I have a crazy life and I do a lot. I think you should all get to read about it…all.

So what am I doing this year?

I have two main resolutions:
1. Loose weight.
2. Find more Mommy & Daddy time.

Yes, loose weight is so typical. But I think these are two big issues every mother deals with, so I’m going to share (as much as I can) my plans, goals, strategy, and any other detail I can come up with.

I am a Mama on a Revolution!

First things first: Meal Plan Mondays will occur EVERY Monday. That’s right. I’ll get my meal plans for the week posted every Monday. Hopefully, this will help encourage others to join in with me or give some ideas for yummy, delicious, not so bad for you meals.

You’ll get to hear about the workouts I’m doing – what is working, what isn’t. Thrilling, I know!

Date nights. We don’t have a lot of free time or a lot of money. So our dates are going to take some creativity! Wait until you see what I come up with!

And with that, I bid you all a fond welcome to 2012! A new year, and a new me!

From my family to yours, Happy Holidays and best of luck in the New Years!

We discovered a new friend today. We hope he decides to stay.

Baby J’s birthday party theme this year is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  It is one of her most favorite books.  Let her read it to you!

It occurred to me today that, with the technological advances I have made lately, blogging might be quite a bit easier. I say this as I am typing on an iPad. For those of you who know me, I will give you a moment to pick yourself up off the floor.

*Cricket, Cricket*

Hopefully soon, as I master the art of DSLR, you will see more photos of much better quality than before.

Why the sudden increase in technology? Say hello to my newest addiction/hobby/career-move: Norwich University. Student loans have given me a chance to upgrade a little to handle my sudden immersion into digital studying. My major is Military History so don’t be surprised if some battlefields begin popping up occasionally (especially with beautiful pictures – thus the camera).

On that note, I have been tossing around a cooperative blog idea highlighting local events and POIs. If anyone would be interested in joining me, email me.

Well, off to study…Palgrave Advances here I come!

Let me explain something before I reveal my meal plan.  I have a very strange food background.  Growing up with a single mom who worked in a hospital and rarely made it home before 7 (before she started with the county when I was in high school), we ate out…a LOT.  My husband, on the other hand, grew up eating at home in a household that ate a LOT of processed foods.  Combine those two factors in with the fact that we don’t have a whole lot of money (we spend about $150 a month on groceries – total, for three people…that’s it) and you will find an interesting array on our menu. 

I have also tried to add in themes to help make menu planning easier.  First, I start with my Weekly Menu - go ahead, take it.  I’ll share.

Then I try to theme my days.  Since meatless is much less expensive and good for you, I aim for one specifically meatless day a week.  I call it Meatless Monday!  This month, I designated Wednesday as our Chicken Day, Thursday as Beef Day, and Friday as Poor Man’s Special.  If you don’t know what Poor Man’s Special is, you’re probably better off.  Poor Man’s Special is my husband’s contribution to the menu – it’s a family favorite of his, but not really all that healthy for you.  Baby J loves it though - which tickles Papa pink (and, to tell you the truth, I like it too).  I’ve also made an effort to add more fish to our menu (since it’s good for you) and designated Tuesday as our fish night.

So our menu this week is as follows (we had to switch Monday and Tuesday because I worked Monday night):

Sunday – Taco Salad
Monday – Fish Sticks and French Fries
Tuesday – Pierogies and Salad w/ Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette
Wednesday – Chicken Tacos w/ Spanish Rice
Thursday – Hamburgers and Carrot Sticks
Friday – Poor Man’s Special
Saturday – Stromboli

Check out Organizing Junkie for lots of other menu plans and resources (because, let’s admit it, everyone could use a little help now and then).  Also, in case you have never heard me sing their praises before, I get most of my recipes and inspiration from the beautiful ladies over at Our Best Bites.  So make sure to stop over there for some yummy nummies too!

*cricket, cricket*

It seems that life has gotten in the way of crafting.  The little crafting I do get to do is usually last minute and late at night.  Subsequently, the last thing I want to do is take time to photograph it.  I just want to finish it, wrap it, and go to bed.

So maybe I shouldn’t focus on crafts (as many suggested after I declared my focus).  All of my adoring readers get to read about whatever I feel like writing about; the joys and pains of motherhood, the trials and tribulations of budgeting, the ups and downs of marriage, the messes and successes in the kitchen, or links to things I find interesting.  Do you think you can handle life – or at least something like it?

So today I want to talk CSAs.  I’ll admit, I know NOTHING about CSAs other than it gives you access to locally grown food and supports local farms and farmers – yay!  What is the biggest draw to a CSA for me?  Getting to take Baby J out to the farm to pick up the produce.  I don’t remember where I read it, but I read that it’s better to eat things grown from plants than manufactured in them.  It’s SO true!  And I want to make sure she knows the difference too. 

I’ve been a farm marketer for awhile, but even I didn’t know of this fantastic resource (you can find anything online): http://www.localharvest.org/ I encourage you to type in your zip code and find out what is available to you.  Purchasing locally grown food is healthier for your body, your local economy, the planet, the list could go on and on.

Superhero and I will be talking about joining a CSA tonight – if only for the fall storage crops.  I am very excited!

So here I am in 2011 considering shutting my blog down totally.  I’m not a particularly interesting person and it shows.  I thought of the blogs I follow and what makes them so much better than mine.  They have a focus – I follow Our Best Bites (addictively) and they’re pretty much devoted to food.  Sew Mama Sew is obviously sewing.

