Eats

Unfortunately I can't take credit for this healthy and delicious recipe. Check out Carpe the Sangria's Skinny Alfredo EVERYTHING sauce! It was very good! My only warning is that it was quite garlicy. Next time I would cut the garlic in half. The meal left us feeling satisfied and guilt free!
I used bow tie noodles, steamed broccoli and baked chicken breasts (350 deg for 40 minutes, foil lined baking dish drizzled with oil and Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning).

My mom's Monster Cookie recipe!!

1/2 c margarine
1 1/2 c peanut butter
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
1/8 c karo syrup
2 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
6 oz chocolate chips
6 oz M&Ms
4 1/2 c rolled oats
Mix together!  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins
These are to die for!!

3 medium sweet potatoes
1/4 c cooked quinoa
1 boneless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1/2 c cooked spinach
2 tsp Mrs. Dash Chipotle Seasoning
2 tsp chili seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic
dash of salt
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Wash and poke the sweet potatoes with a fork. Bake the sweet potatoes on 400 deg for 40 minutes. Once cooked til soft, cut in half and scoop out the middle.
While potatoes are cooking, mix cooked spinach (I used frozen spinach warmed up in the microwave), cooked quinoa and cooked shredded chicken.
Mix diced tomatoes and all the seasonings.
Brush scooped out sweet potatoes with the tomatoes mixture and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until crispy. Then fill the potato skins with the rest of the tomato mixture and chicken mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. Make for an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
Enjoy!

I saved the insides of the potatoes and mixed it up with the left over chicken, quinoa and tomato mixture. Delish!!

Cheers, Whitney

MIA

Hello ya'll!! I apologize for being missing in action again this week! Some serious action to get this house in order and feel at home!!  Here is a brief recap of what I have been up to!

• Painting. We have only painted a few rooms downstairs, and I swear it never ends!
  
  Finished the main kitchen walls this week but Keith needs to help me get above the cabinets! 

• Monster cookies!

• Pumpkin carving! Check that one off the bucket list! Can you guess which one is mine?

• eGroup. We attend a fantastic, modern, and young church, call Elevation. We have been a part of the church for almost a year. We wanted to join a married couples group for some time, just with all our traveling and commitments this summer we kept getting put off. We finally took the next step and found an awesome group to be a part of! We are very excited and feel blessed to find some more good friends. 
• We will also be checking off another October bucket list.. well I decided to extend it a few more days! We are going hiking/camping with a few of the couples next weekend! 
• The joys of having furry children. We find so much joy and laughter from our cat. It sounds so silly but he literally makes me laugh all the time. We can't wait to add a puppy to the family in a few weeks too!!

Cheers, Whitney

Moving Day

The day has finally arrived!! & very quickly! I have spent all hours of the day at the house; painting, packing, unpacking, you name it!! And my diet has consisted of apples, pizza, chips and guacamole!
Our big project this week was to paint the living room before the couch came. Our kitchen, breakfast nook and living room are all open so we are painting it all on color. We still have a ways to go but finished what we needed to!!

I painted these next two walls all by myself while Keith was at work!! I no idea where the motivation and energy came from.. granted it took me four an half hours. But i'm glad it found me. I'm proud of myself and relieved we got it done in time!

Very exciting time but also very stressful. I'm hoping after having Keith home for the weekend we can settle in and finally relax. 

How has your week been?

Cheers, Whitney

Saving lives one run at a time

Yesterday on my 5 mile run for my half marathon training.. I had just crossed a fork in the road and had about two miles to go. I heard this woman yelling at me over my headphones and running towards me. At first thought I might have ran out in front of her and she was coming to yell at me! She was really upset and said she just saw her neighbors puppy running through the neighborhood and out on the main road (where I was running). I told her I would look out for the puppy and return it if I found it.
Well it didn't take me long to see the puppy. It was running through the street, with about 3 women running after it!!!! Since I was the only one in running gear I was keeping up & finally, after two, luckily nonfatal, darts in the road. A woman parked her car and got out. The dog stopped in front of her and I snuck up right behind it and got its collar!! Since the woman had a truck, and she seemed trust worthy I let her drive the dog back to the owner.
I was so happy the pup didn't get hit and it was safely returned to the owner!!! I would hope someone would do that for me.

The dog chase didn't even damper my time too bad!

Question of the day:
What would you have done?

Cheers, Whitney

Welcome back!

We left Ohio yesterday so that we could have Sunday to get our life back on track!! We have been gone for a week and are moving into our house next weekend so there is a lot to do and get around!!
We got in around midnight and slept in until 10:30!! I haven't done that in awhile, so it was obviously needed. I woke up and went to the grocery store. We literally only had tortilla shells, cheese and salsa at home.

Our friend, Chase, from college is in town on business. He is staying with us so we grilled out for lunch and I made pasta salad. This is literally the yummiest, easiest pasta salad ever!!

