Is That Your Final Answer?

You make thousands of choices everyday. From the time you get out of bed ( or choose to sleep another 15 minutes) to the time you say your head back down, you have made for choices than the number of American Idol seasons ( it's really never end, is it?). You choose to wear sweats or dress up. You choose to do the dishes or let them sit. You choose to write your essay or sit on Facebook for 2 hours. You make choice after choice after choice, sometimes without even considering repercussions.

Not every choice you make can be as simple as what to eat for breakfast. There are choices you need to make that you dwell on for days, months, years at a time, without a clear understanding of what you should ultimately choose. Choices that can lead to heartache, turmoil, the ruining of friendships, relationships, family ties.

We make bad choices. We make good choices. We make choices that require more choices to be made.

Where to go to college? What to study? Who to marry? When to start a family? What career path you want? Where to live? When to buy a house?

Who, what, where, when? Everyday, all day, for the rest of your life.

I've been thinking about choices I have made recently: Ones that have been brilliant and worth every second of decision making and ones that have broken others hearts and my own.

Sometimes when you make choices, they hurt. And because they hurt you don't want to have to choose that option whether is is the best option for you in the end. You worry about regret later on, how others will react, how you will feel after, and ultimately whether it is the choice God wanted you to make.

The nice thing about God though, is that He gave you free will for a reason. He isn't a puppet master controlling your every choice. Of course, He hopes you will follow down the straight and narrow path he has laid out for you, but God will never forsake you because you made a wrong choice.

God is not asking, "Is that your final answer?"

You may go through your life making choices that you want to take back. Some that you cant change even if you tried with all your might. But God will never turn his back on you, even if you choose a life far from Christ like.

Just because you used your free will to please yourself does not mean God has given up on the idea of you, His child, being His again. He will never take the chance to be one with Him away from you. Life without God does not have to be your final answer, a choice set in stone.

God likes choices. He loves when you choose to spend time with Him, when you choose to walk in the light. He love that even though you have the free will to choose to do anything that you want, that you choose to be with Him not that he forced you into it.

Just something to ponder.

Jasmine

Beauty in the Breakdown

The hardest thing for me is to find beauty in how messy my life can get sometimes. Today, I had to have a private little attitude adjustment with myself. Kinda like when I would get in trouble in public and my mom or dad would take me to the bathroom to get a little swat on the hind quarters. Obviously, I didn't spank myself but I certainly had to have a heart to heart with the pity party happening in my head.

Side note: A lot of times, I see people post things on Facebook about how their life "sucks" or how they just cant get a break. I get it, I really do cause I've been their more than enough, but I never understood the point of posting it for the world to see. Here's where I might get a little hypocritical though, today I wanted to write about my struggles. Not so I can have your pity, because I surely have enough for myself already ;) But so I can share my breakthrough, my beauty in the breakdown. 

I've been stressed the last week or so, like mucho mucho stress. I think it started with the zit the size of a watermelon on my forehead that is starting to have a mind of its own ( kinda like the kid on Jimmy Neutron who has the talking boil on his face..haha). But it probably more of the fact that this Thursday I start a make-up lab 6pm-12am on top of full time academics and work.

 For the next three weeks, I will be getting up for my first class at 8am and will go to class until 2pm, work 2:50- 5:00pm, then go to class 6pm-12am.  12 hours of school a day... you've got to be kidding me.

In that three week period, I also have 4 essays, 6 tests, 1 group presentation, 1 portfolio due and I need to read a 300 page book.

Accordingly, I also have a very very important interview with Inverness hotel for my internship next Friday and 6 hours of community service.

Can you see why my mind is exploding?

So tonight after I finally got off of work at 7:45, I just wanted to lay in my bed and cry. I felt a sense of hopelessness, defeat and pity. I whimpered a few tears  and told Jordan that there was no way I could do it.

He promptly reminded me that I shouldn't feel hopeless, because I have God on my side and he is my hope. Right on cue, J.

I was being melodramatic, self- indulgent, pitiful, and outright ridiculous.

I started myself a bath, and let myself have 5 more minutes of pity and then spent a little time talking to God.

As I stepped out of the bath, I felt my weight being lifted. I even did a little chant for myself. "You can do it, you can do it! YOU CAN DO IT!" (corny I know)

I also thought of this verse, possibly one of the most used verses after John 3:16 (Go Tebow.. and God)

Why can't I ever trust this verse!? I know it to be so true and yet I let myself believe that life is impossible at times. My God has never forsaken me, why would he start now, when I need him most. 

I see the beauty in the breakdowns of my life when I step back and think about God taking over. I know that my control over things is costing me more than if I would let him have control.. I like seeing it put this way..

I have to continue to remember that He is here to help me through it all, as hard as it truly is. 

I am seriously working on this whole, give God all control and it will work out thing, it take practice weirdly enough. And while God is taking care of everything around me tonight, I will be writing a paper so great that it should be published ( still need a little pep talking, yah know ;)) 

Until Next Time,

Jasmine 

Dude, where's my blog?

