Friday Favorites

Oh, this week. I am glad this week is over. I have my big ol’ Finance final tomorrow morning and I know NOTHING Finance related. I’m just ready to get it done and hope I pass it so I don’t have to re-take the course. If you need me…i’ll be studying all night long. Sigh.

But it’s still Friday and we’re linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites today!

When I’d paint my nails or get them done as a young lass I always got pink…or red because they were always safe and my FAVORITE. So a couple years ago I made a vow to not do either of those colors so I could branch out. Last week however, I went with this pink Flirt Alert and love how bright it is. It just puts you in the mood for Spring!

Last Thursday Reeana and I met up at Starbucks after not having seen each other in a while. I got there early to do a little quiet time and read. Meeting up at Starbucks with one of my best girl friends and drinking coffee is for sure one of my FAVORITE things. Oh and don’t forget to read my thoughts on Hoda’s book. That was a FAVORITE too.

But another FAVORITE of ours happened to be when this lady walked in and legitimately had these dragon spikes weaved in through her braid. What in the actual heck? It all made sense when we walked out and she was knitting yarn characters together…

I created my own little ham, egg, and cheese. When I was young (apparently I am reminiscing today) my FAVORITE breakfast used to be ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches from Casey’s General Store. Now that I can no longer have cheese and bread I improvise. This morning I threw canadian bacon, egg whites, and spinach into a pan to heat up/cook And then melted some cheese on top. Hey…it works! 😉 And tomatoes on the side because it’s one of my FAVORITE things to eat right now too.

I told you last Wednesday that I was so excited to try out Shakeology because eveerryyyoonnneee talks about how it is their FAVORITE. Well, it finally came in the mail Wednesday night. We already had plans for dinner…

…but first thing yesterday morning I made it! I asked Kylie why it was so little and she informed me that you’re suppose to put more liquid in it #shakeologyfail #imanamateur. I liked this one it tasted like brownie batter so I’m excited to try the strawberry (probably today).

You can’t read my tank, but it says “the gym is my happy hour”…here’s a red one. I think mine came from Target but it’s only the plus size one online. (Target has buy one, get one 50% off all women’s clothing and shoes right now by the way!!)

My Insanity class was at 4:30 this day, so I got there around 4:10 to stretch, get out of the house, relax, and take this necessary selfie. ALL MY FAVORITES. I get compliments and I feel like a powerhouse in it. Don’t you have clothes that make you feel powerful too?!

I did this the other day and I know I’m awkward, but I wanted to share my FAVORITE easy little exercise to do right now.

Soooooooo…

1.It’s weird watching yourself on video, I made some strange faces.
2. I’m sorry for all the “um’s” I didn’t prepare before hand this was improv!!!
3. Super cute thing I do with my hands at the end…*covers eyes*.
4.  THIS stability ball comes with 2 workout dvds, a yoga band, and a pump. Such a good deal for less than $14!
5. I hope you still love me after watching this. After all I did thank you (haha I don’t know why, I think for watching)!

Okay have a super weekend!!! Come Monday I am going to be a happy camper. No class for 3 weeks! Booyah!

Friday Favorites

Can you believe it’s the first Friday of APRIL? Again, 1/4 of 2016 is already gone. Woah, Nelly.

In typical Friday fashion, i’m sharing my FAVORITES with you for this week. Join me and link-up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci.

Happy Friday to you!

The most exciting part of this past week was that Morgan and I threw together a little surprise for my parents. She had no intentions of coming home at all this semester, but when she told me her plans of leaving Gulf Shores halfway through their Spring Break I told her how fun it would be to have her surprise mom and dad. She agreed and we planned.

Our plan was that I would tell my parents I wanted to take them to lunch and when we’d walk in Morgan would be sitting there waiting for us. It worked for the most part, except Morg was awkward and didn’t know what to do so she went bouncing up to them and I couldn’t video it! ^ That was the best I got.

Pissed. Ha, just kidding, she’s in an intense conversation…aka probably being lectured by dad about something 😉

We got the cards going that night and enjoyed the rest of our weekend as a family of 6 again. So much fun.

My family has an obsession with Buffalo Wild Wings. Everyone but me that is. My siblings went for lunch that afternoon, but I tagged along for the company. You see, when Morgan isn’t here my brothers don’t want anything to do with me.

And then Sunday night she had to leave again. All good things come to an end, but as mom says, that just means she’s one day closer to coming home again.

While you northerners have been bundled up in your hats, coats, scarves, and snow flurries, we southerners have been laying out in our backyards catching some vitamin D. I’m usually not that excited for summer, but for some reason this year i’m seriously looking forward to it! This sun has been my FAVORITE lately and it’s putting me in the best spirits. I’ve been taking my reading out there while (hopefully) getting darker. We all know homegirl needs some of that.

On Tuesdays, I have a 3.5 hour break in between my classes. I dread it, but I’ve learned to take advantage of it. Usually I stay on campus, but this past week I drove to our nearest Starbucks and was pleasantly surprised to see this little outdoor area in the sun with comfortable cushioned chairs.

 

I pulled out my lunch, I got my coffee, and I ended up being so productive. It was one of those “ahhhh, I am seriously enjoying life right now” moments. You know those. This was definitely my FAVORITE 3.5 hours from this week.

For a while now I have been trying to get myself into hot tea. I just see all the advantages (on Pinterest of course) and I see how many people love it. I’ve been trying to detox lately and I picked up this Yogi Detox tea (which i’m totally loving) and sip on it right before bed while I finish up my blog or whatever it is that i’m doing. It seems like Yogi is everybody’s FAVORITE right now so I had to test it out. So far…2 thumbs up.

Okay. Hi, my name is Molly and i’m addicted to chocolate. And dessert. And having a chocolate dessert every night after dinner. Like it’s just a thing now. I was at the grocery store on Monday and snooped up and down each aisle as I always do. I’m notorious for spending way too much time at the grocery store.

WELL.

This week I came upon this little snack. And friends. My life is changed for the better. I have a chunk or two every night. It goes along with my food allergies to dairy and gluten, it’s healthy yet it’s dessert, and it’s in line with my sugar detox. Like, there’s no sugar (because it’s sweetened with date paste). A packaged product with no sugar? I about died. If you see it, just try my FAVORITE grocery store find.

A couple days ago I found this bag and within seconds of spotting it, I knew it was a keeper. It’s my FAVORITE. It’s big, it’s roomy, it’s perfect for these upcoming summer months. I’m totally loving all this light colors this year. Lots of white and stripes. Two of my FAVORITE things.

This week on the blog…

Monday I shared an update on my 2016 Bucket List. Some of my FAVORITE goals have been checked off already.

On Tuesday I shared what my talk show would look like if I had my own. You can bet two of my FAVORITE ladies were on there.

It was the first Wednesday of the month, so of course, I hosted my FAVORITE linkup…Bookworm Wednesday. It’s good stuff.

And yesterday I shared my FAVORITE go-to breakfast recipe at the moment. Healthy almond butter banana waffles for the win!

Have the best weekend!

Spring Break 2016: Day 4, 5, 6

I’m still recapping my Omaha trip. If you missed Day 1, 2, 3 click here.

Tuesday started day 4 of vacation. Reese and I talked about Starbucks and he said he didn’t know what to order there, but he knew he wanted something. Helllllooooo you’re talking to the queen of coffee. So I asked what he liked…you know, hot or cold, chocolatey or vanilla, and we took a trip to Starbucks. I got my iced coffee and he enjoyed his Vanilla Latte. Now that wasn’t too hard, was it? 😉

As soon as we got back to the house, my aunt and I hit the road for my grandpa’s house in Iowa.

Around 1:00 or so, I wanted a salad. A grilled chicken salad. While we were driving my aunt mentioned something about wanting an ice-cream cone, so we ended up stopping at a dairy queen and I was pleasantly surprised by how good their salad was! And get this…Tuesday, March 15th happened to be FREE CONE DAY. What the what?! We all won!

We got to grandpa’s right around 3:00 in time for a Dr. Phil episode. I spread out on the couch eating grapes while gramps sat in his beloved chair and we watched all the crazy play out on Phil’s show.

Later that night we went to dinner at a local Tavern and while it was taco night, I ended up with a grilled tenderloin. All I got was a tiny piece of meat and I was still hungry so when we got home…

…I made some popcorn and we all munched while watching updates on the presidential race. Gramps enjoyed some leftover birthday cake.

