Hello Twenty-Thirteen!

Well, December came and went.  But you wouldn't have known that from keeping up with my blog.  It's not that there hasn't been anything to write about.  It's been a busy month.  A fabulously busy month.  I just haven't felt like putting pen to paper, err, fingertips to keys. You know what I mean.

December brought family and Christmas and a trip to the mountains with friends.  December brought presents and a bunch of new toys to our house.  December brought an abundance of love and laughter.  December was filled with joy.  I hope the same is true for your December.

And now here we are in 2013.  (Thankfully those doomsday preppers were wrong and we didn't all disappear into the abyss on December 21, 2012.)  It's a new year.  And you know how I love a new year.  With it's clean slate and fresh start.  Call me cheesy, but I love it.

As always on January 1st I set my intentions for the year.  Some are the same as prior years, but others are different.  I'm excited about them all, even though I was watching the news last night and some "expert" said you should only make one resolution a year, otherwise your odds of failure are great.  I'd already made my 6 resolutions, so I think I'll keep them all.

So here's my plan for 2013:

1. Put $2000 into our savings each month (this will require that we rein in our wayward spending).
2. Eat good food at home - stop eating out so often and PLAN all meals.
3. Walk 10,000 steps per day.  A certain Christmas present I got is helping me with this one...
4. Be patient in parenting.  Especially during the bedtime routine.
5. Think before speaking.  Watch my tone. 
6. Bring more God/religion/spirituality into our family.

Wish me luck!  What are your intentions or resolutions for the new year?  Or are you the kind of person who detests resolutions and thinks I'm a sucker for always making them? 

Cali Strikes Again

After my last trip to California I went vegetarian for about a month.  I don't know if it's the healthy vibe of California or if it's my brother.  I think it's probably my brother.

Let's talk about Brother B for a minute.  B has always been a "healthy" person.  He played soccer in college and once ran a half marathon with me without even training.  I thought I was going to die at the end but I'm pretty sure he could've gone another 13.1 miles without breaking a sweat.  He's naturally athletic.  But he also lives and breathes a healthy life.  Aside from his son, obtaining and maintaining optimal health is his number one priority in life, followed by his desire to spread health to others.

B is a physical therapist.  He is a Reiki master, certified massage therapist, certified Ayurvedic perfect Health Instructor and soon to be certified yoga instructor.  The man knows health. 

And he owns a Vitamix and is not afraid to use it.  We had green smoothies chocked full of fruits and vegetables every morning before breakfast.  I feel vibrantly healthy after drinking one of his smoothies.  My body pracitally sighs and says "thank you" for not starting my day off with a load of crap food!  And I've found that by starting my day with a green smoothie, I'm more likely to make healthy decisions as the day continues.

Vitamix in action

Before even leaving Cali, I made the decision to keep up the green sludge smoothie morning routine once I was back in Atlanta.  So far I'm 9 for 11 (and the 2 days I missed I was out of town).  And I swear my skin looks better in just two short weeks of drinking these drinks.  But there's more.

The day I got back form California I stumbled upon a blog that was new to me called 100 Days of Real Food.  It's about eating, you guessed it, REAL food.  So I've jumped on that band wagon in addition to my green smoothies.  It's not a diet.  It's a way of living and eating.  The rules are simple - only eat real food.  This translates into not eating much processed foods.  My rule of thumb is to not buy/eat anything that has more than 5-6 ingredients and avoid anything that has an ingredient that I cannot pronounce or do not know what it is.  Check out the 100 Days blog, it has some amazing information and was very eye opening.

My body has been what I can only describe as detoxing the past two weeks.  Now that I'm eating only real food my body is purging all the toxins from the fake food I've been eating.  At least that is what the world wide web has told me is going on. 

Eating clean does take some effort.  It takes planning because I'm realizing that there are very few restaurants that have "real" food in their ingredients.  At least not many fast food places.



Box of Mangos from the Dekalb Farmer's Market = $5.00 (Much cheaper to buy, peel, chop and freeze mangos and make homemade smoothies than to buy a smoothie every day!)



So what have I been eating?  I kept a food journal the first few days:

Monday 8.13

Smoothie - pineapple juice, spinach, kale, red bell pepper, avocado, mango (frozen), strawberry

Coffee (black)

Cashews & almonds

Willy's burrito bowl - rice, black beans, steak, lettuce, salsa, guacamole, cilantro (I hadn't read the 100 Days blog yet, or I wouldn't have eaten Willy's....)

