Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Year! I'm Back!

First off, Happy New Year!!  I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season with your friends and family and that you have a blessed 2012 ahead of you! 

Secondly, I know I've been MIA since the end of October.  Sorry about that!  I found out just before the time of my last post that I am pregnant and expecting baby #2.  It's been quite a rough first trimester with lots of "morning" sickness and I just couldn't bring myself to even think about blogging about food.  :)  Thankfully, I've now passed the 14-week mark... and am finally in the last week of my first trimester!!!!  I am feeling much improved, but still have some bouts with the "morning" sickness.  I hope things will continue to improve in the next week or two.  And I also hope to start getting some new blog posts up soon. 

I wanted to first just do a quick reflection on my 2011 goals... cheesemaking, fermented cod liver oil/butter oil, language learning, run a 5k, buy a grain mill, eat fewer grains, P90x, lose weight, and catch up on blog posts. 
  • I did venture into cheesemaking quite a bit earlier in the year - I still have quite a few posts in my back-log that I'd like to eventually get on the blog about it.  I got a little side-tracked with garden stuff and food preservation in the summer months and kind of got out of the habit, though.  I plan to get back into it soon, though.  
  • I started taking the gel form of the fermented CLO/BO and was doing great with it until I found out I was pregnant.  :)  I just couldn't stomach it, so I switched back to the pill form.  I'd like to get back on the gel stuff soon, as well. 
  • I didn't get very far with language learning for myself, but Kevin and I have been working with Carson quite a bit.  He knows quite a bit of spanish and some french.  We'll continue working on this for awhile. 
  • I didn't run a 5k.  No excuses for it, either.  :)
  • I didn't buy a grain mill, but I did eat way fewer grains.  I figured the grain mill would not get used much at all once we went primal/paleo mid-way through the year.  I don't plan to buy one anymore.  We've been off the primal/paleo way of life since I started having "morning sickness," but are just starting to get back into it this week, finally.  We won't be 100% for awhile, probably, but anything will be better than the way we've been eating these last two months! 
  • I did do some P90X and lost a bit of weight, but then gained it back... and then lost some again with the "morning" sickness.  I'm still down 15 pounds from the end of October, when I found out I was pregnant, and not gaining anything.  We'll see if it lasts. 
  • I did catch up on lots of blog posts, but still have a ton that I'd like to get posted eventually.  We'll see what life brings. 
For 2012, I'm not really making any strict goals.  We've had some things happen recently that have reminded us what is really important in life.  The to-do lists and projects will always be there, but our friends and family may not be.  So I guess this year, our only goal is to enjoy life!  Of course, we'll accomplish a lot along the way, but we just want to life a happy, love-filled life and not have any regrets.  :) 

For awhile now, this blog has not been a priority to me... yet my stats are the highest they've ever been.  The number of comments don't reflect the number of visits, though.  If you visit and try a recipe, please let me know - I'd love to hear about it!  Even these last two months, with no new posts at all, my stats are higher than they were for any particular month in years past.  It's kind of crazy.  Of course, I'll still be posting this year, though.  But like I said, it's not a priority.  So I apologize now if there are gaps of time between posts or if I don't respond to your comment or question right away. 

Lastly, just for fun... I wanted to post my Top 10 Posts for 2011

10. Eggs in a Basket (with Zucchini)


9.  Making Homemade Butter from Raw Cream


8.  Chicken Souvlaki


7.  Balsamic Honey Mustard Salad Dressing


6.  Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing


5.  Paleo/Primal Stuffed Peppers in the Crockpot


4.  Organic Gardening - Soil Testing


3.  Grain-Free Fudgy Brownies


2.  Paleo Salmon Florentine


1.  Primal Egg Casserole



This post is linked to:
Monday Mania @ Healthy Home Economist
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS
Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet

6 comments:

Millie said...

Congratulations! Glad to hear that you are feeling better.

Sara said...

Thanks, Millie!! :) ma

Sara said...

Not sure where the ma came from at the end of my comment... lol... gotta love smart phones. :)

The Voogts said...

Glad to see you back, Sara!! I missed reading your blog :) I like the new look too. I'm hoping to update my blog this month. It's good to freshen it up once in a while. Have fun getting back into the swing of things. I hope Kevin is doing ok. We continue to pray for him. I'm glad you are focusing on spending time with family and enjoying life. A great lesson. I hope to do the same.

Sara said...

Thanks, Mary. :) Yeah, I've been so tired of the old look for so long now, I figured now was as good a time as any. The look will be changing up even more once I get everything off my sidebars. I had it changed to a dynamic view yesterday, but lost everything in my sidebars that way. So I need to get the info off first, then it'll switch to a dynamic view again.

Kevin is doing pretty good, considering. Really, my focus this year is no different than the last few years... I've been saying that's what's important for ages. But I figured this year I'm not setting year-long goals. They're kind of silly, honestly. Things just change so much in a given year. It makes more sense to do much shorter term goals, in my opinion. Of course, some long-term goals are good, too... but maybe just like one or two is all, I would think five as absolutely tops. Otherwise, I feel like you just lose focus of what is really important - or forget about the goals altogether. That being said, I still haven't read your annual goals post - so hopefully I'm not offending you by anything I just wrote. :)

mater said...

Hello Sara, It is no wonder your stats keep going up, I've just discovered your yummy blog from Extraordinary Ordinary's follow list. After reading to here and then quickly scanning down your visible posts I'm going to have to put you on my follow list too. You have shared a goldmine, I'll be happily digging into! WOW!