A few days late. I didn't feel like blogging the last few days. In fact, I haven't even opened my computer.
We had a wonderful Christmas and days surrounding! Dave and I laid low on Christmas eve at our house and watched some fun Christmas movies, drank sparkling cider, ate a yummy dinner and relaxed, just the two of us. It was really nice! Dave was pretty sick so that threw a wrench in a few of our plans, but it was still wonderful!  We opened presents Christmas around noon on Christmas (since we were both up all night sick) and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and trying to recover. I got the heart rate monitor that I wanted…yay! I also got some yummy lotions!! Oh and a brand new house of course!!  Christmas afternoon we went to my parents where we enjoyed a crab and lobster feast! It was wonderful!  We hung out, exchanged gifts, and watched a really nice movie about the birth of Christ..just lovely!  The rest of our weekend has been pretty relaxed since we are now both sick! Blah!  We did have a Christmas party at our house last night with my friends from high school and their husbands and that was really fun!  I'm not going back to work until next Monday and I couldn't be happier!  I'm not sure what I plan on doing this week, but I'm sure whatever I do i'll have fun jut not being at work!!  I may or may not blog. Kinda depends on how I feel I guess!  I think I left my camera at my parents so I'll have to post my pictures from Christmas when I get it back!  Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have enjoyed a break from the norm!  I hope I feel better in the next few days, because I've been dying to get outside and do some running and use my new monitor!!  I'll let ya know how it goes! bye for now.

I heard this song on the Radio this morning and it made me smile. Do you LOVE this cartoon? I love love love it!

I ran outside yesterday and loved it. It was pretty cold, but I was dressed warm and felt great. My ears got a bit cold, but other than that it was awesome. I'm starting to figure out that switching up my exercise every so often excites me and really motivates me. I haven't run for quite a while. I had to stop when I hurt my foot and I've only done it a few times since then. I am really loving it…and GUESS WHAT?!! My back doesn't hurt after wards! That's right. I've now run three times in the last week and have had zero back pain. This is exciting news for me! It means that maybe I can run pain free! I don't want to wear myself out, so I'm going to take it easy, but I'm excited to keep at it. Yesterday as I ran I felt so strong! It's like I could have gone forever. I love the cold crisp air and the quietness of the snow…its so peaceful! I pulled out my ipod for half of the run (I haven't used that thing in 7 or 8 months!). It was fun to run to the music, I'm pretty sure it made me pick up my speed quite a bit.

I used to hate running. Mostly because I couldn't do it and I thought it was boring. It's not an easy thing to get used to doing . I still suck at it, but I do love doing it. I'm not "a runner" nor do I plan on becoming one, I just like it when i'm in the mood to run and feel good doing it! We've been having so many parties and luncheons lately that it's been hard to not eat a lot of unnecessary things. I felt really great after yesterdays run, it gave me lots of motivation to continue tokeep active, especially durning the holidays when goodies and laziness are around every corner!! It's so easy to tell yourself "it's the holidays" or..I'll start exercising when January comes around.  Its so crazy to think about past Christmas's or holidays….it used to be a free for all. I'd eat crap all day long and never exercise.  I always ended up feeling guilty and plotting out my next "diet".  I"m so glad I don't burden myself with that kind of behavior anymore! I love feeling good, eating healthy and staying active, I love even more that I want to do these things because of how they make me feel today and everyday and not because of how I want to look or feel in the future.  It makes the holidays that much more enjoyable!

Today is my last day of work, until the 4th of January!! I hope the day goes by fast!! Dave's sicko and I'm crossing my fingers that he doesn't pass it off to me. I've been saving up my vacation time to take all of this time off during Christmas break. If I'm sick, I will not be too happy.

Ok, so ya know how I said yesterday we would be closing on our house? I lied. Not on purpose though. Today is the big day. Today at 3:30pm. Finally the wait will be over!

My nose is starting to act funny and runny. EEEERRRRRRR. Say a prayer for me.

