Weekend Recap + Coffee Fix Drink

Whew what a weekend! Friday night was a friend's gender reveal party for their baby due in October. I guessed girl and so did Andrew. They had a box full of either blue or pink balloons and both of them opened it to reveal!

Out came the pink balloons. They're having a girl! It was so neat to be a part of and see their reactions!

Saturday morning I worked but Andrew has Starbucks waiting for me when I arrived home. He knows how to swoon me, that is for certain.  Soon after we gave Axel his first bath. We followed it up with a Costco run and our  Saturday night, dinner tradition as per the last few weeks... Papa John's pizza!

Today was a good arm workout. I normally don't work out on the weekends but this week we are leaving for New York on Thursday so I had to cram my four workouts for the week into Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That way when I eat copious amounts of good food, I won't bat an eyelash.

A coffee drink was created today. An icy, cold, perfect for this sweltering heat kind of drink. Oh wait, I order iced coffee even in Minnesota when it's  the negative temps, wind-chill, school is closed, do not go out under any circumstance  kind of conditions. Anyhow It was one of those moments I was thankful for only having minimal ingredients in the kitchen because it allowed me to be creative.

Coffee Fix

1 packet of Starbucks Via

10 ice cubes

1/2-3/4 c. Almond milk

1/2-3/4 c. water

4 packets of artifical sweetener 

handful of chocolate chips

Directions: 

Add all ingredients to blender or magic bullet and blend up until smoothie consistency! Enjoy!

Have a good week! 

Meet: Axel

On Friday Andrew said he was going to hang out with a friend. Fast forward to three-four hours later... He walks in with a PUPPY! My dream puppy, the one I've been asking for since I was in third grade. The one I have posters and stuffed animals of. A Golden Retreiver puppy! His name is Axel.

He is ten weeks old and a little bundle of joy! I am so happy to have him become a part of our family. I will be posting plenty of more pictures and talking about him. Right now he is like a baby and requires a lot of attention but he's learning really fast and we're excited to watch him grow!

I am also excited for a running buddy. Apparently it's best to wait for a year until they're mostly developed but only about nine months and that day will be here.

I will be posting more frequently now that school is out, I've missed being here.

Have a good night!

School's Out For Summer

Whew! School is out for the summer and it feels like a ton of bricks has been lifted. It's the baby steps right? I'm not in nursing school. I haven't even sent out applications. I'm just step by step getting it done and realizing it'll all come together. There's been some roadblocks boulders that were moved out of the way. Just the little things that add up to be a pain in the hiney.

I need that though. I need to be humbled a few times or a million. I need things to get in the way. Because if it's too easy, I'll not see the value in it. When I want something so much it permeates my soul I will do whatever it takes to get there. A couple boulders in the way make me realize how much I really want something.

No I didn't get bad grades or get suspended (does that even happen in college?). Just the way I saw some things playing out in my little world wasn't how God saw it. Again, my personality is focused to the point of obsession when I really want something. Every now and then I need a swift kick to the curb of 'humility' reminding that God is in control not Carley. It hurts at first but the longer time passes the more I realize I needed that.

So all that to say although it's been a jam-packed, super informative semester including making new friends, I am ready for a break. A 13 week break. To just relax the brain, be with family and friends and just be free. Even the best of us school nerds need a good break sometimes. So here's to the first eve of no studying, finals, homework, stress and school!

No Excuses

This post will not be a lengthy write up of excuses of how I've been so busy or how I was falling behind in school due to the aforementioned vacation in the past post or even about the fact it's been well over a month since I've even been on blogger only to be surprised people are still reading this.

Life happens, plain and simple. Okay now that we're over with that. I'm on my last week of LiveFit Trainer. Holy Moly, Guacamole. Though it almost brings me to tears realizing what I've learned about lifting, life and myself over the past twelve weeks, I will save the tears for the end of this week when I officially am done.

I've just felt like a part of me is missing not being able to write/blog away. Even though I have an entire sheet from Anatomy and Physiology lab sitting next to be ready to absorbed (yes it is the digestive system too) I couldn't help but stop in, if only briefly.

As per usual, it's Thankful Thursday! I am thankful for my husband buying me lifting gloves and being able to use them for the first time tonight. They really do help. I felt pretty tough too.

I wish you all the best day and week possible!

Take care of yourselves and laugh too!

New Orleans: Part 2

Living in Arizona currently being a Minnesota girl, naturally I wanted to go to the Riverwalk of New Orleans. We made our way down the few blocks it was from our hotel.

Harrah's was right door and we had a few dollars so we dropped a whole dollar on the penny slots.

Before we even got to NOLA (New Orleans) we were both looking forward to an authentic New Orleans style dinner and after looking at reviews of where the best Jambalaya was we ended up at Coop's place.

On our walk back to the hotel we saw this guy doing incredible feats such as jumping over 6 grown men in the air, doing multiple push ups on this bar and other impressive stunts all performed by his body alone. A great reminder that our bodies can do incredible things.

Our final morning we woke up hungry for some southern grub. A whole 50 feet from our hotel was Mother's restaurant which meant it was just plain simple on where to go. We both got omlette's and biscuits with coffee. A little surprise came with it, grits! Unsure of what to do with grits I immediately did some research. Egg-white, turkey omlette and grits together was to die for. Not to mention the impressive nutrition stats in grits.

Overall it was a good trip and the food lived up to it's fame. New Orleans is not comprable to any other city and I enjoyed the southern feel. Who doesn't love being called "baby" and "sweetie" by the cashier?! 

We stayed in the Business district which was a nice area and a walk away from the French Quarter. 

See y'all later!