Cambree's Birth Story

Introducing Cambree Anne Bevans

Cambree Anne was born on November 16th, 2012. Ryan had been in Provo while I was in Lethbridge, and we had decided he would drive up on my due date (Friday November 16th). The week before I was due, I was losing my mind. I missed my husband like crazy and was just so worried that I would have to have the baby without him there so I called him up and we decided he would skip even more school and come home on Wednesday evening. He arrived home late Wednesday night, and the next night my water broke. Talk about lucky! We were SO grateful that we had changed our plans, because if not I would have been heading out to the hospital all alone (I felt wayyy too awkward at the thought of anyone other than my husband in the delivery room with me!)

Exactly 40 wks on our way to the hospital!

My water broke at 12:05 am on Friday morning while Ryan and I were laying in bed watching a movie. I had just drifted off and woke up to the grossest feeling of being soaking wet. I am pretty sure I just stated "I just peed my pants... No... never mind, my water definitely broke!" Ryan and I couldn't believe it! Our little girl was right on time... The clock struck 12 on her due date and 5 minutes later she decided it was time to come! We rushed around trying to pack everything up for the hospital, because of course we weren't packed and ready! We left the house 5 minutes later.. actually, we snuck out 5 minutes later. We definitely didn't want my parents to know that I was in labor because I knew that we were in for a long night and I didn't want my mom staying up all night worried about it! So we snuck out and made it to the hospital within 10 minutes.

After we checked in one of the porters was showing us the way to labor and delivery suite when he looked down and noticed a puddle at my feet. I was mortified.. I had been leaking amniotic fluid all over the hospital and now had a large puddle at my feet to prove it! He said "Uh.. Is this from you?" Yup.. yup it is. He told us not to worry and he'd get someone to clean it up and we just needed to head up to labor and delivery! So embarrassing. When we arrived the nurse checked me and said I was 3 cm dilated, but since I wasn't having any contractions I should go for a walk for an hour and then come back, and if I hadn't started contracting by then they would send me home for the night. There was NO WAY I was going home, so Ry and I headed out. After waddling around for a few minutes I started to get mild contractions and I only lasted about 40 more minutes until we decided to go back to the suite because my contractions were too painful and close together. We didn't bother timing them because we were already at the hospital and so we weren't too concerned.

When we went back to the suite they gave me some morphine and admitted me. After another 2 hours of labor they checked me and I was dilated to 5 cm and we decided I should get an epidural for the pain. Such a good choice!! For the next 4 hours I just sat there and calmly talked to my nurse as Ryan took a nap. It was nice because I could still feel my contractions and get up and walk around, but I wasn't in any major pain. 

By 8 o'clock I had dilated to 10 and felt ready to push. It definitely, definitely was the worst 2 hours of the labor and of my life!! Cambree was stuck and wasn't moving, so after 2 hours of pushing I was so exhausted I couldn't stay awake and they were starting to get worried. The doctor told me that he was going to have to use the vacuum to get her out, and they brought in the NICU and respiratory people in just in case baby wasn't okay once she was born. The vacuum was awful, I could feel EVERYTHING. The tearing of my skin and the twisting of the vacuum trying to get Cambree out... It was terrible. I was so exhausted from not having slept since Wednesday and from the labor that I couldn't stay awake. It was the weirdest thing where I was screaming because of the pain, and then would fall asleep? Then wake up again a minute later screaming about the pain! They seriously probably thought I was so insane. I was also running a fever and was starting to get slightly delusional. I kept on starting to talk to Ryan about something totally random and then realize it wasn't real and then say "Oh nevermind...Maybe that was my dream " Ya... I definitely turned into a nutcase in the last hour of my labor!

After a few minutes of using the vacuum, Cambree was out!! I was so traumatized by what had just happened that I don't think it even registered with me that she was here. I just kept screaming and yelling at Ryan and more than once I told him "I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN!!! WE AREN'T HAVING ANY MORE KIDS!" Poor guy, I think I may have ruined the moment for him! :) Oh well.. he had the easy job! Once I calmed down, they handed me my precious baby girl. They told us she weight 8 lbs 3 oz, was 20 inches long and was perfectly healthy!! She had a ton of long brown hair and dark blue eyes... Which made me laugh because I had the worst heartburn while I was pregnant (seriously, the worst. I would wake up in the middle of the night coughing up stomach acid) and somebody told me that if you have a lot of heartburn while you're pregnant it means your baby is going to have a lot of hair! It was such an emotional moment holding Cambree for the first time... I just couldn't believe she was here already and that she was all ours, forever.

