchen, living room and loft area.  The living room was just the only one done enough to photograph! Hopefully soon there will be more improvements to add!

2011 Resolutions

I know lots of people hate New Years Resolutions.  Mostly because they are cliche and many times simply set us up for failure.  I on the other hand LOVE them.  I love New Years and all the cliche that it brings.  It is a way to reflect, the proverbial fresh start, and I like it.  2010 was a tough year.  It brought me my son, who is my greatest blessing, but 2010 also brought situations I never thought I would be in.  I ran the gamut of emotions in 2010.  My overall resolution in 2011 is peace.  Peace in my home, peace in my marriage, peace in my relationships, peace in my job.  I pray for more calm and less up and down extremes.  But, in the spirit of making resolutions, I have come up with a few that are more specific.

Grow My Spirituality

I know this is a big one.  Something that has been on my mind a lot in 2010.  I have a hard time integrating God and spiritual growth in my everyday life.  I know it should be the FIRST thing I do, but when you aren't used to that mind set, it is easy to get swallowed up in life and place it on the back burner.  I want to change that and grow my heart through spirituality.  We are testing out Churches and starting to talk more about the role of God in our family. 

Eliminate Debt, Save Money

Another big one.  We took on a lot having to buy a house unexpectedly, buy a car (used, but still) just after Porter was born, paying for our own wedding etc. But, I am an accountant in my other life so I sat down and wrote a complex budget spreadsheet that eliminates ALL debt in 2011 and have a few pennies tucked away for a rainy day.  It will work if we commit to it.  That is the beauty of numbers! It is so important as we want to grow our family and have me be able to quit working in the capacity I am now and be at home more.  I have really gotten into some blogs and articles about frugal living and cooking.  It is so inspiring to me to read about women who are great home economists, makes a large difference in the family unit for sure!

Stay with Yoga

I love yoga.  It is my Church some days.  So mind clearing and peaceful.  I have been doing it for years but with gaping holes for months at a time.  I love the Yogi way of life.  It is all about being gentle with yourself, having compassion for others, taking time to self reflect. I hope to stick with it regularly through 2011.

Learn to Sew/Craft

My mother in law found a great deal on a sewing machine for me for Christmas.  I love it! I want to learn to use it and do some DIY things around the house.  I love a nicely decorated house and I love a bargain.  Hopefully, I can implement that in my 2011 and make my home super cozy, comfortable and personal. What a great way to relax and I know I will feel so accomplished!

Control my temper/anger

Ok, ok control my words better.  Be more kind. Practice some self control. Some days I am not a kind person, some days I want to be right more that I want to be kind.  I do have compassion and a deep desire to do good in my heart, but a lot of days that is not reflected in my actions.  I need to extend the same amount of compassion I desire in my own flaws.  I feel "wronged" a lot.  And that itself is a state of mind only I can control.  I need to make better choices with my emotions and remember to put my husband and son before all else...... even my words.