It's What's for Dinner, or Groceries and Recipes

I feel like we've divided the chores in our place pretty well. Mr. C has absolutely no interest in cooking whatsoever, so I do almost all of the food prep in our house. As payback, Mr. C takes point on laundry and also does most of the post-dinner dishes.

Overall, I probably spend around 2-3 hours over the course of a week gathering recipes, figuring out the best schedule for meals, and prepping our food. We go grocery shopping together, from the list that I put together. Here's what this week's list looked like:

Vegetables/Fruit

Zucchini

Broccoli

Spinach

Apples

Fish/Meat

93/7 Ground turkey

Chicken breasts

Frozen salmon

Carbohydrates

Whole Wheat Rotini

Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Canned black beans

Canned cannelini beans

Dairy

Shredded cheese

Reduced Fat Feta

Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Condiments

Rice wine vinegar

Light sodium soy sauce

Snacks

Vegetable tortilla chips

Pretzel rods

Honey mustard dip

This is pretty typical of what we buy when we go grocery shopping, which happens about every week and a half. Our pantry is pretty well stocked, so we only need to occasionally buy things like the vinegars and soy sauce. We go through quite a bit of pasta and beans, and I work hard to incorporate lots of fresh vegetables. 

So, you've seen the groceries. But, what do we actually do with them? To make planning a little simpler, I've loosely assigned cutesy names to each day of the week, to give me at least a little bit of guidance. Here's the list of what we're cooking chez us this week. 

Meatless Monday: Grown up mac & cheese with beans and squash

Turkey (or other poultry) Tuesday: Greek turkey burgers

Wok Wednesday: Crockpot cashew chicken

Thursday night I've got a meeting at work, so Mr. C and I are on our own (which likely means Subway for supper)

Fiesta Friday: Black bean quesadilla

Scrimping Saturday: Leftovers!

Seafood Sunday: Grilled salmon

Then into next week, it looks like this: 

Meatless Monday: Broccoli peanut pasta

Turkey Tuesday: Chicken with a homemade creamy pesto crust

Wok Wednesday: Spicy salmon stir fry

Lunches are made up of a combination of leftovers, soups we've got in the freezer, crockpot bbq chicken, and Mr. C often goes out for lunch with coworkers.

So, that's our meals. I'll try to share some of the recipes as we make them, and hopefully I'll remember to take pictures before we eat all of it!

The Question of Where, or Pick a State, Any State

We just wrapped up a very fun but very exhausting weekend at Mr. C's reunion. It was great getting to spend time with some of his friends, especially the couple who live down in New Orleans that I hadn't met yet. But, as I said, it was exhausting, and I felt like I spent most of the weekend telling people that we haven't planned anything for the wedding yet.

On the way down, we had a big talk about the beginning logistics for the wedding. This gets complicated very, very quickly. You see, I am from Iowa, Mr. C hails from Connecticut, and we now live in upstate New York. So, where do we get married?

Iowa:
Pro: Traditional for a couple to be married in the bride's hometown
Pro: Most of my family and many friends still live in Iowa.
Con: We would have to travel back to Iowa many times for planning, flights for which cost about $1,000 for the pair of us round trip, plus any days off of work.
Con: Mr. C's grandparents actually live in Upstate
NY, and a trip that far would be very difficult
Con: All of Mr. C's familiy and friends would have to travel

New York:
Pro: Where we live already, so less stress for planning
Pro: Easier trip for his grandparents
Con: No real emotional attachment for either of us here. We live here, but we don't necessarily feel like this is "our" place.
Con: Higher cost of living (aka cost of wedding) here than in Iowa
Con: Very small number of our friends live around here, so everyone would have to travel. I don't think some of my good friends would be able to travel this far.

Connecticut:
Pro: Where Mr. C's family still lives
Pro: Not too far from where we are now, so it costs a tank of gas rather than a pair of plane tickets to visit for planning
Con: Not many friends or anybody other than Mr. C's immediate family in the area. All of my family and friends, and most of Mr. C's would have to travel.
Con: Higher cost of living than both Iowa or NY

We sort of agreed that if we're getting married out east, it may as well be here over Connecticut. So, really we're deciding between Iowa and NY. At this point, it is looking like New York may take the cake, for purely financial reasons. Flying back to Iowa for planning is EXPENSIVE, and that's money we could be using for the wedding itself rather than purely traveling. Plus, if I DIY anything, it'd be hard to transport there for the wedding itself.

Still, we have time and other people to consider before this decision is final. We are hoping my parents will be able to visit soon, so they can actually meet Mr. C's family. In addition to everyone knowing everyone, that'd be a good chance to talk about logistics and expectations. It doesn't look like that will happen for awhile, but hopefully before too much longer!