Cambree's little face was so swollen from being stuck for so long!!

Holding my baby girl :)

She is such a cute little chunker!!

Ry holding his girl for the first time

She is just the sweetest little girl. She hardly ever cries or fusses and is just a huge snuggler and snoozer! We are so grateful for our little Cambree-Bug and she is such a blessing to our family!

When Ryan met Carly...

You + Me = Us

It was two years ago today that I met my amazing hubby Ryan. It happened in the way these things usually do - when I least expected it.  The last thing I was looking for was a love interest, but I think that it is why we hit it off so well... I wasn't interested in dating so I wasn't nervous and could be 100% myself.  It's crazy to think that we have only known each other for 2 years... but it is also so neat to see how much has changed since then and all of the wonderful things that have come into our life because of the commitment we have made to each other. I thought it would be fun to fill in this cute husband-wife q&a as a corny/fun way to celebrate two years together... so we each filled it out separately, then put our answers together to compare!


how long have you been dating and/or married? 
she said: 1 week shy of 2 years. We met 2 years ago and it only took him a week to convince me to date him! Married for a year and 3 months. 
he said: We have been dating/married for almost 2 years now. 

what did you think of each other when you first met? was it love at first sight? 
she said: I thought that he was very friendly and charming.  
he said: It was curiosity at first sight. “Who is this cute girl that just beat me at pool, is super easy to talk to, and makes me late for meetings the first time I meet her?”

what did you think of each other when you first met? was it love at first sight? 
she said: I thought that he was very friendly and charming.  
he said: It was curiosity at first sight. “Who is this cute girl that just beat me at pool, is super easy to talk to, and makes me late for meetings the first time I meet her?”

when did you know you had found "the one"? 
she said: I don’t know. There was never an “aha!” moment. It was a gradual feeling and confirmation that kept coming every day after we had been together for about 8 months. 
he said: I knew she was the on when she said that if she needed to, she would endure dating long distance AGAIN while I went to school next semester. That was enough to convince me to defer my school for a while.

what have you learned from your relationship? 
she said: I have learned how to speak kindly to my husband and to build him up instead of tearing him down. He basically has taught me to be a better person. 
he said: When you put each other first, both of you are happier. 

who makes the decisions in your relationship? 
she said: I do. J Unless it is financial, then I don’t want to anyways. 
he said: We both make the decisions. Any big decisions are discussed. Small decisions can be made personally and we respect each other’s decisions.

what is the best advice you have to offer a new couple? 
she said: Make it your number one priority to make your spouse happy and to build them up. If you both do that then you have it made
he said: Don’t promise everything until you are able to give them everything. But once you have promised, give them absolutely everything you have got.  

what was your first date? 
she said: Our first date was preference in Calgary 5 days after we met. I conned him into asking me!
he said: I drove up to Calgary and took Carly to the preference dance that she kind of but not really asked me to. ;) I fell for her, she still couldn’t figure out what kind of guy I was. Good thing I’m patient.

what are five words that describe your spouse? 
she said: Friendly, loyal, funny, hardworking, hottie.
he said: Strong, passionate, compassionate, loving, encouraging.

what's one thing your partner does that makes you feel most loved?
she said: Makes a huge effort to spend time with me, even if his day has been crazy busy
he said: She tells me every single day how much she loves me and how much she believes in me.

This is us on our first date at the Preference dance in 2010. I can't get over how 1) Young we look and 2) Awkward we look haha I think we were definitely still at the stage of figuring each other out

... And now 2 years later we have just welcomed our sweet baby Cambree into the world. 

It's been 2 years and I love my Ry more than anything. If the next 2 are as good as these ones have been, then I will be a very lucky girl.

Love Car

Bloggie Update!

