i've already decided to change up my new years resolution to read 150 books this year. i'd like to make that resolution a little more challenging by reviewing some of the titles i read this year. and i mean some. there is no way i'm going to have the interest in reviewing every book i read. some just aren't worth it.
the ones i choose to review will be ones that i either REALLY enjoyed and want to share or ones that i REALLY hate and want to steer people clear of. let me warn you, there are few books i REALLY hate. a lot of books bug me, but i have a knack for finding something redeeming about nearly every book i read. most of the ones i'm already sure i'll dislike are the ones chosen by my book club for the next 6 months. there is only 1 on the list that i might have picked up on my own and 3 on the list that i already know will be tough for me to finish due to lack of interest in the topic. which is one of the reasons why i joined this book club...they push me to read outside of my regular, cozy comfort zone.
the majority of my reading falls into the category of young adult. while there is plenty of really great young adult books out there, there is also a lot of mediocre and crap young adult writing out there. and i don't discriminate. i enjoy almost all YA lit not because of the content, but because YA authors understand writing to people with short attention spans. they don't spend 3 chapters on stupid character background. they jump right into the story from page one, letting the reader figure out the characters (and even setting) as the story moves. i appreciate that. but 80% of the YA books i read really aren't worth commenting on so unless something is REALLY good, you won't hear about my having read it other than to see the book listed to the right in the 2012 book list.
feel free to send me your book suggestions. i'm always looking for new authors or even just titles to pick up. beware though, i don't read much non-fiction so if your recommend something that requires me to look it up using the dewey decimal system, i'm probably less likely to read it. not because i don't understand the dewey decimal system and therefore couldn't find it in my library, but because well, typically non-fiction is just really blah to read.
anyway, you'll be able to find book reviews in the 'Literary Adventures' tab.
oh yeah...i also decided that i'm going to try to catch up on some of the classic children's literature books that i missed out on growing up. can you believe i've never actually read Alice in Wonderland or The Secret Garden? first up? robert louis stevenson's Treasure Island.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
new year, new look
i've made a couple small changes to the site. hopefully some more will come tonight...as soon as i figure out how to add tabs. i'm not so good with the html stuff and i'm really not wanting to learn so i've been putting it off. but once i figure out html a little bit better, i'm hoping to add more content to the site besides my pathetic ramblings.
one of the first tabs i'll be adding is a cooking section. i don't get to do much cooking for myself as it isn't much fun to cook or bake for just one, but i get to do a fair bit at work and have come across several great recipes that i use on a regular basis. and i also get a chance to try new recipes whenever i like. my love of cooking and baking goes back to elementary school when i joined 4-H. i spent a lot of time learning to bake, winning a few competitions and earning some scholarship money along the way. in high school, i took a two hour cooking class at another high school every morning. while the first year, i learned nothing as the teacher was never there, the second year i learned a lot and really started to love cooking as well. so much so that i considered skipping traditional college in favor of culinary school. however culinary school scared me when i visited the school at Grand Rapids Community College (way more prestigious than it sounds). i realized i was more of a casual chef than a future restaurant chef.
the addition of recipes to the site will not be something i do often as even now, most of my cooking is for 3 year old, 5 year old and myself. while i love to cook and bake, i rarely want to eat the food i've prepared because my own palette hasn't matured much past elementary school. i still prefer sandwiches, chicken nuggets and the occasional pizza.
but here are a few recipes i love!
chicken chili
adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Parties! cookbook
serves 6
i love this chili as it doesn't have beans...a food i can't make myself eat. i like to keep it very rustic so i keep the onion and peppers a bit larger than the original recipe called for. and unless you like your tomatoes to be creamy, i don't put them in a food processor before adding them, instead i just give each tomato a good squeeze to break it up a little. as for the spices, amount used is estimated as i just put it in to taste, not actually measure it out. needless to say, my chili tastes slightly different every time.