Pork tenderloin with roasted broccoli (olive oil, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese)

Tuesday 8.14

Smoothie - pineapple juice, spinach, kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, peaches (frozen)

Coffee (black) (2)

Cashews & Almonds

Pork tenderloin with roasted broccoli (olive oil, lemon juice)

6oz 0% fat Greek yogurt with a dash of cinnamon

Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; turkey meatballs (3)

1/3 banana

Wednesday 8.15

Banana

Smoothie: kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, peaches (frozen), pineapple chunks & water + Moringa, Maca & Hemp Powder

Cashews & almonds

Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; lemon juice

Apple

Edamame

Green tea

Hangar Steak

Brussel sprouts cooked with olive oil, bacon, balsamic vinegar

Banana

Quinoa made in vegetable stock; arugula, tomatoes, parm cheese; lemon juice

Thursday 8.16

2 eggs scrambled with a dash of feta cheese and pesto

Smoothie: kale, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, strawberries, pineapple chunks & water + Moringa, Maca & Hemp Powder

Cashews & almonds

Arugula with Quinoa, lemon juice, tomatoes, hangar steak, pork & parmesean

2 brownrice cakes with avocado

Brussel sprouts wtih bacon, olive oil & balsamic vinegar

Chicken burger (TJ) with avocado

Friday 8.17 (this was a strange day of food, I admit)

Smoothie: pineapple juice, spinach & frozen mango with Hemp Protein

2 bananas

Beef jerkey

0% Greek yogurt

Lara Bar

Banana

Blackened grouper with green beans and plain baked potato (no butter, etc.)

My post Cali-purchases: probotics, Kids Superfood (makes chocolate milk with hidden veggies and superfood and tastes delcious); Hemp Protein, Moringa & Maca Powder (B says they're the new Acai superfoods)

Today 8.23

Smoothie: spinach, kale, swiss chard, carrot, frozen mango, pineapple, cucumber, celery, water, Moringa, Hemp Protein, Maca Powder

Quinoa with zucchini, black beans, corn, cotija cheese

Banana

Almond butter (2 Tbls - from a spoon.  Don't judge)

2 homemade pork tacos - slowcooker pork, tomatillo salsa, avocado, lime, cilantro on Ezekiel tortillas

It's really not that hard to eat clean, real food if you plan and have the ingredients at home.  Last night we at out and I had the blackened fish with jasmine rice and snap peas.  One night I made a knock off Chik-fil-A sandwich that I baked in the oven - it was amazing.

Organic "REAL" knock-off Chik-fil-A sandwich - ready to be BAKED!

I am cooking more and trying a variety of new foods.  I plan on keeping this health kick going.  I'll keep you posted!

And at some point we'll talk about the Insanity workouts I'm doing.  But not now.  I'm too exhausted from my workout.

Monday Monday

We had an interesting weekend.  It was great in many respects and not-so-great in others. 

The weekend review bullet-point style:

• Friday night grilled cheeses with brie and the best broccoli of your life
• 10K Saturday morning on a VERY hilly course - Mr. Cob pushed Lukas in the jogging stroller the entire way (so proud of him as he's a self proclaimed running-hater)!
• BBQ Saturday afternoon with great friends where I accidentally ate some bacon, but otherwise remained vegetarian
• Saturday night at the emergency vet until midnight with a very sick dog
• Lukas had his first sleepover.  With a girl.  We are lucky to have great friends who will take our kid at 9pm on a Saturday night so we can take care of our pup
• Sunday morning coffee with friends
• Sunday afternoon consignment sale shopping (me) / lawn-killing in preparation of backyard renovation 2012 (Mr. Cob)
• Sunday late afternoon/evening dinner with friends and playing outside with the kiddos

Our pup is still at the vet and they don't know exactly what's wrong.  Perhaps she ate a squirrel or other small animal, or she ate something toxic - we just don't know.  We're hoping and praying she gets better soon and can come home because we miss our girl!

Reaching Here

Ok, so the feedback from the new buttons has had me all jazzed about posting more often and getting some more Love or Funnies (No Hate yet!?!).  Problem is, I'm out of things to say. Well, I mean, I always have things to say, but I'm plum out of things to say that I think anyone wants to hear about.  But then again, that's never stopped me before.

Here are the posts I have started writing in the past few days and then stopped for whatever reason:

1.  I know that I shouldn't compare myself to other people, but I can't help it.  Lately I feel like I'm comparing myself to others ALL. THE. TIME.  And it's not good for my sanity.  But yet, I still do.  I stop at this point because the rest of this post just makes me sound like I'm whining and feeling inferior than everyone else, and nobody wants to hear that.  So I'll end that woe-is-me post at that.  At least this shows I'm not always Polly Positive.

