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Destin Florida Recap

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I remember before getting married hearing so often wives complaining about their husband’s friends. I heard scenario after scenario of terrible friends hanging on for dear life and the wife scheming to cut the ties one way or another. I was blessed enough to witness my parents have fruitful relationships and friendships that were such a gift to both my mom and my dad and I thought “I don’t care what happens to anyone else, we’re going to have rich fruitful married friendships. That’s it.”  When I met my husband, I learned very quickly that there were two men in his life closer than brothers- Leigh and Alex. They met playing football at Stanford and bonded so quickly and strongly I knew for sure these guys were going to be in my life for the long haul. I’ll never forget my first weekend meeting “the guys.” They had taken over the V.I.P. section of the hottest club in Atlanta. I was 19. I got all dressed up, walked nervously up to the front door, avoided eye contact with the bouncer,
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Restricted Diet Favorites: Breakfast

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I have received tons of questions over the years about my favorite food products and menu ideas for a restrictive diet. We’ve seen just about everything in our house so I have a wide variety of options for pretty much every food restriction you could think of. I had an anaphylactic reaction to corn for nearly a year, I’ve had to give up gluten, dairy, soy, eggs and nuts for 8 months and just dairy and gluten for another 8 months. O dipped his toe in the vegan pool for close to a year and has been fully vegan for the past year. Oshiolema is gluten, nut and dairy intolerant and it seems so far like Keogena is following in his footsteps.  Since O and I started dating, we’ve randomly chosen to give up foods for a period of time just to get our body in the best place it could be. When O was still playing in the NFL, he’d give up sweets for months at a time. He went three months without eggs, we both gave up gluten for months at a time, we’d both give up all added sugar- so on and so for
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Be the Change

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We arrived home from two weeks of traveling early this week and sure enough, a couple days after coming home Oshiolema started coughing. This child has travelled more than any 2.5 year old should in his little lifetime and somehow he still manages to get a cold just about every time we fly. The cold I can tackle pretty easily and know just what to pull out to care for it, but on Friday he came down with a fever I didn't see coming. He maintained a pretty high fever for the better part of two days which meant tons of down time, tons of playing in my bedroom with a baby while Oshiolema and O were sleeping on the couch...lots of scrolling. My daughter was climbing all over me, pulling herself up onto tables and ottomans, giggling at nothing and chewing on her plastic chicken drumstick.  And I was scrolling.  The more I scrolled the more I noticed my mood changing. I couldn't put a finger on it, but I finally figured it out. Instagram is a place so beautiful it has a way of i
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Whole 30 Recap

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Well, friends, we made it to the end of Whole30. I am the type of person that pretty much will not quit something once I've committed to do it, which is why I really have to do my research before starting something. One of the things that most swayed me to dive into Whole30 with my family was the sheer amount of people willing to share their honest opinion and experience. The greatest resource to me besides the Whole30 book itself was the blog world. While I'm aware if you complete Whole30 following the strict guidelines to a "T" you'll see some immediate benefits, I also know if the lifestyle isn't maintained, the weight and cravings and food habits will return pretty quickly. My husband and I are passionate about giving our family the cleanest, most beneficial foods for our bodies as it is, but there are still some struggles woven in there from a carb lover (hi, nice to meet you) and a serious sweet lover (my husband sends his hello's.) We wanted to
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Life Lately

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Hello Friends!  You may have read here that I've given up social media and blogs for Lent. I am here to report this has been a transformative time like none other. While I give up Instagram and Facebook regularly and routinely, I've never actually replaced those things with better things. I made a conscious effort at the start of this just over a month ago that I wanted to use my time wisely. I have read two great books cover to cover, taken classes for illustration and photography, spent more time reflecting on my relationship with the Lord and just plain enjoyed free headspace. I can't recommend an extended break from social media enough. Here's what Team Atogwe has been up to since arriving back home in Virginia three weeks ago: We're 21 days into Whole 30 in the Atogwe household. This means no grains (rice, bread, quinoa, etc.) no corn, no legumes (beans, peanuts etc.) no dairy, no sugar and so on. Meat. Eggs. Fruit. Vegetables. Cashews. Almon
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