Tuesday, January 31, 2012

No Soda Update

Not drinking soda is going surprisingly well thus far. I know I am only on Day #9, but so far so good. I would say that I have only really had one headache since giving it up last Monday - which was on Day #6. The headache was on Saturday, when we were out in the sun, I was wearing Ryan's (ill-fitting) sunglasses, and hadn't had much in my system - so it may have been a combination of everything, instead of just no caffeine. I am proud of how far I have come in just a week. We go out to dinner on the weekends, where we would normally order soda, but it has been just water. We have a Growth Group on Thursdays that has tons of soda, but it has been just water. I have to admit, I know it would be easy to go back to it (something about that 'sweet nectar' just tastes so good), but I know my body is thanking me for it (not to mention my wallet - seeing as water at restaurants and out of the tap (in our condo) is free, whereas soda doesn't run out of our faucets, so it does cost us money :) ).

Just a little map going around the internet that I saw yesterday and thought it was funny about Pop vs. Soda:

Monday, January 30, 2012

Smoothies

The other day I ordered one of those single-serve blenders online. It was only $15, so I figured if it didn't work, well, at least I didn't drop a lot of money on it. I got it mid-week and on Saturday while we were out-and-about Ry and I picked up some ingredients to make smoothies. Now I didn't use a recipe, so I am sure there can be some tweeks, but we both liked it (although the pineapple juice does have some kick :)).

1/2 cup Pineapple Juice
1/2 cup Non-fat Plain Yogurt
1 cup Mixed Berries
1/2 Medium Banana


I am interested in doing some green smoothies (with spinach and such in them) soon. It looks like those recipes call from a large portion of spinach, which isn't a bad thing, I just worried that it might not fit in my small blender. I guess we will just have to try and see :)





Saturday, January 28, 2012

Only If For A Night



Can't get this song off repeat :) Love the new CD...

Sex, Marriage, & Fairytales || Spoken Word



Marriage today is struggling. Divorces, adultery, misconceptions, etc are plaguing not only the marriage itself but products of those marriages (my generation and the next). My hope in this poem is to highlight the most frequent and problematic issues marriages face today while also pointing to Jesus as the ultimate healer, redeemer, and restorer of every marriage. Whether single or married, my intention would be that this poem would allow you to look more deeply to Jesus to either better your current marriage, or prepare for your future marriage.

Friday, January 27, 2012

Honey Badger Voice

Voice behind “honey badger” video revealed

video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

The YouTube sensation "The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger" video has generated nearly 35 million views since first being posted last year. But until now, no one has known who exactly was behind the viral video's narration.

"I've always had a natural talent for narration, so I figured what better animal to start with than the honey badger. Seriously."

"Because in today's society, I think it's an animal that a lot of people can relate to. I think a lot of people want to be able to take what they want. And I believe firmly, and Harvey [Levin] can tell you this, everyone, inside of them, has a honey badger just waiting to get out. They don't care, they want to take what they want and now is the time to do it."


The rest of the article here.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Congrats S Family!!

CONGRATS TO THE S FAMILY!!



Welcome into the world little Miss. Ashley :)

Ashley Marie is here! Mommy is great after a quick half hour delivery- 9 lbs, 1 oz- 21 inches long at 12:19 pm! Kristen is a superstar!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Michigan!!

Monday, January 23, 2012

8 Years

Some days it seems like forever since I received the phone call, yet I can remember it vividly. I was waiting on the front steps of Markley to go to a Friday Fun Night (a lot of the kids from church would get together and hang out Friday nights). My mom called my cell. I answered and could barely make out what she was saying. Something along the lines of 'they are dead. vanessa and ryan were killed'. My dad had to get on the phone to explain to me what happened. The next morning Ryan (who was my boyfriend of only a few months at that point) drove me back to my parents house for the viewings, memorials, funerals, etc. My mom gave one of the eulogies at Vanessa's funeral. I know on an anniversary such as this it is easy to get caught up in the sadness and grief, but hopefully we can also remember the good times and know that we are lucky to have folks in our life for as long as God allows them to be.

""Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.""




Disney Pictures

We decided our Sunday workout would be WALKING AROUND DISNEY! It was chilly and overcast, which was nice for us because it kept the crowds away. We did a ton of stuff and were only therefor 4 hours. The lines were short (normally I would say Star Tours, Space Mountain, Toy Story Mania and Indiana Jones could take you up to like 5 hours to wait in their lines, and we did them ALL in less than 1).

