Being Healthier

 

Bulgur Banana’s Foster Pancakes

I said yesterday that I had wanted to use the bulgur for breakfast and forgot! There was no way I was forgetting today! I saw a recipe for protein packed pancakes here from a lovely new reader. Susan at the Great Balancing Act. I just had to make pancakes this morning and decided I would experiment with Bulgur.

I have never had Bulgur Wheat before but on the box it indicates recipes very similar to oatmeal so I thought it would go nicely with pancakes. I love the high protein and fiber content of Bulgur Wheat ( 10g of protein per serving and 5 g of Fiber! ).

My recipe included:
1/2 + cup of cooked Bulgur
2 egg whites
2-3 Tb Plain, Organic Yogurt
1 Tb ground Flaxseed
1/4 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Baking Powder

I just mixed it all together

and voila, pour batter into a hot buttered skillet!

I flopped on the first two, they all fell apart because I tried to flip too quickly. The next two came out much better!

I did a quick Banana’s Foster style topping since the pan was hot and dirty all ready ( that sounds kinda naughty, no?). I sliced the banana into it, adding vanilla while it sizzled.

Fresh Fruit and Coffee to accompany

The pancakes provided approximately 23 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber!
Check other Banana’s Foster Ideas Here !

Leftovers for lunch as usual!

I warmed up veggies and Tofu Two Ways, adding some rice & beans mix from last night as well as salsa.

I also enjoyed a new find: Strawberry Oikos!

This guy has 110 kcal, 13 grams of protein, 0 g Fat and is creamy delicious! 3 grams less sugar than its similar. less expensive but non-organic competitor Chobani! I had a coupon for $1 off Oikos, which costs $1.89 here for 1!

Dinner was divine! I did an Asian-influenced Noodle dish, Pad-Thai ish.

When it comes to Asian Cuisine, I can be very cautious. I don’t really enjoy heavy sauces or high salt/fat foods so I never really order it out at restaurants. Since I never order it, I really don’t know what the best ingredients are to put in. I figured I would attempt as best I could though.

I had slow cooked a london broil all day in a sesame garlic marinade with mushrooms. The meat came out so tender and juicy! The key to getting the best flavor is to sear the meat first, then braise it slowly!

I used a bunch of different frozen vegetables, thawed and added to saute a bit.

 

And I cooked a new, never eaten item: Rice Vermicilli!

It is gluten free and has only two ingredients: Rice and Water. It made 4 HUGE servings…

I tossed the noodles back into the veggies with some powdered peanut butter (PB2)and more marinade ( It is a No Sodium, HFCS free, 30 kcal per 2 Tb, Sesame Garlic Marinade). My dish again…

Body:

Run~ 4 miles nice and easy.
I am excited to run on the beach this week but I don’t want to jinx myself! There will be lots of swimming and our hotel has a great fitness center too!

Mind:

Wrote article for my Examiner site…

Followed up with Sales Position, manager was not in. Assistant manager ( who I think liked me ) says they will call me tomorrow! Yipee!

Looked up directions and times etc. for all of the places I will be checking out this week for wedding venues!

I meet with Malely 8 am Monday, Jennifer 10 Am Monday, Jill on Thursday morning, and Nicole Thursday Afternoon… Phew! I can’t wait!

Finished Packing!

Soul:

Happy Friday!!! Less than 12 hours until beach vacation!

Doesn’t This look AMAZING?

 

It was Amazing indeed! A huge Thank You to Teri at Amazing Foods for a fantastic package they recently sent me to review including:

Three Flavors of Amazing Meals
Three Flavors of GREEN SuperFood Powders
Two packets of Wheat Grass
Two chocolate covered GREEN SuperFood Bars
Two GREEN SuperFood Bars

A shaker for smoothies too!

I just had to try the GREEN SuperFood bar! Info on these bars from Amazing Grass can be found here

What makes this bar so fantastic? They are a great source of antioxidant rich fruits and vegetables that are unprocessed and organic. They are also:

Raw

Cold Pressed

Alkaline

Gluten Free

Fair Trade

Dairy Free

Vegan

It was similar to a Larabar inside, with chunky pieces of soft nuts and chewy dried organic dates.

 

Nutrition Info:

220 kcal
8g Fat
Omega 6: 1.5 g
Omega-3: 0.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 25mg
Carbohydrates: 36 g
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 5g
 

I loved the Chocolate version even more! It was the same bar with a cocoa coating.

