Revisiting Resolutions

Today, I sat down and officially decided to make my New Year Resolutions (again procrastinating), because I wasn't exactly happy with the list that I made on the first.

The problem that I have every year, as well as this year, is that I make definite statement like goals as if I can completely turn my life around in one day. Then, I end up forgetting all about my resolutions and find myself struggling to crawl away because they are too stressful. I expect way too much out of myself!

Change and growth takes time. So this today, I changed all of my New Year Resolutions to 'try' statements. For example, "Try to ask for forgiveness from those who you've hurt." See how much nicer and easier that sounds than, "Ask for forgiveness?" I think it does!

Today, I was able to step back and see myself growing instead of throwing myself off a cliff to the death of my resolutions.

Why do I blog?

This morning when I woke up, I opened up my macbook, responded to a few emails from my family and professors, and got to work reading blog updates that I'm subscribed to. That, and a cup of tea, is one of the best ways to start my morning!

I was reading blogs about cooking, running a household, and so much more. All of these blogs, I realized, have a clear and identified purpose of why the authors continue to write. I, however, am only eighteen years old, have no direct path in life at the moment, and don't have anything special going on in my life right now. So why am I blogging?

I decided to ponder that for awhile, and thought it would be a good idea to type it out. Here's why: I once found out, that I can never truly tell how I feel about something until I write it out. How is that so? Well, when you're thinking, you have a million thoughts buzzing through your head so fast that you can't concentrate on any specific idea. When you write, however, you can lay out your thoughts in a clear and logical manner, helping you to express and understand your feelings towards a particular topic.

Well, what am I writing about that I don't understand? Do I want money for blogging? No. Do I hope my posts will get published somewhere else? No. Well, I'm writing to figure out my life. I want to find what makes me come alive. I want to find a passion. I want to find what pushes me to be better. I want to find what brings me to peace. I want to find out how I feel about God and how I feel about relationships. What a better place to do it then on a blog where I can get feedback from others and grow from their experiences as well.

Most importantly: I write in this blog because I love to do so. Why doesn't that feel like enough for me? Why do I always feel that I have to have a concise purpose?

YummySoup!

Now, I don't have a kitchen of my own (I'm only 18 years old), but I'm a recipe fanatic! I love to whip up some baked goods for my hall mates or make a nice dinner for my family at home. I consider my recipe collecting as a hobby that I can bring into my future lifestyle. I pick up recipes from other bloggers, online, and even my boyfriend's mother!

The other day, I posted a comment on Katie's blog (The Cutting Back Kitchen) asking her how she keeps track of all the wonderful recipes that she has at home and that she posts on her blog. Katie was wonderful at commenting back and explained an efficient way to store recipes that interested me greatly.

For all of you with a Mac, however, you might know that apple released the Mac App Store today! As I browsed through all of the new apps, I came across one called YummySoup (for only $14.99)! Naturally, this enticed me to read more. YummySoup is a Mac recipe box! I wanted to show you guys a little bit about it (preview here)!

I've had so much fun adding my personal recipes to it! One of the coolest parts, is that there is a full screen preview mode for the kitchen, a web importer, a print mode, a share mode (in which you can email your recipes to friends), and cute design elements!

Happy cooking!

Bentley and Me

"Dogs leave paw prints on your heart."

Today, as I lounge on the couch with the love of my life, I thought it would be a fun idea to introduce him to my blog. This is Bentley, my one and a half year old golden retriever!

I got Bentley my senior year of high school, and quickly started to visit the special education classroom in my school with him! I worked with an organization, paws4people, to get him certified as an educational assistance dog, and we have absolutely enjoyed every moment of it! We have visited my high school, elementary schools, nursing homes, libraries, and we hope to visit an adult special education center sometime this summer!

Working with Bentley has been such a rewarding experience, not only in the wonderful feeling that I get knowing that I'm making other people's day just a little bit brighter, but by being able to start my life with Bentley. Bentley is not only a therapy dog to other people, but he has been my own therapy dog as well.

Bentley has pushed me to get up when the morning light is too much to look at, he has shown me the better in people that I didn't know existed, he has taken me out on early morning runs to enjoy the quiet sounds of morning, and has brought my family together and given us something to laugh about in hard times.

