Chicken Poppers!!

One last recipe for our Superbowl Food Party!! I had browsed the weight watchers website for appetizers but honestly I was unimpressed. Finally I stumbled upon a recipe for Chicken Poppers and thought - "why not?".

These are super simple despite the many ingredients required - Chicken, bread crumbs, cornmeal, egg substitute, paprika, garlic powder, cooking spray and salt & pepper.

First go ahead and cut your chicken up into small bite size pieces. Or have your sous chef do that for you (thanks Honey).

Then combine the bread crumbs, cornmeal, garlic powder, salt, paprika, and pepper in a bowl.

In a separate bowl pour in your egg substitute.

Pretty simple from here folks. Dip the chicken bites in the egg substitute then in the bread crumb mixture.

Line a baking sheet with foil, spray with your cooking spray and then line up your chicken bites.

Bake in the oven at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes, flipping them after the first 5 minutes. And voila - you've got yourself chicken poppers!

 

I was disappointed in these. They lacked FLAVOR!! And why eat something without any flavor. Really it's a simple fix without adding points, just add a bunch more seasoning. These would probably be great with some italian seasoning or even go the other direction and add in some Cayenne Pepper.

Plus you get 6 nuggets (plus their sauce - we chose not to make that) and it's only 6 points. Meaning it's 1 point or less for 1 nugget. I will make these again but with a lot more seasoning to them!

And that my friends concludes the new recipes we made for Superbowl so here's a final shot of our Superbowl Feast!!

Chuckles made the bacon cheddar pinwheels (seriously amazing)! Chicken Poppers!

 

Taquitos (not from scratch LOL) and the Skinny Mozzarella Sticks.

Our entire feast!! 

 We had a great Superbowl day. It was actually really nice to be home and not at a big party, just a sweet little party for two!!

Skinny Mozzarella Sticks!

Raise your hand if you love SkinnyTaste.com!! I better be seeing everyone's hands up!!

No joke this blog is amazing!! Since I am maintaining this healthy lifestyle there was no way I was going to blow it on Superbowl Foods so I made sure to toss in a few healthy recipes! First up - Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks from skinnytaste.com

You need quite a few ingredients for this one but trust me it's totally worth it!

Flour, Mozzarella String Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, Panko Bread Crumbs, Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs, 1 Egg, Parsley, and Cooking Spray.

First things first unwrap all your mozzarella cheese sticks! A.K.A String cheese!

Then cut each on in half. Then put those suckers on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. These need to be frozen so plan ahead!

Once your cheese is frozen (keep them in the freezer) but get your station set up so you can work fast.

Crack your egg into a bowl and whip. Put flour into another bowl.

Then combine you bread crumbs (both Panko and Italian Seasoned) as well as your parsley in another bowl.

The next part you will want to work fast cause you don't want your cheese to unfreeze. I was lucky and had a great Sous Chef (Chuckles) to not only take pictures but to hand me frozen cheese sticks when needed and place the completed ones back in the freezer.

First cover your cheese stick in flour.

Then in egg.

Then roll in your seasoned bread crumb mix.

After you've done this for all of them (or for majority of them) place them on a baking sheet in your freezer. 

Get out a second sheet and line with aluminum foil and spray with your cooking spray. Then take your frozen cheese sticks (that are now seasoned) and line them up on your non frozen baking sheet. Pop those suckers in the oven at 400, rotating halfway through, for about 10 minutes total.

Then place on plate and enjoy these skinny delights while they are still hot/warm. If you wait until they cool they just don't taste right.

Holy goodness!! I'm not even kidding. I LOVED these and they actually tasted healthy and good. In my opinion way better than the original full fat greasy mozzarella sticks you get anywhere else.

You go Skinnytaste!! Thanks for bringing another delish recipe that is a great alternative to a once fully fat (fully gross) appetizer that everyone loves! Make sure you go get the recipe here and try them asap!!

