Sorry for being MIA

Hi remember me?  I feel like it has been so long!  I have been so busy.  What have I been up to?

I read some books (full reviews coming soon on the Bookshelf blog):

Fishbowl- 3.5 out of 5 stars

Love Lies- 2 out of 5 stars

Fifty Shades of Grey- 4 out of 5 stars

I have been busy trying to figure out what to do with all the veggies I have been getting in my CSA box each week.  It's only been two weeks but so far all the veggies have been things I would never buy at the grocery store.

Week one was kale, lettuce, turnips, and mizuna.  I made kale chips (will post about that tomorrow) and ate the turnips raw with some hummus or on a salad with the lettuce.  They were both yummy.  I ended up throwing away the mizuna.  It was supposed to be like arugula but it looked very wilted after about a week.

Week 2 I got beets, red leaf lettuce, scallions, and swiss chard.  I already threw away the red leaf lettuce because it wilted after just 3 days.  I have a recipe for the beets and scallions.  Look for that on an upcoming Pinterest Wednesday post.



So far I am not loving the CSA.  The way it works is you pay for the whole year (mid May-Oct).  It comes out to be about $11.75/week and you get a grocery bag full of random fruits/veggies delivered to my work each week.  It has forced me to eat more veggies and try things I would never buy, but can I get some regular old green beans or peas or something?  And a girl can only eat (and store) a certain amount of lettuce each week.  Enough with the greens!

I took a fitness test at work.  It was for National Employee Fitness week.  We had to run 1.5 miles, bike 1 mile, do as many sit-ups as you could in 1 minute, as many push-ups as you could do in 1 min, and a wall-sit for as long as you could stand it.  We were supposed to try to beat the president of our North America Group's times/numbers, but considering he is a super in-shape guy who did the 1.5 mile run in like 9 minutes and I still can't even run a mile in 9 minutes I didn't come close.  I did the 1.5 miles in about 15:20, the 1 mile bike in less than 4 min., the wall sit for 90 seconds, and about 25-30 of the sit-ups and push ups. 

I have made progress on The List.  It looks like I will hopefully be going on a kayak trip June 9, I only have 77 chapters left to read it the Bible, and I am on my way to the healthy weight range and beginning treadmill training to run a 9 minute mile so I can declare myself in the best shape of my life.  Now I just need to find a cute boy to take me fishing and kiss me in the rain.

I finished my sewing class and made a pair of PJ pants.

I still need to hem them because we ran out of time.  But due to a mix up and them only having 1 sewing machine for the whole class, we get to take another month long class in September for free!

I also went to see this for the second time and it was great even though they didn't do justice to my favorite song "I'm not the girl".

I've also been super busy at work.  I just got to create a Pinterest account for Lenovo US!  I love Pinterest and don't think twice about pinning things or setting up new boards on my personal account but for some reason I was so nervous setting one up for Lenovo!  Would people follow us?  What should I pin?  Please do me a HUGE favor and FOLLOW US!  I promise I will try to pin good stuff and not be annoying or overwhelming.  PLUS we will be having an awesome contest on there in a few weeks for Back to School and you could win a new computer with accessories or an Android tablet!!

I'm going to try to get back to a regular posting schedule.  Thanks so much for still following despite my silence lately.

Need a good cry?

I watched this video earlier this week.  It made me cry.  You've been warned...have your tissues handy.

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- PB Apple dip

I wanted to try another full out recipe this week for Pinterest Wednesday, but I had an unexpectedly busy weekend and didn't make it to the grocery store until last night.

So I chose something quick I could make from my "snack time" board:

Source: au.lifestyle.yahoo.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I don't like yogurt unless it is of the frozen variety or in a smoothie.  Something about the consistency maybe bothers me.  But I know it is good for you!  I know greek yogurt is a huge trend right now and a lot of my friends love greek yogurt.  I hadn't had the courage to give it a try yet so I was kind of excited to try this recipe:

One small tub of nonfat Greek vanilla yogurt
Two tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 tbsp. honey
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Just mix them all together in a bowl or plastic container.  It makes enough for a lot of snacking sessions.

Here is how mine turned out:

It was yummy!  It wasn't mind blowing, but definitely something I will make again.  Protein packed!  I tried it with carrots too but it wasn't as good so I would recommend pairing it with apples.

NC Marriage Amendment

In NC we are getting ready to vote on an amendment to our constitution:

The long title of Senate Bill 514 is: "An Act to Amend the Constitution to Provide That Marriage Between One Man and One Woman is the Only Domestic Legal Union That Shall Be Valid or Recognized in This State."

This issue has been all over my Facebook the last few months.  People have strong opinions about it. 

As I understand it, if this amendment passes it could have huge implications for not only gay couples, but ANY unmarried couple.  And if it doesn't pass, everything will stay the same because we already have a law banning same-sex unions.

Saturday night at church they played a video our pastor had recorded encouraging us to vote for Amendment One.  I had already cast my vote early on Friday against Amendment One, but even if I hadn't the video would not have changed my mind.

