Tag Archives: food

Day 28: Thinking about 2016 Goals

2 Replies

Do you have a new year’s resolution yet? I’ve been thinking about what mine could be for the past few days.

Some of my family members have a Facebook group devoted to physical challenges, mostly related to food and exercise. It’s a great way to check-in and support each other. We’ve done several 30 day challenges. One was to cut out sweets for a month, another was to walk 10,000 steps a day, and we had veggies daily. Last month I tried to drink 80oz a day. I didn’t make goal most days but definitely was more hydrated.

Monthly goals are great for me because they help me stay consistent without getting completely overwhelmed by the thought of doing this for an entire year. 365 days is a big number!

The creative introvert who wants to be physically stronger in me is thinking of categorizing goals.

  • Creative goal: try something new every month. This can be learning to knit hats, designing a quilt, making a new page in my art journal, trying a new recipe, or a myriad of other things.
  • Social goal: something. I don’t know what I want this to look like yet. Touch base with each member of my immediate family? Make new friends? Invite people over? Initiate conversations? Join a quilt guild when I move? Teach classes?
  • Health goal: continue with monthly challenges. Get stronger. Stronger than what? How strong? Concrete numbers are good with goals because you’ll know when they’re attained. With my water challenge, drink more water is vague but drink 80oz is trackable.

So that’s where I am so far. How about you?

Advertisement

Day 27: Magic Dishes

Leave a reply

There’s a special dish that’s part of every holiday meal. You can see it in the food photo from our Christmas meal on the left and Thanksgiving on the right.

 

christmasdinnerjoethanks15

Here’s what it looks like empty. What is it? It’s a large platter that I decorated and had guests sign on our wedding day. I have the guest book from my parents’ wedding. It’s pretty and interesting and…. sits inside a box. Our dish gets used 3-4 times every year and is on display the rest of the time.

weddingguestbook

Why is it magic? Because of all the love that went into making it. I started at one of those stores where you can paint ceramics. They’ll fire them in the kiln and you come back to a finished glazed piece. This time I wanted it sign-able so I did most of the decorating in-store. Then I borrowed a black glaze pen and had wedding guests sign with it at our reception. Returned the platter to the store and picked up our finished piece post-honeymoon. Cool, huh?

 

Open Your Ears (Of Corn)

1 Reply

 

 

I picked the first few ears of corn from the backyard this morning! Ooooh I’m excited. Couldn’t quite believe that they were done and unharmed so I opened one fully and took some leaves off the husk of the others. Look how pretty they are on the bale of hay. Looks like we’re on a real farm and everything.
First CornOf course, we’re not on a farm. Our neighbor’s over that fence behind the cornstalks. Still, we have a nice little plot going and it’ll continue to produce corn for weeks to come. Backyard CornfieldMy in-laws are coming over today so my husband has asked that I wait to eat the corn. That way we can share with them. Waiting’s hard. I’m sure they’ll be delicious!

We’re also growing carrots, onions, garlic, watermelon and potatoes. The carrots are yummy… but don’t last long enough to take a photo. Even if I run, by the time I get the camera there’s only a carrot top left. Fresh carrots are sweet! The rest of the foods aren’t yet ready. I’ll keep you updated. 🙂

It’s Also a Bathtub

3 Replies

Motel living has me really appreciating everything for its multi-functionality. Our nightstand holds the laptop computer and (clean!) underwear. The ice bucket holds our utensils. The bed, of course, makes a nice surface to assemble and sew quilts. It’s also a fun kitty fort. A spotlight is clipped onto the vacuum handle. I’ve taken to scooping kitty litter twice a day. Why? i’m usually pretty lazy about cleaning in general, but take a look at this litter box location.

Nevermind; don’t look at it. My camera’s battery isn’t taking a charge. No photographs for now. Grrr….

Anyway, the litter box is snuggled in next to our mini refrigerator. Ew. Also, we’ve seen a few bugs. It’s not too bad, just one or two tiny things each night. So as not to attract them, food is stored in airtight containers. Our food, and the cats’ food as well. The shower is where we clean our bodies and wash dishes. They dry on a towel over the dresser.

Ah well, do what you can with what’s available.