4 cups chopped yellow onion
olive oil (i use a 3-4 second pour)
4-6 cloves of garlic (i love garlic so i use more than the 4 cloves called for)
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and chopped
2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 28oz cans whole peeled plum tomatoes in puree, undrained (i prefer san marzano tomatoes)
1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves (or i use dried basil to taste)
4 chicken breasts
preheat over to 350 degrees.
sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet. roast chicken for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked. let cool slightly. tear chicken into large bit-sized pieces.
cook onions in oil over medium-low heat until translucent (10-15 minutes). add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. add the bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne and salt. cook for 1 minute. crush tomatoes by hand and add to pot with basil. bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
add chicken to chili and simmer, uncovered, another 20 minutes. serve with chopped onions, corn chips, grated cheddar and sour cream. reheats really well.
peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies
also from the Barefoot Contessa
for a nice change of pace i'll change things up a little bit and use half a bag of chocolate chunks and half a bag of butterscotch chips.
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup good smooth peanut butter (i use jif)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 package nestle semisweet chocolate chunks
preheat over to 350 degrees
in the bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (this recipe is a lot easier with an electric mixer or a beater). add the eggs, one at a time. add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix. sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then add to the batter, only mixing until combined. fold in chocolate chunks.
refrigerate overnight. (makes for WAY better cookies)
drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
this is the point where the barefoot contessa and i disagree. she says to bake for 17 minutes and that the cookies will be slightly underdone. i say if you bake for 17 minutes, you'll have burnt cookies. i bake them for 11-12 minutes and then pull them out. i suppose you should cook them til you feel comfortable with their doneness. do not overbake. remove from the oven, let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
batch makes about 32 cookies depending on size. once they're cooled, i like to freeze them. they last longer (meaning i don't just sit and eat them all right away) and 30 seconds in the microwave makes them perfectly warm and chewy.
if you like your cookies chewy, make sure to throw the dough in the fridge overnight, but if you like them flattened and a bit crunchy, feel free to bake them right away.
one of the first tabs i'll be adding is a cooking section. i don't get to do much cooking for myself as it isn't much fun to cook or bake for just one, but i get to do a fair bit at work and have come across several great recipes that i use on a regular basis. and i also get a chance to try new recipes whenever i like. my love of cooking and baking goes back to elementary school when i joined 4-H. i spent a lot of time learning to bake, winning a few competitions and earning some scholarship money along the way. in high school, i took a two hour cooking class at another high school every morning. while the first year, i learned nothing as the teacher was never there, the second year i learned a lot and really started to love cooking as well. so much so that i considered skipping traditional college in favor of culinary school. however culinary school scared me when i visited the school at Grand Rapids Community College (way more prestigious than it sounds). i realized i was more of a casual chef than a future restaurant chef.
the addition of recipes to the site will not be something i do often as even now, most of my cooking is for 3 year old, 5 year old and myself. while i love to cook and bake, i rarely want to eat the food i've prepared because my own palette hasn't matured much past elementary school. i still prefer sandwiches, chicken nuggets and the occasional pizza.
but here are a few recipes i love!
chicken chili
adapted from the Barefoot Contessa Parties! cookbook
serves 6
i love this chili as it doesn't have beans...a food i can't make myself eat. i like to keep it very rustic so i keep the onion and peppers a bit larger than the original recipe called for. and unless you like your tomatoes to be creamy, i don't put them in a food processor before adding them, instead i just give each tomato a good squeeze to break it up a little. as for the spices, amount used is estimated as i just put it in to taste, not actually measure it out. needless to say, my chili tastes slightly different every time.
4 cups chopped yellow onion
olive oil (i use a 3-4 second pour)
4-6 cloves of garlic (i love garlic so i use more than the 4 cloves called for)
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded and chopped
2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 28oz cans whole peeled plum tomatoes in puree, undrained (i prefer san marzano tomatoes)
1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves (or i use dried basil to taste)
4 chicken breasts
preheat over to 350 degrees.
sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet. roast chicken for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked. let cool slightly. tear chicken into large bit-sized pieces.
cook onions in oil over medium-low heat until translucent (10-15 minutes). add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. add the bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne and salt. cook for 1 minute. crush tomatoes by hand and add to pot with basil. bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
add chicken to chili and simmer, uncovered, another 20 minutes. serve with chopped onions, corn chips, grated cheddar and sour cream. reheats really well.
peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies
also from the Barefoot Contessa
for a nice change of pace i'll change things up a little bit and use half a bag of chocolate chunks and half a bag of butterscotch chips.
