Fun Tuesday

Hey everyone!!! Its Wednesday already! :D What have ya'll been up to this week? 


I'll wrapping up school for the semester in the next couple of weeks, so some of the teachers have given us a little more homework than usual just to make sure that we finish everything in time. That's pretty much the main thing that I have going on right now.....can't wait until its the holidays! I am going to take Thursday off though, because of Thanksgiving. I think that we're going to have just a small family Thanksgiving dinner here at home! What are your Thanksgiving plans? 


Every Tuesday in the community, we have a time where we teach the women a new craft for them to make. I haven't gone every week, but I did yesterday. I saw on Pinterest, a really fun idea to repurpose Tshirts into headbands! I made one at home on Monday night, and we took it up to teach yesterday afternoon!!! Everyone really enjoyed learning it! The tutorial is on this site, but I'm going to post it here for ya'll!!!!

First, find some old t-shirts.  Or buy some jersey knit.  Either way works.

Then, cut your fabric into long strips.  I made my strips about twice as long as the measurement around my (or my daughter’s) head.  The thick headband strips are about 2 inches wide and the narrow headband strips are about a 1/3 inch wide.  You’ll need 5 long strips for one headband.

Next, stack your 5 strips on top of each other and sew together at one end.  (Or hand stitch them or glue them.)

Now, pull on each strip of fabric so that they kind of curl on the edges.

Then lay your strips with the sewn edge up at the top (tape this down if that will help you while braiding) and then split up the strips into 3 on the left side and 2 strips on the right.

Now, to create this 5 strand braid……..you’ll kind of be braiding on the left side and then braiding on the right.  And then back and forth until you’re done.

But let me explain a little better.

First, you’ll work on the left side. So grab the strip all the way on the left (pic #1) and cross if over the strip right next to it  on the right(pic #2).  Then grab the strip furthest to the right of this section (pic #3) and cross it over one strip to the left (pic #4).  Now grab the middle of all 5 strips (pic #5) and bring it over the the right side (pic #6) so that you can start braiding on the right side.  Now you have your strips separated into 2 strips on the left and 3 strips on the right…….but opposite from the beginning.

Now, you’re going to do the same thing on the right side………just mirrored from what we did the first time.  So grab the strip all the way on the right (pic #1) and cross if over the strip right next to it  on the left (pic #2).  Then grab the strip furthest to the left of this section (pic #3) and cross it over one strip to the right (pic #4).  Now grab the middle of all 5 strips (pic #5) and bring it over the the left side (pic #6) so that you can start braiding on the left side again.

**Something to remember: When you’re working on the left side or on the right side……..you’ll always start with the strip on the outside.  So if you’re working on the left side……grab the strip all the way on the outside on the left.  If you’re working on braiding on the right side…….start with the strip all the way on the outside on the right.

So, start again from the very beginning and work on the left side again (pics #1-5) and then on the right side again (pics #6-10).

You’ll need to adjust the tightness as you go and may have to tighten individual strips here or there.

Keep on braiding and braiding……keeping the tension about the same all the way down.

When you get to the end (or as long as you need it)……..sew (or hand-stitch or glue) the ends in place.

Then overlap the ends together and sew (or glue) in place. 

**Before attaching, remember that knit will stretch and the woven design allows for stretch.  So you want to make this headband smaller than your head so that it hugs your head and stays in place.

To finish it off (and cover up the ends), cut a rectangular piece of fabric that’s wider than the ends that you’ll need to cover.  Fold the side edges in…….

And then stitch (or glue) one end on the inside of the headband.

Then wrap this piece of fabric around the headband, tuck the ends up……

And then stitch (or glue) this end down too.

And that’s it.

So the ladies loooved this! They were all talking about what old shirts they had at home to use! :D 

Well, tonight, I'm going to group bible study with some friends. I went a few weeks ago, but ever since then have had stuff to do on Wednesdays, so I'm really happy that I get to go tonight. :D

Do you like repurposing old stuff? 
What are you up to this week?


See ya'll later! 

Butterfly Award

Heey everyone!!! Who else is glad that its Friday?? I have a few tests to take today, but after that, I'm officially DONE with this week of school!!! :D Tomorrow we're having another event for the women of the community, which will be fun, and I don't think that we have anything planned for Sunday yet! What are your weekend plans? 


So Kat, gave me this award:

How sweet is she?? Loove ya Kat!! :D So, anyway, I have to answer some questions now, so here we go!

Name your favorite color:


My all time favorite color is light purple! Not dark, thunderstorm-y purple, but lilac! I'm pretty sure that it has always been my favorite!

What whizzes you off:


People who don't do what they say they will! I have no patience with them!

Name your favorite dessert: 
 Crap. It depends on my mood! haha For a decadent dessert, I looove fudge brownies or brownie sundaes, but for an every day dessert, nothing beats a good oatmeal raisin cookie.....or a chocolate chip cookie...or a peanut butter cookie...hahaha!

