Five Friday Favorites

Happy Friday from freezing and snowy Oklahoma! Today is our third snowfall for the week and temperatures are frigid but we can't really complain. We don't get a ton of snow here in the plains but when we do I really do kind of enjoy it. So...

 

ONE:: Beautiful White Capped Oklahoma

 

 

The other day when our second winter storm had just arrived I asked Kyle to take me down to my favorite road to snap a few shots. Well, this is one I ended up with and I just love it. I love it cause I was saying I enjoy when we are covered in white because it brings peace. I feel like the snow always brings a sense of calmness and peace, forcing people to slow down a bit in their busy lives and take in the beautifulness God provided us with. So, stay warm wherever you are this weekend!

 

TWO:: Trying to See the Light

 

 

If you follow me on social media, you saw this picture last night. This is a half favorite of mine this week. I am now on day 12 of a terrible awful toothache. Long story, but yes I have seen two dentist and praying for relief this weekend. Anyway, yesterday apparently was a pretty rough day cause I left the grocery store after work with these. I do love fresh flowers and since mine have since died from Valentine's Day I couldn't pass up these beauties to freshen up the house with a bit of spring....as the snow falls haha. AND I LOVE a Cadbury cream egg, oh my goodness! First of the season, want to make a bet on how many I end up with this year? Oh, that could be bad.

 

THREE:: Puzzle Time

 

 

I feel like eighty years old including this in my favorites this week but it is what it is. I had this weird urge to want to do a puzzle the last few weeks so I picked up one at Target. I figured Kyle would have nothing to do with it when I got it out one evening and started to put together the border. He quickly stopped his work and jumped in. It was fun to do together a few evenings but then he kinda took over and finished it. It was still fun and I thought about buying another but I'm afraid if I do that we might also start eating dinner at 5:00 haha!

 

FOUR:: OU Season Ticket Renewal

Source: SoonerSports
 

I renewed my season tickets yesterday and I can't help to wish away months but come on August!!!! BOOMER SOONER!

FIVE:: Cancun or Cabo?!

Source

 

Me and my best friend are planning a trip for our thirtieth birthdays this June and for the life of us we can't figure out where to go or stay. We had originally planned Cabo but we've heard the beaches are rocky and the water is too rough to get in, true?! And so we started looking at Cancun. But we definitely want to pick the right resort. So what do you guys think? Who has been and would recommend resorts?! We want all inclusive for sure. Thanks guys!

To start with snow and end with the beach...that's pretty much where my mind is lately. I have a jam packed weekend with lots of fun plans so here is to the snow not running everything! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

 

     

How He Loves

I didn't write this post but I thought it was way too good not to share. This post came from Nicole over at Bloom. The original post is from a devotional she has put together, Selah. I know that I see a lot of young girls struggling with trials in tribulations as they enter the world of adulthood. Whether just graduating high school or in college preparing themselves for the "real world". I pray that this reaches someone that might be on the verge of giving their life to Christ but have maybe have had second thoughts thinking "once they have their life together." Girls, like Nicole says. You don't have to wait. God is here now and ready to love you just the way you are. His love is true, pure and everlasting. I know this is geared towards younger girls but praying it touches anyone. I hope you guys enjoy...

   

Healthy Dinner Idea {Vegetable Turkey Sausage Stir-Fry}

A couple weeks ago I was strolling through Instagram and saw this quick and easy dinner idea on Livylovestorun's Insta. PS: She is super motivating and inspiring! I wasn't quite sure how I was going to pull it off with Kyle but I got no complaints! This dish was super healthy, easy and pretty tasty. If you're looking for a quick weeknight dinner idea, try this one!

 

Vegetable Turkey Sausage Stir-Fry

 

 

Ingredients

(All depending on how many servings you want to make) This made enough for Kyle and I plus leftovers for my lunch the next day.

 

3/4 lb Brussels Sprouts

1 large sweet potato

1 large head of broccoli

1 lb smoked turkey sausage

Olive oil

Black Pepper (or any seasonings you'd like. I stayed away from salt)

 

Directions

Chop all veggies and slice sausage

Sautee veggies with olive oil over medium heat until veggies are tender

Add assuage and warm through

Add pepper or any seasonings you'd like

Serve warm

 

Total time: 20 minutes

Servings: 3
Recipe found here

 

 

This was so filling and a guilt free meal. Kyle says he doesn't like brussels sprouts or non-candied sweet potatoes and he ate it all. I will be making it again! For dessert we had fresh blackberries with a dollop of whipped cream (low fat, shhh). It was delicious!

