Category Archives: Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Summer Plans

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Summer is coming to the House of Hills. It’s the last week of school, which means that starting next week the Princess needs to be busy ’cause Mommy has to work. I am SO blessed to have an AMAZING job that allows me to work from home often and have flexible hours. However, the work still has to get done, and that’s hard to do with an adorable Princess wanting to hang out with you.

So, we keep our Princess busy during the summer. She loves camps and meeting new people and being busy and visiting family and going to the pool and… Anyway, here are ten of the things we have planned for the summer – some to keep her busy – some to enjoy her.

1. Camp All American – The Princess went here one week last year and LOVED it. Even more awesome was that she kept picking up her Bible to read what they had studied for weeks afterward. It’s an amazingly organized camp (which this Mommy loves) and includes pool time every day (which the Princess loves). She is going two weeks this year with some friends from church.

Camp 2009

2. Callaway Gardens – Super Grandma and Gramps take the older cousins to Callaway Gardens EVERY year. This year they are going for a week with four kids. I think they’re insane. They say they’re just having fun. What’s super cool about this trip is that my Princess is going to Callaway and doing the same activities that I used to do the same week each summer that I used to do them. It’s pretty neat, and they have a BLAST.

3. Edisto Island – We will take our annual family vacation to visit My Sweetie’s dad and step-mom at their home on Edisto Island, SC. My sis-in-law and her kids will come too so there will be TONS of cousin fun.

Three Cousins Summer 2009

4. Daddy Days – My Sweetie has Fridays off (since he works on Sundays) and so Fridays are Daddy Days. During the school year, he gets her off the bus and they hang out until I come home from work. This is a day I MUST go to the office as I’ve been asked to leave by the Princess if I’m home when she gets home from school. During the summer, they get an entire day of together time, which is awesome since both of their love languages are quality time.

Building a fort

5. Super Grandma – My mom (otherwise known as Super Grandma) takes the Princess for a spend the night several times during the summer (and almost every Monday during the school year). What is great about the summer is that they spend almost a full 48 hours with each other per visit doing various projects, reading, playing cards, and having fun together.

6. Pool – The Princess is old enough now that she can frolic in the pool without assistance. What that means to this working mom is that I can sit in the shade and get some stuff done. I also have AWESOME neighbors who will sometimes take the Princess to the pool with their kids so I can stay home on the computer.

7. Museums – Living in the Metro-Atlanta area, we are blessed with some great museums. One of the Princess’s favorite is the Imagine It! Children’s Museum. I think she’s getting too old for it, but she insists not. We might also visit the Tellus Science Museum this summer. We went last year and had a great time. They have a great deal of interactive stuff for the kids to do too.

8. Braves – We’ve already been to one game this year, but I’m sure we’ll go to at least one more. We are also planning to meet up with the older cousins and go to a Gwinnett Braves game. These minor league games are so much fun, much cheaper, and easier to get to.

9. Mommy Days – I purposely plan several days throughout the summer where I know I’m not going to work while the Princess is awake. I work before she gets up and after she goes to bed, but not while she’s awake. Those are Mommy Days – day we spend together. We might get our nails done. We might go to the library. We might go out to lunch. We might go to a water park. We might lay on the couch, watch movies and eat popcorn. Whatever we do, we’ll do it together and create a memory.

Pedicure on a Mommy Date

10. Hmmm…. That’s all I’ve got. Have you got any ideas for what to do with the Princess this summer? I’d love to hear them!

Linked up to Top Ten Tuesday at Ohamanda.com

Top Ten Tuesday: We had an AWESOME weekend!

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You know those weekends where you don’t want them to end? Where you look back and smile and say “Now, that was a GREAT weekend!” We had one of those this past weekend. It was a busy one, but it was a fun one. So, I thought I’d share it with you Top Ten Tuesday style so I could link up with one of my favorite people, Ohamanda.

1. Saturday, we went to Mary Poppins at The Fabulous Fox in downtown Atlanta. Going to the Fox is an experience in itself, but Mary Poppins was AMAZING!!

