Cheers To Today!

Happy Friday everyone! As I have mentioned in previous post, taking time for yourself is always and absolutely necessary. This past week has been crazy, fabulous and such a blessing. My family welcomed a new addition to the family, Finnegan Jeffrey Corey. On top of the traveling to and from Columbus, preparing for Trick-or-Treat night and keeping up with the daily routine, my week at work has been even crazier. Taking two days off may have added to the craziness but, with meetings, deadlines and more, this week has truly been a whirlwind. In the midst of this craziness it is important to me to take a step back and be thankful for it all, even the craziness. So, cheers to today! Cheers to my family and boyfriend that I love, to my awesome job and even better co-workers, to new additions, to being busy almost every minute of the day and taking time to appreciate it all.

Taking this time to recognize these things allow me to thank God each day that I am able to be a part of such a great life. New posts and updated content to come next week!

Busy Being An Aunt

To the little man who has changed our lives forever – what a blessing you are.
Welcome to the world Finnegan Jeffrey Corey! One of the best jobs in the world! We love you Finn!

Thank You Gretchen

Today my Friday favorite is dedicated to the sweet girl pictured below. I know she is photographed quite often, but in my opinion, who wouldn’t want to constantly look at her dear face. I would like to thank this girl (and her parents) for allowing me to become an aunt, and making it the best and most perfect experience of my life!

In just a few short days, Gretchen, my niece, will be a big sister! For two years, my family’s love and attention has been centered on this girl. However, come Monday, our eager love will grow for one more small child. In the best way possible, no longer will it just be Gretch, but a niece and a nephew that will bring happiness into my life. Becoming an aunt has been one indescribable experience and trust me, being an aunt to Gretchen has been a blessing – more than I could have ever asked for.

Congrats to my favorite sister, her amazing husband, my sweet Miss G and soon-to-be nephew – and thank you, for allowing me to be aunt.

The Army Way Is Here To Stay

The time for outerwear (jackets, vests, coats etc.) has arrived and I found two of my absolute favorite pieces. Not only have I found my go-to pieces, but they are in the same shade of green, army green. The two items below are both pieces that I will turn to time and time again until the wintery weather arrives and I will be forced to wear warm sweaters and large coats. Over the years I have owned several different items in army green and I think what I love about it so much is its ability to work with any color. I have worn this shade of green with brown, black even navy! What I also like about this color and style is that it seems to be in style each year. Towards the end of summer you will see most stores working in this color and these rugged styles into every line. The two below are my favorite, but I have also included a few that are on my wish-list in “Shop the Look”. What is your favorite way to incorporate army green?

Trench Coat at Target

Utility Vest at Target

Quilted Vest at Target

Faux Fur at Loft

Prairie Jacket at Patagonia

Paddock Vest at Orvis

My Favorite Snack Drawer

Do you remember when you were young going to the same in the kitchen for your favorite snack. As kid, no matter whose house you were at, there was always that one drawer or cupboard where all the best snacks were kept. Whether I was at my cousin’s, grandparents, friend’s or even my own house, opening it up to see Duck-a-roos, goldfish, Ho-hos (Swiss rolls), peanut butter cheese crackers and more! The variety was an overwhelming and awesome feeling as kid. Opening up those doors to make your selection was one of the best parts of any day.

It is quite clear that I am a lover of food, and even as I get older food continues to be a very important part of my life. Despite my loves for snacks, what comes along with age is the alteration in the foods we consume. Luckily, when I say I love food, I truly do love all kinds of food – so turning to a healthier lifestyle was not that hard for me.

With all of this in mind, I was able to make my very own favorite snack drawer, but with a healthy and more fashion forward twist. I purchased four mason jars at a consignment store in my town, so these are the real deal. They are a perfect size and look great sitting on my kitchen counter. The first jar is filled with almonds and dried cranberries. The second, semi-sweet chocolate chips (if our sweet tooth is ever talking), and the third coconut covered cashews from Trader Joe’s (my absolute favorite). I keep these three snacks pretty consistent and the fourth jar I will switch out different snacks as we eat them. Right before I wrote this post I filled it up with Banana Nut Cheerios.

These jar fillable treats are a great substitute for the beloved snack drawer I depended on as a child – easy to access and full of variety, not to mention a cute look for your counter. 

What is your favorite healthy “go-to” snack? Do you have any suggestions for my fourth jar? Leave a comment below with your recommended snack to fill my mason jar!

[Tuesday’s Taste – Sesame Green Beans]

Lately I have absolutely been obsessed with green beans. Although the season for the freshest produce is pretty much over, I just can’t get enough of them. Despite my latest obsession, my inspiration for this dish came from the sesame garlic sauce I spotted at the grocery store. A taste of sesame reminds me of Chinese, so as I rolled with this dish, I added a little rice, soy sauce, veggies and lean meat and it made for a savory all-inclusive meal.

