One week down, 51 more to go!

The first week of 2011 has come and (almost) gone. I can say that I have made some progress on the resolutions, namely wasting less food. I had bought ingredients to make a homemade pizza for us. Some friends made for unexpected visitors for NYE festivities (which was perfectly fine...gave us the opportunity to use them up!) and I was able to use up ALL of the fresh ingredients I purchased! :) Unused pizza toppings became fritatta filling in the morning and leftover steak toppings the next day. Hooray for me!

However, my time management skills have taken a huge nosedive since the new year. Since starting the new job, I've been really bad at wasting my morning time before work...time that should be spent studying is being misappropriated (not *necessarily* wasted...sometimes I do housework, dishes, laundry, etc.). Ugh. As a result, I'm a few chapters behind on an already tight study schedule. I'm hoping to turn that around this weekend and this week by working through some more motivating chapters before having to go through the extremely boring ones. We'll see how this works out.

On another note, Stephen and I are looking at changing Mackey's food. I've recently become minorly obsessed with ingredients in dog food and found that the food he was fed as a puppy is an absolutely horrible food filled with all kinds of byproducts and fillers. The food he is on now is better, but the company is known for having subpar manufacturing facilities. Come to find out, more premium "natural" food is not that much more expensive, especially with as little as Mackey will be eating. I never thought, however, that I would do this much research on DOG FOOD. haha! We went to a locally-owned natural food store tonight and came home with a few samples. After a couple of hours of research (read: time that should have been spent studying......but in my defense, I did do quite a bit this afternoon!), I think I want to try a food with him that of course we didn't get a sample for. Of course! I'm trying to decide if we should try one of the other foods that we have a sample for, or just wait until we can go back in tomorrow to get a sample of the food I'd like to try. I've read so many reviews, etc., and this food seems to be one of the best. We'll give it a try and see how Mackey likes it. :)

It was nice to have a day "off"...well, except for 2 hours of ABA with my little guy. Tomorrow will be a long day with 4 hours at L&B followed by 2 hours of ABA. Yep, Saturday. Maybe I should get to bed...

goodbye 2010...hello 2011

I can't believe another year has already passed. Isn't it crazy to think back on 2010, let alone 2009, and how much life has changed since? 2009 brought so many changes in my life, namely getting married and setting up permanent residence in the st. louis area. 2010 started off with getting a new puppy, our ornery miniature dachshund, Mackey. I can't even imagine life without him now! He is such a joy and a constant source of entertainment. I finally finished formal schooling in may, and completely finished my degree just a few days ago.

2011 looks to be an even better year than last with a my first big kid job starting January 3. We're looking to buy a house in the area...so tired of apartment life! We'll set up shop here for a few years and then move back to Indiana when the time is right (hopefully at a time when Stephen can find a job easier). I'm so excited for the coming year! In accordance with the tradition of setting resolutions for the coming year, I've only got one: waste less.

Waste less.

It sounds so simple, but it encompasses all areas of life. Waste less food by buying only the things I need in the quantities I need. Waste less time by planning and being more productive with free time. Waste less resources by reusing and recycling as much as possible. I could go on and on, but I think it's a good start. It's manageable, so I will be able to stick to it! :)

Also, I'm going to continue to eat better by including more and more whole, natural, and possibly organic foods into our meals (especially meat). It's time to get away from the processed crap full of additives and who knows what else and back to what we were intended to eat. My favorite magazine, Cooking Light, is implementing 12 healthy habits...one each month for the coming year. January's is "eat more veggies." I'd like to think that I do pretty well with this one, but I'm going to start consciously implementing at least one meatless meal per week and adding more salads to our meals. We'll see how it goes, as Stephen is wary of "meatless" anything...just have to disguise it differently, I suppose.

And so, should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Of course not. wishing you all a happy and safe 2011.