So I started my mat leave a month ago now... You'd think I would have found the time to update my blog before now.. but no. My time has been spent watching 6 seasons of greys... Learning to bake homemade bread.. And crafting. So basically I have been doing nothing.. All day, every day. I am SO ready for this baby girl to be here. It probably would have been smarter to work right up until my due date.. But I just physically could not do it anymore. Doing exams was becoming so painful and I would get contractions and shooting pains throughout the day, so I just had to stop. But now what? Being a stay at home mom is the most boring thing ever.. when your not even a mom yet!

34 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 19 lbs
Maternity clothes? Ha.. Always. My husbands clothing doesn't even fit me anymore.. It's so embarassing. On Saturday Ryan put on a t-shirt and he was swimming in it.. It was huge and baggy in the arms, shoulders, belly.. everywhere. So he came into the living room and asked "Uh.. Carly? Did you stretch out one of my shirts?"... I was so horrified that I was big enough to stretch out Ryan's shirt so much.. Until I realized that it wasn't Ryans shirt.. It was actually our brother in laws shirt.. Who wears a tall XL!! I was so embarassed that Ryan thought I was big enough to stretch out his shirt that much... Thanks for the vote of confidence thinking I was such a large elephant Ry ;)
Stretch marks? None.. yet.
Sleep: Ugh.. Sleep. I was getting the worst heartburn at night where I'd be getting up 4-6 times in a night choking on stomach acid and coughing it up.. It was so gross. I finally went and got some extra strength acid reflux medicine and it has felt SO much better!! Oh.. And I read this tip online that I am dying to try.. Since it gets so hard to roll over or even move near the end of a pregnancy, a girl suggested that you buy silk sheets and silk pj's.. Making it easy and slippery to turn over in bed!
Best moment this week: YouTube'ing videos of babies born at 34 weeks.. I was crying the whole time thinking "This could be my baby! A real baby.. They look real at 34 weeks!" It is blowing my mind how she could be born tomorrow and be a healthy baby girl!
Movement: Errday.. All day

Cravings: None.. Kind of over that. I have zero desire to eat vegetables but I think that's more me being a fatty face than anything pregnancy related :)
Gender: Baby girl!!!! She has the cutest name :) We always call her it when no ones around so I have to be careful when I'm in public so I don't ruin the surprise!
Labor Signs: None.. Just labor dreams... I've been waking up in the middle of the night from dreams that I am going into labor.. Just to realize that I really have to pee and I'm not in labor
Belly Button in or out? Out.. All the time and you can see it through my shirt. Reaaaal cute

Wedding Rings On or Off? OFF!! Such a sad day.. I knew it was coming for a long time.. Then last week Ry and I were at Wal Mart and I noticed my hand was hurting and I looked down and noticed me ring finger was purple and the rest of my hand/fingers were pale.. So so sad. It took forever to get my wedding rings off and then we went to Claire's and I bought a cutesy little 6 dollar ring.. Oh well.. Just as long as my fingers go back to normal after delivery I'll be okay
What I miss: Being able to move! Seriously so uncofortable.. All.The.Time

What I am looking forward to: Holding my precious baby girl :) And seeing her with her dad :)
Weekly Wisdom: Stop fluids before 7pm... Or else there's no hope of sleeping that night!

Other than being a fatty face prego I really haven't been up to much lately. For anyone who is curious, I will be having the baby in Lethbridge so if anyone ever wants to stop by for a visit I will be at my moms house! And would be very happy to have someone to hangout with :) Being a stay at home mom can be lonely I am starting to realize... Hopefully it gets more exciting once I actually become a mom!

Thats all for now :)

Love Car!

Random Updates

Okay so I totally snatched this from my friend Kami's blog.. It is the lazy way to update everyone on how my life/pregnancy is going and I love it!

21 weeks and 2 days 

Total weight gain/loss: 4 Lbs... Weird I know, maybe the scale at the doctor's is broken?

Maternity clothes? Yes!! Even though I haven't gained much weight, my belly has gotten quite large so most of my normal shirts have become scandy belly shirts and my jeans definitely wont do up! I splurged and bought a pair of super nice skinny "maternity" jeans and I have basically been living in them ever since!

