Mommin' It Up since 2004!
I’m, uh, slightly obsessed with Pinterest (shocker, I know) and the brilliance to be found there is magnified at the holidays. Here are my top 10 favorite Christmas ideas that I’ve seen so far. (Another shocker, most of them involve food!)
(Click on the number to go to the original post to find details)
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For more Top Ten Tuesday, visit OhAmanda!
Over the years, I’ve written a lot about my attempts to become a runner. There was that one time when I started the Couch to 5K program… and then promptly quit. And then there were the subsequent 23.9 times I started that program again, and quit somewhere along the way.
Once, I “ran” a half marathon… and decided about 12 seconds after I crossed the finish line that I would never. Run. Again.
But then, nine months or so later, I decided to give it another go, even though I hated it. Needless to say, I quit.
Here’s the thing. I hate running, I’m not good at running and I’m never going to be a runner. So rather than continue to set myself up for failure, I decided to try to find something I actually enjoy, and I tried a yoga class.
People. I love it. It’s not the calorie-burning intense workout that running is (at least the class I go to isn’t, but I would love to try out cardio yoga) but it feels so good, both while I’m doing it and after it’s over. I love it and I wish I could go to class every day! But since I don’t have time for that, I’ve been looking into the next best thing – yoga I can do at home.
I’ve discovered a few good resources… there are yoga videos on Netflix, for starters. There’s also a huge library on GaiamTV, with a subscription fee. I’ve been wanting to get Kate into yoga as well, because I think it would be a great thing for us to do together. I got a review copy of Shanti Generation: Yoga Skills for Youth Peacemakers, which is designed to teach yoga exercises and mindfulness techniques for kids from 7 to 16.
We’ve done it a few times and it is a nice way to end the day. Kate is on the young end of the age range they’re targeting, and she sometimes, uh, lacks focus. But she enjoys it and I’m sure she’ll get better over time. Yoga cultivates body awareness, flexibility, concentration, stress reduction and self-expression – all things she and I could use more of.
It’s exciting to me that I’ve finally found an exercise that I actually look forward to and want to do. I never, ever felt that way about running (and seriously, runner’s high? I just don’t buy that).
What about you? Do you have an exercise you love?
This post is linked up to Things I Love Thursday at the Diaper Diaries. Check it out!
With sweet potatoes. I am obsessed with sweet potatoes – this is a new low.
But they’re not just any sweet potatoes, they are the Pioneer Woman’s Soul Sweet ‘Taters and they are quite possibly the best things I’ve ever made.
A delicious concoction of sweet potatoes, milk, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, sugar, pecans, butter, flour, and salt.
Amazing.
Make them for Christmas, you will not regret it. I know, I know, you don’t like sweet potatoes. Well, friends, these are not your grandma’s syrupy, marshmallow-laden canned yams. They are heaven on a plate.
Make them. And then invite me over.
And while you’re at it, whip up some of these pumpkin pie cupcakes:
White cupcakes with a graham cracker crust, iced with pumpkin pie. Yum. My I-don’t-like-sweet-stuff diabetic husband ate four.
It’s no wonder I gained 40 pounds this weekend.
Did you discover any amazing recipes this Thanksgiving? If so, share them in the comments!