Rockin' Resources for Resolutions

I'll be honest, I don't really make New Years Resolutions. There is one thing I try to do at the beginning of each year though: everyone gets a clean slate in my mind. In a way, it's a massive forgive-and-forget cleansing. Instead of holding on to things that people did & said that I took offense to, it's time for me to move on.

So I do recognize that the turn of a calendar can prompt thoughts on life, purpose, goals, and the ever-quickly-passing TIME. Here's a collection of resources I've found lately that can help out some of the most common New Years Resolutions.

Fitness- http://fitbottomedgirls.com. This website gives great reviews on fitness videos, nutrition (Nosh), & apparel/beauty/travel (Posh). Their philosophy is that fitness doesn't have to be hours on cardio machines at the gym, but instead it should be part of a fun, healthy lifestyle. Plus, they have an awesome tagline- "Keeping a lid on the junk in the trunk."

Finances- None of these are get-rich-quick schemes. Here are a few articles from TheStreet about being wise with money.

• 5 Everyday Things You Don't Need
• 5 Expensive Things You Shouldn't Buy
• 10 Reasons You Aren't Rich
• ***10 Commandments for Frugal Living***

Refreshing the Mind- I firmly believe that if more people worked on having fresh, positive minds, the world would be a better place. Let 2011 be the year you forgive someone, stop worrying about everything, get over a grudge, ignore an offense, let it go, or just relax.

• Clean Your Slate from the Everyday Minimalist
• Peace from Becoming Minimalist (it's a Christmas post, but applicable year-round)

Getting Things Done- Need some motivation to get projects done? New Nostalgia hosts an Anti-Procrastination link party on Tuesdays. It's a great way to see how others are combating procrastination & ideas for more projects (just in case your to-do wasn't long enough already...)

Quit Smoking- Check out the CDC article.

And read the article on the 10 Commandments for Frugal Living. It's quite good.

The History of Mantras

Jumping back a few days to the 2011 Mantra, I was asked how the Mantras started & any past ones. Dad isn't entirely sure how the tradition started, but attributes it to the normal "dadisms" that were floating around that eventually turned into a yearly theme.

And here is the complete list of Dad's Mantras:

• 2006- "If it were easy, everyone would do it."
• 2007- "No more guilt trips."
• 2008- "Press the easy button."
• 2009- "If it's not delicious, throw it away."
• 2010- "Live positively."
• 2011- "Take time to recognize & appreciate beauty."

The 2011 Mantra

Some people do New Year's resolutions; my Dad has a yearly mantra. Here are some of his thoughts-

'The 2011 mantra is:

'Take time to recognize and appreciate beauty.'

The seed for this thought goes way back, probably 15 years or more, to a message at church on “10 things that Christians ought to be characterized by” or something like that. One of his points was that we should be looking for and appreciating beauty.

This year’s thought has various components, such as “take time” – which means that I should not just focus on the project at hand, but, when appropriate, I should “stop and smell the roses.” As Mom has heard before, “push the pause button”.

It also means that I should make it a point to recognize beauty in every place, no matter what I am doing. It may be an elegant design of a product, or a well-written paragraph in business correspondence or in a book I am reading, or something that someone says or does, or a beautiful work of art. It may be a sunrise, or a sunset, or a mountain range, or a desert. I should stop and take time to appreciate the beauty – not just say, “that’s nice” and move on quickly.

It is also my desire that if I can focus on and appreciate the beautiful, I will be less critical and judgmental. This is a link to the 2010 thought, “Live positively.”

This year’s thought may mostly have moment-by-moment applications, but this can also be planned, such as a trip to an art museum, or a vacation to the mountains, etc."

So here's to looking for the beautiful things in 2011!

The Best of 2010

My local paper asks an "On The Street" question every day, and today's question was "What was the best thing that happened to you in 2010?"

I'm not sure if I'm amnesiac, but 2010 didn't have any single, solid best thing for me. However, there were lots of little pieces that made 2010 a pretty decent year.

But I'll share my biggest 2010 disappointment first: Nebraska. First, they announced they were leaving the Big 12. And then then they lost the Big 12 tournament game & their bowl game. Oh well.

Moving on to the positives! (in no particular order)

Best New Recipe- Brazilian Fish Stew

Best Music Acquisition- Jamie Cullum: "The Pursuit"

Best Minimalist Moment- Unloading my big ol' TV

Best Minimalist Project- My sister's playroom

Best Dessert- Scottish Shortbread

Best Website- grooveshark.com

Favorite Personal Blog Post- You, Me & Stuff

Best Technical Acquisition- HP Netbook

Best Electronic Recycling Discovery- Best Buy

Best Work Moment- Moving to a new office with a HUGE window

Best Vacation- Hiking 14ers with my dad in Colorado

Good Times- Hanging out with my family in Texas

People Who Win for 2010- My parents

Happy New Year!

Scottish Shortbread Fans

Last week, my mom and I went to a class at the local health food store called "Fabulous Holiday Cookies." Not only did we get to try eight fabulous holiday cookies, we also got the recipes! Some of the cookies I'm a bit scared of since the Chef warned us, "There's one minute difference between undercooked & burned!" but this recipe I knew I could at least attempt.

