Cutting Grass

    I just want to thank whoever invented the riding lawnmower. Down here in the South most of the yards are so big that mowing the grass with a push mower would take days. My aunt lives on 2 acres and it takes me hours to cut it all on the riding mower. I remember being a teenager cutting the grass at home with a push mower and how tough that was.  I do enjoy mowing the grass but how do people mow grass for hours. My grandparents cut not only their grass but also the lot across from them and it takes about two days. They are older and can't quite handle the heat so they have to break it up. The other day I also cut my aunt's friend's yard because her son usually does it but he's off at college. So much mowing...Good thing I enjoy cutting grass, sort of!


Ps- Did you see Ingrid Nilsen (aka Missglamorazzi) at the VMA's?

Must Have Monday

    Guess I'm making Must Have Monday a thing now on here. Last week was my odd obsession of bright colored sports bras and today it's books. Growing up I loved when my mom would read me bed time stories but as I got older I lost interest in books. I'd buy a book and start to read it but would get so bored during the first chapter I would just forget about it. In high school I started reading Jodi Picoult books and I was instantly hooked on books but I would only read hers. They were so interesting and kept my attention. I should mention that I did have ADHD so something like a book that could keep my attention was rare. In college I was more focused and didn't have anymore concentration problems and started to read a little bit more. Of course with school work and fun I wasn't reading a whole bunch. Now that I am no longer in college and am part of the real world I make time to read. It's crazy how a story can take you somewhere far away. I enjoy learning and imagining all these great places and scenes in books. I sound super nerdy and I'm okay with that.

    Today's Must Have Monday is books because I enjoy learning new things and getting to know new characters with every book I read. I must say that I hate when a book is over when I love the characters so much. I want to know their whole entire life. Is that just me or anyone else know what I'm talking about?? Below are some of the current books I have with me on my trip. No I did not pack them all in my suitcase, I bought some while I was here. I also feel like I brought more then this with me but can't seem to find them, perhaps they are hidden in my suitcase.

 

 

Top row left to right: Bad Heir Day by Wendy Holden, Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

Bottom row left to right: Faking 19 by Alyson Noël, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reasoning                           

 

Top row left to right: Pretty Little Liars by Sarah Shepard (it's actually the first two books in one), Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Bottom row left to right: Messy by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan, and my Kindle Touch



Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman

    I've been in South Carolina helping take care of my aunt who recently had surgery. Mornings begin with coffee and the Today Show with breakfast, Kelly and Michael, Rachael Ray, followed by my favorite The Pioneer Woman. I know what you are thinking and yes that is a lot of day time TV. I have never watched this much or any kind of morning talk shows before. This has been the schedule for two weeks so far because my aunt has been unable to move around too much. But back to my point, The Pioneer Woman. If you've never seen it, it's a cooking show with Ree Drummond (the Pioneer Woman) who cooks food for her family (aka cowboys). She lives on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma where she does her show. Usually I don't like cooking shows because they make ridiculous things that no one would actually make at home but this show is different. The recipes are easy yet so delicious! My aunt feels the same as me about cooking shows and Ree.  I've already made two recipes and have bought ingredients to make more delicious food (one is dessert, yummy!).

 

This is the breakfast burrito from The Pioneer Woman that I made last night for dinner. Breakfast for dinner is my favorite thing and this was so delicious! When she made it on her show she used 24 eggs because she was feeding a bunch of cowboys. For the most part you can do whatever you want with this recipe. I used breakfast sausage, yellow pepper, green pepper, onion, and of course eggs. I cooked that mixture all together and then I put in on a gluten free wrap and then topped it with a Mexican blend of cheese and diced tomatoes. My new favorite breakfast meal! In case you are wondering my aunt enjoyed it as much as me. Well probably not as much as me because she isn't crazy over breakfast foods as I am but you get the point.

 

This is just another/better view of the burrito. Look how fat my hand looks! What the? Know any hand workouts to help my apparently chubby hand? JK, sorta.

Ree Drummond's blog/website:

 

The Pioneer Woman

 

 

The Recipe:

 



Breakfast Burritos

    The other recipe I made was Buttery Lemon Parsley Noodles. I don't have pictures which you are probably cool about but take my word that it was very good! The lemon juice and lemon zest made all the difference. It was amazing! I did of course use gluten free noodles other than that I followed the recipe exactly.Here's the recipe for it: Buttery Lemon Parsley Noodles.



