Monday, March 28, 2016

Roasted Veggies

Never did I ever, ever, ever think I would EVER post about a recipe on this here blog of mine. Never. Not in a million years. But here I am, doing exactly that today! I'm sharing my most favorite way to prepare vegetables because we've been eating different varieties of this meal every day these last two weeks and I would love some input on other options we could try if you've got any for me!

Parker and I have been trying to eat healthier (a constant battle) and exercise more to feel a little bit more confident before we have to debut our beach bodies in Vegas in a few weeks (spring break with my family!! Cannot wait!) so I've been roasting every vegetable I can think of. So far I've roasted the following: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onions (my favorite. They are like candy when made this way), red/yellow/orange bell peppers, carrots, and zucchini. I know the little red or golden potatoes are really good roasted as well (easily my all time favorite), but I'm trying to cut out some carbs/starchy foods at the moment so I haven't done those lately.

Image via. Most delicious rainbow ever :)

Saturday, March 26, 2016

2 Year Anniversary Recap

Parker and I decided to spend our 2 year anniversary in Niagara falls because it was one of the few weekends that Parker didn't absolutely have to study and I was able to get my Saturday off of work. It was the perfect little adventure that we both needed! Besides the fact that it was record breaking cold, we had an awesome time full of going to see the falls, food, spending way too much money, taking advantage of the Canadian dollar at the outlet mall, hot tub/sauna runs, Timbits (have you tried the birthday cake ones?!!!), POUTINE, relaxing, laughing, and Old Dutch salt and vinegar chips. Parker completely surprised me with tickets to Newsies on Broadway on March 4th (dream come true!!) as well as a pair of Lululemon Align pants!! Needless to say, I felt absolutely spoiled rotten to get all of that as well as his undivided attention for 3 whole days! lol #medschoolwifelife. Just kidding. He's really good at giving me attention when I need it.. probably because I whine until I get my way ;)

Here's a short video of our adventure!


I cannot believe that it has been over 2 whole years since Parker and I got married! It seems like it's been barrrrely one year. I love him more than ever and being married to him is the Best. Thing. Ever!
Still so in love <3

Thursday, March 24, 2016

How We Wore It | Black On Black

This month for our How We Wore It series we decided to try all black. Since it was still pretty cold out when we decided on this theme, I was all for it. Then it started to get a little bit warmer and I was itching for Spring more and more so wearing all black was quite the challenge for me as it seemed too gloomy for my spring-y mood. As a result, I cheated a little bit. Oops! But I couldn't resist making things a bit more colorful for the warmer weather just around the corner *crossing my fingers* by adding my jean jacket into the mix. It's been a closet staple for me for years now (I want to say I got this one in high school) and it's easily one of my favorite pieces of clothing that I own. Most versatile item of clothing EVER! If you don't have one, get one.

The inspiration photo we used this month was from the beautiful fashion blogger, Cara Loren. Her style is always immaculate and I definitely look to her for fashion inspiration on a daily basis!

Also, you'll notice while looking through these photos that I am apparently obsessed with looking to my left... But it's the only way I could get light on my entire face because that's where the window is lol I'm workin' with what I've got people!
Feeling so awkward when Parker walked in.. 
Details.
I've never actually worn my jean jacket around my waist like this but I'm totally into it after doing this post. 
"What is this?" you ask. Ya.. I have absolutely no idea.. The ipod was falling over and the 10 second count down was at 3, 2, & 1 so I did the most natural thing in the world ^^ this pose. 
Idk what this is either. But I felt the need to include it. 
Trying really hard to mix up which way I was looking haha
Be sure to check out my lovely friends!

Jean jacket: Old. Similar here
Top: Stole it from my sister and it has no tag.. Crushing on this top though!! 
Black jeans: American Eagle
Shoes: Last season from Target. Similar here.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Recently Read: The Lake House by Kate Morton

Parker gave me The Lake House by Kate Morton for Christmas this year and I truly loved every second of this book. It was so captivating. Kate Morton is a fantastic author that has a way with words and storytelling. It's almost as if she casts a spell over her readers and you can't help but keep reading page after page, chapter after chapter. I've read three of her books so far and can't wait to get my hands on the rest! The other two books that I've read written by Morton are called The Forgotten Garden and The House at Riverton (my least favorite out of the three, but still a really good read!)

All three of these books have the same formula - a story in present day, a story in the past, they somehow intertwine, and there is always a crazy, unexpected twist or secret that I try so hard to figure out but I'm never quite right! I love a good mystery book because it makes me feel really smart when I can solve the mystery on my own ;) 

If you haven't ready anything by Kate Morton, give her books a try! And if you have read something of hers that I haven't and you loved it, let me know! I'm trying to decide which of her books I should read next! 

"An hour spend reading is one stolen from paradise." 
-Thomas Wharton

Happy reading! xoxo, Chelan

Friday, March 18, 2016

Heidi Swapp Memory Planner: September, October, and November Recap!

