ALOHA Oahu!!
After 9 hours of flight time we made it to Hawaii!
Boy were we happy to get off that plane! Luke had HAD it by the end! Those poor people around us! -- BLESS THEM!
We had woken up at 4:45 AM Texas time and arrived in Hawaii around 8 PM Texas time which was only 2 PM Hawaii time HA! If that makes any sense at all!
It seriously felt like the longest day EVER.

However, we did get to layover in Salt Lake City ( which felt so weird and so close to my family but yet so far! ) and I got my fill of Cafe Rio! Whoever decided to put that place in the SLC Airport deserves a hug!


We went to dinner, walked along the beach at sunset ^^ and did all we could to keep ourselves awake until 8 PM Hawaii time and then crashed!

The 5 hour time difference took the kids a few days to get the groove of, but for the most part they did great and we tried to keep somewhat of a nap schedule for Luke so that really helped!


Our first full day in Oahu we headed to the Dole plantation ^^
Ryan was in heaven "getting lost" in the pineapple maze.
They have a fun scavenger hunt for kids through the maze so Ryan literally led / got us lost for a couple hours haha!









I am embarrassed that I didn't get a picture of the best part of the dole plantation - The DOLE WHIP!


We were so ready for dole whip that we all completely downed our ice cream. I had the pineapple float ^^ which was halfway eaten and melted before I remembered to take a picture - I promise it looked a lot prettier and more appetizing before this shot!  ( ice cream with fresh pineapple juice - OH MY GOSH! )
Seriously, best ice cream EVER.



Ryan just letting all of you know that he is going to be FOUR on our next day in Hawaii! ^^
Stay tuned for Ryan's birthday heaven!


A little play time at the beach before we headed out to dinner! ^^

If you have never been to the Dole Plantation it's a MUST in my opinion!
This was my first time doing the Pineapple maze and it was SO fun!
Ryan LOVED it so it's perfect for kids but I'm pretty sure Aaron and I would have had a blast running through it even if we didn't have the kiddos with us!
We were in it for a couple hours so it definitely is not a "small task!" In fact, it's said to be the world's largest maze!
As for the Pineapple Express train... It's looks really cute but not sure it's worth the money spent! ( in my opinion )
We waited about an hour to get on the train and rode VERY SLOW for about 20 minutes through fields -- fields that looked slightly like we left Hawaii and landed in West Texas haha! AKA not too pretty.
( Ryan kept asking when we could get off the train - haha! )
While it's probably interesting to learn how they grow their pineapples, the kids were ready to be off the train by the end!
I wouldn't recommend the train ride but would definitely recommend the maze and OF COURSE DOLE WHIP! Don't ever go to Oahu without trying it! What I would give to have a taste of dole whip right now!


Happy Thursday Friends!

Welcome to the new and improved Mr. and Mrs. Powell!
I am ecstatic to show you guys the makeover this blog went through!

All credit goes to Miss Audrey Sue.
She is incredible.
You can read more detail about the design process HERE

I told her the colors, patterns and "style" of blog I wanted and she created me THIS ^^ mood board.
It described me perfectly and we began the design process.

Audrey is a young wife and mother to 2 ( almost 3! ) adorable kiddos is honestly one of the sweetest people you will ever meet.
And just as sweet in person!!
She has such knack for creativity and crazy talent for design.

She does it all from designing custom blogs, wedding / party announcements, brand / logo / business cards and more! She also owns her own Etsy Shop where she offers design printables, and my favorite -- these custom watercolor family portraits !!

There was NO part of this design process that was difficult or challenging for me.
She made it so simple and gave me exactly what I had envisioned in my head!
I would HIGHLY recommend any of her services and encourage you guys to look at how talented she is!
I hope you guys love the new look and go check Audrey out and give her some love!
She blogs, instagrams, and her shop is found HERE.

Parts of the blog may be "under construction" but should be up and running within the next couple days! Keep checking back! Just working through the final details! :)
Thanks for your patience! XOXO

We just returned home from the most dreamy trip in Hawaii with Aaron's family.
I woke up this morning to find sand still in the boys swimsuits / suitcases and having serious pineapple withdrawals!

Hawaii is my all time favorite vacation, EVER.
Maybe it's because Aaron and I honeymooned in Hawaii, so it holds a really special place in my heart!
It's hands down one of the prettiest places on earth and being there as a family was perfect.
The kiddos were champs on the 9 hour flight and once we were there, it took a few days to adjust to the 5 hour time difference but they did it!
I had a wake up call at 5:30 AM to feed Luke, so the days definitely started bright and early!
It made for early morning workouts and sunrise breakfasts :)

Missing this beautiful place so much already! ^^
Ryan asked me about 25 times today when daddy was coming home from work.
We got spoiled and had him all to ourselves for 9 days!

