Real Talk Tuesday: Not Even Halfway Through

It's Tuesday night, and it just turned 9:00. I'm home for the first time today since 7:30 this morning.
My week has already had enough happen to make me counting down until the weekend.
Would you like me to share with you? Maybe you will realize that your week is going rather well ;) 

Monday:

6:00 AM - I realize that I left my laptop charger in Alex's car. Have I ever mentioned in the past that during the week Alex are I live 45 minutes away? In all cases, (but especially this case),  this is extremely inconvenient.
10:00 AM - Computer dies with a homework assignment on it due. No, it was not lost forever. However, I was not able to get to it before class started. Thank God for understanding teachers and friends who will loan you their charger after class.
5:00 PM - Drive 40 minutes to pick up computer charger during Alex's lunch break. I don't know how this happened, I was supposed to be working a baseball game until late. Then it rained enough to cancel the game. Woot Woot! Shoutout ~ I'm such a good girlfriend, I brought him a Jamba Juice.
7:00 PM - My mom meets me (since I'm so close to home) to take me to dinner.  This one is not a complaint. She's awesome, and thanks to her and the leftovers I didn't have to cook tonight

Tuesday:

9:00 AM - International Outreach Festival! All.Day.Long. I love my school but this made for a loooonnnngggg day. 9am-4pm listening to different speakers talk about missionary work.      
4:00 PM - Quick lunch/dinner and workout   

6:00 PM - Making Awkward Phone Calls. I'm part of a leadership scholarship on campus, so we have to help out from time to time. Well this week that entails 3, 2-hour time slots where we are that guy who calls you at dinner time to say " Hi alumni, I'm a current student, would you like to donate to your alma mater?" I definitely woke up a sleeping baby on one of my calls. Literally.
7:42 PM - I get the most dreaded text:  From my training room supervisor, where I work. Telling me that I was scheduled to work the basketball game. And of course I don't get the text until I'm done asking people for money. After the game is over.

All that, and it's only Tuesday. Not even half way through the week.
It can only get better from here right?? Besides the exam in the morning. And facing a bitter athletic trainer in the afternoon. Oh and more phone calls by night. I love college.



Want to hear what will be getting me through the week?
I'll share. These voices lead me straight into God's peace every single time.



If I did it right, it should be a playlist of 4 songs.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Cara Box Reveal!!

Hello!! I am soooo excited to be sharing with you guys my experience with my first ever participation with the Cara Box exchange!

cara (car-rah) noun : beloved friend

I can not tell you how much fun this was!

It was a blast getting to know these beautiful sprits.

I had the pleasure of sending a box to this sweetheart Holly-
She's a kind hearted wife, fur momma, and Cubs fan married to a White Sox fan!
I so enjoyed getting to know her.
Keep checking over there to see what I sent her!

Blog//Twitter//Instagram//Pintrest

Now to reveal this girl- she is awesome.

She's a fabulous homemaker, and a dedicated mother and bride-to-be!

The theme for this box was New Year's resolutions, and she prepped me with some adorable supplies to keep me organized, and on task!

Not to mention some darling earrings! 

Thanks ladies, it's been so fun getting to know you!!

If I Was A Boy!!

Coool, I love it when it's way past my bed time, I'm so proud of myself for cranking out a blog post, and I delete it. Man I hate when that happens. Oh well, life goes on.

Two link ups in a row? Nothing wrong with that when your two favorite bloggers decide to tag team.

Anyways, yes I am linking up with Erin today to bring you If I Was A Boy.

~ I would not sleep until I achieved a 6 pack. Truth.

~I would drive with the windows down and rock that Vanessa Carlton all day long.

~I would refuse to play those stupid war video games that are all the rage. "COD? Nahh man let's just shoot some hoops instead."

~I would call everyone "man" or "bro" with an occasional "dude".

~I would take my lady out wine tasting by day, and country line dancing by night.

~I would own an indestructible safe with an impressive collection of guns.

~I would love the heck out of my mom. Nothing wrong with knowing how to treat a woman..especially the one who raised you.

~I would spare no expense to make my lady feel loved. And also I would read her mind. Sidenote, please tell me I'm not the only one who, at times, wants someone to know something but without having to tell them? Ya, I kinda thought I'd be alone on that one.

~I would thoroughly relish the knowledge that I have no need for makeup or doing my hair. What a fantasy world that would be.

