burning up for your babyyyyy

gotta tell the truth girls - i am still on a Jona Brothers high! last night I went to the JoBro's 3d experience and i have absolutely no problem admitting that i am completely infatuated with a 16 year old..don't judge me

unfortunately this post is going to have to be pretty lame because I have that RA workshop all day from 9:30-3:00! ahkkk! It's been an extremely busy past couple of days so i hope you understand my lack of posting/commenting.. but i have been reading all of your blogs!

Have an amazing weekend, girls.. and enjoy this weathahhh! love you xoxo

p.s. i just found out the very generous Michelle at Lucky Taste buds is having a BARNEY BUTTER GIVEAWAY!!! so head on overrrrr to get in on the action!

let's monkey aroundddd

happy friday dolls! i can't believe the last week in february has come and gone - but im down, BRING ON MARCH!!

currently i'm enjoying..

Funky monkey oats!

- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup water
- splash of chocolate boost!
- 1/2 banana
- raisins
- banana walnut gnu bar
- + dark chocolate dreams addition this morning..

*definitely my favorite bowl thus bar.. i'm officially addicted!*

~ Friday Oats and Quotes ~

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is
to produce more leaders, not more followers."

-- Ralph Nader

To me this quote means that a true, honorable leader is one who encourages individuality, not submission. Who inspires his followers to think for themselves and create their own path - rather than follow theirs. Point blank...ED is NOT a good leader at all. He sucks actually.

I really loved reading all of your ladies different interpretations of my quote yesterday - it's so interesting to see how different people react to different things.. so please, keep all that beautiful insight comin!

~ Friday to do ~
- Effective Communications class
- Cleaning
- Home..urgh, scratch that..

that's right girlios.. i'm not going home this weekend. I don't know if i've mentioned this to you but i've actually decided to try and become an RA (resident assistant) on campus next year.. and theres this huge workshop tomorrow that I have to go to. So, I will be bravin' it this weekend and staying! wish me luck!!! thankfully spring break is next weekend (woo!) so i think i can deal :)

have a great day, girls! any exciting plans for the weekend?!?!

all work and no play makes for a BORING day

good morning my ladies! happy thursday. February is officially over in 2 damn days! Jeeze Louise, where has the time gone?!

currently i'm enjoying...

apple cinnamon oats1/2 cup quaker simple harvest apple cinnamon oats
1/2 cup water
1/2 banana
kashi apple spice bar

this morning + some barney's and it is all good :)

~Thursday Oats and Quotes~

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was
so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old
man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was
astonished at how much the old man had
learned in seven years."

-- Mark Twain

I have to be honest girls - this quote kind of threw me for a doozy. I'm not quite sure I know what it means. What i got from this is that when we're unhappy with something/someone sometimes it is necessary to look within ourselves and discovery if perhaps our disliking towards that thing is the result of our own problems. As we grow and mature, it is not the people around us that change - it's us. As we grow to be more open to other individuals we become more accepting of their flaws and in turn become more accepting of ourselves. I'm not sure I really know what Mr. Twain was saying - but i like what I got out of it :) Any thoughts?!

~ Thursday to do ~
- class
- homework
- eat
- homework
- class
- homework
- breath

oh midterms, i loathe you!

have a great day darlings :)

no day but today

good morning and happy hump day my beautiful babes!

First and foremost i wanted to thank all of you for your positive feedback and support yesterday with the roommate situation - i think i may have made her the most hated woman in blogland.. but that's a-okay with me.

~ Tuesday Eats ~

Breakfast

Isabelles bakery brownie, banana, and cafe latte "lightful" smoothie - yea yea, i know.. the name kills it ... but it was delish and loaded with calcium and protein! woooo

Lunchpacked from home 'cause i love me some soft whole wheat... almond butter and jelly sammie, pretzels, and a cranraspberry applesauce (such a good flavor)

afternoon snack

Kashi crunchy chocolate caramel bar.. and you bet your ass that picture is taken in the bathroom on top of the tampon disposal box.. oh the lengths i go to to snag photos for you girls!

Dinner: pasta primavera with a side salad + ranch
Dessert: carrot cake clif bar and some pruneageeeeeeee

So i had decided to suspend my overnight oats obsession at school for the sake of not making "too much noise" in the morning for the roomie - however, after our little incidentooo yesterday i just had a killer craving for oats last night and i couldn't resist ;) oh, i'm horrible..

currently i'm enjoying..

cinnamon raisin oats!