Sooo it's been a while since I blogged about my planner. You can find my first recap of our awesome month of August here. The reason it's taken me so long is because we didn't do annnnnnnyything in October. And the few things we did do, we didn't take pictures of...... #ragrets. As a result, I didn't know where to start with October which put all the other months afterwards off as well. So here I am. Finally getting around to documenting the last several months because somehow it's already March of 2016 and nobody knows how that happened. WHERE DID THE TIME GO?!! Without further ado I give you September, October, and November of 2015. Enjoy!
I burnt my forehead with my curling iron. It left a huge blister, which turned into a scab, which then peeled and left a white splotch.. It had to be documented. Also, I don't cook roast beef dinners very often so when I did, I needed proof via photos!
Fused some glitter into this photo pocket. Looooooove all the sparkles!
Some of the new washi tape my momma sent in a care package. It goes perfectly with my planner's color scheme!
Conference quotes and treats! "It will all work out" quote photo found on my cousin's blog here
Cutest paper also from mi madre. 
Love the sparkly sticker letters.
Love doing a monthly recap on these additional pages that I don't know what the heck they are for.. 
A photo of a planner inside the planner. Plannering inception ;)

I love plannering!! Now I just need to catch up on December, January, February, and March! xoxo, Chelan

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Currently Reading: As You Are by Sarah M. Eden

Those of you that know me, know that I looooove a good book. I didn't always love reading though... it was all a matter of finding the right book and after that I was hooked!

My love for reading started the summer between grade 6 and 7 (if I remember correctly). I had just gotten home from a trip to Fairmont with Janeen (Dittmann) Foggin, Karlee Cahoon, and Madison Beazer. On the trip it seemed like during any down time we had, the only thing those girls wanted to do was read books! Big books! Books longer than 100 pages (which for my little grade-sixer mind was absolutely insane). And they kept telling me that I should try reading one too! So I tried... but it didn't really catch my interest too much. (Also, I want to add that the trip was actually really fun and we did do other things besides read!!!).. Anyway, after I had gotten home, I told my mom that I wanted to read bigger books because Janeen and Karlee and Madison were the cool girls and I wanted to be more like them. So she grabbed Finding Paradise by Michele Ashman Bell from her closet and let me try it. I couldn't put it down! And ever since then I have loved reading!

I love stories about love, mysteries, post-apocalyptic societies, historical romance, LDS books, Harry Potter (because it deserves a shout of all by itself), YA novels, etc. And somehow, in the hustle and bustle of life, I've still found ways to keep reading somewhat of a priority. So I've decided that I'm going to share every once in a while what I am currently reading/what I've recently read that I've loved. And if you have suggestions of book you think I would like, send them my way! I'm always looking for a new book!

Goodreads recommended Sarah M. Eden as an author that I should try based on which books I have already read and rated highly so I gave her book entitled The Kiss of a Stranger a try and I loved every second of it! It's a regency era romance novel, similar to Edenbrooke and Blackmoore (both by Julianne Donaldson) if you've read those. It was refreshingly witty which I really appreciated because I've been reading some more somber and serious books as of late. I'm currently reading another novel by Eden as well called As You Are. It's got some of the same characters as The Kiss of a Stranger so I'm excited to see how this one turns out!
Via Goodreads

What are you currently reading?

xoxo, Chelan

P.S. Add me on Goodreads if you haven't already! I love having new friends to share books with!



Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Why do I blog?

I've been avoiding this little space of the internet lately... mainly because I feel like I kind of lost sight of why I blog in the first place. As a result, it was time to take a little step back and reevaluate.

So. Why do I blog? 

It honestly started out as a place to keep my mom and Nana informed on my life. A place that wasn't Facebook, wasn't texting, it was easy to add photos and write long stories/thoughts in one place. Then it somehow, over time, became another social media outlet where I would try to make my life look more glamorous than it really was, editing pictures, embellishing stories, only telling the good parts.... not that my life isn't great, because it really is amazing! But it suddenly became about the followers, "what do the readers want to read?" lolz assuming I even have any readers besides my ever faithful mother and Nana, and "how can I get more followers?" Then I found myself trying to take it one step further where I was trying to earn some mullah via blogging (part of the reason for this being that I couldn't find a job for about 2 months here in Ohio) - which I have nothing against so props to you that can blog for a living!! - but it just started to take the fun out of it when I was obsessing about how I could do this or do that.... It became less fun and more stressful when I was thinking about all of these stupid, meaningless things...

And let's face it. It seems like every mormon girl out there has a blog where she is posting tutorials and tips and fashion posts where she looks fabulous every single day and they all have husbands who have time (not to mention incredible talent) to take the perfectly lit and posed photos. They can afford the fancy cameras and clothing and blog designs and all of that jazz and it's just not realistic for me. My blog became a place where I felt that in order for me to be happy with it or feel successful I had to do all of that? Aint nobody got time for that! Especially when I am trying to work 2 jobs for a total of more than full time hours just to make a small dent in the student loans, all the while trying to keep a clean house, and exercise, and make healthy meals, and keep up on the laundry and dishes, and this and that. I'm not saying that its a bad thing if you can do all things and have all of those things. I really am happy for you! But for me, it's just too much! And it's pointless to try to be perfect alllll the time. It's not real.

I forgot that I blog for me. Because I enjoy writing. And I enjoy telling our story. I enjoy having a place where I can share my accomplishments and adventures as well as my struggles. I enjoy that my blog is an outlet for my feelings, my creativity, and my passions. So from now on, I'm going to try harder to be more real, to be more myself, and to not let anyone or anything else determine my worth.

Via Pinterest.

Feel free to #keepitreal with me :) xoxo, Chelan