I hope you are still on that New Year high that so many of us experience. You know what I’m talking about. It is where you feel like this is going to be the best year ever. You are filled with hope and the sense that blessings are around the corner. You are feeling focused and organized and like the best version of yourself. Your resolutions seem 100% doable and you’ve already started working on your New Year goals. We are less than 10 days in to 2015 so I hope you are still feeling all of that. I have to say that I am. I feel like 2015 will be a great year in my life with many blessings and some new accomplishments.
But before we dive into all the good that 2015 has in-store, there is a bit of old business that I need to take care of. You may have read that overall I was a bit disappointed in 2014 so I really don’t want to spend a lot of time taking care of 2014 business. However, this bit of old news should be fun. You may remember a blog post I wrote around this time last year about how I planned to document how God was blessing me throughout the year. I created two jars. A Joy Jar that would hold all of the things that gave me Joy through out the year. A Faith Jar that would hold all of the things that I prayed thanking God in advance for during the year.
Now let me start off by saying this project was not a 100% success because I did not stick to it. I started off strong with writing my notes regularly and depositing them in the jars. Then I feel off. I would randomly remember at different times during the year and then quickly forget about it. As you can see from the picture the jars are not nearly as full as they should be. I know I prayed more and experienced more joy than what is documented in the jars.
On the bright side the Jars are not empty. As this really was a personal project I will not share all of my prayerful and joyful moments. But I will share a few highlights Here goes.
In the faith jar I wrote 31 notes for things that I prayed and thanked God for in advance. 15 Went back into the Jar because God blessings are not constrained by our calendar. Of the 31 notes the majority were for my mom’s health as she fights a long term illness ( 10). Seven (7) notes were related to marriage and me finding Mr. Joy Chaser. Three (3) were related to me wanting to lose weight. Other things that I prayed for included being happier, my dog, this blog, getting better with housework, improvements at my day job and some fitness goals. Notes that went back in the Jar as I wait on God’s blessings include the prayers for my mom, my future husband and children, my weight loss, and improvements at the day job.
The Joy Jar had more notes in it than the Faith Jar, a total of 42. The crazy and most surprising part of reading the entries from the joy jar is that the topic that had the most entries was fitness (9). Clearly I was getting a lot of joy from working out and accomplishing fitness goals. This tells me I really need to get back in the gym. The next two topics with the most entries were related to my mom or time with friends. Being with people gives me joy. Ranking 3rd of the topics that gave me Joy in 2014 was the guy I was dating at the beginning of the year. Finding Mr. Joy Chaser needs to stay a priority because I can gain a lot of joy from being romantically involved. Tied for fourth place, blogging and my birthday weekend also gave me much joy. Other entries in the Joy jar included my dog hurt, my nieces and nephews, my hair, getting of work early, finding parking, having safe travels, weight loss, and the way the light comes through my bedroom windows.
Now as I stated I did not stick with the Jar project most of the time. I prayed way more than 31 times asking for God’s help and I definitely had more than 42 joyful experiences. But even this small sampling shows me very clearly the things that are important to me (my mom, my health, finding love) and the things that give me the most joy (getting fit, time with friends and my mom, romance, blogging, and my birthday). It made me feel really good to remember the moments that gave me joy last year. I will be doing this Jar project again for 2015.
That’s it for old business. On to the new!
The Pinterest Project!!!! I have really been enjoying Pinterest the last few weeks. So much so that I have over 1,300 Pins. But what’s the point of collecting all of these images? Once I hit Pin would I even look at them again? Thanks to the Pinterest Project the answer is yes. The Pinterest Project is a year long project where I will bring a Pin to life. Every week for 2015 I will take at least one pin and attempt to include it in my real life. It could be doing my take on a recipe, shopping for or putting together an outfit that I’ve pinned, Doing a pinned exercise routine, following a pinned organization strategy, or doing a craft that I’d pinned. I will share the Pin and my results here on the blog. You can find me on Pinterest here and follow the Pinterest Project board as well.
First up on the Pinterest Project is Pizzetti! Pizzetti is a Pizzza casserole made from Spaghetti. I did my take on it this weekend. I made it low carb by swapping out the spaghetti noodles for zucchini noodles aka zoodles. I also mixed in garlic, Italian seasoning, mini pepperoni, and some extra sharp cheddar cheese into the zoodles before layering the pepperoni on the top and bottom. Other than those changes, I basically stuck to the recipe from the Pin.
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| From top to bottom: Zoodles mixed in a bowl with mini pepperoni, extra shap cheddar, garlic, and italian seasoning. The zoodles, motzerella, sauce, and pepperoni layered in the pan before going into the oven. The ingredients. |
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| My finished Pizzetti on the left and the Pinned Image on the Right! |
It came out really good and I plan to make it again. Especially as I work on decreasing my carb intake. Definitely a Pinterest Win!!!
That sums up the old business and introduces the new business. Did you do Joy Jars or some other project to count your blessings and capture your Joy last year? If so where you surprised by any trends? Are you on Pinterest? If so do you actually do any of the Pins in real life?
i love that you are moving onto new business in 2015…may it bring you much joy!!