Blend is here! And so is more info on HLS 2013!

Hey Friends!!

Tomorrow morning I fly out for Blend! I've been mapping out my whole week everyday and now it's down to the wire! Still have to detangle Kaydin's puff ball tonight so Tim doesn't have to deal with it too much over the weekend. Although, he's pretty good at taming and maintaining her hair and he does pull off a pretty decent ponytail! :)


So on the heels of returning from Blend Retreat, I'll start thinking about the Healthy Living Summit, being held in Minneapolis this year! Since it's within driving distance, I'll be there!! The HLS Planning Team gave heads up to the Street Team (a larger, additional layer of the planning team that gives input and bounces ideas for the conference that I'm a member of) earlier this week that information on tickets sales and more deets had been released!



Check out the info below and tell me I'll be seeing you at HLS this year! This will be my first one and I'm already so excited!

Q: Where is the 2013 Summit going to be held?
A: This year we’re taking the Twin Cities by storm, and staying at the beautiful Hilton Minneapolis. For details on room rates and more, check out the hotel page. (Check out the Top 5 Reasons We’re Excited to Visit the Twin Cities in September, too!)

Q: When is the agenda going to be released?/When will speakers be announced?A: You’re in luck!  The agenda is now live on our 2013 Agenda page!

Q: When do tickets go on sale?A: Online registration will start on May 29, 2013, beginning at 8:30 PM eastern time.  More details about registration will be announced soon, so be sure to subscribe to our feed!

Q: How much will tickets be?A: The registration cost for #hls13 is $130 a ticket.

Q: Are there going to be roommates if we want to reduce our hotel costs?A: We know that many people in the blog world consider themselves “blog friends.” If you want to organize a roommate situation, feel free to use the Healthy Living Summit Facebook page as a resource to do so.

Q. Can I ask a brand I like to sponsor my trip to the Healthy Living Summit? How does that work?A: Sure! Please check out our Blogger Guidelines for Personal Sponsors page for information on personal sponsorship.

Q: But I don’t know anyone!
A:  Not to worry, since we all have the same interests it will be easy to make friends! What better conversation starters than healthy living, blogging, and social media? This is a great place to meet new friends!

Q: Do I have to be a blogger?
A: No! Many attendees do not have their own blogs. We can’t guarantee you won’t be inspired to start one afterwards though! 

Q: I’ve got an idea for the summit! Who should I talk to?A: Check out our contact page if you’d like to email us about mini-mingles, fit-mingles or other social events, adding your product to the swag bags, becoming a sponsor, or with general questions or feedback.  We’d love to hear from you!

Q. Who is organizing this whole thing?A: You can meet the bloggers behind #hls13 here.

Who's planning on attending HLS this year?

Scenes from the weekend

This weekend included LOTS of fun things!

• Mother's Day presents from Kaydin
• Dinner and drinks out with girlfriends
• Farmer's Market and our first breakfast burrito of the season
• Car repairs. Josh changed my oil and my dad patched my tires after finding screws in two of them!
• Reese's chips on sale at the grocery store. A great find for Tim!
• 4-wheeler riding
• Grilling with the fam
• Planting the garden
• An unexpected tire change along the road
• My cousin, Meghan's graduation
• Spending time with my Grandma from Kansas

I've been tagged...

Recently, I was nominated again for a Leibster Award! Since I've done this once before and it's circled around the web for awhile, I'm not going to complete it the traditional way. I'll just answer their questions and not nominate more since alot of the bloggers I know have already completed it. Thanks for thinking of me Nicole and Alex!


Nicole's 11 questions:
1. If you had the chance to go back in time for 24 hours, where and when would you go?
I have lots of times I would go to but I guess the most obvious would be when Kaydin was born. My labor and birth story isn't horrific like some, I actually loved my time in the hospital! It was so fun! People think I'm crazy, but really it was! I would love to go back and do it all again and hold her as a tiny 6 pound baby again.

