Worst Blogger Award?!

Oh….. heeeeeeey guys [/guilty]

Yes. It has been a full week since I posted. You caught me, totally fair. And my Twitter feed has also been pretty slow lately, but it’s just cause I’ve been so damn busy!

Well, mostly busy. A little lazy. Also a little distracted, but we’re gonna stick with the “busy” excuse, mkay? And now for a rundown… leggo.

Tuesday: Worked out, lounged [so guilty of that one], worked, and then… went to bed – promptly at 10pm. That’s early, even for me. Mostly because of…

Wednesday: Wake up call came in at 4:15AM. Then, my mom & I were on the road by 4:30AM! And guess what – I drove the whole way! All seven and a half hours of it! Aaaand now pictures of the food because I have no idea where my camera connecting cord is. Top notch work, Sam. Really. Then I had a workshop a couple of hours after my Mom and I arrived in Clemson, which was ok – a little too drawn out for me, but whatevaaaah. Later that night, I checked into the dorms with a bunch of other kids and we hung out there for the night before the next morning’s activities Oh, and did I mention the city was in like, a state of torrential downpour?! Cause it was.

Thursday: The first day… of ORIENTATION! Seriously, these two days were so much fun! I absolutely loved this little glimpse into the next four years of my life, and lemme tell ya – I’m. Freaking. Pumped.

Friday: Last day! We had a couple academic advising meetings, and made our schedules – I got mostly morning classes, woo! I’m taking: Orientation to Education, Contemporary Math for Elementary Teachers, Intermediate Spanish, Biology (Key to Human Identity lecture), West and the World, and a food science elective! After all that jazz wrapped up, we headed on home!

Saturday: Uhmmm… nothing. Like, seriously – not. a. thing.

Sunday: Ran a little, did the work thang, and then… WATCHED TRUE BLOOD!!!!! I’m so obsessed with this show, it’s crazy. Dear Eric Northman, I’ll be eighteen in less than two months. Call me.

Today: LOTS of laundry! Jillian Michaels video, and then some more laundry.

TOMORROW, my replacement phone should be in! I’ll run over to my Mom’s house to pick that up and hopefully find my camera cord as well. I’ll have to work tomorrow too, but it’s my goal to have a post up before I have to leave!

Well… hope ya liked all that reading! Have a beautiful Monday night, the weather here is starting to clear up nicely (:

Question! What’s your favorite class that you’ve taken – in high school, in college, or non-educational [like pottery or cooking or something]?

Sam

I Went Shopping. Ruh-roh.

WHAT UP bloggie boos!!

How was everyone this beautiful and POURING DOWN RAIN Monday? Well, maybe it wasn’t so bad where yall are, but in Cincinnati, it was like a torrential downpour! Craaaze!

Then this happened…

Seriously, it was like the last five minutes of my run and I was in a full out sprint! The sky was practically black, and it was crazy scary! And I may or may not have looked like someone pushed me in a pool by the end of my run. Cooool.

The run was pretty easy today though, except for one MAY-JAH hill – but I at least knew about it going in. Seriously, I had to walk up it and by the top, my HR was at 180 and my calves were on fireeee. I always forget how hard big hills can be!

When I got home, I finally did a video I’ve been meaning to for a long time, Jillian’s 30 Day Shred Level 1! It was wonderfully difficult and I was feelin’ the burn big time!

Before I got started with the work out though, I had a nice bowl of cereal… sortaaa. A while ago, Gabriela posted about eating raw oats with almond milk, and I loved that for a long time! This morning, I decided to try it with oat bran.

Oat bran with vanilla almond milk and blueberries! I’m almost finally out of the berries I bought at Whole Foods on Friday, and I’m so sad to see them go!

Although this was pretty good, I’m not sure it was a breakfast worth repeating. The raw oat situation was actually much more fun to eat than this was, because with this all the oat bran sunk to the bottom and got really thick down there. It tasted great, but I love my textuuuures (:

Post-workout lunch was a mixed green salad with beans, carrot, apple, and tomato. This was mostly leftover from last night, but it still tasted pretty good! I also had a fruit plate of sliced kiwi and sliced peach afterwards for a little somethin’ sweeeeeet. Whatttup sweet tooth!

After lunch, I had a couple of errands to run, including a trip to the malllll (: Probs one of my favorite errands to run, period. I bought like, four new sundresses – the haul is up at the end of the post! I only ended up getting things from J. Crew and Francesca’s, but I love both those places so it all worked out!

