So many pics, so little time!

WHOA. Has anyone else felt that this week has been jam packed??

I am constantly on the go at school and now that recruitment is over (yay for new DG babies!) I was hoping that things would be a little less chaotic. Boy was I wrong. I have been even more on the go and frankly SO freaking exhausted. I cant even think about going out at the end of the day because all I want to do is climb into bed!

To go along with that feeling…I have really not felt like myself this past week or so. I am normally so involved with my friends and sorority and as much as I love them I have felt such a social disconnect. I don’t think it’s necessarily intentional, I just have wanted to kind of do my own thing-but at the same time I know I’m “leaving myself out” and probably missing out on a lot of fun. But what am I really missing out on?

Is that normal? Is it okay to feel antisocial? Does anyone else have periods where they feel like that? Helppp. I can’t wrap my finger around what’s wrong…

I think a lot of it is such a disconnect with God. I have felt totally lost within my relationship with Him. Any advice??

On to the eats!

Green bean chips and sweet potato chips from fresh market! yum!

RIP PB&CO

Annie's Chedder bunny mix!

SO freakinggood!

Make shift snack pizza. Low fat mozz,Turkey pep and coco pop rice cake!

School Lunch...Wrap with tomato,lettuce and turkey with side salad and unpictured soup!

“]

Hummus=

How do you mix natural pb??

Those are some of my food highlights. My roomate also bought me a box of these when I was feeling down the other day…

DANGEROUS. so bad, but SO good. I need to practice SERIOUS self control.

 I hope you are all having such an amazing week and aren’t being too hard on yourself. Sometimes we go through the day and beat ourselves up for the littlest things that truley don’t matter. Just remember YOU are unique and it is important to not only be kind to others, but be kind to yourselves :)

God's beautiful painting

QUESTIONS:

1. Have you ever felt antisocial? How do you deal?

2. Whats your “no self-control” food??

Love you ALL!

Im still here!!

Hi loviess!

I’m still here and have SO much to fill you all in on! I am busy with recruitment, work, school and student productions this week/weekend and have done nothing but eat, sleep (kind of) and breathe. I’ll be back later this week with plenty of food and life updates to come!

God bless America. Lets take time to remember those lives lost in the September 11th tragedy and pray for their families.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father … comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.–2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17

A Moment of Honesty

Good afternoon hot stuff(s)!

Hope you’ve all had an awesomeee week! If it’s anything like mine youve been BEYOND busy!! Can you believe FALL is setting in and school and work are about to/already have kicked up a notch? Its crazy how busy this time of year gets!

Anyhow-This week has been a rollercoaster of work, school, play, and shopping. My bank account (or lack there of) lately is hitting an all time low and I’m so happy that a job has come my way! Although between work and school-some day’s i’ll be going from 8am-8pm-I am so THANKFUL for this opportunity and the extra cash will be so helpful.

$$$ You feel me college homies?? $$$

I really don’t have that much to catch you all up on but as far as food and cooking goes-the late time snacking/mindless eating is still a struggle for me but I feel better for the most part. I don’t have any eats pics from this week because Ive been in such a rush Ive hardly had time to think about my food let alone get a scrumptious picture of it!(and sometimes its just awk to take pictures of your food in certain settings ie class, social events…)

I promise ill be back next week with actual foodie pics and fun =]

Moment of Honesty:

Hi, I’m Claire. And I haven’t exercised in a month.

I feel a cringe just saying that. But its TRUE-I have not worked this body out in a 4 weeks. Who am I? How can I be part of the Healthy Living Blog world and not put exercise at the top of my to-do list? I feel guilt but also satisfaction. I truley miss exercising for the endorphins, muscle/mind/body movenment but I do not feel like Ive missed out on being a slave to the elliptical or track.

Heres the kicker: After a month of not exercising-I’m STILL alive. My body still works. I still feel strong. My clothes still fit. I am still smiling.

My clothes may be snugger, I may not have the extra endorphins from working out but I am still ME. God still loves me. For those of you facing recovery or balancing life in general I just want to remind you that exercise is NOT everything. You are still YOU even if you don’t get on the treadmill and bust out 4miles a day. Walking counts! LAUGHING counts, being a strong,healthy individual COUNTS. I am not criticizing any of you that work out everyday of the week-I just want this to be a reminder that it’s okay to be honest with yourself and your body and exercise does not have to be your life.

“There’s lots of people in this world who spend so much time watching their health that they haven’t the time to enjoy it.”  ~Josh Billings

This was hard for me to admit, but I hope it helps others see that you can still live a happy life and not have focus solely on working out to “feel” good about yourself everyday.

XOXO

Claire

Its good to be different.

Hello my loves!

UH! I feel SO disconnected to the beautiful blog world lately. I haven’t been able to keep up with everything and everyones pages this past week with move in and the start of classes.

