My New Year's Resolutions

Well hello there 2012! You look rather chipper and ready to go. Well, I'm ready to go, too so LET'S DOOOO THIS!

I would be lying if I said I am "looking forward to this year," because really, I don't have much planned for 2012, YET. Don't get me wrong, I am happy that it's a new year because to me and everyone else on the planet, it means new beginnings and new possibilities. Yeah, it's hard not to sound cliche when you're saying all that junk, but that's the way it goes in Blogtown, USA.

Also around Blogville are New Year's resolutions and anti-resolutions propaganda. Here on my bloggity blog, I am very much FOR resolutions and vote yes on Prop NYR. I have always been a strong advocate of making goals. Some say that resolutions should be made on any day, not just New Years, but I say to each his own. Some people, like myself, feel the newness of the year on January 1st. I also feel it in the beginning of the school year, every Monday, ever first of the month, and after every bowl movement. Fresh starts, right?

Here are my Resolutions from last year 11 in 2011. I think I did A-OK.

So, without further ado, here are my Resolutions for this brand spankin' new year.

Goals for 2012

Intellectual and Spiritual Me

1. Educate myself.

I am the type of person who rarely reads things thoroughly. Hell, I never EVER proofread any of my college papers before submitting them. It's a wonder how I even got by. I don't even proofread my blog most of the time, hence the spelling and grammar mistakes. I never read directions or instructions either, unless it's for IKEA furniture of some super cool Lego model. As a result, I don't feel like I am truly knowledgeable in anything other than the In-n-Out Menu. I feel like I need to slow down and read things more thoroughly and really become knowledgeable enough with various topics and things to be able to articulate myself.


 2. Read, Read, Read

This year I read more than I've ever read before. I read more books than magazines which makes me smarter than ever before, no? I'm not an avid reader but the feeling of getting lost in a book is very addicting and something that I really enjoyed this year.
My goal is to read at least one book for fun and one book for self-improvement a month. I also want to start reading some of the classics.

3. Pray and meditate daily


I've been really into yoga lately and our meditation portion of the class is crucial for my well-being. In other words, it helps me not to be Mrs. Angry Incredible Hulk when I'm at home or at work. My mind is constantly running a million miles a minute and when I meditate and pray, it is the only time I feel in control and calm. Why not set aside 10 or so minutes a day for that? Ok. Done and Done.

Strong and Healthy Me:

4. Strengthen my mind and body via yoga

You don't know how happy I am to be able to touch my toes. This is history in the making, folks. I love the challenge of yoga and the benefits are incredible. I feel like my muscles are getting stronger! I definitely want to keep this up. And by the end of the year, I want to be able to do these poses.

.via.

.via.
 And if I could do both of these on the beautiful sandy beaches of Hawaii, 2012 will be the best year ever!

5. Run a 10K

I am a little hesitant to put this on here because right now I don't know if I am capable of such a task, but I'm aiming high and hoping for the best. Last year my goal was to run two 5Ks without stopping and I did it. I'm hoping that by the end of this year, I can say that I did this one, too.... duh... that's what resolutions are for right?


6. Eat more Veggies

This one is going to be tough. I HATE vegetables. I want to have a good relationship with veggies because I know they are good for me. Veggies, let's make a deal, you taste good and I'll eat you, yes?
Hmmm, I Googled "I hate Veggies"  and only pictures of kids hating them came up. Interesting.

The Hopeful Chef Me:

7. Get back to Project Wifey Wife

Since my camera broke, I haven't been blogging much about my cooking. I miss posting my two new recipes a week. My goal is to really try to commit to this again. 

8. Create my own
Now that I have a few recipes under my ever expanding belt, I want to dive into creating my own. I am used to putting my spin on things but to create something that is truly my own would be the bomb dot com backslash bangarang.

9. Host more dinner gatherings





I want to invite more people over for dinner parties. I'm a grown-up now and I think that's what grown-ups do. I need to get over the stress of it all, hire a maid to clean my house, and I'm good to go. Who wants to come over for dinner?

