My TurboFire Over Hauliday Challenge

As many of you know, around 11 weeks ago, I became a Beach Body Coach and a TurboFire fanatic! I even shared my mighty bicep muscle growing! Pretty much since I have started the program I haven't been able to shut up about it and that is really why I decided to become a Beach Body Coach. Trust me, I am not an expert in fitness or nutrition, but what I am, is a self-described expert in sharing information! I looove to share information with people about my own experiences and of others (this is also another reason why I enjoy blogging so much!)
My point is, is I love being a Beach Body coach. Have I learned about nutrition? Yes! Have I learned about fitness? Yes! Do I have a support group of other coaches (as well as Beach Body Club Members) just like me who have the same fitness goals (as well as struggles) as I do? Yes! Do I have a new attitude toward my health? Yes! Am I motivated? Yes!
Now almost on a daily basis, I get asked about TurboFire and Shakeology.
So, I have decided, that there is no time better than the present than to start a fitness challenge! Why not have a plan of action on how to deal with the upcoming holidays and winter bulge??

I think it is really important to have a support network and I believe that is why these challenge groups are so successful. I am currently doing TurboFire alongside my co-worker and between talking to her and other Beach Body Members it has made a huge difference with me in sticking to the program, to keep pushing myself, and achieving my goals!

 If you are interested in joining the challenge or if you have any questions let me know. By the way, I know many of you all ready have TurboFire, you can still join the challenge group, you just need to order Shakeology! Also if you want to know about other programs like Insanity or P90x, Turbo Jam, etc. we can create a challenge group for that too!  You can either post a comment below or feel free to email me at tinybutterfly22@gmail.com

***The Deadline to sign up for the TurboFire Over Hauliday Challenge is November 5th. ***

The Sisterhood of The World Bloggers Award

I never expected to find such a community among bloggers!

I am so lucky to have received another blog award. This one in particular, I find myself humbled to  receive because of the blogger that I received it from. You see, Jenn from My Daily Jenn-ism, gave me this award, and that means a lot because she was one of the first people that I connected with on the Cassandra's Corner facebook page. Jenn has amazing support for other bloggers and their pages and she does this Pay it Forward where she picks pages that she likes and tells her followers to go check it out. Well, I was one of her pay-it-forward recipients and from that I was able to first see how supportive and out-reaching this blogging community really is. So the fact that Jenn picked my blog to receive this award, is super special, because not only has she been with me from the very beginning but her blog, is absolutely wonderful as well. She can be funny and serious, and you can really relate. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you Jenn! Please allow me to Pay it Forward to her now and go check her blog out! My Daily Jenn-ism
Now the name of this blog award is called, The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. How fitting is that??

The Sisterhood of World Bloggers:

1.  Thank the blogger who gave you the award.

Consider that done! Jenn, thank you, thank you! insert HUGE hug! 

2.  Post 7 things about yourself. 

Ok, here we go:

#1. I always, always have my toe nails painted. I don't believe I have ever gone 2 days in a row without toe nail polish on since I was like 10 years old.

#2. I have eczema and it sucks. Because of it, I HATE showing my hands!

#3. I have a sister, Stephanie who is 10 years older than me and a brother Izik, who is 6 years older than me. I love them both more than they probably even know. I forgive them for covering my eyes when I was little and telling me Santa was on t.v. I'm over it...really..

#4 My husband Josh and I have never been on a real vacation together. I can't wait for that to happen one day!

#5. My car is filthy. Like really disgusting on the inside. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I just can't keep it clean. I blame it on the kids, but truth be told, I think it would be a disaster without them...just less Cheeze-its and fruit snack wrappers.

#6. I hate cooking! I hate meal planning even more!

#7. Dear God, I once had to wear an eye patch for a summer when I was younger. Can you imagine..an eye patch and eczema (plus asthma)?? Luckily I grew up in a small town, and kids had no choice but to be friends with me. I no longer have to wear glasses though and my vision is great, thank you very much!

3.  Pass this award on to 7 other deserving bloggers, letting them know that they have been chosen.  

4.   Include a logo of this award in your post.

Here are the deserving 7 that I am passing this blog award onto:
Baking in a Tornado
Crazy Mama
The Empowered Mama
Callia's Corner
Cup of Tea and a Blog
From Thick to Thin
Life of Bon

Enjoy! xx

Guilt-Free Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

First of all, let me be perfectly clear that this is not a blog that will be posting many recipes, because one, I really don't care for cooking. I pin more recipes than I will ever make in my life and I do that for my family, definetly not myself. If I were single I would probably be living off of cereal, salads, and veggie burgers. I have a house of 3 boys though and even though 2 of them are under the age of 5, they all ready have appetites of teenagers! So, to keep them full and happy, I found a recipe on Pinterest for Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies, and I thought they sounded pretty delicious! Plus the recipe said high in fiber and protein and since I'm working out and trying to get in shape, I thought this could be a cookie that I could have one or two of without feeling too guilty!
The recipe I found is actually from the blog, Handmade by Hilani
I stepped out of my baking box on this one because it calls for wheat flour. Any other time, I would have been like, "Oh, puh-lease! Can't we just use regular flour??" "What do I need to go and by some Birkenstocks too to bake these and burn my bra??"
I know, silly to have such an attitude about wheat flour. I am a girl who is usually open to new options though, so I went ahead and bought some, with feet in heels and bra still on!
Here is the recipe as posted by Handmade by Hilani

