Wrappin' Up the First Year

Hey y'all, 
Today marks the last Monday of my first year of college. Can I just take a moment to say WOW. I know it is beyond cliche to say this, but these two semesters have literally flown by. It seems like just last week I was moving into my very first dorm room and meeting my roommate for the first time. And today she moved out.

 I now sit in a half empty room, remembering all of the awesome times that have passed in our little corner of the world. I am feeling such a weird combination of trying to hold onto everything that has happened in these past months, while also looking forward to the joys that will come this summer. I am such a people person, and it really hurts to have to let go of my closest friends, even if it is just for a little while. My roomie and I have had some truly great memories this year, and I am so thankful for her. I am really thankful for everything that has happened this year. I have been challenged more this year than at any other period of my life, and I have experienced joys that I didn't think possible. 

College is a wonder. It is challenging, freeing, eyeopening, complicated, exciting...unlike anything I have ever experienced before. Back in High School I always noticed how much people that went to college had changed when they returned, but I never thought that would happen to me. I thought I knew who I was in High School, but if I have learned anything in the past months it is that I don't know who I am at all. And I have learned that it is okay. It is actually good. I don't need to know everything right now. 

In just a few days I will be finishing up my finals and heading off to camp, where I will spend the next 8 weeks living in a tent and discipling teenagers. It is going to be awesome. 

Let the Summer Adventures begin. 

Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream

Why, oh why am I just now discovering the beauty of frozen banana yumminess? Just the other day I was checking out some vegan recipes and ran into Emily's Blog This Rawsome Vegan Life. On it she had posted healthy vegan ice cream, and of course I had to check it out. 

*Let me sum it up real quick for all of you (like me!) who have been missing out: Freeze bananas. Blend bananas. Top bananas (nuts, chocolate syrup, other fruit etc.). Guiltlessly Indulge.* 

That is it, seriously! And it ROCKS. Ahhhhh. 

Soooo, grab a couple of bananas and try it out- you will not be disappointed :) 

Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream
Prep Time: 5 minutes/freeze over night/5 more minutes 

Ingredients:

• 2 frozen bananas
• 1/2 tsp vanilla  
• Any toppings/alterations you wish! 
• I topped mine with these Maple Cinnamon Almonds  and added 1.5 tsp Maple Syrup in the processor 

Instructions: 

• Slice bananas and place on a baking sheet
• Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight
• Remove from freezer, place in a food processor, add vanilla, and process until soft serve consistency
• Add whatever your heart desires! 

Creds to This Rawsome Vegan LIfe

Maple Cinnamon Almonds

Hi y'all. It is almost Christmas, woot woot. Just last week I finally finished up my first semester of college and headed back to my good ole Kentucky home for the break. I am so, so happy to be back with my family. I missed them so much while away at school. I hope you all are enjoying quality time with your precious family during this holiday season.

One of the very first things I did upon getting home was to run back into the kitchen!- Starting with roasted maple and cinnamon almonds. Yuummm. These were tasty! 

These delicious things came about in an attempt to make Running to the Kitchen's  homemade almond butter. Sadly... Lots of almonds + a not so big food processor= *sigh* However, I still got a yummy snack out of it, so no tears were shed (just a few bouts of frustration.) Soooo, on that note...here ya go! Enjoy :) and Merry almost Christmas! 

Maple Cinnamon Almonds

Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 10 minutes  Ingredients:  1.5 cup raw almonds  2.5 tbsp real maple syrup (none of that Mrs. Butterworth stuff!) .5 tsp sea salt  .5 tsp cinnamon  .5 tsp vanilla extract  Instructions:  1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  2.) Combine almonds and syrup in a medium bowl and toss until covered.  Spread out almonds on baking sheet. 3.) Bake for 12-15 minutes 4.) Remove almonds and immediately transfer to a bowl.  Add salt, cinnamon, and extract to bowl and toss once more.  5.) Allow almonds to cool and then cover for keeps.  Enjoy!  adapted from Running to the Kitchen  Printable Page Here!

Livin' the College Life

Hey y'all. Sooooo, I think its about time I announce that I am going to have to take a break from the Blogsphere. Quite a long break- a break until I get an apartment with actual cooking utensils (the rusty pan and egg beaters in the dorm Kitchen just aren't cutting it) and have the money to buy good quality ingredients and what not.

I have to say i'm quite sad, but I really feel blogging throughout college (at least for now) is not for me. I absolutely LOVE college and everything about it, and don't want to spend more time on the computer and in the kitchen than being crazy with my friends.

I hope y'all understand. And honestly, I am trying to help my own self understand as well.

For now I will just leave y'all with some first semester photos! :)

WKU Weekend with my Best Friends :) 

Halloween- My roomie's mom gave me a trick or treat basket!

Headed out to the wild for the weekend 

Cookies. Yuuummm. 

World's Largest Water balloon fight! 

Opera Trip with my girl!

A day at the Races. 

BCM Fall Retreat 

First Football Game- Homecoming!

In the woods. 

