Work in Progress

"Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." - Nido Qubein We all have our own unique set of circumstances or factors that affect our ability to get, and stay, healthy and fit. We have different responsabilities, schedules, resources, starting points/prexisting conditions, the list goes on. Most importantly, we are all built differently-physically and mentally. That being said, I have never been a fan of diets or fads. I am not a dietician nor fitness trainer. I am someone whose weight has fluctuated, who grew up in the era of 'clean plate club' and the excess of food typical for those able to afford it. I have always been active although, just as my awareness and knowledge of healthy eating has evolved, so has my knowledge and awareness of physical fitness and exercise. What once may have been thought to be healthy, or may have worked for us, has changed. We know now that our bodies really do no...

DECORATING  YOUR CAKE  What you'll need: lots of icing: store bought or ingredients for icing recipe long bread knife (to level cakes if doing multi-layer or to cut into shapes) big and small spatulas to ice with icing gel for words icing smoothing tool (if you want to be really official) whatever else you want/need to decorate with: food coloring, fondant, sprinkles, candies, themed figurines, etc.  There are tons of easy icing recipes out there but also lots of delicious store bought options. My personal favorite is a store bought vanilla buttercream. You can use food coloring to create desired colors or buy ready to go icing pouches found in the baking isle of your local grocery or craft store. If you're doing a multi-layer cake you definitely want to use a knife to level off the top of the cake that will serve as the bottom layer. Then be sure to use a generous amount of icing on top of the bottom layer, which will be between the cakes, before you...

This is an argument to make your own cakes!  You can save a ton of money making it yourself and still have a great tasting cake with whatever 'theme' you like. My husband always says that his grandma told him, "if you can read, you can cook," because if you can read, you can follow a recipe. Well same goes for baking. Also, it doesn't need to be from scratch. There are tons of delicious and affordable box mixes that you can buy. The box mixes are a great route to go if you don't already have a tried and true recipe that you want to make or if you're not an experienced baker. I have made lots of different store bought mixes and let me tell you, they are easy and truly yummy. Every.Time. If you're skeptical, read on and I will break down in detail for you below. First, you'll need to make sure you have the following: box mix or all ingredients for recipe if from scratch cake pan(s) spatula(s) non-stick spray additio...

I dug this blog up today and wow! Cracked me up to read what I wrote some 10 years ago. It's comforting to see that so many years, and three kids, later some things never change. I still have a great love for reading, writing, "The Bachelor" franchise, and planning. Ha! I also love fitness and trying to stay healthy while doing my best to parent and raise good humans! If anyone actually reads this...I have a feeling I'll be back again...Until then, cheers!

It's been suggested, by some close to me, that I give up trying to blog and get a hobby makes money. However, I don't think I really blog that much anyways or about anything too interesting due to my awful computer, and that whole issue of not wanting to embarrass or call out those close to me by writing about them on the Internet, ha. I think the only way I could truly write a really consistently good blog would be if I wrote about more real things in my life and those around me. BUT even if I was comfortable with that I would bet money most people in my life would not be. Maybe I'll start an anonymous blog. Hmmmm. Also, what hobbies can I start that would make money? I'm sure if I devoted the time and know how to it I could make money off of blogging but I'm a self-aware woman and don't think that's going to happen. I seriously considered selling Mary Kay on the side but hubby is so not on board with that idea. He has this crazy idea that I get stressed ...

[Never Claimed To Be A Photographer] Multiple people have recommended that I read the New York Times Best Seller "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. However, I have to admit I've begun with some trepidation and am not very far into Mortenson's inspirational tale. While the gist of the story sounds interesting, the writing is not to my taste and I find myself criticizing the abundance and frequency of commas and elaborately compound sentences. I would still like to get through it as I've heard it is an amazing true story but it may just have to be a slow side read. Intro my most recent recommendation, "Girls of Riyadh" (or Banat al-Riyadh) by Rajaa al Sanea . This one was introduced to me just this week as a co-worker not only recommended the novel but lent me her copy. Compared to a Saudi version of my beloved "Sex and the City", how could I resist?? Taking place in Saudi Arabia, and originally ban by the Saudi g...

Ok so I know I've been writing a lot about TV and I do love TV. I'm a TV junky, fine. There. I do however still love to read and do other things, am still social and active. Ask around. Just wanted to put that out there for my millions of readers who were I'm sure really truly concerned. I've been reading "Persuasion" by Ms. Jane Austen, at albeit slow pace. I received a beautiful leather bound binding of Seven Novels by Jane Austen (found at Barnes and Noble ) as an extremely thoughtful gift from a friend. Although we've seen many of the movies adapted from Austen's works we realized we hadn't actually read many, if any, of the full novels.  "Persuasion" started off a bit slow for me, perhaps reacquainting myself with the language and writing styles of her time, aka old school literature. I'm not finished yet but am definitely much more invested with the Elliot family and our protagonist Miss Anne Elliot - naturally the only likabl...