White Chicken Lasagna

So I have been trying to re-vamp the way that I eat because the truth is I feel a million times better when I am putting good, nutritious foods into my body versus sugar and processed crap.  Not to mention it's much better on the waistline.  One of my favorite "real food" websites is 100 Days of Real Food.  Head on over there and check it out.  Not only will you find some cool posts and challenges,  but wonderful recipes.  I found it very inspiring!

Tonight I made her White Chicken Lasagna recipe for the second time {the first time we loved it and I was so excited that there were leftovers for the next day, but then Nate accidentally turned on the wrong burner which the lasagna happened to be on in my glass casserole dish.  All of the sudden we heard a HUGE pop that sounded like a gun shot... the dish had exploded into a thousand tiny pieces and my casserole dish and my leftovers were no more. Sad. } and it was a hit, again.  Boys asked for seconds and ate all of their helpings. My boys' appetites seem to be tripling and I am trying to find meals that are more filling that they will actually eat, so the fact that they all loved this is big news!

The recipe is a tad involved, but if you can get it going early on in the day, or at least have the chicken and noodles cooked earlier in the day, it comes together fairly quickly.  I'd say about 30 minutes or so. But it will be worth it.

27 days!

27 days until we leave for Tennessee!  I can't believe that the time has finally come-it felt like it never would.  I am happy to say that I feel like we have made the best of this year... visited with family a lot, hung with friends we love that we hadn't been able to hang with in years, made many wonderful new friends-which to be honest, wasn't really something that I was expecting to happen, but I can't begin to describe what a blessing those friendships have been!  I love how the Lord puts people in your life that he just knows you need.  I am going to miss these friends, old and new, and our families.  It was wonderful being close to everyone while it lasted. We've also taken a couple little family trips to enjoy the beauty that UT has to offer.  It really has been a great year.  Nate finished his dissertation and graduated from Columbia University.  Nate and I got to take our first trip together without kids in almost 6 years, thanks to some amazing family members, who sacrificed a lot to watch our wild and crazy children.

I honestly didn't know what to expect of this year.  Leaving NYC was hard, but the blow has been softened thanks to the mass exodus that happened last summer, placing several families here in UT as well.  It has been amazing to have our monthly (sometimes more) get togethers and feel like we still have a little piece of NYC here in UT.  I am really, really going to miss that.  Thankfully, Johnson City is a measly 9 hour drive to Manhattan!  Road trip!

So what are our plans now?  Well, we're going to spend the next few weeks de-junking, packing and cleaning.  On July 7th we will begin {another} cross country drive in our little honda cr-v, we will hopefully arrive in TN in a week.  Here is the kicker... we still don't have a place to live!  Ahhhh!  It's stressing me out.  Nate and I have different approaches to this sort of thing-I would like to secure a place before we get there so that we can just get there and start settling in.  But Nate would rather wait until we get there and try to find a place then.  I see the wisdom in that, as it would be really nice to be able to physically check places out before we commit to living there for a year, but still... STRESSFUL!  It'd be nice to fly out there and find something beforehand, but Nate thinks it's a waste of money.  See what I mean?  Completely different approach.  Oh well.  It will be fine.  We will just be forced to endure some extra days of hotel dwelling.  I bet you when we get there, after having been on the road and staying in hotels for 7 days, Nate is going to wish we did it my way. ;)

So wish us luck as we pack up our little family and begin this new adventure.  We are so excited to see what Tennessee has in store for us.

Inaugural post

So this is a new blog.  I have been thinking about doing this for awhile now, but just haven't made the leap-this is me making the leap.  We have had a family blog for about 7 years now and I have all but stopped posting over there.  I guess life has just gotten in the way.  But I think that it's mostly been because it's a family blog and the things that I want to talk about most, aren't just family things.  I want to post about thoughts on motherhood, running, exercise, eating healthy, new family traditions, baking, DIY projects (eventually, when I have a house :), about life in general.  Sure, there will be posts about my kids and family, but overall, I wanted to have a blog that is just mine, written mostly for moms, who might share a common interest or two with me.  I hope that you will find something on this blog that you will connect with.  I'm not trying to be a professional blogger or anything, but while I'm running or driving, I find myself writing blog posts in my head.  It's often very therapeutic for me, as it helps me work through thoughts and issues I am going through in my life- with my kids, small living space, lack of organization, bouts of unhappiness... whatever.  I get some genius ideas while writing blog posts in my head and I always feel like I want to share these things, but the words never make it from my head to the computer.  This is something I want to change.  Especially as my little family and I are on the verge of many big changes coming up soon... we will be moving to Tennessee, we will have a backyard for the first time in 6 years!!  Nate will be starting a new job, my older boys will be starting at a new school and little Barty will be starting school for the first time.  I will probably start taking a class or two in preparation to apply to nursing school sometime in the near future, hopefully we will be buying a house within the next year... lots going on and I am going to want to process it and I want a place to do that.  This is that place.

I also hope to post new recipes I find as I continue on my journey to have a healthier lifestyle.  I have been gradually incorporating clean foods into my diet.  I'm not 100% clean or anything ridiculous like that.  But I am doing my best to cut out refined sugar and flour, finding different ways to satisfy my sweet cravings.  So far I am enjoying this journey.  I have several resources where I find information and inspiration, and so I want to spread the wealth of knowledge.

Basically, this is going to be a modge podge of goodness.  I like pretty things, so I'm going to talk about pretty things I find.  I like to run and do yoga, so I am going to talk about various races I'm training for and how yoga helps me with both my mental and physical health.  I am going to talk about motherhood and how my kids drive me insane, but how I love them anyway and wouldn't trade this job for anything.  I am going to talk about my husband and how awesome he is. :)  I am going to talk about books I just read- fair warning, I love chick-lit and basically have to force myself to read anything that could be considered as "cultured".  I love to travel and I hope to do more of it with my family, so that will be on here too.  I love to plan and throw parties, and kinda wish I had endless funds to collect fun dishes and glassware to along with every imaginable party theme.  But alas, I do not, but I will still enjoy these bursts of creativity when they come along and then share them with you. 

I've come to realize that there are many things that make me, me.  I enjoy many things in this life, and while I'm not the greatest at all of them, I have decided that that doesn't matter.  As long as I can dabble a little bit in everything, I'm a happy girl. 

Ok, so there you have it!  I hope you will join me on this journey of "everyday" motherhood and life in general.  Please bare with me, as I am realizing how out of the loop of technology I am... blogger has changed and I don't really know how to use it anymore.  I don't know how to set my blog up with links or pictures or change the color or layout.  Wow.  Lots to brush up on.  The blog won't look like much for awhile, but I hope that will change soon. 

Until next time...