Winter

I went for a run in 34 degrees today. I do have to say it might have been one of my most empowering runs yet. I woke up really not wanting to go... but knowing that consistency over time breeds results along with a predicting massive winter storm coming, I better get my tush out of bed and go run. The first 5 minutes was NOT FUN, but once my body warmed up I started getting the momentum to keep going. While I was running, certain scriptural themes kept popping into my head: seasons, pruning dead branches, harvest. Just like when winter comes everything dies back- there is no new growth without winter. And oh man, is winter dark and cold and uncomfortable. Winter is when we fight colds, wake up with frozen toes because our feet poked out under the covers while we slept, when being outside is just not too much fun past the 10 minute mark... but when spring comes, we welcome it with open arms and ready hearts. The birds sing, your tulips start poking through the dirt, and the fruit begins to grow.

This is the season I'm in... new growth, tiny blooms, birds singing. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the winter most of 2013 was... my mom's cancer, long distance marriage, grasping at whatever faith I had to hang on, complicated pregnancy, many weeks of bed rest with a toddler, lots of "no"s in our business... I was in tears most days before Noah was born. But the day of his birth, everything shifted. I was born again too. My eyes were opened to my lack of obedience to God. I started digging into my bible again, praying and worshiping again, asking the Holy Spirit "show me", dreaming for my family, speaking my visions of the future, opening my mouth and letting blessings come out not curses, and I began to push myself physically. When you see a little bit of growth, be encouraged. Stay the course. Continue to fight. Soon, you'll have an entire field ready and a reward larger than you ever could have imagined. Prepare your storehouses. Harvest is coming!

Christmas Baker's Edition GIVEAWAY!

It’s Christmas Baker's Edition Giveaway Event

Organized by: Mom Powered Media. Co-hosted by: Shannon's View from Here, My Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Life, Joans 5 Star Reviews, Sweetphi, Mommy Kat and Kids and Naturally Frugalicious.

MY FAVORITE SEASON OF ALL IS HERE! My favorite childhood memories revolve around baking and decorating Christmas cookies and making our traditional Christmas morning monkey bread with my mother. I am so looking forward to this new season of life as my babies turn into toddlers who are starting to "get" gifts and opening presents and the joy of Christmas giving. Its going to be an incredible Christmas for my family this year.

MPM Network Bloggers are gearing up for an amazing holiday season. Make sure you stop by and checkout all the tasty recipes below. Surely you will find something that makes your holiday even yummier!

One lucky reader will receive a KitchenAid Tilt-head Stand Mixer + accessories!

Giveaway ends December 9th at 11:59pm, open to US & Canada, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:Jaci Hynes from Chasing a Hundred is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment. Please contact teri@mompoweredmedia.com with questions or to see your business or blog featured on the next big event!

Brooks Pure Cadence 2 | REVIEW

Once I was cleared to start being active again postpartum, my husband and I made a trip to REI to peek at running shoes. I was ready to finish the Couch to 5k training I started in October 2011, the month I found out I was pregnant with Ben. My feet had also grown an entire size through both pregnancies.

We left the store with a pair of vibrant purple shoes… I was way excited about the color, they were comfortable and really only time would tell if they were my running shoes or not. (REI has a great return policy if you’re not satisfied with your items long term.)

The Brooks Pure Cadence 2 shoes came with lime green laces which I was completely sold out for. I love running in neon anything! The color I chose is pretty fabulous… purple and teal. I feel pretty when I lace them up!

They aren’t minimalist style shoes exactly, but there is less padding which I’m a fan of. My husband is a bit of a minimalist shoe snob, so he really wanted to get me into a pair close to that for my 5k training.

The shoes are very light which is a plus and there is this feature called the Progressive Diagonal Roll Bar that helps prevent overpronation (which leads to certain foot complications, ouch). The shoe’s tongue is attached to one side which I thought was going to be weird but was actually quite comfortable.

All in all, this shoe gets a 4/5 from me. As my first real running shoe, I don’t have much to compare it to. I can say though, after consistently running for 5 weeks, my feet have had no issues and I plan to wear them out with my new hobby! The Brooks site says they should last me 250-300 miles or so.

Love 'Em! What are your favorite road running shoes?

Fist Pumps & Roasted Leg Quarters

I just finished week 4 of couch to 5k and I am so excited to start week 5. I'm finding that a major perspective shift and attitude change has really affected my runs. I used to say "I'm scared of the next week. I don't know if I can do it", and guess what? It made me dread running, even though after every run I felt incredible and victorious. I've started looking forward to the next week as a challenge I KNOW I can overcome. I bet you can guess... That's made it more enjoyable. Its hard to find excuses not to go run because I really enjoy the challenge each new week brings.

So on Friday... I'm running, and nearing the end of my first 5 minutes running stretch and I'm battling those voices in my head: "There's only a minute left, it won't hurt if you stop", "you can't do this anymore". (I really believe the enemy is afoot anytime I'm close to victory and breakthrough. He doesn't want us to win! He wants us to live in the "I can't" "I'm too fat" "I'm too sick" "I'll do it tomorrow" mentality).  I'm so close to succumbing when I look up as a car drives by. The man in the car is smiling, dancing, and fist pumping for me. I couldn't contain my laughter and pushed through the pain and praised Jesus that last 60 seconds for sending me some relief. He knew he looked ridiculous, but he took a risk and it made the difference to me.

You see, guys... God did not create us with this negative "self talk". We were created to be victors in Him. People flinch and shrink and maybe even roll their eyes when we talk about Satan's lies and his tactics to bring us down, but its real. When I say NO to the enemy, I'm saying YES to Christ, to abundance, to victory, and to being an overcomer. It just took a couple fist pumps for me to remember that I have the power to say "NO, I will not fail, I will not stop, and I will finish the race."