Beer and Dip = Beer Dip?

I know it's been FOREVER since the Superbowl and forever since I have blogged but I MUST share our Superbowl Feast and the recipes we made!!

First Up - Beer Dip! That's right people I said Beer Dip!!!

This one is so easy, all you need is: Beer (duh), Ranch Dressing Dry Mix, Cream Cheese, and Cheddar Cheese (yup totally forgot to include it in the picture), and then pretzels for dipping!

You will want a softened 8 oz bar of cream cheese! Mix in your beer and your ranch dip mix!

You want it to look creamy and smooth!

Add in your cheddar cheese! See here's the picture!

Looking delish and of course smelling delish! Well if you like the smell of beer it was smellin good!!!!!!

Present with pretzels. No joke, that's it, easiest dip ever. Unless of course you just buy dip, but why buy when this is so much easier! However should not be served to kids!

 

Where oh where did I stumble across this easy and delish recipe? Taste of Home!! I was doing a search for appetizer recipes for Superbowl and this came up multiple times! It was really really good!! I would definitely make sure you get the texture right. Ours needed a little more beer to make it a little more like a dip, we broke quite a few pretzels but I didn't want to over do it on the beer and have it taste too much like alcohol!

This is a must try for all 21 and older adults! You can use any beer you like and it really is so easy, took me less than 5 minutes to whip together!! I highly recommend for the next Superbowl or heck Baseball season is just around the corner.......Get the recipe here.

Key to Sadness

I just finished up Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay and Yes it's worth all the hype that's been created around it!

This book was so amazingly sad but I loved it!

Source

The book centers around two characters - Sarah and Julia - in two different time periods in France. One lived through the horrible holocaust, in which I never knew the extent of how the French people were involved, and the other lives in more modern times as a journalist who's been assigned to dig up information about that horrific time.

This book truly takes you into a huge part of history that you probably had no idea about, unless of course you are a history buff. I was a little skeptical about this book. I was excited to read it but I was really unsure of how much I'd get into it. After only 50 pages in I was hooked and couldn't wait to take my lunch break and get off work so I could pick up where I left off.

This book is tragically beautiful and I would recommend it to every single reader. It's touching, it's enlightening, and it really captures emotions.

Overall grade - A+. It really is amazingly well written and unique.

Welcome Home!

I can't believe that I forgot to post this card I made. Last year my Sister and her Fiancee bought their very first home and of course I had to make them a card! I gathered up all my new home embellishments and paper but I just wasn't excited about any of it!

Instead I hopped online to get a picture of their home and I chose to try to recreate their new home with what I could! This is what I was able to come up!!!

I used one of my cricut cartridges, cardstock, glitter, and of course I used a sticker!! I was able to get the color of house pretty darn good, however it's not a two story house!

Even though it wasn't identical my Sister absolutely LOVED it! I was proud to give it to her and I think she really loved the personal touch I put into it!! I still can't believe I forgot to post this since that was quite a few months ago, but I had to share it now!!

Another book down!! Boy do I feel like I'm on a roll!!!!!!!!

I just finished reading Morning Glory by Diana Peterfreund.

Source

Now this was definitely an easy read and I got so hooked from the get go that I couldn't put it down! I finished this book up within 2 days and I couldn't even get through the movie!

The book lets you develop your own picture of the characters, which isn't too far off from the actors and actresses but for some reason the book is just so much easy to get through and so much better!

It's about a tv producer named Becky who gets canned from the tiny local station she was working at. Not because she's a crappy employee but because the station couldn't afford her and because they wanted to bring someone in with credentials. Desparate to find a job, because working is her life, she applies to every station she possibly could.

A connection from her previous employer lands in a big stations executive producer of a failing morning show. Leave it to Becky to work her butt off and do everything possible to get the shows ratings up. Does she succeed? You will have to read it in order to find out and since it's an easy and super cute read I highly suggest you check it out!

