Time To Go Home | Day 8

This was a pretty blue morning. We were up pretty early and got the car packed. My Mom wanted to leave by 10 so we could get home at a fairly decent time.

This is Moose and Chedda. They were great company to have while staying.
Aren't they just the cutest?!

We stopped and grabbed breakfast at McDonald's before getting on the main track back.
I slept most of the way back which was pretty nice, it didn't feel like such a long trip back thanks to that.

We stopped twice at the plazas to stretch our legs and to get a drink or whatever but we were pretty steady on moving.

Road trip snacks. Both of these were so delicious! Apple Ginger Green Tea and dried fruit. Even though the texture was a little hard to get past I really enjoyed the fruit, it didn't have that sugar crust on the outside of it, it was literally just dried fruit.

Chuckles & 5 Floor Book Store | Day 5

Today was much more relaxed and much needed. It can be tiring running around a lot of the time. 

Started the morning off with fruit. How I missed fruit. The pears were sooo good there.

I may have dipped into my candy from the Village...

 

I'm a sucker for gummy candy, especially fruit flavored things.

It never tastes as good as it looks though, I always end up being disappointing by it. It just doesn't measure up to real fruit. I took a small bite of each, but finished the cherry, don't know why. The lime one was the best. Grr Amber!

 Early mornings + reading outside + quiet =  bliss

Me and my friend got a surprise to a book store. My Mom and Aunt told us that it was a very small place that could only hold a few people so we'd have to be right in and right out in about 20mins. That seemed completly unrealistic. 20 minutes in a bookstore? Is that even possible?

When we pulled up to the house it was kind of in the middle of nowhere and older, with stone walls, and it when you walk in the front door it was so hard not to grin. It was not small at all. It had five floors of new, used, and rare books.

The bookshelves are made of wooden crates stacked on top of each other. Throughout the store they have little hooks of paper bags. So sly.

And they have a black cat. 

She/he helped me out in the music room. Sweet as pie [:

After, we went into town to see if any of the other bookstores were open but they were all closed due to it being a Sunday, sadly. 

We stopped at a coffee shop named Philter and I got an iced mocha, which was ssuuupppeeerrr strong.

They also have gluten free choices too. The apple loaf is really good. I should've got something else though, I didn't think that there'd be cinnamon in it. Oh well.

After that we hit the park. I love this place so much. It was a goal to run there, but never managed to make it happen unfortunately. It's absolutely stunning though. Everything is just so green and beautiful. If I lived there I would walk there every day multiple times a day, without a doubt.

A Stressful 2 Weeks

Oh where to begin. It feels like lately it's been nothing but running around, which is super great in one way, and exhausting in another. Here's just a few pictures of some of the days.

A couple weeks ago I went to the mall and sat in Panera Bread with a smoothie and finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower while my mom was at a job. My friend ended up meeting me there and we shopped around until my Mom met us for lunch.

Tractor Supply got the chicks in. Oh, they are so cute!

We want chickens so badly, but we're not allowed to have them in our town. At least, the lady doesn't want them. We haven't received any proof that there is a 'rule' that doesn't allow them.

A perk of going to work an hour and a half early because you don't have a ride and don't want to get soaked in a rainstorm. It was so nice though getting to sit and read while it rained. A guy walked past that had a liver colored Malamute. It was gorgeous, still pretty young. I've never seen first-hand a liver colored Malamute. It came right over and wanted to play though.

This is the sad part. Because life was just funky the past couple weeks, I think I only made it to the gym, like, twice, MAYBE three times. It was sad. I felt gross and horrible and when I did finally make it, it was a hard workout between feeling stiff and sluggish. Although, my weight dropped, so that's great because I feel like I've been constantly hungry all the time.

This was a long time coming. Towards the end of last year I had begun working on it but my schedule with work had me tuckered out and never got around to finishing it. At the beginning of the week I managed to get it finished. This is the first portrait that I've ever done and I'm pretty pleased with it. Especially the Jack Sparrow part.

This just made me chuckle. "No fat and no cholesterol (means but hearts & small butts).

