Meal Planning 101: Week 30

April 16, 2013January 4, 2017Leave a comment

I had great intentions of posting my meal plan Monday post early, before night time even. But then my Internet decided to be fickle! After many attempts I gave up and am now posting from my phone. Since I can’t format the way I like and am super OCD, I just made a graphic with an app on my phone. Thanks for saving the day smart phone!

What on your menu this week?

Lunch Ideas:

leftovers: stroganoff + green beans + butter beans

leftovers: rigatoni baked pasta + blueberries + toast croutons

leftovers made over: fish taco salad + lime pinenut couscous + tomato chick pea salad

sometimes you run out of time and have to get lunch on campus, BUT can still make healthy-ish
choices: chicken ceasar wrap + side salad + pretzels and honey mustard

Meal Planning 101: Week 29

April 9, 2013January 4, 20171 Comment

It’s 10:42 pm on Monday night as I’m writing this Meal Plan Monday post. Brief explanation (or excuse) for the lateness: I usually prep these posts on Saturdays or Sundays. Saturday I attended a fundraiser pancake breakfast, had Jesus time at Starbucks for several hours, prepped blog picture for future posts, conquered the art of self pedicures and manicures (DIY cuticle care included!), straightened my hair, put on makeup (for the first time since… Christmas?), attended a BFF’s 30th birthday celebration, hosted the Nancy Drew watching, nail painting, after party, and then spent the night with her so she didn’t have to have the unpleasant after party every one is gone feeling. Sunday I attended a membership class at church, went to church, grocery shopped for a dinner party I forgot I was hosting when I did last week’s meal plan, cooked ALL afternoon (pictures of the dinner ensemble below), hosted the dinner party, went to the new RA reveal night, had my first meeting with my new next year RAs. Today for my day off I slept for a significant amount of time for the first time in days, got a needed hair cut, attempted Starbucks Jesus time, grocery shopped for my next two weeks of meals, worked out, filed my taxes, ate dinner, had my weekly meeting with my accountability partner, packed my lunch, and made coconut quinoa granola (pictures below, recipe to come soon!). AND approximately 2.5 minutes after I post this I will fall asleep, all exhausted and the like.

My RAs picked an Italian theme for our dinner party, chipped in money, and I cooked! Pizza Dip + Homemade Baguette Chips
(not pictured) + Garlic Bread + Baked Rigatoni + Salad with Homemade Italian Herb Dressing (not pictured) + Fruit Pizza.

I’m trying to be super healthy this week to go along with finally starting to work out again. Confession: Today was my first time to work out since boot camp, which ended on March 21st. It felt good! So lots of green things on the menu.

Monday:

Leftover Baked Rigatoni (Basically used Pioneer Woman’s Baked Ziti, except using Rigatoni and changing up the sauce a little.)

Tuesday:

More Leftover Rigatoni (Did I mention there were A LOT of leftovers? Pasta dishes really are made to feed armies!)

Wednesday:

Greek Fish Tacos (tortillas + honey lime baked tilapia + baby kale for lettuce + hummus + julienned cucumbers + tomatoes), Chick Pea Tomato Salad and Lime Pinenut Couscous (As mentioned earlier, I forgot I had the dinner party when I planned this meal! So it got pushed back, which is okay because it’s just allowed my excitement over it to build!)

Thursday:

Leftover Fish Tacos

Friday:

Some Combo of Leftovers (My town is playing a movie on the old town brick streets! I volunteered to help serve popcorn, so I’ll probably pack a to go dinner of some sort.)

Saturday:

Big Steak Mushroom Entree Salad

Sunday:

Leftover Steak Mushroom Entree Salad

Lunch Ideas:

new michelina’s lean gourmet meal test + green giant singles corn & peas + CHEERWINE (brought a case back from SC)

another new michelina’s lean gourmet meal test + green giant singles corn & peas + cuties

Extras:

Coconut Quinoa Granola for snacks and breakfast!

If it’s wrong to own every size of mason jar, I don’t want to be right!

What’s on your menu for this week?