That coating wasn’t like other fake-sugar, hydrogenated-fat coatings that cover many bars, it was a truly tasty chocolate coating that melted instantly! You can see on the ingredients that it contains Organic Dark Chocolate, Unsweetened Chocolate, and Cacao Nibs!
 

Nutrition Info:

230 kcal
9g Fat
Omega 6: 1.5 g
Omega-3: 0.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 25mg
Carbohydrates: 37 g
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 5g

Sensory Review:

Both of these SuperFood Bars had an amazing, sweet, fresh aroma when opening the package. They each had great texture, the nuts were soft enough but provided a little crunch that contrasted the chewy organic dates really well. The flavor was sweet but not overpowering. They did have a “healthy” taste but it was definitely not chemically sweet nor “veggie” tasting. The chocolate was obviously a great idea that added a delicious melty, mouth-feel. The aftertaste of both left me wanting to eat another entire bar!
 

 

GREEN SuperFood Powder Packets

 

The first packet I mixed with water and milk in this nifty shaker deal Teri sent! On the side I had a waffle with peanut butter but started to put fresh fruit on my plate as well before realizing that I was getting a hefty does of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in my shake!

The chocolate was by far my favorite GREEN SuperFood powder packets!  The flavor had both chocolate AND greens- kind of odd for those that aren’t into that “healthy, refreshing” taste. I am so used to fresh, local, organic greens & veggies so that didn’t bother me much, although Jeff thought otherwise. The texture was definitely more powdery than I would have liked, despite mixing well with milk, but I really enjoyed the fact that this is “healthy” food.

There are many foods out there that people mistake as “healthy” foods, cardboard cookies that are organic or fruit juice with the main ingredient of high fructose corn syrup. Marketing could be to blame, but many of these so called healthy foods don’t even taste good! I would much rather eat something that, although its not super sweet or creamy , it tastes healthy and truly is healthy!

Three thumbs up for SuperFood!

Nutritional Info ( source from Amazing Grass Website)

As you can see it is only 30 calories but offers other amazing ingredients such as Organic Flax Seed & Organic Acai (both super sources of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids) and Digestive Enzymes both Pre-biotic and Probiotic! I learned about each of these in Microbiology and found that both of these can increase the healthy bacteria in your digestive system greatly! 

My Mix-In Ideas:

Chocolate SuperFood, Banana, PB, Milk

Berry SuperFood, Frozen Mango, Frozen Cherries, Almond Milk

I really enjoyed both SuperFood powder packets and the whole food energy bars. Thank you again for the amazing package Amazing Grass!

Look forward to more reviews including Amazing Meals and Wheat Grass Reviews in the future!

 

Body:

Elliptical and Abs!  I wanted to take it easy to gear up for my next run.

Mind:

A dentist appointment and Two (2nd) interviews in one day! Phew!

Dentist: I need to get all 4 of my wisdom teeth out ASAP! They are causing a lot of excess pain in the tooth that I had just got a root canal in. I feel like I have the worst dental issues ever but I brush every morning, every night, and floss every night too! Ugh, genetics. I scheduled the consult and the surgery for August 12th, so that I can get it done and recovered before school starts again. Unfortunately, Jeff is in Canada that whole week!

Job #1: I was offered a position at the first place! I had to apply last week, take an exam ( seriously!? I had to do percentages and word comparisons & personality questions), do a short interview and then come back for a second interview!

My second interview , answering pattern questions related to real-life job situations, went superb! I guess I should tell you the position? Well, if you can believe it after all that hoopla- the position is for a hostess at Bonefish Grill! I would be making about as much as I started out making as an instructor, which is just fine with me because I am still finishing up school and they are so flexible on days and hours!

Job #2 : I answered everything spot on and felt that it all just came out naturally! They decided to throw me on the sales floor and see how I did with a client. I ended up selling $500 worth of items that I had suggested ( a black dress, leggings and a printed tunic, a black sweater shrug, red pumps and a matching red bag!) I couldn’t have imagined it to have gone any better! Waiting to hear back from them!

* I have to give kudos to my future husband, he told me before I went in for the second interview “You have one offer, you have nothing to lose- just go have fun!”  I kept thinking just have fun with it, and I did!

