Quick and Healthy Cinnamon Apples

Yesterday during 2nd period at school, I finally got to catch up on reading all the blogs I follow.  It had been over a month!  I got to see some really interesting things.  I found some recipes, saw some snow, and got some ideas.

This is partially an idea I got from a blog called Carrots 'n' Cake.  This lady reminds me a lot of myself:  healthy eating, running, working out, shopping, loving pugs (I don't have one, but I want one.), trying new things, drinking coffee, and even eating the sweets!

These are two of my pumpkin pancakes that I've made before, topped with some pumpkin butter, but this time I also added some apple butter and sweet cinnamon apples!  (The link on Carrots 'n' Cake above goes to the post where I got the idea.)  All you have to do is take some apples, cinnamon, and honey and nuke 'em in the microwave til they are how you like.  I also added some syrup since they were toppings on my pancakes.

Corn bread

This is my favorite corn bread ever.  It is moist, not crumbly, like most corn breads.  Dry bread is not my thing, so this is just right!  The recipe came from my Aunt who lives in Richmond, Virginia.  I don't know where she may have gotten the recipe (or made it herself), but I can't take credit for this masterpiece!  We usually make it in a pan, but for Thanksgiving, I had the idea to bake them in individual candy corn cups to give to friends with a little note telling them how thankful I am for them.

 

 

Here is the recipe:

3 eggs

2 boxes Jiffy mix

1 can (16oz) creamed corn

1 cup sour cream

 1/2 cup oil

**bake at 375 degrees for around 45 minutes (preferably in a 9x12 cake pan for this amount of time.  Other shapes vary cooking time.)

HoHoHomemade Christmas Song Character Costume Contest

Welcome to the First Baptist Morristown annual Christmas costume party!  It's always homemade costumes and desserts for all! 

Here I am with two sisters, Erin (left) and Jenna (right).  Erin and I have matching light-up antlers!

These "Reindeer Paws on the Rooftop" even had a decorated dog house as a prop!

Oh Christmas Tree got creative with Josh and Ross going bilingual with O Tannenbaum, aka "A ton and bomb."

Grandma got Run over by a Reindeer!

...as for me and grandpa, we believe.

The attitude crazy Logan added to costume was just too perfect for his personality.

Santa Baby

This is our youth pastor, Rob, as a sugar plum dancing in your head.

Danny as Fleiz Navidad!

And Kristen with All I Want for Christmas is U

 

These were definately not all the participants, but these were just a few I got to snap photos of after I walked the runway!

These were the age group and overall winners!  The ones I had not yet announced are Go Tell it on the Mountain, White Christmas, and All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth.  I was the 10th-12th grade girls winner with Run, Run Rudolph!

Footlocker South Region 2013

This is the second year that I have gone to this race, the Footlocker South Region.  It is not a school affiliated race, but it is a post-season qualifier for a national race held in San Diego.  We left Friday morning around 10:00 to head to Charlotte, North Carolina.  After going to Subway for lunch, checking in at race registration and the Hilton hotel we would be staying at the next two nights, we headed to meet some other people from Morristown to jog the course.  McAlpine Park is the location of the South Region.  It is a gorgeous park with trails, sports places, a dog park, and ponds.



Last year I found the perfect place for dinner, Nothing but Noodles!  After running, this is where we went.  This pasta is whole wheat penne topped with marinara sauce, grilled chicken, spinach, carrots, broccoli, red bell peppers, zuccini squash, and whatever cheese they use.  It was absolutely delicious!

I went on Tennessee Runner and saved some pictures of myself from the race, becuase I haven't yet looked at the ones my mom or a friend's mom took.  This was in the time we had in the "runners only start area" in the half hour between our start and the race before us.  A chilly 30 degrees kept us in our warm up clothes as long as we could.  The first 1k was also straight into a headwind!  This was such an amazing experience!

Not everyone in the seeded/championship girls race fit in this picture, but here we are about to take off.  I was excited to get to start next to two girls that I have raced against since middle school.  They are twins, juniors from Beech High School.  Cross country races are also the perfect chance to meet new people and gain encouragement!

Here's a shot from along this beautiful course.

Here I am next to one of my big competitors for the past two years.  (She is in the tshirt and shorts and under armor headband.)  I didn't race her too often, but every time we met, it was always close!  I pulled this one out ahead from the big hill not too far past this point.

 

This race was super fast!  I even got a new PR, the goal of what I had been wanting for this race all season.  My new PR of 18:14 was 14 seconds faster than I had previously run.  Next year my goal is to break 18:00!



Last year we ate at the Cheesecake Factory after leaving McAlpine.  My boy/bestfriend and his dad came with us, too.  My foursquare wouldn't get rid of the borders.  Here is some white bean hummus with wheat toast!

