Smoothie anyone?!

I've been managing to work out about 4 days a week... sometimes its 5! And then sometimes its only 3.... but still... at least its something right?!

I have been making shakes/smoothies for my post-workout snack. They seem to be doing the trick! (keeping me lean and not hungry :0) This is one of my favorites; and its really simple.

Ingredients:

2 scoops of shake mix (I'm using Sweet Cream Visalus mix, but I'm sure any protein mix with a vanilla flavor would work)

1 banana

blueberries (I really don't measure but I'd say its 1 cup?)

about 5 or 6 ice cubes

and top it off with Vanilla Almond milk!

And did you know Mason jars will fit right onto your blender so you can make a shake right in the jar?! No worries about cleaning a big huge blender?! (Thank you Pinterest for that sweet nugget of info!)

Oh and a little side-note... not all mason jars fit my blender. I have one with a handle and it will not screw on tight enough.....

Anybody have a few mason jars they want to pawn off on me?!

Pirates, nails and ice cream

I am slowly but surely getting prepared for Bubba's upcoming 4th birthday! I am terrible at keeping things a surprise. I almost always want to give people their presents prior to the occasion (whether its Christmas or birthdays). So yea since I'm working on all of these things and the party isn't until August I just can't contain myself! Here's a few things I've been working on!

pirate bird house $8 at Hancock Fabrics

When I was at Hancock picking out some fabrics I saw this little treasure an just couldn't pass it up! There's what it looked like when I bought it.....

And here's what it looks like now!

I'm pretty proud of it! I was debating whether or not to put red and white stripes on some of the sails... what do you think?! Should I stripe it up?!

Can't have a Pirate Party w/o a pirate flag flying! I found some scrap black fabric for the flag and the backing on my table runner. It was hard to find any cheap striped fabric!!! But I saw this gold and black and thought it would look nice on a table setting. The parrot and smaller, wooden pirate flag came with the boat/birdhouse. I just bought a cheap dowel for the flag pole and used white fleece for the skull and cross bones.

The bad thing about having all of these fun things around is the boys want to play with them constantly! I'm starting to worry they are going to get broken before the party even gets here... Its a good thing I haven't shown them any of the things I ordered from Oriental trading!

In other news.... I tried these awesome nail wrap applique things....

I have had them on for a week now and they still look great. I am loving them!! It took a little finesse to get them just right, but I didn't have to wait for them to dry! That is when I usually mess up the polish. I haven't applied them to my fingernails yet... I'm wondering how they'll hold up on my hands since I wash and use those a lot more than my toes! I'll have to find out soon though. I highly recommend them. Make sure you have some small, sharp scissors to trim the edges.

We have a new frozen yogurt place around here called Orange Leaf... its pretty sweet!!! I like it better than Cold Stone Creamery mainly b/c I don't feel like a brick is sitting in my stomach after I eat all that rich ice cream! But it gets a little expensive so when I saw this at Hy-Vee I thought I'd try it.

I tell you what..... IT IS GOOD!!! JDub doesn't really care for it... but he doesn't have a sweet tooth like I do. It is very comparable to the Birthday Cake Remix flavor from Cold Stone. And a whole lot cheaper too! Bake yourself a brownie and slap that on top and you'll be good to go!

It was a weird night last night....

So hear's what I mean..... yea it was the 4th of July... and we got home a little late b/c of the fireworks! JDub had to be at work at 4:00 am...

Well sometime between going to bed and that 3:20 wake up call I did something I don't think I've ever done before?! It runs in the family... because my oldest sister does it... and my mom does it.... sleepwalking/talkin! Now I didn't exactly walk... but I did swat!

We have an infestation!!!! A Cicada Killer Wasp infestation. They are buzzing around like crazy in large numbers.. (or at least it seems like large numbers...) And I actually woke up screaming and swatting at one of those! I might have even swatted at JDub.....

So needless to say it was a restless night! When that 3:20 alarm went off and JDub "woke up" and showered.. and then the snooze proceeded to go off several times while I was laying there... I was still pretty out of it... until I thought I heard the door close... like he was leaving w/o his cell phone! So I proceeded to run outside.... in my underwear..... to flag him down to give him his phone..... lets just hope since it was nearly 4:00 am.....no one saw that!

But now after stocking up on hornet killer and reading up on these ginormous guys I'm hoping I'll sleep better tonight! (Turns out the males don't even sting... and the female one that should be around rarely stings... humans that is.. if you're a Cicada you're dead!!!)

Thriving... not just surviving..

So I have to admit I did not come up with this idea on my own. My neighbor was nice enough to lend me a book they just finished reading....

Now I am only on chapter 8! So I know I am jumping the gun a bit. But man I like this book! I have to admit I was skeptical at first... I am not one to read "self-help" books.. which in reading the title is what I immediately thought. While it is a bit of a self-help book... I'd like to think its a positive message of faith and a book filled of hope! We all need a little hope don't we? I know I do. I haven't really had much time to read lately, but when I do get a chance... my mood alters to a positive one once I get going in this book.

Chapter 7 is about Thriving and not just surviving. What he means is getting out of that "survivor" mentality. I do have issues with that... I think... "Oh Lord, just help me get through this day... these kids are driving me crazy...." "Lord, if you'll please just end this sickness then things will be fine.." God doesn't want us to think this way. I mean he is the Almighty God?! He created everything... He wants us to go above and beyond, not just scrape by!

I loved how Joel mentioned Abraham and his nephew Lot moving with all their family and belongings to a new land. But once they got there they found the land was not fertile enough to supply enough crops for both of their families... Abraham, being the better person, said Lot could go where ever he wanted and he'd go the opposite way. Of course Lot picks the most fertile area and basically leaves Abraham out in the desert.... Now if I was Abraham I'd prolly be what the crap?! Because obviously I need to work on some stuff and I am not the better person all the time... But thankfully Abraham understood what was important... He knew as long as he put his faith in God, God's favor would be on him and he would see the blessings. Lo and behold, Abraham's land starts transforming into luscious green pastures and the scriptures even say Abraham became the wealthiest man in the East. Genesis 13-16 (Lot was a different story...) 

So I'm gonna work on thriving... and not just surviving. I'm going to work on NOT complaining and keep counting my blessings. Help me ok?! Seriously, b/c I know I complain ALOT!!! Tell me to stop!!! But I'm going to try to stay positive... (not that I really have much to be negative about b/c I am soo blessed.)

Joel even says (and I'm quoting his book)

The good news is that no matter what happens to us, God is still on the throne!

I am happy to report that all is well in His kingdom. Here is the key: As long as our Source is okay, we will be okay. If we stay connected to the vine, keeping God first, believing and expecting His favor, then as His branches, we will not just survive, we will thrive!