 

Soul:

Cuddling can be better and at least as good as Chocolate.

Be alive while you are alive, surrounding yourself with what you love.

 

Eats!

Oats with cranberries and PB2. Nothing too fancy this morning and I like it that way sometimes.

 

Kelly over at Vega had sent several items from Sequels Naturals including this fantastic EFA Oil blend. She mentioned a great recipe idea for salad dressing in one of our emails back and forth. I thought I would try out my version for lunch using Mustard, Agave Nectar, Vega EFA

For this “Sweet Mustard Vinaigrette”, I used a teaspoon of each agave, oil, mustard but then added in a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar after the photo. Then, I tossed Green cabbage coating it really well. After adding dried cranberries ( the rest from breakfast) and pecans, I had a great antioxidant-rich side dish! It was so tasty!

 

I also had a plum

 

And half of a Whole Food Smoothie Infusion…

also from Vega! It was very “veggie” tasting. Not as powdery as Amazing Grass but the flavor wasn’t as pleasant, I think if I had added lots of fruit it would’ve been delicious.

 

Jeff and I threw together a fast, easy dinner! He grilled a turkey tenderloin breast that is pre-marinated while I roasted Brussel sprouts and made Bulgur Wheat.

 

I used that same Sweet Mustard Vinaigrette that I had made at lunch to toss the Bulgur in. I thought the “honey mustard” flavor would go really nicely with the rotisserie turkey breast.

 

It did!! I wanted to add cranberries and pecans as well to make it almost like Thanksgiving in July but did not have any cranberries left! Here is my plate

 

It was fabulous! Oh and I also used the Vega Oil for roasting the brussel sprouts, which came out fantastic!

 

I cannot believe it is almost August! I am keeping my fingers crossed for hearing back from the sales position!

Since summer will be over before we know it, what have you done this summer that you really enjoyed? What are you hoping to do before summer ends?

 

I have loved the wedding location searches which required us to go to the beach! I am pumped for a week at Hilton Head, and for our friends in Vermont mid August and hoping my wisdom teeth removal isn’t as awful as I know it will be!

 

 

 

 

I had mentioned in a post last week that I have been slowly eating less and less gluten containing products. There are several reasons for this experiment, which I will most likely do a separate post on regarding gluten, however, I decided a fun dinner would be an eggplant lasagna (casserole), using eggplant instead of the noodles ( which usually contain gluten)!

Ingredients:
Ground Turkey breast, 1/2 lb. package
Homemade Tomato Sauce ( ~ 2 cups)

1 container Cottage Cheese ( I used fat free)
1 package lowfat shredded cheese ( mozarella)

1 medium Eggplant ( Locally Grown!)

Brown ground turkey breast in the skillet with a dash of worchestire and salt & pepper. Using the leftover tomato sauce I had made from 1 large can of crushed tomatoes and 1 small can of tomato sauce with basil, garlic & oregano, I added in a few baby roma tomatoes and added the sauce to the meat. This simmered shortly while I sliced the eggplant into thin long sections.

The first layer was a light coat of olive oil, followed by slices of eggplant. On top of the eggplant was sprinkles of shredded cheese, followed by cottage cheese, topped with a small sprinkling ( about 1/2 cup) of shredded cheese.

Next I layered 1/2 of the simmered sauce on top with extra slices of tomatoes…

I continued with another layer of eggplant, cheeses, sauce, cheese and the last of the eggplant slices were on top holding it all in.

 

They also roasted very nicely because they were on top as well.

Hmmmmm, It was four huge servings but I totally ended up eating close to 1/2 as did Jeff. He hates eggplant but he totally ate his entire serving so he must not hate it that much!?

 

Plated, it unfortunately looks like a big mess, but it was delicious!

 

Breakfast was fruit, oatmeal in a mug and PB2! We packed up a lunch of turkey sammies, dates, almonds, and a big bag of multigrain Popchips.

 

We ate on the way to our shopping excursions in Charlotte but we were totally less than excited about the multigrain popchips. The flavor was fantastic but compared to the other wonderful Popchip varieties, the whole grain tasted stale!  I really enjoy their other flavors of non-multigrain though, so I will be happy buying those again! After a 2.5 hour drive, we arrived at our first destination.

 

I bet you can’t tell that we were super excited to go inside…

 

“Bass Pro Shops, Yippeee”

 

We arrived at 2:23 pm and just our luck, they were doing a “fish feeding” at 2:30pm !