Best Feature:


I like my eyes!!! :D

Favorite Pet:


Dusty, our old dog! My parents bought him when they first were married and he lived to be 18!

Your biggest fear:


Letting my stress get the best of me again!!! Definitely do not want to go down that road!

Guilty Pleasure:


Well, I can take down massive amounts of anything chocolate in record amounts of time....also I secretly read silly celeb gossip...which I already know is silly,but read anyway. hahaha

When you're upset you:

Find something to do to take my mind off of whatever it is so that I can clear my head.

What is perfection:


Being happy with myself despite any flaws, being in a good relationship with family and friends and walking with God every step of the way.

I don't know who all has been tagged with this award yet, so I'm just going to say that if you haven't, just want to do this, I officially tag you!!!!! You're all awesome! :D


Well, I should probably start studying....see ya'll later!!!

NSLC

Hey everyone! Thanks for sticking with me while I was away and not posting! You guys are the BEST! :D

I had an absolutely amazing time attending the NSLC and was sooo fortunate to be able to do so! I got to meet some awesome people and learn so much, not only about business, but also about leadership and myself in general. I really hope that I'll be able to stay in touch with the friends that I made over those 10 days! :D

View from Willis Tower

Willis Tower take 2

When I say that I learned a lot about myself, I mean that I now know that I can push myself to do my absolute best in any situation. I learned that God is always with me, even when no one else that I know is near. And guess what? I learned that it's not that hard to talk to people you don't know.....and even better, become friends with them! :D

I guess that what I'm trying to say is that not only did I learn all about running a business (I'm supposedly an excellent negotiator, by the way), I also grew as a person!
What was an experience that you had that made you expand your horizons and grow as a person?

I'm Baaaack!!!!! (Part Two)

Hey guys!!!! Hope your week is going well so far!!!!!

Its time for part two of the Memphis portion of my trip!!! :D

My best friend (at whose house I am staying right now), her mom and sisters, my aunt and two cousins were all at the airport Friday afternoon!! My checked bag was one of the first out so we grabbed it and were on our way. I said goodbye to my aunt and cousins, and will actually be spending today and part of tomorrow with them.

Sleepy airport picture number two for ya! :D

So, we all loaded into my Aunt Carole's car (my friend's mom), and headed to their house to grab some lunch and hang out for a little while. After that, I went and got my hair cut, we made a Target run, got the froyo that I was talking about yesterday, and went to Olive Garden for dinner. At that point is was 8:30-9 ish and I was seriously about to pass out! hahaha I did call my family from the restaurant and chatted for a little while to see how they were doing! They all wanted to know how the solo trip had gone and were glad that nothing went wrong! :D

Saturday was spent mostly at my friend's house, which was awesome! We went swimming, watched some TV and movies and pretty much just hung out! Oh and we also went to her church's Saturday night worship service, which was awesome! 

Me and my friend!

Sunday we did some more shopping (I actually got a business outfit! Will post pics later! :D) and some more froyo-ing, and some more hanging out! We also went out for dinner at Jason's Deli, which was pretty much awesome! I'm about 99% positive that my salad was so gigantic that it could have eaten everyone else's salads! Awesome stuff!

Yesterday, I did some more shopping with my aunt and cousins and spent the night at my grandmother's house!!!!! 

So far, I've really had an awesome time on this trip!!! Now, I'm just really throwing everything together in order to be ready for my trip to Chicago on Thursday!!!!!!

That's about it for now....hope you all enjoyed my recap! :D

I'm Baaaack!!!!! (Part One)

Heey everyone!!! Hope you all have had a fabulous weekend!!!! That guest post was awesome wasn't it?

I know I've definitely been MIA for the past couple of days, so I thought that I'd do a two-part recap of my trip until now. Part one will go up today, and part two will be for tomorrow! :D I leave for Chicago on Thursday, so this recap will be the Memphis recap!!!!

So I got to the airport at about 10:30  (Recife time) on Thursday. We checked in, and after a little while an escort from the airlines came and took me to my gate (as requested by my mom! love ya mom! :D). After that, I hung out at the terminal for a little bit until it was time to head to Sao Paulo.

Aaand here you have sleepy airport picture number one. 

I was in SP for eight hours (WAY too much time). I was checked in and had eaten dinner by the time that 3 and a half hours had passed, so I went ahead and got to my gate. While there, I ended up calling my mom and sister both because I missed them (and still do!) and also because I was sort of bored. Apparently this little guy was sleeping on my bed at the time:

Here he is on my suitcase....."You aren't goin' anywhere without me!"

Sooo after what felt like an eternity I was on the flight from Sao Paulo to Miami. There were like two student groups headed to Disneyworld, so it was loud and I didn't get any sleep.......but we eventually made it to Miami! From Miami, all I had to do was go through customs and immigrations, and then board the plane to Memphis!

Well, that's it for part one of my trip recap!!!!!

