Friday Finds.

This week, the Lacy household got hit by a couple sicky bugs. First, Jason & Addison were taken down & then Momma got hit as well. Hopefully, Drew boy is in the clear. 

Drew & I got out of the house & went to Heaven on Earth, otherwise known as Target & Starbucks. 

While we were at Target, I got gutsy & bought red lipstick. Eek! Not sure if I have the guts to wear it out. When I showed it to Addy, she asked to try some on & I happily obliged. I always love the chance to get to play beauty shop with my little lady. 

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I wanted to share a few finds I saw over the last week - I kinda like the idea of doing a Friday Finds. I always love seeing what new things people find on the interwebs. 

This band was on Ellen this week & they just blew me away. 5 people playing one guitar. How awesome is that?

The answer is very awesome. 

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One of my favorite bloggers, Hollywood Housewife, has been sharing the journey of her faith this week. I have been anxiously checking my Google Reader to see if there is a new update from her. I am  always fascinated to hear how people come to the Lord. If you'd like to read her journey, start here.

Recently, Laura (Hollywood Housewife) actually said she would do a guest blog for bloggers as long as the host gave the prompt/topic. I so badly wanted to ask her to write about her faith but I chickened out. I know that writing about your relationship with the Lord can sometimes be raw & make you feel very vulnerable. I was so excited to hear that this was the topic she was going to share this week!

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Have you ever heard of Mars Hill Church? I hadn't before I read this. My stomach literally tied itself in knots as I read. 

I have so many thoughts & opinions on this story but I will only say is that humiliation & guilt is a huge reason why people hate the "church". 

Jesus does NOT teach us to humiliate, guilt, or shame each other. 

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I hope you all have fantastic weekends!

miscellany monday.

I am linking up with Carissa over at lowercase letters for a little miscellany monday.

1.

There is a sweet young boy in our church who is facing a battle with cancer. Would you say a prayer for Clayton right now? If you would like to read more about his journey, you can click here. 

I know any prayers would be so greatly appreciated.

2.

We had a fun, relaxed weekend. 

Friday night,  I went to an open house at our church with my hilarious friend, Heather. After the open house, we decided to feast on something sweet. Claim Jumpers was calling our name! It was a wonderful night with my sweet friend who just found out she is having a GIRL! Yay! Katie is a fantastic name, FYI.

We also took Addy down to my folks house to ride her bike. She is a little scared to ride in our neighborhood (sidewalks & black top make her a little skidish) so we loaded up the bikes & went to ride in the country. She did so awesome!

3.

I had high hopes of cleaning out my night stands but we watched movies instead. Lo siento.

I had been looking forward to Ides of March & was a little disappointed. It was ok - not anything I would need to watch again.

Jason & I both really enjoyed Courageous! The acting can be a little cheesy at times but the story is such a great message. Love, love, loved this movie! Highly recommend!

4.

I ran to these songs today & it made my heart so happy!  We sing all of these songs at church so I felt like I was running in the middle of worship. Loved it! I also ran my longest so far. I will break 3 miles soon!

Happy Monday! 

Green Monster!

I love Green Monster's. They are an awesome way to get a ton of fruits & veggies in one punch. There are a ton of different recipes floating around & I thought I'd share how I make mine!

All my goodies!

Silk Light

Spinach 

One rib of kale

Carrots

Banana

Orange

Frozen strawberries

I start with my green leaves at the bottom. I rip the kale off the rib. Kale makes it taste more "grassy"so if you don't care for that, you can just omit it! I happen to love that taste! :]

This is what you will be left with. Just throw that away! 

Next, I add two handfuls of spinach. 

I can not stand the taste of carrots so throwing them into my GM is perfect! I don't taste them AT ALL so I get all the goodies from them without having to taste them. Carrots, blech.

During the summer time, I usually use fresh strawberries. Since they are out of season (i.e cahrazy expensive), I get frozen strawberries with no added sugar. Just make sure strawberries are the only ingredients!

I add an peeled orange.

I just started using this & I really like it! I add a cup to the blender. 

Once all the fruits & veggies are added, I blend it up.

Mmm, looks good!

I add some ice once I see the all the produce is completely blended.

My sweet little helper is ready to push the button! 

Voila`! There she is in all her green beauty. 

If you are doing WW, Green Monster's are only 2 points (for the milk). I typically have my GM as my afternoon snack (3ish) & it keeps me really full until dinner. 

Do you have a Green Monster recipe? I would love to hear what you add!

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I saw this on my favorite fitness blog the other day & I wanted to share.

If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.

The same can be said for many things..

If you lead, you're a leader.

If you teach, you're a teacher.

If you learn, you're a learner.

If you sing, you're a singer.

If you love, you're a lover.

No tests, no licenses, no membership cards. Just lead. Just teach. Just learn. Just sing. Just love. Just be you <3

You can see the original post here. 

I sometimes get down of myself because I have never run an organized race. If someone would ask me if I was a runner, I would say "well, not a runner per se..." I am not sure what exactly I am waiting for. To hit a magical number of miles? To run my first race? I don't know the answer to that question.

