Try It Tuesday

Today's "Try It Tuesday" is gonna be a little bit different. I have a cool, new product that I want to share with all of you that I think you're gonna love: Fitbit Flex.

For those of you who don't know what this little baby is- don't feel bad- I didn't either until I read this article back in May. I really didn't know all that much about personal fitness trackers, but my sister says that our cousin was talking about them last Christmas. (I'll blame that lost memory on the tryptophan in the turkey.)
Anyway, these little gadgets tell you how many steps you take, how many calories you burn and (some) even track your sleeping habits. The Fitbit Flex does all these things and more. (It measures your BMI AND has a silent alarm to wake you up on time!) all for $99!
Cool, right? But why did I feel like I had to have one, you ask...great question! Actually, since I have been using My Fitness Pal to track my physical activity and daily caloric intake, I thought the Fitbit would be a great compliment to this habit. In fact, one thing that actually "sold" me on the Flex is that it is integrated with My Fitness Pal. For example, when I enter my daily calories into My Fitness Pal, it sends this information to Fitbit. Also, when Fitbit senses that I have run or jogged, it syncs the calories burned to MFP. If you have ever used MFP to enter calories burned, you will appreciate how helpful this is!
The Flex has tiny little lights to let you know how close you are to achieving the goals you set. Your default goal is to walk 10,000 steps (a.k.a. 5 miles!). You can access your progress by tapping twice on the Flex.

Each light indicates 20%, so at the time this picture was taken, I was 60% complete. The fact that I can wear something that can update me immediately on my goal status really keeps me motivated to keep moving...because, sometimes, I need a reminder.

When it's time to go to sleep, quickly tap the Flex for a few seconds until it blinks, vibrates and fades out. This indicates that the Flex is in sleep mode and is assuming that you are, too. When you wake up in the morning, you "wake" the Flex by tapping it the same way you did when you put it in sleep mode. This time, however, it will flash and blink letting you know it's ready to go when you are!

You can choose to set the silent alarm to wake you so that you don't bother your sleeping spouse. I actually tried that this morning and was really surprised how the vibration on my wrist woke me up immediately.

(I did set the alarm clock, just in case.)

A few things to know about the device:

It will work best if you can sync on the go, so if you have an iPhone or Android device, chances are it'll work smoothly for you! (You can check here to be sure your phone is supported.) Otherwise, if you're not mobile syncing, you will have to wait until you get home to sync with the USB dongle (included) in your computer.

Another thing that you might like to know about is that the wristband clasp is a tad bit difficult to snap closed. (Large and small bands are included, but if you need an XL you can purchase it online.)

Since the Flex is meant to be worn 24/7, be sure it fits comfortably before you fasten it closed, because it is a headache to take off and on.
Oh yeah, the standard band colors are black and slate gray/blue, but you can order different colors to match your wardrobe if that's your bag. They come in orange, sea foam and navy.

One more thing to note is that the Flex will need to be charged approximately every 5 days, so if you are going out of town, be sure to pack the charger.

As you can see, it is USB based, so you can plug it in your computer or laptop. I'm not sure if you can use the USB port in your car or car charger, so try that at your own risk...

What I already LOVE about the Flex:

I have officially had the flex for 24 hours now and I already feel like I have gotten my money's worth out of it.I pulled up my "dashboard" (the online overview of activity) to see how well it was syncing with my iPhone and I was surprised to find that it was doing quite well! But that's not the best part...The best part is that I got to see how well I slept last night. See?

Notice the red lines. They mean that I woke up during the night and the darn thing knew it! The funny thing is that I actually remember waking up during most of those times. At 4am, Lucy was snoring her little face off and I had to keep nudging her to get her to stop, At 5:40am, I woke up and made the hubs' breakfast before he left for work. The 6:40 and beyond lines were me hitting the snooze button until I finally got up at 7:00 and woke the Flex up.

Mind. Blown.

The step tracker is actually pretty accurate, too. For example, here are my steps for the morning:

See where I got up to make breakfast and then went back to bed? This would be perfect for sleepwalkers to see how much ground they cover during a night, right?

 I could say SO much more, but we all have things to do and places to go, so there's my song of praise for the Fitbit Flex! Here's what others have had to say about it:

"Flex is the most complete product of its kind you can buy." -cnet

"Nearly flawless,,,There are a lot of sleep and activity trackers to choose from right now, but none better than the Fitbit Flex." -Wired Magazine

"Flex is the must-have wearable fitness device of 2013...Flex is the new device to beat for people looking to take charge of their health." -Laptop

"The $99 Fitbit Flex is the best you'll find. It's extremely comfortable, very competitively priced, stylish, simple, and most inportant of all, comes with all the benefits of a fitbit.com web account." -PC Mag

I can't wait to see how it does for the next 29 days!