Have you ever traveled alone? Do you enjoy it or do you prefer to travel with someone?
I didn't particularly mind traveling alone, but I definitely miss my family and wish that they could be here!!!!!!

Oh, one more thing that I want to add: I GOT FROYO!! Yaay! I've been drooling over all of your yummy froyo pics, and I finally got some a couple of days ago! No pics, because it was the day that I got here and I was not thinking clearly at all, but the flavors that I got were birthday cake, tropical sorbet and chocolate with a TON of fruit on top! :D

Pre-Trip Thoughts

Hey everyone!

Hope you are all having a great week so far!!!! I've been trying to cram in every possible moment of family time that I can!! I'm super excited about my trip and about the conference, but I've also never traveled without my family, so I'm really going to miss them a lot!!!!

I'm pretty much done packing, which is probably a good thing. Have to remember not to take too much because I'll be coming back with all of next year's school books and things. To make sure that I have room, we've put what will be my carry on for my return inside of my check-on luggage. So we have to pack around it. That will really help me not only to keep from overpacking, but I also won't have to worry about carrying anything besides my backpack. The trip to the States has more layovers than the trip home, so it'll be helpful not to have to keep up with too much. 

Actually two of the things that I was initially the most nervous about was not working out regularly when I'm there and how I'll deal with the transition itself. I've had some really awesome workouts this week (tried a new class monday.....we jumped on those mini trampolines! :D and spinning today!), so I think that I'm prepared to take a couple of weeks off. Heck it'll probably help me gain weight (if my appetite doesn't change much, I know it will :D). I'll definitely miss being active on a daily basis, so my plan is to find something every day that will be an activity where I'm not just sitting on a couch watching TV.....even if that activity is shopping for 9 hours straight (hey, its happened before :P). Have you ever had exercise guilt? How did you deal with it?

As for the stress, I'm praying about it and for God to guide me through it. I tend to stress out a lot (bet ya didn't know that, huh?) even about things that may or may not happen. "So this weekend we might have to go visit so-and-so? Oh no.....wonder what is going to happen.....will I have to wear something nice, or can I just wear jeans......how long are we going to visit so-and-so....and the list just goes on and on. I could probably teach a class in how to stress out about virtually anything. But all joking aside, I'm only 16, and the amount of stress that I put myself through is definitely not a good thing.

Well, that's about ti for today! Tomorrow I'll be in the air, so I have an awesome guest post for ya'll!!!! Don't miss it!!!!! :D

The Truth About Fat

Heeey everyone! Glad ya'll liked my last post!!! :D

Not much has been going on here....mostly just school. Last night mom made potato soup (yum) and I  made some rolls to go with it! The recipe is on my recipe page, and if you want quick, hard-to-mess-up rolls, then they are for you!! I did learn that actually letting them rise the full amount of time instead of rushing them really improves the flavor and texture, for some reason....hmm wonder why? :P

I also tried a new 10 minute workout! Instead of my normal 10 minute jump rope, I did 10 minutes of cardio ballroom dance! It was off the Dance with Julianne Cardio Ballroom DVD, and I did the cha-cha! It was pretty fun! :D

Anyway, by now ya'll are probably wondering about the title of this post. Weeell, I have a little surprise for ya! Kathleen from Kat's Health Corner wrote a guest post for this ol' blog! Soo, without further ado, here it is:

Hello Fit Chocoholic readers!!! My name is Kathleen and I write this pretty sweet blog called Kat’s Health Corner. I love Gen’s Blog SO much! I am honored to be writing a guest post for Gen today, but FIRST let me introduce myself a little more!



I absolutely LOVE to workout, bake, AND especially blog. 

In my life one of the things I strive for is BALANCE: balance WITH myself, balance WITH life, and WITH the way I eat.

One vital part of the balance with the way I eat is making sure to eat a balance in nutrients. But, one of the hard nutrients I’ve had with balancing in my diet is Fat.

FAT. Yes, you heard that right. I said that F-word: Fat.

Fat has such a bad rap.

Some people predetermine the misconception that eating fat makes you fat. That is NOT necessarily true.

I know from personal experience the importance of fat in our body’s health and well being. A while back, I thought that FAT was EVIL, since that was what I would hear from the media, magazines, and ads. CUT THE FAT. Buy LOW FAT. Eat FAT FREE.

As a result, I started cutting fat out of my diet. My Hair, Skin, and Nails really paid the price for this. My hair lost its softness and glow and became dry and dull; my skin went from smooth and vibrant to rough and dry, and my nails lost their strength and became soft and bendy.

Not only did I see the changes in my hair, skin, and nails, but I noticed I had become significantly tired, moody, and weak. This was not good.

I came to the conclusion of what I needed to do.

I needed to develop a healthy relationship with fat.

Fat plays a HUGE role in our health. It is essential for the hormone processes in our body, the absorption of the vitamins A, D, E, and K. Fat is essential! Fat is essential to our hair, nails, and skin’s health and glow.