Hope everyone is having an incredible week and gosh I'm SO SO excited about this new blog design!
Working through a few last minute details and a post on it will be live tomorrow morning! XO

I get a lot of emails and questions regarding "eating".
It gets me all giddy inside ( I'm such a nerd! ) because I am a HUGE nutrition believer!
I have read, studied, and experimented over the years and come up with a pretty solid eating plan for my own body.
I am a huge believer in the 80/20 rule for "dieting" ( so basically in a nut shell it's eating strict 80% of the time and splurging the other 20% :) So most of my food choices are obviously healthy but trust me, I do have a list of foods that are definitely my "splurge" foods!
Of course, every body is different and every one has different tastes in food. But over time I'm going to share most recipes I use, daily food intake and hopefully give some good ideas for snacks and the "do's and don't's" in the kitchen :)

Today I'm going to share my favorite quick and easy protein oatmeal.
I have a few things I eat for breakfast that I switch off between.
( If you are reading this and are a "breakfast skipper" --
PLEASE DON'T SKIP that meal any more!!
One of the worst things you can do for your body is to skip breakfast! )

I have to confess that I used to eat cereal for breakfast almost every day...
I was always hungry an hour later and it never left me feeling satisfied.
Ever since I started having oatmeal every morning - I am SO much more satisfied and it fills me up!
Plus it keeps you regular and fuels your body! You want energy during your workouts!? - try eating oatmeal for breakfast!

Now, I don't remember the last time I had cereal for breakfast! I'm so converted to oatmeal!


Aaron and I eat this pretty much every day and I seriously look forward to my breakfast because it's so good! A good friend showed us how to do this and we have never gone back to our old "brown sugar in the oatmeal" ways! It's tastes WAY sweeter this way and tastes almost like cake batter to me!?

It's seriously the best guys!


Protein Oatmeal


I have realized that some Whey protein's are sweeter than others.
I would recommend this kind! ^^
It's definitely our favorite and tastes better than others ( in my opinion )!
And of course, Any type of quick oats will work! ^^

Monday's are either the hardest day of the week, ( just coming off the weekend and bummed it's over and the laundry is piled high ) or the most motivating day of the week - I can't quite decide what kind of "Monday" today is yet HA!
Hope this Monday is a motivating one for most of you today! XO

P.S. This blog is in the process of a pretty big makeover and I'm so excited about it!
Stay tuned and follow along HERE for all blog updates! Thanks for all the support!

OKAAYYY! Let's be real, who doesn't love a Wendy's Frosty!?

So last night Aaron and I are getting ready to watch the Olympics ( our nightly ritual these days! )
And I start craving something sweet - like big time! ( what else is new )
You know that frustration that comes when looking through the pantry and not sure exactly what you want / not sure what you want to let yourself eat...

Well that was definitely happening.

That day we had run out of almond milk so I couldn't whip up my PB Vanilla Shake or that would have been a no brainer! Plus, we were already in our PJ's and not really wanting to head out to the store to buy more milk - #grandparentstatus

Anyways, I was trying to be a cool mom and had bought some chocolate milk for Ryan ( haha! I try not to buy it all the time, just so when he does get it, it's still special to him ) and I thought "why not try something with chocolate milk!?" Aaron puts chocolate milk with his protein powder on occasion and likes it but I'm not usually a chocolate milk drinker so I wasn't sure how I would like it...

UM.
I died and went to heaven!
It is a legit Wendy's Frosty guys!
Please try it for me and love it!

This is my new favorite treat for the moment!
And Ryan couldn't stop drinking it, he loved it!

So HERE IT IS -- with the hardest 4 ingredients you will ever buy ;)

Chocolate Frosty Protein Shake



Make this for your weekend treat and feel good about eating it! XO

Breakfast for dinner is our JAM.

If you have not ever tried Kodiak Power Cakes - You need to.
( I buy mine at Costco in bulk but they also have them at our local HEB grocery store in a smaller package! )

My family got us hooked us on them and we have never gone back.
They are honestly the best pancakes in the world!
PLUS they are Whole Wheat and have 14g of Protein a serving! WOOP WOOP!

There is an option to add "milk" and "an egg" to the mix and make it 21 grams of protein a serving!
I usually just add my mix with water but if I'm ever making them just for Ryan, I milk and egg away! - so good for the kiddos!

I can finally feel ok about him having pancakes for lunch every now and again because they are so protein packed haha!
So Ry's preschool teacher can be a witness to this, but we totally ran out of bread a couple times last school year so I made Ryan a PB and J sandwich inbetween these pancakes for school! haha! He LOVED it! #momoftheyear





Let's talk about syrup for just one minute..
Let me preface and say that generally everything; if eaten IN MODERATION IS OKAY.
In no way am I saying to "never eat syrup again!" haha

However, be CAREFUL with your syrup guys! What I didn't realize until I started counting my macros is how many CARBS syrup contains! I always knew it was packed with sugar and calories  ( and it is!! ) and often in the past had a hard time eating it early in the morning because it gave me headaches! ( No wonder! - The sugar content in one serving of syrup is more than a day's worth of recommended sugar intake! )

So, if you look at a nutrition label for syrup - It's generally around 44 - 54 grams of carbs per 1/4 cup of regular maple syrup! ( Next time you have pancakes measure out your syrup and you will find that 1/4 cup of syrup is really not that much syrup depending on how many pancakes / waffles you eat! ) That is almost double the amount of carbs that are in the actual pancakes / waffles! -- GUYS, That's so awful!

