I'M A SMOOTH OPERATOR

Oh yes, I'm definitely a smooth operator.

A smooth smoothie operator that is.


I'm sure you've all heard me whine mention that I try really hard to stay away from carbs. It's almost impossible, but I try, especially when I'm trying to lose weight and get in shape. Breakfast is the hardest for me since I have trouble eating eggs every.single.day (ugh) and really what else is there for breakfast that isn't carbs?! sigh!

Soooo....I've really been enjoying protein smoothies. Shoot, ENJOY isn't the word. More like LOVE!

I bought one of these machines 5 or 6 years ago thinking I would use it for frozen cocktails and somehow it ended up way in the back of a kitchen cabinet. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Anyway, recently I pulled it out and started making smoothies. When possible, I like to have a cup of coffee when I wake up, do my exercises and THEN have my smoothie afterwards.

Like a reward ;-)

This is my favorite lately. I use 2/3 cup almond milk, 1/3 cup water, 2 tablespoons of greek plain yogurt, a little stevia, a tablespoon of granulated instant coffee and 1 scoop of chocolate 100% whey protein mix.

Oh my! Better than $tarbuck$!

I have lots of different ways I make mine. Sometimes I use the vanilla flavored 100% whey protein, sometimes I add frozen fruit or peanut butter. The possibilities are endless so it's hard to get tired of them.

I try to keep everything low fat and natural.

I love to garnish the top too to make it "pretty". Sugar free chocolate syrup, fresh berries, a slice of banana, shaved dark chocolate, coconut, etc.

Click here to learn about the benefits of 100% whey protein.

Here's some things I've learned about making smoothies, through trial and errors:

1. Get yourself a good machine. I love mine although it's a bit noisy. I love that it has a serving spout.
2. Freeze your fruit first. Cut into smaller pieces before freezing. Place on a cookie sheet until frozen and then keep in freezer ziplock type bags. The frozen fruit will help your smoothie stay colder and be thicker than if your fruit is warm.
3. Put your fruit and liquids in first and pulse a bit before adding the other ingredients. This will help make sure the fruit gets crushed.
4. If your smoothie is thinner than you like, add a few ice cubes to the recipe. I like adding the greek yogurt instead, plus there are so many benefits to having yogurt.
5. Don't be afraid to try different flavors.


Are YOU a smooth smoothie operator too? If so, pretty please share your favorite recipe.




Hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

I'D RATHER TAKE A BEATING....

...than go shopping for swimsuits.

Seriously!

How about you?

Our weather has been incredible...very summer-like...so I've been laying by our pool for the last few days. In old swimsuits. Actually they feel and fit pretty good. Maybe it's because I've lost a few pounds, but I suspect it's because they are old and stretched. They are okay for the backyard, but I really need to shop for a few new ones. I am DREADING it.

Swimsuit shopping is hands down my most dreaded shopping experience! Even more than jeans shopping and you know how frustrating THAT can be.

Here's just a few reasons I hate shopping for swimsuits:

I know you have to for sanitary purposes, but trying on suits wearing underwear makes everything look weird. Period.

I hate those protective paper inserts in the suit bottoms. Gives me the "willies" just thinking about it.

The lighting in most dressing rooms is awful.

Ditto on their mirrors.

Swimsuit makers all size their suits differently. Drive me crazy! I don't like have to redress to go out and get more, but I also hate having sales people hanging by the door to help. I wish I had a friend who owned a swimsuit shop that would give me the key so I could go in the middle of the night. Alone ;-)

Oh, and once I finally decide on a few suits, then there's the "fun" of finding a cute cover-up. And believe me, I NEED like to have a cute cover-up. Living in Florida, I've walked behind thousands of people who should never have left home without a cover-up! LOL I've been known to say "Bless her/his heart. She/he must not own a mirror!"

'Cause let me tell you, if they owned a mirror and looked at themselves before they stepped out the door, they would NOT be walking in public without a cover.

I DO own a mirror.

I'll start my hunt one day next week. I saw this one on-line. Kinda cute???





Hugs from the beach,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

COLOR ME HAPPY

I don't say it often enough, but just wanted to say again how much I appreciate all my blog friends.

You really do "color me happy".

I appreciate your visits and comments. And I LOVE visiting you too.

Happy weekend y'all!
I hope your weekend is good and full of the colors of love and happiness and fun.




Hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

THE TINY KINGDOM

We live in a resort in the Florida panhandle. A beautiful place, for sure. A neighbor of mine likes to call it THE TINY KINGDOM. lol

We're near the beach, live on a golf course, surrounded by lakes and ponds and lots of animals. (Snakes, for sure as you all remember from my pool posts last year! grrrr) Almost daily, we encounter some type of animal and we hear about lots more that we never see, thank goodness...like cougars and coyotes.

Our king resort owner likes to keep adding things. He has planted all types of fruit bearing trees all over the resort...lemons, oranges, limes, etc. He wants the owners and resort guests to be able to just pick them at leisure. He has released I don't know how many coveys of partridges everywhere. I don't have a photo of them yet, but they sure are cute crossing the road.

Here's his latest addition:
Peacocks!

(Photos are clickable)

As we were driving to church on Sunday morning, we crossed over the bridge by our house (called the The Princess Bridge by one of our granddaughters) and right in the middle of the bridge was this handsome fellow. George guessed his tail feathers to be at least 4 feet long.
I tried to get his photo from the car, but the sun was so bright that I couldn't see what I was taking. I'm showing this photo to show the wonderful color of his throat. I finally got out of the car and took the one above. He wasn't afraid of me...at all. Maybe I should have been afraid of him. lol

The weather has been summer like. Just gorgeous. I've actually been able to lay by the pool for the last three days. Wonderful! I'm hoping to get some color before we go to California next month. Anyway, we decided to start up our warm weather tradition and do our happy hour on the golf cart. Miss Daisy is always ready. She loves to have the wind in her hair!