But in all reality, I love being a girl.

And from the looks of it, I always have:

 Happy Wednesday all!!

Real Talk Tuesday: The Facts of Me

Hello my kitten whiskers! How was your 3 day weekend? I hope it was restful!

This past week I have been super uninspired and I'm sure you can tell from looking around. It's been a while. Anyways, Monday night rolls around and I realize that I have nothing for RTT. And then Whitney at I Wore Yoga Pants saves my butt by hosting the Facts of Me link up. Thanks for that Whitty Pie. 

So without further adieu:

The Basics:

~I LOVE the Lord. He is good all the time, and I am able to love because He first loved me.

~My favorite color is blue

~I can't handle cold weather

~My perfume of choice is Daisy Eau So Fresh by Marc Jacobs

~I'm addicted to Modern Family, Bones, New Girl, Criminal Minds, and Nashville. 

~For more than half my life I wanted to be a dolphin trainer. Now I want to be a human trainer. Oh the irony

~ Before we had met, I had to ask my (now) boyfriend to dance. But don't worry I still made him ask for my number.

The Serious:

~I am subject to completely random and unreasonable anxiety attacks. Example: Meeting a friend for a coffee/study date after 6 PM. All of a sudden, for no good reason at all, I just can't handle the thought. And heaven forbid we carpool. Sheesh, talk about airways constricting.

~If I come across confident, I'd say that's pretty accurate. I'm truly confident in who I am..and who I am is a girl who makes slightly awkward situations as awkward as humanly possible.

~Speaking of confidence, I am more self-concious of my complexion than anything else about me.  

~I'm currently in the middle of a 4 year program working towards a degree in Kinesiology. While it's good, my main dream in life is to be a wife and mother. Part of me feels like I'm putting off my life. Then I wake up and realize that degree = $ = happy family. So it's all good.

~I am legally blind. My glasses are stronger than my mother's and grandmother's combined. If I weren't wearing contacts I wouldn't be able to see the computer screen right now.

~I am a conspiracy theorist. For real. Ask me, I'll tell you. Or maybe I won't, that might not end well.

The Random:

~ ~I get my best ideas in the shower. Oh, everyone says that? Well I mean it. Almost every single time I shower, I kick myself for not owning a waterproof notebook.

~ I love to play the guitar, but only when I'm alone and no one can hear me, because I am no good. My sweet, sweet boyfriend has remained neutral on the topic.

~ My motion light makes me paranoid, even though I know it's just the neighbor's cat.

~ I own a 2 foot baton taser, and I keep it under my bed. If you think I'm ridiculous, refer to the above fact.

~ When it comes to buying home decor items, I am THE MOST indecisive person you will ever meet. I currently have a dog blanket draped over my bedroom window because I have bought and returned curtains at least 4 times.

~ I have self-diagnosed myself with selective OCD. My closet is color coordinated, my bathroom counter can not have clutter, but I'm a walking tornado when it comes to books, papers, shoes and department store bags. I've stopped trying to figure it out.

~I have listened to Vanessa Carlton's White Houses on repeat for the entire duration of writing this post.



If you made it through all that, thanks so much. Leave a comment if you can relate, I'd like to know that I'm no the only freak around here!
Xoxo,
Terra

Vegetarian Pot Pie

Hello my dearies! Yes, I'm still alive and cooking. Just on a time budget now!

I want to share a new favorite of mine, a vegetarian pot pie. It's pretty easy, and the nicest part of it..is it reheats wonderfully!! 

You're going to need:

2 medium potatoes

2 medium carrots

A half of a white onion

1 cup of low fat milk

1 cup of broth (chicken or mushroom)

Parsley 

Peas

White Vinegar

Defrosted Puff Pastry

An Egg Yolk

Chicken or tofu (if you fancy)

You're going to start by doing a good job of chopping up your veggies. 

I like mine a little bigger, but chop as your heart desires.

 And the onions too.

 You're going to want to panfry them on medium low heat for a little while, probably 5-6 minutes, until the onions become slightly transparent.

Then turn the heat on low and coat with flour, I used 1/4 cup

Then add a cup of broth and a cup of milk, and stir and simmer until the mixture gets nice and thick and creamy. It only takes a minute.

 At this point, you're going to remove the mixture from heat and add a handful of parsley,

 and a cup of peas. As you can see, mine are quite frozen, but it really doesn't matter.

