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Commencement and Graduation Eats

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Hi everyone!!

Thank you all so much for your congrats!!! I appreciate it so much :D .

We're ready for fieldwork!! At least I hope so haha

On Sunday, I attended the school-wide commencement ceremony and the ceremony for my department. The school-wide one, while hot since we were sitting directly in the sun with those long black gowns on, was really nice! The speaker was a man named Eric Greitens who has done some amazing things in his life including being a humanitary, a Navy SEAL, a Rhodes Scholar, and an author. His commencement address was amazing and very inspiring. He urged all of us graduates to pursue a life where we serve others, and that in doing so we will create a wonderful and meaningful adventure for ourselves.

I urge all of you to read his address here. I think it’s something that can apply to anyone!

Anyway, immediately following that was my department ceremony. It was really nice and intimate since there were only about 60 of us students! And even though I was technically only walking instead of graduating, it was still really symbolic of being done with my academic work :) .

Kind of blurry, but you can see our Master's "hoods"

My dad and I!

My mom and I!

I can’t believe it’s done! Craziness! Actually this past weekend was pretty much craziness haha. I am so sorry for being pretty much absent from the blog world, but I’m back now!

On Friday all of my stuff was moved out of my apartment, so the rest of the weekend I was pretty much living out of a few suitcases and staying in my mom’s hotel room. As I predicted in Saturday’s post, this weekend consisted of a lot of meals eaten out and lots of desserts. I’m not going to lie and say that I felt totally comfortable about it because I didn’t. I had a few moments where I was freaking out a bit on the inside, but looking back on the weekend I realize that I don’t really regret eating anything that I did because it was all soooo incredibly delicious!

Let’s see, for starters I had my first cannoli from the famous Mike’s Pastry in The North End in Boston. It was to die for!

Peanut butter cannoli

I also had some really awesome dinners! Saturday evening my dad and I went to the Union Oyster House in downtown Boston and I had the swordfish special. Oh wow was it good. I haven’t had swordfish in ages and it didn’t disappoint!

On Sunday night I went to dinner with my mom and her boyfriend at Bin 26 Enoteca and after trying to decide on what I wanted (which was basically the whole menu) I finally chose the steak. I haven’t had red meat in a while either and once I heard the waitress say it was one of her favorite dishes I new I needed to have it. Again, this was another amazing meal!

I had some really tasty lunches too and a delicious dinner on Friday night, but silly me forgot to take pictures haha.

And finally, I am now back in Ohio! As happy as I am to be back home, I’m also really sad to have moved away from Boston and the great friends that I made there. It’s going to be so strange and incredibly sad not seeing the same girls almost every single day. Good thing technology helps us keep in touch these days right?

Yesterday was a long, long day. My mom and I made the long 13-hour drive home from Boston. Let’s just say that I am so glad that day is over haha. And after indulging over the weekend, not really exercising, and sitting in a car all day I’m ready for a good workout!

I hope you all have a great Tuesday!


My First Wedding “Nightmare”

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Happy Wednesday everyone! Wanna hear about what happened to me the other night?? Sure you do :)

I had my first wedding “nightmare” or “bad dream” on Tuesday night. I find it slightly ironic that as soon as I move back home and know that wedding planning will start to resume I have a dream like this haha. Anyway, it wasn’t exactly a nightmare…but I’m sure that to any bride on the day of the wedding it would be!

Click for source

So, in my dream it was the actual day of the wedding. I was getting ready in some fancy schmancy hotel room. Like it had to be one of the nicest hotel rooms I’ve ever seen…I should’ve known I was dreaming! And I digress. I was getting ready for the wedding and somehow decided to hang out with Chris even though he shouldn’t be seeing me before the ceremony. I had my dress on at this point and was really upset that he wasn’t saying something about how I looked in it haha. I’m pretty sure we were watching tv too. Random, I know.

Then he left the hotel room to go get ready himself. That was when I looked in the mirror and realized that my dress had not been altered to fit me the way it should. Now, I guess this isn’t a huge deal, but you want your dress to be perfect and to fit perfect- at least that’s how I feel (and I’m sure most brides feel the same!). So naturally, I started freaking out. My dress didn’t look right and I felt like I was swimming in it.

In my dream I was freaking out and could only think about how bad my dress was going to look walking down the aisle and in my pictures. My mom and I finally decided to go to the alterations department in the hotel…because you know, that’s a normal thing for a hotel to have ;) . I walked into alterations with my dress on and tears streaming down my eyes and basically begged the lady to fix it for my ceremony that was a couple hours away.

Click for source

She told me to take the dress off so she could look at it…and of course I was magically clothed in something else…and after what felt like an hour of waiting she shook her head and said she couldn’t do it. I think I started balling at this point in my dream. My mom just kept telling me it would be fine and that no one would notice that my dress didn’t really fit me.