Tonight one of the peacocks (I've heard there are four) was right down the street from our house.

He looked at me as if to say "what are YOU looking at?" LOL

I think my neighbor is right. We DO live in a tiny kingdom.

What will our king think of next?




Hugs from the beach,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

OKAY MISS DAISY

Can your furbaby talk?

Ours can.

Oh sure, it's not words, but Miss Daisy can definitely tell us what she wants. I was sitting on one of the bar stools this morning drinking my coffee and planning my morning and she kept at it until she bugged me to death convinced me that she needed to go with me. Somewhere. ANY where.

Our girl likes to go. We call her the go go girl.

So being the good mommy that I am, I took her with me to the library, the post office and the store.

Anything for you sweet girl.

She showed her happiness by giving me kisses off and on the whole time we were gone.





Hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

I WISH I MAY, I WISH I MIGHT....

Good Morning!

My head is filled with lots of wishes and dreams and plans this morning.

What are YOU wishing for?

Let's dream BIG!




Hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

BLAH

Feeling a little blah this afternoon...


I tried pouting and whining and it didn't work. My sister headed home right after church and lunch. I tried to get her to stay another day...or ten...but she couldn't do it. sigh

I've got LOTS of things I should be doing this afternoon, but I think I'm going to play Scarlett and say

"I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow."

And if those things that need to be done try to make me feel guilty by reminding me that tomorrow might be a busy day, I'll play Rhett Butler and say

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Instead, I'm planning to go now and grab a book and curl up on the couch. And if my eyes get heavy, I'm NOT gonna fight it ;-)

I hope your weekend was good too.




Hugs from the beach,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

GOOD GOLLY

What a wonderful day!

My sister Kim and I went to a "Muffins and Makeover" Mary Kay party this morning...lots of fun playing with makeup. Afterwards we met George and Miss Daisy at the marina for lunch and then we took a long walk on the beach.

Absolutely gorgeous! Gosh, it looked and felt like a summer day for sure, although the water was still chilly.

Tonight George took us girls out for dinner and a movie. We saw JUST GO WITH IT (Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman). Silly, but cute and funny.





Hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

"Sister to sister we will always be,
A couple of nuts off the family tree."
~Author Unknown

My "baby" sister Kim is visiting us this weekend.

Love it! We truly have fun when we are together. Heck, the truth is, we have fun even when we're just chatting on the phone.

Let the good times begin!



Hugs from the beach,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

MY STRONGEST WEAKNESS (lately)

"Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands -- and then eat just one of those pieces."
~Judith Viorst

Meet my new obsession:


I'm infatuated these days with sea salt. And let me tell you ladies... this is one incredibly terrific sea salt bar...dark chocolate with irregular salt crystals scattered inside.

Oh.my.word!




Hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

DITTO

Today was everything it was yesterday and then some. I know we're being teased and the cold and rain might come again before the warmth is here to stay, but while it's here, we will

ENJOY!

We rode our bikes over to the beach to just soak it in.





Awwwww!



Hugs from the beach,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

DEAR BEACH

Dear Beach

I'm sorry you got your feelings hurt when I did my post earlier today about all the beauty around me and I didn't mention YOU. I don't blame you one little bit for being upset. But I heard you calling my name and you know I always come when you call. I'm so glad you called out to me today. George and I hopped on our bikes and rode over to see YOUR beauty. Oh my!...you really showed off this afternoon! Talk about beautiful!

Forgive me, okay? Don't you worry, I'll be back...and soon.

Love you bunches and bunches,
Kat aka Beachkat

Our beach club looked deserted by the pool, but there were quite a few enjoying the beach.

I'm getting so excited that Spring is right around the corner.




Hugs from the beach,
Kat


"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

SEE THE BEAUTY

Gosh, it might just be a tease, but it feels like Spring today. Seriously gorgeous. I just took Miss Daisy for a walk and didn't want to come back inside the house. It's one of those "it's wonderful to be alive" type days. Every day is, of course, but I'm sure you know what I mean. Everywhere I looked, I saw beauty. The budding of trees. A butterfly. The clean fresh air. The feel of the sunshine on my face. Simple things, but beautiful and wonderful just the same.

And you know what? Beauty really IS around us all the time...we just need to be sure to notice it.



Hugs,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I have a Valentine's date. Do you?

We don't give gifts anymore, only cards. We decided years ago that we really don't need anything and it seems silly to buy something just to be buying, so we take trips and make memories :-)

Speaking of trips, our California trip is next month. So excited!

I hope your Valentine's Day is extra special.



Hugs from the beach,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."

YOUR MISSION IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT

It's amazing how something really small can make a HUGE difference in your day. Something as small as a simple post-it note.

When I was in Nashville recently, I stopped by a $tarbuck$ and used the restroom before I left. On the mirror was a simple message just like the one I have re-created here. (I took a photo of the one I saw, but it didn't turn out well because of the lighting.)

Once I got home, I looked up OperationBeautiful.Com and learned more about this wonderful mission. It was started by Caitlin, a very beautiful, smart and thoughtful 26 year old in Charlotte, NC.

Such a simple and easy way to really make a difference. Check out her blog to see different messages others are leaving.

I plan to join her cause. Armed with a simple pad of post-it notes and a pen, I'm ready to start encouraging self love.

Want to join us?

Let's spread some love...just in time for Valentine's Day.



Hugs from the beach,
Kat



"Father, please let me be a blessing to someone today."