Movin' on upppp

Hey beautiful people!

I moved! Well, I didn't move, but beemeetsbutterfly did!

Head on over to www.beemeetsbutterfly.wordpress.com to keep this show goin'!

See ya over there,

Megan

24 Things To Do When I'm 24

I'm turning 24-years-old tomorrow. Yowza.

Tulips. My favorite. These were centerpieces at my first bridal shower! :)

I'm a list person, so what better way to celebrate my birthday than with a list of 24 things I want to do while I'm 24-years-old. I am celebrating by making a list? Yikes. Looks like we're off to a great start, folks...


Well, here it goes!


1.Grow more into the woman God created me to be
2. Get married (November 5th babbbbbbyyy)
3. Work at a job I love..one I am excited to wake up for
4. Run a marathon
5. Perfect my vanilla buttercream frosting
6. Buy a house and always have fresh flowers in the kitchen
7. Read at least 5 books (hey! i'm busy. don't judge)
8. Grow my blog to more readers than just my mom and best friend
9. Have more of my work published
10. Edit another book
11. Begin to write my own book
12. Show Bee every.single.day. how much I adore him
13. Make homemade ice cream
14. Throw a killer dinner party
15. Sell my baked goods
16. Do some sort of mission work
17. Actively participate in the fight against human trafficking
18. Grow my relationship with my new sisters-in-law :)
19. Surprise people with little bursts of sunshine..random hand-written notes, homemade cookies, etc.
20. Grow as a public speaker
21. Learn how to drive stick shift
22. Go surfing again
23. Break a 6 minute mile
24. Have quiet time with God every morning (EVERY morning)

365 days until I'm 5 years away from being 30. Lord Jesus, help me.

Someone get me some ice cream.

Maybe I Should Open Up a Thai Restaurant

I love Thai food. 

The contrast of flavors…sweet basil, hot chilies, tart citrus, cool and creamy coconut…sends me over the moon! I am a sucker for good Pad Thai, am a fool in love with Crying Tiger and sneak bites of Bee’s Pad Ka Prow when he’s not looking (and by sneak bites, I mean eat half his plate). 

I've eaten the best of the best of it on my trip to Thailand (which I will document in a later post) and often eat out at local Thai restaurants, which are delicious. Intimated by the preparation of the cuisine, I have NEVER made any Thai dish. I just didn’t want to try to make it and then it be disgusting and a letdown. <LAME. Never let fear stop you from doing anything. Well, besides bungee-jumping. Let fear stop you from that. Oh, and trying to hand-feed a lion. Probably a bad idea. Good to be afraid of.

Look at me! I’m rambling.

Ok, so being the incredible fiancé that I am, I decided to make Bee’s favorite Thai dish to show him I love him (and to convince him to buy me a Garmin running watch for my birthday)..what? I did a search, couldn’t find many recipes, so I just went with this one and kind of winged it.

Holy mackerel! (why do people say that? Is a fish really holy?) It tasted JUST LIKE what we order in the restaurants! I kept dancing around the kitchen saying, “OMG! OMG! It smells like a Thai restaurant in here! It tastes exactly like the restaurant kind! I might cry! What a glorious day this is!”

My family wasn’t amused. I think they were still upset about my personal concert I had in the shower minutes earlier. Let’s just say no one yelled, “Encore!” Get over it, people. My shower, my songs.

There I go again rambling.

I put the basil in at the last minute to ever-so-slightly wilt (heaven) and we plated it up.

Sweet, spicy love in a bowl.

Results? OHHH YEAHHH BABY! AMAZING! So spicy, so flavorful, so freakin’ good! Served with some brown rice and peanut noodles with bean sprouts…get out of townnn! (Father of the Bride anyone??)

So good that I had the leftovers for lunch today. 

Only to be washed down by liquid gold. Nectar of the angels. Legal crack. Call it what you will. It’s awesome.

Make this now. Like yesterday kind of now. 