A Tentative Color Palette, or He Likes Blue

To be honest, I should have known better. I should have known not to get my heart set on colors without running them by my lovely fiance. And yet, I did it. We had talked a few times before our engagement about what the feel of our wedding might be. Elegent, soft, romantic, lots of candles. So, I came up with this: 

Tree backdrop, bouquets, bridesmaids, groom, cake, table number, table setting

Blush, grey, with little punches of cream and green thrown in. Wine corks, watercolor, soft fabrics, and dusty miller. All excited about it, I showed it to Mr. C. 

His response? I like blue.

So, back to the drawing board, at least in part. Because my groom loves blue, and to be honest, so do I. It is my favorite color. So I turned to The Perfect Palette, trying to find a way to work blue in. But, I began getting more and more frustrated. I loved the soft romance of the pink, and all of the royals, marines, navys, pools, and aquas looked too harsh. 

And then, I found it. I was browing the Perfect Palette's Pinterest page (try saying that five times fast) when I found The One. The Color. The one I'd been searching for: 

via The Perfect Palette

They even have an entire pinterest board devoted to Dusty Blue. It is soft, it is romantic, and it is already so close to what I was looking at. The bouquet on the right in my inspiration board up above? Switch the pink ribbon out for blue and we're set. Bridesmaids? Ditch the grey and put them in blue. It'll look better on everyone anyway. I'll probably still keep some of the pink around for pops of color, but man, it feels like this is moving in a direction I like. Granted, watch us book a recetion site with lime green or maroon floors or something like that. But for now, this is where its at!

The Imperfect Wedding, or How Far Can She Kick Those Shoes?

A few years ago, back when I was living in Cooperstown, I happened to be at the lakeside park when a wedding rolled in. They had chairs set up overlooking an arbor that was next to the lake, and it would have all been beautiful except for one thing.

The same view, just a few weeks ago

It had rained non-stop for the two previous days. And I don't mean cute little sprinkles, I mean a deluge that had flooded some of the roads. So, these lovely chairs spread out on the grass had all sunk about an inch into the ground.

The bridal party pulled up in one of the village's famous trolleys. Out popped the groomsmen and the groom, who took positions near the arbor. The bridesmaids stepped out, barefoot or in flats, and made their way up the while. Finally, the bride and her father. She looked lovely in her gown and heels, and on her father's arm took the first steps onto the grass....and proceded to sink right in.

What happened next was one of the best wedding things I think I'll ever see. Some brides would have panicked, kept trying to walk, or completely lost it at their big moment going wrong and bawled their way down the aisle. This bride? She hiked up her dress, kicked both shoes a good five feet away, then marched down to her groom and got married.

It was, in my opinion, the best metaphor for starting a marriage you could ask for. Things go wrong. Sometimes, you get stuck. But instead of staying stuck, or wallowing in it, you kick off your shoes and join hands with the person you love. I hope, as we move further down the road of planning this wedding, that I can keep in mind the shoe-kicking bride, and roll with any and all of the punches this process throws our way.

My Fitness Apps: RunDouble

So as I mentioned earlier, I've started running again.  I actually ran cross country for a year in high school once I'd stopped playing volleyball, which is pretty funny if you know me and how much I hated running. I think I cut a minute off of every race, because I really had no idea how to run.

Add to that the fact that I had a pretty major surgery in March, and I feel a bit like I'm starting from point zero. But, I've found this really nifty tool that seems to be helping with that.

From RunDouble

Enter RunDouble. It is an app that, after doing some research, I downloaded onto my android. I believe it is also availble for the iPhone.  It takes the Couch to 5k plan and puts it on your phone. It is also available for 10k, half, and full marathon training plans, but obviously I'm starting at the beginning.

Here's how it works. You choose either a timed or a distance plan, and off you go. The whole point of the couch to 5k is to alternate running and walking to build up your endurance. What I love about this app is that it keeps track of which one you should be doing, and notifys you with a buzz and verbal signal to switch. I just finished the 2nd (of 3) workouts for the third week, and so far so good. I've been using the timed app, which is nice because I know how long I'm going to run for. That said, I'm not yet running fast enough where I get to the 5k distance. Hopefully that will come within the next few weeks.

Note: the first two weeks with the app are free, after that it is paid. However, I got the whole thing for free as part of AchieveMint. I'll get into that in another post though :)

One Week Tomorrow!

Tomorrow marks one week of engagement. It is crazy, really. I look down at this sparkly shimmer on my left hand, and this goofy grin spreads across my face.

Who wouldn't get a little giddy staring at this all day?

Honestly, the whole idea of a wedding hasn't really sunk it. Right now I seem to be enthralled with the idea of spending the rest of my life with Mr. C. He puts up with my goofiness and bad puns on the good days, and my grumpiness and crying on the bad.

This week, he had a little bit of both. I don't know if it was the rush of everything from the week, the fact that it was a stressful week at work, or some homesickness, but the whole week was a little rough. Most of my family and friends are back in Iowa or spread across the country. And although I've made some really wonderful friends here (like the fabulous Lady A) it is tough not having my people any closer.

