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It’s All About The Journey
The first time I ever entertained the idea that I needed to lose weight was around the age of TWELVE or THIRTEEN. The first time I ever recall feeling “fat” was when I was FOURTEEN and in 9th grade. The first time I decided to go on a diet was the summer before I started high school. I have struggled with my weight and fitness motivation ever since. I was pretty active from a young age. I played soccer for several years, softball, basketball, some gymnastics but once I got into junior high, books and art became more appealing than chasing a soccer ball up and down a field. When I got…
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Dealing with Failure
Life begins outside of your comfort zone. This concept is something I have been trying to embrace this year with my whole heart. Over the years I have camped out in my comfort zone where it’s been “safe.” Safe from rejection, safe from uncomfortable situations, safe from failure. Admittedly though it’s been dull. I know I have missed out on new experiences and new and exciting opportunities all because I have been afraid to fail or afraid to be rejected. Fear of failure is something that we have all experienced at one point or another in our lives. Some of us overcome it and go on to do amazing things…
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Travel Bucket List
Last month Jake and I finally booked out trip to Spain for September. I am so incredibly excited to travel abroad again and be able to share this fun experience with someone I love! We all have a list of places we’d like to go and since booking this trip I have been thinking about the other places I would love to go. It’s a long list and chances are I may not make it to all these places but I think it’s fun to dream! Maybe this will give you some inspiration for your next vacation!! **These images are not my own. The websites can be accessed by clicking…
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Favorite Cookbooks
By now you know I have a weakness for buying personal development books. But you probably also could guess that I also have an obsession with cookbooks. I could spend hours in the cookbook section at the library and prefer that over the cookbook section at the book store mostly because I cannot buy the books at the library (Gotta save that $ for Spain and France in September!!). Another dangerous territory in my quest for all the cookbooks is Amazon and I find myself browsing and adding to my cart and before I know it there’s like 10 books in there and my order total is ridiculous! As it…
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Toast- Four Ways
Who doesn’t love a good piece of toast with delicious toppings on it?! I love the classic peanut butter and jelly combination but I have decided to branch out and try some new ones and I have not been disappointed yet! Toast is what I tend to gravitate towards on the weekends when I am making breakfast. It is simple, takes absolutely no time to put together, and the topping possibilities are seriously endless. For these I used a whole wheat french bread but you can really use any type of bread that strikes your fancy. I used our old trusty toaster to toast these pieces of bread but the…
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Style Your Mind Workbook
Back in March when I went a little (and by little I mean a lot) crazy on Amazon buying books, one of them was this really amazing workbook called Style Your Mind. I decided to start it last week as part of my personal development time that I like to set aside a few times a week and I instantly fell in love. To begin, you write out your vision of what you’d like your life to look like. It’s not like getting super specific but rather a bigger picture. I looked into what my ideal life would look like and wrote what was in my heart and I am…
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Healthy Snacks
If you fail to prepare, you’re preparing to fail. Having healthy snacks to reach for is absolutely necessary to keep me from giving into that vending machine temptress in the break room at my office. In the past my snacks have been pretty basic ranging from carrot and celery sticks to apple slices. Recently, I have been looking into more of a variety of snacks to keep my interest peaked and to prevent me from finding solace in the arms of a bag of cheese-its. These snack ideas are simple to prepare and come together in a flash. They are easy to add into your weekly meal prep or to…
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My Little Black Dress
This post is probably not going to be what you think. I bought this dress circa 2006-2007. I knew at the time it probably wouldn’t fit me but I loved it and had to have it from the Forever 21 website. When it came I tried it on and low and behold it did not fit. Even though I had prepared myself for it not to fit, I still was disappointed. The sad thing was I was not disappointed that it didn’t fit me but that I didn’t fit in the dress. That is a tiny distinction but it exposed a HUGE insecurity. Instead of returning the dress and getting…
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A Week of Dinners
Sometimes I need a little inspiration when it comes to planning dinners for the week. I like to get inspiration from a lot of different places including Pinterest, cookbooks, and food blogs. I thought it would be a great idea to show you a week of typical dinners at our house in hopes that it can give you a little inspiration. I would like to make this a recurring series on this blog and include lunches and breakfasts as well. Let me know what you think and what you’re making for dinner!! Monday (Meatless Monday)-Vegan Kale Caesar salad with Homemade Rye Bread Croutons from the Eat Smart Cookbook Tuesday- Lightened…
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Current Nighttime Routine
During the work week it is important to me to have a nightly routine to help me wind down before I go to sleep. In the past I would go to bed a various times during the week and a lot of times I would lay in bed scrolling through my phone and before I knew it the time would be 11 pm and I would still be wide awake. In an attempt to reduce that screen time and get a better night sleep I have implemented this night-time routine. It’s still a work in progress but I already am feeling more relaxed in the evenings! I try to go…
