We're engaged!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is real life guys.

I am actually going to marry Brandon Goodman. Like for realz. There is a diamond ring on my finger. The one knee situation happened. I bawled like a baby. Here is the story.

I have known for a long time that he was the one. Some sources say as early as Valentine's our six month anniversary (2 and a half years ago). Some sources say the moment that I saw him outside my window at Chick fil a that first summer three years ago. Some sources say last fall when we said "I love you" for the first time outside of BNA on what ended up being the most wonderful and difficult Labor Day I have yet to have. Whatever and whenever it was, I have known for a long time. It was the reason why I moved out here, it was the reason I found the job that I did, and I was so grateful to know in my deepest parts that I had found my future husband.

And so, I waited. I don't want to gloss over this part because it was hard for me. After waiting what felt like forever for God to finally give me the job I had been praying for, you would think I would have been more patient and willing to hold on to truth during this period of waiting, but that was unfortunately not the case. I was angsty. I was impatient. I was rude. I didn't understand. And it really took a toll on me and on Brandon for a long time. Until a few weeks ago when we had a really needed conversation. And I realized the extent of my selfishness and the complete lack of faith I had in anything that I knew was going to happen. We healed. I finally learned what it is to be grateful for where you are.

Enter: Nashville. Homecoming. We had bought tickets to go way back when Southwest had a flight sale in June, trusting that I was going to have a job and be flying out of RDU that weekend. At this point, I was still hoping that "it" was going to happen that weekend, but I was also completely content to see friends, spend time at Vandy, be present and enjoy the beautiful city I had missed. We didn't spend a lot of time together until late Saturday afternoon when we went to a friends' wedding. And it was all so lovely. That night, I subconsciously clawed my way for that bouquet, though (and I have the scratches to prove it. Oops). Brandon laughed. I felt a little silly (or a lot silly, actually). The girl I fought it for may or may not have been the grooms' sister. BUT IN MY DEFENSE. It did come right for me. I swear.

So Sunday morning comes. Brandon goes to get ready for this Melodores reunion concert which he had seriously been geeking out about all week between a small throat cold and going over with me all the songs they were going to sing. I was excited, too. The Melodores had been a big part of my college experience, going to all of the shows and even driving 14 hours one time to South Carolina to watch them compete. I went to church excited and weirdly nervous about the day, but assuming it was just because I was about to see a ton of people I hadn't seen in a while.

An hour before the concert was supposed to start, I get a weird one second snapchat from Brandon. It looked like the top of the beautiful cube that he had given me for our three-year anniversary, a gift that he had told me was carved around a small cross that I could hear rattling inside when he gave it to me. It had been sitting on my dresser for the past two months, and my heart started racing for no apparent reason when I got that picture, so I tried to ignore it. Surely it wasn't going to happen today.

I kept feeling weird and nervous all the way up until we arrived at Alumni Hall for the event, and tried taking sips of water to calm my stomach as the Melodores each got introduced and shared their favorite memory from the group. It helped, and when each generation started their musical selections, I really started to relax and enjoy myself. It was so fun to hear how the group had changed and evolved, and the music was so awesome.

The last song of the set was their alumni song, "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel. It is so beautiful, and I always tear up every concert when they sing it. And then Brandon stepped out from the group, and started to speak. My heart started POUNDING. He thanked everyone who was there, saying that the Melodores were so much more than just the group, but also the support of our family, friends, and girlfriends. I started freaking out big time. He paused for a second too long, and someone else said quietly, "And so we have one more song".

The second that he started singing, I 100% lost it. I can't even begin to explain all of the emotions that went into those tears: happiness, relief, unbelievable amounts of grace and love being poured out on me with every word. It was the biggest desire of my heart, and it was coming true with the man of my dreams, as he sang a song that he sang to me three summers ago before we even started dating, a song that had become our song. I tried to be completely in the moment (a la Leslie Knope). I wasn't even paying attention to anything or anyone else in the room in those brief minutes. I could not hold together my thankfulness, my love for that moment. I ugly cried so hard, and I was so incredibly grateful. He took that box he had given me two months ago out of his pocket, opened up a side and slid out a ring from a drawer inside. The sight of it literally took my breath away, and I lost it all over again.

