By Samandra

Last year I took a Science of Wellness and Nutrition class at BYU, so I could learn more how to take care of my body. Since then I have been doing a lot of new things such as eating more fruits and vegetables.

I have to confess that eating these two wasn’t an easy thing to me. I’m always on the run, with little time to prepare meals, and often the fruits and vegetables that I bought went bad in the fridge. But I wanted it to change. So I made a list of all the excuses that I used to not eat fruits and vegetables.

My excuses in the past:

• I don’t have time.
• I’m lazy to eat something extra (apart from what will make me full) along the day__eating isn’t my favorite thing.
• I feel overwhelmed by all the things I have to do that I don’t want to add something else.
• I don’t want to go grocery shop every week, and I don’t like to eat fruits when they are too ripe.
• I can’t eat all those varieties they say in the same day. It’s too much!

After I found out what were my excuses it was easier to me to make a plan to change it. I encourage you to do the same.

My solution:

• I have always loved fruit smoothies such as the others we found at Jamba Juice. I would make my own “Jamba Juice” yummy smoothies to make me motivated to consume the fruits and veggies I needed.
• I started to put all the ingredients (but the juice) in a small Ziplock bag and put it in the freezer. Each morning I prepare one of these bags, and have a fresh and healthy drink to start the day!

What I found out:
My fruit smoothies taste WAY BETTER than the ones at Jamba Juice. After awhile taking smoothies daily, there was a day that I didn’t have time to prepare it so I just grabbed one at Jamba Juice thinking that it would be the same, but… I was wrong.

Jamba Juice’s smoothies have sherbet and frozen yogurt added to it which makes it to not taste like fruit, but much more like something sugary that you don’t want. I also couldn’t feel the texture of the fruits, because they probably don’t add much of it.

I’ll be posting more tips that I have learned along the way with other smoothies’ recipe posts. So stay tuned. For now, get the recipe of this yummmyyy fruit smoothies inspired by the Jamba Juice Surf Rider, but way yummier. ;)

Strawberry, Peach & Lemon Smoothie

3 strawberries
1/2 peach
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup of Simply Lemonade juice.

Blend it all and enjoy this simple and delicious fruit smoothie!

There are two things which I can’t accept about myself in these past 6 years… my age, and that I’m divorced.

Maybe because I didn’t come from a “perfect” family I tried my all to make my life closer to perfect since I was 17. The lack of rules, while I was growing up, made me eager for having something to follow. I also didn’t have a religion while growing up, and I felt the desire to know what God wanted from me. At this age, I met the Church that was just perfect to what I was looking for.

I got married when I was 21. I thought that finally, I would be able to have that perfect family I have always dreamed about. I had two amazing years of marriage, but the last two other were more challenging as people change, and what’s good for me maybe is not any more to the other person. We were from the same faith when we got married, but later he realized that this didn’t bring happiness to him anymore. These beliefs were important to me so we realized that although we were good friends and got along well, sharing a life wasn’t the best thing to us anymore. Even though things ended up friendly, it still hurt me and I closed myself from this. I came to the USA and here I told myself that I wanted to start again, and no one–except my best friends– would know about my past.

I have realized that keeping this as a secret and not telling people my age has to become a burden to me which I don’t want to carry anymore.

I feared rejection for telling the truth. I feared people judging me as a bad person for being divorced. I feared being judged as “complicated”, “she must have a problem” for being 31 and single. After having suffered the ultimate rejection of the divorce, I tried to protect myself from being rejected, again.
 
But the truth is, this is me. All these experiences have helped me to become who I am. If someone wants to be my friend this person will have to accept me for what I am. I have been through hell, yet still turned well.

Why do I do this in social media? I do this so I won’t go back from the decision I have made today to accept who I am, and to not hide these two things from people anymore. I decided in 2016 that I wanted to tell everyone the truth, yet I didn’t stick to my word as I didn’t have the courage.

I love this talk from Sister Stephens from 2016: “They suffer from broken covenants, broken hearts, and lost confidence. These experiences, though no fault of their own, have left many feeling guilty and ashamed. Not understanding how to manage the powerful emotions they experience, many try to bury them, pushing them deeper into themselves. Hope and healing are not found in the dark abyss of secrecy but in the light and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Complete healing will come through your faith in Jesus Christ and His power and capacity, through His Atonement, to heal the scars of that which is unjust and undeserved.”

I may have cried all day long because tomorrow is my birthday and I feel like a failure for not being married, having all those four kids, and still be going to school. But these things shouldn’t define me. I still want those things, but things happen at a different time to each of us. Please be kind to others and don’t let your expectations to them make them feel miserable. That’s all.

It’s Valentines Day’s! For many is a happy day to celebrate with your loved one. But also be considerate about those (like me) who is single and this might not be the happiest day to not have someone… Thinking of that, I put together a list of 10 things I have been tired of hearing, and that everybody should stop telling to single people. Do you relate to this???
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1. “How are you still single? You’re so talented/pretty/righteous….”
2. “You’ll find someone when you least expect it.”
3. “You’re too good for them. They don’t deserve you.”
4. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you will get married soon.”
5. “You’re just too picky.”
6. “You’re too pretty to be single.”
7. “Have you tried online dating?”
8. In reference to my best friend: “You guys get along so well. Why you just don’t married to each other??”
9. “I’m sure your husband will be the most amazing guy ever, and good things take time.”
10. “You should let me set you up, I know someone for you.”