Style File 3-5-12

 Ok, so a couple people have asked me to do a feature on Men's Fashion. I do not claim to be an expert, but I have a couple tips for you in a post featuring my husband, Brad.

 Tip 1: Fit is key. Do not be afraid to wear a shirt that fits. Pants should also fit. I like this shirt of Brad's because it fits him well. I also like the pattern of it; it's a break from a solid or stripe.
Tip 2: Don't be afraid of color, patterns, or textures. These all add interest to your wardrobe. And definitely do not be afraid of pinks, purples, or paisleys (even though I am still working on Brad to wear these things...)

Tip 3: Shoes do not always have to match everything perfectly, but you should never wear brown shoes with black pants, nor should you wear socks with sandals.
Tip 4: Chucks go with almost anything.
Tip 5: Wear what you like, no matter what that is!

Outfit Rundown:
 Shirt- Slimfit, Gap
Jeans- Levi's (no idea where he got them)
Shoes- Green Chucks (no idea where he got them)

Style File 2/27/12

As promised I have an outfit photo to share! yay! I decided to go for something I wore to church. Our Church is pretty casual, as in our pastor preaches in jeans and and nice button down. More Sundays than not, I dress up for Church. It's just one of those things I like to do. Yesterday I felt like being a bit more casual.

 I think you have seen these jeans before. I love them; they actually came off a sale rack at target, but they've fast become my go-to skinnies in my closet. I pair them with everything from a tee-shirt, to a sweater and boots. And they're super comfortable, which is always a plus when talking about jeans.

 And my nude flats! I don't actually wear these a ton because they can be uncomfortable, but if I'm just running to church and back generally they're ok. They would not be if I were doing a significant amount of walking, but every girl has shoes like that.

Hope you all have a great week! Next week's Style File will be a break from my normal style files, so be looking for it! I think some of the guys out there might appreciate it!

Update

Obviously I have been a bit absent from the Blog lately. There are a couple reasons for that... So I thought I would give y'all an update.

First, I'm training for a half marathon. The race is in less than three weeks, so my off time has generally been about training for that. My long runs are usually on Saturdays and I'm usually out running for a couple hours (by the time you factor in driving to the Ocean front, parking, walking to the start point, getting my run in, getting back to the parking garage, and then driving back home, it's usually almost three hours). Then when I get home I have to do homework/clean/cook/do all my normal Saturday activities, on top of the fact that I'm just tired after a 10+ mile run and taking outfit pics is not on my list of things I want to do after.

And second, probably way more exciting too, I've been absent because my online time has been spent planning our vacation. Brad and I decided when we got married to not take a huge extravagant trip as our honeymoon. We also decided that someday we would take a fantastic trip, preferably before we were too old to enjoy it. As luck would have it we have just booked our fab trip!

We are going to...

We will be leaving on July 1st and returning on July 12th. We'll have roughly three days in each place. I know it is going to feel short in each place, but we really wanted to hit these cities at least once in our lifetime. It's honestly iffy that we'll ever get back. Plus, we figured that if we go to each place once, maybe over time we can return to each city for five days or so and not worry about trying to squeeze in a two week vacation.

Over the next couple of months, I am going to be sharing some of my Pinterest boards, things we plan to be doing, and of course some of the dresses I plan to purchase for the trip! :) We are very excited for our trip, but we've never been to Europe before. Any tips for us?

oh, be looking for an outfit post on Monday. I'm not going to run today because my knee is a bit sore. Since I'm so close to the race, I thought I better rest it another day and try to do the long run tomorrow (or maybe just have to skip it this week :( ). Anyway, that means I'll have time to shoot a style file today! Have a great weekend!

What's for Dinner? 2/6/12

Lentil Spaghetti is what's for dinner!

I honestly can't remember if I already posted this one or not. So if I did...sorry! I adapted this one from the eat clean diet cookbook by Tosca Reno.

(I also got a new iPhone and instagram has been AMAZING. That's how I got this photo. I have wayyy too much fun with it. :) ).

What You'll Need:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4-6 cloves garlic (depends on how big they are. I used 4 huge cloves)
1 1/2 cups lentils, well rinsed (I used plain old green lentils, however, French Lentils would work just as well)
1/2 tsp thyme
1 28oz can of tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1-2 cans tomato paste (optional)
Spaghetti Noodles

1.) Heat Oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots, onions, garlic, and celery. Cook until veggies are soft. Add the lentils and thyme, stirring until lentils are coated. Add tomatoes to the lentil mixture and break them up. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook until the lentils are done.

2.) Meanwhile, cook your noodles. They can be any variety you like. I do whole wheat pasta.

3.) Now, with the sauce, you can be done when the lentils are done. This makes more of a soup like consistency. You can add two cans of tomato paste to make it more saucy, if you want. What I usually do is dish up the lentil mixture into freezable containers, leaving only what Brad and I will eat in the pot. Then I add about half of a can of the tomato paste. Then when we go to eat this meal later, all I have to do is thaw, heat, and add the tomato paste. It's up to you though! (and I hope that made sense!)

