Better-Than-Takeout Veggies

Ok.

I know I haven't posted many recipes lately...but that's because I haven't been baking much in the past few months. I've been making an honest effort to eat less junk and more, well, good stuff. Like fresh fruits and veggies (from our local farmer's market!). And homemade hummus. And rice & beans. And trail mix. And stuff like that.

I know, I know. That sounds like rabbit food, you say.

That might be true, but it makes my body feel oh, so good! You should try it sometime!

Here is the {super simple} recipe I created for lunch last week and have eaten almost a dozen times since then:

Better-Than-Takeout Veggies

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 handful of fresh green beans, ends snapped off
2 handfuls of fresh broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
dash of black pepper
1 Tbsp. Ken's Lite Asian Sesame with Ginger & Soy salad dressing

Heat the oil to medium-high heat in a frying pan. Add the broccoli and saute for 3 minutes. Add the green beans and pepper and saute for another 2-3 minutes until the beans are cooked but still crisp. Remove the pan from the heat and add the salad dressing, making sure to coat all of the veggies. Pour into a bowl and enjoy!

I made these veggies again for lunch yesterday and threw in some fresh asparagus. Get creative and add your favorite veggies! Let me know what you think!

Hannah - 8 Months

Would you believe me if I told you that my favorite blue-eyed beauty recently moved to Kansas City, KS with her Mommy and Daddy?

Her Daddy got an AWESOME job there...

...and Hannah seems very happy about it, dontchathink?

One of the best things about moving to Kansas City is that Hannah will only be a short drive away from Nana (and Papa) in St. Louis!

One of the worst things about these beautiful ladies moving to Kansas City is that...well...they're all the way in Kansas City (instead of here with me!).

But, fear not, my favorite blue-eyed beauty! Aaron and I will see you, your Mommy, and your Daddy in less than 3 weeks when we fly to Kansas City to see you :) We're counting down the days!

The Food Chain

While Sam and I were outside playing with bubbles this afternoon, he spotted a bug trapped in a spider web.

"Oh no!" he said. "The nice bug is going to get eaten by the mean spider! Help him, Mrs. Allison! Heeeeeelp hiiiiiim!"

I saw enough bugs on the Appalachian Trail two weeks ago to last me a lifetime (and still have the bites to prove it). I was really okay with letting the pest be eaten by the spider. Since I had no intention of rescuing the bug from its inevitable fate, I seized the opportunity to teach Sam a little bit about the food chain.

"Have you ever heard of the food chain?" I asked Sam. "Yep," he replied. "Daddy taught me about it. It's a big chain of food."

Hmmm.

"Well..." I said. "The food chain is when, say, a spider eats a bug...and then a bird eats the spider...and so on. So now it's your turn. What animal eats birds?" I asked.

"A cat!" he exclaimed, happy to be understanding my little game.

"Right!" I said. "And what eats cats?"

"Hmmm...(tapping his chin with his pointer finger)...A DOG!" he said, proud of himself.

"Well..." I said, thinking about my cute, cuddly, orange tabby back at home.

"Wait!" he said. "Dogs don't eat cats. They just chase them!"

I liked that answer better.

"Ok, let's try another one," I prompted. "What animal eats grass?"

"A cow!" he said.

"And what eats cows?" I continued.

Sam had a genuinely confused look on his face...like he couldn't imagine what animal would eat a grass-eating, milk-giving, moo-ing cow.

"I don't know," he said.

"People eat cows," I said, unsure of whether I should have started this little "food chain" conversation.

"People eat cows?" Sam said in disbelief.

"Yep. You know those yummy hamburgers that Daddy makes on the grill? That's meat from a cow," I explained.

"Oh," he said solemnly. "Well, I guess that's the end of him, huh, Mrs. Allison?"

Hmmmm. Maybe I should have just saved the stupid bug...

Yes, We ARE Alive.

Oh gosh.

Getting back to blogging after not posting for almost 2 weeks is one of my least favorite tasks to tackle...but I'll do it anyway. Here's the Cliff's Notes version of our week o' vacation:

Saturday, 6/13 - Sean and Tonia (and Asher and Cooper!) dropped us at Fontana Dam and left us to be eaten alive by bugs, ahem, I mean...enjoy our time in the Great Outdoors. By the end of our first (half)day of hiking, we went 6 miles and I had the beginning of what would turn out to be massive blisters on my heels.

