I am a very goal oriented person, as some of you may know. In addition to the thrill I get out of planning, making lists and crossing things off, I also enjoy setting goals for myself and trying to obtain them. I've set a few goals recently that I'd like to share with you. Not only because you might find them interesting, but also because by actually writing them out and making them public, I know that I will hold myself more accountable for them. Also, many of the goals will in one way or another shape and impact the things I write about in this blog.
Goal #1: Make one new recipe each weekSounds easy, right? In theory, it probably should be. But I make everything more complicated than it needs to be. I don't like to go to the grocery store more than once a week. Maybe you think that's weird or maybe you agree with me but regardless, when I make a trip to the grocery store, I want it to be a well thought-out trip that involves a detailed list of everything I know I'm going to need or want for the next week. That means I need to know every recipe I plan to make and the ingredients needed for each. This requires me to actually look through my recipe books (and my new favorite online community - BettyCrocker.com) and choose a new recipe to try (as well as choosing from my old recipes).
So once the new recipe is picked out, the grocery list is made and the items are purchased, making the new recipe is easy, right? Wrong. Again, it's my nature to make things complicated. Nine times out of ten, I screw up a recipe (new or old). Sometimes it's a big screw up to the point where even Pat doesn't even like the meal (and that's saying A LOT) and other times its a minor detail like putting 1 tablespoon of oregano into the sauce instead of 1 teaspoon - not life or death but might be a little on the spicy side (and let's be honest - those tablespoon and teaspoon symbols are confusing, seriously). Regardless of the mistake, I almost always make one. This is where goal #2 comes in...
Goal #2: Blog about my experience trying my new recipes
Maybe being in the kitchen with me wouldn't be as funny as it is in my head, but some crazy stuff happens when I try to cook. It's funny because I'm a great multi-tasker in many areas of my life (if I do say so myself), but cooking is not one of those areas. For each additional item I try to cook, while also cooking something else, the odds of my screwing up one or all of them increases dramatically. There will be no shortage of trials and tribulations to share with you after my attempt to cook one new recipe a week. Most of it goes on in my head, without ever sharing it with anyone, so it will be fun for me to actually put it on paper (or on virtual paper in this blog). This goal feeds (no pun intended) nicely into goal #3..
Goal #3: Do more blogging (and journaling)!
I have ALWAYS had a journal or diary for as long as I could write. Once I did away with the paper version of my journal, I started this blog to fill it's place. Well in all honesty, I probably need both. There are things that I would love to journal about but would never want to make public. But the reality is, I haven't been doing either. I haven't been expressing myself through my blog or a journal in months. Actually, before my last entry, it was an entire year that had gone by between blog entries. The lack of writing and self expression means I've probably been bottling up and holding in a lot of emotions, which is not healthy for anyone, but is definitely not healthy for me. I've always felt better about things after I've written about them. This is not to say there are things going on in my life that are bogging me down or holding me back, because I am in an extremely positive and happy place right now. But even happy people need an outlet.
Goal #4: Work hard to obtain a "good dog""Good dog" is obviously a subjective term so please let me explain what I mean. I have truly missed out on 11 months of good blogging material. Raising this puppy has been one heck of a roller coaster and we're not done yet. Every week, sometimes every day, has been filled with unique, and I do mean unique, puppy challenges. Before picking Grady up from the breeder, I read cover to cover, three puppy books and did hours of research online. The recipe for a perfect dog, right? Wrong. Nowhere in the puppy books did it address "what to do if your dog swallows your socks and underwear whole." They all had plenty of things to do when your dog jumps. We've done them all and then some and guess what? Our dog still jumps. But I can't completely blame him, who must have known I was "talking" bad about him because he just jumped off the couch to come lick me (suck up). Pat and I have to take a lot of the blame for his behavior. We're very inconsistent with our training and correction. Well not anymore! We are committed to having a good dog and are going to work hard to get him there. Like any parent, though, I still don't think he's that bad. After all, he's mine! :) Nonetheless, we again have some great blogging material just waiting to happen, I'm sure.
I have several other goals like saving more money and spending less, keeping a cleaner house, working out more, etc. I have a feeling those goals aren't going to change over the next 30 years or so. :) But I have no kids so I really don't have an excuse. If I feel broke now, I can't imagine how broke I am going to feel when I have kids. And if I can't find the time to fit a workout routine into my schedule now, B.C. (before children), I'm sure as heck not going to be able to work it in later. So if not now, then when?
My New Year's resolution was to count calories. Five months later and I'm still going strong. I've noticed a big difference in my eating habits, my body and my weight since I started. I've lost 8 pounds so far. Not too shabby, ay? Here's to 10 more!
I'm trying my new recipe of the week, "Healthified Potato Salad," so I better get off of this computer and focus or else my next entry is going to be about how I ruined the hard boiled eggs and the red skin potatoes because I left them on the stove too long. I'll let you know how it goes.
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