Happy New Year!

Hi foodie friends, Happy New Year!

I know it's been quiet over here for a few months but I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season. After a bit of a sabbatical, I wanted to surface again and to give a little update. 

So, Mr. Max and I said I Do in December and we have been slowly but surely settling back into a normal routine after wedding, honeymoon and holiday travels. Cooking new meals and using all of the fun kitchen-related wedding gifts has certainly been a treat! Last year was truly wonderful for us and we are thankful for the blessings bestowed, we are very excited to see what 2013 has in store for us.

As the new year is now in full swing, so are many new beginnings and goal-setting opportunities. Instead of making resolutions each year, I look at the facets of life that make me whole: physical, emotional, spiritual, educational, professional, financial, recreational, etc. I like to try to create a goal that will challenge me on all of these levels to help me continue to grow and thrive.

This year, my goals include:

Physical: I dabbled in yoga since 2010, hoarding Groupons to try a place for a month, then go on to the next place. In the spring of 2012, both Mr. Max and I made a commitment to the practice by joining a yoga studio. I hit 50 classes after 5 months but then tapered off of it. This year, and with 12 months ahead of me, I'd like to do 200 classes for the year and complete one of the monthly challenges my studio offers. 

Spiritual: Mr. Max and I both grew up with church as a large focus. We both participated in youth group, youth choir, mission trips, sunday school, confirmation classes and at some point, we both attended parochial school. We happened to fall into the same pattern once we left for college where we didn't stay disciplined to continue that on our own. Since college, we have gone to church here and there, but in our marriage counseling, we both identified that as the #1 area for growth that we feel we need as a couple. My aunt gave us a daily devotional book for the year and my goal is for us to complete that book, and to get involved in our church whether it is a bible study or a Sunday school class. Our schedules vary, I end up working a lot of weekends and we sometimes miss church, but I would like to actively strengthen my spirituality through prayer, fellowship and devotion in this new year.

Emotional: This goal is one that goes hand-in-hand with my spiritual goal. I would like to become more emotionally self-disciplined, learning to focus my thought process on God's perspective. I want to challenge myself to think more before I react and pray for patience so that I can be a better wife, daughter, sister, friend, and colleague. I will use my spiritual goal through our daily devotions to hear His word, praying for patience and perspective in all areas of life. I will also choose affirmations for myself and for my husband to repeat often. For myself, they will be phrases that I can focus on to get back on track if I start to feel overwhelmed or impatient. One I have said for years is Let Go and Let God; I tend to have a need to plan and take control of a situation, but this year my challenge is to let go of those urges and listen for His direction to anchor me again. For my husband, I want to affirm him daily in some way. Whether it is in action or speech, I want him to feel affirmed in love, support, guidance, trust, and decision-making.

Educational: This year, Mr. Max and I have a travel goal. Since that one is categorically ambiguous, I thought I could just classify it here. There are some places that we want to go, see and experience together. I hope to become educated on foods, wines, history, culture and more through our travels.

Financial: I didn't do a very good job at learning to live within my means as a single girl with a non-profit job in a fun city and this inherent want for pretty things. Mr. Max had a sit down with me last May and we've been working together on this little by little. In 2013, I would like a full year of paying of my credit card in full each month while also putting away a certain percentage into savings. This will be a challenge for me but something I should have learned a long time ago.

Professional: I would like to challenge myself this year to grow and become a more well-rounded professional to help achieve the vocational ambition that I seek. This one is short and sweet, a little vague, but not something I am not ready to expand on fully because I'm still working to grasp exactly what it means for me.

Finally, we come to Recreational: This is the area of life that makes up whatever I do when I'm not working. The part of life that helps give balance by way of a hobby. Well, for the past four years, cooking and keeping up this blog has been a big hobby for me. However, this year Kate's Cure for the Common Cuisine will re-brand and be a little different going forward to grow with me, as a writer and as a person. In the next month or so, you will be introduced to a new site focusing on more domestikated posts (see what I did there?!) that will not solely focus on food. I started this blog in 2010 as a way to share healthier recipe alternatives on my journey to better nutrition and learning to cook with my favorite sous chef. While there is still much more to come out of our kitchen, there is other content I'd like to be able to share with the help of some fantastic guest-blogger friends.

