Moringa (or Matcha!) Mint Smoothie

First of all, let me answer the obvious question here: wtheck is Moringa!?

The best comparison I can make is that it's a lot like matcha, but has more powerful health benefits and is more bitter in taste. Also, it provides a natural energy boost, but doesn't have caffeine, which means you won't have that 3 p.m. crash from it. 

If you want to learn more, I think this article does the best job comparing Moringa and. Matcha: Battle of the Greens: Moringa vs. Matcha. And this article does a great job explaining why it's so, so, sooo good for you: 11 Surprising Facts About Moringa And How It Can Improve Your Health.

When Chris and I were in Kenya, we picked Moringa leaves and processed them all the way through to consumption. This meant drying the stalks, pulling the leaves off of them, grinding it to powder (a machine did this part), weighing, measuring and packaging it - and even creating the nutrition label. It was super cool and, obviously, not something we could do in the US for resale because, ya know, health codes. 

This is the Moringa leaf after we picked it from the stalk and dried it in the sun for a few days. After this, we ground it to powder!

We brought six containers of it back, which was really lucky, because I had no idea it's pretty pricey in the US. In Kenya, it's abundant and people eat it constantly. They'd never pay the premium we pay - cost of living adjustments aside! Their access to it is our like our access to refined sugar. 

So, now that you're a Moringa expert, I wanted to share an awesome smoothie recipe. We had an abundance of mint in our backyard (which we planted more than three years ago - mint is crazy!), so it was the inspo for this guy. 

Moringa Mint Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 t. Moringa Leaf Powder (any brand will work, as long as it's powder!) 
1 c. almond milk (Califia Farms is farrr and away my fav)
3 softened dates
1 handful of mint
1 t. vanilla
1 handful of ice
1 c. of spinach

To Make:

• Assemble all ingredients in a powerful blender. I love our Vitamix! 
• Pulverize until consistency is smooth and creamy
• If you like it thicker, add more ice. If you like it runnier, add more milk! Is that obvious? :) Idk smoothies can be tricky to get the consistency right!

I sipped it down in seconds and cannot wait to make it again. 

you can have it all, but not all at once.

In high school, we had a coach who always said: you can have it all, but not at the same time. As an impulsive, impatient 18-year-old, her advice drove me nuts.  Having it all in intervals isn’t really having it all, I’d think.

Last week, I tossed and turned in bed, wondering if I’ll ever master the balance of this life. Will I ever set the right boundaries? Will I ever feel like there is enough time and sleep in my life? I felt stressed as I thought through my impending commitments, wondering if I’d get everything done. Suddenly, her words popped into my head: you can have it all, but not at the same time.

It hit me then that it is about pace.  It’s not about yes or no, but, instead, about now or later.

It took me 12 years (+ some therapy) to finally understand what she meant. You can have all of your hopes and dreams, but they have to happen in intervals. I can freelance, grow The Letter Project, write a book and start a family – but not all at once. I can do some of them in July, some in October and, heck, some of them in a few years. It can all happen, but it can’t all happen at the same time. Because you only have so many hours each day. 

Her advice was less about giving things up and, instead, about patience and hard work. It's about picking what is most important today and what can wait until tomorrow. It’s about trusting that some dreams happen in a microwave and some in a slow cooker.  As much as we want instant success and growth, it doesn't always happen that way. But the ones that take longer? They're almost always worth waiting for. In and in the meantime, the best thing we can do is trust we're exactly where we need to be right now and, when the time is right, we'll find the way to where we're going.

5 Things I'm Loving, Homies!

1. My new swimsuit from Target. It was worth the fight! :)  I got this top and this bottom and am l-o-v-i-n-g them together. I felt very nervous for the high-waisted bottom (am I stylish enough?!), but I love it! I felt like it was way more flattering than something low. Also, I love the top, but if you're more well endowed than I am (B-cup!), it might be hard to wear. It doesn't have a lot of support. It also runs large. I am normally a medium in Target swim and needed a small. 
2. Emily Hearn's music. This girl is on point! And I think she is from Georgia. It's great to work to. 
3. Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Shampoo. My friend let me use her's at a bachelorette party last weekend and I couldn’t believe how soft my hair felt. Also, I couldn't stop smelling it. Why is this stuff so good!? Like seriously did they use unicorn juice to make it so wonderful? [Also what is unicorn juice, you ask? I have no idea, but it felt right.]
4. Hoopla! It’s a freeee app that links to your library card. You can listen to or read any book available in your library. For free! 
5. Rising Strong by Brené Brown. I’ve only read about a third but am loving it. I have a feeling it will be one I read over and over because there is so much to learn.