1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup good smooth peanut butter (i use jif)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 package nestle semisweet chocolate chunks
preheat over to 350 degrees
in the bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (this recipe is a lot easier with an electric mixer or a beater). add the eggs, one at a time. add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix. sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then add to the batter, only mixing until combined. fold in chocolate chunks.
refrigerate overnight. (makes for WAY better cookies)
drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
this is the point where the barefoot contessa and i disagree. she says to bake for 17 minutes and that the cookies will be slightly underdone. i say if you bake for 17 minutes, you'll have burnt cookies. i bake them for 11-12 minutes and then pull them out. i suppose you should cook them til you feel comfortable with their doneness. do not overbake. remove from the oven, let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
batch makes about 32 cookies depending on size. once they're cooled, i like to freeze them. they last longer (meaning i don't just sit and eat them all right away) and 30 seconds in the microwave makes them perfectly warm and chewy.
if you like your cookies chewy, make sure to throw the dough in the fridge overnight, but if you like them flattened and a bit crunchy, feel free to bake them right away.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
bowling, bets and birthdays
last saturday i got together with some friends to celebrate a birthday. it was a fun night of football, bowling and weirdly enough bets. ok, so other people bowled and it isn't all that weird to take bets, especially when a sporting activity is involved. i was more about the football. and my bet was about the football. i love to bowl, but i didn't want to stop watching the lions/saints playoff game long enough to bowl. i love the lions and have only missed one game this season. first time to the playoff since forever was not going to be game number 2.
the game had it's good moments and bad moments. mainly 1 bad moment. the end score. unfortunately, the lions were unable to pull out a victory over the saints. equally as unfortunate, i knew deep down i wasn't going to go in my favor. didn't stop me from making the bet.
a friend of mine lives in baton rouge. he's a giant saints fan. i believe he told me he's THE saints fan. after some taunting texts exchanged through the first half, i suggested a friendly bet. he suggested the terms. i agreed and the game went on. it became clear about midway through the 4th quarter that the lions were done and i was going to lose.
so now i'm going to baton rouge. that is my punishment (?) for the lions losing. i have to go to baton rouge and i have to bring a friend. those were the terms. lions lose, i bring a friend to baton rouge. lions win, he brings a friend to grand rapids. somehow seems like no matter what the outcome of the game had been, i would have won. sure my football season is over, but now i get to spend 4-5 days in baton rouge with a friend seeing someone i haven't talked to in person in about 10 years. i think i win. plus we're going in april for spring break so that'll be fun and with the way this winter has been, we'll probably have 12 feet of snow in michigan that week so being some place warm is an added bonus.
sometimes i making bets is worth it....even if the airfare to louisiana is going to break me.
the game had it's good moments and bad moments. mainly 1 bad moment. the end score. unfortunately, the lions were unable to pull out a victory over the saints. equally as unfortunate, i knew deep down i wasn't going to go in my favor. didn't stop me from making the bet.
a friend of mine lives in baton rouge. he's a giant saints fan. i believe he told me he's THE saints fan. after some taunting texts exchanged through the first half, i suggested a friendly bet. he suggested the terms. i agreed and the game went on. it became clear about midway through the 4th quarter that the lions were done and i was going to lose.
so now i'm going to baton rouge. that is my punishment (?) for the lions losing. i have to go to baton rouge and i have to bring a friend. those were the terms. lions lose, i bring a friend to baton rouge. lions win, he brings a friend to grand rapids. somehow seems like no matter what the outcome of the game had been, i would have won. sure my football season is over, but now i get to spend 4-5 days in baton rouge with a friend seeing someone i haven't talked to in person in about 10 years. i think i win. plus we're going in april for spring break so that'll be fun and with the way this winter has been, we'll probably have 12 feet of snow in michigan that week so being some place warm is an added bonus.
sometimes i making bets is worth it....even if the airfare to louisiana is going to break me.