2. What is your favorite candy?
Twix! I like many but Twix is my fav!

3. What is your favorite song to sing along to?
Most Bon Jovi songs are good to sing along to.

4. Where is your favorite place to find a good deal/bargain?
I am a bargain shopper wherever I go! I always go straight to the sale racks and rarely buy things regular price. My favorite place would be Target, NY & Co., or Kohl's.

5. If you could own the wardrobe from any show/movie, what would it be?
Oooo, the Sex and the City wardrobe would be cool! Not too practical though!

6. What are two foods you could never give up?
Well salads have lots in them but I'm gonna say that. I eat salads year round. After too many at once I get sick of them, but always go back! Another would probably be cookies, any kind! :)

7. What is your favorite place you’ve ever visited?
I think my favorite vacation was Tim and I's cruise a couple years ago. We visited many islands on that trip. St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, and St. Kitt's. Can't wait to get to the Caribbean again!

8. If you knew today was your last day on Earth, how would you spend it?
Obviously, with family. As many as I could gather. My dad is the youngest of 10 and my mom also has two brothers so I have a big family. We would eat, laugh, share stories, and eat again! I would eat anything and everything since it was my last day and all! 

9. If someone wrote a book on your life what would you like the title to be?
Hmmmm, oh gosh. I really don't know! Anyone have any suggestions to throw out??

10. What is your favorite Christmas carol?
Silent Night is a good one! :)

11. Do you have any nicknames?
Oh, the nicknames. I have many from childhood from family members. Mollie McGoo, Mollie McGee, Molly McButter. And then many from Tim. He calls me Mommy Lyon which then morphed into Mommy Salamie. I keep saying I need a new name. I don't want to be called a greasy meat! So now we sometimes call each other BooBerry.

Alex's 11 questions:

1. What’s your favorite food? If you know me well, you know I don't play favorites. haha, I definitely have things I prefer, but I have the hardest time choosing a favorite anything. Some things I like though-- most all fruits and veggies, coconut, all nuts, cheeseballs, Greek food, pickles, caramel, white cake, chocolate cake, sugar cookies, guacamole, really seedy bread (the seedier the better!), broccoli cheese soup, thin crispy pizza, sunflower seeds in the shell (ball park staple), and salads with lots of toppings.
2. What’s your favorite way to get your sweat on? Working out is not my fav. Granted, once I take time off or can't for some reason I get antsy, but really it's not my favorite part of the day. That said, though, I like my body weight exercises circuits I do. Lunges, many ab moves, planks, squats, arms with dumbells, different thigh moves. Something different and changing rather than just the elliptical or treadmill.
3. What’s your favorite hobby? (Sick of favorites yet?) I really love blogging and blog reading. Connecting with people is fun for me! I also want to learn to knit or crochet and sew. I decided I want to get a sewing machine, but I really hope I use it if I get one. Kaydin and I also have some plans to ride some trails around the city this summer. I just need to get a bike first. :)
4. Describe your typical day. 

Alarm goes off 6:28. Use my 5 minute snooze multiple times.

I finally get up between 6:45-6:55.

Get Kaydin up around 7. 

Leave house 7:30-7:45

Drop Kaydin off at before care at her school.

Get to work at DMU at 7:45-8:00.

Work through the day til about 3:15.

Go to the gym on campus.

Leave work 3:55 to pick Kaydin up from school. (Wednesdays I work late)

After school we run errands if needed or go home to shower and start cooking while Kaydin watches Curious George or Word Girl. If it's nice or we're not having something for supper that requires much time, we will go on a walk/bike ride around home or to the park.

We usually eat around 6:00 or so.

Watch some TV and do some crafting with Kaydin. Catch up on her library books from school.

Around 8 get Kaydin into bed and her movie started. Then I usually watch some TV in my bedroom.

8:30- turn Kaydin's TV off. 

I watch TV or read until about 10-10:30 and then it's lights out! 

5. Are you a morning person, or a night owl? I think I'm neither. I don't like getting up in the morning but I also cannot stay up late!

6. What’s your favorite form of social media (if any)? I'm a fan of Instrgram! Click here to follow me! :)

7. What’s one item you always have to have with you? Typical, but my phone!

8. What’s the last thing you ate? I am currently sipping on my protein drink. Fitmixer vanilla skinny powder mixed with water.

