Valentine's Day

Although most holidays have gotten overly commercial, Valentine's Day is particularly nauseating since it ends up being a show-off competition of who got fancy flowers, expensive chocolates, jewelery or was taken out for a lavish meal. Maybe it wasn't as noticeable before social media blew up, but it was crazy how my Facebook stream was filled with photos of all the gifts people received on February 14.

In my opinion, if you love someone you shouldn't need a particular day to remind them of that. And, if you're single the last thing you'd want is a day to remind you that you don't have a significant other to shower you with gifts.

I don't need a special day for Rob to let him know he loves me, but I was very appreciative when he came home with a gorgeous bouquet of roses and I received a beautiful card and chocolates from my dad. I'm still not a fan of this holiday, but it's nice to be included in the lovey dovey day so many enjoy.

My take on the movie "Water for Elephants"

I know it's been out for a while but I finally had a chance to sit down and watch Water for Elephants, a movie about a vet student who joins a traveling circus after his parents are killed in a car accident.

Although the movie had some good parts, like how the members are like a family, it just reminded me of why I don't like the circus: cruelty to animals. I'm sure circus owners will say how well they treat the animals and the people who work for them; however, behind this love story the movie explains how it's all about the money. The animals were fed old food, forced to work when they were dying, had their teeth removed and were horribly beaten for various reasons. Sure it was nice to watch Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattison (although I'm definitely not a Pattison freak), but the way the poor little elephant, Rosie, gets beaten by the owner was absolutely sickening.

I've been to the circus maybe twice in my life - both times with Rob since he enjoys that "stuff" - but after seeing this movie I can safely say I will never, ever go again.

Closet Clean-Out

Over the past few weeks I've been on a cleaning rampage in the house. It all started when I saw this awesome organizational rack at Costco. It's a metal shelf on wheels with four rows, all of which came with different size plastic tubs. After ooh-ing and ahh-ing at this for a few days, I broke down and we got it since it would be perfect for our back room.

It wasn't the most exciting day of our time off, but we spent an entire afternoon cleaning out a back storage room in our house. It's crazy how much stuff you accumulate over time and we needed to seriously organize what we had in that room and just take inventory since I found we were buying things we had a lot of (thanks to buying in bulk for the past four years).

Below are a few shots of the before:

This is stuff that I moved out of the back room before taking the picture

 Now these are shots of the after:

It made such a big difference and know I know we don't need to buy cleaning supplies or paper good for the next few years!

After that project, I started cleaning out linen closets, drawers, shelves of old photos and even the kitchen pantry. I've definitely been on a cleaning spree lately and it feels great since I love having things organized :)

Check-in on Resolutions

Although it's only been a little over two weeks into the new year, I've already made progress on some of my 2012 resolutions. I've been much better about not texting or playing with my phone while driving; have been good with keeping in touch with family members (I even spent my whole day off helping my youngest brother, Joe, study for mid-terms); am constantly trying to straighten my posture; and have already tried out two new recipes.

Rob is always my test dummy when it comes to recipes, so I try to make something that he'll like. Lately he's been a fan of salmon, so last night I made salmon with a yogurt-dill sauce. Rob wans't a huge fan but I think it's because he's not a fan of Greek yogurt, which is what I used. He did enjoy - and devour - the homemade sesame -pecan crusted chicken tenders I made for Sunday's Giants game. I was surprised how easy they were to make, but considering how fattening they are I don't think I'll be making those too often. Then again, most of the fat came from the peanuts, which have protein, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

And, as an addendum to the resolution, I'm going to try to be better about taking pictures of the dishes I make so these posts aren't just text.

Getting 'Sappy' about our Christmas Trees

At the start of the holiday season I always say I don't want to get a big tree since they're so much work and are getting more expensive as the years go on. I'd be an advocate for a fake tree but we don't have the space in our townhome for a large fake tree and, despite his allergies, Rob's a fan of getting a real one so I lose the battle. I will admit I enjoy having it in the house once it's there and enjoy decorating it, but when it's time to take the tree down in early January I can't help but get upset that we're tossing out a perfectly good tree, as each year we've been very fortunate that our trees haven't died while we've had them up.

I know it's crazy to admit, but I'll say hi to the tree in the morning and thank it for being in our home for the holidays when we take it down in January. When it comes time to bring it to the curb, I have a personal moment of silence for this pretty tree, which got cut from its roots so we could toss some lights and decorations on it. And, when I walk Buster I'll swing by the garbage to see the tree and say "hi." I know it's not a real being but I still feel bad for the tree, who grew for 7+ years so someone could cut it down for our own purposes instead of providing better air for the earth.

Thanks to this year's Noble Tree from Home Depot, which was in our home from November 25 through January 7. You didn't shed many needles - my vacuum and I thank you.

Last photo of the tree before the decorations started to come down.

Homemade Gingerbread Cookies

Since I had time off around the holidays I decided to experiment with some new cookie recipes. I'm always up for a challenge and my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer makes preparing recipes from scratch SO much easier.

One of the recipes I embarked on was homemade gingerbread cookies. I've made a house from scratch before and I love gingersnaps, so I figured this would be a fun time and decorating could keep me busy. I was surprised at how long the gingerbread dough mix needed to sit for, but it gave me the chance to make the dough one night and then actually cut, bake and decorate the cookies the next day.

The cookies after being baked

Homemade vanilla icing

Time to make another color icing. I was shocked at how much food coloring was used just to get it to this pink color!

The finished product

After buying all of the ingredients I think it's more economical to just buy the cookies. I'm sure there are easier recipes out there, but this one worked fine. At least I had fun trying out a new recipe!

A Visit to Poppy

Rob holds the title of being his grandfather's official barber. On a recent visit, Rob buzzed his hair so he could have the "Rob look" (aka bald). It's funny how his grandfather, who will be 91 in February, has more hair than Rob.

Poppy getting a trim

Poppy being a good sport and goofing around with some fun props

Sporting his signature hat