Friday I got up, shoveled my driveway (which I felt the effects of Saturday morning as soon as I woke up and my back screamed at me) went to get tires, saw The Fighter, ran into Wal-Mart and Marshall's and was pleasantly surprised they weren't busy on Christmas Eve, then came home to start cooking. I cooked for 5 hours. To say my kitchen was a disaster is an understatement.
I was attempting a pot roast in a crock pot this year. Who knew you had to brown the thing first? I thought the point of a crock pot meal was to throw it all in there and go! No it couldn't be that easy. Most of you know how often I cook meat, as in never, so I had a moment where I was afraid I may start a small fire when the oil start sizzling like mad.
But I successfully got the meat browned and the pot roast turned out great on Saturday! I woke up at 6am to the smell of...pot roast. I had the brief thought that it was wrong to be awakened to the smell of a huge chunk of meat and not bacon and eggs.
I had to make strawberry pretzel salad and found the cutest holiday pretzels. I love cute food.
Made some no bake cookies. They are both mine and my mom's favorite.
They were yummy and they are just about gone!
Also made some peanut butter no bake cookies which also turned out good but we were pretty loyal to the classic no bake....so there is a ton of these sitting on my counter still.
My mom went crazy this year and apparently I should've put her on a spending limit! My mouth hit the floor when I opened up these Ugg boots. Never did I see that coming! Made me glad I spent more than normal on her this year! She was also thoughtful enough to get me hand warmers to use for running outside to get my rear in gear and get me out there running. I went out Sunday, my first attempt at running on the snowy sidewalks. It wasn't cold enough to use the handwarmers and I managed not to fall and break any bones. I had to really watch where I was going though!
Between me and my mom the dogs made out pretty darn good. The gift basket was from my work end of year appreciation day. It was the basket I picked out with the dogs in mind to save for their Christmas gifts. As you can see it didn't keep me from spending my normal amount on them though!
This holiday dinner toy set was super cute I couldn't pass it up. Magnus went straight for the turkey when we opened it. Jazz had to settle for the potato.
She LOVES her new blanket. My mom and I spent the rest of Christmas catching up on dvr'd Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I mean what says Christmas more than that show right? Saturday night I ordered The Town on demand, it was really good! Ben Affleck can hold me hostage anytime. Sunday night I watched Inception...it was good but when it was over I thought "What just happened?" I also managed to get a lot done around the house including cleaning out my closet and organizing my scrapbook room. In between was a lot of relaxing on the couch with a dog and a pink blanket next to me. The dog is a comfort pup that's for sure. When I was in my scrapbook room she just looked at me and whined until she had the chance to jump on my lap. I've determined I can't scrapbook unless Caylea is home so Jazz can be on Caylea's lap. Caylea is coming home today and we will be doing our Christmas on New Year's Day since she was in Bloomington. Hope everyone had a good holiday!
I have stuffed my stocking with some lotto tickets. I'll let you know if my luck changes tomorrow morning. :) 
Today I went out to get new tires and since the weather wasn't great I ventured into Marshall's. It was surprisingly empty. I've been debating on buying some running leggings to help keep me warm but they are pricey and not cute. I found these capris that are pretty tight fitting that I'd thought I'd give a try under my running pants. I figure they are cheaper, I can wear them alone and hopefully under my regular pants they will double as that extra layer to keep me warm. We'll see. 
Get ready for this one....I bought a pair of flat shoes. I know! Who would've thought. I'm not sure how I feel about them yet. I feel very short wearing them. And yesterday when I went to Wal-Mart and needed to get the last bottle of corn syrup on the top shelf in the very back and couldn't reach it, I was missing the heels. 
Hung up some more Mexico pictures. 
Came home to find my mom went to town with Christmas presents for the dogs. I don't know what is in the box but the note said I better not put it under the tree. 
One of my presents to the dogs I found at Target that was so cute...the holiday dinner plate. 
It's a stuffed turkey, potato, roll, corn and broccoli all "served" on a frisbee. :) Love it! 
Tonight I will be taking all of this and more and turning it into...more. My first attempt at a pot roast. 
Saw this movie today, pretty good! Mark flexes a lot....bonus. I've been thinking of my theme for my 2011 goals...more on that later. Hope everyone has a great Christmas! 
I watched Eclipse this weekend and I must say this one was my favorite so far. They seem to keep getting better.
Watched this too...it was ok
And watched Valentine's Day, for the fourteenth time, because I love this movie. And Ashton Kutcher. 
While I squeezed in a few movies the majority of my time was spent studying for my CPCU test which is tomorrow. Lots of studying and I think it's going to be a hard one. 
My mom offered to make a pot roast on Christmas if I bought a crock pot. I used to have one but it broke so I invested a whopping 15 bucks in a new one at Wal-Mart. I thought I would try it out. I think I love it. Threw in some chicken breasts Sunday morning. 
And after a day of studying Sunday evening I had some tender chicken ready to pull apart for my genius plan of making....
BBQ chicken sandwiches. This sauce by the way, is amazing. 
I was pretty happy with my BBQ chicken sandwich.
I think the crock pot was a great idea. I followed up the chicken with some cookies. 
I took this picture in Mexico and discovered I had the perfect frame for it. I was excited to hang it up on the wall. Makes a nice addition in the living room. Now off to take another practice test before the real thing tomorrow! 
"Educate myself whenever possible": I started and completed the Associate in Management designation at work and the first part of CPCU. Hoping to pass the 2nd CPCU next week!
"Plan a trip somewhere warm and beachy for later this year or next" -Accomplished this one two-fold! Amazing trip to Mexico with Missy in October and booked a cruise with Jona and Lisa for October, 2011!
"Increase the number of push-ups I can do"-Oh wait, not these type of push ups... :)
Instead of just focusing on push-ups I joined a gym and am officially loving Body Pump. Love the all over strength results. I haven't tested it yet but as a result of Body Pump I would hope I can do more push-ups now. I will have to test myself.
"Make significant strides in running"-Well I have yet to add up my mileage, I'm not sure if I exceeded last year's mileage or maybe not...but I did sign up for...
"Pay off some major debt, to do this I will need to never step foot in Target"-Check! Don't get me wrong, I'm not sitting in a pile of money like this woman in the nice picture. But overtime was my middle name this summer and it was sheer will to pay off a chunk of change. I've still got some financial goals to meet but this one was major for me. And now, working no overtime, I don't know how I managed to do all those hours. I forgot how much I like my sleep! (Oh and stepping foot in Target did set me back a time or two) 
"Don't cry every single time I watch Grey's Anatomy"-What is it about this show? It gets me every week and I did not meet my goal with this one. Even when I come close, like 54 minutes in, I think it's such a habit now I can't make it the full 60 minutes without crying. Sheesh.
