Look at that....just over 5 months since I posted last. Better than the entire year I went without posting right before that, but still...TOO long. I don't even consider myself a blogger anymore. That's ok though. It's here when I do "feel the urge" to share something, waiting patiently on me.

It's a new year...I can hardly believe it. Where did 2011 go? But that seems to be the question EVERY year. In some of the years past, I've done what many others do and chose a word to focus on for the year. I decided to do that again this year. I thought long and hard about my word, which is why we are almost a full week into the year before I've made a decision. This year's word is STRIVE.

Most of the time, I feel like I'm am on a giant roller coaster with huge hills and valleys. Some days I'm trucking up to the top of that hill and even make it to the top. Everything is great and I feel like I'm on top of the world. But just as quickly, I go careening down that hill into the valley, and I tend to get stuck there for a while.

During that time, I'm very hard on myself, often having my own little pity party. It's not a fun place to be, but when I get there, as much as I want to start the ascent back up that hill, I have a very difficult time getting my engine started again. Then that climb back to the top appears impossible. A dark cloud seems to hang over me, and I beat myself up. I focus on ALL of my faults and decide that I can't do anything right, and since I can't, then why even try? Then the sun comes back out, and that impossible climb becomes attainable again. It's a crazy cycle. One I'd really like to break.

I know that I am NOT perfect, and I never will be. And I don't believe God expects me to be. However, what I've come to realize is that even though I can't reach perfection, I can try harder to be a better me - the best me I can be...and I know I haven't been doing that!

So, I am going to STRIVE to be the best I can be, at everything I do. I looked up the definition, and it says:

1: to devote serious effort or energy : endeavor
2: to struggle in opposition : contend

I plan to devote serious effort to become a better me. My opposition, most of the time, is me...it is me who I struggle with most!

So, I'm not making resolutions per se, but I am STRIVING for a better year...with a better me!

I will STRIVE to love myself more...this means taking care of myself. I have majorly neglected myself over the past year or two, after working so hard to take care of myself prior to that. So I'm striving to get back to taking care of me through exercise and eating better.

I will STRIVE to become a better Christian, Wife, Mother, Daughter, Friend, Teacher, Homemaker & Business "Owner" &. I have specific ideas in mind to help me be better in all these areas, but I'm not going to list those here, as it's not really a checklist. It's more of a change in the way I think and in my attitude. And that's difficult to put on a list.

So that's it...I am going to STRIVE in 2012!

And who knows, through all this, I may even become a better blogger too...but don't count on it! :-)

My daughter's wish came true on Thursday.

As we walked through the door on Thursday afternoon, she proudly and excitedly exclaimed, "I can't believe I'm a mom!"

She is now the proud mother of a precious little bunny, affectionately named Timbo. (I'll get to the name shortly.)

She's been wanting a "pet of her own" for quite some time now. She talked about getting a fish, but knew that wouldn't be satisfying enough since she couldn't take it out and pet it! We can't have a dog or cat due to Daddy's allergies. So we started talking about a possibilities of something from the rodent family.

I quickly steered us away from a hamster...I was afraid she'd end up smooshing it! So we considered a guinea pig or a rabbit. In the end we decided on a rabbit. Chip and I had a rabbit our first year of marriage and we LOVED that thing. He was totally spoiled, never slept in a cage...he ran free in the house. He would jump into our laps like a cat and would even sleep with us. We knew it would be fun to have a rabbit in the house again.

We've been talking about this for a LONG time, and finally decided the time was right. And it just so happened, a friend of ours had some baby bunnies ready for new homes!

So Thursday morning, Ruthi and I set out to pick out a bunny. They were all so cute, so it was hard for her to make a decision. But she finally settled on a precious black bunny, with the tiniest spot of white on his nose, and just a little bit of white on a couple of his paws.

Meet my Grandbunny:








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My Two Front Teeth!!!

My sweet baby girl lost her front teeth...finally! We noticed these two teeth were loose in December last year! We thought for sure they'd come out before Christmas.

