More Adventures!

A couple of weekends ago I drove to Phoenix for the weekend to visit Adam. It was a perfect weekend 🙂 We saw Blended (which was hilarious), went to dinner, and just relaxed. Here’s Adam with Layla and Stitch!

 

Emily and I went to a One Republic, The Script, and American Authors concert. It was AMAZING. One Republic was by far my favorite. They are so good and sooooo talented! Especially the lead singer and guitarist. They played all of their major hits, and most of their new songs. This was Emily’s first concert. She hoped it would be “life changing,” and it definitely was 😉

 

Here’s  a selfie with Chester.

 

On Friday I took Emily and her friends to the beach for a bonfire. Portia came too, and it was a much needed long day at the beach.

 

The most beautiful sunset was followed by a gorgeous full moon.

 

Yesterday, my dad, Emily, and I did the Gladiator Run in Irvine. This was Emily’s first time, but for my dad and me it was round 2. This run is SO FUN. Like so much fun. Who doesn’t like being covered in mud and doing challenging obstacle courses?! I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff. I love adventures 😀 Anyway, we were team Hinkelberry, and we killed it.

 

Until next time, my friends 🙂

May Adventures and Memorial Day

Since being back from Arizona, I have gone to the beach several times. It is my happy place and my soul-soother. I went with Portia, Ashly, Cami, and my dad and Scotty. It was really hot when I went with Portia, which was so nice! The next four times were pretty cold, so we just walked around and went shopping.

Beach time with Portia.

Pier time in Santa Monica with Cami.

Some beautiful shots with Ashly.

Acai Bowls are my FAVORITE. Literally, I would eat them for every meal if I could. This is my favorite so far, the Banzai Bowl from Banzai Bowl. SO GOOD. I’ve had like 20 different kinds, and this is my favorite. Although they are all insanely delicious. It’s just so beautiful, isn’t it?!

Going to Scotty’s baseball game with Em and Chester.

This is Portia’s dog Thor. He is a beast! And the most gentle, loving dog in the world. He loves me, I love him, it’s just beautiful. Here is us, just being cute together 🙂

Memorial Day was yesterday! It kind of makes me sad how many people don’t really recognize the importance of this holiday. Freedom is not free, and most of us do not have to sacrifice anything for our freedom. But there are so many who have given their lives for us, people they don’t even know, so that we can be free. Memorial Day has always been big in my family. We go to a ceremony at Pacific View Memorial, where my grandpa Hinkson is buried. We visited him, and watched the ceremony like every year. This year it had a little more meaning to me, because of the possibility of my brother Daniel being deployed soon. I really try to give thanks and remember all those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom. My sister and I took a couple of pictures by my grandpa’s grave, which reads “Fantastic Forever.”

Have a wonderful day and a wonderful week!! 🙂

Mother’s Day and TBV 5 day Cleanse

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. The last few weeks have been INSANE with finals, work, packing, and trying to keep my sanity. I was more stressed than I like to be, which meant paying extra attention to eating well and sleeping lots. All things considered, I think I did fairly well in keeping my life balanced, despite the stresses. I even treated myself to an hour massage 😉 much needed. Last Friday was a crazy day of moving out, working for 6 hours, and then driving home. My dad and Hunchie came to pick me up and help me move out/clean the whole apartment. They are such troopers. Supermen, both of them! We got home at 1:30am Saturday morning, leaving time to go shopping for a Mother’s Day present with Emily. We found the perfect gift! Along with a card reading, “You are a good mom. That is all.” HA. Don’t worry, she really does know how much we love her.

Mother’s Day breakfast was a feast. Definitely meant taking a break from my usual healthy eating. But I need that sometimes, and I felt NO guilt at all. I’m good most of the time, so what’s some stuffed french toast on a special occasion? 🙂 I did opt out of the caramel sauce, whipped cream, macadamia nuts (purely because I don’t like them), and chemical-infused syrup (I prefer pure organic maple syrup – straight from the tree). It was fantastic, and fantastically pretty!!

I decided I would do the TBV 5 day Cleanse to begin the summer. The Blonde Vegan is one of my FAVORITE bloggers. So much good stuff there. So I made my first smoothie today for breakfast, along with some warm lemon water. I decided that my mom’s blender does not work very well..it left chunks of kale and mint leaves that were making me gag. So I have decided to postpone the cleanse until I get a really good blender, and a juicer! I was so eager to try this cleanse!! But it will have to wait. It will be easier and more satisfying when I have the right equipment 🙂

I have a week of absolutely nothing (!!!!!!!!) before I start working at Superior Physical Medicine for the summer. The only thing that makes this summer less than perfect is the fact that I am a few hundred miles away from Adam. Missing him is so hard, and I can only hope that we will see each other as often as we did last summer. But I try not to let that make me any less happy. Times are good, and I can’t wait to see what the summer holds. Hoping for positive vibes, positive thoughts, and a more positive me 🙂

 

Easter Sunday

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

I hope everyone had an amazing of a day as I did. I woke up and discovered the Easter bunny had visited us, and our baskets were full of goodies! Then we all ate German pancakes and got ready for church. Before church, we had Easter egg hunt #1, which I am now $10 richer because of 😉 After church, we went to my grandma Hinkson’s house and had dinner with some of my cousins and aunts and uncles. This year there weren’t very many of us; when I was younger there would be at least 30 of us together on Easter. This has changed because most of my cousins are either away at college, or have families now and don’t live in California anymore. Nevertheless, it was still nice to see my younger cousins and some of my aunts and uncles. My grandma is just the sweetest old lady in the world 🙂 she sent me away with a vegan/super healthy cookie recipe that she knew I would love! I have the greatest family ever. I know I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again and again because it’s just SO TRUE. It’s just an added plus that we’re all extremely good looking 😉

Chester the dog has his own house and it’s the most adorable thing ever!!!

