Girl’s Camp + Award!

Hey my Absolutely AMAZING Readers! <3

Thanks for all of your comments on my Strawberry-Banana Protein Pancakes. I’m really sad that I’m all out of strawberries (yeah, I used them all up through making these a lot), but we’re going to the grocery store this morning in addition to Half Price Books, the bank, and Kohl’s. I LOVE living so close to a Kohl’s because they send me those $10 gifts all the time! So I always go the quarter of a mile (if it’s even that) up there to have some fun.

Maria (from Beautiful Busy Bee) gave me this award. She is an amazing young woman and I am really honored that she thought to pass this on to me.

These are the rules:

1. Include the award logo somewhere on your blog.
   
2. Answer these 10 questions, below, for fun if you want to.
   
3. Nominate 10 to 12 blogs you enjoy. Or you pick the number.
   
4. Pay the love forward: Provide your nominee’s link in your post and comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been included and invited to participate.
   
5. Pay the love back with gratitude and a link to the blogger(s) who nominated you.
   

1)What is your favorite color?

Burnt Orange, Red, Emerald Green, Turquoise, Warm Pink, and Barney Purple.

He brings back so many memories from my childhood. Yes, I’m a Barney girl.

2) What is your favorite animal?

Kitty cats!

Especially this little kitty. I may actually start volunteering at this shelter for kittens (which I’m really excited about)!

3) What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?

I really adore my Chocolate Covered Cherry Milkshake – it is just SO good!

 

4) Do you prefer Facebook or Twitter?

I actually don’t do either. (My parents won’t allow me to do either.) I really like WordPress and Formspring though.

5) What is your favorite pattern?

I love drawing patterns of flowers and rainbows and butterflies and all of those little-girl things.

6) How was Girl’s Camp?

Girl’s Camp was AMAZING! We had air-conditioned cabins (yeah, we were spoiled) and had skit night, devotionals, service project, testimony meeting (my favorite part), and a fireside (firesides are like a big devotionals). I felt so privileged to be an YCL (youth camp leader) this year. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had this week to be able to serve the girls and watch their testimonies grow. My testimony was strengthened and my love of my Savior has increased.

7) What is your favorite number?

I’ll say 17 since that’s my age. But even though I’m 17 I still love swinging on swings, building castles with legos, coloring in coloring books, playing silly little games, and dressing up. It seems that I enjoy it even more now that I’m older.

Yeah, they had a big play-place at girl’s camp and we ALL played on it. It was so much fun.

8) What is your favorite day of the week?

I really like Wednesdays. Remember when I said I graduated from the early-morning scripture study class? Well, now I get to attend an advanced class in a sense (it’s called institute) and I look forward to it each week!

9) What is your favorite flower?

I really liked these flowers. I’m not quite sure what kind they are, but I really love them. I also love roses, cherry blossoms, and forget-me-nots.

10) What is your passion?

I love public speaking, teaching my sunbeams (they are SO cute!!!!), counted cross-stitching, making bracelets with my girlfriends, coloring, playing on playgrounds (we TOTALLY did that at girl’s camp – it was SO much fun! ), baking, decorating cupcakes, doing math problems, playing the piano, hanging out with my friends, serving others, and journaling.

And I pass the award to…

1. Matthew @ Planet Snazzy 
   
2. Jessica @ Foodies Love Oatmeal 
   
3. Dudette @ Dudette Here 
   
4. Chrissy @ I Used To Be Fatter 
   
5. Sharelle @ Essential Ingredient: Exercise
   
6. Liz @ Fruitacious 
   
7. Natasha @ Yogininoms
   
8. Claire @ The Food Refashionista
   
9. Lexie (Clemintine ) @ Ink Stained Teeth 
   
10. Jessica @ What Would Jessica Eat
    

     

These are some of the new blogs I’ve discovered. Go check them out – they are all absolutely wonderful people.

……………………………………………………….

Do you like Dove Chocolate? I LOVE their dark chocolate: it’s so creamy and absolutely delicious! <3 I also really love how they come with a message along with each piece.

Do you like “being as a little child”? I wore pig-tails yesterday.

