Faith Fitness and Laughter

A place of encouragement and fun

Bake With Me Tuesday May 21, 2013

Filed under: Bake with me Tuesday — Faith Fitness and Laughter @ 5:40 AM

Morning my friends!  How are you on this fine Tuesday morning??  Let’s do a little baking shall we??

 

 

Reese’s Pieces Cookies:

 

  • 1 cup  of gluten free quick oats (the only ones that I had were the GF cooking oats so I ran them through the food processor before I put them in the recipe)
  • 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour + 1/4 cup
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup of coconut oil melted (you can use butter or oil)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup of Reese’s pieces (you can also use Reese’s cups)
  • 2/3 cup of mini chocolate chips

 

  1. Set oven at 350
  2. Whisk together your dry ingredients: oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.  Set aside.
  3. melt coconut oil and beat in sugar and milk (if the coconut oil solidifies, reheat mixture for a few seconds
  4. add half of the dry ingredients and mix well and then add the rest of the dry mix
  5. fold Reese’s Pieces into mixture and then bake!
  6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes

 

 

003004

 

005006

 

007

 

009011

 

 

008

 

010

 

 

I thought these actually turned out pretty good!  I was a bit concerned baking with coconut oil, but I actually will probably use it again.  Smile

 

 

 

**My thoughts and prayers are with the families in Oklahoma after the tornado’s there…  I also pray for the police, fire fighters, and all the rescue workers.  My heart just breaks for the families and their loved ones.**

 

Marvelous in the Small things.. May 20, 2013

Filed under: Marvelous in My Monday — Faith Fitness and Laughter @ 8:07 PM

Hey hey… It’s Monday….  Nuff said. Smile     It actually has been a really good day. 

 

004

It’s the small things Smile

 

It was so nice when I was at lunch that I decided to take advantage of one of the sidewalks where I work. 

 

 

MiMM

 

Marvelous In My Monday!!

Thank you so much to Katie for these Marvelous Mondays!

 

 

Marvelous is only having to work four days this week.  As I said in my last post, Thursday is my Friday.  Excited.Beyond.Measure.  I really am…  I am driving up to North Arkansas to see my parents and to spend some much needed time outside.  I love taking this drive!  It only takes a few hours, but I love to stop along the way and take pictures.  There is a Starbucks along the way and I am sure that I will make a pit stop.  I am pretty excited about getting out of town Smile

 

Marvelous is Pump.  Holy cow I love this workout!  Sunday I dug the directional DVD out and went through some techniques and I just love it.  It was a 25 minute workout, but when I got up this morning I was sore!  Today’s workout went well and it was 30 minutes of squats, lifts.  Holy legs.

 

Marvelous is getting a call from your best friend at 5:30 this morning.  I was just about to start my workout when the phone rang and when I saw her number I was both happy and concerned.  She is never up that early.  Her little boy has pneumonia and was in the hospital this morning!  Concern warranted.   Poor lil man…  It was good to talk to her even under the circumstances.  I did get a text from her this afternoon letting me know that he was going home once he ate. 

 

Marvelous is Iron Man 3.  I must admit that I am a Marvels Avengers fan.  Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America.  I’m a fan.  A friend of mine and I went to see Iron Man 3 Friday of last week and it was so good!  There was even a preview of Thor 2.  I heart Robert Downey Jr. 

 

84983980

 

 

Marvelous is my friend Angey!    She ran in her first 5K this past Saturday and she came in third in her age group!  She also ran it in 24:57!!  She’s amazing!

 

Marvelous is feeling whole again.  I wake up with joy in my heart again!  I look forward to smiling and I look forward to spending time in God’s word.  I want to experience new things!  I want to laugh and I want to feel.  I love my church family so much.  Drawing strength from people that I worship with is such an amazing thing and I just thank them so much. 

 

Marvelous is going to see the ocean.  I’m serious.  I have never seen it…….in person.  I have flown over the ocean, but I have never put my feet in it.  My brother and his family are going on vacation in two weeks and they will be going to Fort Morgan Alabama…..so what do I do?  I tag along that is what I do!!  I am going to drive up the weekend that they go and stay a few days with them.  They will be staying in a beach house right on the….um….well the beach!  I am pretty excited about to say the least.  Two weeks!! 

 

MyBlueBeach2_20111536

 

Well that’s it folks!  I am out…..getting into bed early tonight Smile

 

What’s been marvelous about your Monday??

 

Sometimes… May 19, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Faith Fitness and Laughter @ 8:23 AM

Morning my friends!  It’s Sunday!  I think that summer has officially hit Arkansas.  The summers here are pretty brutal when it comes to the humidity and heat.  I will admit though that it usually gets hot here in April, but it’s nearly the end of May and it’s just now starting to heat up.  Today it’s supposed to be hot, but the sun is supposed to be out and that is a good thing. 

 

I am excited to say that I am actually going to rest today!  I have zero planned and so I am going to spend it in God’s word and reflecting on my week and getting ready for the upcoming week.  I have a short week coming up because I am taking some vacation days to head out of town for Memorial Day.  So, Thursday is my Friday! 

