#NailedIt

I know it's Wednesday, but no Word.Wednesday today...so sorry! It'll be back next week!

Are y'all like me in that you're completely obsessed with Pinterest? I mean, it's been around a while and I still LOVE it. I peruse it daily to find new recipes, crafts, things to make me laugh...basically anything! I've had this recipe pinned for a while and have been wanting to try it. Have y'all seen Pinterest Fails? I've seen them here and there and they are usually pretty funny, but I've never had one...until last night! 

Here's the recipe...it still looks delish to me, but I #NailedIt. 

In the recipe, she used Boursin cheese, but says you can use Laughing Cow (which I always have on hand). {Side note: Laughing Cow spread between two cucumber slices makes a YUMMY snack}

I followed the recipe to the "T" just subbing my cheese, I also pan sauteed my chicken, which I never do. I always grill my chicken because my apartment is small and I don't have a vent fan for my stove, so it's just easier! I should've done this tonight...but I decided to take a chance. Needless to say, I had to open my windows and door so my smoke alarm wouldn't go off! 

Will I try this recipe again? Yes, I will, because I want to like it! I posted my picture on Facebook and had lots of hints to help! 

I don't want to say I pride myself on my cooking skills, BUT, the majority of my meals end up being super yummy and I love them! This was by far, my worst meal to date! 

But I'm not going to let it stop me...I'll try it again! And the next time, I'll grill the chicken!

Have y'all had any Pinterest fails? Thankfully it was still edible but after I ate, everything else was thrown away, lol. 

Friday!!

Do y'all love Friday's?! I love them even more now that I don't have a football or other sporting event to cover! Do I do anything exciting on these Fridays where I don't have any work?? Nope! Sometimes I just hang out with friends, but mostly I just catch up on my shows or enjoy the quiet of the evenings! I'm not a super exciting person...and I'm okay with that!

To prove I'm not ALL boring, I thought I'd share a few things I'm loving for the weekend!!

~ ONE ~

Since this is my first Fall back here in Fort Worth, I became a season ticket holder and am LOVING it!! So most Saturday's are spent here:

I'm partial and think it's the best place on Earth!

This weekend TCU plays Oklahoma State...we're both in the AP top 15 so the game should be great! Especially because I know my Frogs will be hungry after our little hiccup last weekend against Baylor!

~ TWO ~

I'm loving this weather...not too hot during the day and not too cold in the mornings. It's perfect! Having the windows open and being able to leave the door open is nice. I know it won't last long and a cold winter will come but I'll enjoy it while I can. I'm going to clean off my porch and enjoy it this weekend.

~ THREE ~

I've been horrible at going to church lately. Mainly because I like to go on Saturday evening and with our football games on Saturdays I have to go on Sunday. Woe is me, I know. But the Sunday services are at 9:15 and 11. So it's either super early or late. But I need to suck it up and go to the early one because I love church and it re-charges me for the week to be surrounded by my church family.

~ FOUR ~

I've had a LOOOONG  and busy week so I'm really going to focus on relaxing this weekend! I'm going to read and just enjoy my time.

What are y'all doing this weekend!? If y'all follow me on social media, I'll apologize in advance for all the pics from the TCU game! ;)

Word. Wednesday

Word. Wednesday is back! Maybe one day, I'll make it a link-up and make new bloggy friends. But for now, I'll just use it to get myself through the half-way point of the week! Some things and word (duh) I'm loving lately!

I come in contact with so many people every.single.day and I love that this reminds me to enjoy the day because you could make someone's day.

I'm not sure I wanna wait the rest of my life...just sayin'. 

This isn't a word...but if there's one word to describe it...YUM!

In volcano...but I have the small one

 

Anything having to do with soup, hearty soup, yummy soup, chili... anything. It's Fall Y'all and I want cool weather so I can make soup!

#Truth




Okay that one made me laugh too hard and mainly b/c I have this discussion daily!

Happy Wednesday y'all! Make it great! Word.

Worst ever!

Well, I'm officially the worst blogger ever! Okay, that may be extreme, but when my blog got her make-over I vowed to blog regularly! And just like everything else, I let it get away from me. I read blogs daily, but never click on my own to write. I'm not going to use this time to promise I'll be a better blogger, but I will tell you that I'm going to really try hard to get a few posts a week going! I enjoy blogging, mainly because it's an outlet and I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts and ideas...even if it's only me and a couple friends that read them! 

When I last left y'all, I was enjoying running...slowly. And I still do, however, I haven't ran in like 3 weeks I think. Did I finish C25k? Nope, but I have a valid excuse. My knee started feeling weird and I consulted my fellow Athletic Trainer friends and as I knew, but just needed someone to tell me, my glutes, hams and quads are weak on my left side (I'm naming her Lefty) and is therefore causing the odd feeling like my knee is dangling. Back up to 2009 when I tore my ACL and had surgery...hence why just my left leg is a loser! I say that lovingly...but she is...she totally sucks and it's pretty much my fault. I didn't rehab her the way I should've and while I exercised on and off the last 5 years, I never ran. Then I just decide to take of running, which was great until I started having to go longer than 20 minutes and then my knee felt like it was flopping all about. To someone with a reconstructed ACL, that is frightening. Take my word for it. 

