Obama was sworn in yesterday as our country's 44th president and our first African American president.
I don't have many thoughts on the matter except that I am hopeful he will be the change this country needs.
Only time will tell.
About Me
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
I like to cook?!
As I stood in the kitchen after work today making homemade Chicken a la King I had a realization: I actually (sorta, kinda) like to cook!!!!
The big deal about this is that I usually don't enjoy cooking. But lately I've been making a lot of recipes and have realized how great it is to have some delicious food to eat for a meal - even if it isn't anything fancy. And the more recipes I try, the more I seem to enjoy cooking. Crazy!
Seriously, w/in the last week and a half or so I've made:
- Homemade Beef Stew
- Homemade Beef Stroganoff - Simply Amazing. Seriously.
- Whole Chicken in oven w/seasoning - came out perfectly moist!! :)
- Homemade Chicken a la King - SOOOO YUMMY!
And in the next several days I plan on making:
- Homemade Chicken Stock
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
I'm no Paula Dean, and my fiance will ALWAYS be a better cook than me (my skills are absolutely nothing compared to him, all I do is follow a recipe, he creates wonderful food), but this whole having good food to eat thing is pretty nice.
The big deal about this is that I usually don't enjoy cooking. But lately I've been making a lot of recipes and have realized how great it is to have some delicious food to eat for a meal - even if it isn't anything fancy. And the more recipes I try, the more I seem to enjoy cooking. Crazy!
Seriously, w/in the last week and a half or so I've made:
- Homemade Beef Stew
- Homemade Beef Stroganoff - Simply Amazing. Seriously.
- Whole Chicken in oven w/seasoning - came out perfectly moist!! :)
- Homemade Chicken a la King - SOOOO YUMMY!
And in the next several days I plan on making:
- Homemade Chicken Stock
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
I'm no Paula Dean, and my fiance will ALWAYS be a better cook than me (my skills are absolutely nothing compared to him, all I do is follow a recipe, he creates wonderful food), but this whole having good food to eat thing is pretty nice.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Clean = Relaxation
I am on day 5 of the FlyLady plan... and doing pretty good.
Today I went grocery shopping immediately after work and when I finally got home and stepped into my kitchen to put my groceries away, my immediate thought was, "Wow. My kitchen is really clean!"
I was quite amazed. Usually there are dishes in my sink or waiting on my VERY limited counter space to be washed. Now my counters are clean and my dirty dishes are hidden in a container under my sink, waiting there to be washed.
It's amazing how such a small amount of work each day really makes a HUGE difference in my kitchen. It's soooo relaxing!
Thank you FlyLady!
Today I went grocery shopping immediately after work and when I finally got home and stepped into my kitchen to put my groceries away, my immediate thought was, "Wow. My kitchen is really clean!"
I was quite amazed. Usually there are dishes in my sink or waiting on my VERY limited counter space to be washed. Now my counters are clean and my dirty dishes are hidden in a container under my sink, waiting there to be washed.
It's amazing how such a small amount of work each day really makes a HUGE difference in my kitchen. It's soooo relaxing!
Thank you FlyLady!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
FlyLady - Day 2
Well, I did it - I survived day 1 and day 2!!!
My to-do list that I posted yesterday now looks like this:
- Do FlyLady Task - DONE!!
- Make sure my sinks are shiny & clean! - DONE!!
- Get up a little earlier so I'm not in a rush to go to work. - DONE!!
- Take out trash when I leave for work. - DONE!!
- Talk to Pastor about wedding ceremony. - Will call in 40 minutes.
- Think/e-mail/talk with fiance about where to have wedding reception dinner. - DONE!!
It feels so good to have accomplished all this. The FlyLady task for today was to get dressed from head to shoe, right when I get up. Since I work, this wasn't a problem for me. I took it a little further even, and after my shower today I got dressed in normal clothes, instead of just my P.J.'s like I so often do. The idea behind it is if you get dressed, do your hair, make-up, and even put your shoes on, then you will feel more confident about yourself and better able to tackle the things of life. I did cheat a little - I didn't put my shoes on. But I still feel ready to roll!
In addition to all of the above, I also completed a special challenge today in the FlyLady group - spend 15 minutes picking up any clothes on the ground. I had a small pile, so it only took about 2 minutes. And it makes such a huge difference in my apartment!
I ALSO set a timer for 15 minutes and did dishes. I have so many to do, it's horrible to even admit. But I got a good load done. My goal is to do dishes nightly, so they don't stack up. It is part of a new "before bedtime" routine of things to do each night that I set up today. This is another FlyLady trick - having a bedtime routine of certain things that gets done, so that you stay on top of things.
