Ringing in the New Year

Hello ya'll and hello 2014!!
I have some big, exciting changes coming in 2014 so please bear with me!!

A little recap of my December and holidays.

Traveled back to Ohio for a week for Christmas and I got to visit with some of my best friends.

Celebrated Christmas day with my family, amazing husband, and my precious puppy.

Krebs Christmas.

Came back to Charlotte for the Belk Bowl, to cheer on Cincinnati. We had friends from college come down for the game. They lost but it was still a great weekend!

Finally we rang in the new year at home and we are beyond blessed and excited to see what 2014 has in store for us!

Hope you had great holidays- filled love, family and laughter!!

 Cheers, Whitney

Must Try: Sweet Potato Chicken Mexican Lasagna

Here is the second recipe I tried this week.. FAnnetastic Food Sweet Potato Chicken Mexican Lasagna. And let me say this is a MUST try. Anne said her husband said it was "good enough to serve in a restaurant". Keith and I could not agree more. It was amazing!! I'm craving more of it as we speak. The recipe made a lot, so we are happy to be eating these left overs this week.

 Cheers, Whitney

Meatless Monday & Weekend Recap

Weekend Recap
Keith and I had our final 2013 wedding this weekend!!! SEVEN weddings this year. I can't believe it, and I can't believe non of them overlapped. I'm so glad we got to make the trip back to Ohio for all of them and be a part of all of their special days!

This weekend Keith's college and fraternity brother got married. We questioned the trip with the ice/snow storm coming in Friday; luckily Keith's boss let him leave early Thursday and we made the trip up before any bad weather came. Phew. Driving in bad weather is very stressful.

We stayed with our friends Tonjia and Steven, who will be getting married next year! We spent Friday with friends and Saturday was the wedding. It snowed quite a bit so it was really pretty and not too cold!!

It was amazing to see college friends and celebrate a friend's marriage!

Andie's Cincinnati adventures... She absolutely LOVED the snow! She was definitely loved on all weekend. People were more excited to meet her then see us!

 We unfortunately got a flat tire on our way home Sunday morning. Andie was NOT happy about it. Our trip home ended up being 11 hours. It was a very long, stressful, exhausting day. But thankful that everyone is safe and we made it home!

Meatless Monday

We needed groceries desperately today. I wanted to try a few new recipes this week that I have been eyeing and this meatless chili option sounded perfect for this raining, cold Monday. You can find the recipe here,  Hummusapien Sweet-Potato-Bean-Chili. It was delicious and warmed us right up. Keith was very skeptical of this chili (probably too many vegetables) but he enjoyed it and said it was a must-have-again!

 Cheers, Whitney

The Thankful Project: Day 28

Happy Belated Thanksgiving Ya'll!! Sadly this brings an end to my Thankful Project. I loved the challenge and finding more depth to my posts! I hope you all enjoyed.

What were your Thanksgiving plans?
We celebrated with Keith's parents this past weekend. Thanksgiving day we ran a 5k Turkey Trot in Findlay. This is our first time doing it. Despite the chilly weather it was alot of fun! My sister and Keith are ran it with me.

We had thanksgiving lunch at my mom's parents. Dinner at my dad's parents. Holidays are always packed with lots of family and great food! I'm thankful that Keith can take the time off work/work from home so we can spend the holidays with our families.

We got back to Charlotte last night. It was a quick trip home and we are glad to be back. Last weekend we finally got our puppy!! So the week was hectic, trying to care and train a puppy while traveling and visiting family! I'm glad to be home and to get her on a little bit of a schedule. The puppy is too cute for words and we are already in love!!

Andie, our little girl.

She got a lot of interaction with dogs this trip!! She loves to play and let all that puppy energy out.

She slept the ENTIRE seven hour drive yesterday!! We are very thankful for that. She will be our travel warrior.

After a week, she finally got to meet her kitty brother, Sonny! They seemed to really hit it off already. 

Cheers, Whitney

The Thankful Project: Day 27

I'm thankful for the simple pleasure of coffee in the morning. I didn't like coffee and despised the smell of it. The closest I came to coffee before graduating college, yes graduating college, was coffee ice cream or frappachinos from Starbucks.
When I started my Dietetic Internship by the second day I couldn't even keep my eyes open past 10 am! Something had to change. So I forced myself to give coffee a try. It definitely took awhile. I had to choke it down for a few weeks. But then I really started to enjoy it. Fast forward a year, and I need it.. enjoy it every morning!! Don't think that was my intentions to get hooked. But earlier this week, we didn't have any creamer so I skipped out on my morning coffee. It was definitely a simple pleasure that I missed having in my morning routine. Mmm good.

What is a simple pleasure you are thankful for?

Cheers, Whitney

The Thankful Project: Day 26

Criticism I am thankful for is, criticism is for my writing. 
Let me start from the beginning. English has never been my best subject, but I've always gotten by. Well when I got into college, you know those essays you have to write after you get accepted? Well I wrote mine. And when I went to orientation and was scheduling my classes, I couldn't schedule my English course! I got all bent out of shape and had no idea why! I found out that I didn't meet the word requirement for the essay (oops!). Well I tried to appeal it but it didn't work.. I ended up having to take a 4 hour bridge English course my freshman year. It ended up being the easiest A I've ever gotten but it still didn't make me feel that great.

Fast forward to my senior year when I was applying to Dietetic Internships. Like I've said before, the process is grueling and hard to explain. But for every place you apply you have to write a personal statement. Which is just a glorified essay saying why they should pick you and what you can offer their program. Besides your grades and extracurricular activities, this is the largest piece they judge you on. For me this was terrifying. I knew my writing wasn't great and I had to stick out with my writing.. in a good way!

Well I didn't get accepted anywhere in the first application process. So I applied to a few openings with the University of Cincinnati's program. My professors were grading our statements, so luckily they knew my work ethic and have seen what I am capable of in class. I thankfully got accepted but this was after my professor/Dietetic Intern Coordinator expressed her concerns for my writing. Dietitian's have to chart in clinical work and she was worried I wouldn't be able to express my findings in writing clearly. I just cried right there. How was writing, one of the first things we learn, holding me back? I agreed to take a few beginning courses over the summer before my internship started. I think that it really helped and made me more conscious of my writing. I continued to focus on my writing portions throughout my internship. I actually got complimented a lot on the clarity and thoroughness of my charting.

And look at me now. Successfully completed my internship and have this blog!! That is one thing that held me back at first from starting a blog and putting myself out there, through one of my vulnerabilities. I feel so much more confident now and I am so thankful for my growth.

Cheers, Whitney

The Thankful Project: Day 25

I'm thankful for knowing how to be a sister. And I am thankful for my sister.

My sister and I are three years a apart. I am definitely the more outgoing, louder, attention seeking one; while my sister is smarter, creative and shy. When she was born, I was always trying to steal her thunder and 'regressed' trying to be like her to get the attention (See below).

Of course we fought like sisters, and sadly I was kind of a bully big sister. However when I went to high school, when we eventually started to work together, and when we cheered together- we really got a long and became close. I always wanted to stick up for her, make sure she was okay, and borrow her clothes! That's what sisters are for right?!

For having quite different personalities, we still have a lot in common. And living in different states definitely has not hindered our relationship. She has taught me to be protective and mindful, so I am forever grateful for that. I hope most people get to experience the joy of a sibling and that bond.  

If you have a sibling, do you you cherish your relationship?

Cheers, Whitney