winter white wednesday.

12 inches of snow later here i am, in my little hometown, sitting in front of the fire and baking bread.

charming. it's one of those days when, and this actually happened to me.....

:)

i went with hot mint verbena. 

what's on my mind...hormones. i am reading all about hormones and it's so interesting! from estrogen to progesterone to thyroid to insulin. learning what happens when there is an imbalance and why they need to be at optimal levels. one of the most easy and most important ways to keep our hormones in balance is getting good sleep. so i have made it a goal to be in bed by 10:30 each night if i can. we shall see how that goes. sleep is important...our bodies rebalance at night and do their thing. but they need to rest in order to!

 okay so i love this picture. i want her hair, her body and her car

off to be a ski bunny for the next week......toodles!

simple and sweet.

this may be my simplest post yet. 

my grandma used to sing this song all the time. i wish she could sing it to me now.

it's the simple things that matter and stay with you. 

g'nite, sweet dreams.

curious to know if anyone else feels like your bed should be like a little piece of heaven? 

where do you lay your head every night on a pillow? is your bed just something you sleep in or does it reflect your personality as well? 

i found a darling shabby chic duvet on sale at target the other day for $24! i couldn't resist.....

 

however, its cute yeah but let me show you my dream bedroom/bed but in a bigger size!

YES PLEASE! how dreamy.

 are you sleepin' in the bed of your dreams yet?!

surrender and bring on the calm.

i heard a quote recently saying "a calm mind is a creative mind" 

i notice that sometimes my thoughts can get out of control and cause such anxiety but the cool thing is, WE CAN HAVE CONTROL of our minds. learning how to control your thoughts is the most powerful resource you can have. your thoughts truly determine the course of your life. having control over your mind will naturally bring about a better quality of life. 

i find that when i don't think at all is when i am the most calm and happy. don't let thoughts or worries grip your mind. and it's hard not to think or DWELL on things! it's also hard to focus on the right things sometimes. i have been taught over and over again that if you are going through something hard, get your mind off of yourself! not easy however. it's so freeing and worth it though when you do do it. 

another thing that has been on my heart is SURRENDER. there is POWER in surrender. i am living proof of that. i find that when i LAY IT DOWN, everything just falls off of me. any anger, worry, discouragment, etc. 

this past weekend i have been really trying hard to lay things down. i am a over-thinker completely. no in fact i will re-say that. i TEND to over-think things but i do not have to. it's a choice you have to make. LET IT GO! be at ease in your mind. again, do NOT let things grip it. 

this stuff is powerful let me tell you...... it's so freeing to let stuff go!  and you will find that as soon as you let it go, it will be right back there to haunt you so be PREPARED to again, LET IT GO!

i love this:

 AMEN!!!!

holy hormones!

say what??????

so true though. i used to be one of those people who would work my butt off at the gym for hours..even go back twice in one day.  but exercise is only such a small part of it. it's not what we do with our body as much as it is what we put IN our bodies. you wouldn't put watered down gas in your car would you? you want it to run well or run at all so you put the best in it. you put the right fuel in so you get the best results!

friday nights have become my 'study food' nights. i am currently reading a book called master your metabolism by jillian michaels. its all about hormones. hormones basically will determine whether you gain or lose weight and even maintain weight. you want the RIGHT hormones because your metabolism is your hormones; your biochemistry.

i love it. this is what i am passionate about! i love learning about the body and food. do you share this passion with me?!?!? it's brilliant and the key to having the body you dream of. it's really not as hard as you think. you don't have to spend hours and hours at the gym each day. you just need to watch what you eat! literally.

i posted this to my face book today and i love it. i want to live by it!

eat clean....exactly right. 

here is to eating life-giving food!

g'nite.

don't forget to take time to 'be still'

v stands for valentine and victoria's secret.

happy valentine's day friends!

this is a very special one for me because i am actually sharing it with a very special someone. (a rare occasion in my life ;)

the day was well worth it being i had to trudge through a job search workshop from 9am to 3:30pm! oofta. 

my best-est friend and sweetheart showered me with wonderful surprises tonight from victoria's secret and no, they weren't too naughty....all delightful as ever. also making it's surprise debut tonight was my very own bottle of bobbi brown beach perfume'! if you have not smelled this scent, you MUST! you will instantly think of suntan lotion and beach waves and fall in love. who woulda thunk they could capture that yummy aroma?!

love. conquers. all.

amen.

i took the strengths finder assessment last night and found my 5 top strengths to be outstandingly appropriate. in no particular order:

