My Heavenly Smoothies!

The weather is warmer and the days are longer. At this time of year, especially, I crave fruit. All kinds of fruit. The colder the better. So the best solution I have come up with to satisfy my craving is a simple and utterly delicious smoothie! Oh man, I can't rave about this thing enough. It's frosty and sweet. Cold and refreshing. Tangy and satisfying. One mention of this little slice of heaven and I'm drooling! So simple to make and everyone in my house gathers around begging for some when they hear that bone-jarring sound of the blender grinding that frozen fruit into pure delicousness. These things are the perfect compliment to my sweet tooth.

I know, I know...you guys are dying to hear my secret recipe. (Disclaimer, I'm sure this can't really be coined as "my" recipe and it's really no secret either!)

Are you on the edge of your seats yet?!!

Well here's how I make them:
1/2 bag of frozen fruit (your choice and be creative!)
1 container complimentary yogurt to fruit (either fat free, light or regular)
about 8 ounces of milk (I use 1%)

Put those luscious ingredients into the blender in the order listed and send them into a blender frenzy until smooth. Add more milk if you like them a little thinner. I like them almost like sherbet, where you practically have to eat them with a spoon! Those proportions of ingredients make 2 large smoothies!

So far I have made the following three combinations:
"Fruit for Smoothies" mixture from Payless which consists of Strawberries, Pineapples and Mangos mixed with Key Lime yogurt.
Fruit for Smoothies mixture with Cherry yogurt
Peaches with Strawberry yogurt

I get a brain freeze (what I affectionately call a Slurpee Tumor) from drinking these so fast. I'm serious, I barely come up for air until I have finished the last drop. And you can make them nearly fat free with the right combination of ingredients! I'm so tempted to go make me another one! Well, sorry if you all are drooling now also ;)! Hope you enjoy!

I'm a nerd!

It's official, I am a nerd. I have somehow managed to score an A in all of the classes I took this semester!

Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!

I jumping up and down and running around like a crazy woman!! Even my Macroeconomics class that nearly caused me a nervous breakdown!!

This is soo crazy!! Thank you all for reading my excitement! I hope you all have a great night!

WOW

What a truly wonderful and awesome God we serve! Thank you all so much for your love and support. I can't even begin to express what it means to me. I love you all, I really do!

I shared a funny God-sighting story in my family group yesterday, but the truth is, I could have gone on for a long time about ALL of the many God-sightings I have recently seen. So, I'm gonna take a moment and share another one with y'all. As you know, Saturday was not a good day for me. I think I felt the lowest than I have felt in a REALLY long time. I don't know why I let myself get so stressed out about things that are and are not in my control. I don't know why I listen to and believe the lies of the little voice telling me that I am all alone. I thank you all for the reminder that I am not now because of the great friends I have surrounding me, and most importantly, because of the AMAZING God who wants to be my friend. No matter what. Can you believe that? No matter whether I am on cloud nine or the pits of grief. It doesn't matter whether I am freshly cleaned, or covered in mud and muck. It doesn't matter if I am the best at anything or the worst at everything. He loves me and He wants to be my friend. With Him I am never alone. Hallelujah! But to get back on track. How amazing is it that after I poured my heart out and prayed for direction and comfort to get over that bump in the road, I show up at church to a message about the importance of Fellowship. Pastor Randy sat up there and said ALL of the right things and I could have sworn he was talking directly to me! Seriously, I was thinking "Did he read my blog?!! And was it important enough to dedicate a whole message to me?!!" (Yep, I was truly being self-centered in thinking, I'm really bad at that!) I left that morning from church feeling like a whole new person. I knew that my troubles had been comforted. I felt the love and support of God, my husband, my daughter, and all my great friends who just gave me a smile or hug or a comforting word. Now that is what I call a God sighting. Then at Family Group, when it was time to come together and pray, Leo and I were actually prayed for specifically for something. I'm sure that has happened in the past, but this time it sticks out for me so blatently because of my previous thoughts of feeling nearly invisible. Anyway- I know that may sound silly to feel so giddy about a prayer but for me it is just another reminder that God is good!

So I leave you with a quick inspirational thought that I read in my Women of Faith study on Discovering God's Will for Your Life, Foreward by Sheila Walsh-
"If I could say only one thing, it would be simple and to the point: God knows all about you. He knows your good days and your bad days. He knows the noble thoughts and the shameful thoughts. He sees your devotion and your indifference. And He loves you- totally, completely, passionately, boundlessly. Forever." - Sheila Walsh

I need an intervention!

