How To Make Delicious Homemade Protein Bars

Today, there are hundreds of protein bars on the market competing for shelf space at supermarkets, health food stores, convenient stores, and gyms that claim to deliver handsome health benefits. While some protein bars have a nice balance of fat, carbohydrates, and protein, which make them an attractive choice for a snack or post-workout recovery option, many others are glorified candy bars.

Like many other individuals who are always on the go, I’m guilty of purchasing a variety of protein bars over the years in an effort to satisfy my protein intake and nutritional goals. However, as I focused on a more health-conscious lifestyle, I began to pay closer attention to the ingredients listed on protein bar wrappers, in addition to the nutritional facts. What I learned is that many protein bars are packed with unhealthy and unnecessary ingredients that are simply not beneficial to one’s health.

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The Perfect Surprise Marriage Proposal

The day was October 12, 2018 when I left the jewelry store with a beautiful engagement ring in hand and my pockets a lot less lined. I’ve spent several months searching for the perfect bridal set that would compliment the beauty of my soon-to-be fiancée, Savannah, and I was extremely satisfied with the final product. However, as I walked away from the jewelry store thoughts of how the proposal will ultimately play out immediately entered my mind. While I have kicked around possible scenarios over the last year, I quickly realized the clock was now ticking and I needed to find a creative way to propose.

Typically, I spend a fair amount of time thoroughly researching topics, especially topics outside of my wheelhouse that require me to navigate through uncharted waters. However, instead of taking the aforementioned approach, I decided to think outside the box and spearhead the proposal plan without any assistance. Although there are countless websites that offer fantastic advice and unique ideas for marriage proposals I wanted to own it. I wanted it to be creative, romantic, and memorable. I wanted to incorporate elements that would capture what is meaningful in our relationship.

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We Met on the Social Network, Vine!

The year was 2013 when Savannah and I first met. Unlike the traditional methods used to foster new friendships, Savannah and I connected on the now defunct social network, Vine. If you are unfamiliar with Vine, it was a Twitter-owned social network where users shared 6-second looping video clips. Some users shared raw slices of their personal life while others leveraged the platform to showcase their creative talents.

I was a popular content creator at the time who enjoyed showcasing my stop-motion videos on the social network. My 6-second loops were viewed by millions and shared by thousands, including mainstream celebrities such as Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) and Joe Jonas (Jonas Brothers). Savannah was a content consumer who often watched loops that included music, comedy, and fur babies. On occasion, she shared her own clips, but preferred viewing Vines of interest. Although we were on opposite sides of the content divide there was a common denominator that sparked our conversations – our love of dogs.

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Kahlua, The Praying Puppy!

Shortly after Kahlua was born I spent a few weeks teaching him tricks so he could showcase his talents to a variety of audiences – family, friends, social media followers, etc. Kahlua was a quick learner in his infancy so I often increased the degree of difficulty when teaching him tricks knowing he would rise up to the challenge. After working with Kahlua to perfect a handful of neat tricks, I began searching for “that one unique trick” that would deliver an overwhelming amount of cuteness while melting the hearts of many. “That one unique trick” was ultimately named the Praying Puppy!

The Praying Puppy showcases Kahlua and me praying before eating a meal together. The trick itself only has 3 components so it wasn’t difficult for Kahlua to learn. However, teaching an 11-week-old puppy a trick that includes placing a large bowl of delicious food in their face is challenging to some degree. Having said that, once all of the components were completed and stitched together the result was adorable.

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7-week-old Puppy Walks Down Stairs

As a 7-week-old puppy, Kahlua was an incredibly smart, strong, and dominate Labrador Retriever. He showcased a stout body with huge paws and a fluffy full coat. We knew at first sight that Kahlua was the perfect puppy and we were so excited to scoop him up and bring him home so we could spoil him with lots of love, toys, treats, and more.

Typically, there are a lot of checkboxes that must be satisfied prior to choosing a puppy from a breeder, but Kahlua is our second Lab from the breeder so the decision-making process was a lot less time consuming. Kahlua is also the cousin to our yellow Lab, Hunter, so we were blessed to find him.

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Sweet Home Alabama Filming Locations


A few weeks ago, Savannah and I, along with our spoiled pups, Hunter and Chloe, packed up the SUV and headed east to visit the Sweet Home Alabama filming locations. Unlike our previous tours, we split this tour into two days since the 16 locations we were visiting were spread out across Georgia. On the first day we traveled to a small out-of-the-way town called Crawfordville where the majority of the movie was filmed. This town served as the backdrop for Pigeon Creek, Alabama and housed 12 of the 16 filming locations we visited. On the following day, we traveled north and south of Atlanta to visit the remaining 4 locations.

Recently I published a blog posted titled “Sweet Home Alabama: Then and Now – 12 Years Later” to share our journey through Pigeon Creek with our family and friends, as well as all the fans of the movie. The post includes more than 80 then-and-now photos, video of the filming locations stitched in with scenes from the movie, then-and-now slideshow, and behind-the-scenes photos. There’s a lot of great content in the post so check it out if you haven’t done so already.

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