busy days.

i promise i'm still alive and keeping up my happiness project... in one way or another. the fact is, i've added a couple new projects to my life, one of which is very time-consuming.  i'm playing the role of sister mary leo in theatre albany's production of "nunsense." i am SO excited about this show. it's my biggest casting so far in my life. i've never had so much to learn for a show- lines, singing, and choreography. we've been practicing for 2.5 weeks now and it's coming along! we open sept 14th, though, so the next few weeks are going to be exhausting!!! i have practice every night except wednesday and saturday.  john has band til 6:30 almost every night and my rehearsals start at 7:00, so we haven't seen much of each other during the week. i've tried to be a good wife a couple times and make dinner for him that I could leave on the stove and he could reheat when he got home. me, i've just been eating lot of graham crackers- my latest food obsession!! after labor day i start working with the kids at church after school again and that's going to be really tough. i find that job very draining. there will be two weeks of working 7:15 AM-5:45 PM, then onto play practice @ 7:00 PM until who knows how late.... only on monday and tuesdays though!

the other "project" i've taken on is the albany run/walk club. it's a running group that trains for a half or full marathon using the jeff galloway program. read more here: www.jeffgalloway.com. the last two meetings with arw i ran with a pace group that does 30 seconds of walking and 30 seconds of running. the first week i struggled, but last week i did fine. we did a one mile warm-up, then did our "magic mile." the magic mile is when you individually run a mile as quickly as you can, at about 80% of your maximum effort. i finished the mile is 13 min 14 seconds... pretty slow, but i am proud of it! after the magic mile, we ran/walked another mile for a cool-down. this week we will run 4 miles. the goal is to run the snicker half-marathon in march, but i haven't decided if i'm brave enough for that yet.  last saturday after running, my mom and i went down to thomasville to a real running store where they did an assessment of my feet and running style and fit me in some shoes that should help. i'm doing my first solo run in them this afternoon. you're supposed to run twice during the week before running with the group on saturday. i want to make my runs in the morning, but they'd have to be at like 5:00 AM and that's a hard pill to swallow. i may try it tomorrow though. the afternoons in south ga are just too hot for running, most of the time.

i look forward to updating you more soon about my performances in nunsense and running with ARW!

harmonica happenings.

one of my "resolutions towards happiness" is going back to something i started a LONG time ago, but gave up- playing the harmonica! when i was 10 or 11 i found this book and tape we had called "country and blues harmonica for the musically hopeless." i started going through the lessons and was getting pretty good for an eleven-year-old! then my family heard me and said i was getting good, so... i quit! i'm not sure what was wrong with 11-year-old me, but i guess i had problems doing things that pleased my dad??? so anyway, the point of this blog post is to say that i found an updated version of the same book on amazon today. it now comes with a cd instead of a cassette tape, thank goodness. i ordered an inexpensive harmonica in the key of C, so i will be ready to go once my book gets here!!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0930948181/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

links.

it only makes sense that i would post the link to gretchen rubin's happiness project! so, here goes:

http://happiness-project.com/

i'm currently reading another book that i'm hoping will help me maximize my life. it's called "168 hours: you have more time than you think." i first heard about it on the podcast "tranquility du jour." it's great and has some really applicable ideas to help you get the most out of the 168 hours we each have per week.

http://lauravanderkam.com/books/168-hours/

new recipes

one of my resolutions is/will be to try new recipes. i've been doing this for awhile, since i moved in with john. one we have liked is ranch chicken. i found it on pinterest. it's basically like corn flake chicken, if you've had that, except with a packet of dry ranch dressing seasoning in the corn flake coating. john likes it a lot.

ranch chicken:
chicken breasts (i used 2 large breasts cut into 4 pieces)
corn flakes
1 package of dry ranch dressing mix
parmesan cheese
butter

crumble a couple cups of corn flakes in a bowl, mix in the package of ranch dressing (i don't use the whole package, because it's a little salty), and about 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese. dip each chicken breast into melted butter, then the cornflake mixture, and lay them in a prepared baking dish. pour the leftover cornflake mixture and butter over the chicken. bake for about 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven, or until cooked through.
(obviously this is not an exact science for me. you get the idea.)

the new recipe i tried tonight was feta & spinach croissants. it's basically exactly what it says- except there is mozzarella cheese in there with the spinach and feta. the recipe made way more than we needed, so next time i will cut it in half. 

