Five on Friday!

I'm linking up today with Christina, Darci, Natasha and April!

{ONE}

I've created a linkup that is hosted every Sunday! It's called Blast from the Past (#blastfromthepast, #bftp, whatevs). Basically, it's a throwback of whatever you did that day! I open the linkup each Sunday morning and it closes Wednesday at 5 pm, so feel free to join and meet new people!

{TWO}

I watched The Vow maybe three times over the past week and I CANNOT get over how beautiful their warehouse-turned-home is! Like, it's so serious that I have decided I want to live in something like that and have been searching warehouses that are for sale around Atlanta. Like, just look at this beauty!

That teal metal looking door, ugh I die.

{THREE}

My Mexican food cravings are currently out of this world.

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{FOUR}

Four days until I'm in sunny Mexico! 

In the land of margaritas. 

And sunshine. 

And beach.

And me.

{FIVE}
I got a kimono and sun hat for the beach! 

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Sometimes I Struggle

For those who know me personally, being single is something I have a love/hate relationship with (don't we all?). Seeing people I went to high school with in relationships, getting engaged or married, having babies (not even slightly envious of this at the moment), it's hard not to want someone for myself to experience life with. I used to pray all the time - seriously, all the time - asking God to bring a God-fearing man into my life that challenges me to be better and to do more. While I still want someone like that, I've become happy being single. Like legitimately. I've spent time in the Word, time with myself, time with God just praying for Him to show me qualities about myself that I haven't already found. While I know that one day, I will have the man God wants for me, in this moment right now, I can honestly say that I am okay. Last semester, a classmate shared this with the women in our small group and I fell in love with it, so I had to share it with y'all:

Here's to all my single ladies out there:

"Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone, to have a deeper soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But to be a Christian, God says:

No, not until you are satisfied and fulfilled and content with living, loved by Me alone, and with giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me... to have an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me, the one who designed you, created you, and blessed you. I love you My child, and until you discover that only in Me is your satisfaction and fulfillment to be found, you will not be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. I have a perfect love planned for you, in which I play a significant role... a relationship free of any other desires or longings. As difficult as it may seem at times, I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing... one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you!

You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction of knowing that I am taking care of you. Keep listening to my word. Keep learning the things that I tell you. For now, you must wait. Don't be anxious. Don't worry. don't look around at the things others have gotten or what I have given to them. Don't look at things you think you want. You just keep looking up to Me, or you will miss what I want to show you. And then, when you are ready, I will surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would ever dream. You see, until you are ready, and until you are satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have prepared for you, you will not be able to experience an earthly love that exemplifies your relationship with Me, which is perfect love. And, dear one, I want you to have this most perfect and wonderful love. I want you to see in the flesh a picture of me... and to enjoy the everlasting warmth, beauty, and perfection of love that I offer you with Myself. Know that l love you always, I am God Almighty, believe and be satisfied.

Pray for your future spouse, and know that I am working even now, this minute, to have both of you ready at the same time... My child, you have no idea of the plans I have for you!"

Just remember that you aren't alone. God's plans are so much greater than your own so prepare yourself!

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Blast From the Past!

Something I've ALWAYS wanted to do since joining the blogging community was start my own linkup. While this one may not be the one to end all, be all, I've always loved meeting new people and finding new blogs that I get to stalk daily through link ups. So, I decided to create my own.

Is there another link up like this? Sure, I'm sure there is. Do I care? Well, since I haven't actually stumbled upon one that is this exact one, no.

Similar to #throwbackthursday and #flashbackfriday, I've decided to create #blastfromthepast. Are you limited to a specific day you need to post this #blast from? Nope, but I'm going to post every Sunday and probably close the link up on Wednesday.

Wanna join in on the fun? Simply do the following:
follow me
grab the button below
link back to me
share something you did around this day in history
comment on someone else's post
It can be photos, letters you've written, an old post you loved, something you said on Facebook on twitter, events in your life, whatever you want!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.alliemichi.blogspot.com" title="Allie Michi" target="_blank"><img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg261/gilliganx3/Blastfromthepast_zps2b2dede4.png" alt="Allie Michi" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

For this first post, I'm including a few dates because they hold some memorable times in my life (hello graduation!), so on these dates in history (May 23-May 26)

May 23, 2013 - My baby's first birthday!

May 23, 2012 - That one time I was an RA

May 23, 2011 - Senior Night on the Green

May 24, 2011 - Senior Baccalaureate 

May 25, 2010 - Facebook post
"True or False: all is fair in love and war"

May 25, 2011 - Playing King's Cup/Circle of Death with my friend's family

May 26, 2011 - Graduation because... why not?