Last nizzightttt's pic
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup water
- bananarama
- 1/2 cinnamon raisin gnu bar

popped that sucker in the micro this morning - added a spoonful of cinnamon raisin pb, and i was good to go! this bowl was simple - but excellent nonetheless!

~Wednesday Oats and Quotes~

"Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow,
not some more convenient season. It is today that
our best work can be done and not some future
day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves
for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is
the seed time, now are the hours of work,
and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime."

-- W.E.B. Du Bois

This quote really reminds me of the play/movie RENT.. and the song "do day but today" It's true - in a world full of procrastinators the greatest tendency is for us to put off things...do them when they are convenient for us. I feel like that is how i've thought about recovery-- i'll do it when i'm comfortable with it.. when i feel okay about it... but honestly, I know i will never feel okay with recovery. I have to do it now - the moment i committ myself to it is the moment i will truly be able to overcome.. so why wait?!

~Wednesday to do~
- effective communications class
- studying/papers
- mi amigo mentoring
- yogaski
- meeting with my academic advisor
- info tech class later tonight

have a great day babydolls! xoxo

purple's the new black

Girls this is going to be a quickaaaay but i have two importanteee things to address.. 

1.) my main girl Emily tagged me with the creative blogger award! wo0o0ooo.. thank you, my darling girl, it means so much :)! 

now i am given the unfortunate task of choosing only five of my beautiful bloggers to receive this award.

disclaimer: I think you all are TREMENDOUSLY creative so consider yourselves all tagged..but as far as the top cinco..

• Alyssa - for her amazing advice, for her ability to express and articulate her thoughts in such a creative and thoughtful manner, and for her generosity and aspirations to always help others.
  
• Amy - for being creative in just about every aspect ... her photography, her food, her crafts, her thrift purchases.. that girl has an amazing mind!
  
• Lee - for her bangin' oats creations and always finding a creative way to really force me to look within myself, ask myself questions about what i'm doing - that girl really has always got me thinking.. which i LOVE. 
  
• Kath: for always finding a creative way to incorporate popculture/movie references into her posts that always leave me laughing my ass off
  
• Julia: for being so full of energy, for always helping me to see the beauty in life....and ALWAYS coming up with the most creative terms of endearment
  

again - i wish i could tag all of you... :( you all are so important and contribute so much creativity in to my life!! 

now i gotta put my debbie downer hat on..

so today i was in my room - minding my own business, rocking my purple pants. My roommate says to me "haha oh my god okay so today there was this girl in my history class and she was wearing a full purple juicy couture sweat suit and i told her i liked the color, and she was like 'thanks! im wearing it to support national eating disorder awareness week!' ... what a stupid thing to celebrate - i would definitely not be proud to celebrate that..thats so stupid, she probably just wanted attention"... 

girls, this comment gave me CHILLS. initally my reaction was to be like "oh, bitch.. you don't like purple?! well how do you feel about black and blue once i punch you in the freaking eyeball". BUT i composed myself - and decided to go the more classy, "make her feel stupid" route. So, i simply said "haha oh I think that's great.. why do you think i'm wearing my purple jeans" .. needless to say she felt mighty stupid and embarassed - and i hope she felt ignorant, because she should. There is certainly awkward tension in the room now but i'm okay with that. I've just spent the night doing my work, listening to my music, and not paying her any attention. 

Speaking of my music.. i am in love with Gavin Degraw and his song "I don't wanna be" really got me through the day! here's my  favorite line/chorus:

Part of where I'm going is knowing where I'm coming from
I don't want to be anything other than what I've been tryin to be lately
All I have to do is think of me and have peace of mind
I'm tired of looking 'round rooms wondering what I gotta do
Or who I'm supposed to be
I don't want to be anything other than me

Have a rest of the night girls and continue to rock your purple gear proudly! 

ding dong the witch is dead...

which old witch? the weighing witch!

You heard me right chicas – the scale is GONEZO. I asked my mom to hide it – now it is M.I.A and I am lovin’ it. I never had a huge addiction to weighing myself – but when I did I always felt MISERABLE afterwards. If I had lost weight I was upset because that low number was scary as hell to me and FRUSTRATING because it showed me I wasn’t making any progress.. if I had gained ED would creep in and tell me I was fat and that this was awful…and if I stayed the same – I got SUCH mixed emotions that I was honeslty upset and frustrated that I hadn’t gained WHILE ED was telling me that “it’s too bad I didn’t lose anything”.. how nutso is that??! So, I realized that no matter what – I will never step off that scale with a smile on my face..therefore, it simply serves me no purpose right now. Of course it is important to make sure I am making progress in my weight gain – so mommacita and I are going to do a little blind weigh-inage in a few weeks and see where I’m at.. until then, I’m happy just living life according to how I feel – not what I weigh..that’s the only way to really live life, am I right?

speaking of living life...

