Hi everyone!

I hope your week is going well!

This is my first week back after spring break and I have to say it's kind of hard getting back into the swing of things.

Our first outdoor home track meet was this weekend so my parents drove up at watched me. I ran the 2k steeplechase as my season opener. It wasn't bad but it also wasn't great. I'm looking to improve a lot in the 3k steeplechase this weekend.

I took advantage of my parents being here and made them take me grocery shopping. We went to Winn-Dixie and I got all my food for the week. I'm really trying to eat more vegetables and fruit so that's mainly what was in my cart. As you can see I got two packets of mixed greens, so of course salads are on the menu for the week.

Speaking of salads, I made one just last night with chicken breast and raspberry vinaigrette. It was delicious and so easy to throw together. I made sweet potato fries to go as a side with some ketchup and then devoured everything.

Here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 450. Peel sweet potato and cut into thin strips. Toss in bowl with 1 tsp of olive oil, and 1 tsp of each paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. (In all honesty I never measure things out but this should be a rough estimate). Spread aluminum foil on baking sheet and then spread the sweet potatoes evenly on the sheet. Cook for 30 minutes.

Add a tbsp of olive oil to a skillet and turn the stove top burner on to medium heat. Pat dry two chicken breasts and season with paprika, salt, pepper, and onion powder. (You can use whatever spices you want I just kind of threw whatever I had in the cabinet on the chicken). Cook each side 7/8 minutes or until it's no longer pink in the middle if you cut into it.

Let the chicken cool a bit and then cut into bite size pieces. Throw onto a bed of mixed greens and add raspberry vinaigrette, fresh raspberries, pecan pieces, and shredded parmesan cheese. Put the sweet potato fries on a plate and add ketchup. Trust me you won't regret it, ketchup makes everything better. Enjoy!

Hey everyone!

I'm so sorry I have been absent these past few days! My school work just caught up to me and I was very busy this weekend and kind of just in a funk. I didn't really feel like recording my cooking so I took a break. But I'm back!!

Since this is the last week of school before spring break my motivation level is minimal. It also means that I didn't really need to buy that much food from the grocery store. I plan on living off the few things I bought and whatever else I can find in my pantry. I'm not going anywhere for the actual week of spring break as I will be training for our first outdoor track meet. However, I will be going this Thursday through Sunday to camp with my parents. I can't wait. I haven't been camping in years and it will be so fun!

On Sunday I shopped at Aldi and they had some great deals. Their avocados were only 69 cents a piece! That's unheard of. They also have my favorite salsa for $1.40 and it comes in a huge jar. My cart contained the following: tortilla chips, snyders pretzel pieces (I have a weakness for these), orange juice, hazelnut k-cups, macaroni, salsa, three avocados, bananas, a mango, blueberries, ground beef, and purity organic juice. I wanted to try the purity juice because I've heard its delicious. It was a small cart I know but it was all I needed.

I planned on making tacos this week and mac and cheese and of course gobbling up those avocados! I also have some frozen chicken in the freezer and some frozen veggies so I will probably make those this week. Another thing I usually always have is pesto so I can make some pesto noodle dish if I'm feelin it.

That night my Chris and I made the macaroni, well more like he made it. There are a few dishes he is really proud of making and I guess Mac n Cheese is one of them. He wanted to buy Velveeta cheese to add to it and I said absolutely not.

We used the cheese I had in my fridge and I honestly thought it was still delicious. It wasn't the healthiest as we used an entire stick of butter (call me Paula Dean) but I added some roasted broccoli to it just to get some greens in. I sent the leftovers home with Chris so he wouldn't starve while I'm gone camping.

This week I probably won't be cooking anything too interesting, but when I get to my parents camp site we will be cooking up some of that good good stuff. I will be sure to write about the best meals for camping and I can't wait to share it with you guys! By the way, where is your favorite place to camp?!

Have you ever felt out of control in your life? Do you feel like things are slipping away and there is no way you can bring it back together? Are you a control freak? I know I am. Sadly. It is honestly such a pain. I worry about everything and everything I do (or other people do) has to be done perfectly and to the way I like it. I worry about my future, what I'm doing to do when I graduate, who I'm going to marry, how I'm going to pay for anything. I even worry about things in the immediate future, like my grades and when I can clean my apartment next.

