Embracing the Process

Hey Beautiful People! Happy Sunday!

My weekend has been awesome. Friday I was really productive with some things I had to get done before I start work next week (feel so good to be productive, doesnt it?!) And Saturday I went to a friend’s wedding, it was beautiful! And the reception was so fun. My back is seriously sore from doing the berie.. no joke! I guess I just got caught up in the moment..And today I am just going to the mall with my mom, church, and froyo with a friend! Pretty chill.. it will be the last chill Sunday I will have for a while! Which is totally fine.. I am pumped to get started with everything!

Something I struggle with is PATIENCE. like for real. I get impatient sometimes and want to know everything right now.. we live in such a world of “instant gratification”.. where people want things ASAP. Its opposite of how the Lord works.. something He has been telling me lately is just to embrace the process that He has me in. I get frustrated sometimes because I think I need to be a, b, and c.. whenever He just tells me to trust that I am in process and I need to embrace it. He isnt concerned with how fast we grow, but how strong we grow (He doesnt have a time table like us!). With some of my experience, the longer I am in painful/growing seasons, the stronger I become whenever they are over! If you are in a challenging season of growth and/or pruning, EMBRACE it and dig into the Lord more and more! Whenever I got the internship at the church, I asked the Lord to prune anything and everything out of me that wasnt of Him. And boy, did He ever! It was HARD, but He only did it to make me more like Him. I love this verse in Hebrews- “but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”-Hebrews 12:10-11. SO TRUE!! He always comes through for His children and takes care of us.. and after challenging seasons like that, we become so much more intimate with Him! EMBRACE THE PROCESS HE HAS YOU IN!

Smoothie! 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, 1/2 banana, lemon stevia, vanilla almond milk, ice

Yall ROCK & 2 Recipes!

Hey loves! WOW thank you all so much for your sweet comments and encouragement.. dang! Seriously the Lord uses each of you to be His little lights! (I do realize that sounds cheesy BUT its true!) It is so cool to know that so many of you can relate to this season of life.. it encourages me SO much!

How has your week been? I can’t believe it is almost the weekend! I have another wedding to go to and I am SUPER excited about it! I love going to weddings because they are all so unique and the receptions are too fun. My best friend Kristen’s wedding was the most beautiful ceremony—they wanted the gospel to be shared before anything else (marriage is so awesome.. God uses it to bear His image and to bring Him glory!), and they prayed together for the first time when music was playing (I think it was Come Thou Fount or maybe that was the song we walked out to?! I cant remember!) Anyway, it was SWEET! I may not have a pinboard on Pinterest with basically my entire wedding planned out.. and Im not even dating anyone. But.. whatever.. atleast I am prepared right?! Getting married and having a family is a HUGE desire of mine, but I know my purpose has already started  as a daughter of the King and HE is more than enough! His timing is absolutely perfect, so until then, I will just keep walking this amazing path with Him If you are single and it feels like all of your friends are getting married, just delight in the Lord and He will fill all your needs! He has someone out there for you that is PERFECT, that will treat you like the daughter of the King that you are But God is are first and biggest love! That will never ever change! Know that you are SO valued, and do not ever settle! When you start to find yourself longing for certain things, just ask Him to help you desire HIM above anything else, and He will fill that hole

Made dinner for the fam the other night – just mixed up some goat cheese+fresh tomatoes+basil+garlic+pepper and stuffed it in some chicken breasts that i dipped in an egg mixture and dusted with Italian breadcrumbs! Also made a brown rice salad- brown rice mixed w. toasted almonds, corn, and sesame oil!

 

Chia pumpkin oats w. sunwarrior frosting! (I found that adding a cap full of apple cider vinegar makes my oats super thick and creamy!)

Kale chips! Just spray some kale w. olive oil and add garlic+italian seasoning and bake for about 10 min at 400!

Sweet tater fries w. coconut oil.. obvs

Cant remember what was in this! A “pizza” w. egg crust and a chicken/avocado/bean mixture!

Protein pancakes! 2 tbsp protein powder, 2 tbsp coconut flour, 1/3rd cup egg beaters, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, a big scoop of pumpkin, and vanilla almond milk to thin it out! Oh and vanilla stevia+baking powder coconut flour is SO thick!

Met my sweet friend Samantha at Starbucks yesterday! Such a blessed time to catch up with her

 

That is all for today! I babysat this morning and am babysitting again later.. Kids are seriously hilarious and so entertaining.. but I think I need a nap before tonight!

1. Whats been the best part about your week so far?

Reading through Isaiah and it is ROCKING me.. I just shared this verse on Facebook because its so good.. “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.” -Isaiah 43:1-2 .. isnt that awesome that the Creator of the Universe is saying that to US? He has summoned us by name.. we are HIS! chyeahhhhh

Longest Post EVER!