Um yea, that idea didn’t sit with me. So we went back up to the hotel room and I told my mom that maybe she could help by fitting it together with safety pins. I’m pretty sure my actual dress would rip apart if safety pins were used on it haha. Anyway, when she told me she didn’t think that would work, I didn’t believe her. I actually started cutting up the inside of my dress so that it could be pulled tight and pinned together. Who the eff cuts of up their wedding dress hours before the ceremony?? Apparently the crazy dream version of me does haha. And that was when I woke up….basically in a panic because I had just cut up my wedding dress that didn’t fit me!

I cannot describe to you how relieved I was when I realized that it was only a dream, and that my dress hasn’t even come in yet, and that I have over a year to get it altered to fit just right :) .

Please tell me that a) It’s normal to have bad/strange dreams about the wedding and b) That they aren’t going to continue or become a frequent thing. I don’t know if I can handle lots of dreams like that!

And now you are welcome to laugh at me all you want :) . I hope you have a great Wednesday!

Ab Pyramid

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Happy Friday!!

I finally got a pair of TOMS this week :D . When these shoes first came out, I’ll admit I wasn’t really sold on their looks. But over time they have grown on me and lately I had really been eyeing the silver glitter ones. I tried to get them last week in Boston but everywhere I went they were sold out of my size :( .

Thank goodness Nordstrom provided for me haha.

I’ve only had these for a few days and I’m already in love with them! They are SOOOOO comfortable. And I like that the silver glitter makes them a bit less casual than the regular colors TOMS.

And I thought I would share with you an ab workout that I created! It’s a pyramid style, so the number of reps go up and then back down. Also, it’s a circuit, so complete things back to back!

Speaking of workouts, I’ve seen some good ones pop up on blogs this week and last week that I thought I would share with you!


Gotta love a short and sweet post on Fridays right?! I hope you have a great day <3

Holiday Weekend

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Hiiiii everyone!

I hope you’re having a great holiday weekend :D . Today we’re having a cookout at my house with my mom’s family! I can’t wait to see all of them! And of course I can’t wait to enjoy the delicious food hehe. I have also been enjoying myself this weekend and relaxing!

Friday afternoon I received another pair of silver glitter TOMS from my friend for graduation. I felt bad that I already had them but she told me to exchange them for something, so I went to Nordstrom and got a super cute necklace that I’ve been wearing ever since!

In the evening my mom and I ordered pizza, drank some wine, and went to get fro-yo. It was amazing <3

That lovely mix includes cake batter and cookie’s ‘n’ cream fro-yo topped with crushed reese’s peanut butter cups, crushed graham cracker crust, and reese’s pieces. Holy yum!

Yesterday morning I went to a spinning class…the first one I’ve gone to in over a year. Um, wow was it hard! But also totally awesome. I have forgotten how much I love spinning. It is such a challenging workout, but if you have a good instructor then I always feel strong and empowered when I’m doing it! I think I need to try and go to one at lease once a week. Although, my my butt is incredibly sore today from the bike seat haha…I’ll have to rebuild that tolerance asap ;) .

After spinning (and showering of course ;) ) I met up with my friend Whitney for coffee! It was so great to see her! She will be my maid of honor and I’ve missed her so much. I’m loving that she will be home in C-bus a lot this summer! Last night I went to dinner with my dad and his wife. We went to a fantastic thai place downtown Columbus called Nida’s Thai on High. My meal was super tasty even though I don’t quite know how to pronounce it:

I had my dish with chicken. And yes, I ate the entire thing. And yes, I was hungry like 2 hours later. Does that happen to anyone else? I feel like whenever I eat chinese, japanese, or thai food I am always hungry really soon afterward haha. Maybe I’m just naturally hungry all the time.

This post is so random haha. But I hope you guys have been enjoying your weekends like I have! And I hope that you get to celebrate and remember those that have served for our country in one way or another :) . Thank you to everyone that has!

Memorial Day

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Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to absolutely everyone that has served and that continues to serve our country :D .

Back before I graduated, I mentioned that my mom got me a really cute pink dress. Well, a lot of you mentioned in the comments that you wanted to see what it looked like on, so yesterday when I was wearing it for our cookout I had my mom take a picture!

It was a perfect dress to wear yesterday in the super hot and humid 90* weather!

I also got to see my cousin’s baby again! I don’t know if you remember, but back in March when I was home for a week I got to see him when he was a couple weeks old. Now he’s almost 3 months and he is seriously the most precious baby ever! He’s so smiley and happy and calm. Apparently the other night he slept for 11 hours! Craziness!!

He really didn’t want to look at the camera. He did however keep looking at my chest, and I was like “honey, you aren’t going to find any milk there” haha ;) . Look how cute the happy family is:

Little Cael doesn’t look too happy there, but he was basically smiling the rest of the time! He will be walking by the time of our wedding, and I think he’d make a great little ring bearer don’t you?

Our cookout was so nice! It was great to see so many family members again after being away in Boston. I failed at taking other pictures because I was just enjoying everyone’s company…..it happens haha.

