{a great cup of coffee}

I recently discovered Be Up & Doing, which quickly became one of my favorite blogs. Allie is the voice behind it and I love the way she is so real. I also love the way she eats - gluten free, loves healthy fats and doesn't count calories. That's what I'm talking about!

She also writes for Considering You and recently posted about A Great Cup of Coffee. Intrigued, I was, so I popped over to read about what made it so great. As it turns out, she puts unsalted, grass-fed butter in her coffee in lieu of cream and sugar. 

You're intrigued now, too, eh?

And so, I tried it this morning. 

I changed the recipe a bit because I wanted it right away (of course) and didn't have all of the ingredients. However, it still tasted amazing. The biggest change is that I didn't have Bulletproof coffee,  which is where Allie found the original recipe, but am so pleased with the coffee I'm sipping from Uganda that I wasn't about to consider changing my ways just yet. 


A Great Cup of Coffee (based on Bulletproof/Wellness Mama/Considering You)

Ingredients:
1 cup of coffee
1-2 T of coconut oil
1 t. unsalted butter (preferably grass fed) (*to be honest, this much was a bit rich for me. I'd recommend starting with a little less the first few times)
1/4 t. pure vanilla

Instructions:
Put all in blender (I used my Magic Bullet)
Blend until frothy

If you're me? You then pour it over ice and take it to run errands. That's what I'm doing right now!

Happy sipping!

a new year // a new sled

Last year over Christmas break we got heaps of snow. And although we didn't have sleds, we made a quick trip to Target and cleaned out the last few they had left. They all broke within an hour, at which point we were going down the hills on just pieces of sleds, but it didn't matter. It's one of my favorite memories with my siblings.


So this year? My dad kindly planned ahead. He bought to fastest (manliest) sleds he could find. He knew how much fun we had last year and wanted us to be prepared.

But, for the first time in as long as I can remember, we didn't get snow on Christmas in Indiana this year. Nothing but a few flurries!

Isn't it funny how life works? We can plan until the cows come home but, in the end, we can't control a thing. There wasn't a sled in the world that could bring us enough snow. And, as it turns out, there wasn't a thing in the world I could do to predict how 2013 would unfold for me, either.



But on the days when things didn't seem so perfect - say when the rats came back, after a few bad dates or when watching one of my very best friends get married meant watching her leave not just our roommateship, but Atlanta, too? On those days, I was wishing for a sled. I was wishing I was in control - that I could just be in charge and make things happen how I'd intended them to.


But that's not life, and as I look back, I couldn't be more grateful for the way life unfolded in 2013. The good, the bad and the beautiful. Because, the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know much at all. This world is big and has so much to teach me. All I can do is do my best and go along for the ride. Sled or no sled.

Happy New Year!

{2013}


It feels like every year in my 20s is so different. Some years are for breaking down and some are for building up and nothing ever stays the same. 

So far in my 20s I've learned to run. Fast. I'm not talking physically though. I've become a talented juggler with too many balls in the air. Running from one place to the next carrying too many items and saying yes to everything. This isn't news to you or me or anyone in between. I've explained this before. 

But as with so many vices, I've become better and better at it. Needing less sleep. Less Whitney time. Less slow and more fast. I've wanted to stop this behavior. Needed to stop it, rather. But not wanted to in a true sense - I have in the way you don't want a piece of cake but you want the cake. In the way I've known I should but wasn't quite ready. 

But now?

I'm ready. 

And excited. 


I'm clearing out clutter and slowing down in 2014. In every facet of life. Purging my closet, getting rid of stuff. Saying yes to things that align with where I'm going - what I want my life to be about. And letting the other things fall away. I'm simplifying and not looking back at the other stuff. The things that weigh me down. 

And, I'm making more time for the people and things that fill me up. 
Dinners with my brothers. 
Yoga. 
Writing. 
The photography class I've wanted to take for two years. 

I'm at crossroads in my life. There are a lot of big decisions I need to make but I've been going too fast to think through them - to reflect and make the right ones. 

So I'm slowing down. I'm simplifying and leaving no stone unturned. I won't stop until my life feels simpler and my yoga breaths feel deeper. 


That's my resolution. To stop resolving to make this change and instead just do it. To stop dreaming of slower days and instead make them happen. 

As for tonight? Ah. Sweet New Year's Eve. The red headed step child of the holiday season. But in my opinion, the fresh start. The new beginning. The clean slate we so often need and deserve. The chance to look at the last year with grace and know there is always the chance to begin again. 

So here's to you, 2013. For all you gave me and taught me, I am so grateful. 

And here's to you, too, 2014. You're going to be a good one. I just know it. 

//

The best of 2013...