 

Tonight, I am going to be getting my meals ready for the week.

 

Planned to cook:

 

  • quinoa
  • turkey burgers
  • HB eggs
  • chicken breast
  • broccoli
  • pre-bag up apples, oranges, and cherries
  • Whole wheat pasta
  • spinach
  • carrots

 

 

Workouts:

I came home from work yesterday and this was waiting for me!

 

004

 

 

Pump

 

 

 

Sometimes:

 

Sometimes I like to do things that people don’t expect me to do.  I try to make right decisions and follow the rules, but sometimes…..every once and a while I like to go against the grain. 

 

Sometimes I like to turn on 80’s music and dance.   I mean really just jump around and dance.  Van Halen, Rick Springfield, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Poison, Guns N’ Roses…..You name it. 

 

Sometimes I can only take people in small doses.  I really try to like everyone, but sometimes I run into people that I really can only tolerate for 60 seconds. 

 

Sometimes I drink coffee all day long.  I really can.  It’s a gift………………..and a curse.

 

Sometimes I eat too much chocolate.  And enjoy it.

 

Sometimes I check out guys in the line at the grocery store and get caught by the cashier.  True story. 

 

Sometimes I think about running all day long and then get home to do it and don’t.  Another true story.

 

Sometimes I wait too long to tweeze my eyebrows.  I mean waaay too long. 

 

Sometimes I let my gas tank get nearly empty before filling up again.  My dad is a hardcore half-tank person….  “fill up at half a tank!”

 

Sometimes I just want to smack the stupid out of people.  There is no room in my bubble for it.  No room.  At all. 

 

Sometimes I don’t want to get on my blog and post. 

 

Sometimes I am human.

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy your Sunday!  Smile

 

What’s Your Habit? May 15, 2013

Filed under: inspiration — Faith Fitness and Laughter @ 6:32 AM

Morning!  It’s official.  It’s the middle of the week.  How’s your week going?  Mine has been pretty good and the weather has been perfect!  I have been driving with my windows down on the way home and I have loved it. 

 

Dinner:    I wanted to share my salad that I had for dinner last night!  It was the best and I really did like it… Will definitely have it again.  I actually like the shredded lettuce; what are your thoughts?  

 

004005

 

 

 

So lately I have been thinking about habits that I want to break.  I am pretty organized and I like things to be clean so these are things that I don’t really want to break, but it’s the negative thoughts that I looking to get rid of.  I can also be a bit indecisive.  When I make a decision, I always try to see how it’s going to affect those around me and never really consider my own feelings in the matter.  For example, if someone asks me to do something I never really ask myself if I really want to do it.  I don’t like telling someone no.  Not that I won’t tell the truth, but I just don’t like to disappoint. 

I don’t nail bite.

I don’t like clutter.

I never hit the snooze button.

I do however, think negative thoughts about myself.

 

Repetition is the key to forming habits….good and bad. 

This is how I feel about my negative habit of self criticizing.  “It steals the quality of life that Jesus wants me to have.”  Joyce Meyer   I truly believe that we are built with a strength that is beyond our comprehension.  I mean for the love of Pete!  An inner strength that can be powerful!   God has given us free will, which means we decide to do what is right or we decide to do what is wrong.  I think that when we decide to do the right thing, a strength that is in us can overtake any negative thought or tough situation. 

I read something the other day:   “Procrastination is a thief.  It steals our time, our potential, our self-esteem, our peace of mind.”  This can be used even with a healthy lifestyle. 

 

“The truth is that at this moment, you are as close to God as you want to be.”  Joyce Meyer   If I want a closer relationship with God, then I have to be active in that relationship.  I know that the closer I am to Him, my thoughts are of good things and right living.  When I am not…..well, you get the picture. 

Everything in me desires to have a deeper relationship with Him.  I think that we can have a “Sunday” kind of relationship with Him and not acknowledge Him during the rest of the week.  This only makes me feel frustrated, unhappy, and unfulfilled as a Christian.  The good habit that I want to develop is a Word Habit.  I want to be in His Word so much that when those negative thoughts come over me, I know exactly what to do with them.  I want to go all kung-fu on them!

I hope I am making sense.  I am not trying to push anything on you, this is just something that I have been thinking about a lot lately.  We have a tendency to want things to be easy, but God has equipped us for hard things.  Because it’s in the hard things that I realize my weaknesses and my total dependency upon Him.  It’s in the hard things that our character is formed and it’s in the hard things that we are changed.  Changed into the person that He would have us to become. 

When these negative thoughts enter my mind, I have to get rid of them as quickly as they came about.  Decide (with effort and action) to think of something good. 

Negative thoughts about ourselves are not acceptable to Him.  I told someone yesterday that I feel guilty thinking those thoughts because His word says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.  How can I think negatively about something he created?? 

 

So I am getting rid of a bad habit that I have carried around for years now.  It’s gotten bigger and on occasion it’s gotten smaller, but it’s always been there.  The process of getting rid of a bad habit is just that…..a process.  I will make mistakes and I will fail at things, but that doesn’t mean I have to earn His love to feel good about myself.  He already loves me.  He already loves you. 