Just to give you an idea, 54 carbs is equivalent to almost 5 slices of bread ( * of some brands ) worth of carbs! So really, after adding 54+ grams of carbs ( from the syrup ) to the carbs of the pancakes / waffles you are eating; right there you have hit WELL OVER half of your day's worth of carbs in ONE meal!

So with that all sadness HA, here's a couple ways to minimize your need for syrup :

#1. Aaron puts peanut butter on his waffles and drizzles a TINY amount of syrup to give it a little "sweet taste". This puts on a little more "protein" with the added peanut butter and you definitely don't need as much syrup!

#2. I always pack my waffle full of fruit and that also helps to hardly need any syrup.
Bluberries, strawberries, raspberries - all of it!
I actually sometimes just eat mine plain ( no syrup ) with fruit and maybe a dab of cool whip and I love it! Once you get used to the taste of it, you don't crave the sweetness as much!
(( Of course fruit contains carbs and natural sugars, ( not near as many "carbs" ) so YES I am "in a sense" adding carbs to my waffles, however it is obviously GOOD carbs and and good sugars that will fill your body up and benefit you a lot more than a serving of syrup would ))

I know there are "light syrup" options ( that do have A LOT less sugar and carbs ) and people have mixed feelings about them, ( if they are really "healthier" for you or not with the added sweeteners etc. ) That's a topic for another day. However, I honestly don't love the taste of some of the lighter syrups ( weird after-taste! ) ... so I would rather barely drizzle a little of the "real stuff" on my food and call it good!

I feel like this is a Costco Ad post but I promise it's not!
We just love Costco so if you are going to splurge and have syrup that one right up there ^^ is our favorite ever!

So moral of the story, There really is no "GOOD SYRUP".
It's really quite depressing.
But of course a splurge here and there is obviously ok :)

Luke love these too! ^^ He's obsessed.


Thanks to people that commented on my Instagram,
I hear the Dark chocolate Kodiak power cakes are AMAZING!
I have yet to try them and am excited about it!

"Waffles for dinner" just make me happy. :)

Buddies for life.
Ryan has the best little friends - I wish I had all of them in this picture!
Love little buddies and so grateful they can grow up together and be BOYS!




Sometimes our office doubles as our workout room.
Ry doing my Kayla workout with me one morning! ^^ He is rocking decline pushups ;)
( I will go more in depth later, but I finished Kayla Itsines's 12 week program with my good friend a couple months ago and LOVED it! I'm a believer and still do it each week - I make Aaron do some workouts with me and he's pretty impressed! They kick his booty -- Which is hard to do, he seriously rocks at everything -- workout wise - so I find JOY watching him get beat up in a workout! haha )


Nothing like an intense bowling game outside on the patio ;) ^^


Oh how I love this little boy ^^ ( who turns 4 in 2 weeks!!! I'm in denial! )


So my brother is involved with a start up company called Sir Wylde! ^^ ( Where this awesome tie came from! )
Everything sold is Handmade and inspired by British fashion. Sir Wylde puts a vintage yet modern twist on men's accessories. I LOVE the uniqueness and quality of their products! Their men's accessories make the best Christmas, birthday, Father's Day, etc. gifts! You can check them out HERE.
I love supporting small, unique businesses!!


Aaron and I celebrated SIX YEARS of marriage!!! ^^
WHATTT!? That means we have lived in Houston for 5 years - which is SO crazy to me!
Where has the time gone!?

So Luke makes date nights a little difficult and has yet to take a bottle HA
But we made it all work and had a whole night to ourselves and it was wonderful!
I nursed Luke about 4 PM, then we left the boys with my in-laws, did a little shopping and went to dinner. Then my in-laws met us after dinner and I nursed Luke in the car in a parking lot around 7 PM so he would be good to go for bedtime, and THEN Aaron and I drove downtown Houston to see "WICKED"!
( Seriously, could this kid be any more complicated!? ) We will ween the breastfeeding around the "1 year mark" and I have to say I will miss it, ( he's the best nurser ever ) but secretly am a little excited for the freedom aspect of it all ;)


My favorite ^^ it never gets old! I have chills throughout the whole thing!
Fun fact -- Aaron and I got engaged in New York City 6.5 years ago and saw this on broadway hours after we got engaged! So every time we have seen it since, it brings back the BEST memories!


Nothing like a hotdog at a baseball game...
( not that I would know, ever since the elementary school rubber hot dog jokes - I have yet to try one since haha! )
But he's doing it right for all of us! ^^
GOOOO Astros!




We have 2:30 - 5:30 PM church! Talk about a project with babies ;) Wipes this little boy out!
He doesn't usually fall asleep on you, but after 3 hours at church, it's guaranteed he will not make it home awake! ^^

Please stay little forever Lukey!
I am looking at ideas for Luke's first birthday and seriously wanting time to SLOW DOWN!
We have kind of a CRAZY busy next couple months with both boys having birthdays, leaving town a couple times, and SCHOOL starting! ( Aaron would like to add in that football is starting as well HA ) Ry will be starting his second year of preschool!?! Seriously though, where does the time go!?
HAPPY MONDAY friends! XO