Courtney Horan, May 03, 2012
In honor of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo holiday, SOYJOY challenged me to come up with some fun, exciting recipes to share with friends. BUT…there was a catch. The Joytest was to see if I could come up with some recipes to share that were not only tasty, but also healthy. I’m always up for “healthifying” recipes in any way that I can, whether it be a comforting dinner or a decadent dessert, so this idea was right up my alley.
The challenge was on!
First things first, I had to think about my guests. Since there was only going to be four of us total, I knew that meant that I didn’t need to create a full spread of goodies; a fun drink, a simple appetizer, and a couple dinner selections would do the trick. And after a bit of investigating, I had myself a handful of healthy Cinco de Mayo recipes. Continue reading
Jahaira Hooker, Apr 19, 2012
This month I had the opportunity to participate in the SOYJOY March Joytest Challenge – see if a popular fitness class would give me a great workout. It is so easy to fall into a workout rut where you do the same thing over and over again. Personally, it is easy for me to stick to running and cycling and forget about everything else. Part of being fit, balanced and strong is including different aspects of fitness into your weekly routine. I had the wonderful opportunity to try out a class that I had never attempted before. I have always heard great things about Zumba and since it has been one of the biggest fitness crazes lately I decided to try it out. I was beyond excited to get outside of my comfort zone and see if it was something that I would want to incorporate into my workouts more often. Continue reading
Janae Jacobs, Apr 03, 2012
This month I had the opportunity to participate in the SOYJOY March Joytest Challenge – see if a popular fitness class would give me a great workout. It is so easy to fall into a workout rut where you do the same thing over and over again. Personally, it is easy for me to stick to running and cycling and forget about everything else. Part of being fit, balanced and strong is including different aspects of fitness into your weekly routine. I had the wonderful opportunity to try out a class that I had never attempted before. I have always heard great things about Zumba and since it has been one of the biggest fitness crazes lately I decided to try it out. I was beyond excited to get outside of my comfort zone and see if it was something that I would want to incorporate into my workouts more often. Continue reading
Ryan Gargiulo, Mar 09, 2012
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In case you missed it, I’m proud to announce that I am officially signed on as a 2012 SOYJOY Joytester! What is that exactly? Good question!
Basically, my job in 2012 is to focus on bringing joy, happiness, and positivity to the lives of people through travel. Considering that I feel as if I already do this on a daily basis, my new gig seems as if it’s the perfect fit!
You see, most people don’t realize how cheap and affordable a vacation can be. Many think that they have to travel far and away in order to get that “vacation” feeling but that’s far from the truth. Others believe they have to spend an arm and a leg in order to have a good time. Again, you’re wrong!
Have you ever thought of setting up a travel challenge for yourself? What do I mean by travel challenge? Well, let me explain further...Continue reading
Jennifer Edwards, Feb 20, 2012
In honor of Valentine's Day, SOYJOY challenged me to see whether working out with a partner passes the joytest. As someone who almost always works out alone, I went into it thinking my mind was already made up. I decided to test a few different types of workouts with either a friend or my fiancé to see if it trumps working out alone.
Test 1: Skiing
For my first test in this challenge, I went skiing in Vermont with my siblings and my fiancé. I am not someone who would normally ski alone, so I knew going into it that skiing with a partner was going to be better. What I didn’t realize going into it, was that I have a much better time when that partner is not my fiancé. While I love him to death, he is a dare-devil and I am a worry wart, so hitting the slopes together was not the best idea. However, when I let him do his crazy thing with the boys, and I played it safe with the girls, we both ended up having not only a great workout, but a great time as well. Continue reading
Courtney Horan, Jan 31, 2012
Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard somebody say the following:
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”
Yep. I’m sure we’ve all heard that one. Well guess what…IT IS. Not only is it the most important meal of the day, but it also has the ability to be one of the most delicious meals of the day, too.
Real Simple magazine recently put together an article for
10 quick and easy breakfast ideas
. As part of my commitment as a SOYJOY JOYTESTER, SOYJOY challenged me to see if any of these breakfast ideas pass the “joytest.”
So what exactly is a joytest? Well, it is a challenge for me to put different trends, tasks, or tips to the test to see if I find joy in the experience. So I promptly got started and went ahead and tested out five out of the ten breakfast ideas…Continue reading