Have you ever been surrounded by friends and still been lonely? Have you ever just wanted to state your piece and be done with it, but someone insists on pointing out your faults? Have you ever started to open up to people about what's bothering you, only to be told that what you're struggling with isn't that bad because it doesn't compare to what that person is having to deal with? Have you ever had a fight with your spouse and wanted to change the locks as soon as he left the house? Have you ever felt so emotionally drained that you don't even know why you try? Have you ever dreaded going to work, but also dreaded being at home because both places seem to be constant reminders of all the things you are failing at?

Well I am so totally there. And I know that I am not alone in any or all of these feelings. For any of you that feel even a touch of what I feel, I'm sorry. I wish nothing more than to make everything right for you, me and everybody.

I have allowed myself to procrastinate a 5 page research paper for the last class of this semester. It's due tomorrow and I have 2 pages done. The class is Macroeconomics and I could care less about it. I want to just quit and turn in what I've done for a partial grade and say "to heck with it". I can't keep my house clean and it's making me crazy. Nothing raises the hair on my back more than stepping on dirt and grit on the floor. I'm having litter box madness issues like Kara mentioned in her recent post. Seriously, why can the litter not stay in the box?!! I have no disillusionment that my house is going to be sparkling at all times with a 2 year old running around, but I really hate putting my hand on the counter, only to find dried food from who knows when stuck to the counter (and I'm not pointing fingers at anyone in my household specifically because we are all guilty of making those messes and leaving them). If I allow my desk at work or home to get any more cluttered and unorganized, I think I may have a mental breakdown. I'm feeling very condemned right now about the house I live in, the car I drive, basically every choice I make. I worry that everything I say will be the wrong thing and that I will hurt people or make them angry. I mean I have even had nightmares lately of making friends cry because everything I said came out so wrong and I couldn't fix it. I'm so scared that I will push people away from me by saying or doing the wrong thing that I have been staying away from people when what I want so badly right now is to have someone to hang out with on nights like tonight when my husband is working.

I don't know what's wrong with me and I don't know how to get over this. I'm so tired right now. I'm gonna go hammer away at this paper for a little while longer and then head to bed. Please pray for me. I really need it right now. I love you guys!

It's been awhile

Hey Everyone!

I know it's been awhile! Last week I was trying very diligently to get all of my Operations Management assignments completed and turned in before I went out of town on Friday for a quick trip to see my Aunt and Uncle in Michigan. I did get them all done and as long as I get a decent grade on my last paper, I believe I may have squeezed out an A!! I don't mean to sound at all that I am boasting. By the end of this semester, I just wanted it all to be done and over with and I didn't put forth as much effort as I probably should have! Now this week I have to buckle down and complete the remaining 3 quizzes and one 5 page paper and I will be done with my Macroeconomics class too!! I will be lucky to get a B in that class because I am TERRIBLE in that subject. I'll just be glad to complete it!

So, as I mentioned, I went out of town this past weekend for a little R&R at my Aunt and Uncle's house. I took Holly with me and we had a blast! They live out in the country on a pretty big lot of land and Holly had so much fun playing outside and being able to run around like crazy. My Aunt Debbie is soooo sweet and she is so good with Holly. Yesterday we got to go fishing and it was Holly's first time on a boat. Here's a couple of pictures!

Here we are just backing the boat into the water! I was so scared that she was going to jump over the side of the boat at any minute! She has no fear of water but doesn't know how to swim! Eeek!

I love this picture! It looks like she is biting her lip in nervousness but she did really great!! She didn't care for the life-jacket because she could barely move her head with it on. I was so pleased with how patient she was!

Okay this is totally a posed picture, but cute none-the-less! We were fishing with worms and everytime my uncle would put the bait on Holly would say "EWWWWW....ucky!" She laughed when one of us finally caught a fish and she got to see it up close but she was not gonna touch the thing!

Well, I missed you all and I hope you all had a great weekend too! I'm sad that we don't get to see each other on Wednesdays for a while. I was thinking it may be fun to have a ladies night out and go to dinner or something else fun. Is anybody interested? Any suggestions of things to do? Let me know and I will see what can be arranged!