Anyway, I’m off to the gym soon to lift some weights! If you have this holiday off from school/work I hope you enjoy it!

My Wedding Veil

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Hi friends!!

I met with our wedding photographer last night! Back in April I mentioned that we had booked him. We did this without meeting him first because our wedding date was already booked with several photographers and I loved this guy’s work and didn’t want to lose the opportunity to have him work with us. Anyway, last night my mom and I met with him and absolutely LOVED him!

He is such an incredibly nice and down to earth guy. He seems totally passionate about what he does and wants to devote as much time to the wedding as he can- in fact he says he only books about 15 weddings a year so he can give them the attention he thinks they deserve! It was great to look at sample books and pictures he’s already taken. As I knew from looking at his blog and website, the photos are exactly what I’m looking for – fun, creative, and absolutely stunning. And Chris and I are going to get engagement pictures done with him…I’m sooo excited :D . If you’re interested, you can check out some of his pictures on his website – Ben Barnes Photography

Speaking of wedding things…I tried my veil on last night and snapped a few pics for you! I purchased my veil the day I got my wedding dress, but it was from England and had to be ordered. It came in while I was in Boston, so it’s been at home waiting for me. I actually sort of forgot about it until the meeting last night which sparked the wedding fever so I busted it out of the package as soon as I got home.

I love my veil! I went with something a bit fancier and it compliments my dress wonderfully. There are tiny Swarovski crystals all around it as well!

I figure I can post this picture because it’s not my dress and that’s what I want to be a surprise for people, especially Chris :) .

Here’s a side view:

I mean it doesn’t look that great with my black and white t-shirt and jean shorts haha…but I still love it!

And here is a close-up of some of the crystals:

Eeee trying on my veil and meeting with the photographer just makes me so excited to get back into planning mode :D . I know it’s more than a year away, but I can’t wait til the day I get to walk down the aisle and become Chris’s wife! <3

Do You Want to Look Like a Little Girl?

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Happy Friday everyone!!

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments about my veil :D . All of your giddiness rubs off on me and makes me even more happy!

Today I wanted to write about something that my mom said to me and and something she asked me the other day that got me to thinking. But first, let me give you a bit of background on how I’ve been feeling with regard to my body image lately.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve decreased the intensity of my workouts this past month. To some people it may still seem like I’m pushing myself hard, and that’s because I am! I am still challenging myself, but I’m no longer overdoing it like I was before. I’m no longer pushing myself to the extreme anymore.

Instead of dreading going to the gym like I was, I now look forward to it again. Instead of feeling lethargic and like my body is struggling to get through a workout, I now feel energized and strong. All of this is great and I definitely think my hip bursitis is thanking me. I still have hip pain sometimes if I don’t stretch it out enough, but it’s nothing near where it was before.

The one bad thing that has come with this is that I’ve been struggling with my body image more than I would like to admit. On top of doing less intense exercise, decreasing the length of some of my workouts, and celebrations around graduation and Memorial Day – I feel sort of blahh. Also, I tried on some jean shorts from last summer and they no longer fit around my thighs. I went to American Eagle and had to go up a size which was really frustrating for me and honestly gives me some anxiety.

Logically I know that I look fine, but that warped mental aspect from my disordered eating days has been rearing its ugly head. I also know that my thighs are probably not bigger than they were last summer, but they are stronger since I’ve been doing different types of workouts. In fact, if I flex my thighs I can see all of the muscle. I’ve also pretty much stayed the same weight, give or take a few pounds.

So back to my mom’s comment and question. I was talking about this stuff with her the other day and complaining and telling her that while I was basically the same weight as I was in high school, my body looks different, feels different, and clothes fit me differently. I was telling her that it’s annoying because that disordered part of me wants to fit into the same jean size as I did then.

The first thing she said was around the lines of “Lindsay, as you get older your body is going to change. Yes, you may weigh the same but your body shape has been changing to basically prepare you to be able to give birth some day.”

And then the question that I can’t stop thinking about: “Lindsay, do you want to look like a little girl? Because in high school your body was still more like that of a little girl than it is now.”

Um wow….when I think about it, NO, I do not want to look like a little girl. I want to look like the young woman that I am….and that’s exactly how I do look right now. I need to stop dwelling on how I looked in the past. I also need to recognize that how my body looks right now is pretty damn good. For the most part I eat really well, and yes I splurge on occasion but I would hate it if I didn’t. I also work hard in the gym.

If this is what my body looks like when doing the things I’m doing, then I should be happy! Sure, I could eat clean all the effing time and workout much harder than I do…but frankly I think I’d be miserable and I know that my body wouldn’t be able to handle it because well duh, I’ve already figured that one out the hard way.

So no, I don’t want to look like a little girl. I don’t want to be miserable trying to obtain that “little girl” body. I need to focus on being happy with the healthy body I have and I need to focus on treating it well. 