2.  I'm a much more sane person when I take time for myself.  The past few weeks I've done that a lot.  I went to Charleston with the girls two weekends ago and my soul was better for it.  We laughed, we exercised, we even danced in the VIP section of some bar we were much too old to be in.  It was an amazing trip (although, Lukas would disagree...).  This weekend I continued taking some time out for me - my ATL girlfriends and I went and got our hair did at The Dry Bar Saturday morning, went to brunch and shopping afterwards and then had a group Valentines Day date night that evening.  Mr. Cob and I sometimes talk about moving away from Atlanta, and then we think about how great our friends are here and realize they're irreplaceable.  We really are lucky to have such great friends.

3.  Apparently I get insomnia two hours after falling asleep if I drink more than two glasses of wine.  A grandmother who does overnight babysitting with the little man is a necessity if momma wants a night out.  Reason #452 we should never leave Atlanta.

4. Tomorrow Mr. Cob and I will celebrate our 7th Valentines Day together.  I don't remember what I got him for our first V-day together, but he bought me pink bowling shoes and we went bowling.  He gets me.  The way to my heart is through shoes. 

5.  The little man said "apple" and "elephant" (well, sort of, kind of, you could get there, really) this weekend.  Dude is going to start talking for real any day now. 

2012 Intentions

You thought that since it was over a week since the new year and I hadn't yet written anything about resolutions then clearly I hadn't made any this year.  Nope, not the case.  I always make resolutions at the beginning of a new year.  Some years they're more ambitious than others.  And, usually I fall off the wagon around week 2 or 3.  But I always make them.  For one reason.

I. Love. Starting. A. New. Year.

I get really excited when January 1 rolls around each year.  Magically, at the stroke of midnight on December 31/January 1, everything is wiped clean and you're given a fresh start.  I know, I know, there's nothing "magical" or special about January 1 and if I really wanted to change things in my life, I could start on any random day of the year.  The third Tuesday in May could be the first day of the rest of my life.  But for me, I get all giddy about the first of January.  And this year was no different.

I sat on the beach in Florida the morning of January 1st and wrote down my intentions for the year.  I'm calling my resolutions "intentions" so that I don't feel like I've failed if I don't stick with them.  This way, even if I veer off course, I can look back at my list and remember what I had set out to concentrate on this year and get back on the right path.  With resolutions, when your resolve fades away, you can feel like you already failed so there's no sense in continuing with the resolutions.  (Or is this just me?)  I realize this might be silly, but here's to hoping I can keep my 2012 intentions at the forefront of my mind this year.

The reason I've delayed in writing this post is because I keep going back and forth on whether or not I feel like sharing my list with the few family members who read this blog world.  But I figure why not.

So here is my list:

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables each day.
2. Make my marriage a priority (this sounds more complicated than the intention is. I promise, it's not - just take my word on this one...)
3. Detach from my cell phone/computer/facebook - be fully present in interactions with my family and friends
4. Make exercise a regular part of life - dance with Lukas, walk Wrigley, do a yoga DVD, run, etc.  And don't feel defeated if I exercise for only a short period of time. 
5. Live more frugally - cook meals, bring lunch to work, etc. (this coincides within intention #1 and has been a huge success so far thanks to the January meal plan Mr. Cob and I created, and have stuck to for 10 days!)
6. See love in everyone and express love in all actions - don't judge, don't assume
7. Stop searching for outward validation.  I am amazing.

So there is the list.  I could (and might) write a post about each intention and the background behind it.  But for now, that's my list.

Here's to a fabulous 2012 filled with good intentions.

Mind block

Yea, yea, I realize I haven't written in almost two weeks.  It's not intentional, I promise.  Its just that I don't feel like I have anything to say that anyone would want to read about.  I mean, do you really care about reading the full story for the following blog Titles?

1.  Date Night: Do I get points for staying out past midnight?!

2. Church Search Complete? Maybe, thanks to the internet informing me that the pastor is gay.

3.  "Bup, Bup" = Puppy?: Tales of interpreting the speech of an 8 month old

4.  Get down from that [insert piece of furniture here]!: Our child likes to climb (Alternative title: We are so f*cked)

5.  9 months to put it on, 9 months to take it off

6.  Beware of Older Women: Lukas gets his First Kiss

So those would be the six blog posts I'd write if I were writing a post.  I doubt anyone will miss the actual stories, right?

Spring To Do

Mr. Cob is big on making lists.  I think he likes having a clear cut plan of what needs to be done and then crossing off things as we go.  We had a pretty big "to do" list before Lukas was born and managed to get just about everything accomplished.  Well we have a new list.  Mr Cob even asked that I publicly announce the list on the blog so as to hold us accountable.  (Although, he should know by now that my public declarations do not make me any more likely to stick with something...for examples, refer to my new years resolutions and 30 books challenge - two public declarations to do something, two failures to follow through...)

