Autism Awareness Month - Jewelry for a Cause

Hi friends!

April is Autism Awareness month and I'm ready to spread awareness and educate others about Autism and the impact it has on families.

I work in a clinic where we provide 1:1 behavior therapy services to children with autism. On a daily basis I see the struggles these families face as well as the smiles on their faces when their child does something for the first time, has an amazing day at school, or says a new word!

Did you know that 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls are identified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder? Studies have found that these families have a harder time getting by financially, finding adequate child care, and are more likely to have poor parental mental health (Autism Speaks).

This morning I took Loyalty, service dog in training, to an autism walk in Orlando and she showed her support by wearing her new pin!

Working with these children and their families is truly life changing and I'm always looking for a way to support them.

When I heard that Stella & Dot is supporting Autism Awareness month by donating a portion of their sales to the HollyRod Foundation I immediately talked to my friend who is a Stylist for the company about hosting a jewelry party.

Stella & Dot has an "autism boutique" collection of bracelets and the proceeds from those pieces will go directly to the HollyRod Foundation to provide care to those living with autism and their families. How amazing is that?! And it's so easy to support this cause because who doesn't love shopping for new jewelry, clothing, and purses?!

If you are interested in shopping and helping me raise money for an amazing cause please shop THIS LINK and share with all of your friends! Stella & Dot just released their new summer line and pieces are going quick so be sure to check it out now so you are the first to get your hands on their amazing pieces.

Thank you :)

Warrior Dash Race Recap - Rockin' Refuel Team

I am so glad that when Rockin' Refuel reached out to me a few weeks ago about the possibility of running in the Warrior Dash that I said YES!

Talk about a fun and muddy race!

If you've never heard of the Warrior Dash before, you need to check it out. And if the thought of signing up for a mud run has ever crossed your mind, even if just for a split second, then you need to sign up for one right now. Seriously, go find one and sign up now! 

The Warrior Dash is a 5k filled with obstacles and mud. Lots of mud. 

The day of the race the entire team met at my place so we could carpool to Crawfordsville, IN which is about an hour away from us. When we arrived we were able to quickly find parking, pick up our race packets and bib numbers, put away our stuff, and head on over to the Rockin' Refuel booth for our pre-race photos! 

After that we headed over to the start line and waited for our heat to start. We were the only people at the starting line along with a couple of other runners so we weren't sure if we arrived late. After the race announcer made us all do burpees, we were off and on our way to be covered in mud!

The first mile of the race was nothing but hiking through the woods. This sounds easy but it was almost impossible to run because it rained the night before and everything was so slippery, muddy, and uneven. 

Most of the obstacles on the course were totally doable - climbing over mud mounds, crawling through trenches, running (mostly walking) through the super muddy woods, and sliding into a pool of mud. And others were a bit harder - climbing ropes, climbing over walls, and completing obstacles in heavy rain. 

I think my favorite obstacle had to have been "Goliath" which was a huge slide that went straight into a pool of mud! My friend and I went down hand in hand and figured that it wasn't going to be that deep. We were wrong! We went all the way under and came up muddier than we were before, if that was even possible.

Once we crossed the finish line we headed over to the Rockin' Refuel booth to refuel! We chose to drink a delicious ice cold Muscle Recovery Chocolate drink that tasted exactly like chocolate milk! (click here to see all of the other tasty products and flavors)

After we refueled, we hit the showers, met up with our team, and hung out at the after party. 

Thanks again for an awesome day, Rockin' Refuel!

Disclaimer: My team and this blog post are sponsored by Rockin' Refuel. As always, all opinions are entirely my own.  

Run For Your Lives (Countdown)

Do you guys remember me talking about the Run For Your Lives 5k race I am doing? Well it's this weekend and I couldn't be more excited! My mom and her friend are going to pick me up from school and then we are going to head down to the race. My mom just bought a new car so she was definitely sure to inform me to bring extra clothes so I don't get it all muddy ;)

(photo source)

The other exciting thing about this race is that I am going to be video-recording the entire thing while I am running it! My mom is a photographer so she is all into the techy, photo equipment. She has a special water, mud, and shock proof camera that she is going to attach to me! I think it will be so fun to capture the race, jumping through obstacles, and running away from zombies! I will be sure to share some video with you guys.

