Strawberry Picking 2013

Our beautiful bounty!

This past weekend, my husband and I went strawberry picking at a farm about 40 minutes away. I had been wanting to do this since last year but we missed the season when it was cut short by too much rain. 

Saturday was really rainy off and on so we waited and went on Sunday. Most farms don't have Sunday pick-your-own hours but this one does! We went to Scott's Strawberry Farm in Moneta, Virginia and it was wonderful! We did have to endure a little drizzle but it wasn't too bad. 

I would definitely recommend going before the season is over! It is $10 for a 5 quart bucket, they're open 7 days a week, and they're very friendly and helpful! They're also going to have raspberries and blueberries in the summer. I'll definitely be back for those!

They have a bunch of fields that are huge! 

Rows and rows of ripe, delicious strawberries!

I even found a short and squat one that looked like a pumpkin! He was de-lish!

We also bought 3 plants too. I told you my wee little strawberry plant needed friends! Now he has some. He? She? Oh who knows. 

My other strawberry plant is the all-star variety and the new ones are Chandler Berries. They're lower and fuller and seem to produce more too. Scott's Strawberry Farm recommends Earliglow for the flavor so I'll be keeping an eye out for those! 

The little blossoms are so pretty!

Can one really have "too many" strawberries? 

Nah...I didn't think so either.

What's your favorite place to go strawberry picking? What do you do with your bounty when you get home?

Till next time,

Catherine

Good Friday Traditions

I have never grown up following any traditions for Good Friday but we went to church on Easter and searched for our Easter baskets when we got home. We also would get together with family but nothing really other than that.

My boss, who is Catholic, mentioned that they don't eat meat on Good Friday. I've also heard that Catholics fast on Friday. I'm not sure of any other traditions, though.

I found a really cool recipe on Pinterest called Resurrection Rolls on the blog Kitchen Kneads. You basically cover a marshmallow with a roll and when you bake it, the marshmallow melts. The entire recipe explains the story of Christ's death and resurrection. I'd love to do this for my niece and nephew! What a cool (and yummy) visual for children, and even adults too! I think that would be a fun tradition to start!

Do you have any Good Friday traditions that you celebrate with your family? How do you share the Easter story with little ones? 

Till next time,
Catherine

Health Goals

At the risk of doing something that is highly overdone, especially in the beginning of a new year, I figured I should type up some of my current goals for getting healthier. I know I'm in the same boat as many people...this is our year! We're going to finally get healthier. Losing weight is awesome but the main goal is to get healthy and I mean it.

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I've always had extra weight and have always wanted to get rid of it. My weight fluctuates a bit but I feel like overall I've tried to stay fairly healthy. Keyword: tried. I'm usually pretty active and have worked several labor intensive jobs. But it always seemed like I'd eat the worst when I worked the hardest. We (the girls I worked with) were just exhausted all the time that when we finally got a chance to eat we would eat whatever was the fastest because we had to get right back to work! I shouldn't place all the blame on my previous job(s) but trust me, it didn't help. Especially because in our minds, hey, we're working really hard, let's "reward" ourselves with food. Bad thinking!

So now, upon entering the new year, 2013, I'm ready to buckle down. I have no excuses! I've got a great, supportive husband who will eat better with me, cook with me, work out with me and so on. There's a world of motivation and workouts on Pinterest and we belong to a great gym. No more excuses!

I want to:

• Lose weight
• Drop pant sizes
• Lose inches
• Tone up/Strengthen my muscles (I'm no weakling but I want to be stronger)
• Feel more confident
• Be healthier

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How I plan to do it:

• Gym 3 days a week--Couch to 5k program, lots of walking/elliptical, and weight training
• Lighter workout at home 2 days a week--Walking Dead Workout for now
• Eat more salads! Every day would be ideal
• Take daily women's multi-vitamin
• Drink more water--8 glasses + 
• Eat more fruits and vegetables--DAILY
• Eat less wheat products (we only eat whole grain/wheat, but could be limited)
• Continue to avoid processed food, fried food, refined, bleached, enriched, high fructose corn syrup, etc
• Don't eat out or highly limit it, twice monthly max
• Yoga? (I know it's supposed to be great for you but I've never tried...input?)

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All of these things are basically the same for my husband as well. He doesn't need to lose as much as I want to but he wants to be stronger and healthier.

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I decided to write this down on my blog in order to give myself more accountability. I would LOVE any kind of support and motivation from my readers and friends! All the nitty gritty scary details like weight and inches are staying in a secure Excel file on my computer...not brave enough to put that out there! Maybe when (not if! Need to be more positive too) I reach my goals! Maybe.

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My husband and I have talked about it a million times but we really need to buckle down and get serious. We want to live LONG, HEALTHY lives together. I don't ever want to be hampered down by a preventable disease. The decisions we make today effect our health later on in life.

Follow my Health and Fitness board to see some of the cool stuff I've pinned regarding health and fitness! That's where all of my pictures came from for today's post. I try to pin fun workouts and motivation along with other health tips and tidbits.

Are you trying to do any of these things in the new year? How are you going about it? Also, any suggestions for fun home workouts once we complete every episode for The Walking Dead Workout?

Till next time,
Catherine