FINALLY starting House of Hades. My friend is probably about ready to strangle me because it's taken so long to finish the series. Had a hiatus there for a bit of not really being in the mood to read. Gasp! I know.

Thankfully, it left. It's becoming a saving grace again. Work has gotten busier and I've been getting stressed out a good bit from it. (If I haven't said this before, I'm a cashier). Introverted + HSP + Anxiety + Cashiering = STRESS OVERLOAD. Thankfully, I've been cross training again. I've fluttered around between 5 different positions since starting there, some were good, some didn't. But I'm so glad I got a chance to try them. Now, I've been helping on the floor and I absolutely love it. The people who work in the back are amazing and they have no problem laughing. It's just good vibes all around back there.
So on the days when cashiering, it's nice to just come home, curl up in bed with a book to be mentally somewhere else for a little while.

A Week In My Life | First Day of Trout

Hello!

I've been so incredibly busy with work lately. I've been switching from one position to the next cross-training. I absolutely love it. I'm learning new things and it keeps things different and changing. It's not fun doing the same thing every day. This girl needs variety.

The other day my Mom dropped me off at the gym while she did some errands. 1hr. and 45mins later, I was so very happy. The staff at the gym are so friendly and one of my friends ended up being there and we worked out together. The gym is starting to become a stress-relieving place. A good run always does good. Also, down 2.5 pounds, so happy!!

A guy she landscapes for needed someone to pick up sticks in his yard and I was lucky enough to get the job and I picked up 7-9 big piles of branches.twigs from under the tree, got some sun on the skin. It was nice getting the fresh air.

Two hours later, I was hangry and getting tired. We'd spent earlier the morning looking around for some clothes. Most of my shorts from last summer don't fit. Of course. Somehow, everytime I wander in a store for summer clothes, I come out with fitness clothes. No regrets.

We went to Barnes & Noble and I got a KIND Blueberry Cashew Vanilla bar. Those things are the most amazing granola bars ever. Oh, and a coffee frapp. I'm usually not a whipped cream person, I get it more for the way it looks and don't drink it. I was so hungry and thirsty it was gone in like 5mins tops.

Giant Eagle has a sale on their granola bars, a lot of only $1.00 so I snagged up a bunch, it's cheaper, plus it's a good chance to try different ones. the Belvita's were free with the ecarbs. Hello, blueberry. Also, why are like 90% of granola bars chocolate? Not everybody wants chocolate flavored stuff. More blueberry please!!

Saturday morning I got up early to meet with my Pap for the first day of trout. Not being a huge eater before going out, had a banana and 1/4 of the Lenny & Larry's Complete Cookie. My goodness. They are sooooo good! It's soft and chewy, no GMO's, protein packed, and is so good. Unfortunately, Wal*Mart has had them out of stock for the past 3wks and it's driving me crazy. Need more!

Not a single catch. We had a nibble, no luck on catching any. The people to the left of us got a few, but none of us to the right did.

After a VERY eventful morning of fishing, I was hungry so I made a delicious smoothie.

Along with a chicken veggie mix. I've decided to step up my game and learn to finally cook meat. So I baked some chicken then heated it in a non-stick skillet with a smidge of olive oil, added some steamed veggies of Steamfresh Water Chestnut, Carrot, Sweet Peas, and Broccoli mix, along with some fresh sugar snap pears then spinkled it with ground turmeric and pink Himalayan salt.
Couldn't finish the whole thing, but it was really good.
Vegetables are starting to become a craving, it's a great feeling.

Top 5 Favorite Healthier Snacks

I'm what you call a 'grazer'. I'd much rather have a bunch of small snacks throughout the day as compared to a few larger meals. Also, I seem to have a major sweet tooth. Eating healthy has always been a struggle for me. When I was younger I was very much overweight, I lost weight, just hitting the "normal" BMI, stayed steady for a while and then hit a major wall where I got obsessed with calorie counting and was walking down E.D. Lane.
These past couple months I've been managing much better, joined a gym, not so strict when it comes to calories but rather paying more attention to what I eat, and trying to keep portions under control.

Here are some of my favorite snacks that are healthier compared to a pack of pop-tarts, or those gross cheese curls that are orange on the inside.

