Back to Blogging

It's been a really, really long time since I've blogged (I can't believe my last post was in June 2009!). Life since April, 2009, has been, well, interesting. I think pretty much everyone who reads this blog knows our story, so I won't get in to it again. Let's just say the stress and uncertainty put a damper on my creative juices. Things have settled down considerably, and I find I miss blogging. So, I figured the new year was a good time to get back to it.

My 2011 New Years resolutions are basically the same as they were back in 2008 when I started the blog. Except that I want to get back to all these things, not start doing them!

Get Back to Blogging
Clearly this is the first step to that. I may not be the world's greatest writer, but I enjoy doing it and the blog gives me a reason to several times a week.


Get Back to Running
After I completed the Disney World Half Marathon in January 2009, I didn't sign up for another race of any kind, and I obviously needed that motivation to keep up with the running. I'm not sure what my immediate next race will be, but in 2012 I hope to complete Disney's Coast to Coast Challenge by finishing both the Disney World Half Marathon in January and the Disneyland Half Marathon in September. In the meantime, I'm back on a basic 5K training plan (which I started tonight and will talk more about later). I'll be looking for a 5K to do at the end of April or beginning of May - the program is 15 weeks. Then, I hope to shoot for a longer race in the Fall, which will put me in a good position to start training for Disney in January. I am generally more fit than I was when I started back in 2008, due to my job managing a Pilates studio, where I get to take classes 2-3 times per week. Several of our clients are runners, and have said that Pilates has helped them improve so I hope the same holds true for me.

Get Back to Creativity in the Kitchen
One or two people have told me they've missed my recipe-of-the-week posts, and I miss serving all those new dishes! I like learning new things, and most of the time it's fun to sort through recipes and cookbooks to find something new to try (though I have to admit that sometimes it's also frustrating, because while I have tons of recipes to choose from, sometimes nothing sounds good). In the end, I feel a sense of accomplishment from doing it and it's a great way to keep Alec and I out of the rut of eating the same meals week after week. Ingrid, Raoul and The World's Greatest Niece (TWGN) gave us a new slow cooker for Christmas so I plan to try a bunch of recipes for that. Also for Christmas, M.K, E. and E.W. (the world's greatest nephew) sent a neat box of spice blends, so those will be a lot of fun to experiment with. I've already tried 3 new recipes this year, including one in the slow cooker and used the spices twice so I'll post about all that soon.

It's well past time for me to be shutting down the computer, so I will close but I promise to be back soon!