stairs are hard!
i don't think think there is a muscle in my body that isn't hurting today. and this is day two of muscle pain. this year i made the decision to up my fitness level. i have been working out at a gym a couple days a week for the last year or so, but i've really not done much more than work on cardiovascular health. after a lot of years of not doing anything to help my heart function at it's highest potential, it has been slow going. on top of that, most cardio activities bore me to tears after just a short time. i've gone from the treadmill to the stationary bike to the cardio wave and now back to the treadmill. i'm now actually enjoying my time on the treadmill as i've found a way to run without getting as bored. and i'm seeing results every day. so now i feel ready to up the level a bit and add a couple different types of workouts.
this is the first week this year that my schedule has been normal so i didn't get a chance to start the added workouts until now. my typical gym schedule is monday and thursday and friday, but i don't always make it on fridays. so i decided to put the other workout in on tuesday and take a break on wednesday. good thing i did.
i added some weights, core and lower body exercises on tuesday. most people say i'm crazy when i say this, but i find a strange sort of motivation when i do those types of workout if i use a workout dvd. i have one that i really like from Jackie Warner that includes 15 min workouts for each upper body, lower body and core as well as a 15 minutes total body and a 40 minute total body workout. tuesday i popped the dvd in, stretched, warmed up and got about 10 minutes into the 40 minute workout when i realized i totally wasn't ready for the entire 40 minutes. still, i continued to struggle through it because i hate to give up. i managed to complete the entire upper body portion and the entire upper body portion. i gave up about a 1/3 of the way into the core workout. the way Jackie's workout runs is instead of doing sets of say 20 reps on each exercise, she has you do a full minute of each of three separate exercises followed by all three in a single minute she calls a power burn. each 4 minute cycle focuses on a single muscle group. a full minute of lunges or chest presses or side planks is a LONG time.
all that leads to my having very achy glutes, hamstrings, quads, abs, and shoulders. yesterday was rough going. i nearly fell down several sets of stairs several times through out the day because my legs just didn't function well. didn't help that i spent 2 hours wandering the beach and sand dunes along lake michigan with a 3 year old. this evening, i'm suppose to spend some time running on the treadmill. i'm hoping a handful of advil and some fierce determination will get me through 3 miles on the treadmill though i have a feeling i'll be on the treadmill for a VERY long time in order to get through those three miles.
now i have to reconsider how i'm going to add in the other workouts without putting my legs out of commission every week until i get used to the extra workout.
this is the first week this year that my schedule has been normal so i didn't get a chance to start the added workouts until now. my typical gym schedule is monday and thursday and friday, but i don't always make it on fridays. so i decided to put the other workout in on tuesday and take a break on wednesday. good thing i did.
i added some weights, core and lower body exercises on tuesday. most people say i'm crazy when i say this, but i find a strange sort of motivation when i do those types of workout if i use a workout dvd. i have one that i really like from Jackie Warner that includes 15 min workouts for each upper body, lower body and core as well as a 15 minutes total body and a 40 minute total body workout. tuesday i popped the dvd in, stretched, warmed up and got about 10 minutes into the 40 minute workout when i realized i totally wasn't ready for the entire 40 minutes. still, i continued to struggle through it because i hate to give up. i managed to complete the entire upper body portion and the entire upper body portion. i gave up about a 1/3 of the way into the core workout. the way Jackie's workout runs is instead of doing sets of say 20 reps on each exercise, she has you do a full minute of each of three separate exercises followed by all three in a single minute she calls a power burn. each 4 minute cycle focuses on a single muscle group. a full minute of lunges or chest presses or side planks is a LONG time.
all that leads to my having very achy glutes, hamstrings, quads, abs, and shoulders. yesterday was rough going. i nearly fell down several sets of stairs several times through out the day because my legs just didn't function well. didn't help that i spent 2 hours wandering the beach and sand dunes along lake michigan with a 3 year old. this evening, i'm suppose to spend some time running on the treadmill. i'm hoping a handful of advil and some fierce determination will get me through 3 miles on the treadmill though i have a feeling i'll be on the treadmill for a VERY long time in order to get through those three miles.
now i have to reconsider how i'm going to add in the other workouts without putting my legs out of commission every week until i get used to the extra workout.