It wasn't thrilling by any means but it was sweet and you really do fall in love with Becky!

Overall grade = B.

Do You Believe?

Last year for Christmas I snuck onto Amazon.com and looked up my friend Alycia's wishlist cause out of everything to get her I knew books would be the best! She's a reader like me so it just felt natural to gift books!

Well one of the books I got for her was called The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. Needless to say I was intrigued so I hopped back on Amazon.com and ordered a used for copy for a penny. For $4 (had to pay shipping) I thought even if I didn't like it, no biggie!! $4 is a replacement to a coffee from starbucks. And really which is better for you?? Anywho I digress.....back to the book.

Source

When I first started this book my reaction was "What the hell did I like back then about this book summary?" I was super nervous but I like going out of my comfort zone and reading books that I may not have picked out on my own. After 100 pages I was hooked. Yes it took me 100 pages to enjoy it but that's exactly why I like to give books a real fair chance. I hate not finishing books so there has to be something a book to offend me in order for me to stop reading.

And you know what the biggest part of this book that was making me uninterested? It was that there is magic. And as I was talking about it to my Chuckles it was a more "What the hell is wrong with me?". A book is supposed to a story you can get into and it doesn't have to be that realistic. I may not believe in the magic that occurs in the book but who cares? It's a book and the main reason I read is to get lost in a story and just step out of my own little world.

Once I realized that I was being silly, I got hooked on this book. You can't help but love the characters (well the ones you are supposed to love) and you are rooting for them the whole time. There are three main characters in the book - Josey who is stifled by wanting get her Mother's love and forgiveness (Mom is a very sad character), Chloe - who got cheated on by her Man and its so heartbreaking cause you just love the woman, and then Della Lee - I'll let you read about her story for yourself!

It's really hard to describe what this book is about so I'll leave you with this, there's magic of all sorts. There's medical healing magic (don't worry it's not over the top, it's just a small happening), love magic, book magic (so funny), and of course evil magic!! In fact one of the characters that is a bad bad guy reminds of the character Jimmy from Practical Magic (the movie with Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, and it's a book).

This book really did a complete 180 for me from when I first started reading it and I couldn't put it down. Overall Grade - B+. Easy read, you'll love the characters, and just let yourself get lost in the magic.

It's A Pirate's Life For Me!!

Last year for Father's Day we went to this AMAZING Pirate Festival that my Mom found online! We weren't sure what to expect but it was so much FUN!!!

Scrapbooking these pages were a little bit more difficult than I thought but I love how they turned out!!

I used parts of a Storyteller's Club layout and added my own embellishments!

 

That's the actual map/program from the event! It worked as a perfect background page!

I love the pirate stickers I found to add to these pages! Check the parrot on the left hand side :)

Since the paper didn't really go super great with theme I thought it'd be fun to add some color. I just took blue paper and then cut slices of paper off and reattached! Broke up the black which was great! And of course the red looked awesome on the black and blue!

More of the super cute Pirate stickers!

And last but not least gift time! We of course did gifts at the house since it would have been impossible to do them at the event! We are all super red in these pictures so maybe I shouldn't have used the red but overall I think the pages turned out great!

It felt nice to get in my scrapbook room and do some scrapbooking pages!! I know that I won't get too much time with all the wedding DIYs we are starting but that's okay. I'll just have to fit in regular scrapbooking every chance I can!!

Ginger Lovers Unite!!

For Christmas this year I got one of the best gifts ever - the Weight Watchers Cookbook!!

 

 We've been so busy that it's taken almost a month for us to try a new recipe out of it but we finally did and oh boy am I impressed!!

It's a pretty simple recipe and fairly inexpensive if you have most of the ingredients on hand - 

You will need - 

1lb pork tenderloin (this will be the most expensive part), 3 tablespoons light brown sugar, 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce, 3 garlic cloves (I used garlic powder), 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (we used our Ginger in a bottle), 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons Asian (dark) sesame oil, and salt!