QA:  What do you want for Christmas?  I want a heart rate monitor/milage counter/calorie counter/zone monitor

Ever seen what about bob?  Remember this clip? That is how I felt this weekend, only with baking. Dave was out working in the garage and I went out and said…honey, I'm a baker…I bake.  He looked at me kinda weird and said what he thought I wanted to hear….oh, good job honey! lol! We had a FUN FUN weekend!  Here are some ( a ton) of pictures! (Sorry for the horrible quality. We have still not found the charger for our good camera, so the only camera I have is an OLD crapy crapy one that I can barley get to focus)

I spent the morning on Friday printing out yummy recipes.

I three hole punched them so I could add them to my future recipe book.

I love Christmas time because when I get home there always seems to be something waiting for me at my front door!

After I opened up the packages, I turned on the fire place, got my lap top and turned on my favorite Christmas music. After Renee sent me an email about personalizing a cook book, I remembered that my mother in-law had done this same sort of thing for me a few Christmas's back. I just had to find it! Since I haven't ever loved cooking/baking and haven't had a kitchen to cook or bake in I haven't put it to use just yet.  It is perfect though! Just what I needed! Thanks Julie!

Tabs for all the different categories

She had set it up perfectly! I added my new Christmas cookie recipes to the book and got started!
Dang my stupid old camera. Blurry every time. It's not me I swear!

In junior high and high school, our cooks would make Molasses cookies that were to die for. They were my all time favorite cookie so I decided I would give making them a try.

I'm messy.

I had to try the dough. I look cross eyed in this pic! lol

Finished product. Oh, they are so cute huh? Or am I just proud I baked something that didn't come from a premade mix?

Yum! They were really good. A little strong in the molasses area, but very tasty.  Dave didn't like them  much. He is more of a chocolate chip kinda guy.

Later that day, I wrapped Dave's Christmas presents and put them under the tree.  His are the ones with actual wrapping paper. The other perfectly square red and green boxes are just decoration.

Later that night we went and saw Avatar. It was really good. I loved it. I didn't think I'd like it that much, but seriously I loved it. The graphics were amazing.  Ever since I've known Dave, I've had a new appreciation for computer graphics. Since I now kinda understand how it works, it AMAZES me when something is done so well. This show was amazing visually and had such a great story. I seem to think everyone will like it!

Saturday was spent laying around watching movies for most of the day. Have you seen "The Holiday"…what a cute movie. I really liked it. Later in the day Dave worked on his four wheeler and I did some more baking.  Ever had Magic Bars? I think they really are magic.

They consist of  a buttery gram cracker crust, sweet and condensed milk, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and coconut.  OOOOHHHHHH MMMMYYYYYY GGGGGOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH these things are the best dessert I have ever tasted!

Would you think we were crazy if I told you we ate 12 of the 15 bars in just 2 days? That's 3 bars a day each. I think it was more like 4 for Dave 2 for me.  They are so good. Oh my. It was impossible to not eat them. IMPOSSIBLE I tell you.

Later that night, we headed to the mall to get some presents to complete our Christmas shopping yippe!  Look what else we got…
I Love yummy smelling soaps! 3 for $10…awesome!

After shopping we went to Olive garden where we split a meal. My grandma gave us a gift card and since spilt a meal, we will be able to go to eat twice with just one card! It was perfect and even though we split the meal, we left completely full!!

Last but not least when we got hoome, we put up Christmas lights on our pillars!! You can't really see them too well cus of the stupid camera but you get the idea.

Although you can't tell, the lights look really cute. I was super happy we got them up…just in the nic of time.

One more thing….I know I said I was going to deliver my PFM food this weekend, but there has been a change in plans.

On Wednesday night I saw a story about a family on the news whose home had caught on fire. They had no insurance and had lost everything. To make matters even worse, this was not their first tragedy this year.  Two months ago they had a 9yr old daughter die from swine flu complications. My heart broke as I listened to this story. After we turned off the tv and went to bed, I laid there not being able to sleep feeling so upset and heart broken for this poor family.  I wished there was something I could do. Just as I soon as I realized there wasn't much I could do..I had an Idea and realized there WAS something I could do. 