Ohhhhhhh how I love this guy. I was so happy we got to come down and see him!

On Wednesday we woke up and were lazy all morning, so come lunch time my aunt made grandpa a lasagna and I laughed because it looked SO GROSS. Word to the wise…don’t buy Stouffer’s lasagna if you want to eat something that actually looks yummy. If you don’t care, then by all means!

Later that afternoon, we did what gramps does during the afternoon. He sat in his chair and read the paper while I continued on in Candace Cameron Bure’s book. With more of the news in the background of course.

That night my cousin Dani (who’s basically the older sister I never had) and her husband, and their little boy Tommy came to eat. So we went back to the same tavern for dinner…because when in small town Iowa, you have limited options. This time I got a grilled chicken breast and baked potato.

We came home and I got a picture with grandpa. And it’s a shame I don’t do something with my hair because ew.

I posted this picture on Instagram. FOLLOW ME @mollymiddleton01. Tommy pooped his pants right before this picture and it was hilarious. Nonetheless, I still got a picture with him (and gramps in the background) so it’s my new favorite.

I had to grab another selfie with grandpa while I could.

We hung out, chatted and then all went to bed.

Thursday morning we woke up and grandpa had his cereal. We said our goodbyes as we were going back to Omaha that day.

We stopped by my other aunt and uncle’s house to say goodbye and my aunt gave me this drink to try. I’m a fan. Have you had it before?!

And then we stopped at our Dairy Queen again. And here’s the deal with that.

My aunt did something to her knee to where she could barely walk, so she wore a knee brace down. When we went into the DQ on Tuesday the lady behind the counter asked if she could pray for her. She said yes and we left. Well, the next day my aunt woke up feeling  100% better and said we were going back to her! So we did. And she had her pray for some other stuff going on in her life. And it was so refreshing to see!

Thank goodness for people like Bev from DQ.

When we got back, I quickly showered and headed over to my uncle’s house for some corned beef and cabbage because #stpaddy’sday

And then I went out with one of my other cousin’s and her parents for happy hour.

We came back and they had this appetizer made. I found it on Pinterest and am totally going to re-create it soon! Sooooo good!

My uncle has his famous drink that he makes and when we got home he got to it!

I had one of his drinks and a drink that my cousin made. Trust me…you won’t have to worry about an alcohol deficiency when in the presence of my family!

My cousin and my aunt just cooking away and spoiling me.

Steaks, kale salad, and sautéed mushrooms and onions. DELICIOUS. I want it again!!

We sat around the table for a couple hours after dinner talking, laughing, telling stories, and all of that. I ended up going home around midnight and went straight to sleep. All of these events were wearing me out!! But it was so much fun!

Tomorrow we’ll be wrapping up and coming home. Come back to see! 🙂

Friday Favorites

This is the first time in a long time that I can say I am NOT excited about Friday being here. It means spring break week is over and I am not a fan.

But the weeks keep on moving so I have to get over it. Sigh. Today i’m linking up again with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

Date Paste

So I mentioned that I was doing a sugar detox weeks ago. Well, now that i’m on vacation I couldn’t still do it. But as soon as I get back I am doing it again because I LOVED IT. This is date paste that I made and used it as sweetener in all my recipes and it is my absolute FAVORITE sweetener ever.

Class?

I have a Tuesday night class and a couple of weeks ago absolutely nobody showed up. I mean I guess that’s a fib because there were 4 of us. I was so mad and it was my LEAST FAVORITE part of the week. I did get a lot of work and blogging done but why even hold class when nobody is there??!!

Tanning in March

I posted this on snapchat the other day. It was early March and I was tanning while drinking my FAVORITE La Croix. I couldn’t complain. After winter and cold weather I always get so excited for some sunshine and warmth. Follow me on snapchat… i’m “mollymiddleton” pretty simple!

Coffee

I’m sure if you went through my Friday FAVORITES posts, the majority of them would have coffee on them. It’s not a secret to anyone that this drink is my FAVORITE. I love picking up a cup filled with my drink with a picture of my girl on the front.

It’s just a beautiful sight when you’re on your way to work in the morning.

22

On the 7th my FAVORITE girl turned 22. She came home for the weekend and I celebrated with her, Tyler, and their families that night. Food, friends, and my bestie. Such a good night! Happy Birthday Em!

The Sauna

My FAVORITE place to go right after a good workout is the sauna. I love to sweat. That’s no secret either. But as soon as I get done with my HIIT class on Saturday morning, I like to walk on over to the sauna and stand in there for about 20 minutes before I carry on with my day. It’s so refreshing and I would recommend it to those of you who have a gym membership with a sauna!

On the blog…

Last Friday, I talked about my FAVORITE lactose free products.

Next Friday, I’m talking about my FAVORITE gluten free products.

You won’t want to miss it. Just like I hope you didn’t miss our guest bloggers this week…thanks again ladies. XOXO.

To see why we all love ______ and how we think you can too. Click the one that interests you:

Why I love Running, and you can too!
Why I love Yoga, and you can too!
Why Kylie loves Spinning, and you can too!
Why Jamie loves Celebrating, and you can too!
Why Christina loves Hosting, and you can too!
Why Julie loves Hiking, and you can too!
Why Randi loves Pittsburgh, and you can too!
Why Angie loves Self Care, and you can too!
Why Mattie loves Zumba, and you can too!
Why Katie loves Reading, and you can too!
Why Lindsay loves Hot Yoga, and you can too!
Why Emily loves Decorating, and you can too!
Why Tara loves Cooking, and you can too!
Why Erika loves Online Shopping, and you can too!
Why Lauren loves Traveling, and you can too!
Why Shelly loves Giving to Others, and you can too!
Why Alexandra loves Photography, and you can too!
Why Haley loves Thrifting, and you can too!
Why Jacquelyn loves Sewing, and you can too!
Why Jackie loves Orlando, and you can too!

Have a great weekend!

Friday Favorites: Favorite Lactose Free Products

I’m coming at ya PUMPED this Friday morning because it is SPRING BREAK fo’ yo girl and I am headed out of town tomorrow.

But i’m still linking up with Andrea, Narci, (and Erika but not this week) for another Friday FAVORITES before.

I get asked alllllllllll the time what I eat with my food allergies. “Can you even eat?” Yeah, peeps. I DO EAT. I just have to make modifications.

A couple weeks ago, I promised posts on my FAVORITE lactose free and gluten free products. Many of you already are gluten and lactose intolerant, and many of you are just now being diagnosed with these intolerances. Seeing as it’s taken me about 4 years to finally find products that I enjoy, I thought I would share to spare y’all. Not only did it take a long time, but it took a lot of money and throwing foods away. I mean my poor tastebuds hate me by now too 😉

So when I say these are my FAVORITE products it’s because I have tried them and continue to buy them. There have been some that I have tried where I can say “oh, that’s not awful” but these are the products that I buy over and over again.

Cheese

Cheese was the hardest. There’s nothing like some good ol’ cheese and I missed it…for shredded cheese, Go Veggie is my FAVORITE.

They have Cheddar, and Cheddar + Monterey Jack as well. The Mexican style tastes different than the others but it doesn’t bother me anymore since i’ve gotten use to them. This grated parmesan isn’t bad either and it’s good for pasta dishes!

Sliced cheese is weird because they all taste different! Strangely I’m not a fan of Go Veggie’s sliced cheese but I found this Borden brand that is delicious for grilled cheese and sandwiches when the craving hits.

But this Finlandia brand is what I have been buying for turkey and swiss melts or whatever else i’m needing some sliced cheese for.

Cabot is lactose free. I liked it for wine and cheese nights with my parents, but we don’t do that often enough so this cheese goes bad way too fast. If you have a big family with lactose intolerance, totally get this!

I really don’t used sliced cheese that much. I only have it in the fridge on occasion. But I always have my FAVORITE Go Veggie shreds. And the best thing about each cheese that I mentioned is that they all melt!!! I’ve used some that don’t melt before and that’s awkward.

What happens when it comes to pizza? Well, I don’t buy frozen pizzas because none of them are good to me…so either I just get it without cheese if we’re eating somewhere like Pie5, or we get Papa Murphy’s and i’ll put my own cheese on top before it goes in the oven! That’s mine without the cheese right there on top 😉

Ice-Cream

Ice-cream is by far my FAVORITE lactose filled product. I miss frozen custard so much. But this Lactaid is the absolute best. GET IT IF YOU HAVE NOT TRIED IT. Honestly, you’d like it even if you weren’t lactose intolerant…that’s how serious I am.

