Weekly Photos

Most of the fresh produce from the weekly grocery shop. 

Weekend waffles!

Sunday morning fruit with the beagle. 

 A very sleepy beagle while the rest of us watched the Olympics. 

Sunday hike down to the river. 

The beagle loves laundry fresh out of the dryer. Good thing she was freshly bathed. 

Marlene's Natural Market salad with tahini dressing.

Cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread with peanut butter and banana coins. 

Pre-swim meet practice snack of homemade whole wheat bread rolls. 

I am in love with eating bananas and peanut butter right now, hence my banana stash. 🙊

Sorry for the absence lately, it is just that my life has just changed completely. This past week was Student Week of Prayer at my private school. Student Week of prayer (SWOP) is a week devoted to hearing fellow students talk about their walk with Christ. For those of you who don't know I am a Seventh Day Adventist, and it is a really important part of me. Well, so on one of the last days of SWOP I felt Jesus near me for the first time in my life. And no I'm not crazy, but it was truly an amazing experience. Long story short I was enthralled by all of the students talks and so you guys got set aside for the week. Also tomorrow is my first race day for our school wide swim meet! Have a lovely week everyone!

-Emily 

Grocery Haul

Organic vanilla soy milk, high-pulp oj, 3 bunches of organic bananas, blackberries, 2 packets of raspberries, organic baby spinach, medjool dates, organic 70% dark chocolate, plain hummus, garden herb sunshine burgers, 2 jars of organic peanut butter, organic whole grain blueberry waffles. 

4 organic gala apples, 7 organic kiwis, 3 cucumbers, organic celery, asparagus, organic cauliflower, brussel sprouts, mini red potatoes, 4 blood oranges, organic navel oranges.

Not pictured: One loaf of Dave's Killer Bread Good Seed and one loaf of Franz Gluten-Free Bread.  

This is almost what a usual grocery shop looks like for me, except I never buy chocolate. But I ended up buying it to make homemade peanut butter cups for my family. But other than that I generally eat mainly fruits and vegetables with the occasional bread, sunshine burger, and waffle. As you may have already seen peanut butter is one of my mainstays. My family thinks I'm crazy sometimes due to the amount of it I eat, but it is the best way for me to fill up after a long swim session. Usually a 1/4 cup of peanut butter is accompanied by 2 organic ripe bananas. Hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with love for yourself and others! 

-Emily

Special Valentine's Day Treat!

When I came home from swim meet practice today, I found a package waiting for me. My Grammy sent me a lovely parcel for Valentine's Day with huge packet of organic ( non-gmo/all natural) gummy bears!

 Before I started to reform my eating habits gummy bears were one of my favorites. The problem was I would always feel sluggish and gross after eating them. Well when I started reading the packages, no wonder I felt so sick, they were full of crap! Long story short I was over the moon with excitement!

-Emily

Early On-The-Go Breakfast

First day of vacation and I was up and out the door before 6:30am. I had a dentist appointment 15mins away... well I woke up late and barely made it out the door in time. This meant no breakfast! Eek, what a scary thought.

But have no fear I stopped at Starbucks and had a delicious bowl of warm oatmeal. The key in this breakfast is that it was warm, the weather here in the pnw has taken a turn for the worse. Honestly I have never felt a winter so cold here. With a wind chill of 8° and gusts sending it to 0°, we are in for a few cold weeks. 

-Emily

Studying for Tests and Swim Training

Everyone's dream evening includes studying for tests right? If only that were true...

I was quite surprised at how little I have used so many muscles over the past few months. Having said that, it felt amazing to be back in the pool. Although I have to rush to get ready and run to my afternoon classes, there is something about swimming that keeps bringing me back. Perhaps it is the feeling of gliding through the water with only your thoughts or maybe it is the feeling of accomplishment when you finish a workout. Maybe I will never know, but atleast it brings joy to my dreary winter days! 

-Emily

Sunday Errands

The beagle's weekly bath. 

Sunday chores stop for nothing. Today I rolled out of bed straight to running errands. This Sunday we had to pick up dog food from Mudbay and do the bi-weekly grocery shop. Our local grocery store was plagued with many last minute Super Bowl shoppers, but we managed to find everything and get out fairly quickly. Arriving home we had some tasty twice baked potatoes and I moved on to laundry and cleaning. I really think these Sunday chores are growing on me, but I don't think I will ever look forward to doing homework. 

-Emily

Bleak Winter Days

This past few weeks have really been getting me down. Maybe it is the cold dreary weather or the extra homework at school. It just seems that everyday is a struggle to get of bed and be productive. 

Thankfully this weekend is helping me have a better outlook on life. After a short easy Friday at school my brother and I went for a lovely hike on Tiger Mountain. We took the beagle and although it was cold we had loads of fun. And best of all I felt accomplished! 

Today I decided to go to church with my mum and it was surprisingly refreshing. When we got home we decided we were due a relaxing Saturday. So we spent the afternoon wrapped in toasty blankets watching YouTube videos. 

These past few weeks have been rough but I have loads of exciting things to look forward to this month. This Monday I will start my swim training again. I am really excited to be able to be back in the pool and this semester we are going to be working on endurance training! To make the month even better we have a "homeleave" (which are short breaks every month, since I go to school at a private boarding academy...but I am a village student, meaning I don't live at the school). It starts on Wednesday afternoon!!! So far I have plans to go hiking with my brother and the beagle, have a mummy-daughter day, drink loads of smoothies, and do the oh so exciting job of cleaning my room.

 Hopefully I will be able to find cheer in these bleak winter days, because the sunny days full of happiness seem so far away. 

-Emily