Hey wonderful people! WOW! So it has been a while, hasnt it? Gosh I am so sorry that I went MIA! I have seriously missed you all a ton. Goodness gracious, where to even begin? This year has been the most incredible year.. it has been a roller coaster for sure! One thing I have SERIOUSLY learned is that the Lord is not based off of my emotions or what He “is” or “isnt” doing in my life.. He is always faithful and ALWAYS good because that is His character! I used to subconciously think God had “changed” If i was having a bad day or if something was going wrong in my life, but its so great to know that that is a LIE. HE is so constant and so unconditional, He is not based off of our circumstances or experiences! He is always who HE is despite how WE feel! Anyway, I love when I get slapped in the face with truths like that.. because I need it! Its hard learning new lessons, but the Lord only does it so we can grow more and more intimate with Him So right now.. I am living at home, I have an undergrad degree, and literally have no idea what my future holds. If you would have asked me what my life was going to be like 4 years ago, I would have told you something totally different. Funny how God does that, huh? I have released all of the “control” issues to Him (I am stubborn..) , and all the glory goes to Him! I dont have to know what I am doing the next year or 10 years, He planned the path for me long ago, and all I need to do is abide in Him and walk in it! I dont want to be sitting here wishing for the next best season, next best job, next best relationship, etc.. I want to be content WHERE He has me and living for His kingdom every single day, because He could come back tomorrow! Trust me.. I do not have this mastered in any way and I may never, haha! But He is so good how He pursues us until He has ALL of us Thats where true freedom is!

Went to the beach with my best friends at the beginning of May! SO MUCH FUN!!

Dancing with my friends! Those are 3 of my bestest friends in the world. I am so blessed by them

I just put this picture up because I got pink skinny jeans…and I was REALLY excited about them! This was from a weekend trip to Charleston!

Nana, mom, and me at a wedding a couple weekends ago!

I also got to hang out with the awesome Christina! She is the coolest ever.. I absolutely love her

Another thing He has taught me is to find every peice of me in Him. Over the past year He has broken me of a LOT.. and I was still finding some of my worth in other things.. Even “small” things! Like being “fit” or wanting to look good, etc.. and its totally normal and okay to want to be those things, but thats not where our identity lies! Our identity lies in our Creator.. He created us, so surely our worth and value is found in Him! Ive learned that the more I seek Him, the more I find out about who I am in Him (because in Genisis it says we were created in His image!) You and I are already enough as being children of the Lord! Its not something we earned, its a gift. WOW! Isnt that amazing?

“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.” -Psalm 139

So wherever you are, please know that you are uniquely made by the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE! He made you YOU for a reason, and you are so beautiful to Him. Your spirit is what makes you beautiful, nothing on the outside.. and that spirit inside of you only gets more and more beautiful over time! And this is something that I literally have to wake up every morning claming! Its not a one time learned thing! (well thats the case for me haha)

Seriously adore these girls.. we started college not knowing each other but so incredible how the Lord orchestrated these friendships. We lived together for three years and they truly encouraged me, challenged me, sharpened me, and taught me SO MUCH!

So here I am..graduated and living at home (my dad called me a loser the first night I was home! And I almost cried.. haha). I miss college like crazy already! I literaly could not have asked for a more blessed 4 years.. wow! But I am trusting that I am where God wants me, and this is making me depend on Him like NEVER before. I am also having to exercise new trust muscles that are def weak but the Lord is strengthening them at the moment. I will say all this “unknown” is making me run to Him like never before, I know this will be one of the most special seasons of my life! .. Even if it wasnt in my “planner” (I want to laugh when I think about this, boy how things change!)

As for being here, I am working at a church this summer and I could NOT BE MORE excited about it! It is truly a blessing to be able to intern there.. all the people are so REAL and so awesome. The Holy Spirit is all over that place.. I dont even know my schedule yet but I know it will be AWESOME and full of adventure! Also, I literally have weddings almost EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND this summer! Ha! One of my best friends just got married last weekend, it was beautiful! Such a beautiful picture of the gospel, wow.. the Lords love was all over that ceremony! It was so much fun! We also literally danced for about 3 hours STRAIGHT and it took me a few days to fully recover, I am getting old!

BEAUTIFUL COUPLE! I can not wait to see their marriage grow! They are both freaking awesome and Im blessed to know them.

Adventure, yall! That is what life is about!! LIFE IS FUN AND EXCITING! Dance a lot, laugh a lot, be free!

I have also been enjoying cooking some awesome things! Working out is also great, I am still lifting weights and all that jazz but after I took a long break from working out, it COMPLETELY rocked me in the best way! I realized I needed to chill with being so hardcore ALL the time, and really put some things into perspective for me! 

Who doesnt love a spaghetti squash boat?!