 

Numero Uno on the Spring To Do List has been on the "Big Swan House List" since we moved in to our house over two years ago: Fence in the backyard.  Mainly so Wrigley has a place to run free and isn't cooped up in her crate all day.  As of Friday mid-afternoon, we are now the proud owners of a new wooden fence.  It is awesome!  Wrigley, however, has not yet realized that she's allowed to run free in said newly fenced in yard.  We've "trained" her so well to just go down the stairs, do her thang, and come back in the house, that she is still following her trained behavior.  Slowly I think she'll understand that the backyard is now her playground, for real.

 

So here's our new Spring To Do List:

 

1. Catch up on laundry - yes, the laundry had gotten so out of hand that this made it to the major to do list.  I think we did about 7 loads over the weekend and still have roughly 5 to go.
2. Clean laundry room - See #1 for part of the reason the laundry room was out of control.  The other problem is that our laundry room doubles as a linen closet, triples as the cat's "home base" and quadruples as our luggage storage closest.  You'll be happy to know we got this under control this weekend.
3. Clean side of yard with air-conditioner - for lack of a better word, it looks kind of junky right now
4. Build or buy doghouse for Wrigley
5. Figure out lawn stuff - as in, our front lawn needs some help in the grass should be green department and our backyard needs some serious love
6. Fix door holes - Mr. Cob replaced the doorknobs in the guestroom, Lukas room, the downstairs bath and one other door a few months back.  In doing so, he had to take out the really old hardware and it left holes in the doors that need to be filled in, sanded and then painted.  Not a big task, but big enough that we keep putting it off.
7. Fix door jam in basement - we bought a rubber door bottom (and yes, that's its official name) for our door that needs to be attached and the wood around the door may need some tlc
8. Get two hose corrals - we've allowed our hoses to lay haphazardly in the yard, but no more. Problem solved this weekend.
9. Gravel under deck - I had grandiose plans to tile/brick/stone this area and add a table or something to this effect. Perhaps even a lower deck.  This is a crazy idea that would cost too much money than its worth.  But we do need to stop it from being the mud pit it currently is.  Solution: gravel.
10. (long term to do): buy new chair for living room - we have this hand-me-down black leather chair that doesn't match the decor, so I bought a green slip cover for it which does match, but the slip cover doesn't stay put and the cat has ruined it and it's a huge eyesore that I'd like to replace
11. (long term to do): new end table for living room - again, we have a hand-me-down wooden end table whose top is somewhat warped and the lamp is never sitting even.  It annoys me.
12. (long term to do): paint guest room/stair case/laundry room/office
13. (long term to do): remove pond - there's this old broken down pond next to our driveway that has got to go.  It's not kid friendly, or dog friendly.
14. (long term to do): repave driveway - it's cracked and I want to expand it but feel like this is going to be expensive?
15. Move coffee table before Lukas starts crawling - it has sharp edges and is very not kid friendly
16. Organize Lukas' bookshelves - There is no organization going on with the bookshelves at the moment.  It stresses me out to look at.
17. Organize office - Our office is a disaster right now.  It needs major help.  I'm not even sure where to begin, but my end goal is to have a designated place for mail to be opened, bills to be paid, etc.
18. Pick out paint color for basement and then paint said basement
19. Plan what to do, if anything, with dark area of basement
20. Power wash screened porch - DONE AS OF YESTERDAY
21. Power wash the back deck - DONE AS OF YESTERDAY
22. Rematch front beds
23. Steam clean Lukas room and upstairs and then eventually replace the carpet in both areas
24. Uproot front bushes - DONE AS OF YESTERDAY

So we're getting there, slowly.  And once we knock all these items off the list, I'm sure there will be a new list ready to go... it's a vicious cycle.

2011 Resolutions

Happy New Year!  2010 was a pretty great year for the Swans, but we're excited to see what 2011 will bring.

Each year I always make a list of resolutions.  I have a hard time paring the list down and it usually ends up way too long and I stick to them for a week or two and then everything falls to the wayside.  But I always make resolutions.  I can't help myself.  It's something about a new year and a clean slate.  So, inevitably I've been thinking all morning about my resolutions for this year.  I usually do pretty generic resolutions - e.g. lose weight, save money, etc.  But this year I decided that I needed to think about my general goal and then pick a specific action to resolve to follow in hopes of actually following through with the resolutions for more than a few weeks.

