Year in Review

Honestly I'm not sad to see 2011 go.  It has been quite a year, but I am ready for 2012.

Some good things:
I got hired on full time and am no longer a contractor at a job I love! I was going through old paperwork last night and it is hard to believe how far I have come since I started my career nine years ago. Less than three years ago I was laid-off from a job I was not happy at. It sucked!  I quickly found another job (that I really enjoyed) but it was at about a 30% pay cut from what I had been making. Now I have a job I honestly love at a company I love and am making almost double what I was making two years ago! I am so thankful for where I am career-wise. That lay-off ended up being one of the best things that has ever happened to me!

I quit smoking!

I took some awesome vacations- the epic Ski Trip 2011, the first crew beach trip, went white water rafting for my birthday and had three awesome girls weekends at the beach!

The bad:

Possibly the worst year ever in the love department.  I tried speed dating (3 times!) and hated it.  I made out with four guys this year and don't remember any of them because they were all on nights I had way too much to drink.  And one of them I REALLY should not have made out with.  Actually I probably shouldn't have made out with any of them.  I had no REAL "let me take you out because I really like you" dates.  No guys I was even really interested in this year.  I don't know where my freaking husband is, but if he is out there, I sure do hope we find each other soon because I am so over being single.

Last year at this time I made some goals instead of resolutions.  Three things to start doing, three things to stop, and three things to keep in my life.  Let's see how I did...


Start:

Getting to work by 9 am. - FAIL- I rarely make it to work before 9 am unless I have an early meeting that I have to be there for.  I usually get there sometime between 9-10am.  (I know, I am extremely lucky that I have flexible hours!)

If I go in to work between 8-9 am the traffic is double what it is if I go in after 9am.  But the downside is we have hired a ton more people and if you get there after 9am you have to park so freaking far away (if you can even find a spot!).  I need to get better at this though and just deal with the traffic or maybe even try going in way earlier because staying at work until 7pm (or even later) sucks.

Cooking more. - Semi-Success- I didn't make a new recipe every week but I definitely cooked more this year than I ever had before.

Wearing Make-up every day- Success- It is very rare for me to not wear any make-up whatsoever now.  I don't get crazy or anything, but makeup is now part of my daily routine.  (crazy it hadn't been before right?

Stop:

Neglecting my house- Success- I think I have the dog hair semi-under control now.  It is a lot of work, but I've developed a routine that works pretty well.

Drinking like I am in college- Semi-Success FAIL- I stopped drinking on the regular, but that made me have a very low tolerence.  So when special events would roll around I would get very drunk, very fast and ended up doing some pretty stupid things.  Now I have my 2 drink (or 4 if it is a long event) rule and so far so good...we shall see if I can keep it up.

Smoking- SUCCESS- I can't believe I was a smoker.  Even if it was just a few a day or week...I was still a smoker.  Yuck! I am sooo glad to have kicked that habit!

Keep:

Growing my faith- Success- I still go to church and b-study every week and I am head over heels in love with Jesus.  I don't want to sound like a crazy Christian, but God is the most important thing in my life and I wouldn't want it any other way.

My friends- Success- There was one little hiccup with my main group of friends, but I tell ya- you really know who your true friends are when they can love you and accept you after seeing you at your worst.  I do think I am going to skip the big New Year's party though because I am just so afraid that couple will be there and honestly I am terrified to face everyone else that I haven't seen in person since "the incident". (Gosh I did not even want to link to that post because I would like to erase it from my history, but any new readers might need some background on what happened.  Please don't judge me!)

I am still best friends with one of the very first friends I made back in college.  We have seen each other through a lot and to still have a close friendship where you talk almost daily with someone for almost 15 years is amazing.

I also have made a lot of new friends this year.  I have more friends at work and have some new best friends though my bible study- seriously have met some of the most awesome people in my life through that group!  And have also even developed some friendships through people I have met from blogging!

Friendship can be hard ya'll.  Especially when you get older and have more responsibilities.  You have to nuture and develop friendships all the time or you could end up losing some people who you once thought were very important to you or have no one to hang out with on a Friday night if you end up being single for an extended period of time!

