Confessions

Ok so....I have a confession to make.  I posted a couple weeks ago about my new years resolutions.  And since I posted them on here I am going to be 100% honest with you.  That being said.....I have not been doing so good on being physically fit.  A couple weeks ago was great!  Great eating, great exercising...but...then...the last couple of weeks have been not good at all.  I have come to realize that when life gets busy, my eating and exercising goes to the pooper!  On a good note....I was watching Biggest Loser, while on the bike, (side note....definitely watch that show while working out....it makes you feel so much better knowing you don't have to do what they are doing) anyway....they went out of town for a competition and one girl out of all of them was prepared.  She had already cooked chicken, already chopped fruits and veggies, and low fat healthy snacks already packaged and prepared.  She was on it!  And guess what?!  She had the best weight loss for that week!  So....what an encouragement!  I just need to have a plan and have my stuff prepared so there isn't any second guessing when it starts to get busy!  If anyone has any advice for healthy easy to pre package snacks let me know!  Anyway....that is my confession for now!  I have been slacking BIG TIME!  I will be sure to let you know WHEN I am back on track!  Have a great day! 

Let's Do Some Baking

So...I DID IT!!!  I FINALLY got back to baking!  Now if only I could get back to cooking we would be in business.  I had all day yesterday and all morning today to spend some time cleaning and baking.  And that's exactly what I did.  Worked on cleaning and groceries yesterday and got up bright and early this morning to start cleaning and get some coconut banana muffins made. So here they are step by step!  For anyone wanting the recipe...I got it from fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.com.  Also...I apologize for my not so great pictures....I was using filters and my camera phone....I don't have a really good camera to take pics with.

So here we go! Start with our wet ingredients which are coconut oil, sugar (yes I realize that sugar isn't a wet ingredient but it goes with them) 2 eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla.  

Combine these and set aside

Next, in a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients.  These are you flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  

Whisk these together and set aside. 

Next you are going to add your bananas and coconut milk to your wet mixture.  Now....I personally like to use the really brown gross juicy bananas.  I like to freeze the bananas when they start going brown because they make really moist and sweet banana bread.  Same here.  I like to use about 4-5 bananas.  And...the browner and juicier they are the easier it is to mix these in.  If you don't have the option of using brown bananas, try not to use really green ones.  Make sure they are somewhat soft and mash them up before you add them to the wet mixture.  Here you will notice I am using the coconut almond milk blend.  I LOVE THIS MILK.  You are more than welcome to use plain coconut milk or plain almond milk.  Either of these will work just fine.  You will also add in your shredded coconut.  I use the sweetened but if you don't want the extra sugar feel free to use the unsweetened.  

Add these to the wet mixture

                              

Once you have added the bananas, milk, and coconut, add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir until just moistened. 

Next you are going to grease a cupcake pan.  I rub coconut oil in the muffin cups but you can use nonstick spray too if you want.  Then you are going to fill the muffin cups 1/2 to 3/4 full with the batter.

I sprinkle coconut on the top but you don't have to.



Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown and an inserted knife comes out clean. AND VOILA!!!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4-5 small to medium ripe bananas

1 cup coconut almond milk

1 cup shredded coconut

In a large bowl mix together oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Set aside.  In a medium size bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add bananas, milk and coconut to the oil, sugar, eggs mixture. After you have mixed it thoroughly, stir in dry mixture until it is just moistened.  Rub muffin cups with coconut oil and fill 1/2- 3/4 full with batter.  Sprinkle the shredded coconut on top of the batter and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown and a knife inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. And MOST IMPORTANTLY....ENJOY!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!  

Do you remember the time?

"Do you remember the time?  When we fell in love, do you remember the time?  When we first met." Name that song and artist.  Don't know it?  It's Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time."  Ok.....now that we had that little bit of fun.....do you remember the time I told you I was going to be doing all this baking and cooking and taking pictures and posting them?  About that......didn't happen.  I made one thing that I don't feel comfortable posting because I don't want to tarnish my cooking reputation to those that know how much I like to bake...hahahaha.  My friend showed me a recipe of a Lemon Coconut Protein Cake from healthy-momma.com.  I thought to myself....this sounds healthy...and...I love lemon, coconut, and cake!  So win win right?! WRONG!  This was NOT so good...at all.  I posted a pic on Instagram and told everyone...that this sounded healthy and tastes healthy.  Cake was a definite stretch on that one...anyway.  Ya so...that kind of discouraged me from baking anything.  I promise that I will be posting some cooking things in the very near future!  I PLAN to make some coconut banana muffins tomorrow....key word in that sentence...PLAN.  

