Tuesday, June 28, 2016

PB and Banana Smoothie!

Today I am thankful for a slow paced summer and a chance to perfect my smoothie recipes. This past weekend was one for the books. It was spent at the beach with my family having a few drinks, eating a lot of seafood, and catching a little bit too much sun. Although the beach was a blast, this morning I am feeling a little sun burnt and in need of a junk food detox! I figured since I was making one of my favorite peanut butter and banana green smoothies for breakfast, it would be the perfect opportunity to share the recipe with you guys! It is super delicious, easy to make, and only requires a few ingredients!

You will need:
2 cups Fresh spinach
1 frozen banana
2 Tbs PB2 powdered peanut butter
¼ cup vanilla Greek yogurt
½ cup almond milk



I like to start by combining the spinach, milk, and yogurt together, blending them until they are smooth. Next I chop the frozen banana up into several pieces to make it easier to blend (the whole frozen banana jammed up my blender the first time). Finally I add the powdered peanut butter. This stuff is awesome because it is really easy to work with and has 85% less fat calories than normal peanut butter! PB2 also comes in chocolate flavor which goes great in this same recipe.  This is my go-to green smoothie and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! 

Thursday, June 23, 2016

June 23

As it would seem, I did not make good on my promise to post more since my last post, which was about my sister’s wedding and my best friend engagement. Since then, my sister has had a baby and my best friend had her wedding and is expecting her fist baby in about two months…guess I let time get away from me. A lot has changed since my October 23 update. I graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in biology and said goodbye to my Tuscaloosa home. I am now living back on the Gulf Coast awaiting my first day of classes at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine where I will be starting my M1 year! Although life is moving especially fast these days, I am trying to use my last few months of freedom to really slow down and enjoy the summer. Today I did that by making fresh zucchini bread with my sister and mom using zucchini from my sisters garden. By that I mean me and my mom watched my sister make bread. I wish I had a picture of the zucchini to post because they were the biggest I have ever seen (the biggest was 3 ½ pounds!) We made both traditional and chocolate zucchini bread and they turned out great! In addition to enjoying some time with my mom and sister in the kitchen, it was nice to cook and eat something relatively healthy! I just got back from a ten day trip to Los Angeles, where I ate what I’m sure was enough calories for an entire month… only to finish it off when I got home with Chinese takeout dinner from my favorite spot in Fairhope. It goes without saying that I am looking forward to getting back to clean eating and running after my trip!

For anyone who would like to try and make their own zucchini bread, I am attaching the links to both recipes below! These are amazing recipes and are super easy to make! Each batch makes about two loaves of bread and they are the best I have tasted so far! Hope you enjoy!

Recipe Links!



Thursday, October 23, 2014

October 23

Wow guys, it’s been forever and a day since I have written a post (since June 29th to be exact). Thank everyone who has continued to check in for new posts, I apologize for my supreme laziness! These past few months have been a whirlwind! I’m sure all of you know already that my sister got married at the end of the summer, so my time was filled with wedding planning, celebrating, and general stressing out. Love must be in the air this season, because my best friend/roomie (Payton for anyone who is new to the blog…or if you just forgot since it’s been a thousand years since I’ve written) got engaged as well! She and Stanley Lacey will be married this coming summer, and I could not be more excited for them. Everyone is
falling in love and getting married, and here I am carrying on a relationship with my lab fish and physics books. The struggles of a nerd are real you guys. In other news, I have moved into a new house for the year. My roommates are beyond amazing, and I am so blessed to get to breath the same air as these cool girls. I am so excited to get back to writing, and can’t wait to start hearing from you all again as well! I will just leave you with a few snapshots and videos from the past couple of months. Much love and happy vibes coming to you from the 505!
Daily thanks: Today I am thankful to be surrounded by so many great friends that I cannot possibly deserve.

A wife of noble character is her husband's crown (Proverbs 12:4)








Sunday, June 29, 2014

June 29

After two weeks in St. Louis, I am feeling like the luckiest girl in the world! Not only did I get to reunite with two of the most special people I have ever known (Ross and Mireya Johnson), but I also had the pleasure of getting to know several selfless families who are going out into the mission field this year! They say that if the earth were flat, you could see a single candle flickering in the dark from up to 30 miles away. That is a pretty amazing fact, but also very similar to the way in which God is working through these families. God
calls us to shine his light to the world, and the people I met in the last two weeks exemplify what it means to fulfill this task. “"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). I have been so humbled to be able to serve these families for a brief moment on their individual journeys, and although two weeks is a short time, I am sure that my sweet new friends will remain in my heart for a lifetime. I have been refreshed and reminded that it is my duty to serve and shine the light of God even here in Alabama. I have also received an even deeper sense of excitement for my dreams of becoming a missionary myself!