2. Watching my child’s face while she watched Mary Poppins was even more amazing than watching the show. She was SO SO SO excited to go. She woke me up that morning saying “Happy Mary Poppins Day Mama!” Thank goodness she can tell time or she would have been asking constantly when it was time to go. As it was, she was looking at the clock every few minutes.

3. The Princess wanted to look like Jane so she wore a dress and fancy hat to the theater. Totally cracked us up. She also applied makeup when I wasn’t looking because she had to look pretty. I only had to brush a bit off and was very impressed with how tastefully she had applied it.

4. We sang to the soundtrack all the way down to the theater, which is a bit of a ways from our little suburban home. In the picture above, the Princess is singing “Spoonful of Sugar,” one of her favorites. The musical is a bit different from the movie so I was VERY glad we had purchased the soundtrack and listened to it so we knew the basic storyline. The Princess does not like things to change unexpectedly and would have been totally thrown off by how different the musical was from the movie if we hadn’t prepared her.

5. When we got home from the musical, we had “movie night,” which consists of us eating on a blanket in the living room in front of the TV. In our house, a movie is anything shown on the television. I’m not even sure what we watched, but it was fun just hanging out together. We love family time at the House of Hills.

6. Sunday the Princess and I ducked out of church quickly (poor Daddy had to stay and work) and went back to downtown Atlanta to catch an Atlanta Braves game with Grandma and Gramps. That’s right – I went inside the perimeter (a thing I avoid) twice in one weekend. I know all my friends are shocked. But, the Princess had received two free tickets for her stellar grades, and I was able to purchase two more at a great price, so we took Grandma and Gramps to the Braves game.

7. My brother’s daughter had also earned some tickets for her stellar grades so we got to meet up at the game and have some cousin fun.

8. The Princess ran the base at the top of Turner Field with her cousin, W. That’s my brother running behind them.

9. The Princess also got to enjoy her first Dippin Dots of the season. This would be one of her FAVORITE things about going places in the summer – finding a Dippin Dots cart. She LOVES them. Me, not so much.

10. I got to hang out with my girl doing things we love two days in a row. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Linked to Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: Recipes I Want To Try

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Here’s another food post. Lots of food posts lately. Could it be that I’m hungry most of the time. I’m not really. With the cutting down on calories, I’m being much more particular about what I’m putting in my mouth. It needs to taste GOOD! And, I’ve been wanting to try new recipes lately. We’ve been trying to eat a little better thanks to the Losing It challenge and watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. I’ve been searching the blogosphere for recipes that might tempt me and not be too bad for me either. Here are some I want to try.

1. Texas Caviar – Veggies and beans – gotta be good for you

2. Chicken Taco Wraps – These you can even make ahead and freeze. Whoop!

3. Roasted Vegetables – We’re trying to get more veggies in, and you can only eat salad so many days a week!

4. Chicken Fried Rice – We are all about the fried rice lately. I haven’t done this exact recipe yet though.

5. Garlic Shrimp – Um, yummmm!

6. Whole Grain Apple Oatmeal Pancakes – They’re whole grain – therefore they’re good for you. Before you drown them in syrup that is.

7. Homemade Chewy Granola Bars – These have got to be better for you than the ones I’m buying at the store. Right?

8. Sizzling Beef with Scallions – Out of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution cookbook. It’s filled with TONS of amazing recipes I want to try although some of the ingredients are daunting. And, has anybody every actually eaten a curry? I’ve never tried one. Are they all spicy? Sounds spicy!

9. Roasted Asparagus – I would really like to master this one for My Sweetie. It’s one of his favorite veggies.

10. Lemon Orzo Salad with Asparagus, Spinach, and Feta – Sounds kinda crazy and out of my comfort zone, but I think I might like it.

Do you have any recipes you think I should try with my new lifestyle?

Linked to OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: Freezer Cooking 101

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This post is specifically for my friend, Becca, and for all those other moms out there who are trying to get started with the Freezer Cooking thing. I LOVE LOVE LOVE freezer cooking/batch cooking/once a month cooking as I told everyone over on The Finer Things in Life in my guest post a few months ago. Did I mention I love it.

So, here are ten things I think you need to know about Freezer Cooking. Please note that I am in NO way an expert. I’m just a mom who likes to cook for both her family and others.