2 rolls of pillsbury crescent rolls

4 0z crumbled feta cheese

4 oz mozzarella cheese

3 oz fresh spinach

1 egg white

chop the spinach. mix it with the cheeses in a bowl. roll out the crescent rolls and separate into triangles. put a small amount of the cheese/spinach mixture at the big end of the crescent roll and roll it up towards the small end. brush egg white on the top of each stuffed roll. bake them on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

i really liked this recipe, but i'm a sucker for carbs, especially when incorporated with cheese! they used to have these appetizers already made in the freezer section at publix and i would get them and eat them for dinner! they stopped making them, so now i'm glad i have this recipe!

bon appetit!

my happiness project

i think i may have found a reason to bring my blog back to life. i just finished reading a book called "the happiness project." in the book, the author, Gretchen Rubin, tries to find more happiness in her life by resolving to make improvements in 11 different areas. she chose several specific resolutions to do in each of the 11 areas. she focused on one area each month. by the 12th month, she was attempting to keep all of her resolutions going at one time. 

so, inspired by her, i'm developing my own "happiness project." i haven't put it all down exactly the way it will happen, yet. she suggests beginning by answers a set of questions. here are the questions and my answers:

1. What makes you feel good? What gives you joy, energy, and fun?

• shopping
• reading a good book
• writing letters
• spending time with good friends
• getting ready for and going on a date
• playing piano (i think? sometimes i wonder if this really makes me happy or it SHOULD make me happy)
• singing karaoke (ALONE!)
• new journals/paper
• craft supplies
• pictures of loved ones and fun times
• laying on the beach
• taking trips
• cooking good meals/trying new recipes
• laughing
• learning about strange religions/cults
• listening to interesting podcasts
• makeup

• blogging (when i'm feeling quirky and funny)

  2. what makes you feel bad? what brings you anger, guilt, boredom, dread?

• playing endless games of spider solitaire
• too much time on fb & pinterest
• having a dirty house
• all the work left to do at my house
• sitting on the couch all day
• sleeping too late
• clutter
• co-workers
• not having friends
• classes of bad students
• boring music lessons
• ffgo & tt
• never exercising
• eating too much junk 

3. what makes you feel right? what values do you want your life to reflect?

• journaling
• having a relationship with God
• not watching too much tv
• eating dinner at the table without the tv on
• not being a lazy sloth
• having money in my savings account
• to volunteer (possibly with something involving type 1 diabetes)

4. how can you build an atmosphere of growth-where you learn, explore, build, teach, help?

• have a space to be creative
• turn off the tv and computer
• read more
• have the confidence to make friends
• create a peacful bedroom
• learn french
• study piano/take piano lessons
• learn to play the harmonica

these are just some random ideas i came up with. i still have to develop more specific resolutions. one of the main things gretchen did in her happiness project was to have a chart where she checked off day by day if she was meeting her resolutions. that seemed to help her a lot, and when i've done similar things, the tangible chart helped me too. so, i will be developing that too. 


here are some of my resolution ideas:

1. read everyday
2. make friends
3. plan a weekly date night
4. try 2 new recipes a week
5. eliminate spider solitaire from my life
6. limit time online
7. don't let housework pile up
8. finish all work at my house (lots to do here)
9. don't sleep past 10 on weekends
10. never spend more than __ hours on the couch
11. find ways to deal with clutter
12. be OVERLY friendly to co-workers
13. devote time and energy to planning new and creative lesson plans
14. have a better attitude about ffgo and tt
15. exercise __ days a week
16. re-start and keep up with weight watchers
17. never watch more than 2 hours of tv on weekdays
18. have a daily to-do list with completable tasks
19. save $100 a month
20. plan trips to visit megin & cynthia- and save money for those trips.

so i guess i need to post again before megin gets mad! 

well, i'm still in my happy wedding world. saturday we had our engagement pictures taken and they are AMAZING. they make me so happy. i have to look at the them every time I catch a glimpse of one on facebook. john even changed his profile picture to one of our photos. it's the first time i've been part of his profile picture and it makes me crazy happy. i can't wait to see the rest of the pictures when they're all finished. our house is going to be wall-papered in photos of us. (that's a joke.)

speaking of our house, we got a new grill at our first shower last friday!! we also got lots of other manly things. it was a "honey-do" shower for john, so he got yard tools and drills and stuff. the next shower if for me so that is exciting! we got our first call from place on the pointe this week to come pick up a gift. :)  so exciting. i love gifts. 

