Weekend Details

My weekend consisted of:

Friday traffic

A high school soccer game

A trip to the resort (forgot my swim suit even after packing it. fail.)

Photo shoots with my mini me

More photo shoots with the fam

Taking cool pictures at a candle shop

Catching up with great friends

It was a great weekend. Counting down the days until next weekend when I will be reunited with these people:

Friday night we will be in that exact restaurant.

I. Can't. Wait.

Tuesday Challenge

Not too long ago, I stumbled upon the gorgeous Kerrie's blog, The Williams Post. After only reading a few of Kerrie's posts, I was instantly inspired. This is someone who has truly devoted her life to her faith, and I hope one day people will say the same thing about me. 


I've been a Christian since high school, having asked God to come into my life when I was 15. I recently rededicated my life to Him, finally learning what it means to fully surrender every aspect of my life to my faith. And you know what? It feels amazing. I feel different in so many ways, and truly feel the Lord transforming me. 


Recently, any time I get into a conversation about Jesus, I can go on for hours talking about His love. He is my favorite thing to talk about, and I feel myself light up when I have the opportunity to. 


Because of this, I was so excited to see that Kerrie is starting the Tuesday Challenge, an opportunity for me to talk about the work that God is doing in my life, while participating in weekly challenges that help me live out my faith.  This week's challenge was to pay for the person behind you at a drive-thru, and of course, I did this in true Californian style:

I even snapped a photo of the car behind me:

When I asked to pay for the car behind me, the girl asked if I was doing this for Lent. No, I said, this is a challenge to share God's love. 

She thought that was really cool (Props, Kerrie!).

To be honest, I think I was a little awkward. I realized the man behind me would learn that I paid for him while we were both still in line to get our food, and for some reason, that made me nervous. I was almost hoping that I would get my food before he would find out. 

But he did find out before I got my food, and as I was driving away I noticed his smiling, waving, thankful face in my rear view mirror. 

I laughed at myself for ever feeling awkward. 

I'm excited for the Tuesday Challenge, because it's already helping me get out of my comfort zone, and just share my love for God with others.

Actually, let me rephrase that. It's not my love for God that I want to share with others, it's His love for us. His love has transformed me, and has helped me find a foundation of real happiness that I know can never be taken away. If I can help even just one person feel the same comfort and encouragement that I feel, well that would be absolutely amazing. 

Through each day the Lord pours His unfailing love upon me,

and through each night I sing His songs,

praying to God who gives me life. 

Psalm 42: 8

I, I, I work out

It's Fit Club Monday time! Hope everyone had a good weekend. I certainly did, and can't wait to recap later this week. For now, here's my weekly update: 

Made it to the gym 7 times this week.

That's right, for the first time ever I got to the gym every day last week. 

Working out has really become a part of my daily routine, and I feel better than I've ever felt before. Not even in a oh I'm so skinny life is so good blah blah blah sort of way. Because that's not it at all. 

It's more of a I feel strong, I feel healthy, life is really really good sort of thing. 

I feel like my resolutions for 2012 were more about making actual lifestyle changes, and so far, I'm really happy with the results. It's been an amazing year so far.

But, on that note, I am going to try and work harder on my eating habits this week. A few weeks ago, I made progress with that goal, and I saw some results. Since then, I've kind of majorly slacked. So here are some goals for this week: 

Drink more water. Not really healthy-eating related. But kind of. 

Eat more fruits and veggies. Less carbs.

Portion control. Aka lay off the seconds. 

And to start off the week, here's a recipe from the infamous Cooking Light cook book. I swear, it never fails. 

Ravioli with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (18 ounce) package frozen steam-n-eat small cheese ravioli (such as Rosetto)

I couldn't find this brand. Just got regular cheese ravioli, and cooked it accordingly.

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 (8-ounce) package baby portobello mushrooms, quartered

1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion

1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons half-and-half

2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup (1 ounce) shaved fresh Asiago cheese

I used Parmesan. It tasted just as good, I'm sure.

Directions:

1. Cook ravioli according to package directions.

2. While ravioli cooks, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and onion, saute 3 to 4 minutes or until richly browned. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring until smooth. Add to pan, stirring well. Cook over medium-low heat 2 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly. 

**I cooked my sauce in a separate pan since I was cooking for the little sister (who's a typical 7 year old picky eater). Mushrooms/onions for the rest of the fam, and plain sauce for the picky one. Everyone was happy**

3. Divide cooked ravioli evenly among 4 shallow bowls or plates; spoon mushroom mixture evenly over ravioli. Sprinkle cheese evenly over each serving.

We had a salad and honey-baked carrots on the side. The carrots were a big hit with the 7 year old. Major success compared to the last zucchini/squash fiasco. 

Per Serving (Yields 4):

306 Calories

9g Fat

13.8g Protein

41.5g Carbohydrates

31g Fiber

21mg Cholesterol

2.9mg Iron

583mg Sodium

199mg Calcium

Aaand that's all for this Fit Club post. Have yourself a great Monday, and start counting down til next weekend. I know I am!

Flashback Friday - Winners

So this Flashback Friday is gonna be short and sweet, and very picture-filled. Why you ask? Because I'm writing this after midnight, and this is the latest I've been awake in I don't know how long. 

Yeah, I'm lame now. It's okay. I can admit that.

Anywho, I've mentioned a few times on here that I still play softball for fun. I used to be on a pretty awesome team called the Designated Drivers, and now I'm playing with some coworkers. It's a great time, don't get me wrong. But I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. Because we're friends and all, and that's what friends do. 

It's been a long time since we won a game. 

Oh wait, did I just admit that? Oh well, I did. 

So here's to remembering the days when our team won softball games. 

Those days will be back again soon! I'm sure. 