1. You don’t need an extra freezer to do freezer cooking. You really don’t. You just need to be economical with your space. FishMama did a great video on how to use your regular freezer in her guest post on Money Saving Mom. You must also love love love Ziploc freezer bags. You can even use freezer bags to hold chilis and stews using my “Purple Cup” method. Did I mention I love Ziploc freezer bags?

2. You can start simple. Just double tonight’s dinner recipe and freeze one batch for a later date. Seriously. It’s that easy. The idea is to use the time you do have to cook wisely so that later, when you don’t have time to cook, you have something already made.

3. An easy next step is to start purchasing larger quantities of meat when they are on sale. This is usually the most expensive part of your meal. Make your run to one of the big box stores count. Or, if chicken is on sale at Kroger or Publix, grab way more than you need. Then, when you get home, divide that meat into meal sized portions and freeze it in (you guessed it) Ziploc freezer bags. Can you tell I’m kind of a brand snob here. You can freeze it raw to cook in a dish or grill later. You can add a marinade (here are some great chicken ones) and then freeze. You can cook the meat (see 4 and 5) and then freeze it in meal sized portions.

4. When I buy a large portion of chicken either at the big box store or the local grocery store on sale, I immediately put at least half of it in my crock pot. I place about four or five boneless/skinless breasts in the crock pot and then drizzle about 1/3 a bottle of Kraft Zesty Italian dressing over them. I then put another four or five breasts and another 1/3 bottle of dressing. I use Kraft Zesty Italian because I can often use a good coupon in conjunction with a BOGO at Publix and get it for cheap, and I’ve found I like the taste. You can use whatever marinade you like. I let the chicken cook for 6 to 8 hours (depending on how much chicken I actually used) and then let it cool a bit. Once it’s not steaming anymore, I shred it or cube it – depending on my mood. I then measure out two cup increments and freeze it in freezer bags. When a casserole or dish calls for two cups of pre-cooked chicken, I just grab a bag out of the freezer and let it thaw.

5. I also purchase ground beef in bulk and cook the majority of it immediately. Some people go ahead and add onions while they’re cooking up a big batch, but I have a sweetie who’s not that fond of onions, so I don’t. I just brown the beef in this huge pot. Then, I drain it and let it cool. Finally, I measure 2 1/3 cups of cooked ground beef into freezer bags. That is the equivalent of 1 pound of ground beef. When I want to make tacos or spaghetti or taco soup or anything else that needs already cooked ground beef, it’s ready to go. This has saved me on MANY an occasion as I can literally have tacos on the table in ten minutes.

6. You can save A LOT of money by cooking dried beans and then putting them in the freezer rather than using canned. It’s much healthier too. I did this for the first time when I made these Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas. You can find a great tutorial on cooking beans here. I now actually keep bags of the quesadilla filling in my freezer so we can have these any time. They are TASTY!

7. Freezer cooking without meal planning is like… well, like peanut butter without jelly. The two go together. Seriously. The worst is having a freezer full of good stuff, but not remembering to pull it out to defrost the day before. So, take some time on Sunday night to jot down what you’re going to eat that week. Then, remember to look at the plan each day to see what you need to pull out of the freezer for the next day. You can even blog your menu plan and link up to Menu Plan Monday each week. You can seem some of my past menu plans by clicking on the “Menu Plan Monday” category on the right. Truly, if you’re going to freezer cook, you need to menu plan.

8. You can use freezer cooking for things other than main meals. Really!!! What about muffins or pancakes or quiche? They all freeze VERY well and having them in the freezer makes breakfast a breeze.

9. Use the MANY resources out there in bloggy land to help you on your freezer cooking adventures. Life as Mom and Money Saving Mom have monthly freezer cooking round-ups that you can link to and see what everyone else is cooking. Once A Month Mom has an entire section of her blog devoted to freezer cooking and gives you recipes, grocery lists, and even a podcast to help you get ready to do some monthly freezer cooking. I’m sure there are many others out there. These are just a few that I happen to read daily.