 

The guy in the green shirt lined up girls & boys and let them throw live minnows into the tank. A few kids ended up throwing them directly into the glass which resulted in minnows bouncing back into the crowd. It was pretty funny.

 

 

Meet Rosy The Motor:

She came with us to IKEA….

“Ahhhhhhh”

 

Our mission was to sit on all the chaise lounges they had to see if they were as comfy as they looked online…

 

Several were not… but this guy was…

 

Our next mission was to check out kitchens and pricing vs. quality options

One of many kitchen $$$ photos we took! We loved the white cabinets with the “hidden” dishwasher…

Peek a boo!

 

We both really enjoyed the contrast of wood and steel. There were some great “under cabinet” lighting much like recessed lights, but minus the installation hassel and huge price tag!

 

 

We loved the wine racks on the far left, the rack for hanging items under the cabinets, the dark wood…

 

Checkout this amazing blogging station… 
There are recipe ideas posted up on the wall and it would totally fit on the one end of our kitchen!

 

 

On our way out, we did see a bed frame that we both enjoyed for its simplicity and price!

 

 

It was such a fun day trip! We had the chance to stop at our friends house on the way home and see their gorgeous 2 yr old daughter too. By the time we got home to the future-in-laws, we were both exhausted and needed to just fall asleep!

 

Jeff made me breakfast in the morning…

 

I spent the day prepping for an interview and getting things done around the house. Later in the afternoon was the rock show… ( It was Jason Isbell and the 400 unit with Govt Mule)

 

Such a fantastic weekend!

 

 

 

 

When I first met Jeff and his family over 3 years ago, his nephew Dalton had just turned 2 ( he is now 5 ). Like many 2 year olds, one of the hardest letters to pronounce is “L ” and I have two of those in my name! He couldn’t say “Aunt Laural” but rather it came out “Aunt Lauria”. He says Aunt Laural mostly now, but the family still remembers it. Every now and then I will get called Aunt Lauria for fun. Before leaving to host Aunt Lauria’s Day Camp, I wanted to get in a healthy breakfast.

 

I started out my day with a Green Monster of sorts. I used an Amazing Grass original blend with milk, and frozen pineapples. It was easy to drink as well with the root canal still keeping my jaw pretty tight. When I got over to the future-in-laws, Melissa had made extra coffee for me ( thank you indeed!)

 

And as soon as Melissa was leaving, it was time to build a Fort.

Mickey and Minnie in the fort…

 

Haleigh wanted to take pictures of “The Kitchen”

 

and then the “dining room”

 
After that , it was clean up time and game time. We played “Guess Who”
 

Haleigh took a photo of her person but told us not to look at it on the camera.

Whoa, kinda scary lookin dude. We didn’t look..and she won 3 out of 4 times. 

Puzzle Time (Dalton took the Photo)

 

Teamwork!

We got dressed…

But since blankets aren’t really skirts, the kiddos put “real” clothes on. I came up with the idea of a walk/ scavenger hunt around the neighborhood. We decided to write a list of all the things we thought we might find…

 

 

We also wrote mid walk that we had seen an NC State Flag, a Slide , Swings, and Moss (they were most excited about the moss). I brought a bag with us to collect all of the things we wanted to bring back home. We took a nice long walk until I was told that “Mommy tells us we aren’t allowed to go down any further” (It was at the house of a family friend, Donna and Stuart). I would never argue with that so we headed back home with our findings…

 

When we got home it was snack time, the kids had chocolate milk and a granola bar, some crackers and a cookie. For my snack, I had chocolate milk

It was gymnastics time after snack. I helped Haleigh & Dalton with backbends, backhandsprings, handstands and tripods. For “Math Time” after gymnastics, I took playing cards and worked on addition with Dalton and subtraction with Haleigh. The cards were a good visual.

We played “Aunt Laural Says” after that which was incredibly fun. It was like Simon Says, but then it turned into using these stuffed teddy bears to put everywhere. For example: “Aunt Laural Says Bears Upstairs to Chairs that are….. Pink” . We all had to run upstairs to the pink chairs and put our bears in them. I kept doing that all over the house, up and down, outside, inside and we ended with Bears on Chairs that have holes ( dining room chairs) for lunch.

