Friday, January 27, 2012

Guest Post!

I'm so so so excited to do my very first Guest Post for the most creative and cute blogger I know, Ryann Kroske! Ryann is the beautiful blogger behind {joy, joy, unspeakable joy}! While she is making me unbelievably jealous traveling in Australia and New Zealand for Interim, she recruited some of her fellow blogger friends to do a Guest post!  I was absolutely honored to be a part of this, and I look forward to meeting some new bloggers.

via
Jealous yet? Me too. Well, since you're here...
Here's a little sneak peak  :) 
fashion forward
Make sure you go check it out!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Rain, Rain...

Today's Outfit?  

In spirit of the current monsoon hitting Clemson, South Carolina, I thought it would only be appropriate to post a "how to" survive rainy days in college.  You would think that a rainy day would equal sweats and sweatshirts, hair all bundled up and curly.  But no no no, in college girls find ways to look absolutely adorable even in the worst of weather. So, this is a little outfit I put together of items I either already have, or items that I am dying to have.

  1. Hunter Women's Original Tall Wellington Boots ($110) Find it, here!
  2. H&M Jumper ($23) Find it, here!
  3. H&M Leggings ($9.27) Find it, here!
  4. The North Face 'Resolve' Rain Jacket ($60) Find it, here!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

The Next Step

Ok, so I know that I said I would be posting on my 28 day reading guide, and I'm sure I will... give me some time... I mean I've got 20 more day's left!  However, after today's sermon at Newspring I certainly feel that perhaps there is something a little different taking place in my life.  Today Perry continued the series on "All In", and the common thread for the past three weeks has been based off of Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
I've been contemplating a lot lately, and I've been feeling, even before the message today, that there certainly was a step I needed to be taking to further my life and relationship with Christ.  As I said when I started my blog, I've gone back and forth with my views on religion, and on Christianity in general.  Well with the help of some great friends and loved ones who've continued to hold me accountable, I've been going to church more often, and I've noticed a dramatic change in myself already.  I've accepted Christ as my Lord, and as my Savior, and therefore there a few changes in my life that need to be made.  I won't go into too much detail because I'll spare everyone the extremely personal details, but all in all one step that I am undoubtedly excited to make is baptism.  I've never been baptized and I think it's partially because I haven't felt good enough, I feel that there are always changes in my life that I need to make before I take that particular step.  However, I was reading on Newsprings website about Baptism and I read that if I wait until I feel good enough, i'll never get baptized.  Which, when you think about it, really does make sense.  When will I ever be good enough? When will I be perfect? I won't.

In Acts 8:12 it says
But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Therefore, as soon as you have accepted Jesus Christ has your Lord and Savior, as soon as you have believed, then the next step, the next logical and necessary step, is Baptism.  So I intend to sign up at Newspring, invite family and friends, and take the next step to symbolize the change the change that has already been made in my heart and soul.

On one more note, this song has always played heavily on my heart.  A friend of mine, Valerie, gave me this song on a CD a long long time ago, around the time that I got back from the best trip I've ever been on, Crooked Creek.  And since then whenever I'm feeling lost, or feeling down, I play it.  So I hope that you take a listen, it's amazing.

 

Monday, January 16, 2012

A little challenge

A little challenge never hurt anyone, right? Well, in this case I was undoubtedly assured that it could only help!  This past Sunday I attended Newspring with Abbie and Alex (which I  REALLY hope becomes a routine thing... "hint hint" you two).  As always I was captivated, convicted, and even entertained at what Perry Noble had to say.  We were challenged to start an ACTS 28-Day reading guide as of Sunday, and he confidently stated that if we did, our lives would be changed for the better.  

Someone wanted to learn about Jesus with me!

A part of the All In series, check it out here!

His "Sermon in a sentence" as he likes to call it, was to read the Bible, and do as it says. Sounds pretty simple huh? Well that's what I thought as well, so here it goes!  Since Sunday I have done exactly that, and I intend to complete the 28-Day reading guide despite what comes up at work, with friends, or in school.  It's the little successes at first, and the Bible is one big book to tackle in a short amount of time. So I figured you've got to start somewhere.  I certainly plan on taking some time to reflect and share what I learn with all of you, so hold on... It could be an interesting ride :)

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Fondu night

I've been a blogging fiend here lately, but there are just so many things that have been going on that I want to share! Tonight a friend of mine, Abbie Carpenter came over and we had a little girl time over some fondu (girl time... including Alex).  We talked about life, relationships, religion and friendships.  We hadn't seen a lot of each other lately so it was VERY nice to have some time to catch-up on each others lives.  I also wanted to say that we had the best fondu... ever. We had a little fondu set courtesy of Alex's grandparents, but it's actually very simple to make even without a set!

Ingredients we used:
Chocolate Chips
Milk (optional, but it makes it more creamy)
Strawberries
Bananas
Pretzels
Marshmallows
Apples

To melt the chocolate, just put it in a sauce pan on low heat and stir frequently.  If the chocolate appears to  be melting unevenly, add some milk and stir more frequently.

As far as the fruit goes, simply cut it up in sizes that you feel fits you best, and that will be easy to dip

Put the chocolate in a bowl, dip the fruit, and enjoy!



Lemon pepper chicken salad

So in the spirit of my New Years resolution to get fit (read about here!) I've also decided to track my new cooking adventures through different recipes.  I am certainly not the best cook, which is why I'm so lucky to have an Italian boyfriend who enjoys cooking more than anyone I know.  Granted most of these recipes will be from him, I'm also going to take a journey in cooking myself, and perhaps broaden my horizons and try new things!