 

Today I am linking up with Martinis & Bikinis for Tuesday's Recipe Swap!

 

        

Weekending: South to Dallas

Last week Kyle called me at work to see what my plans were for the upcoming weekend. I didn't think much of it cause 9.9 times out of 10 this means he wants to go fishing. A little while later I get a call back from him letting me know he booked us a hotel for the weekend in Dallas. Say what?!! Ok, this is the first time ever he has just booked a weekend trip for us! Usually it goes something like lets go here, are we busy?, alright can you book us a room Kris? And we go. So, I was completely shocked and so happy that he planned a weekend getaway for us. And I LOVE, love, love Dallas!

 

So, two Sundays ago I got a TERRIBLE toothache. After getting into the dentist a couple days later I was told I'd have to have the dreaded root canal. I was put on a couple medicines and told I'd be much better by Friday and in a few weeks I could have the root canal done. Friday rolls around and I was literally in tears being in so much pain. The medicine isn't working, my dentist is on vacation and on Friday of course all dentists are pretty much closed. This wasn't stopping me from a weekend in Dallas. I stocked up on pain pills and we headed South Friday evening. I hate teeth. Seriously, I hate them. I take pretty good care of my teeth and because of genetics I have crappy teeth. I told Kyle we aren't having kids cause I don't want them to have bad teeth. He's blessed with good teeth so maybe our kids someday will have his. Grrrr!

 

Anyways, when we left home it was drizzling, twenty-nine degrees and pretty terrible outside. We arrived in Dallas just a few hours later and welcomed by seventy degrees, so glad we flew south for the weekend! One of Kyle's best friends lives in Dallas so we met up with him for dinner Friday right after we got in town at Smoke.

 

 

I ordered the bacon and egg burger and oh my goodness it was delicious! The inch thick hickory smoked bacon was delicious! I had one bite and gave it to the guys, knowing it was probably 2,000 calories per slice! Afterwards we headed over to Mash'd for a couple of drinks. Well, the guys did. The pain pills from the stupid teeth again caused me to miss out on cocktails this weekend. Thanks, teeth. Anyways, we loved this place! They are known for their moonshine so Kyle tried several different kinds and I took sips of course.

 

 

 We'll be back when I can have more than watermelon water, thanks Brandon for introducing us!

 

Saturday, was full of eating and shopping. Literally. I'm also a really bad blogger and apparently forgot to take pictures. But, that's what I do best in Dallas - shop, eat and drink cocktails. Screw you teeth! So, for lunch we stopped in at Kyle's favorite taco shop and had lunch. Spicy pork tacos from Fuzzy's are to die for!

 

 

The rest of the day we shopped and shopped. Kyle is such a good sport when it comes to shopping! As long as I let him go to his favorites he could care less how long we spend shopping. I really love him for that! Could my love language be shopping? He just carried around his phone on speaker phone and listened to the Bass Master Classic Weigh-In. I hit all my favorite stores and snatched up a few new accessories I couldn't live without. That night for dinner we ate at a steakhouse and had drinks at a local pub by our hotel. I mean, Kyle did obviously. Stupid teeth. I wanted to so badly go to a rooftop bar I read about in the blogging land but it was kind of a far drive and we had a late dinner so Kyle wasn't really up for it. Since my teeth are stupid I didn't press the issue but NYLO I will visit you soon!

 

 

Sunday, again shopped and ate. Surprise! Kyle hadn't been to In N Out so we of course had to let him have that experience for lunch. We finished off the day at Ikea and then headed home. Our trip to the South turned cold and icy by the time we were leaving. We knew Oklahoma had some winter weather over the weekend but we wanted to try and beat the storm that came into Texas. We carefully made our way back home to Oklahoma.

 

It was a fun weekend! I love to shop and eat at places that we don't have local in Oklahoma so that's exactly what we did. We'll be back Big D, we'll be back! BUT my crappy teeth will not be holding be back next trip! So, after a wonderful weekend with lots of eating yummy meals I am ready for a detoxing good week!

