Tip for TODAY!

The tip today is to take a walk. You can take a walk with someone or you can go alone. It is good to get out and enjoy what is around us. It is also good to get a little bit of exercise! Walking is one of the healthier versions of exercise. It is low contact on your joints and gets you fresh air. ENJOY THE WALK!

Another... how to have a better life :D

Tip of the day!!!
Get a picture you love! The picture can be a religious picture, sunset, horses, what ever makes you happy. Buy, print or even draw something. It is good to see something that cheers you up in your home. You don't have to have it in the living room, you need to have it where YOU can see it.

This is the new picture that I now have hanging on my wall. I love it!! It was a late wedding gift. This is what makes me happy. What picture will make you happy hanging on your wall?

Make the world a better place?

Tip of the day!

Make a goal tomorrow to smile at someone. You never know what kind of influence you will make in someones life. That woman you walk passed may have had a really bad day. That man you walk passed may have just lost his job. We never know what people are going through. I wonder if we would treat each other differently if we could see every bodies hardships on a sign. Would be treat them differently? Make sure you smile at people tomorrow!

https://thechocolatepretzel.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/worlds-biggest-buzzing-lip-gloss/

It was crazy how much this lip gloss would buzz!!! check it out! I talk about what it was like the first time I tried it!

https://thechocolatepretzel.wordpress.com/2016/03/31/god-speaks-to-us-now/

https://thechocolatepretzel.wordpress.com/2016/03/31/tips-to-prevent-cold-sores/
I started a second blog! Check out this post!

Tip to having a happier life!

I want to apologize for the lack of posting over the past few days. I got super sick! I had a cold a while back, but it came back with a vengeance! I will try to post as normal.

Tip #7 Deep clean ONE room in your house. With me being sick the past few days, I really let the living room go.... and a few other rooms. :D I do try to clean the house on Saturdays, but I could not handle the living room. (I may very well clean the rest of the house today when my husband gets home :D). The feeling in a room after it is just cleaned is AMAZING! Just saying. I put a fresh smelly good wax in the electric wax melter, and it feels like a completely different room!

He has risen

Today is a day that we all celebrate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I remember so many times in my life when it was so hard. I always knew he was watching over me. No matter how hard things got, I would never suffer alone. I will forever be thankful for what he did for me and those I love. He died for me, for you and everyone, and then rose to save us all. 

Today show your love for Jesus Christ by sharing how you feel with someone. Share it on Facebook, share it somewhere. You never know who needs your experiences. Share something small or long, just share something this Easter Sunday. 

Here are more Easter videos I HIGHLY recommend.

https://www.mormon.org/easter?cid=HP_SU_3-13-2016_dMIS_fSPC_xLIDyL1-A_

Nashville Tribute Band!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJy4ZOiIFe4&feature=youtu.be
Happy Easter everybody!! I love this CD. This band, the Nashville tribute band, has came out with so many amazing CDs. I will encourage you all to YouTube the rest of their CDs, especially their Redeemer CD this Easter season.

Prologue - Murder on the Loch

 Welcome to the first post of the book me and my husband are writing together!!! (Mostly my husband :D) We are going to post a section of the book once a week on Fridays. It is healthy to unwind and relax, and a good way to do this is read a book. We will provide the book, you do the relaxing! Enjoy and don't forget to send us feedback with what you like!

Prologue

            The mist hung eerily on the rolling hills that stretched out into the distance. The mist hindered anyone’s view of what lie ahead in the far distance. With the other times I had visited this land, it was clear and visibility was high. The cold mist spread into my lungs with each breath, sharpening my focus. The bus drove off from behind me as I stared out to the pier where a small boat hung in the water, an older man standing over the ties that kept the small craft to the wood platform. I began the short walk down the steps to the pier to meet him.

            “Hi-ya Master Grey!” said the fisherman and ferryman, Bruckner was his name, in his heavy Scottish accent, “The Grey Manor is bustling about with people today. Seems like some family have come to visit. Got a gatherin’ for the day?”

            Puzzled, I asked, “Gathering? Why no, I don’t believe there is one. I’m just returning from a journey to tend to my Grandfather,” stepping up to the boat, I continued, “Don’t suppose you know who came to visit?”

            “Aye, I remember a few faces,” said Bruckner, “That ugly aunt of yours with her loud Chinese man of her’s. Never much liked the Chinese. Gonna take over the world they are.”

            I chuckled, “Right you are good sir, but they’re not all bad.”

            Bruckner eyed me, “Ye cannae ken a snake to show itself until it strikes do ya?

            “I suppose not,” I muttered, unsure of the exact meaning of that statement, but I think I got the jist of it. My understanding of the Scottish colloquial was pretty rudimentary.

