Coffee Date Saturday #3

Tags

Holiday

Happy Saturday! Today I’m once again linking up with Jill Conyer’s Ultimate Coffee Date– are you ready?

If we were having coffee this morning… I would tell you all about my new blog rebranding that is in the process of being done. I’ll tell more on the blog very soon, but if we were in person, I’d tell you how excited I am for some of the new ideas that I have!

If we were having coffee this morning… I’d tell you all about this delicious bagel I got from Einsteins Bagels this morning. It was an everything bagel with honey almond cream cheese, and it was one of the best bagels I’ve ever had.

If we were having coffee this morning… I’d tell you all about my 4th of July- the race I ran, the pool party I went to, the dinner picnic I went to, the games of corn hole I played, and the fireworks I saw! The fourth was a really great day- exactly what I needed!

If we were having coffee this morning… I would tell you all about the smoker who moved in below me, and has completely ruined my ability to be in my place anymore due to how bad the smoke is. I’d tell you what maintenance is trying to do to keep me from moving…

If we were having coffee this morning… I’d tell you all about how much my friendships and relationships are changing right now, as most of my close group of friends have moved away in the last couple months. I’d tell you how sad I am about it, and I’d tell you about all the new friendships I have as well!

If we were having coffee this morning… I would tell you all about the delicious no bake energy balls that I’ve been making. They’re delicious and have become my favorite summer snacks.

Now it’s your turn to share! If we were having coffee today, what would you tell me? How was your 4th?

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
• Find me on ‘Bloglovin

 

Memorial Day Virtual 5k Race

Tags

Family, Holiday, Race, Racing, Running

Earlier this month I won a giveaway from Erica for a free Memorial Day virtual race through vacation races. Memorial day, as I mentioned yesterday, is a meaningful day to me, so I was happy to get to run this race.

My youngest brother graduated from college on Saturday (SO so proud of him- more on that tomorrow) and I was up late that night celebrating with him, so when I woke up early on Sunday to take my other brother part way to the airport, I felt a little blah. Once I started running around 9:30 though, that all went away. The sun was out in full force, the humidity was high, and I was a little emotional (with both my brothers leaving that day). I had also woken up at some point in the middle of the night because my left calf muscle cramped up and it was really painful- I immediately sat straight up and tried to dig at the cramp to get it to relax- OUCH!! It was still a little sore and tender as I laced up my shoes. I started off pretty quickly (especially for all of these variables in play, and hit my first mile in under 11 minutes- oops). I wasn’t wearing my garmin and went out too fast.

I also found a “hill” (when I say hill, I mean that the incline is about 30 feet, and that’s as much of a hill as I have around me) to run up and down, and that added a bit of fun to my route. About half of the route was on a new-to-me road, and that also helped to shake it up a bit.

I tried to use some of the time I was running to pray for our military members (currently serving, those who have served in the past/were injured or in some other way traumatized) and their family members (again- those who have lost a family member, are currently in the middle of a loved one’s deployment, or are dealing with the fallout of some other aspect of their family member’s service). I spent about a mile and a half praying and thinking about it-that certainly didn’t help my level of emotional-ness throughout the day!

I hit 3.1 in 34:50- again, not my fastest 5k at all, but with all the variables mentioned above, I’ll take it. I ended up running a bit more for a total of 3.6 miles for the morning. Overall I felt pretty great. My muscle in my calf is still a tiny bit sore where it cramped up, but hopefully it’ll be back to normal quickly!

Shirt that came with the race.

Once again, I just wanted to say thank you to any military members and their families- I SO appreciate your service and your sacrifice.

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
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Memorial Day. 2014.

Tags

Holiday, Thankful

Memorial weekend tends to be a fun weekend for people across the country. Picnics and parties tend to be the standard across the country, and I’ve certainly enjoyed this tradition throughout most of my life.

source <-great article too

Amidst all of the fun and parties this weekend, please don’t forget the real meaning of this holiday. I talked more about  Memorial Day (decoration day) in a post I wrote last year. Don’t forget the huge sacrifices that our fallen soldiers and their families have made. For me, I’ll be remembering my mom’s dad, my dad’s dad (he just died in February and will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery), and my brother who is in the Air Force (who I got to see this weekend!), along with other friends.

Underneath the fun, laughter, and good food, don’t forget what this day actually means…

Thank you to all who serve, and thank you to the families who have also made great sacrifices.

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
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Thankful Thursday

Tags

Holiday, Thankful

Happy Thursday and Happy May Day! I remember making may day baskets for a few of my friends (who lived close by/were neighbors) when I was really little, and really loved hearing my doorbell ring that day too! I remember that once I caught one of my friends (who was a boy), and thinking that it was really great that I was able to catch him! What a funny little tradition, right? Did any of you make baskets for candy for any of your friends growing up? Good memories 🙂 Here’s what I’m thankful for today.