Have I convinced you to get one, yet? Then, click here to order yours! If you still need more information or would like to do a bit more research, click here, here and here.

Flex out.

Try It Tuesday

Today's post has been in the works for a while. I really should have shared this with y'all a long time ago, butlike I always say- better late than never. I made this dish from a recipe I found on Pinterest, and it was SO easy, I really couldn't find any way to make it any simpler! You can't beat that, right?

Another great thing about this recipe is that it's versatile and you can easily modify it for fewer portions.

Here's the recipe for 4 servings:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (a package of tenderloins work well, too!)

1/4 c. Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

1/4 c. real bacon pieces

1 c. shredded Colby Jack cheese (or any other blend)

1-14 oz can Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained OR any salsa of your choice

When cooking for two, I obviously cut the recipe in half proportionally, but you can suit it to your taste any way you like!

(I like to cook these in foil packets, but you can bake it in a regular baking pan as you would any other chicken dish.)

Preheat the oven to the 350 degree standard.

Take the chicken breasts (that you've wisely soaked overnight in buttermilk- for those who know) season them with s+p and lay them on individual  aluminum foil strips. Then cover them with 1 Tbs of BBQ sauce, the salsa, bacon pieces and finish off with the cheese.

(Pic taken before cheese and bacon pieces, sorry! I'm an eager beaver!)

Fold up the foil packet, or cover the chicken with a sheet of foil if you are using a baking dish, and bake for at least 30 minutes. Remember if you soaked the chicken overnight in the buttermilk, there's no chance the chicken will dry out, so just be sure to cook long enough for the internal temperature to reach 165 degrees.

Ok, so there you have it! Simple and easy!

Here are other ways you can modify this recipe:

-You can grill it with all the toppings, then put it in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

-Use whatever you have on hand! If you don't have salsa or Ro-Tel, dice up a tomato with a few jalapeno slices.
-Once the chicken is cooked, you can cover with shredded lettuce and a dollop of sour cream.
-If you don't have any shredded cheese on hand, use a slice of sandwich cheese.

The possibilities really are endless!

Also cool, is that you can serve this with just about anything! I chose green beans and mac n cheese, but you could serve it over a bed of whole grain rice (the chicken will be very juicy) or mashed potatoes. The most important thing is really to just have fun with it and make it your own!

Enjoy!

I'm BAAAACK!

Wow! It's been some time, hasn't it? The M.O.T.H. and I took off for a week and did a little camping and just got back into town. We had a great time, but here's about the extent of our trip:

Isn't that glorious?!

 Seriously, that's all we did!

I sat right there for 6 days and 6 nights, read 3 books, ate a half a pan of brownies and took the occasional walk around the park.

The hubs spent most of his time on the iPad playing no more than...you guessed it! Plants vs. Zombies.

He did get up long enough to do this one morning:

Isn't that sexy? My man making Sunday morning pancakes. Yum!

And the evenings were just as amazing

...except for that spooky fire ghost. Can you see it gazing into the fire by the hubs?

I say it looks like a bug eyed Captain Jack Sparrow, but my sister thinks it's a girl...What do you think?

Creepy.

Anyway, I thought I'd also share a few random quotes from our trip for your amusement:

Me: "Jesus and ginger ale make everything better..."

Background- I woke up one morning feeling a little sick at my stomach and M.O.T.H.asked me later on how I was feeling. This was really the best way to sum up my feeling better!

M.O.T.H.: "She's walking with a turd in the bag..."

Background- A "responsible" dog owner was walking her fairly large lab. Her plastic grocery bag created a rather disrupting rustling noise that caused hubs to look up and observe. Once the statement was made, he went back to playing Plants vs. Zombies...

Me: "You can't say 'no' to Cap'n Crunch!"

Background- A lady at the dollar store made a comment that the new Cap'n Crunch snack mix was "awesome." I wasn't sure which ones she was referring to, so I bought both. This statement was made in an attempt to justify the impulse buy to the husband with large eyes.

(I'd share a photo, but I can't seem to find one online. I liked the sweet and salty one, best, though.)

Needless to say, we had a wonderful, relaxing time, but it seriously went by too fast. I wasn't prepared for the enormously stressful first day back to work. There was so much to catch up on and it was a hard adjustment to make!

Thanks to Pandora, for playing this song:

It really helped me regain my focus and get me back on track!

I am a HUGE Christy Nockles fan and have been ever since Watermark. Check her site out if you get a chance.

So, it turned out to be a great day back after all!

What sort of things help you get back in the game of life?