I took some time Thursday and Friday calling family, friends and co-workers asking them if they had any items around the house that they would be willing to donate to the family. They have nothing and need everything.  I figured everyone has something lying around the house, extra towels, blankets, bowls, etc.!  Yesterday we had a family party and I was able to gather a TON of stuff. Today at work people have been bringing me tons of stuff too!  Dave and I plan on delivering the items this Wednesday to the family.  What does this have to do with PFM you ask? Well, I decided that instead of dropping my items off at the bank, I would give them to this family.  My sisters and parents are doing the same thing.  It worked out perfectly, almost like it was supposed to be this way.  Because of Project Feed Me, between me, my sisters and my parents, we will be able to give this family over 100 items of food.  Not to mention hundreds of house hold items that everyone has pitched in to donate. I know most of you don't live in Utah and aren't able to donate any items, but if you can and would like to help, you can make donations to a pay pal account set up in their name.  Here is the account name: shahlufu@gmail.com . Any amount, even a dollar will help!  Or if you know any family or friends in Utah that may want to help, please spread the word!

I'll make sure to take some pictures of all the items that are donated. It seriously blows me away how willing people are to help! YOU are one of them. Thank you all for your efforts with PFM and with this family.  It is so wonderful to see people pull together to help those in need!  Like I said, our weekend was awesome. It was filled with everything christmasy and joyful. 

I plan on making another batch of the oh so magical magic bars tonight to take to my grandmas Christmas party.  These suckers are too good not to share! (and too dangerous to leave hanging around the house).  I also hope to get a little run in before the party BUT we are closing on our house today so I don't know if there will be time.  Ya, I haven't mentioned it, but we haven't close on our house yet. Crazy right? We have been in it for 6 weeks rent free and are just now closing. It has been a NIGHTMARE trying to get everything worked out since it's a short sale, but in the same breath it has been in our favor because we got to live for free for 6 weeks and we got a super low interest rate!  

I hope you all have a MERRY MERRY Christmas week! HO HO HO!!

PS…. If you live in Utah and would like to donate any items to this family, it's not to late. Please call me. I am not delivering the items until Wednesday afternoon. If you can't make it to me, I'd be happy to pick up the items from you!

QA: Since I'm now a baker (ha ha), I'd like some great baking Ideas.  So,what is your favorite holiday treat??

Look what I caught Dave wearing last night ….

I had to get a picture! Too funny!  He bought me this snuggie a few years ago and I LOVE it! Everytime we watched the snuggie commercials we would laugh our heads off, but deep down I seceretly wanted one.  What better way to keep warm, I mean seriously! I don't love the color of this one, but at the time there weren't very many colors to choose from.

When I asked him to turn around so i could take a picture, he struck this pose. I love this guy.

even if he is mad at me

This email made my day….

"Hi Natalie!
I just wanted to share a pic with you ….we participated in the Project Feed Me at our workplace at a local beverage container recycling center. We loved it so much that we are going to carry on with project all year thru! Thanks for inspiring us!
Take Care and have a Merry Christmas!"

Melinda and the gang

Melinda and gang…thanks so much for participating! You guys are awesome. I love this picture!  How wonderful that you are continuing to keep PFM alive! You guys are AWESOME!!

Nicole over at Healthy Chow has been so great sending me pictures and updating me on your PFM progress throught the entire 9 weeks and I have loved it!  Here are her cute pics! Thanks so much Nicole! You're awesome!

Thank you for sending me your pictures guys! Keep em coming!!

Yesterday (Tuesday) when I got home early from work I changed into my workout clothes and cuddled up on the couch while I waited for my workout buddy to get home.  After I gave Dave a hug he immediately said…"I don't feel like working out today"… my response…"me too!"  Problem is we didn't work out Monday either.  We tossed the idea around of not working out again around and decided that it would not be the end of the world if we skipped yet another day.  Dave had four wheeler plow on his mind and I wanted to relax and cook a good dinner.  So we both went our way doing our things.  I decided to make Tofu for the first time. I was pretty excited. I used Caitlin's recipe and was excited to see the outcome.  I cooked some brown rice and an artichoke to go with it. 

