Christmas Party

Hey ladies! I know I've been MIA this week.  We are getting down to the last weeks of school (TWO WEEKS LEFT!) and things are crazy for me.  I will be pretty busy the next two weeks so bear with me!  Today I'm linking up with some lovely ladies for a Christmas cheer link-party! Whoo hoo!

Who's looking forward to Christmas?? I am!  To get us in the mood today, thought I'd share some of my favorite Christmas songs! Enjoy!

Winter Snow-- By Audrey Assad

 



Silent Night-- By Taylor Swift

 

 

Mistletoe-- By Colbie Caillat

 

 





Awkward.

It's awkward. Yes, yes, it is.  But everyone's doing it.  And if everyone's doing it, I should be too, right?  So here it is...

my outfit post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweater dress: Old Navy; Scarf: Bath and Body Works; Boots: Famous Footwear; Spoon ring: my ALL TIME favorite piece of jewelry, a gift

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Day Recap

Look at all this delicious grub! Hope you enjoyed some equally delicious food! 

Yes, those are Cheetos and Gushers.  Sorta a family tradition.  And YES, that is a "Cookie Monster" cake, made by that creative guy down there.  What untraditional foods did you eat this Thanksgiving?

The Chefs

An abundance of blessings

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to remember to be thankful.  Thankful for the people in my life, thankful for the food I have every day, thankful for the warm home I live in, thankful for my health.  Thankful that God has given me an opportunity to know Him and contentment that comes from this life.  Thankful for blue skies and sunshine, thankful for rain that waters the earth, thankful for beautiful flowers and fall leaves.   

Thought I’d share with you a lovely little list from here.

I am thankful for…

·        The taxes I pay because it means I am employed

·        The clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat

·        A lawn that has to be mowed, windows that have to be cleaned and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home

·        The spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking

·        The lady in church who sings off key because it means I can hear

·        The huge piles of laundry and ironing because it means loved ones are nearby

·        The alarm that goes off in the early morning because it means I am alive

In the stress of day to day life, it is so easy to become too busy to remember all the little things that mean so much.  Let’s take the time to be truly thankful for the gifts we have before it is too late.  Happy, HAPPY Thanksgiving!!

Joyfully yours,

Danielle

On being legit.

Let me tell you a little bit about how hardcore I am...

I am taking an exercise physiology class this semester and as part of that class, our lab group had to create our own experiment.  We decided to test the effects of eating different types of carbohydrates on glucose levels during exercise.  Like, running-a-lot type exercise. 

Cool.  However, only two people out of our group had to perform the trial, so I'm home free----- NO, somehow I got roped into doing this stupid experiment.  I'll break it down step by step for you.

Step 1:  I am have to be fasted before the test so I don't get to eat breakfast before I go to class.  I am extremely hungry.

Step 2:  I have to eat a simple sugars as my carbohydrate.  Enter 53 grams of gummy bears.  Yum, yum.  I don't know about you, but I find this pretty appalling to have to eat 53 grams of gummy bears for breakfast and then work out.

Step 3:  RUN.  For 30 minutes.  Hooked up to a headpiece, mouthpiece, and nose clip. While my lab group stares at me.  Ew.

Step 4: Get stabbed in the ear every ten minutes to draw blood for the glucose test.  See below. 

Step 5: Finish 30 minute run.  Begin a 1-mile performance run where I have to run my absolute fastest. Without dying?  Yes. 

Step 6: My fastest was 8 minutes, 20 seconds. That is not very fast. 

Step 7: I think I'm so legit.

The Fine Line We Walk.

This week I’ve been reading a lot of bloggers who are saying that the blog world can get to be too much.  And I agree.  I’ve seen a lot of great bloggers get swept away with giveaways and product reviews until I no longer am interested in reading their blog because it’s just about stuff.   It’s just about getting more followers and sponsors.

A quick glance to my followers section shows that this is not the case for me.  And I think:  Why don’t I have more followers?  What can I do to make people like me more?  What can I post here that will make people want to read? Why does everyone else have more followers than me?

 

Well, I’m asking the wrong question.  If I change my content to get more followers, I’m no longer an honest blogger.  Yes, I do want followers.  Because despite some of the bad aspects, I love the blogging community and there are so many sweet bloggers out there I’d love to get to know more.  I’d like to think that I have something to share that others will care about.  But even if I never get another follower, I want to keep blogging true to myself and my faith.  So thank you to all who have shown me some blog love.  And to all those awesome bloggers that share real stuff every day… you gals are the best!  Keep doing what you’re doing! 

Joyfully yours,

Danielle

Fall Scrumptiousness

Hey ladies!

Every time I go into Starbucks I am soooo tempted to buy a Pumpkin Scone because I am a huge fan of all things pumpkin.  I haven’t given in yet, but when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I had to try it.  I made some tonight and they were pretty darn good!  I think you should give ‘em a try!

 

Pumpkin Scones (originally from here)
2 cups flour
7 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground clove
¼ tsp ground ginger
½ cup canned pumpkin puree
3 TBSP half and half
1 egg
6 TBSP cold butter, cubed

Glaze:

1 cup + 1 TBSP powdered sugar

2 TBSP half and half

In a large food processor combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.  Pulse to combine.  Add cold butter and pulse until well incorporated and mixture is texture of cornmeal. 