We know that fat is imperative, but does the type of fat matter?

Yes. The kinds of fat we eat matter, too. In all, there are four types of fat.

First, there are the mighty Monounsaturated fats, found in nuts, nut oils (like walnut oil), olives, olive oil, and avocados (this is not an exclusive list). One of my favorite sources of monounsaturated fat is ALMOND BUTTER!



Me and Almond Butter; LUV at first sight! 

Second, there are the powerful Polyunsaturated fats (foods high in polyunsaturated fats are rich in omega-3 fatty acids), like those found in sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, fish, walnuts, brazil nuts, canola oil, and PEANUT BUTTER! (this is not an exclusive list)



Peanut Butter Love!  Straight from a spoon is the best way to eat it. ;)

Then, there are the Saturated fats, which come from plant sources (like coconut, coconut oil, and chocolate), and animal sources (like fatty- meats, egg-yolks, and full-fat dairy products). They are also found in many prepared foods. The USDA recommends that we limit our intake of Saturated fats in favor of the Mono- and Poly-unsaturated ones. But remember, Dark Chocolate IS good for you (in moderation of course)!

And finally, the terrible Trans fats. AVOID TRANS FATS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!! They are chemically altered to where our body can’t recognize them as "real" and doesn't know how to handle them, so our body just stores it in our hips and our stomach. In several studies, Trans Fats are shown to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity, Liver Dysfunction, Infertility, and Depression.

Don’t trust the Nutritional Labels – make sure to check the Ingredient Lists. Don’t buy anything with fully or partially hydrogenated oils in it – those are TRANS FATS!

We know why fat is important and what the types of fat are. Does the amount we eat make a difference?

Yes. Fat is essential for the hormone processes in our body, the absorption of some vitamins, and the health of our hair, skin and nails (not an exclusive list). Talk to a registered Dietician to see how much is appropriate for you, or check out mypyramid.gov to get a personalized plan. Everyone’s body is different, so therefore, we each need different amounts.

One thing I would stress is to focus on the Omega 3’s and 6’s.



These are the ones our body CANNOT produce. Some of the foods where these can be found include walnuts, flaxseed, avocados, eggs, salmon, sardines, and tuna. You can also use Fish Oil tablets (if you are not vegetarian), and they even have Vegan “Fish” Oil tablets, which contain the Omegas straight from the plants where fish get them from.

One of the most important things I have learned on my journey for balance is that every nutrient is imperative – calorie, FAT, carbohydrate, protein, water, vitamin, mineral, photochemical – to our overall health.

If I have an imbalance in just one of these nutrients, it wreaks havoc in my entire body. I now strive to feed my body the nutrients it needs—to live in balance—to live in balance with fat.

Kay, that’s it from me my lovelies- I love to meet new people, so be sure to drop by, check me out, and get to know the Kat behind Kat’s Health Corner!!

Questions of the Day (KHC Style!):

How do you view fat?
What are your favorite sources of fat?
What is your favorite nut butter?

Awesome post! Thanks Kat!!! :D I'll go ahead and answer the questions.

1. Fat is definitely the nutrient that I have to work hardest to get, especially living here. There isn't a lot of fried food, and minimal fat is used while cooking. Which just means that I get to eat lots of peanut butter. Not a bad thing. Especially if there is chocolate invloved.

2. My favorite sources of fat would be nut butter (shocking, huh?), avocado (which we almost never get because I'm the only one that likes them), fish (hello omega-3 fats) and nuts.

3. Favorite nut butter would have to be Dark Chocolate Dreams. I actually haven't gotten around to trying either almond or cashew butter, but I plan to make both at some point. :D

Thanks again, Kat, for the wonderful post!!!

Hope you all have a great day!!!!!

Pre-Birthday Bash

Ok, so it wasn't really a "birthday bash" per se, but my sister and I had a super fun time last night having a little mini birthday celebration because a group will be here on her birthday, and her party with friends will be afterward.

There were two parts to the surprise:

Part 1- Baking

I told you all that I was going to bake a little somethin' simple for my sister. Sooo I made sugar cookies based on this recipe from cooking light. I just omitted the icing. Of course, the cookies were lightened which gave me the perfect excuse to whip up some ganache and make sandwich cookies!!! =D Here are both of the recipes:

Sugar Cookies

• 2 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour (about 11 1/4 ounces)


• 1/2  teaspoon  baking powder


• 1/4  teaspoon  salt


• 1  cup  granulated sugar


• 10  tablespoon  butter, softened


• 1 1/2  teaspoons  vanilla extract


• 2  large egg whites

Preparation

To prepare cookies, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and egg whites. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Divide dough in half. Shape each dough half into a ball; wrap each dough half in plastic wrap. Chill 1 hour.

