New Year, New Resolutions.....some of the same too

Happy 2019!! I hope you celebrated well with family and friends last night (maybe into this morning if you happen to not care for small children?!?), we were lucky to be invited to a party at a friend's home - all 3 of us were invited! Needless to say, we had to leave the party by 8:15 since Lulu (at full volume) was shouting "go" "out" "house", never all 3 together - but it was pretty easy to piece together the fact that she was done done done with the party & wanted to go home! She was a good sport and made it well past her bedtime, I was grateful for time with my family, my wonderful friend & some delightful new faces.

Updates on last year's resolutions:

1. So this time (ish) last year, I resolved to blog weekly - to write a Friday Round Up/Friday Recap each week to ensure I didn't let this blog lay untouched for too long.

I am happy to report I blogged more than my resolved 52 times (not much more......58 times if I counted correctly) which means this resolution sticks around for 2018.

2. My other resolution in 2018 was to always have homemade cookie dough in the freezer. Seems so random, I'm sure. But this resolution was born out of the fact that I live to take care of other people. It is a defining part of who I am. I love for those around me to feel cared about & cared for - and what better way to communicate those sentiments than through a homemade treat? Reality bite though, right? We don't always have the time/space to make treats from scratch. My trick is to do most of the work when you do have the time, perhaps you quadruple a recipe for peanut butter cookie dough, making your mixer work overtime!

I am a big fan of  the saying"don't let perfect be the enemy of good" and to that end - I will keep this cookie dough resolution for 2019 despite the fact that some weeks did go by when the freezer only held frozen peas & the delicious garlic naan from Trader Joe's. I am updating this resolution to include keeping homemade dry mixes in the pantry; I made a few jars of pumpkin muffin mix from this Smitten Kitchen recipe before Christmas and was quite pleased with them. Not only do I love the way the ingredients look all stacked in the jar, but it was so much easier to make the muffins when I had the dry ingredients pre-measured. 

New resolutions for 2019:

1. Read at least 12 books this year. 

I'm quite certain that I do this anyway - but I want to be sure to do so! 

So far, I know I will read these 3:

1. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott (recommended by my mom's group friend Jay)

2. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (my Mom's choice for our January meeting of Mother/Daughter Book Club)

3. For the Love by Jen Hatmaker (recommended by my mom's group friend Katie)

2. Manage my phone use.  

I made a place in our kitchen for my phone to "live" for Lent last year. It was a helpful reminder to keep my usage in check. Though, as with so many Lenten promises- my curtailing my screen time didn't last past Easter! I'm eager to restart my efforts - mostly because I use my phone as a crutch - to guard against being bored, even for a second. If I am bored/restless/anxious - I can click through social media to distract myself. I dont' think it serves me well. Given how loudly the Bug shouts "no" when I'm looking at my phone when she wants me to look at her - I think Lulu would agree :) 

3. Run Streak
I'm going on a run streak. I will see how many days in a row I can run at least one mile. Doesn't matter if it is outside or on the treadmill, but I am 2 days in & looking forward to more runs in my future!

I would love to know if you are resolving anything for 2019! Please leave your resolutions (or your reasons for not doing New Years resolutions) in the comments. I find it so interesting to know what people resolve & why.

Friday Fun February 23

Lizzard loves baking. 

I mean, duh. But I do! So that is where we will start!

1. A new cookie recipe from the hilarious Joy the Baker.

Frankly, they don't look as good as they taste!!

I love that she titled this recipe "Weekday Oatmeal & Everything Cookies" - kind of a fun name, yes? So they are delicious - I only baked one pan, because Chris & I will demolish all the cookies in sight...best to limit whats available! I thought there were a lot of spices in the dough, but once out of the oven - I honestly will up the ante next time! The only adjustments I made to the recipe - I used half whole wheat flour, half dark chocolate chips & half milk chocolate chips, half dried cherries & half dried cranberries, half pepitas & half sunflower seeds. I basically wanted everything but the kitchen sink in these cookies :) Oh, and I sprinkled the tops with sea salt before I baked them, because double duh.

