Let’s All Give Thanks :-)

Hello all!

I’m just sitting here at work BORED out of my mind…I just opened up a package of the new dessert flavored Extra gum, mint chocolate chip….hello, this is BOMB!!

my version of the orbit gum lady, with my extra gum instead?? haha ok, I'm just being silly

I tried to blow a bubble but the picture didn't take soon enough...I kept blowing though so it would look like it has a little volume, even with the big hole lol

I am thankful for extra making this delicious gum!

I’m so glad ya’ll enjoyed those pictures from my visit to slo/sky’s ranch!  It was seriously the best weekend a girl could’ve asked for….I’m still smiling from it 🙂 Here are just a few more photos…this time with a little explanation

Stopped at the beach on our way to the house from the airport...since I wasnt going to get to go to the beach the rest of the weekend....just one of the beautiful sunsets I was going to get to see!

I really like this photo

on our way to Sky's ranch (2 hours north of SLO...aka paradise) me and caitlin

flannel was the required attire for the weekend….since I don’t own one piece of flannel caitlin bought me a flannel jacket and surprised me with it and also let me borrow her red, white, and black flannel shirt (that I wore practically the whole weekend)…Thanks girl!! 🙂

awesome swing right by "Grandfathers Lake" this was sooo much fun!

I adore horses 🙂 one of the MOST beautiful animals in my opinion

Caitlin and I all bundled up and ready to head up to sunset ridge to watch the sunset

just one of the beautiful things I saw on our drive up to sunset ridge

Eric and I

I love this picture of these two 🙂 (caitlin and Sky)

The four of us

I can't take credit for taking this photo...it was all Sky, but what a great pic it is!

another one of Sky's work

Sky, me, and Eric....lurve this picy 🙂

Then we headed back to the house to cook some dinnuh….chicken pasta with homemade sauce (this turned out tasting like chicken noodle soup, its kind of hard to explain lol) baked chicken, and an amazing salad 🙂

SKy made one of the best salad dressings ever....it was dijon mustard (i think) balsamic vinegar, EVOO, salt and pepper....maybe other stuff too but I dont remember

working on the pasta sauce...sauteed onions and squash and some tomatoes with spices

hahaha still bundled up with like 5 layers of clothes on from sunset

the baked chicken

the pasta

The four of us ate (sorry, didnt take a photo of the salad) and then played lots of card games….my favorite was hockey, even though caitlin and I lost to the boys every-single-time

The next morning we all woke up and Sky made an amazing potato, mushroom, onion, and cheese frittata and we had some papaya on the side with a squeeze of lime over it (ps. never will I ever have papaya without lime again)

on top of the frittata I had this chipotle hot sauce stuff on top….soooo amazing, I NEED TO FIND THIS SOON!  Nothing will ever be as good without it 🙂

Eric taught me how to fish

and then I walked around the area taking photos

The guys fished a little longer and then we all went for a ride in the jeep around the ranch and I got to see a lot of cool spots, lots of cows and eventually learned how to shoot a gun! (don’t worry, I only shot a can…I won’t kill any animals…I dont have it in me to actually kill an animal).

shooting the 22 (i think thats what it is at least lol)

now the shotgun....this was heavy, and I was shaking sooo bad lol

The whole gang drove up that night…Sky’s parents, his brother brett and his 3 friends, and about 9 of our friends from Cal Poly…it was a huge crowd!  We had a big family dinner (thanks to SKy’s mom for making a MASSIVE casserole for everyone…delish, but I didn’t take photos srry!) and we all celebrated being together that night!  So much fun.

Woke up the next morning and everyone was fishing….I caught my first fish ever!

I caught my first fish!!

then laura, caitlin, sky, Billy (sky's father), Eric and I went on a 4-trax down bird creek canyon....which was beautiful!

we then headed back to the house and hung out with everyone and helped get dinner ready!  We had cow tongue soup (i know, sounds awful….seriously, I was so nervous to try it but Nick, the chef (he is a professional chef) did an amazing job! ) and grilled up some tri-tip, chicken, and veggies!  Then we had a huge bonfire and called it a night and headed back into slo :-(.

This was seriously the best weekend Ive ever had.  THe ranch was beautiful but what made this so fantastic was just being able to sit back and spend good quality time with people I care so much about.

I am so Thankful for having gotten the opportunity to fly out to slo and experiencing such an amazing weekend!!!

WHen I got back to Denton I was supposed to teach spin 7-8 but thankfully no one was in town (apparently my regulars all thought I was still out of town so they didnt come….but I’m thankful for having the night off b/c i was exhausted and jet-lagged).

I’ve had some good eats since I’ve been back….

veggie spring roll with peanut sauce, zevia black cherry, and seaweed salad all from Whole Foods

Pumpkin Rice-and-Shine with Better N’ Peanut Butter, Dylan’s French Vanilla Pecan granola, raisins, and cinnamon

1/3 cup Arrowhead Mills Rice-N-Shine

3/4 c water

handful raisins (or craisins if you prefer, I just used whatever I had)

a pinch of sea salt

2 tbsp Better N’ PB

2 tbsp Dylans Chia Granola

TONS of cinnamon

drizzle of honey

somewhere between 1/3c-1/2c of pureed pumpkin

AMazing….i’ve had this every morning for breakfast and I am full for a looooong time!

Tonight I get to see my little sis kati!! I’m so thankful for her love and friendship throughout the years!!

and I am also teaching spin Tonight, Saturday, Sunday, Monday as well as Tuesday!!  haha there will be a post very soon dedicated to ALL my diff playlists and workouts!

Tomorrow I am also doing a little photoshoot with Shaina…she took some photos this summer of my team playing beach vb….

but these photos will be more fashion oriented instead of the usual fitness shots….when I get them I’ll post them up for all you to see!

Sunday before church I am doing a charity event photoshoot for my buddy Chris (the fight against bullying) which will be alot of fun, it will just be really early! haha but totally worth it 🙂

He has done a lot of incredible fitness shots for me as well so I know those photos will turn out great as well!  Other than all that I just have a weekend filled with lots of schoolwork and packing up my apartment!!  I hope you all enjoyed this LONG post!

I feel so truly blessed to have had so many amazing positive things going on in my life!

What has happened recently for you that you feel grateful for?

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2