the upgrade countdown

To be crossed off throughout the year.

1. Drink more tea then tab.
2. Lose at least 20 lbs and maintain that weight.
3. Read at least 35 books this year.
4. Have more of a positive attitude.
5. Take care of my hair.
6. Gym at least once a week.
7. Watch at least 20 movies I have not seen.
8. Walk Aadi 3 times a week after work.
9. Write in my blog more frequently.
10. Do personal/freewriting every day, even if it is just a paragraph.
11. Start volunteering again.
12. Discuss potential book ideas with friends that I've wanted to collaborate with.
13. Wake up by 7am every morning, if not earlier.
14. Learn to make healthier quick meals.
15. Help maintain the garden this year so we have good veggies to eat.
16. Do a mudrun, ragnar or some sort of marathon.
17. Ideas are a-brewing for a podcast! And with that, continue improving on the podcast I currently am on.
18. Set up a craft night with the work friends, we've been discussing it so long, time to finally do it.
19. Spend more time with the family that I have.
20. Be happier. Go to mass. Yep, I need to go to mass.

"dick clark looks like he belongs on the muppets" - jonah napoli

Best title ever.

Here is a quick recap of this years new years festivities. At about seven our friends Michael Doxey and Jason came over complete with fantastic food for the evenings events. They brought ham and cheese sandwiches and lil smokies wrapped in bacon. Nom. We proceeded downstairs to watch Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve.


Aadi really does not like Nicki Minaj. Me neither, Aadi.

That can only entertain us so long, so we busted out the Disney Scene It game that Michael and Jason brought (they're Disney connoisseurs) and they kicked our ass, not even kidding. And I grew up on Disney! During that time our other friend Jonah stopped by to ring in the festivities.





I ended up getting tired and falling asleep almost seconds after the ball dropped. When Zack came upstairs to inform me that our guests have left I walked into the bedroom (sigh, yes, I fell asleep in the bathroom, no I did not throw up, YAY!) to find our sheets turned down, King Of The Hill on the tv and the dishes all cleaned up. Ah what a husband I have!

We've begun this year already by eating better and one trip to the gym. I am already craving pizza, how am I going to do this? Motivate meeee.

Here's to 2012!

so this is the new year?

Tomorrow I'll do a full recap on the events that took place in the Shutt household for New Years Eve (believe me, it was a fantastic one) but for now I have some musings on what I hope to accomplish next year.

I've never been one for resolutions. Why do you need the start of a new calendar year to start making your life better? I guess it makes sense, I've just never been able to keep a resolution. Maybe I'm bitter. This year, I'm not going to call the new choices I'm integrating into my life "resolutions", I will just refer to them as upgrades.

Upgrade number one, eat more salads. I've always loved salads, really, I just feel I need to have them more frequently. As I've previously posted I'm making them my go-to lunch except on Mexican food Tuesdays, however I think they'll be making more of an appearance in my dinner meals as well. I've found some really fun recipes with raspberry dressing and apples and fun stuff like that that I am really excited to try. Today I went grocery shopping and came home with three bags of salad, a box of apple slices, some grapefruits. I'm optimistic. My friend Sarah just informed me that celery and almond butter go together nicely. This I must try.

Upgrade number two, go to they gym? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Nope. Okay, maybe a little. Zack has a membership so I may tag along with him a few times but I know I will never be able to commit. I'm sorry, I just like sitting so much more.

Upgrade number three, write often. I'm going to try to write in this here blog more, but also do freewriting for myself. I'm trying to find a writing workshop somewhere that I can attend in the city as well, just to brush up on some basics. Never hurts right? Also I'm going to re-read Stephen King's On Writing for the millionth time. Oh man, if you have any interest in writing get this book. In my opinion Stephen King has written some of the best and some of the worst pieces of our time but the way he explains his writing process is nothing short of brilliant. All I want to do is be a writer, so this is a good way to start.

Upgrade number four, read, read, read. Zack got me a kindle for Christmas and I can already tell it's going to make me want to read non-stop. What better way to hone up on my writing skills, eh? I'll be excited to post book reviews and recommendations here as well.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday, I am really excited to see what 2012 brings us.