Friday, January 6, 2012
the grand unveiling 2012
New Years Resolutions 2012
1. Read 150 books.
last year i had a bunch of ideas as to how i wanted to complete my reading goal, some of which i managed to uphold (books had to have more than 150 pages) and some i failed miserably at (my goal to read more non-fiction). i'm going to do the same thing this year, but in some instances i'm going to get much more specific than i was last year. so here's the breakdown of how i'd like to completely my reading goal:
a. read the following books from my book shelf:
Swamplandia by Karen Russell
The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen
The Hole We're In by Gabrielle Zevin
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Suzanna Clarke
Curse of the Wolf Girl by Martin Millar
World War Z by Max Brooks
more to be added when i have a chance, but i'll start there.
b. read entire stephanie plum series by janet evanovich
yes, i said janet evanovich. last year i read all of the books in the anita blake, vampire hunter series by laurell k. hamilton so i wanted another series with a similar number of books that would last me for most of the year. i also wanted to series to be something super popular that i wouldn't typically pick up. janet evanovich fit that criteria.
c. read more non-fiction
last year i put a number on this and didn't succeed. this year i'm just going to state that i want to read more non-fiction. shouldn't be too hard to as i only read 2 non-fiction books last year.
d. graphic novels will NOT count in the reading goals this year
you'll be able to follow my reading progress at http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3508320-carrie
if you yourself is a reader, sign up...i'd love to be able to see what all my friends are reading.
2. Be a better blogger.
my goal this year is to post a blog much more regularly. i have plenty to say so now i just need to find the time to say it. i'm going to aim for at least once a week.
3. Be a better friend.
i am awful at staying in touch with friends who don't live in the same town i do. my best friend lives across the country from me and i'm luck if i talk to her once a month. i want to change that. i want to make a point to talk to those friends outside of GR more regularly. i want to be in the loop of their lives, not the girl they send christmas cards to, but never hear back from. as for my friends in GR, i want to do better there too. i want to be the once reaching out to make plans instead of sitting at home waiting for them to call me.
4. End the year with at least $1000 in my savings account
here's a few of the ways i'm going to attempt to save some money:
a. use less gas. i drive a lot for work (no less than 70 miles a day just to get to and from work) so economy is going to have to come in my driving habits in my off time. i'm going to attempt to take advantage of the buses. i used to ride them regularly, but have gotten out of the habit. everywhere in GR i'd want to go is on a bus route so when ever possible, i'm going to try taking the bus. i'm also going to change churches for awhile. i love my current church, but it is 20 miles or so away from where i live. there is a church within walking distance of my house and another only a 3 mile drive from my house, either that i would feel comfortable going to. i doubt the change will be permanent, but at least for now, i'm going to try going somewhere closer to home.
b. eat at home more often. living with other people meant my food got eaten by someone other than myself more often than not. something i got tired of very fast and stopped by no longer keeping food in the house. i have not spent money on groceries in probably two years outside of a gallon milk and box of cereal here and there....well that and ice cream. there is always ice cream in my house. needless to say, i eat out most nights of the week. that takes a bit of money to accomplish. while i will not stop eating out, i will stop eating out every night. the goal is to cook at home at least 4 nights a week. guess i'll have to get to the grocery store as the only thing in my fridge is a 2 liter of diet pepsi and some ketchup. i'll also need to get the gas turned back on to the stove.
c. take advantage of my goal-setters savings account. 5/3's goal-setter savings account requires you to go into the bank to get money out of it. you can not transfer from the website (which is how i prefer to do my banking...website and ATM). i'm going to start putting $50 from each paycheck into that account upon deposit. when the next paycheck arrives, i'm going to then transfer the balance of my checking account into the savings account. this will mean i will literally live from paycheck to paycheck, but i think it'll be worth it to have a savings cushion at the end of the year. and as i hate going into the bank, i'm less likely to try to get to that money than i would be if i could sit on my couch and transfer it out.
