I want to get away

We wanted a little get-away for our Labor Day Weekend as it seems do many other Americans. Maybe you went camping or hiking or on a road trip one final time before summer's end. We did too. This time to Chattanooga. After last year's misfortune in Mobile, AL- trust me this city does not need to make your top 10 or even top 100, we decided to head in the opposite direction, somewhere a little closer and a little 'cooler' (pun intended).

What do you think of when you hear the word Chattanooga? Maybe something like:

Or maybe you are history buff, like this guy below, and you think about THE battle for Chattanooga at Chickamauga. We learned all about the Civil War Battle here (technically in GA) and on Lookout MT.(again, in GA, but who's keeping track?)

Or maybe like me you went to Chattanooga to stand on Lookout Mountain and See Seven States from Rock City.

and to see waterfalls, caves, rivers and more.

WE are back

Apologies for the gap between posts. It has been so long Google didn't even recognize me. I even had to create a new password to log in! I promise I have a good reason for my absence though, I'm sure you've heard and if you haven't, I apologize that you are learning this over a blog post but Dan and I are expecting our first baby in January! 

                          

(When I look at myself in the mirror I feel HUGE but somehow these photos don't have same effect.)

 See what I mean about good reason? The last 12 weeks have been challenging. I can't really explain it to you and I'm sure you won't really get it unless you've had some foreign creature  baby living inside of your body but trust me when I say there is nothing like it. I've been sick before, I've felt strange before, but this was not the same.

Week 18

But as the three of us walk though week 18 together, we are much happier than week 8, we are thankful that this little creature is in charge, even if it means we are just along for the ride. Thankful to be welcoming babe into our family and thankful for renewed energy to blog!

One Year Old

One year ago I was bursting at the seams, dying to tell you about our new job and move to the south. We decided to wait until we were sure we were moving and until we had notified our previous employer. No employer should find out you're leaving your job via your blog, but I'm sure you already knew that. So with great joy I began to write. It became routine and therapeutic to put down my thoughts and I so love to hear your feedback. 

You've been faithful readers, I appreciate that. It's always helpful to know that my ideas are interesting to you too.
If you haven't guessed already today is the one year anniversary of our (read the royal we, Dan is very helpful for grammatical checks and spelling assistance) blog, Happy Birthday Blog!

If you've been reading for a year, happy anniversary to you too.  Let's recount the year, shall we?

We have readers from across the world, some countries I know people who live there and some I don't, we have readers from Japan, South Korea and the UK, to name a few.

You've been with us as we quit our jobs, packed up our apartment and drove cross country. You were with us when our car cars had trouble and you watched as we discovered the South. It has been an experience; interesting, difficult, and exciting experience. Thanks for coming along!

A big shout out to our most popular post Bow to your partner. I think it must be the title?

Alien Invasion and Unidentified Objects

So we signed up for this CSA, which we love; mostly. We love that we get fresh greens each week, and I do mean fresh, not grown with chemicals or made to ripen with strange fumes. 

Bonus: We are swimming in salad greens and strawberries, who doesn't love a fresh salad? If you are looking for ideas ask us, we've made 7 different kinds this week, yes 7, one for every day of the week. I told you people we were SWIMMING in greens. 

But, what I'm discovering about the CSA is that although we have fresh produce weekly we also have fresh produce weekly that we didn't select and I'm finding myself in uncharted territory. Lovers of vegetables please HELP! I know you are probably far more cultured than I and have eaten these things before but I haven't cooked or tasted many of the items we are being given, in fact I can't even identify many of this weeks goods.

I'm pretty sure this is Swiss Chard, but what do you do with it?

 I am a recent convert. Yes, I had many microwave timers set for me as a child as I was forced  encouraged to eat my green beans. Now that I'm a believer I'm pretty sure I missed out on vegetable 101. 

Enter you, yes, you the reader. Can you identify this week's goodies? Can you suggest recipes or tips on how to cook? Or, will we be left to the alien invasion that seems to be threatening our kitchen?

PS I think this could totally pass as some kind of spaceship, hence the alien reference. 

Our First

Our first Southern Wedding, how do we look?

Our first go at a Southern Wedding went without a hitch. It was lovely. Dan's favorite part was the buffet including eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, gravy, waffles and egg casserole with grits. Can't get much more Southern than that. 

A highlight of the afternoon was a performance by former Crimsonettes. 

You can thank Dan for the video. 

Good Eats

It happened. The day I've been waiting months for finally came and went. We signed up for a CSA this year, for those of you not in the know CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. I bet there is one in your community too, you should check it out! Unless of course the idea of fresh, organic, good for you stuff doesn't sound appealing. 

I think I've mentioned before that shopping at the Farmer's Market brings happiness to my day, but this takes it to a whole new level.

  Members of the CSA, pay a fee of course, but have weekly produce delivered to a pick up point. There is a bit of randomness involved, I know sounds very unlike me, but I was willing to try a little unpredictability. The Farmer delivers fresh, and I do mean fresh with the dirt still intact, vegetables and fruits to your pick up point and you, the consumer, pick up your goods. You are told the day prior to your pickup what will be in your box, see? randomness.

 Our pickup day happens every Tuesday- unless there is a tornado watch in effect and in that case we move it to Wednesday. Our farmer picks what is in season and fills you box with recipes and goodness. Last week was radishes, carrots, salad greens, strawberries and green onions, is your mouth watering yet?

If you've been watching the news you know there have been a few tornados recently, one 7 miles from our house. If you love a good home video or just miss Dan's voice see below.

Would you like a Coke with that?

Let me just preface this post by saying I do not in any way advocate drinking soda. I personally choose not to consume it- too many nasty ingredients to make it worth my while- did you know aspartame can chemically alter the genetic makeup of your brain? Who thinks of this stuff anyways?

That may sound a little two faced, I mean I did spend a whole afternoon touring a Coca-Cola museum and then raced around a sticky floor trying to consume all the carbonation my stomach could muster but I'd like to justify my actions by stating that I never drink it! Unless of course I'm in a village on a dusty road and I've just been offered a side of goat with my spicy rice and the only way this is going down is with a Fanta, but only then. 

Okay, now that we are all being honest with one another I'll share about my afternoon. It was pretty great. They even give you a free Coke when exiting. After all, they are trying to make addicts out of us. I think they are too great at their jobs. Anyway, the museum contains the how, why, history and their delight in making Coke products.  Such fun. 

Much of the museum is standard, you walk through different exhibits learning about the history. "New Coke", Classic Coke, etc. But the best part of this museum is the tasting exhibit. I think all these folks would agree with me:

And these folks:

The exhibit has stations from every continent, of course we sampled as many as we could, I have a weakness for the flavors from Madagascar and Mexico. 

If you're ever in Atlanta, even if you never drink soda, you should stop by.You may discover a flavor you can't live without.