10. Above all, HAVE FUN!! Cooking doesn’t have to be a pain. It can actually be fun. If you’re going to do a major cooking day, ask a friend to do it with you. Arrange for somebody else to be watching the toddler that can actually end up under your feet. Take a day, or a few hours, and just enjoy yourself in the kitchen. Make it some “you” time. My family knows that if I’ve got several recipes out and my apron on, I want to be left alone in the kitchen. They reap the rewards later so they don’t mind. If I’m going to do a MAJOR cooking day, say more than a couple hours, it goes on the family calendar so daddy knows I’m “off” during that time.

What’s your favorite Freezer Cooking recipe? I’d love for you to share. Just leave your link in the comments.
Also, did I forget any tips? Leave those in the comments too!

Linked to Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: Orange Things

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Orange is my life right now. In honor of it, here are my top ten favorite orange things.

1. The actual orange. As in the fruit. Love the juicy, sweet ones.

2. Candy Corn. Don’t you just love candy corn in the fall? It screams October to me.

3. Pumpkin. Pumpkin Pie. Pumpkin Bread. Mmmmmm… Pumpkin. Realizing I have neither of those recipes on my blog. Gonna have to fix that.

4. My AWESOME Bic Mark It! Orange pen.

5. Mimosas – what? They’re orange.

6. Orange cream popsicles.

7. Reeses. There is no better candy on the planet.

8. My newly painted orange toes.

9. My company’s definition of ORANGE: Two combined influences make a greater impact than just two influences. When you combine the love of the family (red) with the light of the church (yellow), you get ORANGE– the family and church working together for the lives of the next generation.

10. The Orange Conference – where I’ll be for the next four days – hanging out with over 4,000 church leaders who have come to Atlanta to learn more about the ORANGE strategy. It’s going to be an amazing time of networking, learning, and leading. I’m SO EXCITED. If you’re going to be there, I’ll be in the First Look booth most of the time. Would love to chat with you.

What’s your favorite orange thing?

Linked to: Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: I Know It's Spring

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I live in the South, Metro-Atlanta to be exact. And spring has sprung here in a BIG way. (Actually, there is a bit of a cold snap tonight – supposed to be back down in the 40s – brrr.)

How do I know spring has sprung?

1. My husband feels like his head is going to explode from pain.

2. My daughter has to go straight to the shower after playing outside.

3. My car is yellow. (It’s original color is black.)

4. You can’t find Claritin on the shelves in any store.

5. My shoes are yellow. (They’re original color is black.)

6. When you are at the top of a tall hill and look down, you see a cloud of yellow.

7. We have a tissue box in EVERY room of the house.

8. My nose is running.

9. My eyes are running.

10. There’s a bit of a pollen issue.

Those beautiful flowers and trees we have here in the south. We pay a price for those.

Ya’ll come visit now ya’ hear!

Linked to OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday.

Top Ten Tuesday: Things I'm thinking about…

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So, I’ve been absent from the blog world for a couple of days. Did you miss me? Life got a little crazy there and continues to be somewhat so. My company does a conference each year at the end of April. My husband works at our church that does a conference each year the first week of May. So, to say that things have gotten intense and slightly insane at the House of Hills would be much of an understatement. My brain is spinning most of the time. I thought I’d share just a few of the things I’m thinking about.

1. We had a great weekend! My father-in-law and step-mother-in-law were here for a couple days and my niece and nephew were here too. We had an AWESOME time with all of them. I love time with family.

2. My belly is SO FULL. I made a veggie variation of my breakfast quiche recipe tonight for small group, and it was DIVINE. I cooked some onion, green peppers, mushrooms, and baby spinach leaves then used that in place of the sausage in the recipe. Yummy.

3. It’s getting harder and harder to ignore sweets. I broke down and had a chocolate chip cookie on Saturday. Ever since then it’s been really hard not to go into my old habits. Working on it though. I will prevail! Why are sweets so evil?

4. There is SO MUCH to do before the conference. And, I’m not sure how it’s going to get done. But, it will.

5. How do I set Word Press to put up posts while I’m at the conference? I’m sure I can. I just never have. Something new to learn.

6. What am I going to write about to put up while I’m at the conference and when am I going to have time to write it? How do these busy mommies do this so well? Truly, so many amaze me with the quality and quantity of posts they are able to get up each week.

