Week 6 and 7 of 101 in 1001

Well it's been awhile since I've updated here but that's because both of my computers are down at the moment.  Hopefully I'll be getting one back today.

I'm very happy to say I've completed a few goals in these last two weeks.

I bought Cara a new bed

I got Tyson sleeping in a big bed now

I made a snowman with Cara ( she wouldn't let me take a picture to share :( )

I still have a few in progess as well

I'm still working on the 200 sit up challenge

I just sent away for Tyson's birth certificate

I am also happy to say that I can cross one off my bucket list that I didn't add to this list because I didn't think we would have the money to do it in the next few years.  We put brand new carpet in our living room and the kids just love it! ....I do too.

That's all for now
:)

Week 5 of 101 in 1001

Ok so I've been really bad this week and haven't stuck to a few things.  I keep giving into the fast food.....I know bad bad bad, and I didn't stick to the no soup for a week goal either. I've had to restart my working out everyday for a month goal a few times too.  So here we go.

In progress:

I have made 2 new dinners  - Chicken Fried Steak and Potato and sausage soup which I will post the recipes for too.  I unfortunately don't have a picture to go with the soup because it went so fast in my house...it was good.

I'm on day 2 of working out everyday for a month

I tried a new fruit, asian pears

I'm still working on the 200 sit up challenge

I recieved 2 postcards through post crossing, one from Taiwan and one from the Netherlands


Completed

I am happy to say I completed flossing everyday for a month.  Yay!!!

That's all for now, I will post more recipes very soon

What I've been up to

I haven't been posting as much as I'd like to lately but I thought I would show you what I've been up to.

Some of my favortie pictures

I have recently started using Stumbleupon and have found some of the most interesting photos so I thought I would share them with you.
They are from 1x.com

Week 4 of 101 in 1001

This week has gone by very fast.  I can't believe a month has gone by already since I started. I'm just very glad that I'm making some progress.  When I made my list I had to cut it down some, so I'm going to post the rest of my list as well and see if I can complete the rest as well.

So this week I did complete another goal.  I bought a new smoke detector. I know it doesn't seem like much but I've gone way too long without one in my house and honestly it was just plain stupid for me not to have one.  We can now say that we have 2 brand new smoke detectors in our house.

I have quite a few goals in progress right now. 

Still saving all my change.

I'm now on day 2 of no fast food.  I've had to start this over a time or two or three lol

Almost done flossing everyday for a month, I will keep this one going after the goal is reached.

I asked for another address to send a post card through postcrossing, I'll be sending it to Australia

My husband has been off for the last few days so we went through the house and found a bunch of things to donate, so far 65 out of 101 have been donated.

Starting today I will be attempting to eat only soup for a week, exercise everyday and finally complete losing 10 lbs.

I found this picture while browsing stumbleupon, thought I would share it with you.

Week 3 of 101 in 1001

First I must say I'm sorry my update is a day late. I've been pretty busy with orders the last couple days.  I actually had to do 55 dozen yesterday, so please forgive me. :)

So I'll start with in progress

I'm still saving my change which surprisingly is adding up quite quick, yay!

I had to start over with working out everyday, I missed some due to being insainely busy and then insanely tired.

I am still working on the 200 sit up challenge, I'm on week two and I actually really like it.  It's neat to see the progress.

I tried Spinach Salad yesterday, pretty good I must say.

I'm working on my no fast food for a month.

Still flossing like crazy, it feels so much better when I do so I'm pretty sure I'll keep doing this forever.

I haven't completed any goals this week but I'm working on some so that's all that matters.  I think I'm going to request some more addresses from postcrossing and will send out more cards tomorrow.  I still have yet to recieve my first one from someone else but both of the cards I sent out have been recieved so I know I have some on the way. :)

Have a great night everyone, I'll try to check in more this week.

Long few days

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days but I've been slightly busy.  43 dozen cookies in 2 days.  Needless to say my right hand hurts from piping.  I piped 9 dozen in one shot and I almost couldn't open my hand when was done.

I think I only took pictures of about half of them so there are alot missing here but it gives you an idea of what my last few days have been like.

Week two of 101 in 1001

The last few days here have been so nice.  The snow is starting to melt and I can almost see spring coming.  Now I live in Canada so I know that this is not likely to stay as it's only February but I can dream.  It has made me want to get my butt in gear and start losing more weight......so I'm working on some of my health and beauty goals right now.

