Make this now.
It is the very essence of fall in a cool, creamy, good-for-you drink.
I love tricking myself into eating a serving of vegetables while it feels like I'm eating pumpkin ice cream.
Fall Pumpkin Smoothie
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup plain yogurt or milk
3-4 ice cubes
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 scoop vanilla protein powder (this is totally not necessary, just makes it more of a meal and adds some sweetness- instead of the vanilla protein powder you could substitue a frozen banana, 1 tsp vanilla extract, cocoa powder, some sugar- anything to add a little sweetness)
And thats it! Go make yourself one, and then wrap up in a big blanket on the couch and enjoy this awesome season!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
beautiful.
Beauty:
As I grow older, I have become more certain of what beauty is (yet I still have a long way to go to make these truths take root in my heart). It isn't found in the aisles at Target, on the cover of a magazine, or on the screen in front of you. I am beautiful simply because God made me so. Not because of the clothes I wear, my haircut, or the number on the scale. I am beautiful because I am sensitive, caring, and passionate about what I love. I am beautiful because of who I am, and Who made me. I am learning to embrace that. When I look in the mirror I see my mother, and I am proud of the woman I have grown up to be. Beauty is my 90 year old grandmother and the stories she has to tell. Beauty is the dad working hard all day at his job, and coming home to spend time with his kids. Beauty the boy coming in last at his high school cross country race, yet holding his head high because he gave it everything he had. Beauty is sitting down to dinner surrounded by your family. Beauty is so, so much more then what our culture tells us it is. Thank you Jesus for challenging that.
As I grow older, I have become more certain of what beauty is (yet I still have a long way to go to make these truths take root in my heart). It isn't found in the aisles at Target, on the cover of a magazine, or on the screen in front of you. I am beautiful simply because God made me so. Not because of the clothes I wear, my haircut, or the number on the scale. I am beautiful because I am sensitive, caring, and passionate about what I love. I am beautiful because of who I am, and Who made me. I am learning to embrace that. When I look in the mirror I see my mother, and I am proud of the woman I have grown up to be. Beauty is my 90 year old grandmother and the stories she has to tell. Beauty is the dad working hard all day at his job, and coming home to spend time with his kids. Beauty the boy coming in last at his high school cross country race, yet holding his head high because he gave it everything he had. Beauty is sitting down to dinner surrounded by your family. Beauty is so, so much more then what our culture tells us it is. Thank you Jesus for challenging that.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
September 18, 2007
September 18th, 2007
Last Saturday marked three years since my mom died after a courageous battle againts cancer.
September is hard for me. The weeks surrounding that date on the calendar are filled with a lot of emotions. It is difficult to explain grief to someone who has never really had to deal with it before, and it is so unique for each individual. For me, it comes and goes in waves. September is usually a time when I am hit with tidal waves of grief.
I feel like I have gotten to the point in grieving where I am past the raw pain and emptiness and can now think of my mom with a deep longing and love. In the past weeks I have found myself mourning what I am missing since my mom died. She wasn't there to see me get my nursing pin. She was not there to zip up my wedding dress and tell me I was the most beautiful bride she had ever seen. She won't be there when I have my first child, and I have so many new-mom questions. She won't be there. For the joys and the struggles. That is the painful truth of it.
But it is ok. If I have learned one thing as a result of my mom's death, it is just that. I am going to be ok. My family is going to be ok. There is no other choice really. I have to keep going, one step in front of the other, one day after the next. When my mom was sick her biggest urge to me was to not let her cancer stop my life. I was to keep going to school, keep suceeding, keep living life, keep being happy, keep doing the things I love. The same is true now. I work through the grief, and keep living and loving my life.
So, I am ok. I am more than ok. God is so good to me. I have Mike. I have a beautiful, loving, supportive family. I have friends that love me and hold me up. I ache for and miss my mom everyday. I long for that day when we are reunited in heaven. But until then, I can rejoice in my blessings and the truth that I have a God who conquered death!
Last Saturday marked three years since my mom died after a courageous battle againts cancer.
September is hard for me. The weeks surrounding that date on the calendar are filled with a lot of emotions. It is difficult to explain grief to someone who has never really had to deal with it before, and it is so unique for each individual. For me, it comes and goes in waves. September is usually a time when I am hit with tidal waves of grief.
I feel like I have gotten to the point in grieving where I am past the raw pain and emptiness and can now think of my mom with a deep longing and love. In the past weeks I have found myself mourning what I am missing since my mom died. She wasn't there to see me get my nursing pin. She was not there to zip up my wedding dress and tell me I was the most beautiful bride she had ever seen. She won't be there when I have my first child, and I have so many new-mom questions. She won't be there. For the joys and the struggles. That is the painful truth of it.
But it is ok. If I have learned one thing as a result of my mom's death, it is just that. I am going to be ok. My family is going to be ok. There is no other choice really. I have to keep going, one step in front of the other, one day after the next. When my mom was sick her biggest urge to me was to not let her cancer stop my life. I was to keep going to school, keep suceeding, keep living life, keep being happy, keep doing the things I love. The same is true now. I work through the grief, and keep living and loving my life.
So, I am ok. I am more than ok. God is so good to me. I have Mike. I have a beautiful, loving, supportive family. I have friends that love me and hold me up. I ache for and miss my mom everyday. I long for that day when we are reunited in heaven. But until then, I can rejoice in my blessings and the truth that I have a God who conquered death!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
"Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock!"
-Charles Spurgeon
My prayer today is that these wise words be true of me. I long to be a woman of constant, abiding faith. I want to fight againts a faith that waxes and wanes during the smooth and rocky seasons of life; that gets blown off course during the storm. I want to look back on my life and see that I loved and pursued Jesus just as hard during the pain as during the joy. I pray that I continue to root my life upon the Rock.
-Charles Spurgeon
My prayer today is that these wise words be true of me. I long to be a woman of constant, abiding faith. I want to fight againts a faith that waxes and wanes during the smooth and rocky seasons of life; that gets blown off course during the storm. I want to look back on my life and see that I loved and pursued Jesus just as hard during the pain as during the joy. I pray that I continue to root my life upon the Rock.
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