7. When is this pollen ever going to go away? Will my car ever be it’s normal color again? Will my head ever stop feeling like it wants to explode?

8. Where in the world is the Princess’s birth certificate? I need to find it so we can get passports. Did you hear we are going on a cruise?

9. Is this house ever going to sell? More importantly, will I have to make the beds every day for the rest of my life? I hate making the beds. I know, I know. God’s timing. I just wish I knew what He was thinking!

10. How did I ever get so blessed as to have my wonderful husband and daughter? Just thinking about them makes me smile (and maybe tear up). So, so BLESSED!

There you have it. Just a few of the things I’m thinking about.
What are you thinking about today?

For more fun lists head over to Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda’s.

Top Ten Tuesday: Things I'm not good at

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So, a couple weeks ago I talked about not being able to clean well. I truly can’t even remember how the discussion got started. That comment on here began a discussion between my mother and I on my Facebook page that resulted somehow in the idea that I should do a “Top Ten” list of things I’ve been taught to do, but don’t do well. How is that for a convoluted beginning to this list!

So, here are ten things that I know I’ve been taught to do. I just don’t do them well. Therefore, I rarely do them. Why do something if you don’t do it well.

1. Clean – primarily bathrooms. Terrible at it. Know my mama taught me at some point. It just didn’t stick.

2. Grill – My Sweetie has given me lessons. I’ve read books. The whole thing intimidates me. That is my Sweetie’s job. I don’t grill.

3. Fold Fitted Sheets – Can I hear an Amen! I don’t know how many times I’ve been shown via live person, video, magazine. It doesn’t matter. I cannot fold a fitted sheet well AT ALL!

4. Play golf – My grandpa tried to teach me. He was SO sweet about it. Ya, I’m terrible.

5. Keep on our budget – I keep trying. I really do. And, I’m better. It’s just REALLY hard.

6. Understand those account statements that come from financial people – They truly hurt my head. I do notice whether the total has gone up or down. So, that’s something.

7. Word Press – Oh, it overwhelms me. My Sweetie has tried to explain some stuff. I need to do so much to this here blog, but again, overwhelmed.

8. Apply makeup well – I’ve been to the mall where they show you while they do you up. I can NEVER get it to look that good again, even if I buy all the stuff. So sad really.

9. Fry food – Hot oil/grease. FREAKS me out. I’ve watched Paula Deen. I’ve read “The Joy of Cooking.” Still freaks me out.

10. Fix our house network – We apparently have a house network. With a router. It goes out sometimes. I do everything my Sweetie has told me to do. It doesn’t work. He comes home and looks at it. It’s fixed. SO AGGRAVATING!

I’m sure there are more. There has to be. These are just the ten that came to me in oh about 2 minutes. So ya, there’s more out there.

What are you not good at? It’s okay to admit it. We can’t be good at everything. Right?!

For more fun Top Ten Tuesday lists head on over to OhAmanda.com.

Top Ten Tuesday: We're going on a CRUISE!

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My Sweetie is turning 40! FORTY! Wahooo!

For his 30th birthday, I took him to Chicago for a long weekend. Of course, that was before the Princess came along. It was a lovely, romantic weekend walking through the city, holding hands, taking pictures of awesome architecture (him not me) and eating good food (both of us). It was a great weekend. Wonder where all those pictures are?

However, now he’s going to be FORTY! FORTY! SO, this decade, it needed to be bigger!

I’m not sure how much I’ve mentioned it, but My Sweetie is a DISNEY FREAK! We go to Disney World EVERY year. However, he’s never been on a Disney Cruise or been to Disneyland. So, where to take him? One of those of course. And, this time, the Princess would have to come with – of course.

So, I emailed with his boss and asked that he get the week of his birthday off. (No problem, because he has an AWESOME boss.) I went to the bookstore and got him a book on Disneyland and started doing some research. Then, this weekend, he and the Princess were online and discovered that the cruises in September had some REALLY good prices. They were full of “Oh, wouldn’t it be fun if.” and “I would want to do that.” and  I HAD to tell him his surprise.

