May meals

Here are the two meals I made in the month of May: Macaroni, Spinach & Cheese: To make this meal you would need:

1 box of macaroni

1.5 pk of shredded cheddar cheese

1pk of spinach

4 slices of bacon

2 tsp of flour

2 TBL of bacon grease

1/2 c milk

pepper

salt

1. Cook macaroni as directed

2. Bake 4 slices of bacon at 350 degrees (roughly 20 mins)

3. Cut bacon slices into small pieces

4. In saucepan add bacon drippings, flour, milk and cheese until creamy

5. In pan cook spinach

6. In backing pan add macaroni, spinach, cheese sauce and mix together

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

8. Eat and enjoy the yumminess

Meal 2: Rosemary Chicken & Potatoes

4 chicken breast

garlic powder

rosemary

oregano

4 medium potatoes

olive oil

1. Clean chicken

2. In bowl dice the potatoes

3. Add chicken to bowl

4. Mix olive oil, garlic powder, rosemary & oregano

5. In baking pan put chicken & potatoes

6. Cook for 45 mins

7. Cool & enjoy the yummy goodness

8. I added asparagus just because I wanted something green

Well here were my two meals for May, I enjoyed making these meals and eating them. I can't wait to see what June has in store. Until I write in you again....

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Saturday was great, I went to the Greek Festival with Caleb which was really fun. Granted it was hot as Hades out side even though we went at 8:15pm, and it was also crowded. This date actually was not about to take place because I threw a major tantrum. Yes, I am a 29 almost 30 year old grown woman and I threw a tantrum. Somethings you never grow out of.

Anyways, this is how my peaceful Saturday started. I got up and at 8:30am I decided to go running 5 miles to Newport and back. It is actually really cool that I live that close to Newport. Anywho, thanks to my friend Doreen I had my runner's fanny water pack. At first it was weird but I got used to it quickly. It was roughly 75 degrees so not very cool but not that hot yet. I ran, walked, cried all of the above but I finished and was pleased with myself. I noticed that I really need to work on my pace. I am going slower than I think I should be which makes me wonder if I am pushing myself or just getting lazy. I give myself many excuses as to why this or that. But in my defense it is really hilly running to and from Newport.

The ending degree was 86 so a dramatic increase of 10 degrees. My run took 92 minutes (18 mins) per mile I told myself that this is unacceptable and that I need to push myself more (I can walk faster than that). So today is the day that I will push myself but not to the point where I injure myself. I want to be faster not crippled.

To prepare for tonight and because my hair just looked horrible, I had a hair appointment at 1:30 but did not get there til 1:50. I was peeved at myself until I walked in and saw that she had 3 unfinished heads in front of me. Due to her being so behind I did not get in her chair til 2:45. Why do I keep going to this lady. UGH Thankfully I had a book, #4 called "The Memoirs of Helen of Troy" quickly becoming one of my favorites :)

Anyways, originally I thought that my hair would be finished at the latest 4pm, which would give me time to meet him at 6pm go bowling then to the Greek Festival. Not so. I did not get done until 5:35 and was super pissed. This is where my tantrum came in. He and I are on the phone and he still wants to come down and I am mad and telling him I hate my hair dresser and so on. Being the nice guy that he is, he listened to my ranting, venting and tantrum and still told me he would like to come down to see me. How cute, I think I will keep him (lol).

After the tantrum, I had some time to cool down before he came down and we had a great time.
The night went on with dessert, lovely music and great conversation.

Anyways, we are suppose to meet for dinner and the screening of The Last Airbender on Tuesday so hopefully the weather will be much nicer. But we will be inside so I guess the weather really does not matter.

