Handy Calorie-Counting Charts

(pic and great advice from here.)

Better Homes and Gardens sent me an email that included some handy calorie-counting charts. I especially like the 200 Snacks Less that 100 Calories since I often get bored with the same thing.

Here's the link: BHG Calorie-Counting Charts

Just in case you have calorie-counting on your mind for 2014!

Questions for Reflection

This is the third year I've spent a little time reflecting on the year that is about to end.  In 2011 I found the following questions (sorry, I can't find the original source) and answered them. I wondered if it would be a task that would have any meaning, but in December 2012, I pulled out the questions again and found myself comparing answers. Did I really change in any way?  I also enjoyed reminiscing about the BIG memories of both years. 

So again, today, I pulled out the questions and started writing my answers.  I didn't look back at what I had written earlier so my answers would be "fresh," but I have to admit, once I finished I began comparing all three years at once and I started to see a progression of improvement. Basically speaking, I saw how the Lord was tidying up those rough edges and how He doesn't miss any details. 

The questions of reflection will probably be with me now to the end of my life and I hope that my children will enjoy the encapsulated version of my years after I'm gone. It would be better than reading my journal, that's for sure!

I only answer 18 out of 20 questions that I originally ran across. You can see the full 20 questions here. (I leave out # 6 & 7 on their list.)

Questions for Reflection  in the New Year

1) What was the single best thing that happened this year?

2) What was the single most challenging thing that happened?

3) What was an unexpected joy this past year?

4) What was an unexpected obstacle?

5) Pick 3 words to describe this past year.

6) What were the best books you read this year?

7) With whom were your most valuable relationships?

8) What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?

9) In what ways did you grow emotionally?

10) In what ways did you grow spiritually?

11) In what ways did you grow physically?

12) In what ways did you grow in your relationship with others?

13) What was the most enjoyable part of your work (both professionally and at home)?

14) What was the most challenging part of your work (both professionally and at home)?

15) What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

16) What was the best way you used your time this year?

17) What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?

18) Create a phrase or statement that describes this past year for you.

Refinished Rocker

At work/church one Sunday some friends and I got talking about refinishing furniture and I mentioned how much I've enjoyed finishing a couple small tables of my own.

The next Sunday they brought in an antique rocking chair that had been in their family for over 100 years and asked if I would refinish it for them. 

(pic taken in the church parking lot)

I said I'd take on the task if my Dad would help me with the project. He agreed so we took a couple of weeks and cleaned it up!

The chair turned out pretty well and we enjoyed working on it together. My friends were pleased with the outcome and will, hopefully, enjoy it for many years to come.

*a sweet side note, I hid the chair in one of our unused nursery rooms when returning it right before the owner's birthday. After the "reveal" she sat in the chair and nursed her infant daughter and said she imagined her grandmother and mother doing the same thing in the chair down through the years. You could tell it meant a lot - so much so that she didn't even wait to get it home!