Go To Nachos

April 5, 2013January 4, 2017Leave a comment

Ever have moments when all of a sudden there are 4-6 hungry college students in your apparent? Oh, right, some of you don’t live in dorms. Maybe you have you have hungry kids’ friends that showed up after a sweaty outdoor play session. Or neighbors bringing jars of jam that want to stay and chat (I want jam jar carrying neighbors!). Or maybe it’s your turn to host small group and it’s been a REALLY busy week and you didn’t have time to plan a fancy snack. Or you’re a pastor’s wife and people show up at your house unplanned and hungry often. Or maybe you’re just hungry! I am. These nachos are so easy it seems silly to call it a recipe. Maybe we can just call it a project. First step – always have these ingredients on hand! They are pretty basic pantry/cabinet/fridge ingredients anyway. I can’t even count how many times I’ve fed these to people. They feed a lot of people, are super fast, cheap, and easy to make. And people love them! My RAs ask for these all the time.

Go-To Nachos

Servings: 2-4
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: EASY
Print

INGREDIENTS:

tortilla chips (Cheap ones! Don’t be fancy here because you are piling a lot of ingredients on these chips. Kroger 10 for $10 is perfectly acceptable.)
shredded cheese (I usually use the mexi blend or the queso blend)
canned black beans
canned dark or light red kidney beans
frozen or canned corn
frozen diced cooked chicken (I always keep the Kroger version of this on hand to use for salads – or impromptu nachos.)
frozen cooked fajita steak strips (I often keep these on hand as well.)
lime juice
taco seasoning (I make it homemade so I always have it on hand, put the packet works fine!)
jalapenos
sour cream (I use fat free)
salsa (any ol’ jar will do)
diced avocado

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to LOW broil. If broil scares you or you have a tendency to forget about things broiling, just get it on a high temp, 400-ish. While the oven is heating, heat a skillet with a tiny bit of olive oil or cooking spray. Saute your frozen meats. They are pre-cooked, so you’re just warming them up and giving them a little searing color. Drain and rinse your beans. Add in beans and corn. Splash in a few tablespoons of lime juice and shake in some taco seasoning. Tip – never skip lime juice in Mexican dishes! People always wonder why their at home taco nights don’t taste as good as Mexican restaurants, and it’s the lime! Add lime to all things Mexican. Stir and let all the ingredients get warmed up and seasoned then remove from heat.

This project wouldn’t be easy if it didn’t also have easy clean up, so I always line a large baking sheet with tin foil. Layer the baking sheet with chips. Heavily sprinkles half of the cooked mixture over your nachos, you want them good and covered. Sprinkle cheese. Layer more chips, add the rest of the cooked ingredients mixture, sprinkle cheese, and then add jalapenos! Bake in the oven until cheese is ooey gooey all the way melted. Serve with sour cream, salsa, and avocados on the side. I pile the avocados high on my portion and then dip the hearty nachos into salsa and sour cream.

Be kind to your guests and know if they like jalapeños or not. Half of my RAs do, as do I, but half don’t. Half and half is a perfectly fun game to play with this project for any and all ingredients you choose to pile atop your nachos. Nachos are sort of like ice cream sundaes – a blank canvas to create your tastiest version of yumminess. All of the ingredients I’m listing are optional (except chips and cheese I’d venture to say) and interchangeable a give or take situation. Like it? Try it! Don’t? Leave it off! Like something else you think might taste yummy in the mix? Try it! This is a project, not a recipe, get involved!

Are you hungry now? Because I am! I’m going to the grocery store right now to stock up on these stables again. Wait, NO! I’m not. I always forget NOT to go to the grocery story while hungry. I’m going to go eat lunch, THEN stock up. Crowd approved, tummy pleasing, perfect for this Friday night for the impromptu friend gathering that might happen at your house tonight OR perfect for your PJs and Hulu night at home.

What can you add to these to make your taste buds love them even more?