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Anyway, I hope you all have an awesome Friday! Today I’m driving with my mom, her bf, my brother, and my mom’s friend down to Florida. We’re going to Rosemary Beach for vacation! I’ll have wifi down there though, so I’ll be checking in throughout the week :D .

Vacation Surprise

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Hi friends!!!!

I hope you are all having an amazing weekend so far. I just have to say that I LOVE you all and that I absolutely LOVED all of your comments on my post about not wanting your body to look like a little girl’s. I think that’s one of my new favorite posts that I’ve written :D .

Anyway, we have arrived in Rosemary Beach, FL! I didn’t really know where Rosemary Beach was so here’s a little map for you haha

We arrived yesterday a little before noon (btw, it’s an hour behind for me here and I need to get used to that haha). We got out of the car and were looking at our beautiful place, which I’ll take pics of later, and all of a sudden someone blew on my hair on the back of my head. I jumped around, totally freaked out…and guess who I saw?

Chris surprised me here!!!! I was totally in shock. In fact instead of being super excited at first, I was like, “What are you doing here?” haha…and then after I realized that he was there to surprise me I freaked out and was giddy with joy :D .

He is only here until early Tuesday morning because he has to get back for class, but I’m just so thankful that I get to spend a couple of days with him!

Our place wasn’t quite ready when we got in yesterday so we went to lunch, changed into our swimsuits at the pool and then went to the beach. Later in the day we did a massive grocery shopping trip, had dinner, and enjoyed some tasty adult beverages ;) .

Can’t wait for another day of fun in the sun. Chris and I are about to go workout now! I hope you all have a great Sunday. The internet here is kind of spotty, so I’ll try to read blogs and write posts when I can!

Oh and btw, I used PicMonkey to edit all of these pictures and create that collage! It’s AWESOME! I love it…you definitely need to try it out!


Do Anywhere Tabata Workout

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Hi everyone!!

I have a new workout for you all today! On Sunday morning, Chris and I decided to complete a tabata workout outside. We took turns making up the moves and it ended up being soooo hard! And considering it was a bit warm outside, I was dripping with sweat after the second one haha. It also takes a lot for Chris to sweat and he was hardcore sweating at the end of it! I’d say that means the workout was nice and challenging ;) .

Here are descriptions of some of the moves or links to them:

Sadly, Chris had to leave today, but it was SO incredibly awesome to spend a couple of days with him :D . Hopefully today will consist of laying out at the beach…although my shoulders are a bit burnt so we’ll see how long that lasts. I hope you all have a great one!

One Lovely Blog

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Hi everyone!!

The other day Katelin nominated me for the “one lovely blog award”! Thank you so much girlie!!

Here are the rules for this lovely little survey thing:

-Link back to the blogger who nominated you
-Paste the award image anywhere on your blog
-Share seven facts about yourself
-Nominate other blogs you enjoy for this award
-Post a comment on your nominees’ blogs to let them know of their nomination

Hmmm…7 facts can be somewhat challenging haha. Whenever I try to think of things about myself I always get stuck! So I apologize if these are random :) .

1. I used to be obsessed with horses!! I always dreamed about owning one and would constantly pretend that my bike was a horse haha.

Sadly, my bike wasn’t tricked out like this one ;) .

2. I used to absolutely hate country music. Then I actually listened to it and realized that it can be really good! Back in middle school and some of high school, country music just wasn’t really the “cool thing” to listen to. Makes me wonder what else I missed out on because I was afraid of going against the norm!

3. I’ve been surfing before! The summer of 2008 I visited one of my good friends in Maine and her birthday present for me was getting a surfing lesson. It was AWESOME! Granted the water was freezing, but the wet suits did a good job of keeping us warm enough to move haha. Thankfully the waves weren’t too big or else I don’t think I ever would have actually gotten on the board and rode them into shore. I definitely hope I get to surf again someday.

4. I wrote for my school newspaper in high school! I absolutely loved doing that. My senior year I was the editor for our “feature” section and therefore got to about topics that were more informal and fun. Writing has always been something that I enjoy, especially when it isn’t an essay for a class hehe. I even contemplated majoring in journalism in college, but wasn’t sure that I wanted to do that for a career. Thankfully this blog has helped me fulfill that more personal, and informal writing that I love!

5. I hate my Zodiac sign. I don’t like that it’s called “Cancer”. And I really don’t like the symbols..either a crab or something that if looked at a certain way could be naughty. C’mon…can’t we have something cute?? Here are the two symbols kind of mixed into one. And no, it’s not cute or fun either.

6. Mosquitos really seem to like me. Every summer I tend to have the most bites out of anyone in our family. Anyone know what attracts mosquitos to you?? I’ve had two really big bites this week in Florida and at least 10 smaller ones!