We won intramurals that year, and these people turned out to be some of my greatest friends from UCSB.

But hey, winning isn't everything right? 

Right.

And now this grandma is off to bed. Happy Friday!

Leg Warmers

So I've been really trying to get more fashionable this year. There are so many looks that I think look amazing on other people, but don't look good on me. Makes perfect sense, right? I've decided that I'm just over analyzing, so it's time to just go with my gut. 

Fashionable Goal #1: Incorporate leg warmers into my wardrobe. 

I think leg warmers are adorable. I have a pair that I had to buy freshman year for a dance costume, and I haven't worn them since. Now that I see more and more people incorporating them into outfits, I think it's time that I give this a try. 

So I did!

Under my boots they went, and you know what, I love the look! Super cute and winter-y, not to mention warm (because I totally need winter clothes in Santa Barbara, right?). 

I'd say the leg warmers were a success, and I definitely want to wear them more often. 

So blogger friends, advise me. Do you wear leg warmers? If so, how? Help me hop on this trend. 

A Perfect Weekend

This weekend was seriously amazing. It was perfect. I wanted three glorious, relaxing and fun days off work, and that's exactly what I got. 

Friday night, we celebrated two birthdays. Happy Birthday Rae and Boz!

Saturday, we went to the gym and had amazing Backyard Bowls for breakfast. Then, after showering and getting all geared up for the beach (which did not end up happening due to some unfortunate weather changes), we biked to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for lunch, Chinos. After a few pitchers with good friends, we biked home for a Saturday night filled with wine, cheese, fruit and Brides Maids. Oh, and the world's most amazing roommates. Ever.

Sundays are my favorite days, because I get to start them here. I am so thankful for the time that I get to spend at Reality, where I can just fall in love with God surrounded by so many others who are doing the same. It's the best. feeling. in the world.

Then we went on a hike, and had some Taco Bell. Don't judge me, we hadn't gone in forever and it was good. To make ourselves feel better about the tbell, we biked the almost 4 mile ride to Whole Foods where we picked up some fun supplies for dinner. The night ended with a few hours of Friends, the perfect end to a perfect day. 

Monday, I went to brunch (which was basically lunch) with Kristi and her mom (who I loove). We went to Sharkeez, and I got the. most. amazing. tacos. EVER. They were lobster tacos with avocados and a sauce that I probably could have had by itself. It was that good. Then I went and played some softball with my work team that I joined, caught up on Grey's Anatomy, hit up the gym and ended the night by going to dinner to celebrate Michelle's birthday. 

Like I said, best. weekend. ever. 

Happy Birthday Michelle!

This girl is 22 today!

But instead of celebrating being 22, she wants to celebrate the one year anniversary of her 21st birthday. 

And because her 21st birthday was pretty awesome, I'm okay with that.

So here are the pictures from one year ago today, when we celebrated baby Michelle being able to legally drink:

We had a Red, White & Blue themed party to celebrate the night before (get it? President's Day!)

Then, the next day, we surprised her by taking her downtown for some wine tasting and bar hopping:

It was seriously one of the most fun days from my senior year, and I'm so glad that I got to help her celebrate!

Happy Birthday, Michelle! I hope your 22nd is even better than your 21st!

Fit Club Update!

Is it just me, or does adding an extra day to the weekend make it feel sooo much longer? I seriously had the best, most relaxing weekend. And I needed it! I'm sure I'll do a weekend recap later this week. For now, we'll focus on Monday's Fit Club Update!

Made it to the gym 6 times this week! + 15 (give or take) miles of biking and a hike!

Working out has really become a big part of my life these days, and I am so happy that it's finally becoming a routine. Today, I thought I would share some pictures of our Sunday morning hike to a Butterfly Reserve, and my running routine.

I usually spend 30-35 minutes on the treadmill, and I've been doing the same routine for a few weeks now. I'll run on the treadmill on the days that I don't do a class, so usually around 2-3 times a week. It seems to be working out for me, so I thought I'd share:

First 10 minutes: Run at 6.8 mph

Minutes 10-12: Walk at 4.4 mph

Minutes 13-20: Run at 6.9 mph

Minutes 20-22: Walk at 4.4 mph

Minutes 22-30: Run at 7.0 mph

Minutes 30+: Walk at 4.0 mph


It helps me to break up the running portions with some breathers, and I usually end up running a total of around 3.5 miles. Not too shabby for a non-runner like me!


And now for the pictures from our gorgeous hike:

Can you spot all of the butterflies?!

And this is what you get when two homeless men offer to take your picture:

But when they offered to share their picnic with us, we had to politely decline. I do have to admit that the guy takes good pictures!

And now, moving on to the healthy eating portion of my goals. I would definitely have to say that I did not stick to this as well as I should (Hey, I was single on Valentine's Day. Don't I deserve to indulge in chocolates?) But I will post some pictures of my healthier meals this week:

I have a new obsession with avocados. I never liked them until just a few months ago, and now I love them. When I go out to eat now, I almost always get something with avocado in it. I made this avocado/feta cheese omelette a few mornings this past week, and it was really good! I put a little lime juice on the avocados and it was deelicious.

I usually keep lunch pretty simple, and these MilkBite granola bars are a new favorite! I saw them at the grocery store a few weeks ago, and just had to get them. Eating one granola bar is equivalent to drinking a glass of milk, and these bars are good. I went through the peanut butter ones pretty quickly, and have already gotten a new box of oatmeal raisin (which is just as good!).

This was the dinner that I made last week, and I actually think I liked the salad more than the pasta! And this is coming from a girl who looves her carbs. I thought I'd share both recipes though, because the pasta was definitely enjoyed as well. 

Pasta Recipe

Salad Recipe

That's all for today, folks. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekends as much as I did!