Meal Planning 101: Week 28

April 2, 2013January 4, 2017Leave a comment

Facts are facts and the fact is I’m slack! I said I’d post more last week and I didn’t! Heck, I barely made this post on Monday (But it’s still Monday! Before midnight counts right? Especially if I was in a car for 10 hours!)! I was pressed for time with going to South Carolina and FINALLY organizing my closet (pictures coming soon!). I promise to at least post two more times this week than last. For real! I just can’t even believe March is gone! It’s April. How the heck did that happen!? Here’s to hoping April is calmer than March (It has to be, Spring Break and Easter were in one month!). Since April is going to be slower, I really am gonna post more!

So that being said, I’m posting my meal plan and I need us to agree that you won’t judge me. It’s going to be hard, but allow me to explain. Easter was GREAT! Went to South Carolina with a best friend to have Easter with her family. It was seriously perfect and amazing. However, holidays are still sad with my dad being gone. I processed, I grieved, and I’m okay, BUT sometimes your soul craves comfort food! I just really do believe memorable food can provide comfort for the soul the same way a hug can sometimes. Not like over eating emotional eating kind of reliance on food, but just soul comforting food! So all that to say, I can cook so many things and am mostly not afraid of a food challenge, but good-old-super-easy-anyone-can-make-it Hamburger Helper is one of my comfort foods. Yes, I could make it homemade! But Hamburger Helper brings me back to childhood when my dad ate the leftovers off our plates (and often grossly picked at the browning hamburger meat before it was brown enough). And so, I’m making it this week and we’re just going to all nod, smile, and not judge because we don’t do that judge thing. Sometimes you just have to eat cereal and “cook” Hamburger Helper.

To the meal plan! See what happens when I go weeks without posting anything other than a meal plan? I get too chatty. On track. Kale. I’m obsessed with it right now. You know I don’t repeat things often, but kale has appeared in my last three meal plans. I was doing so well and not going to use kale this time, but then I saw the baby kale! How can anyone see adorable baby kale for the same price as the lettuce they were going to get and not change their mind?! I couldn’t. I didn’t.

Monday:

Cereal (Home from 10 hour car ride!)

Tuesday:

Leftover Cheesy Chicken Pasta and Sautéed Garlic-y Kale

Wednesday:

Hamburger Helper Stroganoff (Added mushrooms and Greek yogurt – I gotta doctor it up a little!), Butter Beans and Garlic Toast

Thursday:

Leftover Hamburger Helper

Friday:

Yummy Snacks from the International Festival

Saturday:

WingStop (For best friend’s birthday.)

Sunday:

Greek Fish Tacos (tortillas + honey lime baked tilapia + baby kale for lettuce + hummus + julienned cucumbers + tomatoes), Chick Pea Tomato Salad and Lime Rice Pilaf

Lunch Ideas:

I made buffalo chicken salad from a rotisserie chicken, loved it, ate it all week for lunch & made road trip sandwiches.

buffalo chicken salad sliders + baked lays (not pictured)

buffalo chicken sliders + carrots & celery with yogurt bleu cheese dressing

Meal Planning 101: Week 27

March 25, 2013January 4, 2017Leave a comment

I would like to apologize for the lack o posting last week! All I gave you was a meal plan. I do promise this week will be better! Why? Because I refuse to use any of my spare time to bake therefore freeing up more time to blog. Why the refusal? Oh you know, just went through 23 sticks of butter, 2 bags of flour, 2 dozen eggs, 2 bottles of vanilla, 5 bags of powdered sugar and other assorted ingredients last week.

THIRTEEN HOURS OF LABOR! I was wise to plan no meals for the two days after the first catering order was filled. I didn’t even want to go in the kitchen, much less cook in it. But it turned out great!

I made roughly 120 iced sugar cookies, 130 salted chocolate chip cookies, 85 red velvet cupcakes and 100 vanilla bean cupcakes. I’m pretty sure I’ve never felt so accomplished! And never fear, I was back in the kitchen today humming happily as I cooked my dinner. I can’t stay out of the kitchen for that long! And thus I bring you this week’s meal plan. This week’s plan is weak as well due to another holiday and going out of town! Spring holidays are almost as stacked as fall/winter ones.

