Week 10 Day 2

It's Tuesday!!! In Glenwood that means its rest day. But, here in Belle Fourche, we don't rest! 

Alyssa and I have been searching for a coffee shop all week that we could stop at in the morning after our morning run. But, it wasn't until last night that we discovered there was one not even 2 blocks away! Apparently we kept running right past it without noticing it. So, this morning although technically it was rest day, we decided to get up and go anyway! We walked the same path that we've been running the past few days and this time we went into the coffee shop. We were so excited and that little coffee house was so cute!

We were so glad we found it! It was such a wonderful idea! Now, we are beyond ready to start canvassing again! Pray for us as we start reaching the people of Belle Fourche! Y'all have a wonderful day!! :)

South Dakota Sunday

Happy Sunday!!!!

For the first time in FOREVER, I was not home for Sunday Morning Breakfast! I know.. I can't believe it either! But, I have to admit, I have had such a great Sunday! 

Alyssa and I actually woke up at 5:30am for a morning run in Belle Fourche! Bryce (her fiancé) went with us to make sure we didn't get lost!

It was a beautiful run.. Much different scenery than we are used to. But, let me tell you.. It was early and we were tired!

After our run, we went back and got ready for church! We went to the connection church's 8:30 service in Spearfish, which is the town we spent most of our time in last year!

Then, when church was over and we had all grabbed a bite to eat, we headed to Devil's Tower in Wyoming!

Joce and Abbi were by my side the entire time! They're previous!! :)

Mom and I at Devil's Tower!

Here a picture of Alyssa and I last year, compared to this year!! We've changed quite a bit!

And here's the view from the trail! It was incredible!

We had a great time exploring today! Now, everyone is taking a nap and getting ready for tonight's church service in Belle Fourche! 

Hope you guys are having a wonderful Sunday as well!! :)

South Dakota Bound (Day 2)

Only one more day of traveling before we arrive in Belle Fourche, South Dakota!

Yesterday was an experience!! We managed to get separated from the group once which turned out to be an adventure. We stopped about 20 times and we saw 628421 corn fields! But, we made it to Omaha safely!

And look at us choosing a healthy snack!! Who says you can't eat clean while driving across country?! We can!

We also played a miniature game of Apples to Apples! And yes.. I lost! 

Here is a picture of the church we stayed in last night! The people there were just wonderful. Their hospitality was incredible! They made us hamburgers, lots of delicious desserts, prepared lots of veggies, and provided us with breakfast! We could not have been more blessed for a place to stay on our way to South Dakota!

Please pray for us as we continue on our trip north! And pray that God does some wonderful things in the lives of the people we will encounter!

Have a wonderful day!! :)

South Dakota Bound

Good Morning and Happy Friday!!!

We got up at 4am today to meet our group at the church! Let me tell you... I just thought 6:30 was early.. It's NOTHING compared to 4am. But, hey... It's for a good cause. So, who could complain!

We got our group together, loaded up, and we are now heading to South Dakota! I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am. Our trip to SD last year was probably one of my favorite trips I have ever been on! It's just incredible to see the work God is doing in that place! I am nothing but blessed to get the opportunity to be part of this experience. And on top of everything else, my momma is going with me! 

Today is a wonderful day! :) Oh, and don't forget about Sacha... She got up at 6:30(without me) and did her Fun Friday activity! She did Just Dance on the Wii this morning! I'm so proud of her. I just know she'll do great this week. She doesn't need me! She's got this!! 

Week 9 Day 8

Today was rest day... For Sacha!! Her schedule is crazy on Tuesdays. So, I let her rest! Me.. I got up and did my independent cardio! Yet another day of Hill Sprints! Wooooo! If we have several people at Bootcamp tomorrow we may make it into some kind of relay before we start our workout. That could be fun!

Today has been a pretty successful day. After cardio I got dressed and took off to Arkadelphia to run some errands for the South Dakota trip. (Me, Mom, and Alyssa are leaving Friday for our South Dakota Mission Trip with several other people from our church!) You know I'll be posting lots of pictures next week!

Anyhow.. When I got back from Arkadelphia, I dropped everything off at the house.

Then, I headed to work!! This is my 9th shift in 1 week! I have worked every single day!!!

Tonight I couldn't decide what to have for dinner. So, I had a naked smoothie and a clif bar! Good choice, I know!

Now, I better get back to work! Y'all have a wonderful evening! Bootcamp starts back up bright and early! Get ready to work those abs!! :)

Week 8 Day 5 (Fun Friday)

I honestly don't remember the last time I got to sleep past 6:30 in the morning. But, today, for some reason, Sacha and I decided to sleep in just a little bit.  I couldn't complain... I was totally okay with catching up on some sleep.