~ Tuesdays Oats and Quotes ~

"The grand essentials of happiness are:
something to do, something to love,
and something to hope for."

-- Allan K. Chalmers

plain in simple .. to be happy we need to have a purpose, we need to love (others, AND ourselves!) and we need hope. I think this quote pretty much says it all!

what makes you truly happy? is it a hobbie? your love for something/someone? your ambition and hope for the future? I'd love to hear it all :)!

~Tuesday to do~
- Back to school :(
- Media Studies Class
- Academic Writing papahhh
- yoga
- RA application stuff (more on that later!)

p.s. purple wear today in celebration of NEDA: bright purple skinny jeans from forever 21.. these babies are BOLD.. but i'm going to rock 'em with pride.

have a great day and FABULOUS mardi gras, all of my new orleans ladies!

welcome to good burger, home of the good burger

Hello my precious ladies. Hope you all had a beautiful start to your week! Mine was great – full of all my favorites.. therapy, yoga, and grocery shopping

~ food finds ~

- kashi raisin spice
- applesauce (harvest apple and cranraspberry flavor.. yum!)
- kashi crackers (love these guys!)
- Pacific foods butternut squash soup
- Sammie thins
- Gnu bars (cinnamon raisin & banana nut)
- Isabelle's bakery chocolate muffins
- Annie's mac
- Kashi apple spice bars
- Salsaaaaa
- Ole wraps... figured i'd give 'em a shot!

alright, before i forget - i just have to show you all this!

Afternoon snack (highlight of my snacking life!)

egg white omelette with salsa and french onion laughing cow + a nice juicy nectarine...honestly girls, I don't know how i pulled this off. I have always been an omelette FAILURE and never understand how people made them look so perfect and pretty. I was mighty proud of this baby!

in other news...

Therapy went really great today. We talked about my constant need for “control” and how I get so anxious with so many different things in my life. She recommended a wonderful idea to me. Whenever I’m feeling anxious thoughts she said to write them down..just WRITE..everything I’m feeling..don’t censor anything. Once I’m done – take a deep breath, and a re-read everything I just wrote. Then, reply to my anxiety..from an outside perspective. Talk to myself as though I am not me, but a friend giving another friend advice. It is really easy for me to give other people advice – to have compassion for others and go out of my way to do or say anything to make them feel better.. I love the idea of doing this for MYSELF. Of being my own friend and taking care of my girl Jenny.

As a matter of fact – this exercise came in handy tonight! Mom was making cheeseburgers for dinner (sorry my beautiful vegetarians). Cheeseburgers pretty much define fear foods for me.. red meat + cheese = anxiety up the whazoo. So before we sat down to eat – I wrote a list of anxieties I was having (which I am opting not to share because I don’t want them to be triggering for any of you!) BUT what I will share with you is my response to these thoughts and how I talked Jennster through it..

• look at your sisters enjoying their burgers… do you think they are thinking twice about it?
• When is the next time you are going to be able to enjoy a nice cheeseburger again? You’re not going to have one everyday from here on, so one honestly will NOT kill you. Have you ever heard of anyone gaining excessive amounts of weight after eating one measley cheeseburger?
• For the record – even if you did gain a little weight – GOOD. That brings you closer to your goal girl.
• You ate cheeseburgers ALL THE TIME over the summer. Remember how many you ate at the grad parties and barbeques? That was when you were at an unhealthy low weight.. which isn’t good of course – but just goes to show you can eat ‘em and not gain weight!
• You need the red meat and cheese..calcium, protein.. yum!
• How proud will sean be when you call him up and tell him you just had yourself a nice juicy cheeseburger! Honestly – call him RIGHT AWAY when your done. He’ll be so happy for you!
• Now go take a little looksie at your incentive list and then go and enjoy the time with your family and that delish burger!

And you know what? I did – I listened to myself.. I enjoyed the burger while watching wheel of fortune with the fam..and didn’t think twice about it. In fact, afterwards.. I treated myself to this little piece of heaven.

chocolate muffin - look how moist!