Here is some white chicken chili!  It was very yummy, although it doesn't compare to my "second momma's" (2 of my best friends' mom) white chicken chili.

And of course, the main event--the pumpkin cheesecake!  I put this thing away fast!

This is the shirt everyone received at registration!

 

On the way to the race, I opened up my Bible to where we have been studying at church, Hebrews 12.  Although verses 1 and 2 are our school team verses, it never really hit me the same as it did that morning.  I know I need to get my life better prioritized.  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  So many people see me every day in so many ways, but I have so much going through my head and so much to do.  I need to let go of the things that don't really matter and focus on bringing God glory.  He paid it all, so I should focus on living for Him.

 

I learned a lot this weekend.

Just because you miss some workouts and some feel awful, that does not mean you won't perform better than you ever have.

God placed me in Charlotte that weekend to run, not to be more concerned with what I am doing/eating afterwards.  (I say this because I came down with the stomach virus just hours after the race.  I was so excited about the Cheesecake Factory, the Southpark Mall shopping, and free continental breakfast I got from having to sleep on a pull out couch bed, that until I got to the race, I was not focused.  God has provided me with so many opportuinities I must not take improper advantage of.)

God gives me so much grace I don't deserve at all.  He really should've gotten me sick 24 hours before, so that I would've been unable to run at all, already all the way in Charlotte, so then I would've felt even more awful for wasting so much of my family's money and time.

There is so much to be joyful about :)

Thanksgiving at Kits

Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays (behind Christmas, of course)!  Each year we go to my old-ish cousin's house in Greeneville, where they live on a 120 acre farm.  It's not a very functional farm anymore, but it is family land that still is home to many animals and old barns.  It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without Kit and Gary hosting our family!

There was still some snow on the ground!  I've never had a white Thanksgiving.  When we arrived, I saw my newest cousin, Kayleigh, playing in the snow with her mom, Marenah, and their puppy.  I had to snap a photo becuase I thought this was just the most precious thing!  Little kids are so spirit-lifting when you can see them innocently enjoying all the simple things in life.  This was also the first time I have seen this little one in person.

After the big meal and desserts, we always take a walk down to the Nolichucky River at the edge of the property.  We have to be careful where we step to avoid the cow poop!  There are usually horses that I spend a lot of time petting on, but this time they were on the other side of the property and didn't come to visit.

The past 3 years, I have made an annual photo of the sun shining through the trees down on the river bank.  Late afternoon sunshine here is so gorgeous.

Like a small beach, the river is lined with sand!  No mussel shells to make it look more "beachy" this year, but even though it was cold, I still pictured spending a hot day relaxing here, so different from what I know in East Tennessee.

These are my favorite cousins!  When we were younger, we would always play together.  We only get to see each other once a year, but I just love them!  They are the most mannerly, respectful boys (now men), and give me hope for some of the guys I know!  They have all gone to/are attending Clemson in South Carolina.   Justin, the oldest and tallest in this picture, is now in medical school.  This year he has gotten engaged to a precious girl, not much taller than me, who came with him this Thanksgiving.  She actually reminds me a lot of myself!  Caleb, on the far right, is the middle child, and Peyton, on the far left, is the youngest.  When my dad and their dad, Alex, were growing up, they got to spend a lot of time together, and I love hearing all the crazy stories they have to tell from their childhood!

I almost got to pet this little guy, but he ran away right before I got to him.  Cows are just precious, in my opinion!

Here is a close up of Kayleigh and me.  At 16 months old, she is quite intelligent!  It amazes me to think that when I was young, Marenah, her mother, would play games with and read to me.  Now I am the older one, playing with her daughter.

This is my cousin Gary's guitar room.  There are 19 of them in here!  We didn't even know until he showed us this day, that he collected them.  This would be worth a lot of money!  How creative..

I'm Thankful For...

The day before we got out of school for Thanksgiving, my Spanish teacher gave us a little project to work on after our unit test.  We were to make a drawing saying what we were thankful for using spanish words.  The first thing that I had been thinking of was how thankful I am to be able to stay positive even when I am struggling becuase

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him."  Psalm 62:5 

I am thankful for hope in Christ!

Pumpkin Cheesecake to Go

Here's a little treat I made for my fist period snack a couple days this week.

I layered pumpkin spice Alouette Cheese, pumpkin, pumpkin butter, and vanilla bean cheesecake Alouette Cheese on graham crackers--tastes just like a cheesecake, but healthy, too!

If you leave the "sandwich" in the fridge or give it time to sit, the graham crackers will soften, making it much easier to eat compared to if they were still crunchy!

 

Did you also catch part of my customizable coffee cup decoration for Thanksgiving in the background?