Here are my resolutions for 2011:

#1 (GOAL: cook more meals at home/eat out less) - RESOLUTION: To prepare a weekly meal plan each Saturday and follow said meal plan.  Good thing I already created this handy dandy meal planner sheet.  I now just need to use it and STICK WITH IT.  I have a really bad habit of planning something for dinner and then deciding that I'd rather order in or go out to dinner.  Lukas has curbed our going out to dinner, but we've still jumped ship on our good plans to cook dinner to order pizza or pick up Mexican.  And it's usually me, not Mr. Cob that wants to veer off course.  It ends now.  I'm going to become a better cook and save money in the process by eating at home.

#2 (GOAL: get in shape and lose the baby weight) - RESOLUTION: Do some sort of physical activity for 10 minutes 6 days per week.  We now have a treadmill, so the least I can do is walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes each day.  Or do sit ups and push ups for ten minutes over the course of the day.  And hopefully most days, once I get started and do the initial 10 minutes I'll feel good and continue for a longer work out.

#3 (GOAL: keep a cleaner house) - RESOLUTION: Clean/organize the house for 10 minutes each day and clean the bathrooms each Tuesday.  I once read in a magazine that a good way to keep your house tidy is to set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes each day and devote at least those 10 minutes each day to picking up/cleaning/organizing around the house.  Be it folding laundry, doing the dishes, picking up toys, etc., this small task of cleaning 10 minutes a day can go a long way to keeping the house more orderly.  And I hate cleaning the bathrooms, but I figure that if I just decide to always clean them one day a week, then perhaps I'll stick with it and each cleaning won't be so bad.

#4 (GOAL: save money) - RESOLUTION: Put a little more thought into purchases before they are made; pay off any credit card balance each month; use mint.com to see where our money is going and change our habits where necessary; and set up a monthly automatic savings payment into our savings account.  Now that we have finally paid off the credit cards, I do not want us to carry a balance on them again.  This is definitely doable (assuming we both keep our jobs, etc.), but I'll admit that I don't always think about what I'm spending my money on, so I just need to be a little more aware of where our money is going - which is where mint.com comes in.  I've signed up for an account but don't spend time using it wisely.

#5 (GOAL: stay happy/positive) - RESOLUTION: Meditate 10 minutes each day.  When I was pregnant I listened to a relaxation CD each day and found that this quiet time really made me feel good and refreshed.  Since Lukas' arrival I've stopped taking this time each day to just relax and be quiet, but I think it would benefit everyone in the family if I took just 10 minutes a day for myself to turn inward and reflect/relax/recharge.

Here's to a happy and productive year!

A Quick Note

I know, it's Wednesday and this is the day I usually post my weekly pooch pic and I haven't.  I forgot last week too.  Sorry.  I'll do my best to have something tomorrow.

I've been busy, very busy.  Work is busy.  Life is busy.  So the blog has been put on the back-burner.

But here's a couple of highlights from the past week:

1.  Mr. Cob cruised from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas and back to celebrate his parents' 30th wedding anniversary!

2.  I stayed home and partied on the town for my friends' bachelorette party.

3.  A 28 week pregnant woman should not be in a bar.

4.  Especially one that plays such songs as "Its Gettin Hot in Herrrr" and other similar gems where people are grinding on one another.

5.  My mother is a savior.  She helped me clean my house for over 6 hours on Sunday. 

6.  Don't judge the fact that my house needed 6 hours of cleaning.

7.  We have a water leak in our pantry.  After some investigation, we learned the leak was from screws we used in hanging the shelves in our pantry.  The shelves were put up in February of 2009. 

8.  We may or may not have urine in our walls.  Details (and pictures) to follow...

9.  Hypnobirthing rocks.  At the very least it forces me to sit and "meditate" (i.e. relax and be still) for 25 minutes each day.  I now look forward to this time every day.

10.  Lukas is feeling very heavy these days. 

11.  He's only going to get heavier as the next 11 or so weeks go on...

12.  I'm having a baby in 11 or so weeks.

13.  I'm kind of freaking out.

I promise a more exciting post will come in the next day or so.  Until then I will leave you with these amazing pictures my sis-in-law sent me from their recent trip to Mount Shasta in Cali - isn't this beautiful?!?!

Waste Not

As I've mentioned before, I waste food.  It's not something I'm proud of and I've consciously tried to cut down on the amount of food wasted at the Swans' nest.  But it seems that we always have something in the fridge that goes bad before we get around to eating it.  So when I ran across an article on http://www.slate.com/ this morning about 10 Tips to Reduce Your Food Waste, I was intrigued.

The article had these ten suggestions (followed by my commentary and thoughts):

1. Create—and then stick to—a shopping list.   I have a hard time with this one.  I even created a convenient little shopping list organization sheet (found here), and I used it  for a while but then fell off the wagon.  I think the real tip behind this tip is - PLAN AHEAD.  You can't create a grocery list if you don't know what you'll be eating for the week.