5. Take better care of my house.
i'm not a person who enjoys cleaning. i'm less likely to do it now than i was in the past because i do a lot of house cleaning and laundry at work every day. the last thing i do after vacuuming/mopping and washing clothes/dishes at work is come home and do it again. but i need to learn. by the end of this weekend, i will have my house clean and a chore schedule set up that i will try to follow every day/week to keep my house clean. i can't promise this will stick, but i'm certainly wanting to try it.
as for the rest of my resolutions, they all deal with health and fitness and will be posted on my other website (www.notcelebrityfitclub.com) sometime tomorrow hopefully. if you're curious about those resolutions, click on over.
1. Read 150 books.
last year i had a bunch of ideas as to how i wanted to complete my reading goal, some of which i managed to uphold (books had to have more than 150 pages) and some i failed miserably at (my goal to read more non-fiction). i'm going to do the same thing this year, but in some instances i'm going to get much more specific than i was last year. so here's the breakdown of how i'd like to completely my reading goal:
a. read the following books from my book shelf:
Swamplandia by Karen Russell
The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen
The Hole We're In by Gabrielle Zevin
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Suzanna Clarke
Curse of the Wolf Girl by Martin Millar
World War Z by Max Brooks
more to be added when i have a chance, but i'll start there.
b. read entire stephanie plum series by janet evanovich
yes, i said janet evanovich. last year i read all of the books in the anita blake, vampire hunter series by laurell k. hamilton so i wanted another series with a similar number of books that would last me for most of the year. i also wanted to series to be something super popular that i wouldn't typically pick up. janet evanovich fit that criteria.
c. read more non-fiction
last year i put a number on this and didn't succeed. this year i'm just going to state that i want to read more non-fiction. shouldn't be too hard to as i only read 2 non-fiction books last year.
d. graphic novels will NOT count in the reading goals this year
you'll be able to follow my reading progress at http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3508320-carrie
if you yourself is a reader, sign up...i'd love to be able to see what all my friends are reading.
2. Be a better blogger.
my goal this year is to post a blog much more regularly. i have plenty to say so now i just need to find the time to say it. i'm going to aim for at least once a week.
3. Be a better friend.
i am awful at staying in touch with friends who don't live in the same town i do. my best friend lives across the country from me and i'm luck if i talk to her once a month. i want to change that. i want to make a point to talk to those friends outside of GR more regularly. i want to be in the loop of their lives, not the girl they send christmas cards to, but never hear back from. as for my friends in GR, i want to do better there too. i want to be the once reaching out to make plans instead of sitting at home waiting for them to call me.
4. End the year with at least $1000 in my savings account
here's a few of the ways i'm going to attempt to save some money:
a. use less gas. i drive a lot for work (no less than 70 miles a day just to get to and from work) so economy is going to have to come in my driving habits in my off time. i'm going to attempt to take advantage of the buses. i used to ride them regularly, but have gotten out of the habit. everywhere in GR i'd want to go is on a bus route so when ever possible, i'm going to try taking the bus. i'm also going to change churches for awhile. i love my current church, but it is 20 miles or so away from where i live. there is a church within walking distance of my house and another only a 3 mile drive from my house, either that i would feel comfortable going to. i doubt the change will be permanent, but at least for now, i'm going to try going somewhere closer to home.
b. eat at home more often. living with other people meant my food got eaten by someone other than myself more often than not. something i got tired of very fast and stopped by no longer keeping food in the house. i have not spent money on groceries in probably two years outside of a gallon milk and box of cereal here and there....well that and ice cream. there is always ice cream in my house. needless to say, i eat out most nights of the week. that takes a bit of money to accomplish. while i will not stop eating out, i will stop eating out every night. the goal is to cook at home at least 4 nights a week. guess i'll have to get to the grocery store as the only thing in my fridge is a 2 liter of diet pepsi and some ketchup. i'll also need to get the gas turned back on to the stove.
c. take advantage of my goal-setters savings account. 5/3's goal-setter savings account requires you to go into the bank to get money out of it. you can not transfer from the website (which is how i prefer to do my banking...website and ATM). i'm going to start putting $50 from each paycheck into that account upon deposit. when the next paycheck arrives, i'm going to then transfer the balance of my checking account into the savings account. this will mean i will literally live from paycheck to paycheck, but i think it'll be worth it to have a savings cushion at the end of the year. and as i hate going into the bank, i'm less likely to try to get to that money than i would be if i could sit on my couch and transfer it out.