In Progress:

No fast food for a month - just starting this one but I'm hoping it will stick long after the 30 days is up

Lose 10 lbs - about half way there

Work out everyday for a month - I was doing so good with this before, I even lost 30 lbs before christmas, so it's time to get back at it.

I started the 200 sit up challenge

I'm still flossing everyday - yay!

I read " The five people you meet in heaven"- very good book

I answered another 100 questions out of the 5000, so 200 done so far

I'm working on my bucket list

I completed one random act of kindness - I donated the proceeds of some cookie sales to a family who just lost their home, belongings and son to a house fire.


Completed:

I wrote the letter to myself to open on the 1001 day.

So that's my progress so far, thanks for reading! :)

Truths for Mature Humans

I was sitting here with my kids reading this laughing my butt off.  They looked at me like I was crazy but that's ok they are only 1 and 2.

Truths for Mature Humans


1. I think part of a best friends job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you are wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to take a nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5.  How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary.

7. Map Quest really needs to start the directions at #5.  I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all agree to just ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray ?  I just don't want to have to start my collection....Again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I didn't make any changes to.

14. " Do not machine wash or tumble dry"  means I will never wash this -  ever

15. I hate it when I just miss a call by the last ring ( Hello?  Hello? **** it!) but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What did you do when I didn't answer?  Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving the house confident and looking good and then not seeing any one of importance the entire day.  What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freeze deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an " avoid Ghetto" routing option.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on the first time I saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over loaded plastic bags in each hand than have to make 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the difference between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just smile and nod because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line up of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front.  Stay strong brothers and sisters.

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school students get dumber and dumber every year.

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond when you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back to far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what form of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still have no idea what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people can have a hard time locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and pining the tail on the donkey - but I'd bet my *** everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

Can it be?

It's so nice here today, makes me hope that maybe spring is on it's way.

Courses for Men and Women

Now I didn't write this but it is just way to funny not to share, so enjoy.

Courses for
Men and Women

Courses for Women

Taught by men, for women.

101	Avoiding Walking in Front of the TV
102	Doing Housework Without Complaining
103	Shopping: Buying What You Can Afford, Not What You Can Charge
104	Going to The Washroom Alone (formerly Coping Without My Friends)
105	Understanding the Male Response to "Do I Look OK?"
106	Exercise: How it Keeps You from Looking Like Your Mother
107	Learning How to Initiate Intimacy
108	How to Apologize When You Are Obviously Wrong
109	Understanding the Male Response to "Am I Fat?"
110	Dishwashers: Rinsing Before Is Not a Must
111	The Toilet Seat: I Can Learn to Put It Down Too
112	Using the Thesaurus: Alternatives to "Make Love"
113	"The Weekend" and "Long Boring Walks" Are Not Synonymous
114	How to Go Shopping With Your Mate and Not Embarrass Him
115	The Remote Control: Don't Touch What You Can't Handle
116	You Too Can Be the One to Hang Up the Phone
117	Honest, You Don't Look Like Kim Bassinger – But You're Acceptable
118	Hairspray: The Effects On The Ecosystem (formerly One Can Is Enough)
119	Runs In Your Nylons? It's Not the End of the World
120	Fishing: Being Able to Bait Your Own Hook
121	Intimacy: More Than Just Lying There
122	Learning to Choose What to Wear In Less Than Four Hours
123	Vacations: Doing Without 4 Suitcases
124	Makeup: The Less is More Theory
125	Nagging: Stop the Insanity!

Courses for Men

Taught by women, for men.