Best Roommate Ever :)

Another day at the Races. 

Good times 

Into the Wild. 

Wednesday Night Adventures 

Movie Night! 

Halloween...Richard Simmons is back y'all

My future Husband. 

I'm going to college!

Ahhhhhhh. This is really happening. After months and months of constant college research, scholarship  applications, paper after paper, and then an awesome summer in Spain...It is finally time! I am heading to my dream college this friday. Yep this Friday. In two days everything changes...I'll be free!

While I am beyond excited about the upcoming freedom, I am also quite quite nervous about being completely on my own. Balancing my money, doing laundry, making my own decisions- the whole independence thing still seems a little bittersweet.

I said goodbye to my best, best friend Monday and that hurt a lot. Another good friend leaves tomorrow and the rest head out next week. Ready or not, it is time. Soooo, my goal is to just go into everything as calm as possible and hope to have a good time! I know there are some incredible things laying ahead and God has crazy plans for everything. Please be praying that I will go into this whole experience with a desire to simply love people like Jesus and to get a great teaching education.

I hope y'all have a great week, God bless.

¡Ensalada Simplé!

Hey y´all. I have a super simple recipe(ish) to share today! This salad is Rosa´s (my "Host Mom" here in Spain) go to salad.  Pair with a simple sandwich and you are set for dinner. I love how easy, quick, and fresh it is!

Enjoy!

Rosa´s Simple Salad

Prep time: 10 min Assemble  Yield: 4 large servings  Ingredients: One head Chopped Lettuce 2 Tomatoes 1/4 of an Onion Several Slices Bell Pepper (sliced very thin) 3 Hard Boiled Eggs  1 can or jar tuna Vinegar, Olive Oil, Balsamic  Instructions: 1.) Prep all vegetables 2.) Throw everything in a bowl and mix it up.  3.) Drizzle with Vinegar, Oil, and Balsamic.

p.s Feel free to throw in some olives or fresh cheese to top it off! 

Printable Recipe Here!

Photo Bomb of SPAIN.

Hiya, y´all. Week three of Spanish adventures and life is good. Too much to explain, so i´ll just bombard ya with photos! :D

Fruit=Dessert. Revolutionary.

Yay Beach adventures.

Simple Salad-tuna, tomato, onion, cheese, and olive oil.

 mmmhm.

elena eating an onion ring with silverware. nuff said.

American Food, oh how I don´t miss you!

Totally ate every bite.

¡Fiesta!

Antonia´s lasagna.

Cherries. ¡que bo! 

Turron y Café Helado. 

Showin´the Spainards what real cookies are! 

"Hamburger" in honor of the 4th of July! 

annnnnddd....PAELLA. mmmmmhmmm. 

I hope y´all have a great week...and drool over some of these delicous treats! :D

Dancin´ the night away

Hey yáll. soooo i´ve decided to just kinda forget about the whole posting regularly thing for this month. Ain´t no body got time for that!

Sooooo....I am seriously in LOVE with España. Like in loveeee. Ahhhhhhhhh.

I can basically sum up my life here in 3 words. Comida. Siesta. Fiesta. (eat. sleep. party. if you didn´t catch that :D) and it rocks. Ahhhhhh. I´m two weeks in and already trying to figure out how to move here. :D

For realz, if you have never been out of the country then you just have to go. Just go somewhere and soak in the culture and atmosphere. Learn to appreciate new traditions and jump out of your comfort zone. I have already learned so much in these two weeks. I know it sounds crazy to say so fast but  I already just feel soo much more confident in myself and who I am. Spain  (specifically the incredible people here) has taught me so much about life in general. I can´t seem to find the right words (maybe because i´m not quite adjusted to switching back and forth between languages!), but I just want yáll to know that I am truly having the experience of a life time, and I hope one day everyone of you all can do something like this. It is truly priceless.

Besos from España. xoxo 

p.s the reason this is titled "dancin´ the night away" is because i´ve been hittin´up the discos. and they rock :D

¡Hola!

¡Hola!

I made it to SPAIN ahhhhh :) I have been here for 3.5 days and am already in love. aka I´m trying to find a Spanish chico to marry just so I can stay here. Great idea, right? :)

Ahhhh I don´t even know where to begin. Well I suppose I could start with my flight here. That would be a good place to begin, right?

 So I left the Lexington Airport Sunday morning at 11 a.m and arrived in Valencia, Spain around 3 a.m Kentucky time. Those hours in between were pretty darn hectic at times, but overall my airport experience was not too bad. I know that God sure was looking out for me when I ran across a super nice family in the Chicago airport (a giant airport, mind you) that just so happened to be going on the same flight to Madrid as me. And this was their 25th time going there. Soooo I just joined their family for a few hours and had a great conversation with their super nice and pretty cute son while the rest of the family ate lunch. Definitely a good start to the trip.