 

 

001

This is a shot of all four of us at the Women Can Run Race Smile 

 

 

Question:  What’s a bad habit that you want to get rid of?

 

Morning workout! May 14, 2013

Filed under: Fitness — Faith Fitness and Laughter @ 6:58 AM

Good Morning!!  Today is my half day so I will be getting off work at noon!  I still have a full day though Smile  

 

Morning workout……Well hello there!   I’ve missed you!!

 

450x300_jillian-michaels-30-day-shred

 

I got up this morning at my usual time, but I decided to hit the floor running and got my workout in.  I will probably go walking this afternoon, but I wanted to do something with a bit of strength training.  It felt really good to get it in this morning.  It was funny, I haven’t done something like this in a while and my legs are still shaking!!

 

001

 

002

 

I decided to go with a smoothie after my workout this morning…. 

 

003

 

004005

 

006

 

Totally hit the spot…. Smile

 

 

What do you have planned today??

 

 

I have some things that I want to get caught up on and so I am going to take advantage of the time off.  The bugs have take over my windshield! 

 

I hope you have a wonderful day!

 

Bake With Me Tuesday

Filed under: Bake with me Tuesday — Faith Fitness and Laughter @ 6:44 AM

It’s that time again!  Let’s do a little baking shall we!  Smile

 

 

Snickerdoodle Bread:

 

  • 3 cups of all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup of butter, softened
  • 2 cups of sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup of plain greek yogurt
  • 1 bag of cinnamon chips
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp of cinnamon

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350
  2. spray two loaf pans (or 5 mini loaf pans)
  3. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon together and set aside
  4. Cream together butter and sugar (about two minutes)  and then add eggs one at a time mixing after each.  Add vanilla and greek yogurt and mix together. 
  5. add flour mixture (do not over mix)
  6. coat the cinnamon chips with the 2 tbsp of flour and stir into batter
  7. half batter into sprayed loaf pans
  8. combine the 2 tbsp of sugar and 2 tsp of cinnamon together and sprinkle over each loaf
  9. bake for 35 to 40 minutes

 

adapted from Barbara Bakes

 

 

 

001

 

002

 

003004

 

 

005

 

006009

 

007012

 

 

011

 

Smile

 

Yum!

 

**I will add that I am going to try this recipe using the sour cream next time…..  It was a bit dry and the only thing that I really changed was putting in Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream… **

 

Marvelous Indeed! May 13, 2013

Filed under: Uncategorized — Faith Fitness and Laughter @ 7:45 AM

Good Monday morning to you!  I hope that you had a great weekend and you were able to spend it with your mom’s. 

 

048

 

 

Fitness:

 

One of the things that has been lacking in my life is a regular schedule of fitness.  Oh I work out, but it’s hit or miss really.  To be quite honest, I have actually enjoyed the break.  There were some workouts where I think that I was just working out for the sake of it.  The only thought in my head was that I was being fit!  This was far from it.  I want to be able to see my body change with my workouts, not feel completely drained after them.  I need a plan.  A good one.  I don’t want to just depend on running for my workouts, but I do want to incorporate it in there.  I want a balanced workout that includes my entire body, not just my legs. 

So I am going to be getting together a plan…..an organized plan of workouts. 

One of the things that I want to look at is this…. Body Pump 

 

 

Marvelous In My Monday:

 

MiMM

 

Marvelous is my cat Ghost… He is the best cat….Well, I think so anyway.  My dad would say that he is a bit “off”..  The best thing about him?  He’s mine.  I love it when he wants to be right next to me and wants to cuddle.  He really is the best cat and he is adorable.

 

 

004

 

Marvelous is my first race finished!  I can’t tell you what a confidence booster this was.  I now know that I can run in a race and not feel so self conscious about it. 

 

001 

Good times!

 

Marvelous is the fact that I want to try a dance class.   I really do.  I have been thinking about it for a while now and probably have mentioned it on here a long time ago, but I think that it would be so much fun!  Even if it’s just one class, I want to try it. 

 

Marvelous is my mom.  I can’t tell you how thankful that I am to have my mother in my life.  Both her and my dad brought me up in a home that was filled with love.  My mom is someone that I can talk to and get godly advice from and she always tells me to seek out His will in my life and no one else’s.  Having this time to spend with  her and with my dad is really a blessing and something that I am so thankful for.  One of the greatest things that I can think of that my mother has given me is introducing me to Christ.  They took me to church and it was there that I first heard about Christ and what He did for you and for me. 

 

Marvelous is my new coffee cup!!

 

031

<3

 

Marvelous is finding out that the adults in my church have a bowling date the last Friday in May!  I was talking to one of my friends at church last night and she was telling me about it and I am really excited!  I am not the best bowler, but I am pretty stoked about getting to hang out with the people that I worship with.  This is something that I think is very important.  I love my church… and I think it’s important to find a church to worship in and serve in.  Smile

 

 

Breakfast:

 

012

 

013

Cinnamon toast with almond butter and one egg cooked in olive oil

 

 

I hope you have a great day and a Marvelous Monday!

 

Question:  What workouts are you loving right now?

 

 
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

%d bloggers like this: