New Years Resolutions

Hello and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a safe and exciting weekend. I covered almost all of the events I was invited to except my friend Kellie's party. Boo : ( But three outta four ain't bad.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm kinda a hater when it comes to new years resolutions. First off, why wait to make changes? (However, I do know it's helpful to have a set date to work towards). And second, the idea of changing your life because of the new year puts an awful lot of pressure on you and your goals. Plus, they rarely seem to stick...

Well... I made some anyway. Here's my list!

Eat Healthy. Ok so along with everyone else in America, I wanna lose weight, bleh. Back in the day I was ripped. I lost about 25 pounds, only to gain 17 back. BUMMER. But you know what? I did it once and I can certainly do it again. And guess what? I joined Weight Watchers. I hope it goes well. Another part of this little goal is trying to be vegan. I did real good and stocked up my fridge with good and healthy things and I reeeeaaally wanna succeed at this one. (Any pointers my vegan friends??)

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Get active.  At work, the other accounting ladies and I already walk almost every day (except the rare instances when its raining or someone forgot their shoes). I wanna keep that up and get faster and faster. Plus, I plan to head to the gym at least twice a week. That's where I'll start. Aaaand I looove hiking so I wanna get my bum in gear and get going!

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Stop thinking so much. Ok so this one just came to me but I think its a good one. I am not sure how to accomplish this, or really even measure it (ideas?). But I do a lot of over-thinking. I'm often 5 steps ahead of everything and honestly it kinda sucks. I wanna learn to be "in the moment", to live life instead of trying to controll it.

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Get my tattoo. For real. Soon.

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What do you wanna do this year? Let's make it UH-MAZING : )

Two more days

Only two more days! What are you doing to celebrate the holidays? For Christmas, my family always goes up to Flagstaff (a city about two hours north of Phoenix). They are expecting quite a little bit of snow! How exciting!! On Christmas eve we always go to church and have a family dinner and watch Christmas movies (I sprinkled in some of our favorites).



This year we are making homemade pizza : ). Then we wake up Christmas morning and, with a cozy fire in the fireplace and hot cocoa in our mugs, we each open our presents one at a time (that's my favorite part- I love seeing people get so happy and excited). After all my worrying and lack of ideas for presents, I actually think I got some decent ones. I am pretty excited and I hope everyone likes them.



Afterwards we have breakfast. My mom always makes this yummy chirizo (or soyrizo for me and my sister) and egg dish thing, a cranberry juice thing, and cinnamon rolls. Later in the afternoon we go over to my grandparents to have a big family get together. It's so fun, expecially with my cousin's kids.


(Secret: My sister and I looooooove Macaulay Culkin... Well, pretty much the whole Culkin clan.)

Because there is like, 16 of us, we began picking names. That way we don't break the bank each year. I got my aunt (Shhh! Don't tell!) and I am so so excited because A) I love her to pieces, B) we are a lot alike, and C) she loves cowboy-ish stuff. I hit the jackpot at this estate sale a while back and got a bunch of really awesome vintage cowboy things and I am so so so excited to give it to her!

After we exchange presents we go home and, usually, watch more Christmas movies. Gotta soak up as much holiday-ness as I can! I hope you all have super special holidays! xxoo

Last Minute Gift Idea

I'm sure y'all are already stocked up on presents. I bet they are all wrapped up pretty and everything. This year's shopping has been so hard for me. I have acquired some really amazing friends this year and I reeeeaaally wanted to get each and every one of them some super special handmade or local present- something really well thought out that would show each of them how much I really appreciate them. But I've just drawn a blank all season. I literally can't think of anything at all- not even for my sister. Buying presents for people is pretty much my most favorite thing ever. What is going on here??

Well I settled on writing everyone heartfelt cards which, in hindsight, was actually quite hard. I'm not so great at openly expressing my feelings like that. But it was good practice and I hope my friends see how wonderful they are and how thankful I am for them. If I could do it over, I think I would make aaaaalllll of them super special Blurb books filled with pictures and memories and drawings and letters. Blurb is this really great site where you can make all sort of books. I made my cousin one about four years ago when her first baby was born. It was filled with all the pictures I had taken. I got to design everything from the layout to the color scheme. It's easy and affordable (I think the small soft cover book I made was $12 or something). Plus you can share the book you've made and buy books other people have made.

And if you need a last minute stocking stuffer, Blurb has gift cards! I want one : )

Crafty Christmas Club

I stumbled upon the Crafty Christmas Club via the super adorable blog Tilly and the Buttons.

It's a super cute blog where Tilly chronicles her adventures in sewing. Anyways, the Crafty Christmas Club is filled with ideas and inspiration for those of us who like to make our presents.

There is seriously so much to look at! I wanna make everything. Check it out. Which project do you want to make? Are you giving handmade this season?

Counting down the days...

I loooove Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday. Why, you ask? Because Pumpkin pie is my most favorite treat in the world and I love the idea of taking time to reflect on all the things there are to be thankful for!

I have recently realized that I've never really talked about my vegetarianism and, with this delicious holiday approaching, I thought it would be a great time. When I was in college I was so fortunate to be able to take one of the most amazing classes called The Sociology of Food. Before that I had never really given much thought to vegetarianism/veganism. The class taught me so much about the way our food is grown, packaged, cooked, developed, engineered, etc. It was more than enough to send me running in the veggie direction.

I was vegetarian for a while in college but kind of gave up on it. My family and boyfriend (at the time) were big meat eaters and it just seemed easier to go with the flow. After my boyfriend and I broke up, I decided I needed to do something for myself- and that something was become vegetarian again. It was the first thing I did for myself after we broke up and it was the best and easiest thing I've ever done.

Don't take this wrong, but, It wasn't the animal treatment that (initially) inspired my change. We've all seen the footage Peta uses to try and shock people (though I do get teary almost every time I see those things). It was finding out about how food was processed and packaged that sent me over the edge. And, with a grandpa who is a farmer, I was concerned for the well being and sustainability of small farms everywhere.

With vegetarianism under my belt, I am looking now towards becoming vegan (because being vegetarian is just too easy : ). I know its hard but it seems to me to be the least I can do to help have a positive influence on my world. Sometimes it can seem from the outside that vegetarianism/veganism is some militant restrictive diet choice but in reality it's not at all.  The whole point is to do your best. Just because you are vegetarianism/vegan doesn't mean you are perfect. Just going meat/dairy free one week in the year, one day in the week, or just one meal makes a profound impact.

So with Thanksgiving fast approaching I really want to post about my dietary choices, my favorite holiday, and coping with a family meal filled with butter   : )

Here's a video I found from Chicos and Beans, a great local vegan blog.


Rhymes With Vegan - SPECIAL Thanksgiving Episode