Protein pick me up!

Simple and quick! Take out the core of the apple, slice, and spread your fave nut butter on it ;0)

Homemade hummus dip and green smoothie

For my hummus dip, its pretty simple! I use the following:

1 can garbanzo beans (save 1/4 C of the juice)
2 cloves fresh garlic
3 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
A dash of cayenne pepper ( for those of you who like it spicy!)1/2 - 1 tsp gr. Cumin (use some to sprinkle on top before serving)

(I didn't use tahini in this recipe this time)

Put all ingredients in a food processor, with you 1/4 juice and process for 3 to 5 minutes! Then garnish with a bit of fresh parsley!

Pretty simple and yummy!

My green smoothie today isn't so green! I added a medley of tart black berries, red raspberries and blueberries today!

For smoothie:

1 C water
1/2 C coconut milk
3 C spinach
2 tbs orange juice concentrate
1 C fruit
Dash of flax seed

Blend in blender!

YOGA!

I am no expert. I’ve been practicing for years, but I still consider myself a beginner. I remember using some amazing videos in the beginning to get my basic poses and form down before I attempted studio classes. I still do videos religiously to this day, but I also like to create my own routine using a yoga book I have.I loved my videos because my fave instructor (Tara Stiles) made yoga accessible. There are a lot of purists out there (a few of my friends included) who have tried introducing me to yoga their way… which was in-depth, meditative stuff with a lot more dialogue than I would have liked. I respect yoga A LOT, and my respect/knowledge grows every day… but to be honest, what “lured me in” was Tara’s simplicity- how she broke down her workouts into WORKOUTS, just jumping in, rather than just talking for the first 10-20 minutes.

Over the years I have incorporated the “in-depth, meditative stuff” into my yoga practice as well. Im a calmer more easy going person because of it!

Tara got me at video 1 by making me WORK (the beginners videos just go over basic poses, but whewwww, I sucked big time my first few run-throughs). After my first 5-minute video, despite my massive inability to do most of the things Tara was doing smoothly, I was hooked. I thought “hmmm.. I can do this… the stretching feels nice and I just broke a mini-sweat” The next day I did two videos. The next day I did three… etc I love yoga because your accomplishments are measurable- tangible within your own body and mind. I just FELT AMAZING after yoga every single time. My body felt it the next day, but the lighter, easier stretching routines would loosen it up. I never felt pressured.. I was just loving it, despite the difficulty, and wanted to be able to move with the instructors fluid grace and strength. And every day, I was getting closer.My fingertips initially couldn't reach my toes. Really, they stopped about 4 inches above. I was not a flexible person. Athletic yes, flexible, no. But there was a difference after about two weeks!

Palms flat on the ground.

I have to keep saying this… I RESPECT yoga. I too, will continue to learn more about the practice and the philosophy behind it (what little I know, I love, and think it has already made me a calmer, gentler person),I want to practice just about all the styles of yoga in a studio by a guru as often as I can. But starting this way has made it, accessible for ME. My interest in yoga was never piqued by the yoga classes I took back in highschool... It was an organic moment; me at home, on my new yoga mat, struggling to breathe properly while stretching my body, when I finally thought “huh… this is… gratifying… and hard… and awesome.” The love was born. And now here I am, blogging about yoga ...

I feel more flexible every day. Stronger. Happier. Calmer. My morning doesn’t start for me, mentally or physically, until I finish at LEAST a few minutes of an easy stretching routine. Then the day is clear. When I tense up/stress out later in the afternoon, it’s back to the mat for another session of mind-clearing yoga. What I REALLY like about yoga is that while you are practicing, you cannot think about anything else but EXACTLY what you are physically doing. Concentrating on that + breathing + relaxing into your muscles is incredibly therapeutic. I think the psychological benefits of working out tension through your body AND forcing your mind to also essentially “work out” are the reasons why everybody says that yoga is a great form of stress relief. You can zone it out while running, but you can’t ever lose focus while practicing yoga. And what it does for your body….

I’m not a judgy person. I’ll be the first to admit I tried yoga again for the physical benefits only (I wanted a “yoga” body). But although my love for it started superficially, it is what drew me in to WANT to commit fully (though gradually). I don’t feel pressured by anything… I just WANT to get stronger, and hit those crazy poses that are reblogged so often on Tumblr. 30 minutes every morning and 30 minutes at night is what I am doing now, and I can’t tell you how great it makes me feel during the day and before I go to sleep.

Namaste <3

I get by with a little help from my friends..

I have been the biggest little sick girl the past 2 weeks. Long story short..

Week 1: Normal cold, took it easy, and felt much better by the end of the week.

Shortly there after I thought I had allergies!!

Week 2: Bacterial cold, low grade fever, my nose running like a freakin' FAUCET! MISERABLE.

THANK GOODNESS Jamie was on his week off. He took care of me, and took care of Eli. Such a great, and amazing husband! He even managed to stay on top of the house hold chores, yard work, and grocery shopping. What a PEACH!

Luckily the day before I got really sick we had a BBQ with our awesome friends, and they sent us home with tons of leftovers! Moose steaks, chicken, pork...it got us through quite a few meals so Jamie didn't have to do TOO much cooking! So thankful!

My regular workouts were canned for 2 whole weeks! I just did light stuff when I felt I could. I diligently stuck with my yoga twice a day, but man, I couldn't breathe, so I was fighting through each session. Today I was finally able to breathe normally through my whole session. Feels good to be back! Not entirely 100% yet, but Ill be there soon!!

All in all it's been good though I guess. Elijah is finally sleeping through the nights, he was forced to skip 2 to 3 naps over memorial day weekend. We had so much going on he didn't sleep most afternoons for about 5 days! Good thing though, because now he is used to it, and when he goes to sleep he STAYS asleep ALL night! 9pm-5am wakes, has a bottle, and then sleeps till about 8am!

It has been SOO nice! Especially since daddy went back to work on graves, and I'm still needing some much needed rest to bounce back! So I apologize to all my friends who I had to cancel plans with! This coming weeks will be nice, summer is finally here! Time to cash in all those "rain checks"!!!

Big thank you to my hubs, friends, Castle Rock Medical, Smith Pharmacy, kleenex tissues, thera flu, day quil, and nyquil. I owe ya one! ;O)

Happy anniversary birthday!

We spent the last 5 days in Colorado, celebrated our 5th year wedding anniversary, and Jamie's 28th birthday! We had a blast in CO! We absolutely adore it there. We constantly talk about picking up and moving to Boulder, not that its anything serious right now, but man, if ever it could workout, we would do it!

Its the best down there, Nat and Nick, shopping, hiking,snowboarding...man and the scenery! Ahhhh anyone wanna buy my house?? Lol

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