If I just want a plain ol’ ice-cream for a shake, Breyers is a great one.

I am way too excited about this coming out, i’m on the hunt right now. I have heard such good things.

And I just found out that this is lactose free, so as soon as I am done with my sugar detox it’s coming home with me.

I have gotten this before because chocolate chip cookie dough is always my favorite kind of ice-cream and it was good. But it’s not as good as the other ones i’ve mentioned.

Any other brand…don’t trust it. If you want some good lactose free ice-cream, you have to go with these name brands to get something remotely edible. I’m not kidding!

Mayo

Mayo is one of those things that you don’t need in your fridge all the time like cheese, but you need it for recipes. And you want a good one!

This is the best mayo brand that I have found…

…but I have also tried their salad dressings and don’t like them. It’s hard telling with some products.

I use it in my basil mayo.

And when I make my own Chick-Fil-A sauce.

I’d keep this on hand if I were you, it stays good for a while too.

Sour Cream

I have yet to find a sour cream that is lactose free. But I was at my local Sprouts the other day and saw this one, which I am pretty excited about because there are a lot of recipes that I have had to forgo due to sour cream.

Cream Cheese

Same goes with cream cheese. I have actually tried this one though, and it’s pretty good. So far i’m really liking the Green Valley brand.

But as I was googling that cream cheese, I found this bad boy and i’m over here like…”Where have you been all my life?!” It’s not in any of my stores!

Cottage Cheese

I ALWAYS have cottage cheese in my refrigerator. It’s a staple for me. A good source of protein,  calcium, and mine is low fat. You need it. I go through this container like a baby goes through diapers. Okay that was a bad comparison…but roll with it.

Butter

This is the only one that I know of that’s dairy free. I couldn’t tell a difference with this one, so I recommend! Shhh…don’t tell but I have used it on my brother’s FAVORITE english muffins and they couldn’t tell either.

Milk

So here’s the thing. I’ve never liked milk. When I was a kid I would only have with cereal in the mornings…but I never drank the milk at the bottom. Sometimes I would even eat my cereal dry. My mom said when I was younger I had a hard time with breast milk.

However, Lactaid is my absolute FAVORITE lactose free brand. I got the eggnog during the holidays, I get the fat free high calcium milk, the ice-cream, the cottage cheese, everything. It’s all good. I have yet to go wrong.

Sometimes we will get the big jug at Costco that i’ll use for recipes, or when i’m making this frozen coffee.

But most of the time I will just get the store’s name brand because #cheaper and #costeffective and #college.

But to be honest…I don’t buy dairy milk anymore. I now only use my FAVORITE unsweetened almond milk (the cheapest kind of course). I don’t eat cereal or drink it plain, so I just use this for my protein shakes or in recipes. Again, if you like dairy milk – Lactaid should be your go-to. Or even your grocery store’s name brand.

Yogurt/Kefir

If i’m craving some yogurt, Yoplait carries lactose free that is good.

And Green Valley is a great option too. Yogurt-wise, I just keep this plain kefir in my fridge. I use it for smoothies, or put it in a bowl with fresh fruit. Kefir is such a great way to  get your probiotic in as a snack! Always get plain because the flavored kinds have a ton of sugar.

So I will say that I have tried all of these Daiya products. Lots of lactose free people swear by this brand and use it all the time…

…but I do not like a single one of these. It is my LEAST FAVORITE. Except Daiya has a lactose free greek yogurt at the bottom of the picture that I recently figure out about, so I tried it and really enjoy it. But that’s it.

And when it comes to coffee…?

I just get some soy milk or coconut milk. But I totally prefer soy.

Really and truly if you can, get the name brand “lactose free” products. I have found that if you try some sort of off brand it’s just not as good.

OKAY FELLOW LACTOSE FREE PEEPS…does that help? Do you have any questions? If you’ve tried some of these what are your opinions?

Have a great Friday. Hopefully you’re writing your grocery list right now and these products are making the cut 😉

Friday Favorites: Must Haves

Happy first Friday of March, peeps! This time next week I will be in full on Spring Break mode. Oh, am I ready for that!!!

We’ve got some things to cover before Friday can officially start though. Blog your FAVORITES from this week, link to Erika, Andrea, and Narci and let’s get this Friday started!

La Croix

La Croix is a carbonated water beverage with 0 calories, 0 sweetener, 0 sodium, 0 everything. The only ingredients are “carbonated water” and “natural flavor”. I must warn…this drink is an acquired taste. I basically had to force myself to like it, but now that I do, it’s my FAVORITE. La Croix has become so refreshing for me when I am wanting something with a little flavor. You know, since all I drink is water. Other than my water and back coffee this is the only drink I can have on my sugar detox right now. I especially love it because it doesn’t bloat me thanks to no sodium or artificial/any sweeteners. These are the 3 flavors I have in the fridge now, but there are SO many options. Give it a try if you haven’t already!

Clarisonic Mia

For Christmas, I asked for a Clarisonic Mia. I just wanted to see what all the talk was about…now I get it. My Mia 2 has become my FAVORITE beauty product. I tried to research the 3 versions to know which one to specifically ask for, but I couldn’t figure it out. I asked her why she chose this one and she said that after reading all of the reviews it was like a no brainer that the Mia 2 was the one to go with. It has made my skin so clear looking and feeling and just more “lively”. I get compliments all the time and I especially love the fact that I don’t have to use my hands to wash my face. Word on the street is that using your hands will cause wrinkles. No ma’am.

Girlfriend Time

Now if you were here on Wednesday you might have seen that instead of Bookworm Wednesday this month, I switched it up to TVworm Wednesday. And you also read that I love watching my FAVORITE shows with my FAVORITE people. While my momma was out of town this week, my girl Alyssa came over on Monday night and we watched The Bachelor and The Voice.

Alyssa and I were best friends in high school and when it came time for college she went to Texas Tech and I went to The University of Oklahoma.

We lost touch after being so far away, but she recently graduated early in December and now she’s back in the DFW area for her job. I’m so happy my friends are coming back to town. Alyssa and I had so much fun and spent the night giggling about random things and arguing about who is actually going to win the Bachelor! She’s all #teamlauren and i’m all #teamjojo.

Aromatherapy Pillow Mist

One thing to know about me is that when it comes to Bath and Body Works…I love love love candles, aromatherapy, and vanilla bean noel. My FAVORITE product from B&BW that got me hooked on the store in the first place is their aromatherapy, specifically their stress relief one. I adore this stuff. I have the lotion, the shampoo, the hand sanitizer, the body wash, the bubble bath soap, the chapstick, and…the pillow mist!

I spray the pillow mist well, on my pillow before bed at night. I spray it actually all over my bed and in my floor fan (to diffuse it throughout the room) and it seriously works. Not just stress, but it just relaxes me when I take a deep breath. Try the bubble bath soap too! You need this in your life.

In fact, when I went over to our host home from the Church retreat a couple weekends ago, the mom at the host home said “What do you have in there because my daughter and I were talking about how amazing it smells.” I told her it had to be my deodorant because I hadn’t sprayed anything. She said it’s almost like aromatherapy and that’s when it hit me…it was my pillow mist. That I had sprayed a couple days before. Not even on my blanket. It’s so great, friends.

Stevia

Speaking of our host home at the retreat, the mom introduced me to Stevia while we were there. She said to “only put a drop because otherwise it’s overpowering” and she was right. I loved it so much that I went to buy it the following week. I put one drop in my black coffee (when i’m not on my sugar detox) and it’s perfect. Again, another product that I recommend if you’re trying to limit sugar. And just because it’s a healthier way to sweeten your FAVORITE morning up of joe.

Not only do people use this in coffee, but a lot of people use Stevia as a liquid sweetener in their foods. I bet if you Pinterest this, you’ll find a lot!

Milk Frother

And since we’re talking about coffee…and Christmas. I got a milk frother for Christmas and it is so fun. I had been wanting one for eh…forever and Santa came through! I knew nothing about these originally. The one I have has a cold, warm, and hot milk setting. This day I did the cold setting…which is why I think it turned out bubbly below:

And see it in action:

I re-watch that video and can’t help but laugh. Because i’m weird. And awkward. You’ll have to forgive me 😉 But now you need to get cha some of my FAVORITE Stevia with my FAVORITE milk frother and make some delicious coffee this weekend! I gave you all the good products!

