Week 8: Be a Clean Person

This is not a goal I could possibly achieve in one week of my life. But, it's been something I've wanted to be for a really, really long time. I think I made some major strides this week.

I am a historically very messy person. Over the years, I've realized that I just don't care enough to pay attention to putting things away. Am I 5? Seriously...why can't I just put things back? This is the week I decided to put more effort to this area of my life.

I can now proudly say that I put things in their places this week like a "clean" person would. It felt good. I did a major cleaning of the (downstairs part of the) house last Saturday and have maintained it since then. There's really quite a relief in the air- knowing that I don't need to majorly clean downstairs again anytime soon because I've kept up with it all week. I've maybe spent 15 minutes a night tidying up. That's much better than 6-7 hours on a Saturday.

I typically clean the house and keep it clean for 1.5 days, so this really did feel like success since our (downstairs part of the) house is still clean.

I'm hoping to attack the upstairs this weekend. Small steps, small steps. With each part of the house that I clean, I'm aiming to keep it that way for good. The upstairs is a nightmare so it's going to take some major cleaning out before it can be added to my keeping tidy plan.

When I was thinking about this post, it felt strange because big things are happening in the world. And ultimately, who cares if I change from a messy to clean person? Probably no one but me and maybe my husband. But, I think, for me, achieving goals like this makes me feel a little bit at peace, at least within me. Sometimes the world is so hectic/crazy/scary that it's nice to feel a small semblance of control. Since I've started this blog project, each week I've felt that small sense of peace at what I've accomplished. I believe that a big part of life is finding peace within yourself - however that can happen for you (assuming you don't hurt anyone in the process). I don't claim to know solutions to the world's problems, but it makes sense that if people, in general, were more at peace with themselves we wouldn't find so much.

My contribution to larger society is my day job. I work 40+ hours a week to help people and maybe it's selfish to say it's a contribution because I genuinely love my job. But it is focused on other people. So, I guess I need to remind myself that it's ok that I focus one weekly project on making myself feel peaceful, even if it may seem silly, even to me when I think about the world's big picture.

Week 7: Celebrate My Man Turning 30 (and Get Him a Great Gift!)

I hate buying gifts- solely because I think I'm really bad at it and I second guess everything and I always think I probably should've just handed over the money I spent on whatever I settled on.

But THIS year for Scott's birthday, I think I did a really good job. Scott, my husband, is a writer (part-time) and loves Kevin Smith. I found out that Kevin Smith was coming close to us (pretty rare!) to promote his latest movie, Red State. During the event, he would present the movie, watch the movie with the audience and then do a Q & A.

Little did I know that Red State is unlike ANY other Kevin Smith movie (Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, etc.). When I told Scott about the big surprise, he was excited but also asked me if I knew that this movie was drastically different than his other work. (I didn't). Those movies are comedies and Red State...is the furthest movie from a comedy...maybe ever. Smith took a different route this time and made a horror, and I do mean HORROR, movie. It was easily the scariest movie I've ever seen.

But...we had a great time. I am terrified of scary movies and don't watch them much but this movie was powerful. If it wasn't SO disturbing, I would insist that just about everyone I know watch it. I don't want to give anything away, but the very short synopsis is that people in a cult beyond lose their minds. Here's another synopsis- think of it as being said in the old Real World opener: "This is what happens when cults stop being crazy and start being terrifying."

Kevin Smith: if you're out there, feel free to use the above quote. It's pretty good, right?

So, after an hour and a half of terror, Smith opened up for Q & A. He is HILARIOUS. We really enjoyed both the movie (even if I didn't sleep that night), and this section as well.

I think Scott would agree that I did alright this time. Happy birthday, dearest!

Week 6: Figure Out a Go-To Comfort Recipe for Times of Yuckiness

This past week, my life has been defined as overall yuckiness.

I started feeling bad last Saturday (one week ago, today!). In true Angie Livesay fashion, I didn't take time to rest and make myself feel better but instead ran myself into the ground. Do we ever learn lessons like these? So, now a week later, I'm starting to improve after several days spent on the couch now. Somewhere mid-week, I crazily craved chicken with noodles like my Mom used to make. However, I didn't in the least bit feel like cooking. I needed something quick, easy and comforting. I did a bit of very quick research on the internet and came up with the following concoction. I am in no way claiming that this is an original recipe, I'm pretty sure it's probably the recipe that a lot of people use, but it is what I pulled together after my quick search combined with what I knew we had in the cabinets. It totally fit the bill and will now be likely what I serve my someday children.

Here it is:

1/2 bag of no-yolk egg noodles
1 cup (ish) of (diced) chicken ***
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Once I had boiling water, I dropped the noodles in for somewhere between 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, I microwaved frozen diced chicken we had for a couple of minutes. You could absolutely use any kind of chicken you have on hand- leftover, canned (ew, though), etc. When the noodles were cooked to my liking, I put a lid on the pan and drained water out the side (my laziness would not lead me to wash a strainer). I left a bit of water in the pan (again, probably out of laziness, but it worked). I then mixed in the cream of mushroom soup, the chicken, the milk and the butter. I let that cook on medium-low for probably ten minutes and stirred it a couple of times.

All in all, it took about 20 minutes for this and I could take several sitting breaks during the cook time (which were, sadly, necessary). The above recipe made approximately 4 servings.

I'm glad I discovered how to do this- it's one of those things I've wanted to perfect for a long time and especially before we have kids. I want my future children to come home from college begging me to make things like this. My heart just melted a bit.

No photo this week- I didn't think about it until after it was gone. I blame the steady stream of medication in my system.

Week 5: Make a box.

That sounded less lame in my head.

I've been spending LOTS of time crafting this week (which is more than fine with me!). One of the items I learned to make this week, which is ridiculously easy, is to make little paper boxes.They are, seriously, so sooooooo easy. But, it was fun to make and I think I may be hooked. Here is an example of the fun:

Easy breezy this week. Sometimes that's what life calls for.