  

First I whipped together the brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, vinegar, and sesame oil.

 Mixed it all together than dumped into a gallon zip lock baggie.

Then I had Chuckles slice open our tenderloin. You cut it lengthwise in half, like opening a book.

Then pound it out until it's about 3/4 inch thick.

Then you place the meat into your zip lock baggie (forgot to take a pic) and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. We had it in the fridge for about 4 hours and I made sure to check it 2 hours into it and "rotate" it in the bag. I wanted to make sure it all got coated.

Now the recipe calls for you to grill it but it's January. And while the weather hasn't been too bad in California we didn't feel like pulling the BBQ out of the garage and this is when having  Sous Chef comes in handy! Chuck said - no problem to put it in the oven!!

But first, put foil on a baking sheet, spray with non stick spray, place your meat in the center. I poured the remaining marinade over the top cause you can't go wrong with more seasoning!!

Crank your oven to 375 degrees and let it cook for 25-30 minutes! Then remove from oven and let it stand for 5-10 minutes.

Then get to slicing!! Doesn't that look amazing? It smelled pretty bomb as well!

We cooked up some rice and broccoli and had us an AMAZING dinner. The tenderloin was so flavorful and so moist!! I was in HEAVEN!!

 For you Ginger lovers make sure to try this recipe. I would recommend this to anyone and you really can't go wrong with some broccoli and rice as your sides!!

Total points value = 5 points for two slices of the tenderloin (cut it into 10 slices).

TRY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o)

Fight to the Finish!

I just finished another fabulous book by Mary Kay Andrews called Deep Dish! And of course Ms. Andrews does not disappoint!

Source

This book was true Mary Kay Andrews style and took place in, of course, the South!! It focuses on two local tv chefs, Gina and Tate, who end up in a tough competition against each other for their own big network show.

Of course theirs romance because its Mary Kay Andrews, but it's also filled with foooooooddddd!! Good ol' southern food!! Which now that I think about it, her books always have food as a focus and of course she includes recipes in the back.

This book was super cute, very typical of her style of writing, and of course predictable! But it's fun and cute and totally worth reading. It really would be a great beach or pool book to read as it takes place in the middle of summer in the south!!

Overall grade B+, not my favorite book and I couldn't connect with the characters at all but I still really really enjoyed it!!

22 Britannia Road

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. January always slows down for me, well at least when it comes to blogging, because I don't have too much time for crafting or cooking or reading. And since home improvements are still on hold, I am absolutely dying to do some, I don't have much to share!

However I finished up this months book club book last night! We are reading 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson this month!

Source

I was so excited to read this book as I've heard so many good things. In fact I have not heard one bad thing....I guess I'll have to break that. No I'm not looking for anything negative but at the same point I do have one gripe about this novel...okay maybe two...

It is a wonderful historical novel. If you like history and you like reading fictional novels (based on facts - I'm sure) then you will love this book. The writing is wonderful. I really enjoyed the details the author included and I never felt overwhelmed by it. I was thoroughly involved in the story of Silvana, Janusz, and Aurek.

But........there was no big climatic moment. You keep waiting and waiting for something big to happen. Yes there is a huge secret in the book but let me tell you it's pretty damn obvious what it is. Maybe not from the very beginning but definitely about 100 pages in you a light bulb that pops up and you know how it's going to go. The story does not disappoint in that aspect.

I just was hoping for some more excitement from it. Like I said if you really enjoy reading historical fictional novels this would be right up your alley. I guess they just aren't my cup of tea (yup it takes place in Britain) so for me I need a little more excitement and a little less sadness. Yeah yeah, I know what the book description says it's about so how I can say a little less sadness...I don't know exactly what I mean by it either, but the book overall, once I got to the end, was a let down.

Overall grade - B. I got very into it and ended up reading 125 pages last night, stayed up late to finish it, but at the end of the book I felt a little let down.