I also have been wearing a lot of larger shirts plus a belt right over my tummy... Except in the past 2 days I have had two men ask me "Is there a functional reason why you are wearing that belt??" I felt slightly stupid.. To them they are wondering if the belt will help my baby somehow in it's development, and to me... I just thought it looked cute!

Stretch marks? Nope! I overload my belly with coconut oil every night "just in case" it helps :)

Sleep: Pretty good so far! We bought a massive body pillow that no joke takes up 90% of our double bed. So for me, I've been sleeping like a dream... But I'm not sure I can say the same for Ry! He has so little room that he has to sleep on his side, right on the edge of the bed with his leg anchored around my pillow so he doesn't fall off! :) haha my bad..

Best moment so far: Having Ry come home!!! I know it seems like that doesn't have anything to do with the pregnancy but it really does, before I felt like I was just sick all the time and alone and having him home has been HUGE. Life has gotten so much better and soo much easier. He is just so helpful and understanding and patient with me when I start to get all hormonal and crazy, I can already tell he's going to be an awesome Dad!

Have you told family and friends: Yup at 12 weeks we told them fam and then 14 weeks we told FB?

Miss Anything? I miss my pre-pregnancy body. I have the habit of "forgetting" that I'm pregnant, so I'll try to hop on Ryans back for a piggy back, or jump up off of the couch and I'll get a huge pain in my stomach. Ya.. definitely not as limber as I used to be!

Movement: I felt her move for the first time last week and now it happens a few times a day! I am grateful that she is still at the nice girl stage where it just feels like a little poke, not a hard kick in the ribs!

Food cravings: Dairy.. Especially milk. I only let us buy 1% but whenever I go to somebodies house who has a baby and they have 3% in the fridge, I always snag a glass and feel like I have died and gone to creamy delicious milk heaven! Also, two nights ago I was having a hugeeeeee craving for oreo cheesecake and decided that the next day I would go out and get the stuff to make it! Lucky me, I didn't have to do that because the next day when I went to our stampede work lunch.. they had Oreo Cheesecake Balls... DEEP FRIED. Oh heck, it was pure bliss. I pretty much harassed the waitress for another one when she came out with a second round  of them!

I didn't even want to stop chowing down for the picture.. Too yummy!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not anymore!!!!

Have you started to show yet: Definitely! 

Gender prediction: We found out it was a girl at 18 weeks! Huge shocker to us! We were so ridiculous we were insistant that it was a boy and refused to even think of the idea of a girl haha when we went to Vegas last month we got a picture at the Sugar Factory with ONLY  a boy's candy basket, it didn't even occur to us that it could be a girl! Haha woops :)

I think the reason why I was so set on having a boy was because Ryan was the cutest little boy ever! I love looking at pictures of him from when he was younger he was just so chubby and adorable!! Here is my favourite..

Isn't he the cutest? Hopefully one day I get a Mini-Ry, but for now we are super excited to be having a girl! 

Labor Signs: No... Except I did have a weird contraction last night for the first time!

Belly Button in or out? Variable... We like to think that our baby girl is pushing it out because every time I push it back in it pops out again right away so it's our joke that she just likes to play the game where we push the belly button back and forth haha

Wedding rings on or off? On! I will be so sad if I get too big to wear them...

Happy or Moody most of the time: I am very happy until around 8 o clock. We have the 8 oclock rule around here where Ry can't talk to me about anything important or serious past that time because I tend to get upset and overwhelmed haha 

Weekly Wisdom: Next time I am prego we freakin better have air conditioning!!!!

Looking forward to: My long weekend in August so I can get a few days off of work! Being prego + working 10 hour shifts = Exhausting!!

Sorry I have been awful at blogging... I have been feeling so sick lately that I have zero energy once I get home from work. Not to mention I work 10 hour shifts. Not to mention I still have raging morning sickness (when will this end?..) and not to mention my husband has been gone for the past month! I just have not had the energy or desire to do anything but sit on my ever widening behind every.single.day. I am hoping now that I am into my second trimester that my morning sickness will subside and maybe I can finally, finally get back to having a life. Starting with updating the bloggy blog!!

For those of you who don't already know, Ry and I are expecting a baby on November 16th 2012. We found out after I was only a few hours "late"... I may have looked a bit ridiculous rushing out to Wal Mart to buy a pregnancy test.. But I just knew!