Do you have a favorite Flower? Day of the week? Number? Meal? Color? Animal? I’d love to hear about them!

xoxox,

My Life Is Full Of Butterflies!

Hey My BEEA-U-TI-FUL Butterflies!

Both Savannah and Alex awarded me with this.

I am so touched. For this, I need to answer the following questions:

Name your favorite color:

Anything Fall — green, red, brown, orange, warm pinks, gold, maroon, emerald, etc! Maybe it’s because they go with my skin tone and I know they look good on me. Whenever I go shopping, I always gravitate towards those colors.

What whizzes you off:

When people are mean. Or drive crazy — ugggh, that drives me crazy.

Name your favorite dessert:

Hmmmm, probably these. They are definitely one of my favorites.

Best feature:

I love my smile. I love my eyes. I love my hair. I love how the sun naturally brings out the red in my hair.

Your favorite pet:

Chip. He is my best friend. He is there and will always listen — no matter what. He follows me everywhere (if I go downstairs without him, he’ll roam the house and cry and cry until he finds me). He takes over my pillow — I mean sleeps with me, kneads me (literally — like a kitten does to their mother when their suckling — that motion, Chip does on me), and he plays FETCH! He demands a lot of attention (aka, he will stand by our island in the kitchen and CRY until we get him a new bowl of ice with a little water drizzled on top; haha, I’m not kidding). I love him so much. You could say I’m a bit of a cat lover.

Your biggest fear: 

Falling back into my old restricting habits. I NEVER want that to happen again — it just led to unhappiness and sorrow. I know that as I keep focusing on listening on my body, I can stand strong against that fear.

Guilty pleasure:

Hehe, one of these. They don’t give me any guilt since they are so good for you, but they sure taste like they would! And to clarify, if I eat something that isn’t so good for me, I’m not going to feel GUILTY about it. I will just accept and move forward. Eating something not as good for me won’t kill me. It’s part of life. If I balance out the rest of my day, I’ll be fine.

When you’re upset you:

Run it off. Read my scriptures. Go bake something. Play Sudoku. Go read some blogs.

What is perfection:

Balance. Perfection is something I tried to achieve – perfect in how I ate, when I ate, how much I ate; but now I just listen to my body and move forward accordingly.

Well, they didn’t say HOW many I had to tag, so here I go!!

