Currently: January 2018

January was cold, cold, cold (did I mention it was cold?) here in Kansas City. I know it’s winter, and I’m smart enough to wear a jacket and gloves (I’m looking at you – dude at Target on Sunday when it’s 3 degrees out and you are wearing shorts and flip flops), but this one was one of the coldest I can remember.

I spent a lot of time inside.

Currently, I’m:

Reading:

• Better than Before – I read Gretchen Rubins’ The Happiness Project last year, and I’m a sucker for science applied to real life self help books. This one hasn’t disappointed.
• Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Origins. I’m actually listening to this as an audiobook; the first time I’ve tried to do this. I downloaded it for free from the library, and I’m enjoying listening to it while I do my indoor walking.

Side note: if you haven’t checked into what free services your library offers, you are probably missing out. Besides books, my library offers a free account at Lynda.com, free access to the New York Times, free audiobooks and free digital versions of a lot of really popular magazines. Most of these items I don’t even have to leave the house to get!

Cooking

Like many, I’m a Pinterest recipe hoarder. I’m trying to actually make some of what I’ve pinned. We tried two new recipes this month, both are definitely keepers.

• I’ve made vegetarian sloppy joes before, but this Food52 version had a few different ingredients that make it much more than just kid’s food.
• This super easy roasted broccoli and tofu sheet pan supper was really tasty.  I don’t usually follow recipes exactly, and this was no exception – I  didn’t actually make a miso dressing for this, I just used my standard soy and cider vinegar mix poured over at the end.

Crafting

Projects that didn’t make the blog –

• A new sticker for my front door cut (photo at the top of this post) out of white contact paper, using the same method I detailed before the holidays.
• Brush lettering is an ongoing new project. I signed up a free basic stroke challenge, and then bought the next workbook in the series. I’ve made it through all the lowercase letters, and have now signed up for a new 90 day challenge from another teacher. It’s a fun and frustrating hobby, and I was even brave enough to post an actual lettered word on my Instagram feed (and below). I’m proud of it because I know all the work that went into it, but I also know I need a ton of more practice.

I’m totally getting the “Practice makes progress” mantra these days!

 

Quick note: none of the links in this post are affiliate, and while I have PLENTY of opinions, no one has compensated me for any of them.