Pad Ka Prow

Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
12 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Thai chilies (aka Birds Eye Chilies) *this is SPICY. Do 1 tbs. or less to cut down on heat.
1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced into thin pieces (about 1" x 1/4")
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup black soy sauce
1/4 cup Golden Mountain sauce (found at most Asian markets and some grocery stores)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 cup fresh Thai basil leaves (I use normal basil)

This is how we do it:

Heat oil in wok over high heat. When oil begins to smoke, add garlic, onion and Thai chilies. Stir fry until golden, no more than a minute.

Add chicken, fish sauce, black soy sauce, Golden Mountain sauce and palm sugar. Stir fry for 2 minutes, then add red and yellow bell peppers. Continue stir frying until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are soft.

Turn off heat, add basil and stir until just wilted. Serve immediately.

There's Spinach in My Smoothie!

Sometimes I eat vegetables. Yes, my life is not all cake, caramel corn, and cookies. Like this morning. I ate spinach. Well, it happened to be hidden in a sea of peanut butter, creamy almond milk, and banana, but hey, it was in there!

I love putting spinach and vegetables in my smoothies for the extra nutrient boost. Want to know the crazy part? You honestly cannot taste the spinach. I tell no lies! I try to sneak veggies into my meals in any way possible in order to counteract the buckets of frosting and ice cream (cherry chip please!) I eat on the regular. Excuse me? Did you just say, “That’s not how it works!”? Shame on you! This is my world, and yes, eating vegetables makes up for my insane sugar consumption. They balance each other out. Ying and yang, people. 

You may be thinking that vegetables in a smoothie is the most disgusting thing in the world, but you need to try this. TRUST ME! 

Unsafe driving practices. Don't do like I do.

Anywhoo, do you want to make a delicious, refreshing smoothie that is great for your body, but tastes like it’s not? Oh, I know you do. Your wish is my command. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think! I call it the Elvis+Popeye smoothie as a nod to Elvis' favorite sandwich and Popeye's spinach obsession. You figured that out before I explained it though, didn't you?

Elvis+Popeye Smoothie

• 1 cup milk (I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
• ½ frozen banana 
• Spoonful of peanut butter - add more or less to your taste (let's just say mine is a HEAPING spoonful)
• Handful of spinach (Use fresh or frozen - I like to use frozen, chopped spinach)
• Dash of cinnamon 
• Sprinkle of chia seeds (Sooo good for you! Find em at Whole Foods, Henry’s, Mother’s Market, etc.)
• ½-1 tbs. malt powder (malt powder=a dream come true)  
• Handful of ice  

Blend together and enjoy! :)

How to Run Faster

I often read other running blogs and drool over how these women have the time to sip coffee and go on long runs in the morning. Jealous.

Most of my mornings involve me rushing off to work, spilling coffee all over myself and then squeezing in a quick 30 minute run after work before whatever I have to do that night. All that to say, I wish I had more time to run. I don't. So, to get the most bang for my buck, I have been doing speed work. While speed work is great and can help you run faster, it can't take the place of long distance runs.

An example of a treadmill speed workout a la Megan: 

0-2 minutes - 6.0
2-4 - 7.0
4-6 - 8.0
6-8 - 7.0
8-10 - 6.5
10-12 - 7.5
12-13 - 9.0
13-14 - 6.0
14-15 - 7.0
15-18 - 7.5
18-20 - 6.5
20-21 - 9.0
21-22 - 6.5
22-23 - 9.0
23-24 - 6.0
24-25 - 7.5
25-27 - 8.0
27-28 - 7.5
28-30 - 7.0
Cool down.

I dare you to try that above workout and not be exhausted, butt fully kicked and feeling amazing! Ok, well, if you are not an experienced runner, I DO NOT encourage you to try this workout. This is simply what I have found works for me. :)

I hear people ask all of the time, "How can I run faster?" The answer is simple, yet complicated. It requires a lot of practice, hard work and sweat (yuck). People will give you so many tips on how to run faster, but as ridiculous as this sounds, if you want to be running faster, you have to, well, practice running faster! It will be uncomfortable, but pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone is the only way to do it!

Because I haven't had much more than 30 minutes to get a run in lately, I decided today that I would get more than my usual (as of late) 3ish miles....I hopped on the treadmill (aka DREADMILL-- ugh boring!) and busted out 5 miles. It was harder than I thought. I alternated between 7:45 min miles and 8 min miles...a lot slower than my race pace, but still pretty good.