2. Shop a few times a week.  I think this can be a good tip, especially if you have a grocery store on your way home from work. By shopping a few times a week (as opposed to one massive shopping trip), you only shop for a few things at once and can reevaluate your grocery stock more often.  Thus, you're less likely to overbuy and can take your actual eating for the week into account. (i.e. if you plan to cook on Tuesday but end up going out for pizza, your whole week isn't totally derailed, whereas if you had bought 7 nights of meals at your one weekly shopping trip, you'll end up with extra food after that one night out.) The problem with this tip is actually taking the extra time to go to the store a few times a week.

3. Stick to a single cuisine, to maximize efficiency.  This would never have occurred to me, but I think its a fabulous idea.  For instance, I made stir fry last week and bought some water chestnuts to throw in for some added crunch.  But I only used half of the can.  A week later, the chestnuts are still sitting in the fridge.  But if I'd planned another pan-Asian meal the next night, less food would've been wasted.  This would also help my pasta sauce dilemma.  With two people, we always have leftover pasta sauce and the jar ends up sitting in the fridge for days/weeks and then I forget if we have any, buy more and before long we end up with three half empty jars in the back of the fridge.  But if we had pasta Monday night, Tuesday we could make pizza and then our whole can of pasta sauce might actually get used.  I think I'll try this tip out next week.  Italian week here we come!

4. Buy food with cash.  Sound tip, but for us, its never going to happen.  The Swans are not a cash based family and I don't see that changing any time soon.  I understand the rationale behind the tip - if you actually see your money in hand, you're more likely to make conscious decisions about spending it and won't overbuy at the store. 

5. Hit the supermarket salad bar.  This sounds ridiculous to me.  The thought behind this tip was that two people have a difficult time getting through a bag of celery or carrots before the food goes bad, so just buy what you need off the salad bar.  I guess it could work, but I don't trust supermarket salad bars, so I think I'll just stick with big bags and hope for the best.

6. Rein it in at the farmers market.  I'm guilty here.  I am easily lured in by kiwis and strawberries and exotic vegetables and never eat them all before they go bad.  Or I buy them and think I'll find a recipe to make using my fun new ingredient and never do.  So for me, this tip could read: just be realistic.

 

7. Wash and prep fruit and vegetables right away.  This is a great idea and one I've occasionally followed myself.  Especially good for carrots and other snacks that you can cut and divide into individual portions for easy grab and go access.  The only concern here is that veggies and fruit spoil quicker once they're cut, so you may not want to cut everything right away - instead maybe cut what you need for the next three days and then have another prep session on the fourth day.

8. Keep track of what's in your fridge and pantry, with expiration dates.  Again this is not something I would ever think of, but its a brilliant idea.  Do you know what you actually have in your fridge and freezer?  I don't.  The other day Mr. Cob found some frozen chicken that I'd planned to use to make chicken stock months ago.  And we honestly have about 7 different kinds of mustard, but realized we were out of ketchup Saturday night when friends were over for burgers.  Inventorying would initially take some time to put together, but once completed, it'd be easy to keep up with on a white board, chalk board or computer.

9. Use the freezer—and use it wisely.  I try to use the freezer wisely, but often I fail.  Lately I've been good about throwing browning bananas in the freezer to use at some later date for banana bread.  And if I buy too much chicken or meat at the grocery store I tend to throw half of it in the freezer.  What I'm not good about is packing up the leftovers from a big meal and freezing them - instead they're more likely to end up at the back of our fridge, lost forever.

10. Schedule in your leftovers.  If I've planned my weekly meals, I am pretty good about scheduling in leftover nights.  Or we'll scheduled to eat them for lunches during the week.  Sometimes I just forget what we have though.  But this is a great tip, especially if you're just a family of two and always have leftovers after cooking.

So those were some great tips!  And in an effort to put them into action, I'm going to start using my grocery chart lists again and here's my plan for the rest of this week.

Wednesday - use leftover grilled pork loin (from Sunday's dinner) and extra slider buns (from Saturday night's chicken sliders) to make pork sliders with a side of leftover grilled veggies. (tip #10)

Thursday  - pasta with grilled chicken (that is currently frozen in the freezer - TIP #9) and frozen veggies (TIP #9)

Friday - omelets (with eggs that are set to expire June 30th - tip#8) with leftover chicken from Thursday's meal (TIP #10) - side note, am I stretching here?  Is a chicken omelet just gross?  Can you really cook these two together considering the egg comes from the chicken?  Ok, now I've grossed myself out.  Maybe we'll rethink Friday's meal and just have egg and cheese sandwiches.