Strange Fears and Phobias

Today I saw this on tastefullyoffensive.com:

At first, I though, "This is absolutely hilarious!!" Then, I thought of a friend of mine who has a horrible fear of planes falling from the sky. Not like a, "Oh, I haven't flown in a few years, I hope this plane doesn't malfunction and fall to the ground," more like a "Do y'all hear that plane? Everybody run to the basement!" kind of phobia.

I'm used to it now, but when I first witnessed her reaction to an airplane flying 30,000 feet overhead, I thought she was joking. It is slightly funny, but certainly not to her. To her, it's embarrassing and humiliating. I haven't seen her in a while, so I hope she has overcome this fear.

This week, however, I heard of another strange phobia from a customer who came in the office. He was convinced that the electricity in his home was making him sick. I was tempted to laugh, but this poor man was serious as can be. I recently saw a feature on TV about this sort of thing (see this article). It's called electrosensitivity. Basically, it's a disorder where people believe that the electricity inside their home is making them sick. In extreme cases, they move to communal or remote areas and resort to life with electricity.

It made me think about the things I'm afraid of (like the two snakes I encountered last night and spiders) and how just because these fears don't effect my life in the most extreme ways, maybe the smaller, more subtle ones do. Internal fears, like being afraid of rejection or trying new things. These fears often paralyze me from taking chances and stepping out of my comfort zone. These fears prevent me from living life to the absolute fullest. How many treasures and nuggets of wisdom have I passed up because I was afraid? I'd really hate to know.

So what's a girl to do? 1 John 4:18-19 says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us." (NIV)

Matthew 7:9-11 also says, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (NIV)

These Scriptures have brought me comfort so many times in my life and I hope it does for you. It's SO easy to get all wrapped in in fear of the unknown and become paralyzed and oppressed by it, but God loves us with a PERFECT love and if we put our trust in His great love for us, what do we really have to fear?

I hope this little blog encourages you to stop living in fear...of whatever it is you're afraid of.
Come on! Let's all step into the sunshine, breathe the fresh air and trust God to keep those silly airplanes flying safely above the clouds.

Peace out,
V

"Try It" Tuesday

Wanna know something funny about this post? Not funny, ha ha, but funny strange. (Now that I think of it, I have never considered strange to be funny...hmm) Anyway, aside from the fact that it is not Tuesday, the funny thing is that the product I'm bringing you today is so mind-blowingly amazing that I almost couldn't wait for Tuesday to get here to post about it...then I missed Tuesday all together. Oh, well. I hope that you'll agree with me that it's really better late than never.
So, without further ado, here's the next new product that you must rush out and purchase immediately:

If you're not a yogurt person, that's ok, I really don't consider myself one either. I mean, I use it in my overnight oats, I like the fruit 'n yogurt parfait from McDonald's and occasionally I'll eat one of those light yogurt deals with the granola or Oreo sprinkles, but this product here has really rocked my world. Seriously. Right after I ate this container, I went to the grocery store and bought every container I could reach without standing in the dairy case shelf! (Because that would have been overkill, right?)

This is Greek yogurt, so it's a little thicker and creamier than regular yogurt. It usually has more protein, too, but I also think it has a little stronger flavor. Like the kind that makes the back of your jaws tingle. (It's ok if that makes no sense, just keep reading...) Not that I like that strong flavor, I don't, really, BUT that's where the caramelized almonds come into play. They are tiny bits of crunchy almonds that are coated in a sweet elixir of sugars of some kind, I'm sure. See?

Anyway, whatever it's coated in straight up works! It almost melds after a bit and adds sweetness to the plain yogurt. See how the coating slowly begins to dissolve? Genius.

 

Ahh! Y'all, this stuff really is wonderful. I also love the cleverness of the tiny cup that you dump in the yogurt by folding it over and emptying the contents. Very cool! And don't be fooled by the tiny cup! There were enough almond bits in there to have several pieces in each spoonful.

 

At 220 calories and 13g of protein, this is a snack that is sure to fit into just about any healthy lifestyle!

Dog Walking Revelations

I was watching a program the other day about technology and how it is now such an integral part of all our lives and I heard something that caused me to look up from my iPhone... One of the professionals said that due to all this technology, we now all live in a dual screen generation. This means that I can be watching TV while checking my email or surfing the web on my iPad or iPhone. I obviously didn't catch ALL the details (the name of the show, what channel it was on or anything else about the program) because I was looking up YouTube videos on my iPad! The irony, I know...Anyway, ever since then, I have really noticed how much truth there is in that, especially for me. Do you notice that in your own life? Are you trolling  updating your Facebook status while watching TV or at the movies? Something to think about...