My first trimester was definitely NOT what I expected. One night when I was six weeks pregnant out of blue I started to get these incredible pains on my left side. At first I told myself it was cramps and I should just try to sleep it off. By 10 o'clock that night I couldn't stand the pain anymore. I was crying on the floor rolled up in a ball in the WORST pain I had ever felt. Ry got worried so he called Health Link and they told us we had to go to the hospital right away. We were there until the next day, and I am so lucky to have such a patient and loving hubby who stayed right by my side the whole time. He also had to put up with me yelling "If this is what being pregnant is like, we are NEVER having any more kids I don't care what you say!" The doctor later told me that I had kidney stones and a kidney infection as a result of my pregnancy! He also said I may be having a miscarriage as well, so we decided to keep the pregnancy to ourselves until we knew for sure what was going on! I took a week off work and eventually started to feel better.. Luckily I am an ultrasound tech so I was able to keep an eye on our little guy and I made sure he was growing okay, which definitely eased my worries about any miscarriages. 

We decided to tell our families for my dads 60th birthday! My mom had planned a big weekend for him, which included a surprise party and surprise "boys golf day". On Friday afternoon before the festivities began, my mom sat my dad down and said "Now Russell... This is going to be a big weekend full of LOTS of surprises, so pace yourself!" Ryan and I were dying of laughter inside because little did she know we had the biggest surprise of all! 

We sat my dad down and handed him this!

This is what we had wrapped in the little present! It took a while for my dad to figure out what it meant!

My family is so excited to have their first grandchild, and my mom has already announced that she wont go by grandma... she wants to go by "Nana Anna Banana"... lol we'll see how that one goes! After we told the families, we were free to tell the rest of the world! We spent the next week calling friends and when I announced it at work they all apparently already knew just because of how sick I had been! My one co-worker informed me that I don't have a baby in my belly.. it is currently a tummy-tile (short for tummy-reptile) haha so I am hoping by the time the baby comes out it looks like a real baby! It has been so fun telling everyone our exciting news and everyone for the most part has been so supportive. Although, if I hear "Oh you're knocked up?" one more time I think I may loose my mind!.. You have been warned ;)

Also... Don't expect any recipes for a bit. I haven't cooked or baked ANYTHING since I got pregnant. I can't stand the smell of cooking food or warm food or meat or spices. Ugh. My eating habits have been turned upside down! All I can stomach without feeling nauseous is bread, crackers, cheese, pasta, chocolate hahah so sad. SO unhealthy. And makes me feel so sick, but it's a toss up between digestion sick and morning sickness. Bleh. On the plus side I am obsessed with oranges! I eat multiple oranges/glasses of orange juice a day, I just can't get enough! Hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to start cooking again.. I really miss cooking and trying out new recipes! Here were a few of my faves right before I got pregnant!

Quinoa California Rolls

Baked Sweet Potato

Black Bean, Corn and Red Pepper Salad

Turkey and Black Bean No-Cheese Nachos

Kale Chips

Sweet Potato Sliders

So far.. I am not "showing", but my belly has definitely gotten a little chunkier.... which is slightly embarrassing I just want it to pop already! :( haha I read this on a blog and it describes how I'm feeling perfectly...


 "I really hate that stage where you feel like you're showing but to the rest of the world you pretty much just look like you just left and all-you-can-eat buffet..." 




Yup haha that is exactly how I feel!

13 weeks... And yes I am too lazy to take a 14 week pic right now so this is all you get! :)

That's it for now!