Whew! Well, that about sums it all up! Starting this year, I will post my monthly F&F (fitness & food) calendar. This is a tool I started using in February of 2012 when I took part in a healthy living challenge. By mapping it all out, it helped keep me on track. I took the Microsoft Word calendar template and just filled it all in, noting days I had events or meetings that I would need to be conscious of. You can see my January calendar below! Note, I usually don't plan out Fridays and Saturday meals, leaving those flexible.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
		1	2 5:45 PM - Metal/Fire Progression Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Work meeting - Chinese Turkey Chili Taco Soup	3 6:00 AM – Wood 60 OR Cardio and Weights PM – Haircut Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Turkey Chili Taco Soup Quinoa/Shrimp Lettuce Wraps	4 6:00 AM – Cardio and weights Cotton Bowl Game	5 9:15 AM – Yoga Earth Class
6  Cardio and Weights Meals: Eggs, wheat toast Protein Smoothie Bnut Squash Chicken Spaghetti bake	7 5:45 PM Metal-Earth Progression OR 6:20 Metal 60 Meals: Protein Smoothie Chicken spaghetti Blackned salmon/veggies	8 6:00 AM – Earth 60 Meeting PM Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Spaghetti squash with chicken Fiesta flank steak salad	9 6:00 AM – Cardio and abs Meeting PM Meals: Protein Smoothie Fiesta flank steak Salad Meeting - Italian food	10 6:00 AM – Wood 60 Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Chicken/spinach wrap Skinny Chckn Parm with spaghetti squash	11 6:00 AM – Cardio and weights 6:00 PM – Central Market Cooking Class	12 12:00 PM – Metal 60
13  Cardio and Weights Meals: Eggs, wheat toast Protein Smoothie Tortilla Soup	14 Meeting PM Meals: Protein Smoothie Tortilla Soup and salad Pot roast	15 6:00 AM – Earth 60 5:45 PM – Body Works Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Pot roast Turkey Lettuce Wraps	16 6:00 AM – Cardio and abs 5:45 PM - Metal/Fire Progression Meals: Protein Smoothie Turkey Lettuce Wraps Veggie Ribbons/ Salmon	17 6:00 AM – Wood 60 Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Chicken/Spinach wrap Lasagna roll ups	18 6:00 AM – Cardio and weights 5:45 PM – Wood-Metal Progression	19 9:15 AM – Yoga Earth Class
20  Cardio and Weights Meals: Eggs, wheat toast Protein Smoothie Turkey Chili	21 5:45 PM Metal-Earth Progression OR 6:20 Metal 60 Meals: Protein Smoothie Turkey Chili Chicken Caprese with Spaghetti squash	22 6:00 AM – Earth 60 5:45 PM – Body Works Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Chicken/spag squash Brisket/veggies	23 6:00 AM –  Cardio and abs 5:45 PM - Metal/Fire Progression Meals: Protein Smoothie Brisket/veggies Butternut squash penne	25 6:00 AM – Wood 60 Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Butternut squash penne Black bean enchiladas	25 6:00 AM – Cardio and weights 5:45 PM – Wood-Metal Progression	26 12:00 PM – Metal 60
27  Cardio and Weights Meals: Eggs, wheat toast Protein Smoothie Butternut Squash Soup and fig/gouda grilled cheese	28 5:45 PM Metal-Earth Progression OR 6:20 Metal 60 Meals: Protein Smoothie Bnut squash soup/ salad Quinoa/black bean bowl	29 6:00 AM – Earth 60 5:45 PM – Body Works Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Quinoa/black bean bowl Asian stir-fry & salmon	30 6:00 AM – Cardio and abs 5:45 PM - Metal/Fire Progression Meals: Protein Smoothie Salad Beef Kabobs & Veggies	31 6:00 AM – Wood 60 Meals: Whole Grain Cereal Salad Chicken pesto pasta

Tastefully yours,