It is a very simple recipe that you can literally can cook all at the same time and just stir it all together. Following less than 10 steps, you will have a meal that touches on almost every food group and is bursting with flavor. Enjoy!

• Olive oil
• 1 onion – chopped
• 1 package of ground turkey
• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 lb. + trimmed green beans
• 2 tbsp. + Sesame garlic – Asian sauce
• Soy sauce – to taste

1. Chop onions. Sauté with olive oil in large pan over low heat.

2. Cook ground turkey with olive oil on low/medium heat. Cook and crumble until browned.

3. Cook brown rice.

4. Cook green beans. Place in large pan with cooked onions.

5. Add sesame garlic sauce and soy sauce (to taste) to vegetables.

6. Add rice to browned ground turkey. Add vegetable mixture and stir.

Contentment Provides A Tickling Feeling

About a week ago I tweeted, “Contentment provides a tickling feeling”. This is a small phrase that has spoken loudly to me over the past few weeks. It was around this exact time in 2013 that I began to anxiously await and question what was going to happen with my life. I knew I was going to be graduating college in May and for me that meant immediately getting into focus mode and figuring out what the rest of my life has in store for me. I was working on finding a job, finishing strong in school, where I was going to live and how all of the relationships in my life were going to be affected based on the decisions I made.

Graduation has come and gone,  and if you were to ask me a year ago if this is where I thought I would be the answer would be no – but of course that is the case. All too often we all say we are in control, but it’s all God’s work. So I am here – a small town, a gorgeous home, a great job, the ability to live in comfort and close enough to all of the people who are important to me.

I started my job at the end of May and have remained rather focused on mastering my position and industry. As each day goes by, I not only become more comfortable and knowledgeable in my position, but more comfortable and knowledgeable with my own life outside of work. I hear it is pretty common for “20 somethings” to question what they are doing and why they are doing it – so if that is a hot commodity, then I can totally relate. It has happened, should I have explored more options, looked at more positions in bigger cities – the list goes on and on. And while I have internally been fighting this battle I think I have found a light – contentment.

I am a very driven person, in more ways than one, and throughout my entire life contentment was never a word used often in my vocabulary.  However, I found such a joy in this word and it’s meaning. 

Usually, I am always jumping around from one idea to the next, a total scatter brain when it comes to ideas, motivations and just life in general. Yet, through the transition into adulthood satisfaction and ease of mind is exactly what I have found. Through all life uncertainties, questionable situations and straight up uncomfortable moments, God has led me to a state of contentment, and one that feels so good.

No longer am I measuring my life in the amount of goods I can accumulate, the pictures I can re-create or the amount of ridiculously perfect memories I can engrave in my mind, but by the feeling of pure joy. Whether it be from God, my family, my boyfriend, my best friends, my job, my home, my workouts and more, this comforting state of contentment truly tickles me inside.

Remaining focused and driven is important to me and pushes me to reach my goals, but along the way feeling loved in all and every situation provides an ease of mind and that tickling feeling of enjoyment. God has given me a great life and has provided me the comfort to enjoy it.

These people also provide a great deal of happiness in my life.

Love, Enjoy And Appreciate It All

My temporary break from blogging will cease in the upcoming days. I love blogging and updating all my readers on what is currently going on in my life. However, sometimes I sit back and think, have I become too obsessed with keeping track, writing down ideas and photographing every aspect of my life? It was when this realization occurred that I told myself I needed to take a step back and live a few days enjoying the presence of the people I love and beautiful community I live in.

Throughout the past week I have enjoyed countless festive experiences with the people I adore most. I have also regained my focus on both my physical and work goals. There are so many amazing happenings in my life and to not fully enjoy each one would be a sin. I promise, I will be back with more updates. With fall foliage in full swing (my favorite time of year) I have really appreciated each exciting situation I have been apart of the last week, and recognizing that the community I live in, the people I surround myself with and the awesome events that God puts in front of me are all gifts that I should not only share with all of you, but deeply appreciate and enjoy myself.

Enjoy this amazing photograph I pulled from my church’s Facebook page of my favorite small town in the USA.

Pure Barre: Attempt One

So let’s take a minute and first acknowledge that my dance days ended at age 7, and while I totally enjoy dancing aimlessly in my best friend Olivia’s dorm room or in my own kitchen, I am by no means a dancer. It was because of this that my first experience at Pure Barre was naturally awkward – but in the best way possible.

