Before you know it, Christmas will be here

Well it's true. I can't seem to find time to just sit still and breathe lately. The minutes, hours, days and months are flying by me like cars on JTB (you have to live in Jacksonville to get that reference). I received a calender for Christmas where you tear the page out each day and I find myself ripping out entire chunks of time. A day or two here. A week sometimes. There goes April. Ooh almost halfway through May. How can I make the time seem more real? More tangible?

Normally I mark my weeks by counting days until the weekend arrives. Doesn't everyone? Then when Friday night comes, I begin to scurry around the house, trying to accomplish tasks. These tasks are not small ones. They feel like overwhelming "we need to clean out the closets and donate all of our junk to the Humane Society" kind of tasks. I pounce into the project with gusto, only to find myself bowing out about halfway through Saturday morning. Then it sits until the next weekend. Back into the boxes and closet things go to sit another few months, a year and so on. Maybe chores and household obligations isn't the best way to mark time.

I wonder if I can mark the time by events. You know, the fun bits of life that don't feel like work? The first thing that comes to mind is visiting my brother in Denver over July 4th weekend. Ah yes. That will be here in no time. Then it occured to me that I'll see my family in Cincinnati in September. These feel like big events in my hum drum life. So why will it feel like a flash before the trips are here...and then gone. What can I really look forward to when it's here and then gone?

In graduate school, we learned about mindfulness and how you can live more in the present moment. I ought to dust my schoolbooks off in the overwhelming closet and see what happens. Have we lost the fine art of enjoying the moment? Do you find yourself waiting for that next "thing" in your life, only to miss out on the present?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Just leave me a comment below.

Staying in the moment, for the moment.
Christy

Pizza at the Jones' residence

Pizza is probably one of our most-loved dishes. It's something we eat on a weekly basis around here. Whether we grab a pie at our local restaurant *Mellow Mushroom is a fav* or we make one at home, it's always fun to create! Lately, healthy pizzas made at home have replaced high fat meat-ladden ones. So here's a new recipe for you to try!

Last week Larry and I made our ever-evolving Shrimp Pesto Pizza. It has freshly made pesto (fresh basil, toasted walnuts, olive oil, parmesan, fresh lemon juice from half a lemon, salt and pepper to taste) as the base which we had leftover from the night before. We had used it for a springy and bright pasta sauce (yum). Then we use Sargento part-skim mozarella (it melts great), baby bella mushrooms, Mayport shrimp, red bell peppers, diced canned tomatoes (Cento brand is our favorite). Pile these on as the mood strikes you. Don't toss whole basil leaves on until the end of they will burn and taste bitter. The crust is whatever we find at our market that week. The thinner the better! After creating it to your satisfaction, put it in the oven on a pizza stone at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes.

It is beyond delish. When the individual elements melt together and the sum is always better than its parts!

Mangia!!

Peeps

A friend of mine from college asked me to create some peeps for Easter...so here I go. More pictures of completed peeps on the way in a rainbow of colors.

Have a great week!
Christy

Where does the time go?

I'm feeling rushed lately but that doesn't surprise me. Working too many hours, trying to eat healthfully, exercise, create and maintain a "fun" business on Etsy, making time for my relationship (with the best man on the planet) and taking care of four pets has me pooped. This week Larry and I are turning over a new leaf.

We promise to uphold the following:
No red meat
No fried foods
No fast food (drive through)
Exercise daily
Drink tons of water

So that's our commitment to ourselves and each other. We each want to drop a decent amount of weight, so we have to change some things around, right?

I'll post about some of our progress here..not obsessively but enough to keep myself accountable.

I'm typing this while standing up, with sore legs from squats last night and yoga the night before...half dressed trying to get ready for a day of work, coffee cup in hand.

So, how are you being healthier this year?

**Leave me a comment telling me and I'll enter you to win my new sunglass case on Etsy (valued at $13.50).** Random drawing will be on Monday March 28!!

Cute, eh?

After effects...

Our tranquil bedroom..in spring blue with tropical touches :) Larry is exhausted but we made it!

Next project...the bathroom...

Smiles all around

Thanks to Megan for posting it on her blog, I decided to borrow it. Her wonderful wordsmithing can be found here: lemotjusteandtea.blogspot.com

DIY

So the past 7 days have been all about Lowe's and how much money we can spend in a single transaction. Larry and I are almost living there at this point. We've made a best friend in Roy, who is always there (I mean he does not take a day off) to help answer questions about tile and how best to decorate the floor. You see, Roy is one of the most helpful employees on the planet and I love him. He is single-handedly getting us through this difficult time of DIYing.

So here's a before pic of our bedroom. Notice Larry ripped off the baseboards and I made sure to take a picture of the trashcan for the most chaotic "before" pics. I'll reveal the after pics soon. If we can only decide between a diamond pattern or a straight pattern for the tile. I believe Roy would pick diamond...for good reason. There is nothing straight about that man. :)