Guilt Free Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies - High Fiber & Protein

 Guilt-Free Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies {High Fiber & Protein}

Preheat Oven to: 

350 degrees

Ingredients:

1 Stick of Butter (1/2 cup)

1 cup of Brown Sugar

1/2 cup of White Sugar

1 cup of Pureed Pumpkin

2 eggs, room temp

1 teaspoon of Vanilla (I pour heavy)

2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of Nutmeg

2-3 cups of Quick Oats (Bob's Red Mill)

Preparation:

Mix together dry ingredients (minus oats)

Beat Butter, sugars until creamy

Add Pumpkin, eggs and vanilla (scrap sides)

Add dry mixture to wet

Add Oats 1 cup at a time, should appear very sticky

Bake for 10-14 minutes. Top of cookies should be hard to the touch but soft when pressed.

Close all the windows before baking these because you want to 

preserve the wonderful smell!

Nutritional Facts:  When Whole Wheat Flour and Oats are used, you gain extra Protein and Fiber that's not found in white flour alone.  Consider also adding Flaxseed and you'll gain much, much more. :D

***********************

After I had the first batch baking in the oven, my husband thought it would be a great idea to add some M&M's to them (we didn't have any chocolate chips in the house) and some raisins. Jacoby of course who was my little helper in the whole process thought this was a great idea obviously!

The cookies really did come out delicious and they are super soft, almost a quick-bread like quality to them and it was a wonderful Fall treat! 

Try it out! 

Enjoy!

Oh, How Pinteresting!

I love, love, love Pinterest! So I'm happy to be linking up with The Vintage Apple this Wednesday with the "Oh How Pinteresting" theme!
Here are some of the things I'm in love with this Fall that I found to be so Pinteresting!

I love everything about this Fall outfit!  The plaid, the boots, the colors! I wish I had it in my
closet!

These boots??? Yes please!

Adorable boot socks!

Snuggly Slippers!

Perhaps a lovely new Fall hair color for me!!

Going for a run in the fall. The weather is cooler and the scene is beautiful!

 I haven't tried this yet, but I plan on it. I can just imagine how cozy and wonderful it would make your home smell!  Plus it is so simple! Boil orange peels with a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon on Medium heat to make your house smell fabulous.

I always say, Who Wouldn't Love a Pumkin Family??

A Spiderman Pumpkin because I know my Jacoby would think this would be the most awesome pumpkin ever!

          

Fall in the Country is the best. So beautiful and simple!

Finally, Fall is always a time to remind us all that we have so much to be Thankful for...our family , friends, health, our jobs, etc. I am thankful for it all!

These are just some of the things that I have been pinning over the past month or so! Please feel free to follow me on Pinterest at Cassandra's Corner and leave your Pinterest info and I will follow you!!

I am...

There is a writing prompt going around the blogging world tonight from You Know it Happens at Your House Too. This is actually the first writing challenge I've ever participated in and let me tell you, I am happy to have stumbled across it so that I can ignore the debate that has taken over the tv right now (my Political Science professors would cringe if they heard me say such a thing!)
So here we go, challenge accepted!
Here are the rules:

"Set a timer for five minutes and write.  Write using the prompt I AM ______________________. Don't edit, don't proofread, don't change it.  You are not required to share it with anyone, even though I hope you do, but keep it close by so that on those days when you are feeling really horrible about yourself (we all know that we have those days), you can look back and remember all the things that make you wonderful." 

I am Jenny, not Jennifer (well, I guess technically Jennifer) or Jen.  I'm not even Cassandra...lol
I am a mom and a loving mom. I am a mom that worries if my kid knows how much I love them and that I give them enough of my attention.
I am a wife to Josh, my husband of 5 years but we have actually been together since October of 2001.
I am obsessed with Pinterest, facebook, google + this whole social media world. I can't get enough of it!
I am happy with a cup of coffee with skim milk and 2 sugars.
I am happy that I have now put fitness into my life and becoming a Beach Body Coach.
I am happy if I can actually motivate people to be more positive!
I am happy if I can help people be healthier.
I am wanting to get more out of life, to matter, and to make a difference somehow.
I am a girl, independent, strong willed, slightly funny. 
I am a girl who doesn't want to allow barriers to get in my way of achieving what I want and am just figuring out how to do that.
I am looking for more.
I am so happy to

My husband said time was up so I had to cross out last 2! 
This challenge was actually harder than I expected. I have always felt confident that I know who I am, but what is funny to me is the things that I missed that are important to me, like the fact that I am a sister, and I am happiest with my family, I am happy to be with my friends, etc. Funny where your mind goes!