I’m thankful for the flowering trees. Oh man the trees are absolutely beautiful right now. Last Sunday I took a walk and spent some time just looking at the trees and smelling the flowers. It was pretty enjoyable… the allergies that result, not so much.

I’m thankful for my bike trainer. I’ve come to realize that when I have frustrating or difficult phone calls to make, biking while making them helps keep anxiety very low and gets the frustration out of me pretty quickly! This weekend I ended up biking 29 miles through a very difficult phone call. Mental and physical health combined 🙂

I’m thankful for dandelions. Ok- I know they’re a weed and they can certainly be frustrating to deal with in the yard. However, they’re good reminders of the carefree fun I had in childhood (I loved to carry them around, make chains with them, or pop their “heads” off), but they’re also pretty when you look out over a field of them. So, instead of being frustrated about the weed, I’m choosing to enjoy the beauty and memories right now… and it’s working pretty well 🙂 Anyone want to come over and make dandelion wreaths with me? 🙂

I’m thankful for my tennis ball. The last two weeks I’ve had some really tight and sore spots in my shoulders and upper back, and digging the tennis ball into the knots has been really helpful for breaking them up. Such a simple trick!

I’m thankful for allergy medicines. It seems like every spring there are a few days that almost bring me to my knees due to allergies. I’m so thankful for medicine in helping to deal with them!

Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today? Any good memories of May Day growing up?

Happy Easter!

Tags

Holiday

Growing up Easter was always a holiday that I looked forward to. Not only were there songs played at church that we only got to sing once a year, but there were also easter egg hunts, new dresses and bonnets, candy, and delicious food to eat as well!

Every year I got to arrange some of my little Easter figurines on the table. When I was at my parent’s house for Easter in 2011 I took a picture of all of them, and looking at them now I sure wish I had brought them back to my place! We also got delicious bunny bread (but I felt a little sad eating him!). When we were little my parents would track these bunny paw prints around the house so we could see that the Easter bunny had been there (was I really so dumb at one point that I didn’t put together the fact that they were paper prints and clearly a bunny wouldn’t leave paper prints??). And of course there were jello eggs. Lots and lots of eggs.

Today I’m celebrating by heading to church, and then hosting a big Greek meal for some friends (the leftovers will turn into this delicious mediterranean quinoa salad). And hopefully, as long as it stays nice, I’ll get in a nice long walk in the sunshine!

The reality is that all of that isn’t really important in light of what the holiday is about. The good news is that this is all about HOPE and GRACE.

Easter Sunrise Service on the beach in Marco Island (March 2013)

HE HAS RISEN and because of this we can have life. What’s more amazing than that? Happy Easter.

Now it’s your turn to share! Are you doing anything for Easter today? Any fun Easter traditions you had growing up?

How To Make Jello Eggs!

Tags

Cooking, Family, Food, Holiday

When I was in mid-elementary school, my mom got these jello molds and started to make jello eggs for us at Easter time! Not only are they fun, but a great snack to take to all sorts of spring get togethers (I even made them for the fourth of July last year!). They’re relatively easy, but you need to plan ahead a bit to let them solidify in the refrigerator.

I have the recipe that my mom sent me, and I’ve spent about 10 minutes looking online to see if I could find it somewhere to link to. I couldn’t find it, so sorry if there’s one exactly the same that’s already out there!

Ingredients

• 4 packages of unflavored gelatin
• 3 boxes of flavored jello mix (your choice in flavors!)
• 3.5 cups of boiling water
• 0.5 cup of ice water
• oil spray (could use olive oil and a piece of paper towel I suppose)

Spray jello molds with oil spray so that the jello eggs will come out easily! Once you’ve done this, close the molds tightly together.

Bring about 4 cups of water to a hard boil. While you’re doing this, mix the gelatin packages with the jello packages in a bowl. Make sure to stir thoroughly together. Once the water is up to a boil, pour water from pan into a measuring cup and dump into the jello mix. Mix water and jello mix together thoroughly before putting in the half a cup of ice water. Quickly dump the mix into the measuring cup again (you want a good pouring spout) and pour slowly into the jello mold. When I made these on Saturday after my half marathon I made a mess (I blame it on all the energy I used earlier in the day), so you want to try to avoid that (but it’s not a big deal if you spill on the outside of the molds).

You want to fill right up the top of the egg part. Once you’re done filling them, put the tray that the molds are on into the refrigerator for 3 hours. Once they are set, use a knife to pop the molds open and shake the egg molds upside down into a bowl. You can also slide a knife between the egg and the mold to loosen it.

Store in a container in the refrigerator and enjoy! Kids LOVE these as they’re really a grab and go snack, but adults love them as well! If you’re looking for other recipes, check out my recipe page.

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s something you grew up eating on Easter? 