Blog Button

A couple weeks ago, Jacquelyn posted about her awesome goal of meeting 100 Bloglovin’ followers and that she was putting blogger’s buttons on her page. While we were e-mailing I said something about how sweet it was that she was doing that, but I didn’t have one so I couldn’t send it to her. Well, a couple days later I did have a button…and now it’s on her page!!

Thank you for being so kind, Jacquelyn. Sweet gestures like this are my FAVORITE. It is perfect! Bloggers, i’ve added my button to my sidebar. Feel free to grab the link and post it to your blog page 🙂

xoxoxo

And there we have it for today. You must have everything I mentioned today people. They’re too good not to! I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I’m hoping to get my shifts covered so I can relax and get ahead on blog work and school work 😉

Friday Favorites

Hellloooooo Friday. So happy to see you!

If you’re a blogger, link up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci and share your FAVORITES. If you’re a reader, so glad you’re here!!

This goes without saying…but my FAVORITE family is back in action tonight. Oh, I am pumped…as are most of you from reading everyone’s What’s Up Wednesday post this week.

I might stay up and see if it comes out at midnight (which will have passed by the time you read this) otherwise I guess I will have to watch after work sometime. Which is going to be interesting considering i’m working both my jobs today. NOOOOO I NEED MORE TIME TODAY!

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that our pastor challenged each of us to fast social media for one day.

And it was the best thing ever.

And then a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I was going to go a whole weekend without social media.

And it was the best thing ever.

And now I do it one day every single week. It’s my FAVORITE day of the week now. I loved it so much that I could probably give up social media for an extended amount of time, but it’s also how I engage with you guys so I don’t want to! You’ll be surprised how difficult it is. I would open up Instagram multiple times, remember I wasn’t suppose to, and close it out immediately. But you’ll also be surprised with the amount of free time that you have. Communicate with your family! Get some work done! Don’t look at other people’s pictures and be like “wow she looks great why don’t I?” And in today’s world, I think a lot of us could use that every now and then.

I would seriously challenge you to do this. Just one day – no Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Pinterest, nothing. I told my girls to do it one day this week after a long conversation about comparison at our retreat.

Speaking of retreats, I want to recap this past weekend, even though I mentioned it on Wednesday. But it was just so GOOD and I don’t want to forget it!

Friday night we had to be at one of our campus for check in and I of course go in my signature outfit. Cute sweater? Check. Jeans? Check. Booties? Check. Long necklace? Check. Selfie? Check. A room that I just switched into and haven’t organized yet? Check.

Friday night they catered Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, we had worship and service, and then we went back to our host home for a Bible study and girl talk. After Bible study, the girls wanted McFlurry’s. Who are we to deny them such a glorious dessert? PS…I MISS MCFLURRY’S. They got a kick out of my wedges with socks, but I didn’t wanna wear booties and my feet were cold. So I improvised!!!

Saturday morning, we woke up and did a Bible study before going to bowl that morning. I sat at the kitchen table drinking some coffee and chatting with one of the girls.

After bowling we had free time and our first stop was to Starbucks because this was my group, remember???? Haha, total shocker but this was my first Starbucks in weeks!!

We hung out at our host home for a couple hours while the girls went swimming and took naps. Then we headed up to the Church for a cookout, service, and it was my FAVORITE night. So 15 passenger van selfie was in order.

We broke up into small groups and I had 3 girls with me who just opened up completely about stuff that’s been going on in their lives, things that were bothering them, and their relationships with Jesus. This night was the reason I started praying about volunteering with high school girls in the first place. There were tears, prayers, re-dedications to Christ, and lots of hugs. At the end of our conversation the girls said: “wow, that felt so good to talk about. We don’t have to do anything else this weekend because we’ve accomplished everything we wanted to”.

Cue the tears. Except I don’t cry…but if I did. I WOULD HAVE!

After service, we left the Church and the girls requested Braum’s. And thus #friesbeforeguys was born. BECAUSE I AM A GREAT LEADER AND KNOW WHAT’S TRULY IMPORTANT IN LIFE. 😉

We went back, hung out, snap chatted, and talked. Us leaders went to bed before the girls because we can’t hang! Megan and I shared a room so it was fun getting to know her a little better and realizing how much we have in common 🙂 I am so thankful that I was able to work with Jen and Megan this weekend.

We all went to sleep and woke up Sunday morning in desperate need of some coffee. Us 4 went to Starbucks again and the other girls went to Smoothie King.

And then we went to our third service and went home. I’m still trying to catch up on sleep i’m so tired. But it was SO worth it.

 

Because I have been getting so many questions about the food i’m posting lately, I decided one day next week I will post about them. If you’re one of those people, be on the look out. That means you’ve got to come back next week so I can share some of my FAVORITE recipes!!

If you have any requests for particular recipes I have talked about, for recipes you’re not sure that i’ve made, or recipes you’d like me to make…leave them in the comments or e-mail me.

As for being gone the past two weeks, it was so worth it. But coming back and seeing your comments about missing me?? Also worth it!!!! You all are my FAVORITE. I’m not sure what i’m going to do in the future, but it’s possible that I might start taking one week off a month or something like that. I could go into a lot of detail, but I learned a lot during that time. I’ll just keep you posted. But seriously thanks for your sweet words about my return. XOXOXO

Alright. That’s enough for one post. ‘Cause you know I could go on! 🙂

One more thing: Bible Study girls, I will be posting Week 8, 9, and 10 in the next couple weeks. Don’t forget about our study. Catch up beforehand by clicking HERE.

A Day In The Life

Ah, good morning!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you woke up as someone else? Well if that’s you, today’s your lucky day 😉 Here’s what a day in the life of me on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday looks like. My morning pictures are from Monday and the rest of the day is Wednesday (yesterday) since I forgot about my pictures on Monday afternoon. It worked out though because on these 3 days of the week I pretty much do the same thing.

6:54AM and my alarm goes off. Random fact: I never set my alarm on a 5 minute interval. It’s always a random number. And i’m really not sure why. At 7:00AM I finally hop out of bed.

I’m not a Keurig person, I just don’t like the taste. So i’m attempting to use our old coffee pot. This morning I had to get mom to teach me how to brew from our coffee pot.

With my brewed coffee and ice water (always), I make the long trek to my home office. AKA our dining room. I mean where else is a girl to go when she doesn’t have a desk and chair?

Time for Jesus and time for blog reading.

Yikes. Someone tell this girl to get more sleep. #bagsfordays Here I am. A college student. Doing work before 8:00AM. With my blanket, space heater, computer, and water for an hour before my day gets going. But we already knew I wasn’t normal, remember? It’s so quiet and such a great way to start the day!

At 8:05 I go upstairs to change for the gym, and at 8:10 I come down and listen to The Today Show for a little bit before I say bye to the brothers on my way out the door. We keep things healthy with Pop-tarts for breakfast…which i’m a little bitter about. When I was younger/their age I was ONLY allowed to have Cheerios for breakfast, never sugar. And now this kid eats Pop-tarts for breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, and snacks. UGH #oldestchildproblems

8:30 BodyCombat every Monday morning. I looovvveeee this class. It’s boxing, kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai. I leave feeling like I could be the next Muhammad Ali or Floyd Mayweather or whoever is famous for fighting.

As soon as I get home from the gym I shower and change clothes. And then I eat a quick breakfast before work. It’s something different every day, but on this particular day it was an egg scramble.

I get into the office around 10:30 and work until about 2:00. Part time hours are great especially when you’re working a couple other jobs and going to school full-time.

Around 2:00 I hit the grocery store for the ingredients to make Andrea’s Pulled Pork for my brothers and dad to have as dinner while i’m in class tonight and mom is out of town.

Then it was time for lunch. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually made a sandwich and I was so shocked that I decided I needed to eat a turkey and swiss melt with a sliced tomato while I watched my PLL recording. And yes I ALWAYS have water on me at all times. Always. You’ll see.

And then I went back to the home office with a Seattle’s best frozen mocha while I worked on some schoolwork and a project for my mom.

Speaking of that project for mom, she happened to leave out the fact that I would need pictures that had to be scanned in. And since we don’t have a scanner, I had to come up with a solution. So to dad’s office it was!

Every time I go to the grocery store I get one thing that’s new. I love to try new things, so when I got home I tried this spearmint water. It’s an acquired taste…i’m still working on that one.