last night john and i were doing a chapter from the book we have to read for our marriage counseling. the questions were about our "living space." i have mixed feelings about moving into john's house. on one hand, i'm so excited! it's a new life and a fresh start and we'll have new things. i'll get to decorate and that will be exciting. on the other hand, i love living alone. i love that i'm the only one there and i don't have to please anyone. i can eat what i want, clean (or not clear) when i want, etc. 

i also started thinking about changing my name and i have similar feelings about that. on one hand it's exciting, but on the other, it's sad and seems super difficult. i like my name and my initials. scanling is not an easy name like coleman is. i'm going to have to spell it out for people all the time. my children at school can't even pronounce it correctly.  it would make some things really difficult if i didn't change my name to his though. and even though he doesn't admit it, i think he would be sad if i didn't. i have a new "S" keychain that i love though... so i'm excited about that part.

i'm alive.

well, since i'm pretty sure megin is going to delete me as a friend if i don't update... here goes. 

i'm getting married! john asked me to marry him on christmas eve. the ring was not what i expected but is beautiful! of course, john being the most romantic man in the world (please note sarcasm), he didn't have a proposal speech or get down on one knee.... but i love him and i would have said yes no matter what he did! i totally knew the proposal was coming and i was so nervous. 

anyway, the wedding is june 9th at the church i grew up in. megin, cynthia, kyle, and my sister, claire, are my bridesmaids. john has more groomsmen than i have bridesmaids, but since i have no friends, that makes sense. the colors for the wedding are green and brown and everything is going to be very natural. the reception is at the carnegie library downtown- it's an old building that is beautiful and historical. we're having a short engagement (thankfully) and that works for me because i'm a laid-back bride. i had to rush order my dress (and it's gorgeous, of course). i can't wait to see it again and try it on.  the bridesmaid's dresses are chocolate chiffon and they'll carry green hydrangea bouquets. my bouquet will be white/ivory. last weekend we took my niece harper to pick out her flower girl dress. it's so cute. it's ivory with a green sash. my nephew doesn't want to participate, so he's just going to seat my mom and sit down with her. i can't wait to see him in a tux though!!! to be honest with you, i'm way more excited about the ceremony than the reception. i'm anti-social, so i'd rather just get married and run off just to be with john and not have to talk to anyone else. the reception's just a cocktail party, though, so i will NOT be dancing while everyone looks on. awkward!!! my mom is taking care of so much for me and i'm so thankful because i hate calling people, and honestly i really don't care. we met with our friend deborah, who is going to basically coordinate and decorate the reception, so she knows what i want and that's that. 

after the wedding we're going on a cruise to the bahamas for a few days, then staying at a resort near cancun for a week. since we're both teachers, we have all of june to honeymoon :). i'm sure we'll spend the rest of the summer moving me in to john's house.

speaking of which.... living together is seeming like the biggest challenge! neither one of us is very good at compromise, but we're getting better. i definitely feel like the house is JOHN'S and not OURS. i hope that when i move my things in and start decorating, i can make it feel like it's my house too. he's agreed to change the paint color of two rooms and i'm basically redoing both of those rooms. his house is decorated much more formally than mine, so hopefully he's ok with a more relaxed style. also, he has no green in his house and that's my favorite color!! my freaking couch (which i'm selling) is green! speaking of selling... i'm so worried about selling my house. i've got to completely replace the carpeting because of the cat smell and make lots of other repairs before anyone else would consider living there. plus the market is ridiculous. there are so many houses for sale. i don't think i will sell it for the amount that i still owe on the loan. we might end up renting, but i really don't want to be a landlord, so hopefully we won't have to do that, at least not for very long. anyway, back to john's house. john has a dog named elton who is crazy. he has serious separation anxiety. he has to go to doggy daycare while john's at work. you would think that since i will be home more, elton wouldn't have to stay at doggy daycare as much... but it seems like he'll have to stay MORE since all he does is bark when i'm home alone with him and i kind of want to throw him in a closet. we had a breakthrough on saturday morning though. i was home alone with him. he did some barking for awhile, then he came and got on the couch with me, curled up and went to sleep. he didn't start barking again until i got up to do the laundry. 

so this is getting long... i hope this blog update is enough to appease megin. i will do my best to keep my blog up to date!!