101	Combating Stupidity
102	You Too Can Do Housework
103	P.M.S. – Learning When To Keep Your Mouth Shut
104	How To Fill An Ice Cube Tray
105	We Do Not Want Sleazy Underthings for Christmas – Give Us Money
106	Understanding the Female Response To You Coming In Drunk At 4 AM
107	Wonderful Laundry Techniques (Formerly "Don't Wash My  Silks")
108	Parenting – No, It Doesn't End With Conception
109	Get a Life – Learn How To Cook
110	How Not To Act Like a Butthead When You Are Obviously Wrong
111	Spelling – Even You Can Get It Right
112	Understanding Your Financial Incompetence
113	You – The Weaker Sex
114	Reasons To Give Flowers
115	How To Stay Awake After
116	Why It Is Unacceptable To Relieve Yourself Anywhere But the Bathroom
117	Garbage – Getting It To the Curb
118A	You Can Fall Asleep Without It If You Really Try
118B	The Morning Dilemma - If It's Awake, Take a Shower
119	The Weekend and Sports Are Not Synonymous
120	How To Put The Toilet Seat Down
121	How To Go Shopping With Your Mate and Not Get Lost
122	The Remote Control – Overcoming Your Dependency
123	Helpful Postural Hints For Couch Potatoes
124	How Not To Act Younger Than Your Children
125	You Too Can Be a Designated Driver
126	Honest, You Don't Look Like Mel Gibson, Especially When Naked
127	Changing Your Underwear – It Really Works
128	The Attainable Goal – Omitting %@#*! From Your Vocabulary
129	Fluffing the Blankets After Farting is Not Necessary
130	Real Men Ask For Directions
131	How To Take Illness Like a Man

Funny Travel Stories

These are apparently true stories from travel agencies, whether they are or not they are funny so I thought I would share them with you.

A nice lady just called. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:20am and got into Chicago at 8:33am.  I tried to explain that Michigan was an hour ahead of llinois, but she could not understand the concept of time zones. Finally I told her the plane went very fast, and she bought that!


A woman called and asked, "Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know who's luggage belongs to who?" I said, "No, why do you ask?" She replied, "Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said FAT, and I'm overweight, is there any connection?" After putting her on hold for a minute while I "looked into it" (I was actually laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno is FAT, and that the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.


A businessman called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him he needed a visa. "Oh no I don't, I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those." I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said, "Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express."

A woman called to make reservations, "I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York" The agent was at a loss for words. Finally, the agent: "Are you sure that's the name of the town?" "Yes, what flights do you have?" replied the customer. After some searching, the agent came back with, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere." The customer retorted, "Oh don't be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!" The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, "You don't mean Buffalo, do you?" "That's it! I knew it was a big animal!" A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii.  After going over all the cost info, she asked, "Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?" A man called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that is not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, "Don't lie to me. I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state." I got a call from a man who asked, "Is it possible to see England from Canada?" I said, "No." He said "But they look so close on the map."

Babies!!!!

Seems like everyone around me is having a baby. :)  Makes me want to make baby shower cookies so.......I did.

Week one of 101 in 1001

Exactly one week ago today I started my 101 goals in 1001 days and I thought I would give a little update on how it's going.

Goals completed:

I inspired my sister ( and a few other people ) to make a list of their own.

So that's only one down so far but I'm working on others.

Goals in Progress:

I have sent 2 post cards through post crossing out of the 10 I said I wanted to send.  Honestly I really can't wait to get some postcards from other countries so I think I may go well over the 10.

I have been flossing everyday for a week so far, only 3 more weeks and this goal is done, but I do plan on continuing on with it. It would just be silly not to.

I have left 2 inspirational note in public out of the 101 I plan to do.

I'm saving all my change

I've answered 100 out of the 5000 questions

I'm working on my sales and followers.

So not too bad considering my little guy has been sick with the flu for the last 4 days.

I'll keep updating as I go :)

Mmmm... Apple Pie Muffins

I wanted to try something other than banana muffins so last night I made Apple Pie Muffins.  They turned out really well so I thought I would share them with you....well you'll have to make them yourself.  I'm not going to do all the work :)

Apple Pie Muffins 


You will need :

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 cups diced apples
•  
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, stir together 2 1/4 cups flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, 1/2 cup melted butter, vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar until sugar has dissolved. Pour into the flour mixture and sprinkle the diced apple into the bowl as well.

Stir just until everything is blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups to the top.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of melted butter while tossing with a fork until well blended. Sprinkle this over the tops of the muffins.

Looks like I need to get new muffin tins

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed.

I really enjoyed these muffins and I hope you will too.

Tip:  If you do not have buttermilk you can use 1 tablespoon vinegar and enough milk to make 1 cup.  Mix together and let sit 5 to 10 mins.

The sun is out!!!

It's been such a beautiful day outside today.  Made me think of these.

Late night...

I finally got these done late last night. My little guy wasn't feeling good all day so I had to wait to do them , but finally here they are.