Pasta Salad
1 box of tri-color/veggie based spiral noodles
1/2 quartered cucumber
Chopped broccoli
1 container cherry tomatoes
1/2 bottle Italian dressing (or as much as desired)
1 package cubed cheese
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese

Burgers, chicken sausage, and pasta salad.

Cheers, Whitney

Rudicel Wedding

My beautiful bestie, Anna, got married this Friday!! She is marrying a wonderful, sweet guy. We could not be happier for the two of them!!

They are getting married at the same venue we had our wedding. It is called Nazareth Hall. They do almost everything for you and it is an absolutely gorgeous venue!! You can have your ceremony there as well as your reception. So we had rehearsal there Thursday evening. Then we had a delicious dinner at Greek Garden. It was my first time trying Greek food and I can't believe that I've been missing out!!

All the bridesmaids at rehearsal.

We spent the night with her at her parents house and her awesome father made all us girls breakfast!! Pancakes were on the menu with peanut butter syrup! I have to get the recipe from her father, it was to die for. 

We got our gifts from the bride that night. She got us some adorable Nikes! My friend Lauren (above) and I differ greatly by height. Our shoe boxes proved this as well, haha! 

We woke up early to get all pampered and beautiful! It was the most beautiful, romantic, fun wedding.

Loved my hair!!

We took a limo to the hall!! 

The GORGEOUS bride and I.

 

Photo fail- Keith and I did not get one picture together at the wedding, but we did get this one!! Hahaha.

(I will give my good friend Amy props for some of the pictures. You can check out her blog recap here!!)

Cheers, Whitney

My favorite.

My favorites this week..

Button downs

I used to think button downs were only for boys. I thought they made me look manly. Well now I think they are so classy and cute!! So fun to dress up and can also be thrown on with jeans and flats and your set! For the trip home I packed a lot.

Apple cider

My first check off my bucket list!! My dad made his own apple cider. It was delicious!!

Golden retrievers 

The best news ever... We put a deposit down for a golden retriever puppy and she was born last week!! She had 9 puppies- 7 females and 2 males. We get first pick from the females! I can hardly wait!!

Ohio 

Oh my goodness does it feel good to be in the crispy cool air! All the trees are starting to change colors. I really enjoyed all my outside workouts at home. I even had to get off the road for a tractor on one of my morning runs! 

Blog posts
Olive to Run: The Insiders Edition
Olive to Run: The Beauty in Discomfort
Hummusapien: Life Lessons: On Beer & Kale
PB Fingers: Festive Fall Recipe Roundup
Chasing Happy: Blogging 101: What is Value?

Question of the day:

What are your favorites this week?

Cheers, Whitney

Ohio is for lovers: Week Recap

Sunday: After the night in Cincinnati we drove to Findlay, where we are spending the week with my family. Our first stop was my best friend, Annahs house. We spent the afternoon catching up with her and her husband. We miss them so much when we are gone. Then, my mom cooked us some yummy lasagna and cherry dessert!

Monday: I spent the day with my mother! We all (Keith, my mom, step dad and I) went to lunch at Main Street Deli in Findlay.. One of my favorite lunch spots! It did not disappoint. My mom took the rest of the afternoon off and we shopped around. By 4 o'clock we needed a pick me up and I got iced coffee at Panera. It was just what I needed!

That evening I went to go help the bride with a few other bridesmaids! We worked on the seating chart and table numbers. 

Tuesday: I had a terrible sleep Monday night but still managed to get out of bed and do my 5 mile run. Then, I FINALLY got my hair cut and colored. It was a must and it looks amazing! I love my hairdresser here so whenever it works into my visit I go! 

That evening we went to my dads for dinner! .. Yes we never miss a meal while we are home! Ha. 

Wednesday: I caught up on sleep & went for a 3 mile bike ride. Luckily it has been nice enough for me to keep up on my half marathon training! Then I pretty much bummed around; did some laundry, nail painting, etc. My mom made dinner again for us too!

Thursday: 5 mile run this morning. Now relaxing until rehearsal and dinner tonight! Check back for the Rudicel Wedding recap :)

Cheers, Whitney

October Bucket List

Like the rest of America, I am getting super excited for fall!! The leaves are starting to change, we are getting some chillier weather and pumpkin flavored everything is out in full force.

• Pick out a pumpkin: I want a few pumpkins for our front porch!! I also want to carve a pumpkin. I have never carved a pumpkin before!! 

This might be as good as it gets for my first time...

• Hot apple cider: Again, I have never tried apple cider. This has got to change.
• Go on a hike: We live close to mountains. So I would love to make a Saturday trip and do some hiking and exploring!
• Make a wreath: I need a cute fall wreath for our front door!! Here are some pinsterations...

• Make a fall recipe: Pumpkin, pumpkin and more pumpkin. I really have been wanting so experiment with some spaghetti squash too!
• Go apple picking: Maybe we can find a pumpkin patch + apple orchard + serve hot apple cider?

Question of the day:
What is on your October bucket list?

Cheers, Whitney