oh, hi!
My name is Gracie. I'm a twenty-something recent college grad on a mission to live a happy, healthy, and fulfilling life...while having fun along the way!
Feel free to contact me at gracie@girlmeetslife.com
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Lately I’ve been feeling quite overwhelmed by my desperate desire for change. Some things I (truly and honestly) considered within the past hour were:
- Cutting my own hair.
- Getting rid of every form of technology I own.
- Treating myself to a 3-day personal retreat.
- Dropping everything and moving out within the next month.
I’m relieved to say that I’m not going to act on any of my desperate measures (although, hopefully #4 will manifest itself in the near future). Why? Well, despite my desire for change, I realized that none of those changes will fix anything.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s not like there’s anything in my life that needs to be “fixed.” I’m just…discontent. A quarter-life crisis, maybe? While I’m certainly still going to pursue my life goals and dreams, rash decisions are just not the answer.
So…what is the answer? Simple - it’s the same that it always has been and always will be.
 
The truth is, I never have to seek desperate measures. He already took care of that for me.
Life is going to be full of discontentment. I still want to love. travel. use my talents. raise a family.
But when it’s all said and done…I already have everything I will ever need.
I love sweets in all shapes and forms, but lately I’ve been partial to simple and classic baked goods. In my family, that classic favorite is pumpkin bread. I find something so satisfying about picking apart a soft, slightly warm piece of homemade pumpkin bread. It just screams autumn!
This is essentially the same Betty Crocker-inspired recipe that I use for my Pumpkin Bread Streusel Muffins - it’s easy, delicious, and pretty much impossible to go wrong with.
classic pumpkin bread (yields 8-12 slices)
ingredients:
- 1/2 can (7.5 ounces) canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
- 3/4 cup + 1.5 tbsp granular sugar
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups flour (I used 3/4 cup white and 3/4 cup whole wheat)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan.
- Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon.
- Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, combine.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool for a few minutes before removing from loaf pan.
I’m notorious for being impatient around baked goods, but thankfully the pumpkin bread didn’t entirely fall apart when I went in early for the slice.
The loaf was somewhat crispy on the outside but perfectly soft and moist inside.
Top with a smear of butter, and pair it with a cup of hot tea for the perfect fall afternoon snack.
…or you could warm up a slice and top it with vanilla ice cream. And whipped cream. And melty peanut butter. Just sayin’.
Alo giveaway winner.
THANK YOU to everyone who entered the giveaway! The lucky winner is:
Congratulations Meg! Please email me at gracie@girlmeetslife.com with your full name, mailing address, and shirt size.
Ta ta, sweets! xoxo G
- Do you have a tried and true favorite family recipe?
I’d like to introduce you to my friend Nicole.
Nicole is one of my best friends. She is my former college roombud. She is my fellow future bridesmaid. She is one of the funniest people I know.
And now? Now Nicole is my personal trainer. But not just any personal trainer.
She is my virtual personal trainer!
Yesterday morning Nicole and I met for a training session via Skype. I’ve got to be honest – I didn’t think a workout via webcam could be intense, but I was very wrong!
Our 30-minute workout included a warm up and about 5 full-body exercises. Cole did an awesome job of explaining and demonstrating everything.
The moves Nicole had me do are ones that I tend to avoid when I exercise on my own, so there was definitely a love/hate relationship going on with my best friend  All in all, it was a superb workout. I can’t wait until our next session!
Per Nicole’s recommendation, I made sure to refuel with a balanced meal. I had a bowl of oatmeal, which was a combination of oats, oat bran, ground flax, and cinnamon, topped with almond butter.
Also – one egg topped with chives and garlic hummus:
Considering my breakfast-of-choice lately has been some sort of baked good, it was nice to have something a bit healthier (and more filling!) to follow up my workout with.
- Would you be interested in a virtual training session?
- Don’t forget to enter my Alo giveaway, which ends today!
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