Anyways, what are your suggestions for what I should wear?! I am going to be getting super muddy and wet and this is my first race like that!

If you are interested in running a Run For Your Lives 5k race, check out all the info here. You can also read my full review of the race.

Question

What is the muddiest, dirtiest race you have ever ran? Have you ever ran in the Run For Your Lives race?

Run For Your Lives

Are you an avid runner or do you only run when you're being chased?

I am a huge fan of the The Walking Dead, which is a horror-drama television series about a group of people fighting for their lives in a world of flesh-eating zombies. When I was watching the season finale a few weeks ago I saw a commercial for a 5k race called Run For Your Lives.

Running and The Walking Dead? Count me in.

(Photo Source)

This race is infested with zombies and obstacles that test your speed, strength, and wit. Each runner wears flags ("lives") on their belt and if they cross the finish line with at least 1 life then they are a survivor, if the zombies get all of their lives then they transform into a zombie. The main obstacles are a blood pit, smoke house, and a maze but there are other natural obstacles like mud holes, etc. I am the most nervous about the smoke house. A dark house filled with zombies scares me!

The photo gallery on the race website shows people running through rivers, covered in mud, climbing up ropes, crawling under barbed wire, and running from zombies. I think the race will be similar to a Tough Mudder but with the added bonus of running for your life.

Do you hate running but still want to be a part of the race? You can sign up to be a zombie! The Run For Your Lives crew will give you a professional zombie transformation by doing your make-up and shredding your clothes! Zombies even get a few added perks like free parking and camping.

Now you can't tell me that seeing that zombie won't make you run a little bit faster. I know it would make me sprint the entire race!

I am signing up for the race in Indianapolis, IN and you should sign up for a race near you too! You can find the complete list of race locations, learn more about how the race works, and check out the after party details on the Run For Your Lives website. Just the fact that this race is different from your normal 5k race makes me want to do it! Color runs are fun but zombie runs? It can't get much better.

Disclaimer: In return for writing this review I am receiving a discount on my race entry, however all opinions are entirely my own.

Question

Have you ever heard of the Run For Your Lives 5k race? 

What is the craziest, most original race you have ever done?

Funny Search Keywords

Awhile ago I saw that another blogger (can't remember who!) was talking about funny search keywords that led people to her blog. Today when I was looking over my blog stats I noticed some funny ones so I thought I would share!

If I was looking to be directed to a blog that was similar to mine and focused on fitness and healthy living then in Google I would search things like:

"fitness blog"

"blog about running"

"blog about staying fit while in college"

"fun workout blog"

Now most of the time people search these things and are directed to my blog but other times they put the funniest things into Google and are directed to my blog. Some of the funny, strange, or random things people have searched are:

Chicken Feet Soup

Okay, I have no idea why this would bring anyone to be directed to my blog but I laughed when I saw it. Chicken Feet soup?! I have never even heard of it but I guess it really does exist. The only way I can see someone being directed to my blog when searching that is because I have talked about chicken noodle soup before.

Sunglasses in Megan Green Color

Is megan green a color? I have never heard of it before. I think I have talked about sunglasses once on the blog before when I talked about a shopping trip with my roommate.

Pineapple Butter with Eggs

1) This sounds gross. 2) I don't think pineapple butter is a real thing but I could be wrong. Also, I have never talked about eggs on the blog before so I don't know why this keyword would bring anyone to my blog! Interesting...

 

Question

What are some interesting and funny search keywords bringing people to your blog?

Celebrating One Year

Monday was Alex and I's one year anniversary! I know everyone says this but it truly is crazy how fast a year goes by. I remember the day we started dating like it was yesterday.

Here's a picture from before we started dating.

And here we are on Sunday night.

To celebrate we went out to dinner on Sunday night. It was really easy to choose where to go to dinner because 1) I was craving salad and bread sticks and 2) Alex had never been to Olive Garden (he's a small town country boy!) so it was settled. Though I didn't take any pictures of our food, I promise you it was delicious.

Because I love pictures and all - here a few pictures of Alex and I from our first year together.

I'm not going to write some mushy, gushy blog post about him but I will say that I am so excited to see what the future holds for Alex and I. This past year has been so much fun and I have been the happiest that I have ever been. Alex truly brings out the best in me and I am so thankful that he is in my life.

Have a great week!

