2012 Resolutions

Well, tis the season right? Nothing like waking up on January 1st… brand new year… brand new me… isn’t that what we all think? Well hopefully not all of us- I’d like to think some people feel so good about the year before they just want to wash rinse and repeat- but I think there is a good chance there is a chance at least 75% of us think hey we could make this new year even better than the last =)

I’m mostly a wash rinse and repeat kind of girl but I thought this year would be a good year to make some positive changes in my life so read on to see how I think I can improve well improve me.

#1. Make fitness a priority in my life: so yea I do a good amount of working out and I try to eat reasonably well however I can’t say that I have truly committed to make fitness a priority in my life. It is probably on my list of the top 10 things I worry about every day but I am committed to making it a top 3 or something close to that! And for me this isn’t about losing weight or looking better every day it is about feeling better and being proud of myself. This weekend when my mom and I meet with the running coach I think I will take a giant step in the right direction toward achieving this goal! Hopefully mother nature helps me out a little here- the snow makes it difficult to run outside and drive to the gym!

#2 Speak Tim’s love language: So Tim got me this great book about The 5 Love Languages (you can read about it here) and it talks about how each person responds differently to love. It’s all about whether something feels fulfilled from physical touch, or words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, or acts of service. You take this quiz and it helps you to understand the type of “love” you respond well to. I won’t give away all of the secrets because I think you should read it for yourself but Tim and I are just in the beginning stages of this book and I am looking forward to exploring it more!

#3 Say Thank You as Often as Possible: so this probably means every day. Sometimes I think it is hard to remember to say thank you for even the smallest things. Sometimes opens a door for you and you just simply walk right in? Someone picks up your pen when you drop it in the store and you grab it quickly and sign the credit card receipt. Your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife cooks you dinner and you enjoy the meal with a smile on your face but leave the table without a sincere thank you. So I just want to remind myself every day and a person- no matter if you know them or not- deserves a thank you when they do something nice for you. It’s as plain and simple as that. So hey I’ll start now… Thank you for reading my blog! I really truly appreciate you taking the time out of your day to spend a little time with me =)

#4 Be proud of myself: although this may sound like a selfish goal I am a firm believer that a little self-confidence (a healthy amount of course) goes a long way. Think about a girl or guy you met at some point in your life that was truly proud of themselves… they set a difference standard for themselves and they are proud of who they are. Attractive right? Fun to be around? Makes you feel better with yourself because they are comfortable with who they are. I want to be that person- even if it is just for 1 or 2 people, I want to do that for a person because I have had so many people in my life do that for me.

So all that is left to say is bring it on 2012. It is gonna be a good year!

So what’s your New Years Resolution?? Tell me about it! 

Food Updates

I owe you some serious food updates! It would be unreasonable to assume that I haven’t been taking full advantage of the holiday season and enjoying lots of tasty treats! It seems that the holidays also create a good excuse to try new restaurants and to hang out with friends =) so yea we have been doing a lot of that.

But when I’m not out with friends trying new places and eating delicious food, I try to keep myself grounded at home and really try hard to eat good for your food and lots of protein. I have been running a lot so I have been trying to get some fairly large breakfasts in with lots of goodness on the plate! I love the combo of eggs (2 please!) and the Jennie O’s turkey sausage patties! Those are DELICIOUS and I will be purchasing those again for sure! I HIGHLY recommend you try these if you like turkey sausage.

But putting aside the good for you food we have been eating some not so good for you food too but it has been fun! Good thing I have been running and working my butt off in the gym so I don’t feel too bad eating this food. There is something to be said for having a balance in your life- you should be able to enjoy going on to dinner with friends and not worry about the calorie intake all of the time. I think as long as you have a balance and you take good care of your body that you shouldn’t worry about those times you want to go out and indulge a little. Our treat the other night was a new restaurant at Summit Mall in Akron, OH called The Rail. It was our first time there and we enjoyed the night with Kara, Dana, Tiffany, and Brett and it was DELICIOUS. Tim and I are both huge fans of burgers and this place has all times of good burgers so it was a hard menu to sort through!

We also got a great deal on drinks! They were selling a winter seasonal beer for $1 a glass since they were trying to get rid of it! They must have really liked our table because they even brought over 2 free glasses toward the end of the dinner! We will be back for the food and the drinks! Plus, I thought the service was GREAT and my burger that was topped with an avocado spread was hard to put down.

oh yes and a spicy mayo sauce!

Kara made her own burger and it had some very thick cut and delicious looking bacon!

and yes I am well aware that I have a beautiful best friend!

It is so nice to try new places with good friends… especially when the food is so delicious. What I really liked about The Rail was that they had veggie burgers and turkey burgers along side the regular burgers on the menu so anyone could eat a burger there! They also had sandwiches like BLT and Chicken Sandwiches which is always a nice way to mix things up if you are not feeling a burger. Oh and I should mention they also have drink specials every night including a Long Island special and Friday and Saturday nights… I have a feeling Tim will be suggesting this shortly!

One side of the table

The other side of the table

We also had the chance to have little Christmas/New Years lunch celebration with Paul and Amanda and House of Hunan in downtown Akron. We planned on going to 3 Point Restaurant where Tim and I have been before and LOVED but as it turns out A LOT of places were closed on Monday to celebrate New Years Day… understandable I guess… I didn’t have to work either! Tim is sick and this was the first day of him feeling awful so we didn’t get to celebrate much after dinner but I still managed to have some SUSHI for lunch =)

 It was a HUGE roll and tasted delicious! It was a spicy tuna with crunchy on the outside and some spicy sauce on top as well =) As you know I am a huge fan of SOY SAUCE so that is always one of my favorite parts =) Sadly, that is 100% true.

So yes, sometimes I still cook! Tim’s mom’s birthday was the other night and she does a GREAT job on our birthdays always cooking our favorite meal. She even has a “you’re special” plate that the birthday kid gets to eat on and I didn’t have that plate but I still made her some dinner. You may know that I am a HUGE fan of Robin’s stuffed shells and I ALWAYS ask her to make them so one year she gave me a great new pan for shells and the recipe.. and well I hadn’t really taken advantage of that yet so I finally did! Tim and I made stuffed shells and the puff and paired it with a salad and garlic bread. Gary and Robin came over for dinner and we celebrated!

The stuffed shells mixture

Looks pretty impressive right? Maybe I am a good cook

My delicious plate

Oh and no birthday is complete without an ice cream cake! This we bought from the grocery store and this is what I LOVED about it… you know from Dairy Queen the ice cream cakes have that layer of like chocolate crunchy layer and I love that layer but this cake was the best of both worlds… they actually combined the chocolate part of the ice cream cake with the crunchy goodness mixed in. So it wasn’t like you had to just eat the one layer- you could eat the entire cake ha… now that I think about it- is that a good thing for or a bad thing?!

Robin blowing our her one tea light candle (yea I was out of birthday ones)