5 on Friday | The First of 2019

One of my favorite "regular" posts I used to keep up with is the 5 on Friday! I'd like to continue that into the new age of blogging that I'm looking at! :)

1. I still love to bake, and even though I quit for so many years (life, kids, over committing to too many activities, committees, boards, leagues, etc), since we sold our house and moved into a rental with the world's tiniest kitchen-- I have found myself baking again!

50th birthday tarte I made, double layer, with sugar cookies, snickers, cookies & creme bars, meringue candies, sprinkles, strawberry wafers, and fresh flowers. I had so much fun making this!!

My first batch of macarons! They're just vanilla flavored, don't let the bright purple color fool you!

strawberry cheesecake macarons! 

My first attempt at meringue candies/cookies

I mastered the French macaron (my favorite!), and I'm getting better at the art part of royal icing. I can make it each time, but my hand is NOT steady while decorating! I spend a lot of time watching cookie and cake icing videos on instagram (they're so soothing to watch while I fall asleep, haha!)

2. This summer, I started the process of becoming a non-traditionally licensed elementary teacher! This just means that I have a bachelors degree, but not in education. So, I had a month of summer classes and I'm eligible to teach as the teacher of record with a provisional license until I complete the program next year! School starts next week and I'm still job hunting, which is disheartening to be totally truthful, but I'm trying to stay positive that I'll end up in a position where the kids truly need someone like me, where I can serve them and teach them and be exactly what they need during this time in their lives.

On my way to orientation for the APPEL program :) 

I never in my life thought that this would be the career path I chose to pursue. I mean, I did major in education for a hot minute but when I had to do observations, I ended up in an 8th grade classroom and I didn't enjoy that one single bit. However, when Sophia was in 1st grade, I got to spend a lot of time in her classroom and I enjoyed it so much. It was like a light bulb went off, or maybe, I finally woke up to my calling. Either way. I am ready to land a job and start making an impact.

It might be silly, but I'm super proud of this little piece of feel-good paper!

3. In 2018 I finally got my personal training certification through NASM, something that had been on my "goal list" since 2011. It isn't any kind of secret that from 2014-2018 I just let myself goooooo. I let my emotions and fear around our life transitions take hold of me, and I guess I felt like drowning my emotions in food was the answer. Anyway, in December of last year I finally got my life together and got myself back. I have taken the last few weeks not off entirely, but I have been off my routine, which I think I needed! I hit the gym yesterday for only the 2nd time this week and today I am on FIRE. I did back and shoulders and ran a mile (the worst 12 minutes of my life, I hate running! SO WHY DID I SIGN UP FOR A 5K TOMORROW?!). My favorite on back/shoulder day: military press and parallel grip cable rows.

2017 | 2019 - Although I didn't lose a pound until December 2018.

At the beginning of summer I decided I wanted to do 2 leg days per week, Mondays and Thursdays, so I combined back and shoulders. All summer I've been in a 5 day split, but when I get a job (soon, hopefully!) I'll move to a 4 day split. Although some weeks it will still be 5 because you know sometimes... those extra long Saturday workouts are much needed. There isn't anything better than a nice, loooooong Saturday lifting session with my husband or bestie Michelle!

4. Since it has been sooooo long since I've actually posted anything, I decided that today I would share one super fun thing we did this summer. But then.... there were so many super fun things we did! Last week my niece came to stay with us and we did a tour of Arkansas Alpacas, which was SO MUCH FUN and SO SPECIAL (seriously, all caps kinda great). Sophia is obsessed with alpacas and llamas so her entire life was perfect in that instant! She got to feed and pet so many alpacas!

It was raining the entire time we were visiting, which is lucky since that meant cooler temperatures (mid 70s)... Sophia was very adamant about wearing her alpaca jacket to visit the alpacas!

Other big milestones this summer: Olivia got her drivers license (she can't drive without an adult in the car until she's 16 next June, so I guess it is still a permit but its the official hard plastic license so)! Sophia decided that this would be the summer she lost all her fear about the water and she put her whole head under water in the pool, opened her eyes, jumped off the side of the pool one billion times until she perfected her cannonball, and then she took on the diving board in the 11 feet deep water! SO PROUD of both my girls! Time is just flying by and I'm so proud of these kids but I'm also so sad about them not really needing me so much anymore.

5. We are big eaters in our house (no surprise there), but we are, as a family, attempting to eat a little healthier since summer is winding down (no more 8 pop-ices a day, sorry kids husband). Right now my favorite meal to eat (and prepare) is a southwest chicken and rice bowl. It is super easy and inexpensive (win/win!).