Dual Screen Generation

Anyway, that part was free. Here's really what I wanted to share. This evening, I was sitting on the couch, watching an old Reba episode AND playing Plants vs. Zombies on my iPad (don't EVER start playing that game. You've been warned...) when my sister called. We talked for a bit about staying in shape and how a lot of times we have to make ourselves work out and how difficult that can be. She had just left the gym and I had been on the couch almost ever since I'd arrived home from work. You can say I felt a little convicted. Maybe even a little guilty. The sun would be going down soon, so I decided I could take Lucy out for a nice walk.

I got up from the couch and put my shoes on and we were out the door. It was really a beautiful evening. The sky was still a Robin's egg shade of blue and the birds were singing their Hallelujah choruses. I pushed my sweatshirt sleeves up and all was right with the world...until we passed the house at the top of the hill...

BARK! SNARL! BARK! GRRR! The 2 black-lab-mixes in their chain link (or Sears fence- as my grandma always called it) pen were letting us have it! Their nails were scraping down the fence as they jumped, what seemed like, 4 feet off the ground. Their sharp white teeth was glaring during the incessant barking... It really was a bit unnerving.

Courtesy of rf123.com

Their loud howls were echoing off the other houses amplifying them even more and even though we pass this house all the time, it still alarms me. I looked down at little Lucy and she was focused straight ahead. Eyes wide open. I laughed at her to myself, we reached the end of the road and turned around to go back home. I sighed to myself as I prepared to meet the 'Hounds of Hell" once again.

Sure enough, embarrassing dog drama Part 2. I sped up a little bit fearing that the owners might come out to see what all the commotion is about. When we were out of their sight, they stopped barking. Peaceful silence. Then one of them jumped up on the fence and it scared Lucy. Without stopping, she turned her little head, eyes STILL wide open in fear to make sure they weren't coming after us.

I laughed at her again and said, "I got your back, little bit!" It was so funny to me that she was worried that something might happen to her with me right behind her. And that's when it hit me. I do the same thing with God. I'm connected to Him like Lucy's connected to me with her leash. Often times, I begin to take my mind off that fact and I get afraid of all the what-if's. What if those big scary dogs get out and come after little old me? What if something terrible and tragic happens? What if I lose my job? What if the stock market crashes? What if...

Courtesy of rf123.com

Well, the truth of the matter is, even if those big scary dogs did get out of their pen, they would have still had to go through me to get to my little love. And THAT Would. Not. Happen. Same thing with my owner. Terrible things happen. They will happen, but God has my back. Those things have to go through Him before they can get to me.

The M.O.T.H and I joke all the time about how spoiled Lucy is and how no dog in the history of dogs has ever been more loved or spoiled than her. (She's our only child!) But really, no matter how much we love her, and we SO do, God loves us a million, bazillion times more! He's not only got our backs, he's got us from every angle- beside, front and all around! (Psalm 139:5)

I thought about this on the way home and was grateful that He used a simple walk with my little pooch to remind me of His love for me. May we never cease to hear Him when he whispers His love in our ears. We just have to remember to remove the ear buds first.

Salad Fork Tutorial

Remember a couple of weeks when I showed you our latest creation on the lathe? Well, here's the tutorial I promised! I initially ran across it on Woodworker Journal's You Tube channel. Here's a link. It was pretty simple and I was excited by that since this was my first real project. That is to say that it's great for beginners.

First I started with a piece of maple that we had left over from a previous project.
Essentially, what you are looking for is something at least 12-13 inches long:

It was a little over an inch and a half, which worked out great, because we can split it and make a set!

 We clamped straight edge fence to cut the board into 2 equal parts: 

 Then we ran the board through the jointer to remove the saw marks left from the band saw:

Once the board was smooth again, we drew out the basic outline of the forks (they look more like paddles!):

Then I cut the rough outline out on the band saw:

Here's a shot of the cutout on the lathe:

 Then the turning began! It was really hard at first because the edges were straight and square and it really kicked the blade hard...

To add the gripper lines, I used a piece of copper wire to burn into the wood while it's turning:

 Then I cut a basic tulip-like shape into the paddle end:

Once the shape of the paddle was like I wanted and the handle was done, I sanded the handle with  several grits of sandpaper:

Once the tulip shape was defined, we put it back on the band saw to cut out a scoop like shape:

It turned out very rough and yucky, so I had to sand the heck out if to smooth it back out:

Once the fork was smooth and had a nice shape, it was ready to coat with the mineral oil. Don't ask me why I put on the gloves to oil the wood, but left them off while I sanded. Hindsight is always 20/20...

And there you have it!

My husband is a woodworking genius, so I had a LOT of guidance and direction while I made my salad fork. (He made a matching one.) Still, I have to say that it was really fairly easy and GREAT fun!

I understand that you may not have a wood lathe and I commend you for making it this far down the post if that is the case, but really all I hope to share with you is this: 

Find a creative outlet that brings you joy and takes you further away from your comfort zone. 

Expand your horizons. 

Then blog about it.