Lastly, I have to say happy birthday to one of my best friends, Aaron. Long, long ago I talked here about how Aaron was my favorite internet friend. Well it's been four years since I wrote that post and he and I are now going on seven years of friendship. 

Aaron, thank you for always being here for me and telling me when I'm wrong - not many people get to do that. You've never been afraid to speak your mind and you always listen when I ramble on about random events and people. You are still the sweetest, most genuine guy I have ever met and you have a heart of gold. I love that we have been able to remain this close and that we've become such good friends over the years. I'm so proud of you for graduating and getting such a great job straight out of college. Thank you for your continuous support, your unconditional love, and staying on the phone with me for hours when I can't sleep. Happy, happy birthday! God has such amazing things in store for you and I can't wait to see what He brings. I love you and can't wait to celebrate when I come back home!

An InLinkz Link-up

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An Eye for an Eye

I made a most wondrous dish for dinner today - chicken and roasted broccoli (recipe to follow).

While that's probably a very basic dish for many of you, as it is for me, I was just trying to make something with ingredients already in my possession. 

So envision this:

You're cooking chicken, roasting broccoli, the world is grand when all of a sudden... 

*crackle pop pop pop*

... oil flies straight out of a pan onto your arm (you jump a tad) and then into your eyeball (you jump backwards into the fridge and turn dramatically like you just got slapped in the face).

Yeah, that happened.

As I'm typing this, my eye is burning and sore.

But my food was good y'all!

Anywho, on to the roasted broccoli which was DELICIOUS.

I adapted this recipe (remember, I used what I had) and came up with this:

Here are the completely scientific measurements of the ingredients I used

1 12 oz. bag of FROZEN broccoli 

½ tsp. salt

Dash of garlic powder

2 tbsp. canola oil

1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

3 shakes of parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F
2. Dump frozen broccoli into a bowl, remove ice chunks but leave little broccoli crumbs.
3. Put everything into the bowl with the broccoli EXCEPT the oil and stir. 
4. Pour a tbsp. of oil into the mix and stir. Add more to your liking (just trying to cover the broccoli in deliciousness here). It's okay if everything is coated, it'll still be good, promise.
5. Grease a baking sheet or whatever you wanna put these bad boys on and proceed to dump (carefully - which is something I didn't do and ended up with broccoli crumbs everywhere) contents of bowl onto/into baking sheet/pan. Put whatever didn't stick to broccoli on top of the pieces that seem to be lacking. 
6. Put in oven.
7. Wait 15 minutes and let broccoli bake/roast. Your house will smell good. You will want to open the oven and eat immediately. Don't.
8. After 15 minutes, take out and flip broccoli over and cook another 10-15 minutes (I did 10).
9. Eat and enjoy immediately. Just don't burn yourself taking the sheet out of the oven like I did. 

Eat up!

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I've Fallen Off...

You know the drill, it's time for Five on Friday. Brought to you by to the lovely hosts - Christina, Darci, Natasha, and April. This week's post is super short, but it's not because I don't love y'all.

{ONE}

I am loving how God is working in my life right now! I truly have peace about myself and my relationships (even the ones that are ending...) and I trust everything that He is doing.

{TWO}

17 days until I'm on the sunny beaches of Mexico!

{THREE}

I need your help y'all. So, I've kinda fallen off (hellooo post title...) in both blogging and in working out. I went home this past week to see my family and only worked out once while I was there. Prior to that, I was maybe working out 3 times a week. But I know some of y'all remember when I was working out everyday.... So, really it's needless to say, but I need some tips on staying motivated to work out! Please please please leave a comment with any tips you may have that keep you motivated to work out that I may be able to apply to myself.

{FOUR}

I am SO thankful to be done with my first year of nursing school. Like, elated! I have found myself, however, having no idea what to do with my time though since I'm not studying like a crazy person. I don't have an externship this summer, so it'll be a real break from all things nursing which I am undecided if that's a good thing or not. As of this moment though, it's definitely a good thing. Ask me again towards the middle and end of the summer and my answer may change.

No {FIVE} for me today. But congratulations to Christina on the birth of her beautiful baby girl! April, I'm waiting to see pictures of your baby girl once she gets here too!

Have a blessed day and a great weekend y'all!

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Who Wants Smooth Skin Anyway?