 Also, can't forget a tablespoon of white vinegar. It just brings all the flavors together so nicely.

Doesn't that look beautiful?? All those colors... This is how I do art.

 Okay, transfer into an 8x8 pan. Yes, if you look closely you can see that I snuck some separately cooked tofu into there. I won't be doing that again, Alex thought I was tricking him into eating it. Note to self: next time chicken, or nothing at all.

 Now take your defrosted puff pastery, and cut it to fit over your pie, if necessary.

 Brush the top with your egg yolk, and stick it with a fork or knife a couple times to let the steam out when it cooks.

 Pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes and voila! 

Customize it, add mushrooms, leeks, whatever floats your boat.

And enjoy : )

Smile Bright Without Breaking the Bank

Hello ladies, happy Thursday! I hope your week has been going well, one more day till the weekend!! Woot woot

In the midst of my first week back at school, I am trying to get around to editing some photos so I can post another recipe, so bear with me on that one. But in the mean time I wanted to share a money saving tip for keeping your smile pretty!
Can you believe whitening strips are $35 cheapest?!??
Talk about a rip off.
I know chances are that you have probably heard this before, but I'm here to tell you it works!

Baking soda. It's literally the magic secret for cleaning anything. Now I've read about making a paste with toothpaste and baking soda and peroxide, but for someone who is  OCD like me, that is too much extra clutter on the bathroom counter. So I keep a box of baking soda in the medicine cabinet, and once I put toothpaste on my toothbrush, I press it into the baking soda so some sticks onto the toothpaste. I know that may seem weird, but please don't shun me for it.
After a week of doing this my boyfriend asked me what I was using to whiten my teeth!
If he notices something like that, then it's gotta be good! I'm kicking myself for not taking before and after pictures.
And want to know my cherry on top? I take a dixie cup of one part water one part peroxide for mouth wash. Once again, sounds gross.. I won't lie to you, it's not the best tasting thing in the world. But it's effective, and it's cheap!

I hope I've inspired you to brighten your smile!!

Real Talk Tuesday: Prayer

Hello my friends. It's been so long, and I'm sorry! I've had a very chaotic week, all in preparation for today.
Today is a somber day for me..I return to school from Christmas break.
All good things must come to an end so they say! I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I attend a small (and I mean 500 student small) private christian college here in San Diego. It's a great community, everyone knows everyone and we all have those people that we couldn't live without..and those people that we definitely could live without. But at the end of the day we're still family. I love it, I wouldn't trade it for any other school.
But getting back in the swing of things is not easy. I can't tell you how not excited I am to show up without a single textbook in hand. I'm a terrible student like that.

But thats way off topic. Unless I was getting at the fact that I need prayer, especially today. Cause I do.

I am a firm, firm believer in prayer. It truly works, and I am always amazed at the results of prayer. The problem that I used to have (and let's face it, still do) is that my prayers don't get answered in my timing, but in His perfect timing. I doubt the power behind them, and being human I just assume they are going unanswered. In reality I couldn't be more wrong.

Source

When we are persistent in our prayer life, God hears our cries to Him, and whether He changes our situation or He changes our heart, we are always heard. I love the parable told in Luke 18:1-7, and the one in Luke 11:11-13. Take 30 seconds and read those, they are a great reminder that we serve an awesome God.

Source

I'd like to give you an open ended offer-

Email me with a prayer request. Anything at all that I can pray for you about.

It would be a blessing for me to be able to share in lifting up your struggle to our good and righteous God, or to rejoice with you in prayer. I'd love to encourage you wherever you are on your path of life.

Please don't feel held back or intimidated, it would be a joy to my heart to hear from you!

Email me at sunshineandstovetops@gmail.com  I check it regularly. 

I love you guys, I really do.

Xoxo, Terra

Real Talk Tuesday: Why I Blog

Everyone has their reasons for blogging, and almost everyone has vocalized them at some point along their journey. 

I'm sure a lot of mine are the same as yours, and I might have a few others that are different. 

And since my blog is fairly new, my reasons aren't tainted by outside factors that might present themselves along the way. 

Sunshine & Stovetops was born due to my love for food. Something my mom loved to say was, "Some people eat to live, and some people live to eat." I am without a doubt, the latter. I wake up in the morning excited for breakfast, and as soon as I'm done I'm thinking about what I will do for lunch and dinner. But life gets busy, and it's easy to resort to cycling the same three recipes every week. And then I was given an assignment to keep a blog for a semester, and S&S was set in motion.

