Morning Smoothie

Okay, I have been requested by some friends and family to post my "Mean & Green" morning smoothie recipe. I actually found a recipe on Pinterest that was eerily similar. I mean, super duper similar!! I think it's great that others have the same idea I have to stay healthy but not at the expense of flavor.

Mean & Green Morning Smoothie

Ingredients:

1/2 Banana
1/4 cup Orange Juice
Small handful of Baby Spinach Leaves
2 dollups of Greek Yogurt (I prefer the Vanilla & Honey flavored)
3 piece of frozen Peaches (sliced)
Small handful of frozen & diced Mangoes & Pineapples

Place into blender and blend like crazy. You can add some more OJ if you prefer it to be thinner but I like mine on the thick side. It's your choice. Also, I have added frozen strawberries and other fruits occasionally and it always turns out great. Get crazy with it but don't forget the Greek yogurt and spinach leaves. Those are essential in my opinion!

I'm also posting the picture I found on Pinterest if you want to save it.

It's very close to what I do. I have a smoothie every morning and one in the late afternoon on the weekends. It's yummy and it makes me feel good knowing I'm staying healthy.

Stay Awesome!!

Product review: Power Blender

I have to post about a product that I have been using for a while. No. I have recieved no money for this review so you know my love of this product is legit. The product I have on hand is this:

This is my Cooks 5 in 1 power blender from JC Penney. It was a Christmas gift from my awesome sister-in-law. It's incredible. I usually use it to make my morning "Mean & Green" smoothie (recipe posted later, PROMISE!!) but I have also used it to grate cheese, dice onions, and more! It's amazing and I am happy to report that despite being stuck in my hardcore kitchen, it is still going strong!!!

Stay Awesome!!
Carole

The $5.00 Bill Challenge

Please allow me to introduce you a friend of mine...
This is my good buddy President Lincoln.
2013 is the start of a new budgeting time for my family
and myself.

Recently I found this idea on Pinterest. It's called the $5.00 Bill Challenge. What this means is that for the entire year of 2013, my husband and I will save all the $5.00 bills that pass through our hands. We will put forth a valiant effort to not spend or break any $5.00 bill. Instead we will be putting it away for safe keeping.

I'm thinking we'll probably open a savings account in a different bank than the one we mainly use. This may keep us from dipping into the challenge. At the end of 2013, we're going to see how much money we have accumulated in the 12 months.

As of today, we have a total of $15.00 saved. I know that looks like a puny amount but that's the number of $5.00 bills that we've had in our wallets so far. I am looking forward to seeing that number grow.

What about you? Have you made any budgeting resolutions? Any new plans to save money or decrease debt? Let me know. I can always use new ideas to save a buck or two.

Stay Awesome!!
Carole

UPDATE: It has been a week since I last posted about my $5.00 bill challenge and I'm happy to report that in one week, we're up to $55.00. It's a nice little save in only a week's time. :)

Long time, No see!!

Wow it has been a whole year since I've posted anything on here. I have totally dropped the ball. Allow me to update quickly...
1. I finished student teaching and graduated with my Bachelor's in Elementary Education last May. Woot!
2. I got a fantastic job teaching 3rd Grade Reading. I have 3 classes of third graders and I couldn't be happier. My school is truly spectacular!!
3. I am now working on my Master's degree in Reading. When I graduate, I'll be a Reading Specialist!
4. My son, Peanut, has been taking growth hormone shots since April and has grown a whopping 6 inches since then. He's so proud of himself and we're ecstatic too!!
5. My daughter, Ballerina just turned 2 years old. Her nickname has changed to Tinkerbell since that is basically the only thing we're allowed to watch in her presence.

Well that's about it. I think. I am so sorry I haven't posted anything recently and honestly, I can't think of any cute craft things I've done lately to post about. I do have some pretty cool classroom stuff I've done so I'll try to get those pics up in a couple of days. Oh Yeah!!!

6. I finished my novel and I'm currently going through it with a fine tooth comb to make sure it's as close to perfect as I can get it. Then I'll be searching out literary agents and publishers.

So I'll close with a picture of me and my baby girl at my graduation. Hopefully I'll get back on the saddle this week with more interesting stuff.

As always, Stay Awesome!

Carole

How I've Miss You!!!