Oh wait, we woke up to a snow globe outside so it was another work from home day and I'll be busting out my yoga mat and hand weights tonight. Stay warm everyone and have a great week! 

   

God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle

Myth. What?! How can the phrase "God wont give you more than you can handle" be a myth?! Well, God never said that. Simple as that, right? No, not simple! For so long I have always heard this and been told this when the weight of the world weighed down on me. I felt comfort and peace in this phrase and as soon as I heard "God never said that" I was immediately disappointed.

 

Our preacher is doing a four part series on common things people believe God said but in reality he did not. He covered this phrase this past Sunday morning and left me with so many thoughts for the rest of the day. How could God not mean this? "God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out.." 1 Corinthians 10:13 After reading this I was still convinced God knows my limits, he wont give me more than what would break me.

 

Why would God allow you and I to have more than we can handle? God is teaching us to depend on his presence. This is when it all started to get a little clearer for me. God never said we wouldn't be able to take on more than he gives us because he is trying to get us to realize we need to seek him, not a way out. Have you ever realized when things are going so wonderful in your life it seems a little easier to maybe forget about God and depending on him as much? But when I can't catch a break and I feel like I'm in the midst of my life being completely flipped upside down I can't go more than ten minutes without talking to God. "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you Lord,  and my prayer rose to you." Jonah 2:2-7 I began to think about the times I've been in the "valley" in my life and the times I've been on top of the "mountain top" and absolutely I have grown so much closer to my God while down in the valley. Being in the valley I repeatedly have asked God why?! And I know I have to give my struggles to him and not try and control them and my life. However; I was missing the part about seeking him further. I had that intimate relationship with him but he is striving for more from us and I wasn't going even deeper.  "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." Psalm 145:18

This was the light bulb moment for me during the sermon. Of course he is going to give us so much more than we can take on alone, cause we need him! We were not created to have all the power ourselves. We were created to need God and his power.  "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficutlites. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 I would much rather be stuck in a valley with God than on a  mountain top without God, said by Craig Groeschel and I could not agree more. I immediately started to feel broken. How could I be in such a low stage in life feeling like if I could just get to the top of the mountain all while God is just waiting on me to fall even more in love with him and seek him in every moment of my life.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness...and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:26-28 The analogy was given that we try to live life alone we are rowing in our boats all by ourselves with no help and exhausted. When we seek God in our lives we are able to put our sails up and sail without rowing. God will work things out for us for the better but we must call on him first. We were not created to do life on our own.

 

   

Making Getting Fit Easier

I am a strong believer that working out is nonnegotiable in my life but sometimes dang it, it's hard to be motivated to hit the gym after a long day! I have found that there are some things that make it a little easier to be motivated to sweat it out. I hope that these tips might help someone as well, all trial and error of course and completely depends on the person.

 

 

One, I try to never miss a Monday. If I miss a Monday I always, always regret it. I find that if I start out the week right then the week seems to be a little easier to be motivated. Plus, typically after weekends that's when I feel like I need a workout the most. I typically try to workout three or four times a week so usually that does not include being at the gym on weekends. Sometimes the week falls a part and I find myself there on a Friday or Saturday morning. I love a Saturday morning yoga session so that's not always bad.

 

 

Two, I try to always set my clothes out and anything I need for my workout the night before. I find if I am not rushing in the morning before work then I am way more likely to be prepared and fit the gym into my day. If it's all in my gym bag and ready to grab then I have zero excuses to not get my sweat on!

 

Gym-Ropes from Kristen on Vimeo.

 

Three, something that has definitely been working for me is going to workout at slower times during the day. I know for me I am much more intimidated if I walk into the gym after five o'clock and it is packed with hardcore iron pumping men, or women. I am way less likely to branch out of my normal workout routine if this is the case. So, I've been going either later at night, on my lunch break or early a couple times a week. When its slower I've been incorporating different exercise in my routine since I'm less likely to feel like twenty people are watching me. I know they aren't but when its my first time to try something I like to do it without worrying if I'm doing it wrong. Lets just say if its crowded and something requires me to rack my weights, I'm probably not doing it. I know, I'm a baby. Anyways, I'm always wanting to try the ropes but its always so the other night I got the chance. Whew, my arms were feeling it! 

