Where did January go?

Today is the last day of January and I'm not sure where the first day went!  This month has brought a lot:  one last Christmas celebration, newly assessed tax payments (boo), our highest electricity bill yet (double boo), the realization that I had at least 5 jobs last year (there may be more W2s coming), interestingly, we are willing to pay more for a specific food so the cat poop stinks less, the start of LiveHealthy Iowa and hopefulness of weight loss, running routine, lots and lots of laundry and delicious new recipes!  The hope is that these new recipes coincide with the LiveHealthy Iowa goal...we shall see.  School has also started again for both of us.  I'm in my 2nd year of graduate school and Ben, we thought, was in his final semester.  Turns out, he miscalculated one class and will be 3 credits short.  He is likely to graduate this semester but have 1 class left to finish!  I insanely signed up for 3 classes and am hoping that I don't drown between that and free time and work...
This year, I'm at three jobs, so hopefully we stick with that and I will remain employed throughout 2010.  With the weather as crazy as it has been this past month, it will be interesting to see how next month goes.  We can only hope for cheaper bills, but have accepted the fact that we do not have as much control over this as we would like.  As far as kitty poop goes, we made a joint decision that we are willing to pay more for cat food to save our noses from the awful stench that eeks out of Coda in particular.  I guess we know where our priorities lie.
LiveHealthy Iowa is off to a good start.  I'm on a team with my coworkers at ChildServe and I am serving as team leader.  I've lost 3 pounds and am motivated to help out my team.  We are competing in both weight loss and minutes of activity category and we want to WIN!  Somedays I just don't want to do any exercise, but knowing that my team is counting on me and I'm their "leader" is helping guilt me into doing something!  On a side note, I'm up to running a 10 minute mile!  This is huge considering I'd been at 12 minute miles for about a year!  Currently, I'm planning to compete with some friends in Dam to Dam later this Spring!  It's 12 miles from Saylorville to downtown Des Moines and if I finished the half marathon, I can finish this!  I think.
New recipes have been pretty successful this month.  We've made a meatball casserole, which was even better as a leftover, I've successfully made my own Chicken Tortilla Soup in the crockpot and I have a couple more on the back burner.  One of which is Chocolate Mint Cookies.  Ben is chomping at the bit for me to get these made, however, there just isn't enough time in the day some days.
So there it is, update for the month.  Hope you all are well, whomever you are!  Welcome February, I'm ready!

Christmas is Over

Ok, it's official.  Christmas is over and we are already almost a month in 2010.  We celebrated three separate family gatherings from Thanksgiving through the 2nd week of January.  I have to say, it was a great Christmas, spending time with family and pretty great gifts.  This year, I received a Kindle e-reader, Kitchen-Aide stand mixer and a Viking Sewing Machine.  Honestly, I can't think of anything better!  I've gotten plenty of use out of the Kindle and mixer and am now planning my first sewing project.  I'm thinking of making myself a tree skirt for the next holiday season!  I'm also hoping to be able to get good enough to alter my own clothing.  This will especially be important as I'm back on track with my "Get Healthy" goal.  I've been back in the gym for the past month and have signed up for Live Healthy Iowa.  I've been tracking my calories and exercise and in one week have lost 1.5 pounds!!!  For those of you who know me, losing weight and eating healthy aren't exactly my favorite things to do.  However, I know that it is something that I need to do for me.  My goal is to lose 19 pounds and I'm one step closer.  Ben has been amazing and supportive and I love him more every day.  Knowing that he is there and cheering me on is great motivation!
Any nutritious and delicious recipes, exercise tips or support are greatly appreciated!  Also, any book recommendations or sewing projects are being entertained as well!  Gotta be sure I use all of my new gadgets and gizmos from Christmas!