We had worked up such a hunger! I had cucumbers, leftover lasagna and mushrooms, the kiddos had pizza.

And I went to take a photo of the fruit salad I had after this, but my camera battery died! You missed the rest of our day in photos including :

The making of a birthday cards for my mom. I was told I had to call her and make sure she liked “Butterflies, Frog Princesses, Monkey’s, and Dog’s” . I did, and she said she does via speakerphone!

A game of Bingo, very long but fun. Haleigh won!

More of Aunt Laural Says…

A second walk playing  “I Spy” around the neighborhood

The making of Rock Monsters, Leaf Monsters, Rock Bunnies, Pinecone Cars, and Hickory Nut Flowers.

I had a fantastic fun day and know the kids had a great time too. I was glad to help out especially because right now, I do not have a job so I am capable of helping!
As soon as I got home, I collapsed on the couch and fell asleep! I was pooped.
When I woke up ready for dinner, I wanted to throw something together that was easy. I put the following into a bowl and heated it up:

A Kashi Instant Pilaf Fiery Fiesta ( with roasted corn, red pepper, & black beans)
Half can of Black Beans (drained and rinsed)
2 chopped baby roma tomatoes
1/4 chopped red onion

After heating all of that up together, I put it onto a burrito for Jeff with cheese. For myself, I put it on top of mixed veggies with cheese.

I also had a fancy medjool date from TJ as well. It was soooo soft and sugary good.

Body:
Fort Building, Walks, Scavenger Hunts, Gymnastic Time AND Aunt Laural Says consisted of running around all over the house all day pretty much

Mind:
Puzzles, Bingo, Guess Who, Craft Time

Soul:
I loved “being a kid” again.

In case you are fairly new to Being Healthier, before going to graduate school for my passion ( Nutrition) I was an instructor for kids with autism and I was also the Director of a Children’s Fitness center!  It was my job to teach kids how to “play” and how to do gymnastics, etc…. At first, I was worried about going over to babysit because I felt like I would have forgot all the fun I used to have. Nope. I loved it.

I learned from those positions that you are very capable of building motivation in others, you just have to be confident in your abilities and remain steadfast in your expectations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floating Oatmeal!
My parent’s breakfast nook has a glass table so it only appears to be floating. Almonds, Blueberries and half an apple were the toppings for my oats on wednesday morning. I needed fuel for a day of shopping, frivolity, and such with my mom along the Outer Banks of NC. 

 

On our way we stopped at this cute little farm stand/bakery to see what they had.

We went outlet shopping, hammock shopping, and random "tourist" shops just for fun to check them out.

This was a few nautical stores, the "peanut shop", an ice cream parlor, and a kitchen gadget store.  We headed down to the outlets which are in Nags Head, just north of the bridge to get over to the quaint, waterfront town of Manteo, NC on Roanoke Island. The marathon I will be running this year stretches along all of the areas we covered on this trip. It ends by going across the bridge to finish in Manteo. The first time I experienced this little town was exactly 10 years ago and I have wanted to revisit ever since!  The next time I will be there is probably going to be for the marathon this November!

In the late 1800’s, every waterfront store had a door for visitors by boat and another for visitors on foot. The streets and waterfront shops have retained their charm.

I find the marina such an interesting sight. There are what seems hundreds if not thousands of gorgeous, well-maintained boats for touring or to charter for fishing adventures!

We were not quite sure where to have lunch because there were so many possibilities! Poor Richard’s Sandwich Shop looked like fun…

We ended up parking next to “Full Moon Café” which has an art gallery side for shopping and the restaurant/bar dining area. You can find it at the corner of Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh. I had a glass of unsweetened iced tea, which was so refreshing on this hot, sunny day.

For lunch, I ordered the Eggplant Napolean which came with a side salad ( the house herb dressing was delicious). Layers of roasted eggplant, onions, olives and mushrooms filled with marinara and baked in mozzarella cheese.

My mom ordered a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" served with tortilla chips and homemade salsa.   
I really enjoyed the menu options and the meals we ordered. For more information on this restaurant, you can click here.  I would say one unfortunate thing was that the service was awful! The historic view and menu selection of fresh fish, delicious hummus ( a guest next to us ordered it!), and plenty of other creative options made up for the lack of service though.

Roanoke Island has so many sites to see, among them include The North Carolina Aquarium, an official stop on the Underground Railroad “Freedman’s Colony”, the Fort Raleigh National Historic Museum and Elizabethan Gardens.