 

 

Four, I try to keep some healthy snacks on hand. Throw a couple bars in my purse, one in my desk at work with a bag of almonds giving me no excuse. If I am out running errands and start starving if I have a bar on hand then that takes care of me being tempted to pull into a drive through or pick up a crappy snack at the gas station.

Five, along with healthy snacks bringing my lunch to work. This eliminates me picking something up at a fast food joint for lunch...except for the days that my coworkers peer pressure me into the temptation! Salads with tuna or grilled chicken and lettuce wraps are my go-to-meals a lot of times. My wraps are just sandwiches wrapped in lettuce and skipping out on the bread. My salads I find myself taking the chicken we had for dinner the night before and chopping it up and throwing it in. If we have chicken, if not tuna a lot of the time. Also, I've been mixing a can of tuna, half of an avocado, a little bit of light mayo and throwing it into a spinach wrap.

Borrowed from google cause apparently I don't take pics of my water bottles, dang it!

 

Lastly, I've been trying to drink more water. Ah the struggle!!! I don't drink pop and I haven't in over five years but I do drink a lot of tea. So, in the afternoons when my tea runs out instead of going to get another one as a pick me up I've been bringing fruit to work to put in my water. If its flavored I find myself drinking five times as much water.

I hope that some of these tips may help you to either get motivated or to stay motivated with being fit! I know that I need lots of motivation and I don't have a workout partner so I look for it in other ways. These are just a few that have worked for me. Do you have tips that you found are good motivators? I'd love to hear from you guys! 

   

A Weekend Filled with Love

This weekend was filled with seeing lots of people I love and I loved it! Friday evening I ran some last minute valentine errands while Kyle got ready for his fishing tournament. While he fished Saturday I saw all of my little valentines and I started off the day with a heart filled breakfast! ;)

 

 

Saturday afternoon my whole family went to see my niece Jada play in her last basketball game of the season. She has made so much progress this season and we are all so proud of our number zero!

 

 

   My niece and nephew after her game. I think Jada's face is due to the sun and I hope not to the valentine cookies I had just given them!  

  My parents with my older sister and Jada  

 

I baked this little cutie up that afternoon before going to see my tiniest valentines! Remember how I told y'all I was sharing my cream filled hearts I made last week with the littlest ones so there wouldn't be judgment? Well, Brecken showed only love for his cake I brought him!

 

 

Thursday evening after work I stopped by to see one of my best friends and her boys. I brought these valentines cakes as well and they didn't seem to mind! But they were also super excited about their tattoos that they are showing off here, that they got at their valentine's day party that afternoon. Love these guys!

 

 

  My smallest valentine, Cyrus. No worries, Aunt Kristen will bake you goodies next year! But look how cute his 4 month valentine pic is!! Smooches!!!  

 

  And my next to tinniest valentine, Bleeker! Of course I had to send him a card too!  

 

 

That evening Kyle got home with these beautiful flowers! Our evening was low key since he didn't get home until that evening from the tournament. We ate at a local BBQ restaurant, I made a couple raspberry vodka vday cocktails for us, with heart ice cubes ;) and I may have been suckered into buying this because of the cute bottle! Then like an old couple we fell asleep pretty early. And I didn't take one pic of us...wife fail.

 

Sunday we went to church and then spent the rest of the day at Kyle's parents. They cooked out and we enjoyed lots of family time! And food.

 

 

   The best I could get of us.  

   Aunt Kristen, enough with the kisses already!  

 

That evening my sister in law and I went to Target and Dollar General to hit up some great deals! She ended up getting $109 worth of diapers and medicine for a total of $32 after coupons and saving apps! I was pretty proud of my haul also. I got all of this at Dollar General by combing their five dollar off coupon in the newspaper with the Find and Save app, score!! Sorry for the picture overload, but that was my weekend! I hope everyone had a wonderful one as well.

 

 

And this morning we woke up to a SNOW DAY in Oklahoma! My poor husband left at midnight to start putting salt down and clearing parking lots. Such a hard worker! All while I'm working from home today in our warm home. Blessed. Have a great day everyone!