So since I live right by TCU (my wonderful alma mater, GO Frogs!) I texted my friend and she tested my knee (which was stable and not at all floppy, whew!) and then told me what I knew... Little Lefty was in fact, little and weak. She ordered ever so lovingly told me to get a foam roller, some bands and stretch and work on loosing the muscles that were wound tight and also work on my strength. She said I could continue to run, but to back off it a bit. SO I backed off it completely and haven't even been to the gym. Makes sense right? I've foam rolled once and truth be told, the bands are still in the bag. I know I need to do these things and I want to, but at the same time I don't. 

Alas, I didn't finish my C25k...and it pisses me off! I thought about just doing week 8 to do it and get it over and then back off and get Lefty stronger but that would've been dumb and I would've hated every second. So I quit. After I said I wasn't quitting and I was finally going to complete the program, I still quit. I figure I'll focus on getting Lefty stronger and getting my hips looser and then slowly re-introduce running and start all over. Heck...it may be a lot easier if I'm stronger and looser! I also bought a barre workout dvd (don't judge me). I had a groupon a while ago for Barre class and I LOVED it!! But it's crazy expensive so I figured...why not buy a dvd and I need to maybe actually take the cellophane off it and do it. 

Well, this has turned long and I'm basically just whining and giving excuses, so I'll wrap it up. I could definitely use some butt-kicking  encouragement to get to the gym and do my workout! So feel free to hold me accountable! :)

Word. Wednesday...and a bit of an update.

 

I saw this yesterday, and thought...hmmmm, yep that's so true! So a couple posts ago, I made a bold statement. I said I hated running. And I did. However, things have changed. {Here is my retraction to the whole I hate running}Week 5 hit and it was great...then day 3 of Week 5 came and BAM! You have to run for 20 minutes straight!!!! I almost had a heart attack, like for-real! I didn't expect that at all! I had mentally prepared to run the intervals I had been running. When I saw that I almost fell off the treadmill!! But, I was determined and decided to plug along and just do it. Surprisingly it was easier than I thought. Better than those intervals where the minutes tick-tock by super duper slowly. I was on a high after that run and literally felt like I could conquer the world, ha! Then I went to run on Monday, Week 6, Day 2. I totally wasn't feeling it, and I quit...I stopped the treadmill and left the gym. Probably shouldn't have, but yesterday I did it and felt better! Tomorrow is another "long run". I am totally using that term quite loosely. I'm not running long miles, but 22 minutes of non-stop running is loooong for me! When I'm finished with C25k, I am planning on doing a virtual 5k! So basically this Word.Wednesday is all about eating my words and some running inspiration!!

Well this is my mantra...

Last one...

Happy Running my friends! and be happy this week is almost over!

Word.

Word. Wednesday

I'm really trying to get a plan for my blog and I've decided to devote certain days for certain subjects/ideas. So, Hello Word.Wednesday!! 

Wednesdays are the half-way point of the week..ya know, "Hump Day", So close yet so far from Friday, so I figured let's do something on Wednesdays to encourage others and help with the mid-week blues! I'll be posting anything inspirational I've found through the week that's helped encourage me! I'll mix it up with scripture, quotes, funnies...pretty much anything!

Without further adieu...our first Word.Wednesday!

Isaiah 54:10 

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this...and needed it this morning! His love doesn't fail and it's because He LOVES us! No matter what, no matter what we think, do, feel...unconditionally!



I mean...YES! I really need to begin focusing on this!





This is so true! Like seriously true! I miss my horse-back riding days terribly! But anytime I see a horse in a pasture (and I see a lot) I smile, because they represent happy for me!




And finally...if you read yesterday's post, you'd understand my love of this one!

Oh, ONE more! It's not a word, but I LOVE this picture...I LOVE these people. Old High School friends that never seem to get old, and we can always pick up right where we left off...and look at ALLLLL those boys!! 9 boys among my friends! LOVE IT!

Take Wednesday by the horns y'all! Word.

C25k...here I go again.

Oh hey! Once again, I've been horrible at this blogging thing...sorry! No excuses, just haven't had any ideas to blog about! Until now!

So a month ago I decided to start C25k, again. I've started it prob two or three times in the past and either my knee started hurting (I had ACL and Medial Meniscus repair in 2009) or I just quit. It's kinda what I do...I'm a quitter. Um, wow, I just put myself on blast. But it's true and I'm nothing short of honest! Now, on important things I don't quit, just things I start and get bored with, ya know, hobbies, diets, bettering myself. See...total honesty! 