And we will not go back to the grocery store until we use the food in the fridge!  I'll let you know how it goes...

Blog Roll

I'm not very computer savvy.  I can type and find my way around the internet, but when it comes to formatting, I'm completely lost.  But I can read directions and attempt to follow them (though if you check with my husband, he'll tell you that I rarely look to directions and instead just go at something willy nilly until I'm completely dumbfounded and then ask for his help, at which point he asks if I've read the directions).  So after some poking around on google, I finally found directions on adding a List of Blogs I follow to my sidebar.  This was much easier than I was making it out to be...

So, check out these blogs - some are blogs of my friends and others are random blogs I've found along the way.  Its always good to have a few extra websites to have on hand when you're having a slow day or are bored and need a break.

I'd love to hear what blogs y'all keep up with!  Is there anything I should check out and add to my blog roll?

Time is a Tickin

So this weekend Mr. Cob brought up the fact that we have a lot of things to get done around the house before baby Lukas arrives.  He was a bit worried since he has some trials coming up in September/October as well as some weekend trips (weddings and high school reunion - which I sadly can't go to), etc.  I wasn't concerned because we still have 16 weeks until Lukas is scheduled to arrive (assuming he's an on time kinda fella).  But then I sat down and made out before-Lukas-arrives-TO DO List.  I'm now officially freaking out a bit.

Here's the list (In order of tasks to be done)…

1. Organize/clean back part of basement (probably should put up blinds or some window covering); move tools, bikes, golf clubs, stroller, Christmas decorations, odds and ends/childhood memento boxes, sporting equipment, etc. out to this area so that we can “finish” the big part of the basement. (TIME FRAME: a few nights after work or all weekend– 1st night to clean, 2nd night to hang window coverings, 3rd night to plan organizationally (i.e. put bookshelf, or hang some kind of shelves for storage – maybe buy some tall cabinets from IKEA or Lowes?); 4th night to move everything into this new space) (Do we want to put a cheap laminate flooring in over the existing floor?) - After sharing this list with Mr. Cob, we decided we would in fact replace the flooring in this part of the basement with some sort of vinyl tiles.  I know this doesn't sound glamorous, but considering the current state of this area, vinyl tiles will be a major upgrade.  So Mr. Cob is researching how to tear up the existing mess of a "floor" and we're going to tackle the floor and hopefully the entire area this weekend.)

2. Replace 2 blinds (killed by Ms. Wrigley and her accomplice Lydia) over basement windows (TIME: one night after work).

3. Clean/organize basement bathroom & take clothes to Goodwill (TIME: one night after work) - some explanation: we have a third full, finished bathroom in the basement, which we currently do not use at all.  The reason we never use it, you can't make it in the door.  It's full of "stuff".  I had bagged up a bunch of clothes to donate and left them in the basement and then let Wrigley and Lydia (her best friend) play in basement - well when I came home from work, the girls had torn into the bags and clothes were everywhere.  So in a quick fix, I just threw everything in the bathroom.  Yes, I will wash all the clothes before donating them.

4. Temporarily carpet the basement – need to price carpet tiles. (TIME: weekend project) - about a third of our basement is "finished" - i.e. drywalled.  And with the impending arrival of baby, we need to move all the furniture that is in the soon-to-be nursery to the basement.  I also want to buy a treadmill and put it in the basement with a TV.  So we decided to carpet the basement with carpet tiles so that this area is actually useable space until we fully finish the basement and put in permanent carpeting.

5. Move all the existing furniture from the nursery to the basement. (TIME: weekend morning or night after work)

6. Clean out closet in Lukas’ room and find new homes for its inhabitants (TIME: after work a few nights) -confession: this closet is my junk closet.  Anything that I don't know what to do with goes in this closet.  Is it becoming clear that I'm not exactly the most organized person?  I hide it well (hence my closets and bathrooms you've never seen....)

7. Have door taken out and drywalled. - This is the random door in the nursery that leads to a faux-balcony (I've been told its called a "Romeo and Juliet balcony".  Regardless, its going).  We're getting this professionally done.

8. Steam-vac carpet in Lukas’ room or re-carpet – need to price carpet.

9. Have built ins bookshelves built.  Depending on the quote from our GC, we may have him build these, or Mr. Cob and his father might tackle this project.

