Muldoon Memos

I haven't been doing a great job listening to my body this last month and have consumed all too much sugar and fatty carbs, so I'm consciously making a few healthier options this week. Here are a few recipes I'm going to try! Breakfast: Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Cups  (I haven't tried them yet, but while they were baking Scott said twice, "That smells so good! ". edited to add: no flavor. Even with so much cinnamon, they tasted like... nothing? It was weird. ) & random smoothie concoctions (I always use greek yogurt, ice, milk/juice, a banana and whatever fruit I have -- sometimes I add peanut butter or chia seeds). Lunch: leftovers or ham+cheese+lettuce wrap Dinner: Hamburger Soup   (edit: made for dinner--- delicious!) , Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potatoes , Chicken Pesto Vegetables + Pasta , and these Mexican Quinoa Wraps Any suggestions on other types of protein/meat? I pretty much alternate between chicken and hamburger... with shrimp once every...

Do you make New Years Resolutions? I haven't made a real resolution in a few years... all that pressure, I always lose steam by about January 3rd. I do take time to reflect on the year and what went well and what could be better; then I try to create a few focus words or phrases to help usher in the new year. Of course, some years I've forgotten my words by February, but other times they've been a consistent reminder. This year I used Canva to create an image with my phrases to use as my computer background for awhile or maybe my phone background later. It's a super easy program, so I may end up changing how it looks as the year goes on. We'll see. Maybe my biggest accomplishment of 2017 is improving my relationship with my body. I feel more confident, less obsessed with the # on the scale, less obsessed with food in general. I am stronger. I am healthier. I am better at listening to my body. . . . but I am still horrible at drinking water. Like, I'm lu...

My Top 5: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon Girls on the Edge by Leonard Sax Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson Salt to the Sea by Ruth Sepetys The Girl Before by JP Delaney This list has a few more I forgot about!

I obviously love fiction, especially YA (so I can recommend current books to my students!), but I switch things up occasionally with non-fiction. I know I'll read at least 25 books, so this is my starting place! Any other recommendations?

Currently I'm... eating: a few gummi worms from the 5 POUND bag my Secret Santa gifted to me this morning. thinking: that I'm glad there are 12 days of Christmas because we haven't even watched a single Christmas movie yet! Still on our list: Frosty the Snowman (the original), the claymation Rudolph, the Mickey Christmas one on Netflix, Love Actually, Elf, and Home Alone! What are your Christmas favorites? feeling: A bit overwhelmed with the speed of Advent and the fact I'm working through Friday afternoon. I have about 50 essays to grade by Thursday... and then 110 finals to grade by Friday... Plus some Christmas baking and a little bit of last minute wrapping to attempt #wishmeluck drinking: a room temperature Diet Coke planning: how to spend the $1,000 Scott won from a radio contest yesterday!! (And a PS4 + some CDs). I want to save it actually, but Scott wants to spend it. So maybe we'll compromise in the middle. hoping: to make it to Jazzercise ever...

ONE. I just finished Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, and I loved it. As Google said, "Maddy is a smart, curious, and imaginative 18-year-old who is unable to leave the protection of the hermetically-sealed environment within her house because of an illness. Olly is the boy next door who won't lett hat stop them from being together. Gazing through the windows and talking only through texts and emails, Maddy and Olly form a deep bond that leads them to risk everything to be together, even if it means losing everything." Maddy is so well-developed as she expresses her feelings as she falls in love for the first time.... but be ready for a shocker at the end. TWO. When spaghetti squash and zoodles because all the rage, I stupidly tried them as an actual noodle substitute, like with pasta sauce. Both grossed me out, so I though I disliked it. A few months ago I decided to try again, and I found some great recipe go-tos! Like Mexican Spaghetti Squash . It's...