Obviously, that would have been too much for one day so we decided to stop in at the Elizabethan Gardens after lunch. Since Jeff and I are trying to decide on our wedding location and the Gardens host wedding ceremonies, we thought it would be nice to get some information!

We just took a few snapshots and grabbed some brochures. 

And, headed on our way home… We stopped to pick up some fantastic Halibut , Asparagus and local Kale for dinner.  We also had some delicious whole grain rice with roasted garlic and pecans.

Body:

After being in the car for awhile shopping and sight-seeing where the November OBX Marathon would be, I knew a run would feel fantastic!

I ran approximately 4.5 miles, in 38 minutes and walked another 1 mile to cool down. The cool breeze felt amazing!

Mind:

Check out my post " Le Tour de France de Raleigh" for the Examiner!

Soul:
Spending all day at the beach with my Mom was fantastic!

 

I am so glad we got to check out Manteo! It was not exactly as I remembered it but still such a cute little town. I am pumped about the marathon in the fall.

 

 

 

For the past two consecutive years, 48% of the States in America saw a rise in obesity. Not one state in the U.S.A had any decrease in the rate of obesity as of August 2008. After reading the Trust for America’s Health 5^th Annual “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America” report, I couldn’t help but share the information found through this CDC survey and my thoughts as well. 

In every single state except Colorado, at least 20% of adults are obese. If this wasn’t alarming enough, 44.4% of children in Mississippi are obese. In case that did not “hit home”, this indicates nearly half of all the children in that state are obese!

I live in the 16^th most obese state in America, North Carolina, which had obesity rates rise for the 3^rd year in a row. Approximately 9% of North Carolinians have Type 2 Diabetes, a disease directly associated with obesity.

 

The future of America depends on the health of our country, which unfortunately has a society that is more concerned with the death of alleged child-molesting, cosmetic-enhanced Pop-stars and adultery-committing NFL players than it is with solving the obesity epidemic or economic crisis for that matter.

 

Our health care costs have been increasing due to this obesity epidemic and even though communities have started taking action, the country’s response has been close to nothing. While acknowledgement of the issue is wide-spread, implementation of helpful policies and programs are lacking. Some of these beneficial programs include:

• - Ensuring every adult and child has access to coverage for preventive medical services, including nutrition and obesity counseling and screening for obesity-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes
• - Increasing the number of programs available in communities, schools, and childcare settings that help make nutritious foods more affordable and accessible and provide safe and healthy places for people to engage in physical activity; and
• - Screenings for Body Mass Index of children and adolescents. Twenty states have passed requirements for body mass index (BMI) screenings of children and adolescents or have passed legislation requiring other forms of weight-related assessments in schools. Five years ago, only four states had passed screening requirements. BMI is a basic guideline for how healthy your weight is based on your height & age.

 

Are you overweight? Do you know what your BMI is?
Check out the chart below to find out…

 

You can also calculate it more specifically here: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-cholesterol/bmicalc.jsp and use these guidelines from The American Diabetic Association’s Categories for Body Mass Index (BMI):

Category = BMI

• Underweight = <18.5
• Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
• Overweight = 25-29.9
• Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

 

The F as in Fat report is a follow up analysis of a survey done by the CDC. For more information , you can visit this link

Fireworks For Breakfast!

Well, that was the idea I came up with again before going to bed last night. I tried to arrange pineapple, oatmeal and the strawberries to look like fireworks with little blueberry fizzles everywhere.

It was fun. Not necessarily ideal… but fun nonetheless!

We will be heading to the lake this afternoon! I will be taking my computer and definitely have internet access so I will be blogging. I will also be enjoying the time with Nana, Jeff’s brother and sisters, water-skiing, tubing, fishing, running, sleeping, and eating!!  Have a wonderful happy thursday and safe travels if you are going anywhere for the holiday!

I was just too excited about my breakfast creation to wait for the rest of the day to post!  Feeling creative again, I thought up this idea to make Strawberry Stars last night when I was laying in bed waiting to fall asleep. I put bursts of yogurt with blueberries as well as the strawberry stars around a substantial center of hearty oatmeal & peanut butter.

Happy Hump Day! One more day until the weekend starts for us!
I found a few more wedding venues that I will report in updates later today!