This week has been so crazy busy and it's only TUESDAY!  And it won't slow down either until next week!  I have friends from Nebraska coming to visit this weekend and I CAN'T WAIT!!!  I can't believe its been close to 10 years since I lived in Nebraska and yet when I get together with these lovely ladies it feels like yesterday!  I love great friendships!  And speaking of great friendships, tomorrow evening I get to spend time with my best friend and her daughter doing dainty girly things like manis and pedis!  It will be nice to relax and feel pampered for an hour or two!

Well this might be my shortest post yet but I am out of things to say for today!  I can't really think straight do to exhaustion!  Hhahaha..  Have a great night!  

Been A While

I realize it has been a while since I have posted so I thought I would do that now!  Let me just tell you....it has been so CRAZY busy in life lately that it is making excited for February!  The only exciting thing happening in February is the Lady Antebellum concert...which I am very excited for! Other than that, life should slow down a bit.  I am currently working two jobs.  A full time job at the hospital and a PRN job at the Cancer Center.  If you aren't familiar with PRN, it just means less than 20 hours a week.  I do have to say, it is starting to wear on me!  I am kind of ready for a nice vacation....which isn't until June!  But...it will be well worth the wait because my friend and I are going to...wait for it....CMA COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL in Nashville!  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this!  I already know I am going to be ready to move to Nashville as soon as I get there!  But....we will just have to see what happens with that!  

So let me tell you what has been going on lately!  I am not really one to set a lot of New Year's resolutions but this year I have! I realize that I am a couple weeks late on this boat but...I have set 4! And here they are:

1) GET SPIRITUALLY FIT- I want to grow more in my walk with the Lord.  I feel like I have been slacking quite a bit this past year and I want to get better!  So far I have improved in my reading of the Word which let me just tell you...does SO much for you!  I can always tell when I haven't been consistent in reading the Bible because everything else in my life is off too!  I get stressed out, I get a poor attitude, I am lazy, and so on and so on.  I read a Pinterest board that said something like "The grass is greener where it gets watered."  You can totally apply that to the Christian walk.  You will always be wanting more from everything else in life until you drink the living water.  LOVE IT!  I am also going to be working on ways to encourage and serve others and improve in my prayer life.  So if any of you need ANYTHING contact me!  I'm on facebook, twitter, pinterest, and instagram.  Or you can email me! 

2) GET FINANCIALLY FIT-  I want to get most of my debts taken care of this year!  I have decided that instead of using any tax return money that I get on something fun that I don't really need at all...I am going to use it to pay off my car.  Don't ask me why but I have this thought looming in the back of my mind that something is going to happen to my car in the near future.  And if that does happen, then I need to have it paid off so I don't have to come up with way more than I have.  Also, it's not wise to have debt.  I know there are a couple things like, my mortgage and student loans, that aren't going to get completely paid off but, if I can get rid of those pesky credit card balances and car payments then I will be able to start chunking away at the bigger ones! SIDE NOTE- not sure if chunking is a real word or not and if it is I'm not sure if I used it correctly but, it sounds good to me so I'm going to make the assumption that you all get my drift. :)  Also, I want to be able to have money to help out others who need it more than I do.  I hate hearing about someone who is in need financially and feeling like I am unable to help them due to payments that need to be made.   

3) GET PHYSICALLY FIT-  I already mentioned in my first post that I am working on losing weight this year so I won't go into extreme detail.  I will say that so far I have lost 2.8 pounds in the last couple weeks and I am ok with that.  Normally I would want more than this...I mean....who wouldn't?!  But, I am trying to do this the right way and take it one step at a time.  When I don't lose a whole lot in a week, I look at the areas I need to improve for the next week.  Like cutting out that Dr. Pepper, not eating that sweet thing that was oh so delicious, or hopping on the bike for another 20 min.  I was so stinking excited last week!  I found a baby kale and baby spinach salad mixture at SAMS Club.  Made my day!  I now try to incorporate at least one salad into my daily meals.  I have also increased my fruit intake and decreased my bread.  I have not cut carbs out completely, but I am trying to be more careful of how many I eat.  I am doing Weight Watchers so that is helping me to monitor what I eat.  I also started exercising more.  I have been taking Riggs out for more walks, hopping on the bike AND.....I started up T25.  If you are unfamiliar with T25 it is intense!!  It is a high intensity workout that is 25 minutes long.  It's made by the makers of the P90X and Insanity workouts.  Let me just tell you....my legs are so sore and...I was just doing the modified versions...hahahaha....yes I am that out of shape.  But it will get better.  It has to...because of my next resolution.  How was that for not going into extreme detail?