Unwrap 1 dough ball. Press dough into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap. Cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, to a 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat procedure with remaining dough ball. Chill dough 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Remove one dough portion from refrigerator. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap; turn dough over. Remove remaining plastic wrap. Using a 2 1/2-inch cutter, cut dough into 18 cookies. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Repeat procedure with remaining dough half.

The only thing about these cookies is that I definitely baked them longer than 10 minutes, but that may just have been our oven.  They tasted wonderful!!!!!

Ganache-ish (I used a couple of different recipes and made up my own...its not true ganache, but it tasted good)

About 1 cup heavy cream

9 T cocoa powder

2 T oil

1/4 C brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

So basically, I combined the heavy cream and sugar and heated until simmering. Then, I stirred in the cocoa powder, oil and extract. And let thicken. It was pretty tasty. I was originally going to make a whipped icing (hence the brown sugar), that required no heating, but when it did not "whip", I researched some ganache recipes, and because I didn't have any actual baking chocolate, just sort of made up the recipe as I went along. This filling was pretty dark and bitter, but it went perfectly with the sweet cookies!

And now, for the pics:

[caption id="attachment_396" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Yes, I drizzled caramel on one of them. Yes, I have issues."][/caption]



Yum!

Part 2- Movie and Popcorn

I let my sister pick out a movie (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) to watch and made us some popcorn! Salty for me, spicy for her!

All in all, we had a bunch of fun last night and I really think that she was surprised!

As ya'll know, we have a group getting here later on today. We're basically running around like crazy trying to get everything ready, and we're all super excited!

I had better go....this was an uber long post!

Hope ya'll have a great Friday!

What are your weekend plans?

Out of the House

Ya'll are awesome! Thanks for the great comments on yesterday's FAQ post! I really enjoyed writing it, and am glad ya'll enjoyed it too! =D

I'm suuuuper excited for this afternoon. An old friend of mine, who now lives in Rio, is in town and we're getting together for a couple of hours after lunch. I'm a little nervous too, though, because I haven't seen her in forever......but I'm sure it'll be fun!!

I've been trying to cram all of my school into this morning so that I'll be able to truly enjoy my afternoon, so this post won't be extremely long.

I am going to try out a new cardio workout this morning, here's the link:

http://www.exercisetv.tv/workout-videos/cardio/kickbox-5774

It looked like a pretty fun, basic kickboxing workout, and I plan to follow it up with my old standby= the good ol' 10 minute jump rope workout. =P I actually haven't done it at all the past couple of cardio workout days, because I've been trying new, different workouts.

Another thing I'm excited about: dinner! =D Mom got some tilapia filets yesterday, and we plan to cook 'em up tonight. I loooove seafood!!!!! My mom doesn't, so for her to buy some is a super-special treat!! Any good, easy tilapia recipes to share? I don't really have any idea how we'll prepare the fish, so I was wondering what you're favorite ways of eating it are.

Well, I've got to run.....I'll definitely have a less-rushed post up tomorrow! =D

Revisiting Some Old Friends

Hey everyone!!!!!

First off, I tried a new granola bar right now! Its watermelon and lemon flavored and tastes like summer!!!!



Its light so I paired it with a cup of yummy fruit salad yogurt for my morning snack! So good!! =D

This morning I also visited my old school friends. I found out when their break was and walked over. It was so great to see everyone and I can't wait to visit again!!!!! I think that being around other people keeps me from worrying about everything else so much. One of the downsides to homeschooling is that I don't get out as much, which normally, is just fine by me. =P I did miss seeing people my age though, so I'll definitely be visiting my school again soon!!!!

Thank you all so much for your supportive comments on yesterday's post! I love you guys! =D It helps so much to know that ya'll are supporting my as well as my awesome family!!!! =D I do have a protein powder related question or two:

Is there a way to make it dissolve better? When I mixed mine up in the smoothie, it was super-grainy. The flavor was great, though, so I was wondering if the graininess was due to something that I did wrong or  if that's just a side-effect of protein powders.

Also, what are some good protein powder recipes for one? I am really trying to supplement my diet, so that I get all of the minerals and vitamins that I need, and I was wondering what other ways there are to use my protein besides just smoothies. Its strawberry flavored, by the way.

In keeping with the treat yourself generously theme of the week, I'd say that today, my treat was spending time with friends that I haven't seen in at least 6 months. =D What about you?

Hope you all have a wonderful day!


 

“Did the programs of the New Deal or World War 2 end the Great Depression?  Support your answer.”

School Overload and Weigh-In #2

Hey! Hope everyone had a restful weekend!!!! I would like to report that we (almost) successfully cleaned out our fridge. The last of the Chinese will be eaten for lunch, and then we can start cooking more stuff to fill up the fridge with! =D Did you do anything special over the weekend?