First Thing

Thank you for all of the kind comments after the post about taking a break from my training! It's been so weird having so much free time after classes because that is the time I am normally running.

Because I haven't been running or working out I don't have much to say about my training so I thought a survey would be a good way to change things up and let you guys learn some things about me! I saw this survey on Jessie's blog awhile ago and thought it would be fun to do! So here goes nothin'.

First thing...

First thing you do when you wake up in the morning: My alarm is what always wakes me up in the morning so the first thing I do is hit snooze. Then after a few times of doing that I get up and go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and wash my face.

First thing you reach for when you open the fridge: Well since I'm away at school and still live out of a mini fridge that contains close to nothing there are only a handful of things I reach for when I open up my fridge. Lately it's either been a bottle of water or yogurt.

First thing you do when you get to the gym: Hand the guy at the desk my ID

First thing you do when you get home from work: I always change into comfy clothes! Sweats and a t-shirt are my favorite.

First car: A Chevy Cavalier. I seriously loved that car and miss it!

(Photo Source)

First car accident/traffic violation: The first time I was ever pulled over (and hopefully the last) was when I had a headlight out. My mom had actually backed up into my car and the headlight shattered. I had begged my parents to let me drive an hour to a softball tournament, knowing that I would have to drive back when it was dark out. They kept telling me it was a bad idea with only one headlight but I kept assuring them that I would be fine and wouldn't get pulled over. Well, I was wrong. I ended up getting out of it with a warning so I was pretty lucky. My first accident was when someone ran into the back of me, totaling my car.

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up: I always wanted to work for the Department of Natural Resources. Now I have no desire to do that and have no idea why I wanted to do that when I was younger.

First beverage of choice: H2O!

First breakfast of choice: An omelet jam packed with chives, mushrooms, peppers, cheese..

First dessert of choice: This is a tough one. I love pretty much all desserts but cheesecake or something extra chocolatey are my favorites.

(Photo Source)

First major purchase: My second car. I was actually lucky enough to have a hand-me-down car from a family member as my first car but when that car was totaled I made the decision to buy a new one. It was the hardest financial decision I've ever had to make and I remember being so nervous and freaking out about it. I am really good with my money so I was really nervous about it!

First job: JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts.

First time you flew on a plane: The first time I flew on a plane was spring break of my sophomore year in high school. I flew with my friend and her parents to Florida and it was the bumpiest plane ride I have ever been on.

(Photo Source)

Question

Choose some of the questions from above and answer them in the comments below!

P.S. Don't forget to check out the t-shirts and giveaway!
 

Kidnapped

I am officially back at school after a long and relaxing spring break. We had quite an interesting start to our day here on campus as we woke up to text messages from the university saying there was a gunman on the loose walking around campus. Most of the 8 and 9am classes were closed but when it came time for me to go to my 10am I was still a little worried. Don't worry though! Everyone is safe and they found the guy.

Yesterday my mom, mom's friend, my sister (Stephanie), and I all went to Noodles and Company to eat. At first it was just going to be my mom, Stephanie and I but as we were driving to the restaurant my mom said "Should we stop and kidnap Mrs.L?!" Stephanie and I both immediately said yes so we drove over to her house and when she opened her front door we said "Put your shoes on! You're coming with us to lunch! No ifs, ands, or buts!"

Normally when we go to Noodles and Company I always order the Japanese Pan Noodles (check out my last visit). This time I wanted to try something new so I ordered The Med with a side of Chicken Noodle soup.

The Med had chicken, mushrooms, spinach, red bell pepper, cucumber, red onion, cilantro and feta all wrapped up in a warm flatbread. It was served with a side of their "zippy Med dressing."

 The Chicken Noodle soup was delicious as usual. I love the huge noodles they use for the soup. Yum!

All day I have been craving that sandwich! It was so good. Noodles and Co. never disappoint me!

Workout

Over break the only time I ran was on the first Saturday I was home! I planned on running much more but getting almost a foot of snow didn't really make me want to put on my running shoes and run out of the door! Today I did a speed workout on the treadmill. It looked a little something like this:

.25 mile - 6.3 mph
.25 mile - 8.0 mph
Repeat 6 times for a total of 3 miles

Question

Have you ever spontaneously stopped and "kidnapped" a friend on the way to lunch or shopping? It was fun to surprise her like that and luckily for us she didn't have any other plans!