For those of you new to this form of exercise, click here. You will be mesmerized by the totally trendy website, and notice that the classes are only offered in highly populated areas, not to mention, expensive. Being the frugal little cub that I am I noticed that my first class would be free and decided to jump on this opportunity. Now trust me, I knew what this was all about, I even watched the helpful “What To Expect” video on their website. I was first introduced to Pure Barre back in June, when a co-worker of mine knew that I enjoyed various forms of exercise and suggested that I give it try while we were in Michigan. At the time work was a bit hectic and we were unable to make the class we hoped for. Ever since I have been longing to make it to a class. While traveling alone this past week for work I found the perfect opportunity to finally experience it all.

Before I get in to details, let me again remind you that despite my extremely girlish ways my extent of working out and exercising doesn’t include much of the ballerina movements, however, I walked in to class at 6:45 confident that I would rock this workout.

We did a brief warm up and I quickly thought, I got this. Then the arm workout began and the idea of laying flat on my back for the remainder of the workout did cross my mind. I continued – and we got into massive amounts of pelvic thrusts and seat tucks. It were these thrusts that made my legs wobbly and me very self-conscious that I was the only girl in the room unable to properly complete the exercises. At one point, I unfortunately felt like this guy. (Seriously read this article – it is hilarious.)

Despite my awkwardness and inability to control my body like I thought I could, the workout was amazing. Although my legs, abs and arms all felt weak during the workout – post-workout they felt amazing and strong. The next day I was sore in areas of my body I didn’t know existed – and YEAH GUY FROM BROBIBLE being a girl is hard, and expensive! The movements and areas we worked on during the 55 minute class are all typical female trouble areas. Trouble not only on my body, but also my wallet. It is true – to work and fight against these tough areas we women battle with, it clearly takes money to pay these instructors to teach us proper technique to fight them. It’s expensive, but I am a true believer that having a healthy body in invaluable – so it’s worth it!

Unfortunately there are only classes in cities, which I don’t live in. My hopes are that a studio opens relatively close by opens because I would indeed make the trip – daily. For now, any city I visit, you better believe I will be making time to attend a class. I also hope that my awkwardness in these isometric movements diminishes the more I attend. So, until my next time I urge you ladies to try it out, you may be an awkward turtle and look like a weirdo, but it is a workout that will work and burn the areas hardest to reach.

External Health: Apothecary Extracts – Tea Tree Oil

Hello friends! Today I am here to discuss a healthier side of living that may not get touched on as often as getting enough exercise and eating wholesome foods are. Maintaining a naturally healthy body can often go further than just exercise and food – though both provide a healthy body inside and out. Over the past week I have dived into a new product that has made the outside of my body not only feel but, look healthier. Apothecary Extracts – Tea Tree Oil is an essential oil that naturally fights numerous skin blemishes and can be used around the house as more natural alternative. For me, the product has worked wonders on my breakout areas. I received my bottle a little over a week ago, and my boyfriend and I have both seen great results. That’s right ladies and gents – works wonderfully on men too! I used it strictly on my face, but Taylor on his face, shoulders and upper arms. 

Getting to the nitty-gritty – the bottle is packaged and labeled nicely. The outside of the bottle provides a great deal of information that will give you answers to any questions you may have. *Beware of the great scent when opening the bottle – this extremely potent and pure oil gives off an eye-tearing stench, but don’t be alarmed it is this scent that backs up the clarity it brings to your skin.

I used the product with two cotton balls, rubbing the oil over the troubled areas of skin. The one warning  I will give is – if you have dry skin or even moderately dry skin, I would dilute the product. Why it worked so well for me was the fact that it did totally dry out and clear up my trouble spots – just be sure lotion up after the product works it’s magic.

When diluting – it is best to use olive oil or coconut oil – complete directions to this will be on your bottle. When reading the label on the bottle it is also interesting to take a look at all the known facts about this product – no preservatives, no chemical solvents, no artificial colors and more. Trust me, it is worth checking out, because it provides proof that what you are applying to your skin is indeed all natural.

Overall – I would have to give this product a great rating. The ways in which you can use this product is endless. I have tried it specifically to clear acne and like I mentioned, it was very effective. It is indeed a very strong and potent product, so I would be sure you are using it correctly, mixing it correctly and diluting it to a necessary level that will be safe for you.

It currently can be purchased here. Costing only $25 – you get a 4 ounce bottle, which will last a very long time. When you purchase this 4 ounce bottle you also receive a FREE eBook that provides 50+ uses for Tea Tree Oil. The eBook provides various ways to use tea tree oil to improve life and replace harmful products around your home. With its versatile, effective results and all natural ingredients, the product is set up for success. If you are interested in taking a step closer to a healthier external body I recommended you take the plunge and try this product – you won’t be disappointed!

This post is sponsored by BrandBacker.