Now i am off to catch up with your ladies lives because i'm in love with all of you - then do a little homework.. have a great night girls!

oat, quotes, and comic books

good morning ladies and happy monday/last week of february/eating disodorder awareness week! whoa! this week is going to bring good things to all of us, I can feel it :)

I just wanted to thank you all for your positive feedback on my picture post yesterday!! It was so difficult putting myself out there like that - but i'm glad i did. All of your support really made it worth it to me and i am beyond grateful :)! Some of you also asked if it would be okay if you did your own picture post.. PLEASE, i encourage you to do it! Its very therapeautic and helpful..can't wait to see them :)!

currently i'm enjoying...
overnight oats (Lee - i owe you my life for introducing these to me!)
- 1/2 cup oats
- 2/3 cup water with GINGERBREAD SPICE tea steeped in.. definitely a nice touch!
- 1/2 banana
- raisins
- 1/4 cup pumpkin
- cinnamon & truvia
- crumbled kashi pumpkin pie bar
- barney packet
- a whole lotta love

I really really really am enjoying this baby.. I'm sad i won't be able to make these concoctions when i go back to school tomorrow - instant packets and rice cakes, here i come :(

~ Monday Oats and Quotes ~

"When I stand before God at the end of
my life,I would hope that I would not
have a single bit of talent left
and could say: I used everything you gave me."

-- Erma Bombeck

these quotes just get better everyday i tell ya. This is just beautiful.. and so true. God has given each and every one of us unique talents. Whether it be art, baking, dancing, designing, photography..each and every one of you girls has a talent that makes you truly special. Unfortunately for us - ED hates our talents.. he thinks they're useless because they distract us from the "important things" .. counting calories, measuring, restricting. He tells us our talents won't help us towards our "goal" of having control and being the skinnest girl in the room - and you know what? he's right. It's true. My writing and creativity won't make me skinny. So.. that just tells me, i think my goals need to change.. my goals: being a teacher, writing a childrens book, having a family... no where in my 10 year plan includes "being the skinnest teacher/author/mother". I can do so many things i want in life because of the talents God has given me - not because of my weight. I will not allow ED to dictate what i do anymore and i will not allow him to deprive me of the wonderful gifts God has blessed me with.

I also came across this little gem today...
I think this is hysterical - but i also think it's a great little lesson to remember in recovery. Gaining weight should be FUN. though it's not to say it's really damn hard and can be super difficult - we should embrace this opportunity and live it up! Eat the foods we've never eaten before, indulge and be PROUD OF THAT, rediscover the foods we like/dislike.. it's unfortunate that we let ourselves get to this unhealthy stage - but what makes this illness great (did i just say "this illness is great?!?!") is that we have the power and opportunity to control and overcome it.. and we can do so through just figuring out how to enjoy life, food, and everything in between.

~ Monday to do ~

*Therapy
*Grocery shopping for schoolio
*Panera for lunch
*Brothers basketball game
*hopefully finding some yoga timageeee

Have a great day, gals!

shoebox of photographs with sepia tone loving

three cheers for sunday, the best day of the week :). Hope you all have a little relaxation time planned for the day! It's looking cloudy and glum outside so I have a feeling I was be engaging in a little/a lot of R&R

I wanted to thank you girls for all of your positive feedback on my pictures! I was really nervous that it would elude the message "hey look at me!" but i'm glad you all understand that's not my intention! With that being said.. I've decided to add, dun dun dun, more pictures.. but just to this post!

Looking through old pictures yesterday REALLY struck a chord with me. The entire time I was going through old "heavy" pictures - I was SO tempted to delete them all..but i couldnt bring myself to do it. Why? Because i love the girl in those pictures. I want to BE HER. I need those pictures! I need them to remind me of who I was, and who I can be again. She is a strong person who INDULGES.. in food, friends, laughter, life. Sure, she was a little uncomfortable and insecure at times - but aren't we all? Sure - she spent some nights crying, wishing she could be skinny and look like her friends. but you know what?! as soon as someone called her or asked her to go out - she quit her sobbing, grabbed her jacket, and was ready to go. That's the difference between me and her - she faced problems, she was depressed at times, but she dealt with it. She confronted her challenges and overcame them through seeking love and happiness. Me? I face challenges and try to overcome them through restricting and challenging myself more. I have to be honest - i had extremely unhealthy eating habits before I lost the weight. Vegetables, fruits,nope? Ice cream, fried food? oh yeah. I never exercised - though I did play softball and basketball throughout high school.. but during the off season i was pretty inactive. Although It's great that i've adopted healthy eating/exercise habits through this process - I have adopted an unhealthy mindset along with it. So, my goal... to be that girl again - mix her mindset with my new found love for healthy food and exercise...and I think I can work this out.