I scored another rotisserie chicken on sale! I will never get tired of Manager’s Special labels.

Monday:

Leftover Crock Pot Pork Chops, Rice and Gravy, Stewed Cabbage, and Balsamic Mushrooms

Tuesday:

Cheesy Chicken Penne and Sauteed Kale (Using the rotisserie chicken!)

Wednesday:

Leftover Chicken Penne

Thursday:

Leftovers (While packing for going out of town and baking cookies for the road trip. I know I said no baking, but I do have an excess of leftover homemade chocolate chip cookie dough! And the car ride to South Carolina is lengthy. I wouldn’t be a good car rider if I didn’t bring baked goods!)

Friday:

Visiting South Carolina

Saturday:

Visiting South Carolina

Sunday:

Visiting South Carolina (and Easter!)

Lunch Ideas:

healthy tuna salad sandwich + cuties + leftover kale pasta salad

leftover kale pasta salad + leftover kale bagel pizzas

Meal Planning 101: Week 26

March 18, 2013January 4, 20172 Comments

Happy day after St. Patrick’s Day! Did you do anything fun? I’m not a huge fan of parades, but my version of celebrating holidays is usually cooking a themed meal and painting my nails festively.

Nails. Check! Ignore my horrible cuticles! I promise to get a professional manicure this weekend just for the sake of saving my cuticles. I tend to believe that every holiday can be celebrated with glitter.

St. Patty’s Day meal plan. Check! A friend challenged me to use my doughnut pan for something savory. I came up with these cute little mini bagel biscuit pizzas! I used canned biscuits, shaped them into bagels shapes in the doughnut ban, and piled them high with green ingredients!

The pizzas had a pesto/alfredo pizza sauce, sauteed mushrooms, slivered red onions, chicken, and kale. I also made a green pasta salad with bowties, green peas, kale, pesto, red onion, and a little chicken. AND, last but not least, GREEN DOUGHNUTS!

Key Lime Baked Doughnuts with a lime glaze and lime zest sprinkles. So good! I’ll post the recipe soon.

And now, this week’s meal plan!

Manager’s special label treasure hunt success! I needed chicken for two dishes on my meal plan. I planned to buy raw chicken, but then found this cold rotisserie chicken on sale! A. Cheaper than buying a bag of frozen chicken. B. ALREADY COOKED! Hello easy week of meals. I also went to the grocery store with the intention to get spinach and use spinach as my St. Patty’s Day green meal star, but kale was 99 cents! Two dollars less than the spinach. Point? MEAL PLAN! Make a list. But look for special surprises like this to cut your budget!

Also, my meal plan is weak this week because I have exciting news. I HAVE MY FIRST CATERING ORDER! By Friday at 5:00 I will have made 180 cookies and 120 mini cupcakes. And so… Thursday night and Friday night there is no way I can cook! Saturday night, I won’t feel like cooking! But all for a good reason.

Monday:

Leftover St. Patty’s Day Meal

Tuesday:

Buffalo Chicken Salad Sliders, Buffalo Chicken Rice, Celery and Carrots with Blue Cheese

Wednesday:

Leftover Buffalo Sliders

Thursday:

Cereal (Or food to go from one of the on campus places.)

Friday:

Take Out – While resting my feet that will surely be hurting from all the standing! Note to self – don’t bake barefoot this time! Wear tennis shoes.

Saturday:

Something microwavable or easy!

Sunday:

Crock Pot Pork Chops, Brown Rice and Cabbage

Extras:

-Tuna Salad for lunches
-Smoothies for breakfast (still loving theses!)

The Bloglovin Switch

March 15, 2013January 4, 2017Leave a comment

Hello friends! I’m sure you all read about the closing of Google Reader. SUCH a sad day for me! I was obsessed and lead many people to also use it. I’m trying out Feedly and Bloglovin right now to see which I like better. So far I’m leaning towards Bloglovin because I love that they let the view from Bloglovin count as a view on each site! Google Reader didn’t do that and I’m not sure if Feedly does. They both also have nice, easy phone apps! Google Reader never had a perfect one, for iPhone at least.