In A Pinch

So far it's been a good start to my 2012 reading list! I just finished reading The Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer and it was a super cute and light read.

Source

The main character Kat discovers her husband might be having an affair with plans to leave her. When she finally consults an attorney it turns out she needs $15,000 just for a retainer. Be a self proclaimed shopper and living in place where shopping is easily accessible she doesn't have a dime. She discovers her husband and her are in an enormous amount of debt thanks to her constant shopping and vows to change her habits. She joins a Penny Pinchers Club and the hilarity ensues!

I couldn't help but love her. She's funny, she's honest, and she completely takes the penny pinching by storm which causes her to end up sitting in the police department. Yup it's funny just trust me and read the book!

Overall Grade - A! I enjoyed this book so much and ended up staying up late two nights then was thanking my lucky stars I was able to finish on my lunch break cause I had spent all morning long thinking about how I couldn't wait to read it LOL!

My First 5K - On the Road to My Next 5K!

Well Ladies and Gents I have some very exciting news to share with you!

In the middle of  November I gave the Couch to 5K Program a try using the fabulous KissMyBlackAss.org Podcasts (thanks Seester for reminding me)! I knew that walking was no longer doing it for me and I wanted to up my excercise! However I was terrified of running! I haven't run since high school (aside from on an elliptical) and being overweight I was so embarassed to run and have my fat jiggling all over the damn place.

So how did I overcome that fear? I got up early and started to do the program in the wee hours before work where I knew NO ONE would see me give it a shot! I started the 9 week program on November 13th and knew it was the right choice!

I LOVED the first week. I LOVED the music and I LOVED that I could even run at all! It may seem strange to some people but the high I got from running soley came from the fact that I was ABLE TO RUN! I'm serious. In my mind I never had that confidence that I could ever run even a mile on my own.

After week 5 of the program I stopped. Not because I gave up but because I was running 3 miles without stopping, I no longer needed the interval running to keep me going. I couldn't even fathom that I was able to quit after Week 5 and essentially jump to Week 9 where you run for 30 minutes straight.

Not only that but I decided to challenge myself and I signed up to do a 5K Resolution Run. I kept it a secret from almost everyone because I didn't want to fail. I wanted to succeed but again I was so terrified that I'd fail. Yes I may have been running the 3.10 miles on my own but for some reason it never computed to me that I'd be able to do those same miles in a race.

On January 1, 2012 I woke up and donned my trusty workout clothes and shoes. I'll admit I had nerves and unfortunately being my first race I didn't realize that you really don't need to be there right when they say. We showed up at 9AM and there was no one there but those who were setting up the booths. Needless to say we took a little drive and went to get Chuckles some breakfast.

At 9:20 we parked the car and I walked up the Registration Booth to pick up my Bib Number!

And of course I am going to scrapbook this event that I have NEVER thought would happen in my life!

Because they had such a huge turnout they did 2 "heats". The first "heat" A.K.A Race, was for those who could finish in 20 minutes or less. Nope NOT ME! I ran the second "heat", where we started 10 minutes later. There were quite a few others in the second heat so I felt a little bit better. Still nervous standing there all alone while Chuckles snapped pictures!

At first I got passed up by so many people but I didn't dare look behind me. It didn't matter. I had a goal and I wanted to meet it. I wanted my best time yet which would have been anything less than 36 minutes. I was shooting for 34 minutes.

Here I am in the final stretches of the race.

And here I am crossing the finish line. I'm not even going to lie, once I saw that finish line I sped up. I was ready to be done. I had met my goal!!!!!!! I did the race in 34 minutes and 3 seconds (according to the official time on the website). I wanted to cry because it was such an overwhelming feeling to not only participate but then to meet my goal. I can't even describe how proud I am of myself. And yes I'll toot my own horn on this one.