            The water licked up the sides of the small wooden boat like a frog’s tongue lapping out at the lilies of the lake. The hum of the motor was hypnotizing with its continual roar. So many summers I had come to visit the Grey Manor as a small boy. Summers were so different from the mist that hung over the Loch this time of year.  Loch Ness was such an amazing, beautiful lake. I had often played with my brother, trying to find the monster that so many spoke of. I can reassure you now, we never found it. Grandpa Grey had been so welcoming to us, even overjoyed to see us. Those times faded away with the onset of time and the dementia set in. Our visits here grew less and less. He aged so quickly and became so angry. He did not remember us, he did not remember himself. We all knew this time would come and we would all gather here to celebrate his life.

            “Master Grey? We have arrived, Welcome back,” Bruckner said looking at the shape appearing in the near distance.

            I had not noticed when we started to approach the Manor, lost in my daze. The Scottish har made visibility so poor on the loch. The Manor emerged out of the har in all its wonder and glory. Grey Manor was almost more of a castle than a Manor. It had been in the family for many years and had been passed down from father to son. No battles had been fought here and it had no historical significance. The construction was indeed after the castles of old, but it was not as old. It also carried the impact of every steward that lived in it. Grandpa had remodeled parts of the Manor and made it his own.

            I stepped out of the rocking boat and payed Bruckner his wages, “Thank y’lad. It was good to see ya once again.”

            I nodded to him, “You too as well Mr. Bruckner. May your day fair well.”

            The boat turned away and flitted into the mist and har of the Loch. Ahead of me expanded the great Grey Manor, alight with activity and people in the front entrance greeting hall. Darkness had enveloped the surrounding area around the sides as the island extended out towards the lake. I walked up to the round-about where some cars had been parked, Must have taken a larger ferry across with their cars, I thought.

            I ascended the stairs and slowly rapped the front door. After a moment, the large wooden doors swung open to reveal an older gentleman, Butler Grosky, my grandfather’s personal butler, and the only one willing to stay after his health had begun to deteriorate.

            Grosky slowly began to smile, “Well, Master Grey, what a pleasant surprise!”

            I smiled back, “Hello Grosky, good to see you.”

            “Me and the other cook hands made a bet that you would have broken an arm on those absurd waterslides you said you were going to visit,” Grosky joked.

            I chuckled, “Well, I didn’t break anything. Did you bet against me Grosky?”

            A sly smile crept onto his face, “Why of course my boy! You could imagine the money I had paid out for it too,” the smile dropped and he continued, “Please come in Master Grey, the rest of the family has already arrived.”

            “For what?” I asked.

            All traces of the joviality in Grosky’s face had withered out of him, and he looked down, concerned.

            He continued, “I am sorry my good comrade, but your grandfather, Master Grey, has passed as of recently.”

            I stiffened, shocked by the news, “How? Did his Alzheimer’s finally get to him?”

            Grosky sighed and continued, “No good sir, it was murder.”

Live Love LAUGH

The Tip of the day is coming way before the post of the day. :D As Tip #6 We all need to Laugh. Watch this video, I think it is super funny!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yltlJEdSAHw

We all need to laugh more! There have been many studies on laughter and how it affects us. I was curious to what the brain does when we laugh, so I looked it up and found this website! The video gives all the information the website does (So in other words watch the video, it is better!)

http://www.sciencealert.com/watch-here-s-what-happens-to-you-brain-when-you-laugh

I had an idea that laughing was healthy for you, but didn't know it would lower your chance of a heart attack! :D pretty crazy stuff! So make sure you laugh a lot today!! If you have any feedback or requests send me an email!

And don't forget to log back in for the first posting of "The Book." Come back to read!

Oh those moments!

This has nothing to do with today's theme, it is just a funny little ditty to hopefully make you all laugh today. You know those moments when you are deep in thought and aren't paying close attention to your surroundings. I had a moment like that at work today!
So..... I work in a local high school and I really enjoy my job. I was going to clock out and was thinking about the upcoming break. Then I came around the corner and BOOM there was a person! Someone leaving the office to go home. I jumped so bad! She then proceeded to give me..... a cupcake! It was brilliant!

ST. PATRICKS DAY!!! Strawberries!!

Its St. Patrick's day!!!! I love this holiday! It is a great opportunity for me to celebrate my mission in Scotland! Sure it is a holiday for Ireland, but I celebrate it my own way :D What I love about dipped strawberries is you can do them for any holiday!!!