Love Car

I Love Mimi

2 Things..

1) Watch this video



2) This woman is my idol. End of story. Right now she is 73 years old. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? When I saw this video I was blown away, that is most likely the hottest 73 year old to have ever lived! I sure hope that I look like that when I am her age... Heck, I don't even look like that now, but I guess I still have 51 years to work at it! She is a vegan/raw eater and it is apparent that she has taken great care of her body (inside and out!) throughout her life. As I have grown up and started to gain my own sense of self, I have become more and more interested in healthy eating and nutrition. Ryan and I try to stick to clean gluten free and dairy free eating as well as avoiding processed foods. Obviously we are not perfect and obviously, some days I just want to down a cheeseburger and a coke BUT 90% of the time we do pretty good, and when that 10% comes around I am always always regretting it by how sick I feel after. I love the feeling of having a stocked kitchen full of healthy clean foods to feed my hubby and I! I think one of the most annoying things that someone can say to me is "Why won't you eat this? Are you on a diet? Diets are stupid!" For one, no I am not on a diet and two I am just trying to take care of my body and feed it the proper nutrition it needs! I know not everybody needs to go gluten free/vegan/vegetarian or anything, it really is all about what makes you feel great and what makes you feel like the best version of yourself. As for me, I'm gonna take a take a cue from Mimi - What you eat really does matter and it will make a huge difference in the long run!

Love Car

Winter Weather

Our
dump
cute newlywed house sprinkled with snow!

I love Alberta and the uncertainty that comes along with our weather. One day sun, in the afternoon a blizzard, and back to clear sidewalks by the evening. And although I've been lovin' the warm-ish weather we've been getting, I have been dying for a storm! I LOVE STORMS! Big white-out blizzards where you stay in and drink hot chocolate and snuggle. The weather man was calling for a huge storm this past weekend, and like the silly girl I am, I believed him! Well on Saturday it finally snowed... sorta... more like a gentle sprinkle. And then Ryan had to leave early for work (so no snuggling).. Aaaand I try not to eat dairy anymore (bye bye hot chocolate).... but I'll take what I can get! Hakuna matata! Carpe Diem!.. Something like that, you know what I mean ;) ANYWAYS... back to the point I was making... Saturday was my "stay in because it's a
fake
blizzard" day. Which made me so excited for dinner because a blizzard day is not complete without homemade soup!!!

White Bean Chili

I got this recipe from my awesome sister in law Alley who is the cutest thing ever, pregnant with her first baby! I tweaked the recipe a bit to cut down on the dairy/sugar but the great thing is it's a veeeerrrry flexible recipe and it has become one of our faves!

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts, cubed

1 Onion, chopped

4 Celery Sticks, chopped

1 1/2 tsp Garlic

1 tbsp Virgin Coconut or Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cans White Beans, drained & rinsed

1-2 cans of diced Green Chiles

Low Sodium Chicken Broth

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Oregano

1 1/2 tsp Curry Powder

1/2 tsp Chili Powder

1/2 tsp Pepper

OPTIONAL: 1 cup Quinoa flakes or cooked Quinoa (This will make your chili thicker!)

1/2 cup light coconut milk (or 1/2 cup greek yoghurt if you eat dairy)

1) Cook the chicken, onions, celery, garlic and oil together until browned.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients (EXCEPT the coconut milk) and the chicken mixture in to a large pot. Add enough chicken broth so that it covers your mixture (you can add/less depending on how "soupy" you like it)

3) Bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer for 30 mins.

4) After 30 mins, add the coconut milk and heat for another few minutes and then serve!

Chili with a side of corn bread is one of my favourite comfort foods!

Aaaand here's a quick 3 count update:

1) Ry is doing spring semester at BYU which means I will be living by myself for 7 weeks! I was so excited to hear he got in, but then reality hit me and I realized I would be living ALONE! I promptly had a break down right then and there, with lots and LOTS of crying.. I can't live alone! I get scared being home alone past 6pm! Plus I would miss Ry so much! But after I let it process for a while I have gotten more okay with the idea. PLUS my friend Tracey has been nice enough to offer to let me stay at her house, so all it's good!

2) Pinterest is the cool club that wont let me join. I feel like it's junior high all over again. Why can't I be cool? I have "requested an invite" 3 TIMES! And still - nothing. Anybody have any advice?? I am feeling pretty rejected here...

3) The insanity that is EXAMS is coming up. You thought I was already done with exams? You thought wrong. I have already graduated and written all my school exams, but to become a "registered" ultrasound technologist I need to write 5 more exams. It never ends I swear. Bring on the stress, the sweatpants&ponytails, the sleepless nights and craming. Ughh... good thing I have such a patient and helpful husband :) - He makes everything more bearable!

Enjoy the snow while it lasts!