I'll start with the fact that I HATE RUNNING! Yes, sorry it's in all caps because that's how I truly feel! But! The past month I've decided that even if I loathe it, I need to do it because it's good for me! Kinda the way I eat oatmeal in the winter...it's warm and I know it'll fill me up and it's good for me! It doesn't taste bad, but it's the texture that I can't handle! So I suck it up and put the good for me meal down the hatch...but I digress! 

In case you don't know what C25k is, it's Couch 2 5k, it'a an app (there's an app for that!)... hence, if you're a couch potato (which I'm not completely) you can do this program and by the end of eight weeks you'll be able to run a full 5k. I just want to semi-enjoy running. I don't know if I'll do a 5k...my knee doesn't hold up well when running on concrete, so most days I stick to the treadmill (boring, I know). I have tried to get outside at least once per week to do my run and I enjoy it...it definitely goes faster. It's just been well over 100 degrees the past few weeks and that means that even super early in the morning it's unbearable! So I'll continue my running on the treadmill and struggle through the runs. 

Week Four, was this past week...well past two weeks because last week I had sinus issues and a headache every day so the gym didn't happen. Which when having one day left of the week to run makes the day you do that run no fun. That day was yesterday, I did my Week 4 Day 3 run after not running for a week...I didn't die, but I thought I was gonna! By week four, you are doing a five minute warm up, three minute jog, one and a half minute brisk walk, five minute jog, two and a half minute brisk walk, repeat the jog/walk and then a five minute cool down. Can I just say that those five minutes are literally the LONGEST five minutes ever!! I've even been turning my phone around so that I can't see how long I have and it still feels like forever! I guess that's what I get running on a treadmill! My music usually gets me through the 30 minutes...I have a workout playlist, but I need to re-vamp it some, so I've been listening to my praise and worship playlist and basically Jesus gets me through my run! Corny sounding, I know, but it's true! SO true! Listening to the inspirational, upbeat music, hearing TRUTH helps me complete those runs. I also use the time to pray about things...not just "Lord, PLEASE get me through this run", although it does pop up before that last five minute jog! 

Week Five starts tomorrow and I plan to go early and do it, it's supposed to be 68 and nice in the morning, so maybe I'll do it outside. If not, I'm going to the gym early early because I really don't like how crowded my gym gets! Full of meat-head types and I just want to run and lift and not feel like I'm being judged because I want to use the weight machines instead of free weights one day! But that's a whole 'nother post! 

I know a lot of my friends are runners, and I envy their love for running. I'm probably never going to enjoy it, but I will keep up my three days of running even after my C25k is over, because I've seen a difference in how I feel, how my body looks/feels and mainly because I know it's good for me! 

If anyone has any good playlist ideas or ways to pass the time whilst on a treadmill please hook a girl up! 

Long Time No Post...

I don't really have any excuses...I just haven't been able to blog. Creatively and I've been busy and barely opening my computer at night. (I haven't been busy going on dates or anything, but busy with work...sucks huh?)

Well life slowed down recently and especially this week. My parents and their friends were on vacay last week and at the end of the week my Daddy got sick...flu like symptoms, mixed with his already present COPD, not fun. They came home and Monday morning he went to the doctor, who promptly send him to the ER. He ended up having pneumonia in both lungs... No bueno.

I was ready to drive down to Houston that day, but both Mom and Dad said NO...wait and see what happens. Well they admitted him at like 9:30 Monday night so I packed my back and left Tuesday morning. My poor Daddy sat in the ER for 27 hours!! (Yep, you read that right...27 hours!) Granted he had a room and a tv but still... I got to Houston about 2pm and Mom and I went up and sat in the ER with him until they got him a room. He had loads of friends calling/texting/emailing us and had two friends show up once he got settled. Mom and I left around 8pm and went home to get some sleep ourselves.

I got up this morning and went to the gym (go me!) and then have been here at the hospital since then. My Daddy is going to be fine, thankfully. But this has taught me how grateful I am that I have a job that is flexible and I can work from basically anywhere. It's also taught me that I'm still a Daddy's girl...and man there are a lot of people that love my Daddy!

He's had the nurses in stitches and keeps them laughing, basically like everyone he meets.

Count your blessing people.

Hi there!

Whoa! Time has once again gotten away from me! How in the world is it already mid-May the end of May? May JUST got here...and it's usually one of my favorite months, it's not too hot yet and the nights and mornings are still a little cool...it's perfect! But this month, everything is going so fast and June is upon us in just a couple short weeks days! CRAZY!

It's kind of a weird time in my life right now, I'm used to being excited about summer because I have almost a whole month and a half off work and get to do whatever I want every day. My seniors are graduating graduated and there are crawfish boils, grad parties and just plain weekend grilling parties to attend. This year, I'm still excited about summer, but it's for different reasons now. Fort Worth has a lot to offer in the summer, they have Concerts in the Botanical Gardens, Cats games are fun to go to and the evenings are just wonderful! So while I don't get the "summer off", I still plan on enjoying every second of it!