We didn't bring our big camera, so these are just from Ryan's phone, but they captured some good moments, don't ya think?!
















Sunday, January 22, 2012

Soda Free

Starting tomorrow I will be SODA FREE! I do this every once in a while, but this time I think I will see it through. I think what started me thinking about it was that Ryan wants to do a 30 day juice fast... I am still not sold on that, but I figured, if we did something like it (or maybe like 5 or 10 day juice fast), that it would probably be easier to do it if I slowly had cut things out of my diet, rather than all at once.

I don't drink coffee or tea or anything else really, so once I cut out the soda I think I will be down to water and some juices (depending on the juice - some of them are probably worse than the soda). Sometimes I will do koolaid or lemonade, but not too often that I think I need to put a strict policy into place (at least not yet, hehe).

Today will be my last day of soda - diet, regular, caffeine free, etc. When I have done it in the past normally the first 3 days or so are the worst (because my body is trying to get over the hump - whether it is caffeine withdrawal headaches or just not being able to wake up).

Wish me luck :)

Up vs Twilight

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Registered!

Yesterday marked the first day of registration for the Disneyland Half Marathon... So guess what I did... I REGISTERED!!



No turning back now... Well, I mean I could always not run it, but then why did I just drop that $160...

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Hit & Run

So sad... Happened less than a mile from my parents house last night... ANYONE WITH INFORMATION, PLEASE HELP!!



From what I have heard, sounds like the young man was laying in the street (maybe fell while he was running), a car stopped to help, another car went around the stopped car, hit the young man and kept going. Again, ANYONE WITH INFORMATION, PLEASE HELP!!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Comeback Player

Report: Lions' Stafford comeback player of the year

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will be named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year by Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers Association, according to a report on mlive.com.

Stafford threw for 41 touchdowns against 16 interceptions this season, leading the Lions to a 10-6 record and a trip to the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Detroit's Matthew Stafford became the fourth QB in NFL history to throw for at least 5,000 yards in the regular season. (AP Photo)
His 5,038 passing yards in 2011 puts him in rare company. The only other players to eclipse 5,000 passing yards in a season are Dan Marino, Drew Brees and Tom Brady.

Stafford, 23, was the first overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Georgia.

The Associated Press' Comeback Player of the Year will be announced Feb. 4, the day before the Super Bowl, according to the report.


The original article here.

Megatron!

A highlight video of Calvin Johnson through his first 8 games in the 2011 NFL season.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Training

Okay, I am putting it in writing... THAT MEANS I MUST DO IT, right?! :) [Maybe not exactly, but at least I feel like I might be held a little more accountable than if I never told anyone]

I am going to start training for a half marathon. Yep, you read it right... Running, just to run... with no one chasing me :)

At the beginning of the year my job classification changed, which means I now am required to take a 30 minute lunch break (before I was able to work through it and charge the hours). Obviously I do not want to work for free, so if I am getting 'docked' 30 minutes for lunch, I figured I might as well get OUT OF THE OFFICE.

For the past two weeks now I have been walking on my lunch break. I know it doesn't seem like much, but hey, it is 30 minutes (approx 2 miles) a day that I wasn't doing before. There is a boardwalk on the beach by my work that is about a mile long, so I walk down to the end and back and by the time I'm back it is about time to get back to work. Thankfully the weather has been cooperating, even though it is 'winter'.

Also, with our new office (we moved back in October) we have access to a gym. The office is in a hotel, so it isn't like an extensive gym (just a few machines, elliptical, treadmills, bikes, etc), but again, more than I had before. Today, since I was off work, I decided to hit up the gym. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical (about 2 miles) and 20 minutes on the bike (about 5 miles).

I am thinking that I will probably do the gym 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and continue to walk on my lunch breaks. Obviously I will need to increase what I do over time, especially if I want to be able to run 13.1 miles comfortably, but I figure if I start off slow and actually incorporate it into my lifestyle then I will be more likely to stick with it.

Anyway, the half marathon that I am training to run in is the Disneyland Half Marathon. It is in September, so I have 9 months to train (which hopefully will be plenty of time). I asked Ryan if he wanted to run with me, but he decided since the registration fee is pretty high ($150 a person) that he would rather not sign up and then only run half heartedly. He did say that he will run with me on the weekends (maybe) and possibly start training in the future. I am okay with that though, because then he can be my photographer :).