He got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him. And through ugly sobs I said yes and pulled him to his feet. I tried to get my promise ring off of my finger and only got half way before he kissed me and just held me for a few seconds. A few precious seconds. When I turned around and ran off stage into the arms of my friends, I saw that they were all in tears, and I proceeded to have the most surreal 20 minutes of my life hugging and crying and taking pictures and staring at this ring on my finger.

It turns out, he had put that ring in that box two months before, and I had had it all along. He just had to wait for the perfect moment to give it to me. He had been ready for a long time.

We are over the moon excited to be getting married, and I am trying so hard to revel in these perfect moments before the craziness begins and I actually get to plan my WEDDING!

For the past 48 hours, this resounding song has been stuck in my head. It speaks to the words that I wish my heart could really write:

The love of God is greater far

  Than tongue or pen can ever tell.

It goes beyond the highest star

  And reaches to the lowest hell.

The guilty pair, bowed down with care,

  God gave His Son to win;

His erring child He reconciled

  And pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure!

  How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure

    The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
  And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
  And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
  Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
  Though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
  How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
    The saints’ and angels’ song.

Praising Jesus, and living in these moments so completely in love,

Abby

UPDATE: If you want to see a video of our proposal that our good friend put together for us, click HERE! 

august.

A few snapshots from my life recently. 

1/2: I got an iPad case! It is so gorgeous and you can find the brand here. 

3: Brandon came back from a week-long trip to Mexico with beautiful presents.

4: Craigslist adventures continue with this 1970's Goodform chair. Can't wait to keep slowly adding to our space!

5: A sweet man at my local Kroger was going around handing flowers out to people waiting to check out. Totally made my day. 

So many fun adventures for the next month and a half are in the works! One (maybe two?) trips to Nashville, settling in adventures, friend adventures, and possibly puppy adventures?? Can't handle all this goodness and can't wait to share it all as it unfolds.

Here's to what's ahead,

Abby

that time my parents came to chapel hill.

This weekend my parents and my sister came to visit! My sister is moving back up to school in Tallahassee and my parents thought, "Hey, it's only 8 hours out of the way...". Man. They are awesome. 

It was a really great (and short) weekend that started late Friday night and ended early Sunday morning, with a really fun Saturday in between filled with Indian food, downtown Durham and classic Franklin street walkin' around. They also got to spend some sweet time with the friends that I have made here, and I am so blessed that they got to see a little slice of my life! 

Family time seems sweeter now than ever, and I'm trying to savor it more now that it looks like I'll be sticking around Chapel Hill for at least a few years. It's crazy to really start to realize that this place is my home now. I'll get way less time during the holidays off because of work and so it really is "See you at Thanksgiving" for all my family that lives in Orlando still. This makes me sad sometimes, but it's ok because it also makes me grateful to have a family that I can miss that much. 

Also, this girl's the best. It's probably a good thing that we don't live too close because then both of us would just be so weird, all the time. :)

Big ole blessings,

Abby

the first week!

Oh man, you guys.

So I finished my first week of work this week. And generally right now, life is a little bit more than INSANE. I find myself getting stressed about it a LOT, and I so look forward to the days that I can come home to an apartment complex where they actually give their residents the actual keys to their apartment (no jokes, this happened to me Friday night at 11 PM when I was trying to move all my stuff in), drive a car to work with a decent gas mileage, and I am actually competent enough at my job to be able to fill out alllllll the paperwork. And answer the phone correctly. This skill is harder than you think.

In the meantime though, here's a list of things I'm learning these days:

Apple Maps is not my favorite navigation map of all time. I had to use it a bunch this week to get to different contract sites and I got lost no less than three times. Google Maps is in the testing queue on my phone.

There is a big difference between leaving at 7 AM and leaving at 7:20 AM for the traffic on I-40. As in, leaving twenty minutes later may actually make your commute take 40 more minutes. If you choose the second, there is a real good chance you will be late.

9:30 PM is now an acceptable bedtime (hellooooooo being old).

Brandon is very good in a crisis/when I am way too tired to cook food post-work training. Meaning he is very good at ordering pizza. I will keep him around.

I love my friends.

If you ever need an I-9 form filled out for your future place of employment or need a reference for the tax exemption you should file on your W-2's, I am officially your girl.