5 minutes into the cooking of the Tofu, Dave came in and told me he didn't have the tools necessary to put the plow together.  He really wanted to get the tool right then so, out of the oven came the tofu. I wrapped it in foil and put it in the fridge. I'd finish cooking when we got back home.  3 stores and 2 hours later we were back at home with a bag of take out Taco Bell and a tool for the snow plow. Our appetite got the best of us and we caved. I got a grilled chicken gordita and Dave got some crunch soft taco thing.  We ate and then snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie.
 I might have accidentally mixed up a batch of these in between cuddling and the movie. 

Is it just me or do you eat more brownie/cookie, mix/dough than the actual brownie or cookie? By the time i've baked the stuff I can barley eat one piece. I love the batter!!

I haven't worked out for two days, I ate taco bell for dinner and then topped it off with brownies…when I got home from work, I had good intentions of working out and cooking us a healthy dinner, but then life happend. I guess sometimes good intentions will have to do!

I wrote this post yesterday but didn't get a chance to post it.  Yesterday afternoon Dave and I went for a run. We suited up and ran around the neighborhood for 45 minutes. It felt AMAZING. Not sure if it was the crisp air, or the fact that I haven't run in a while, or that it had been three days since I last worked out…but I was LOVING IT! When we got back home I went out for another 15 minutes because it felt so great!  Sometimes I feel so random with my workouts. I want to be disciplined and stick to something for a certain amount of time, but I guess I get sick of doing the same thing and I crave variety.  I'm beginning to realize that I need variety to stay motivated and excited about exercise.  Doing the same thing all the time is not my recipe for success.

How about you??

ps…the tofu was a BUST! I hated it. I tried to like it and eat it but each bite made me shiver. I even tried to cook it in a different spice, but guys…I just couldn't handle it. I threw it all out.  I don't think tofu is for me unless it looks like a noodle and is found in my Chinese hot and sour soup. Darn…I really wanted to like it.

My go to girl Cindy at A Sparkle Day sent me these cute pictures yesterday and I couldn't wait to share them! She told me she tried to get JJ her little boy to sit still long enough to get him to pose but he just wanted to play with the food and tell her to cook.  Too cute! Thanks so much for your support and friendship!

Faith from Thought 4 food also sent me a picture of her PFM stash! Faith has been so great to help get others involved just like the rest of you and I can't thank her and everyone else enough.  Here is Faiths PFM collection:

ps…love your table Faith, its beautiful!!
pss…I just found out what gender baby my sister is having! I'm so excited I can't stand it. I'm not sharing yet because I want to make sure she gets to tell everyone before I go blabbing it to the world!! CONGRATS SISTER!!
psss… We just had a work luncheon at an all you can eat brazilian restaurant where they bring you every meat you can think of. I think I ate enough for the rest of year..or my life. It was fun and really good though..

This whole thing started last week when we got six inches of snow.  We started talking about getting a blower or a plow, but since we have been spending so much money on house stuff we decided we would wait it out until next year.  Shoveling is good exercise and we could handle it.  We only have one shovel right now so when we got home from work last Monday, Dave suited up and went out in the storm. He shoveled for an hour and half and finally came back in to get warm. We were both surprised how long it took, especially since our driveway isn't that big.  He didn't mind it though, it was good exercise.

Flash forward to Friday afternoon.  Dave came home from work and told me he had been thinking about buying a snow blower or plow. He thought about how much time it took him to shovel and how convenient a snow blower or plow would be.  He contemplated between the two all night long.  By Saturday morning he decided hands down he wanted a blower. Here were his reasons for not wanting to get the snow plow for his four wheeler:

- side walk plowing might be a problem
-Taking the plow on and off of the four wheeler would get old
-it would be less expensive to buy a snow blower

There you have it. He made up his mind.  We had lots to do on Saturday, so we got at it bright and early! We woke up, worked out and were on the road.  We drove 45 minutes to SLC to pick up a couch and chair for the front room (yay)!  We were rushing like crazy to get to my nieces birthday party on time so we completely skipped lunch.  We made it to the party late, but with plenty of time to have fun and enjoy.  Dave ate a piece of cake, but I held out for real food that I PLANNED on having once we got home.