Alrighty, so now that I have said it, feel free to ask me about how training is going/ keep me accountable/ etc. Wish me luck :)

Husband Saves Wife

Costa Concordia Cruise Disaster: Husband Sacrifices Life Jacket For Wife, Disappears Into Water

He did what any husband would have done for his wife.

As the Costa Concordia cruise ship went down off the west coast of Italy Jan. 13, Nicole Servel's husband, Francis, gave her the only life jacket they had, Emirates247.com reports.

That was the last she saw of him.

"I owe my life to my husband," Servel, 61, told the news outlet, explaining she doesn't know how to swim.

Just hours after it departed, the cruise ship hit rocks, forcing passengers to evacuate. According to CNN, direction from the ship's crew was unclear, so many passengers took matters into their own hands, frantically rushing to secure life vests for themselves. The news source goes on to describe people frantically jumping into the water and lifeboats -- loaded with passengers -- stuck atop the icy water, helpless.


The rest of the article here.

Mini Vacay

This past weekend we went up to Big Bear. There were four couples. One of the couple's parents own a lake house up there, so we headed up for the long weekend. The husbands took off on Friday around 1pm and the wives met up and hit the road around 4pm or so. It was great to get away (even if it is only a couple hours away), enjoy friends/ food/ football, and make memories. Saturday morning we decided to hike up Castle Rock, which wouldn't have been so comical, but we were definitely NOT prepared (wearing our Ugg boots, slippers, no 'supplies', etc). It was definitely worth it, and a 'team building' experience :). Ry and I took a few pictures, but haven't loaded them on the computer yet. Here are a few that were posted online for some of the other iPhones on the trip :)



MLK Day

Martin Luther King Day 2012: Remembering His Life, Legacy












Donkey & Mole

Okay, so this probably makes little to no sense to anyone else but Ry :) A little back story: I normally call Ryan 'donkey' and he calls me 'mole'. We were streaming the end of the Packers game yesterday when we got home from Big Bear. The channel that we were watching it on was from London. And we saw this commercial.... A MOLE HELPING A DONKEY!!

Honey Badger & Badger Hound

Legend of the Honey Badger and the Wiener Dog (Original Song)

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Goodwin Project

One of Ryan's co-workers from Reef is doing the Sound and Film for this documentary.

Aamion, Daize, Given and True Goodwin are the stars of this breathtaking documentary film project that follows the Goodwin’s on a 13 month journey through 18 countries. Below you can watch the teaser that took our breath away. An absolutely amazing preview of a film that seems to be about reconnecting with the earth as a family and the adventure that is born from birth and on. We can’t wait to hear more about this project and get a chance to speak with the crew when they return home.

Follow The Goodwin Project on Facebook here and on their blog here.


The Goodwin Project from Avocados and Coconuts on Vimeo.

One More Disney Day



What Would You Do With One More Disney Day?

Take a full 24 hours to create as many memories as you can — because on Leap Day, 2012, for the first time ever, both Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park will be open for 24 hours starting February 29 at 6:00 a.m. to enjoy select attractions, entertainment and services.

Take part in One More Disney Day, then share with other fans at Let The Memories Begin.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Team 132

Michigan Football Team 132: Return to Prominence



Pictures and Highlights of Michigan's Team 132.. 2012 Sugar Bowl Champions. GO BLUE!!!! GEAUX BLUE!!!!

Music from AudioMachine 1st Song is Eternal Flame, 2nd song is Maya and UkFDubstep Seven Nation Army 2 Steps from Hell- Birth of Power.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Verve Shirts

YAY KEV!!! [Our friend Kevin has some of his art on a coffee shop's t-shirt.]



If you ever dreamed of having my art on a super soft tri-blend shirt, now is your chance! Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz, California is now featuring shirts with my art on them. AND on top of that, there is free shipping. So, get a shirt, buy some coffee, and enjoy them both! http://www.vervecoffeeroasters.com/collections/merchandise/apparel

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

What Are You Doing NYE?

Okay, I know I am late on this one, but you will have to forgive me [I was off of the computer for most of the last week or so]... But aren't they so cute?!

Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up