Now that I have a good hour to myself, I figured I would finally POST on my site since its getting pretty dang lonely.

car picture with my new camera. WHOA sunglasses…

And YES, you did hear correctly-NEW camera!! I’m so pumped. Holla to my peeps at HH Gregg who hooked me up with this awesome deal! I got the Samsung TL220 and LOVE ittt. Its a touch screen and has lots of options but is still easy to use (I’m not the best with technology) AND it has the double view so when your taking cool/myspace pictures of yourself like above, you can see yourself from the front. Im sure most people have heard of that feature but I didn’t even know it exsited!

I was sold when the salesman told me “this is realllly trendy right now”

 Anyhow, my eats lately have been pretty on and off. I hate to say it but I think the mix of stress and nerves off school has kind of turned down my appetite. (probably because I haven’t excersied in what feels like forever too!!!) I’ve been doing a lot of snacking and eating meals only when I’m TRULY hungry, which has been so good for me.

Since I struggle with binging/overating at home, its kind of nice to have the school schedule and atmosphere again where my eats are what I want, when I want.  I’m sure once I adjust more to my schedule and such I’ll have more consistant meals again and get back into an exercise regimine.

True life: I’m addicted to this stuff.

Its my go to for dessert or a little snack with an apple or rice cake, or just outta the jar. Yummm in my tumm.

I LOVE having a fridge full of fresh fruit and veggies and having the option to make omletes and my own wraps with hummus and turkey pep etc besides just whats in the Caf (ick! after 2 years!) or the salad bar.

*TIP* For any readers who are troubled with mindless snacking, especially at nighttime latley I’ve been asking myself this question before I reach for an unhealthy snack or head towards the ice cream carton-

“Would I rather be hungry for a satisfying, savory breakfast in the morning or stuff myself now and go to sleep with a belly ache?”

Sometimes questions like that don’t work, but now I seem to respond better when I seriously question my actions and make sure my body is in tune with what I’m doing as well. As an emotional/mindless eater I have learned to remind myself that -You are going to eat for the rest of your life, you DO NOT have to stuff your face all in this one moment!

 

Moving on-

I went to get a mani this Sunday before classes started and asked the women to give me a french with a design. I was kind of hesitant but decided I wanted something fresh and fun for the start of school so I let her go at it and got this:

As the lady was finishing up she looked at me said “Its good to be different”

I thought to myself “Wow-thats the best thing Ive heard all day”- It IS good to be different and we all need to celebrate our uniqueness a little bit more! 

Me and the Mama :)

 What makes YOU unique?

SO good to be back!!

XOXO

Claire

Back in Action!

After 2 days of moving stuff into my room in tropical storm weather, I have FINALLY settled into my beautiful room! And everything made it in relitivly DRY considered the terential downpours weve been having!

My room may look like a cramped 2×4 -but its my little space and I love it. Plus my bright orange sheets make me extra smiley when I see them :)

"Orangeya glad I didn't say banana?"

This is definitly my happy color lately, usually its green but I’m feeling the brightness of orangey/pinks this month.

Anyway-onto more important things than color-SHOES!

Yayy! Since move in got delayed due to all the rain Monday I went shopping with my Mom and Aunt and we all got a pair of these sandals!! I LOVE how dressy/casual they are and anything with bows and lepord print-I’m THERE :)

I’ve already been so busy with school stuff and still feeling really uneasy about being back. I know it just takes a little time to get back into the swing of things but lately I’ve just been feeling “left out” of my usual comfort zone and friends. My whole life I have been more of an introverted person and I think that’s why home was so enjoyable for me this summer. I had all the “me” time I needed and didn’t have to feel like I was missing out on things.

At school, I definitly put myself out there more and like to keep busy with people (and yes, the party scene) but as of now I havent really seen too many people and have been back and forth staying with my family. Its weird that I’m a junior and facing these problems-when I was a freshman/soph I LOVED school because it was my “runaway” place from the hell of senior year/ED.  Being far from home and not having to deal with the baggage I left there was like paradise. But now that I’m older I realize that running has not solved any of my problems. I still let people get to me, I still resort to taking my stress out on my Mother (which IS so horrible and makes me so frustrated) and I still have a part of me that is SO lost. I know I need to let go and realize that summer is over and a new year is starting but I just cant seem to grasp that this isn’t a vacation or a sleep-away camp.

I am getting a new camera tomorrow so you will no longer have to look at these dreaded bberry pics but here are some of my eats lately!

Greek chicken shredder bowl with brown rice, lettuce, feta, chickpeas, olives and cucumbers!

Flat out wrap, turkey pep, hummus, feta and green grapes

Almonds, cashews and cranberry mix x4 like errrrday

and the chocolate raspberry kind!