4) RUN THE RIVER RUN 10K-  Every year here in Wichita we do this event called Riverfest.  And at the beginning of Riverfest they have a 2 mile and a 10K run.  This year they are adding a 5K into the mix.  A 5K is 3.1 miles so a 10K is 6.2 miles.  My goals last year were to run a 5K and a 10K.  However, when the 10K came up I was having some knee issues and was unable to run it.  I did get 2 5K's in though!  So I am upping my game this year!  My dad and I ran the 2 mile a couple years ago...and when I say WE ran....I really mean HE ran and I walked most of it.  But this year I am hoping the two of us can do the whole 6.2 miles together!  We will see!  

Well that sums up my New Year's resolutions for you.  I hope to get back on here tomorrow with some cooking things.  I am off tomorrow so my goal is to get a meal fixed.  I love the site skinnytaste.com so I will probably try to concoct something from there.  Have a great night!

Something to Say for Sunday

Well it is Sunday!  I love Sundays!  I would love Sundays even more if I didn't have to work on them but....such is life.  Today I got to see my Sunday School childrens that I haven't gotten to see for two weeks!  They are so much fun!  They can be a handful on some days but....they are really a great group of kids.  Today we talked about 1 Samuel.  We discussed Samuel's life and as I was preparing for this lesson I couldn't help but be incredibly convicted.  To see Hannah's devotion to the Lord....amazing!  How she longed and longed for a child and prayed so earnestly for him.  But not just that!  She then promised to give him back to the Lord so that he could serve the Him.  " She made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.” 1 Samuel 1:11.  WHAT?!  I wish I was that woman.  I pray someday I will be that woman. The woman that prays for something so hard but knows with full heart that no matter what, it isn't mine, but the Lord's.  That everything I have is not for me, but to glorify Him.  I pray that this is something I will be working on in my own heart.  

I am a single woman.  In fact, I am 26 years old and I have never been on a date.  I don't say that to get pity or have anyone feel sorry for me.  There is absolutely no reason for that.  It's the Lord's will that I be single right now and I believe that if He has it for me to be married, He will bring a man into my life that will be the perfect person for me. I have no doubt that God will fulfill this desire in my heart to be married, however, it will not be in MY timing but in HIS.  This can be really hard to deal with sometimes.  

These last couple months have been a little tough.  I turned 26 and the holidays followed shortly after.  It was difficult getting another year older and being around everyone that has someone and wanting someone too. Someone to share that time with.  However, I am so mad at myself for feeling this way because I let it get in the way of enjoying what the Lord had placed right in front of me which is an INCREDIBLE family and great friends.  He has given me so much this past year and instead of being joyful, thankful, and content with this, I was bummed because I am still single.  FAIL!  One of the things that I didn't mention before with Hannah is that after she went to the temple and cried and prayed and poured out her heart to the Lord, she walked away not sad anymore!  Another FAIL on my part.  Instead of throwing my own pity party, I should have prayed and poured out my heart to the Lord and trusted in His faithfulness, sovereignty, and love for me!  Psalm 36:5 says "Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies." Ephesians 1:3 says, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING!!!  WAKE UP BETHANY! 

It's so funny sometimes to see the way the Lord reveals His truths to you!  I can't even begin to tell you the wonderful and encouraging things that some of my friends and family members have said to me on the subject of singleness, but, it wasn't until I was preparing for this lesson to teach to my 4, 5, and Kindergartners about Samuel that the Lord opened my eyes to His truths.  It was with this that I was able to be genuinely excited for my friend who text me last night and told me she just got engaged.  This is the first engagement announcement that I haven't felt a little sting when I read it.  When I opened that text with the picture of her left finger with a big rock on it and the little box that said "Song proposed,"  I actually smiled and felt happiness!  Sorry to all those that are reading this that have sent me engagement announcements....I'm just trying to keep it real.  It's not that I wasn't happy for you.  I was just being selfish.  

I know that I am not fully there yet in dealing with all of this.  Even though I know that God is sovereign and faithful, I need to be content in this and I am still striving to get to that point.  I want to be where Hannah was.  She wanted a son that she could give back to the Lord.  I shouldn't want a marriage for my own selfish desires.  I should want a marriage so I can serve the Lord in it. And not just that, I should be looking for the ways that I can be serving the Lord in where He has me today, in my singleness.  I should be trusting in Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  THAT is what I should be doing and what I will be striving to do from now on!  

I know this was a really long post filled with lots of thoughts and rambles so, if you stuck through this long long post, THANK YOU.  Sometimes I just have to get out what's been going on in this head of mine. Have a good night!

Book Review

So today is day two of starting this thing and I realize that I'm not going to post EVERY SINGLE DAY.  However, I recently read a book that I felt was worth sharing.  Also...did you see I put a picture up of me and my dog?  His name is Riggins.  If you find the name Riggins familiar then YAY!  You may remember the name....Tim Riggins...from the TV series Friday Night Lights.  Now don't roll your eyes at me yet!  I didn't name my dog specifically after Tim Riggins.  Although, he is a very good looking man.  I remember watching an episode wear Tim Riggins and his brother Billy were going to start a car shop...sorry i don't know what else to call it...and they were going to call it "Riggins Riggs".  I thought THAT'S IT!  If I were ever going to own a dog I would name him Riggins so I can call him Riggs.  And there you have it....the long story that wasn't that interesting about how my dog got his name.