I mean, yesterday was a big day!! After spending the morning with Jackson, Ashley, and Royce, I worked at the video store until 10pm. So I was pretty tired when I finally made it home. And Sacha, well.. I'm pretty sure she didn't make it home until after midnight!

Check out our cute little 4th of July collage. The BOYS made that fruit pizza all by themselves. They are so creative! 

When we woke up, we started Fun Friday! Today, we chose to do Wii Fit Yoga! It was pretty entertaining if you ask me! But, we had a good time with it. So, that's all that counts.

Now that we are done with our workout its time to get ready for yet another night at work! I can't tell you how ready I am for everyone to get back from Vacation! I really like just working 18hrs per week. This whole 36hrs per week thing is killing me! Yes, I know.. it could be worse... But, it summer!!!! Bahhh.

Ya'll have a wonderful day!! :)

-E

Week 8 Day 2 (Freshman Orientation)

It's Tuesday again. Which means Sacha and I get to rest from our exercise program. Which is good because we have been at her Freshman Orientation for the past 2 days and we are EXHAUSTED!! 

Last night we made a trip to Walmart to get some groceries for our little sleepover in Arkadelphia. We actually managed to make a few "healthier" choices! We bought plain greek yogurt and cottage cheese to go with our oatmeal pancakes that I made for breakfast today. And we also bought some fruit for breakfast and some multigrain chips with avocados for our snack with the movie we watched last night. 

Then.... We went and layed out by the pool for a little while!

I am serving as her "Mom" in this experience and its actually quiet funny! I would make a terrible mother right now. I need a few years before I'm ready for all that responsibility!

Anyhow, we have a lot of important stuff we need to take care of this morning. So, I've got to get going!

Y'all have a wonderful day!!

-E

Super Sunny Sunday

Before I start telling you all about my Super Intense Sunday... I just want to brag for a few minutes!

LOOK at my sister!!! The first 2 pictures are her 3 months ago. And the last 2 are from this morning. She has lost 17 of the 30 pounds that she is planning to lose. She is only 13 pounds away from her goal weight. I couldn't tell you just how proud I am of her. It has been a tough 7 weeks of bootcamp and I know that each day has been a new struggle. But, she has worked hard and she is over halfway there. 

You go Sacha!!! :)

Okay, so as usual, I woke up to Sunday Morning Breakfast!! Eggs, Bacon, Toast with Jelly, and potatoes!! Yup, it was yummy!!! :)

Then, I got ready for church!

After church, I got headed to Arkadelphia to meet Jackson. He took me to Little Rock to climb Pinnacle Mountain. It was a first for both of us. We loved it! 

We hiked the Ouachita Trail up the East Summit. I don't know if you can read the sign. But, it says:

Blaze Color: Red/White

Distance: 1 1/2 Mile Roundtrip

Difficulty: VERY DIFFICULT STEEP TERRAIN

Approx. Hike Time: 2 hours

It was the most intense hike I have EVER done. 

We basically climbed a giant cliff of boulders.

Here's a collage of some of the pictures we took on the way up the mountain. I took about 5,000 so, I figured I would save you some time and put several pictures into one.

Notice we still look pretty happy trying to climb up this crazy mountain...

Once we got to the top, we had to take a load off and enjoy the view for a while. We were exhausted!!!

Annnnnd... our chacos matched! :)

Then we took about a billion more pictures at the top of the mountain!

I mean... It was beautiful. You can never have too many pictures of a beautiful experience!

Just look at that view!! I could have stayed up there all day! Mainly because I was exhausted from climbing up the mountain... But, also because I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful view. God really was showing off up there! Amazing!!!

And here we are back down at the bottom.... As you can see, we were so tired!! It was a rough climb. But, I am so glad we did it. It was an incredible experience. 

Then, when I got home... I was rewarded with homemade tacos! Yup... I'm spoiled ;)

Yall have a wonderful night! 

I've gotta get some sleep. 

Goodnight!! :)

-E

Week 7 Day 5 (Fun Friday)

It's FUN FRIDAY agian!!!!

Sacha and I did Just Dance on the Wii today!

Its been FOREVER since we last played Just Dance and, I really wanted to keep doing something different each week so it would keep things interesting. So, we got up at 6:30am and just danced for an hour! :)

If you don't own Just Dance or anything similar, choose one of the workouts from earlier this week, or previous weeks. Just make sure you are doing something active for at least an hour today! Keep working hard. Keep pushing yourself. 

You can do it. 

You can reach your goals. 

You just have to work hard!

Week 7 Day 2 (Rest Day/Bridal Portraits)

Since its Tuesday, we got to rest today! And while we were resting, we took Alyssa's Bridal portraits!

After breakfast, we went to Kita's Kurlz to get all fixed up! Sacha did such a great job.

