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!

Follow-Up

Well, I know you all were on the edge of your seats about how I did with the assignment I wrote about in my previous blog!! ;} I ended up doing the correct assignment and figured the wrong assignment is just extra practice that I apparently needed! The bummer was that the correct assignment was much easier and didn't take near the time as my extensive Excel spreadsheet! The good news is that I got the assignment done and turned in on time and am one quiz and exam away from completing the class! I hope to have those done by Thursday so I can just get it over with! Hopefully I won't goof up and do the wrong assignment again anytime soon!

I hope you all had a good Memorial Day holiday! Leo and I went to his grandfather's house and I got to help plant some plants in his garden. It was quite fun and Holly was having a blast throwing dirt everywhere! The row of okra seeds that were planted just might be scattered throughout the entire garden after she got done with it! Oops! Oh well it was cute anyway!

You've gotta be kidding me!

I don't know if many of you knew this or not, but I am taking online college courses towards the completion of a bachelor's degree. The school I am taking these classes through is Indiana Tech and the degree program is awesome! I can complete the Bachelor's of Science in Business Management solely online if I want to. It is so convenient for me because I get to "go to class" whenever I want to. From home. In my P.J.'s, if I choose to. In nothing at all if I want to, although the leather chair at my desk may be a little uncomfortable for that! ;} I just have to have the discipline to do it. And, I am usually pretty good about it.

Like for instance tonight. I sit down at my desk, crack my book open to the assignment, and just start plugging away. The class that I am taking is Intro to Operations Management and the chapter we are working in is concerning Facility Layout. The assignment I am completing is a Case Study of a business and what I think should be done to correct the problem given in the Case Study. My first thought is dread. I'm tired, I don't want to do it. I mean really, why can't the professor just hand me my "A" and let's be done with it already! Should I really have to jump through these homework hoops?! Okay, okay, back to reality. So I begrugdingly start working on the first problem. Heh- it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. My frown is beginning to turn upside down. Ooooh- I get to make an Excel Spreadsheet! I am really starting to get excited. I'm telling you, nothing makes me happier somedays than putting a bunch of information into an Excel Spreadsheet! I'm serious! So, I'm working away, entering the numbers I need, making formulas so I don't have to use a calculator because, well, let's just say I love a good challenge. I'm sitting up straighter in my chair. My shoulder's are going back a little and my chest is pushed forward with pride at my pretty spreadsheet. I'm coming up with some good answers that I just know are gonna knock the socks off my professor. I can't believe it but I sailed through that assignment with no problems and I'm wondering why I even get so stressed about these things. Now it's time to submit the assignment, as it is due tomorrow, and I am done with it now so why not?! I go to the website that I have to attach this information. The instructions for the assignment are listed before the link I have to use and something draws my attention to the title of the Case Study I was supposed to do. It's supposed to be "Sawhill Athletic Club (B)".

Ohhhh - you have GOT to be KIDDING me! I did "Sawhill Athletic Club (A)"! Well, there's 2 hours of my life down the drain that I could have been doing something much more fun and exciting like reading and posting on other people's blogs! And who the heck thought naming the two different case studies the same name with just one letter difference would EVER be a good idea. Grrrr....

Here's how terrible my mind is. My first thought is submit what I did and see if the teacher catches it. And then I'm thinking, if he does, I'll just play dumb like I didn't notice. Maybe he'll just grade what I did do and take a little off since it technically wasn't the correct assignment. Or maybe he'll give me the chance to do the correct one and I'll do it then, if he asks! Why, oh why do I put more effort into not doing the right thing sometimes than I do to just do what was asked of me the correct way. Well...I know what I'm gonna be doing tomorrow. Anyone want to help?!! ;}