Early Birthday Surprise

This is weekend was the perfect blend of fun and relaxation. It was the exact combo I needed after a week of ups and downs with my physical health. In and out of bed almost everyday, exhaustion, head aches, body aches....yuck! 

Andrew surprised me a while back with tickets to one of my favorite artists, Ingrid Michaelson. He even made arrangements for one of my best friends to travel all the way from Nashville to see it with me! 

The picture doesn't do justice for how close we were. We were only 6 rows back from the stage! Needless to say, my husband did a great job surprising me with this gift for my birthday. 

And a grateful "thank you" to Brittany for venturing over to Knoxville for less than 24 hours to encourage me! God has given me the best of friends. 

Meats vs. Veggies

via Katie

   Meat vs. Veggies

Chili

Pizza

Ice cream

Eggs

Burgers

Chick-fil-a

Macaroni

Cheese

Milk

Why am I listing all of these things?

Andrew and I have recently adopted an eating lifestyle that no longer includes the items. Crazy! I know! Those are some All-American foods right there that make the heart and tummy happy.  We made the decision over a month ago to start eating a plant-based diet. Why? Because we hate to eat good food.

No, just kidding :).  There is exponential amount of studies showing that plant-based foods (meaning no animal or animal byproduct but instead what is grown from the ground) are anti-inflammatory and, when the foundation of one's diet,  they have the ability to decrease one's chances of developing diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Do we think eating animal or animal products is harmful to us? NO. ONLY IF OVER CONSUMED
Will we never touch meat, cheese, or dairy again? SURE, WE WILL EAT THEM AGAIN

All we are trying to do is wrap our minds around more plant items such as fruits, veggies, whole grains, and plant proteins such as soy and nuts. So we agreed to go full force to, I guess, "rid" our bodies and start fresh. I imagine us over time incorporating animal foods back into our diet, but not for a while. And when we do, it will be in aN 80/20 ratio. 80 plant and 20 animal. Or maybe even less. Like 90/10?  Or maybe a couple times a week? I don't know yet.

Do we crave meat, cheese, or dairy? NO, NOT REALLY. (I try to create meals that have "meatiness" like bean or lentil stews.)
Aren't we lacking in vitamins and minerals animal foods provide? WE COULD BE, BUT WE WORK TO MAKE SURE WE AREN'T

We take multivitamins daily to help with B12 (which is only in animals), I make sure a protein source such as lentils, beans, soy, and whole grains are apart of each meal, I cook from a cast iron pot several times a week to help increase iron, flaxseed in our oatmeal and baked goods for omega-3, leafy greens for calcium, and then of course most things packaged are enriched and fortified with calcium.


Do we starve? ABSOLUTELY NOT
Is it hard? ONLY WHEN YOU TRY TO EAT OUT

We eat to our hearts content on great, seasonal, and farm fresh foods. I go the farmers market every weekend to pick up our produce for the week. I always leave my meals feeling full yet never bloated or stuffed. Our bodies feel great and we've both lost weight. :)




Do you think you could make the change? What would be hard for you to give up?

Daisy

Let me introduce to you the (somewhat) newest edition to our family. 

This is Daisy. Our sweet, adventurous, toy loving, snuggle bug. From the day we picked up Kyzer, we always knew we'd eventually get another. I know that sounds crazy, but Weimaraners work best in multiples not only for their sanity but also for the owners' sanity. So once we moved up to Knoxville we signed ourselves up with the Weim adoption organization here and with in a month were fostering this little girl. 

She's between 1 and 1 1/2 years old (not sure her exact birthday as of right now). The first month we didn't really like her and we weren't sure if we'd commit to keeping her. After a month of stability, figuring out her placement in the family, some obedience training, and actually feeling like she's apart of the family...she's become one of the sweetest doggies I know. 

They are in a constant game of tug of war at all times.

She is obsessed with playing fetch and will run from sun up to sun down if she could. Her and Kyzer are just like brother and sister. They play, snuggle, and get snappy when they don't like what the other is doing. The cutest is when one hurts the other and then goes and apologizes with a gentle kiss on the nose. They have no problem getting along and hate being separate from each other.  

Of course we now have 8 muddy paws to deal with on rainy days, another giant mouth to feed, and more dog hair to vacuum. 

Also in fun news......

after my first day :)

I GOT A JOB! I'm working as a contracted employee for Provision Health and Wellness to provide health coaching for their corporate wellness program. It's a mouthful. In summary, I meet with clients in their work environment to provide motivation and coaching in health changes and goals they want to work on. Sometimes it has to do with what they eat, others want to quit smoking, and some even just want to work on getting more sleep. Every time I go in it's different, which I really like. I get to work with these individuals for usually 9 months so I'm really excited to see the growth and changes my clients make. 

God is taking care of us :) And is it really October 1st already?!

The Beginning

Hi!

You'd think that since I don't have a job yet that I'd have time to update you guys on our life here, but things have surprisingly kept me busy this last month.  When I first filled out our family calendar, this is what it looked like:

But as each new day approached, it has been filled with house organization, cleaning, errands, job hunting, filling out job applications, taking Kyzer to the park, and last minute hang outs with some of our new friends.  

This first month has been a fun blur. Fun because we've gotten to meet a lot of great people, join an awesome church, explore our mountainous side of town, and make big kid decisions. But a blur because I can't believe we've already lived here a month! Actually it feels like 6 months with all the changes we've gone through. 

We had to start budgeting. Womp!

We bought a car. A CAR! Who are we?? Adults?!

Andrew's 2012 Mazda 3

Now that we live in a legit house, there's much more responsibilities that we didn't even think about before moving. Hint: a yard! And not only do we have lawn work, we have a beast of a lawn. 

The first time Andrew cut the grass he had to split up the work into two days. And considering this has been the weather lately:

he's only had to cut it once since being here. Thank goodness. But I like having a large lawn for this guy:

AND because it leaves room for a lot of creativity. My dream is to eventually have a small garden of my own and I love that I have the space to do it. There's even a plot already established that a previous owner used as a garden.  But until then, I'm enjoying some of the plants that were already growing in the backyard.

except Kyzer has eaten almost all the flowers :/

Andrew loves his job! He says he feels like a secret agent. He has a badge that he has to wear around his neck at all times and to get access into the building. He gets to work with very important clients building high security mobile apps.  I'm just so grateful he comes home everyday happy! He may be tired (it took him some time getting used to the long hours), but he's satisfied with the work that makes him tired. 

about to walk in on his first day! :)

We still have so much to share with you! I just didn't want to overwhelm you today. :)

In summary: we are very happy, Andrew loves his job, I am still looking for a job (please pray for me!), we love where we live, we can't believe we are adults, and we are grateful for God's kingdom.