I've lost track!

I can't remember exactly what week and day I'm on with SFL.  Oh well, suffice it to say that this is longer than any healthy eating plan has ever lasted before.  While I'm probably slacking a bit in some areas, I do feel there are some changes that are becoming permanent.  For example, this morning when I dropped Peter off at the airport I was starving.  Instead of purchasing a chocolate bar (which would have always been my first choice), I bought a small bag of nuts.  They were roasted and salted, which isn't exactly what I'm supposed to eat, but probably the best option at the airport.

Then, tonight I decided I would have a few Doritos (I should have been having greek yogurt and berries ...), so I counted out a serving of them.  That has always been huge for me.  If I can stick to portion sizes I can be successful at this.  I only ate 60% of the serving, which is even better.

After seeing 127.4 on the scale on Friday, my weight has crept back up slightly, but that's to be expected.  I've had a couple of big weight-loss weeks, so I'm anticipating that I won't lose anything this week.  I am feeling fairly motivated to stay on track with my eating.

What I'm not feeling motivated to do?  Exercise!  Friday was my scheduled rest day, then I took last night off because it was Peter's only night home, and then tonight I was just too exhausted.  I really want to get back into a routine, but I may end up missing more days before this teaching block is over.  I can't wait to finish month 2 of Insanity so I can go back to shorter workouts!

I had a wonderful time shopping all by myself today!  I did some Christmas shopping on top of regular errands.  I could easily blow the budget buying for the kids for Christmas but I tried to keep things reasonable!  I haven't entered everything into YNAB yet - I just put it on my to do list for tomorrow night. 

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good for tonight.  Two more crazy weeks and then things start to slow down a tiny bit.  It was so nice having Peter home and realizing what it's like to be all together as a family.

4 months today!

Sorry the following thoughts don't really flow from one to the other ... this is mostly a brain dump of what came into my head ;)

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation over the past couple of weeks! As you can tell from the lack of posts, we were busy, but it was a good kind of busy - lots of visiting with family and friends and working on the house. I did manage to get some stitching in but I'll talk about that in another post (hopefully with some pictures if I get up the motivation to take some tonight)!

We headed for our parents' houses for a few days over Christmas. Peter got me an iPod, which I had secretly been wanting but didn't ask for because they're so expensive! Mom & Dad got me a few maternity outfits - I definitely need them now! It was weird thinking this will be our last Christmas just the two of us. After traveling this year I'm definitely thinking I'd like to be home for Christmas morning with the little one next year. People gave us some really cute baby things, too. Mom & Dad gave us some size 1 diapers - they're so tiny! One of Mom's best friends gave us a little knit sweater and bootie set - also tiny! I guess I'd better get used to that ;) Now to get the nursery finished up so we have somewhere to put all this stuff.

We had both our families over for Peter's birthday on the 28th. It was fun to have a bunch of people in. The scene repeated itself a few days later as we hosted a New Year's party. Chinese food and board games ... fun! We designed the house to be conducive to having friends and family over comfortably and it's so nice to finally be at the point where we can use the space!

With the upcoming addition to our family and the cut in pay that will be involved in a maternity leave (yay for Canada - I am so looking forward to a year at home with baby even if it is at half pay) Peter and I have been working hard on sticking to a budget. So far, so good. Hopefully with Christmas out of the way we'll be able to pay down some debt through the spring and save a good chunk towards a new(er) car. We can't count on our 10-year-old Tercel to last forever (although that would be nice)!

Our big ultrasound is only 6 days away - eek! I also have a regular doctor's appointment next week - looks like I'll be working through my lunches next week to make up time! I'm super excited for the ultrasound. We'll be getting a picture and Peter's sister has insisted we scan it and email it to her, so I'll try and post it here as well.

Recipes

Faith Ann asked if the Skor bits recipe is on the package. Honestly I have no idea, so I thought I'd post the two I used last night here just in case. The squares one I'm sure everyone's had or made, it's almost too easy to be considered a recipe, but the shortbreads one is a new recipe I hadn't had before I went to a friend's house a few weeks ago. So ...

Skor Bit Squares

Crush 1 box of regular Ritz crackers. Add 1 can sweetened condensed milk and one package (minus about a TBSP) of Skor bits. Mix. Press into greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 325° F for about 17 - 20 minutes (until the top is lightly browned). Allow to cool. I ice with Betty Crocker French Vanilla icing and then sprinkle the reserved Skor bits over the top. Some versions call for chocolate icing.