• Jasmine Rice
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Frozen honey roasted corn and bell peppers
• optional: diced cucumber, salsa, hot sauce, lettuce 

This meal is so so easy and quick! I cook the chicken in a skillet with a smidge of olive oil and cajun seasoning mixed with asada seasoning I picked up at our Super Mercado. I love spicy food so I use a LOT of seasoning! I like to dice the chicken in the pan as it is cooking so every single bite is covered with spicy deliciousness! 

Annnnd that is all for today's 5 on Friday! I go back and forth from really wanting to write and share our lives somewhere besides facebook to feeling like an idiot for thinking about it. So, I'll be back next Friday for sure... maybe. If not before! We will see. :) First day of school is next week so I'll at least come post some lunches!

A little Belated

We had a super busy weekend! It was fun, but I totally forgot to do Five on Friday!! I am going to do it today, because I love it :)

ONE// I ordered my 2017 Erin Condren Life Planner last week. I have used the vertical for the last year and I am making the switch to the hourly. I'm so excited! I can't order a new planner without ordering new stickers... oh and EC had a buy x amount and get $10 off your next order... so of course I bought a few things! Right now they are running their buy a planner, get a sticker  book free promo, which kind of makes me wish I had waited, but not really. You can order a planner today and use my referral code to get $10 off AND get a free sticker book!

Since I ordered a new planner, I also ordered some new stickers. I'm working to get my physical life back on track so I was super excited when I found these Tone It Up inspired stickers from @BuckeyeBeauty on etsy!

Then, I have always wanted these adorable life fail stickers from PeanutButterTaco but never ordered them.. well y'all, that changed this week. They're SO FUNNY though I am not sure if I can bring myself to use them! haha!

These forced family fun stickers will be SO PERFECT for our planned camping trip in a couple of weeks. My children whine and hate it so much when we drag them out into the woods to sleep!! They will look back on those memories and miss them when they're grown though, I just know it!

I laugh every time I look at these!! 

TWO// Beth & Russell came from Alabama to run the RussVegas triathlon this weekend and they stayed with me. It was so fun to see my friend TWO weekends in a row!! I babysat their son Jacob while they ran the tri and Sophia had so much fun with him. They hadn't seen each other since they were 2 or 3 and we were in HSV for spring break with my sister.

THREE// New York in the Fort happened last night, and it was so fun! Beth, Russell and I went and checked out the revamped Simply Couture Boutique downtown and I got the cutest dress and bracelet! I can't wait to wear them.. maybe I will to work tomorrow. The dress is a long sleeved frock so I may have to wait a while. Its not quite fall weather down here in Arkansas, y'all.

FOUR// Homework. The classes I'm taking right now are killing me. I don't know if I'm just having a hard time because I'm so busy with everything else, or if I just really truly hate the classes. They're so boring. AND the last assignment I had to do- nothing related to the topic was mentioned in the textbook. I am so frustrated with these classes and eager for them to be over. TWO MORE after these two and that little piece of paper is mine! 

FIVE// Hair probs. The last time I posted a 5OF I mentioned rose gold hair. Well, I just can't really decide what I want to do. I sort of miss dark hair. I hate dealing with grey hair (yes I unfortunately have so many).... and dark hair means more actual color maintenance for me dealing with them. I also want my hair to get longer and it seems to be easier for me to grow out when its brunette. I haven't struggled with a hair decision this much in a long time (probably last time I went back to brunette). 

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Best Damn Guac

Avocados.

You love them or you hate them. Until a couple of years ago, I hated them. Sometimes, when they're too mushy and I try to eat them any other way besides guacamole, I still hate them. GAG over that texture!!

Last night I had some leftover spicy chicken soup (I made extra last week and froze individual portions for easy dinners this week!) for dinner, but my problem is.. I love a CRUNCH. I normally top the soup with avocado slices but my avocado was a smidge overly ripe for me. So I threw some kale in the oven for kale chips & made some guacamole! I felt rather lazy so I didn't chop up all the fresh ingredients I normally would.

Lazy Lady Guac is what I should have named this. haha

For this super easy guacamole, I only used 1/2 an avocado (it was all I had leftover from the previous day).

1/2 avocado

6 grape tomatoes

1/8 tsp garlic powder (I didn't measure but this is approximate)

1/8 tsp onion powder (I didn't measure but this is approximate)

1/8 tsp seasoned salt (bet you can guess what I was going to type here)

1/2 tsp freeze dried chives

sea salt & black pepper to taste

generous dousing of lime juice (1/2 a lime)

Mix everything together and Voila! you have super fast, easy, still delicious guacamole. I normally add fresh cilantro but I was out, so I just went with extra chives. 

For my kale chips:

place on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, seasoned salt, honey, and crushed red pepper. Bake until crunchy at 300 degrees.

Perfect snack for any time!!

xo