Domesticated Latina

1.  Be realistic by setting achievable goals.  Not “I want to lose 50 lbs in one month.

2. Describe your resolutions in specific terms. Instead of "I don't want to be lazy," "Ill cut down on my tv watching."  “Ill wash dishes as soon as I’m finished eating”

3. Break down large goals into smaller ones. For instance, commit to losing weight by resolving to join a gym, eating more fruits and vegetables, not eating after 6:00 pm, walking at lunch, goals that are easier to attain and stick to.

4. Find alternatives to a behavior that you want to change, and make this part of your resolution plan. So you want to quit smoking but you smoked to relax yourself? What other forms of relaxation are available to you? Instead of lighting up, sit back close your eyes and daydream while chewing gum.

5. Set deadlines for when each step should be accomplished, and put them in your planner. This way you are committed to the goals, and they are part of your everyday life, not a crazy notion but an actual goal.

6. Plan out the steps you need to achieve your goals and write them down. Make them simple and easy to measure. I like to call it a plan of action

7. Above all, aim for things that are truly important to you, not what you think you ought to do or what others expect of you to do. If your not going want to do it, it’s not going happen. It has to be something you truly want to change.

Have you been using the same Christmas bulbs every year and are ready to change your theme? Maybe your ready to change your gold and red to silver and blue, or your silver and gold to silver and black. Whatever the case is what will you do with the old bulbs? Throw them away? God forbid you throw away perfectly good bulbs. Have no fear, The Domestic Diva has some really good ideals for recylcling your bulbs. On thing I hate to do is throw away something I can reuse or recycle. I am a strong beleiver of the 4 R's, recycle, reuse, restore and reinvent. so instead of filling our landfills up reuse them in new and creative decorations.

• White pillar candles, assorted sizes,
• Bleached beeswax beads (for melting)
• Double boiler or slow cooker
• Vegetable peeler or knife
• Crayons, in various colors
• Wooden spoon
• Taper candle
• Ceramic plate or baking sheet

Do you have a small place and don’t have room for a Christmas Tree? Or maybe your budget doesn’t allow for a big tree.  Well some of my fondest memories are when we had a small tree.  I remember when I first got married and moved out my father bought me a small artificial tree and he said “In case you go through some hard times you will always have a Christmas tree” .  Believe me we used that tree every year when we first got married because when you first start out it gets tough.  It wasn’t until years later and our paychecks grew along with our children did we get a bigger tree.  Over the years our trees got bigger as well as the amount of decorations we collected.  It wasn’t until 2008 when we lost our business due to the recession and times got tough again did we go back to the small tree.  I called it my recession tree, it was small and scraggely but it was special to me because not only did I have a tree, but I had a roof over my head to put it in.  A lot of people that year lost everything and I was just thankful to God for what I did have.  I loaded that tree up with decorations that I collected over the years and put a string of lights on it and it was perfect.  The best thing about that tree was that, the presents I put underneath it seemed like a whole lot.   Small trees are great when you don’t have a lot of room, you can  put them on a small table with a cloth and let your imagination take over.   Its also less work to decorate and store after the holidays.  I will have to go back and look for pictures of my recession tree but until then here are a couple of pictures and ideals for table top trees..

Have you ever hated to throw out pretty christmas cards and always wondered what you can do to reuse them. Well here is an ideal, you can cut them out carefully and make christmas tree decorations out of them.  You can decorate your tree and house with christmas cards, wrapping paper, recycled ribbons, fallen branches and other decorations from previously years. So instead of throwing your pretty cards and papers away and filling our landfills up. Recycle, Reuse and Reinvent and at the same time leave less of a carbon footprint this holiday season.