Brownies make everything better

Hey guys, I'm happy I'm posting within the same month. I'm patting myself on the back for this one. I hope everyone had a great weekend. I couldn't be more bummed that it's already over. How could it be that we are already back at Monday? This routine of human life is quite cruel to us.

Connor and I have been going to church almost every Sunday lately. I'm thankful he got me back into going because lately I really need the time to search deep within myself for peace. In that hour, I try to remain thankful for the all the good things I have in my life... mainly my wonderful husband, my health, and my family. I'm trying to work on staying hopeful about things in general. I know that life can't always be easy. That's not how we learn and grow into better people. This must be one of God's tests that I must pass. I know I'm certainly failing now, but I think I'll get there in some time.

In the meantime, I'm praying and keeping myself busy with things I love to do. I try to limit the amount of time I spend doing work at home because I was becoming overwhelmingly bitter and just unpleasant. Unfortunately, I didn't get much work done at school this week because it was report card week. So this weekend I had to bring A LOT of work home. Major disappointment. But I did manage to carve some time out for myself. Connor and I spent Saturday shopping around for a bed. We bought a queen size mattress about a month ago and have been sleeping sans bed for just about that long! We gave our full size bed away to my parents to have for when we visit upstate. It's crazy how quickly I got used to the view down below. It wasn't TOO bad. We, of course. had a box spring, which gave us a little lift. But we decided it was time! We were done living like moochers crashing on someone's floor.

The real push to buy the bed was the $300 gift card we received in the mail from Verizon Fios for signing up 3 months ago! It was such a nice surprise. I forgot we were even getting it. We decided the best thing to do with it would be to buy the bed that we so desperately needed. We went to Ikea and got a really awesome bed for $400! I couldn't be happier. Now I feel like I'm sleeping in a hotel bed. That was a great pick-me-up after a pretty crummy week. Despite having Monday off, the week felt like an eternity!

I am seriously looking forward to the Thanksgiving break. It will be SUCH  a relief from the monotony. I'm hoping during my break I can become a normal person again and feel some kind of relaxation. It will also be nice to get away. Leaving the state will be such a nice mini-vacation. :)

Tonight, to get myself out of my Sunday depression, I baked paleo brownies. My friend made them over the summer and they were honestly the most delicious brownies I had ever tasted. I know some people think it's impossible for healthy treats to be as good as the original (unhealthy) version, but, for me, this was WAY better. They were light (not greasy at all), but still rich and yummy. Plus, I was so happy to break into my coconut oil stash. I've been stocking up on coconut oil as if the apocalypse was approaching. I can't see it on sale or else I have to buy 2 jars. It's usually so expensive, but I've been getting good deals on it lately... like $6 a jar!! :O Unheard of!

I hope you all have a lovely week! I'm praying very hard that it will fly on by... especially Wednesday (stupid after school meetings, BLAH).

Love,
Mandy