One of the things Mr. C and I have discussed a bit, not really in any depth yet, is finding ways to meet some new people. What I'd really love are friends who we can go out and do cheap and/or healthy things with. At this point, about all we do with other people is bbq at various friends houses or meet up at for dinner or drinks. And while that is really great, and I am happy for us to keep doing it. But, we are now saving money to pay for a wedding, and we have been working for awhile to live a healthier lifestyle. Most of my parents friends are people they played softball or volleyball with. And while Mr. C is not a volleyball player, it would be nice to even individually be able to do something like that. Eh, I'll keep thinking on it.

No real wedding plans at this point. Eventually, we'll sit down with our respective families and talk budget. We are definitely not expecting them to contribute at all, but if they'd like to we certainly won't say no. Whether or not they will is definitely going to be a factor in the type of wedding we'll have, and how soon we'll have it. If it is just us, we'll probably wait awhile to save up the money to do what we'd like. Who knows! Stay tuned for more updates!

Quarter 2, 2013: Part Two

We left the museums and drove back along main street, along the other side of the lake to Glimmerglass State Park. Last year, at graduation, my class and many of our parents had a barbecue there, and that shelter is where we headed. We pulled in to park, Mr. C mentioned I probably didn't need my purse, and then grabbed a backpack out of the trunk of the car.

We got out of the car and walked a bit around the side of the lake until we found a beautifully secluded spot with a picnic table and an amazing view of the lake. We sat down, and after a minute Mr. C reached down into his backpack and pulled out a scrapbook. To preface this, we have been together now for one year and seven months. His first message to me was on October 11th, and we became an "official" couple on November 5th. On November 20th, we took our first trip together down to Washington D.C. In February, we went down to New York City. While we were there we had a couple of glasses of wine and he, a bit tipsy, confessed that he knew then how he would propose to me.

Me, with what is now the most precious thing I have: The Scrapbook

It turns out that, beginning with that trip barely a month after we'd met for the first time, he began saving the evidence of our relationship; tickets, museum admission pins, receipts, menus, all sorts of things. Last summer, while I was in Nebraska, he convinced some of our friends to drive down to Cooperstown to take pictures to use in the scrapbook, that far in advance.

So that brings us to the present. He put all of these beautiful memories and mementos together into one book. Our first Valentine's Day I left him post-it notes all around his room telling him why I loved him, and he not only kept them and put them in the book, but wrote response notes and used them as the anchor throughout the book. I could go on and on and on in detail about every amazing page of this scrapbook, but I will instead show you a few of the highlights. 

Page one of the scrapbook, the transcript of our first conversation together. Reading this, and the other messages we sent at this stage, I am so happy with how genuinely "us" it all is. We were very much ourselves, right from the start. 

This is the page for the second half of our first date, when all of my classmates crashed our date :) The most wonderful piece here is the picture in the far left. It is a screenshot of our friend K's phone the night of our first date. It might be hard to read, but the text from Mr. C read's "Ok this girl is awesome." K got that text message and decided to save a screeshot of it. How wonderful is that?

Turning each of the pages was turning to another part of our relationship. Graduation, travel, all of the amazing things we've been able to do so far. I realized that we were near the end of the book, took a deep breath, and finally turned to the last page.

Mr. C untied the ring, set the book aside, and knelt down on one knee in front of me. He took my hand, and asked me to be his wife. I think I said something along the lines of "yes please" and we just stayed there, holding onto each other with our faces next to each other for awhile. I realized it probably wasn't super comfortable for his knee, so pulled him up onto the picnic table with me. That's when we walked through the book together, this time with him telling me the background and work he put into each one of the pages. Seriously, he put so much thought into it.

Once we'd pulled ourselves together a bit, we made sure to document the occasion properly.

Pardon the freckles, but I love this picture. You can see just how gorgeous the lake was, plus my amazing new ring :) And really I kind of love my freckles. When my grandpa saw my grandma across a room for the first time turned to his buddy, and said "I'll take the one with the freckles." 

Once we'd taken plenty of photos, we loaded back into the car and headed back home. We called my family and let them know the good news (which they all knew already, bah!) before we got home, vegged for a few minutes to take the edge off of a busy day in a lot of sun, and changed quickly for dinner. We headed to one of our favorite nice restaurants, Provence. Our dear friend Lady A had called them and ordered us a bottle of wine, which was waiting for us at the table. We had an amazingly delicious meal. If you're ever there, always always order the risotto. We've had a couple of the different ones, and have never been disappointed.

There was one more piece that all together made the day really one of the most perfect ones of my life. Mr. C has been saving a bottle of wine (a 1995 Bordeaux) for a few years, just for this occasion. We opened it, a bit apprehensively at first, but it was quite nice. Very leathery, with a very interesting mouth feel. It really was a wonderful way to cap off an amazing day, and the start of this next piece of our lives together.