"Perfection" 7

A broken and sad heart can come from anywhere, it can come from friends, family, marriage. Emotional pain can hurt so intensely that it seems impossible to overcome, it causes a fog, confusion, disorientation from reality v.s imagination. But then, in the midst of the pain something happens, something clicks, and you feel something unexplainable and then you simply begin to heal. When you heal and become whole again, you heal in a way that feels even more beautiful then before the pain occurred. You become a better you. If you fight and believe in happiness, then you will have the happiness. We feel that pain for a reason, we go through things for a reason, reasons we may not ever see or understand. We heal and we have a choice, to let that pain consume us and bring us to become someone we would never even recognize, or to allow the pain to become a positive influence on our lives. To allow it to make us invincible and strong, to realize what it is we truly deserve, to allow ourselves to enjoy and appreciate the tiniest things. If someone causes you pain, then distance needs to be made. If someone is making your heart ache rather then smile, then something is wrong and this is not okay. Being happy is simple, find what and who brings those butterflies to your stomach, who slaps a sappy smile on your face. What makes you happy? No matter how silly it is, do it. Do what makes you happy, don't think about money don't think about the consequences of every little thing. Take a leap of faith, let whatever hurt you in the past bring happiness to your future. Let your mistakes make you a stronger version of you. Trust that every detail of your life happens for a reason...trust this and the pain of loss wont sting so badly. Trust that every itty bitty occurrence is planned and that every occurrence and encounter has a purpose whether you see it or not. It's so beautiful and can bring so much peace into your heart once you trust in this plan, you don't need to know every step of your future to know that you'll be okay, just like you don't have to see the wind and air to know it exists, we simply trust and allow it to be what it is. Do this. If you feel love, and happiness embrace it, enjoy every single second, think about every piece of emotion that the love and happiness is allowing you to feel. It's such an amazing high. Learn to banish the negative energy from your past, holding onto any bad feeling is simply allowing the past to control your future. Forgive, even if an apology was never made.

 

For the past few days, I cant stop smiling. I can't stop appreciating every little thing in my life and every encounter that I feel so blessed to have made. I vow to remember this feeling and to embrace it despite what happens in my future, I want to remember what it feels like to feel so much inner peace and so much appreciation for every single aspect of my life. I am beyond blessed, because I choose to see it that way. Don't think of what you don't have, appreciate what is right in front of you. View everything in your life as some sort of blessing, choose to see things this way and you will feel the amazing and flawless happiness that I feel so incredibly grateful to be able to have felt lately.

"All I feel in my stomach is butterflies, the beautiful kind, making up for lost time taking flight, making me feel right."

From my butterflies to yours,

-Jill

Holy Macaroni

Sorry to have gotten you all excited. This is not a post about macaroni. This is simply a post about saying...hey i'm so sorry it's been so long. I have a new job. I have new friends, and a crazy new schedule to live by that i'm still trying to tweak. I started letting my new schedule run my life! DON'T LET YOUR WORK SCHEDULE KEEP YOU FROM DOING THINGS!!! Do not let it take you from getting enough sleep, staying healthy, and making over all healthy life choices for yourself. Don't let there be any reasoning to not stay happy, content and relaxed. I'm preaching something that I just had an epiphany about today. I've been over exerting myself. I've been sleeping so badly that people just look at me and say, "Make sure you sleep well tonight? Looks like you need it." .... sheesh...thanks.

I've begun meal prepping, making my foods in bulk to ensure i'm eating healthy and not settling for crap food over clean foods. I've made 2-4lbs of ground turkey on the weekends, weigh it and distribute it into containers so I can just grab and go. I keep a few gallons of water in my cabinets to make sure i'm constantly drinking water. There's not one reason you can't stay healthy when your life gets crazy. THIS is what keeps ME happy. I feel proud when I walk by a box of donuts in the lounge and not grab one. It's hard to say no sometimes, that's understandable, it's even harder though to feel guilty though. I've begun incorporating yoga back into my life. I've been so intensely focused on cardio and weights that i've completely left it out. When I started back my body is so insanely tight from not having this in my routine I felt like my body was concrete and so hard to twist and stretch. I could feel  the stress leaving my veins and just getting out of me it was wonderful.

Last but not least. Make time for yourself. Make time for yourself. MAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF! Enjoy the beautiful day outside. Appreciate whats in front of you. I lost track over the past few months of who I am personally. I became blinded by the business of life that I forgot to appreciate my blessings. It's sad and hard to admit. I have allowed the hustle and bustle of life to take over. Don't let this happen. Constantly look at your life. Look at yourself. Constantly examine and figure out what you can do to simply get yourself up and maintain your happiness if not better it. Make changes. I vow to now appreciate the beautiful things in my life. I promise to stay true to myself, my beliefs and my body. I vow to not poison my thoughts or body with things that are not meant for it, or that do not help me to stay pure. I vow to gain strength in my body and mind.

