Hey everyone– I thought I’d get a quick post in to assure you I’m still alive… barely! We’re in Week Six of school (out of 10 weeks) and, as this is my last quarter of graduate school, EVERYTHING is ramping up, and I am, as usual, overwhelmed!
So I thought I’d catch you up on a couple of cool things that happened over the break… 1) I finished the VegNews challenge! Some highlights of that were incorporating more broccoli into my diet (yum!) and finally learning how to use cabbage… which I didn’t learn very well, haha. So far I have put red cabbage into my ‘green drank’ (thus turning it into purple drank, which is not to be confused with the illegal substance! 
as well as using it in stir frys.
Surprisingly, cabbage lasts a really long time in the fridge… I didn’t even wrap it up in anything special, but so far it’s lasted for a week. I hope this is normal?
2) I found my favorite go-to meal when I’m in a crazy hurry/have a long day ahead of me… the night before, I’ll stir fry broccoli and cabbage (and maybe spinach and asparagus), make some couscous, and heat up either Gardein ‘meat’ or Boca ‘chicken’ pieces (for protein)… throw that in a tupperware and get a move on! It’s especially good for Wednesdays (like today!) when I’m busy rushing from work to class! 
Yum!
Yes, I know this has some processed food in it and might not be nutritionally complete, but damn if it doesn’t fill me up for a solid 4-5 hours… which is exactly how long I need it too!
3) Blake and I also celebrated our second anniversary (Feb. 2!) Woohoo!
2nd anniversary celebration at our favorite place
No, our favorite place isn’t the hotel… haha. Our favorite place is Gallo Blanco, a restaurant inside the hotel. Delish!
Blake surprised me with a trip to the Glendale Chocolate Festival while I was in Phoenix visiting him… oh boy did we gorge on chocolate!! He’s the best, because he knows I DIE for chocolate! I’m definitely a sweet tooth type of person This is how we celebrated Valentine’s Day, since we won’t be together on the actual day (boo long distance!)
4) I’m sorta transitioning back to being vegetarian vs. vegan. Blake did not help my willpower when he made one of my favorite things… bean and cheese burrito!
So delicious but full of cheese!
I think after my VegNews challenge, I will go back to being vegetarian mostly, and vegan when I cook for myself. As much as I enjoyed the challenge, I’m just not ready to 100% commit to being vegan all the time. That’s something I’ll have to ease my and Blake’s relationship into…
5) Finally… I got to see and play with my favorite little monkey while I was back in Phoenix… Maddy!
Trying to hit the camera phone
She looks possessed in this photo… I have a couple better ones of her, but since she is a possessed kitty, I thought I’d share this one with you all. As usual, while I was back in AZ, I took more photos of our kitties than I did of either Blake or me… haha, I’m an animal lover for sure!
So there you have it! I’m still alive, although unfortunately I won’t be updating daily as I did in January. February is going to be very busy… I’m not saying that to get pity, just to give you a heads up.
I promise when I am done with grad school, you will see many exciting new posts! Or stressed posts, depending on whether or not I find a job… ay Dios mio!