Feelings Mean Something

    I am greatly saddened by the loss of comedic Robin Williams. I grew up watching his movies which brought so much joy to my heart. I was upset to learn he died but even more so when I heard it was a suicide. Although it is not official there are reports that it was in fact suicide. Whether it's true or not suicide is real issue. The other week I learned of a 15 year old boy I knew who committed suicide and I wanted to post about it before but decided against it for some reason. The 15 year old boy is Braxton Caner who was the son of my favorite professor at school, Ergun Caner. When Ergun was teaching our night class sometimes his children were there running around or he was talking about them constantly. I can't believe the little boy who was running up the aisle in class had ended his life. Ergun Caner is not only a professor but a pastor so when I heard about his son dying I was in disbelief. What I mean by that was if he had problems I figured he would know who to talk to or know a safe place.

    Suicide is a scary thing and a selfish thing. People are not in the right mindset when they decide that life is not worth living. Everyone has feelings and you don't know what is going on inside their head. Treating others with respect and kindness can turn the day around for someone, if nothing else it can't hurt anything. If you or someone you know is having a problem please talk to someone, anyone. Things may seem really bad and I'm not saying they aren't but there is a bright side. Ask for helping working through your issue(s). People are there to help! No life is worth taking so please please if you feel suicidal or even depressed or what have you, talk to someone. If you don't want to talk to family, friends, or a counselor then please try:

 

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

 

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

 

http://www.suicide.org/suicide-hotlines.html

 

 

Don't be afraid to express your feelings to others especially when you need help!

 

 

RIP Robin Williams

RIP Braxton Caner

RIP All those who left too early

 



Must Have Monday

    We all have certain things that we love and collect. For some people it's shoes, purses, cars, clothes, etc. but for me it's bright colored sport bras. Yes it's probably a weird thing to collect or have a bunch of. I am currently traveling so I packed a couple of my favorites. I brought 10 with me mind you I did take some out because my suitcase was big and I wore two already. It should also be noted that I am staying some place where there is a washer and dryer so I didn't need to bring so many but I am obsessed with buying different bright colored sport bras.  

 

These are 8 of the 10 I brought with me.

Brands top row left to right: Under Armour, Under Armour, Reebok, Nike

Brands bottom row left to right: C9 by Champion, Jockey, C9 by Champion, Nike

 

These two Nike ones are my favorite. The orange is my ultimate favorite because orange is my favorite color plus it looks super bright under a dark tank, love it!

 

What is your must have Monday?

Bad Flights

    Flying can be stressful and hectic but for me personally I love it. A couple weeks ago I was flying to Seattle out of Philadelphia. It was a straight flight that was suppose to be six hours long. I have never been on a plane for six hours, usually I have layovers somewhere. I enjoy layovers because you get off the plane and can move around, perhaps get some food or a drink. So for this straight flight I was a bit nervous that I would get super antsy and be crowed since you never know who you will be sitting next to. Hurricane Arthur was coming to down the day I left but I figured I could get out before it hit since it wasn't a late flight. Everyone boarded the flight and we took off for the runway only to be stopped from taking off. Apparently there was a bunch of lightening around and our flight was grounded. We waited for TWO HOURS on the runway before we were able to take off. I couldn't wait to land after being on the plane for eight hours. I heard on the news that a pilot at the airport bought everyone on the flight pizza! Wish that was my flight! When we got to Seattle we had to wait another 10-15 minutes because there was an abandoned catering cart at the gate we were suppose to go.

    Yesterday I flew from Philadelphia to Greenville, SC. I had a quick layover in Atlanta where I got my connecting flight to Greenville. My flight to Greenville was amazing! It was really short and I did not have anyone sitting next to me since the flight was pretty empty. I was not so lucky for the first flight. I had the window seat which is always nice but I had this heavyset lady who was sitting next to me. Her body was touching mine the whole time especially when she fell asleep. When she was sleeping she was leaning on me more and I was so cramped up next to the window. She eventually woke up and moved over a little bit so I decide to take a little nap to help the trip go by faster. I closed my eyes as my seatmate called the flight attendants over. She then asked for some ginger ale and something else. The flight attendant came back over with her drink, pretzels, and a bag. The flight attendant told her the bag was bigger than the barf bag in the seat pocket. Yup my seatmate was feeing nauseous. She kept coughing and everything it was awful.

    I have been having some bad luck on flights. Have you had an extremely bad flight? Share your story so we can all commiserate together!