My new favorite (easy) muffin recipe

I love easy recipe's. Who doesn't!

 

I found this on a blog that I came across via someone's Instagram. I'm sure you can also find it on Pinterest...what cant you find on Pinterest. Can I get an Amen!?

 

Also, as you will see from the pictures in this post, the hubs did something pretty amazing... He went and bought me a brand new fancy camera for my birthday!!!! (which is in two weeks. Feel free to write comments and tell me how much I don't look 32...please, I'm begging you)

I've been having so much fun with my new iphone, and will continue to enjoy the crap out of it (oh I do love my iphone), but I have also wanted a fancy camera that would make everything in the background fuzzy. That's it. That is the main reason I wanted a fancy camera. I can't get enough of the fuzzy background! For the foreseeable future, all of my pictures are going to look like that. I'm going to have to get it out of my system.

 

And now, for the recipe, and a few too many pictures for a recipe post:

 

Sugar free (not really cause there are chocolate chips, so I dont know why she calls them sugar free) Flour-less banana oat muffins

 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups raw oats

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup honey

1tsp vanilla

1tsp baking soda

chocolate chips

2 ripe bananas

(I only use one, because I'm not a fan of fruit in my dessert-ish type foods... although I've been eating these for breakfast and for some reason that makes it ok)

 

Method:

Combine all ingredients and mix until combined (ha!)

pour into paper-lined cupcake pan and bake for 12 to 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

They should be lightly browned on the top. Let cool. Eat!

 

What I used

Fuzzy background!!!

(I may need to invest in an assistant, because taking a picture with one hand while pouring the honey into the measuring cup with the other, was comical...and messy)

 

The best part.

I read that you could substitute sour cream with greek yogurt when baking, so I split the recipe in half and made muffins with both....

Nope.

Google, you failed me this time.

 

The muffins in the pink liners are the greek yogurt muffins...they deflated.  

These are the sour cream muffins. Pur-tee!

 

Happy Tuesday!!!



Sometimes life is just better in black and white.

There are some weeks where the little things seem to get me...ok, a lot of weeks.
I'm fairly laid back in some areas, and then very not laid back in others. Its been the joy of my husbands existence to figure out which are which. Its like a rollercoaster, huh babe?? Woo-hoo!

Anyway, this week there have been some small things going on that I have let get to me more than necessary (confession #1) Its funny how when one thing gets under your skin, it leaves a trail for everything else to follow, and before you know it, everything (I mean everything) is stressing me out.

I was going to type "I'm over it", but that would be a lie. So I'll just say, the problem has been recognized, I'm addressing it, and maybe by this weekend I will remember and appreciate that my life is full of unbelievable blessings, and these small things that I've given too much of my time and attention to, are blinding me from those blessings, so I need to let them go.
I should know by now that God will take care of everything. He always has.
A friend gave me a much needed verse yesterday:
Matthew 6:33-34
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying these pictures, which serve as a pretty amazing reminder of one of the biggest blessings in my life. Actually, two if you count my handsome hubs!
 

 

 

 

 



Thrift store jackets and $5 shoes

This is one of those weeks where I don't have much to say.

I'm not even very excited about this outfit, but I didn't want to go too long without posting something...why you ask?

Couldn't tell ya.

 

 However, I AM excited about these shoes. The best (you can find her blog here) has a pair similar to these and I love them on her! They are half tennies, half wedge. I don't have a clue what they are actually called. Wedgies? (hahaha...so immature)

I'm not sure if I can pull them off quite like she does. She has a different kind of style than I do. She is a little more high fashion, and she has the kind of hair that makes even a pair of pajamas look cool. I on the other hand, am not high fashion, and my hair...well, lets just say "grow-out phase"

I cut it super short, loved it so much, but I miss being able to put it up, so I'm going to grow it out a little bit. Lets be honest, I'll never be satisfied with the mop on my head.

 

Back to the shoes. I found them at Ross the other day. About once a week the hubs and I will eat at a mall that is close to our house as a family date night. Its an outdoor mall, so when the weather is like it is this time of year in AZ, its perfect for strolling little B around. We usually end up walking around Ross (What? Its fun!) and I saw these shoes sitting there, staring at me, calling my name. Really!

I heard them!

I grabbed them, tried them on.... so comfy! I looked, but the price part of the tag had been torn off, so I didn't know how much they were. I thought to myself  "self, you will most likely never wear these because you're a fashion wimp, but if they're under $30 we can get them"

Thank you, self.

I got in line while the hubs and B waited for me by the door. The hubs didn't hate them, but wasn't completely sold on them either. I got to the cash register and told the guy I just wanted to know how much these were before I decided on whether or not I was going to purchase them. He was trying to get a number off of the tag, but half of one of the numbers was ripped. I suggested $5... its worth a try! After looking for another pair in the store, checking his little cheat price book thingy, he kindly took my suggestion of $5.