When we got home we unloaded the couch and chair and began setting up the front room.  By the time we were done arranging and re-arranging, we needed to hit the road again to run more errands before it got to late and snowy. I grabbed a few almonds and we jumped in the car. I figured we'd stop and grab some food very, VERY soon.

Our FIRST stop was Lowe's.  Dave looked around for over an hour trying to figure out what snow blower was just right.  He looked at me reluctantly and pointed to the most expensive one.  REALLY??!! You really want that one?  He gave me his reasons and I shrugged my shoulders and told him to do what he thought was best.  LOL.  By this time I was more than hungry. All I had eaten the entire day was 1/4 cup yogurt and a protein bar with a few almonds….and it was nearly 6:00pm. Since he liked the most expensive one best, he decided we needed to drive 25 minutes to Sears to see if they had any better deals.  I agreed since my favorite restaurant was right around the corner from sears. We called and made reservations on the drive…finally there was an end in sight. I was a happy camper!

We made it to Sears and Dave did his thing. We looked around for 20 minutes and finally he made a decision.  He chose a less expensive one and we were ready to go…what could be better?? He found what he wanted for the price I wanted to pay…and most importantly I was going to get to eat very very soon! The salesman came over and almost killed me when he said…we don't have that model in stock.  Knowing Dave, I knew he did not want to wait until next week for delivery. I about fell over because I was 1. hungry as a hippo and 2. sick of snow blower shopping. eeeeeeeekkk!! It had now been 2 1/2 hours since we started and I was pretty much done.  Dave paced back and forth trying to decide what to do. He really wanted to get the snow blower RIGHT THEN since the weather man had called for a blizzard the next few days.  If sears didn't have it in stock…would Lowe's?  He called Lowe's and low and behold they did.  What did that mean? That meant we had to drive 25 minutes in the opposite direction back to the store we started with and pick it up there. After another 10-15 minutes of trying to figure out what to do…we decided to make the haul back. I was delusional and giggly by this time.  It felt like a nightmare where you just can't make what you want happen, happen.

We canceled our reservation at the restaurant and started the drive back to Lowe's.  We got to Lowe's about 8:30, bought the mother of all snow blowers (commercial grade you guys) and packed it up on the trailer.  At 9:20pm we walked into the restaurant.  When my food came out I ate it faster than you can imagine. I had to cover my mouth while eating the salad portion because I couldn't eat it fast enough and still be polite.  I scarffed my food and wished for more.

As soon as we got home, Dave turned on the blower and cleaned off the drive way.  He was having a riot. At one point I looked out the window and saw him snow blowing the street! Boys and their toys..I tell ya.

While Dave was blowing off the Drive way, I went to town setting up the new rug that we bought from my sister.  I can't get over how expensive rugs are and had pretty much boycotted buying one.  Luckily Erin told me about  a rug she had bought that she would be willing to sell to us.  It worked out perfect. It was the price I felt comfortable spending, and you would have thought it was made for our house. I love it!

Sunday morning we woke up to more snow, and the sound of  a four wheeler riding around. Dave ran to the window only to see someone on their four wheeler plowing the sidewalks and driveways.  He motioned me to the window and showed me what he was looking at.  "I guess they can plow sidewalks", he said.  He also mentioned how fun it looked to be out there riding in the snow.  Since we woke up late we were rushing to get to church so that was the end of that conversation…………….so I thought.

An hour or two later while in church, Dave tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a childish smirk.  I asked him what was so funny and he said…"do you think Lowe's will take back the snow blower if I've already used it?"….OMGOSH…are you serious?  He was people…serious as a heart attack.  He proceeded to tell me that he thinks he changed his mind and that a plow is really what he wants.  Since he bought the top notch blower, the plow would not cost any more and he would have so much fun with a plow. He now knew that the plow could fit down sidewalks.
He had made his mind up (again)…the blower was going back to Lowe's.