This meal was the perfect meal to recover from running 13 miles on Saturday. And it was tasty! I also like that it's a great way to keep your favorite foods while going meatless. Try this for a meatless Monday meal. :)

Blogging For Books: The Scroll

Here is a new feature on my blog! I have the wonderful opportunity to combine two things I love: reading AND blogging. I have been added to the Blogging for Books program through Multnomah publisher's. The first book I requested and read is "The Scroll" by Grant R. Jeffrey and Alton L. Gansky.

So what did I think of this book? On a scale from "ugh" to "awesome!" I would say this book doesn't deserve an "ugh", but definitely deserves a "bleh". I chose it because it looked intriguing: a little bit Indiana Jones and a little bit Angels and Demons. My suspicions were correct: This book is about a Biblical Archaeologist (David Chambers) who has lost his faith completely and is trying to give up Biblical Archaeology completely. You find out that David Chambers is a bit of a tragic character, his mother died with his father off gallivanting in Israel, the love of his life dumped him, and he finds no happiness any more. Chambers is contacted by a long-time friend and mentor Abram Ben-Judah to briefly return to Israel for one last dig. Chambers decides to take up the offer, finding himself on a team with a frienemy (who, as it turns out, ends up just being an enemy) and his ex-finace. The dig is shrouded in mystery, and as the story unfolds you realize (along with Chambers), no one on the team has all of the details.

Without giving away too many of the details, I have two main critiques. The first is the writing style and plot twists. The story was a little bit cheesy with one liners. Aside from that, the story tried too hard to be unpredictable; there were many plot twists that were meant to take me off guard, but they all seemed forced and at times were predictable. Sometimes they were a little too unpredictable. The plot, eventually, is thick with misguided theology about the end times and some of the Old Testament prophecies. I am not prepared to say the authors are wrong, but their interpretation and bias is definitely evident in the story. My last critique of the story is that the end seemed haphazard. It was as if the authors thought to themselves, "Oh no. We're hitting our page count and have too much story left!"

My second critique is with the books character development. It's like the authors wanted to paint this tragic character in Dr. Chambers, but they simply did not give enough detail. They gave some, but it wasn't enough to make me truly feel bad for him. I mostly thought Dr. Chambers was sort of a jerk, not one really deserving of the sympathy the authors were trying to elicit. I'm also disappointed with the transformation of Dr. Chambers. It seems like it was so very anti-climatic and as if it were too little, too late.

Over all, I wouldn't say the book is absolutely horrible. Aside from the weird theological biases, it isn't a terrible story. It was entertaining at times. But this is definitely not a book I would read again. If another came out as it's sequel, I would probably pass on it.

Disclaimer:
Multnomah publishing gave me this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. This review is 100% my honest opinion.

Scrappy Friday 1/27/12

Can you believe it's already almost February? I think I say that every month. But really. Life is busy around here. Brad and I have both started classes, so we keep ourselves occupied with school work.

I did manage to make a scrapbook page! It's been such a long time since I posted a page. I have made some, I just didn't post them. This particular page isn't my favorite thing in the world, but it works. I think it's the lettering I don't like. I think it looks like a carnival, now that I look at it more closely. Maybe I'll rip off the lettering and try a different font.

It's still my Australia book. When I finish it, I'm not sure what I'll do next! I'm thinking I might just start scrapping some of the stuff we've done around VA Beach, but maybe not. Hmm, I'll have to think on it. I'm also planning on starting a book with my race stuff in it. That one will be kept current, and right now it would have all of three pages (i've only run three races, if you count the one I'll be doing in march). What do other people scrapbook when they've done all the big events?

Part of me wants to go back and re-do some of my wedding scrapbook pages. I've since gotten my cricut and a some neat cartridges. And I'm really not happy with some of those pages.

But until then... I still have a big number of Australia pictures to get finished!

What's for Dinner? 1-25-12

 New Year's Soup is what's for Dinner. I adapted this from Terry Walter's book "Clean Start".

Here's What you'll need:

1 Medium Onion
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Carrots
2 Parsnips
1 bunch collard greens (i had a really big bunch so I used only half of it)
3 cups cooked black-eyed peas
2 tbsp fresh oregano
4 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

 Chop up your onion, carrots, and parsnips. Then put the onions in some EVOO and saute; I did mine in the same sauce pan that I would put the soup in.

 After a few minutes, put your garlic through the garlic press and saute it all together for a few minutes. Add the carrots and celery; continue cooking until all veggies are a bit soft.

 While those are softening up, chop up your collard greens and add them to the pot. Continue cooking until the greens wilt. Then add your broth, oregano, and black-eyed peas.

Bring it back to a boil; turn it down and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Add the apple cider vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and serve.


EDIT:
Someone facebooked me this morning to let me know that instead of "add the apple cider vinegar..." I had typed "ass". Oops. I thought it was a great typo, so I just had to tell you all about it.

The verdict? Brad liked it; I wasn't in love. The parsnips were not my favorite. If I make it again, I think I will leave out the parsnips and do potatoes instead.