If I could have everything in Zooey Deschanel's closet I would have the most wonderful and office appropriate wardrobe ever. I also may be taking fashion tips from the secretaries on Mad Men (Jon Hamm what WHAT).

There are SO many fun things to do in this area and I am so excited to have the sanity to plan trips to do them all.

Jesus is good. I'm learning that a little more every day.


Hope you are having a wonderful weekend, friends.

Love,

Your very sleepy/happy/dopey/grumpy wow why am I a herd of dwarves blogger.

on living in a new city.

17/52

It's been four years since I've moved to a new city, started all over. It's only the second time in my life that I've ever had to do it, and so for the past couple of weeks I've forgotten what that feels like. I use my GPS to get everywhere because I'm still figuring out how to get places. I still kind of feel like I'm visiting a lot of places, not really at home yet. There's no freshman orientation this time, but there is a lot of meeting new people. There are a lot of wonderful things too. Discovering new restaurants and making a new list of the places we've gone to from the Chapel Hill/Durham/Raleigh food lover's guide. Finding a thrift store down the street where they boast nearly a collection of great vintage shoes. And of course, this time around, I have a really wonderful person named Brandon who is making this transition a million times easier than it is for so many who start over in a new place. And for that, I am humbled and oh so grateful to be here (even if I am still partially living out of my car ;) ). 

currently...

Hanging out...in Brandon's apartment, contemplating what to do with my last week of freedom while he is at work. It's really crazy/overwhelming/wonderful to think about all the ways that my life has changed in the past ten days, and how much it will change in the next ten!

Listening to...old school Ingrid Michaelson. That girl never gets old and always puts me in a good mood.

Thinking about...the baked catfish (see above) that I made for dinner a few nights ago. It came out so crispy, and went perfect with the black bean and tomato quinoa salad I made the other night. Recipe planning has all of a sudden become really fun :)

Grateful for...the way that things are coming together at just the right time. I closed on an apartment with my new roommate on Saturday morning, and everything about it is wonderful. It's a good price, a good location, a good size for two girls. Later that afternoon at Target I was looking at the Paula Deen discounted cookware (too soon?) when I came across this whole line of knives that came in the most beautiful, bright colors! Of course I scooped them up right away and Brandon even bought me a santoku knife to round it out (and it is now my new favorite knife of all time).

Looking forward to...continuing to do some work for ABAN, dreaming and Craigslisting for my new apartment constantly, and going out for Indian food tonight!

Happy Monday! xoxo. Abby

the new look!

Hey friends!

So if you are a normal follower of A Small and Great Life, you've probably noticed that things look quite a bit different today! That's because for the past month or so I have been working on the redesign of this here blog, and I'm so happy with how it has turned out!! I'm hoping that the new layout will be more accessible for you to find the content you want faster and will be truer to the overall style of the blog. Some things you may want to look at/take advantage of:

1. There are now archives! You will find archive categories for photography, DIY, food and style under the new title, so you can go back and see what's been going on in each of those categories.

2. Social media icons! Now you can follow A Small and Great Life on bloglovin', flickr, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter with the click of a shiny, glittery button.

3. New pages created for new readers to learn more about me, how to get ahold of me, and sponsorships for the blog (coming soon!)

4. Buttons for other bloggers to share and feature ASAGL

5. A search bar near the top of the page to help you find the past posts you want to look up in a jiffy.

Other fun things that I'm super excited about:

Not screaming at you with my post titles anymore! (Thank you Cody Star) Fun new colors and fonts that I love. More chances for you to love this blog daily!

Leave me some love and let me know what you think! I'm sure I will continue to tweak these as time goes by. xoxo. Abby

I MADE IT!

Two days, a bunch of boxes, one small U-Haul trailer later, and I made it to Chapel Hill! This week has been quite the whirlwind and this is the first time I've actually had a chance to sit down at my computer, so forgive me for the lack of posts. 

It all started on Monday when I picked up Brandon from the airport on our last long-distance reunion ever!!! It has never felt so good people. Saying goodbye never gets easier when you live 500 miles apart, and I'm so glad we're done with it. :)

edited with the ABM app

Then on Wednesday morning we were off! We got a chance to see my good friend in Jacksonville at the amazing French Pantry and drove all day until we made it to Charlotte that night to stay with Brandon's parents. The afternoon of the 4th we drove to Winston-Salem for a party with friends! We ended up at the most amazingly close place for fireworks and saw one of the best shows I've ever seen. But what made it the sweetest was spending it with these folks.