Sunday, 6/14 - Aaron and I hiked from campsite 113 to Spence Field Shelter. The (not-so-accurate) trail map said our hike that day was 11 miles. The Ranger said it was 12(ish). The trail signs said it was 13. We think it was actually closer to 14. When I finally got to take my boots off that evening, this is what my feet looked like:





Oh...and somehow during the day I managed to get a bunch of chigger bites on my lower back and legs. Ugh.

Monday, 6/15 - Aaron and I survived our first night in a shelter...but not without being woken up at 2am by turkeys "gobbling" and mice chasing each other. We started the day's hike at 9:30am feeling refreshed and optimistic...but that only lasted for the first 8 miles or so. When we arrived at a sign at 3pm that told us we had another 5.2 miles to hike (instead of 2.5 miles like we thought) before we reached our shelter, I melted down. Tears flowed and frustration took over. My feet hurt. I had new, painful blisters forming on my shoulders and hips. I twisted my knee earlier in the day and I was trying to pretend like it didn't hurt. My back felt like it might crack in half from the 33 pounds of stuff I was carrying in my pack. But, somehow, Aaron talked me through the entire 5.2 miles and we made it to Siler's Bald Shelter. After inspecting my blisters, chigger bites, swollen right knee, and other hiking wounds, Aaron suggested that we bail out at Clingman's Dome the next day. I, of course, didn't even want to entertain that idea. I didn't want to quit...and I wanted to hike the entire 70 miles...even if I had no feet to walk on by the time I got there. My stubbornness was overruled by my husband's better judgement and he decided that we would, in fact, end our trip at Clingman's Dome the next afternoon for the benefit of my health (and his sanity, I'm sure).

Tuesday, 6/16 - Aaron and I made the leisurely hike (only 5 miles!) from Siler's Bald to Clingman's Dome. It was (by far) the most beautiful day of hiking during our trip and it was nice to see something other than, well, trees while we walked. We made it to Clingman's Dome (a total of approximately 35 miles of hiking in 3 days!) by 3pm and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching tourists pass by as we played Phase 10 and watched the sun fall on the horizon. Aaron's Dad arrived at 8pm to pick us up and he shuttled us to our 4Runner that we had dropped off at a ranger station near Davenport Gap the previous Saturday. Aaron and I went back to his parents' house in Simpsonville, SC for the best shower I've had in my entire life and an evening of uninterrupted sleep in a bed.

Wednesday, 6/17 - We slept. All day. Seriously. We woke up to eat at 10am, went back to sleep at 11am, and woke up to eat again at 2pm. Now that's what I call vacation!

Thursday, 6/18 - Aaron and I left Simpsonville and were home by noon. We relaxed at our house for most of the day and decided that we would take a spontaneous trip to Asheville, NC the next day.

Friday, 6/19 - Aaron purchased (online) 1 night in a super-cheap hotel in Asheville, I threw some clothes in a bag, and we left our house at noon. We got to Asheville by 1:30 and ate lunch at Doc Chey's Noodle House. We walked around the city, visited some really weird stores, listened to the community band play for a bit, and then went to eat hummus and have a drink at the Jerusalem Garden Cafe. Before we headed back to our hotel for the evening, we visited the French Broad Chocolate Lounge for some South American dark chocolate truffles, a homemade citrus agave and ginger soda, and a beer float (Pisgah a-la-mode)!

Saturday, 6/20 - We checked out of our hotel at 11am and went downtown to eat at the Mellow Mushroom (one of our favorite restaurants EVER!). Aaron likes the Mellow Mushroom for its snobbish beer menu. I like it for its hummus and salads. We left for home at 2:30pm and spent the rest of the weekend doing laundry and preparing to go back to work on Monday.

SO. There you have it. Our vacation didn't go exactly as planned, but we had a blast and enjoyed each other's company for a solid 9 days straight. It's just what I needed before kicking off a busy summer with the boys!

Stay tuned for some photos of a few cuties I photographed before leaving for vacation last week! You'll want to kiss their faces and pinch their cheeks...I promise!

Week o' Vacation 2009

Last year, Aaron and I took an incredible 10-day-long vacation to Oregon.

This year, we decided that we wanted to go backpacking in the wilderness for 7 days. We were thinking Yellowstone, Grand Teton, or the Grand Canyon...but it didn't take us long to abandon the idea of visiting those places when we discovered that airfare would cost us at least an arm and a leg (maybe two).

Then it hit us: Why go across the country to backpack when the longest foot-trail in the world is right in our back yard (ok...not quite...but almost)? Aaron and I have hiked 12-15 mile sections of the Appalachian Trail before, but never as far as what we're planning for next week's trip: 73 miles of backpacking through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park!