 

Sorry for the later-than-usual post, I've been doing school basically all morning!! I'm taking a webpage design class, so I had to check out some website formats. I've also been working ahead in some subjects so that when a group from our church comes down, I can take some time off of school! So this means that I've been doing Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday work in some of my classes this morning! Of course, I had my cat to help me:

[caption id="attachment_281" align="alignnone" width="455" caption="I am here to help! "][/caption]

Needless to say, I decided that it was the perfect time to take a break and blog! =D

I weighed in again today. I mean, that's sort of obvious seeing as its in the title of this post...but anyway I gained another half-pound. I've been using some of ya'lls tips and they're great!! =D Basically, I'm trying to add more sources of healthy fats into my diet to "bulk" up my foods! And I'm also eating more pb than anyone would have ever thought possible....and anymore, I'm never seen without a snack of some sort in my hands! =D

I know that a half-pound isn't a WHOLE lot, or actually, is very little, but the saddest thing is that I had a mini-breakdown when I did the math (kilos to pounds) and figured out how much I had gained. I'm fine now, but I guess it just goes to show that I still have to fight my Eating Disorder even harder and that its still there, even if I have days where I think that I'm completely better. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family to help me and I've been praying a lot about it and I've finally begun to have a sense of peace about my appearance! =D Good news!

Once I hit 105 again, my mom said that I could start running on one of my two exercise days! I'm soooo excited!!!! Once I hit 115, I can start running for real!!!! That just makes me want to reach my goal even faster! As long as I can maintain my weight, I can run!!!! =D

Well, I had better be off....

Happy Monday!

Purple Food

So I didn't get around to baking yesterday....so sad! =( Too much school!!!!! Blegh!

Anyway, I did have a fun snack! Can anyone guess what this purple monster is?





Its a SWEET POTATO! Here we have sweet 'taters that are purple on the outside and white on the inside! (The one in the picture above has already been sprinkled with cinnamon!)

I didn't quite know what to expect flavor-wise, but I really liked it! A mild, but still sweet flavor, that I think I like even better than orange sweet potatoes!!!! And it still tasted awesome with cinnamon, which makes it good food in my book! =D Cinnamon+ sweet potato= Happy me!

Someone else had his little sneaky eye on my snack:



Tonight we're having a friend over for burger night! A little nervous about this, as ground beef doesn't exactly get along well with my stomach....but I figure, mom's making peppercorn burgers (my fav), which are worth not feeling so great tomorrow! =D And baked french fries! With barbecue dry rub! Delish! I love having fun Wednesdays.....I guess its nice to sort of take a mid-week break! =D What's your favorite type of burger?

Oh, I have a question. Is it at all possible for cats to be bipolar? Because if so, I think mine is. I've even nicknamed him Dr.Jekyll/Mr.Hyde. Like this morning, he was lying on the couch half-asleep, and 5 minutes later, I scratched his head and he attacked me! Crazy cat. He's not getting any peanut butter from me any time soon!!!!

Well, I had best be off....I've still got Algebra to do!

Hope you have an awesome (and fun) Wednesday!

 

I will...

As it turns out, I did in fact lose some weight. This made me stop and think about things that I want to do to help myself and to improve my relationships with family and friends. Here are the things that I came up with :

I will......gain the weight back.

I will......learn to love myself.

I will......spend more time just hanging out with my sister.

I will......start really talking with my parents about what goes on in my life.

So, what about you? Anything that you've made up your mind to do recently?

So today's workout was basically a repeat of one of last week's, the 20 min sweat workout + 10 min jump rope, except I toned it down a bit. To refuel myself post-workout, I made a yummy, simple smoothie with about a cup of milk, half a frozen banana and some instant coffee. The banana sweetened the smoothie perfectly and it was nice and thick!!!! =D What are some other good smoothie recipes????

This week I've started reading/watching Julius Caesar. Am I the only one in the world who doesn't especially like Shakespeare's work? I mean, Romeo and Juliet? I really didn't like that one, which we studied last year. What is your opinion of Shakespeare? I don't deny that he was an extremely influential playwright, I just don't happen to be a huge fan! :D

So, I guess that I really have to get back to school now.....by the way, Erica from Itzy's Kitchen made an awesome announcement yesterday....go wish her congratulations! =D

Gotta run...

Have an awesome day!

 

 

 

Ministry Cookout

Yesterday we all went up into the community where we work to visit for a while. It was sooo great to see everyone and we planned a get together/meeting for this morning through this evening. The meeting part will be first, and then we'll grill out steaks and cook up some typical brazilian food such as rice and beans, along with some shrimp!!!! My mom's making her homemade brownies, too!!!! It is gonna be soooo much fun!!!! =D

Last night, we just hung out at home. We had BBQ chicken, boiled potatoes (sounds boring, but they are super good!), andpasta with either garlic butter sauce or italian dressing. I also had a slice of the BEST ever whole wheat bread!!!! It's homemade, not by me but at the local breadstore where we get most of our bread fresh daily, and soooo good!!! Oh and I broke a cup. Not for the first time, either! I think I broke a replacement cup. At least my dad just saw it as an excuse to get the largest (plastic) cup in the house! =P

Oh I also made homemade chocolate syrup and caramel for "fun coffee"!! We use an Aerolatte to froth some milk and put it on top of our coffee and then swirl syrup on top! Its pretty awesome! =P I'll give you my chocolate syrup recipe, but not the caramel, because I'm still tweaking it! =P

Chocolate Syrup

Ingredients:

1 C water

1/2 C cocoa powder (the better the quality cocoa, the better your syrup will taste!)