The four of us 🙂 Missing Daniel and Alyce though.

 

Chet wanted the eggs so bad.

 

My parents are so in love, and it’s really the best.

 

 

Obligatory Easter family photo 🙂

Easter is one of those times when I usually feel bad about myself because I eat so much junk food. But this year I am completely 100% okay with the fact that I let myself have candy for once in forever, and that I might have eaten too much of it. But if there’s anything I’ve learned from my journey, it’s that balance is key. I eat fairly healthy most of the time, but I let myself eat unhealthy foods every now and then. It’s OKAY to eat whatever you want sometimes, in fact, I think it’s healthy for the mind and soul to allow ourselves to do this. Balance in everything, my friends.

Have an amazing and beautiful week 🙂

Quick Trip Home

I was able to fly home for Easter weekend this year!! After I got into the airport last night, my family and I went to Huntington Beach Pier. I needed to fulfill my ocean craving. Anyway, here’s some of our lovely adventure pictures!

Ruby’s on the pier selfie! Neccessary.

Me and Hunchie 🙂

Supposedly we’re related.

 

 

We found this Pelican!!

And we named him Penelican. Family Photo ❤

My adorable parents.

What good looking siblings.

And last, but not least, dying Easter eggs!!!

Rare Adventures in the Kitchen

As the title implies, I don’t do much cooking. I have always strongly disliked cooking, and have not had many successful attempts in the kitchen. I am very good at making cereal, oatmeal, eggs, and almond butter/banana/honey sandwiches. Lately though (largely due to Kenzie ) I am becoming increasingly interested in experimenting in the kitchen. We like to make healthy meals and desserts together. There is so much you can make with really healthy ingredients!! I just bought the Oh She Glows cookbook by Angela Liddon. There are over 100 vegan recipes that are super clean. I’m in love. Just my kind of stuff! Tonight I made my first REAL meal, and I am pretty proud of myself 😉

Sweet Potato and Black-Bean Enchiladas with Avocado Cilantro Cream Sauce

(see Recipes page for the recipe)

Even Adam loved them, which means they were actually good! I like a lot of “healthy” tasting things that most people don’t, so sometimes I’m not sure if things actually taste good, or they just do to me.

Kenzie and I Skyped on  Sunday, and we made The Whole Pantry App nutbutter cups. This was our second time making them together because they are ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGLY FANTASTICALLY ADDICTING. So good, so clean, and so perfect.

(see Recipes page for the recipe)

I’m still definitely a beginner in the kitchen, but at least I actually want to cook now! I’m so excited about the Oh She Glows cookbook. This summer I want to try everything in it..and of course report about it 🙂

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE! 🙂

My First Post!

I’m so excited to finally have a blog! One of my best friends Kenzie inspired me to start one, I LOVE reading her blog and decided I wanted one of my own 🙂 So anyway, I guess I’ll recap my spring break, even though that was three weeks ago haha. I had been planning to make a post sooner, but I’ve been swamped with school since break. Spring break 2014:

Portia came to visit for the first weekend! It was so nice to see her and spend some girl time together. We went hot-tubbing, got acai bowls, watched her boyfriend play volleyball, and had plenty of Netflix time. Oh, and I kissed a ferret 😉

Next Adam and I drove to California to spend a few days with my family. On Monday we went to Disneyland!! I’ve missed Disneyland so much, and I’m so glad I got to go with him. The weather was perfect too, which is always a plus! The next few days consisted of spending time with my family and Chester the dog, going to the beach, and relaxing. We took so many pictures!! But here are just a few highlights:

Adam’s first time meeting Mickey! 🙂

Paradise Pier is always so perfect.

A must 😉

6am donut run with Emily. Obviously too tired to function.

Candids at Laguna.

Photobombed by mom at Hunchie’s baseball game! She was really proud of that haha.

Last but not least was my weekend with Kenzie! I went up to Flagstaff to visit, and we went to Macy’s coffee shop, went to the Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course, and cooked some very healthy meals. I love hanging out with Kenzie because we always do some kind of physical activity and cook something healthy, and we always have so much fun!

There will always be a warm spot in my heart for Macy’s 🙂

Gearing up!!

Let me just tell you, the adventure course was SO AWESOME!! There is something about being in the trees for hours that is just so..lovely. And adding in a challenge just made it that much more fun. Oh, it started hailing/snowing during the course and it was the coolest! This is definitely gonna have to happen again!!

To wrap up spring break, we drove to Sedona to go hiking, and then back to Phoenix to spend some time at the pool and relax before Kenzie had to head back to Flagstaff. Sedona is my favorite place in Arizona; it is so beautiful and has such great energy. We did a couple of hikes and packed some healthy snacks for along the way.

Beautiful skies.

I’m so white.

Yummy snacks!

Bell Rock.

Courthouse Loop.

Needless to say, spring break was amazing this year! I’m so glad I got to spend time with my family, Adam, Portia, and Kenzie. Of course everything we did was wonderful, but it’s the people in our lives that really make everything worthwhile, right? I definitely think so 🙂