Honestly, it is the most exhausting way to live. To constantly have to be in the know and in control of what is happening in your life is exhausting. It isn't the way God made us to be. I'm the kind of girl who planned every single class she would take in college her freshman year. I have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C for almost everything. That is just who I am, and while I know God didn't make us to worry all the days of our lives, sometimes I just need a reminder.

This is me, reminding you, and myself, that God is in control. In Matthew 19, Jesus is confronted by a man who believes he has done everything right. He has been in complete control of his life, for his entire life. He has kept all the commandments and wants to know how to gain eternal life. However, Jesus realized that the man still had one thing that was controlling his life, one thing he had yet to give up. His wealth. Sadly, the man could not give that up and turned away from Jesus.

Of course the disciples were confused as the man appeared to be near to perfect, in total control. They asked who then could be saved if not even this man. Jesus had the perfect answer, as always.

"Jesus looked at them and said, 'with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'."

Whoah. With that one phrase Jesus tells them that it is not in man's control to save himself, it is with God. The man could not give up the control money had over his life, thus he could not give in to God's control. In my opinion, this verse is such a freeing statement. Every time I read it, it's like a load is lifted from my shoulders. When I want everything to be in order and just right, and when I have to know my plans for the next five years, I think of this verse. It doesn't matter what I do to gain control of my life when ultimately my life belongs to God, and with God all things are possible. My striving to have control of my life will not save me, only God can do that. So let's all just take a deep breath and know that God is in control and we don't have to be.

Hello Everyone!

Can you guys believe it is already March?! I feel like this year is going by so fast! Our outdoor season is starting in a few weeks and Spring Break is coming up soon. I know that during school the year goes by fast because I get caught up doing homework and sometimes living assignment to assignment. Does anyone else do this, like accidentally let their life go by because they focus too much on school? Sadly, I am definitely a culprit of this.

Sometimes I have to tell myself to stop, take a breath, and enjoy the small things. This weekend was just what I needed. I decided to take advantage of the break between track seasons to visit my parents and go home to Ocala. I also went with Chris to visit his parents in Tampa and meet his mom for the first time.

It was a great weekend and I really missed my parents, but we also did a lot of driving. I'm glad we did though because even if it is just for a little while it is important to spend time with the people who love you.

In Tampa, I went with Chris and his dad to this cute little flee market down the street from their house. We walked through all the aisles and even saw some old military memorabilia that Chris loved. When we got back his mom was making fruit pizza for a dinner party we were going to that night. Let me tell you, this fruit pizza was the most amazing dessert I have ever had. It was so light and yummy! She even let us decorate it! I will be making it later this week and include the recipe for you guys.


After that we relaxed at the house and played with their adorable dog Breely before going to dinner. I'm glad we went to Tampa because I was able to meet a lot of people that are important in Chris's life.

On Sunday, I went to brunch with my sister and her boyfriend and their new golden retriever puppy Scout! Scout is such a rascal, but he's too cute to do anything about it. He loves his pizza just as much as I do. We ate at First Watch, which is one of my favorite breakfast restaurants. They have healthy food that's not too expensive and their coffee is delicious.


I ate the protein packed pancakes while Rachel had avocado toast and honestly I forgot what Zach ate.


Later that day I was able to go to Publix with my mom to get my grocery shopping done for the week. I am so thankful that she paid for my groceries! Guys take care of your moms and they will take care of you!


It was quite expensive because it was from Publix, but here is the list of what I got for the week:

1. eggs
2. natural bliss creamer 
3. frozen beat veggie spirals 
4. frozen cauliflower rice
5. frozen blackberries 
6. fresh strawberries 
7. three bell peppers 
8. a head of broccoli 
9. sandwich thins honey wheat bread 
10. four RX bars
11. chicken breasts
12. salmon 
13. a mix of nuts 
14. spring mix lettuce mix 
15. peanut butter 
16. bandaids and contact solution 

It's Friday!!