Let me ask you this: when was the last time you did something that scared you? Maybe it was just last night getting that cockroach out of your apartment (ew, good for you, I'm still deathly afraid) or maybe it was a few months ago when you took on a new project at work that you were a little apprehensive about. No matter how big or small the feat, it is so important that we get outside of our comfort zones and tackle our fears.

Get ready to laugh. Friday was my day off and Michael took a half day, so he took me skiing at a mountain nearby. I've never been skiing before, but I was really excited and thought I would be able to pick up on it quickly. After all, I would say I'm in shape, I used to water ski all the time and I have pretty good balance. It couldn't possibly be that hard, right?

I get my skis on, and I freeze up (no pun intended). I'm like a drunk child trying to walk and failing miserably. You guys, it took me about 20 minutes just to get over to the lift...this whole skiing thing did NOT come naturally at all!!! I looked up at the slope above (a bunny slope, at that) and I was SCARED. Freaked the eff out. I don't do heights and I don't do rollercoasters, so the thought of gaining speed and cruising down the slope made my heart race. 

Fast forward, we get on the lift. We're halfway up and I just break down. Literally start crying out of no where. I just thought, "I can't do this." If you've ever seen the Kardashian episode where Kim breaks down before going zip lining, that was me. Quite accurately. (Fast forward to :11 please..)

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqzU0-lW4M8[/embed]

If it wasn't for Michael there telling me what I always preach, "YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO," I would have given up. So I'm crying and manage to hop of the ski lift and wipe out. Michael starts teaching me how to cruise down and I just keep falling. And crying. I cried like four times. This shit was HARD. I was about to give up, and Michael just looks at me and tells me to "have some damn faith in myself" and it just clicked - I NEEDED to do it. There was no turning back because it wasn't like I could just walk down. So I get up and just keep repeating in my head "you can do this, it's okay." So I did it. It took a long ass time, I probably fell about 25 times and I WISH I had video to see how much of an idiot I looked like. But I made it down the slope. And then I immediately ran up to the bar for a beer. PHEW!!  

So the moral of the story is: I desperately need some ski lessons FACE YOUR DAMN FEARS!! No matter how much something scares you, when you get to the other side and conquer that fear, it only makes you that much stronger. 

I hope you enjoyed this story. Have a wonderful week, everyone and break down those obstacles.

XO- Rach

When was the last time you overcame a big fear?

Is there a motto or saying that helps you get through tough times?

Hey there! How was everyone's Labor Day weekend?

Mine was great - considering the awesome protein pancakes recipe I'm about to share with you :) On Friday evening, Michael and I headed up to the Poconos to stay with a couple of our friends at their house. I had never been up there before and it was just beautiful. So peaceful, quiet and we couldn't have gotten more lucky with the weather. I don't have many pictures because I wanted to disconnect a bit this weekend from technology. On Friday night we sat on the porch and had a few too many drinks in the cool weather. We had intentions to get in a workout Saturday morning, but instead we slept in and drove up the road for a diner breakfast - you know, the greasy kind that cures all feelings of a hangover? So great.

After getting some food in our bellies, we geared up for a full day at the lake with a huge cooler filled with LOTS of beer and snacks. We got to the lake and headed into the water for a full day of floating - with our floating cooler. We swam (floated) all the way to the other side of the lake and back, and didn't get out of the water for a good 3-4 hours. 

Obviously in Gator gear for an awesome Gator win on Saturday night! Full of beer and all sunned out, we headed back home to relax and grill a delicious dinner of chicken, asparagus and zucchini. 

We headed back to Philadelphia yesterday late morning. Today has consisted of lots of relaxing! I got in a great workout earlier, mostly because I had all the time in the world and didn't have to rush! I love that, don't you? I'll post my workout later this week - it was a sweaty one! Now we're just enjoying being lazy (aka blogging + watching Arrested Development the rest of the day) before getting back into a busy working routine tomorrow.

Before working out, we woke up slow and I wanted pancakes, but after a weekend full of not the healthiest meals, I wanted a healthier version - cue the homemade protein pancakes! These are easy to make and if you're one of those "ew cottage cheese!" people, I'm sure greek yogurt would work just as well :) 

[yumprint-recipe id='1']

Spring break came and went a little too fast for my last year at UF. Regardless, my spring break was amazing, but a little different than how others spend their spring breaks! Instead of booze cruisin' or basking in the sun, I made my way up to D.C., Maryland and Pennsylvania. Before this trip, I had never seen snow before. I'm going to be 22 this year. Figure that one out. Unfortunately I couldn't pack up the Florida warmth to bring up north because it was crazy cold! At least three out of the six days I was there the snow was coming down heavy, which was beautiful to watch, but awful to go out in.

Anyway, the reason I flew up north was to visit my boyfriend, Michael, who began his career with Men's Health Magazine in January, and the company's headquarters are located in Emmaus, PA. He's too cool, I know. (Can you say dream job?) It had been two months since we saw each other. May will mark a year of  living more than 1,000 miles away from each other, but that's a story for another time! Safe to say I was crazy excited to leave Gainesville for the week.

[P.S. these lovely photos from D.C. were taken by Michael's cousin, Luke (left above,) who is an awesome photographer and you can check out his work at lukedivita.com] We started out in D.C. because I found a $29 flight into Dulles. You read right, $29. I did my airline stalking! I had never been there before, and the city is beautiful! We met up with Luke, who lives in Richmond and we all went to see the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and the Portrait Gallery.

After exploring D.C., we made a pit stop at the University of Maryland to visit another one of Michael's cousins, Michael (there's a third Michael in their family as well. Michael cubed.) We finally made it back to Allentown, PA on Saturday night to enjoy a few days of relaxing, catching up and enduring the crazy weather together.

On Monday we drove down to Philadelphia and had lunch at the Reading Terminal Market at DiNic's. It was the winner of Travel Channel's 'Best Sandwich in America,' so naturally that was our first choice. I got a huge (I'm talking 12-inch) roast pork sandwich with provolone and spicy peppers and managed to devour the entire thing. It was pretty damn good. Couldn't let the best sandwich in America go to waste, duh.

^City of Brotherly Love, or as Michael captioned it, Philaselphia.

I flew out of Allentown on a crazy snow day and I totally thought the flight was going to be canceled, but it was just delayed about six hours, no biggie. Fun fact I also flew out the same morning that the plane at LaGuardia skidded when it was landing on the icy runway. I was a little freaked out, but made it home safe and sound! Note to self - try to avoid flying  in snow storms.

Hope everyone else enjoyed their spring breaks!

Peace out,