I'm making big changes in my life. Why not?

What will bring happiness to your heart? Is there anything you can change to help you feel more pure and happy?

You have a beautiful soul, use it for good. You are an amazing person and deserve the absolute best. "

"If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done."

From my changes and happy heart to yours,
Jill

About Me

Plain and simple. This post is solely about me. My blog has skyrocketed in followers via email and other readers just within the past few months. I figure why not allow everyone a chance to get to know the girl behind the recipes and rants. There's more to me than just recipes, workouts and discussions of the way I view life.

Me:

 I come from a good, strong, loving, close knit family. I'm not the girl you'll see wasted or at the club on a Friday, Saturday night, id rather be doing something low key and fun. Dont get me wrong, I do enjoy a drink or two and I have nothing against it, I'm just not in college anymore and I feel incredibly driven to stay as productive as possible in my life. I'd rather be on a bass boat fishing, then on a yacht partying. Most find this strange...haha oh well. I have a small obsession as to how I can twist recipes to make them healthy and clean.  I'm a hard worker.  I live a lifestyle that allows me to stay relaxed and for the most part stress free. I'm incredibly optimistic, whether its realistic or not. I'm an artist, I love to paint. I also love to learn, especially about health. I go to bed early and wake up early. I'm a landscaper and create beautiful yards for families to enjoy. I thoroughly enjoy manual labor. Aside from being a landscaper, I'm also a Kindergarten teacher. 

I'm care free and try to find the good in people, and again, whether it's realistic or not. I have insecurities just as anyone and everyone, but I don't dwell on them. I also have the imagination of a 5yr old, meaning it's always switched to on. I talk a lot, I talk fast, and I also talk in circles I am capable of coming up with 1,000,000 questions for people, mostly because I'm insanely curious about things, people, and how things work. I have a strange itch that drives me to want to know anything and everything I can possibly know and learn while I'm on this earth. I also absolutely love to be outside! I also love to go boot scooting, it's one of my favorite things to go do. 

Random Photo Time/Facts:

I'm a little too in love with dogs, I'll pet any dog that crosses my path.

My mom is my best friend in the entire world and always will be.

I lift weights and am not afraid of muscle growth.

FACT: When i'm not sure what to say about myself I'll share incredibly unimportant/non useful information...

FACT:  I love to give compliments, I feel as though by being able to give a genuine compliment to someone, you hold the power to make someone happy, smile and feel joy even if it's for just a small moment. 

My dog looks exactly like an Ewok from Star Wars

 

"Never love anybody who treats you like you're ordinary"
-Oscar Wilde

Embrace, adore and absolutely love who you are. Listen to your heart and soul, who are you? What do you want? Who gives a crap if it doesn't fit the cookie cutter life that's expected. You are you and that's a wonderful thing! If people don't like it, or treat you differently because of that, then they're not worth holding onto anyways. 

I hope everyone's week is going just as amazing as mine is!
-Jillyfish. 

Fudge Bites

I had one intense work out today, and for some reason when I left the gym I immediately craved chocolate...was I going to deprive myself of my craving? Hell no, I was going to indulge my fresh burning muscles into some amazing chocolate heaven that I knew I could throw together and also make healthy and clean. These bad mama jamamas are seriously just a girls best friend, fudgey, chocolate, delicious, moist...pretty much every amazing and delicious adjective you can think of or ever want to put into your face. Anyways, here's the recipe.

Oven= 350*
Snag yourself 2 bowls, one for wet ingredients, one for dry.

Dry Ingredients:
-Whisk together 3Tbs raw unsweetened cocoa.

-1Tbs Dark chocolate chips (i use the minis, you get more in a TBS, therefor making them spread out more to ensure each bite has chocolate in it.)

-1/4c Whole Wheat Flour

-1/2c rolled oats (food process into flour)

-3-4packs of stevia

Wet Ingredients:
-1 Package of Unsweetened organic apple sauce

-1/4c almond milk (the one that is only 30 calories a cup)

-1 1/2tsp coconut oil

-1Tbs Almond Butter

-10 to 15 drops of Stevia Chocolate flavoring

Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

Finally:
-Onto a cookie sheet, scoop out 22 even sized dough balls
*I used a cookie dough scooper*
-Bake on 350* for 9-10minutes


*NOTE: Stevia is an organic, all natural, zero calorie sweetener. Derived from the Stevia plant.

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size: 1 Fudge Bite

Calories: 22

Fat: 1g

These are insanely low calorie, and delicious. 

