"The color of springtime is in the flowers,

the color of winter is in the imagination."

~Terri Guillemets

New Year

Muddy Waters

YAY

Sunday Soup

Pales in comparison

Little theif

Friendship

Cotton ball to q-tip...

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed

by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore.

Dream.

Discover.

~Mark Twain

Happy, happy, happy!

Ring it in safely everyone.

Dec 31, 2011 8:00:00 AM

Introducing

Muddy Waters.

The newest addition to our family.

(Yes, I've named my vehicle...)

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

Did I mention that I love it?

(That's me in the side view mirror.

Hard to see me because I'm shrinking every day.)

Happy Friday.

Dec 30, 2011 1:16:51 PM

My heart so wishes that it looked like this here today...

But I feel that even though we are welcoming winter,

he has opted not to show.

It is supposed to be 70 degrees here today.

I will still, however, continue to hope the he is just running a bit late.

Dec 22, 2011 8:32:13 AM

Okay people.

Do a little dance with me.

It's officially been this many days...

and I've officially lost this...

Doing a dance, I'm doing a dance,

I'm doing a dance, dance, dance.

Woo hoo!

Dec 20, 2011 10:16:52 AM

While on our weight loss quest, I thought I'd occasionally share some q-tip friendly recipes. Although I know most of you are already q-tips, the recipes I'll share are quite healthy and yummy.

About two weeks into our new eating habits Robin and I stopped in Chili's. We had been out and about running errands for hours and were starving so we agreed we'd order house salads and that would be all. Being that it was Saturday evening the wait was 20-30 minutes so we opted to not wait and sit at the bar. Whew, that was a mistake. We've been alcohol free since starting this journey and seeing mouth watering margarita's being passed about was too tempting. I didn't give in, however, I ordered water. Who the hell sits at a bar and orders water and a house salad?? That would be us. We were actually quite astonished at the foods being consumed around the bar and the fluffy folks consuming them so it was rather eye opening. I ordered the house salad with oil and vinegar, Robin ordered the house salad with a light dressing and a cup of their green chili and chicken soup. He left half because he said it was too salty. I had a couple of bites and didn't really notice, but I enjoy salty things. Er, uhm, I used to enjoy salty things. When we got home I looked up the nutritional value of the soup and although carb, protein and calorie friendly it contained over half the daily allowance of sodium. Places like Chili's, Applebees, Ruby Tuesday and the like all add enormous amounts of salt. I remember years ago eating at Romano's Macaroni Grill. I thought I was being good by ordering grilled chicken and broccoli. The manager came around to inquire about our happiness with the meal and I said "the broccoli is excellent". He proceeded to tell me that it is such a bright green color because they put so much salt in it... Seriously? I didn't eat anymore. So anyway, I decided to make our own green chili and chicken soup that is very low in sodium and even more q-tip friendly. I'd seriously recommend you do the same. Even if you eat at those places once or twice a month, the amount of sodium entering your blood stream is just not healthy. It's just as easy to google "Chili's Green Chili and Chicken soup" and you'll find a billion recipes...

I'd love to share my source on this recipe, but I seriously combined about four different recipes and turned it into my own. That's just how I roll.

Green Chili and Chicken Soup

2 tablespoons safflower oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 carton low sodium Chicken Broth (I use Pacific free range low sodium)

1 can no salt added diced tomatoes

2-3 diced anehiem chilies

2 small grilled chicken breasts

1 fresh squeezed lime

2 1/2 teaspoons cumin

Place oil in medium sized soup pot over medium heat

Saute onion for about 5 minutes, add garlic and saute another 1 minute

Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, green chilies, chicken breast, lime juice and cumin

I cooked for about an hour to soften the chilies and meld the flavors but it would probably be ready to eat in about 30 minutes.

If you like, serve with fresh avocado slices.

For the vegetarian version you could probably add some black beans. I've eaten black beans lately and apparently they don't like me so I've defriended them, but if you like them, by all means sub them for the chicken. Oh, and one more thing. Other recipes called for fresh chopped cilantro. Robin hates cilantro so I didn't add it, but I bet it would be super yummy.

Sorry I don't have a photo. By the time I thought about it, the soup was in my tummy.

Enjoy!!

Dec 18, 2011 8:00:00 AM

So in my LMAJ family

we decided to do a gift swap.