To know that I worked hard to get to this point only made me more motivated. I have already signed up for two more 5ks this year and I am determined to do a 10k. My next 5k is in May and I want to complete it in less than 30 minutes.

The weight loss journey I experienced last year didn't hit me emotionally until the end of the year. Its a journey I never thought I would lose 53lbs. I never ever imagined I'd go from a size 20 to size 16 (and still shrinking YAY). I never in my life imagined I'd run 3.1 miles because I want to not because I had to.

I never thought I'd run in a 5k race.

Now I can't wait to get off work and go for a run! Yes, I'm running in daylight and damn proud of it.

Now I can't wait for my next two 5ks and I wish they were here already.

Now I can't wait to run in a 10k race.

To all of you who think you can't lose the weight or you can't become athletic.

YOU CAN!!

When I was talking to a friend of mine about being nervous about the race, she asked me why. I said cause I'm not a runner.

Her response - "You go running right? Then You ARE a Runner"!

2011 was an amazing year for me and even as I'm writing this post I'm brought to tears because never in my life did I think I was capable of changing my weight and my health but I did it damnnit and I am so proud of myself!

Thank you to my family and friends who reassured me and supported me throughout the last year and who I know will continue to support and be on my side throughout the rest of this journey!

A huge thank you to my Chuckles. He has been the most supportive and reassured me constantly that I can do this and has reminded me constantly of how much I've already done!

To my readers I hope you've made it through this long post. I know it's different from a lot of my other posts and it's a lot longer but I appreciate your time and your support as well!

Happy 2012!! May it be the best year for everyone!!

2012 Book List Edits!

I know, I know - I just posted my 2012 Book List and I'm already making edits! But good edits! I completely forgot to add 4 books I had sitting on my shelf that I bought during the summer last year. I've been patiently waiting for 2012 to roll around so I can read them! AND I totally forgot about the rest of the years Book Club Books!!

So the grand total for my 2012 book list is actually 40 books and it's stopping there! I don't want to stress myself out and I like a nice even number!!

So here are the 6 additions (plus 6 more after our Book Club picks the remainder of years novels)

1. Running in Heels by Anna Maxted
2. Clearing the Aisle by Karen Schwartz
3. The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe
4. Morning Glory by Diana Peterfreund
5. The Penny Pinchers Club by Sarah Strohmeyer
6. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy

And that's it folks! No more additions and hopefully no subtractions this year! I feel very confident that I'll enjoy all of these books!

Nothing Like A Nicholas Sparks Novel to Start the Year Off

Even though I just posted my 2012 Book List don't think I hadn't already started reading from day one :)

I just finished reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks and if you are a fan of Nicholas Sparks or even familiar with his many heart wrenching novels then you already know how this review is going to go :)

Source

In case you never saw the movie trailer or read the book this story is about young love. Who woulda thunk it right? Mr Sparks is notoriously known for his tear jerker novels turned blockbuster sensations!

This novel revolves around a young man named....you guessed it....John. He's on leave from the army and of course like all good summer romances he meets girl, rescues her (well her bag) and they fall in love during the few weeks he's home. When he heads back off to Germany where he is stationed the young woman, Savannah, promises to write him letters and they count down the days til his next leave. A year later they are reunited but as you can imagine time changes everything.

I won't say much more because I truly believe you should read this book. Yes I caught myself wiping away a few tears but you'll be suprised to know it wasn't because of love lost, it was because of the enormous amount of love that comes in so many different forms in this novel. It pulls at your heart strings because you truly feel like you know these characters.

This has to be my favorite Nicholas Sparks novels yet, even beating out The Notebook, because it's so much more than just a love story between a man and woman. It's about unconditional love for a Father that is misunderstood, loving someone so much you only care about their happiness, and of course about first loves, cause who doesn't like reading about those :)

I fully intend on renting this movie tomorrow and at some point locking myself in the bedroom with a box of kleenex and my dog Roxy to bawl my eyes out (without Chuckles seeing of course) but I know I won't be left feeling sad, I will be left feeling the enormous amount of Love people can feel and can give.