Going along with today's theme of taking time for ourselves today and making ourselves better, I made chocolate dipped strawberries with the hubby! We all need to take some time to detox and relax. We can all do this in different ways, just as long as we relax and not worry about things. For you this could be a movie. It could be a face mask. JUST DO SOMETHING!!

Making chocolate dipped strawberries is actually really easy, and it is a good gift! I am going to break it down to basic, easy to follow steps! Enjoy!

1. First things first, go through the container to make sure there are no bad strawberries. The last thing your gonna want is a bad strawberry covered in chocolate. I know lots of people say you can make anything taste good if its dipped in chocolate...... ha ha no. :D I also leave the leafy part on top, on so you have something to hold on to as you dip.

2. There are two ways of melting your chocolate. 1) get 2 pots, one pot of bowling water on the stove and another pot for the chocolate. Put the pot of chocolate on the bowling water and let it melt while string it. 2) microwave it in a safe bowl. We did the boiling water route! We also used semi sweet chips to make it a little bit healthier.

3. Get out a baking sheet and put parchment paper on to make sure it doesn't stick. (We don't have parchment paper... so we just put them on the non stick surface :D.) After the strawberries are dry and the chocolate is melted and slightly cooled, dip them! Make sure to cover all the sides.

4. Decorate them as you wish! We had some mini dark chocolate chips and sprinkles! :D Then we got white chocolate chips, melted them and put green food dye in it. The decorating part has to be the funniest..... other than eating them!

My hubby decorating!

My attempt at a four leaf clover

His finished smiley :D

They were so good!

Healthy COOKIES

These were actually really good :D Me and my husband just wanted a healthy snack, so we made these. It was really fun to make them together, he is usually at work or school and I'm usually gone for work. We rarely get to make things together. The cookies turned out a little more like a biscuit, which I still thought was great! They are not as sweet as normal cookies, but they are a great healthy alternative! When you try this recipe send me an email with what you think!!

Oatmeal Chocolate chip Cookies
3/4 cup oat flour (This is just regular oats put in a blender)
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup quick oats 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
4 Tablespoons brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1. First step is to put the oats in the food processor till it looks like flour. The 3/4 cup oat flour is after you blend it, not 3/4 cup blended.
2. Get a medium mixing bowl and mix oat flour, old-fashioned oats, quick oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
3. In a separate bowl mix vanilla extract, egg and brown sugar. Melt the coconut oil and then let it sit for a few minutes. (If you put hot oil in the egg mixture, you will have cooked eggs in your cookies and it wont taste very good). Stir till it is well mixed.
4. Mix the dry ingredients and STIR TILL COMBINED. Then fold in chocolate chips (I put a little extra chocolate chips in :D).
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then cool for 30 minutes to an hour. You want it cool enough for it to be solid enough to scoop tight balls. The cookies MUST be tight and hardly packed or they wont turn out the way they are supposed to.
6. Preheat oven to 350*F
7. Use a cookie scoop and pack tightly. (I used my hands and did tightly packed balls.) Then place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the cookies are lightly brown. They might look under cooked, but don't worry! They will continue to cook as you let them sit of the hot cookie sheet for a couple more minutes. This is so the cookies can continue setting up!

What can I do to become a better person?

Tip #5!!!!!!
If you see any litter on the ground, throw it away! If everyone did this simple task.... just think about how clean this world would be. It doesn't matter where we all live, it matters what we do with what is around us. All we need to do is throw one thing away, and then keep throwing things in the trash.

I am now going to follow a schedule of posting! I will make 2 posts a day. I'm going to make (1
) tip of the day post and (2) a fun little ditty!

Fun little ditties!
 Monday------ Fun Activity and Game Recommendation
 Tuesday------ New Movie/Product Recommendation
 Wednesday-- Healthy Recipe
 Thursday----- Self Betterment
 Friday--------- Book Chapter!
 Saturday------ Unhealthy Recipe (Splurge Day!)
 Sunday-------- Spiritual Thought

Make sure to come back each day to see the daily post!!!! If you have any questions email me and remember that I take recommendations!! :D have a Brilliant day!

Self Betterment Tip #4!

For todays tip it can go many different ways, more versatile. :D This tip is to spend some time with someone you care about. You can do what ever with this one! You could go bowling with your spouse. You could make cookies with a friend. You could even watch a movie with your dog! Do something with someone in your life you care about. We all need to know someone cares about us, and we need to care FOR others. Send me a message with what you decide to do today!!! :D

Zootopia

Me and my husband went and watched this movie, it was adorable! It came out earlier this month and is doing really well, even when we were there the theater was almost filled.
My husband even really enjoyed the movie. It was very well written and the plot was really good. The basic story of the movie is that a rabbit named Judy wants to fulfill her dream to become a police. There are lots of characters that help her through out the story. There is a little profanity, but not much. I would highly recommend this for all ages! It was a really good, feel good movie!