Jenny Inspired Photo Album

~Pre-Weight Loss~
*ugh, deep breath*
August of '06
yes, it was the dead of august and I was wearing a sweatshirt and pants on the beach. I always did this.. and it kills me looking at myself in these pictures knowing how uncomfortable I was with my body. I was happy and had fun, but i never felt GOOD.
Rascal flatts concert October of '06
This night was honestly one of the best of my life. I remember going to the city with my friends and we went to this INSANE pizza restaurant and I ordered a huge slice of penne a la vodka PIZZA. oh my god..imagine!? My friend Megan's house January of '07
...you can just see in my body language how insecure I was - but do I look like I was having fun or what? p.s. thats my best friend dan - he is amazing.March of '07
Me and my friend literally spend an ENTIRE night at stop and shop just taking pictures.. I loved looking at pictures from this night - I just let loose.. had FUN and didn't care about how I looked or who saw me. I need to bring a little bit of this carelessness back into my life.
City with my girls April of '07
yes, me and my best friend got up and danced to our favorite song in the middle of a restaurant. Why? because we DIDN'T CARE WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT. We had FUN. and you know what, you bet your ass there wasn't fruits and veggies in that hershey's bag.. there was reeses peanut butter cups! oh what i wouldnt give to just eat a damn peanut butter cup without thinking twice about it...

~Mid Weight loss, Pre-Ed~
*Healthy Weight*
Mexico - July of '07
I equate all of my happiness with this trip to Mexico. I was at my healthiest weight, I was confident in myself, I was happy. I remember indulging at times and if i felt I'd eaten a little too much I would simply go take a nice walk along the beach just to "walk it off". I tried to eat healthfully for the most part - taking advantage of the delicious fruits they had - but certainly did NOT limit myself when Pina Coladas or tacos were offerered. This is the period in my life when I was most healthy..both physically and mentally...the girl on this trip is ME.
More mexico
this is my *goal* picture.. I love myself in this picture - I remember feeling GOOD. this night. I felt comfortable wearing that dress, and I think this is really evident in my smile. I WANT TO FIND THAT SMILE AGAIN..
Senior Picture August of '07
I love my face in this picture - it's full and HEALTHY...there is LIFE in my eyes

Spirit Week October of '07
I was Furby for fictional character day.. continuing to love life!
Homecoming October '07
This is one of my favorite pictures of me and Sean. I look genuinly happy. I remember loving that dress and being SO EXCITED to go out with him and wear it. I remember when he came and picked me up and he just looked at me and said "wow Jenn, you look beautiful." and he meant it...

~ED/Unhealthy Weight~
*boooooo*

Senior Prom '08
Me, Sean, my best friend in the world & her boyfriend
ugh, collarbone.. enough said

me, dan, and more collar bone action
I was in love with this dress, but still - felt SO UNCOMFORTABLE in it. I simply could not fill out the bust, and looking through "back shots" it really hit me hard how gross my backbones looked. Honestly? I felt more insecure during senior prom than I think I ever have in my life. This is NOT OKAY. Senior prom is supposed to be magical and something to remember.. all I remember is crying to my mom and messing up my makeup just minutes before sean arrived because my dress kept falling down and we couldn't do anything to make it tight enough.
October '08
Going out with some of the girls at school.. I remember seeing this picture and being SHOCKED. Absolutely NO ASS. I want a body, a figure, curves.. Jeans that FIT. So frustrating..

I really noticed how few pictures I have my myself at my lowest weight.. and I know thats because I didn't go out, I didn't DO ANYTHING. It's heartbreaking to me to look at those last few pictures. Where's the life in my eyes? where's the happiness? where's Jenny? I am really committed myself - right here, right now - to starting my journey to find that girl again. I've put a ton of pictures around my room of me at my HEALTY weight - and am going to look at those to keep me going each and everyday.

