Happy New Year!

I am not a big fan of the idea of New Year's Resolutions, but I do enjoy the feeling of a fresh start and a new Peace Corps calendar on the wall with twelve exciting months ahead of me. If I am serious about making a change, I prefer to do it immediately. If it is December 10th and I say, "I'll start eating healthy and working out after the New Year," then that gives me 21 days where I will likely destroy myself in anticipation of making my change. Then once January 1st hits, absolutely nothing is holding me back from waiting another 21 days to make the change; it actually seems to make it EASIER to put it off for another 21 days because I already succeeded in delaying it once. I prefer to just do it now; that works best for me.

There are, however, things I am really looking forward to in 2013, though no real big changes I plan to make...

One of them is continuing to cook and LOVING it! I have found a new community in cooking and reconnected with old friends because of it. We are eating well and Henry is being introduced to lots of new foods. His new favorite is the green beans in this:

Baked Salmon and Green Beans with 

Tangerine Butter, Almonds and Brown Rice

Some other awesome recent recipes:

Chicken and Kale Cacciatore with Spaghetti

Turkey Cutlets & Mushroom Gravy with 

Baked Maple Sweet Potatoes

(this picture doesn't look great, but it was GOOD)

Turkey Noodle Casserole with 

Parmesan Bread Crumb Topping

Also looking forward to another year of watching this guy learn and grow. He is so sweet, smart and BIG! I can't believe we have a 14-month old sometimes.

Finally, I am excited to start a Spanish class at the end of this month. After talking about wanting to learn the language for about four years now, I finally found a class that fits in with my life. Just 90 minutes a week, but I think it will be a solid start. 

I am also looking forward to perfecting my "car noises." I'm getting good I tell you.  

Happy New Year to you and yours...

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