Read the book before the movie. Without having seen the movie yet I already know it can't possibly touch how heartfelt the novel is.

2012 Reading List Is Here!

Here it is folks my 2012 Reading List!

1. 22 Brittania Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
2. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosney
3. Little Chapel on the River by Gwendolyn Bounds
4. Life is So Good by George Dawson
5. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
6. Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West
7. The Imperfectionist by Tom Rachman
8. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
9. Georgia's Kitchen by Jenny Nelson
10. Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow
11. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
12. The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel
13. Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
14. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
15. Malachi by Jacob Emery
16. There's a Spouse in my House by Peter Scott
17. Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
18. Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler
19. Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster
20. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes
21. Wench: A Novel by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
22. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
23. The Girl With No Shadow by JoAnne Harris
24. There are Things I Want You to Know About Stiegg Larsson by Eva Gabriellson
25. I Remember You by Harriet Evans
26. Deep Dish: A Novel by Mary Kay Andrews
27. A Mile in My Flip Flops by Melody Carlson
28. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

As you can see a few of them are carried over from last year cause I'm still excited to read them! Speaking of last year I read a total of 49 books and 16879 pages!! The page number is so cool to track so you better believe I'll be tracking for 2012!!

Who else has a 2012 book list?

2012 Goals

This year is going to be absolutely crazy, nuts, busy, and a whole lot of fun! To start this year off with a bang here are my 2012 Goals!

1. Read my 2012 book list! After my 2011 list I'm scaling back so it's less stressful! Stay tuned...it's coming soon!
2. Lose an additional 40lbs and meet my healthy weight range!
3. Run 4 days out of the week.
4. Complete my 5K race in May in under 30 minutes.
5. Participate in a 10K race.
6. Create and stay on track with a weekly chore list!
7. Scrapbook two layouts a month.
8. Celebrate our Anniversary - This is very important to us!
9. Complete my Hawaii, 2008 and 2009 Scrapbook Albums.
10. Leave more spare time to relax! Meaning scheduling in free time and weekends on my calendar!

There you have it folks! I think this year I'll print these out and tape them to my bathroom wall to keep me motivated! I am so excited to get started on my goals!

Who else has 2012 Goals or Resolutions!

2011 Wrap Up

Boy oh boy did the last couple weeks of December fly by! I couldn't even make time to post but I'm back and ready to start 2012 off with a bang! First things first - lets do a recap of my 2011 Goals.

1. Dress up for work 4 days out of the week. (We have a pretty lax dress code but I want to start dressing more business casual instead of jeans everyday) - FAILED! I tried but then I shrunk out of my pants and have been waiting to buy new work slacks. When you don't need them for work it's hard to justify spending the money on new work pants. Plus I realized I'm very lucky to get to go comfy to work so I am taking advantage. Point in fact - today I'm in sneakers, jeans, and a sweatshirt!


2. Work 40 hour workweeks!! I am sick of working extra hours so this year it's 40 hour work weeks (Overtime ONLY when absolutely NEEDED and NEVER on a Friday) - ACCOMPLISHED! This year I only worked a few hours of overtime when it was absolutely needed! I wish I could say I never did on a Friday but it turns out Fridays are the best times for me to work overtime. I accomplish way more and then I get to go home and veg with the honey!

3. Lose 2 dress sizes by Summer (3 by Christmas) - Somewhat Accomplish/Somewhat Failed - I lost 2 dress sizes but not until October. I am almost down one more but alas, I did not meet the goal by the end of the year. However - I lost 53 lbs this year and started excercising 3-4 days out of the week! That to me makes up for the dress size.

4. Read 2011 Book List - ACCOMPLISHED! Yes the side tracker says I didn't but if you notice my original 2011 Book List was 46 books and I read 49 this year!!