When I got home, I was feelin’ a carby-type snack! Two slices of cinnamon-raisin Ezekiel bread: one with dark choc dreams and one with dark choc cocoa powder. And to top it all off, dark chocolate chunks. Did I possibly OD on chocolate after this snack? Possibly. Will that stop me from possibly having this snack tomorrow? Hell nah, brah.

Granted, snacks don’t hold me off for too long… so this happened pretty soon:

My Dad was out for dinner tonight, so Will [the bro] and I were on our own. He doesn’t eat dinns til like, nine or ten? And I’d rather gnaw my own arm off than wait that long [hey dramatic.] So I turned to the freezaaah for some food! TJ’s Meatless Meatballs and Garden Medley frozen veggie blend. This dinner totally hit the spot!

However, it also made me realize that I really want to avoid frozen veggies. It’s just the look of them that’s so weird… I feel like they don’t look like real vegetables! Really, it just looks more like… clay replicas of it or somethin’. So, moral of the story – efficient in a pinch, but probs not my go-to plan.

Now, how about some pretty clothin’ pic-tuurrres!

J. Crew chino shorts

J. Crew “Vacay” slip dress [super cute with a belt and wedges whaaaaat?!]

Francesca’s dress with rope detail [this one and the next one look much longer than they really are… they both fall a little above the knee.]

Francesca’s. This one is actually solid yellow, not two-toned the way it looks here because I accidentally covered the flash with my finger!

Francesca’s. Black t-shirt type dress, really cute and comfy!

Sorry about the blurry picture… I accidentally deleted the good one! Hey there, Clemson orange necklace (:

I literally own no bracelets, save for one from the Return to Tiffany collection.

Long chain necklace (Francesca’s)

Close up of the chain necklace – it’s so pretty!

 

Alright yall that’s all I’ve got for tonight! Not really sure what I’ll do for the rest of the night, but I’m sure my Twitter feed will let ya know (;

Question:

Do you have a staple piece of jewelry?

I have an Elsa Perretti necklace from the alphabet collection with an ‘S’ on it, plus two medals from this thing I go to in August… I’ll be able to talk more about it lataaah!

Sam

Lazy Sunday

Hey-o bloggie loves! Did everyone have a wondahful Sunday Funday?! I sure did!

Ehhh… ignoring that situation, it was still a fan-tabulous Father’s Day! My Dad and I were at my brother’s lacrosse tournament for most of the morning, and although I’m not totally sure about the way it ended [they tied, but due to point differentials they didn’t advance?] I was glad to see him play! Although I’m not sure when I’ll get to see him in action next… I’ll be gone for almost all of the season next year! I hope it still works out though (:

Anyways, we had an early wake up call for the first game of the day, and I didn’t wanna risk getting hungry hangry at the field, so I made sure to fuel up before we peaced out!

Banana Protein Oats

Serves 1

• 1/2 cup of rolled oats
• 1c water/milk/liquid of choice
• 1 scoop protein powder [Sun Warriaaahhh]
• 1 medium banana [the riper the better!]
• 1 T flax meal
• Toppings: fruit, nut butter, nuts, honey, whateverr

Heat water to rolling boil, then add oats [pinch of salt is optional!]. Allow to cook on medium-high temp for at least 4 minutes before stirring in thinly sliced banana and cook for one more minute. Then stir in your protein powder – but reduce the heat to low-medium ish (about a 3 on a scale of 1-10). Cover your pot and allow the oats to cook for three minutes, this will make them super doughy and thick! Just the way I like emmm. After three minutes, remove lid, stir, and add in flax meal if you’re using it. Remove from heat and add to your bowl before adding your toppings! I rolled with bloobs, Dark Choc Dreams, + SC honey! What up yummss.

So I’m starting to realize that I’m really good about posting my breakfasts, but lessbeserious. There’s like, maybe five pictures of dinner/lunch… combined. So I’m starting Mission: Take Pictures of Lunch and Dinner. Which will of course go into full effect tomorrow. Not tonight because I only got pics of lunch!

Baked sweet pataytah with a pb+j pita! (Dark choc dreams, duh, and SC strawbs jam, which was actually a little too sweet for me!)

This lunch also brought a revolting development to my attention – I’m super impatient. As in I checked on this potato at least ten times before I decided I didn’t wanna wait anymore… and the middle was still a little stiff! Don’t get me wrong, it was delish, but I love gooeyness [awk word] in my sweets!

Can’t win em all, I suppose!

After lunch, I planned on running – but the drizzly weather actually unmotivates me to get my ash into action! It’s a little pathetic, I know, but I did some yoga instead! Maura Barclay, because I’m obsessed with this one, and an ab workout from Women’s Health magazine [the issue with Heather Morris on the cover!]