This is one of the best blog posts I have ever read on developing friendship.  You should definitely go check it out!

Running- Semi-success- I ran 3 5Ks this year and started training for my 10K.  I start my half marathon training next week!  I'm going to run the Cooper River Bridge Run in March and then a half marathon in Raleigh in April.  (If everything goes according to plan!)  I got to where I could do 5 miles in under an hour (which still is kind of slow) but I haven't ran in almost 3 weeks now!  I am going for a run today but I have a feeling it is going to be tough after that long of a break!

Come back Monday to see my 2012 resolutions goals!

Carolina on my mind

I love being a Carolina girl (the state not the college).  I've lived in North Carolina my whole life and I may be a bit biased but I think this is one of the best places on earth to live. You've got Southern Hospitality. You've got the mountains and the beach just a short drive away.  Life couldn't get much better.

I love the Carolinas.

And I love boys.

And after watching this I think I love boys who can sing about Carolina!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Christmas cooking

I've hosted Christmas at my house for the past couple years now.  It is just my mom, my uncle (her brother), and me.  This year they came up a few days early.  We were able to go to a hockey game and also go to Christmas Eve service at my church.

Having house guests also inspired me to try out some new recipes I've found on Pinterest.


First- Breakfast Casserole:

Source: kevinandamanda.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

So I tried to pull this recipe up on my phone using the Pinterest app that morning, but that stupid app sucks sometimes.  It would only show my last 15 pins I had on that board and breakfast casserole wasn't one of them.  I didn't want to boot up my computer, so I just googled "breakfast casserole" and used one that had all the ingredients I had bought- which were crescent rolls, eggs, cheese and sausage.

Here is what mine looked like:

I was not a fan of this.  It wasn't bad.  I'm just not a big hearty breakfast eater.  I thought it had way too much cheese and sausage.  I would have rather had something lighter.

Luckily I also tried this recipe I found on Pinterest which was a huge hit!

Source: thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I was so nervous making this because it seems a little weird when you are putting it together.  Here is the recipe:

2 Granny Smith apples
1 tsp vanilla
cinnamon
2 packages crescent rolls
1 1/2 cups sugar (see below for more on this)
2 sticks butter (just do it)
12 ounces Mountain Dew

(Like the blog I pulled this from, I just used half the recipe- 1 apple, 1 pkg crescent rolls, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 stick of butter, 1/2 a can of Mnt. Dew, a little bit of cinnamon and a little vanilla)

First you peel and slice the apples and then you wrap a crescent roll around them and put them in a baking dish.

Then you mix together the butter (melted), sugar and vanilla and then pour it over the apples. Then you pour 1/2 a can a Mnt. Dew over top and sprinkle them with cinnamon.  It will look weird but have faith.

Bake them in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.

When you take them out they will still look weird.  Mine had a pool of liquid in the bottom and they all smushed together in the tiny baking dish:

I served them with two small scoops of vanilla sugar free ice cream and OMG they were soooo good!  I will be making these again for sure!  I wonder if they would be just as good with Splenda and Diet Mnt. Dew?

What inspiring things have you tried from Pinterest lately?

Christmas Presents

I got a lot of great things for Christmas over the last few weeks!  Some of these are from my Black Friday shopping, some from the amazing Christmas sales (I couldn't help picking up a few things for myself since I was already there getting stuff for others!), and some of the gifts I received (or already bought with some Christmas cash I was given!)

New running shoes and some Bondibands!  I have either a huge or odd shaped head because regular headbands just pop off my head.  I am hoping these will work!

A bodybugg!  They wear these on the Biggest Loser.  I also heard Valerie Burtonelli talk about hers in her book Finding It.  And my boss has one and loves it.  All of that and some internet reseach convinced me to get one!  You wear it and it tracks how many calories you burn.  You input what you eat and that way you can see if you are on track calorie-wise for the day.  So far I have just used it to see how many calories I am burning on average, but starting Sunday I will be tracking everything!

