January Wrap-Up

And the results for January's theme of "Routines" are in...

Success! Here's a quick summary of each of the habits I concentrated on throughout the month.

This one was a quick and easy victory, and I'm thrilled with the little Star Wars bag that resulted. Starting small was the way to go; I'm looking forward to finishing more of my unfinished work!

A simple thing, but it's been nice not having to deal with this one in the morning. There were a couple of nights it required me to stay up just a pinch longer than I usually do, waiting for the cycle to finish, but I wasn't about to give up my streak!

One strategy that's helped me out with this one is packing hubby's lunch while I'm making dinner, rather than waiting until after dinner. Whereas I typically have leftovers for lunch, he's in the middle of a pretty solid sandwich and apple routine - no reason I can't put that together whilst waiting for dinner to finish.

The biggest advantage of remembering to do this all night is not having to try to find matching socks using the light from my cell phone - not even the flashlight app, because that would be too bright and possibly wake up sleeping lions!

I've been enjoying this - remembering and reflecting on what happened is a nice way to end the day. Keeping the journal in my night table has been tremendously helpful.

This went really, really well! I did of course have to make some changes as I went along, but it made the weekly shopping much smoother. I've already created February's plan, and am trying a little something different with it this month - for a future post.

This one has probably been the hardest, simply because my morning routine varies a little bit from day to day. Biggest help? The reminder the app sends me a little before bedtime - that way if somehow this had slipped, I know to forego "Harry Potter" for the evening and substitute this for my pre-sleep reading. I'm now halfway through the Bible!

And seriously, what is wrong with these Israelites???

Next up: my theme for February!

January Routines: Monthly Habits 2

The other "habit" I'm working on on a monthly basis this year is taking time each month to finish at least one of the many WIPs (works in progress) that are languishing away in my home office. This month I started small and finally got around to making the Star Wars dice bag that my husband requested of me (and I purchased the materials for) well over a year ago. Tada!

While again it's just a small item, it's so nice to be able to check it off of the invisible list that exists only inside my head. A small accomplishment is still an accomplishment!

A little bit at a time I'll be working through a variety of projects, most a lot bigger (and older!) than this one.

And, today's the last day of January, so I'll soon be posting a wrap-up of this month!

January Routines: Monthly Habits

Moving on to new monthly habits I want to establish (which can also be tracked on the app!):

I have been a devout weekly meal planner for years. The #1 secret to my success in this endeavor is (what else?) an app, Mealboard! The Mealboard app allows me to program in all of my recipes/ ingredient lists for different meals. Every week I select the meals I want to cook, and the app generates an aggregated grocery list for me (i.e. tells me the total number of tomatoes I need, how many ounces of olive oil, yada yada yada). Not only will it do this in order of the grocery store aisles, but I can completely customize the order of the aisles and/or add new ones so that the list goes in the exact order I travel through the store. You now how the cold case in most stores extends across five or six aisles? I have it broken down into three different sections, so I'm not hopping back and forth on the list. Sweetness! I highly, highly recommend this app, huge time saver! Added bonus: all of my recipes are in one highly transportable place.

But I digress. Even with this amazing technology at my fingertips, it's still kind of a drag to sit down every week and think about what to eat. Hence, I am giving monthly meal planning a try. I actually do this part using (gasp!) paper. First I jotted down all of our usual meals onto little post-it flags (pink for meat, blue for veg), and divided them into categories:

Then I laid them out on a month view planner, until I had what I wanted:

 

I removed the post-its and wrote in the meals:

Then each week before heading off to the store I just tapped in what I had scheduled. Brilliant! (If you're wondering, Thursday night is a leftover/fend for yourself night, and on Fridays we usually go out.)

There are of course things that come up and changes that need to be made. I've tracked the changes as we've gone through this month:

I have to say, sitting down and plotting planning out several weeks at a time makes the rest of the month go very smoothly! Will be preparing February's meals in the next couple of days!

January Routines: Intermission

You may have figured out that another routine I'd like to establish is posting a little more often. I'm not going to employ a formal process for this, but I think keeping this blog up to date with this year's project will add another layer of accountability for the other items I attempt to accomplish. Mutually beneficial routines, I suppose.