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On another, lighter note... I'm going to share one of my FAVORITE recipes with you! I love roasting leg quarters. SO MUCH! So here we go! You'll need...

3 tbs EVOO
Juice of 1 large lemon
Your favorite spice blend
S&P
Chicken Leg Quarters

First, take your leg quarters (drumsticks work too!) and rinse them off/pat dry. (OPTIONAL: brine them in pickle juice for a couple hours beforehand. They get super tender and don't taste like pickles, I promise) Next whisk 3 TBSP of Olive oil with a combination of your favorite spices. (for me its, garlic, paprika, and lemon pepper.) Squeeze 1 large lemon into the mixture and whisk.

Lay out your chicken in your roasting pan, Cover generously with sea salt. Take the olive oil mixture and pour all over the chicken, making sure the skin is covered with it. If you add paprika it should be a GORGEOUS orangey color. Turn the legs skin side down and cook at 350 for 45 minutes. The flip them back up and cook for another 45 mins at 350. The juice coming out of them should be clear! Then look at the skins and decide if they're crispy enough for you! If not, broil on low and check every 2-3 minutes.

They SO yummy served up with the pan juices drizzled on top and served with butternut squash mash and sauteed sesame spinach! Enjoy :)

Jaci
Chasing A Hundred

Broken Toothbrushes

Something my husband and I recently realized was that our lives were lacking consistency. And we vowed to change that for our children, especially.

Since our decision to push through and be consistent in our daily home and life operations, my husband has snapped TWO toothbrushes. We laughed about it both times and didn't really think much about it until it happened again last night. My husband really doesn't know his own strength anymore. When he warms up a bottle of expressed milk for our youngest, he puts the cap on it so tight I have to wait for him to come home to open it! Yeesh, dude. He has been consistently working out- lifting, squats, abs, you name it, reading the bible, speaking his affirmations over himself, and working to grow as the leader of our family. And that consistency has finally resulted in super strength!

As for me, it's been all about finding lots of little moments to say hi to God every day... And digging into the Word. Oh, how many God nudges I've missed these last 25 years because I lacked consistency and the desire to know Him. Also, consistently taking my AdvoCare products and doing couch to 5k and the Can You 24 Workouts 5-6 days a week. It's all entwined... Speaking to God the moment I open my eyes in the morning launches me into a full day, and working out keeps me chugging along and not so sleepy I forget to worship my Creator.

Thanks to consistency we're getting stronger. Not just physically- I'm so excited about the strength we're developing in our parenting, our faith, and how we fight for our goals. We have a message to share and we want out lives to speak it strongly- not only our mouths.

Consistency over time is what gets you results... And maybe even a couple broken toothbrushes along the way.

Jaci

Guest Post and Blog Giveaway!

To kick off my new blog and share my continuing weight loss transformation, Staci over at Luker Family Tales invited me to be a guest blogger! Go read and participate in the AdvoCare product giveaway I'm hosting here. Thanks Staci!

Recipe: Hearty Ham & Bean Soup

I made this soup a couple weeks ago... Then I was rummaging through the fridge for breakfast leftovers the day before grocery day and there was pretty much nothing to eat! So I got creative by adding an egg on top of the leftover soup and it was amazing. If you know me in real life (if not, you'll learn) that my sole FOODlosophy is "put a sunny side up egg on top. That'll taste good."

Here is my recipe! Soup is easy because it requires little to no measurements.

6c (roughly) homemade chicken stock
Ham steak or leftover ham bone, ham hocks
Chopped veggies (my fav is garlic, green beans, squash, yellow onion, carrots)
2 cans of great northern beans, rinsed well
Spices: paprika, pepper, garlic powder

In a soup pot, drizzle a little olive or coconut oil and sauté chopped veggies until tender, add ham pieces and cook until warm. Add 6 cups chicken stock and 2 cans of great northern beans. Add spices to taste. Bring to a boil, stirring every minute or two (so the bottom doesn't burn). Then set the heat on low and let it simmer until it's as thick as you like it or you're ready to eat. If you want a thicker soup add less chicken stock.

It's really hard to mess up, I promise!

Clean Eating

I've spent the last month really trying to figure out what I want this blog to be. Then I realized that it was the perfectionist in me that was keeping me from actually writing posts. Boom, truth bomb. Perspective shift: instead of planning and planning and planning, action is more productive. Just do it, then figure out if it works.

I've decided to share some of my clean eating recipes, but first I need to define & share my definition of clean eating with you.

Clean Eating is such a buzzword these days. I've found myself thinking "but what does that even mean?!" when someone refers to clean eating so here is how I define clean eating for me.

*avoiding processed foods
*eating more vegetables than fruit*avoiding refined sugar and instead opting for local honey on occasion
*eating lots of meat, locally sourced, grassfed, pastured, organic if possible
*avoiding dairy and wheat products, creamy sauces, and alcohol

*I don't count calories- I eat to satisfy my hunger. I wholly believe in QUALITY over QUANTITY. I'm happy to listen to my body and figure out what I need from there. And sometimes that means a protein-packed snack at 11pm before bed. I break all the rules.

Now before you cheese lovers completely pass out, let me explain. I strive to do this at least 80% of the time. For me its about balance, its about choosing life-giving foods, and feeding my brain, gut, muscles, etc what they need to function at their highest performance level.
I went the "diety" route for the last 7 years and I'M STILL OBESE. Choosing whole foods is a lifetime decision I've made and I'm very very happy with how I feel. And I'm happy to say that after 2 months of making these choices, doritos and dr pepper taste disgusing, and make me feel pretty disgusting.

How do YOU define clean eating?