Exciting stuff considering I'm in a group

of such amazingly talented women.

I was fortunate enough to be

parterned with the lovely

LeAnn of Summers Studio.

I got to meet LeAnn a few months ago

on the way to celebrate our anniversary in Charlotte.

She was nice enough to meet me

at one of my favorite rock shops in Greensboro.

She is, by far, the sweetest spirit on the planet.

Just cute as a button...

And speaking of buttons,

her gift to me arrived yesterday.

The package was adorned with one of

her handmade ornaments.

(If you like that one, you should see

what she has in her Etsy shop).

And this beauty was waiting for me

inside the package.

In my thank you email to her

I told her that I've asked my mom-in-law

to teach me to knit during our holiday stay.

Guess, what pattern I picked?

Yep, a neck cowl.

I've been wanting one for a while.

Only mine won't look this beautiful

because it won't be dressed up

with her gorgeous handmade buttons.

Wow.

This is my gift to her.

Yeah, I know. Adorned with nada.

Bad, bad me.

I can't show you what's inside because

she doesn't have the gift yet.

Yep, again, bad me.

I packed it all up and forgot to schedule a pickup.

Then I forgot to run it to the post office

so it didn't go out until yesterday.

Luckily she lives only a few cities away.

I can tell you that even though

my gift to her was made with

100% heart

it sure does pale in comparison.

Dec 17, 2011 7:52:52 AM

An early gift to Moose.

It gets cold in the garage at night

so we thought he might like this.

I'm thinking he does.

But it sparked someone's curiousity.

Which then sparked a little thievery.

Which then sparked mom to buy another...

Dec 16, 2011 8:02:00 AM

"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand,

nor the kindly smile,

nor the joy of companionship;

it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one

when you discover that someone else believes in you

and is willing to trust you with a friendship."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love you too, my dear friend.

Thank you for the gift and the

many years of beautiful friendship.

Dec 15, 2011 4:58:25 PM

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

I never like talking about my weight issues. I was a fluffy kid and I've fought my weight my entire life. So putting it out for the world to read is a bit disconcerting. I recently lost two friendships because someone chose to say some rather ugly things about my weight after I had confided in his wife that my weight gain was upsetting... It hurt and to be honest, still does.

When someone chooses to say something mean regardless of hurting the other person's feelings it shows a lack of intelligence. It is a neanderthal type behavior that I simply find unacceptable. If you feel a need to say something mean, just stop and think "would I want that said to me?". No, of course not. So don't say it.

To speak today of my weight has me a bit fearful, but I've emerged from some very stagnant water and I'm just so proud that I have to share. I think I gained most of my fluffiness after Kathleen passed away. It's easy to find comfort in food. Especially gluten free breads (loaded with rice flours and potato and bean starches), rice soups, potatoes, etc. So in these years of mourning, the pounds have found a home, here, with me...

After reading the book 7 Principles of Fat Burning, I decided that it was time Robin and I commit to eating better. We thought we were eating okay, until we did more research. We aren't fast food eaters, don't pull our chairs up to the overloads of food at the Golden Corral buffets, we don't visit the all you can eat chinese buffets, nor do we eat processed foods from the freezer section of the grocery store. What we do is eat too much at dinner time and don't eat enough veggies.

So for two weeks now, we've eaten ALL veggies with a bit of dairy, fruits and snacked on a lot of nuts. No potatoes or starchy vegetables, no breads or grains (they are very bad for you even if you can eat gluten), no refined sugars (bad, bad, bad), no deli or salty meats. I think we've actually consumed more food in these two weeks than we had been prior to this diet. Veggies. Who knew. I'm proud to say that in two weeks, he and I have lost the combined equivalent to four five pound bags of sugar. Yep, you heard me right. And typical, I've lost more weight than Robin but he looks like he's lost three times more than he has. But this will not deter me. I'm so gosh darn happy I could do a little dance.

This week we are allowed to add meat proteins back into the picture. I'm not a big meat eater, but I've missed my eggs. But we've agreed that those meals will only be a few times a week and we will be sharing. We are determined to continue on our veggie path. Exploring new ground grown stuff. A new adventure. A permanent path.

So here's to our journey from cotton ball to q-tip. May we always be happy and healthy.

Dec 14, 2011 8:00:00 AM