Snowy Saturdays

This weekend proved full of winter adventures.

Wednesday night, the snow started to fall. On Saturday morning, it was still falling. After nearly three days without seeing the sun, Trevor and I decided to take Saturday as our day - a day to drive around, play in the snow and attempt to take a reasonable Christmas card photo. Not hard when you live here.

In some areas, the snow was above my knees. And yet, we ran across a group of ten campers - campers who were worried they might not get out without the help of a few pick up trucks. They had been hunting for elk. It seems to be the time to do it. The other day, deer crossed through our fenced yard in town. On Friday, Trevor saw a moose on his way to pick me up from work. Unfortunately, our pups aren't enjoying the snow as much as the other Montana wildlife seem to be. 

So, yesterday, we took off from Anaconda and headed toward Montana's capital, Helena. Trevor had fallen in love with the view from atop the Cromwell Dixon Campground but unfortunately, the snow had made the campground all but impassable. Still, we pulled to the side of the highway for some scenic shots and to throw snowballs down the mountain side with strangers taking a rest stop from their drive home to Missoula.

While I was excited to take our photos, I was more excited at the chance to browse through Target. Unfortunately, though, I left the store with only a box of my favorite chocolate covered cherries and new makeup brushes. But, I made up for it with an hour spent in the Christmas section staring at ornaments, convincing Trevor that our pups need pajamas, and making a list of all the things we need before December 1st arrives. And, after our "shopping," we managed to find a good lunch (and Angry Orchard on tap!) at the Brewhouse Pub and Grill.

In the end, we captured a few Christmas card photos - some silly, some serious - but you'll have to wait for those. Until then, you can enjoy our snowy view from the warmth of your home. As for us? It's 16 degrees and windy, but for now we're enjoying it with hot cocoa and an even hotter fire.

Making Time | For Yourself

As a student paying my own way through college, I've been forced to learn a thing or two about time management. It's always a struggle to balance work, classes, homework, activities, and time for friends & family. Even with a busy schedule though, I have found that I must always make time for certain things - things like eating well, exercising, and relaxing. Though I've learned a few things that work well for me, I know that my advice might not work for everyone and so, over the next few weeks, on Saturdays, I will be hosting a series called "Making Time". With holiday season approaching (quickly!), balancing a busy schedule is bound to become even more difficult and so, I thought now would be the perfect time for a few friends of mine to tell you about their own balancing acts. If you have a topic that you think would fit into the series, please let me know - I'd love to feature your contributions! 

This week's post is all about making time for yourself - perhaps the topic that I struggle with most! 

[clock via urban outfitters]

Hello sweet Live Beautifully readers! I’m Sam from Samantha J. Bird and I’m so happy Jen asked me to guest post for her (it’s my first time). I’m going to talk about how I make time for ‘me time’ - those little moments where I get to be with myself and recharge. Most people benefit from spending some time alone or at the very least doing something that is just for ourselves rather than considering what others may want to do. It’s so important that I was actually ‘prescribed’ it by a therapist earlier this year as a way of managing anxiety and depression. It’s been incredibly helpful for treating those issues and it helps keep me in a good place mentally and emotionally. Time for ourselves can give us a sense of calm, relaxation, joy, bliss. It can help us to feel cared for, pampered and lucky, among other things. These positive effects are ones that we could all do with and are worth making time for. I can be pretty busy though, so finding time to fit in this me-time can be challenging. Today I’m going to share what I do, in four steps, and I hope it can be useful for you, too!


Firstly, letting go of any guilt you might have over taking time for yourself is really important. I don’t know about you, but I get terribly influenced by things I think I have to or should be doing, like studying, housework or doing things for others. Those activities seem to have found their way to the top of my priority list and me-time can seem like a ‘waste’. That’s ridiculous though, because if we don’t look after ourselves then we can get burned out (see: me, earlier this year). If that happens, it becomes really difficult to do anything at all, for ourselves or others. When guilt and worrying about other tasks are present during me-time, you can be sure they will put a downer on the whole experience. So, kiss your guilt goodbye. Or kick it in the pants, whatever works for you!


Secondly, work out what me-time looks like for you. What activities would you like to do? Very occasionally, when my bank account permits, I like to get a 30 minute massage or my nails done (especially the latter because I absolutely hate doing my own). If I don’t have much money to play with but want to get out of the house, I like window shopping with a giant cup of something delicious. Other favourite things include reading, practising relaxation techniques, watching a favourite show snuggled in bed and sometimes just sitting doing absolutely nothing at all. The possibilities are endless, really, as long as whatever you are doing - or not doing as the case may be - is something you find enjoyment in and doesn’t really involve other people. The point is to be with yourself and focus on what you want in those moments, but if you have a friend gabbing to you then you will probably get distracted. Another thing I find really nice sometimes is to make the activity a really special one, like those massages, because it feels a lot less ordinary and that can amplify the positive effects of me-time.


