Where does time go? I used to be so good at writing regular blog posts on my site, and now I blink and it’s been months. I’m sorry about that. With three kids, owning a business, a home, a rental property, a dog, and two cats life is, well, hectic!

So what have I been up to lately? In a nutshell, I’m helping my church go through some New Wine Consultant recommendations, sitting on the RiverSong Music Festival 2013 marketing committee, attending yoga classes for the first time, fundraising for my daughter’s school trip to New York this spring, and preparing for my third trip to China in a few weeks! In between all of that, I’m still carving out time to exercise everyday.

How about you?

My three guiding words for 2013 are Health, Balance, and Serve. I’ve never really made resolutions or set specific goals for myself at the beginning of the year. This year I thought I’d try putting into writing three words that will guide my decisions in 2013. Here is my reasoning behind these words.

Health

In 2012 I made some significant changes in my health. We started eating very healthy and exercising. I lost about half of the weight that I intend to lose, so I need 2013 to help me get the rest of the way. I want to learn how to maintain my healthy habits and continue to role model good choices for my kids. I plan to run two extreme races this year, one with my two kid ages 14 and 9. My youngest is still too young to join in, but she’s watching what we are doing.

Balance

I need a constant reminder of the priorities in my life. I need to balance my time with my kids, my husband, work responsibilities, faith, and never forget about myself. Part of my weight issues I’ve discovered has to do with putting myself last. I need to balance the needs of others with my own needs so that I can be healthy, relaxed and happy.

Serve

One of my greatest passions is thinking of the needs of others. Helping those who can’t help themselves. Serving others rather than worrying about my “fair share” or what it is going to cost me. Part of my core beliefs and faith is that God calls us to love others without judgement or selfishness, never focusing on money or materials things. I want to use this year to serve others through my thoughts, words, and deeds. No small deed is too small. We never know what kindness starts a tipping point that changes someone else’s life forever.

So there you have it. What would you choose for your three guiding words for 2013?

I’m the person who can’t wait to put away the Halloween decorations and pull out the Christmas ones while I’m still in the storage room. Each year I tell myself it can wait, and yet I always find myself catching the spirit of Christmas early. While I haven’t decorated yet, I have wrapped presents, helped the kids with a Christmas ornament craft, and watched the first of many Christmas movies. This year, our family was asked to watch and review a new film prior to release called “All I Want is Christmas”. It won the 2012 International Family Film Festival (LA).

My three daughters, foreign exchange daughter, husband and I all watched the film together. The kids immediately recognized one of the stars, David DeLuise from “Wizards of Waverly Place”. One of the first things I look for when watching a movie is how well it’s made (filming, camera angles, acting, editing, etc). This one passed the test immediately, which means I was willing and ready to give it a chance. It’s an engaging story of a boy named Ira who, quite frankly looks like a nerd in over-sized glasses from the 1980′s and a goofy hair cut. We quickly realized he was going to be the main character, and his clumsy awkwardness part of the story.

I don’t want to be “that person” who tells you the whole story before you watch it, but safe to say we enjoyed the movie and laughed quite a bit. My nine and four year old laughed the most, and my husband and I agreed we could watch the movie again with the kids. Our foreign exchange daughter struggled a bit with the Christmas-Jewish based humor in the movie, which was definitely a highlight for my  husband and I. Ira’s grandparents were comical relief and kept the story light and funny. If you are looking for a new, family-friendly Christmas movie that you haven’t seen a million times already, this is a great choice. It’s good for all ages, and it just might have you looking for a ridiculous reindeer hat to wear to your in-laws.