Well I must go, until I write in you again :)

My very late 6 month recap :)

Today is actually a funny day. I am at work and should be working hard but I am having a hard time being motivated. I will just count this blogging as a 15 minute break :)

Well I decided to look at my list and I was getting a little bummed because I have less than 6 months and I have only completed 5 things (in bold) off of the list. That just did not seem right and so I looked at my list and my mood significantly improved. It has improved because even though I have completed 5 things, 14 activities (symbolized by *) are in progress. That is just MAJOR!!! Here is my lovely breakdown and recap of my activities:

1. Be a vegetarian for one week-this will take place after my 1/2 marathon in September
*2. Train & participate in a 1/2 marathon- even though I am still working out at the gym, I joined a running club and the marathon is scheduled for September 26th
3. Go hiking-this was completed on May 29th at Old Man's Cave (see A Hiking we will go post)
4. Go camping-this will be either late summer or early fall possibly during another hiking trip
*5. Visit a different state (so far I have been to 15)-I am going to West Virginia, New Jersey & California - maybe the remaining states will be on my 40 by 40 list ~lol~
* 6. Upgrade my wardrobe (10 new outfits)-I purchased 6 dresses mostly summer in nature and 6 causal shirts for work or a night out- let's face it, this activity will never be complete I love clothes
*7. Cook a new dish at least twice a month-32 meals total required, as of now 5 meals cooked
*8. Learn a different language-I am learning Spanish through an online program called Mango Languages
9. Take chances (don't let my anxiety take over)-even though I completed this, this is something that I will continue to do throughout my journey
*10. Drop at least 20 pounds-I haven't weighed myself in a while because I can get really obsessive so I do have the starting weight at home, I will weigh myself starting Monday to get a figure and then go from there. I don't think I gained weight but you never know I
*11. Save at least $500- so far I have $230 saved - man times have been HARD
* 12. Pay off at least 3 credit cards-one is paid in full so two more to go :P
13. Switch my license, my plates and tags to Kentucky-this has to be done before my birthday
*14. Start a blog and write in it weekly- I have been doing that, currently 14 posts out of the needed 36 but some weeks I wrote in it more than once, so per the calendar this is the posting for week 12 so 24 additional weeks to go.
15. Stock my wine bar- so I did not do the 3 different types breakdown but I still completed this and I have a nice variety of flavors to keep the masses pleased
*16. Finish decorating my house- I want atleast 3 more artworks (one is in process of being purchased), 2 area rugs, possibly a comfy bedroom reading chair, and more picture frames- hey I gotta capture my 30 activities :)
17. Go to an away sports game- I plan on traveling to see the Bengals play Indy or Atlanta
*18. Read at least 8 new books- so far I have read 3, I am on #4 and I listened to one on tape
19. Have a total spa day (full body massage, get my hair done, mani & pedi)- I am thinking this will take place the day before I leave for California (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME)
20. Visit/take part in at least 3 cultural events- completed by me going to the Cincinnat Museum Center (I am pretty sure I have a posting on that one), a music recital & the Butterfly show -both events I will post about later
21. Take a tour of a winery- not sure when or where I will do this but it will happen
22. Take a road trip preferably to some place new- I went to Hocking Hills, Ohio to hike and next week I am going with Heather and Kara to West Virginia and I will be driving to Michigan and Atlanta or Indy so this event even though complete will continue on
*23. Finish my doctoral portfolio- I gotta to get better with this one, but I have started. The deadline for this is August so that in September I can sign up for Dissertation credits (people give me the motivation to make the Dr. Lbell nickname & potential license plate true)
*24. Buy my birthstone jewel, either as a necklace, ring or bracelet- I decided not to put this as in progress even though I did go to the jewerly store in Kenwood and looked at jewerly and priced them. On second though I am counting this activity so I now have 15 in progress
*25. Take an art class- I am signed up and paid for a class starting on August 18th
26. Make something, be it a pillow or quilt- I will start on this next month hopefully once Kara and I can come up with some dates to meet
27. Watch the sunset on the beach- with all of the cool places I am going, this should not be so hard, I will either do this in West Virginia if we are near or visiting a beach, Atlantic City since we will be staying on a beach or in Michigan for my girl Michelle's wedding on the beach-either way the possiblities are endless
*28. Do one crazy thing-to be determined later- this will probably take place in West Virginia
29. Take my grandmother to lunch or dinner- I have not scheduled this yet but I will
30. Let the people in my life know that I care about them- I was just gonna do a blog a week on all of my friends/family members but not many of them read my blog, and then I was just going to do a week tribute to friends/family on facebook but then I realized that I would not do that for everyone on my friends list so that idea was quickly killed, so I will come up with something else which will be good and private. so just wait

Well that was my update which turned my frown upside down. I am making progress and I am doing well. For the things that I have not even started, I at least have concrete plans and timelines so that makes me feel great. Even though I have only 5 months and 2 weeks all is not lost. I still have time, determination and great friends to share this journey with :) Until I write in you again.....