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
• Find me on ‘Bloglovin

Valentine’s Day Thoughts

Tags

Holiday, Love, Relationships

Valentine’s Day is a holiday that we ALL can celebrate, whether we’re in “A RELATIONSHIP” or not (I say it in quotes because each of us are apart of lots of relationships with people in our lives). There are plenty of people we can celebrate, including ourselves! For singles, Valentine’s Day can still be a fun day of loving ourselves well and spending time with good friends. For those in a dating/committed/marriage relationship, Valentine’s Day is still a day to love others well, AND LOVE ourselves well. That’s the thing- to love others well we need to love ourselves well. If we can’t love ourselves well, then we certainly can’t love others well. I’ve written about this before, and have three links posted below on the topic.

Why not be proactive this week in looking forward to Valentine’s day! Plan something fun to do with other people, spend time intentionally doing things that you love to do, and invest in yourself and in your relationships!

Some Specific Valentine’s Day Related Posts:

Loving Yourself {On Valentine’s Day}

You Are An Investment!

A Look at Valentine’s Day: Spend the day doing things that you love to do!

Heart Shaped Gingerbread Cookies: A twist on the classic Christmas cookie, these heart shaped gingerbread cookies are fun and delicious!

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes: a delicious Valentine’s day treat for friends, family, or co-workers!

Valentine’s Day Oatmeal: Kids and adults alike would love this delicious (albeit not the most healthy!) oatmeal bowl!

Now it’s your turn to share! Do you have a favorite Valentine’s Day food? What’s something that you love doing that you can do this week?

Gingerbread Coffee

Tags

Food, Holiday

This year I’ve fallen in love with the Gingerbread Lattes from Starbucks. However, I don’t choose to spend the money every day to get one because that’d be expensive. I almost never get the lattes, and usually get black coffee with 1-2 pumps of whatever flavored syrup I want (a hint to make drinks MUCH cheaper!). Even so, I don’t want to do that every day either. So, that left me to try and create something that tastes similar. Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

• Coffee grounds
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp all spice
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 heaping tsp molasses
• sugar (optional)
• milk or cream (optional)

I put all the spices in with the coffee grounds and brewed the coffee as I usually do. Once it was reading, I put the molasses in my cup and poured the coffee into it. I mixed and threw in some sugar. If you’d like it a bit creamier, you can add some milk or cream.

Of course you can play around with the levels of the spices, depending on what you like! While making coffee isn’t the exact same as a delicious drink from Starbucks in that happy little red cup, this was a pretty great substitute!

Looking for other recipes? Check out my recipe page here.

What’s your favorite drink from Starbucks (or another coffee shop)? Do you ever try to recreate your favorite drinks at home?

Gingerbread Oatmeal

Tags

Cooking, Food, Holiday

I love oatmeal, and I love seasonal oatmeal even more! One of my favorite variations of oatmeal (you can see more here) is gingerbread oatmeal. It’s perfect for the Christmas season, as well as the cold winter mornings through January and February. Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup almond milk (or other milk/water you choose)
• 1.5 tablespoons molasses
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 heaping tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp allspice

Cook oatmeal in the microwave or on the stove. Stir in molasses and spices after cooking and enjoy!

Easy enough, and absolutely delicious! I tend to use a little more molasses, but I like it strong. Feel free to adjust the amount of each of the spices that you use. I tend to just shake a few times into the bowl instead of specifically measuring it all out.

Do you change up your favorite foods for the season? 

Ham and Swiss Sandwiches

Tags

Cooking, Food, Holiday, Lactose Intolerance

One of my favorite Thanksgiving holiday traditions is the Friday following Thanksgiving: for as long as I can remember my mom has made these delicious hand and swiss sandwiches. These don’t taste like a normal ham and cheese sandwich- they’re special and DELICIOUS. And best yet- they can easily be made lactose free! Here’s what you need:

Ingredients:

• Bun
• 1-2 large pieces of ham
• 1 piece of swiss cheese (I use kraft brand since it has 0g of lactose)
• 1.5 tsp butter (I use Earth Balance)
• .5-.75 tsp mustard
• 1-2 shakes of poppy seed
• 1/2 tsp minced onion

Put butter, mustard, onion, and poppy seed in a bowl and microwave for 20 seconds on half power. Stir together. Assemble sandwich (butter mix on both sides of the bun with ham and cheese in the middle).

Heat oven at 350 degrees and put the sandwich in until the cheese starts to melt.

These are so simple to make and are absolutely delicious! When I first became lactose intolerant I was SO sad to miss out on these sandwiches. Now that Kraft makes 0g lactose Swiss cheese and I’ve found Earth Balance, I can once again enjoy these delicious sandwiches and maintain my holiday tradition!

Do you have a favorite sandwich that has become a tradition for you?

© 2013, Journey To Wellness, Caroline