We can't change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand

We were assigned to watch Randy Paush's last lecture for one of my classes and it was an assignment I genuinely enjoyed. If you have the time, this video is well worth watching. And if you don't have the time then I suggest you make the time.

He discusses a lot of great things. Essentially working hard, living life the best you can, and loving what you do.

You really just need to watch the lecture because I can't do it justice by summarizing it. But if I had to then these are my favorite things he said because they're things I've found:

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people."

“Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.”

“Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress. When you're pissed off at someone and you're angry at them, you just haven't given them enough time. Just give them a little more time and they almost always will impress you.”

“It's not how hard you hit. It's how hard you get hit...and keep moving forward.”



Now just go watch it!

True Blue Believer

There are a few things in life I feel very passionately about: Crunchy Peanut Butter, Boy Bands, and the Kansas City Royals.  And in case you haven't heard I'm here to inform you that the Royals made it to the World Series.

Me and some of my friends celebrating after finding out the Royals were going to the World Series.

I know it's been a quarter of a century since they've last been but I knew they'd get there eventually. Here is a speech I wrote for my AP English class junior year of high school. Clearly I was a really cool sixteen-year-old....

May 18, 2010
I have always believed in the Royals. Laugh at me if you wish, but ever since I was little there was no place I felt happier than sitting in the stands at Kauffman Stadium amidst the excited fans. I love the sound of cheering after a great play and the shout of vendors pushing peanuts. I can think of nothing more delightful than the sweet aroma of hot dogs, pretzels and sweaty fans in the air. It has never mattered to me how far down the count is or how bad they are doing—I always believe they will come back and win. If they do not win, that doesn’t matter. I just keep on believing that the next game they will come back and win it!
Throughout my entire life, my faith in the Royals has never wavered. I have stood strong in my belief that they will at some point in time be the team I know they are capable of being. Sure, they’re going through a rough patch, and they’ve been going through that patch for quite some time. Alright, maybe that patch has turned into a period that appears insurmountable, but I know they will get out of it.
Every year my dad gets tickets from work. Every year we sit in the exact same seats. Every year we park in the exact same spot in the parking lot. Every year my faith is strong. I run from the car to the gates of the stadium so I can get the free item being offered that particular night. A smile always crosses my face once I have entered the stadium and take in all of the action. I love putting my arms around my loved ones and at the top of our lungs singing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball game” during the seventh inning stretch. I live for “Buck Night” at the K. there have been fewer times in my life that I have felt more joy than when I have caught a hot dog in the hot dog launch. I can only think that that joy is just a preview of success to come for my team. I believe in the Kansas City Royals.


The Royals may not have won the series, but they won over fans all around the country.  

Thank you, Royals. Thanks for filling my childhood with wonderful memories, for making me proud of my hometown and for giving me the most fun season of baseball watching I've ever experienced. 

Iron (Wo)man

I'm walking through a building on campus and see a sign that mentions getting a t-shirt....and let's be real--I'll do just about anything for a t-shirt. 

I swam. I ran. I cycled.  And I got the t-shirt. 

Nobody reads this blog so it's fine for me to brag about how proud I am of myself. I did this in only 16 days! I know people do these things in real life in the world in just one day so that's not really all that impressive but have you met me? I hate doing things!! But turns out I actually really enjoyed doing this!

10.3.55

Here's to the guy who spent countless hours practicing every sport with me, who was my biggest fan and came to every game, who risked his life teaching me to drive (real bravery right there), who got up early to start my car and scrape the snow off my windshield before I drove to school, who gave me his initials, who gives me tons of unsolicited advice, and who calls often just to tell me how proud he is of me. 

Happy Birthday Dad!

A Challenge

There's a lot of pressure in this world for girls to look perfect all the time. And it's dumb.  What even is "perfect?" It doesn't even exist. The media feeds you all these lies and images of what the "ideal" body looks like and what the "ideal" hair looks like and the "ideal" butt looks like.

It's garbage. Absolute garbage.

I feel like I'm a fairly secure person and am able to see through the junk the media feeds us. But there was awhile where I fell victim these hurtful messages. And I felt like I wasn't good enough because I didn't look the way I thought I was "supposed" to look.

I'm majoring in Exercise and Wellness and in many of my classes we've discussed health at every size and how every body needs different things, general wellness (hence the name of the major), etc.

So I made a goal this summer to be more accepting of myself. We are our own harshest critics.  I don't normally wear a lot of makeup anyway, but I made a conscious goal that I wasn't going to straighten my naturally wavy hair (or any other heat styling) and I wasn't going to wear makeup. I was just going to be myself.