A Full Measure Of Happiness

A Healthy Passion

A New Start

A Nutritionist Eats

A Spoonful Of Peanut Butter

A Spoonful Of Smash

A Tablespoon Of Liz

ABC Healthy

Amazing Asset

Angry Cherry

Apples N Oats

Baking Charms

Beyond Bananas

Big City Lil Kitchen

Bites And Bliss

Body By Nature

Britt Fit

Carrie On Vegan

Chef Katelyn

Chocolate Covered Katie

Clean Eating Chelsey

Clean Teen Kelsey

Cupcake Kat

Dashing Dish

Earth, Love, and Craziness

Edible Perspective

Faith, Food, & Fitness

Family Fresh Cooking

FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Fervent Foodie’s Blog

Finding My Happy Ending

Fit Chocoholic

Fit Foodie Finds

Fit Girl Foodie

Fitness Health And Food

Food For Healing

Fresh Fruitian

Freckled Foodie

Gluten Free Goddess

Go The Extra Mile

Health Nut

Healthful Sense

Healthy Coconut

Healthy Exposures

Healthy Girl’s Kitchen

Healthy Helper Blog

Healthy Life

Healthy Slow Cooking

Healthy With Heather

Hungry Meets Healthy

I <3 Vegetables

Insatiably Healthy

Inspired RD

It’s Only Life, After All

Itty Bits Of Balance

Julianna Banana

Kath Eats Real Food

Keep’n The Faith

Kerry Cooks

Kiss My Broccoli

Kisses For Breakfast

Kit Kat Kate Blog

Lactose Free Lizzie

Lauren Loves Good Food

Lift To Run

Little College Vegan

Little Health Junkie

Little Miss Healthify

Live Laugh Eat

Loves Veggies

Meals And Moves

Mind Running Wild

Molly Runs Fresh

Move Over, Celery

Moves N’ Munchies

My Fabulous Life On The Road

Not The Normal Teenage Fare

Oatmeal With Sprinkles

Oatnelli

Oh She Glows

Omnomally

One Healthy Munchkin

PB Fingers

Peanut Butter and Ginger

Peas And Thankyou

Powered By Peanut Butter

Pumped For Pumpkin

RD Exposed

Read, Eat, Move

Runner N Spice

Running On Apples

Running With Spoons

Runs For Food

Sarah’s Scrumptious Samplings

Savvy Eats

Semi Sweet Blog

Shanna Like Banana’s Blog

Simply Megan

Snack Girl Goes Healthy

Spinach And Sprinkles

Spoonful Of Sugar Free

Stuck Outside the Box

Sweet And Savvy

Sweet Cheeks

Sweet Tooth Runner

Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Teenage Health Freak

Teenage Taste

The Athlete’s Plate

The Broccoli Hut

The Budget Dietitian

The Chic Life

The Fitness Apple

The Fitness Dish

The Fruit Pursuit

The Health Seeker’s Kitchen

The Healthy Apron

The Little Vegan Baker

The New Healthy

The Scene From Me

The Process Of Healing

The Quirky Kitchen

The Tolerant Vegan

The Wannabe Chef

Tickled Tofu

This Italian Family

Trainer Kim

Vegan Aphrodite

Vegan Lenna

Vegan Sunshine

Veggie Monster

Veggin’ Out In The Kitchen

What Kate Is Cooking

Whole Wheat Or BUST

XC Foodie

Yes, I Want Cake

Your Food Smiles

YOU GUYS ARE THE BUTTERFLIES IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for always being there for me and helping me along throughout my journey! And thank you to my friends and family – YOU ARE MY BUTTERFLIES TOO!

Do you gravitate towards certain colors? I have a TON of red, green, and brown in my wardrobe.

What would you say is your favorite features about yourself? One thing I love about all of you guys is how supporting you are. Thank you for everything!

I am working on two recipes right now: Vegan Oatmeal Pancakes and A Chocolate Lover’s Nut Butter. Which one would you like first? I can’t get enough of either!

xoxox

P.S. Happy Labor Day!

Yes, I Did It Again.

Hey my PB Cakes!

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments on the Pancakes I made my Dad for his birthday! It really means a lot to me when you guys comment. Your comments really MAKE MY DAY!!!

Yes, I did it again.

They are just TOOOOO GOOOOOOODDDD!!!

If you haven’t made them yet, you need to make them RIGHT NOW!!!! You heard me — RIGHT NOW!

I was just awarded with the Versatile Blog Award and and One Lovely Blog Award. (But I forgot to write down WHO gave it to me! I’ve been searching and going through posts after posts, but I just can’t seem to find it. So if you did, PLZ tell me, and I will promptly link back to you!)

Here are the rules I have to abide to in order to accept this award:

1. Post linking back to the person that gave you the award
2. Share 7 random things about yourself
3. Award 15 blogs
4. Drop them a note and tell them about it.

Here are another 7 Things About Me!!!

1. I had an amazing breakfast this morning. Just saying. Breakfast is my FAVORITE meal of the day, and I like to have some fun with it!

2. I just cut my apples the way Kaila does!!

Usually I either eat apple whole or just cut it into quarters, but this was a nice change! I love eating apples this way now (I think I am going to do this from now on)! They are absolutely PERFECT for munching!

3. As you saw up above, I made ME some Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes!!! They are SO GOOD!!!  I also made my Daddy some more too. This time, I woke up at 3:30am because I wanted them to be done by the time he woke up — as a SUPER surprise. After I finished them, I quietly raced to bed and went back to sleep until it was time for me to get up for my Scripture Study Class. I don’t know how he gets up at 4am every morning! Just thinking about it makes me tired!!!! What’s the earliest time you have ever waken up?

4. Tuesday evening, my Daddy came home with his B-DAY CAKE!

It’s an Ice Cream Sundae Cupcake!!! As you can tell, he must have a lot of girl co-workers, because if they were mostly men, he would have just got a pat on the shoulder. My Dad split this with my sister. I have got to make a healthy version of this! Katie, save me!!!