One of my fav snacks! Cooking sweet tater fries in coconut oil and adding vanilla almond milk+maple syrup+vanilla stevia+cinnamon! Also, throw some almonds in there as well

Made some chicken meatballs for the fam and me! Just threw into the Vita-mix (aka my BABY) some chicken tenders, egg whites, 1 egg, salsa, goat cheese, ranch seasoning, garlic, salt+pepper! And baked them at 375 for about 15-25 min!

Grilling out in the summer=my fav! Yes, that is an ostrich burger.. and it was so GOOD

Avocado+salsa on Trader Joes whole wheat sourdough toast.. amazing

Pizzaaaaa.. May or may not have put mustard on the top left slice just to see how it would taste.. #lovedit

THIS IS LITERALLY DELICIOUS!! What the HECK do they put in this stuff? crack?! Its so freakin GOOD

Ive realized lately how much I LOVE cooking healthyI can’t WAIT to have a family one day and cook for everybody! Ahhh!!

Anyway, This is officially the LONGEST post! I will be back more this summer Pleaseeee let me know how you all are! I would love to hear about your life. Thank you for standing beside me as I am on this crazy adventure called life and new seasons! I would love your wisdom on anything.. I need it! Love yall LOTS!

PS Who has Instagram?!

Picture overload + Protein powder review!

Hey Hey Hey!! Thank you all so much for your SWEET comments and encouragement! You all are so wonderful and incredible! I absolutely love hearing from you! This is short and sweet today because I am about to get ready to work! Everything is great over here – still learning a LOT during this crazyy season but the Lord is so present and doing WORK. HE IS SO GOOD!! Life with Him is a freaking adventure. Also- “the plan” is going great! I have so much energy and I feel awesome! If you are looking for a really do-able nutrition plan to help your fitness or lifestyle goals, I highly recommend you contact them!

Toast with egg whites, peanut butter, and a 1/2 naner (other half eaten while the bread was toasting) topped w. syrup!

Stir fry quinoa! Just quinoa, 1 red bell pepper, EVOO, and 1 egg and soy sauce!

eggs+peppers and kashi golean with frozen blueberries and coconut milk!

LOVING peppers + avocado + lemon juice + salt and pepper!

egg white oats + skippy natural honey PB + naner

Honestly cant even remember what was in this! Looks like a bean/goat cheese/pepper/ egg/kale stir fry of some sort!

cookie dough cereal! oats, sunwarrior, blueberries, cinnamon, vanilla almond milk

some sort of stir fry bake! broccoli slaw with ground turkey, turkey bacon, red bell pepper, buffalo sauce, 1 egg mixed in, baked with cheese and avocado on top

My salad at Jasons Deli! SO GOOOOD

Time for a protein powder REVIEW!!

Lately I have been loving Veggie protein powders because they are all natural and have so many good stuff in them for you!! The amazing people at MRM sent me their new veggie protein to try, and I LOVED IT!! A lot of veggie proteins do not mix well, but this powder mixes SO great! I love having it in shakes at night before bed! I usually mix it with some yogurt, milk, and frozen fruit, and it comes out completely thick! It also tastes awesome- has the perfect amount of sweetness! This is my new favorite veggie protein! I highly recommend it!

• This product is soy and gluten free and just recently was verified by the Non-GMO project.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS!! Keep running the race! God has GOT US!

I love you all!!

Weekend update!

Hey loves!! Not much time today- been so productive today! (church, laundry, cleaning, groceries, etc) and I am going to keep it up! Here are some foodie pics..

Oatmeal in a yogurt container+cawwwfeee

wrap with advocado, cheese, jalapeno, greek yogurt, refried beans on top

pumpkin egg white oats with dark chocolate swirl!

Salmon! Getting my fatty vitamins in!

Ricecake with refried beans and salsa (looks GROSS, i know!)

toast with advocado, egg, peppers, salsa!

Before bed shake in a sunflower container! I have been using Lifetime's Basic Plant protein.. its good! I used to use casien but it started to freak me out because I prob already had more than enough of it from yogurt and dairy

Thats about all! Those are all bits and peices of my daily eats, not even CLOSE to everything I have! One day I may do a WIAW just for fun!! It is SO IMPORTANT to honor your hunger- if you are way hungrier one day, I am all about listening to your body and giving it what it wants. FOOD=FUEL!

Me and one of the BDAY girls!!! Okay seeing this picture makes me realize i really need to get my hair did..

God is so faithful. Can we just talk about that?! I dont think I can even put into words how faithful He is. HE LOVES US!!!! Even when we dont understand, He is up to something. Its for His glory, and that in turn also gives us joy. I am taking the GRE in a couple weeks and that will help me have more clarity about which particular grad school I will go to! And I have no idea where I will be moving in May! Thats when my lease runs out. But God has got this- He has never EVER left me or forsaken me, and He sure as heck wont now. He wants to take care of us- so many times WE are the ones that dont let Him. We try to do it our own way. Does that ever work out? No! Its when we take a step back and surrender that we give Him SPACE to move! He is so much smarter than I am! I am relieved that I dont have to do this on my own (okay just thinking about that REALLY just freaked me out!) haha!

