Random thoughts

Since Christmas (or just before), I have purchased a blender and a juicer. I regularly make almond milk, and the boys and I drink a smoothie (banana, frozen berries, splash of almond milk) almost every day. We are eating cucumbers like they are the last food on earth. Carrot sticks are a close second in the vegetable category, although Matt chokes on them almost every time, and spits out dozens of huge chunks of half-chewed carrot into his napkin. Hmm... We are also eating our weight in grapes, apples, and clementines. And I have almost entirely banned high fructose corn syrup from our cupboards.

In the past several weeks, I've watched Super Size Me and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I also read the book Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type. I found Super Size Me and the blood type book to be depressing. Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead was rather inspirational.

I haven't made juicing a habit (yet?). It's SO much work to clean the blessed thing, and it takes a LOT of produce to make a little bit of juice. And sometimes the juice turns out nasty. Which feels like a waste of food, time, effort, and actually, it seems like quite a bit of money. Produce is expensive.

I really, really, really want to run a half marathon this year (and my two top picks for races are in April and May)... but I haven't run one single mile since about Thanksgiving. I just don't have it in me, I don't know. I just can't do it. It's really weird. I literally cannot get started. I have set my alarm to get up and run early at least a dozen times, and turned it off without getting up. Intentionally. I don't get it. It's frustrating me.

I recently bought Jillian Michaels's workout DVD 30 Day Shred. She promises I could lose 20 pounds in 30 days. Let's hope not. It has made me realize how pathetically weak I am, though. I don't consider myself out of shape, cardio-wise, but good gracious am I weak. It's depressing. I like working out, though. I enjoyed that Barefoot Cardio Pilates class I took last semester, too. I'm taking a spinning class this time around. Wonder if that will be "fun" or not...

I've been sewing a bunch. It's fun. I made the boys and Josh pajama pants for Christmas, and I have to say, I was pretty unhappy with how they all came out. They look OK, and for goodness' sake, they are pajamas, but there are a lot of imperfections that give away how rushed I was. I made Ben a pair of "backetsball" pants the other day, though, and they are pretty darned awesome if I do say so myself. Most awesome is that he loves them, which makes me so happy.

I volunteered to make something handmade for the first five people who commented on my Facebook status and reposted the status to their page. I got four true responses. I made three scarves, all different, and one fabric headband. I bought all of my fabric either in the remnant bin at Joann's, or "harvested" it from gigantic knit dresses on clearance at Old Navy. The remnant bin is also where I found the fabric for Ben's pants. Two gigantic dresses + Ben's remnant of mesh fabric for pants = <$10. Pretty awesome.

I read the entire Old Testament, every word, in 2011. I also read all of Proverbs. My goal was (is) to read all of the OT and Proverbs last year, and all of the New Testament and Psalms this year. So far I am failing miserably, but honestly, it's very easy to catch up. I happen to be on track at the present moment because I had a big catch-up session last night. And the NT reads like a suspense novel compared with the OT, sometimes. Maybe next year I will find one of those Bibles that has you reading the text in chronological order - that seems really interesting to me. I'm kind of proud of myself, though, because this is probably the first 'resolution' I've ever kept in my life, ever.

Josh's sister talked me into reading the Twilight books. I thought I would never get sucked in. Um, I'm sucked in. I'm 2/3 of the way through the final book, and then it's on to the movies. It is insane how much reading you can sneak in here and there when you are totally addicted to a book! I am going to have Twilight withdrawal after I'm done. I've been through it before though: Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, the Series of Unfortunate Events books... I wonder how many books I'll read in 2012.

Goals for this year: Read the NT and Psalms. Run a half marathon. Pay off my school loan. Sew myself something to wear that I would actually wear (and not just a scarf). Relax more. Pursue more, or more intentionally (yes, I recognize the contrast between those last two). Eat more vegetables. Make even more dinners at home. Read lots of books. Potty train Matt. Maybe even get the little guy into a big boy bed. Blog more? Take more pictures. Spend less time on Facebook. Spend more time with real people. Finish quilting the quilt that I pieced together months and months and months ago.

:)