SO, WE’RE GOING ON A DISNEY CRUISE IN SEPTEMBER!

Now, I have to get on the ball and need to:

1. Figure out where to get passport pictures.

2. Find the Princess’s certified birth certificate.

3. Find my old passport. I had one FOREVER ago.

4. Fill out forms online – you can do that now. Whew!

5. Take all the passport stuff to the actual passport office.

7. Save more money. (This would be key.)

8. Determine what special stuff we want to do on the cruise.

9. Keep on my Losing It! game so I look good in a new swim suit.

10. Get an awesome birthday card and a big bow – I’m going to put it on the window in our room.

And, I’m sure so many more things. These are just what I need to do NOW!

Got any Disney cruise advice? I’d love to hear it. Anything else I need to do?

For more Top Ten Tuesday, visit Ohamanda.com.

Top Ten Tuesday: Things I miss…

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So, I’m changing my lifestyle. Really trying to change my lifestyle. And, it’s working. I’m feeling better. Truly feeling better. During this time of change, there are things that I REALLY TRULY miss. I could dismiss them and try not to think about them. However, I’ve chosen to take this opportunity to list the ten things I miss the most. A remembrance of my past. Things that hopefully won’t be in my future (often anyway).

1. A brownie sundae from Ben & Jerry’s. I used to work at a Ben & Jerry’s so these are something I KNOW and LOVE. When we are near a B&J scoop shop, I like to treat myself to one of these, with mint chocolate chunk ice cream. Mmmmm… the memories. Thinking of eating one of them today makes me sick to my stomach.

SIDE NOTE: Today, Tuesday, is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s. If you’re near a scoop shop, go get your free cone! I worked several Free Cone Days in my past. They are TONS of fun!

2. Diet Coke. I did an entire post on how much I love Diet Coke. It’s now been over a month since I’ve had any. I miss it every day. However, my stomach is SO much happier without it.

3. Big Breakfasts. I can eat some breakfast. Take me to an IHOP, and I can do some serious damage. Now, that would use up my entire day’s worth of calories. Not going to do it.

4. Eating whenever I feel like it. Since I’ve been counting calories, I’ve realized how much I just eat because I want to. It has nothing to do with being hungry. Interesting discovery. This has been a serious issue the last two days. The Princess is sick, and I’m mothering more than working, which for some reason makes me want to snack more.

5. Bread. Oh man do I miss bread. Seriously. Like that bread they serve at California Pizza Kitchen while you’re waiting for your meal. I love that bread. Now, that would take up too many calories. Not going to waste them on empty calories like bread. Rather save them for the protein in the salad and the salad dressing to make it yummy.

6. Brownies and cookies and cake. I used to consume one or more of these daily. I tried to have two bites of cake the other day. It made me sick. Craziness.

7. Butter on my popcorn. I’ve been eating a good bit of popcorn, but it’s all light. No greasy butter. I love the greasy butter. I like it to literally drip from my finger tips. I LOVE buttery popcorn. Now, I eat light popcorn. Not sure what I’m going to do the next time I go to the movie theater. That will be a struggle.

8. Chick-fil-a chicken biscuit. I’ve lived in Atlanta for the majority of my life. We do the Chick-fil-a drivethru habitually. Like ALL THE TIME. That’s 450 calories. Ummmm… ya, that’s too many for one meal.

9. Pizza/Calzone. They might be worth the calories actually. But, I’ve reduced my fat intake enough to know that eating them would HURT my stomach.

10. Snickers. I’ve actually considered eating one of these. It might be worth the calories. Not sure my stomach would be happy with me at this point with this one too. My stomach is really liking the good food.

There you have it. Ten things I’ve changed my lifestyle to NOT include. I’m not saying these are bad things. I’m saying they’re not good for ME. For one thing, I have digestive issues. For another, I’ve never been one to be able to just eat a little of something. You give me access to brownies, I’m going to eat a ton few. So, they just don’t need to be around me. Ironically, I’m still baking. I love baking. I’m just not eating any of it. This is something my coworkers are happy and frustrated with at the same time.

What would be the hardest thing for you to give up?

For more Top Ten Lists head over to OhAmanda.com.