In a separate bowl, whisk pumpkin puree, half and half, and egg.  Add to flour mixture and pulse until combined.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface (my dough was extremely sticky at this point, so make sure your surface and rolling pin are well floured) and gently knead 4 or 5 times to bring dough together.  Flatten into 1” thick circle.  Using a pizza cutter, cut in half and then in thirds.

Place wedges onto greased baking sheet and bake at 425^o for 14-16 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove to cooling rack.

Once cool, whisk together glaze and spoon on top.  Let harden for at least an hour. 

 

Sounds delish?  I think so!

Joyfully yours,

 

Danielle

 

Apple Hill Part 1 Vs. Part 2

Apple Hill is a lovely place near me where there are lots of apple farms, apple picking, apple desserts, craft fairs, and fudge.  Did I mention desserts?  Oh yeah. 
Part 1:
Beks and I go to Apple Hill.  We get the worst chicken sandwiches ever.  It starts to rain hard.  They are out of apple dumplings, apple turnovers, apple fritters AND apple pie.  (How is that even possible??)  It starts to snow.  We go home and drown our sorrows in a giant bowl of popcorn and movie. 


We were making fun of "pie" candles

 

... Until the owner came along.  Then things got serious.

 

 

 

Pouting about snow.

 

Part 2:
The weather is beautiful. I go to Apple Hill with my mom, Colton and Melissa.  They are still out of apple dumplings and turnovers, but I get a slice of apple pie with cider sauce.  That's all I ask of you, Apple Hill.

Oh, and here's hoping that you had a great holiday weekend!
Joyfully yours,

Danielle

The Running Dream

 

I will admit that I have a love/hate relationship with running.  And when I say that, I basically mean that I love stopping and hate starting.  When I finish running, I know I have just done one of the hardest things I will do all day.  I have a thing for challenges, so I have been running for several years.   And right now you are thinking, “So what?”

The “so what” is:  I just read this book for teens and was pleasantly surprised at the message.  In a sentence, it’s about a runner (Jessica) who, against all odds, learns to run with a prosthetic after having her leg amputated.  OKAY, so I’m not very good at book reviews cause I just made that sound totally lame.

 

The gist of it is:  it made me really appreciate running.  Because the coolest thing about running is that I can.  I am healthy and strong, thanks be to God.  My legs carry me through even when I don’t want to go another step.   So when Jessica says, “I ran everywhere.  Raced everywhere.  I loved the wind across my cheeks, through my hair.  Running aired out my soul.  It made me feel alive.  And now? I’m stuck in this bed, knowing I’ll never run again,” let’s remember that we have a lot to be thankful for.  We never know when something will crash into our lives, changing everything, so let’s appreciate it before it’s gone. 

Lastly, I want to share with you another quote from this book. 

“It’s disturbing how fast weeds take root in my garden of worthiness.

They’re so hard to pull.

And grow back so easily.”

Stop and think about how profound that is.  Even though God tell us we are His precious children, we let others strip away our self-worth.  We let what they think define who we are, instead of letting God define us.  We need to stop that cycle now. 

UP, Up, and Away!

Yesterday I pinned this kid and his adorbs little costume on Pinterest.  Today, I got invited to a costume party in December.  How convenient, I thought to myself.   Yep, you guessed it.  I am going to be Carl.  While I may not be as cute as this kid, I think it's going to be awesome.  Now, to get me some boy hair.

Lunch On the Go

Whether you work or go to school (or both!) you probably have the same problem I do… EATING.  I love to eat and I need to eat every few hours, but it’s so difficult to pack food for an entire day.  And if I buy food, I feel like I’m wasting a bunch of money and I end up not eating healthy.  I recently found some great on-the-go recipes so I’m gonna share my favorite one with you today.  You’re welcome.

Corn Muffin Ham and Cheese

¼ cup plain yogurt
2 TBSP cooked crumbled bacon
Sprinkle of dill weed and parsley
2 slices ham
Slice of cheddar cheese
Sliced cucumbers
2 Corn muffins (I use Jiffy)

Mix the yogurt, bacon, dill and parsley to make a sauce.  At this point, the real recipe says to make sandwiches with the ingredients.  You can do that.  Or, you can do it the Danielle way and chop up all the ingredients and toss them in a container to eat with a fork.  Waaayyy less messy.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t really like having corn muffin crumbs all over me while I’m at school.  It's super easy and I just stick it in a cooler bag until lunchtime.  Voila!

 

This may not look super delicious, but trust me, it is.  I’m actually craving right now!  Enjoy!

Giggles.

Hope this brings a smile to your face.  Happy Friday!

 

 

 

It's that time again...

It’s basketball season baby!! Watching the Oklahoma City and San Antonio game right now… and I sure hope that OKC is gonna come back and win.  Cause I love Kevin Durant.

This guy is chill.  Yes, I just said chill which means I’m so cool. 

So, I do like OKC but I feel like it is important to support your home team first and foremost.  Even if they stink, like my Sacramento Kings (cover your ears, Kings).  But I do love the Kings, just wish they could be a little better.  I really hate it when people don’t support their home team.  That's just stinky.  So what team are you cheering for this season?