I realize that this post ends my 2 month hiatus. I've had a lot going on. We moved to a new house, received some disappointing news concerning Peanut, and been working on homework constantly!!

The Move: we moved across town so it wasn't too terribly bad however, right afterwards, the weather got bad. That figures right?! But we're in a better house (teensy bit smaller though), way better neighborhood, and we are now located 6 houses down from one of the best schools in town. Score!!!

Peanut: my son Peanut has been diagnosed with ONH (Optic Nerve Hypoplasia). This means that he is completely blind in his left eye. We knew something was wrong but I honestly thought his eye just wandered badly. I had no idea he was blind in it. So now he wears glasses to protect his right eye because lets face it, if anything happens to it, he'll be completely blind. He has toughed through a MRI and goes to a endocrinologist on Monday. They checked his pituitary gland for abnormalities to try to explain his small stature. (He's in 1st grade but still wears 4 toddler clothes.) His MRI showed that his pituitary gland is normal but he has septum pellciudum which is the absense of the midline of the brain. Crazy, right?! Prayers and positive vibes are greatly appreciated.

School: This section is super short...I begin student teaching in January and just applied for graduation last Friday! Woot!!!

Thanks for the hiatus. Peanut just celebrated his 7th birthday so pictures of his party will be posted soon.

Stay Awesome!!

Worst Blogger Ever!!

That's me!!!

I am the worst blogger ever!! It has almost been a month since my last blog! I want to apologize for that. I've been swamped with school and now my house is being invaded by a very persistant sick bug.

I promise that I'll bounce back and I'll hopefully have some exciting projects when I do!

Hello My Name is Carole and I'm An Addict...

Yesterday I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and now I'm addicted to skydiving!! That was simply AMAZING!! I highly suggest that everyone experience the wonderful feeling that skydiving give you at least once in their lifetime.

At the skydive center, J and I decided to jump tandem. Tandem jumping is when you are harnessed to a instructor or Jumpmaster and the parachute is attached to the both of you. Unfortunately, the professional skydive photographer got the flu and couldn't jump with us to take pics. I'm not upset though. This is just an excuse to jump again.

We got into this tiny Cessna plane. It fits two jumpers, two instructors, and a pilot. I decided to jump first. I didn't even think about what was going through J's mind when he watched me jump out of the plane before him.

Anyways, when we got to 10,000 feet they opened the door. I placed my foot out on the step, curled up, and we barrel-rolled out of that plane! What was cool was the whole "stomach in my throat" feeling that I get on rollercoaster only lasted like 2 seconds when I skydived. Then we were freefalling. It was incredible. It seemed like we were flying rather than falling.

Then the chute opened and we glided around for about 5 minutes. It was awesome!! I will definitely be doing that again and next time, I'll get some awesome pics to go with it!! I'm hoping the photographer won't be sick. :)

Drypointing

Have I mentioned lately how awesome my husband is?! Well trust me, he's incredible. Twice a week he gets to have some "J-time" and rehearse with his band. He's a drummer. Well usually I stay at home (always) and with the exception of the occasional girls lunch, I don't do much else. Well tonight he sent me to a local art workshop to learn how to Drypoint.

Drypointing is a form of printmaking. I've done printmaking many times back in my art school days but never drypointing. It involves using a needle-like utensil called a scribe and etching a drawing into plexiglass.

Then you smear ink over the top, scrape off any excess ink, and using a press or a marble rolling pin, you copy the etching onto paper.

I think that for my first time, it turned out pretty well. I'm happy with it and I think I found another favorite thing to do!! Thank you J!!

Wordless Wednesday - Laundry Sniper!

My Ballerina loves tutus!!

So I got the best package ever in the mail today!! Little Yellow Sew Shop sent me my goodies that I won from Lee La La's recent giveaway.

The package is called Tiny to Toddler Perfect Purple Package. It includes a purple and teal tutu, cute argyle leg warmers, a purple flower headband, a 24 month T-shirt, and three adorable onesies!!

The good news is that all of the goodies are too cute for words. Seriously adorable.

The bad news is that my little Ballerina Hippo is too big to fit in any of the onesies.

She's only 7 months old and she can't even wear the 6-9 month one! LOL! So I had to put her in the 24 month T-shirt for the pics but she looks fabulous in all of it!

Thank you Lee La La and Little Yellow Sew Shop!!