But that's all I'll write for this weekend, if for no other reason than my family room looks like a scene from an Oliver Stone film right now and it's sapping my motivation:

January Routines: New Habit - "One Year" Bible Plan

Continuing on with failed habits of the past that I have resurrected...

I am starting year three of a one year Bible reading program. Yes, you read that right. Here's what happens: I get into a solid routine of completing the daily reading, then something changes in the routine and it all gets tossed.

Typically this is because I do my readings while eating breakfast, and then there will be a time when I decide to eat breakfast at work instead of at home. Usually this is to buy myself a little bit more sleep time. Have to get up extra early to squeeze on that day's marathon training? If I eat my breakfast at my desk while triaging and responding to emails I can stay in bed 10 minutes longer. 

And then it doesn't occur to me to move the reading to lunch or some other routine time.

Well no more! I will be finishing this one year plan THIS YEAR. Having to mark it DONE or SKIPPED in the checklist app is going to keep me on track; seriously, I don't want to have to mark it skipped! I also now have back-up strategies. If reading during breakfast isn't a possibility, then I shall read during lunch, afternoon tea, or worst case scenario before going to sleep. Whatever it takes not to skip!

Sad that it took me two years to come up with this ultra-sophisticated back-up plan, I know.

I'm anticipating two questions:

1. Afternoon tea? Why yes. I have a cup of tea at 3pm every work day. It's a nice, soothing ritual that forces me to slow down, take stock of what I've accomplished so far that day, and what else I want to finish before going home. It's a wonderful way to break up the afternoon doldrums. It's also delicious.

2. A One Year Bible Plan? Why yes. I use the mobile app (of course) Bible by Life.Church. While I miss holding a physical Bible book, the app is super convenient as it automatically cues up the day's reading for me and tracks my progress. When you miss a couple of days (months...) the app automatically reboots your schedule with one tap of the "Catch Me Up" link. There are tons of plans to choose from, with variables such as time frame, theme, specific parts of the Bible, age of the reader, groups, etc. I'm reading the One Year Chronological Plan. If you're at all familiar with the Bible you're probably aware that it kind of skips around a lot, and will tell the same stories from multiple points of view throughout. This plan arranges them all in chronological order. It's pretty cool to read the accounts of various authors back to back. 

This is the year! If for no other reason I have got to get out of the Old Testament. I'm so weary of these Israelites, continuing to make the same mistake over and over and over...

January Routines: New Habit - Journaling (Consistently!)

While setting out my work clothes, packing lunches, and emptying the dishwasher in the evening have been consistent (though not perfect) habits of mine for quite a while, there are others that I have struggled to establish in the past that have not yet worked out.

I own a 10 year journal.

Actually, I own two, because I started one three years ago and have done a terrible job of keeping up with it, so rather than facing that shame and having an incomplete journal at the end of its decade, I am starting over. A big accountability helper is that I do not want to have to mark anything as SKIPPED in the app.

Second, I know from the past that one thing that tends to throw me off is going out of town. It's a big book, I don't want to give up the packing space for it :). My back-up strategy is to tap out entries for out-of-town days in a document on my phone each evening, then copy them over when I return home.

Finally, I keep the journal in the drawer of the nightstand by my bed. That way it's right there as I'm turning in for the night if I realize I've forgotten it.

Anyone else out there trying to establish a journaling habit? Any tricks to share?

January Routines: Prepping for Morning

I am all about making mornings as peaceful and free of chaos as possible. As such, I try to complete several of the typical morning tasks the night before.



Back in 2011, my New Year's resolution was to set out my work clothes every pre-work evening. For some reason this takes a lot less time the night before than it does the morning of. I started slacking on this a little here and there when we moved into our new home mid-2012: our closet is actually in the master bath, making it all too convenient to just pick out clothes in the morning after my shower. But, again, this always seems to be a pain, so I'm locking this one back in again.

Packing lunches is another one of those tasks that seem to eat up a lot of time in the morning, but take very little time the evening before. On the checklist it goes.

Finally, if the dishwasher isn't emptied of the previous night's dishes, then the breakfast dishes have nowhere to go (and we have two kittens who are constantly sneaking into the sink!). Emptying it in the morning isn't such a big deal, but it's difficult to do it quietly enough that it doesn't wake up my hubs. Also, putting the dishes away at night makes for one less hassle in the morning. Onto the checklist!