2 C sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Combine water and cocoa, whisk together in medium-large saucepan over low heat until cocoa has dissolved. Add sugar, and cook over medium heat until sugar has COMPLETELY dissolved. If you try to go to the next step before the sugar has dissolved, you'll have grainy syrup. Bring syrup to a boil for 3 minutes. Be careful, because it tends to boil over a LOT during this stage, so you may have to keep removing the pot from the eye to let the mixture cool down a little. After boiling, remove from heat, stir in sugar and vanilla. Let cool before serving!

The only thing is that if you overcook this syrup at all, it'll dry up within a couple of days, but if its undercooked, its thin. So you really have to make this a LOT and mess around with the boiling time until you find the right length for you!

So, after I finished my syrup-making, I went into my sister's room (where I sleep because she has the a/c unit! =P I do have my own room, though.) and look who greeted me:



That would be my cat on my bed!!!!!!!!!

I leave you with this pic for today!

Thank goodness its Saturday!

What are your weekend plans?

One More Day...

We're leaving tomorrow. I know that I've said this several times, but I absolutely cannot believe that its been six months. I'll be going home, but that doesn't mean that I won't miss everyone here!

Everything is pretty much packed, and we've been cleaning out the fridge and cabinets. This means that we made chocolate chip cookies last night! =P

Guess what? Last night, it snowed! Blech. I don't know about you, but I really don't like being cold. I'm seriously so cold all of the time that my pulse measurer thing doesn't register my pulse! I have to stick my hands in warm water for it to work!!!!!!! Needless to say, I'm pretty glad that God has called my family to be missionaries in Brazil and not Russia.



This isn't from yesterday, but it still is an accurate portrayal of how I'm feeling at this exact moment! The only thing that I like about the cold is that I can use it as an excuse to drink hot chocolate and apple cider! =D

So today, I'm doing a simple workout that I haven't decided on yet, and then I'm going to finish packing. We've pretty much said our goodbyes to our friends and family, and only a couple of people will actually be going to the airport tomorrow. I believe that its easier on everyone that way.

So that we don't actually have to cook, a friend of ours invited us over for a super simple dinner. No idea what we're going to have, but it will be fun!!!!

That's about all I've got for now! =D

How was your weekend? Any major plans for this week?

Girls Night Out!

Last night was sooo much fun!!!!!

My mom, sister, and I joined our best friends for a fun night out! We had dinner at Olive Garden(hello, Venetian Apricot Chicken......my fav!). The OG salad is too acidic for moi, so I had the Minestrone as an appetizer! Delish! =D

Then, we went to Target just to goof off! Here is a pic of my friend and me rockin' the fedoras (I'm the white one. She's the cute oriental one! =D):



Its fun to shop at Target late at night! =D

So today, we went to visit with my grandmother for the last time before we head out. My aunt, cousin and her husband came as well. My cousin gave me the sweetest birthday gift! Apparently when my mom turned 16, my aunt gave her a ring. My mom then had that ring made into a necklace and gave it to my cousin for her 16th birthday. Now that I'm 16, my cousin gave me that necklace plus matching earrings!!!! I'm pretty sure that everyone in the room teared up! =D

Because she knew that it would be the last time that we would see her before we leave, my grandmother made a big ol' lunch! Chicken and dumplings, butter beans, rolls and brussels sprouts! Deeeelicious! Seriously, my grandmomma makes the best chicken n' dumplings in the entire world! =D

The only downside to the day has been that I haven't gained any weight in the past couple of weeks. For those of you who are new to this blog, I've been trying to gain back the weight that I lost while struggling with an eating disorder. I really tried to put an effort into enjoying everything that I ate and eating  more of what I wanted to. I guess my body has finally caught up in the nutrient department, which means that I'll just have to work harder to gain the remaining 10 lbs that I have to go.

Hope ya'll have an awesome Saturday!

 

 

 

 

Better Late Than Never

Hey!