What can I contribute?  What is my focus in life right now? 

My best friend gave me a New Year’s Resolution for this year (yes, my friend gave me a resolution).  I am constantly giving her son handmade gifts of one sort or another.  I would show you pictures, but my pictures stink.

I have been him-hawing about an Esty store for a long time.  I actually did try starting one (or two, but who’s counting?) awhile ago, but neither really worked for me.

An idea has been stuck in my head for quite awhile concerning an .  But I have come up with an idea for my shop and subsequently, my blog which will mainly highlight, preview, whatever you want to call it, the product I am preparing, but also include those special moments in life that I just want to share.

Did you notice the change?  That’s right – I even changed the name of my blog.

I can’t guarantee I will be posting often – especially at first, but I am going to make a concerted effort.  Check in with me every so often!

Because we’re nearing the end of September we have been super busy enjoying Fall, getting ready for Christmas, and preparing for Baby J’s second birthday (2!  I can’t believe she’s 2!).

My creative space has been mainly filled with birthday preparation.  Last year, I made Baby J’s birthday dress – I just didn’t feel that ambitious this year.  I found an adorable dress on the clearance rack at JCPenney (it’s a nine months – yup, my two year old is that tiny).  It is white with pink, green, and brown polka dots on it.   I made a headband last night to go with it, but alas, did not take any pictures.  Don’t worry – you’ll see her two year old portraits and be able to oooo and ahh at the adorable headband then! 

Making the headband did a good job of taking my mind off the pain from starting the braces process (I have separators on my back teeth and I just don’t think there is room in my mouth – it hurts a lot) so I may have a sudden influx of seriously cute headbands in my home.  I even measured my head so I could make some for me.

Because I am so proud of how cute they turned out (and how ridiculously cheap they were), I thought I would share Baby J’s birthday invitations with you as my Creative Space today.  We are doing an old fashioned ice cream shop theme and serving ice cream sundaes!  I have white disposable table cloths I am going to draw red strips on.  We have Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce in the old fashioned can (that was a cool find at the grocery store) and caramel sauce in a jar plus some Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce from a Tastefully Simple in a nifty jar (yes, I bought it for the jar it came in).   We also have the necessities – sprinkles, whipped cream, cherries, bananas.  I have cute signs to put up and word searches to put out.  And of course, everyone gets to watch Baby J dive naked into a big sundae!  I’m going to have one sugar crazed kid!

Anyways…the invitations look like this (with my address and phone number where the black lines are):

So cute!

Check out some more great creativity at Kootoyoo!  I mean, who doesn’t want great creative inspiration just before Christmas?

Until then, I thought I would pop on and share my creative space with you.  Now, I realize, I should have used a different color background (and taken the picture with something other than my phone), but I am so proud of the block that I came up with (thanks to Amy’s Creative Side) for the Challenge Fabric Swap I participated in recently.

I have to admit I was VERY sad to see this one ship out in the mail.  Do you want to know why?  Yes, the challenge fabric was right up my aisle (the yellow with blue flowers), but more importantly, all the seams line up!  Do you see that – I know the picture is stinky, so just trust me if you can’t.  They all line up!  I have discovered the secret.  You see, I stitched this together in the evening after everyone had gone to bed by the light of my sewing machine.  With the limited light, I checked my seams like a thousand times!  Makes for straight seams and one proud quilt square mama!  So if you ever walk in on me sewing up quilt blocks in a dark room, you’ll understand!

Make sure to head over to Kirsty’s to check out some amazing talent!

Did you ever use a recipe but kind of not measure the ingredients and end up with something so much more wonderful than the original recipe?  I did that last night for dinner and let me tell you – even the leftovers were amazing!  So without further ado…

Taco Goulash

1 small onion (or half one large onion), chopped
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
1 small green pepper, seededand chopped
2 cans beef broth
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 box vegetable rotini
1/2 cup salsa
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder

In a large saucepan, warm the olive oil and then cook the onion until translucent. Add green pepper, broth, diced tomatoes, black beans, vegetable rotini, salsa, chili powder, and cumin. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy!

I love easy yummy meals – especially when they don’t require a meat purchase because then they’re even cheap!

Hope you enjoy – and for some entertaining reading while you’re stuffing your face with the yumminess – it’s Five Question Friday!

1. Do you have any nicknames and if so how did it come about?
My hubby and I have nicknames for each other – I call him my melon (When Harry Met Sally reference) and he calls me his lobster (Friends reference). When we were living in separate states, I got him a lobster to cuddle with!

2. What is your birth order amongst your siblings?
I am my mother’s oldest, but my father’s third (maybe fourth) child. It puts me in an interesting position because I am the oldest, but we have a brother older than me that we know too!

3. In a movie of your life, who would play your significant other?
Meet Josh Lucas.  I think he would be as close physically as I’m going to get – except for the blue eyes – Superhero has brown eyes.

4. What is currently your favorite song?
Hmmm…my absolute favorite is Standing Outside the Fire by Garth Brooks. I am really liking Love Like Crazy and Keep On Lovin’ You.

5. Are you saving your money for anything right now? Big or small purchase?
I am saving gift cards that I keep getting to get a yellow Kitchenaid stand mixer.

Head on over to My Little Life to check out other Five Question Friday answers!