NOT! Those things were holding on TIGHT! I didn't know teeth could hold on that long. I was beginning to think she'd never lose them!

I'm a little behind here...these did come out almost two weeks ago. But the fact that I'm getting around to blog about it at all is a small miracle!

One tooth came out on Tuesday, the 12th. She popped it right out herself. The second one was being a little more stubborn...but it NEEDED to come out. So on Wednesday, her Daddy grabbed hold of it and didn't let go until it came out. This was the first time ever a tooth actually hurt her a little on its exit, but it seemed necessary. I took these pictures on the same Wednesday, and you can already see the other teeth coming in.

I must say, she looks so stinking cute with those teeth missing, and I LOVE the occasional lisp it causes. (Though she INSISTS it doesn't make her talk any differently!) I'm just sad those other teeth are already filling in the gap and I won't get to enjoy this a little longer!

OK, so Ruthi definitely isn't a "bully," but she is quickly becoming "my Jillian!"

She was in my room this morning before 7:30, encouraging me to get out of bed so we "can go exercise!"

I started a new routine this week. I'm trying (again) to get back into exercising and eating better. I am determined, once and for all, to get myself healthy, and to teach my daughter good habits so she won't be in the same shoes I'm in when she gets my age. I want this to be a natural lifestyle for her.

When school starts back in a couple of weeks, she will have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. And this year, those are the only two days I'm teaching. So I decided to go ahead and start now to try to get in the habit of exercising on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Sure, we can do it on other days if time permits, but those three days are the minimum.

Ruthi loves to ride her bike. And for the first time last weekend, I rode mine with her. Her Daddy has done it that way, but I still wasn't sure I could watch her well enough while I was riding. That's not the case! We rode five miles on Sunday and she did fantastic! She is an ol' pro now! Granted, I am riding a good bit slower than I would be if she wasn't riding...BUT, it got me back on my bike, and now I have no excuse not to ride! And if we do that more often, she'll be riding faster and for longer distances in no time!

I was really wanting to get back into running, but find it difficult to be able to get out there. I won't go run by myself (I just don't feel very safe), so that means either Chip or CJ must be home to watch Ruthi while the other goes to run with me. Well, with our schedules, that is rare, so I just wasn't running.

However, I now no longer have an excuse not to run either! Now, Ruthi rides her bike while I run! We go to the park down the road from us, which is my favorite place to run. If we go early, it's not crowded. Well, unless it is Saturday morning...there were quite a few people out there at 8:30 this morning - I think we need to go earlier on Saturdays!

Ruthi does great staying on the right, and I no longer have to worry about her running anyone over or her stopping short in front of someone. She rides a little bit ahead of me then turns around and comes back to me before she gets out of my sight. Even if I only do one lap (which is somewhere between a mile and a mile and a half...still can't get that confirmed for sure), she rides more than that because of the going back and forth.

I'm building myself back up, so I can't run the entire thing without stopping just yet, but I find that I'm pushing myself a teeny bit harder to try to keep up with Ruthi! It really works out for both of us...she's doing what she loves, and I'm doing what I need to do...in hopes of loving it again soon!

We went Tuesday morning, and I had no trouble getting up and going. Thursday morning came around, and honestly, had she not "made" me get up out of bed, I probably wouldn't have gone. And this morning...ugh....I did NOT want to get out of bed. But I wasn't going to let my little girl (or myself) down. And I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and went. I'm glad I did. And I'm thankful for my little encourager.

One day, in the not so distant future, my wonderful daughter is going to be able to say she had a big part in getting her mommy healthy!

All it took was me telling her my plan for this schedule, and she is making sure I stick to it! She marks days off her calendar everyday, so there's no fooling her about what day it is either!