“All I Want is Christmas” came out on November 1, 2012 and is available at these VOD Providers:

Amazon
Brighthouse
Charter
Comcast
Cox
Dish
iTunes – CAN & US
Microsoft – CAN & US
Vudu
Verizon Fios
Time Warner
Youtube

I must confess that it’s been a long time since I posted an update. I’m still going strong on my weight loss journey and healthy lifestyle. I continue to lose weight, but it’s been much slower in recent months. I think I was a little unrealistic with my plans to lose 3 or more pounds a week for eight straight months. My goal of a 100 pounds down by December will get pushed out, but I’m happy to say that I’m very close to the 50 pound mark! I’ve run three 5K runs; one an extreme obstacle 5K so I’m very proud of that accomplishment considering I only started running in April. I have very little clothes that fit, so if you see me in the same outfit a lot, bear with me. I’ve dropped four sizes in clothes and getting close to another size. Between my husband and I, we donated 100 gallons of “too big” clothes. Speaking of my husband, he has lost about 70 pounds, and is gearing up to run his first half marathon tomorrow. I want to continue to encourage you to take whatever steps you can to embrace a healthier lifestyle. If it works for you to make major changes great. If not, every bit helps. Thank you for all the words of encouragement I continue to receive. It means a lot to me.

As I watched the debates, I had my Android tablet on my lap with a live Twitter stream. It immediately became apparent that the rather dry debate on television was going to be rivaled by witty American’s everywhere. For the first time I laughed so hard tears rolled down my face, so I thought I’d summarize “the best of” for you to enjoy. My apologies if anything is offensive, but darn it, they were funny. Add your own personal favorites in the comment section below and give due credit.

Debate Tweets

@gov: 17,000 tweets per minute for “Big Bird” and 10,000 tweets per minute for “PBS” #debates

@mattbinder: OCCUPY SESAME STREET we gotta’ do it for Big Bird! #DebateDenver #debate2012

@Howtobeadad: I will give either candidate a million dollars if they say the word “vagina” during debates.

@jillfilipovic: Romney’s American Flag pin is bigger than Obama’s American Flag pin. Crap. Romney clearly loves America more.

@lauriewrites: Yelling “He’s SUCH A TOOLBAG” just now where I am may have been inappropriate, but I couldn’t help it. I need a nanny.

@Firedbigbird: Somewhere Paul Ryan is kicking over trash cans in hopes of smoking out Oscar the Grouch.

@Vruno: I am hearing Charlie Brown’s teacher’s voice each time Obama speaks tonight.

@Chrisrockoz: I wish Mitt Romney could figure out how to smile without looking like he’s at his mother-in-laws house for xmas dinner.

@mommyologist: Next time, they should get a mom to serve as a moderator. Just a suggestion.

@chaddarnell: Can we book Clint Eastwood’s chair to moderate next debate?

@JerseyTodd: Let’s be honest, watching Biden/Ryan debate is going to be like watching nascar just to see who crashes in the wall first.

@kate_childs: What did we learn during #debate? If you run a brand account (like @KitchenAidUSA) always check 3X if tweets are from work or personal handles.

And my own favorite?

@confessionsmom: Angry Birds’ creators scrambling to get Big Bird in a sling shot aimed at failed moderator structure #debate

Yes, you read it correctly. I recently gave our basement a makeover on $15!

Since we moved into our house about eight years ago, we’ve focused all our efforts on the main rooms of the house where we spend most of our time. A couple years ago, we finished the basement bedroom so that we’d have a nice spare room. Since there is a full-sized bathroom in the basement too, it actually is really nice space except that it became a dumping ground of all our stuff.

From my daughter’s drum set (that belongs in the basement, trust me) to our old couch, chairs, bookshelves and toys, what could be a nice family room looks like a garage sale gone bad.

Since our foreign exchange daughter will be arriving soon and using the space, I decided to take it a step farther than just “cleaning it up” and give the space a makeover and see how frugal I could be.

Challenge #1: A complete mess!

We started sorting into keep, throw, and donate piles. As we filled a bag, the kids ran it to the truck to donate, the garage to throw away, or to the furnace room to store (our actual storage area).

Challenge #2: Mis-matched furniture!

I had a nice sectional couch in fairly good condition to work with, but it’s red. I also had a comfortable rocker, recliner that is green. The floor was a nice, black ceramic tile from the days when a hot tub was in the space. I had a portion of my MIL traditional china hutch, a butcher block table, a wicker shelf, and a modern stereo cabinet. The pieces were quite the challenge to pull together.

Challenge #3: White walls

Let’s face it. The space was “technically” finished, but very cold and boring. I knew the walls needed color, but what do you pick with such mis-matched furniture?