Some much needed new nail polish. I haven't bought any in forever (or painted my nails).  But last week I decided to add "painting my nails" to my weekly to-do list.  I went through my nail polish bag and over half of them were no good (too goopy or separated too much).  So I got these to kick off my new collection.

My mom gave me the money to get this sewing machine on Black Friday.  It was only $50!  I already signed up to take beginning sewing classes in a few weeks at our local Art Center.  I am hoping to make a few things for around the house but most importantly I am hoping I will be able to hem my own pants!  Being a shorty this has always been an issue for me and I will be so happy if I can do it myself!

These awesome new shoes!  I REALLY needed new shoes.  I find a pair I love and wear them down to nothing.  I had never heard of this brand before (Levity).  Apparently it is exclusive to DSW.  They are so comfortable and so cute!

This might be my most favorite of all!  This was another Black Friday buy- only $69! It has been forever since I rode a bike, but as a kid it was one of my most favorite things to do.  I got my first bike when I was five (I think) and I barely had the training wheels on for an hour before I was riding every freaking day throughout the neighborhood.  And just like they say "it was just like riding a bike"- it came right back to me!  I have a grocery store right down the street (with a Redbox!) and even a Target about a mile or so up the road if I am feeling really adventurous. I plan on getting a little basket for the front.  I also take Cam out at night when there aren't many cars out.  I ride and he runs beside me.  He LOVES it because he can run so fast!  It makes me a little nervous that he is going to jerk away or stop suddenly and cause me to crash, but so far no accidents!

Oh and I used some of my Christmas cash to buy tickets to see this when it comes back to the DPAC in May!  So excited!

What was your favorite gift this year?

Sunday Snippets- Merry Christmas!

I hope you guys all had a very Merry Christmas!

So this is more than a snippet...it is long, but well worth the watch (or just listen).  I was a little worried about what Christmas at the Summit was going to be like, but it was amazing!


Christmas at the Summit from The Summit Church on Vimeo.


I love the first song which is this really cool mix of O Come let us adore Him.

I also love the Matt Papa song Hope has Come!
"Hope has come! Let us adore Him! Born the king of ages!"

And check out the 23 minute mark where this adorable little girl recites the entire story of Jesus birth from Luke 2!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Last week I had two of my closest friends over for dinner and to celebrate Christmas.  I used it as an opportunity to try out one of the recipes I had found on Pinterest.  Here is the pin that inspired me:

Source: skinnytaste.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Here is how mine turned out:

Here is the recipe:

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Servings: 9 • Serving Size: 1 roll


Ingredients:

    9 lasagna noodles, cooked
    10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
    15 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I like Polly-o)
    1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
    1 egg
    salt and fresh pepper
    32 oz tomato sauce
    9 tbsp (about 3 oz) part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.

To serve, ladle a little sauce on the plate and top with lasagna roll.

The girls loved it!  And I even forgot an ingredient...I forgot to add the Parmesan cheese!  Oh well.  It didn't matter.  Everyone cleaned their plates!

The recipe is healthy too!  It is from skinnytaste.com and I have a feeling I am going to try a lot more recipes from that site!

The reason why I really started this Pinterest Inspired Wednesday series was because I want to see what you guys have made, bought, baked, been inspired to DO based on a pin you pinned on pinterest!  Sometimes they turn out good and sometimes not so good.  Was it all you ever hoped for or did it let you down?  Was it as easy as they say or incredibly hard?  Come on!  Share your experiences too! 

And as always so I can get more ideas of things to DO!

Jimmy Kimmel inspires hilarity

You guys this is hilarious!  If you saw the Halloween candy Jimmy Kimmel video, this is similar but I think this one might be even better! 


I love the little girl that tries to reason with her mom about the sandwich and I love that her mom's good cooking includes Hot Pockets because that may be me some day!

And the boy that says "You stinking parents!"  priceless!  Kids are freaking funny!

And just in case you didn't see it, here is the Halloween one:


My favorites from that one are "Dad you're ugly!" and "2 + 2 is 5...you were so close" and "you sneaky mom!"

Question to those of you with kids...would you do this to your kids?