Hmmm....maybe I should come up with a blogging schedule and tell her so she can keep me on track for that too! :) [ http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http://www.chroniclesofanightowl.com/2011/07/ruthi-is-becoming-my-jillian.html

Here are a few things I found 'round the 'net this week. I wasn't really feeling the title "surfin' finds" after all, so I will call this Saturday Surfing now. So, I'll attempt to get these posts up on Saturdays...this, however doesn't mean I'll do it every week, but we'll see how often I do manage it!

And this week, I managed to only include two recipes instead of ONLY recipes!

This post, Cultivating is Key was very thought provoking. Made me think!

I love the idea of making soap dispensers out of tin cans!  I think I'd like to make a few of these and decorate the cans for different seasons/holidays.

I love this candy arrangement - so fun!

This orange lemonade looks delicious and refreshing!

This is a super adorable teacher gift to make!

I love this 4th of July wreath - so easy and inexpensive!

I'm always looking for new cupcake recipes, and these look sooo good!

That girl of mine...she cracks me up. Always has. We are always entertained around here.

I love the things she says...you never know what is going to come out of her mouth next. It may be super funny, or super sweet, or a combination of both.

Back when I was better at blogging fairly regularly, I recorded many of the things she said, and I'm so glad I did. Yesterday, I had a "walk down memory lane" reading some of my old posts and remembering the conversations and other things she had said.

Then I started feeling sad that I haven't recorded anything she has said for the past year. So, I'm going to try to be better at getting these things documented so I will have all of them to look back on in the future.

She has this little wooden tic-tac-toe game that she loves to play. Last evening, she was playing it with her daddy for a while, then asked CJ if he would play with her. When he agreed, she asked him, "Do you want to be hugs or kisses?" He was confused for a second having no idea what she meant. But we got a good giggle out of it. I don't think I've ever thought of the x's and o's in tic-tac-toe as hugs and kisses!

Another thing I want to remember is her prayer at meal time. It's never the same, she prays about whatever is on her mind at the time. But she always says, "Bless this food and nourish up our bodies." I LOVE this! She has heard it said, "For the nourishment of our bodies", or, "And nourish it to our bodies." But I think her version is simply precious.

Now, if I can just remember to jot things down before I forget, until I can get them typed up, I'll have much more cuteness to look back on and enjoy when she's older.
Oh, and she actually loves for me to read these things to her too. Or rather, read them herself. She's at the stage that she would rather read to me than be read to. Either way, she gets a kick out of finding out things she said when she was "little." [ http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http://www.chroniclesofanightowl.com/2011/06/that-girl.html

I have been a long time reader of Amy over at The Motherload. She does a weekly post called Amy's Notebook in which she links to many things she's seen around the blogosphere that she likes. I love reading her posts and have found many recipes and ideas thanks to her links.

I see many things when I'm blog-browsing as well and thought I'd do something similar and share things I like. I most likely won't be doing it weekly, but whenever I have a few links to share. It will also help me remember where I found the things I want to try! I was trying to come up with a cute name - I don't want to call it Jennifer's Notebook - don't want to look like a total copycat! So, since these are links I find while I'm surfin' the blogosphere, I'll go with Surfin' Finds.

The four links I'm sharing today happen to be recipes...not sure why I'm thinking about food so much...maybe because I haven't cooked in a week! I've been dealing with a terrible sinus infection which has taken everything out of me, and cooking is one of the last things I've wanted to do. But I'm ready to kick this infection, feel great again, and get back in the kitchen!

I haven't used my breadmaker in quite some time. I think I'll try this recipe this weekend - Denise's Bread Machine Cheesy Herb Bread at $5 Dinners.

When I saw Jo-Lynne's recipe for Tilapia Parmesan the other day, I decided to make it for dinner. But, I wasn't feeling good and haven't felt good since then, so it got temporarily scrapped. But I will be making it soon...maybe tonight! It looks so yummy!

And when I make the Tilapia, I think I'll make Ree's pasta to go along with it - Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce. My basil plants are looking beautiful and I think I have plenty of fresh basil to pull this off!

After all that, I feel like I need I need to post a dessert. This Chocolate Malt Cake at The Tasty Kitchen looks so delicious. If I can find malted milk powder when I go to store (I've never even looked for it before), I may have to try it!