At 6:00, I put my future-baseball-mom skills to work and hopped in the car to pick Ry up. All I have to say is I better not have all girls *knocks on wood*. I snapped a super flattering picture of us for y’all because #itsadayinthelife.

On Monday afternoon, my mom and I made chicken salad…and can I just tell you that this is the best chicken salad you’d ever have. Ever. In your life. I became an addict at the young age of like, 10 when she first made it. I never was a picky eater growing up.

I’ve had it every single day since we’ve made it and I won’t confirm nor deny that I have eaten it for breakfast one morning. I mean, I crave this stuff. It’s pretty much all my favorite ingredients put together. Drooling.

So when I got home around 6:15, I unloaded the dishwasher while I munched on some of this infamous chicken salad. Pair this with rice crackers, or lettuce, or by itself. It doesn’t matter. Warning: You have to use some serious self-control with this stuff!

It was Wednesday. So around 7:00, I drove up to Church only to BE SURPRISED BY MY SWEET GIRLS AND CO-LEADER. I come trotting through the door and one by one they start walking up to me handing me flowers. Stop it. It was just a “thank you” for this past weekend. Y’all. It’s the little things like this that get me.

I was so confused by what was happening…I thought they were playing a joke on me but it turns out that they weren’t. Jen, my co-leader remembered me saying that I liked the flowers at our host home’s house and that my favorite color was yellow, so she planned this whole thing out! Oh. Wednesday nights rock.

Church goes until 9:00, but as soon as I got home these bad boys went in a vase and a picture was sent thanking them. Dead. Who needs a boy when you have 15 nineth grade girls to give you flowers???

By 9:30, pops and I were huddled up on the couch watching an episode of The OC. Because it’s what we do. And Ry came out for a little bit too.

Snack time consisted of blueberries and carrots. And then some other stuff that I forgot to photograph.

And after our episode was over, I came back down to my office so I could finish my blog post, get organized for today, and wind down. Last night was a late night and I didn’t hit the hay until 1:00ish. Usually I’m long gone before that, but I had some things to do.

G’night from Rachel Bilson and I. Heart of Dixie on Netflix before bed is always a good idea.

There you have it. A day in my life.

Curious of day’s past? Check out a Day In The Life (or as I used to call them #everydaymollay when I did it every month)…

After You Lose Your Job – November 2015
Summer Before Senior Year Of College – June 2015
Spring of Junior Year – First Semester @ A New School – April 2015
The Day of Thanksgiving – November 2014
As a Nanny – September 2014
The Day of Labor – August 2014
On The Farm – July 2014
My First (Most Amateur) One Ever – June 2014

Lately…

I have a list of posts that I could have put in here, but instead I decided to do a little life lately check. I like doing these every so often…they’re just fun to me! Beware: this is a long post since I haven’t done one since November!!!

Lately, I have been getting to Church a little early on Wednesday nights to have some quiet time or school work time before my high schoolers start getting there.

With a mocha fit frappe of course. Honestly, I think any kind of iced/frozen drink (especially if it has coffee) is the way to my heart. See. These are two separate nights!

Lately, I have found Gilmore girls re-runs on TV so when i’m at home eating, I like to remember the good ol’ Gilmore girls watching days 🙂 Oh and you heard a couple episodes are coming to Netflix right? So much of my heart was caught up in this show as a middle schooler. Ahhhh!!

Shortly after the new year, we (as in Mom, Morgan, and I) went to some shops so Morgan could exchange her Lululemon leggings and on our way out, we were walking by Mi Cocina and we were all feeling Mexican food. #gimmealltheguac #andchips #andsalsa

Lately this is what my desk has been looking like. My planner, recipe books, my Bible, Pandora in the background…gettin’ work done, bein’ productive, one day at a time!

The first week back of the semester I tried out for my school’s volleyball team. I didn’t tell anyone I was doing it, but when I made the team I finally told the fam. I decided not to join the team due to my schedule this semester and other things, but I was still pretty proud that after not playing for 4 years I even made it! (This was before I told them I probably wasn’t going to do it.)

I told you that on the 11th, I turned 22 years old. That Friday night I had a birthday dinner and Valley, Maddie, Emily J., Me, Reeana, Emily S., Morgan were all there. I love these people. They are the absolute best!

A photographer at the restaurant came and took our picture and on our way out showed us the original, and one where they switched our face on someone else’s. So funny! I snapped a picture…and I wasn’t suppose to because they wanted me to buy it. #oops #buti’mnotsorry #ididn’tliketherestaurant

We went back to my house after dinner and pictures and these three stayed and hung out with me for a little bit. We decided to run up to the grocery store and buy a gluten free cake mix for them to try…and me to be able to eat. This was after going about 4 places for dessert and they were all closed! #rude

Emily took this picture and said “put this on the blog and tell them you forgot to add water to your cake mix”. Because I did. And then she was convinced my mom does all my baking and cooking that I post about on the blog. #bloggerfail #i’mreallyintohashtagstoday

And then this one saying we added water so it looks normal again. She cracks me up because she’s always like “are you taking this picture to put on the blog?”. Love that girl!

My personal photographer got me pouring the mix into the pan 🙂

And the (uncooked) finished product! Gluten free funfetti cake, y’all. They all tried it and said it was good! And I don’t think they’d lie to me…

Lately, i’ve been trying to spend my free time with my Bible, my journal, and my Jesus Calling. Quiet Times are the best and i’m really working on this becoming a priority and not a “free time” thing.

Lately, i’ve been drinking a lot of this. But is that really much of a surprise? Nope. My iced Starbucks of choice is an iced doppio espresso with soy milk. This day I got 1/2 a pump of mocha. I don’t like sweet coffee as it is (never thought i’d say that) and now that i’m doing the sugar detox, I don’t get it. And I don’t miss it! Tomorrow i’m talking about what you can/can’t eat on the detox since I got some questions about it 🙂 So come back!

The Monday after my birthday dinner, Valley and her husband invited her brother and I to a Dallas Mavs game with them. Uh, going to watch sports? I’m in!

We got a group picture with Valley’s little boy Clay. Couldn’t you just eat him up?! Oh yeah, and she’s due February 22nd with her second boy!!! I cannot wait!

Lately there has been A LOT of traffic around here. I think I read somewhere that the Dallas metroplex is the fastest growing metroplex in the nation. It’s true. And it’s kind of ridiculous that we can’t even get anywhere without it taking 25 turns of a light. Like, do you see it all the way up there??? Don’t drive with me, i’m not pleasant.

The other day at school I was fuhhhreeezzinnggg and tired. The only obvious remedy was hot coffee (I know, where is my iced coffee!) during my lecture for the night. Yes, coffee at 5:30PM. #becausecollege

Mom went to visit her dad the other week and she sent us a picture of her in the snow and considering it’s been between 50-70 degrees around here, i’ve just been taking a dip in the pool. I mean come on??? It’s February! Texas weather I tell ya.

Lately, i’ve been hitting the steam room after my workout classes. This was my first time in a sauna/steam room setting so I had to document it. It was always something I wanted to do, but didn’t know what to do so I never did. I was like, do I go with shoes? or a swimsuit? or what do I do?

The next time I was in there, homeboy decided to do pushups in the middle of the steam room. I’m sorry what??? Sit. Down.

The other day we got a ping pong table. WARNING: DON’T GET ONE IT WILL TAKE AT LEAST 2 DAYS TO SET IT UP. Ryan was obviously super helpful…

Whew! I think you’re caught up with the random happenings in my life. Did you make it? I hope so. Now I need to go tell my mom to read this post so she can learn to hashtag properly…

Now you deserve a second cup of coffee! Have a great Thursday!

Show and Tell: How To Win My Heart

Ah, yes. It’s that time again…show and tell with Andrea!

So you wanna know how to win my heart, huh? To be honest, I kind of feel like i’m filling out a match.com profile. I can just see my friends making fun of me now, haha! But in the name of #blogworld we’re doing it.

First, you might want to wake me up with some coffee. For you and for me.

And you see that B in the background of this picture? With the red and the blue? Yeah, to win my heart we will probably take a trip to Fenway.

Or if you’re more of a football person, I don’t discriminate. We can go watch another sport besides baseball. As long as we can see the Sox play at some point 😉

If you’ve won my heart, we’re probably going to the gym together.

And on our first date we most likely got frozen margs with a side of chips and salsa because #indulgences

To win my heart, you’ve got to be okay with my scented candle obsession.

AND YOU HAVE TO BUY ME A PUPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know where you can get one too!