This morning, we drove in to Chapel Hill! This weekend will be one of a lot of logistics, and I'm excited to start getting settled and getting ready to start work soon! 

Lots more soon! Hope everyone's 4th of July was fantastic!

xoxo. Abby

16/52 (A POST ON LEARNING TO WAIT)

16/52

The past year of my life has had its challenges. Being in a long distance relationship and trying to land my first job after college were two of the big ones. It's a big, wide world out there, but I was trying to find a job in just one little piece of it. That was the hard part. 

I didn't really start to worry too much about the job hunt until my second semester. By that time, a quite few of my friends had landed jobs at big corporations or had accepted positions at places they had interned. And there I was, looking for entry-level positions in a place where I knew only one person, and as I searched we were 500 miles apart. I applied, and applied, and applied. I sent my application out to places I was overqualified to work for, even as a new college grad, and plenty of places that were reaches. I emailed, I cold called, I followed up with anyone I ever knew who had a job or connection or family member in Chapel Hill. I promised myself, and Brandon, that I would definitely be employed by April. And when April rolled around, I promised myself, and started pleading with God, to be employed by graduation. 

When graduation rolled around and I found myself with no job yet, I was deeply unhappy. This job, wherever it would be, was in my mind the key to all of the pieces of my life that I wanted to fall into place. I started shopping for professional outfits I could wear to work. I browsed apartments online and thought about if I'd want a roommate. I looked at cars to see which ones would be in my price range. But none of that could move forward without the job. And the pressure of that fact grew larger and larger until the pressure of it nearly broke me. 

Vanderbilt is not an easy university to graduate from without knowing what is next for you. I know Vanderbilt graduates whose first job was at Time magazine, others who started making $80,000 a year the summer after they graduated. I felt like a failure going home after graduation. I was ready for my life to start, and I was mad at God for making me wait, for what felt like humiliation every time I had to tell someone (which was very frequently) "I'm not totally sure what's next for me." 

This past year and through all of the trials that I went through, I met with a girl named Molly every Thursday morning to catch up on life and study God's word. One scripture that she introduced me to, and that we studied together, was Psalm 27. It struck me as we studied this passage that my "one desire, the one thing that I seek" (v.4) was not the Lord, or to be in His presence. It was to have life move at the pace I desired, and to go the direction I desired. In so many areas of my life, I was finding it so hard to want that more than anything. 

"Wait for the Lord, be strong and courageous, wait for the Lord." (v. 14) 

But most of all, I was bad at the waiting. I felt like I had been waiting an eternity. I remember one night in particular, after I had come home from a trip to Chapel Hill for a few job interviews in May, when I got the call that I hadn't gotten a job. They had picked someone else. I think that that was my lowest point. My self-esteem, my self-worth, my identity were all so tightly wrapped up in that one person saying "Yes", that I found myself crying in my room, pleading with God to have mercy on me. To just deliver me already out of the loneliness of being home and being unemployed. I had made the ultimate mistake. As Beth Moore puts it, I had given "people the kind of power that only God should yield" over me. And at this point, I reached a point of total surrender where I was able to say, "Not my will, but yours be done."

"Wait for the Lord, be strong and courageous, wait for the Lord."

Well, I didn't wake up the next day with a job offer. Or the next day, or the next day. In fact, after this point, after my complete and total surrender to exhaustion, I went through what could have been the most personal rejections of the whole process. But in that place of surrender, of realizing that my identity was not in fact in what job I held, or who I was dating, or where I was living, or how many times people asked me "what was next for me", that I was able to withstand it, and be ok with the fact that if I could see what was happening and where I was being led from His perspective, I wouldn't be so dismayed. 

The day before I left from Chapel Hill at the beginning of June for another round of interviews, I got unexpectedly sick. I was supposed to have an interview that morning, and luckily, they were able to push it back to the morning before I left. Normally, that type of thing is frowned upon and I knew it probably wasn't scoring me any points, but I couldn't help it. And the interview went really well when I did finally get to go in. I ended up doing some very unusual personality testing for them, and waited all week to hear back from someone at the company. They called, and we set up a video interview for this week. Even though I was miles away in Orlando, they wanted to meet with me. Usually, not living in the area didn't score you any points either, this I knew from experience. And then the video interview went really well. 