Yep, five. cinco. cinque. fünf.

(Google translator is awesome)

FIVE DOLLARS!

 

So now, even if I only wear them this one time, I only paid $5, and they make my closet look just a little more interesting than the flip flops I have all over the place.

 

 

 

Jacket: Thrifted

Tank: H&M

Pants: Ross (old)

Shoes: Ross

No accessories with this outfit...I was too lazy and we were running late for church

 

Happy Thursday!



Thursday randoms in pictures, cause pictures are fun

Does anyone else want to know who came up with the spelling for Wednesday, or is it just me??
I know today is Thursday, I was just wondering.

As you can see, I'm wearing my hair in a ponytail...which is quite amazing. There are approximately 500 bobby pins holding it all together, but I'll take what I can get. I'm surprised at how much I miss ponytails.
 

 

 

Boog chews on his bottom lip when his gums hurt. Poor baby.

But look how cute he is!

 

 

 

I don't wear nail polish (the reason may or may not be that I bite my nails), but decided to this week. I like how they turned out. Aside from the fact that close up it looks like a five year old did them for me.

 

 ...and wow I need a tan!

 

I have decided that a perfect family date is a trip to the driving range.

B is starting to get use to sitting in the grass...they didn't exactly "hit it off" the first time they met...

 .

.

.

.

.

 

 Grass, meet Brody.

Brody, meet grass.

 

 It probably didn't help that he wasn't quite sitting up on his own yet, but I kept trying to get him to balance so I could take this picture without my arm in it...that's when he face planted...into the grass.

Mother of the year award, right here.

 

 

I ran out of lettuce and started putting spinach on my sandwiches.

I hate the taste of spinach, but with a little mustard and a lot of cheese (because there should always be a lot of cheese) you cant taste the spinach.

Healthy, and it makes my sandwich pretty!

Its a win, win, win.

(Disclaimer: the sandwich itself is not healthy as a whole due to the amount of cheese)

 

 

 My old camera is dying and my phone takes terrible pictures, so this snap happy mama is getting an iphone!!! T-Mobile is finally getting on the iphone bandwagon. Seriously?! WHAT TOOK SO LONG! So now I wont need to have my phone AND camera with me everywhere I go, load my pictures onto my computer, email myself, save them on my phone so I can do a little Insta magic, then email them back to myself, put them back on my computer and post them to this blog.

Yeah, this blog is about to get all Insta artsy!

 

Not really. I'm not what you would call a "creative type"...but I'm sure gonna try!

 

 

 

I hope you liked my Thursday randoms!

 

I'm off to give the dog a bath. B managed to spit up on her head.

 

Cheers to natural hair gel!

 

A special day

Its amazing what having a kid does to your perception of time.
I lose track of days. I cant remember if its Tuesday or Saturday because when you're a mom, there really isn't a weekend, and 8:30 at night feels like 11:00.

Over the last 6 months, there were days that felt like we've had him for years, because it feels like we've always known him. But then there are times when I look back and 6 months feels like its only been days, and I cry knowing I will never get those moments back.
The first time I met him and they laid him on my chest in the hospital. The first time I saw the hubs hold him in his arms. The first smile. The first laugh. The first time we stood in his room and watched him sleep. The first time he looked at me and I could tell he knew I was mom, I was someone significant to him, even though he didn't know why.

 He's my first baby. My first son. I will never have a first again.

I'll never get those moments back. They are gone, forever etched in my memory

 (along with thousands of pictures saved on my computer)

 

These last 6 months have been the best of my life. I know that when I think about them, or see pictures, I will always have a kind of ache in my heart, knowing they are behind me, but at the same time, my heart will smile at the thought of every moment.
A contradiction in emotions, that's what being a parent is. You can feel more joy, fear, excitement and sadness than you've ever felt, all in one single moment.
This can make for a very intense and exhausting 60 seconds.  

 

I say a prayer over my son every night before I go to bed. I pray that God would help us to raise a strong man. A man that will love, serve and fear Him.

I want to honor God in how we raise our son. God gave us this gift. He is trusting us, and allowing us to take care of His son while he is on this earth. We have dedicated ourselves to raising him in the way that God would have us raise him.
 

Our world is in such great need of strong men and women who will stand for God.

My prayer is that Brody will be one of those men. One who will change the world around him, who will leave a mark wherever he goes, who will have the strength and wisdom to set his standards higher.

 

I have loved every heart warming, heart melting, heart breaking moment of the last 6 months. I am excited and terrified of the love that seems to continue to grow for my son. I know there are so many moments, so many memories ahead of us still.

 

I love you Brody Ray Lowder. 

You are my sunshine. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Happy half birthday, B!

 

Love, mom.