I have always liked shortbread. I decided I liked it even more when I found out there are only THREE ingredients. This recipe was originally called 2-4-6 Shortbread since it's an easy way to remember the ingredient measurements.

• 2 oz sugar
• 4 oz butter
• 6 oz flour

In normal-people measurements-

• 1/4 cup plus 1/2 T sugar
• 1 stick butter (if unsalted, add a very small pinch of salt)
• 1 1/2 loose cups flour

Cream butter and sugar just enough to smooth out. Using your hands or the paddle attachment on your mixer, work in the flour (and optional salt) until the dough just holds together when squeezed.


In an ungreased 8-inch cake pan, press the dough into a firm, even layer.


Use the tines of a fork to press 1/2 inch lines radiating like the rays of the sun all around the edge of the dough. Score the dough into 12 or 16 wedges and prick each wedge with a fork, pricking all the way through the dough. (I started getting a little nervous at this stage since my dough started flaking a bit. I kept on packing it back down & that seemed to work. It still turned out ok!)



Bake in a preheated 275F oven until set & beginning to turn a light golden color- about 50-60 minutes. Cool the cookies in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully tap the "cake" out of the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the wedges along the markings while still warm (that's very important).


Cool completely, store in airtight container. Both the dough & cookies freeze well. Or eat them!

A Merry Minimalist Christmas

Has Christmas indeed become commercialized & all about the stuff? Perhaps. And even if it has, I still like Christmas.

My minimalist philosophy is, "Don't own stuff you don't like," and some people really, really, really like Christmas stuff. If you do, go all out! However, that doesn't mean that everyone shares those feelings & just because others don't, we aren't being Scrooges. I will appreciate your Christmas efforts from slightly afar.

I'll admit it. I like twinkle lights. But some people really, really, really like twinkle lights.


Na. It's Christmas!!!

I own two basic Christmas things. In college, I bought a pre-lit tree about 3 feet tall. This year, my parents adopted it to use instead of their 7 foot tree since they're not hosting Christmas. Good call!

On the flip side, one of my Grandma's friends really, really, really liked Christmas trees & had one for angel ornaments, one for Santa ornaments, one for shiny stuff, & one to hold the presents underneath. It did look cool. I'll favorably remember her trees.

The other Christmas essential that EVERYONE really needs to properly embrace the feelings, spirit & sentiment of the season is the Ugly Sweater. I purchased mine for $1 last year at a second-hand shop and never got to wear it since the intended party was canceled, but did try to wear it to work as a joke. FAIL. I received many a sincere compliment from co-workers who considered it highly acceptable Christmas gear. However, my roommate borrowed it for a different party & won 1st prize for Ugly.

And here are a few other Christmas things I appreciate, though typically from afar-

Gingerbread houses-


Picture from here. That's some talent!

Christmas Cookies-

(I didn't make these particular cookies) My mom & I went to a class at our local health food store on "Fabulous Holiday Cookies" and that was fun! There's something magical about combining flour, sugar & butter. If I can track down an 8" cake pan, there's a shortbread recipe I want to try. We also tried several cookies that were SO delicious, you only want one.

Gumdrop Trees-
My grandparents started this tradition (I think?), then my mom got one & I believe my sister has one too. Gumdrops get a bit flavor-fully repetitive after eating about three, but if this Christmas tradition makes an appearance, I certainly don't mind.

My Church's Light Show-



This really is something incredible. The side of the building facing the parking lot comes alive with thousands & thousands of lights (the mega-star on top has 10,000+) that move in sync to the LIVE MUSICIANS features in each of the windows. The viewers stay in their cars for the 15 minute show and tune to a radio station to hear the music. It's a huge production with tons of volunteers & hundreds of hours of work, and the end result is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the holiday season.

Christmas Music In Small Doses-

My roommate & I threw a party on Wednesday and as we were setting up, I put on some Christmas music. That lasted about an hour. For the actual party, we rocked out to the best of today's hits & random Gen X favorites through grooveshark.com.

Jesus-

It is after all the celebration of the birth of our Savior. The season is about Love, Hope, Peace, & Joy since that's what He brought. And whether or not you're religiously inclined, it's still a nice time to reflect on meaningful intangibles like those that we all strive for in our lives.

Merry Christmas y'all!

Introvert Blogging

So I was thinking the other day, "Hmm, I haven't posted anything on my blog lately. Oh crumb, I have no ideas of anything to post on my blog. What's wrong with me?" And then a friend posted this article on FB about introverts.

As a person who is a few steps in the introvert direction, I found myself nodding in agreement as I read and reflected, "Yes, it's true. I haven't had any time lately to reflect on life, process what's going on, and be able to focus on one topic long enough to compose my thoughts."

A lot of the activities in both my work & personal life lately have been run by extroverts. I like extroverts (most of the time), but I also need time to process & sometimes they don't allow for that. And when multiple extroverts are wanting multiple things out of multiple situations & presume I'm tracking, yeah, I get overwhelmed. That's why I like email- one thing, one subject, one person at a time.

So my focus has been diverted from my inner monologue lately, but that's ok. Extroverts plan some fun stuff!