10. Stop trying to be perfect

The last one is a little more personal and I will spare you the gritty little details. In a nutshell, I tend to internalize everything which turns into obsessing over everything, which turns into over thinking everything, which turns into being hard on myself, which turns into depression. See what I did there, I thought about this one simple thing way too much. I want to stop that. I want to learn to relax.

So there you have it, my New Year's Resolutions. Striving to be a better person is never a bad thing so I definitely encourage you to make a few. You can do it, friend!

  • What are some of your resolutions?

The Vacation of Champions

Belated Merry Christmas, readers! I hope you had a wonderful weekend filled with family, friends, and lots of yummy food.

I am on Winter Vacation and loving every second of it. I have been busy with baking, cooking, and spending time with my family.

Blogging has always been in the back of my head, but truth be told, I really wanted to take a break and just ENJOY life. I heard a comedian once say that if Jesus Christ appeared out of the sky, we would all be on our phones trying to take a picture, or tweeting it, or Facebooking it instead of enjoying and experiencing that joyous occasion. So, instead of living through my camera, cooking with my camera, and eating through my camera, I decided that I wanted to fully enjoy my Christmas through these brown eyes of mine. And that I have been.....

However, I have been Instagraming a bit in lieu of blogging. So if you have Instagram... add me (missjoanna17). I will definitely add you because I LOVE looking at pictures of random things through different types of lenses.

So, here is my break in a nutshell thus far....
I won The Avid Appetite's blog giveaway! I received her yummy treats and just like that....everything was in my tummy!

I also cooked and baked a TON! And just like that.... everything was in my tummy!


Christmas Empanadas
And of course, there were presents. Amazing presents. My family knows me so well.



This vacation is delicious!

  • How was your Christmas? Tell me what you got! I'm nosey like that.
 

Teacher Talk Tuesday: Gift Ideas for Students

My favorite time of the year is coming up fast.... Christmas vacation! In just 3 days, hundred of frazzled and burnt out teachers will be enjoying 2-3 weeks off. Yes, I know it is annoying to hear this if you are not a teacher and I apologize for the bragging, but I AM WORKED to the bone. I am ready.

Besides that joyous occasion, there is another event that I am very fond of and that is gift giving. I love rewarding my students for all of the hard work they have been doing and giving them a little Christmas present. Most students don't expect it and it's fun to watch their surprised faces when they see a gift waiting for them at their seat. This year is no exception. This is quite possibly one of the best classes I've ever had so I wanted to reward them with something fun.

Instead of having a regular hum drum party with chips and cupcakes, I decided to give them some options, and since this class is in the morning, I gave them breakfast options. By unanimous decision, a Smoothie Party was in order. I dig it. So, I bought myself an early Christmas present...which in turn is a gift for my students as well. Double Whammy!
In addition to providing all the smoothie fix-ins, I found some great cups for them to keep! I plan on writing their names on it. I know they'll love it!
I plan on taking off the lids and adding these cute straws I found!
Add a candy cane, wrap it all in some cellophane and you got yourselves a winner! I'll post the finished product asap!

Here are some other super cute ideas!
How about some Grinch Pills
Or some Snowman Poop
Jazzing up a chocolate bar looks easy!

These are just too adorable!

In years passed, I've also given little goodie bags with Christmas candies and other little trinkets which the kids enjoy. When I worked in high school, I brought cookies for them to decorate and believe it or not, they liked it a lot! Just giving anyone Christmas treats is enough to turn them into a giddy 3 year old. I love it!

Weekend Recap: I'm A Lucky You Know What

This weekend was full of good things... literally... good things.

