hemp, it's what's for breakfast

Breakfast is my all time favorite meal.  I have never been one to skip out on breakfast!  I'm pretty sure that I wake up hungry.   That's normal, right?  Well, finding quick and healthy breakfast options is key for me.  Even more helpful is when they keep my fuller longer.  When I eat breakfast by 6:30am and don't eat until about 10:30, it is essential my breakfast stays with me.  My students will tell you that I am quite a bear as soon as I get hungry :)

One of my go-to's is a smoothie, especially mornings I sneak in a workout before work.  Protein powder keeps me full throughout the morning with ease.  I use whey protein powder, not soy, but never really looked at what was in this powder that seemed to make everything taste so delicious.  So when I decided to actually read the ingredient list, I began to second guess this ingredient I used to fill me up.  I decided to take a look at hemp, which is a plant-based form of protein.  I ended up finding a hemp protein powder, and it has one ingredient: ground hemp seeds!  It doesn't get better than that!  Well, I will get to the taste in just a sec.  

The first time I tried it out, my taste buds weren't that pleased.  I'm pretty sure they were rooting for the original vanilla protein powder.  I didn't let them win, and kept plugging along, and by the third time I made a smoothie with it I was sold.  

This recipe is my absolute favorite.  It is the foundation for all of my smoothies, and it is pretty simple, which is nice for busy mornings. 

Tropical Hemp Protein Smoothie:

1 c. vanilla almond milk

3 Tbsp. hemp powder

1 frozen banana

2 handfuls fresh spinach or kale (I used kale above)

3/4 c. frozen mango

1 Tbsp. chia seeds

Place everything into a blender, or my favorite-Vita mix, and blend until smooth.  Sip with a colorful straw, it just makes it more worthwhile.  

insert happy dance here

I keep coming back to this scripture over and over these past few weeks.  It is a perfect promise of how God will provide for you, and when you see that promise face to face, all you can do is smile, take a breath, and thank the One that made it happen. 

Daniel and I have dubbed this season in our life the "Sweet Season".  And for the first time in three years, we can finally say this.  There have been lots of moments of joy, but there have also been lots of trials.  Many trials.  And though these trials haven't seen trivial, they have hurt and challenged us.  The past three years I have juggled teaching full time and getting my masters/reading specialist credential.  And in just three weeks, we will get to close this chapter of our lives. 

And it feels as though a snowball effect has been occurring as our chapter comes to a close.  

Last week, this beauty came in the mail.....I officially passed my comp exams.  That weekend from, you know where, is now a chapter in the books.  (By the way, I'm not a Mr. SDSU.) 

Yesterday I turned in my thesis, freshly printed, bound, and shining like a diamond, to my professor.  That felt amazing.  

And to top it all off, we payed off Daniel's student loans this week as well!  That feels like a huge triumph, and all I can say is that I am incredibly proud of my husband and how he has led us financially to allow this to happen.  (Now if only mine would disappear!) 

So excuse us if you see us doing a little happy dance inside Trader Joe's or walking to the mail box, we are embracing this sweet season with open arms and give all the glory to God! 

my hair must-haves

I love my hair!  And that may sound a little forward of me to say, but out of everything it is the one thing that I have that makes me feel good.  And I think it's important for us to embrace the parts of us that make us feel good about ourselves.  However, it is thick.  And that definitely comes with downsides. 

We seem to always want what we don't have.  When I was younger I remember begging my mom for a perm, but a soft perm..so I could have curly hair all of the time.  Thank you, mom, for NEVER letting me do this.  We have straight hair?  Curly is the answer!  Blonde?  Let's go brown!  Well, I haven't wished for thin hair yet, but it is getting close.  Let me enlighten you on the downsides of thick hair:

-in 6th grade you offically have to get your hair "styles"-layers and all

-blow drying your hair should be a sport because you're a sweaty mess afterwards

-"doing your hair" requires at least 40 minutes

-no matter how many bobby pins you put in that chignon, it is going to fall any minute

-hair ties constantly break on you in the middle of putting your hair in a pony tail

-hair ties have to go around 3 times, not 2, 3 because then it will stay

-it is obvious to you when it's is a month out from needing a hair cut, it's heavy, it does nothing, and it is begging for those thinning shears!  

Lately my hair has looked like this because I'm in desperate need of a hair cut (dear Saturday, can you be tomorrow???)

Well I do have a couple tricks up my sleeve and I wanted to share with you the two latest products I have been introduced to that I swear I would take with me on a deserted island.  

Loreal Mythic Oil:  This is like the answer to my prayers.  I blow my dry until it's half way dry, then put one pump in my hands and brush my hands through my hair.  It makes my hair much more manageable when I'm blow drying.  When my hair is dry, I can also put it on, and it takes all the frizz away and my curls just lay perfectly.  

Bio Ionic Blow Dryer:  My mom got this for me as a birthday present, and she ordered it through our hair dresser.  The tagline for this blow dryer is "a conditioner on a cord".  Oh.  My. Word.  This costs a pretty penny and it is worth every cent!  It cuts down on my dry time, and makes it so manageable.  It leaves my hair soft and smooth.  And you better believe that it travels with me.  Hotel blow dryers just don't count.