Saturday Soup...

If you know me, you know I love love love soups.  Just about any kind.  So today I am making it "Saturday Soup" post.  One of my favorite brands is Progresso.  Here is a new one that I found.  So good!! 

Today's Tip:  Still reading my Women's World---on page 37 from Smart Ideas for your home it suggest storing craft supplies in old, unused suitcases.  The supplies will stay neat and out of the way--and it's a cinch to move them to wherever you're crafting!  I like that idea!!

TGIF!!

     Guess everyone knows by now it's Friday!!  Whoop!!  So glad to have a few off days with not much to do but crafting and enjoying the day.  And thanks to MLK, we even get Monday off too!  So that means three days of natural alarm clock! 


     Today started my "twenty minutes of dance"---but wait, I actually did fifty minutes..  It was so much fun and funny at the same time.  I think at one point, I saw Ozzy rolling on the floor laughing at the moves I was trying to do.  But I gave it a good sweat and did the kettle ball workout after that.  My goal is to exercise a minimum of thirty minutes on the days I don't work.  No reason at all that I can't do that and see results by April.  Here is a picture of Shaun T---the DVD is Rock Your Body. 

It helps that he is easy on the eyes too!!

Today's Tip:  New Women's World magazine out today.  Very interesting fact from page 12.  It states, "Time your dinner right!  Wait an hour after eating to go to bed and reduce your stroke risk by 66%!  How?  It helps prevent reflux, which leads to sleep apnea, a risk factor for stroke."

Have a great weekend everyone...

Castle Finally Gets Justice..

Nathan Fillion finally won an award for his role in Castle.  The show has been one of my favorite's for several years.  It's got a little bit of everything in it, but he won for Best Actor in a Drama Series.  I was just so happy!  He even beat out Patrick Dempsey!  Go Castle---you are awesome!!

I'm going to start my "20 minutes of Dance" tomorrow.  Kristie Alley started promoting this along with Dr. Oz, I believe, and it has really taken off.   Her site is here.  Kristie is just so motivating.  I mean so is Dr. Oz, but you can really see the difference in Kristi since she came off Dancing With The Stars.  She kept dancing and has kept her weight off.  I can spare 20 minutes.  I just have to make sure it's just my dog Ozzy watching me!! I have some DVD's that are dancing ones---I'm sure I won't be able to do alot of the moves, but I can shake a small tale feather!

Today's Tip:  Listening to music is a great way to prepare yourself mentally for participating in any activity. The power of music to influence and inspire us as humans is a well known fact. Music uplifts the heart and gives us that "hidden" energy boost that we need.  So turn on your Ipod and just get up and move....

The List You Don't Want to Be On....

CNN Health and writer Madison Park have put out the list you most surely do not want to be on.  It is the Top 15 Killers of Americans.  Another words, the top 15 things you are most likely to die of.  I know, not what you are thinking about from a "Craft" blog!  But remember, when I'm not crafting, I'm usually reading something or checking the news on the computer---hence how I came about this article..  I am determined to make this year a better, healthier year for myself and Mac and articles like this really make you take a look at what changes we need to make to AVOID this list.

I'm going to list the Top 15, but for the full article just follow the link above.


1. Diseases of heart
2. Malignant neoplasms (cancer)
3. Chronic lower respiratory diseases (such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma)
4. Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke)
5. Accidents (any injuries that are unintentional)
6. Alzheimer’s disease
7. Diabetes mellitus
8. Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis (kidney disease)
9. Influenza and pneumonia
10. Intentional self-harm (suicide)
11. Septicemia
12. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
13. Essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease
14. Parkinson’s disease
15. Pneumonitis due to solids and liquids

So what changes do you want to make this year with your health?  I can think of several for me.  More exercise and consistency of my exercising is top on my list!  Baseball is about to start back up at the park, so there is no reason I can't walk while Mac is practicing.  I have also switched to cooking with lean Turkey.  Mac has not even noticed and the taste is so much better!  Visualize what you want when it comes to your health this year and go after it!  Reward yourself when you lose 5 or 10 pounds---but with a good book instead of food.....  Let's stay OFF this list!!!

Today's Tip:   This tip comes from Sunday's paper, the Parade and Dr. Oz.  He states, "Having the same breakfast and lunch every day can help undercut the urge to stray from your diet.  For breakfast, have protein (two eggs) or fiber (oatmeal---my personal favorite).  For lunch, try grilled salmon or chicken with a salad and some steamed veggies.  Check out Parade.com/oz.

Victory to Alabama!!!

Can I just say what a great game Alabama played! We had so much fun watching the game with our friends. Then to add a shut out victory to it---the best! Also went and looked at homes for sale today. That was an adventure. I liked one out of four and that was a short sale. It's nice to see what is out there though. Also took several OFF my list. One foreclosure was so bad we didn't even go any further than the front door! It was so bad, just gross and beyond nasty. Today's Tip: Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Confucius

It's "Bama" Day!!!

     Game Day is finally upon us!!  This morning when I went to my sewing class, it looked like everyone pulled out the same colors to wear today..  Crimson and White....  I even practiced sewing on red fabric.  I truly hope our boys play their hearts out tonight and pull out another National Championship.  Either way, I'll be just as dedicated tomorrow as I am today to those beautiful colors and to a fantastic team!!
     Mac and I are going over to my best friends house tonight to cheer our boys on.  I'm going to take "ghetto dip" from Pinterest..

And for dessert Cookies ‘N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies also from Pinterest.

Pinterest is just AWESOME!!!

Today's Tip:  This tip comes straight from me today---be safe tonight friends.  If you drink, do it responsibly.  As much as I want Alabama to win, it is just a game and life will go on tomorrow....

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Sewing and Sewing....

I'm so excited---tomorrow is my first sewing class!!  I can't wait!  I love learning new crafts and this is going to open up a HUGE door...  This is a picture of my new sewing machine I got for Christmas.

It's a Singer Brilliance 6160---mine is pink instead of blue, but everything else is the same.  I plan on taking it to my Monday morning so I can learn from my actual sewing machine.  Then I have a beginner quilting class set up for Friday.  I hope more people have set "learning to sew" as their goal for this year.  Don't want the class to get cancelled!!  However, if it does the machine comes with an instructional DVD---hopefully I can figure it out...  Can't wait to start posting pictures of this venture!!

Today's Tip:

According to the Craft & Hobby Association’s U.S. Attitude & Usage Study, there are eight key benefits or motivational driving factors behind active crafters:
1. Sense of Accomplishment
2. Relaxation
3. Memory Keeping
4. Health
5. Economy/Value
6. Recommended by Friends or Family
7. Enables Spending Time with Others
8. Interaction with Children

Additionally, crafting reduces stress, builds self-esteem and increases physical dexterity and studies from NYU and Harvard have shown that activities ranging from scrapbooking to knitting can actually improve concentration, while enhancing health and mental wellness. With eight key benefits of crafting it’s no wonder why crafters have been active for centuries knitting, sewing, quilting, drawing, painting, woodworking, and more recently scrapbooking, food crafting, and creating digital and hybrid crafts.  So take some time out this month to (re)discover your creative side and craft

This tip was borrowed from http://pentelblog.com/