Christmas Joy

Wow, I can't believe Christmas is over already. It went by way too fast. I wish I could go back in time and relive the day!!! I enjoyed it so much!!

My dad, brothers and I went to my sister's on Christmas Day. I had a great time there.

My sister made this chocolate peppermint fudge this year, and it was REALLY good!!! I love chocolate, and peppermint, so I love it when she makes things like this.

As far as presents go, I am very happy with what I got. I didn't get everything on my list, but that is just fine with me. What I got is good with me.

I got several movies (Divergent, Brave, The Fault in Our Stars, Toy Story, The Princess and the Frog, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which came with a mockingjay pin), a few CDs (Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield, Tenore by Jonathan Antoine, and 21 by Adele), a couple baking cookbooks (The Big Book of Cakes and The Big Book of Cupcakes, both by Betty Crocker), and a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man bobble.

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is my favorite Ghostbusters character, so I was very happy to have gotten a bobble of him!

All in all, Christmas was great this year.

For those who celebrated, I hope Christmas was very good to you this year. If not, I pray that 2015 goes better for you.

Now, on to the New Year celebrations!

Meetup #4: Lunch at Delia's Kitchen

Today was Meetup #4 for me: brunch at a local restaurant called Delia's Kitchen.

I had never been there before, so I figured I would check it out by going to this Meetup.

Seven other women went to this brunch meetup, and they were all very nice, although much more talkative than I was. But, I enjoyed myself nontheless.

I had Belgian waffles and bacon, and it was very good! I will definitely be going here again.

I am so glad I went, as I have been wanting to go to Delia's Kitchen for ages. I live only a few blocks away, yet I've never been. This meetup event was a very good excuse for me to get out, and to go here.

The next Meetup event I plan on going to is Giving Artfully Charity Crafting Night on May 7th. I enjoyed the craft night last time, and look forward to the next one.

Vegetarian/Vegan Lifestyle

Several years ago, I tried the vegetarian lifestyle, which was inspired by my sister, who had been a vegetarian for many years.

But it only lasted for a month.

Although, in that month, I had more energy, I felt better, I was sleeping better, and because of that I wasn't as tired as I usually would be.

I also cut down on how much meat I ate in general a bit.

I recently went out to eat at a vegan/vegetarian restaurant with a few other women, and the food was great!

Since I have tried healthy foods that taste really good, I am more willing to be a healthier person in the long run.

I have been recently checking out vegetarian/vegan cookbooks from the library, to see if there are any recipes that would interest me, and so far, about half of them do interest me. Hopefully I will be able to start making these recipes soon! They sound really good!!

Let's just hope I can stick to this lifestyle for longer than a month this time!

I Really Need to Take Better Care of Myself

For ages now I have been meaning to take care of myself. But I couldn't bring myself to actually do anything about it.

I tend to gravitate more towards junk food/less healthy food, and I usually spend my days sitting on the couch using the laptop, or watching a movie, reading, playing games, and the likes.

I also am a major night owl, staying up until about 2 or 3 am most nights.

So, I really need to start working on a healthier routine for myself. I want to try out yoga, Zumba, and maybe Pilates at some point.

I have checked out exercise DVDs, and they seem really interesting, and have also checked out some cookbooks that have healthier recipes that interest me as well.

I am also going to pick up walking five days a week again, which I did a few years ago. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, walking that often, but I just lost momentum after a while, and I am hoping to have an exercise buddy with me this time.

I also need lots of encouragement as I try to become a healthier person. I would have started sooner, but this past winter was really crazy, with extreme cold and snow storms bringing a ton of snow, so I couldn't really do much outside.

So, please help me with encouragement if you can. I really need it. Hopefully I can do something that will stick longer this time.

My First "Meetup"

After being on Meetup for ages, but not actually going to anything, I finally went to my first ever Meetup event, lunch at a local restaurant called Munch.

I had the kale salad and Italian lentil soup, and a cookie dough shake. It was all really good, and I would definitely recommend this restaurant to others!!

I am so glad I was able to go to this Meetup event, because I have wanted to go to Munch for ages. The others who went to this were really nice, and I had a good time.