When I was done, I was DRENCHED in sweat. I headed home to shower and grub.

I think I hurt. Ok, I know I hurt.

Maybe I need to add more of these toasted marshmallow milkshakes to my diet to give me more energy. Yes, that is the key to running faster. :D

happy birthday!

the beautiful birthday girl and i

today was so fun! i went wine tasting to celebrate one of my best friend's birthday! bee couldn't make it because he had to be a responsible busy bee and work...boo! after i got gussied up, i made myself some iced coffee, some toast with peanut butter and banana (favorite breakfast everrr) and headed out the door. (note: i made the coffee way too strong and i was wired. like wiiiired. i sang some glorious melodies at the top of my lungs with no.one.in.the.car. much to the delight of my fellow freeway drivers who stared at me with crazy eyes.)

weird photo shoot before everyone else arrived.

after a fun caffeine-fueled drive to Temecula, i arrived, greeted the birthday girl and sipped on some goods. i only sipped a couple tastes because i was driving, but the little i had was delicious! who knew temecula produced such grape juice goodness?!

after some tasty tastings, we were hungry and headed over to one of the wineries where we had reservations for lunch! amazing! the weather was perfect, and the food? ridiculous! i ordered a flatbread pizza with sliced pear, gorgonzola cheese, proscuitto and arugula...DROOL! =D

the whole gang getting ready for some serious nom nom

they brought the birthday girl two little pieces of a vanilla bean cheesecake. yum! luckily, i was sitting next to her so i was in the prime location to snag a bite (or two. fine, three when she wasn't looking).

bright sunshine, good food, good fun...GREAT day!

two megan's and a jill :)

now i'm home hanging with the bee man and my parents are bbq'ing....tri tip... can i get an amen?! mmm.

tomorrow is father's day! going to start off the day with a nice run then spend the day with my main men! :)

i'm weird. oh, you knew that?

ps have you seen the show Shark Tank? b and my dad love it, and while i pretend to be on my computer not caring, i secretly think it's awesome! watch it. you'll get hooked.

let it out.

life sometimes sucks.

you already knew that.

so, here it is: today, i beg you to let it out. i give you permission (if you feel like you need it). scream, kick, cry, punch a pillow, write it out and yell from the top of your lungs. go ahead, i'll wait.

done? ah. felt good, huh?

i needed that. did you? i feel like you did. if you feel like you don't, then you really need it because da-nile ain't just a river in Egypt, people! my mom says that. it's cute. she's cute. i love her.

excuse the above rant, but i'm just not one to pretend like life is perfect. a lot of the time it just plain blows. we live in a sick world. have you noticed? don't turn on the TV, it'll just exasperate the problem.

but, wait.

old, rusted barrel i found in a pile of trash on top of hill overlooking the ocean in Thailand. proof that love and beauty exists amidst the garbage.

there's more. there's joy. there's love. there's generosity. there's beauty. there's ice cream. so, i encourage you to find that "more". please don't deny the pain in your life and the aching heart of this world. refusing to move through (or even recognize its presence in the deepest parts of yourself) your pain, heart break and struggles will only cause more grief and will pave a road of destruction. you will become a bulldozer, trampling yourself and anything in your path. believe that.

you ought to identify those cracks in your bones and take steps toward healing. why? so you can better enjoy the "more" of life.

i wish i had chocolate chip cookies to talk about or the peanut butter chocolate cake i've been dying to make...or that this whole thing would be simply about the fact that mcdonald's ice cream cones bring me a childlike happiness that i can't explain. oh, and that their diet coke is the best diet coke in existence (not like i drink that artificially-sweetened garbage or anything, uh hum)...

but no. today's post is just what it is. recognizing the reality that life is not, and will never be, perfect on this side of eternity (a harsh reality to accept), moving through it with a heart of acceptance and seeking the "more"...the good, the great, the grand. seeking it by creating it.

all that being said, when i go on my daily lunch time walk today...i'm making a bee-line to the golden arches with a dollar in my pocket.