I know, I know. You, along with everyone else we've unveiled our plan to, think we've gone completely nutso.

But...we haven't, I assure you (although, the guys and gals who take 6 or 7 months out of their life to hike all 2,175 miles of the AT from Maine to Georgia must be somewhat out of their gourds!). Aaron and I have spent at least 6 weeks planning, researching, studying, packing, preparing, and talking to park Rangers about the area we're adventuring to and the special precautions we need to take while we're there. Aaron has even encouraged me to read specific sections from his SAS Survival Guide Handbook :)

For those of you interested in tracking us on our 7-day hike across the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (ahem, our parents), here is our intenerary (and here is a map):

Saturday, June 13: Hike from Fontana Dam (southwest corner of the Great Smokies) to campsite 113 (5 miles)
Sunday, June 14: Campsite 113 to Spence Field Shelter (11 miles)
Monday, June 15: Spence Field Shelter to Siler's Bald Shelter (10.5 miles)
Tuesday, June 16: Siler's Bald Shelter to Mt. Collins Shelter (8 miles)
Wednesday, June 17: Mt. Collins Shelter to mile marker 210 (11 miles)
Thursday, June 18: mile marker 210 to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter (9 miles)
Friday, June 19: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter to mile 230 (11 miles)
Saturday, June 20: mile 230 to Davenport Gap (northeast corner of the Great Smokies) (5 miles)

Because the AT is not a loop trail, we're having some friends meet us at Davenport Gap on Saturday, June 13 and take us from Davenport Gap to Fontana Dam to begin our hike. That way, we'll have a car sitting at the Ranger Station for us when we finish our week of hiking.

Since we have to carry everything we need for an entire week in our backpacks, Aaron and I are going to start packing tonight. We have purchased all of our food, mapped out our daily hiking plan, obtained a permit number from the Park Ranger, and prepared ourselves the best way we know how. All that's left to do is pack up and head out bright and early on Saturday morning!

Blair - 6 Months

One evening last week, after a long, exhausting day with Sam and Toby, I went to a client's house for a photo shoot. I almost died when I laid eyes on little miss Blair and saw what she was wearing:

Yes! A tutu! I'm not sure if you knew this, but I LOVE photographing little girls in tutus. It doesn't get much cuter than this, does it?!

Love. It.

Blair and Mommy

I had so much fun photographing Blair and her sweet Mommy, Denise! I hope to see you again soon, beautiful ladies!

Yes, I'm Blogging at 1:30am

I had a wonderful late-afternoon nap today...but now I'm wide awake. 

What's a girl to do when she can't sleep? Edit photos, of course!

I took a break from editing photos for clients to work on one of myself, Aaron, Bryn, and Tiffany from Rebecca's wedding 2 weekends ago: 

Needless to say, it's my new favorite. AND it's going in a frame. AND I hope to be taking this photo again someday with that lovely lady on the left standing next to my brother in a white wedding dress.

Ahem.

We love you guys!

Busy Week!

Since Sam finished preschool last week, I wanted to plan lots of activities to keep the boys extra-busy until he starts camp on June 22nd. And, boy, have I succeeded this week!

On Monday, I took Sam and Toby to the Sprayground at Latta Park in Dilworth. The boys played in the water, had a great time on the playground, and enjoyed a picnic in the shade.

On Tuesday, Tonia and I took all 4 boys to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia! It was an early morning and an exhausting day, but we all had a great time. Sam's favorite part of the zoo was the lions and Toby's favorite part was the elephants :)

Yesterday, I took the boys to ImaginOn for Family Fun Time and freeplay. They've changed their story schedule for the summer, so check out the new one here!

Today, Tonia and I are taking the boys to deliver meals provided by Friendship Trays. Tonia, Asher, Toby, and I delivered meals once every few weeks while Sam and Cooper were in preschool, but now they get to join us on our route! What a great way to teach the boys about helping others and sharing :)

Tomorrow, I'm taking the boys to Pump It Up! We like Pump It Up better than Monkey Joe's because it's a lot less crowded. In fact, the last 3 times I've taken the boys to Pump It Up, we've been the only ones there! Sam and Toby climb, jump, and run their little hearts out all morning and then they crash after lunch. It's the perfect activity for a rainy or super-hot day!

On top of planning activities for the boys, Aaron and I have been planning our week-long summer vacation trip. It's a doozie...and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

The boys and I are off to pick up the meals for this morning's Friendship Trays route. I promise to post some new photos of the Sam and Toby from our activities this week...as soon as I can get them all edited :)