A little after my workout, I had a snackity snack of a yogurt bowl:

Fage 0% Greek, bloobs, pumpkin butter, DCD, raw oats, dark chocolate chunks, and about 1T of chia seeds! I went ahead and ate this around the time I would usually have dinner, cause my dad was cooking tonight!

Because my eating habits are significantly different from that of my Dad’s and my brother’s, I usually eat dinner way earlier than they do, and will have my night time snack when they have dinner. But, given that it’s Father’s Day and all, I really wanted to eat dinner with them! So I took care of the salad, and ate everything my dad made [except the pork tenderloin.] We had grits, baked and sautéed plantains, and a mixed green salad! Which, as previously mentioned, I big time failed in taking a picture of!

Alright, well, I’m gonna go watch the rest of Hall Pass with my Dad and brother! So far, it’s hilarious!

How was the weather where you live today?

Aiiight I’m out babes!

Sam

Butterfly Kisses

“There’s two things I know for sure: she was sent here from heaven and she’s daddy’s little girl. As I drop to my knees by her bed at night she talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and I thank god for all the joy in my life. Oh, but most of all for butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer; sticking little white flowers all up in her hair; "Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it’s my first ride." "I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried." In all that I’ve done wrong I know I must have done something right to deserve a hug every morning and butterfly kisses at night.”

“Sweet 16 today. She’s looking like her mama a little more everyday, one part woman, the other part girl. To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls, trying her wings out in a great big world. But I remember butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer; sticking little white flowers all up in her hair. "You know how much I love you, Daddy, But if you don’t mind I’m only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time." With all that I’ve done wrong I must have done something right to deserve her love every morning and butterfly kisses at night. All the precious time, like the wind, the years go by. Precious butterfly, spread your wings and fly.”

“She’ll change her name today. She’ll make a promise and I’ll give her away. Standing in the bride-room just staring at her, she asked me what I’m thinking and I said "I’m not sure-I just feel like I’m losing my baby girl." She leaned over…gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there,
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair. "Walk my down the aisle, Daddy-it’s just about time."
"Does my wedding gown look pretty, Daddy? Daddy, don’t cry!" Oh, with all that I’ve done wrong I must have done something right, to deserve your love every morning and butterfly kisses-I couldn’t ask God for more, man this is what love is. I know I gotta let her go, but I’ll always remember every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses.”

–“Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlisle

This book was purchased for me by my father when I was four years old. At the time, I’m not even sure I recognized that he was giving me anything… important.

I found this book this October, when we moved into our new house and I was packing up all of my things. It was a Sunday night, and I sat and read through the book, my heart literally brimming with emotion – happiness, pride, love… everything. Not too long before I found this, I had applied to all my college choices – and the top one was a seven hour drive away.

Reading this truly showed me the extent of my dad’s love for me. I was four years old when I received this – a time when I honestly can’t remember what my personality was like. And yet, he was there, and he really cared.

My Dad is one of my best friends. He’s dedicated to the people he loves, he’s intelligent, he’s passionate, and most importantly, he knows how to enjoy his life. I’m so, so  proud of him for everything that he’s done in his life. He is genuinely one of my idols.

So it makes perfect sense to me that this week’s Super Quote Sunday comes from him.

“Dear Sam: I found this book at an airport during a trip I took shortly after you turned 4. I remembered that I thought the song was a sappy, commercialized attempt to exploit the delicate and precious father/daughter bond, and hoped the book would be on a little higher level. But then I remembered the Saturday morning in July when we were riding around town, running errands in my car and how the song affected both of us. “Play the Daddy song again, Dad.” was all you’d say for a few days. At any rate, the point of my story is that none of these poor guys ever had you for a daughter, so they have absolutely no idea just how incredibly special the feeling can be when the daughter is simply the most loving, caring, and special daughter ever. I can’t wait to see what a wonderful adult you become and to watch what your life will be. I love you, Dad.”

———————————————————————————————————————–

Dad,

I hope your life has been even better than you could have imagined, and that it continues to get better with every day. You truly are my super hero, and the first person I turn to for advice. You mean the world to me, and I love you so much.

Sam

 

Happy Father’s Day.

 

Perfect Sweet Potato Fries

Happy Friday sweeties! Whether you celebrated Cookie Friday or Indulgence Friday or I-Worked-My-Ass-Off-All-Day-Let’s-Get-Crazy Friday, [so I made that one up, guilty.] I hope you had a great one!

Mine was rather fantastic, after I dealt with a few, erm, issues. To elaborate, I may or may not [read, I totally effing did] have dropped my phone into a big glass of water last night when I got to work.