And I tell you what, it was SO freeing.  I'm not opposed to doing your hair nice and wearing makeup because there are certainly times you want to look polished and nice and put together. But I don't think you need to cake on makeup and look like a plastic version of yourself everyday.

I wore makeup a total of three times over a seven week period. And I straightened my hair twice. The other days I just let my body do it's thang. I let my hair wave the way it waved and I left my face alone.

We went to visit my older sister in Florida for a few days and this is my favorite picture from that trip. It's my favorite because it's me. Plain old me. No makeup, no hair product, a flabby butt the media wouldn't deem "ideal" and all. Just damp, beachy, unkempt hair, no makeup, no nothing. Just me.

And now this is how I feel most beautiful.  When I put makeup on and look in the mirror I feel weird.

And I think that's awesome.

So I want to challenge anyone who reads this (Hi, Mom!) to go just a week without touching themselves up. I bet after that week you'll feel like putting on makeup and doing your hair is the biggest pain in the booty. Because it is. And guess what else? You'll probably like what you see. Because you're beautiful. Just the way you are. *Cue Bruno Mars*

The Middle Child

Emily: "Just talk to me like I'm your journal. I want all the juicy details."

Happy Birthday to my big sis who wants to know all the intimate details of my life....but only because she truly cares.

Oh No. Cardio.

I don't know about anyone else out there, but I enjoy it when I'm in shape. (Side note: What does "in shape" even mean? For me it basically means I enjoy being able to walk up a flight of stairs while eating a handful of pretzels and not feeling winded)

I'm at home now, which is amazing. I love it here. Love love love love love it!

However, being at home can be a little too relaxing sometimes. I'm not at school where I'm walking around everywhere and I spend a lot of time eating big meals and watching episode after episode of White Collar with the fam. All good things. Except for now when I walk up the stairs eating my handful of pretzels it feels like I'm doing a cardio session.

The getting out of shape thing is kind of inevitable while being at home (at least for me). So I made this goal to try and actually try and get some kind of focused exercise for at least a half hour every day.

I've let Jillian Michaels kick my butt for the last few days and guess what? I'm not winded walking up the stairs anymore!

It's the little things in life.

Naked Obsession

I've always had an aversion to clothing.  In fact, when I was a wee lass I ran several blocks away from home stark naked just to go to a friend's house...but that's beside the point.

My current obsession is this naked gold:

The picture blocks the Cinnamon Cranberry bag on the right--that business is SO good.

I am obsessed with it. It is the most delicious granola out there.  I mean, I'm sure there are others that are okay, but this stuff. Mmm. You can eat it a ton of different ways. I've eaten it in straight milk like cereal, put it on salads, eaten it straight from the bag (don't worry, I used a spoon. I'm civilized like that) My personal fave though--yogurt parfaits. They are just about my favorite summer thing to eat. The different kinds of granola add a good flavor with different fruits and yogurt varieities. It makes such a simple snack seem that much more fancy. 

The crunchy, fruity, smooth, delicious goodness. Obsessed.

I used the V'nilla Almond kind on this and it was pure heaven. I could definitely eat multiple bowls. (and sometimes do #noshame) 

This granola is on the pricier side but as a good friend of mine always says: "Live like a pauper. Eat like a king."

Pasta la vista, baby

So I recently discovered my culinary prowess. I know. Me cooking, right?  I've always enjoyed baking--breads, cookies, desserts--that aint no thang! But cooking has always overwhelmed me. I've always felt like the time spent making a meal and the time spent enjoying the meal never quite balanced out. I spent hours creating a meal that took me ten minutes to eat and tasted just okay.

But I realized that if I ever have the hopes of landing a man (single 4 lyfee) I should probably be able to feed him something, right? Just kidding. Really I just like food and wanted to be able to feed myself things other than heated up cans of soup and Ramen noodles for the rest of my life.

So I made this goal for my short time home this summer: cook actual meals. So as any good goal-setter does, I created a Pinterest board. And searched all the interwebs and cooking magazines, shows, books, etc.

Through my searching I found many recipes that looked delicious and many I wanted to try.
The following recipe is a kind of mash up of several similar recipes I saw and it turned out pretty dang delicious, I'd say.

