Awkward Kitchen

Sometimes I wish my husband would go on work travel.

Okay, that’s really not true.

The ONLY reason I wish he’d go on work travel? Anna food. Husband and I enjoy 99% of the same foods. The 1% of difference comes from his willingness to try animal organs (no thank you), eat rabbits (I had a pet bunny), and his love of SPICY food. The food that I crave, normally, is much simpler than what my husband likes. He loves to cook when it means HOURS in the kitchen and a HUGE spread at the end. When he cooks like that, he enjoys my help but is also just as happy to do it on his own.

My husband seems to excel at everything he tries for the first time. And he’s SO MUCH FASTER than me. I tend to get a little harried when other people are around and find that prep/cooking times need to have at least 50% added on to them to accommodate my pace.

I am getting better and I’m trying to encourage myself to feel more comfortable. My husband has NEVER been negative or hurried me. He is a wonderful encourager in the kitchen. But, I’m just not good at not being good at something. 🙂 I’m quite the perfectionist.

Lately, husband has taken the back seat in meal planning and let me take more control. I really love planning meals and now I get to run with it. Somehow, this makes me feel more comfortable. I’ve been coming up with lists of ideas for meals and discussing them with him. We pick our favorites and he lets me take the lead in the kitchen. I’m still unsure sometimes, but I’m definitely getting more confident in the kitchen. 

And, I’m actually really looking forward to cooking this week. Since I’m the one suggesting the meals, I know I won’t suggest something I’m not comfortable fixing. Here’s to slowly expanding my comfort levels in the kitchen.

Oh, and if husband wants animal innards for dinner he will always have to fix those for himself!

 

Are you/were you ever uncomfortable in the kitchen? What helped you?

Welcome, 2011!

Does anyone else keep accidentally typing 2001 instead of 2011? It’s like my fingers know they need to repeat a number, but they’re definitely still more used to repeating 00 as opposed to 11!

Post-Tapas feasting, Hubs and I posted up on the couch and had a wonderful, relaxing New Year’s Eve. This pretty much sums it up.

I felt moderately like an old lady reading , watching football, painting my nails, and relaxing instead of being out and about but it was a nice change of pace. It was also wonderful to wake up without a hangover!

Okay, so it’s 2011 and I’ve got some resolutions to share!

1) Re-introduce weights. I love weight training, I love being and feeling strong. It’s time to start lifting weights again and incorporating that into my work out routine.

2) Run a half marathon. Yes, there, I put it in writing. This is going to be a serious challenge for me. Weight lifting will be key in this as will a good training plan. One of my co-workers and friends, Thea, will be helping me develop a plan. Any ideas, tips, tricks are welcome! As a part of this goal/resolution, I am aiming to run at least 3 (but ideally 5) races of various lengths before my half. I aim to run the half sometime in late summer; currently, I have my eye on this race. More on this soon!

3) Vary my reading. I read a lot. I finished 62 books in 2010 and read almost 24,000 pages. I want to read more non-fiction and more classics this year. I know that might lower the number of books I finish (cause nothing reads as fast as generic fiction) but as long as I stay over 50 books I’m good to go! If you want to follow along or check out what I’m reading, add me as a friend on Goodreads!

4) Write letters. I love getting mail – the worst thing is that most of the mail I get is in the form of bills. No one really likes bills. So, I’m trying to put some snail mail out there. I know I have quite a few friends out there too who would love to see a letter or postcard as opposed to a bill in their mailbox. (Do you want a letter? Send me your address! annathamlin@gmail.com)

5) Get student loans under $X. I have a certain goal in mind. I won’t share it here because money is weird like that. But let’s just say that this is a serious part of my plan to get my loans paid off by my 27th birthday (June 2012).

6) Cook! Hubs and I got a TON of cook books as wedding presents. One of my aunts even threw us a recipe shower. I’m at a point where cooking and baking are enjoyable. They relax me and more often than not, the results are pretty tasty. I’m proud of finally knowing what’s up in the kitchen (to an extent) and I’m looking forward to expanding my abilities!

7) Stop wasting time. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve wasted in life – staring at the computer, refreshing facebook status feeds, updating twitter, watching tv shows I don’t even care about. I want to start consciously using my time. I know I can do so much more – cooking, reading, working out, spending quality time with Hubs, the hound,  my friends, etc. if I’m not wasting away with a computer in my lap or my eyes glued to the tv.

So, there you have it! This is what I want to do in 2011. What are your goals and resolutions?