Who me?

Oh...I suppose I do. Have I forgotten about it? Not completely...there simply hasn't been time for blogging in the last, um, YEAR? Is that right? OMGoodness...wow! I'm almost three weeks shy of having not blogged for an ENTIRE YEAR!! That's crazy.

So...dare I? Dare I attempt this again?

I'm thinking maybe so.

As always, I don't make any promises whatsoever to be a regular or even semi-regular blogger, but we'll see what happens! Right now I have a little bit of the blogging bug, which I haven't had for quite some time. So, while it's biting, I'll at least give it a shot.

Life has taken over...the new season I spoke about has completely consumed my life for the past year...but I've loved it! Now that summer is here, I have a little more down time, so I thought why not give the blog thing a chance again!

I've made a few tweaks here and there on the ol' blog. One of the biggest things I did was switch to a dot com! So, if you landed here via a feed reader, or other link, please make sure you change the address to http://www.chroniclesofanightowl.com/. If you are reading it through the blogspot address, some things will not show up properly.

I'm not going to make this first post "back" into a novel by filling you in one goings on of the past year as I'm known to do. Shocking, I know! So, if I manage to pull off some blogging time again, maybe I'll share more of what I've been up to...which has mostly been school!

But that's all for now.

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Accountability is a beautiful thing.

It really is helping me get my house back on track and get my routines in place again. Just posting stuff knowing someone might read it (even if it's only a couple of people) goes a long way in accountability.

So...I need to be held accountable for something else. My life.
Well, getting/staying healthy which hopefully means I live a better and longer life!

You see, I was doing very well last spring/summer/fall. I was running and biking regularly and I was eating well and drinking lots of water.

Then the holidays rolled around. And I lost focus a bit. It was too cold or wet to run or bike. And I wasn't motivated enough to do any indoor exercise. And I simply haven't gotten completely back on track since then.

I've found that exercise and eating well go hand in hand. When I got lax on the exercise, I got careless with my eating.

The result of this, or results actually, are:
I'm not as happy.
I don't feel as well in general.
I have many more aches and pains.
I'm not sleeping as well.
I don't like the way my clothes are beginning to fit again. (As in, they are getting tighter!)
I feel tired and drained.
I'm having a hard time being motivated to do other things.

I KNOW that when I'm exercising regularly, I automatically eat healthier, and that resolves most of the issues above.

So...I'm ready to feel good again!

My goal, as it's been for a while is to be healthy! My primary goal is not weight loss, but I see that as an added benefit.

I just want to feel good and be healthy so I can live life to the fullest. I want to be FIT so I can feel FABULOUS!

So, I'm starting "Fit & Fabulous Friday" on my little ol' blog.

On Fridays, I will post what I've done the prior week to work on my goal to get healthy. And I may post what my goals are for the upcoming week as well.

I need to do this for myself. Posting it here will hopefully be a major reminder to just do it! And knowing that someone MIGHT check in to see how I'm doing goes a long way as far as accountability goes!

If anyone reading (all 5 of you!) wants to join me in this quest to get healthy, let me know! If you are a blogger, it would be fun to have someone else posting their results/goals on Fridays with me! That would be even more accountability and some extra motivation as well!

So...what did I do this week? Not much. I did buy the Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred on Wednesday. I did it yesterday. And boy oh boy, am I feeling it today! My arms and abs had a rude awakening! I had full intentions of doing it today, but I'm way too sore. I will try again tomorrow, but I know it's gonna hurt much more since my muscles are already screaming!

Next week, I hope to be able to do it at LEAST 5 days. And I plan to increase my water intake. I did pretty good yesterday, but not so much today.

I'll be back next Friday with a report!

We had a couple of changes in our menu last week - on Wednesday, time got away from me and the kids and I ended up grabbing fast food on the way to church. Then we decided to grill ribs on Saturday. So we never got to two of the meals, and they are back on the menu for this week. Not a ton of cooking going on this week, we still have lots of leftovers in the fridge! And we'll end up having more...so we can't let those go to waste!