So I realize that I have been totally MIA these past two weeks. I am just finally getting back in the swing of things from being on break. School work, community service, going to the gym, work and every other tedious item on my daily to-do list has been taking over my everyday and frankly I havent really had anything exciting to blog about not do I feel like blogging.

GASP! I did really jut say that. Blogger queen has been worn out. But I'm back but hardly better than ever.

This isn't going to be some clever blog about I have come home from work everyday this week covered in mud from playing basketball in the muddy back ally to please Ben and Ari or how Jordan, Hailey and I joined a tour group going school today just to pass time while we waited for brunch at the dinning hall, but rather a collection of pictures showing how lackluster these past two weeks have been.

Our late New Years photo!

Jordan surprised me with dance classes!  

Peanut Butter and Carrot snack jar!

BenBen and I during the Broncos Patriots game! 

Dip n' Dot snow! 

Scrubbing muddy shoe prints off the white carpet.. 

Air Ben!

Never-ending flipping of the emergency phone from upside down to right side up....

Lots of LIFE playing.. 

Jungle Quest with the boys. 

Jordan's juicy lamb burger, from Little H Burger! 

My thug roommate.

So as you can see, its been pretty mellow around here. I'm hopping with this next coming week that I will be so caught up on my homework that I will get to blog about my new diet and exercise plan! But we'll see..

Until Next Time ( which may or may not be a while),

Jasmine 

Fruit Ninja

I have something new and exciting to share today! I mean all of my posts are just soo exciting already, right? har har har. This post make post numero tres brought you my Pinterest inspirations. If you haven't figured it out yet, i'm utterly obsessed with Pinterest. For those of you who are not familiar with

Pinterest is it super awesome website. As they describe it: 

"Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests." 

It's perfect for people like me who have like ten billion bookmarks saved of ideas I like. This way it is all in one place organized and I can share it. Sounds like a dream to me! Only thing is you have to be invited to the website.. so you enter your email and they will send you a invitation to the site in a couple weeks. If you already have one you can follow me by clicking the button on the right side of the page! 


Anyways enough about that and lets get to the good stuff! 


Jordan likes to eat healthy. I do not. I struggle with choosing fruit and veggies over chips and Chipolte. I am kind of a picky eater, but more so, I don't like trying new foods. But after working on a project for my Nutrition class I realized I needed to change. 


For class I had to keep a food diary for a few days then place it into a program called ESHA. ESHA essentially breaks down all the foods your eating and tells you what nutrients, fats, carb, calories, protein, etc, etc, are in it. I had a disgraceful outcome. I was "malnourished" even though I was packing on the pounds. 


So in the hopes to change my malnutrition I am choosing to eat healthier, more colorful foods, smaller portions and work-out along with it. 


You are probably thinking how does this have anything to do with Pinterest.. Well in a search for a easy way to keep my healthy eating habits up I found this..

This lady from Big Red Kitchen blog, started making all her lunches and dinners for her and her family in mason jars. She would spend a couple hours on Sunday precooking all the meals for reheating later! Loving it! 


So of course I had to try it out. I don't like to spend a lot of time cooking after work or even making my lunch in the morning. So today I gathered up all the fruits and veggies and cut them all up for fruit jars, veggie jars, pasta jars and ready made salads. I felt like I was playing a real live version on that Fruit Ninja game.. which is throughly addicting.. don't even get me started on that! 

Here's what I ended up with! 

Fruit Salad Mix
Mango
Kiwi
Raspberries
Pineapple

All 4. One for each school day!

Simple Salad
Orange Juice/Honey/Red Wine vinaigrette
Lettuce
Raspberries
Grilled Chicken ( coming soon:))

I like this one for lunch or dinner.. I can just shake it up with the vinaigrette and eat!

Bell Pepper Pasta
Pasta
Sauteed Yellow and Red Bell Pepper
seasoned with garlic and other stuff I found in my pantry!

I have a couple other snack packs and yougurt and granola for the mornings too.. 

When I was all done I stored all the left over fruit and veggies in the jars too to keep them fresh! Labled of course! 

Aren't they pretty! 

I'll have to keep you updated on how well they work for me.. I'm hoping they will be easy to grab and go for when Ill be in class all day! 

I would love to hear any ideas you have for other meals in a jar. Just leave a comment below to share!

Until Next Time,

Jasmine 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Time

I not the type of person who can eat a spoonful of peanut butter like my roommate, Hailey. Peanut butter is one of those food that is good with limits. But, anytime there are those mini Reece's cups are around, I cant control myself. So when I saw a recipe for a homemade peanut butter cup on Pinterest ( told you I'm obsessed), I couldn't resist.

I mean look at this..

That is perfection wrapped in a cupcake liner. 

This homemade variation of Reece's, has a much more natural taste, but certainly does not lack in richness. Contrary to the processed goodie, you really only need one maybe two to satisfy your sweet tooth. I chose to use dark chocolate instead of milk and made both minis and king sized!

Perfect Peanut Butter Cups*

Ingredients/Supplies:

-mini cupcake tin

-mini cupcake liners 

- 2 cups dark chocolate chips 

-1 tablespoon oil

-1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter 

-2 tablespoons butter 

- 2 tablespoon brown sugar 

-3/4 cup powdered sugar ( I ended up using a little more to thicken the filling up) 

Line the cupcake tin with the liners.