Sorry about the later-than-usual post today!!! I've had sooo much school to do!!!!! =D

Anyway, in case ya'll were wondering, I did (actually, my mom did) manage to close my suitcase!!!! Whoo! Now all I have left to pack are my carry-ons. Fun stuff.G

Guess what else? I got my peeeeeermit!!!!!! Watch out Mississippians! =P



I could teach a class on how to take crappy pictures....=P

So tonight we're going to our best friend's house for a night of fun! No idea what we'll actually be doing but we plan on having a good time! Our motto these past 6 months has been :"If it ain't fun, we ain't doin' it!", and we plan to follow it exactly! =D

On a random note, I wish that I had taken a picture of my salad that I had for lunch!!!!! It was soooooo good!!!!! There was turkey, honey dijon dressing, onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, some salsa, seasoning salts and some other fun stuff. Of course, when I eat a salad, I eat it out of a bowl that's meant to serve food out of. Like it probably holds 3 or 4 cups of salad. My favorite part about eating salads is that I can eat a huge one without feeling stuffed. So then I can have dessert. Which, I probably would have had anyway, but still. Salads rock. Except for when you have to wash your lettuce in bleach like we do in Brazil. That part stinks. =P

I absolutely cannot believe that 6 months have gone by so quickly!!!!! Before you know it, it'll be 2012!!!!

What are your plans for this weekend????

Happy Friday! =D


 

Off to Take the Driver's Permit Test....

Good morning, everyone!!!!

Apparently my teachers believe in hitting the ground running when it comes to schoolwork, because that's exactly what I did!!!! By the end of this week, I'll already be testing out a website in Intro to Webpage Design, I'll have studied the basics of both nuclear and organic chemistry, watched scene 1 of Julius Caeser, finished a study of the book of Job in the Bible, read a chapter in my history book. But this is all ok, because at least I'm doing something. And I get to take next week off!!!!! Because it's hard to travel and study, and when we get there next Wednesday, we'll all be exhausted!

    Thanks for the feedback about this blog yesterday!!!! Its pretty cool to know that some people are actually interested in reading about my crazy life. I did get a request for actual pictures, which I hope to start working on because I just got batteries for my camera!!!! Whoo! So expect to start seeing more pictures in the very near future! =D

So this afternoon, I'm going to take my Mississippi Driver's Permit test! Because even if I am leaving next week, I'll need to be able to get my actual license three years from now when I go to college. And if I haven't had my permit for at least a year, I won't get my license. Which would be bad.

Speaking of colleges, I have a question for those of you who have already finished their college studies. How did you choose a college? What are the main important factors in deciding where you should go? I mean, I already know to make sure that the college is offering my major and is in my budget, and I also know that I don't want to go anywhere super cold, but beyond that, I have no idea how to make a decision!

Before I go, I'll leave you with this (old) picture of my cat:



Life is hard for him....

Happy Wednesday! =D

I Have a Camera, but no Batteries....

The title of this post says it all.

I bought a replacement camera yesterday, but instead of AAA batteries, I bought AA. So no pictures for the blog today. Some pics are coming soon, though. I promise.



Ok I want ya'll to pray for Lindsay from Cotter Crunch. She lost her grandmother yesterday.

Today, I have absolutely no idea what workout I'll be doing, but I'm feeling uninspired, so it'll probably be one of the videos that are already on my workout page.

Since it is a new year and all, I'd like to ask ya'll a few things. I know that this blog is a recent thing, and I'm still trying to figure out the blogging world. What are some suggestions that you have that would make Musings of a Healthy Chocoholic more interesting? Is there anything that I should add or remove from the site? I want to hear what you think!!!!

So school is starting back today. I've got two brand new classes (Intro to Webpage Design and PE) along with World Lit, Algebra II, Chem, Old Testament Survey and US History 102. Fun stuff.

The main thing that I wish that I had done while on Christmas break is bake all of those things that I was planning to. Somehow it all just got away from me. We visited so many people, because it was our last chance to see some of them for three years. We're packing, and getting ready to head home. So maybe I'll bake in Brazil. It is definitely harder there, though,because we have to make a lot of our own stuff. Like taco shells and flour tortillas. And we have crappy cake mixes. And Brazilians feel the need to dump 16 eggs into cakes. And sometimes the grocery store doesn't have powdered sugar to make glaze, so guess what? We make our own. All you do is pour some sugar in a blender or food processor and whir away until its fine. This is my home. =D

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!!!!

Back to School

I know its been a couple of days since my last "normal" post....we've been uber-busy since we're heading back to Brazil a week from tomorrow. So we've been packing and visiting with people and all that good stuff. I'm gonna miss everyone here a lot, but I'm not going to miss the cold weather!!!! Helloooo summertime!

     Guess what? I'm starting school tomorrow....two new classes...ugh. At least I'll have something to do besides spend the entire day reading blogs. Which I haveno problem at all with doing. But still, school is kind of important too. =D

   Well, the past couple of days have been pretty hectic, like I said before. We've gone back to the friend's house where we celebrated New Year's, had lunch with some church friends, and had dinner at the house of more church friends. Oh and a friend of ours who's been on mission teams to Brazil came by to see us yesterday afternoon. I'm not exactly the most social of people, so visiting day in and day out isn't exactly my thing, but this is our last chance to see some of these people for three years. And next time, I might not even get to see them, since I'll be heading off to college pretty soon after we arrive. So its pretty important to see everyone now.

How was your weekend? Anything major happen?

Have a happy Monday!!!!  =P