We’ll probably spend a lot of time watching some of my favorite shows…we can watch yours too. I can be fair.

You’ll have to be okay with a gluten free/lactose free cake on my birthday.

And my constant obsession with trying new recipes/foods even when they go wrong.

You’ll have to accept me on my days when I look this good…because more often than not this is how you’ll see me 😉

You’ll have to get along with my family. And they will have to like you. I know some people don’t care if their family gets along with their significant other…but there is no way. Not for me.

To win my heart, you’ll have to want this many kids. Ha kidding. But seriously my significant other will want kids because I know that’s where a lot of my joy in life will come from…raising a family.

But most importantly…if you’ve won my heart…it’s because God has your heart first.

I mean, is that so much to ask for?? 😉 Really though, I could care less about chocolate and flowers and jewelry…those don’t mean anything to me. I took the 5 love languages test and I got quality time BOTH times. And now as i’m done writing this post and looking back i’m seeing a lot of what I said was quality time related. So there ya have it…now i’m just hoping I haven’t scared off any potential contenders at this point. Haha!

Have a great Tuesday!

OH DON’T FORGET:

BOOKWORM WEDNESDAY IS HAPPENING TOMORROW!

In case you missed any of my S&T Tuesdays for 2016:

Introduction
Momfessional Moments (I didn’t participate)

And here are all my 2015 Show and Tell posts.

Friday Favorites: Thanksgiving Tradition + Fitness Goals Update

I mean, honestly. Can you believe that it’s already the SECOND Friday of DECEMBER?!

As usual, i’m linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites. It’s Friday Favorites…Thanksgiving in December style?

I forgot to include this in my Thanksgiving post, but i’m probably going to have to go back and add it. A couple years ago I cam up with a fun Thanksgiving tradition. Don’t get me wrong, I love the food that the Holiday brings, but I love the Holiday for just what it stands for. A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, everyone draws one name (secretly) of another person in the family. For the person that you draw, you have to write them a letter of why you’re thankful for them and then we get that person a little gift. Nothing big, just a little gift.

This year, Morgan had me…and she did awesome. This was my gift from my sissy and she picked it to personally match my office (from a year ago) because she knows how much I love my yellow and grey together.

This year, we started another tradition. Mom came up with the idea of everyone writing something about each other, then crumbling up the paper and sticking it in their glass. After dinner and gift exchange, the person to our right read each note and you had to guess who it was.

I saved my little papers from everyone to tape to my home “desk”…so I can look at it when I need to smile 🙂

Dad said: Molly’s perseverance
Mom said: Focused on health and fitness
Morgan said: I’m thankful your worms (inside joke, she’s referring to my health issues) didn’t kill you and you started cooking more for all of us.
Rick said: I’m thankful you let me pick on you and still be nice to me.
Ryan said: I love your room because you share it with me.

Well, since mom mentioned health and fitness above, i’m going to roll with that.

Month 2 Fitness Goals: Week 1 Update

Wow this week pretty much got away from me and I didn’t even remember that I had fitness goals that I was working on!

• No eating within an hour of a meal. I started keeping a food journal if I didn’t already mention that, and as i’m looking back on it now i’m seeing that there was only 1 day that I didn’t stick to this goal.
• No QuestBars or Larabars more than 2 days in a row. Boo. I didn’t accomplish this goal this week. Sometimes a bite of one of these bars just sounds sooooooo good. Every day. Sigh.
• Continue working out 5 days a week. Yep, check! I’ve worked out every day except for Monday this week.
• Be in bed by 11:00. Oh, yeah. Well like I said this week snuck away from me. I feel like i’m trying to fit a lot of things/accomplish a lot in a short amount of time, so there were a couple nights I was still up and about after 11:00.

Yesterday morning I was running some errands and stopped at Starbucks to pick up a gift card. I have cut back SO MUCH this fall on my coffee intake, which is probably a good thing. In the last month and a half i’ve only had 8 cups of coffee. And usually when I do I get an Americano with soy or a Blonde Roast Misto with coconut milk.

But yesterday I decided I deserved a 1 pump iced mocha with soy. It was the best. Give in to your cravings every once in a while…it’s good for the soul!

Online Bible Study is starting on SUNDAY!!!!!! Wahoo!

Those of you signed up: You should be receiving an e-mail from me today.

Those of you not signed up: You will get a glimpse of what it’s going to be like. If nothing else, just pray for all of us joining in on this journey together. And I hope you’ll consider be part of it next time. 🙂

Annddd last thing today, if you’ve missed any other posts on the blog this week, check them out.

Monday: Month 2 Fitness Goals
Tuesday: Show and Tell: Christmas Decorations
Wednesday: December Goals (A recap of 2015 goals and everything accomplished.)
Thursday: Guest Blogger! Lauren talked about why she loves traveling, and we can too.

Aaaahh, enjoy your second weekend of December!

Friday Favorites: Black Friday Edition

Oh boy! It’s the day after Thanksgiving. We’re all stuffed into our food comas, don’t want to get out of our PJs, and may or may not be debating that Black Friday shopping.

This year, we decided to forgo the crowds. In high school my mom and I would have a blast with Black Friday shopping. The real Black Friday shopping where we’d wake up at 4:00am to get in line at 5:00am. But now it’s just not fun anymore with the stores opening Thanksgiving night.

So i’ll just shop from my office this morning. Let’s get to favorites black friday style! Link-up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci today!

Are you ready for this? Starting November 24th through Monday, November 30th, ALL Stella & Dot sale items will be reduced by an additional 25% off! Prices will be available as marked and this sale will end at 11:59pm PST on 11/30.

This is the perfect opportunity to load up on pretty pieces to add some flare to your wardrobe this holiday season. Speaking of the holidays, Stella & Dot sales item also make for perfect gifts!

Don’t forget Dot Dollars too! For every $50 you spend, you’ll get $25 Dot Dollars to use towards your next purchase!! These are some of my favorite pieces that they offer.

The engrave-able necklace comes in silver and gold and is a nice gift to personalize, which is also why I like the engrave-able bracelet! I’ve seen names, dates, nicknames, whatever you like. These pieces are classy but also personal.

Blue Sentiment Stone Drops (they are part of the sale page and are at a great price!)

I have this cross necklace that I kinda refuse to take off. I love it so! I’ve wanted one forever and finally got it.

And honestly their entire bracelets page has me HOOKED. From the fabric ones…

…to the elephant wishing bracelet…

…and the arrow bracelet. I can’t get enough of them.

These studs need to be in your jewelry box by the end of Christmas. I mean, get a pair for you and the girls in your life!!

I haven’t even gotten a chance to peruse Old Navy’s site because ON and Targ are my go-to clothing stores. But I did have a chance to look through Target’s site. AND OH BOY!

I mean 40% off all clothing for the whole family? Pinch me!

I found the festive, Christmas leggings that I wore on Christmas Eve last year for $12.00 that’s right! I pair of festive, cozy, comfy, leggings for 12 bucks. I KNOW.

I’m pretty positive that by now y’all know I am obsessed with my chambray shirt. If I had to pick a favorite thing in my closet, this piece of clothing would be it. I wear it ALL. THE. TIME. (Even in the picture above haha!)

Click here to shop all the deals for women’s clothing and accessories! You really just need to see for yourself!

This is going to be me today. The two of us in HR are taking shifts, i’m working this morning, while she’s taking the afternoon. So as soon as I get there, I’m going to grab myself an Americano or a Blonde Roast Misto, turn on my Christmas Radio Pandora, and shop shop shop for Christmas. It’s pay day (PTL) and i’ve got things to do! It may not be in my pjs but jeans will have to do this morning 😉

Before we go here’s a semi-pathetic Fitness Goals update  for week 3!

1. No eating after 8:00 p.m. I did this only twice this week, I think??? It usually just depends on the day and when I eat, but i’ve definitely been trying to be more conscious about it!
2. Meal prep every Sunday for the week ahead following the 21 day fix plan. I still have not meal prepped or followed the 21 day fix food portions. I’m honestly not sure why, but I think I might just save this goal for next time.
3. Eat 5 small meals without snacking in between those. I think this week I was more often eating less meals and eating until I was full. The thing that stuck out to me this week was that I really just tried listening to my body whenever I could. It’s been so much better!
4. Work-out 5 days a week. Working out more than that. Check!
5. Cut down on the carbs. I cut down on the protein bars and shakes. I think carbs have still been about the same as usual though.