Having these three items out of the way has been making for much more peaceful (and less frazzled) mornings, and given that I'm on an 18 day streak I'm not likely to skip out on them any time soon. Seriously, this app is a great motivator!

Tomorrow I'll dive into the newer daily habits that I'm adding this year.

Focus for January: Routine

"Routine" is what I am focusing on in January for my Happiness Project. My most successful New Year's Resolutions have always been centered around forming habits rather than achieving goals, as I find that the former tends to lead into the latter.

What I'm working on this month is solidifying parts of my daily and monthly routines that are almost automatic, and folding in a few new habits in as well. My first challenge has been to create a method of accountability. For example, I have a mental checklist of items I want to accomplish every night before going to sleep. The problem with a mental checklist is that if I'm already tucked in before I run through it and realize that something is missing, it's all too easy to convince myself it can wait until morning. I need something more tangible, a physical checklist.

I have always been a huge fan of checklists. A couple years back when my commute was close to an hour one way, I had a checklist in my car that I went over every work morning before pulling out of the driveway (purse, phone, laptop, graded assignments, materials for lessons, etc). It was enormously helpful - and saved me from having to turn around at the first exit to go back for something I'd forgotten.

Then about a year ago I read Atul Gawande's "The Checklist Manifesto." I highly recommend this book, whether you're a checklist person or not - by the end, you will be!

I settled on a mobile app called "Productive," a habit tracking app. I can set up all the habits I want, when and how often to schedule them (beginning/middle/end of month/day), what time the reminders go off - it's pretty sweet. Then I can easily view my record. Once you have a streak going there's motivation to continue it!



Tomorrow I'll begin writing about some of the specific elements of my routine, and why they're important enough to be addressed first in this year-long project!

My One Word Theme for 2016

Inspired by my sister-in-law, I have decided to embark upon a "Happiness Project" in 2016. If you've not read the book (which I highly recommend you do), the very general idea is to focus on one area of your life each month to improve your overall happiness.

One thing the author recommends is choosing a one-word theme to focus on throughout the year - this has become a fairly popular idea, so you've probably seen one version of this or another out there somewhere.

My one-word (technically two-word) theme for 2016 is this: Look Up.

I tend to get so locked into what I need to be doing right now, what I need to do next, what is the quickest and most efficient way to get through my to-do list, etc, etc, that I miss what's happening around me. This year I'm going to work on reminding myself to "Look Up," to appreciate the present, to take in the moment.

Tune in tomorrow for what my focus has been in January!

2015 Wrap Up: #3 - #10 (oops!)

So I went on break and completely dropped my wrap-up, so I'll list them all here and skip most of the pics in the name of gettin' it done.

#3: Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup again! We went to a (regular season) game - great time!

#4: CSA

Inspired by a food fair I attended with friends in Chicago, I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) workshare right in my hometown! In exchange for two five-hour shifts on the farm per month, I earned a big box of fresh veggies every week. How could it get any better?
Unfortunately it resulted in a hamstring strain that haunted me throughout the summer, and I had to throw in the trowel early in the season.

#5: Team in Training

Upon deciding that in addition to the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon this would also be the year I ran a FULL MARATHON, I joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training to run in memory of Mike's mom. Though terrified of the fundraising requirement, I can't imagine training any other way. It was a fantastic experience - hopefully I'll eventually post about it!

#6: Riggie

This one's a heartbreaker. Our little Riggie had a stroke during a routine vet wellness visit in July, and we lost him immediately. I still can't believe he's gone. Love you forever, little Rigatoni.

#7: Scooter & Beeker

Pippin (our older cat) doesn't do well as an only cat, but at 12 years old is too much of a curmudgeon for a kitten. So a few months later we adopted two littermates from the Humane Society. Two sisters for Pippin! (And yes, Beeker is deliberately misspelled - we realized all of our pets have had double letters in their names, and had to continue the pattern!)

#8: McNugget

A new nephew is on the way! McNugget is his placeholder name; hopefully they'll come up with another one by April!

#9: The Chicago Marathon!

Two huge accomplishments here: I finished the Chicago Marathon, and raised $3900 for blood cancer research!

#10: Fifth Anniversary

On December 18th we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Where did the time go??

And there's my 2015 wrap-up, ten major highlights/events in roughly chronological order. Now on to 2016!

