Snaps for Monday

After a wonderful weekend of relaxing in the pool with a great book and seeing the new movie, Maleficent, I'm ready to tackle this upcoming week and I'm thankful for what all it brings!

1. My first day of work as an orientation director was today and I'm sooo excited to really start working and brainstorming on the program!

2. This will be my first time I'm in Dallas for a long period of time without a million other things to do. Once my job ends at five, I'm freeeeee! No homework to worry about and no meetings to rush off to. I'm excited to start exploring and going to new places in Dallas. Tonight I went to True Food Kitchen  and I loved everything about it. I cannot wait to go back again!

The overall atmosphere was so cute and our waitress was so helpful!

I got the turkey burger with a gluten free bun, sweet potato hash, and the honey lemonade. We also got the chia seed pudding and it was to die for!! 

3. I've recently downloaded the app "8tracks" after hearing all the hype about it, and now I understand why. I was getting tired of my running playlist and these pre-made playlists definitely keep me going. You can pick your mood or a topic to search for and there are so many playlists to choose from that will fit your needs! And best part...IT'S FREE! 

4. I was cleaning out my purse the other day and found two AMC gift cards and a P.F. Chang's gift card! I'm ready to treat myself to a dinner (I'm thinkin lettuce wraps, mmmm) and a movie completely guilt-free. It's basically like it's free, right?! ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them to look forward to! What all are you excited about in these upcoming days? 

A Day for Donuts

HAPPY NATIONAL DONUT DAY!! The best day of the year, obviously ;) I have been tagged in numerous pictures on Instagram revolving around donuts, people have written on my Facebook wall and friends have been texting me to make sure I know today is National Donut day (silly friends, of course I know that). So I think it is very clear to us all just how much I love donuts. If I could eat donuts every single day of the year I would be so happy...and oh so fat.

This year I'm having to celebrate in a different way. Because of my daily headaches for the past four months, I am on a very restricted diet that unfortunately does not include donuts. But that is ok, because there are so many other ways to celebrate one of my favorite treats! Take a look at some of my favorite donut accessories:

1. Donut Pool Float 

Because who doesn't want to relax in the pool with a giant donut to keep you company? I have this (duh) and it is the biggest hit whenever anyone sees it! 

2. Donut Phone Case

Another item that I own, this phone case cheers me up and the pattern is absolutely adorable! How could you not want a phone case with donuts on it?! 

3. Donut Pillow

I wish I could say this is sitting on my bed in my room, but unfortunately it is not. This pillow looks as soft and comfortable as can be and also silently sends hints to others that if they go and get donuts, they better bring one back to you as well.

4. Donut Print

I love a good pun, and one that includes donuts is even better! I have this print framed in my room in a hot pink and gold frame that makes the whole print pop even more! 

These items are just a few of the things that you can purchase to celebrate today in a healthy way! ;) So either get up off your feet and go treat yourself to a donut or share your donut appreciation in some other way!! Any other huge donut-lovers out there? 

Grand Canyon Adventure

Hello everyone! I'm back in the Fort all in one piece and very very sore. I don't think any amount of running could have gotten me prepared for my little jaunt to the Grand Canyon! I went with my dad and my brother and we had such a great time, even though none of us were nearly in shape enough for all the hiking we did.

As I mentioned last week, I absolutely LOVE hiking. I rarely get to do it, but these past few days all we did was hike! My dad, brother, and I were lucky enough to get a spot down in Phantom Ranch last minute (normally people have to call a year in advance to save a spot!), so our first day we headed down the canyon around 3:00 p.m. with lots of sunscreen, water and snacks to keep us going all the way down. It was a pretty steep hike down, but we never fell and the views just kept on getting better and better.

At this point I could not stop exclaiming how it looked like we were in Narnia! It was BEAUTIFUL. 

We were worried about making it to Phantom Ranch before the sun went down, so we tried to make it down the Canyon as fast as we could! Sure enough we made it in time and our meal of bread, honey and peanut butter could not have tasted any better. We were so exhausted I'm pretty sure we were all dead asleep by nine o'clock!

We got an early start the next morning and we were ready to tackle the nine mile beast all the way back up. We saw many familiar faces on the hike up because we would rest and they would pass, then they'd rest and we'd pass, etc. etc. We eventually made it to the top (huffing and puffing and sore beyond belief) and looked all the way back down to the bottom, shocked at what we had accomplished. We hurried off to replace all of the salt we had lost from sweating so much and then got to shower...showering has never felt better ohmygosh it was glorious! 

The next day was filled with a couple other hikes, nothing as beastly as the two we did before, but still challenging. My urge to go hiking has been filled (for now hehe), but this trip definitely reaffirmed how much I enjoy it!

Every corner we turned and every hill we climbed provided us with a new view to the Grand Canyon that I never grew tired of seeing. It is absolutely stunning and I don't think any picture can really capture how beautiful it truly is! 

I would definitely recommend traveling to the Grand Canyon if possible! Have you ever been before, and did you hike down into it or just look at it from the top?