Now Selling Knitted Flower Headbands :)

Hey Everyone J seeing as I’ve had so much fun making these lately I was going to see if anyone wanted buy one of my knitted headband creations!

Currently the yarn I have:

Fuzzy Yarns: Black

Green

Pink mulitcolor (see picture: flower)

Marbled multicolor (pinks,greens,whites, hint of blue)

Regular Yarns:
Black

Grey

Navy Blue

White (it's a bit glittery) 

I can make any band and flower mixture of your liking J Let me know if you’re interested and e-mail me @ cbenetua@comcast.net and we can chat!

Cam 

Superwoman-In-Training :)

Kicking off the NEW YEAR a few days late...oh hey 2012!

Let me set the scene for you, you have your champagne ready, wearing your outfit you specifically bought for one night out and you were ready to toast to the new year and you wait patiently in the last five minutes, either staring at a TV screen or your local monument that ultimately shoots off fireworks, drops or blows off to welcome in the new year. All, you needed was for that clock to strike midnight and you’re home free, but then someone asked you the dreaded question: "What's your New Year's Resolution?" My thoughts: Resolution? I'm not making any resolutions, they're ridiculous. You said, " oh probably just Get in shape. Eat better. Don’t worry so much….!" It’s too late! The words were said and now you must resolve to commit or not commit.

So as everyone is speculating this might be the last year in existence, we have to make it a good one…and what’s a new year without resolutions? 

I’ve found the most popular resolutions, the funniest and even (much to my own dismay) made my own that I plan to keep. And, if you don't and the Mayan calendar extremists' predictions come true, it won't matter because we won't be here anyways so you're off the hook! :)

The key to making a good new year’s resolution is making one that you can ACTUALLY keep. Make sure it is something attainable and specific because if you make it broad and unrealistic you are only setting yourself up for disaster. If you’re running around like a chicken with your head cut off all the time between kids, school, work or any other thing you have going on, making it to the gym 7 days a week for 2 hours a day is probably not the best goal to set. Like I’ve said before, you don’t have to set goals or resolutions just because it’s a new year…do it FOR YOU!

Whatever you uncertainly or accidentally blurt out as your New Year's Resolution when the ball drops, stick to it. (also did anyone else know you’re supposed to say your resolutions right at midnight? I think everyone is too drunk to remember that.)

Consider doing something in 2012 that you've always wanted to do. It could be as small as going to a restaurant you've never been to, trying one or two new things even just learning a how to cook a certain dish. It doesn’t have to be spectacular, just special to you.

Now for the most common new year’s resolutions  

1.           Spend More Time with Family & Friends           

2.         Fit in Fitness, lose your tummy, pretty much every diet food weight loss on this earth

3.         Quit Smoking

4.         Enjoy Life More

5.          Quit Drinking

6.         Get Out of Debt

7.          Learn Something New

8.         Help Others

9.         Get a Better Education

10.    Get a Better Job

11.      Manage Stress

12.     Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

13.     Save Money

14.     Take a Trip

15.     Volunteer to Help Others

 Now for the fun part....

Hilarious resolutions that would be fun to make and actually do, resolutions don’t have to be serious or anything they can be FUN too!

General Funny New Years Resolutions

1. 1.   Stop drinking orange juice after I just brushed my teeth.
   2.   Stop licking frozen flag poles.
   3.   Only get divorced and remarried once this year
   4.   Watch more movie remakes.
   5.   Go back to school to avoid paying my student loans.
   6.   Only eat white snow
   7.   Keep it to myself that I have trouble with authority when I'm being interviewed.
   8.   Spend less than $1825 for coffee at Starbucks this year.
   9.   Claim all my pets as dependents on my taxes
   10.                Watch more cute and cuddly kitten videos on YouTube ( Seriously, look up cat jumps over gate its life changing)
   11.                 Check my work e-mail account at least once this year  Switch my username to “password” and my password to “username” to make each a lot harder for hackers to figure out
   12.                 Watch less T.V…. in standard definition
   13.                 Stop buying worthless junk on Ebay, because QVC has better specials (or as seen on TV, and you can only buy it on the TV not those as seen on TV sections in walmart because it is not nearly as satisfying)
   14.                 Start using Facebook for something other than Farmville and stupid quizzes
   15.                 Help kids stay safe by not texting on my cell phone while eating McDonald’s and speeding through crosswalks in school zones with a frost covered windshield
   16.                 Avoid fingertip soreness by learning to play “Rock Band,” instead of a real guitar Start a blog about how I would write more often if I had something important to write.
   17.                 Only make one blog entry and leave it published for years
   18.                 Talk with a robot voice all the time ( my favorite, I might attempt it haha)
   19.                 Lose weight by hiding it somewhere you'll never find it.
   20.                Buy new clothes big enough to account for next year's holidays
   21.                 Lose weight by inventing an anti-gravity machine
   22.                Lose weight by living on the moon
   23.                Find a more accurate scale
   24.                Build biceps by increasing reps of Ding Dong curls to 3 sets of 15
   25.                Stop buttering my doughnuts
   26.                Eat more fruit... snacks

