End of week reads

It's Friday and I'm actually posting??? Shocking, right. Usually, the weekend is when I catch up on reading my magazines and books that I haven't had time to read during the week.  Here are some of the articles that I liked from this past week:

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17 signs you'll gain weight as you age

Mary Kate and Ashley Olson open new store

5 bottled cocktails you should try

Upcycled Furniture Ideas

12 Pieces Every Woman should have in her 30s

The Best Beaches in the world

Everyone have a great weekend!!!!

Thoughtful Thursday

Happy Thursday!!! It's hard to believe that half of the month of May is gone. I have been busy doing my internship and working which has caused blogging and volunteering to fall to the side. I have done some deep thinking lately about my life and the direction I want to go. With that said, here are some thoughts for this Thursday from Pinterest and Lifehack:

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Thoughtful Thursday

It's Thursday!!! Meaning that we are one step closer to the weekend. This is my first school-free Thursday also. YAY!!! Here are some thoughts for this Thursday:

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Have a great Thursday everyone!!!!

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Summer of Learning

This year for me has been about one of my favorite things to do: learning. School just ended and I should be tired of learning. However, I love learning about subjects I am interested. Since I will have some free time, this summer is a great time to learn some new things. I have come up with a list of things that I want to do/learn this summer:

Learn a new language:  I have been wanting to learn another language for years now. I had a failed Spanish trying to learn attempt in college (I have issues rolling my R's). I have decided that I want to try to learn two languages before the end of the year. I know which ones I want to learn first and we will see if this turns out better than the first time around. FYI: Spanish is one of the languages. 

Travel: I have not been on a vacation or traveled really just to travel in almost 4 years. The reason I love traveling is because I love history and going to different places. I will be staying in the southeast for a hot minute. I do have to venture to Dallas though before mid-July since one of my friend's is moving back to D.C and I told her I would come out there before she left.

Pick up a new hobby: So far I went to a handlettering class and a class for wreath making. I will be getting back into the handlettering soon and trying my hand at another wreath. Until then I am trying to think of something I have been wanting to try. I have an idea of one thing but I have to pass it by some people that I know want to be involved in it first.

Focus on Health: This could be misleading but I it pertains to reading more health books for enjoyment and not because I have to for class. I have gotten into holistic health and energy medicine a little lately (I just got the book Energy Medicine). I am trying to learn and understand all areas of health and wellness for when I finally decided which nutrition route I want to take.

More Posting: I am going to try to learn better ways to blog so that I can post more frequently. Getting post done ahead of time so I'm not having to figure out what I am going to write has always been an issue since I am a slacker sometimes. I am wanting to sometime this year change up the blog again also. The main thing I want to do is hone my photography skills along with more drink/food/entertaining post (I am going to start posting the price of the recipes I post so people will know exactly what it cost to make it).

I know it is still technically spring weather-wise but it is summer since I am only working/doing my internship/volunteering/blogging. Does anyone else have a list of things that they want to do or learn this summer???

Fitness Tuesday

Since school is finally out and I'm not going to summer school (YAY!!!!) I won't be able to go to the gym. Today, I'm going to share some of the free fitness apps that I have been using recently It's a mixture between computer and tablet apps. Here are some of my favorite ones:

YogaDownload

I just started doing this recently. The app is on my computer and so far I love it. Lengths of the videos vary in time. The website packages range from $10 a month to $90 for the whole year. I got the free version in the app store so, I would recommend going that route since it has about 100 different videos.

Elite Interval Training 

The main thing I dislike about it is there not being a big opportunity to customize an exercise program after you have set it up already.

Daily Yoga

This yoga app I have on my tablet for when I can't take my computer with me. I like this one because it shows the positions in a timed sequence. Also, you can pick which different videos you want to download. There is a charge depending on the video you choose. 

Daily Workout

With this workout, you can choose the certain area of the body you want to work out and even cardio. If you get the full one (guessing the one you have to pay for) you can get customized personal training and extra exercises.

Those are the four fitness app on my computer and tablet at the moment. Is anyone else using any fitness apps when they can't fit exercising into their schedule???

Thoughful Thursday

Happy Thursday and more importantly one of my favorite holidays besides the 4th of July, St. Patrick Day, and Thanksgiving: CINCO DE MAYO!!!

The holiday holds a special place in my heart (I mean besides the fact that I like Tequila) considering the Social Security Office messed up my birthday when I went to go get a new SS card when I lost mine when was 8. The lady ended up putting May 5th instead of June 5th as my birthday. Pretty much, until I was 29 my birthday was wrong.

I was going to post some Tequila recipes but I'll do that over the next coming week because you can never go wrong with Tequila. Here are some funny thoughts for today:

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Have a great Cinco de Mayo!!!! Everyone try not to have too much fun.

Mini Bacon Turkey Burger Sliders

Over the past few years I have become to addicted to anything that is bit-sized or tasting size. Whether it's cheese or appetizers at a restaurant, I am all about sample size food. I had bought some more Hawaiian rolls a while ago and decided to make some burgers. I try to not eat a whole lot red meat so I did ground turkey instead. Here's my recipe:
Ingredients:
1 lbs Ground turkey
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 Egg
1 tbsp Black pepper
1 tbsp Garlic powder
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp of Basil Pesto sauce
5 strips of bacon (microwavable)
Slices of sharp cheddar cheese from block, sliced thin
2 tbsp butter, slightly softened
2 roma tomatoes, sliced thin
Romaine lettuce leaves, cleaned (optional)

To begin with, mix the first six ingredients together in a bowl. 

Once the meat was mix well, form small patties about the size of the roll. Side note: I ended up making 21 of these patties from the meat the I had. 

Then I put four patties on my George Foreman. I got this small one on Groupon and it has been one of the best purchases I've made. It has the grilling part and if you haven't noticed yet: it has a bun toaster on top.

I put butter on each of the halves of the buns I was going to use. 

Two buns (a top and bottom part) at a time, I toasted them. I left them on there for about 6 to 7 minutes like I did with the patties I made.

This is what it end result of the buns after grilling.

While the patties cooked and the buns toaster, I mix the mayonnaise and basil pesto together to make basil pesto mayonnaise.  I put that in the refrigerator after mixing.

I then took, 5 slices of back and microwaved them for 1:30 or until crisp.  I then broke the pieces into half.

Once the burgers and the buns were done, I took the mayonnaise and put 1 tsp on the top and bottom bun of each roll. I place the patty, cheese, and tomato on the bottom bun then placed the top on with a toothpick through the middle (to hold it in place)

Here are the ones that I made without lettuce. It only took me about 45 minutes all of it (along with sweet potato fries). 

Does anyone else love taste size foods or is it just me???