Monday: Chicken Squash Bake, Couscous, Bread

Tuesday: Leftovers (I have an open house I need to be at, so I'm not cooking.)

Wednesday: Sandwiches or more leftovers (Church night - not cooking!)

Thursday: Quesadillas, Black Beans, Chips & Homemade Salsa

Friday: Homemade Calzones

Saturday: Probably leftovers again - It will be just me and the kiddos

Sunday: TBD

To see more menus or add your own, be sure to visit Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

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Yes...Summer is upon us. But that is not the season I want to talk about.

I am entering a new season in my life. And I am very excited.
I love that seasons in our lives change. If they didn't, I'd probably get bored. It's funny to me though, when I'm in a season that I absolutely love, I can't imagine the possibility of leaving it and moving into another season.

For the past year I've been volunteering at my local thrift store that a good friend of mine owns. I have LOVED every minute of it. I've loved the flexibility I've had with it as far as scheduling and being able to take Ruthi along with me. I've loved the way it has made me feel important outside my home. I've loved getting to know and talk often to our regular customers. I've loved working with a variety of people. I've loved that it's even allowed me to connect with people I haven't seen in years who have come in there to shop. And I've loved the perks of seeing lots of stuff come in and getting first pick of stuff! I'm so thankful that Ruthi has an entire wardrobe of adorable clothes thanks to this season.

But that season is coming to an end. It is bittersweet, because I truly do love working there. But the change came out of necessity, and now that the change is in place, I could not be more excited!

CJ has been attending a local homeschooling tutoring program for his 9th grade year. He "goes to school" two days a week where he receives all his instruction and homework assignments that will carry him through the other three days a week at home. It is fully accredited, so other than logging his hours, I don't have to stress about him getting his credits for college.

It has worked beautifully for us and he absolutely loves it. The downside is the cost involved. Unfortunately it has become difficult for us to pay his tuition without hurting our budget elsewhere. So, I decided I must do something to make it possible for him to continue there.

So, I prayed about what to do. I knew of a possible solution and just prayed it would work out the way I had hoped. The first year this program was open, I actually taught a couple of classes there and loved it. But I couldn't continue because Ruthi was little, child care was no longer going to be available and I needed to be home with her.

But now...she is ready for kindergarten. So I approached the director and co-director of the school about teaching again. GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! Beginning in August, I will be teaching 5 classes. Most of them will be K/1st grade classes, and Ruthi will be able to attend those classes. The one, possibly two, other classes will be second grade, but Ruthi will still be able to attend the class(es) in her grade level.

The classes I will be teaching will more than cover CJ's tuition, and anything above that will go toward the extra gas I'll be using, lunches and clothing if necessary. With the bonus of Ruthi getting to go too! And let me tell you - she is EXTREMELY EXCITED!!!

I'll be spending MANY hours the rest of the summer getting lessons planned and getting everything ready for the first day of school on August 9th! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. I've always had a passion for teaching, and it's been a while since I've gotten to actually do it. I'm very thankful God has given me the talent and ability to do this. And I'm very thankful for this solution for my family.

I'm very excited to begin this new season!!!

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I don't have a good history of keeping things alive. And by things, I mean things that grow in the ground. Obviously I can keep SOME things alive...I mean, I do have two kids after all who are very much alive.

But I've never been able to keep any kind of plant alive for very long. And my luck with flowers in the yard hasn't been so great either.

But despite that, I decided this year I wanted to try to grow something. Several somethings, actually. I decided I wanted to grow food!

My neighbor's sister (Denise is my neighbor, Cindy is her sister) moved here last fall to stay with Denise while her husband is in Afghanistan. Cindy had a garden last year. We got to talking and decided we could do a garden here, and since she had experience, she could teach me!

