Friday Favorites #14

Happy Friday everyone!

I promised Margot that I would get this post up this week so that she would love me forever hahaha. There's a story behind that because I've been spending a lot of time developing a workout program of my own, and since Margot is family she gets to be in on it! Well, the leg day ended up being killer and it took both her and I about 4 days for our legs to finally recover, I wish I was exaggerating but I'm not! I ended up making some changes afterwards and adding in more exercises so she said that we couldn't be friends anymore. Which broke my heart, obviously, and I promised to make sure to post Friday Favorites every week for the rest of my life if only she would love me again. She was totally kidding anyway (I hope), but since Friday Favorites are her favorite post and I don't want to take any risks, I made sure to get them up this week! 

1. Special K Barbecue Chips 

I usually don't like Special K products but let me tell you, these chips are spot on! It was completely random that I even got them but I'm glad I did. My friend at work and I were on our usual afternoon caffeine run, where she was telling me a story about how she was randomly craving barbecue chips when they're not usually her go-to (we like to talk about food a lot haha). Right before I was about to check out with my iced tea, these chips caught my eye. Hearing her story about barbecue chips really made me want chips! I figured if I was going to indulge the craving, I should choose a lighter option. I'm officially in love because they were thicker like how it says crackers but still have the crunchy and flaky texture of chips without being too greasy. And the seasoning and barbecue flavor were perfect! I was very impressed, and pleasantly surprised by this find. Now, it's going to be hard to turn them down most afternoons when we stop for our caffeine fix! 

2. Kale Sprouts

As I've mentioned countless times on this blog, I'm obsessed with vegetables. My parents never ever had trouble getting me to eat vegetables while I was growing up. Seriously to the point where parents would ask my mom and dad at restaurants how they got me to eat certain things haha! True story, parents would gawk at me and Amanda eating vegetables, sushi, salads, etc. Well, I'm always willing to try new veggies that I come across so I immediately snagged these kale sprouts the second I saw them! I whipped them up in a side dish, and fell in love! My next thing with them is to roast them in the oven to get kale sprout chips like what I usually do for kale chips. I'll let you know how it goes! 

3. Find Me Gluten Free App

Amanda downloaded this app last week since she's had to go gluten-free the past couple months. It doesn't benefit me personally since I don't have to avoid gluten but I think in general the app is a really good idea! What it does is you can plug in your location and it'll tell you gluten-free friendly restaurants in the area! I think it'd especially be great for when you're traveling and don't know the area. But it still comes in handy even if you're not because there might be a place that you didn't know was gluten-free friendly. Like the Double Wide grill for example! When we went last week, Amanda was pleasantly surprised to find that they have a lot of gluten-free options or can alter the regular dishes to be gluten-free. Overall I think apps like this are a really smart idea, and helpful for people who can't eat gluten. I thought I'd mention it in case it would help anyone else out! And if you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment or email and I'll pass it along to Amanda!

4. Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)

I've been going to BSF for two years now. I started in September 2013 with the Matthew group where we studied the book of Matthew from September until the end of April. Then, this year we studied the life of Moses so we covered Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The way the study works is you go from September until the end of April/beginning of May covering a specific topic of the Bible. This coming September we'll be doing Revelations which everyone is super excited about since it's a totally new lesson plan and study, they've never done it before! The great thing about BSF is it's international. There are classes that meet all over the world, and we all get the exact same lesson plan and study the same passages each week. Which means you can probably find a class that meets in your area! You can check the website here. You can join the study at any time, it's not like you have to start in September so there's always new women showing up every week. It's divided in to men's and women's groups, they meet on different nights. Then, within the women's class you usually get divided up by age so you can be around women close to your own age. It's great for meeting new friends, and making meaningful connections with the women in your group. I absolutely love my group this year, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I knew most of them last year so I felt we've really grown together especially this past year. My group leader is fantastic and we like to have breakfast dates some weekends! I would highly recommend checking it out because I definitely have learned a ton the past two years! 

5. Quote of the Week

"Worry is believing God won't get it right" - Todd Wagner

This quote hit me hard because I am THE biggest worry wart. It's just in my nature, and I can get very worked up and anxious over things. I often need to remind myself to take a step back, take a deep breath, and give it over in prayer before working myself up in to a panic. It doesn't help that the rest of my family are worry warts too, and we can just feed in to each others' anxieties. I felt very convicted with this quote because I had never really thought of worrying that way, that I'm doubting God's sovereignty or plan. One area in my faith that I really need to work on is just letting my worries go and giving them over to God. It is so much easier said than done but something that I try to work on little by little. Things like making financial decisions about school, career choices, or even the safety of my family members. Like I can get myself so worked up if I know Amanda has to drive a long distance to get somewhere because I'll worry about accidents, car troubles, etc. The scenarios that can pop in my head are endless. I wish it was as easy to stop like when someone tells me to calm down, but it's not. So it's definitely something I struggle with, but it's manageable and I try to work on it constantly. Quotes like this really help me to put it in perspective so I wanted to share in case there's anyone else who struggles with worrying! 

Okay so now that I have this posted...MARGE PLEASE LOVE ME AGAIN