This post is for you, Bentley, and there will be many more to come.

Post Surgery Update!

Well, I made it out to the doctor today to get my stitches removed and a new cast! I thought I'd share a few pictures that we took! :]

(Not wanting to leave for the doctor's this morning.)

(Getting my stitches out!)

(Hokie fan cast!)

The doctor says that everything looks great and that I'm on the path to a full recovery! Only 3 more weeks in this cast, 3 weeks in a boot, and then a brace for the rest of my life! It could be worse, right!? I'm blessed to be in good health and continue to pray for those who have it worse off than I.

Enjoying Some Time to Myself

"There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea."

I woke up late today, around noon, and found the house to be completely empty. My sister is at her boyfriend's house for the day, my brother has school and soccer practice, and naturally, my parents are at work today. So instead of trying to make plans and get out of the house as well, I've decided to take the day for myself.

One of the inconveniences of an early dinner and a late morning is waking up starving. I decided to start off the morning with a slice of my homemade pumpkin bread that I made yesterday, and a nice hot class of pomegranate green tea. Which reminds me, that I've wanted to research about the benefits of green tea for awhile. What's the hype?

Let me sum up my findings for you:

-Contains natural caffeine

-Contains antioxidants that scavenge off free radicals

-Potentially helps to fight cancer

-Potentially helps to fight heart disease

-Lowers cholesterol

-Burns fat

-Preventing diabetes and strokes

-Staving off dementia

To receive such health benefits, we must consume the catechin EGCG, which is not readily available in our normal diet. This catechin is what gives us such health benefits, however, which can be found in green tea. We must drink green tea in our daily diet in order to gain such benefits. (This is not to say of course, that any of these complications will arise from NOT drinking green tea). So why not drink green tea?

Anyways, besides drinking green tea and boosting my health, I'm going to spend the day reading on my nook, practicing piano, and maybe watching some of my favorite shows on TLC! Oh, and never underestimate a day spent on your own! I've found them essential to reflecting on myself.

Merry New Year!

"Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right."

For some reason, I still get all giddy inside during the ten second count down, when it truly hits me that I'm lucky to be here to celebrate it with my friends and family. As always, I wish I could deeply reflect on the ending year, but find myself unable to remember exactly what happened. Maybe this blog will work as a memory vault for me as well!

Every year I tell myself that I'm going to make resolutions to work on through the upcoming year. Most of the time, however, they are either extremely trivial or fly out the window after a week. This year, I think one of my resolutions will be to stick with my new year resolutions (I joke).

This past year has been significant for several reasons: I went off to college, became more confident in myself, finally found an amazing boyfriend, changed my major and reconciled old feelings with my family. It was a year of growth and learning and I feel like I'm finally starting to find peace with who I am. This year then, will hopefully become a chance for me to put my new self into action.

I've decided to type out my resolutions here and hopefully, if I get any readers, can get some feedback and maybe some other ideas. (The order in which I type them has no relevance as to how important they are to me.) Some of my resolutions aren't very big, but in fact small and personal things I'd like to change about myself. This journey of blogging for me, however, is about just that: learning to love the small things.

Elise Gabrielle's New Year's Resolutions:

1. Don't fret over the small stuff. As you've learned over this past year, things have a way of working themselves out in the end. You will always be fine.

2. As tasty as sugar and carbs are, try to limit yourself. No, you're not fat. If that bulge around your hips is making your more self conscious, however, I'm sure you wouldn't hate to see it go. Like you said at soccer camp one year: look good, feel good, do good, be good.

3. Love others to the best of your ability, but learn to live on your own and make time for yourself. Don't ever become dependent on the feelings of somebody else. As you know, they might not always be there to lean on.

4. Never make excuses for somebody if they don't deserve them. Of course, believe in second chances, but learn when to hand them out. Protect your heart a little more this year, eh?

5. Never forget to say 'please' and 'thank you.' Gratitude is one of the most honest and selfless feelings to have.

6. Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Now, you don't want to be scared and unaware do you?

7. I know you're in a cast now, but one you're mobile again, make a couple trips to the gym each week. Not only will you look better, but you will feel better too! You will never be this young again, so try to keep your body healthy!

I'm having trouble thinking of sincere resolutions right now, but I reserve the right to add more as I please! :]