I was upset that our pastor would say that as a church we should vote for it.  He did mention that the leadership team believes there is room for disagreement on the issue, but they presented nothing of the other side.  I've been angry that other Christians make it seem like the "Christian" thing to do would be to vote for the amendment, thus implying if you vote against it maybe you aren't Christian enough? 

I'm embarrassed how some Christians are acting and what they are saying in the face of this issue. I've been thankful for Christians who are brave enough to speak out against Amendment One.  I don't think where you stand on this issue makes you any more or less of a Christian.  This is a political issue and there can be Christians on both sides.  I just pray that no matter which side you stand on, we would be able to treat each other with respect.

Along with the implications in the graphic above, I also voted against the amendment because even though the Bible does say homosexual behavior is a sin, it doesn't mean that it should be illegal.  There are lots of things that are sinful but still legal.  Should we make divorce illegal?  Should we make gossiping or dishonoring your parents illegal?  How about pre-marital sex?  Maybe we should make that unconstitutional.

Also, I don't think gay marriage would threaten Christian marriage.  There are tons of straight people who are already "married" but not reflecting what Christian marriage should be (a reflection of God's relationship with the church). 

I also don't think the laws of our country should be dictated by the majority's religion.  What if Christianity was not the majority?  I sure wouldn't want to live under Sharia Law. 

And ultimately, in my view, denying love, family, and legal rights to people who are not straight does not align with God's command to love my neighbor. 

I will not tear down the other side because they have their reasons for supporting the amendment, and just because I disagree doesn't mean I should disrespect that view. 

No matter what your view is, I hope if you live in NC you go vote on this important issue.  Voting day is Tuesday May 8th, 2012.  Don't miss it!

Sunday Snippets- Forgiveness

The last 10 days have been hard for me.  First I was hurt by some people really close to me and then over the last week I've been hurt by someone new but significant in my life (no it's not a boy).  In both circumstances I don't think the hurt was intentional, but that doesn't lessen the effect.

I realized it had been a long time since I had been really hurt.  And I had forgotten how hard forgiveness can be! 

I've learned when I am hurt my most natural response is to run.  To end the relationship, get out of the situation, avoid ever letting it happen again.  I hold a grudge.  I want them to feel hurt too. But mainly I just want to run away from it.  

But you know what happens when you run?  YOU LOSE.  You  lose the relationship.  You have to carry that hurt even when the relationship is gone and you have the additional hurt of losing the relationship (if it was a good one).

You know what happens when you hold a grudge?  YOU LOSE.  Even if the relationship stays in tact, it will never be the same.  You will carry around the hurt and you will be quick to bring it back up.  You will add every hurt together until eventually you won't be able to maintain the relationship.

You know what happens when you hurt them back?  YOU LOSE.  Even though you may feel an initial satisfaction from your revenge, in the end it doesn't feel good to hurt someone (or at least it shouldn't).  I wonder how this dentist who pulled out all her ex boyfriend's teeth will feel when she's sitting in a jail cell? Although I did have to chuckle at the story because boy did she get him back for dumping her!

Forgiveness is freaking hard, but it is the only way you win.

I have been thankful for these experiences to remind me how hard forgiveness is.  It reminds me that one of the blessings of singleness is that you aren't in a position to have to forgive as often.  And more importantly it makes me even more aware of the weight of the forgiveness God shows me everyday.  Now when I pray "Please forgive me for..." I will be much more aware of what that means.  And how can I expect God to forgive me if I can't forgive others?

"But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too." - Mark 11:25

Pinterest Inspired Wednesday- Contests

This Pinterest Inspired Wednesday is a little different.  This time Pinterest has inspired me at work.  One of the projects on my list at work is integrating eCommerce with the social media team.  I know...dream job right?  It is only a small part of my job right now but very exciting.  At first I thought there was not much we could do on Pinterest.  And honestly I really don't want companies to ruin social media like they have every other communication channel, so I am very conservative when it comes to these things.  And since I love Pinterest so much I really don't want to ruin it with marketing!

But then I got an email from Victoria Secret about a contest they were doing and I was inspired.  I decided to give it a try.  I followed their instructions, made my board and starting pinning.  And I kind of got in to it!  You had to create a board dedicated to summer and pin at least 5 VS Pink items.  I already like that brand and I love summer so it was pretty easy.

Source: pink.victoriassecret.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

Then I saw another one from Sephora.  This one was much more complicated.  I did not have fun with it and they made you follow their boards which I hate. 

Source: sephora.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I know it probably annoys your followers when you are pinning stuff for a contest and I certainly don't want my feed to be nothing but spam, but both of these were brands I liked and I only pinned things I liked.  I just don't know how I feel about it.

What do you guys think?  Have you entered any contests on Pinterest?  What are your thoughts on marketing on social channels in general?

Anyway...the reason why I really started this Pinterest Inspired Wednesday series was because I want to see what you guys have made, bought, baked, or have been inspired to DO based on a pin you pinned on pinterest! I'm going to continue to post this link up through the end of May so join in and link up to your Pinterest Inspired posts!

And as always so I can get more ideas of things to DO!