2015 Top 10 Wrap-Up, #2

#2-Washington DC!

Our annual vacation was to our nation's capital, what a great trip! It of course centered around going to a Nationals ball game (one more park down!), but we packed quite a bit of other stuff in. For one, several museums, where we saw everything from Julia Child's kitchen to the space shuttle Discovery!





On the way home we also visited Gettysburg and the Flight 93 Memorial. If you ever have the chance to visit Shanksville, I highly recommend it. There is nothing there. NOTHING. And when you view all of that vast, empty space and compare it to ground zero in New York City, you are simply overwhelmed by all that was saved by the bravery of those passengers. It's breathtaking.

2015 Top 10 Wrap-Up, #1

Clearly I don't post here terribly often, so for those of you far-flung relatives and friends who are kind enough to subscribe to this blog I thought I'd do a little end of the year wrap-up to catch you up on what happened this year. So, I bring you ten events from 2015, in roughly chronological order.

#1-Golf!

Last spring I decided this was the year I was going to learn to golf for real. So, I signed up for a series of five group lessons and joined a ladies league - I was off to a good start!

And then the rains came...

Due to cancellations and rescheduling, I was only able to attend three of the five lessons, but they were helpful nonetheless.

League was fun and very helpful, but again due to cancellations our weekly outings were frequently canceled. It's hard to make gains when you only practice one out of every three weeks or so!

I still managed to take 10 strokes off my game by the end of Labor Day, so it was worthwhile. Hopefully next summer will be a little friendlier!

 

CSC: Apple Pie Granola with Two-Minute Date Puree

My first recipe book from The China Study Quick and Easy Cookbook was the Apple Pie Granola - which first required preparing the Two-Minute Date Puree. I don't think I'm giving out any proprietary secrets here by telling you that the puree consists of exactly two ingredients: Medjool dates, and water.

Tip #1 would be this - avoid buying the super-expensive packages of Medjool dates. Seriously, the smallest I could find was $14. Would I eat all of those? Yes, they are delicious! But, there are other healthy snacks with a much lower price tag. My recommendation is that if your grocery store carries these in the bulk section, get 'em there. About nine should give you a cup.

I tossed the two ingredients into the smallest cup of my Ninja blender (love, love the Ninja!) and let it do all the work. I know it looks a little lumpy on the right, but was nice and smooth when I scooped it out.

Moving on, I prepped and measured the remaining ingredients for the granola, then whipped together the sauce in a saucepan.

The book gives you the option to finish in the saucepan, or in the oven - I like a crunchier granola, so I went with the oven. Parchment paper is definitely a girl's best friend!

After it cooled, I tossed the oats with the apples - using my pie fork! - and stored the granola in a 1.5 quart Oxo pop container (my favorite container in the world, no question). Fit perfectly! Paired with a little unsweetened almond milk, I had breakfast for a week - delicious! Definitely a successful start!

China Study Cookbook: 20 Recipes In!

That's right! After less than a month, I've prepared twenty of the recipes, and two I've repeated!

Originally I had intended to cook my way through the three sample weekly meal plans provided, but the craziness of our summer schedules hasn't worked well with that idea. Now I'm just selecting a few that will fit in here and there, and tracking the results as I go. I've accumulated quite the list to share! So, if you're interested, I'm going to begin posting my adventures from this book - if you're not, well, just ignore the posts.

And by the way... NINE MILES!

China Study Cookbook: Sample Meal Plan 1

I've just received a new cookbook: The China Study Quick and Easy Cookbook. Usually I preview cookbooks via the library (or Barnes & Noble) before ordering, but this one was brand new and oh so intriguing I didn't want to have to wait. I'm glad I didn't, because upon flipping through it was immediately apparent that the recipes were both appealing and accessible - no huge list of new or difficult to find ingredients, and prep times low enough to be workable for weeknights. I decided to go all in and start exploring the contents by using the sample weekly meal plans provided. Here's a recap of Sample Meal Plan 1.

MONDAY

Breakfast:
Apple Pie Granola
(included Two-Minute Date Puree)

I made a half-recipe, which combined with a little almond milk provided seven breakfasts for me. Absolutely delicious!