*sigh* glad that's over with. Just kidding :) but I do want you girls to know that I was REALLY REALLY REALLY difficult to share all of those pictures with you - but i love and trust all of you so much and I knew that I had nothing to hide from you guys. You are so accepting and encouraging and it really makes me feel so confident in myself and what I can accomplish. So a million thank you's goes out to you all... i love you.

I am going to go get my day started, but thank you again for those of you who read this entire thing - i realize it was a lengthy one but i just needed to get this stuff off of my chest. Enjoy your day, beautiful girls.

crusin' for a bruisin'

hey girlies! so i'm done with the blog renovations - for tonight anyway - still some thannnngs I want to tweek.. but they can wait until tomorrowww

about the blog - i hope you don't think i'm narcissistic for adding so many pictures of myself to the new lay out.. i just decided to do so because a.) i just found this new collage maker on my computer and I was dying to try it out, b.) I love pictures, and c.) I love who I am in those pictures.. and want to remind myself of who that girl is as much as possible! So again - I hope you like they layout and don't mind looking at mah face!

I hope you all had a fantastic saturday! mine was pretty darn good - bought some goodies for the room and for my tummy - but they shall be revealed tomorrow!

~ Saturday Eats ~
Lunch:
whole wheat with tuna and MAYO (woo!), salt and pepper popchips (in love with this flavor) and a v8 for some veggie action
I ended up putting some chips on my sammie like i used to do as a youngster

afternoon snack
pretzels, apple, laughing cow..perfect combo of sweet, salty, and creamy.

Dinner
this guy certainly wasn't pretty but he sure did taste good
Amy's black bean enchilada with rice and black beans + naan and hummus

Dessert
warm zbar and yoplait boston cream pie yogurt - wondahhhful.

alright ladies I am off to get cozy with my mom and watch Grease with mommy:) we love us some John Travolate in tight pants..goodnight beauties!

me, myself, and I

Hello there girlies! I am in mid-blog-makeover phase.. but for now i'm going to take a breakster and get my day going!

First i have GOT to share my breakfast with you all because it was absolutely AMAZING.

I used Carmen from The Oatmeal experience recipe for microwave banana bread pancakes.. and added some tricks of my own! This recipe was absolutely fabulous!

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup milk
• raisins
• 1 mashed banana
• buttload of cinnamon
• scoop of cinnamon raisin pb

*topped with some more raisins and paired with a biscotti for dipping in my coffee/crumbling on top of my pancake purposes!*

It was really nice to be able to be creative with my breakfast this morning - i was getting a little sick of my plain old oatmeal/prune combo at school. Definitely a nice change and it's really rewarding to create something that you enjoy and are proud of! Thank you, Carmen..wonderful recipe!

Just a little sidenote about my blogging changes..you may have noticed the pictures I added to the top of my page. I decided to include pictures of me before i began losing weight, in the process of gaining weight, and where i am now. It's really important for me to embrace who I was before all of this - and be PROUD OF IT... sure, I was uncomfortable with my body - but i was happy with my life..which is certainly more than i can say now. I would trade my scrawny arms and chicken legs for just a small fraction of the happiness i used to have. So i really wanted to incorporate JENNY in to this blog.. not skinny Jenny, not heavy Jenny, just ME.

~ Saturday to Do ~
- Tjmaxx/thrift store to look for things to spice up my room
- Grocery shopping
- Yoga
- Homework! so much!
- Scrabblin' with daddio

have a great day, beautiful girls!

the peanut butter...

We all know how popular peanut butter is in the blog word .. and let’s face it, life in general! And why not?! It’s the ultimate food .. sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy – what more can you ask for?! During the past few months I have rediscovered my infatuation for Peanut butter and now that we have reunited, I am never turning back. Here’s a tribute to one of my favorite peanut butter brands:

Peanut Butter & Company Products

Cinnamon raisin swirl
.. my 1st pb&co purchase. Talk about great first impressions! This nut butter is dare I say, perfect. I am a HUGE fan of cinnamon raisin flavored things – but mixed with the saltiness of the PB.. divine!

Mighty Maple
aka my wife. I am OBSESSED with this PB! It has just the right amount of sweet maple flavor that really compliments that PB.. ah, honestly, I could eat this every day for the rest of my life.

Dark Chocolate Dreams
Self explanatory, no?! Chocolate and peanut butter?! Has there ever been a better combination?! This PB is GREAT for spreading on bananas, vitamuffins or using in your oats for a great morning treat!

