Friday Faves

 Joining Andrea (Momfessionals) and Erika (A Little Bit Of Everything) for their Friday Favorites link 

Here are five things I'm loving in this new year-

1. Eating lighter.  Who's with me? We've had so many heavy meals these past three months (yes the holiday-ing seems to start in October for some reason) and it's been nice to change it up here.   

Last night I made this yummy salad-arugala, tomato, cucumber, toasted pine nuts, a sprinkle of parm, and a light lemon vinaigrette topped with some chicken tenders browned and finished off in the oven with a little chicken broth and capers. 

2. This juice, Uncle Matt's Ultimate Immune made with orange juice, elderberry, zinc and more-

I had a glass at my neighbor's house on New Year's Eve and liked it so much I bought some on my next trip to the grocery. It's not inexpensive, but it is delicious and not overly sweet. Plus it's pretty. Elderberry is particularly good for you this time of year as it helps boost immunity and reduces cold and flu symptoms, among other things. 

I bought mine at Publix but it's available at Wal Mart, Amazon, and other shops too. 

3. Signs of spring. It's never too early, right? 

Actually I think it might be too early in some parts of the country, and we'll likely have some cold weather here before the calendar makes it official. These daffs are hardy and can handle the kind of winter weather we get in The Palmetto State.  

4. Moving-

Not house. Definitely not that! I mean moving me. 

Hubs and I have had some nice walks in this new year and I hope we keep it up. I still wear my ankle brace and that seems to help with the lingering off and on pain that has no medical explanation. We haven't done any extreme hills, unless you count my neighborhood walking trail (which I do), but mostly we're steering clear of trails marked strenuous. 

This is the flat part of our neighborhood walking trail. It's literally a short straight up and/or straight down bit to get here, but it feels good to move and I'm hoping more walking will actually help as opposed to hurt. 

5. Day dates. 

Still counting my 52 dates in 52 weeks we started back in the fall, and think it's going to end up being more like 52 in 60 or something like that which is fine. We were away over the holidays and spent time with family so missed a week and we had company here one week so missed another and I'm sure there will be one or two more misses before we get to 52. 

But we'll get there. Lots will involve hikes because we enjoy that. We love to be outside, and hiking is a quiet activity that allows for conversation and deep thinking. Hubs says I don't need a reason to think deeply, but he humors me. 

Episode lucky 13 was a hike through some beautiful woods and around a small local lake with fabulous views of Table Rock. 

70 degrees on January 7th.

 I'll take it! 

If you'd like to share five favorite somethings from the first part of this new year hop over to our host blogs and add your links. 

Have a happy weekend everyone!