10. Pick out bedding for Lukas’ room. Or pick out fabric so grandma Sip Sip can make Lukas' bedding. 
11. Paint Lukas’ room. (Need to pick out the paint color) – (TIME: weekend day project)

12. Buy crib mattress (organic mattress from Costco) (can maybe order online)

13. Put together crib for Lukas (after work one night project – need to get crib from grandma's house- weekend).

14. Remove current contents of dresser, desk and end table from guest room and find new homes (TIME: night after work)

15. Move dresser, desk and end table into nursery. (TIME: after work project)

16. Wash Lukas’ clothes (I have hand-me-downs from Lukas' cousin Stu - lots of clothes!); Box up clothes 9 mos. and up and store; hang or put away rest of clothes in Lukas’ dresser and closet (TIME: night after work)

17. Pick up the "new" furniture for guest room (TIME: weekend day trip – need to rent van and possibly bring friend to help load furniture).

18. Grandma Sip Sip to recover glider and make window treatments.
So as you can see, we have our hands full.  I'll let you know how all these projects go as we start and complete them!

Are you there sun? It's me, preggo

It's cold here in Atlanta.  As in, my car thermostat registered 48 degrees this morning.  This is a problem, for multiple reasons.

1.  I thought Spring had finally sprung.
2.  I am over cold weather. (And rain.)
3.  The dog chewed a huge hole in my favorite purple coat.
4.  I don't want all our newly planted flowers to die.
5.  My work pants do not fit.  At. all.

So I'm the inappropriately dressed one in a skirt and open toed shoes, with a cowneck sweater.  I look ridiculous.  This is not one of my better fashion days.  But its the best I could do.  I tried on three different things this morning before finding something that "fit".  And by fit, I mean button.  I think its time to go shopping.  It's also time for Mother Earth to turn on the heat!

I should be...

1.  Folding the 5 loads of clean laundry currently sitting on a table in my laundry room.  (Do I get credit for at least doing the laundry?  We'll overlook the fact that everything is now wrinkled and will require ironing...details.)

2.  Vacuuming up Wrigley's fur from all over the house.  (At least she's healthy enough now that she is shedding.)

3.  Cleaning the pile of dishes in the sink (Note: I did cook Senegalese Peanut Stew with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes (from scratch) for dinner.  Another WW recipe.  It was the first one I'm not sold on.  Too much ginger for my liking.)

4.  Putting away all the "things" that are not currently in their place around the house.  (Clothes, dog toys, cat toys, mail, you get the picture).

5.  Putting more of a dent in The Count of Monte Cristo....or I'm never going to finish the 30 Books Challenge. (I'm on page 283 of 509).

But instead, I'm flipping back and forth between American Idol, the Olympics and Ruby and updating this blog.  I should probably get my priorities straight.  At least tomorrow is FRIDAY!  I'll just do it all this weekend...or maybe I'll paint the dining room!

List this

It has been yet another BUSY week for the Swans. I have pictures to upload and full stories to share, but for now, here's the SWAN'S LIST OF TEN "BIG" EVENTS FROM THE PAST WEEK:

10. Mr. Cob had his 4 week post-op appointment this Wednesday. The plan was to remove the hard cast and replace it with a removable boot. No such luck - Mr. Cob's bones aren't quite ready. My thoughts - better to be safe than sorry!

9. I avoided a round of layoffs at my job - [insert huge sigh of relief]. I'm very thankful to be employed.

8. I had my last piano lesson for a while - I just didn't make the time to practice lately and it felt like a waste of money. I had a good 4 month run and really learned a lot - i.e. how to read music and play a few handfuls of songs. Next time you are at my house, ask me to play something! I plan on resuming lessons at some point in the future.

7. I had a wardrobe/closet intervention - Katie and Lauren helped me get rid of things that no longer served my higher fashion self. They got a good laugh as I tried on clothes that I've had for over 10 years....and took photos - it's humorous.

6. I promptly went to the gym after said clothes-trying-on extravaganza.

5. I've decided the Swans need a dog. This long weekend we're dog sitting Lydia, our friends' dog and I've fallen in love. Last night after work we went on a long walk and this morning we went on another short walk before work. She's just so loving and I feel safer with a dog around. However, our kitten is not so sure a dog in the house is a good idea....I'm hoping she comes around.

4. I learned that you should always have an extra propane tank for the grill - yes, I ran out of propane while cooking turkey burgers for a group of friends. Luckily my trusty grill pans saved me!

3. I wore these on Saturday night:



And ate dinner here:



And stayed the night here:


2. On Monday night, Mr. Cob and I ate this:



(and it was delicious! We also drank champagne and watched our wedding video...)

Which leads to the NUMBER ONE event of the past week:

1. Mr. Cob and I celebrated our FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY! It has been a fantastic year - my most memorable yet. I can't wait for many many more anniversaries to come.

Happy Anniversary honey, I love you!