In a microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate with the oil. Start with 30 seconds then stir, melt another 30 and stir and repeat until smooth. Spoon a tablespoon or so of chocolate into the bottom of the liners and give a little shake to even it out. Refrigerate. 

While that is chilling, make the peanut butter filling. In a microwave safe bowl melt peanut butter, brown sugar, and butter together. Add powdered sugar 1/4 at a time and stir until you have a nice thick, creamy batter. Shape the filling into small balls then flatten into disks. Place these in each chocolate filled liner. 

Pour remaining chocolate on top of each disk. Once you have filled each liner give the tin a tap on the counter to help the chocolate settle. Refrigerate this until firm. 

You are never gonna want to eat another sugar filled, processed peanut butter cup again after you have a taste of these. 

I also tried, keyword being tried,to make peppermint patties, but my chocolatering skills failed me.. I ended up with a hot mess.. It tasted good tho! 

Some how you were lucky enough to get not one but two recipes in one week! That never happens. Don't expect that to happen again.. haha!

 I hope you enjoy! 

Happy Baking,

Jasmine 

*Recipe Credit

Molten Microwave Magic

I constantly have a sweet tooth. I crave chocolate and goodies all the time, which usual results in me pouring chocolate chips in a cup with milk and scooping it out with a spoon. Weird, I know. 
I felt like making something sweet but was definitely too lazy to actually bake something. I knew that I have some recipes pinned on Pinterest (which btw is my new best friend for any type of inspiration!) for a microwave cake. 
Being a baker, I was naturally hesitant when I read you could make a cake in 5 minutes and in the microwave.. There are just so many things wrong with that idea! Alas, I caved in and had to see for myself if this was actually possible. 
I found the pin on my Pinterest and it sent me over to the blog 2 Stews, in which I give the credit to for this molten microwave magic. This recipe is seriously fool proof! 


1-2-3 Chocolate Microwave Mug Cake 


3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa 
4 tablespoons sugar 
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons egg whites or plain egg whites in carton
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon chocolate chips* 
* As a variation, substitute almond extract for vanilla. Also, you can change the chocolate chips to any flavor chips you like. 

In a 1- 1 1/2 cup microwave safe mug, ( I ended up using a really large mug), blend cocoa, sugar and flour together.

Add milk, oil egg whites and vanilla. Stir vigorously for 2 minutes, making sure to get all ingredients incorporated.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top, if desired. (Yes, PLEASE!) 

 Bake in microwave for 2 minutes. Check to makes sure it is cooked on the bottom by lifting it a little with a spoon. If it is runny, cook 10 seconds more. Do not overcook, or it will turn rubbery. It puffs up and may overflow but that is ok, it deflates a bit when cooled. You want the texture to be moist and slightly under cooked. Let it cool until warm and serve! 

I ended up drizzling chocolate syrup on top, but you can put what ever you want. Whipped cream, carmel, butterscotch, anything will work! 

For the amount of time it took to whip this sucker up it was AMAZING. This recipe has gone on my go-to recipes for a quick pick me up, forrrr suree. Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think!

Toodledo and Enjoy,

Jasmine 

Happy "Woohoo" Year

Greetings! (Who says that? Why did I say that?) And welcome to the first blog post of 2012! The year where the world is supposedly going to come to an end, the year where we get another President who will probably not be any better than the last, the year were we get to watch Michael Phelps in a speedo but this time in London and yet another year with countless celebrity divorces, babies and deaths being the top trending topic on twitter.

Personally, I am excited for 2012. Maybe besides the fact that I am going have to retrain myself to not write 2011. I know this year is going to be a whirlwind of change and new horizons. As much as this is probably a lie, I like change. I like being thrown into something new. ( As I type this, I realize that I am lying to myself and you by saying this.. I really cant stand getting out of my routine.) Either way, 2012 is going to be a good year full of change wether I like it or not.

The change started yesterday, before it was even new years. *gasp* Shocking isn't it! It happened when my mom asked me if I wanted to go buy an iPhone. What kinda question is that.. YES I WANT AN IPHONE?! IVE ONLY BEEN ASKING FOR ONE FOR LIKE 235982475 YEARS NOW! So after a sequence of event that I think is too boring to type out I got my precious Iphone. I kept telling my mom "I feel so chic, so hip. I got a chic and hip iPhone."

She's my white stallion. Im in love. 

So obviously it was like permanently attached to my hand for the rest of the day/night. I snapped some pictures and video of our mild NYE celebrations. I think that I'll let the pictures and videos doing the talking about how our night went:) 

makin' muddie buddies

I got a Yahtzee!

New Year's Happy Eve Dance 

I could go on about how sucky or how great 2011 was. But to me, it's in the past and I want to live in the present. God blessed me more than I deserved last year and I give him thanks for all He is doing for me. I know that this year, He will still be here by my side watching over everything I do. I trust and believe that He will make 2012 just as wonderful as 2011 if not better. And I pray he does the same for you and your family.

Toodledo,

Jasmine