Those of you who signed up for the online Bible study should have received an e-mail from me this week. If you did not and would still like to join we’re trying to get this moving, so please e-mail me ASAP!!!!!

colorsoflifeblog@gmail.com

And that’s it for this Friday. Good luck braving the crowds today. Or working. Or whatever you’re doing. Have a great Holiday weekend!

**This post contains affiliate links, which just means that clicking on a link may result in a small compensation for the blog author. Thank you all so much for reading and supporting my blog! XOXO**

To Louisiana For Morgan

This past weekend I set out to Louisiana with sister time on the mind. We moved her in the very first weekend of August. Then, my dad needed someone to drive with him at the end of August to her first game so I went. The brothers and I had plans to drive to one of her away games that was closer, but we never made it. I asked her if she wanted me to just come up one weekend and I could stay with her, she said yes, so we made plans for this past weekend since I hadn’t seen her in about 2 months

I took a half day at work so by noon on Friday I was southbound on I-45 to Louisiana…coffee in hand. You just have to on a 6 hour drive.

I arrived at 5:30, which is of course when she had to be at the field for her game that night. I met her in front of the field house for a hello hug and then took her dorm keys to go put my stuff in there and hang out for a little while until I had to be at the game.

At 6:50 they started announcing the starters and Morgan’s name was called. #proudsistermoment

She told me to get there a little before start time because she had a ball to throw to me. I just said okay, but mainly because I knew what that meant. We used to do this in high school.

I don’t know how it started but somehow the siblings started calling me Giss pronounced like it rhymes with siss. Anyways she told me that her teammates saw it and thought she called me “Jizz” so they wrote it on there. So funny. I brought this to work to put in my office as a little way to make me smile when I look at it.

Within 15 minutes MORGAN SCORED HER FIRST COLLEGE GOAL!!!!! And I was hooping and hollering. She told me she was going to turn around and point to me, but she chickened out. Ugh. But I was so so so so proud of her. They ended up winning the game with her 1 goal. YAY! And at halftime we were introduced to some costume contest kiddos.

And after the game we went back to Morgan’s dorm for her to shower and then headed to a local Mexican restaurant for some fajitas, chips-n-salsa (I could live off this), and a margarita!!! I had some marg leftover but didn’t want to leave it because I paid 12 darn dollars for that thing. And since you can’t take open alcohol we asked for a togo cup for water, threw my margarita in there, and bolted out of the restaurant hahah.

Then we went back to her room to watch some Grey’s Anatomy and call it nights. Her schools fall break was this weekend so there weren’t any students there for us to go out, but we enjoyed hanging out and watching movies. Now, doesn’t this make you wish you were still in a dorm 😉 Morgan’s obsession with Spiderman wore off on her pumpkin that she carved the other weekend.

Saturday morning we hit IHop pre-practice. This was the worst iHop experience ever. We ended up not even paying for our food and tipping out waitress. The manager was rude to us as well and we called our mom as we left to tell her she’d need to bail us out of jail later 😉

While Morg was at practice I wasted time in her dorm watching friends…then doing crunches…then looking through her food…and brewing coffee that I didn’t even want. Longest hour and a half ever!!

After her practice we came back so she could change…into another freaking t-shirt because that’s all homegirl wears. But to be honest so do I. I can’t blame her that much. We went up to the mall to do a little shopping.

And afterwards went to a restaurant she is OBSESSED with and has taken everyone that has come to visit her. Her dish is basically a Hawaiian pizza on salmon. Mine was salmon with shrimp, artichokes, mushrooms, and tomatoes on top. Both were so delicious and I totally see why she takes everyone there!

After dinner we went to Old Navy, did some grocery shopping for her, then went back to her dorm for another successful movie night consisting of a chick-flick and The Wild Thornberrys movie because we Middleton girls are crazy.

Sunday morning she woke up late so we opted for a breakfast at her cafe, to which I always sample everything. Because when it’s unlimited, you have to. It’s so funny that everywhere you go in Lousiana there is red beans and rice plus grits offered. (The lighting is really weird it’s not that my food is discolored FYI)

She left me at the cafe in all my gluttonous glory while she went to the field for her game. I didn’t have a key so I had to walk over there to get a key so that I could shower and pack up. And wow this is a flattering picture.

They unfortunately lost this game in overtime because the ref called a handball in the goalie’s box. STUPID. Refs that call that type of stuff are ridiculous. But it didn’t stop me from being a proud sis this weekend. Morgan has done so well with soccer and school and making friends and all things college. I miss her a ton but I love seeing her do what she does out of the field.

About halfway through my drive home she realized that I had her socks that we bought this weekend, so I took a picture to make her mad. Hehe.

And on my way home I also said goodbye to ol’ Sam Houston.

And I always hear people saying they stopped at Buccee’s or they’re wearing a shirt with the little beaver on it. If you’re not aware, it’s just a really big and popular gas station in Madisonville, Texas. I think it’s other places too though. I stopped in for a potty break and to get some water and look around to see what all the hustle and bustle was about.

I mean they had a variety of things. I think they are known for their beaver nuggets, which I almost got but I just wasn’t wanting anything sweet, so I got a fruit bowl. Which was still good! And so fresh!

Less than 30 minutes outside of Dallas I hit this awwwfffuulllllll traffic. It just so happened the day I was driving through and the day after from 6pm-6am they were doing construction on 2 lanes of the highway. COOL.

But eventually I hit D-Town and boogied all the way through to home.

And got up early Monday morning for work. It’s hard being an adult sometimes. But it was so worth it all just to spend some time with my sis and see her goal in person. I love weekends like this. Thanks for having me, sister!!!

Friday Favorites: Siblings, Organization, and Rain Boots Edition

I love Friday, love Friday, love Friday, love Friday, love Friday! I consider myself a full-time student and a full-time employee (but i’m technically not a full-time employee) because i’m taking 16 hours this semester and the other days when i’m not at school, I work so i’m not getting home until 5/6/7 most nights. I finally understand what all the hype is about Friday!

Link up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci. Lots of people are!!!

Friday night I was basically the best sister ever and went to support Morg at her soccer game in the freeeeeeeezing cold with my momma. One of my favorite things to do is watch my siblings play their sports. I know it’s not normal for people my age, but it’s just me and that’s how i’ve always been! Morgan will be 5 hours away next year so I won’t get to see that many games, so i’m definitely going to go to as many as I can!

Saturday’s are my favorite when it’s one of those hang-out-in-your-pjs-and-get-your-stuff-back-in-order-and-cleaned-up kind of days and that’s what this past weekend was. My momma had me run to the grocery store, but said Rick had to drive. Yikes he’ll be 16 this year, and yikes I should dress better when I go out in public!

Sunday afternoon I met up with Lana, a friend’s friend, and she captured some of my favorite picture to date from one of my favorite online boutiques. I’m posting them in three parts, but you should check out my God made girls post from Monday.

My parents came and met me for lunch at work on Monday because my dad was off for MLK holiday. My mom and I were getting everything set to where we wanted it hung and then the maintenance guy walked in. It was perfect timing and now my office is all decorated with my favorite things. You should check out that post!

Because you can’t sit through entrepreneurship without your favorite Erin Condren spiral notebook and your favorite iced drink from Starbucks. What a way to wake you up on a super tiring Tuesday morning. PS. I got complimented on my Erin Condren today, too! Have you used any EC?

Rain rain go away. Traffic was bad the other day. But at least I was looking good with my favorite rain boots and favorite hot coffee in hand 😉

School is fun.

Here’s an introduction to my family for ya 😉

Hey, have a good weekend! I’ll catch ya on Monday!

Friday Favorites: Another year closer

Happy 2015. This means i’m one year away from graduating college and I may be hyperventilating or something because what? Who wants to become an adult??? 😉

However, I know it happens to the best of us. Today during Friday Favorites with Andrea, Erika, and Narci i’m going to show you what I am glad about though.

Friday was the last day that we had our family in town for Christmas, and I was so glad we got to spend a little bit of time together even if it was getting ice-cream in the middle of winter. And even if I can’t have any ice-cream. It’s tradition every time my uncle from Virginia comes into town.

Just in case you needed the reminder.

Sunday my dad called in his troops (his kids and wife) to help him move offices. I went sporting my new everything…rain jacket, water bottle, yoga pants, yoga bag. I’m so glad I have a family who loves me and gets me cute things for Christmas 🙂 Excuse my “just-finished-yoga” look.