Tip #3 Send a text to someone you haven't talked to in a while to see how they are doing

On some of my roughest days, I have simply gotten a text and it added a little light to my day. You never know if someone is needing a little picker up and just needing to know someone cares. It isn't that hard to send a text as well, that is why I really like this tip of the day. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTAn-tk2pDA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWi5iXnguTU

I have always loved these videos. I think that they are up lifting and inspirational. We are all worth more than we know, we just need to be reminded of it. I highly encourage you all to watch his other videos as well!

Don't forget St. Patrick's Day!! This is such a fun holiday, low stress and not too much money spent.

Holidays like this are such a great opportunity to celebrate nations that are not our on. I was able to serve my church in Scotland. Scotland and Ireland are pretty similar but to have their differences. Countries all have things that make them special!!

In these few days leading up to March 17, do something to celebrate!! This does not mean you need to eat or drink everything high in sugar or fat! Not all celebrating has to be with food! Make a wreath, make a healthy treat. Do something to get in the spirit of the holiday!

Tip #1 to a better life

There are so many things we can all do to live happier lives! One little thing can change, and the pieces fall into place.

#1. Open a door for someone. They don't always have to be someone in need. They don't need to have their hands full. They don't need to be elderly. Everybody needs to be shown they are important, and this is a small way to serve someone.

Taco Cupcakes!

WARNING: this recipe is not one that is very health :D this is a fun Saturday splurge

This may sound kind of weird, but it is actually one of my favorite easy meals. I have made these for parties or just my family. They can be dressed up with fancy garnishes, or you can just eat it as it is. This is a super fun, super cute twist on tacos!

Taco cupcakes

1 can refried beans (Brand that you prefer)
Taco meat, seasoned to taste (I like to use ground turkey to make it a little healthier)
Small bag of Doritos (your preferred flavor)
Graded cheese
1 package of uncooked wonton wrappers

1. Preheat the oven to 375*F
2. Spray your muffin tin (12 standard) with coconut cooking spray. Open the package of wonton wrappers and place one in every muffin cup. Once this is done, scoop a Tablespoon of heated refried beans on every wrapper. Scoop one Tablespoon of meat, then crush a couple of chips into small pieces and sprinkle on meat. Finish the layers by sprinkling graded cheese on top. Place another wrapper on top of the four layers and slightly press. repeat the process. (Refried beans, taco meat, chips, cheese). When you are placing the cheese, put a little more than the last layer.
3. Bake the taco cupcakes for around 15 minutes till cheese is melted.

You can garnish with lettuce, salsa, sour cream, what ever you enjoy. (I personally like putting lettuce and ketchup :D)

Enjoy!! Give your feedback :D

ALL BRAN MUFFINS!

Me and my husband LOVE this recipe! I make a batch every other week! For us with the busy days that we have, love these for breakfast. We like to add semi sweet chocolate chips, but you can add what ever you want! This is a recipe that has a little bit of wiggle room. If you like blueberries, try it. If you like cranberries, try it! See what you like!

Another awesome thing is...... you get 4 grams of fiber with the standard 12 muffin tin!

Favorite All bran Muffins

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 Table spoon baking powder

1 1/2 cups KELLOGG'S All-Bran cereal (Get the kellogg's brand, not off brands)

1 1/4 cups milk (I get 1%, but you can use any milk)

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the All-Bran and milk. Let it stand for roughly 3 minutes until the cereal is soft. (I personally, after mixing the milk and cereal, let it sit while i mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.) 

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl (flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.) 

3. Add the egg and oil to the milk/All-Bran mixture, mix well. Then add the flour mixture till all is mixed well. (I at this point add in to handfuls of chocolate chips, you can add what you want to try.)

4. Spray your muffin tin with coconut oil spray. (found in the Pam spray section of the grocery store.) OR you can use paper muffin tins. 

5. Bake at 400*F for about 20 minutes, or till golden brown. 

Wait a couple minutes, then eat one with a glass of milk. I love having one of these muffins right out of the oven when the chocolate is all melted. 

ENJOY!! send me feedback with how it goes and what you added in!

There is no substitute  for good living. 

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

         George Bernard Shaw

A good life starts with eating healthy, then saving money, then loving those that are around you. With these three things, we will all live much more fulfilling lives. 

Welcome!!

Through out the week, I am going to post Healthy recipes, Money saving tips, and other useful tips. I have tried all the recipes posted and strive to save the money! :D I am just a normal person trying to make my place in this world!