5. Clean the house top to bottom every week! - HAHAHAHA FAIL!! This was definitely a wishful thinking goal. We just got so darn busy that it didn't happen. I will say though we have a new cleaning goal for 2012 that is totally attainable! Stay tuned...

6. Take Buster to Camp Bow Wow twice a month - Half Fail/Half Accomplished! This one is half and half because we did take him twice a month and then I started excercising and started taking Buster 3 days outo f the week. The Camp Bow Wow was to give him some excercise but once I started walking him we stopped taking him twice a month. He still goes but since it's expensive we cut back!

7. Finish my bookkeeping certificate - ACCOMPLISHED!!

8. Finish up the Home Improvements (List coming soon) - With the wedding planning (and saving) we did very minimal work on the house, which I knew would happen. In case you forget I made my goals before our engagement, which definitely put a damper on some goals, but hey there's always this year right....or next year :)

9. Scrapbook 2 layouts a month - ACCOMPLISHED! I successfully scrapbooked at least 2 layouts a month!

10. Finish my Hawaii album - FAILED!! I completely forgot this was a goal until yesterday. Where I spent all afternoon working on it, with only one layout left to do I am positive it will be finished before the end of January.

11. Spend more time with friends - ACCOMPLISHED! In fact I overbooked myself too much in 2011 and started hating making plans. While I love spending time with friends I found myself overly stressed over life and committments so this year my friends - Yes we will spend oodles of time together but I'm going to say No a lot more to give myself some downtime!!

12. Date night EVERY week! - FAILED!! We were extremely good at this until Chuckle's got his new job, now it's like date night every single night and weekend!! Plus when the weather got cold we wanted to stay home! But we always make sure to do something on date night, whether its playing games at home or at least going out to eat.

13. Take a FUN vacation - like Hawaii, Vegas, Disneyland, or a Cruise - This got put on the back burner due to our engagement. But we PLANNED our Honeymoon for this year so I think it counts!!

14. Go camping at least 4 times - Again with the engagement we decided to cut back costs and we lost quite a few weekends, BUT we went 2 TIMES!! So I deem this an accomplishment! Once just us two for our big vacation and then once for the Annual Campfest! Both times were so much fun! 

15. Celebrate our Anniversay (we never do cause I am so not into those things) - ACCOMPLISHED! We went to the Melting Pot and had a great experience! So great we are going again this year! WOOHOO!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 2011, a Safe New Years, and most of all that you completed your goals you set out to complete!

For this year I am going a little more specific and probably a few less with the weddings (yup my Seester is getting married this year too) taking up all our time :)

Happy New Years Everyone!

Thank God For American Humor

Another book down on my 2011 list, which is so exciting since we are nearing the end of the year rapidly. I know I won't complete my current list but guess what folks? I've still read a crap load of books this year!! so YAY!!

Now on to the most recent one "Always the Bridesmaid" by Sarah Webb.

Source

I would love to blame my non -Irish sense of humor on why I didn't like this book but lets' be real here. The main character Amy is one of the most miserable and moody people I've ever read in my life. There is absolutely nothing to like about her, even when you finally make it to the end of this 337 page book you still can't, or at least I couldn't. I wanted to smack this chick every single page of the book and I don't feel she got what she deserved.

Aside from the main character sucking, I did like her sister who I can only relate to as Amy Adam's character in The Wedding Date (minus the cheating part). You absolutely will fall in love with her Sister Suzi and her fiancee Matt. But since this book is about Amy and not Suzi you don't get to enjoy every single page.

My advice to anyone who isn't Irish, because I really think a lot of the humor would be funny to those who like Irish humor, similar to how only some people (Americans I guess) get British humor and others don't understand. But back to the point, if you aren't a fan of Irish humor STAY AWAY!! I'm definitely wishin' I had gotten the right "Always the Bridesmaid" from the beginning!!

Overall grade = F. Sorry Ms Webb - if you write a book with a better main character I'll give you another try.