I called Lowe's Monday morning to make sure they'd take it back and they said yes…as long as there was not gasoline in the engine.  Dave had stopped by the gas station on the way home from buying the blower on Saturday so naturally it was full of gas.  He decided to run the gas down, he'd plow the drive way one last time.  After he spent over an hour blowing the drive way, the gas tank was still half full, so what did we do next?  Any guesses?  Yes friends…..we syphoned the gas out of the snow blower with a garden hose. I did not know this was actually possible. With my help and utter disbelief, I stuck one end of the garden hose filled with water in the snow blower gas tank. Dave stood at the other end of the driveway with the other end with the hose in his mouth, he began sucking on the hose trying to get the water flowing.  Once the water hit his lips and he spit it out and the hose started sucking the gas out just like a vacuum.  I busted up laughing.

(after we syphoned the gas)

A few minutes later I got a text from one of my neighbors saying "what in the world are you guys doing out there?" 
I can only imagine what she must have thought when she looked out her window!

So to make a long story short, the monstrous commercial strength snow blower is now back at Lowe's, and a wench and plow for a fourwheeler are on order.

Conclusion….Dave is happy

Which means I am happy. 

And hopefully after reading this story, you are happy too!

QA: Is your husband WAY into his "boy toys" too?

Yay, more PFM pics!  This first picture was sent to me by Krista from Krista's Kravings.  I love that she got her kids involved and excited about the whole thing! I remember my parents helping us kids participate in sub for Santa's or other service at Christmas time. It really helped teach us about the true meaning of Christmas!
Thanks so much for your support and excitement Krista! Love the picture!!

This next picture is from Tasha from The clean eating mama. She donated the first batch of food pictured at a local food Drive in November.  The second picture is of her sweet little boy and the rest of the food she had gathered!  I love this picture of her little boy….so adorable!  Tasha has been so supportive and excited about PFM and has helped many other people get involved! Thanks so much for all of your efforts!!

Thank you both for sending me your pictures! I love them!  I wanted to donate our PFM items on Saturday and  had them in the car ready to go, but after a CRAZY night (I'll post about it later) it just didn't happen. We set a date for this Saturday so for now, that is the plan!  

I am still short about 160 pictures from all of you, so if you haven't yet sent me your PFM picture…..I'm hoping you are all like me and just haven't had a chance to deliver your food quite yet, or you delivered it this weekend and are getting ready to send me your picture any minute!  I can't wait to see them!! Happy Monday!!

I read something interesting in "Health" magazine yesterday that I thought would be fun to share. Do you eat/use ginger much? Do you cook with it, drink it, or use it? Or are you so clueless as to what ginger is that you didn't realize it wasn't just a girl from high schools name?  I'm pretty close to the later.  I don't know much about ginger, but for some reason I have it in my head that I don't like it. When I stopped and thought about it I don't even know what it smells, tastes, or looks like. After reading this article, I think I might have seriously consider adding it to my vocabulary and using it when needed.  Take a looky…

Healing Ginger
This multitasking spice fights cramps, soothes sore muscles, and calms cranky winter skin.

Achy muscle aid
Ginger's warming essential oil improves circulation and blood flow, making it an ace at relieving tired muscles.  Try this soak: Grate 4 tablespoons of fresh ginger, and seal it in a cotton bag; place bag under running bathwater.

Cramp reliever
God bad period cramps? Try ginger tea. A study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary medicinefound that ginger was as effective as ibuprofen for relieving painful periods. Just steam 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger root in water for 15 minutes, strain and enjoy with honey or lemon.

Skin Rejuvenator
Brighten skin with ginger body scrub. Mix 2 ounces Epsom salt, 1 tablespoon lime juice and 1 tablespoon chopped ginger; microwave at 15 second intervals until warm. Apply scrub all over, then rinse. The ginger gives you a healthy glow, while the line's vitamin C smooths skin.

Travel Companion
If bumpy flights and long car trips makes your stomach turn, try a piece of crystallized or pickled ginger. Ginger worked better than dimenhydrinate (the active ingredient in over the counter motion sickness meds) at preventing and treating motion sickness, according to Brigham Young University research.

Is it a coincident that the day I read this my muscles were incredibly so sore from a hard workout or that it was that time of the month? How about the fact that my skin is dryer than ever trying to fight this cold dry weather. And what about the fact that I get motion sickness easier than anyone I know(I can't even watch Dave play most of his video games without getting seriously sick). This article was written for me! GINER is calling my  name!!

QA: Do you use ginger? If so, what for?