1. positivity

2. woo

3. developer

4. includer

5.  empathy

i love it that i am a 'woo-er.' woo stands for winning others over. basically i love the art of meeting new people and friends. which is so true of me! day by day i am realizing what strengths i have and focusing on them rather then all my weaknesses and i encourage you to do the same. it's so easy to pick out our flaws and harder to realize what we are good at. choose to find the good in yourself and use it to help others. 

hope you all had tons of sappiness and sentiment today--

g'nite.

garlic to the rescue!

well the weekend is over but my cold is not. i have heard the ol' tale that garlic is a good remedy for colds so i have given it a try. i just finished a big bowl of cream of chicken soup with lots o' lots of minced garlic. so far a tummy ache is the result. i will let you know how i feel in the morning.... if i make it that is... ;)

this weekend was full of a lot of nothing which is JUST what the doctor ordered. a lot of sitting around and watching tv. last night while i slept my upper lip managed to crack open from being so dry and it is not the most comfortable thing in the world. i am a hot mess right now. makes me appreciate healthier times.

i can somehow relate with this cat:

here is to garlic and staying warm!

g'nite.

i'm stuck in colder weather...maybe tomorrow will be better?

TGIF!!

so remember as kids (people who are now around 30 like me)

 when friday night rolled around and it was such a big deal to order pizza and watch TGIF which included shows like 'Full House' , 'Boy Meets World', and 'Family Matters'?!?! gosh, those were the days. weeks seemed like years and now they feel like a day goes by and it's friday again!  how does that work?!

somedays i wish i could go back to the days of the only worry in the world was who could have the most pins in their pants. wow have things changed!

remember this favorite duo?!?! balkey and couzin larry! oh my gosh this is a blast from the past!

as i cook my salmon and asparagus for dinner tonight (far fetch from pizza), i couldn't even tell you what is on tv on a friday night.

this week was cool in the fact that i totally mastered some bbq slow-cooked ribs. i can cross that off the list! the meat fell right of those bones like it oughtta.

i managed to cook a lot of meals for the boy friend on wednesday. i did the ribs, my mom's famous chili, awesome chicken salad, and some fried steak and asparagus. my apron got a lot of new messes on it :)

 i think the sign of a good cook is, how dirty is their apron? riight???

so i just saw this on pinterest and had to post it! how funny and right up my alley!

my boyfriend will love that if he reads this....won't you?

well my avocados are calling my name. fresh guac comin' right up!

CHEERS!

scrambled eggs and sunshine

what a glorious day it is!

started the day out with a trip back to minneapolis and a stop at a truck stop diner for breakfast.

some of those truck stop diners have the BEST food!

behind every good breakfast there is a side of scrambled eggs. tasted so good and according to an article in my women's health magazine they are classified as a "sexy food"  haha bring on the eggs!

  the sun shined all day. i made it out for my first run around lake calhoun for this year! so good to absorb some vitamin d in the sun rather then via gummy vitamin :)

counting my blessings...thankful for a ridiculously great weekend. my boyfriend and i were baptized! he asked me what i was laying down and i wanted to lay down specifically hurt and anger. i read some of my notes in my journal from a while ago on a podcast i listened to and it was on "being better not bitter."

the only person that unforgiveness effects is YOU. it will hold you hostage and produces poison in your heart. but when you forgive you open your heart to LIFE!

<Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.>

 Proverbs 4:23

i hope you will let go of what has been holding you back whether that is unforgiveness or bitterness. i know i need to too.

i will leave you with this yummy protein smoothie:

 *chocolate protein powder

*ice

*vanilla almond milk

*frozen berries

*vanilla greek yogurt

i made this today and it was delightful!

hApPy MoNdAy

keep calm and hold on?

how is it already friday?!

it's been one of those days and this pic sums it up.

i wouldn't mind a sweater like this just to have on hand.

it's hard to just be patient sometimes i am learning. though i wrote in my last post that "i'm right where i am supposed to be", it doesn't necessarily always FEEL that way. key, DO NOT GO OFF OF FEELINGS!

 i wish i went through life more gracefully but this is a good reminder:

AMEN!  

i think it's time to start writing down some "i'm thankful for's....." 

i'm thankful for a new day tomorrow and that summer is one day closer!

jump for joy!

i'll leave on this quote from teddy roosevelt:

"comparison is the thief of joy"

 <3 

p.s. take a bag of skittles, before you eat each one, say something you are thankful for. you determine how much sweetness you will get to enjoy:)