So all that to say, I’m trying out Bloglovin! Follow my blog with Bloglovin if you have it. If you’re in the Google Reader crisis too and want to try out Bloglovin, do! Fellow blogger over at My Pretty Pennies posted a how to on merging your Google Reader blog follows over to Bloglovin. It’s super easy!

Five Things Friday: Feeling Pretty Things

March 15, 2013January 4, 20171 Comment

What girl doesn’t like to feel pretty? I know I’m slightly a diva and probably way more on the girly girl side of the spectrum that some women, but I think deep down inside, in some way we all enjoy feeling pretty! Not for the men in our lives (husbands, boyfriends, fiances, or the single men we’re subtly trying and failing to get to notice us). Not for the women we compare ourselves to and shouldn’t. But for just for us! Feeling pretty feels good, fun, and confident.

Even baby girls know this! I’m visiting my best friend who has a beautiful one year old. Yesterday she was decked out in the cutest pig tails ever, a Cinderella princess shirt, a fluffy hot pink tutu, and sparkly shoes. She’s always social, but was even more social yesterday! She’s often happy, but was even happier yesterday! She walked around with princess-like confidence. Grown up girls can feel like princesses too! The things that make baby Alice feel pretty, the things that make me feel pretty, and the things that make you feel pretty might not be the same. That’s okay! Know what makes you feel pretty and rock it!

Things That Make Me Feel Pretty:

1. Wearing Lace – I’m currently OBSESSED! Truth is, I’ve always loved lace! It just hasn’t been as accessible, available, and popular until now. I haven’t bought a clothing item in months that didn’t involve lace in some way. Lace makes me feel pretty! It makes me feel feminine. It makes me feel smiley. It makes me feel confident! Lace is EVERYWHERE! Plus size, skinny size, expensive, cheap, it’s everywhere. I prefer my lace cheap. All four of the dresses below were purchased at Ross for $55! FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS! FOUR DRESS!

If you know me, you already know I love dresses. Dresses + lace?! And for $10-$17 each?! Yes please. This is about us feeling pretty, not other making us feel pretty, BUT other people like lace too! Every time I wear lace a stranger tells me I look nice. Feeling pretty is just for me, but I never hate outfit confirmation! Oh and the black lace pencil skirt below? I got it for $4 yesterday at Bealls Outlet. FOUR DOLLARS! 70% off. Major score.

2. Pampering My Lips – On my drive to Georgia, I was fumbling in my purse with my eyes focused on the road to find the particular lip balm I wanted. I pulled all of these out one pocket of my purse and then lastly pulled out the desired one – Maybelline Baby Lips Tinted Lip Balm in Peach Kiss. I’ve never been a lipstick person. I used to love tinted gloss (and still do – like Bath and Body Works Metha Lip Tints), but it didn’t have the same lip moisturizing effects and staying power as balm. Then I discovered tinted balm! Burt’s Bees Tinted Balm is another everyday favorite, but loving the smooth nude Peach Kiss Baby Lips! I’m also obsessed with Revlon’s Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains! Those are my fancy dress up lip day ones. They have the smoothness of a balm but the color lasts for hours! I also picked up one of the Covergirl Tinted Balm Glosses. Smooth like balm, shiny like gloss, and with color. Having soft, healthy, non-chapped, tinted lips makes me feel pretty!

3. Dressing Like a Ballerina – Ballet flats + high waisted, preferably fluffy, skirt + sock bun (or any kind of bun) + tucked in girly shirt + hair accessories = BALLERINA! I have many versions of ballerina outfits. The one below is just my most recent ensemble that’s gotten me more compliments than any other outfit (again, not about that, but proof that feeling pretty for YOU shows for others!). I can’t imagine very many things girlier than a ballerina. I’m as clumsy as a big headed baby with shoes that are too big at bed time. I’m NOT a ballerina in any way, shape, or form, but I sure do love to dress in ballerina inspired ensembles. Try it!

