Time's up, pencils down

That sinking feeling you get when the teacher calls "time" on a test and you have not finished. You frantically try to complete it, but she comes and takes it from your desk before you can. 3 questions were left on that test, and you knew the answers. That's how I feel right now about my running career at FSU. I trained and prepared for a long time. I just came up a little short of qualifying for the next race. 3 seconds short to be exact. And the worst part is, I know that I was capable of running faster. Luckily, there is an opportunity for extra credit next week. Another race, and I will be ready. But it still stings that my goal of making it out to Eugene, OR to run is definitively over.

Arugula Baby

My smoothie, made with the last bit of arugula from my CSA:

1 cup frozen watermelon

1 cup baby arugula

¾ cup plain soymilk

¼ avocado

pinch cinnamon

pinch spirulina

pinch maca

½ frozen banana

5 frozen raspberries

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 dash Xagave

Goodie Bags

Last Friday was a day I look forward to each year, because it was equipment pick-up time for FSU cross country season! I am so spoiled to receive a huge bag full of great clothes and shoes from Nike. Of course, what is better than the free gear is the actual races that will ensue. Right now, that's a work in progress, as I was set back a little by my stress fracture, but I am on track to make it happen this season. My last fall racing in the garnet and gold!

This morning was a great morning because I got to go pick up my first CSA bag from Orchard Pond Organics! If you are unfamiliar, CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Yep, I signed up to receive a bag of fresh produce from the Tallahassee farm every other week for this semester. Such a treat for a veggie! I felt like a kid on Christmas. It was so exciting for me to get a bag with my name on it and filled of a variety of vegetables. I can already tell that this is going to be a great learning experience about the local produce of North Florida. For example, today I have already tried my first muscadine grapes. They are so interesting. They are large grapes. With thick skins. The center is gooey, containing seeds. But my favorite part is chomping on the crunchy skin, which is sour tasting. These probably are not a fruit that will find their way into a smoothie, but will be eaten plain for now. I also got okra, mini eggplants, baby arugula, sweet potato greens (never had these), and sweet basil (Hello pesto!) in my bag today. Pretty great deal, this CSA thing is! And I also couldn’t help myself and got a gigantic watermelon from the market as well. That might indeed find its way into a smoothie or two this week.

I created this smoothie yesterday. It was not planned, but turned out to be one of my favorites.

1 cup coconut water

1 bag rooibos tea (or your favorite tea)

1 frozen banana

1 scoop Vega One, vanilla chai flavor (or use any protein powder)

3 ice cubes

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds (completely optional)

First, (I did this the night before) boil the coconut water and steep the tea bag for several minutes. Store this in the fridge, until chilled. Then, combine the tea with everything else in the blender to make the smoothie. It takes a little advance preparation, but it’s worth it, and great for recovery from a workout. The coconut water provides extra hydration, the rooibos contains antioxidants, the protein refuels muscle, the banana restores glucose (and is my favorite ingredient for creaminess), chia seeds are an endurance powerhouse, and if added, the pumpkin seeds will provide a boost of iron and other minerals.

Look out for a cinnamon-arugula smoothie and some sweet basil pesto coming later this week!

Happy Back to School!

This past week has been busy, returning to Tallahassee, moving into a new apartment, and getting stuff in order for school to start next week. I am excited for my last first day of school. College went by so fast, I almost wish that I could go back and be a freshman again, but then, I am so relieved that I don’t have to. I have new teammates to get to know and I have a new roommate this year (who is also my teammate). And guess what! She loves smoothies too. So today, I am posting a recipe created by her.

1/3 cup tart cherry juice
1 banana
2/3 cup soy milk or almond milk
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp pure maple syrup or agave

1 cup frozen strawberries

1 scoop Vega Energizing Smoothie (vanilla almondilla)