[source]

These So Delicious Coconut Almond bars are AMAZING. They're made with coconut milk which have amazing benefits to help with healthy hair and skin. Coconut milk also has properties that help fight against viruses like influenza.
These are also gluten free!

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Surf Sweets has a large variety of sweets that "Anyone can enjoy Surf Sweets because our candy is free of high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors, and the top ten allergens." - Surf Sweets.

Me, being a jelly bean addict, are absolutely in love with these! They taste SO MUCH BETTER than the artificial flavored stuff. These actually taste like fruit, and I feel a lot better about the ingredients in these as compared to artificially made.
P.S. The gummy bears are amazing too!

[source]

You can never go wrong with popcorn. Especially when you have the munchies. You can make it yourself and top it with whatever you're craving, or simply get a convenient bag to have at the ready.
This is one of my favorite brands. They offer so many different flavors that it would be hard no to find one you like.
Personally, I prefer the simple Sea Salt, Kettle Corn, or the Pink Himalayan Salt. 

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Annie's Cheddar Bunnies are SO MUCH tastier then Cheez-its. Not going to lie.
These are made with organic whole wheat flour and real cheese. They, too, have a wide range of snacks from cookies, to crackers, and really good yogurt. The only thing I wish was different is if they had the Whole Grain stamp on their products, and a gluten free version of these.

Larabar's are another great sweet treat. They're made with dried fruit and nuts. My favorite is the blueberry muffin. The lemon bar is really great, too! These are great for on the go or after a workout. Usually I workout after I get done with work and don't eat something until after the gym, which is like a seven hour span between my breakfast and 'mid-morning snack', The blueberry has 4g's of protein, it's not a lot, but it is something to feed those newly sprouting baby muscles!

 

 

A Hike In The Woods

This warm weather has been so wonderful lately. I'm finding out that I'm a summer child. Warm weather + sunshine = happy me. The other day me and my mom went for a 'walk' in the woods, that turned into a hike.

It was my fault it turned into a hike instead of a leisurely walk. I wanted to keep going further into the woods. We weren't seeing birds or anything. Although the peepers were very loud. What's a hike without birds or creatures?

THEN we lucked out. Out of nowhere there was this loud whopping/bigfoot call. I almost thought it was a dog at first. Silly me. Dogs don't sound like this.
It's 2 Barred Owls calling eachother. It was one of the coolest experiences ever. We didn't see them, but I did get a video of the sound.
Sorry for it being sideways. *shrugs*

Nature's Path Organic Frosted Wildberry Acai Toaster Pastry | Review

 Me and my Mom took a trip to a Target store that wasn't the one we always go to, this one was more out of the way. This one was one of those 'Super Target' stores that has the freezers and refrigerated section for meat and yogurt and all that kinds of things. Among looking through the isles I came across these.
Nature's Path Organic Frosted Wildberry Acai Toaster Pastries. These(not this particular flavor) were my favorite pastry before going GF, now that I'm not strictly so, I thought it would be cool to give this flavor a try.

I actually prefer these over PopTarts almost any day. They taste so good. It doesn't taste like pie crust with filling, it tastes like healthy wheat flour, with real fruit. Their dense, and they seem bigger too than PopTarts. The frosted are really good. I like the sprinkles/sugar they use on top. x]
If you're a toaster pastry person, but want something healthier than PopTarts, I suggest these! On Nature's Path's website they have a selection of different variety flavors, both frosted and unfrosted.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour*, cane sugar*, invert cane syrup*, palm oil*, apples*, whole wheat flour*, raspberries*, strawberries*, vital wheat gluten*, blueberries*, corn starch*, flavors* (wildberry, strawberry, blueberry, vanilla and raspberry), leavening (baking soda, cream of tartar), dextrose*, rice starch*, tapioca starch*, sea salt, honey*, molasses*, colored with betalains, paprika extract (from plants), citric acid, açai powder*, algin, sodium citrate, monocalcium phosphate, whey protein concentrate* (milk).

These are USDA Organic, Fair Trade Certified, and Non-GMO Verified.