Thirdly, work out how long your activity will take. I let whatever I want to do dictate how long me-time is going to take. So, for a 30-minute massage, it’s about 30 minutes; reading might be an hour. I try to fit me-time in every day, but most of the time the activities are really basic like drinking a cup of tea while catching up on blogs for 20 minutes, or blogging. If you have a really busy schedule then you might like to aim for 1-2 times a week instead, or do something daily that doesn’t take lots of time, like a 10-15 minute meditation. If you won’t being engaging in me-time as often (say, a couple of times a month), then take longer. If you need to, set a timer or an alarm to remind yourself when the time it up and you need to get back to ‘reality’. It’s really easy for 20 minutes of blog reading to turn into 3 hours of Pinterest which isn’t very helpful for my to-do list!


Finally, figure out when you’re going to be having time to yourself. The key here is that you have to the make time. I have to consciously decide that I’m going to have some me-time and then find a way to make that time available, like I would when hanging out with a friend. Other activities might need to be sacrificed or cut short. I’m not a very strict schedule person and prefer to have general windows of time when I tend to do certain things, but which can be easily shuffled around if necessary. I often find myself with unexpected plans or things to do, so flexibility is key. I schedule all my classes, appointments and regular things I have to do in my Google calendar and everything else goes on to-do lists. That way I know what I have to do on any given day and I can create a mental outline of how much time I’ll need for each item. The most useful thing for me is to schedule in me-time like I do with appointments and classes - it becomes more of a non-negotiable activity. Then, I prioritise the to-do list items from most to least important. If I end up cutting a least-important task some days then it’s not the end of the world.


So, there you have it, my four-step guide to creating time for myself. I hope it helps you to see how you might be able to fit time for yourself into your busy life. I would absolutely love to hear about any other ideas you might have, too. I am by no means an expert at fitting in time for myself, so tips are always welcome! xo

Thank you Sam for taking the time to share your advice with my readers! 
Like Sam, I find that using a calendar and lists to record all of my activities and to-do's helps me to stay on task. This way, I can get all of the things I need done so that I can have some much needed time for myself.

How do you find time for yourself? What are your favorite activities that make up "me-time"? 
For my busy week days, "me-time" usually consists of staying snuggled in bed for an extra fifteen minutes in the morning. I use the time to check my e-mail, catch up on my favorite blogs and if I'm lucky, to snuggle my boys.

WIAW | Autumn Eats

We've been eating plenty of fall inspired eats, lately. So, in honor of What I Ate Wednesday - a weekly linkup hosted by Jenn over at Peas and Crayons - I thought I would share some of the things we've been loving this week.

Though we've been making an effort at healthier eating the past few days, we celebrated the first day of November with gluten free pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. And with it, bacon and sausage from our favorite Montana spot, the Western Meat Block. While Trevor had his with a cup of coffee (of course), I chose my favorite store bought hot chocolate.

This week, I've also managed to make it to the gym almost everyday! (I'm surprised, too). Often though, that has meant getting up early for a morning workout. Knowing that I'll be hungry after, I've simply been snacking on gluten-free apple cinnamon muffins before we leave. Truth be told, I've also been snacking on them at work.. before bed.. all day. (Especially since I've run out of these cookies.)

For lunch, we've been eating soup, and more soup. While I occasionally have to rely on Progresso's Chicken Corn Chowder, I'm lucky enough to live with a man who loves to make soup. How's a girl get so lucky? In the past few weeks, we've enjoyed a saffron, potato & sausage soup, a moroccan lentil soup, and this incredible mafe - a South African stew. While the ingredients seemed a bit abstract - peanut butter, sriracha, and absinthe? apples and sweet potoates? - I have never been more in love with a bowl of soup. (And to be honest, never more in love with the chef who made it.)

As for dinner, all I have to say is UGH. I can hardly look at this pictures without craving a late night snack of steak and sweet potatoes, with a pumpkin pancake for dessert. (Don't worry, this week our fridge is filled with plenty of produce.) Last night, Trevor made a simple, hearty dinner of filet, the kind that most literally melts in your mouth, with roasted sweet potatoes. But the important part? The smoked paprika caramel sauce that he drizzled dumped over everything. You might remember it from this WIAW post?

So tell me, what is your favorite fall recipe? Homemade soup? Pumpkin-anything?

Ten on Tuesday | Seasonal Teas

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It should come as no surprise that come fall, I am all about hot tea - especially loose leaf tea. When I received this awesome tumbler (and a whole selection of teas!) for my birthday, it only fueled my obsession. Now, I can brew tea by the cup, while at work. Not only that but the tea stays hot for hours. May I suggest penciling one of these onto your Christmas list?