7. This is really gross, but apparently when I was younger (like 3 years old) I was a very picky eater, so my dad started putting syrup on my foods so that I would eat them since I liked sweeter stuff. One of my favorite entrees was grilled cheese and maple syrup. Ewwww…seriously disgusting! How did I enjoy that? haha

Okay and now I get to nominate some blogs:

My Food n’ Fitness Diaries

Lisa Lately

Delights and Delectables

A Dash of Meg

GOtheXtraMile

**And check out my guest post on Annette’s blog today :D

Rosemary Beach Vacation Pics

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Hello friends :D .

We are making the long drive back from Rosemary Beach to Ohio today. I’m sad to leave that place, but also excited for things that are coming up! Next Saturday my sorority little is getting married!! The next day I fly back to Florida to spend almost a week with Chris! And then after that I am going back to Tennessee to go hiking in the Smoky Mountains with my dad. So, I can’t really complain about going home…but still. This vacay was great! Today I just wanted to share some pics from this week with you!

We had gorgeous weather pretty much every single day!

I got to spend some quality time with Chris…which I was totally not expecting! It was fabulous :D .

The view from some of the places we went to were gorgeous! We sat at a table in this deck bar one night and this was our view:

Here’s a pic of my mom, brother and I. My brother has a problem smiling apparently haha.

Here’s my mom and her friend Lorrie who came on the trip with us!

Another pic of Chris and I! <3

My mom and her bf Gary who was also on the trip with us!

One night there was full moon and it was such a pretty sight. I’m just happy I was able to get a picture of it!

And we made a delicious batch of Sangria! I saw this particular recipe on pinterest the other day and it was definitely a winner. It was White Strawberry-Lemon Sangria! It was super sweet either like some sangria’s are. I highly recommend it.

I had an awesome week and I hope all of you did as well! And I hope your weekends are fantastic too :D .

Blogiversary Giveaway

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I cannot believe that today marks my first blogiversary!!!

It’s really hard for me to grasp that I have been blogging for 365 days, but it has been an AMAZING 365 days :D .

This past year has been taught me so much not only about the world of blogging, but also about myself! I’ve also made so many friends through this wonderful community and I could not be more thankful.

While my little corner of the healthy living blog world may not be the “most successful” from a numbers standpoint, I am so proud of the work that I have put into my blog, the opportunities that I have been able to have because of it, and I absolutely love what In Sweetness and In Health has grown to become!

Let’s take a quick look back on some of the things that have happened this past year shall we??

Another highlight of this past year has been becoming a Fitfluential Ambassador! The community of fitness lovers is absolutely amazing, inspiring, and supportive! I feel honored to be a part of such a wonderful team. Click here if you’re interested in joining in this awesome family in one way or another!

What started as a way for me to be involved in this community, to try and overcome my disordered eating mindset, and to share my love of health and fitness has turned into so much more than I ever could have imagined! I couldn’t have done any of this without the love and support from all of you – my wonderful readers :) .

So, to show you my appreciation, I’ve decided to do a little giveaway!

One reader will win 3 bags of Love Grown Foods Granola (flavors of choice) and an assortment of Healthy Bites from Lindsay at Cotter Crunch!

**To enter all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what you like about this little blog of mine and what you would like to see more of!

*For an extra entry you may tweet about this giveaway and leave me a separate comment letting me know that you did: @SweetNHealthy is giving away @LoveGrownFoods and @CBHealthyBites for her blogiversary! Enter here: http://wp.me/p1RDDv-Ou #fitfluential

The giveaway will end Thursday night at 9pm EST! I will announce the winner on Friday :D .

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING!!! XOXO

Opening Up

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Thank you thank you thank you for all of your wonderful comments on my blogiversary post!!! You guys certainly know how to make a girl feel really good about herself and her blog :D . If you haven’t yet, make sure you enter my giveaway! It ends Thursday night at 9pm.

It was also really interesting to hear about some of the things that you guys would like to see more of! The big things included – more workouts, more healthy recipes, and just “day in the life” type posts! I promise that as soon as my life calms down a bit I’ll get back to posting more recipes. I’ve been a huge slacker in that area. And it made me happy to know that you guys would like to see more workouts because I was worried that maybe I posted them too often!

Also, Lindsay said she would like for me to open up a bit more about my faith and I thought I would do that a bit today! If you remember, the same Lindsay sent me a book back in April called Beautiful Outlaw.

Reading that book really gave me the desire to love Jesus. You see, I wasn’t super big on faith and religion before. I believed in God, but that was basically the extent of it. Back in high school I was religious, although I think I did it more to feel like I belonged. Some of the people I hung out with claimed to be these big “Christians” but they constantly judged others and acted like they were righteous. They often made me feel like a bad person and some of the things that happened just really turned me off of everything.

But then, Lindsay had always talked about God being greater than religion and I just couldn’t quite grasp what she meant. I always thought they had to come together and couldn’t be separate. This book really helped me understand that it’s ultimately about loving God and honoring Him. It’s not about being a part of a religious organization and feeling guilty because of things they are preaching about. For some reason, that was all I needed to have my heart opened up.