Disclaimer: I am a member of BzzAgent and through this program, I receive products and/or coupons (usually for free). In return, I give my opinion on the products either by word of mouth, twitter, Facebook or sometimes.... here on my blog! *insert shocked face*

You should have all sang that to the tune of Beyonce...

Anyway.

Just a few days ago, I received a box in the mail knowing good and well I haven't bought anything recently (besides a swimsuit bottom from VS... oops). Upon looking at the sender, I immediately remembered that I had signed up with BzzAgent long ago and would be participating in a few product reviews for the month of May. 

To my pleasant surprise, I received BIC^® Soleil^®  Glow razors!

The razors feature: 

a COMFORT SHIELD^™ head 

 three flexible blades 

 a lubricating strip infused with Vitamin E and Aloe

 a pivoting head

 a rubber grip handle

 Each pack includes three razors and retails for $6.99 in stores. 

Hallelujah! Y'all, just look at my old razor.

It is literally crying out for me to replace it. And now I could.

Now, I've always loved BIC razors (see old BIC razor above). They're affordable, they work wonders for me, my skin always feels great after shaving with them and I (usually) never get those little white things on my legs that tell the world "HEY, I JUST SHAVED!"

With that said, I expected nothing less from these fancy badboys. Wanna see my legs? I know you do. After 3 days of shaving with these razors, I can honestly say that these razors are pretty good! The first two times I shaved with them, I didn't feel like I was getting a close enough shave except for on my thighs and knees. However, my pictures tell otherwise and to be honest, that's all that really matters right? The grip was comfortable, the head of the razor moved along the contour of my body. 'Twas good. My skin feels smooth, I have no evidence left that tell the world I shaved today, no razor bumps and *drumroll please* I didn't cut myself! So, If you're looking for quality razors, I would suggest these lil baddies. They get the job done and they get it done right.

Additionally, BIC^® Soleil^®  is having 100 Days of Giveaways! It started on May 1st, but every Monday, 100 fans will win a 3-pack of the razors I just reviewed! For every other day of the week, there's a different prize planned. All the way until August 8th! All you have to do it go and like the BIC^® Soleil^® Facebook page, then enter to win today's prize. Easy as that. There's also a grand prize that you can enter to win... It's $10,000  towards a home makeover! 

DID I MENTION IT'S FREE TO ENTER AND YOU WIN COOL STUFF??

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For the Love of Friday

Let's go ahead and jump right in, shall we? As usual, thank you to the lovely hosts - Christina, Darci, Natasha, and April!

{ONE} 

Thirty-ONE days until I leave for beautiful ol' Mexico. Just found out my flight is around 9AM, meaning I will be enjoying the sunshine and beautiful weather by noon the same day!

{TWO}

The number of finals that stands between me and summer, Mexico, and my last year of nursing school. I know I haven't been posting lately, and I apologize. But it's finals week y'all. Have mercy. 

{THREE}

The number of things I want to buy before I head out on said trip. I am reallyyyy wanting a new bathing suit, a sun hat and some sandals. I would love a ton of new things, but for this trip, I'll make due with what I have if I can just get these three things. Good news is, I already bought some black bathing suit bottoms from Victoria's Secret, now I just have to buy some tops to mix and match.

Source

{FOUR}

The number of finals I've had this semester. The number of weeks until I am packing for Mexico. The number of hours I spent trying to get Beyonce tickets. The number of friends I contacted to get said tickets. The number of bathing suits and pairs of shoes journeying out of the country with me. The number of places I'm traveling to this summer (God willing). The minimal number of blogger friends I'd like to meet by the time I turn 25. The number of minutes before I lose all sanity because I'm posting this right before going into my last final of the week.

{FIVE}

Remember, once upon a time (here) where I told y'all I was working out and eating a mostly fruit and veggie diet and yadda yadda? Okay well your girl got hungry.
HOWEVER! I've lost 8 pounds. Which is both great and sucky because I've fallen off the bandwagon and I could've lost s really obligations or feel guilty for "wasting time" aka not studying. I'm still drinking mostly water, and I try and eat at least 1 serving of fruit and veggies each day. I just don't eat fresh food fast enough and it's too expensive for me to even buy such healthy food all the time and to keep replacing all the food I can't finish before the expiration date. So I'm doing what I can. I haven't worked out nearly as much as I have those first two weeks, but I still go walking/running at least twice a week and fit in other exercises whenever I can.
I am getting smaller though! I keep taking progress pictures - maybe one day I'll post some before and afters - and between those, my family and a few friends noticing I've gotten smaller, I'm doing something right! Just have to do more right than wrong. The usual life balance.

Have a great weekend y'all!

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