A New Year Is Here

Hello my long, lost readers! Well, I suppose I was the one who was lost. Yes, I'm still here and doing okay after the holidays. Not going to lie -- I kind of fell off the wagon with going home. I did go for several 3-mile walks during my 10 days in Florida. But yeah...those Nieman Marcus $250 cookies my mom makes every year -- I had my fill of those with a nice cold glass of milk. I gained two pounds when I arrived back in Happy Valley, but I have lost that 2 again so I'm still even at 230. Woof. I had really hoped to lose more by time the wedding I'm in comes along in 3 weeks. I still have time to drop a few pounds. At least my dress will still fit and not fall off? But nothing else made me feel like writing when I was home -- in between working (Yes, I work from wherever I am) and then visiting with friends and family so I used that time to dedicate to them. 'Twas the season after all. Here are some pics from my holiday adventures!

Dad, Mom, Heather, Me

Dad does a great job every year!

My 1-day-shy-of-his-2-month-birthday Godson, Camden Christopher

Went to my first Zumba class last night with good ole Molly and her sister-in-law, Michelle. (Oh yeah, Molly moved in! Sister is down at her internship and visits us on weekends. Molly is working at an undisclosed place at undisclosed times making an undisclosed amount of money.) Boy, did we have fun! Well, I was at probably 85% fun since last week I stepped on a pine needle (twice...with both feet) in my apartment and didn't realize part of it was still stuck in my foot until Molly did some surgery on my foot today and got the rest of the needle out...using, oddly enough, a needle -- and toenail clippers. (TMI?)  Anywho, this page just froze as I tried to put a picture of it so if you're that curious at a pretty funny pic of her laying the lamp on the couch so she could see better, it's (say in Andy Cohen voice...more of a joke for my sister) here on my Facebook page.

I was ready for dinner the other night and wanted to use up some stuff here in the house. I knew I had some cans of chicken left over from football season so I figured I'd make some chicken salad. But, I wanted it to be healthier. So, I took a peek around the kitchen and saw some avocados. And my wheels got 'a turning. "Avocados are creamy -- wonder if I could use them instead of mayo? Sure, let's try it!" Now, I grew up working in my family's restaurant since I was 5 years old so I tend to know my way around the food groups and spices. I swear, my family MUST be Italian somewhere along the line. Here's what I did:

--drain 3 cans of 4.5 oz chicken, put in bowl
--cut open 2 avocados and squeeze the stuff out of the shell into the bowl
--3 celery sticks, washed and diced
--(here's where I stop measuring, FYI, and I'm just going to guess what I used) 2-3 tbs frank's red hot sauce
--few sprinkles of garlic salt
--dice up some jalapenos. I don't remember, a tbs or 2?
--some of the jalapeno juice -- probs a tbs or 2
--relish.  3-4 tbs??
--sprinkle some oregano
-- sprinkle some red pepper flakes (If you can't tell, I don't mind a little extra spice in my life.)
--few turns of fresh ground pepper
--a tbs or 2 of lemon juice so the avocado doesn't turn all brown

Then just stir that sucker around until it's nice and mixed. Heat up a few pieces of bread until it is lightly toasted. Slather it up on the bread with some lettuce and you have one amazing sammie. For lunch the next day, I put it on top of a salad with some carrots. Today, had it on a sammich with a piece of cheese. Amazing. And really nothing bad there. The bread I used was made by Fiber One so it's not the worst kind out there. But if you eat it on a salad I can't imagine there are too many calories. Any nutritionalists out there, feel free to weigh in. Ha, get it? Weigh in?  You know you laughed. I hear ya.

I think you're all caught up for now. Until next time...here's your quote thanks to my friend, Chad!

"The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore." - Dale Carnegie