9. What’s your guilty pleasure? Hmmm, I usually give in to any type of baked good. The cookies in our cafeteria at work are to die! Also, I love me some baked doritos!

10. If you could take a vacation anywhere this summer, where would it be? If I could choose anywhere, it would be a trip through Europe definitely hitting Italy and Greece. A Mediterranean cruise would be cool too!

11.What’s your favorite song?  I have always loved J. Holiday's song, Suffocate!

Weekly Catch-up

We had a busy pretty busy week this week! The work week didn't fly by, but our after work activities had us busy most nights!

Monday night was typical gymnastics but we also had a softball game. I think Mondays will be our busiest night this month since her softball games fall on Mondays right after gymnastics a few times.

Busy nights call for quick and easy suppers. Kaydin chose peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a Clif Z bar. I went with a fruit and protein smoothie followed by some thrown together trail mix using ingredients we had on hand at home.

Tuesday night we had a quiet night with an easy and delicious dinner. I made the same shrimp and quinoa dish pictured here.

Wednesday we had a fun evening planned with my friend Traci. We went up to Sky Zone, the indoor trampoline park in Grimes. On our way up there, though, we stopped to pick up my new cards I had printed for the blog. A friend from high school that owns a printing company, Bowen Design, printed them for me and the talented Calee designed them!

 

Thursday night was another quiet night. We stayed in and tried to escape from all the flying snow. Not a happy camper over here. I love my spring and fall months and I really hate when the weather doesn't cooperate.

 

 

Friday some family were in town so we ventured to their hotel for some pizza and swimming. Kaydin is a fish and was super excited to hit the pool.

Saturday morning we enjoyed a relaxing morning at home, a little cleaning and organizing and then headed out for some grocery shopping. Our original plan was to hit up the first Downtown Farmer's Market for opening day but the weather once again ruined our plans. It was barely 40 degrees with off and on rain all day. I love the market-- but not enough to stroll through in that crappy weather!

I think the whole city was thinking the same thing, though, because we fought our way through heavy crowds at every store, long checkout lines, and lots of traffic everywhere we went.

In the evening we headed out to a new Mexican restaurant in the area, Cabo Sol, for some Cinco de Mayo indulgence.

 Peach margarita perfection

 

Chimichanga hit the spot! :)

This morning Kaydin and I took the dogs for a nice long walk before coming back home for some breakfast smoothies.

 

That brings us to now and we're about to head out the door for lunch at Panera. Hope everyone else had a great weekend, too!



Pin it party

I know us Midwesterners are always talking about weather and how finicky it can be but today, today Mother Nature really outdid herself. It's been snowing big heavy snowflakes allll day in Des Moines. We're getting pretty lucky, though, because it's not cold enough to stick and accumulate. People in northern Iowa didn't get as lucky. Mom said their power was out all morning and she woke up to 6-8 inches of snow. ON MAY 2nd?!? And I heard on the news that places in Minnesota and Wisconsin got 13-18 inches. This spring snow totally ruined our plans tonight. We were going to head to the Valley Junction Farmer's Market before Kaydin's softball game.  :(

Anyway, there's my little weather rant.

Moving on...today I'm participating in a link up put on by Lindsey at The Lean Green Bean. She's hosting a Pin It party and inviting fellow bloggers to link up five of their blog posts that are Pinterest worthy.

First off, though, you can follow me on Pinterest here.

Here's a few of mine:

DIY Film Strip Glass Vase

My Mom made this for me for Christmas. And all with materials she already had around the house.

Almond Meal Encrusted Chicken Strips

I crusted these chicken strips with almond meal leftover from making homemade almond milk.

White Chicken Pizza with Sautéed Peppers and Onions

This is one of my brother Josh's signature dishes! To die! He used to make it all the time for us a few years ago when we were roommates.

DIY Harvest Basket

Josh also made this creation for me. I emailed a picture and it was ready the next time I visited.

Kitchen Sink Cookie Bars

I threw these together using all of the many baking ingredients I had cluttering up my cupboards. An easy cookie bar recipe using pantry staples.