So we decided to plant a garden and split it. It's not a huge one, but a good starter garden. She has 5 rows and I have 5. We started working on it in April, getting the ground ready and then getting everything planted. And today, it doesn't even resemble the way it looked 3 months ago. It's growing like crazy! And I'm eating food from it already!!!

I have to say, I never knew how much satisfaction would come from growing my own veggies! My husband laughs at me a little bit over how excited I get about it. But I can't help it! Even I'M surprised at how much fun I'm having!

I planted tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, onions, green onions, 2 kinds of lettuces, spinach and sweet potatoes. I also planted basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, dill, chives and mint.

I've already had plenty of squash, zucchini and cucumbers to pick. I've had more lettuce than I know what to do with. I picked my first 3 jalapeno peppers the other day, and I couldn't wait any longer, so I picked 3 green tomatoes for frying. I've been using my herbs and need to use more of them up. Yesterday I used some basil and spinach and made a wonderful pesto.

For someone who never could keep a houseplant alive, things are going quite well in the garden! Apparently Cindy is teaching me well! She has given me lots of tips, but I've done all the planting (of my side) and tending myself, with the exception of her watering for me a few times when I wasn't at home. Maybe my thumb is at least a little green after all!

I'm already trying to figure out how to make this garden bigger next year. And we learned that our rows need to be a bit further apart - it's getting very difficult to walk between them!

I thought I'd share a few pictures. I have a TON of them, so I'm not going to try to post them all, but here are a few several!

So, if I'm going to attempt to try blogging again, I might as well get back on the menu plan posting as well. Here's what this week is looking like:

Monday: Something quick - probably sandwiches. (I'll be at the hospital most of the day, and it's just me and the kids for dinner, so I'm not cooking!)

Tuesday: Sausage Zucchini Bake

Wednesday: Baked Spinach Pasta

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Chicken Squash Bake, Couscous, Bread

Saturday: Homemade Calzones

Sunday: TBD

To see more menus or add your own, be sure to visit Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

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Seriously...has another 4 months gone by? Good grief. I just don't know if I'll EVER be a regular blogger again. I think about it a LOT, but thinking about and sitting down to write a post are two different things. If only just thinking about it would actually make it happen! I suppose it's a good thing it doesn't happen that way. If all I had to do was think about it, I'd be posting all day every day and everyone would get sick of it!

But you'd think I could get back to at least semi-regular posting. Apparently that's not so easily done for me!

One thing that makes it difficult is the fact that I used to post late at night. It wasn't at all unusual for me to be writing a post at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. I was, after all, a TRUE night owl!

But, that seems to have changed in the past few months. I don't know why really, but it has. And I don't feel so much like a night owl anymore. Now days, it's more unusual for me to be up past 11 o'clock at night. Yes, it is past 11 now...I'm not always asleep by then, but it is more often than not these days.

So you'd think that maybe I was an early bird now. Um...not so much. Most mornings I do get up earlier than I used to...I rarely sleep past 9 anymore (yes...I realize that is LATE for some, but I used to sleep until at LEAST 11 am!) but I'm still SO NOT a morning person. Who knows...maybe one day I will be though.

Doubtful.

I still have a night here and there where my natural night-owl kicks in and I can't sleep. But I think the days (nights) of that being a regular thing might just be behind me. Maybe I'm getting old!

So...since I don't stay up super late anymore, it's even harder to find the time in my day to blog. I've always struggled with time management, and I find myself feeling guilty doing things that are fun when other things need to be done.

Funny though...I still manage to spend way too much time on Facebook!

My neighbor just started a blog yesterday, and it's inspired me to try to get back into it again. Maybe she can give me an extra little nudge!

I'll try, but I'm not making any promises!!! I have lots to share, hopefully I can make the time to do it.

But for now, I'm signing off and getting some sleep. I have a long day ahead of me sitting at the hospital. Anyone who might read this...say a prayer for my cousin who will be going through surgery tomorrow at 1:00. She is having a double mastectomy. Please pray everything goes smoothly and her recovery will be quick and as pain-free as possible!

Good night!