So, if you're going to be in the area, and would like somewhere to eat, give Munch a try. It's a small place, but it's a great place to eat at.

Sorry For the Long Pause in Posting

Easter was on the eighth, and I celebrated at my sister's house. I had a good time. I absolutely love seeing my niece and nephew. I just wish I could see them more often. They live an hour away from me. But, at least I get to see them as often as I do.
They loved their Easter baskets. They had a lot of fun looking for Easter eggs, too. My brother-in-law asked me to hide the eggs out in the yard. So I hid 2 dozen eggs for my niece and nephew. It was fun watching them look for the eggs.
One thing I gave my niece and nephew were this micro kites, which were mini kites. I played around with my niece's kite for a bit, and had a lot of fun with it. So, the day after Easter, I went to Walgreens (where I got the kites), and bought one for myself. It's in the shape of a butteryfly. I haven't used it yet, but I will soon.
This past Tuesday, I had a friend over for some knitting/crocheting time. Besides that, we also cooked and ate quesadillas and watched a few episodes of Gossip Girl. She also taught me how to crochet. So now I will be doing some crocheting for a while.
I haven't been feeling well for almost a week now. It doesn't feel like a cold, but my nose is stuffy/runny, and I'm tired a lot. I really hope I feel all better soon. I hate feeling sick.
Well, that's all for now. More to come later.

Weeknight Bolognese

Recipe here

Mother's Day and More

Today is Mother's Day, and it was bittersweet for me. My mom died in November, so today wasn't really a "happy" day. I really wish my mom was here, because I need her. A lot. My dad's mom also died, the Sunday before Easter. So life sucks right now. A lot. My dad, 2 of my brothers and I visited my mom's grave today, in honor of Mother's Day.
After that, we got dinner from Smokin M's. I had shrimp and fries. It was really good. It's been a while since I had food from there, and actually missed it.
Last week, my dad and I went to a T-Mobile store, to look for a cell phone for me. We looked around for a while, and I found a phone I liked. It's an LG Optimus Android phone. I really like it. I'm already pretty used to it, but I'm still learning how to use it.
I've figured out how to use a lot of the apps, the text messaging, and calling people and answering calls. I am so happy to finally have a cell phone. Now, I can't wait to get my driver's license.
Since I love to bake, I have decided to post a recipe on here once a week (or at least try to). I will hopefully make the recipe as well, and post pictures as well. Tomorrow, I will post my first recipe.
Well, that's all for now. More to come for now.

My Life

Yesterday, I got home from a disability leadership summit. I had a lot of fun, although I had a couple stressful times there. But I had a good time overall. We had workshops that taught us what services there are for us, our rights as people with disabilities, we had a pizza/bowling party (I got a score of 93; I got a strike and 2 spares), a dance, and an awards ceremony. It was a lot of fun. Too bad this was the last summit ever. The person funding this (and other stuff too) decided to cut the summit, which really stinks. This summit is a great way to learn about everything to do with disabilities, and it's a great way to have fun and meet new people. One of the mentors went around getting signatures, to keep the summit going. I really hope it gets to stay. I love going to the summit. We'll see what happens soon enough. Although I had a lot of fun there, I'm glad I'm home. I really wanted to be with my mom, since I'm going through a rough time emotionally. But I had to tough it out, and thankfully, I got through the last few days without much incident. Not much else is going on right now. Just relaxing at home.
Well, that's all for now. More to come later.

Valentine's Day and Beyond

I had a good Valentine's Day yesterday. I had a friend over to hang out. I made a card and some fudge for him. We played some games, ate, and talked a while. I had a good time. Today, I had my Success in College class. We did an in-class assignment, and the teacher handed back the quiz we took last week.

I passed with an A, so I'm happy about that. I am glad today was a short day, since I'm kind of tired right now. I will be taking a nap in a little while. I still have homework to do, that's due one Wednesday, for my Hospitality class.

As I am using the computer, I am watching Olympic skiing. Just now, a Canadian just won gold. Good job Canada.

Tomorrow, I will be working on my homework, and relaxing the rest of the day. Of course, I'll be watching the Olympics tomorrow, as part of my relaxing day.

That's all for now. More to come later.