In addition to PB, I also am a huge fan of Almond butter. My AB brand of choice?! BARNEY’S of course! I live off of the 90 calorie packs. They are SO convenient and absolutely perfect for a girl on the go. They’re a wonderful addition to oats, sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, the possibilities are endless!

she'll make you take your clothes off & go dancing in the rain...

good morning beautiful girls! So today i have a little treat.. some ricky martin inspired oats & quotes!

~Friday Oats and Quotes~

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...

it's about learning how to dance in the rain"

--Unknown

*BINGO* .. love this quote.. definitely plays on the whole power of positive thinking. Sure, we can spend our lives wallowing in self pity and think that all our problems are just tragedies... but that sounds like a huge waste of time to me, am i right? Why invest so much time in waiting for our troubles to pass us by - when we can be facing them head on...living life.. and dancing :).

~Friday to do~

- Effective communications speech

- CLEANING the room (diar need of a good vacuum)

- yoga

- mentor meeting

- HOMESKI...

- livin' la vida loca ;)

woo!

here's a little eye candy to get ya'll going with your day..

aye, sexy papii!! 

xo lovelovelove xo

...and the Jenny

So who is the girl who puts the J in PB&J?! Well, I am a 19 year old college student working towards becoming a high school English Teacher. I have a passion for family, friends, the boyfriend, creativity, yoga and FOOD. I love wholesome all natural and organic food – but that is not to say I don’t enjoy a nice big bowl of sugary breakfast cereal or cookies every now and then. I love trying new things and concocting different creations in the kitchen (or the dorm room!). Although I do love my eats, the truth of the matter is.. I’m a real girl with real struggles. My relationship with food has had it’s ups and downs but I feel like I am finally at a place in my life when I am ready to work towards health and recovery. So come along on my journey as I work to rebuild my body, mind, and soul through delicious foods!

familyfriends the boyfriendcreativity

yoga


Thank you for reading ya'll! enjoy :)

I love mathmatics!

just kidding, I hate math! but i do have a new found love for ADDING... adding yummy food to my meals that is...

check it!...

~Wednesday Eats~

Mid morning snack:
Health valley cinnamon danish bar.. warmed in the micro - o... holy hell this bar was good, SO soft and had the tastiest ooey gooey icing in the middle - i definitely recommend! i ate this baby alongside some french vanilla tea ..perfect combo

Lunch
la tortilla wrap, roasted red pepper hummus, turkey, lettuce and the star of this show?! full fat swiss cheezaaaay!

I haven't had cheese on a sandwich in legit 2 years.. this was AMAZING.

Afternoon Snack


oh I'll show it again, just for kicks ;)

Dinner (no pic because, well..it was nasty looking!) but tasted awesome! The dining hall went for a little mexicano theme tonight so i had some refried beans (the magical fruit ;)!! ew, sorry for beign innappropriate) rice with veggies, and some chicken mixed with tomatos and peppahs and other yummy veggies.. PLUS, i had 1/2 a bagel with some cream chizzeeze! A little quirky addition to a mexican meal but i was cravin' it.. wo0o0o.

Dessert: boost.. blah.

Honestly, I really don't know if would have been able to make all those additions to me my myeals today if it weren't for your girls encouragement. It really wasn't as hard as i thought it would be - and though i did have to make frequent glances at my incentive list to get me through it - that's okay! I like that.. i like feeling GOOD about my eating choices and like they are leading me to more positive things :) So thank you again ladies, i feel great!

~ Thursday Oats and Quotes ~

"Progress always involves risks. You can't steal
second base and keep your foot on first."

-- Frederick B. Wilcox

Perfect, just perfect.. This one definitely hits home for me. During the past few weeks I wasn't making any progress because I really wasn't taking any risks. I wasn't adding that extra pb, or cheese to my meals...and thats why i wasn't getting anywhere. In order to achieve your goals and pursue your dreams you did to take a risk...a leap of faith. If not, you can never move from where you are to where you want to go... I feel very fortunate to have learned this lesson and now I'm totally ready to steal second..round third.. and start heading home. Though it will take some time, and maybe i'll get whacked in the head with a few fly balls in between - i'm going to continue to move forward each day.. no going back to 1st ...the 1st base coach was a real jerk anyways ;)

Alrightie loves I am off to rock (*fingers crossed*) my religion test then it's yoga, homework, and Academic Writing class in the cards for me. Have a beautiful day and enjoy the weather! You never know what mother nature has up her sleeve next. Just look at what she treated me to yesterday.

love you! xoxo