Now onto the book review.  I recently read the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Lutrell.  It was, in a word, PHENOMENAL.  It's a true story about four navy seals who get sent on a mission in Afghanistan to capture a terrorist and they end up getting compromised and have to fight their way out.  Obviously not everyone survives...hence the name "Lone Survivor."  The author is the lone survivor from the mission.  He chose to write a book about the events that happened to honor the men that he fought with.  That alone touches my heart.  This book didn't just talk about the mission though.  The author goes into very specific detail of what it takes to become a Navy Seal.  Intense doesn't even come close to describing what these men have to go through....and that's just training!  

I have always been a supporter of the men and women in our Armed Forces, whether it be Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines, National Guard, or any of the other branches that I am missing.  I think it is very admirable to be willing to go through such rigorous training and at times risk your life to help defend and serve our Country.  These men and women do not get paid nearly enough to do the things they have to do. And after reading this book I have even more respect for them.  They are willing to put themselves through things majority of people wouldn't even think about doing.  

I felt this book did a great way of honoring not only the men he served with but also in honoring the people that helped shape him into being the man and navy seal that he is today.  INCREDIBLE.  After reading this book you just want to sit and cry and then hug any armed forces person that you know!  I got this book for my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas and my sister text me after finishing it and said she cried and wants to write Marcus a letter.  I felt that was the perfect response to this book.  I can't even tell you how much I recommend reading this book!  I will say however, there is a little bit of language in the book so just be prepared....its not every other word but it definitely has some profanity in it.  There is also a movie coming out on this book next Friday.  Yes I do plan to see it Saturday!  I will be giving my movie review after I see it :) I can't wait to see this!  Mark Wahlberg and Taylor Kitsch?  Are you kidding me?!  And now after having read this book I am that much more eager.  I am also interested to see how true they stick to the book.

Well I feel like this was another long, lengthy, and rambling post so I will go for now.  Have a great rest of your evening!

MY FIRST POST!

Welp!  It is officially 2014!  And because of this new year I have decided to take on this new adventure of blogging.  To be honest it never really interested me but one of my coworkers....Anji....told me that I really needed to start blogging my recipes, crafts, and things of the sort.  The more I thought about it, the more I thought this could be fun!  I mean...I already post pictures of all the things I make on instagram, facebook, and twitter, so why not save some time and put it in a blog!  

I do have to say however that this isn't just going to be only about food and crafts.  It's going to be about the everyday things of me.  I know...not very interesting right?  But for me its a way to share my thoughts, dreams, desires, randomness, ideas, ect.  It's an outlet really.  Plus....I feel like it will be fun to look back next year and see where I was all throughout twenty fourteen.  WARNING!  I tend to type the way that I talk so sometimes I make absolutely no sense and sometimes I make perfect sense.  So please.....bear with me!

Now you may be asking yourself "who is this person?"  Well, my name is Bethany.  I am a woman, a daughter, a sister, a sister-in-law, an auntie, a friend, a medical laboratory scientist, a roommate, and a follower of Christ.  I love to cook, more for people than for myself.  I bought a house a little over a year and a half ago so, I am in the process of making this house into a home.  You may see pictures here and there of little projects that I am doing.  I LOVE country music.  I love anything country really, hence the name country girl in the heart.  I love going to concerts....I think I can actually say that it is a hobby of mine.  And thankfully I live in a city that brings country concerts like nobody's business!  I have this dream of moving to Nashville someday but....we will have to see how that goes.  I like to read so you will probably see posts about books or passages in Scripture that I am reading and commentaries on such things.  

Now last but not least, I am also not a small little petite thing.  I have never been that way actually.  I have struggled with losing weight for all of my life.  So....prepare yourself because you will also get to partake in my weight loss journey.  I have reached a point in my life where this needs to happen.  Not to look thin or fit or get to wear that swimming suit and shorts that I have wanted to wear since jr. high or those skinny pair of jeans that I have been hanging in my closet....although ALL of these things would be a MAJOR benefit. I need to do this for health reasons.  I definitely got the short stick as far as genetics go with health issues on both sides of my family so I need to be a good steward of my body and get rid of all the extra stuff that can only bring on those health issues quicker.  But I will admit...it would be nice to get into those jeans. ;)  So get ready 2014....this is going to be quite the ride.   

Now that I have exhausted this long and lengthy initial post....I think it's time to say goodnight.  I will leave you with one of my favorite verses. 

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hears through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:3-5