5. Talking about birthday cakes, my mom and I just went and got me My Birthday Cake!!! I got to pick it out and everything! I also get to make another one of those Cookie Pizzas and some Party Chip Cupcakes!

I don’t know if I am going to eat any of the cake….. It isn’t the healthiest thing, and it would most likely give me a stomach ache. At least I am going to make me a Single Lady Cupcake (REESE’S perhaps?) with some Bananner Ice Cream (or a Single Lady Banana Cream Pie) for my “Cake and Ice Cream” so I can have some along with everyone else. We’re also having pizza. And for this, I am going to use a Flatout and make myself a Healthier Pizza (with LOTS AND LOTS OF VEGGIES!).  I know my girl Kelz will do the same. (and so will a couple of other girls). What would you do?

6. We just had our first call-in for the 28-Day Detox Challenge I am doing. And I LOVE IT!!! Oh my gosh!!! I wish this could be SO much longer than just 28 days!!! This week we are going to focus on cutting out Caffeine (which I don’t have a problem with), Alcohol (I DEFINITELY have no problem with this), and Sugar (which I’ve pretty much cut out anyways). But, sometimes when I eat fruit, I eat it by itself and I become hungry soon afterwards because it is digested so quickly. So I want to make sure I eat a fat or protein with my fruits so I’m not hungry.

Some of the other things I am going to strive to do this week include eating BALANCED meals, eating MINDFULLY, continue listening to my body, continue drinking more water, and continue exercising regularly. What are some of the things you are striving for this month?

7. I have for you MY FIRST REVIEW!

Disclaimer: I WAS NOT PAID TO REVIEW THIS PRODUCT! This is my opinion and my opinion alone on this product.

Jen from Kelapo Coconut contacted me and asked if I would mind reviewing their Coconut Oil. I quickly agreed — I mean, who can say no to coconut oil!?!

Kelapo™ Virgin Coconut Oil’s mission is that with every jar, they hope to deliver the freshest, highest quality coconut oil and ensure the fair and ethical treatment of the farmers who cultivate it.

As the FIRST Fair Trade oil on the market, their products are 100% organic, vegetarian, and free of trans fats. Plus, they incorporate eco-friendly practices to protect and preserve the planet’s natural resources.

Coconut oil can be used anywhere you would use butter, like in Cooking, Baking, and Sauteing. If you want to check out some of Kelapo’s Coconut Oil recipes, click here. What I like about Kelapo’s Coconut Oil is that it is Organic and Fair Trade! You don’t see a lot of Fair Trade products out in the market, so I especially love that.

I don’t use Coconut Oil all of the time. I will use it, but I don’t want to go crazy over it. I use it when I want the Coconut Flavor. I do use in it my baking (check out my recipes and you’ll see!). I personally don’t think there is enough research and such on it, but like I said, I strive for balance. I don’t want to only eat coconut oil — I want to focus on my Omegas and Unsaturated Fats, but Coconut certainly tastes good!!!! It works really well in My Coconut Chocolate Date Muffins, My Chocolate Date Cake, and many others. And, it gives it that coconut flavor that you just DIE FOR!

Alrighty, time to tag people!!!!

1. Kimi @ Time For Happiness
2. An Apple A Day
3. Rach @ This Italian Family
4. Lea @ Healthy Coconut
5. Kerry @ Foody Two Shoes
6. Molly @ Molly Runs Fresh
7. Brittany @ BrittFit
8. Allison @ Oats and Spice
9. Lauren @ A Full Measure of Happiness
10. Kat @ Keep’n The Faith
11. Sophia @ Raven Waves
12. Christin @ Purple Bird Blog
13. Katie @ Yes I Want Cake
14. Jil @ Big City Lil Kitchen
15. Christina @ Sweet Pea’s Kitchen

Do you prefer Large recipes, Medium-sized recipes, or Single Lady recipes? I like Single Lady recipes!

Do you like Coconut Oil?

How do you handle Parties? Birthday Parties? What do you make for them?

xoxox,