Food, Languages, and More!

This year I cannot complain about the amount of ice/snow that has come down in the Blue Ridge. I mean, the frigid temperatures and windy days sometimes end in hot showers, fuzzy socks, and extra blankets on the couch. But I can’t complain because today… is a snow day! So even though I want to break out in my own rendition of “Where Are You Christmas?” and entitle it “Where Are You Spring?” I will instead get to rest, read, and remember the events of the week.

Since my last blog on our new menu, I am happy to say that we are on track to begin Week 4 of our real food challenge next week! I love being able to share this adventure through blogging and personal stories with friends. Here are two of my favorite meals we have made lately:


Greek Fajitas. With homemade tzatziki sauce (made from yogurt), tomatoes, cucumbers, chicken, and feta cheese on whole wheat pitas. Yum!

Whole wheat chicken and mushroom pizza! So delicious it beat takeout hands down.

In other non-food related news, Tyler and I decided to branch out and try a few new things this week:

#1- Enrolled in a conversational Spanish class that started Tuesday. I have not been a student in a classroom in two years, so my hands were sweating and my voice was shaking with the teacher asked me in Spanish what month my birthday was in. As I answered timidly, “Abril?” a spike of adrenaline shot through my body. Because it doesn’t matter your age or your prior experience, learning is fun. Tyler and I are working on how to introduce ourselves in front of the class for homework this week. I will let you know how it goes!

#2- Went to a Neighborhood Watch class. It was all I could do not to giggle through the whole thing. Because I thought to myself, man I feel like a grownup here! And also because our new neighborhood is about as safe as they can get. But I guess it is good to keep it that way :) I really do love the area we live in. The meeting was a good way to meet our neighbors as well!

Lately, we have really been missing our family and friends in far off places, too. Know that we love you all! And we do have a two bedroom place if anyone wants to come visit... hint hint.

Please feel free to post any comments/thoughts :)

Con mucho amor,

Amanda

A Whole New Menu

Happy Weekend to Everyone!

This week in the Harris home we embarked on a new adventure in life, part of our 2013 bucket list. And it started in the kitchen. Actually, it started with my husband’s monthly subscriptions to Runner’s World and an innate interest in nutrition and exercise.

Tyler has been interested in nutrition for as long as I have known him and even took a few classes during his Master’s program at Liberty University. I, on the other hand, have a slight addition to Dr. Pepper and peanut butter MnM’s. And until about a month ago, I didn’t plan on changing that. Then Tyler came across a website: www.100daysofrealfood.com. Lisa, (the owner of this site), along with her husband and two girls, decided to go for 100 days eating only whole, natural foods. Her pledge included eating whole-wheat products, taking trips to the farmer’s market, and cutting out processed foods. After reading Lisa’s story, for the first time in my life, I got excited about nutrition! Her plan didn’t include a diet to lose weight or giving up junk food (thank goodness!). It simply cut out processed foods. So with the help of Lisa’s meal plan and grocery list, we started our own real food pledge!

Last Saturday was day #1- preparation. The day began at the farmer’s market downtown where we purchased our fruits, vegetables, and homemade bread from the bakery.

I had been to the farmer’s market before, but never to grocery shop like this. I learned a few lessons in that first trip, like you need to bring a bag to put your food in or it may end up on the floor.  Then we finished grocery shopping at Kroger, where I got pretty well acquainted with the natural foods section.

Because we were babysitting for Super Bowl Sunday, we decided to begin our natural meal plan on Monday. And I am happy to say, we completed week 1! Here are some pictures from the meals that we made:

Tilapia with roasted sweet potatoes.

Fajitas! We wrapped these in whole-wheat homemade tortillas.

Jambalaya. Our first time and we liked it!

We also made whole-wheat chocolate chip cookies for a treat on Friday :)

More updates to come! Enjoy your Sunday night!

Mandi

The Work Week

Hello fellow readers!

It’s a Wednesday afternoon, 4:16 p.m., and the air has stopped working in my building at work. Thankfully, Tyler will be getting off of work in a few minutes, which leaves me just enough time to write but not enough time to break out in a sweat at the end of January.

This last week was somewhat like a whirlwind. The kind that leaves you feeling productive but at the same time, you can’t quite remember what exactly you did. It’s a happy kind of exhaustion. :)

Our guidance office at school has been gearing up for the 2013-2014 school year, which brings excitement, new faces, and lots of work to do. A big part of that is course registration for students entering grades 9-12. For two weeks, on Tuesday and Thursday, the other guidance counselor and I present all of the information regarding courses, SAT/ACT, etc. to our 700+ students and families at nightly meetings. Three of these meetings are now complete (yay!) and I just have one left tomorrow. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy these times of public speaking and connecting with families. I do not like not seeing my husband until 9pm at night.

During my long work days, Tyler has put back on his running shoes and hit the road again! It amazes me how he comes home from a run and says, “I didn’t go too far today. Only 7 miles.” ONLY 7 miles?? Yep, that’s my husband. :)

Hopefully I can write about more than just work after Thursday night is over. In the meantime, in the busyness, when the world is spinning and I can’t catch a breath, I remember to count.

“When you are a believer — and you stop counting blessings? It’s like blindfolding yourself and wondering why everything’s black.” – Ann Voskamp

And so tonight, I count the gifts God has given me and I smile. :)

Snow Day!

We are fully recovered from our case of the flu and the sniffles. Tyler and I returned home from vacation to a rough week of fighting sickness, but we’re back to good health now, with the exception of a few cough drops and shots of DayQuil to help.

This week Lynchburg was finally covered in a blanket of white resulting in the first official snow day of the school year! It had been raining buckets the entire week and eventually transformed into beautiful snowflakes by Thursday night. The snow started falling as I was brainstorming what to make for dinner and Tyler was on his way home from work. Even though I was alone, that didn’t stop this Florida girl from running outside and shameless catching snowflakes on my tongue. Our new neighbors probably think I am nut. Tyler on the other hand, made it up the mountain where our new apartment is located in four-wheel drive fashion, suddenly having flashbacks from climbing the North Carolina Mountains in the blizzard on our honeymoon. He made it home safely and we enjoyed a night filled with homemade chocolate chip cookies and the Chronicles of Narnia. 

Side note: We made cookies using my NEW KitchenAid Tyler got me for Christmas! I am in love.

Mandi

Happy New Year!

It’s a new year. A time for fresh starts, new beginnings, and the turning of a page. And so I am turning the page and turning to technology and starting a blog. It’s part of my new year, 2013, a year to stay connected and build and keep relationships going strong. This is a way to share our story, the story of Tyler and me and our adventures in life. And boy is it an adventure! We are married, living in Virginia, eagerly looking for how we can serve God today and in the future. How we can make a difference in the lives of others. Living day by day, learning how to be content in the here and now. We are grasping the adventure! This week we are recovering from our exciting travels over Christmas break. Two weeks of family fun from Florida to Idaho then back to the Blue Ridge Mountains we call home. This is the first time we decided to fit both states into one holiday since married life began. It was filled with fun, laughter, and many tears as we said goodbye. Here are some memories in photos from Christmas break:

Our Virginia Christmas tree!

Dinner with the Sommers siblings at Bern's steakhouse in Florida

We went sledding in the mountains in Idaho. So much fun!

Bringing in the New Year in the cabin in Cascade, ID

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Mandi