Now go visit Lindsey's page and pin away!

I'm SO ExCiTeD....!

There's some fun things happening and approaching that have me giddy with excitement!! :)

1. Blend Retreat- I am sooo excited for Blend and to meet new people and have a fun relaxing weekend at a beautiful resort in Utah! We received our roommate assignments this week and I can't.freaking.wait until May 17th!
 (source)

2. Kaydin's softball season has kicked off and we've been spending a couple nights throughout the week at the ballpark. It has been so nostalgic for me. It makes me miss my old softball days like crazy! Just being there and near the dugout, kicking the dust, and spitting seeds. Just makes me want to rewind over ten years and play again with my old teammates! I'm really hoping she sticks with the sport as I can keep reliving my old softball days every summer!

3. The Valley Junction and Downtown farmer's markets kick-off this week. Valley Junction's on Thursday and the big downtown one on Saturday. With the weather forecast showing snow in Iowa I'm not sure how it's gonna turn out but we plan on attending them both! Can't wait for our first pupusa and breakfast burrito of the season!






4. I feel like everyone around me is pregnant! Last Sunday I attended my good friend Summer's baby shower. Only a few weeks until her little GIRL is here! So excited to snuggle a new baby girl again. The six years that have gone by since Kaydin was a tiny baby are too far away and I'm ready to spoil and spend some time with Baby Evans!

Photo bomber alert! 

Take 2! Much better!

5. I've got some dates set on the calendar for some much needed girl time. I see sweet drinks, patio suppers, and pool lounging in the near future! :)

6. Even though the snow may be coming again we did have a few nice days that allowed lots of flowers and trees to pop their blooms. I'm loving all the bursts of colors I see driving through the neighborhood!


What are some exciting things you are looking forward to in your future?

Slow Cooker Green Split Pea, Barley and Lentil Soup

I made this recipe months ago and really should've gotten it out by now since we're hopefully now into spring. I tweaked Emily's recipe and loved it! 

Packed full of nutrient-rich ingredients and a crockpot recipe. Total winner!

I'm hoping we're past all those cold days in Iowa, but the weather has been crazy all across the country. We just can't kick winter this year. So maybe (let's hope not) there will be a straggling chilly day that's perfect for this warm, healthy, hearty soup.

 

Split Pea and Barley Soup
Adapted from Fit and Free with Emily

Ingredients

• 2 cups Dried Split Peas
• .5 cup Barley
• .5 cup White Onion, Diced
• 1 cup carrot, Diced
• 5 cups Chicken Broth
• 2 cups Water
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 2.5 teaspoons Dried Basil
• .5 tsp Garlic Powder
• 2 tsp Black Pepper
• 2 tsp Kosher Salt

Directions: Rinse your peas. Take all the pretty things and throw them into a 5qrt (minimum) crock-pot. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. If you want to add diced ham, add to the pot with 1 hour left. You may need to add water depending on your cooker and how thick you like it!

 

Guest Post: Words from Mom, part 7

Here is another long overdue installment from my guest post series authored by my mom. 

Did you miss her previous posts? Catch up at the links below!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
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September 17, 2008, Josh's 21st birthday, should have been an exciting time for him, finally legal age to go drink in the bars. He was living in Des Moines working at Stella's Diner as a cook, something he loves to do, he was doing his army reserve weekends at Camp Dodge and was preparing for special training in the future.  He was looking forward to a trip to Florida the following week with Mollie and his Dad.  Little did we know that it would be months later before they would make that trip. 

When I called Josh that day, which was on a Wednesday that year, to wish him a happy birthday, I didn't know how close we would come to losing him.