A Brand New Look

On Thursday I headed down to Alex's to spend a few days with him and his family. I haven't seen his family since Christmas and even though I am seeing him tomorrow when we go back to school, I probably wouldn't of had another chance to see his family until this summer so I took the opportunity to visit.

But before I left to go and visit them I had to take the cat, Hooter, to the groomers and let's just say she wasn't too happy about it, afterwards at least.

On the way to the groomer's she sat in the front seat next to me and would put her paws up on the dash to look outside the window.

But on the way home, she crawled under the seat and hid. I'm not too sure if she knew she looked ridiculous or if she thought she had been punished but one thing was for sure - she was not happy

The groomer, who knows my mom is a photographer, said that Hooter requested that no photos be taken! Ha! No photos? In my house? Not a chance.

I do kinda feel bad for her.. But she really needed it because she was covered in mats! I am sure she feels 10x better now. The best part about this whole thing was that once we brought her home the other pets thought we had a brand new cat! It was funny to watch them follow her around and stare her down whenever she would walk by.

Question

Have you ever had to take a pet to the groomers? How did they respond? This was our first experience with a groomer and we definitely got a kick out of Hooter's new look!

Easy DIY: Trash to Treasure (And A Winner)

Today is the day you all have been waiting for.. the announcement of the SPIbelt Giveaway winner! But first let's talk crafts!

I've had this empty truffles container sitting in my room for quite some time and the other day my mom made the comment that it would look really cute if I painted it or covered it with something.

Today we went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts and picked up a few things for my project. We found some fun scrapbook paper with giraffes on it. I absolutely love giraffes so this was perfect! We chose 3 different coordinating papers but you can use 1 color (if you want the whole container to be the same), 2 colors (if you want the lid and the bottom to be different) or 3 colors like I did.

The first thing we did was measure the width of the container. The paper didn't wrap all the way around the container so we had to cut another piece so the whole thing would be covered. I also cut the pieces for the edge of the lid and the top of the lid.

I then covered the container with mod podge and pressed the paper on. After it was covered I put more mod podge on top of the paper (shown below). I then sat it off to the side to dry and worked on the lid.

The result was a fun, revamped container!

Giveaway winner

The lucky reader who is going to have a brand new SPIbelt is...

Amy! Please email me at trufflesntreadmills [at] aol [dot] com with your shipping information so we can get you set up with your new SPIbelt! Please remember that SPIbelt cannot guarantee any specific colors.

If you entered this giveaway but did not win and are really interested in buying a SPIbelt for youself, I highly recommend them! I seriously love mine and my phone, ID, and GU all fit perfectly! See my full review here.

Question

Have you ever re-purposed or revamped an ordinary object into something awesome?

40 Dozen Cookies Later

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to brainstorm a few different fundraising ideas for my aunt who is battling ovarian cancer. I thought that a "bake sale" would be a fun thing to do and figured that some of our family's coworkers and friends would be interested in buying some goodies from us to help out with my cause.

Little did I know that I would be baking over 30 dozen cookies and 10 dozen cupcakes all in less than two days. I knew that some people would want some cookies but I didn't think that many people would. I am extremely happy with the turnout but wish I had a little more time so I wasn't rushing around.

I headed home Friday night and didn't get home until almost midnight. As soon as I got home I tallied up the orders and wrote out a shopping list. The next morning I headed to the store and grabbed everything I needed and immediately started baking once I got home. Of course I forgot a few things so my mom and step dad were kind enough to make a few errands for me.

My brothers were also nice enough to help me out occasionally. They helped to cut up the caramel pieces, carry trays for me, and loaded up my car with all of the orders.

(Photo by Michelle)

I also had a little bit of help with packaging up the orders. I stamped "Thank You" on tags and tied them with teal ribbon on the bags and boxes. I stuck with the teal theme because it is the color for ovarian cancer.

Thank you to all of you who ordered and helped out my cause! If you would like to help out click here and find out some more information on how you can donate.

I will be posting the recipes for all of the cookies and cupcakes I made. Be sure to stay tuned for the recipes for Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip cookies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss cookies, Lemon Crinkle cookies, Chocolate Chip cookies, Red Velvet cupcakes, Chocolate cupcakes, and Vanilla Cupcakes!


Have you ever done a bake sale?