Yeah, not my best move. At all. Since I was at work, I couldn’t do the “put it in a bag of dry rice” trick, and I didn’t get home until five hours after it happened. I tried it over night, but no luck ):

Fortunately, I have an insurance policy on my phone, and they’ll replace it [thank God!] because after two years of being a die-hard BlackBerry addict, I’m not ready to go to this:

I get the chills just looking at that. How do I tweet from my phone? Check my email? Google every question that pops into my head?! I want my BlackBerry back….

How about the positives of my day?

Workout

I wasn’t really feelin’ a run today, so I stuck with the 21 Day Yoga Challenge (so obsessed with this… I may never stop!) and then did a leg workout I found in Fitness magazine. I’ve done this once before, and SERIOUSLY my legs were sore for three days! Hopefully I’m stronger now so it won’t hit me so hard this time (;

Food

I went to the wireless store early this morning. So early, in fact, they hadn’t even opened yet. I decided to kill a little time at Starbs with my favorite bev…

Venti Passion iced tea – best. possible. order. If I ever stray from this, it’s to an iced coffee… and we all know how that turned out.

When I got home, I knew the only thing that was gonna make me happier would be a nice simple breakfast [that statement made me sound like a brat. Sucksss.]

TJ’s High Fiber cereal with almond milk mixed with a scoop of vanilla Sun Warrior protein powder. And since I’ve had one of those killerrrr peaches every single day since I got home, I had to slice one up and top the cereal with it! Yumssss.

No picture of lunch today, but I’ve got somethin’ even bettaahhh. COOKIEEEES!

I used Gabriela’s recipe for Double Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies and made a couple adjustmentsss:

– 1 c whole wheat flour
– 1/4 c Sucanat [I used 3T of brown sugar]
– 1/4 tsp sea salt
– 3 T Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate cocoa powder (regular works as well, but dark tastes amazing)
– 1/2 c (2 oz) salted roasted peanuts, chopped [omitted]
– 1 tsp baking powder
– 1/2 tsp baking soda.
– 1/4 c + 2 T agave nectar [used honey instead]
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 3 T canola oil [used Smart Balance instead]
– 1/3 c chocolate peanut butter (I used PB&Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams)

-addded in 1/2 dark chocolate chunks

The other day, my brother told me how much he liked dark chocolate, but didn’t understand why he liked it so much [weird, I know]. Anyways, he has a big lax tournament this weekend so I wanted to make something for him and my Dad cause they’ll both be super busy! Plus, this cookie included two of my fave things – peanut butter and dark chocolate. Let’s get crazy.

Fan. Tas. Tic. Plain & simple!

The rest of the day was super low key, just hung around and didn’t do much!

Since I didn’t have much of anything going on, I decided to post a tutorial/recipe situation… for one of my FAVE meals!

Perfect Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Serves 1 as a meal, 2 as a side

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1T oil of choice (I use coconut, but olive is a favorite too!)
• Sprinkle of sea salt

First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. While it’s warming up, start slicing your sweet potato.

Cut into thin, uniform strips so that the fries will cook evenly (you’ll have a couple little nuggets, but don’t worry about it.)

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread sliced fries evenly across. Distribute oil over slices as evenly as possible. (Side bar, I used a spray bottle tonight, so I sprayed them while they were on the sheet. When using coconut oil, I’ll put all the wedges into a big mixing bowl and pour the oil over, just so it covers it a little more thoroughly.) When wedges are all oiled up [that sounds kinda gross] sprinkle them with a little bit of sea salt, just to taste, and remember you can always add more later!

I bake the fries for 25 minutes [at least], but I let them go to 30 once and most of them were burnt so be careful!

If all goes well, you’ll end up with this little beauty! A wholeeee plate of sweet tater fries and ketchup for dippinnn (:

Happy tummy ensued.

Oh right. Then this happened again.

Lovvvesss.

Exciting Stuff!

So, for the first time since late August/early September (excluding the two weeks around Christmas) I won’t be going into work Saturday morning!!! During the year, Saturday mornings usually bring in all 8ish teachers on staff to handle the seven+ classes we teach in a span of less than four hours. Yeah. Busy busy bees! As much as I love my job, it’s gonna be nice to go at my own pace on a Saturday morning. Plus, it’s not like I’m entirely off on Saturday – I’ve got parties to work in the afternoon!

More excitement? I updated my Twitter background (:

And it was kind of an accident! Oh well, I like it now anyways!

 

Chocolate or vanilla?

Was I subtle enough in my questioning? (;

Have you ever worked weird hours?

My friends and I at work were exhausted after an eight hour shift… and then we realized that people with desk jobs work that every single day. Whooooops!

Hope yall have a great night!

Samantha