This is my list....I just gotta remember that

So I am posting tonight so that I can still be in good standing with my 30 by 30 activity. Things in life are going well. I am trying to find a "crazy" thing to do and Kara being the helpful friend that she is suggested heroin. I laughed so hard that I almost peed myself. But that idea has merit, I would be a totally crazy, unKeytalike thing to do. I gotta give that some thought. :)

But I have so many things that I think would be crazy but why I am basing it on what others think. I was thinking of white water rafting, gun shooting, bungie jumping, sky diving, rock climbing, etc. All of these things I am thinking about, I wonder if it would be something cool and would people say "wow, that is soooo cool, I wish I did that". For me, getting another piercing would be crazy because I am still maybe one of the few with one piercing in each ear. I hate needles and I have always been fine with just the one piercing but to get another one would be crazy for me.

When thinking of my list, it is a combination of several things. The list is suppose to broaden my horizons, rebuild activities that I once loved or took for granted, and to push myself to do different things. I need to remember that this list is for me and no one else. No one can tell me what is crazy, what is cultural, how to show people in my life I love them, etc. I need to be more assertive and do things that I wanna do because ultimately the list is for me. I wanna look back on this list and go, yeah, I did that because I wanted to and I had so much fun.

The more I think about it, I may get a piercing or a tattoo ( I know, where did that come from?) Whatever the mood takes me. There is so much for me to decided that I am happy that I have until December to make a decision. Well since I have not decided what my "crazy" thing will be, I guess you will just have to stay tuned. Until I write in you again.....

My brief update

So I realize that writing in a blog once a week was probably too big of a goal to make. I feel that blogging is losing it's appeal (well if it every had any). Life has been going well so far. Both jobs are good and my health has gotten better. I am still working on my list, I just checked off two more things, I have a fully stocked wine bar (so thirsty now) and I have finished my third book (five more to go). I have continued to cook meals, I will fully write on that later on and I went to the Running Spot and found out about the running club and I'm about to sign up.

This list is taking me places where I never thought I would be, and for that I am grateful. I am happy that this list is pushing me to have set goals and go for them. Oh, the best news of the week is that I bought my plane ticket to Atlantic City!! This will take care of the goal of going to a different state. I have less than two month before the best concert ever!! Danae is taking care of the hotel and I got the tickets so the only thing I have to do is save up some money for food, drinking and shopping. My goal is to bring atleast $500, I don't wanna go there and feel like I could not buy anything that I wanted. Well I am still sleepy and thirsty so I'm gonna go. Until I write in you again....

A Hiking we will go :)

So I had a really great date with Caleb last Saturday. We went to Hocking Hills, Ohio and hiked Old Man's Cave and Cedar Falls. Being the great guy that he is, this date was planned by him to aid me with crossing off two things from my list, one being hiking and the other taking a road trip to some place new.

It was such a wonderful time. The car ride was great. I was somewhat nervous because we spent the whole day together but it was not bad at all. Before we hiked we had a lovely picnic. Caleb prepared everything for us. It was a awesome lunch and I was so touched that he brought all items I liked. We had chicken salad on a croissant, kiwi, strawberries, green bean salad and carrots. Very filling and light at the same time.

As for the hiking, it was fun, dirty, awesome and just perfect. Caleb informed me that he was very impressed by how I was on the hike. He is a super hiker and this being my first experience I was worried that I could not catch up or that I would wimp out. But the scenery was just beautiful and the company was great. Distance wise it was good (6 miles), but the multiple climbing of steps really did me in. I was sore for four days. Granted I tend to climb steps on my tip toes so my calves burned like lava. Overall, looking back on our sixth date, I would say that I would totally go hiking again.

On a side note, I must thank my friend Kara for helping my pick a hikable shirt. She cracked up at the original shirt that I had picked out. Oh well, but now that I have done it before, I am now able to know what I need in preparation and how to should dress.

Well until I write in you again.....