Summer Breeze...Makes Me Feel Fine...

Summer is almost here!!!! I'm looking SO forward to it! It means a little break away from kids, more time to spend not being so exhausted, time with family, and more time to see Tyson.

Next week is my last week of school. We have tomorrow off because of Memorial Day then I have only 3 days with my students. Thursday is their last day, while Friday is mine. But, that Friday is going to be a breeze.  It's only half a day and we get to eat a yummy staff breakfast!

Yesterday my family celebrated my dad turning 50 this past Thursday. Here is a picture of us celebrating. I insisted we sing happy birthday to my dad, but we didn't have any candles. My dad solved the problem by putting a lighter above he cake while we sang to him. Hy-ster-i-cal! HAHA! I had to get a picture.

I love any time I get to spend with my family. We bar-b-que and chill out by the pool. My sister came into town, as well as my brother. Well, he's really my cousin, but I consider him a brother. It's always good to see them! My sister looks fabulous with her ever growing baby bump. I got to feel Braxton bop around in there, which is such a magical feeling. It just makes me more anxious to meet his sweet face. We talked about all kinds of pregnancy stuff, which I think frightened Tyson....more frightened by all of the symptoms and details that go into being pregnant and birthing.

It's hard to believe my sister is 6 months pregnant, and she's going to be a mommy! Her sister-in-laws and I are having a baby shower for her at my house in 2 weeks. Next week I will be busy cleaning and prepping! Thank goodness summer break is almost here!

Childhood Home, Baby, and Turning 50

So I'm sitting here, in my sweat, after a HORRENDOUS, but kick your butt, GOOD work out at Crossfit today.....you know....the type that makes you want to cry while doing it, but you feel so accomplished afterwards???  No?  Yes? 

So...I'm sitting here thinking...
I'm sitting here thinking, "Too bad Tyson missed that work out today, and if today's work out was any indication for what's to come at Crossfit for the rest of the week, then he's lucky he's on vacation!!!"  I'm kind of sad that I won't see Tyson for a week, especially since I've felt like I haven't seen him in 2 because of the mix of his job, my job and end of the year obligations, his late night and early morning K9 trainings, and his schooling. ::sigh::  Makes me sad.  Where's Tyson you might ask???  Well, he's off to Florida with his dad!  I'm very excited for him.  For quite a while now, Tyson's been talking about taking Hugh on a trip back to Florida where Hugh grew up as a young boy.  It's just something special Tyson's been wanting to do with his dad.  So, they're going to have some father/son bonding time in Florida.  I can't wait to hear about the trip!  Hopefully I'll see some pictures.  Come to think of it...I should have given Tyson my camera.  But...then again...he's not "snap happy" like me, so he probably would have gotten ONE photo taken.

As you all know, one of my younger sisters is pregnant.  Well, a couple of weeks ago, we found out the sex of the baby and it is a BOY!  I'm so excited and I'm probably just as impatient as my sister to see his cute little face.  The name will be Braxton Talley Bean.  Braxton is a random name that both my sister and her husband shouted out together one day when they were trying to think of boy names.  Since they both so "coinky dinky" shouted that name at the same time, they thought it was meant to be.  Talley is a family name through Shane's side.  Here's a picture of my little nephew!  Love him already!

On another note, my dad will be turning 50 on May 26th!  My dad can't seem to believe it, but I think he looks GREAT for 50!  Especially now that he's clean from smoking for about 3 years now.  I'm so proud of him!  We're holding a what's supposed to be a surprise (but it's not a surprise anymore) birthday BBQ party for him.  I'm trying to think of what to get him for his birthday, but I'm just so stuck.

Anyways!  I have 12 more school days left until I complete my second year of teaching!  YAYAYAYAY!  I couldn't be more excited for summer to get here!  I'm EXHAUSTED.  Tyson is just a couple of classes away from his Associate's and I think he's going to try and knock that out this summer.  After that...it's on to his Bachelor's!  Otherwise, nothing new.  Still staying active and working, working, working!  Hope everyone else is doing well!

New Food Obsessions

So...along with my Crossfitting I've been on this clean eating kick. I've learned your diet makes up 80% of your body composition. Exercising is useless if you don't watch what you eat. Poor Tyson is forced to eat clean with me....of course....when he's not at work; although, I KNOW that when he's at work, he's cheating.......and it's usually probably not his cheat day. TSK! TSK! Right now, I have two clean food obsessions:

Oatmeal and protein powder with cinnamon
and........
Clean French Toast Sticks
      

Mmmm!!! I look forward to breakfast EVERYDAY! I just can't get enough!  I used to not eat breakfast back in high school and throughout college. Shame on me! Now, I can't live without it! I wanted to post my Clean French Toast receipe for anyone wanting to try it!

Clean French Toast Sticks
(Makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:
6 egg whites
1 cup skim milk
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbsp. olive oil
6 slices of whole wheat french bread, cut into 4 slices. (I prefer to use Ezekiel bread instead. It's a protein bread that's whole grain and flourless. Lower carbs, AND there's no added crud to the bread....ie: unbleached wheat flour, hydrogenated oils, etc.!)
3 Tbsp. 100% maple syrup

Instructions:
In a shallow bowl, combine egg whites, milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Dip both sides of bread evenly in egg mixture.

Cooking in batches, place bread pieces in a single layer in skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side until lightly browned. Serve with syrup.

Nutritional Information (per 4 sticks and 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup serving):
Now, this is the "overall" nutritional information that the website for this receipe gave me. It's going to be a little different depending on the type of bread and how much maple syrup you use.

Calories: 147
Fat: 3.5 g.
Carbs: 21g
Protein 9g.