1/2 tbsp chia seeds

You get what you pray for

I’m supposed to be healing. A day has not gone by this month that I have not prayed for my shin to make a speedy recovery. But Jesus. He is truly amazing. Because not only is my shin starting to feel better, but that giant case of Pride I ailed from is healing too, through a heavy dose of humility. Tonight I heard one of the more powerful messages I’ve ever gotten as a Christian and I was convicted right there on the spot. Convicted of asking God for more “stuff”. Of believing that I was worthy and deserving of that stuff because I am a “good” person who works hard and prays and is kind to others. “Stuff” including but not limited to the American dream, a charming man to marry, a chance to compete at the Olympics, medals in cross country, enough money to live comfortably, a lake house, a healthy life. The truth is, if I got what I deserved, I wouldn’t be here, I’d be in Hell. The Gospel is not about receiving anything except Grace. It’s about us NOT GETTING what we ACTUALLY deserve for our sins. And this message is not always clearly communicated to the masses. It wasn’t to me until tonight. Because of the mix-up in this message, God is set up for ridicule by non-Christians. And what I learned tonight was that WE are responsible for that. The main reason why people are able to attack our religion is because we do not communicate the significance of what we believe in a way that glorifies God more than it glorifies ourselves. Here is the example that I immediately thought of (although there are many others): professional athletes in post-competition interviews who claim they owe their victory to God. Having just recently watched the Olympics, you probably know what I’m talking about. Dude lines up on the starting line with others. He probably prays as he prepares himself. Maybe he makes the sign of the cross on his chest just before he places his feet in the starting blocks. As he crosses the finish line in first, he throws his arm up at the sky. When he gets asked about his race in an interview. He immediately says something along on the lines of “I owe everything to God” or “I’m just so thankful to God to allow me to be here”. Now hear me out, this is not intended to attack these guys who praise the Lord after they have won a race. While I respect the athletes who make their belief in God public, I just think that there may be more tactful ways to do so. Matthew 7:6 says “Do not cast your pearls before swine.” Admittedly before tonight, I had never heard this verse singled out of the Bible. But it happens in sports all the time. Here we are throwing the Lord’s name around, out of context, and opening him up to ridicule (which you can find on any track and field message board on the internet). It does not honor His power and victory as much as it reveals our pride. It is a common mistake we make as Christians to be quick to speak about God’s glory without first explaining the why: the basic reason that He is magnificent, that we are sinners and thus deserve death. The deed that Jesus did was waaaaaay greater than any Olympic race. But we manage muddle that message in our attempt to glorify Him with OUR pride. Honestly, He does not care who wins a foot race. Nor did he help any one athlete win or lose. And unfortunately, we get so wrapped up sometimes, that we can accidently make it sound this way. Now I’m not saying that God shouldn’t be glorified in everything we do, including sports. He most certainly should. It’s just that now I have realized that pride can be a hindrance to that. And I am hugely guilty. Convicted. Today, I spent 2 hours (and more commonly, I spend 3-4 hours per day) on stuff devoted to building my fitness for running. Partly, because I enjoy exercise, but mainly in hopes that I will reach a certain level of achievement in a sport that will feed my own pride. But how many minutes did I devote to Jesus today, uninterrupted by my pride and asking him for things? Truthfully, not as many. I have trouble coming up with words to describe my shame in this. The worst part is that tomorrow I will probably wake up and do most of the same things over again that I did today. But what I hope is that when I get out of bed and my feet land on the ground and I can walk and breathe and speak, I will praise God for that rather than asking him for more. And that next time I have the opportunity to share the Gospel, that I can get the point across completely on His power alone and without any sense of my own pride. I am supposed to be healing. And while I continue to beg God for it, once again, he comes to my rescue, providing more than I could possibly ever merit, healing my soul.

1 frozen banana

1/4 cup frozen blueberries (we only had this much left, otherwise I would have used 1/2 cup)

2 cups baby spinach

1/4 of an avocado

handful of ice

1 scoop Vega vanilla chai

1 tbsp Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa

1 cup water (didn’t have any almond or soy milk left either)

Episcopaddling

If given the opportunity to purchase a lotto ticket, you should do it. If given the opportunity to go canoeing with 40 Episcopalians, do it. And if given the opportunity to jump off a rope swing into a river, even if you are not wearing a swim suit, do it! That is all.

Yesterday I had a great adventure at Elk River with church friends. I started with this smoothie. I actually had it planned for a few days, ever since my mom brought home pears from the store. Once I finally made it and tried it, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t done it sooner, because it was sooo good! This one's definitely going to be repeated. Try it out!

1 pear, roughly chopped
1 frozen banana
1 handful ice cubes
1 scoop Vega One, Vanilla Chai flavor*
1 spoonful spirulina
1 spoonful minced ginger
1 cup soy milk

*Note on my smoothie recipes: Ever want to try out one of my posted “recipes”, but are missing one or a few of the ingredients? Make it anyway! With most of them, you can leave a few things out, or substitute something else in, and it won’t matter. For example, in this one, any protein powder could be used instead of the Vega One powder, or perhaps just a handful of oats, pinch of cinnamon, and a bit of honey. The spirulina could be omitted entirely, or replaced with a handful of spinach. Also, I don't exactly measure anything, just kind of throw it in, so weather you want to measure or just eyeball things is up to you.

Foodie Pen Pals

This summer I participated in a fun activity amongst foodies and bloggers called Foodie Pen Pals. Basically, it’s just a bunch of foodies exchanging boxes of goodies with each other. Both bloggers and blog-readers all across the country take part. The program is run by Lindsay at the The Lean Green Bean, and takes place once a month. Lindsay pairs everyone who signs up with someone to mail a package of unique food products to and somebody else to receive one from. On the 5th of the month, you get the name of the person who you are responsible for packing a box for. Everyone who is participating has until the 15th of the month to contact their pen pal for information and mail a package to them. It’s so much fun because first of all, you get mail (who doesn’t love getting a package?), and secondly, you get to meet other foodies, and thirdly, you get to try new things to eat! It costs a little money (about $15 worth of items plus shipping), but you can choose to participate just one month if you wish. I will not be able to keep doing it this fall due to a stricter budget. But it was well worth the it participating this summer!

Usually, anyone who blogs, reveals what they received in a post on the last day of the month. I was not able to do that this month because my box was delayed in arrival. But it finally came while I was out of town this weekend, and when I got home yesterday evening, it was waiting for me! I deliberately unpacked all my stuff from the trip and did all my “chores” for the day before I opened my special surprise.

My foodie pen pal this month was Melyssa. And she did a wonderful job! I got so many great things! And I’ve never had any of them before. Here is a picture of the contents:


Bon Appétit herbes de provence, Rising Moon Organics garlic & merlot pasta sauce, Dr. McDougall’s microwavable black bean & lime soup and Szechuan noodles, Just Great Stuff superberry acai bar, Enjoy Life Boom Choco Boom dark chocolate bar, and an assortment of tea.

I already ate the chocolate bar… along with my chocolate banana breakfast smoothie this morning. You can never have too much chocolate I believe.