this little life of mine

I'm back on eBay selling more of my crap really cool stuff including jewelry (rings, earrings, necklaces, pins and bracelets), a couple more Torrid tops, books, purses, a vintage Gunne Sax dress and a faux fur coat. Check it out here!!

A meme I've probably done before, but decided to do again. (Stolen Borrowed from Bozoette Mary.)

Today is the Great American Smoke Out– the day smokers are encouraged to quit smoking for one day. Years and years ago – it was either the first or second year of the Smoke Out, '77 or '78, I can't remember now – I asked my dad to please quit smoking just for one day. He did, and never smoked another cigarette in his life. He smoked a pipe occasionally, but not too often. I have no idea if it was hard for him to quit. He never complained to me anyway. Then again, I was a little kid, so he probably wouldn’t have complained to me anyway.

As for me, I foolishly started smoking at 16. I’ve quit off and of many times since then, but last Friday I quit for good. I mean it this time. I'm done with cigarettes. For reals. And, in celebration of quitting, I came up with a list of thirteen good reasons to quit smokingand to never smoke again:

1.     You’ll be healthier. It’s been proven that once you stop smoking, your lungs start to become healthier. Eventually, you will have lungs as good as a nonsmoker.

2.     The air smells fresher and cleaner.

3.     Food tastes better.

4.     You – your clothes, your hair, your breath - won’t stink.

5.     Your house – your carpets, sofas, draperies, etc. - won’t stink. And your walls won’t be discoloured either!

6.     Your car won’t stink – if you smoke in your car, that is. And there’s less chance of you starting a wildfire by throwing your cigarette out the window!

7.     You’ll be more active. I find I can do more cardio now with less wheezing and coughing than before.

8.     You’ll be prettier (or more handsome). No more nasty yellow nicotine stains on your fingers or your teeth!

9.     The world will be a better place without all the second-hand smoke polluting the air and all the nasty cigarette butts on the streets, beaches, parks, etc.

10.    You’ll sleep better. Fewer coughing fits waking you up at night!

11.    You’ll save money.

12.    More people will like you. I'm just guessing here, but there are more nonsmokers than smokers out there.

13.    One positive healthy change will lead to many more! Since I'm feeling so much better and feel empowered by kicking this bad habit, I'm going full force into losing weight!

Since I'm still recovering from a nasty cold/flu-thing and my mom just suffered a relapse of the same thing, I decided to make some homemade chicken noodle soup for us. It was a lot of work - more work than I thought it would be - but it was all worth it because it was so good!

The recipe is out of my all-time favourite cook book Eating for Life by Bill Phillips. I love this cookbook for many reasons: first and foremost, there are tons of super easy, truly delicious recipes! I've tried nearly every recipe in this book at least once - some of them I've done many, many times (Just check out all the stickies in the picture below!). Second, I love the large, full-colour pictures of the finished dish. Most cookbooks just print the recipe and cooking instructions without a picture, but I really need a visual to decide if it's something I want to try. Third, another great visual that helps me out, is the picture of the ingredients included on some of the recipes, including the soup I made tonight. Here's what I mean:

And, finally, the best thing about this cookbook, is that every single recipe in it is 100% healthy! You don't have to lower the amout of salt or replace a fatty ingredient with a low-fat alternative, because it's already done for you. This book is a no-brainer, and that's what I like best about it!