That afternoon, they called and said, "We didn't want to make you wait. We'd love to offer you the position."

Wait for the Lord, be strong and courageous, wait for the Lord. 

Out of all of the jobs that I applied to, I know that God had this one picked out for me. He was the one who delivered it to me. This company wasn't even one I had heard of until they reached out to me through Linkedin. And I was so humbled knowing that all of the glory and the praise for landing this job did not belong to me at all, but to the one who is the good giver of ALL things. 

Writing these words, I breathe deeply, knowing that once again, my Savior has proved more faithful that I gave Him credit for, and that He has delivered to me something much better than what I could have achieved on my own terms. 

"I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and courageous, wait for the Lord." 

Thanks for letting me share my heart a little bit today, friends.

Lots of love,

Abby

THE WORLD BETTER WATCH OUT CAUSE...

Oh man, guys. It has been quite the journey getting here. There were some days that I lost all hope that I was going to be able to write this post. But because God is good and bigger than I ever give Him credit for, here we are. I'm employed. At a full-time, salaried-with-benefits-legit-kind-of job. And it is something I'm interested in. And interested in growing in. And it is in the same place that my love goes to school.

I am so happy.

More details on this exciting news later, right now I have to go pack! :)

lotsandlots of love from this girl who will only be in Orlando for a little while longer,

Abby

15/52

15/52

(My typical reaction to Florida humidity.) 

My room at home is on the side of our house that faces our back porch, so there are no windows, but an entire wall is the sliding glass door that accesses it. When I wake up in the morning and the blinds are closed, it is pretty much a cave, and I blame it for the very late wake ups I've been having the past few weeks. In that dark, sleepy cave, I often wake up and think "It's summer! I should go for a swim! I should ride my bike outside! Maybe I'll run to the Y, do some strength training and run home! Six miles is nothing!" Obviously, I am delusional in more than one sense, because as soon as I step out on that back porch...

WHAM. HUMIDITY.

And then I go and sit in my pajamas and watch Breaking Bad on Netflix for three hours. 

Welcome to my life. 

xoxo. Abby

**P.S.- If you've been counting, you probably realize we are more than 15 weeks into 2013, which means I'm about 9 weeks behind on these posts. I promise to try to not bombard you with a million selfies all at once but I just bought a new tripod so hopefully they will be a little more regular. Thanks for following along with me!

THERE IS NO "NORMAL"

This week, as you guys may know, I have been in Chapel Hill with Brandon, continuing the job hunt and figuring out some logistical things that are still really up in the air. It's been really sweet time, and a pretty great visit in terms of time we've gotten to spend together. As I was writing an email to someone on Monday, I found myself writing "there is no such thing as 'normal' for me nowadays". And it is so true. And it is so exhausting. But it is also ok. Maybe this post is just a way of convincing myself of that fact, but it is. Because I got to do some pretty awesome stuff this week.

I did some freehand stitching! So far in my embroidery adventures I've only used patterns, but I loved how this one turned out, and I loved this little reminder.

I made a friend.

I played with a sweet (and much better trained!) Maggie when Brandon and I went home to Charlotte for his brother's 14th birthday party. I also realized how rusty my Spanish is when I met his abuela and little cousin from Puerto Rico. Note to self: work on that. 

I made kale chips! This had been on my list of things to try for at least a semester and I finally did it! Full reviews and notes on the recipe in a later post. 

Brandon bought me a new cookbook! This weekend we agreed that we really wanted to start eating healthier, so this was a great first step. It's Rocco Dispirito's Now Eat This! cookbook, and the shrimp tomatillo tostadas we made on Monday night were DELICIOUS. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you may know that Brandon started working at a very fancy French restaurant in Chapel Hill this summer called One. It's been really fun to learn lots of new things from how they prepare their food and last night we used his employee discount (woop woop!) to meet up with a friend and try it for ourselves. 

