The New Year is Underway GIVEAWAY

The last few years we have made Christmas presents for our family and friends.  It is something that I enjoy doing and something that I think about and plan for the entire year.  I am already starting to look up ideas for next year, just in case I find something that will be exceptionally time consuming or takes time to come together.  I also always make extra because I don't ever want to be empty handed.  I love to give gifts. 

This year we had to cut back, mostly because I am pretty sure that I single handedly keep my local post office in business.  I have a closet (and closet real estate is a very limited in our apartment) that has boxes of all sizes and shapes, as well as a few flat rate shipping boxes, that way they are ready to go whenever I need to mail something.  Since I am far from most of my loved ones, the USPS is my lifeline for giving.  Luckily since we've moved, the post office down the street doesn't know all that it missed out on this year since I have drastically cut back on my shipping.  This was very difficult for me, and so I think I'm having package sending withdrawals.  I am just itching to send something out. Now that Christmas is over, the New Year is underway and there are still various things taking up space on my kitchen counter, I am giving away the handmade items that have yet to find a home.   

So I have a GIVEAWAY of the homemade presents that we gave this year.  The handmade-with-love-in-our-kitchen items that may be in this giveaway:

• D'Amaretti Biscotti
• Candy Cane Biscotti with White Chocolate
• Shaving Soap
• Green Tea Body Butter
• Bath Salts/Salt Scrub
• Lip Balm
• Friendship Tea

There will be TWO lucky winners!

To enter this Giveaway, please comment on this post with a way for me to contact you (email, Facebook, etc).  I will draw the winner out of a hat (literally) next Monday, the 16th- MLK day.   Then I will contact the winners and mail your packages out next week.

Good Luck! 

Health and Organization

It's another New Year.  Another opportunity for a clean, fresh start.  A time for evaluation of your own life and a time to figure out how to make yourself a better person.  At the start of each year I have such a flood of emotions.  Most of the time I can't believe that another year has gone by so quickly.  I can't believe that a whole year went by without me accomplishing all that I set out to accomplish.  But then I have to remind myself that baby steps are key.  When I set out to change my life 180 degrees in just 12 months, it's overwhelming.  When I set obtainable goals, I can accomplish them and also feel good about myself and my accomplishments. 

As always, physical health is at the top of my list of resolutions.  For Christmas our family received a present of a Kinect and found a few games that we can all play together.  The great thing about the Kinect is that it gets you moving.  You have to actually move around to play the games and we can all do it together.  I hope that moving around together as well as the walking around we do in the city will help to jump start increased physical activity this year.  Of course part of physical health is what you eat, so we are going to continue our meal planning and continue to make healthy choices.  It's hard to say no to a bowl of ice cream, but if I can say yes to veggies more, than there doesn't have to be that guilt associated with the occasional bowl of ice cream.

Living in a small space, organization is the key to a sane life.  I am going to strive to keep our small home organized and picked up.  I started with Munchkie's room this weekend.  We learned why toy boxes aren't exactly the best option for toy organization shortly after putting her toys in the toy box.  The toys all fall to the bottom and most of them don't get played with.  When they do get played with, the toy box usually gets emptied and spills over into the living room and if we're lucky, (not) into our bedroom.  Now when she wants to play with something, she can pull the box down and play with  those toys.  Then she knows that she has to put all of those away before she can get a different toy to play with.  She saw this and was so excited, she kept saying "oh my toys!  My cars are all here!  All my baby things!"  I think that she will be happy to have all of her toys accessible and we will be happy that they will not be spilling over and out of her room.

There are other goals that I have set for myself for this year, but these (in addition to blogging more- check) I have already started.  Hopefully this year I can continue to accomplish goals and change my life for the better.  Happy New Year!