Daily thanks: Today I am so thankful for the opportunities that have been set before me, and for friends who treat me like family.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Guest Post!!! (Ron Parida)

I am so excited to have been able to collaborate with short film director Ron Parida, to share with you all one of his latest projects. Check out his inspirational video that tells the story of Grandma Betty, an 81 year old cancer patient who has an incredibly bright outlook on life! This video is such an uplifting treat and I could not be more excited for you all to see it! Ron is an incredible young man, who produced this video with his own money, in hopes of giving people a more positive outlook on life and to share the story of a woman who is doing this daily! Read on to see what Ron has to say about his work with this remarkable lady!


RON PARIDA
"Meet Grandma Betty! A dancing 81 year old "simple southern girl" as she puts it, fighting lung cancer every day with a smile on her face. Her story is one of HAPPINESS, and POSITIVITY, and understanding that in life happiness is a choice we make daily. When i asked Grandma Betty why she was so happy she replied by saying "I'm  happy because I'm living and I'm taking one breath at a time. I don't take no more. I take one breath and one step at a time" We have worked very hard on this video, so if you enjoy it please give us a thumbs up and share the video with anyone you know!Our goal was to make something that leaves a smile on people's faces, so let's share Grandma Betty's happiness with the world!"
 

Sunday, May 18, 2014

May 8

Happy Sunday Everyone! A few days ago I got back from my trip to California, and wanted to share a few of my photos with you all! I had so much fun, and came back completely relaxed (minus a ride home on the world's smallest plane with a faulty smoke detector). The scenery was so beautiful with the mountains and the ocean all in one spot! Each morning I would walk across the street and have breakfast at this restaurant on the water and read for a few hours, then I would lay out at the beach or the pool, walk around down town, go for a run, or try out some of the amazing restaurants in the city! I also had the chance to go to one of the farmers markets that the city has every week. There was tons of produce, honey, street
performers, and artists. It was such a great time! It was incredible how much this community valued time spent in the outdoors, and how much they respected and took care of their outdoor spaces (I mean these people REALLY love riding bikes!) If I learned anything from my time in Santa Barbara It would be to slow down and enjoy the moment more, and also to make more time for enjoying the outdoors. I will certainly be making a point to take more bare foot walks through the grass each day. Although being there was a blast, and I would absolutely love to go back, I am so glad to be home and enjoying my sweet home town on the gulf coast.I hope that everyone has a blessed Sunday, and takes a little time to enjoy the Day the Lord has made. From where I'm sitting it is a beautiful one!
How will you enjoy today? 



Thursday, April 24, 2014

April 24

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…All throughout our lives we are forced to make decisions. To dream big, or shrink back for fear of failure; to put ourselves out there and evolve, or remain what we have always been. One of my most recent bible studies dealt with this same topic. It stated that “when God gave us his spirit, he enabled us to live beyond our natural ability and strength, and that this is why it is so wrong of us to measure our energy and ability levels against the challenges ahead of us.” When we do this we are saying that our challenges are our own and that God is not enough. This is certainly not true! All thru history, in our own lives, and especially in the bible, seemingly unequipped people are used to accomplish the most incredible tasks. Moses was a murderer, but was used by God to lead his people. Saul was a persecutor and killer of Christians, but God changed his heart and his life. You are being used in this same way.  It is not a matter of our competence every day, but of our faith is Christ and his will for our life. One of the best illustrations of this comes from my own life. My mom is one of the most amazing people I know. Not only is she an incredible wife and mother (to my sister, my two special needs brothers, and I), but she is also brilliant, hardworking, and above all, humble! In her early
forties, she decided to go back to school to become a BCBA so that she could help my brothers and others with special needs. This is an extremely difficult thing to accomplish. Although she doubted herself along the way, she went on to be one of the few people that pass the test to become a certified BCBA. This is a beautiful demonstration of how God can take someone who thinks they are incapable (she is certainly one of the most capable people I know), and accomplish great things through them. She is now working on her PhD in psychology, and whether or not she finishes it, she is such an example to me and those around her of living a life by faith and not sight. No matter how unsure she may be, she relies on God’s will for her life. This is such a blessing to be able to observe first hand! I hope that each one of you will pray to be sensitive to God’s will for your life, and allow him to accomplish his glorious plan through you despite how inadequate you may feel! It is not about our ability, It is his and it is infinite!
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." (Robert Frost)
Daily thanks: Today I am thankful for my crazy, smart, beautiful, best-friend of a mom!