4. Treating Myself to a Pedicure – I used to do this often, once a month or every other month, after I had a severe ingrown toenail that lead to surgery! I was scared that my self pedicures were causing my ingrowns since I never got them when I had professional pedicures. I’ve learned to be less choppy with my toes and have gotten great at giving myself pedicures. Self pedicures work! They do make me feel pretty and it’s what I do the majority of the time. But every once in a while, it’s just so over-the-top and fabulous to get a professional pedicure. I can’t stop staring at my toes for days. I only get about four a year now. Soak your feet and give yourself one OR splurge and get a professional one. I promise it will make you feel pretty.

5. Painting My Nails – If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or see me semi-regularly in real life, you know I have an obsession with painting my nails. It hasn’t always been so! This obsession started last summer after a best friend’s wedding. My nails were painted by a fellow bridesmaid for the wedding and it made me feel so pretty! I started collecting polish and have gone less than 5 days total without polish on my nails since August. There are lots of expensive polishes out there that can make the task and hobby seem daunting. Don’t let that happen! My favorite polish? Wet-n-Wild Megalast! They have mega staying power and the best, easiest brushes ever! Cost? $2! Walgreen’s and Walmart have them, but I discovered this week that Dollar General has them in three times as many colors as Walgreen’s or Walmart! Go! Stock up! Don’t avoid the glitter! Painted nails will make you feel pretty.

‘

If you do brave the glitter… WARNING! It’s mega hard to get off. Any brand, all glitter, it’s hard to get off. BUT, I saw this handy tip on Pinterest and it works! Put a normal amount of polish remover on a cotton ball. Place the damp cotton ball on each of your fingers then wrap the tips in tin foil. Let sit for 3 minutes, remove, and the glitter is no more!

What makes you feel pretty?

Meal Planning 101: Week 25

March 13, 2013January 4, 2017Leave a comment

The title of this post is slightly misleading. I don’t have a meal plan for you this week. However, I am going to give you resources for meal planning! And I do have a good excuse (for not having a meal plan AND for missing posting it on Monday). I’m not a student, in fact, I get grumpy when people think I am sometimes, but I do work at a university. My boss let us have off for Spring Break with the students! So I drove to Georgia to visit my BFF, who happens to be one of my biggest fans and most loyal blog readers, and her beautiful baby Alice. Alice can now say my name! Or a version of it at least, KK. So I’m dining with them this week and get a week off of cooking and meal planning in exchange for baby hugs and helping my BFF settle into her new house.

So resources! You know how obsessed I am with meal planning. I could, and have, gone on and on about the benefits of it! It’s healthier and way more budget friendly! If me constantly advocating for it isn’t enough, allow me to share with you the many other blogs I’ve found that post weekly meal plan! I use these fellow meal planners for inspiration in creating my meal plans often. It’s easy! Copy us!

Blogs that post weekly meal plans:

This Week For Dinner (My fav and the reason I started posting meal plans!)
Six Sisters’ Stuff
Real Mom Kitchen
Life as a Lofthouse
Modern Alternative Kitchen
Organization Junkie
Lawfully Wedded Wife
Gospel Homemaking
Stock Piling Moms
My Scraps

There is even a Meal Plan Monday Facebook! I liked this the instant I found it. She posts tons of great tips, ideas, and resources.

Lunch Ideas:

Next week won’t have lunch ideas since I’m not working this week and therefore not taking my lunch, but I did last week! Sad news… I microwaved one of my lunch containers a little too much! It got a hole. I WILL be buying more of these Ziplock containers though. In case you can’t tell, I’m obsessed!

top left: asian chopped salad + leftover baked breaded chicken tenders + peanut dressing + celery + homemade peanut butter

top right: leftover beef stew + crackers + a cutie

bottom left: fancy sandwiches + yellow cherry tomatoes + leftover corn grits + coconut crack bar

bottom right: caesar salad + yogurt caesar dressing + leftover broccoli cheese twice baked potatoes

Real Life: Influence

March 9, 2013January 4, 20174 Comments

Influence is defined as, “the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.”