Thursday, September18 started out as a normal day.  Dennis got up and went to work, I followed my normal routine trying to get some things done at home.  I had to work that afternoon/evening and was planning to go to Des Moines early the next morning to get Kaydin.  Mollie had a wedding that weekend and the following Monday was when Josh, Mollie and Dennis were to leave for their Florida trip.  So I went to work and left to come back home at the end of the shift around 11:00pm.  I always keep my phone on vibrate at work and often forget to turn the volume back up.  When I got home and found 14 missed calls from Mollie (Dennis also had 8 missed calls he was in bed and his phone was on the charger in the kitchen), I knew something was wrong.  When I called Mollie back I learned that Josh had gotten hurt at work. She didn't have much information but did say that it didn't seem serious that he had a cut of some kind, but they were keeping him overnight to check him out further in the morning. Obviously as a mother I wanted to be there serious or not.  I was due to go get Kaydin anyway so after waking up Dennis and explaining what little I knew to him, I left for Des Moines promising Dennis I would call him when I got there and found out what had happened.  

I went straight to Broadlawns Hospital where Josh had been taken, arriving there at about 3:00am.  When I got to Josh's room, I realized his injury was far worse than we first thought.  He was in a lot of pain and complained about not being able to pee, I got the nurse and she used a straight cath to relieve him.  From the look on her face when she came out of the room, I knew things were going from bad to worse.  When I asked her what was wrong, the only thing she could say was "it came out all blood"  I demanded that she call the doctor, I was told that the doctor would be there soon.  I kept asking for the doctor just to be told the same thing.  About an hour later the doctor finally arrive and after examining Josh again stated that they were planning to do exploratory surgery on him.  I called Dennis and Mollie, giving them the little information I knew at that point.  Dennis planned to leave work and was headed to Des Moines.  So Josh went into surgery for the first time that day.  After the surgery the doctor stated that they did not know the extent of Josh's injuries, and that they were planning on doing more testing, a CAT scan and a cystogram test. Mollie had the wedding to attend, she really couldn't get out of it since she was part of the bridal party. She dropped Kaydin off at the hospital.  Dennis arrived with Mollie and we waited for the testing to be done so we could get the results.  The doctor stated that they were not sure how bad Josh's injuries were. Mollie's best friend, Kristyn, came to get Kaydin. Things were getting so crazy and we didn't want her to be at the hospital at that time.  She was only just 20 months old at the time. She loves her uncle Joshie and didn't need to see him that way.

We had Josh transferred to Iowa Methodist there in Des Moines. They had the specialist on staff that we needed to determine the extent of Josh's injuries and give him the care he required. We knew that Josh's injuries were serious, and when we arrived at Iowa Methodist saw how busy their ER was, I was worried. But they were waiting for us with a room ready and then we were told the news about the tests that had been done.  Because of the fall at the restaurant, Josh had two tears in his colon and two holes in his bladder, one going in from the back and the other coming out the front.  The doctor informed us that they had no idea how he was still alive with such injuries and he had been bleeding internally for over 21 hours.

Next:  Josh goes into another surgery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I remember getting the phone call that Josh was in the hospital. I think it was around 10:00pm. Tim and I were in the beginning of our relationship, he had just left not too long ago from my house. After I talked to Josh I let him know I would be there to see him and figure out what was going on. At that time he thought he would be going home shortly. I couldn't get a hold of Tim to come back and watch Kaydin while I ran to the hospital so I packed her up and brought her with me.  When I got there Josh let me know they were actually going to keep him overnight to check things out further in the morning. He was laying on his stomach, in a lot of pain, but we actually laughed about the whole situation. I stayed for awhile with him and then left to get Kaydin back home. His girlfriend at the time was there with him so that made me feel better that he wouldn't be there alone. I finally talked to mom and let her know the deal and that she could just come in the morning, but as I know even better now, I couldn't keep her away. The next morning I honestly can't remember all the details. Dad obviously came into town and I went to the hospital to drop Kaydin off. I didn't even get to go in to see Josh, I had to get on the road for my friend Rachel's wedding. I was driving up with our friend Adam Tucker and needed to meet him for our 4 hour trip to Decorah. When I pulled up in front of the hospital and Mom came out she hugged me just sobbing and worried. I still didn't understand how serious the situation was and really felt no worries. I tried to comfort her and she was happy Dad was now there. I hated to leave but couldn't skip out on a wedding where I was a part of the wedding party. The next few weeks were long, tiring, and a scary time for our family.