Lunch:
Tomato, Corn, Fresh Basil Soup
mixed green salad (with All-Purpose Vinaigrette)

This was a super-easy soup to put together, very fresh tasting and with a little kick! The homemade vinaigrette was light and tangy.




Dinner:
Southwest Burger
mixed green salad

First time I've ever cooked with bulgur - these burgers are sensational!

TUESDAY

Breakfast:

Apple Pie Granola

By the way, a half-recipe of the granola fit perfectly into the 1.5 quart-sized Oxo pop-up container - I love those things, I own a bunch!

Lunch:

Southwest Burger

mixed greens salad

The burger was just as good reheated in the microwave the next day.

Dinner:

Falafel Tacos

mixed greens salad

Definitely getting my fill of greens this week! The falafel tacos were good, but I need to do a little tweaking for my personal taste.

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast:

Apple Pie Granola

I can't tell you how much I began looking forward to breakfast - I am hooked on this granola!

Lunch (not pictured):

Tomato, Corn, Fresh Basil soup

mixed greens salad

Dinner:
Tostadas
mixed greens salad

THURSDAY

Breakfast:

Apple Pie Granola

Soooo gooooooood...

Lunch:

Southwest Burger

This was supposed to be a Basil Pesto Hummus wrap, but I didn't get around to prepping it the night before. So I didn't exactly complete the meal plan.

Dinner:

Penne with Fresh-Herbed Corn Salsa

mixed greens salad

The salsa was amazing - and a fantastic topping in combination with diced avocado for the pasta!

FRIDAY

No pics, sorry!

Apple Pie Granola

Penne with Fresh-Herbed Corn Salsa

Definitely two thumbs up for week one! We're going on vacation this coming week, so the second meal plan won't be coming until after that. Stay tuned!

And just to keep you updated on the half-marathon training, my farthest distance thus far is 7 miles!!!

Half-Marathon Bound!

Second 5K of 2015!

It's amazing to be running outside again after the doldrums of winter - though I did run my first snow race last month:

And here's how I know I'm serious about training for the half-marathon this summer: according to my training schedule, yesterday was a four-miler. After the 5K, I actually stopped at another park to get in the final mile I needed. Crazy.

July Wrap-Up

I've now been at my new job for nearly two months, and I love it! I'm now at the local community college in a staff position - Instructional Technology/Faculty Development. So, I teach teachers! Right now our big project is moving everyone to a new LMS (learning management system) named Canvas, hence the sign outside my office:

Due to my utter enjoyment of the new job, the first sighting of this at the beginning of the month wasn't so bad:

In running news, I knocked out another 5K a week ago, the local YMCA annual fundraiser:

I'm also beginning to (very slowly) increase my distance, as my sister-in-law Kristine and I have decided to run a half-marathon next summer! Woot woot!

Some other highlights included going to the Lincoln Park Zoo and a White Sox game on the Fourth of July:

It's hard to see, but the top line above the stats on the scoreboard says "Fourth of July Stats;" ahhh, data...

Shortly thereafter I spent a wonderful day hanging out at the lake with my friend Erin, after her return from Costa Rica! What a gorgeous day...

We took a trip to go to Mike's high school reunion; while there we also went up to Galena for an afternoon and of course slipped in a Whitey's visit! And yeah, that photo of Galena is pretty lame, I wasn't very ready with the camera this weekend for whatever reason.

And, the Riggie had to endure two trips to the vet this month. Once for his annual exam/vaccine, then again yesterday because the poor guy has a sore on his paw and needed some antibiotics! He was not pleased. Here he is, trying to make his escape:

Just a few more days left in July, then we'll see what adventures August brings!

253 Days

So, 253 days to recap...

Yesterday was my first 5K of 2014... which means it was my first 5K since my last post, back in October. Too icy this past winter!

In May I graduated with my Reading Specialist MAEd (that's a hockey playoff beard, by the way):

This guy has officially been with us for over a year (look at him, he's huge!):

This guy continues to do what he does best (hint: you're looking at it):

I cheered Mike on through his first year of Sunday School (sorry, no six days of teaching for me!):

We survived this nonsense:

There have definitely been more pies, though nowhere near 52, not surprisingly:

And had the absolute best year of my teaching career, hands down:

Those are the biggies of the past 253. Plus I have decided not to be a teacher anymore and I have a brand-new job.