Smoothie Super Chef

Lately, I've become a little addicted to the wonderfully tasty, healthy, filling, chilled delights better known as smoothies. This developed love has been a process, however. Let me back up, so you can understand the smoothie's and my journey to greatness.

Marriage is literally a melding of 2 individuals into one (hopefully better) whole. When Skylar and I got married, we each brought our own great qualities with us. I brought kindness (ha ha), patience (ummm), logic (ok, that's true), and charm (really?). He brought..........a blender. (Yes, he brought much, MUCH more than that, but we'll go with just that one thing for effect).

However, this blender initially was the bane of my existence (a little dramatic? perhaps). It was HORRIBLE! When I first tried to make a smoothie with it (last year), it took me half an hour! And even then, it wasn't fully blended. So I put the blender away and never looked back - that is, until a few weeks ago. It was starting to get super hot here in Utah and as I'm trying not to be a whale anymore, I didn't want to go get ice cream. So as I pondered my plight, I decided to give the ol' blender another go. At first, it was rocky. It took me another half hour to make a stupid strawberry banana smoothie. Afterwards I thought, "Forget it. Too much effort for one serving." But the next day, the heat was back and so was my desire to be cooled and not fat. So I pulled out the blender again. This time, it was a little better, a little smoother. Gradually I cut the blend time down to 25 minutes. Then 20 minutes. Yes, I began to figure out the quirks and gliches of the blender and realized that all she needs is a little patience, love, and understanding for her guard to come down.

Today, I boast a whopping 5 minutes for a delightful, delicious, delectable smoothie. You might say Sally and I have arrived at smoothie pro-dom. (That's right, we've been through a lot so I named her). Because of her loyalty to me, I've come to love her product: the smoothie.

The best things about smoothies, you ask? Why, they're the things I listed at the beginning of this post! Tastiness. Coldness. Healthiness. Happiness. How about a glimpse into one of my best recipes yet?

(These are all approximations. I don't actually measure anything out.)

(Also, there are a lot of parentheses in this post. My bad.)

1 cup of frozen sliced strawberries
1/2 of a frozen sliced banana
1/6 can of calcium fortified frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup of raspberries
3/4 cup of water
3/4 cup of milk

This makes about a glass full of smoothie goodness.

*I've been cutting dairy out of my diet lately, so I use light vanilla soy milk instead of regular milk. It's delish.

*You could use 1 1/2 cups of milk instead of splitting it between milk and water, but I'm cutting out calories by splitting it.

*When you use the frozen fruits, there's no need for ice.

*Also, I'm considering adding some silken tofu to the blend for extra nutrients and protein.

All in all, I've estimated one glass of smoothie-liciousness pumps out about 250 calories, several servings of fruit, and the only sugar is the natural, good-for-you kind. It's super filling and I end up having one for dinner a few times a week. Trust me, they're awesome. Now go make one. Please? Sally will be here cheering you on.

A Day in the Life

Just realized I haven't posted much in a while and I never really updated on how my jobs/school are going.

RISE is actually much better than I anticipated. When I was first hired, I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to start. Then as I learned more about what the job entailed, I became....less excited and more concerned about whether it was even worth it or if I should just get another job. But I decided to go with it and I'm glad I did. For the first month, I worked with a 10 year old boy name Cameron. He was awesome. We played a lot of "zombie wars" and I can now confidently say that I'm ready for the zombie apocalypse. Now I'm working with a 13 year old boy name Bryson who is hilarious. And he's teaching me how to play Magic. I'm gonna be so well rounded by the time this job is over. When it's not just the two of us, we're with a group of other staff/kids doing fun stuff like attempting to ice block down a huge hill and wiping out half way and tumbling the rest of the way down and being super sore the next day because you're getting old. Oh, wait, that's just how it went for me.

Then there's Hobby Lobby. I'm grateful for this job because it's really good experience for me to be a customer service manager, but some days I feel like I just don't make enough for all the stress I undergo with this job! But really, when all is said and done, I like finding ways to solve customers'/cashiers' problems and attempt to make them happy.

And school is great. I'm feeling more and more that I made the right move changing my major to public health. I LOVE all the professors and the material is so interesting! I finished my epidemiology class I was taking in the short spring term and now I'm in health promotion. It's great!

So here's a typical week for me at a glance:

Monday: Attempt to get up at 5 am to work out. If I fail, get up at 7 to get ready for the day. Head up to Murray by 8:30 to pick up Bryson and meet the group for RISE to play for 6 hours. Drop him off around 3, then head over to Hobby Lobby to work until 9:30-ish. Get home and talk to the husband on the phone for half an hour.

Tuesday: Get up at 5:30, get ready, out the door by 6:20 to catch the hour and a half bus ride down to Provo. Health Promotion class from 8:20-10:50 (odd, I know). Catch the bus back up to Sandy, hit the gym, get re-ready, off to Hobby Lobby to work from 4-9:30. Get home and talk to the husband on the phone for half an hour.

Wednesday: See Monday

Thursday: See Tuesday

Friday: See Wednesday

Saturday: If I'm working at Hobby Lobby, I'll probably work 11-9:30. If I have the day "off" I'll probably get called in to work that shift. If by some miracle I'm off and don't get called in, I get to clean my horribly messy apartment that's been neglected all week because I'm gone anywhere from 13-15 hours everyday. And attempt to do homework.

Sunday: Church. Then die. Or catch up on cleaning/homework that didn't get done on Saturday.

So there you have it. Isn't my life spontaneous and full of adventure?! I'll be honest, it gets old to have this exact same routine every week, but at least I have jobs that allow me to pay the bills (mostly). And at least I have the opportunity to be in school working toward my degree. And at least I'm kept so busy that I don't remember the fact that husband is gone until the fall for work. And at least (other than finances and lack of sleep) my life is pretty stress free for the time being!

PS - Sorry about no pictures of all the excitement. We're not allowed to take pictures with RISE because of the kids. And who wants pictures of Hobby Lobby or school? Such is life.