Solution

The girls and I went to a second-hand store to find drape/curtain panels with red colors. We found three that didn’t match each other, but the color scheme started to come together. We selected a soft white curtain, a dark brown curtain, and a beige curtain with dark brown/gold/red stripes. We also found a pair of chairs with black iron backs to go with the table, and a few miscellaneous items to decorate with (candle sconces, mirror).

Next, we went to household hazardous waste for free paint and selected a green and gold/brown color.

Pulling It All Together

I love to paint, so I got out the level and figured out some vertical stripes. I used some old curtain rods from storage and hanged the curtains for a multi-medium look with depth and warmth. I found some old frames in our storage room and put some drawings of my dad’s in them for the walls. We did some arranging of the furniture, used the couch pillows for chair pads to draw the color/eye across the room. The kids are thrilled to have a place to watch some old VHS tapes on the old TV/VHS player that was not being used. The drums, piano, bass guitar, and amp got their own space on the opposite end of the room.

Budget

Curtains, chairs, decor from thrift store on 1/2 off day = $15
Paint from household hazardous waste = Free
Couch, chair, table, tv out of our storage = Free

Now the kids have a place to hangout, watch VHS movies, play board games, and practice music. Also, the next tornado warning that sends us to the basement will mean we have a comfortable place to sit.

We’ve been wanting new furniture for a while. Our old couch looked fine, but had that uncomfortable bar that always found its place against your hip when sitting or laying on it. I like to think we took our time carefully choosing our next purchase, while our kids matured enough to follow verbal commands “the frog belongs outside”, “please take the science experiment to the table”, and “maybe you should grab a napkin before that ice cream drip makes it all the way down your arm.”

When our friends at Factory Direct shared this cool video of their tent sale, the idea was planted. Maybe now our kids are old enough to keep crumbs, stains, and hand prints to a minimum if we invest in some new furniture.

In a odd coincidence or twist of fate, we packed the kids up, bought them ice cream cones (on a hot day) to eat in a nice spot outside the tent, and went in to shop. What a great “no pressure”, fun way to shop. We found exactly what we were looking for, saved a bunch of money, kept the ice cream drips contained to the parking lot, and moved onto a new phase in our lives: clean and comfy furniture. Think it will stay that way?

This is a really delicious and simple way to make pizza that is healthy, full of lean protein, and really tasty. It uses a chicken breast as the crust, and as many fresh garden veggies as you can pile on top!

Ingredient List:

Boneless, skinless chicken breast
Marinara sauce
Low-fat mozzarella cheese
Chopped fresh veggies like peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc.

Directions: Place each chicken breast between to sheets of saran wrap and hammer with a meat hammer until about 1/4 inch thick. It will take a while, and you’ll want to flip the piece over to flatten from both sides. Be careful not to hammer a whole in the meat. Place on a grill until cooked on one side, then flip until cooked on both sides. Be careful not to over cook, but you want to start with a cooked piece of chicken for a crust. Then make as you would a pizza and place back on the grill until toppings are hot.

Can you imagine receiving free chicken for a year? I’m imagining the recipes I’d cook and create with that much chicken!

Gold’n Plump Chicken just started a new Facebook contest that is super easy to enter. All you have to do is submit a Grilling photo! To read the details of the contest and to enter, go to Gold’n Plump’s Facebook Page. I’m entered. Are you? Good luck!

We love our fresh veggies. We’ve received our second share from our CSA, and we couldn’t be happier. I didn’t even know there were so many varieties of lettuce, nor that they could grow that huge. The fresh strawberries are addicting, and I’ve tried (and loved) fresh turnips for the first time.

The kids love going out to the farm and helping pick things. This week they picked cherries and strawberries and were so excited to be told they could taste what they picked.

My personal weight loss journey has been very public, so I field lots of questions. It’s no surprise that many have to do with food. Let me tell you that having fresh picked produce in the frig is a dream. It tastes so good; like different vegetables altogether. Today for lunch we made a salad of fresh lettuce, fresh strawberries, feta cheese and slivered almonds. It is the best lunch ever. I’m so happy there are leftovers for supper!