Summer nights are the best...okay well maybe not in Houston because they are still super muggy, but here in Fort Worth, nights in MY opinion are wonderful! There is usually a beautiful warm breeze that just begs for porch sitting with wine in hand! I've already had some beautiful mornings out on my porch. I take my fruit out there and enjoy the morning. It's quite lovely. Speaking of fruit...{warning, I'm going on a tangent} Honeydew. People either love it or hate it. I used to be with the haters, I am now among the lovers and boy oh boy do I love it! Like I can't get enough of it, love it!! I may or may not have bought all four containers of it at Kroger on Sunday. And before you judge, yes, I am THAT person who buys it already chopped up. One, it's easier and two, I have no clue how to pick a good Honeydew! {Any tips would be appreciated}

Okay, back to summer... If you follow me on Pinterest, you'll notice that I've been pinning a crazy amount of yummy recipes and frozen treats. Summer is a great time to try new recipes and enjoy lighter fare, because who wants to eat a meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn {I mean this might be one of my favs} when it's still 95 degrees at 8:30pm?? I'm hoping to post at least one new recipe here per week and I'll be fair and let you know if they're good or not!

What are things you like to cook in the summer, and do y'all have any fun plans for the summer? I'm gonna live vicariously through y'all!

Workout Gear!

As I'm trying to amp up my workouts {by amp up, I mean just actually get my butt out of bed, off the couch, out of the car and move!} I don't know about y'all, but when I get new workout clothes, a new water bottle, or even just some fun workout gadget it really motivates me! So I decided to share some of my favs and some of my wish list items!

MUST HAVE FAVS!

I have two things that bother me when I workout, my boobs! {Sorry, no easy way around that one} A good sports bra is a MUST for moi! I have a couple that I really like! I recently went to Lululemon for the first time and found one I really liked and while it says it's light support, I find it very supportive! 

Energy Bra

I also love the Nike Pro sports bra!

Nike Pro

Enough with the tatas... let's move to pants! I'm not a fan of working out in shorts, so while I have a bunch of Nike shorts, I use them for running errands or lounging. I hate to be on a Lululemon spree, but these capris have pretty much changed my life!

Wunder under crop

I got a Polar F6 years ago and LOVE it! I love watching my heart rate and love that it gives me a pretty accurate calorie burn reading! I couldn't find a picture of it on their website, as it's an old model, but this one is pretty!

Heart Rate Monitor

I'm an avid water drinker, so a cute water bottle is a must!

Tervis

WISH LIST!

Everyone  A few people I know have Fitbits, Jawbone Ups, Nike Fuel bands...and I want something like that! My mom and I had a convo about it last weekend and she was all "That's a waste of money". Then she sends me an e-mail last night saying, "do you want one of these?"

Viviofit

I mean, it's purple {check}, it does everything the other bands do {check}, PLUS it can be used with a heart rate strap {check}!! So I said oh yeah!! I do! It's a Garmin and doesn't do GPS tracking, but I'm okay with that because let's me honest, I'm not gonna be going on any long runs! ha!

I haven't even talked about tennis shoes! By the way, do you call them tennis shoes or sneakers?! I almost typed sneakers and thought no, that sounds funny! I wear Nike Air Pegasus+29 tennis shoes that I found on clearance on Nike.com and I actually love them! I have two pair! I like neutral sole shoes because I tend to supinate and can't find a good pair that work better than neutral shoes! So I'm looking to y'all for some good recommendations. I'm not going to be running very much, basically doing cross training, weight lifting and some good cardio stuff. What do y'all like? Also, I'm not looking to spend a small fortune! :)

What are y'alls favs and wishes?

Ps. I am trying to get better about logging into MyFitnessPal, so feel free to friend me on there and we can cheer each other on!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/samanthadiane3

Five on Friday!

Good Morning Lovies!

Decided to link up again this Friday, since it's been awhile! 

You can link up also...

So here we go!!

-ONE-

I'm going home for Easter this weekend, actually, I'm leaving in about 3 hours! I'm really excited! I love Easter and all that entails! My mom goes way overboard on holidays, she sent me the menu this week and I.Cannot.Wait! Let's just say my free day from my clean eating will be Sunday! I'm also looking forward to visiting my church at home and getting to celebrate our risen King with my Journey Church Fam!!

-TWO-

My sweet forever friend Kacee and I started something new this past Sunday, we send each other a list of prayers and we spend the week praying over these for each other. Some of the prayers have already been answered and it's awesome to see how praying works! If you ever have anything you want prayed over, shoot me an e-mail and I'll add you to my prayer list!