I’ve also had guidance from a few other lovely ladies (Kristen, Natalie, Brittany, and Ashley) who are really helping me realize this and who are helping me on this new “journey” (I guess you could call it) to have a relationship with God. And, what makes it even better is that I am really happy and excited about it! I honestly feel more content and fulfilled now. For me, that’s huge!

I recently saw on Brittany’s blog that she was doing the Soul Detox online Bible Study. The hashtag #shereadstruth has been all over twitter and instagram lately.

This has been going on for a while so I’m way behind the actual Bible Study with a group of people, but I’ve decided to start doing it!

And so, this is where I am currently at with my faith :) .

I hope you all have a great Wednesday!!

Friday Favorites and Giveaway Winner

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Happy Friday everyone!!

Here are some of my recent “favorites” :D :

1. I’m currently obsessed with this song by Hunter Hayes! Like..obsessed to the point where I’ve listened to it on repeat many times haha.

2. My wedding dress came in!!!!!!!!!!!! I ordered it back in January and the lady said it could take 6-9 months to come in, and probably closer to 9. So I wasn’t expecting it until around September. When she called me on Wednesday to tell me that it came in I almost screamed, I was so excited haha. My mom and I went to pick it up and I got to try it on to make sure the size was right. It was!! And I’ll really only need to get the chest area altered…basically because right now I probably need some double d’s to fill it out ;) .

3. On Saturday my sorority little is getting married!! Not only will I get to see her again (it’s been almost a year since I saw her last), but I’ll also get to see a bunch of other sorority sisters and one of my best friends. YAY!

4. On Sunday I fly to Florida to spend almost a week with Chris :D . I was so lucky to see him in Florida when he surprised me on our vacation, and I can’t wait to see him again!

5. I recently finished The Innocent by David Baldacci. It was awesome! This was my first time reading a book by Baldacci and I really enjoyed the story and his writing style. Essentially it’s about a sniper who decides not to kill a target, he then becomes the target, and along the way comes in contact with a young girl who is running from something as well! I don’t want to give anything away…but let’s just say the story was really good, suspenseful, and kept me guessing pretty much up to the end!

6. I went on a 40 minute leisurely bike ride after dinner last night. It was wonderful. The weather was perfect – blue skies and not too warm. Ever since I’ve moved home from Boston, I haven’t been moving around as much since I no longer have to walk to class…or basically walk anywhere. So, it was really great to get in some extra movement during the day! I need to start doing that more often :) .

7. I saw Snow White and The Huntsman the other night with my mom. We both thought it was good! And I’ll just say that Chris Hemsworth is gorgeous hehe

8. The winner of my blogiversary giveway is #99 Susie!!! Please email me at Linds7688 at gmail dot com!!!

I hope you all have great weekends <3.

My Little’s Wedding

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Hi friends!!

I hope you all had awesome weekends! I certainly did :) …but more on that in a sec. First, I’m back in Florida with Chris!!! I flew here yesterday and will get to spend my time with him until Saturday!

Okay, back to the weekend! On Friday afternoon my mom and I went to see Rock of Ages. Um…I LOVED it!

Now, I love musicals to begin with so I wanted to see this movie anyway. But let’s just say that it was way better than I imagined it would be! Everyone did a phenomenal job singing and performing. There were also some very funny moments throughout the movie. I totally want to go see it again!

————–

On Saturday I attended my sorority little’s wedding :) . It was such an awesome time! Lindsey and Bryan (the bride and groom) looked amazing…as did all of the attendants. The ceremony was on the lawn of a super pretty country club in Dublin, Ohio. It was such a gorgeous ceremony and I loved that they did a unity wine box (I think that’s what it’s called haha). This is where they put a bottle of wine, 2 glasses, and a love letter to one another in a box. On their 15th anniversary they are supposed to open the box, enjoy the wine, and read their letters! How cute is that??

I went with two other members of my sorority “family” – my twin and her little! My twin took one of our guy friends as her date. The four of us had a great time busting moves on the dance floor and just catching up!

The reception was at the same place as the ceremony, just basically in the back and under a big tent! The was a dance floor set up and a stage where Lindsey’s dad’s band played, switching on and off with the DJ :D . Let’s just say there were some rockin’ tunes all night long! The reception was like a huge and fantastic party. And that’s exactly how Lindsey and Bryan and their families wanted it to be. I hope my wedding is as fun as this one was! Oh, and the food and drinks were pretty fabulous too hehe.

Our sorority fam!! Me, my little Lindsey, Mary Helen (Sam’s little), and my twin Sam! Sorry if you’re confused by the sorority lingo.

I had to snap a pic with the bride and groom :D .

Their first dance was awesome! You could tell they were just having so much fun with it!

Gotta love the props ;)

I had a chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting. Um….holy yum!!

Awww, yay for the happy couple! I’m so happy for my little!! And I’m pumped that I can hang out with her more now that I’m back in Columbus!