He seems to be feeling a bit better now, hopefully he stays that way

I will never buy chicken fingers again.....I'll just make them

The other day I was planning on making chicken fingers, basically just using chicken breasts and Shake n Bake.  My husband then informed me that he hates Shake n Bake and asked me if I had a recipe for breading instead. While I didn't at the time, but I started searching and this is what I found.

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 quart oil for frying

1. Place chicken strips into a large, re-sealable plastic bag. In a small bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk and garlic powder. Pour mixture into bag with chicken. Seal, and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.
2. In another large, re-sealable plastic bag, mix together the flour, bread crumbs, salt and baking powder. Remove chicken from refrigerator, and drain, discarding buttermilk mixture. Place chicken in flour mixture bag. Seal, and shake to coat.
3. Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. Carefully place coated chicken in hot oil. Fry until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.

I added a few more spices in with the dry ingredients to suit our tastes, such as cayenne pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning and chili powder.  I also coated them twice.  I made a mixture of 2 eggs and a bit of milk.  Once they had the first coating on, I dipped them in the egg mixture and coated again.  I also doubled the coating recipe.

This is now the only way I'm going to make chicken fingers, they are so good I was craving them for days afterwards.

Something to brighten your day

Looking Back...The Canadian Rockies

I was looking through pictures on my old computer last night and came across some of my favorites that I haven't seen for a while.  They were taken about 6 years ago when we went on a trip to see the Rockies.   I was 20 years old and had never been out of the province of Manitoba.  I was extremely excited, I'd never seen mountains before.  Where I'm from you can look out your window and literally see for miles, long , flat , boring miles.

After a 13 hour drive we reached Calgary, stopped off to get some food and were on our way to Banff.  I remember seeing the first glimpse of the mountains, so far in the distance they seemed small.

  We reached Banff and it was just as beautiful as I'd hoped.  We walked around town and visited the shops, it was so nice to come outside and see the mountains in the background.

We went to the gondolas and ascended up the huge mountain.

This was our view from the top.  Far from miles and miles of long, flat and boring.

As we were up at the top of the mountain looking around a storm was on it's way.  We luckily got back indoors before the downpour came.

That night we stayed in a beautiful log cabin up on the mountain.  It had a fireplace which my husband insisted on using even though it was the middle of summer. :)

The next morning we were off, heading further into the Rockies, we were just going to see where we ended up.  The further we got into the mountains I realized, the ones we were just on were nothing compared to the size of the ones we were driving on the side of.  It was almost like you were driving up in the clouds, they were so close.

As we drove through the mountains there were waterfalls everywhere, they were coming down the sides of the mountains right by the highway from the snow melting off the peaks.

We stopped off to see a few larger ones up close as well.

As we drove over and through the mountains you could see huge forest fires burning on the mountain across from us.  Definitely a sight to see.

We made it all the way to Vancouver to realized that it was august long weekend and there were no hotel rooms available anywhere.  That was pretty disappointing and we ended up having to sleep in the car.  This is the view from our "camping" spot.

On our way back home we stopped back at Calgary again to visit some family and then we were off on our long drive back home.

It was a great trip and I plan on going back someday when the kids are a bit older.  I can't imagine driving that far with a 2 year old and a 1 year old.  I highly suggest it to anyone who hasn't been, it's beautiful.

Today is the day.

Today is the first day of my Day Zero Project.  I'm extremely excited to be starting with my list.  One of my goals is to leave 101 inspiring notes around public places.  Today I left 2.....only 99 more to go.  I believe I have also inspired my sister to make a list as well, so I guess I can cross that off my list as well.

I also went to Postcrossing.com and got my first address to send away my first postcard.  It will be very interesting to see where my first card comes from and I'll be sure to let you know when it arrives.

That's all for now, stay tuned to watch my progress. :)

The hunt for great granola.

I recently realized how much of my grocery budget I had been spending on granola bars.  We go through at least 2 boxes a week usually more.  Spending over $3 per box for 5 bars, so I decided to see if I could find a good recipe to make my own.  Luckily I found it.

The thing I really like about this recipe is that you can put anything you like in it as long as you have about 3-4 cups of fillers ( eg. choc chips, almonds, raisins, dried cranberries, mini marshmallows) and it is so easy.

Easy Granola Bars

• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips and cranberries with your hands until well blended. 

                                           here are the dry ingredients

 Press flat into the prepared pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them. Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. 
Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.

Here is the final product.

Enjoy :)