5. Take better care of my house.
i'm not a person who enjoys cleaning. i'm less likely to do it now than i was in the past because i do a lot of house cleaning and laundry at work every day. the last thing i do after vacuuming/mopping and washing clothes/dishes at work is come home and do it again. but i need to learn. by the end of this weekend, i will have my house clean and a chore schedule set up that i will try to follow every day/week to keep my house clean. i can't promise this will stick, but i'm certainly wanting to try it.
as for the rest of my resolutions, they all deal with health and fitness and will be posted on my other website (www.notcelebrityfitclub.com) sometime tomorrow hopefully. if you're curious about those resolutions, click on over.
last years resolutions+me=??
i've been drafting this blog in my head for a week or so now, but just now getting a chance to write it. another new year is upon us. in general, i don't really care that it is a new year. i don't really celebrate at midnight on january 1st like most of the rest of the world. partly because i find it weird that i get to start a new year 3 hours before my best friend does. i understand about time difference, earth rotation and what not, but it is still weird to watch people start their new year both before and after i do. so instead of doing that, i go to bed. if i'm awake at midnight it is because whoever shoots off fireworks and guns in my neighborhood as woke me up.
but the one new years tradition i do fall in line with is new years resolutions. i think self-improvement is important and what better way to motivate self-improvement but new years resolutions. i've been hit or miss about them over the past few years, but having them written down somewhere people can see them has helped me a try a little harder this last year.
to recap, last year i wanted to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes, weigh less than i did at the start of the year (203lbs) and read 100 books (with a bunch of smaller goals under that). i only achieved one of those goals...i read more than 100 books, around 125 in actuality. i haven't had a chance to go through the smaller goals and see how i did there, but the over all goal of 100 books was achieved. as for the other two, i'm not too sad about it. while i haven't run a 5k in less than 30 minutes, i have worked towards it steadily all year long. i've averaged 2 visits to the gym a week all year long so i'm now in the habit of going and working out on the cardio equipment. and after a break from running due to some latent tendonitis issues, i am back on the treadmill and actually making some good headway towards the goal of a 30 minute 5k. and the weight thing, well in all honesty, i didn't try so hard on this one, basically i didn't try at all. unfortunately, i weigh more than i did at the start of the year. i really don't feel bad about that though.
so after last years rather poor attempt at self-improvement, i've come up with a new list of resolutions that hopefully i'll be able to accomplish this year.
but you'll get those in a different post as it is now time for me to go to work... :(
but the one new years tradition i do fall in line with is new years resolutions. i think self-improvement is important and what better way to motivate self-improvement but new years resolutions. i've been hit or miss about them over the past few years, but having them written down somewhere people can see them has helped me a try a little harder this last year.
to recap, last year i wanted to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes, weigh less than i did at the start of the year (203lbs) and read 100 books (with a bunch of smaller goals under that). i only achieved one of those goals...i read more than 100 books, around 125 in actuality. i haven't had a chance to go through the smaller goals and see how i did there, but the over all goal of 100 books was achieved. as for the other two, i'm not too sad about it. while i haven't run a 5k in less than 30 minutes, i have worked towards it steadily all year long. i've averaged 2 visits to the gym a week all year long so i'm now in the habit of going and working out on the cardio equipment. and after a break from running due to some latent tendonitis issues, i am back on the treadmill and actually making some good headway towards the goal of a 30 minute 5k. and the weight thing, well in all honesty, i didn't try so hard on this one, basically i didn't try at all. unfortunately, i weigh more than i did at the start of the year. i really don't feel bad about that though.
so after last years rather poor attempt at self-improvement, i've come up with a new list of resolutions that hopefully i'll be able to accomplish this year.
but you'll get those in a different post as it is now time for me to go to work... :(
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