Love, Car

Coconut Hemp Bars

Soo.. I think that by now it has become obvious that I am not the best blogger. Months and months between posts, and when I finally get around to it they usually say something like "Sorry I suck.. here's whats going on." I'm hoping that now that I am finally graduated I will be able to be a little more consistent, but if I were you I wouldn't bet on it. Heres a quick update on the Bevans family has been upto lately:

1) We DIDN'T move to Utah. We have literally been all over the map when it comes to the future. Each day we dream up new idea of what we should do with our lives and then reality sets it and squashes is. Yup, reality kills dreams. At least, that's what John Lund told me in the the hours and hours of his marriage "communication" CDs that Ryan makes me listen to in the car. I swear I get nauseous every time he puts them on. Bleh. At least Mr. Lund has taught me one thing - Reality bites sometimes.

2) I have a new JOB. I took a job at Cardiology Plus there and I absolutely love it! Being a working girl is soo much better than a student!

3) I am turning this blog into a healthy cooking blog. My life isn't the most exciting thing lately because of all the working Ryan and I have been doing but cooking has always been a hobby of mine. Okay, I guess it's everyones or else how would we eat, but I love eating/cooking healthy foods! So here it is.. my first recipe!

Coconut Hemp Bars

No, this is not my sneaky way of getting stoned... hemp is totally legit, I promise. A few weeks ago I was shopping at Planet Organic (which is a natural foods store in Calgary) and came across these gluten free coconut and hemp granola bars. They were so tasty I instantly became obsessed. If you know me well (and if you dont.. why are you reading my blog? ;) ) I tend to have an obsessive personality. I go through stages. Obsessive, compulsive, "all the way or bust" stages. Well this was another. I was addicted and I often (too often) found myself driving halfway accross the city to buy a three dollar overpriced granola bar. They were that good. But after a few months of this, and especially after the hubs sat me down and gave me a little chat about sticking to the "budget" I realized the insanity had to stop. This is where my idea of creating my own bars came from. I had no idea of the quantities and I wasn't aware of all the ingredients, all I knew is that they had hemp, coconut, seeds and tasted like heaven!

So here is my take on the coconut hemp granola bars, and they are delish. I was originally going to call them "Hemp Millet Bars" but then my friend informed me that she feeds millet to her birds, which I thought might drop the appeal of my bars. Thanks Paige ;)

Dry Ingredients

1 cup hemp hearts

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1 cup millet puffs (or kamut puffs, or rice puffs, or any grain... puffed?)

2 cups large flake oatmeal

4 tbsp flax seed

4 tbsp chia seed

Sea salt to taste

Wet Ingredients

1/2 C. + 4 tbsp virgin coconut oil (Realistically, you could use any type of oil. But I used coconut oil because of it's high nutritional content... Just make sure it is virgin)

1/2 C brown rice syrup (Or any other natural syrup.. Such as honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup... mix it up!)

2 tsp vanilla

3-4 tbsp maple syrup

Method

Easy peasy. Preheat the oven to 350. Add all the "dry" ingredients to a bowl and mix them up. Then in a microwavable bowl you put the coconut oil and melt it for a few seconds until it is liquid. Then add the rest of the "wet" ingredients and stir up with either a wisk/fork. After you stir the wet ingredients together, add them to the "dry" ingredients and mix. Everything should be well coated with liquid, and if not then add a bit more coconut oil. If they are too dry they will fall apart once you cook them. Once it is mixed, pour it into a glass 9x11 pyrex type dish that is lined with parchment paper. Smoosh it down, for reals, smoosh... HARD or else they will fall apart once they're cooked! Put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the edges look a tiny bit browned. The bars themselves will look a little bit uncooked. This is okay. Put them in the fridge to cool and solidify. Once cooled, cut into pieces (I make them into 24 little bars) and wrap them up!

* You can also crumble it up after it is cooked and cooled to make granola* :)

The best thing about these is that they clock in at about 180 cals each (if you cut them into 24 pieces) plus the have a good amount of protein from the hemp hearts and some heart healthy Omega 3s! They are great as a snack or for post workout! I would totally feel good feeding these to my kids, if i had any, as they are free of all the chemicals and "fillers" and cheap sugars that come with most granola bars. One day.. One day...

Anyways, hope you like them!

Love Carly