I hope you all have a great day! I will be in and out this week with blogging and reading and commenting on blogs…so if I’m sort of MIA it’s because I want to focus on my time here with Chris!!


Twenty Four

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Happy Friday!!

And Happy Birthday to me :D .

Today I am twenty-four years old! And I don’t really feel like writing a post. Partly because I woke up at 5am yesterday and didn’t get home til 7:30pm and partly because it’s my birthday and I have no idea what to write about haha.

So I had the genius (clearly I’m kidding) idea to find my favorite recent pins on Pinterest. Plus…it’s Friday and that way you all can enjoy some pics instead of reading words!

Source: memerial.net via Felecia on Pinterest

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Heather on Pinterest

Source: wheresmysammich.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

Source: themetapicture.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: strongerfitness.tumblr.com via Lori on Pinterest

Source: via Lindsay on Pinterest

Source: tumblr.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: someecards.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

Hahahaha not gonna lie, I totally laughed out loud at the last one. Anyway, I hope you all have an amazing day!

Birthday Celebrations

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Hi everyone!!!

I cannot thank you all enough for all of your birthday wishes!! You guys are awesome :D . Thank you thank you thank you! You guys definitely know how to make a girl feel special!

My birthday celebrations were very nice! I worked on Friday until about 6pm and then went to dinner with my mom, her bf, and my maid of honor Whitney. It was a great evening and the dinner was awesome. I had a scallop risotto and then the table shared two desserts- an apple crisp and a flour-less chocolate cake! And then I crashed like the young 24-year-old that I am before 10pm haha. That’s what working 10 hour days and getting up early does to me!

On Saturday night I went to dinner with my dad! Again, it was a really nice evening and super tasty meal. We went to McCormick and Schmick’s and both of us had the seared ahi tuna for dinner. It was sooo tasty! And then I had some carrot cake for dessert. Holy yum :) .

I received some awesome gifts for my birthday and got  to talk on the phone with some of my friends that are out of town! I am so thankful for the wonderful people in my life and how they treat me. Chris got me a Barnes and Noble gift card, which we all know is pretty much perfect for me haha. My mom got me a couple of cute purses and my first ever lululemon item! I can’t wait to wear it :D .

And with some money that I got from my dad I decided to purchase some desperately needed running shoes! Mine were pretty worn down. I got a pair of asics and they feel amazing!! They have a lot of cushion in them and stability which is totally what I need.

If you had asked me a few years ago if I wanted anything fitness related for my birthday I probably would have laughed at you haha. It’s amazing how much fitness has become a part of my life now AND that it’s something I love :D .

And now it’s the start of my second week of my internship! Let’s hope that this week goes just as well as the first one did!

I hope you all have an awesome Monday. And thank you again for the birthday wishes!

Question:

What’s something fitness-related that you would ask for as a gift?

Inspiring Sunshine

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Hi everyone! I love that you all enjoy receiving fitness-related gifts as much as I do!

The other day Laurie nominated me for the Sunshine Blog Award! This award is given to bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere”.

THANK YOU SO MUCH LAURIE!! You are so sweet to award me this :D . It means a lot!! So, here are my responses…hopefully you all love reading survey answers as much as I do hehe.
  • Favorite color? Pink!
  • Favorite animal? Ohhh boy…I don’t really know the answer to this haha. I love cats and dogs. And horses and dolphins!
  • Favorite number? I don’t really have one. I’ve always liked the number 6 though since it’s the date of my birthday.
  • Favorite color? Ummmm…still pink haha
  • Favorite drink? If we’re talking alcoholic, I love wine!
  • Facebook or twitter? How about Instagram and Pinterest hehe
  • What is your passion? I feel like I’m passionate about a lot of different things – health, reading, helping others, and my loved ones!
  • Giving or getting presents? I love to receive presents…I always feel so special. BUT, I absolutely adore getting things for other people! Especially when I am able to get them something that they absolutely love :) .
  • Favorite day of the week? It used to be Friday because it was the start of the weekend, but now that I’m working until about 6, I think I’d say Saturday since I don’t have anything to do and I don’t have to go back to work the next day!
  • Favorite flower? Apparently I don’t really have a favorite anything haha. I do like gerbera daisies and hibiscus flowers though!

Also, Krista nominated me for the “Very Inspirational Blogger Award” :D . THANK YOU KRISTA! I seriously feel so blessed to have other bloggers nominate me for awards like this! I love knowing that I can somehow inspire others!

This award involves me stating 7 things about myself!

  1. As much as I LOVE blogging, it doesn’t come first in my life. With my internship taking up a lot of time right now I may not be commenting as much, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still keeping up with your blogs and checking out your posts!
  2. I just downloaded an app on my phone to help me keep track of how much water I’m drinking. I haven’t been getting enough, so lets hope this does the job!
  3. I downloaded the Demi Lovato cd last week. It’s really good :) .
  4. I pretty much never have my phone on “loud”. It’s always on silent or vibrate.
  5. For some reason the nail polish on my second to last and last toe on each foot always comes off first….I think I tend to curl under my toes when I’m working out.
  6. Sometimes I wish I had an accent.
  7. I’ve only had my eyebrows waxed once…and the lady did a terrible job. I’ve plucked them ever since!