-THREE-

This sounds minuscule but it really has been a huge blessing for me and given me peace. There are some days where I am gone almost 12 hours and it's just not fair for my pups {who are my children} to be stuck in the house without a chance to go potty, or play. Enter in Petsmart Doggie Day Camp! Yep...it's like day care for your dogs! They go in a pack of dogs and play all day! They come home worn out and I get a Pawgress report{see what they did there?} about who they played with, if they ate, slept and anything else I need to know. The first couple times they went, they were nervous, I was nervous, my two do not get along with other dogs very well...but shockingly they do great with the other dogs!! Which means it's me that they protect when I'm around and another dog approaches! They went yesterday and apparently had a blast...they slept all night and are currently sleeping again! Jackie took over the slide and remained queen of all! ha!

-FOUR-

I have had some incredibly sweet patients this week! Well, one carried over from last week, but she's still super sweet and told me when she is feeling better she wants me to come up and go to Downtown McKinney to shop and have lunch! I mean, come on! The other sweet lady was so nervous and I spent extra time with her because I knew she was scared and she was quite intriguing! She's a pianist and had THREE pianos in her den...I was in heaven! She promised to give me a concert when I come to pick up her machine in a month and I'm going to hold her to it!

-FIVE-

I've been doing the 30 day Green Smoothie Challenge and it's going well! I also am doing a 6 week challenge through my Revolt facebook group...it's not going as well. We have a list of things we must do every day and this week has been a struggle for me on the food end. The exercise is an issue because now that I don't have to be up at a certain time I can't seem to get my lazy butt up early enough for a morning workout! So I'm looking forward to next week and it being better than this week!!

I hope y'all have a Fantabulous weekend and a Blessed Easter!!

Chicken+Tomatoes+Basil+Mozzarella = HAPPY!

I've been wanting to try a new recipe each week, but my boring-ness keeps me cooking the same things over and over each week! Basically, I make grilled chicken, pork chops or baked chicken with either broccoli, brussel sprouts or roasted potatoes. I have been getting fancy and putting balsamic glaze reduction on my chicken and brussel sprouts! I know, you're amazed! Sometimes I'll pop a tomato and low-fat swiss on top of the grilled chicken {but only when I'm feeling CRAZY, haha!}.

I love Caprese Salad, so when I ran across this on Pinterest, I pinned it and thought one day I'd try it! On a side note, what did we do before Pinterest? I don't spend nearly as much time on there as I used to, but still! I tweaked the recipe a bit but here it is: (I copied it straight from her website, but what's in BOLD I've changed)

Caprese Chicken 

Yield: 4 servings

recipe note: Balsamic vinegar comes in many forms. I really recommend a higher quality one - it truly does make a difference. A low quality balsamic vinegar is very thin - like water. A higher quality one is slightly thicker (not as thick as balsamic glaze, but somewhere in the middle of the two).

I halved the recipe, it's only me. I also grilled my chicken instead of putting it in the pan. 

ingredients:

4 skinless chicken breasts
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper I used garlic salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
10 large basil leaves, finely chopped
8 oz fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced in 1/2 inch thick slices I used low-fat mozzarella (shredded)
balsamic vinegar, to taste I used balsamic glaze reduction (it's all I had)

directions:

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts and set aside.

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add chicken, cover pan, and cook for about 10 minutes. Flip chicken breasts and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked thoroughly (or has reached an internal temp of 165°F).

While chicken is cooking, in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add tomatoes and continue sautéing until tomatoes skin starts to soften/wrinkle, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil. Set aside.

Once chicken has reached desired doneness, top the tops of each chicken breast with 2 slices of mozzarella. Pour tomato mixture on top. Cover pan with lid once more and let the mozzarella melt, about 1-2 minutes.

Lastly, drizzle with a splash of balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

I'd rather grill my chicken and other than that, I only tweaked a few things more to my taste! If you have a Trader Joe's near you, I suggest you go buy their Cage Free Organic Chicken Breasts...they're slightly more expensive but OH.MY.GOSH. they are soooooooo amazing!! The absolute juiciest chicken breasts I've ever had!! They drip with juice when you take them off the grill! And I of course made broccoli on the grill to go with it...gotta stick to what you know! I actually got it a little too done but it was still good!  

I had it again tonight, because those pieces of chicken are huge and I cut them in half so I can basically make four meals out of it! It was just as good, if not better today!! 

Enjoy this meal...if you like all the ingredients it's a must make!

Gentle Reminder

Next month, it will be SIX months since I've moved here! Say what?! That's flippin' nuts! I cannot believe it's already almost been half a year! Time sure does fly!! Am I where I thought I would be at this point? Nope...but I'm where God wants me to be. On my way home from my Houston visit last weekend I was listening to KSBJ (the local Christian radio station) as far as it would get reception, the song, In Christ Alone came on and immediately I turned the radio up loud and got my praise on by myself in my car! I then downloaded it to my phone and it's been on repeat since! I listen to it every morning on my way to my first stop of the day. I have been making it my prayer because I need to remember why I'm here. This verse from the song its my favorite! I need to strive to make Christ my center, my all, because He is the one true constant in my life!

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

I didn't move to Fort Worth for myself. Yes, I love this city and the people that are important to me here, but I'm here to make a difference. I'm here because I was obedient to the gentle nudge of a loving Father who knew this is where I needed to be for the next phase of my life. I follow a girl on Instagram that has inspired me to put others first and I think that's what I'm here for! I'm here to make a difference in people's lives. That was what I loved about my former job...I got to make a difference and speak life into teenagers. Well now, I get to do the same thing with a different population, most of my patients are older, but just because they're older doesn't mean they don't need life spoken into them! I can bring light and happiness to a person that is scared, overwhelmed and nervous about an upcoming surgery just by being nice and listening to them. I also am inspired to start showing happiness to those around me. I LOVE doing little acts of kindness to show love! Whether it's sending a little note, a package or just a text to tell someone I love them, it brings me joy. It is a blessing to be able to lift someones spirits and let them know they are loved. 

It's my prayer daily that others can see and feel God's love for them through me. I want to be a beacon of love, grace and compassion. Compassion is hard for me, I don't give sympathy well and I'm learning to be compassionate. There are patients that you just want to set their equipment up and get out of there maybe because you're rushing and have a million other places or maybe because they just aren't the most pleasant person. But I'm really trying to show compassion to these patients because they deserve my all just like everyone else. 

So again, am I where I want to be? Nope...but I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be. God is teaching me daily and I'm learning to follow his will!

"But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid. Just have faith.""

Mark 5:36

I mean, helllllooooo, it's THAT simple! Don't be afraid, have faith. 

A patient the other day, gave me these dog treats for my pups...it's the little things that make a bad day awesome! 

Easy Shrimp Recipe

I love food...I mean, who doesn't!? {I'd like to meet a person that says, food? meh.} And like everyone if I could whatever I wanted and not gain any weight that would AH-MAZING! So instead, I'm constantly trying to eat healthy and only have my yummiest {ie: not healthiest} foods in moderation. Therefore, my food board on Pinterest is loaded...mainly with healthy yummies but also with just pain good looking food! 

Pasta is high on my list, but I get bored with regular spaghetti and I could eat Alfredo sauce on every type of pasta imaginable, but I'd also be 6000 pounds! I try to find healthier ways to make pasta dishes that are still super flavorful and not high in calories! {win|win} Pioneer Woman is a favorite of mine and while her recipes aren't always the healthiest, they are SOOOOO good! This shrimp pasta, I originally made for my parents and it was a hit! It makes a lot of pasta so make sure you have enough mouths to feed! Being a single person, I won't make this unless I have company over or am making it for a group of people! 

One of my former athletes turned friends lives in Dallas and every two weeks we get together and eat, gossip, play with each other's dogs. One time I'll go to her apartment and the next time she comes to mine! It's a nice dose of "home" and good girl time! I made this pasta the other week when she came to my place! It was yum! I took some pictures but forgot to take an end result picture! {so sorry, but let's be real,her pictures on the website are way better than mine!}

Here's the recipe: I took it straight from here

Ingredients

• ½ cups Olive Oil
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 3 whole 14.5 Ounce Cans Diced (or Whole) Tomatoes
• ½ cups White Wine
• 2 pounds Jumbo Or Large Shrimp, Peeled And Deveined
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Fresh Parsley, Minced
• 1 pound Linguine, Uncooked
• Red Pepper Flakes, to taste

Preparation

Cook pasta for 1/2 the recommended cooking time. Pasta should still be very firm.

In a large skillet or pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Dump in the tomatoes and wine. Stir the mixture together, season with salt and pepper, and allow to cook for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a large parcel of heavy duty aluminum foil. It should be large enough to hold the entire pasta dish.

Throw the shrimp on the top of the pasta sauce. Throw the drained pasta over the top, then pour the whole dish onto the foil. Tightly wrap the foil into a parcel.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm until serving.

Open the foil parcel right before serving. Drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil over the top. Squeeze on lemon juice, if desired.

I did substitute whole wheat angel hair pasta for the linguine to make it a little healthier! 
It's a great, easy recipe and doesn't leave you feeling like you've over-eaten! 

Do y'all have any go-to, healthy pasta recipes?

You may notice something different around here...

When I started my blog, I knew nothing about designing a blog or how to do many things on my blog. Fast forward over a year and I still don't know how to design a blog or do many things on my blog! Thankfully my sweet friend, Julie, apparently has become a pro! She re-designed Megan's blog a while ago and I really liked it! So when I decided to attempt blogging  blog regularly again, I asked Julie if she could design something for me! 

I sent her links to some blogs I frequent and told her what I liked/didn't like and she came up with this design!! I think it captures my personality PERFECTLY!!! I LOVE the colors and the whole stinkin' design! I love how clean and simple it is (Julie may disagree about the simple part, ha!)!! I've told her how amazing she is and I really think she has a knack for this and should start herself a little side-biz!! 

So enjoy the new layout...I'm loving it and I think I'll be inclined to write more because honestly I was embarrassed to send people to my blog because it looked so childish and juvenile. But now... I want everyone to see! 

So thank you, thank you Julie!! I love it and I think others will too!!

I'm gonna leave y'all with a little iPhone dump because who doesn't love some pics! If you follow me on Instagram, I'm sorry for the repeats!

We celebrated Jackie and Canton's b-days...pretty much the Three Musketeers

My sweet co-pilot for the drive home last Thursday...Jackie was already asleep in the back. 

My two loved seeing/playing with Divot! They miss him! They walked like pros!

My main reason for going home last weekend was to celebrate this stud's 26th birthday!! 

Here's to a great end of the week! 

30 day Green Smoothie Challenge!

Happy April 1st! I thankfully am not a fan of April Fool's Day and now that I'm basically working with myself and not in a school, I don't have to worry about anyone any pranks! 

Last week, I saw an ad on my Facebook for a Green Smoothie Challenge...I'm all about Green Smoothies, so I clicked on it hoping it wasn't spam. I was in luck and it's actually an awesome website. www.simplegreensmoothies.com 

They are challenging people to replace on meal a day (usually breakfast) with a green smoothie. They give you the shopping list and recipes. They also have a 21 day cleanse program and you can buy the green smoothie recipes ahead of time so you can see them in advance! 

Today is Day 1 and I made the Simple Peach Smoothie.

SIMPLE PEACH  |  Serves 2

2 cups spinach, fresh

2 cups water

2 cups peaches

1 banana

*Can substitute peaches with mango or nectarines.

It was really good and it makes enough for two servings, so I'll grab another for a snack later on today! I'm really excited about the challenge, my friend and I are doing it together! I used to drink smoothies all the time, like every day, but I've gotten lazy and need to get back into it. It's a great way to get your veggies/fruits for the day and they are seriously delish! 

Yes, they may look like sludge, swamp water...I've heard it all, but seriously don't knock it before you try it! 

So here's to a new month and a healthy, happy month! I've got a couple things working as far as the blog goes...one is a new design thanks to a friend who is way better at that kind of thing then I am! 

Have you tried green smoothies? What's your favorite recipe?

xoxo,

SamanthaDiane

Chili and jogging...

Intriguing title huh?! I'm quite inventive these days! We all try to eat healthy and exercise right? Or am I the only one in the universe? {ps...duh, I know everyone always is saying I'm trying to eat better and workout}

So every Sunday I go to the grocery store with great hopes of buying wonderful things and cooking every night of the week meals that are amazing and healthy. I end up with a basket full of good stuff...and then it more than likely rots in my fridge|pantry. I have great ambitions to do wonderful things with the food...but I usually end up tired and not wanting to cook. Plus my darned kitchen is TINY and by tiny I mean TINY!! Like even with me and my one dog in it, there are too many bodies and I'm constantly kicking him out of the kitchen, ha! So anything that's intensive to cook is literally that, intensive. I generally end up making enough for the week and then it doesn't sound good the rest of the week! Again, am I the only one this happens to? It's flippin' hard to cook for one person, and I'm not a big fan of leftovers!

This week, Sunday was COLD and windy!! So I decided to make my mom's chili...I have been making it with ground turkey to make it healthier and this time, I didn't just use kidney bean, I used a can of kidney, pinto and black beans. It was DELICIOUS!! The added beans really made the texture different and wonderful!

Below is the recipe, it's super simple and not at all complicated. I've eaten it every night this week, except tonight, I had crawfish and it was amazing!!

Momma B's Chili:
2 large cans of Diced Tomatoes ( I use the ones with less sodium)
1 pkg of Ground Turkey
1 Onion (diced up, I cheated and bought already chopped onion)
1 can of beans (kidney, black, whatever you want)
Chili powder
-Brown the meat in a large pot
-Throw in onion and let it cook
-Don't drain the tomatoes and bean, put them in the pot.
- Put Chili Powder, salt, any other spices into the chili as desired...I don't measure anything, just dump it!


Simmer Chili until heated through!

Now for the Jogging part...my friend and I are thinking of signing up for the Color Vibe that's here in Arlington on April 26. Let me preface this by saying I HATE RUNNING!! Like hate is a strong word, but it's what it is...It's a great workout and I really envy those who run and enjoy it!

I have several friends who I believe enjoy running...at least I think they enjoy it b/c they run, and not just let's go for a jog, but they run...10ks, half marathons, marathons...honestly I think they're nuts!