Eeeeeeek! A week from this past Monday the Bachelor comes back on…i’m so PUMPED! I’m excited about Iowa being pictured on national television and about seeing how the good ol’ country folks take to having a bachelor. It’ll be interesting to see how Chris handles the whole situation. I would never have put an Iowa man on a reality tv show, but i’m glad they did and i’m sure Chris will represent. Are you going to watch on Monday?!

If you were looking for me on Tuesday you would’ve found me at the office with hot coffee in hand…yes I said it! Hot coffee and me in the same sentence. I think i’m progressing away from cold coffee and 30 degree weather, which now means i’ll be glad that the baristas won’t give me super weird looks all the time!

New Years Eve brought me and two of my best people together. They’re awesome and i’m glad I got to third wheel on New Years with them 😉

In celebration of the NEW YEAR and it being my birthday month, I went shopping. I bought new work clothes, decoration for my office, and made some returns. I was a little productive and i’m glad i’ve got some of those things done. You’ll hear more about the holiday on Monday 🙂

So, i’ll see you then! Happy weekend! Try not to freeze wherever you are!

#everydaymollay: September

#everydaymollay are the day in my life posts for every month towards the end of the month. I took my pictures on Monday, so you could see what I day in the life of Molly on a Monday looks like.

Monday morning was a little different than normal, because, Monday.

My alarm went off at 7:00am and I hopped right up to post my Fav Things Party and look at all the other fun things.

by 7:45 I was up and out the door for my 8:00am. No time for real clothes!

And I got a front row spot. Take that, Monday!!!

Then when I got home mom and I turned on The Today Show. And I had my big ol’ cup of coffee and an english muffin for breakfast.

 

Windows down, scarf on with real clothes, sass happening, hair crazy, #selfiestatus going, I headed over to Target to pick up a baby outfit for my friend’s baby shower this weekend.

How cute is this onesie??

Then when I came home I grabbed some trail mix and mom and I went together to pay some bills, and hit groc-a-holics other favorite grocery store…Wally world.

When we got back at 3:45 I ate scarfed down some Tilapia because at 3:00 I went to the bus stop to pick up my kiddos I nanny.

Littlest one went to play with a friend so Miss. Avery and I played a game of Life and ate some popcorn.

And the oldest came home and I had to follow him as he did his running.

He didn’t go to practice that, so he did some homework, while I got to also. Then when both boys were home I got them some dinner while I snacked on some fruit, chicken, and whatever else they had that was gluten-free/lactose-free.

Collin (littlest) and I had to pick up Avery at 8:30 from gymnastics. So he read a book while I went all #selfiestatus as we waited for her outside.

I didn’t get home until 10:30 Monday night (which is not my usual Monday). And y’all, i’ll be 50 and my mom will still be waiting up for me to get home before she will fall asleep. Even when I was at OU she’d send an occasional text message checking on me. Maybe she’s crazy, but I love her for it. And if her waiting up for me makes her happy, i’m all about it! 😉

(Ps. She did stay up until I got home…I was wrong for even thinking she was kidding about going to sleep.)

And as soon as I got home I read through my Bible a bit and then prayed and was asleep by 11:30.

It’s nothing super exciting, just an average Monday in the life of a student/nanny/daughter/friend.
I’ll see you back here for some Friday Favorites, dear friends! One day ’til the weekend!!

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

Smoothies and Slippers: My morning routine

Hi y’all. You’re waking up as me today!

Sometimes my day’s routine changes depending upon what’s planned, but my general routine typically stays the same. For instance, all last week I had to take my brother to football practice at 6:30 while my mom was gone. So I was getting up with the moon to finish packing his lunch, getting him breakfast, waking him up, and getting him there on time. Last week was so off that I had a smoothie before 7. It just felt so strange.

This year I decided to quit staying awake until 2/3am and sleep in super late. I’m going to have to be a working adult some day and that will never fly. So I told myself that I need to get into a better routine, to make that transition soon. But, my “normal” routine goes a little something like this…

6:30 wake up every morning. My most faaaaavorite thing to do is check blogs and post mine, but I usually have my Quiet Time first thing. If I don’t i’ll spend too much time looking at blogs and being rushed during my Quiet Time. And that’s just not what it’s about.

6:40 after my candle is lit, and my slippers are on i’m having my Quiet Time. Now, my family is NOT fond of mornings. Well, my father is, but we’ve already clarified that he’s the weird one. Anyways, we don’t talk in the mornings. It’s like our secret code or something so I don’t go downstairs until i’m ready to leave the house.

I’ll go into detail about my Quiet Time during another post, but most mornings it’s just me, my bed, and my Bible. It’s my transition from sleeping to waking up. Quiet Times first thing in the morning just get your day going on a positive note. See, here’s my Jesus Callingagain, like I mentioned in my Friday Favorites post.

7:10 After about 30 minutes talking with Jesus, i’ll usually get out of bed and hop on over to my “desk” to post my blog and then read some others. I like getting out of bed because it forces me to officially wake up. I make my bed after I get up so I just feel so ready for the day and my room feels clean.

About 7:30, i’ll have to stop blog stalking…so sad. Then I get ready. Even more sad. I just wanna stay in my slippers. My crazy self decided to sign up for an 8am and 8:30am every morning. So, i’m usually the second one out the door every morning after my youngest brother.

7:40 on 3/5 days out of the week I only have one class, so i’m back at the house at 9. I thought it would be a brilliant time to take naps, but I did that once and couldn’t sleep the following night so I quickly vetoed that idea. When I come back at 9 on these days i’ll make my coffee and grab some breakfast. I’ll work on upcoming assignments, run errands, write blogs, do some laundry, etc.

10:00 though…coffee, mom, Hoda & KLG…now that’s a perfect morning. Usually at 11:00 when their show is over we leave to do what we need to.

However, the 2/5 days I get to stay longer in the mornings until 8:10 so I usually spend more time blogging, but because I don’t get to come home at 9:00, I usually make my coffee beforehand and take it with me to wake me up in my first class along with a snack. And I usually don’t get home until about 1:00 on those days. I’ll do as I need to after some lunch.

I’ve never been much of a morning worker-outer because i’m usually half asleep until about 9:00am anyways…but I might try and do my Yoga and Pilates in the wee hours of the morning instead of at night before I go to bed. We will see how that goes 🙂 I’m trying to make myself more of a morning person, because I have found that I get A TON more accomplished during the day with that extra time.

As long as you have something to look forward to in the mornings, you can become a morning person. I look forward to my little routine. I look forward to that extra hour or so of just me time before a day gets going. I look forward to having my blog and Quiet Time checked off my to-do list before classes start. And on days that I can squeeze in a quick Yoga or Pilates session, I look forward to that calmness also. I like that I am really tired at night because it’s easy for me to fall asleep. There are some pro’s to being a morning person.

There ya go! A happy (early) morning! Are you a morning person? What does your morning routine look like? What do you look forward to? Let me know, i’d love to hear!

Friday Favorites

How is it that Fridays are suppose to be the relaxing beginning of the weekend and I run around like a mad-woman??? Anyways, now that I have a little free time I am linking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

FAVORITE ONE: Seeing this pretty sunset the other night on my run was so calming. It just reminded me of our wonderful Creator of sunsets. Please know I am not a photographer and know how to take it at cute angles haha but it was so pretty!!

FAVORITE TWO: Monopoly. Monday/Wednesdays are my days to nanny after school. I pick up the kiddos at the bus stop and then we come home and do homework. They aren’t allowed to have electronics during the week, so we have to find another source of entertainment for the ones that don’t have sports that day. Our favorite thing has become monopoly playing. We had a continuing game all last week. My sister goes on Tuesday/Thursday so her and I switched players.

FAVORITE THREE: Y’all might recognize daisy. Ryan went with me to check on her one day and she just LOVED him. She wanted to dance with him and hold his hand. And he equally adored her. Ry needs a puppy!

FAVORITE FOUR: New books coming out! My momma’s favorite author is Susan Elizabeth Phillips and her latest book came out at the end of August. Heroes Are My Weakness is going to be a great read and I can’t wait to read it after my mom does (she gets first dibs)

FAVORITE FIVE: A big ol’ cup of coffee. TGFC. Thank goodness for coffee. Before I became a coffee drinker I had no idea what I was missing. I think more than just the taste itself I like having my cup next to me while i’m working in the morning.

I love this link-up. Our favorite things keep us going. Share yours with these ladies!