Now for my new years resolutions..As much as I didn’t want to make some, I knew I probably should.

1. Drink more water Sounds easy but I’m not a big water fan, it doesn’t taste like anything but my water to diet coke ratio has been WAY off
2. Graduate College and Get a Job Haha seems like a copout but hey it’ll be an accomplishment
3. Stress/worry/be a control freak less I’m working on it, it’s only been 10 days haha
4. Run multiple 5k’s Looking forward to the warrior dash this summer!

Great quote I found today that really is the essence of new years and taking on the world 

"When life becomes more than you can stand, kneel."

Cam 

Superwoman-In-Training :)

Holy Schmoly- I'm a Slacker

So I broke my promise and went a month without blogging. eeeeek. I can feel the cobwebs beginning to form upon my page and the faint musty smell attics get setting in. Keeping a blog is like a relationship, you have to give it a lot of attention, only good thing about this is it can't get mad and break up with you when you've been a bit neglectful, in my defense I haven't really got anything out of this online love besides a few giggles to myself ;)

Fear no more, I'm back in action (and in a routine) so I will actually have purpose and structure in life again, I did enjoy my month off though. I realized ( Just at this moment) that, that was my LAST winter break ever, ew, I will be soon in the working world with no vacation in sight, yay mee!

COMING TOMORROW, the best and worst new years resolution, my new years resolution. Even though we're 8 days in, its never too late!

And, you are going to want to hang me by my toe nails and beat me with a wet noodle when you find out I have not started my 5K training...erm tomorrow morning it is :)

Catch ya on the flip side.

Cam 

Superwoman-In-Training :)

Holiday Season=Calories Don't Count so indulge in this blissfulness

As promised…

Cranberry Bliss Bars, these are even better than Starbucks’ because you can make them anytime of the year instead of dreading January when they are ripped away from you AND you don’t have to look like the crazy cat lady buying 6 boxes of them all at once.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup grated orange zest

Icing

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 TBSP grated orange zest
2 tsp vanilla

            Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly butter an 11x15 inch jelly-roll pan or rimmed baking sheet. (You can use one that looks a little too thin because they’ll come out perfect, I Used a deeper glass dish so they were a bit thicker than I would have liked)

 In large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until smooth.  Whisk in the flour, baking powder and salt until well blended, then stir in the white chocolate chips, 1 1/2 cup chopped cranberries and 1/4 cup orange zest. ( I never measure I just throw it in, put however much you like )  

Spread mixture evenly in the prepared pan (You may need to throw your elbow into it, don’t worry that’s normal!)  and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 22 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside on a wire rack to cool. Depending on your oven this time could vary, so check periodically. My oven took about 30 minutes.

When the bars are cooled thoroughly, prepare the frosting and spread over the baked layer.

Melt the white chocolate, stirring until smooth.  Drizzle the white chocolate over the bars and let stand until set

Cut the bars into 3 inch squares and then diagonally into triangles. 
Makes about 48 bars (depending on how big you cut them )

Icing

In a small bowl cream together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, orange zest, and vanilla with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and fluffy

To sprinkle over the top: In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 2 TBSP orange zest, and 1/2 cup dried cranberries, sprinkle over frosting.

I think I’ve ate my body weight in these, so beware the whole “I’m not going to eat the whole pan” deal won’t work here! Temptation will get ya… 

Cam 

Superwoman-In-Training :)

Whats Senior Year without Senioritis?

So I’ve done exactly what I said it wouldn’t do!—slacked off! Not only on my blogging and keeping you up to date on my goals…I’ve only really completed one of them. I know, I know shame on me but everyday life got in the!

Senioritis is definitley in full swing, in every part of my life, I mean, I am just finishing up my last fall quarter EVER in college…eek! I just turned in my graduation application, HELLO rest of my life J

But back to business. I am going to be REAL honest about what I have and haven’t done. Because I believe honesty is key.