 A few hours later we finally boarded the long flight to Madrid. I ended up sitting beside a very nice father and his family. While the kids were sleeping we got the chance to chat for a bit. It turns out he is retired bank/stock market guru turned college professor who takes his family to France every summer where they live in their second home. Oh, and he spent 4 years living in Japan and 2 in China, and is a Fútbol player/retired rower. Let´s just say this man had some pretty good stories.

After an extremely long, sleep deprived seven hours we finally arrived in Madrid. The only problem was that our plane was a little late and I had to get on the tram and through immigration, customs, and to my gate in 25 minutes. I got a good amount of exercise in running through the airport. But, hey! I made it :)

My flight from Madrid to Valencia was only one hour and quite bearable. I actually ended up sitting by this really cool girl from LA who is spending 6 weeks this summer in Valencia. She gave me her email address and we might get together if I get the chance to go up there :) We also talked about Jesus, so that was pretty darn cool.

Bucket list- Talk to someone on the airplane about Jesus. <check>

Once I finally made it to Valencia and got my bags I found Pedro, Elena, and Ester all waiting for me just outside the doors. Oh, and they brought me a Bocadillo de Jamón y aciete. Aka the best sandwich ever. I don´t think I can ever eat American food again. Like for realz. I feel sorry for you all right now. Cause you are missing out, let me tell you!

A lot of other things have happened so far....like The Torros, seeing "El Gran Gatsby" en Español, tons of awesome food, a trip to the playa....but I honestly don´t feel like thinking/typing in English right now, so i´ve gotta go! Hope all is well with y´all.

Los Torros :D

Oh. My. Gosh. I literally ate every bit of this. No joke.

La Playa!

Besos de España :)

Wow.

Hey y'all. Soooo...it has been two months since I have been here. That. Is. Crazy. Sooooo much has happened since then that I won't even begin to go into details. Life has shifted from super stressful to celebration mode and graduation craziness down to almost normal and now back to crazy. But this one is a super crazy crazy. Like WOAH...

 I'm leaving for Spain this Sunday!!!

 For the next 5 weeks I will be spending my time sitting by the pool ,soaking up the sun (trying not to die from Sun Burn- #redheadprobs), dancing it up at the disco, eating ridiculous amounts of Paella and trying to learn some Espanol. I'm nervous, scared (mainly of the air ports/traveling solo!), and mostly BEYOND excited. I can still hardly believe it is really happening. 

10 months of nonstop homework, lack of sleep, endless hours at school, scholarships, work, anxiety, stress, and a handful of other things that most high school seniors experience all year long...are finally done!!!! And it is party time :D 

So bring on the Paella, Spain here I come! 

P.s Be expecting to hear from me multiple times per week on here! I'm not sure what this trip holds in terms of recipes and whatnot, but I will definitely be sharing lots about my adventures/whereabouts/whatabouts for the next month! 

Trouble with Tarts.

Hey y'all. It's been a super hectic past couple of weeks. AP Tests, Scholarships, Stress, Stress, and more stress. So basically anything fun made its way to the very bottom of my invisible list of to-dos. Like being here. I've missed y'all.

On that note...I have a slight cooking terror story to share. Tart that wouldn't set. (Insert gasp here.) Yep, the delicious, decadent 500 calorie, chocolate tart recipe I was super pumped about completely flopped. To make matters worse, it flopped in front of my entire class. My partner and I had to demonstrate this recipe for a grade...whoops. So basically I don't have a recipe to share, but I do have a picture of a pretty Lemon Tart that rocked (and somewhat) justified the chocolate terror.

Yum!

Peach Pineapple Pops.

Hey y'all. It's been forever and a day. School has too much control of my life right now. I miss cooking and blogging and random fun errands and t.v and all that good stuff. But it is ok. I only have 22 more days of High School. Can I get an AMEN?! I'm super pumped. Can you tell?

Oh, and these delicious, refreshing, healthy fruit pops are only making this crazy spring/summer weather even better. Especially post work out. Check them out!

It was time for a summer tablecloth/background :) 

Yumm :)

Peach Pineapple Pops 

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 min + freezing

Ingredients

• 4 Cups Summer Fruit (I used Pineapple and Canned Peaches) 
• 2 tbsp sugar 
• 2 tsp Fresh lemon juice 

Directions: 

1.) Place all ingredients in blender and purée until smooth

2.) Freeze in small cups for 15 minutes

3.) After 15 minutes, place Popsicle sticks in semi-frozen mixture. Freeze overnight. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe Here!

Colorado.

Hi y'all. In less than 6 hours I will be all packed up and headed to Colorado. Skiing, Hiking, Comfort Food, Family, Friends, and peace await me in those beautiful mountains. I cannot wait. I hope y'all have a great Easter weekend [Yay Jesus!!!!] and great first week of April. I will be off the grid for awhile. Praise Jesus this weekend, because he has RISEN.

Beautiful. 

                       "I will rise, when he calls my name, no more sorrows, no more pain."

Thank you, Jesus. 

Your Love Never Fails.

Thank you, Jesus.

If you haven't heard "Your Love Never Fails" by Jesus Culture...go watch this video. . Right now.