First course: Smoked Oyster Bisque with Pork Belly

Second course: Grilled Hudson Valley Duck Breast with Foie Gras and Orange

Third course: Milk Chocolate and Chili Mousse Tart

I could not describe these dishes with justice if I tried, so I'll just refer you to their menu to see for yourself what an amazing meal it was. And of course, any night with this guy is going to be awesome, that's pretty much guaranteed. :)

Tomorrow I fly back home and on Monday I get to see one of my best friends from school. Even though right now there is no such thing as "normal", it is definitely ok. 

Lots of love on my last night in Durham (for a little bit),

Abby

THE FIRST WEEK IN JUNE

June so far is so fun! I've been in Chapel Hill this week since Tuesday after saying goodbye to my mom and sister for the summer (sniff sniff) as they venture out towards Colorado! Besides the aggressive monsooning, it has been wonderful here. Here are just a few photos from my week and what I've been up to.

1/2) I have become a little bit obsessed with embroidery floss. I'll share some of the projects I've been working on soon but for now let's just say OMG COLORS. Speaking of projects, remember how I told you guys I was going to be a part of that Summer Stitching Club? Well my first mini-embroidery is done! And I am so excited to see what else Mollie rolls out for us this summer.

3) I have found the most wonderful lip gloss of all time. And it is Philosophy Pink Frosted Animal Cracker. Get it here.

4) Sweet cherries. Summertime. Yes.

5) Spending time with this one at Straw Valley workin' on ABAN projects and memorizing menus is one of my favorite things.

What have y'all been up to this week?

xox. Abby

TWO AMAZING WEEKENDS: PART 1

We're getting into that crazy, fast-paced, squeeze-everything-you-can-into-the-last-month of school territory, folks. I keep finding myself saying YES to more things, not wanting to miss out on a single moment and live up what I'm sure I'll look back on as one of the greatest and most confusing times of my life.

So two weekends ago, I took some time away and went home. April has been a hard month for many different reasons, and I wasn't sure, with the way my life is going, when I was going to be home again. So I went, and although it meant missing a Nashville weekend (that are eminently numbered), it was totally worth it.

My mom and I spent Friday having a girl's day doing all of my favorite home-y things: IKEA, Rifle Paper Co, going to the Y, and of course, large quantities of Starbucks. She does such a great job of making me feel so special.

And on Saturday, I got to see my sister! It was her birthday on Friday and she spent it up at school, but Saturday we got together with my brother and sister-in-law and had an amazing family dinner at home. We made steaks and mashed potatoes, in the typical Hardaway tradition, and had just about the best cake ever from our favorite: Publix.

I have a pretty great family, if I do say so myself.

Taking a step back from campus and learning how to deal with all the stuff that was going on in my life was pretty vital, and I had so much fun hanging out with my brother and sisters. Can't wait to see them again soon for graduation!

IN MY ROOM

2/52

This self-portrait was taken in my room. It's a messy place, often, a place where I've spent a lot of time being sick in this week, a place that I share this year with a roommate (holla). There are a lot of improvements that I would love to make to this space with the limited time that I have left this year, but for the most part I'm content with the fact that it's a work in progress. I love it because it is a place I can always go, and rest, and be. 

A GREEN SMOOTHIE

While I am not one much for new year's resolutions, I do relish the opportunities that the new year brings for fresh, new ideas. I love the idea of getting a "fresh start" in different areas of my life, and eating healthy is no exception. Don't get me wrong- I love fruits and veggies anyways, but consistently incorporating them into my busy schedule can sometimes be a challenge to be sure.

About six months ago I found out about this "green smoothie" phenomenon where basically you make a smoothie with all your fruits and yogurts and whatever else you would normally put in there, and then at the end, you add SPINACH. Or kale. Or romaine. Or just really anything green and leafy.

It sounded really gross. I was unimpressed with the idea. But these green smoothies kept getting rave reviews. I even bought a little book on my Kindle where this woman swore by green smoothies for all of these amazing health benefits in her life. And I figure, it's probably really hyped, but far be it from me to be above todays' trends.

And guess what? They are delicious. You can add me to the list of those green smoothie nuts who rave about how "You can't taste the spinach at all!". If it means more iron, more fiber, more good stuff in my diet, STUFF ME SMOOTHIE WITH SPINACH Y'ALL.

(Sorry if that was aggressive.)

The smoothie pictured here is loosely based off of this recipe, although I am experimenting still to figure out what my favorite flavor combinations are. I see a green smoothie weeklong challenge in my future.