Those are all the pics I have now of yummy eats because my phone doesn’t save them so I can’t take tons until I have an actual camera again. But trust me when I say I have EATEN far more than this-some not so healthy and some more healthy. Either way, I feel like I have been eating my way through my emotions lately.

I have an event tonight and will probably head to my Grandmas early in the morning to spend one last day with my Mom before she returns home. I can’t wait to take more pictures and fill you in on things/eats once school gets started again.

What has been your hardest move/adjustment recently? College-parents-new school-boyfriend?

Love you all!

FLO-RIDAAA

“She had them apple bottom JEANS, boots with the fur…”

Hello my beautiful bloggie friends, ooooo how I’ve missed you all! I was having serious computer/internet/BLOGing withdrawls on our little road trip and we’ve been non-stop busy since the start of our roadtrip.

A quick little recap of our drive from Dirty Jerz to FL:

After starting out on a bad note (thanks to a little PMS and a nervous soon-to-be junior aka ME) my Mom and I were already at our wits end by the start of our first morning of driving. To make matters worse our Tom-Tom took us through downtown DC and an EXTREMLY round about way to I-95 and that only heightend the stress of the drive because my Mom and I do not do well in new areas like that. Add an extremly full bladder, an empty belly and a massive caffiene headache and by 12:30pm we were DUNZO.

tall non-fat chai tea latte extra pump of chai, no water-extra hot. (sooo demanding, i know ;) )

 But after we had this-and hit up the bathroom we were much better and MUCH happier :)

North carolinaaa

After the Virgina traffic it was smooooth sailing. We also had these:

A super sugarry smoothie!!

SO yum. I already miss you Wawa !!

 

Peppers/cashews/multigrain chips & hummus

My aunt had these snacks waiting for us when we arrived Saturday.

Berries and Bubbles drink-TOO cool!!!!

 

Not the healthiest but delcious chicken mexi-wrap and FRIES (such a weakness-sooo worth the damage!)

Lois Papa's grilled veggie pita platter SO good!

Ive had sooo many delicious eats at new restuarants while visitng my family in FL. I’m moving into my room tomorrow and to be honest-i’m SO worried about it. Ive been having a lot of issues with my living situation right now and have definitly been letting some people get me down. I hate that I agonize over certain situations and things people say and do but it’s definitly making me get down about moving in. I’m letting one person ruin my excitement about being back. I need to learn to stand up for myself and be stronger-but its so much easier said then done. :(

Oh and for those of you who were asking- I go to the University of Tampa (yes where sexy ROBERTO from The Bachlorette played baseball ow owww)

Ques: How do you guys deal with negative people? Kill them with kindness-or say what you feel?

I’m such a nervous wreck when it comes to confronting people.

HOPE youre all having an AMAZING week!! Cannot wait to catch up on your beautiful lives :)

XOXO

Claire

Going, going, GONE! (almost)

Hey there biddies!

(weird because I don’t really know what a biddy is…girlfriends? loves? boobs?)

*Anyway, I apologize if I used that word wrong and in someway just called you something inappropriate.*

How are you all on this FINE THURSDAY afternoon?? I’m running around like crazy getting packed up to go back to school (so this will be a shorter post). Spartan Pride here I come!! Even with all the apprehensions and insecurities I feel about going back this semester (all of your comments made me feel so much better, yall are the best!) I am PUMPED to be back in the swing of things,take classes I LOVE, see my friends and the boy and have some fun!

(not trying to brag..) MY SCHOOL IS A BEAUTY!

My Mom and I are driving back to FL tomorrow morning and plan to get in on Sunday. As long as the 20hr car ride is, I actually LOVE doing this. We stock up on good snacks (trail mix, grapes, chocolate covered pretzels etc.) and buy plenty of trashy magazines to keep ourselves entertained on the drive. I love jammin to music with my Mom and stopping at every other Starbs on our way ;) a see a caramel frappuccino light in my future…

ooooo yeahhh baby

 I haven’t been very succesful in taking pictures of my eats in the past couple days because I’ve seriously been the energizer bunny lately and this is one of the first times I’ve sat at my computer in what feels like forever. So much to do, so little time!

I promise to be back soon with updates about college and moving in and lots of yummy food and that dang Wacky Cake recipe-trust me, you want it :)

Off to get more things packed up (holy hannah- I have TOO many clothes…) and dinner at my favorite restuarants tonight. I will DEFINITLY be taking pictures of the scrumptious Salmon salad I’ll be ordering along with a side of mouthwatering, warm, mushroom RISOTTO. I wish you could all join me!

Me with my beautiful sisters at our campus pool :)

 PS- BTBB update- I bought a smokin pair of Levi skinny jeans today- size 5 (normally I wouldve freaked but- NO SHAME, gotta get that boootty!)

“Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.”

-Maxim Gorky HAVE A FABULOUS DAY BIDDIES ;)