Chicken and Asparagus Pasta

3 c. whole grain bow tie pasta
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed
1 stock green onion, sliced
1/2 c. baby spinach
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 oz low-fat cream cheese
1/2 c. plain greek yogurt
1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 c. chicken broth

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute chicken for about 20 minutes.
2. Cook pasta as box directs and in the last five minutes add the asparagus to the water. Drain and set aside pasta. (You can use some of the drained pasta water to add in later if the pasta seems too dry)
3. Once chicken is cooked add basil, oregano, and minced garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
4. Add broth, cream cheese, greek yogurt and parmesan cheese to skillet.
5. Finally, add pasta and asparagus to the skillet and stir until you get the desired texture.

I should have taken a better picture of the pasta but unfortunately I only snapped this one of my plate.

This may seem like a small portion but don't worry--this was fo sho my second helping :)

Not to toot my own horn, but this was seriously so good and not even that hard to make! I personally have a hard time eating enough vegetables but throwing them into a yummy pasta like this is an easy way to get them! You could definitely add peas or broccoli or any other veggie and even if you don't like them they'd be masked by all the delicious seasonings.

Give the recipe a try. Or better yet, butter me up like a roll and maybe I'll make it for you :)

Hot and Fresh out of the Oven

I have been quoted saying: "I hope I love my future children as much as I love banana bread."

Because, hello! Banana bread is stinkin delicious!! There's nothing tastier than warm slice (or four) of banana bread and a glass of milk on a cold day. Or any kind of day for that matter.

You know what else I love? Blueberry muffins. Oh and also oatmeal. I just realllly love warm, carb loaded things.

But you know what I don't love? The calories in these things. And the impact they have on my blood sugar. I have zero self-control when it comes to some of these things and I hate feeling guilty for over eating these things when I make them.

So I took a leap of faith and tried combining all of the things I love and guess what? It worked!!  So here is the "recipe" for the made up magic.

Banana Blueberry Bites
2 medium old bananas
1 c. Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1 tbsp. Cinnamon
1/4 c. blueberries (or chocolate chips if you're feeling adventurous)

It's super easy. Just mix together all the ingredients and plop dollops on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

**Fun fact: My sister featured this recipe on her blog which you should totally check out because it's full of good stuff. She's a Registered Dietician, so she's smart and crap like that.**

The ingredients

The result

And bam! That's it. You have delicious bite size morsels of heaven.

And ya know what's even better? They only set you back 50 calories each! So you don't even have to feel guilty if you eat a bunch of them! And there's no oil or any nasty ingredients so they're overall pretty healthy!


P.S. I am sure I will love my future children at least as much as I love banana bread...I mean, I'm not completely heartless!

Happy Birthday America

Watched the fireworks with my niece and nephew. It's so fun seeing through their eyes.

Reasons I love the fourth of July: 

1. Fireworks

2. Food

3. Family

4. Fred 

                                                              ( ^it is very important to me that you watch this)

Made some pretty delicious patriotic desserts for my family. I think they're glad to have me home at times like these.

So....Here We Are

It's a cloudy Sunday afternoon. I come home from church, look in the fridge and gorge myself on all of it's delicious contents. I've just eaten more than anyone should ever eat at lunch time and decide I'd better do something productive. 

So I go take a nap. 

A short time has passed. I'm coming to. My eyelids are heavy as I begin taking conscious breaths and attempting to rouse from my slumber. It's at these times of partial consciousness that I come up with the best ideas. I roll over and wipe the drool off my face. "Gosh. My life's such a joke...I just want to sleep some more." I think.  I roll over again. "...I think I'll start a blog." 

And so that's what I did. How that thought process led me to a blog, I'll never know. But sometimes when you have thoughts like that you've just gotta dive in and go for it. Or 'yolo' as the kids these days might say.  

Have any of you ever started a blog? It's a pretty arduous task actually. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Just getting the name for the blog alone was enough to make me want to quit! But alas, I persevered. Can't quit on my first day after all! The following is my internal monologue after arriving on blogger.com 

"Letters from Laura...nope. Someone took that one. Living La Vida Laura? Darn. Nope. 

*laugh to myself* 

"I'm gonna keep that in mind though. That's kind of funny..Hmm....How about let's drop the 'g.' Livin. Livin La Vida Laura. That's cool right? Nobody keeps the g on the end of words anymore. That's totally newbie business....still no....what rhymes with Laura? Nothing. Gosh, parents! Couldn't you have given me a name that rhymed with anything?? Let's see...hmmm..Laura's Life. No that's dumb..."

Fifteen failed attempts later

"Seriously? Every one of these names I've come up with is taken?! Some of them aren't even good!  Oh, here's a good one: Laura never shuts up."

Computer gives me the green check mark of approval.

"You're kidding me....Well, I guess it's a sign. Let's do this thang."

And such is my entrance into the blogosphere.