Without further introduction, the reasons I began, and continue to blog:

S&S forces me to get creative cooking, and to do it often.

Which is a source of joy for me, so it's a happiness blog. 

S&S gives me a clutter-free organized collection of my favorite original recipes.

And they are all favorites of mine. You will never find anything on here I don't like. I just won't post it. 

S&S has opened up a whole new community to me.

I never could have imagined the genuine acceptance that I have received here. I'm blown away. The true and sincere friends that I have met here are amazing. 

S&S is a place where I can be honest, and be heard. 

No rules, and no judgments. Thats what I love about you all. Everyone is honest, strong, vulnerable, supportive and wears their heart on their sleeve.

I realize this has now turned into a love letter. But I mean everything I say. Thanks for reading, thanks for the love! I love you back.
Too far?     Nahh.

Easy DIY Body and Hand Scrub

Hello my love muffins!! Today I want to share an old faithful, easy, inexpensive, and good-for-you body scrub! I am posting over at Wannabe Green for my bloggy friend Ashley. So if you please, head over that way and check it out, and give her some love while you're at it! 

Learning to be Flexible..

Those who know me well know that it is an incredible challenge for me to go with the flow when things don't go as planned. I am such a planner, I like to have nearly every hour of the day scheduled with something..even if that something is nothing. I know that I'm a crazy woman. I can't help it!

So remember last week when I was planning to head up to the mountains for some snowboarding? Well almost nothing went as planned. And I learned a valuable lesson about being flexible. Because basically I had no other choice! 

Meet Josh and Tyler: Two crazies that I've grown up with since jr. high. They are brothers to me and best buds to Alex. Last year they upped and moved to the mountains. This year Alex and I decided to pay a visit. We went to stay with the two of them their one other roommate. Or so we thought.

We get up there and see 7 cars in the driveway. They belonged to the 7 residents of this 4 bedroom 1 bathroom cabin. Did I mention 1 bathroom? Ya, 1 bathroom. 

I was outnumbered 8 to 1 in this cabin in the woods. I felt like I was in some knock off version of New Girl.
Talk about an awkward living situation!
Needless to say, Alex was extremely apologetic because neither of us had any idea what we were walking into.

Side note- Can I just point out how awkward I look in all that clothing??

After some deep breaths on my part, we had a wonderful time snowboarding and seeing mammoth mountain from a local's perspective, and an awesome New Years Eve which I managed to take zero pictures of! Blogger fail. As a whole the trip made for some great story telling.

There was the bakery that didn't serve breakfast, an overflowing of the bathroom of the gates of hell, Alex learning to knife fight, debating politics with rumplestiltskin, and when Alex fell off the ski lift. Eventful to say the least and I'm glad I lightened up enough to enjoy it : )

Here are a few pictures I did manage to take while we were up there: 

Wintery goodness!

Real Talk Tuesday: New Year's Resolutions

Real talk Tuesdays is a new idea of mine, kind of a test run to see how it goes.
And what better way to launch this idea than with my New Years Resolutions, on Tuesday, January 1st?

I know everyone and their mothers will be posting what they plan to do differently in the new year, so I will attempt to be as non-cliche as possible.

I'm keeping my list short.

I'm keeping my goals attainable.

I'm giving myself deadlines.

These are the rules that my resolutions will abide by.

1. Become a volunteer at the local animal shelter.

My deadline: February 1st 

2. Find and join a local kickboxing class (or as similar a fitness class as I can find)

My deadline: March 1st

3. Attain a job at a local medical office.

My deadline: April 1st

Bonus: After the above goals are met, if my schedule allows, accept a job coaching girls volleyball.

Now, Lauren Conrad posted a few weeks age about her 2013 resolutions and how she displays them. 

I personally thing it's brilliant so I just spent the last 25 minutes trying to find the post.

Come to find out I think it was deleted.

(I did a thorough creep job on her site)

Anyways, what I read was that she writes (or in my case type) her list real pretty,

and frames it to put in a place that she will see every day, like her night stand.

Genius!

Love that girl.

I'd love to hear what your new years resolutions are!!

Be safe tonight!!

Xoxo, 

Terra