How was your weekend?! Friday night I went and hung out with some friends. Saturday I worked and saturday night we went out to eat greasy mexican food for my best friend, Anns, 22nd birthday! And church was today.. it was AWESOME! I cant wait to share more about the sermon!

Love you all!!!

“The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him- the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and of power. the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and he will delight in the fear of the Lord”-Isiaiah 11:2-3

Internal Rest + Eats + NEW RECIPE!!

Hey Loves! Happy Wednesday!

 

How is your week so far? Mine is great! Its been busy, but so good. I actually love being busy! It keeps me going and keeps me on top of things. Although I will say, I DO need my down time and my rest time with the Lord!! Its so refreshing for my soul! Sometimes we can get so caught up in the “business” of life that we can miss being intimate with our Heavenly Dad!!! If we are going and going nonstop (even good things), we can easily start to do things out of our own strength, and then end up exhausted and tired. Thankfully God is powerful enough that He can take ALL of our burdens and stress! I NEED Him!! We are weak by ourselves! I have learned all of this the hard way (I am SO stubborn- God is so patient with me!) and am still learning all of this! Ive also learned that if I am not intimate with the Father, then I say things that are NOT out of the overflow of my heart, words that the Lord doesnt breath behind, and I would much rather His words come out of my mouth than mine!!

 

Here are some things I have enjoyed lately:

 

Oats w. Naner in a yogurt container! and coffee of course

Had this wrap for lunch- turkey, hummus, TJS garlic chicken sausage, sweet peppers, spicy mustard, vinegar, lettuce!

Other part of lunch- wrap with avocado (hidden under there), egg, peppers, salsa, jalapenos!

YUMM Kashi golean w. strawberries!

 

Pumpkin oats w. CC+yogurt+peanut flour mixture on top!

Kashi golean+naner+journal+bible! best way to start the morning!!

Healthy Buffalo Chicken Casserole (for one!)

-2 Chicken Tenders

-1 Slice turkey bacon

-1 Egg

-1 Laughing Cow Blue Cheese Wedge

-1/3rd cup greek yogurt

-cheddar cheese

-Buffalo sauce

-Onions, Garlic, Salt, Pepper

Cook the chicken, turkey bacon, and egg in a pan. Put into bowl and mix with yogurt and buffalo sauce and blue cheese wedge along with seasonings! Put in a small casserole dish, top with cheddar cheese, and bake until the cheese is melted! (I did about 10 minutes at 400)

I had this alongside a wrap with beans and veggies. It was so good!!! and CHEEESY!

So far, “the plan” is going great! (see last post), its NOT a rigid thing, its very easy to follow and fun!! Yesterday I was way hungrier than normal, so I ate more. Its simple. Its learning how to listen to your body!!

Love you ALL!!!

1. Whats your favorite mix-in with cereal?! Im on such a cereal kick these days!

2. Favorite wrap combo?! I am also on a wrap KICK!

3. Do you like being busy?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:28-30

The Plan..!

Hey beautiful people!! How is your weekend going? It is 70 degrees here today and BEAUTIFUL! I am about to go walking with a friend!! SO PUMPED! Not much new here- its been an awesome weekend!  This post is about The AMAZING people at  Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios who contacted me about a nutrition plan. I just had to write down my goals and they wonderful nutritionist came up with an awesome and FLEXIBLE meal plan that I could follow in order to meet any healthy lifestyle goals with it. This is what I love

• Its SO easy to follow
• SO realistic!
• Not restrictive
• Very flexible

Now- Im not going to become rigid with this like the old Katie would have done. This is just an awesome opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle. I know I eat the RIGHT things, i just dont know if I eat enough or too much of certain food groups. And I want to eat for optimal energy level. Here are some of my goals

• To build and maintain muscle
• To have energy throughout the day
• To get all my food groups in! I dont know if I am or not!

This is an awesome thing because the nutritionist just does a meal plan that caters to YOU. And again, its NOT a Diet!!! I am eating around the same calories I do everyday anyway, I am just eating different stuff and its more consistent! This will be a fun little adventure!!!

I am going to be keeping track of how I feel during the day!! Energy level and pay attention to any changes in my body! I am excited!!

a recent creation I enjoyed- quinoa+1 TJ's tomato basil sausage+goat cheese+pizza sauce!

Whats the BEST thing you did this weekend?

How do you feel about nutrition plans?

Ive been reading a Psalm every night and seriously that book is SO GOOD!! Go read Psalm 23

“He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul” AMEN!