I know it's still early so instead of a "teas I'd like to find in my stocking" list, I thought I'd share with you some seasonal choices that I'm really looking forward to. These all come from three favorite companies - Teavana, Mightly Leaf and David's Tea. If you want to know more about the flavors or you want to send me some for my stocking, you can do so by clicking the links above!

Of the tea's shown, I've only tried the Masala Chocolate Truffle tea from Mighty Leaf, and the Sumarai Chai Blend that came as a sample with my tumbler from Teavana. From my recommendation, you can deduce that they were both delicious! I think the chocolate truffle is my new favorite! I will need to order some more tea soon and I can't wait to try to Toasted Marshmallow. Though, with -2 degree weather (and two feet of snow) projected, I'd be happy with any of the above.

So tell me, what is your favorite seasonal beverage? Are you a fan of loose leaf tea?

Recipe: Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

On Friday night, Trevor and I planned to snuggled in to bed to watch yet another cheesy-supense-crime-thriller movie on Netflix - my favorite weekend activity. But before the movie started, photos from my flickr account played as a slideshow across the screen. While I was busy changing into long john bottoms and my favorite t-shirt, these cookies showed on the AppleTV. Trevor was quick to ask when I planned to bake cookies again - they're a baked goods staple in our house. With an empty weekend, void of any real plans, I promised to put it on my list.

The original cookies included peanut butter in the list, and so, while delicious, eating them made me sick. And really, who wants to bake a few dozen cookies when they shouldn't even enjoy one? So, I decided to skip the peanuts this time. Either way, I needed chocolate chips and so while Trevor dealt with our two overly-energetic pups, I snuck off to pick up a library book and to wander through the new Christmas aisles at Albertson's. Thankfully I left the store with just chocolate chips and Trevor's new favorite coffee. But lord knows if I could eat wheat, that new hot chocolate brownie mix would've been in my cart. (Someone please tell me you've bought made and enjoyed these? Oh, the temptation!) And holiday kettle corn? Drizzled with dark chocolate and tossed in sea salt? Ugh.

The entire store was filled with end caps of holiday favorites. Starbucks peppermint hot chocolate. Almond bark. Chocolate covered cherries. Coffee in christmas flavors. Snowflake sprinkles. Red and green cupcake wrappers. It took me nearly a half an hour to buy two things, my mind was so distracted by the holiday sparkle.

Unfortunately, it's only November though. And so while I'd love to start the Christmas music and hang our stockings, I think Trevor would prefer I wait at least three more weeks. So, I decided to spend my afternoon making autumn inspired treats, including these Gluten Free Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. (A mouthful, I know.)

To be honest, these didn't turn out to be the same type of cookie as their peanut butter counterparts but that didn't mean they were any less delicious. In fact, I think I enjoyed these more - perhaps because they didn't give me migraines? Imagine that. While the others were rolled and baked into perfect puffy circles, this dough needs to rest in the fridge before being dropped onto the pan - meaning that they are textured and imperfectly shaped.

The pumpkin flavor is subtle but makes for a thick, chewy, cookie. Trevor ate three or four, never realizing they were pumpkin. Note though, they are bright orange in the center - it's hard to miss. These also boast some warm autumn spices and a lot of vanilla, flavors that seem to go naturally with pumpkin. The oatmeal softens in the cookie but tends to keep its texture toward the outside, giving the cookie an even better chewy-ness. And the chocolate chips? The perfect touch of sweetness to a cookie that itself is not overly sweet. I used ghiradrelli semi-sweet, you should probably do the same. 

This is a hearty recipe and makes plenty of cookies to share - about three dozen.

Ingredients
1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1 1/2 cup of white rice flour
(feel free to substitute 1 1/2 cups of any gluten free flour mixture or even regular flour)
3/4 tsp xanthum gum
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup of butter (softened)
1 egg + 1 yolk
1 cup of pumpkin puree
1 3/4 cup of certified gluten free rolled oats
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 cup of chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine both flours, both sugars, xanthum gum, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg and extra yolk.
Add the butter and vanilla.
Mix in the pumpkin puree.
Then, dump the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing until combined.
Add the rolled oats and chocolate chips.

Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30 - 40 minutes.
Then, after cooled, use a spoon to drop cookies onto a greased pan.
Bake for fifteen minutes or until the cookies are golden on top - careful not to over bake.

These cookies stay nice and soft, even after they've had time to cool - even the day after. While Trevor likes them best with a cup of french roast, I've been enjoying them with some spiced chai. Unfortunately, the other two house members have taken an interest in the cookies, too, so we have to make sure they're kept out of puppy reach.