Skor Bit Shortbreads

1 c butter, softened
1/2 c icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 c corn starch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 c Chipits SKOR Toffee bits

1.  Preheat oven to 350° F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2.  Beat butter, icing sugar, and vanilla until creamy.  In a separate bowl, combine
flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt; stir half into butter mixture.  Stir in
toffee bits and remaining flour mixture.
3.  Roll small tablespoonfuls of dough into balls.  Place on prepared cookie sheets, spacing about 2" apart (I put them closer together).
4.  Bake in centre of preheated oven for 15 minutes or until lightly golden (I found
that 18 minutes worked for me).  Let cool on pan for 5 minutes.  Dust with more icing sugar if desired.

These are great because they're shortbreads without the fuss of rolling dough and icing!! I made them the first time and had them out of the oven in under an hour - very different than Mom's shortbread recipe.

So ... there are the two Skor recipes. Definitely not low in calories, but it's Christmas - time to splurge :)

Christmas Prep!

This past week has been very busy, as those near Christmas usually are.

Last week I was feeling very unprepared for Christmas and a little stressed out. Then, on top of that, our car battery decided to die when I left work on Friday night - the night of our Christmas party! Thanks to the help of some wonderful friends and neighbours, we managed to get to the party just a few minutes late. After the party we went and bought a battery which Peter installed on Saturday morning. We were in a bit of a rush to get the battery in as we both had plans on Saturday morning - Peter to go help a friend on a house and me to get my nails done. Gee ... I think I got the better deal! Anyway, after dropping Peter off and before my nail appointment I managed to get to Shoppers. I redeemed some points and got almost all the rest of my shopping done - yay! I still have one gift left to buy, but I'm not too stressed about that.

After I got home around noon, I did some cross-stitch finishing (can't post pics as I finished some gifts ...) and finally used my sewing machine for the first time! I bought it in a yard sale last year and it's been sitting idle ever since! I also had some little gift packs to package, and I got all that done. So ... I'm feeling much better :) I think the exhaustion of the first trimester has finally lifted and I've had much more energy this week than in previous weeks.

Last night I got a bunch of baking done for a youth group party this Thursday night. I did double batches of skor bit shortbreads and chocolate chip cookies, so some will go in the freezer for our Christmas baking! Yay! Tonight I'm babysitting for some friends so it will be a stitchy night - tonight I work on Carousel - can't wait!

Sorry for the novel - that's what happens when you don't update in a week or so!

Oh yeah - we have a dr's appointment tomorrow where we should be able to hear the heartbeat for the first time - I am so excited! I'll post the rate on here so anyone who wants can make predictions ;)

19 Days!

How are everyone's Christmas preparations coming? I know I'm not as far along as some people (you know who you are ...) but I'm feeling ok about my progress right now. I have a few deadlines for myself for this weekend and if I can meet them I'll feel even better.

Tonight I'm planning to do some ornament finishing. Thankfully my kitchen table (i.e. hotspot) is clear except for our placemats and centrepiece so I will be able to easily set up my workshop there. I have 9 (I think) ornaments to finish. They are all being finished the same way, so hopefully I can get into some sort of a routine.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening listening to some lovely Christmas music. It's a joke in our house that the Christmas music can't start until after Thanksgiving ... the Canadian one! So, we stretch the Christmas music season out from mid-October until Christmas. Funny thing is I don't get tired of it at all. There's something about Christmas music that just puts a smile on my face.

Oh yeah - something new! Check out the bottom of this page for a ticker showing Baby's progress each week.

"It's beginning to look alot like Christmas ... "

Tree Day 2006

Peter and I started going to a specific Christmas tree farm outside of town the year after we got married. We always go the first Sunday in December, which is today! So, after church we gathered for a potluck with a few friends and headed out to cut down our Christmas tree. Thankfully this year we had friends with trucks so we didn't have to tie the tree to the top of our wee little car.

We took about a zillion pictures, but here are a couple. That's Peter cutting down our tree.

In other news, yesterday I spent the day with a friend making spanica pitas (not sure of the spelling!). They are basically phylo pastry filled with either chicken & cheese or feta & spinach. They are a beautiful hors d'oeuvre to have in the freezer around Christmas!

Yesterday marked 13 weeks pregnant. Click here to see how the baby's growing this week.

I'll update with a stitching post later with goals for the new year along with my rotation ideas!