I hope you try these bad boys out and enjoy them!

Enjoy!

"You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go."

-Dr. Seuss 

I love you all! 

from my fudge filled pie hole to yours.

-Jillyfishy fish

I

Get Lost and Have Adventures

We must have wild adventures and allow ourselves to get lost in order to know where we truly belong.

Accomplish something, accomplish something outside of your job. Accomplish something that to you, is big. This accomplishment should be outside of your comfort zone. View life from a different perspective. We must get scared, butterflies, anxious and feel excitement! Set yourself free, and just purely and truly LIVE this ONE life you were given. Stop making excuses to not go on that trip you've been dying to go on, if you can afford it...do it! Travel, get lost, experience new things, eat the foods you've fought for years, a little indulgence never hurt anyone, in fact it adds happiness to your soul. Go on an adventure and soak in every bit of it! What would be an adventure to you? Go explore. (All of this doesn't have to be out of the country, or even out of state. It doesn't even mean "traveling." 

-A goal of mine was to run a half marathon, I was unable to even finish a mile at one point in my life! I trained good and hard. I ran in the cold, heat and rain. I didn't let fear, weather, or even judgment and negative words stop me. I learned what my body is capable of. I learned how strong I am, physically and mentally. This was an adventure for me, every week when I completed my long runs, and realized "I'VE NEVER RAN THIS FAR BEFORE!" I was able to feel so much joy and I learned how to feel proud of myself.

-Do things for others, put effort into relationships, whether it be friendships, marriage or dating. If something is going to last, and be worth working on effort must be put forth from both and all people involved. Plain and simple. Don't fall into a rut, don't be scared, stop THINKING! When you don't think and simply live, you will notice so many wonderful things! 

Do nice things for people whether you know them or not, compliment, be kind, find something good and positive about others. When you think positive, happy thoughts, that energy will exude through your smile, and heart, others will not only see this, but they will feel it too. 

Don't hide from the world, you are so beautiful. You are an original, not one person out there is exactly like you. No matter what goals you accomplish, you are able to achieve so much! We were all given a gift, and that was the ability to love, dream and do. When you feel something, express it, be honest, things will never change if you don't. 

Today, i'd like to thank you again for being you. For being the beautiful person that you are. You are truly amazing, and the world would not be the same without you.

-Trying to exude positive energy, from my heart and smile to yours.-
-Jill

Just Breathe...

Hello handsome/beautiful!!!

 I learned something this week, so I decided to share. Take a second to breathe! Yes all my posts are about exercising, and healthy recipes. However, sometimes we need to take a day, or even a FEW to forget about all of that. To simply appreciate the body and life we have and to simply indulge, indulge in life's goodness. Indulge in the beauties around you, go explore, take time for you. For the first time in my life I have caught myself not being my carefree self that I've always been born to be. I realized that I was over thinking mine and everyone else's every step, worrying about the future.  This is not good. I was lucky to catch myself and sit back and try to figure everything out. I learned a bit about myself, this last year big things have happened to me. Instead of trying to figure out who I am, I've been simply over thinking life. I have always lived with the attitude, everything happens for a reason good or bad everything happens for a reason. Sometimes we just get everything that's happening in our lives just realize it's going to be taken care of if we just leave our cares with God he will end up bringing us to victory. Whatever you may be going through it's ultimately making you stronger whether you can see it with your natural eyes or not. I may not be Buddhist, but I do believe in a lot of the things that it teaches

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky" -Buddha

"Life is beautiful. Look within you. You are beautiful. Love all, as is. Don't hold back just love."

                                                   

Above: "The List"

 For once don't look for the meaning in everything, Just take it as is and accept it.

Indulge in your favorite food, go shopping, and enjoy yourself by doing what you love for once, do not think, just let go. This weekend my friend and made a list. On our list we simply wrote down things that we wanted to do, we did not stress about getting it all done, we just lived. We didn't just order egg whites, we ordered the whole egg, we didn't worry about the syrup on the french toast, we simply tasted and enjoyed the delicious, sweetness. We didn't drive to the farmers market, we walked and took in everything the earth had to offer, we explored. I challenge you to take a day, two days, three days or even a week just for you. Your soul needs it. 

Appreciate and love the life you have. Soak in the earths beauty, rain or shine, inhale its purity and save a little for yourself. Don't worry about what others are thinking, simply think about you. You are loved and cherished, whether you see it or not, there is no other YOU on this entire planet, so I thank you for sharing your beautiful presence with us all!

From my lovely life, to yours!

-Jill

For the first time in a long time I watched the sun set, every step, God has an amazing imagination.

                                                            

More of the earths perfection.