I'm getting somewhere - I can soooo totally do this!
My to-do list that I posted yesterday now looks like this:
- Do FlyLady Task - DONE!!
- Make sure my sinks are shiny & clean! - DONE!!
- Get up a little earlier so I'm not in a rush to go to work. - DONE!!
- Take out trash when I leave for work. - DONE!!
- Talk to Pastor about wedding ceremony. - Will call in 40 minutes.
- Think/e-mail/talk with fiance about where to have wedding reception dinner. - DONE!!
It feels so good to have accomplished all this. The FlyLady task for today was to get dressed from head to shoe, right when I get up. Since I work, this wasn't a problem for me. I took it a little further even, and after my shower today I got dressed in normal clothes, instead of just my P.J.'s like I so often do. The idea behind it is if you get dressed, do your hair, make-up, and even put your shoes on, then you will feel more confident about yourself and better able to tackle the things of life. I did cheat a little - I didn't put my shoes on. But I still feel ready to roll!
In addition to all of the above, I also completed a special challenge today in the FlyLady group - spend 15 minutes picking up any clothes on the ground. I had a small pile, so it only took about 2 minutes. And it makes such a huge difference in my apartment!
I ALSO set a timer for 15 minutes and did dishes. I have so many to do, it's horrible to even admit. But I got a good load done. My goal is to do dishes nightly, so they don't stack up. It is part of a new "before bedtime" routine of things to do each night that I set up today. This is another FlyLady trick - having a bedtime routine of certain things that gets done, so that you stay on top of things.
I'm getting somewhere - I can soooo totally do this!
Monday, January 05, 2009
FlyLady - Day 1
Today I joined flylady.net, a site which is geared to help a person conquer their messy home and keep it clean!!!
I love the idea of a clean, organized home - but never actually follow through enough to keep it clean and organized. Fly Lady is an e-mail group which sends out daily messages with tasks for you to do. The idea is that by completing their tasks/program you will make yourself fall into a routine, that eventually will be a habit you can't break!
Day one's goal is to shine your sink! That's it. She provides steps on how to do it, and says that all you have to do is clean your sink of dirty dishes/etc and make it shine. You don't have to wash the dishes or anything - just move them from your sink and shine it.
So, I shined my sink today. I also shined my bathroom sink, cleaned my bathroom mirror, and changed the litter box.
Goals for tomorrow:
- Do FlyLady Task
- Make sure my sinks are shiny & clean!
- Get up a little earlier so I'm not in a rush to go to work.
- Take out trash when I leave for work.
- Talk to Pastor about wedding ceremony.
- Think/e-mail/talk with fiance about where to have wedding reception dinner.
And that's it! If I can at least get those items done, then I'll be happy. I think it's a list I can accomplish. And now I'm off to relax and continue my journey in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
I love the idea of a clean, organized home - but never actually follow through enough to keep it clean and organized. Fly Lady is an e-mail group which sends out daily messages with tasks for you to do. The idea is that by completing their tasks/program you will make yourself fall into a routine, that eventually will be a habit you can't break!
Day one's goal is to shine your sink! That's it. She provides steps on how to do it, and says that all you have to do is clean your sink of dirty dishes/etc and make it shine. You don't have to wash the dishes or anything - just move them from your sink and shine it.
So, I shined my sink today. I also shined my bathroom sink, cleaned my bathroom mirror, and changed the litter box.
Goals for tomorrow:
- Do FlyLady Task
- Make sure my sinks are shiny & clean!
- Get up a little earlier so I'm not in a rush to go to work.
- Take out trash when I leave for work.
- Talk to Pastor about wedding ceremony.
- Think/e-mail/talk with fiance about where to have wedding reception dinner.
And that's it! If I can at least get those items done, then I'll be happy. I think it's a list I can accomplish. And now I'm off to relax and continue my journey in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
My Life
Well. It certainly has been quite a long time since I've posted! There is so much to catch up on. But I'll use bullets to make it a faster read for you all. :)
* It didn't take long to get frustrated with people talking to me through my windows. So I kept them shut.
* It also didn't take long for me to get annoyed at not having any natural sunlight or fresh air available to my dungeon-like apartment. Nov 3rd I moved to a different apartment in the same building, which is on the outside portion! Now I get air and sunlight, and me and my kitty LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
* Downside to the new apartment: noisy neighbors. Parties all night long, music till all hours of the night. I finally called the police on them and reported them to my manager. Manager said they are getting evicted as soon as they can get to court. That was a couple weeks ago and I haven't seen or heard them since about the same time I talked to the manager! Now it is peaceful and wonderful here.
