And I Will Walk 500 Miles

Right now I’m sitting at my computer writing this while fighting the urge to moan and groan about my poor little legs that feel like they are about to fall off from walking 500 miles today (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating just a little).  I spent the day hiking at Crowder’s Mountain, which is about an hour outside of Charlotte, with Steve and his friend, Nick.  I was, of course, the slow poke of the group, and it took us a little over an hour or so to get to the top of the mountain and enjoy the view.

It was a fun day and I think overall it was about a 4-mile journey.  I’ve been trying to venture out into the outdoors more since I married my husband, who I like to call “nature boy,” or as he prefers it, “nature man.”  We are quite literally the exact opposites when it comes to physical fitness.  I’m sure he could have ran up the mountain today in one go with no problems at all.  It was quite entertaining watching him and Nick do push ups and other fancy workout moves while waiting for me to catch my breath, stop being a whiny girl, and start moving again.  We took a lot of breaks on my account, so they were able to enjoy lots of extra manly activities while I focused on not dying.

Buddy push-ups

Figuring out how old the tree is

For the past couple of years I’ve been wanting to start up an exercise routine to get healthy (or just be able to simply walk up a couple flights of steps without getting lapped by 70-year olds in jogging-suits and fanny packs).  I feel like I’ve gotten a pretty good handle on eating healthy, so working out is the next logical step in making it to my life span goal of 103 (I’m totally serious).  I want to start the ever-so-popular Couch to 5K plan (and actually stick to it this time), as well as incorporate some yoga classes to work on my flexibility.  My lovely husband also made me a workout video where he shows me how to do different moves (burpees and mountain climbers anyone?) and guides me through a few different daily exercise routines.  I would love to share this with you all, as it’s probably one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen, but chances are you probably wouldn’t share my opinion about the cuteness (I’m pretty partial to him), and Steve probably wouldn’t want it floundering around the Internet.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress, in the meantime, enjoy some more pictures from our outing today!

View from the top!

Life of a Locavore

Hello again,

Like the majority of the world, Saturday is my favorite day of the week.  For obvious reasons, of course, like being off of work and having a lazy day to do whatever I’d like, but also because it’s the day Steve and I get to stock up on local produce and goodies at our farmer’s market, Atherton Mill & Market.

Image courtesy of Atherton Market Facebook page

We started our journey to eat local and support area farmers about two years ago, shopping at the Kings Drive Farmers Market in Charlotte.  We were super excited and our “green” attitude was bursting all over the place as we stocked up on lots of berries, pineapple, and veggies.  One day, while enjoying our weekly loot, I was browsing online and little did I know that the proud “green” bubble I had put myself into was about to burst.  While doing some research to find out more about our local markets, I learned that those delicious local berries I was enjoying actually came from Brazil, and the pineapple that was sitting on my counter waiting for me to make a mess while Steve watched in horror as I hacked into it with an oversized knife, actually traveled all the way from Costa Rica.

Image courtesy of Energy Smart Charlotte

So, as it turns out, we weren’t enjoying produce that was just picked the day before and we weren’t supporting our local farmer’s at all, we were basically eating the same produce that they sell at the grocery store, we were just buying it outside and being tricked by our logical assumption that food at the farmer’s market was actually grown and sold by local area farmers.

So, here we are, two years later, still soaking up all the information we can learn about what eating local, or being a “locavore,” actually means.  Produce that you purchase at your grocery store travels about 1,500 miles to get from the farm to your plate.  Obviously, the environmental impact of eating carrots from Harris Teeter versus eating carrots from a local farmer is significantly different.  Not only are those local carrots more fresh, tasty, and environmentally friendly, but we are also able to speak directly to the farmer who grew them, and be assured that they weren’t treated with any chemicals or pesticides that I don’t really want to put into my body. I know that eating local 100% of the time is unrealistic, but we do what we can to eat with the seasons, spend our money so that it supports our local farmers and economy, all the while enjoying the sense of community and good nutrition that comes from incorporating local foods into our diet.

So, back to today!  After a long few months of greens, greens, and more greens, the milder weather has finally stocked the market with a little more produce variety.  We still bought our kale and spinach today, but we were also able to bring home some carrots and sweet potatoes too. We also bought some eggs from the farmers that we’ll be getting our CSA from in the spring, and a couple of the eggs are blue.  Check out the sweet little chickens who provided us with the eggs here.

Veggies from Atherton Market

Eggs from Bell's Best Berries, one of the hens is named Rhubarb!

Another thing I love about our farmers market is the non-food vendors who bring local made soaps, jewelry, and even the sweetest little kid aprons made out of green materials. I’ve had my eye on some bath salts for the past few months, so today I finally picked up a bottle and I can’t wait to try it out.  We also stopped by Savory Spice Shop next door to pick up some ginger and nutmeg so that I can make Steve’s favorite granola.

I’ll be incorporating the veggies that we got today into spinach pockets with marinara sauce, carrot pancakes or carrot breakfast cookies, and probably some sweet potato granola to use as my breakfast cereal, that is, if I ever get out of the relaxation coma that I’m sure will be brought on by my salt filled bath tomorrow.

If you’re interested in eating local, check out localharvest.org to find options near you.

And that’s a wrap for today, have a great rest of the weekend!

Hello World!

First blog post, wow.  Hopefully I’ll look back on this in a few years and reminisce about how far the blog has come.  To be perfectly honest, I’m not quite sure what my intentions are with this blog.  I’m in the middle of a quarter-life crisis at the humble age of 24, thinking that I’ve done a terrible job of documenting my life thus far and visualizing a mile long to-do list in my head of things I want to start doing that’s constantly getting longer (darn you, Pinterest), so for now I’m going to roll with the punches and just write about my daily adventures.

My goal is to post about three times a week, so hopefully by owning up to that on this initial post, it’ll keep me honest and motivated to sit down and just do it already.  Nothing new or monumental to share today, I thought the first intro post would get the ball rolling and give me that extra push I need to get this thing going already.  So, for now, this is all.  See you in a couple of days!

Oh, and a note about the not-very-relevant picture above – I love our engagement/wedding photos so much that I’ll use any excuse to push them in your face whenever the opportunity presents itself!