But what I do know is that I am consistently logging miles on the treadmill so yes, I am a runner. 

Weekend Update:iPhone Edition

Hmm, I am sensing a pattern in the photo documentation of the Lacy family. I am vowing to break out the actual camera this week for some real pictures!

We had such a great weekend! Friday night, Jason & I met some friends at Four Peaks Brewery for some yummy food. I had not been to Four Peeks before & I have to say, I am now a huge fan! We tried 2 different types of beer & the Sunbru was my favorite.

Jason & I split the nachos (there are chips under there, promise.)

& the club. It was SO much food. We couldn't finish it between the two of us & that never happens! 

After we filled out bellies, we headed to Laser Quest for laser tag. Yes, you read that correctly. Jason was gifted a NERF gun for Christmas & I may have since gone around the house, taking out targets Katniss style. And that may awoken my inner tribute so when Jason asked what I wanted to do for our date night, I quickly said laser tag. I really, really love laser tag.

So I forgot to take a picture of the Simpson's at dinner & this is the only one I got of them.  

My hubs & I in the "briefing area." I have to say that when the young LQ employee was talking about the rules of the "arena", I may have gotten a teensy bit scared that I was going into the actual arena - ya know, that arena.

I quickly got over that fear & starting whippin' some tail. I came in 3rd out of 14 players so I was pretty proud. It's the little things in life that make my heart swell.

Saturday night, Addy & I cheered on Miss Arizona in the Miss America pageant. Unfortunately, she lost to Miss Land of Cheese (whom appeared to not know what water-proof mascara was. Don't they teach you that in Pageant Junk 101?)

See? Yikes!

After church on Sunday, we hit up Applebee's for lunch & little dude wanted to wear my new sunglasses. He put them on & said "cheese" so I obviously had no choice but to document it!

After we finally put away all our Christmas decorations (yep - you also read that right), I snuggled into my couch to watch the red carpet for Golden Globes. It was fun to watch along with my Twitter ladies!

 These gorgeous gals were my favorites.

And since the beloved Minny won, I had to make a chocolate pie in her honor! It was really good - I followed this recipe!

As I was browsing through Instagram yesterday, I saw this. I really liked it & just wanted to share. 

Happy Monday, er Tuesday!

Our week: iPhone edition

This was our first week to normalcy after the holidays.  Well, as normal as we can get here in the Lacy house. 

Addy getting ready to head to school Monday morning! I love her new coat - it's so cozy & warm! They are super marked down now & I may just gab her one in the bright coral color!

Drew was all out of sorts with his nap this week so he usually fell asleep right as it was time to leave to get sis. When I slipped in to get him, I found him shirtless & with his toesies sticking out. It was one of those sweet moments I wanted to freeze time! He is at such a fun age!

I ran my longest run of 2012 & I attribute it directly to... 

...this song. Momma knows every word. Don't hate. 

Drew & I had a fun play date with our sweet friends, Elle & Rachel! We love getting to meet up with the Riaza girls! They are some of our favoritest play daters. 

I had a few extra WW points at the end of the other day so I made a nutella s'more. It was delicious! Little did I know that I had nutella all down my face. I had conversations with both my husband & daughter & neither of them said a WORD! I walked in the bathroom & saw my face in the mirror. 

Um, thanks people.

 This week was a fun mail week! I got my second birchbox

& a special delivery from Kari Beth & her darling Etsy store!

I had to add this because Drew is all about faking things right now. He snuggled up to me so J took a picture of us. He did not want to smile - he wanted to "seep" with fake snoring & all! Stinker.

Happy Friday! I get to go on a REAL date with my husband tonight. Oh, happy day!

Weight Watcher Wednesday!

It's baaaaaack!

I re-joined WW just before the new year & I am loving it. I knew that would, though. Weight Watchers works. You eat normal, healthy foods. No major eliminations of any food group. It teaches you what portions sizes truly are. If you follow the plan, you will lose weight. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I came across a recipe for an italian veggie soup on the WW website & made a couple swaps for ingredients my market didn't have. This soup recipe has been instrumental in my plan. It is super filling & one cup = one point!

• 2 cup(s) escarole, chopped - I used Kale instead
• 2 clove(s) garlic clove(s), minced 
• 1 cup(s) uncooked onion(s), chopped
• 2 cup(s) fresh spinach, baby leaves
• 2 small uncooked zucchini, cubed
• 1 medium sweet red pepper(s), chopped
• 1 medium uncooked fennel bulb(s), thinly sliced- I used celery instead
• 6 cup(s) vegetable broth
• 28 oz canned diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp thyme, fresh, fresh, finely chopped- I used italian seasoning instead
• 1 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped-I used italian seasoning instead
• 3/4 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup(s) parsley, fresh, chopped
• 1/4 cup(s) basil, fresh, leaves

Put kale, garlic, onions, spinach, zucchini, red pepper, celery, vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes, thyme and oregano into a large soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, partly covered, for about 10 minutes.

Stir in salt, black pepper, parsley and basil. Serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

I have made 2 batches of this stuff over the weekend & then had it with my lunch everyday. Perfect little extra to keep me full!