Friday was Christmas Bunco. This is in fact, one of the best days of the year. I get to spend quality time chit chatting it up with 11 of my favorite girls. I truly love them so much. They don't know how happy they make my heart. (Many of them are camera shy so I spared them the embarrassment of plastering their beautiful faces on my blog.)
One of my students asked me what I was doing that night and after I told him I was going to have dinner with my friends, he proceeded to add that we will probably be talking about male ice skaters, "you know, because they have tight pants?" His words, not mine.
Sadly, we did not have time to talk about male ice skaters because we were too busy eating, laughing, and laughing some more.
p.s Brie plus cranberries equals heaven. It's simple math.

And we ate some more.

But, the highlight of my night was getting to rummage through my friend's NEW KITCHEN! Holy Moly! I died and gone to kitchen heaven.

Check out these sexy drawers. You can move those pegs around accordingly.
I really want to make food babies with this spice rack. Ohh my!
I love drawer. I love kitchen. I love friends.

Oh, and I'm loving this, too.
Hubby gave me an early Christmas present because my old phone decided to be a freakface and give me hard time. Even though it was being difficult, I feel bad for moving on to something bigger and better. I'm the type of person who gives feelings to inanimate objects. I am sorry Palm Pixi.

But, I have to admit, I have super obsessed with this thing and I am even more excited about the camera on this bad boy. Now I can take good pictures even when I forget my real camera!
See what I mean? Isn't Sonic just the cutest in my sweater?

  • I need some cool Apps! What are some of your favorites?

Thursday Favorites: Another Flashmob

Favorite Drink:

Grande-Sugar-Free-Hazelnut-Soy-No-Foam-Latte-with-a-side-of-Madelines.

That's all one word, I think. At least when I say it, it is. I get this once a week, sometimes twice if I'm feeling sleepy. I don't know if you can see how they spelled my name...Joann... people always drop the last A! Bugs me. Some of my friends call me that, which I never mind, but when strangers do.... mmmm. ::shakes head::


Favorite Treat of the Week:
After Thanksgiving, all I could think about is PUMPKIN PIE! Last year it was ham, but this year.... I can't stop thinking about it. So I gave Hubby the puppy dog eyes and promised extra sexy time if he bought me one. Of Course he bought one.

Favorite Show:

Hubby and I watch this religiously every day. We could watch the same rerun over and over again.

via
HOLY CRAP! That zombie on the side scared the crap out of me when I enlarged it. Anyways, this show is just brilliant. And don't ask me why, but I love zombies. For some reason, I am not frightened by them. It's the ghosts and creepy kids in scary movies that make me crap myself. (I think I exceeded my use of the word "crap" for the day.)

Favorite YouTube Video:

Girls, get your tissues. Boys, take notes. Besides my own proposal, this is quite possibly the cutest proposal I've ever seen.


RIGHT?

Favorite Song:
An oldie but goodie. Weird video, but this song is awesome!



  • What are some of your favorites this week?

Wandom Wednesday: Cookies EVERYWHERE

Cookies, cookies, EVERYWHERE! Nothing like some cookies to get you into the holiday eating mode. Thinking about trying to control yourself over this holiday season? Fogettah 'bout it. I'm totally talking to myself when I say that. My original goal was to keep my calorie count down to a normal person's level but then I participated in this Virtual Cookie Swap and all that went out the window. I just HAD to share these delectable morsels with you because... well, if I'm going to get fat, I'm dragging you all down with me!

I'm going to try my best to make these before Christmas. Don't worry though, today I went running because I knew that to achieve my goal of making batches upon batches of unnecessary cookies, I'm going to have to haul ass....or go up a pant size or my ass. I'm thinking that going up a size isn't the end of the world.

Ready?

Soft Frosted Eggnog Sugar Cookies from The Avid Appetite




















Now, this cookie swap was a little bittersweet because I have all these amazing recipes but now I have to do so much work and wear stretchy pants to be able to keep up with my butter intake. No fair! I wish I could've met these girls in real life and would've been able to take home a plate of cookies, but I guess this'll do.

If you need me I will be in the kitchen making cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. 

And don't forget to check out my French Macarons!
 
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