Notice anything different?

Notice anything different here?  New colors, new banner!!  Can you tell I'm looking forward to spring?  I think the colors I used before were a little more fall-ish, so I wanted to make a little change.

I use the phrase 'Made with Love' a lot to describe my cooking and baking - I put my positive energy and love into everything I make and I think that it makes food taste better.  If you cook angry or lacking enthusiasm, the finished product reflects that.  So, when my husband or daughter say that they like something I cooked/baked, I usually respond with 'thank you, I put love in it.'

So, what's been going on around here this week?
It's cold, for one thing.  Wednesday night, I did a 59 minute outdoor run while J was in swim practice - crazy me!  I was warm while running, but got really chilled once I stopped.  It felt great though.  I think I covered 4-4 1/2 miles, I was going slow.  And, I LOVE that my phone is an .mp3 player also - I was jamming!  But, it also got dark while I was running, so it's harder for drivers to see me.  And, the best part is that my left shin didn't hurt at all - yahoo!  Maybe my injury in the first part of December was because I was doing 64 laps on the running track at the Y, all in one direction - too many left turns.  :)

J has a swim meet this weekend!  Hope she does well.

We are volunteering at the Cincinnati Sports, Travel, and Boat Show next weekend for the Southwest Ohio Doberman Rescue table - to promote the rescue.  That should be kind of fun - we've never done anything like that to help them.  I manage the Facebook page for them too, which is a good niche for me.

I've read some in my book, Horses Never Lie About Love - it is a great book and I am trying to pace myself, so that I can savor it.  Otherwise, I would stay up all night long and read it in one sitting.

I've also been working on a project, this may be Project #2 for 2012 - crocheting a blanket.  I started out just doing a super long row and then going row by row...  I just found a great pattern idea at Lion Yarn though - I think that may be a project for the fall.

And, I'm finishing up Project #1 this weekend - taking down all the curtains in the house, washing them, dusting the curtain rods, dusting all the ceiling fans, and re-hanging all the curtains after ironing them.  Whew - what a lot of dust and cobwebs build up after a few years.  I usually wipe the ceiling fans every 6 months or so, but I've never done the curtains, so it was definitely time.

We skipped grocery shopping last weekend, so we have been eating up everything in the freezer and the cabinets - it's interesting.  I've noticed that we don't have a lot of food, but at the same time, we have plenty of food.  It has forced me to think outside the box a little too.  Besides milk and bread and eggs, we could almost go until next weekend if we wanted to.  I love the fact that I put up so much during the summer too - I still  have 2 packs of zucchini, 2 tubs of sauce, 6 jars of pickles, and 3 quarts of salsa left.  It's a nice feeling and I plan to expand that this year too I think.  I think.

And, one more wonderful thing about using our food up - I made a winter berry crisp last night that was AMAZING - frozen cranberries from last spring that never got used, fresh blueberries, and frozen mulberries from our trees with oatmeal and brown sugar baked until hot and bubbly.  Quite awesome - sweet and tart!!
Have a good weekend!!