2. Coffee Catch Up

2 of my favs, sitting at the island, noshing on banana bread

The littlest things matter so much now that Lulu is in our lives. Sometimes it feels like a giant pain to get out of the house & schedule life around nap schedules & feeding schedules, or to schedule a babysitter. So when a friend is willing to meet at our house for coffee & chatting - I feel like I've won the lottery! When said friend (my beloved CC) also comes bearing ridiculously delish banana bread (coincidentally also a Joy the Baker recipe!) it is a triple bonus. I baked the cookies above for this visit :)

3. Success with New Years Resolutions

So what happened to the other cookie dough that I didn't bake?? It is nestled in a lot of plastic wrap in our freezer! That makes 3 kinds of dough in said freezer, which means I am accomplishing my resolution to always have cookie dough in the freezer. Being better about posting right here was another 2018 focus of mine - and look, we're doing that right now. Feeling satisfied. I have slowed down on my new vegetarian recipe resolution - do you have any you'd care to share??

4. Mother Daughter Book Club

We had a meeting on Monday night and nearly the whole group read the book, which hardly ever happens. We had an awesome meal, great conversation, & perhaps the most delicious slice of pecan pie I've ever had (& I thought I didn't like pecan pie!!) We've been meeting with this group of 5 mothers and 7 daughters consistently for about a decade. It makes me happy pretty much every single time.

5. Making a Donation to Sandy Hook Promise

Because I need to do something. We marched (more on that here). We vote. We sign petitions, but the NRA is so well funded.....we need dollars to combat their dollars & keep our kids safe.

Friday Round Up 2/2/18

Lizzard Loves the new plan for Fridays!

Things that are good in my life, in no particular order:

1. Breakfast with babies

Now that we are parents, we are making friends with other parents of similarly aged kiddos. This is wonderful - except for the cost of babysitters when you want to hang out with other parents without your kiddos! My solution has become a baby friendly breakfast. I love breakfast. I love how easy it is to prepare, I love how casual it usually is, I love coffee & coffee is always welcome at breakfast! Also, the babies tend to be in pretty good spirits first thing in the morning; no one needs to rush to make a nap, everyone can just relax & enjoy each other's company. Plus, now that more & more friends have babies.........more & more friends are waking up at the crack of dawn like we always have :) The early bird gets......breakfast with babies!

2. My goal/resolution to read everyday

I've started reading on Chris' iPad sometimes - just to make sure I get it done. Lilac Girls is our
Mother Daughter Book Club Book.
I'm honestly struggling with it, its so depressing.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised given that it is based on the Holocaust.......

I read somewhere that setting a goal to read 2 pages per day is easier to achieve than reading x amount of books in a month or year. It is a concrete, measurable goal (which apparently all good goals are) which makes it easy to know if you are on track to achieve it or not. Sometime around the new year I decided to give this goal a go because I always say "I want to read more" but then never seem to find/make the time (maybe because wanting to "read more" is vague and not easy to measure?!?). But I LOVE reading. I have loved reading since I learned how to read. If a book is good, I will stay awake until the wee hours of the morning to see how it ends. I don't stay up until the wee hours of the morning for anything else (except Lulu when she wants to party in the middle of the night...but I only do that because I have to!). So far, so so so good with the new goal. I've been reading everyday, which makes me quite glad. If you have a book recommendation, I would love to hear about it in the comments- I'm always on the hunt for a great book.

3. Another tooth for Lulu

That 2nd tooth is hiding in there!

This has been a majorly funky week for Lulu's sleep - she'd been in a great groove in 2018, sleeping through the night, going to sleep without fanfare (aka screaming), and sleeping until 6am or so. This week has involved one night where she was awake from 10pm-2am, one night that she screamed for 30-40 minutes for a new(ish) babysitter rather than staying asleep after we put her down, and 2 nights of here & there wakefulness lasting up to 45 minutes. Then, yesterday morning, I saw it- the Bug has her 2nd tooth! It was so reassuring that something was causing this disruption. She also has a pretty gross cold.........which helps explain things! There are so many gray areas in parenting (as in life) but it makes me feel so good when there are concrete reasons for some of the craziness!