I may not be the chef, But i'm certainly Alex's muse! I am always willing to come up with new ideas and meals for him to try,  and he's always up for the challenge.

Alex took the time out of his busy busy day to cook a special and scrumptious lunch for me, and he also decided to share the "how to's" on my blog! So, here it goes...



Ingredients:

3 Chicken tenderloins              Olive Oil
Lettuce ( I use romaine, but    Balsamic Vinaigrette
it doesn't matter)                    Croutons (Rothbury
1 onion (red, sweet, yellow,      Farms are really
whatever you prefer)              good and
1 tomato                                 Really cheap)
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese   Cracked Black Pepper          
Lemon Pepper Seasoning (The McCormickGrinders are awesome and provide great flavor)


First, using a medium frying pan on medium heat, saute chicken in about 1 tbs Olive oil.  Apply lemon pepper seasoning allow chicken to cook.

While the chicken is cooking, cut and wash the romaine, dice the onion and slice the tomato.

When chicken is mostly cooked, cover the bottom of the pan with the vinaigrette and allow the chicken to finish cooking and the dressing to reduce.

When all of the above is complete, the cooking is done.  The following is how to prepare the salad with an appealing presentation:

Bunch the lettuce in the middle of the salad bowl
Add diced onion sparingly
Place sliced tomato around the perimeter of the lettuce
Sprinkle cheese generously around salad
Place cooked chicken on top of the salad
Apply desired amount of dressing and Croutons to the salad
We also decided to pair our meal with Crystal Light Peach Tea

So, try it yourself! Or... if you're as lucky as me you can have a handsome man cook it for you ;)
Next step: ENJOY!





Tuesday, January 10, 2012

adios Clemson, hola España!

I know I've talked about it countless times, but last night and today I was able to spend a little time with my twin/ bestfriend/ roommate Natalie who is leaving for spain in... what was it, like 18 days? I can't believe that she's leaving, but as the days wind down it becomes more and more a reality.  I know that we will stay in touch, and she won't be gone that long, however I can't imagine a semester without her! I wanted to do a little post about our girl date today via picplz which is basically instagram for android


Her mommy, being the sweet heart that she is gave her second daughter a scrumptious present: a gift card to 3 spoons! Fro-yo... YUM. So needless to say we made a stop there today where I got the original tart with chocolate chips, strawberries, and black berries (that's somewhat healthy... right?).


Next we spent a little time eating at the most delicious place in Clemson, Groucho's!  I always get the same thing, the STP dipper, and I know that I should step out of the box but I just can't do it!  

All in all it was wonderful seeing you roomz, even though it was brief! You better stop by before you leave... OBVI. I'm going to miss you even though I know you'll have a great time in España!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

The Grind


I can't BELIEVE it's already time to start classes again.  Since I officially only have one day left of break, I felt like it was very fitting to look back on the amazing winter break that I had.

First off, there was Christmas. Who doesn't love Christmas?! The one thing that I was very excited about was Alex's gift! People always say that it is better to give than to receive, and I could not agree more.  Alex has had less than perfect luck as far as cell phones go, so I was a bit skeptical at first.  However, he had been ranting and raving over the new iPhone, and he doesn't get excited about things like that typically, so... being the GREAT girlfriend that I am, I hooked him up. Granted, we had a $50 dollar limit, and although he will certainly tell you I cheated, I didn't! I only... tweaked it a bit.  He acted like he was mad, but let's be honest, who wouldn't want an iPhone?! Only problem I'm now having is how to keep him off of it. And since Alex is a little bit accident-prone (that might be an understatement) we also set him up with a trusty otterbox :)

How could you be mad
at this?

Another eventful thing, that I apologize for not posting about before, was my best-friend Samantha White's TWENTY FIRST BIRTHDAY! All of the birthday festivities took place in Columbia, SC.  We had dinner at Cantina's where I had the most scrumptious chicken taco, EVER. Not to mention, they were voted to have the best Margarita's, and I would have to say that I agree! We then went to a bar called Red hots... I think, where we spent the rest of the night getting free drinks while "some of us" (cough cough.. Sam and Laura) spent their evening pining over the cute bartender.  

Oh yeah, made that sign... HOLLA!

I then celebrated New Years Eve with Alex's roommate Caleb, and my soon-to-be roomie Bethany! We had a wonderful time learning spanish dances, and I must say i'm pretty good at the Salsa.  Moes also catered, so needless to say I ate entirely too much.  At midnight when the ball dropped we all exchanged kisses and drank our champagne, but Caleb's family did something a little different, we had 12 grapes in a little bag, and we had to eat each grape and wish for something to happen in the year 2012.  You wouldn't believe how hard it is to eat 12 grapes when you're already full... whew, it was tough.  But I made 12 wonderful wishes, that I would share with you... but, you know how that goes! If I tell they might not come true.

A great way to start the new year!

Needless to say, I look forward to the new year. I look forward to this semester and hopefully a 4.0 (that's the plan anyways).  I look forward to taking classes that I am actually interested in. I look forward to exploring myself, faith included.  I look forward to making new friends while keeping old ones.  I'm just excited and hopeful to take on 2012 and give it all i've got to enjoy it.  I hope you are as well. Happy new year!