2012 Resolutions update

We aren't doing too bad with our 2012 resolutions so far!

• I've been (attempting) to call each one of my siblings more often... But the middle child of my family apparently likes to text instead of talk. KamKam...We'll work on that! :-P
• We've been using the juicer more like, 80% of the time... not quite everyday, but almost. I've even gotten Nikayda to try a couple sips from her straw cup! She's not sure what to think of all the flavor that comes with it, especially the carrot juice!
• I've gotten a TON of (fairly healthy) new recipes to try lately... got a Special K healthy recipe book for xmas, tons on my favorite website: allrecipes.com, and TONS more on my new addiction = pinterest.com... OK, so SOME of the recipes are not all THAT healthy... in fact, half of them listed below are SWEETS... but it's still fun to try new recipes, darn it! :)
• Trying CrockPot Chicken Tortilla Soup today!
• Chicken Pot Pies -- tried that last week, not bad, but will probably find a different recipe for it next time.
• Cauliflower Soup -- this was amazing! I didn't follow this recipe totally, but used many elements of it for my own version...
• Swedish Baked Potatoes -- not bad, kind of time consuming...  Justin made these. :)
• Jalapeno Popper Dip -- Justin made this for New Years Eve! Good stuff, very addicting! 
• Nutella Cookies -- Amazing, and moist... made these yesterday! I added even MORE Nutella than the recipe called for... probably my new favorite cookie recipe!
• Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies -- Not bad... Justin liked these better than I did. They didn't really flatten out very well for me, and weren't as moist as I would have liked them to be... but still pretty good!
• Sweet Mini Monkey Bread Rolls -- Ooey, Gooey goodness. We had these as kind of a late-night  dessert/snack with vanilla ice cream!
• White Chocolate Fudge -- Pretty good, very sweet. I made these for xmas treats to bring to family gatherings. I put red and green mini M&Ms on top and black walnuts in the middle... and I quickly found out that black walnuts are NOT good... at least not for my taste buds anyway. I bought them assuming they were the same as regular walnuts, but I was WRONG -- they have a much more potent flavoring to them -- so I told people to pick them out if they didn't like them! :)
• Carmel Dip -- Easily made from boiling cans of sweet and condensed milk in hot water for a couple hours. Very good, but beware that the caramel doesn't heat up well in the microwave... I don't think it heats up very well at all actually, just have to eat it cold I guess. We like it on ice cream.

Nikayda turned 11 months old yesterday... and it was also my sister Kendra's 21st birthday yesterday! Time flies...

Also, NEWS FLASH!!! We got SNOW yesterday here! Finally enough to keep the ground white for a little while maybe! :-)

Justin has been uber busy with school since it started up again ... teaching middle schoolers, coaching junior high wrestling, and last night was the 1st night of his Spring DWU night class that he's teaching, and also the first night for two of his USD online courses that he is taking. He says he may have to switch to only sleeping 3 hrs a night to stay caught up... and probably drink more coffee... :-P

I have been working on some little sewing projects, cooking, cleaning, organizing, keeping Nikayda out of things (she took 6 steps on her own the other day!), etc... and planning the little munchkin's 1st Birthday Party -- it's set for Sat, Feb 11th in Canby.