Birthday Gifts!

My 25th birthday was back in October.  I meant to post the three previous  posts and the next several a few months ago.  But I got distracted with life.  Now I'm back!

These are some of my amazing gifts I received!

 

My dad gave me lovely Halloween wine glasses.  There was a third one with a witch on it but it accidentally broke.  But my favorite is the ghost which says "I'm just here for the...BOOS."  HAHA!

 

I went over my friend Andres' to celebrate my birthday one night (one of many).  We shared two bottles of wine!  Yum!

 

At  this point, I was still vegetarian and learning to transition to vegan.  So he made me regular cupcakes for my birthday!

 

His cat, Peeves.

 

Look at all the beautiful colors!

Andres and I

 

Ryan and I (he's a mutual friend of me and Andres and was Andres' roommate).

 

What the cupcakes looked like after taking a bite!  How cool!

 

I had such a blast that night!  Laid back and super fun.  There's nothing better than spending time with friends and family.

 

"Keep Moving Forward"

Pumpkin Picking 2013!

Every year my friend Heidi and I go pumpkin picking.  It's become a tradition.  It also has an animal farm.  I'm hoping to be able to volunteer there one year.

 

 

 

My baby pumpkins I got!

 

I refuse to go into the chicken coop!  It freaks me out!

 

We were taking great pictures in the maze!  So much fun!

 

Waiting for the Great Pumpkin!

 

I had so much fun!  We did this back in October.  Besides my cute little pumpkins, I also got my jar of honey that I get once a year at this farm.  So delicious!  And so worth the price!  It's the only honey I'll eat.

 

"Keep Moving Forward"

Black Bean Soup

I made this black bean soup back in October.  I remember it was delicious and had a slight heat behind it!  I don't remember where I got the recipe from.

 

I sautéed onion and garlic in olive oil.

I blended together the black beans and seasoning.

 

I added the blended items to the pot to heat up.

 

I blended together the vegetable broth and black bean mixture together.

 

I heated it up in a pot along with a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies.

 

It came out very delicious!  Perfect on a chilly night.

 

"Keep Moving Forward"

Lookback

I took this photo when I was in Springfield to take a professional exam back in October 2013.  I had just lost some weight.  I was able to wear those pants after not being able to fit into them for a couple years!  I always liked them.  They've been sitting in the back of my closet.  It still makes me ecstatic to know that I accomplished that!

 

Sometimes we can get frustrated with losing or maintaining weight.  Celebrate the little accomplishments!  Take a picture so you can look back and remember those little things and be proud of yourself!

 

"Keep Moving Forward"

Inspiration

I love this idea!  I'd replace the fruit and yogurt with a smoothie or juice.

 

"Keep Moving Forward"

My apologies

I have been so busy with the holidays that I've been neglecting my blog.  I have tons of pictures and tons of ideas for posts.  So I will have some new ones up here soon.  Those will include great recipes!  I'm super excited about them!  I hope you will be too!

Some inspiration...

"Keep Moving Forward"

New Posts Coming Soon!

I have been neglecting my blog.  I've been so busy with work, seeing friends, and my parents visiting for Thanksgiving.  I have posts coming soon!

A little motivation in the meantime...

 

"Keep Moving Forward"