Happy Friday friendy fries!

You Deserve 100% from a Guy

I would like to introduce you to a couple today, Mike and Jesse. They have been in a relationship for the last few years. From time to time, things have been rocky. You see, he can be a bit noncommittal, but she loves him and he says he loves her.

When they are physically together, in the same place, he makes her feel happy and is kind to her (mostly). He doesn’t pursue her as much as she wants him to, but it’s worth it to be with him. They laugh a lot and have good chemistry. Also, they have so much history. She couldn’t imagine starting over again! Honestly, she loves him so much it makes her heart hurt thinking about it.

When they are not in the same place, though, he can be somewhat flaky. He flirts with other girls and she’s not sure if he is totally faithful. She thinks they are monogamous, but it is hard to pin him down on that conversation. She knows she is monogamous and thinks he probably just flirts with other girls. But if she thinks about it too long, it bugs her a little bit. When she brings it up, he either makes her feel like she’s being crazy and demanding or shuts down. It’s easier not to bring it up.  She is constantly yearning for more time with him and doesn’t want to waste good times together on tough conversations. Especially because she knows everything is fine.

Seriously, everything is fine. This is what she tells her friends when they press her on it. I know I said I was upset about that, but I was being dramatic. I was on my period. And had had too much wine. We’re good. Seriously! I have never loved him so much. I think he will probably propose by my birthday.

She dreams often of their wedding day and the house they’ll buy together. She pictures him mowing the lawn after work while she bathes the kids. She wants three kids and he says whatever she wants is fine with him.

More than anything, she dreams of the mundane with him – the consistency of day-to-day life. Making dinners. Watching Netflix. Going on walks. Falling asleep next to him. Getting enough of him, because, right now, it feels like she can't quench her thirst - she always wants more, but he doesn't have time. 

She pictures him doting on her. She dotes on him a lot right now and, although he’s often too busy to do the same, she knows he will someday.  He’s just really stressed at work! Also, he has been clear with her that he’s not ready for marriage yet, but she knows Mike loves her. Even if he doesn’t tell her as much as she wishes he would.

Does this sound familiar to any of you? I am sad to say I have been Jesse too many times before.

I have been the girl who is afraid to be clear about what she wants. I have been afraid to be honest about how much I am hurting, for fear he’d leave me. I have questioned that quiet voice in my head, nudging, nudging me along, telling me: you deserve better.

I have told that voice to go away so many times that, for a while, it stopped talking to me. When I finally started hearing it again, I didn’t trust it anymore. Am I being crazy? It’s not that bad, is it?

I have lain in bed at night after a date with him – when things weren’t good, but weren’t that bad, either – wondering why year three didn’t feel like year one. I have wondered why he could be so nice – so charming – to all of my friends (and waitresses!), but, when we were alone, he couldn’t even put down his phone to engage with me.

I have been the girl who is giving everything – 100 percent – to the person she loves, only to feel like he’s not even meeting her halfway.

I wish I could go back and tell that girl: That is not love. He isn’t loving you. He is keeping you around, yes. But he isn’t pursuing you. He isn’t giving you what you deserve. And, girl, if you’re afraid he might leave you if you tell him how you really feel, get out of there. Because love doesn’t leave. Love fights for one another.

If he loves you and you tell him you need more, he asks what he can do to better meet your needs. He rises up because he’s a man and he knows you deserve to be pursued. He doesn’t throw his hands up, tell you you’re a crazy girl and walk away. And if he does? He doesn’t deserve you. Because you deserve 100% from the person you love.

I know it’s hard. I know you love him. I know you thought you’d get married. I know it’s going to hurt like nothing you’ve ever felt before. I know your heart will physically ache. I know there will be some dark days ahead. But as someone who has lived in the dark before, I promise the light ahead is worth the time spent in pain.

As my dad told me the first day after my horrible breakup: Today, you are in a better spot than you were yesterday. Because you’re one day further away from him and one day closer to where you’re going.  

Keep going, friend.

"You deserve someone who makes it about you. I can't watch you give your heart away for a handful of empty love. Trying so hard to be the one he wants. He should love you the way you are...So go one cut your hair off as short as you want to. Do what you've wanted to do, but don't you dare make it all about him. Oh he's never made it all about you." Emily Hearn, Annie