Now it’s my turn to nominate :D . I’m going to nominate 5 bloggers who can do one or both awards!

Lindsay of Cotter Crunch

Katie of Healthy Diva Eats

Natalie of Southern Fit Foodie

Meg of A Dash of Meg

Alexandra of Tales of a Freckled Lifter

I hope you all have an amazing day!!

 

A Typical Day While Completing My Internship

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Hey there!

No, I haven’t disappeared…I’ve just been crazy busy. Which is why I’ve decided to establish a new “blogging policy” like my friend Brittany did a couple weeks ago. You see, I’ve been so busy with my internship that the past couple of days I honestly thought about stopping my blog. But then, I saw Lindsay last night at a a restaurant and it made me realize how much I would miss blogging and this wonderful community.

So, part one of my new “policy” is that I’m going to post when I feel like and when I have time….and only then. I’m not going to force myself to bust out a post just because I feel like I should. Frankly, that will cause me stress and give you some poor reading material. I will try to post 3 times a week, but if it doesn’t happen then so be it. I need to live my life and dedicate the necessary amount of time and energy to my internship!

Part two of this policy is that I will only comment if I feel like I have the time to. I love reading blogs and will absolutely continue to read all of yours, but sometimes commenting adds a lot of time to that process which I just don’t have. I’m truly sorry about this. Just remember, that even though I may not comment on your blog as much doesn’t mean that I’m not reading!

Okay…so, wanna see a day in my life while at my internship? Then you can understand how busy I am haha. I saw Chelsey write a similar post about a typical summer day for her and was inspired :D . This is an example of a day this week…some days I start around 8:30 and other days I start at 7:30AM:

  • 5:00 AM – Wake up and change into workout clothes
  • 5:15 AM – Workout (either in basement of at the gym)
  • 6:30 AM – Shower
  • 6:45 AM – Eat breakfast and drink coffee and read some blogs
  • 7:15 AM – Get ready for work
  • 7:30 AM – Pack lunch
  • 7:45 AM – Leave and drive to work
  • 8:15 AM – Arrive at work
  • 8:20 AM – Start day at work
  • 6:45 PM – End day at work
  • 6:50PM – Drive home and make calls to Chris, family members, and friends
  • 7:15 PM – Arrive home and eat dinner
  • 7:45 PM – Plan treatment activities for the next day
  • 8:30 PM – Start to nod off on the couch because I’m so tired…lay there and watch tv or peruse the internet
  • 9:00PM – Get ready for bed
  • 9:15 PM – Go to bed
Um…no wonder I slept for almost 11 hours last night haha. The days where I start at 7:30AM I get off work a little earlier and have some more time in the evening which is nice.

I hope you all understand where I’m coming from and stick with me as I try to juggle everything at this time. I love you all!! <3

Have a fantastic weekend :D

New Workout Schedule

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Hi everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Thank you for your support on my new blogging policy! I’m so glad you guys understand where I’m coming from.

So not only is my blogging “schedule” changing with my internship but my workout schedule has had to change as well. I used to be able to exercise 6 days a week but that can’t really happen anymore. I just don’t have the time or energy to workout two days of the week, and I’m trying not to worry about it.

Chris was amazing and yesterday he wrote up a 12-week workout plan for me :D . He gave me guidelines for what to do for every workout, but the only ones he really wrote out were the resistance ones. Which is perfect and exactly what I asked him to do. I’ve been kind of in a rut with lifting and it will be really nice to be able to go to the gym and not have to come up with exercises on my own!

My new workout schedule will look something like this:

  • Monday: interval workout
  • Tuesday: resistance and abs/low-back workout
  • Thursday: interval workout
  • Saturday: resistance workout
  • Sunday: cardio and abs/low-back workout

I started this plan this morning! And I’ll probably be making up a new interval workout for you guys with the workout guidelines he gave me :D .

The other thing I wanted to discuss was how I prepared myself for workouts at 5am in the morning. I never used to workout that early in the morning….much less feel like I was awake enough to ever feel like I could MOVE that early in the morning haha. So starting the week before my internship I slowly adjusted my sleep schedule.

I progressively started getting up earlier and earlier and tried to go to bed at earlier times as well. This way I wouldn’t feel like I was hit like a ton of bricks on the first morning of my internship. I started with waking up at 7:30am. The following days I would wake up either 15 minutes or a half hour earlier. And let me tell you- it worked!

Sure, my first workout after getting up at 5am may not have been stellar, but I was able to wake up fairly easily and felt awake enough to push myself! So, it totally is possible to get your body adjusted to working out early in the morning. I would just advise you not to go into head on. Ease yourself and your body into it and I think it will be much easier!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great Monday!

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