Then, we spent the next few hours taking pictures!! :)

I really want to post a picture because she look absolutely beautiful... But, Alyssa would kill me. So, you're just gunna have to wait until September to see for yourself!

Bridesmaid Day (Nalley Wedding)

After morning workout, I went to Alyssa's house for breakfast!!

She made biscuits, gravy, eggs, turkey bacon, and we also had cantaloupe! It was yummy!

After breakfast we headed to hot springs to pick up one of the bridesmaids and also to stop for some cupcakes!

We each tried a different flavor! And, boy were they yummy!! :)

Then, we took off toward little rock!

And we found bridesmaid dresses!!!

We had so much fun! And our dresses were perfect :)

Oh, and don't forget about all the food we ate today...

On the left: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. And on the right: snacks! 

We may have gone a little crazy. But it was delicious!

All in all, it was a wonderful day!! :)

Goodnight!!

Sunday Semi-Funday

What a day...

It started out great! Ya know, the usual..

Sunday Morning Breakfast with the family before church.

Then, after church, I took off to Texarkana to see Jackson before he had to go to work.

Mom had to make sure I made it there without starving or getting dehydrated. So, she sent grapes and water! Thanks Mom!

Then, when I finally made it to Texarkana, I got to spend a few hours with this handsome guy!

We "popped some tags" today!! :)

Jack got some new boots!

Annnnd he bought me a Rangers T-Shirt! 

(We have a reason.. But, I will share that with you in a few weeks!)

Oh, Annnnnd we got to spend a little bit of time with these lovely people!

Ashley and Royce!!!

Ash was one of my roommates my freshman year at HSU and Royce was one of Jackson's roommates! We had a good time together today! We all went to the Cold Stone and shared some yummy ice cream and then they went shopping with us! It was great!

I love this girl so much!!!

Then, to end our date.. Jack and I got matching shaved ice! He got "Skrawbewwy" and I got "Skrawbewwy Cheesecake"... Apparently that's the way alot of his customers say it! Either way, it was delicious!

And then... I tried to go home. I made it ALL the way from Texarkana to the very middle of nowhere (nearly 30 minutes from my house) before my tire blew!!! Which normally would not be a big deal. I'm a big girl.. I can change a tire (I took driver's ed, I mean, come on!) BUT.. the wrench that goes with my jack was messed up. So, even if I wanted to change the tire in the middle of nowhere, I couldn't. 

So, what does any other normal girl do when she has a flat tire? She calls her D...... MOM! But, lucky me.. in the middle of nowhere there is no cell phone service!! Soooo... I cried! Yes, I admit it.. I cried! Thankfully, I only had to stand there and cry for about 2 minutes before God felt sorry for me :) 

All of a sudden this super sweet family, traveling from New Mexico, pulls over and asks me if I need help. I tell them what happened and they use their OnStar to call my momma, which still didn't work, and then offered to give me a ride home.

Then, my dad came to the rescue(like he does QUITE often)! :)

We headed to my car and tried to change that stinking tire. But, we ran into issue after issue preventing us from getting it fixed. Finally, 2 and a half hours later.. the tire was changed and we headed home!

Once we got home, Dad went to bed! Poor guy has to be up at 4am for work. And then Mom, Sacha, and I watched a new movie... the Call, with Halle Berry in it. We really liked it.

Anyway... by now its WAY past my bedtime. And I have another long day ahead of me tomorrow so I have got to get some sleep! Goodnight!

-E

Week 6 Day 5 (Fun Friday)

Today, for Fun Friday, we started out by sleeping in just a tad! Everyone needs a little beauty rest every now and then, right? :)

We got up at 8 and started prepping everything we would need to make breakfast once our morning workout was over! Then, Sacha hopped on the treadmill and ran a mile, we grabbed our bathing suits and then we took off down to the river!

For Fun Friday, we decided to go swimming. Which is usually quite fun.. but, today... it was TORTURE! There's just something about exercising that ruins the whole idea of swimming! (I mean, for me anyway.. Sacha had a blast!)

Once we finished pretending to be fish, we went back up to the house and made "brunch".

We had Chocolate Banana Protein Pancakes!

These things were yummy!! (As long as you weren't expecting them to taste like a pancake!)

I stole this recipe from a girl named Susanna Backman whose Instagram name is @tastyhealth. She makes some of the best breakfasts EVER!!!

Pancakes:

1/2 cup oats
1/2 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp granulated sweetener
2 egg whites
2/3 medium banana
2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

Mix ingredients with hand blender until smooth. Fry in a pan using coconut oil for about 30-45 sec each side.

Frosting:

1/3 cup plain greek yogurt

1/3 cup cottage cheese

3 tbsp raw honey

Mix with a hand blender and add water until desired consistency.

Now, I have to get ready for work!!! I hope you guys have a wonderful day! 

-E