* I am working 6 days a week at my new job and loving it. I could have 2 days off a week, but choose to make the extra money each month to put towards our wedding in March and only have 1 day of rest. Since I excel when kept very busy, this is absolutely great for me!
* Our wedding planning is coming along nicely. We have found a reception site we love that is in our price range. All that is left to finalize the decision is for my parents to go eat there and snap some pictures for us to see. Then we will book it! :) It isn't a hugely popular place for wedding receptions (it's a restaurant) so there isn't a big rush - I highly doubt someone will book March 27th, 2009 at the restaurant this far in advance!
* I've also ordered my wedding dress! See it here: Adelaide. It is absolutely gorgeous. And I look and feel amazing in it. It should come in to the store here in Virginia in February!
* Guess what else is coming into Virginia in February!? My fiance!!! The first step of his visa process was approved and as we speak the application is in the mail going to the embassy in Germany. All that's left is a few more papers, some more government fees to pay, an interview to pass at the embassy and a medical exam. Sounds like a lot - but compared to the 5 month wait just to get the first approval - it's really nothing at all! Since his visa is going through smoothly, he should have no problem getting a flight to move here in the end of February 2009. Then we will drive up to MN for our wedding in the end of March. It's only 3 months away until he moves, 4 months until the wedding --> we're both sooooooo very excited!
That's really about it. I'll try to post up here a bit more often. I've been very big into saving money lately - spending as little as possible and adding as much as I can to my savings account for the wedding. I'm really trying to control my finances and am doing pretty good. The last 5 weeks I've managed to shave $60 a month off of my grocery bill alone! :) I'm thinking about posting more regularly on here about my various goals/challenges to myself in the area of my finances... we'll see.
Until then - have a good turkey day!
* It didn't take long to get frustrated with people talking to me through my windows. So I kept them shut.
* It also didn't take long for me to get annoyed at not having any natural sunlight or fresh air available to my dungeon-like apartment. Nov 3rd I moved to a different apartment in the same building, which is on the outside portion! Now I get air and sunlight, and me and my kitty LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
* Downside to the new apartment: noisy neighbors. Parties all night long, music till all hours of the night. I finally called the police on them and reported them to my manager. Manager said they are getting evicted as soon as they can get to court. That was a couple weeks ago and I haven't seen or heard them since about the same time I talked to the manager! Now it is peaceful and wonderful here.
* I am working 6 days a week at my new job and loving it. I could have 2 days off a week, but choose to make the extra money each month to put towards our wedding in March and only have 1 day of rest. Since I excel when kept very busy, this is absolutely great for me!
* Our wedding planning is coming along nicely. We have found a reception site we love that is in our price range. All that is left to finalize the decision is for my parents to go eat there and snap some pictures for us to see. Then we will book it! :) It isn't a hugely popular place for wedding receptions (it's a restaurant) so there isn't a big rush - I highly doubt someone will book March 27th, 2009 at the restaurant this far in advance!
* I've also ordered my wedding dress! See it here: Adelaide. It is absolutely gorgeous. And I look and feel amazing in it. It should come in to the store here in Virginia in February!
* Guess what else is coming into Virginia in February!? My fiance!!! The first step of his visa process was approved and as we speak the application is in the mail going to the embassy in Germany. All that's left is a few more papers, some more government fees to pay, an interview to pass at the embassy and a medical exam. Sounds like a lot - but compared to the 5 month wait just to get the first approval - it's really nothing at all! Since his visa is going through smoothly, he should have no problem getting a flight to move here in the end of February 2009. Then we will drive up to MN for our wedding in the end of March. It's only 3 months away until he moves, 4 months until the wedding --> we're both sooooooo very excited!
That's really about it. I'll try to post up here a bit more often. I've been very big into saving money lately - spending as little as possible and adding as much as I can to my savings account for the wedding. I'm really trying to control my finances and am doing pretty good. The last 5 weeks I've managed to shave $60 a month off of my grocery bill alone! :) I'm thinking about posting more regularly on here about my various goals/challenges to myself in the area of my finances... we'll see.
Until then - have a good turkey day!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Found: Phone!
Well... color me blonde.. but I FOUND my cell phone.
It was in the stupidest place imagineable, and I swear I looked there a hundred thousand times.
But... apparantly not.
So... I will still be getting a new phone number, because I get no cell phone service in my apartment and would prefer to have a phone that I can use w/o walking to the parking lot. When I get the number, I will let you all know.
:-)
It was in the stupidest place imagineable, and I swear I looked there a hundred thousand times.
But... apparantly not.
So... I will still be getting a new phone number, because I get no cell phone service in my apartment and would prefer to have a phone that I can use w/o walking to the parking lot. When I get the number, I will let you all know.
:-)
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