The weather here has been great and I want to take advantage of it and at least be able to go out and jog for 30 minutes without dying! So yesterday I re-downloaded the Couch25k app...and did Day 1...and DIED! Like the last two jogging sessions I wanted to give up, and quit, but I didn't. I had ACL/Meniscus surgery in 2009 and 2010 and my left knee is not my favorite, and it doesn't like me very much most of the time. BUT I wanted to run, so I did.

I plan on doing it again tomorrow.

I'll keep y'all updated on my progress! It's gonna be a slow progress but I'm planning on keeping it up!

xoxo,

SamanthaDiane

Getting Back.

When the school year started this year, I was lost and broken... then I listened to the quiet voice of God telling me it was time to move on and start a new venture. This was one of the most compelling/scary times of my life thus far, and the closest I've been to my Creator. You see, I was clinging to His word and every whisper I heard, I learned what true faith was. Hebrews 11:1 never rang truer...I knew that everything that was happening was happening because it was God's will for me and that made it not so scary! I knew without a doubt in my heart that I had to jump and trust that God was going to catch me! Boy did/has He!

This has been a favorite of mine for a while and I love how it's the perfect definition of FAITH.

So from September-November I trusted, prayed, obeyed and rejoiced as one by one His promises rang true for me and new doors opened at the right time.

This verse was sent to me by a sweet friend that was in my bible study and knew how long I had been struggling at my job.

I loved the verse when she sent it, but it wasn't until I came to a church here in Fort Worth that this verse came back up and I decided it would be my 2014 Verse! I love it and 2014 is truly all about new things and relying on God and seeing where He's going to take me!

I haven't gone to church the past two weekends and almost didn't go this weekend. Bad weather yesterday and then having to work today which meant I'd have to go to the 9:30am service...ICK! But I went and am so glad I did! We just started a new series on Pneumatology, which is the study of the Holy Spirit. I'm excited to see where Pastor Jeff takes us! So many Christians balk at talk of the Holy Spirit, but let's face it He's around to stay. Our Pastor said something today and I loved it! He said that when we accept Jesus into our heart, the Holy Spirit is there tapping us on the shoulder saying, Hey! I'm here to help you from now on! How cool is that!?! It's His voice that we hear and it's Him who helps us out on behalf of God the Father and Jesus...even though they are all one person...hard to wrap your head around I know! :)

So I've been basically word vomiting because since I moved up to Fort Worth, I've become distracted and have fallen away from God. It took me a while to find a church I loved and now that I have I need to get back into the swing of things. I need to be praying daily, digging into the Word and listening to and following what He has in store for me! When I worked at the school, I'd spend my commute praying every morning for my day, the kids/coworkers I would come in contact with and for friends that were in need of prayer. Now, I'm on the road the majority of the day, in traffic...and I'm doing anything but praying. I'm grumbling, waving my hands {not in praise} and frustrated most days. I'm going to start using the beginning of my days to pray again and make sure I'm focusing on God and my relationship with Him daily above all else! I need to involve Him in my daily doings. Looking back, it's strange to see how many situations could've been different had I prayed about it/listened to that quiet nudge!

This has been lengthy and I'm sorry, but it's been on my mind and I needed to get it out!
Hope y'all have a had a great weekend and have a wonderful week!

Don't forget to take time to look for the little blessings and rejoice in them!

xoxo,
SamanthaDiane

Yummy Dinner

Today the weather was BE-A-UTIFUL!! There is currently a cold front blowing in and by blowing in, I mean blowing in right now!! Like the wind is HOWLING!! So, I took advantage of the warm evening and grilled up some chicken breasts. BORING right? WRONG!! A friend of mine makes this and it seriously so yum! He takes chicken breast and puts Cajun seasoning on them then throws them on the grill. Once they're done, you put swiss cheese {I'm guessing you can use whatever kinda cheese you want} on to melt. You then top it with a tomato and drizzle balsamic reduction over it. Holy cow it's good!! I also made broccoli that I usually throw in the oven, but tonight I threw it on some foil and put it on the grill. Y'all...it was ah-mazing!!! I love it in the oven and now on the grill...I'll never steam broccoli again! EVER! To round out my delicious meal, I made fingerling potatoes in the oven until they were perfectly crisp! I should've made the potatoes on the grill too. I love love grilling but have a hard time with chicken...but tonight I got it perfect! Love that the weather is getting to where we can cook outside! It was nice to have the dogs romping around the backyard while I "wo-manned" the grill!

I decided to put the tomatoes on the grill tonight to warm them up and it was a great idea!! I'm definitely going to experiment with different cheeses this summer. I've seen some recipes for caprese chicken on the grill. And I love me some caprese!! I'm planning on planting some basil again this year and could use it in said recipe!

I tend to stick to the same recipes and really need to branch out! I cook this and this quite often. But there are so many recipes I have pinned that I need to try! I'm going to try at least one new recipe a week! Y'all hold me to it! Do y'all have any go-to recipes that are different!?

Follow my food board on Pinterest or follow all of my boards!


xoxo,
SamanthaDiane