2016 Resolutions

Lizzard Loves New Year's Resolutions.

Yes, they fail a bunch. Yes, people get frustrated with them & even by me wanting to talk about them. Yes, they are work. Buuuuuuuuuuut, they are SO worth it. As I get older, I find it difficult to keep learning, growing & improving. I sometimes yearn for my college years when there were activity fairs - magical places you could wander around & find groups to join. I am, by my very nature, a joiner. I love to be with people; to talk, do an activity, volunteer, play a game, learn something new, whatever! I wish there were activity fairs for adults. I wish there were easy ways to join a club to learn a new skill or try a new hobby on for size.

Alas & alack, no such fairs exist for adults, at least not to the best of my (admittedly limited) knowledge.

So, in the meantime, I use things like bucket lists & New Year's resolutions to continue to grow, learn, meet new people & maybe most importantly - stay connected to the loves in my life.

Drum roll please..........in 2016 I resolve to:
1. Write. This means letters, in my journal, on this blog & my other one.
2. Bake. Belle Plaine Bread (of course) but also to connect with friends & family. This will involve trying new things. First up? This recipe for pretzel bites.
3. Think, act, and be kind. This resolution was inspired by reading this post on Father James Martin, SJ's Facebook page (This post encapsulates much of what I think it means to be a good human being. I strive to be a good human being & hope that I am a touch better in 2016 than I was in 2015): 
"1.) Be Kind. That means...
2.) Always give everyone the benefit of the doubt. After all, why not? Everyone is carrying around some sort of burden. Usually one that you don't even know about. So give them a break. Even if they're being unreasonable....
3.) Especially when you're talking about them with someone else. Honor the absent, as the saying goes. Spiritually speaking, it's essential. It's part of charity. Practically speaking, it makes sense too. Why? First, because you'll feel crummy about yourself afterwards. Second, because the person you're complaining to will probably see you as negative. Finally, it will inevitably get back to them. More to the point, it's mean.
4.) Don't be a jerk. There is simply no need to be. At all. Zero. Just because you're having a rotten day doesn't mean you have to pass it along your misery to someone else. It's important to share your struggles with friends. Essential. But being in a bad mood is no excuse to be a jerk. If you feel your moving into that territory, ask yourself a simple question, "Am I being a jerk?" If you're somehow unable to discern that, the look on other people's faces will tell you.
5.) Give a call, pay a visit, or send a note to someone who is sick, lonely, struggling. It will cost you nothing, but will mean everything to them. Think of how you feel when someone reaches out.
6.) Release yourself from that grudge. In other words, forgive. It's ridiculous to hold onto things for so long. It eats away at you like a cancer, and it poisons the other person's life. It also, most likely, serves to turn them against you even more. You think you are justified in being mad? You probably are. People can be jerks. But there are probably people justified in holding a grudge against you, too. So just let it go.
7.) Stop being so sarcastic. A little of that goes too far. You may think you're being Oscar Wilde, but you're often just being mean. Sarcasm can be an effective antidote to pomposity, but sometimes it's just cruel.
8.) Listen patiently to someone who is long-winded, or boring, or, especially. complaining. They're usually insecure, lonely or in pain. Your listening is a gift to them. It may mean that you're the only person they have to talk to. Yes, it's hard. But God sees what you're doing. And, after all, people have to listen to you.
9.) Help someone who is really needy. A homeless person. A poor person. A refugee. A sick person. A grieving person. It's not hard to figure out how to do it. And if you don't know anyone like that, write a check. That's not so hard either. Helping doesn't require an advanced degree. 

10.) Be kind. Did I mention that? It bears repeating, because if you are kind, then you'll make a lot of people happy in the New Year. Yourself too. And God. "

So, what are you resolving to do this year? Would love to know! Happy New Year all!