1)      I only made my bed for 2 days after I set that goal for myself. I actually was more rushed because I was staying up late! But I did realized how awesome my bed looks made so I am going to re-goal this to myself at the beginning of next quarter because In 2 days I’m going home for Christmas break and will only have a futon and really no place to be. So that one is going to need a  re-do.  And of course the pup is scratching herself right in the middle of my picture!

2)      So one thing I do (yay!) was teach myself how to knit, with the combination of those books and multiple YouTube videos, I will post those later when I’ve finished a few more so I can show you what I’m talking about. But in the mean time look what I’ve made so far

3)      So I’m going to disappoint you again, I haven’t started training for my 5K yet, but I am starting today! I just have to find the app on my iPod for it and away I will go! Hopefully I can make it through the first day. I have been going to the gym more frequently, but I am going to be in full 5k training now that finals are almost over and I’ll have all the time in the world. Next quarter, I have 2 fitness classes so that won’t be hard to stay in shape!

There’s an update, more to come AND do you love the cranberry bliss bars from Starbucks, but hate that they are only around end of November to January? Well I’ve got the perfect recipe for them coming up tomorrow J

Cam 

Superwoman-In-Training :)

目標m,doel,цель,objetivo,هدف

Goals, goals, goals, goals. 

In all different languages--still means the same thing

Thinking to myself the past few days in my craziness called everyday life, I decided I need to set some goals for myself, for no particular reason. Everyone makes goals for new years--which they usually never keep or they make goals that are unattainable and so they go unnoticed, forgotten. 

Why not make goals, just to make you feel good about yourself! Setting goals for no reason at all (and accomplishing them) can be the best endorphin release. 

Little goals are key, if you're a working mother, a busy student or you just need a pick me up, accomplishing goals can be just what you need to make some sunshine on a rainy day.

So here are goals I've set for myself in the near future:

Start a Couch to 5k plan

• Sign up for a 5k in February or March ( so I have enough time to actually work up the stamina to complete it) I hate running, so this should be good
• I know that I want to do the Warrior dash next July but that's so far, I'll be REALLY in shape for that :) 

Make my bed every morning

• Yes, seems so easy and trivial, but I usually don't go to bed early enough-which leads to not getting up early enough to get ready, get henna taken care of, make my bed and eat breakfast and get coffee, all before class at 9. So this is more than just making my bed, its reshaping my routine and getting out of this vicious cycle.  

Learn how to knit flower headbands to make for Christmas presents 

• I want to make all different colors and flowers to match all the special ladies in my life, plus hand making things if you have the time is cheaper, and more personal because you did it yourself.

Like this :)

I've already started my research by going to the Ellensburg public library and checking out some books (LOVE the library, I am going to be utilizing that more often) 

So here we go for my goals! 

I need to: 

• Find a 5K to run 
• Read up on Knitting and buy knitting needles
• MAKE MY BED tomorrow morning

...better get going on all this so I can accomplish these AND make more :)

Stay tuned for updates on my progress

Cam 

Superwoman-In-Training :)

Bring on the Waterworks!

So as a BIG fan of onions, garlic, anything hot enough to make your eyes water and other assorted foods that make you cry (and or smell funny...totally worth it though!)  I knew there has to be something to make it easier on the consumer of these not-so-nice to your eye foods--Main exhibit ONIONS

 I mean everything has a shortcut these days right? Like remote vacuum's (like pushing one is so hard), Clappers (get up and turn off the light) and the beer helmet (because holding 2 beers would be so hard, gotta have at least one hand free for activities) 


SIDENOTE: since I've gone a total tangent already check this website out 19 Clever Inventions That Make Life Easier it's hilarious, I can't choose which is my favorite but I do love Crime Scene Towel and Banana Guard




Okay...enough back to the Onions!


I've discovered that if you chew peppermint gum while you're cutting the most potent of onions, your eyes don't water! 


You can cut an entire onion and not shed one tear (that will leave more for other occasions!). Now you actually have to chew pretty frequently, when I tested this theory today I found myself chewing faster if you feel the burn start to come on. I really hope you got a mental picture of me this afternoon cooking... Whether or not that actually helps I don't know, but that's where YOU come in because I might just be a weirdo who goes through too much Orbit when I cook! 


Try it out--Please let me know if it works for you, if it does, it's a lifesaver! 

Cam 

Superwoman-In-Training :)