Influence is powerful! I had the opportunity to teach at an event for women this weekend with Total Woman U (one of my passions!). One of my fellow teammates during her session said, “We teach with out lives. We’re constantly influencing others whether we mean to or not.” I can’t even fully grasp how true this is!

I’m passionate about transparency. Where there is transparency – real, raw, Biblical community happens. Transparency in community is nothing but influence! In and out influence. In this beautiful, messy kind of community we’re constantly influenced by others and influencing others. It’s magnificent.

I don’t know about you, but I want that! If you ever get to experience it, you want it more and more! I’m in the more and more craving stage now and NOT mad about it at all. First God gave me an amazing accountability partner, almost a year and going strong – messy, difficult and all. In the last month God lead me to a new small group. Just after meeting with them three times, I’ve been beyond blessed! I reconnected this week with an old college roommate, nothing but transparent, raw, real conversations – beautiful! Enough you say? NO! 🙂

Today I joined The Influence Network. It’s an online community full of beautiful believers living out their lives transparently in their day to day on goings and on the internet! Bloggers! Bloggers committed to using their words to influence others.

My friend, fellow blogger, fellow church member, fellow instragramer, fellow teen drama show lover, and fellow nail polish addict Jessica, of Meet the Magnolias, told me about this network. I’m brand spanking new, but I want to jump in and get involved.

The Influence Network is having a link-up meet-up! And so, this is me participating.

1 photo that you love of yourself:

First professional photo shoot! It was with my aunt and girl cousin. At first I felt weird about the individual shots, but I’ve never loved a picture of myself so much!

3 things about yourself:

1. As I mentioned above, I am highly passionate about transparency! I grew up in the great state of Mississippi. Mississippi has given me some things I’m proud of – my hospitality, my cooking roots, my accent, my good hair, my ability to make great sweet tea. But Mississippi, the southern culture, and particularly the southern church women culture, taught me some things that ended up not being good for me that took me years to overcome, Southern women and southern church women are not taught to be transparent AT ALL! They learn to save face at all cost and that the most important thing, other than “cleanliness being next to Godliness” is that at all times you must appear to have it all together. LIES! Oh how much I love everything I’ve learned and become that is opposite of this! It’s not Biblical, it’s not healthy, it’s not normal. Get thee away from me shame! So much power in transparent, raw, ugly, hard, accountability There is FREEDOM! Told you I was highly passionate about it, I’ll shush about that one for now.

2. I love cooking and baking. You might be saying duh, but I can’t introduce myself without saying that! Allow me to somewhat briefly expound on that. I LOVE IT! Not only do I have a blog dedicated to it, I’m for real obsessed ya’ll. I recently realized that all but one of the things I collect has to do with cooking. I collect cookie cutters, days of the week notepads (used for writing down meal plans), aprons, cookbooks, kitchen towels, cloth napkins, unique silverware, mason jars, cool dishes and owls. And truth be told, many of my owls are kitchen item owls! I am also in the beginning (VERY BEGINNING) stages of planning/dreaming about opening a bakery.

3. I’m almost 30, single, and beyond ready to mingle. I thought it would be funny to say that, and yes, it is true, but a big part of who I am and where I am right now this year is being fervently committed to prayer for my future husband, that God will allow him to find me, and that my purity will be protected. There have been years where I lost hope, years where I tried to take things into my own hands, and other unfortunate years. But what there hasn’t been is years where I drew close to God in this area and allowed Him to do whatever He wanted with this desire. The closer I get to Jesus, and at times the more I beg Him to take away the desire to be a wife, it only get stronger. Know any single Godly guys? JUST KIDDING! Kinda…

1 thing you’ve learned on the Network:

Being a blogger, wanting to blog, wanting to talk about Jesus on your food blog, wanting to connect with other bloggers, it’s not weird! I’m not as dorky as I thought I was, okay maybe I am, but not for those reasons! I’m not alone. I’m not the only one struggling with grief. I’m not the only one who wants to be proud of the gifts and talents she’s been given (writing, cooking, baking, blogging) but sometimes feels weird about it. And most importantly, I’m not the only one who feels passionate about transparently living out her life.