What I've Learned After 3 Weeks of Being a Mommy

It is hard.

To all of my friends who are also about to be first-time moms, I thought I'd share a few things that I've learned over the past 3 weeks... I hope you enjoy!

1.) You HAVE to take care of yourself. There will be at least one day when you  finally sit down with your husband at the end of the day and realize that you somehow missed breakfast and lunch, and oh, you haven't gone to the bathroom all day. So, through all of the crying and feeding and diaper changing, be sure to eat, stay hydrated, take your vitamins, rest and go to the bathroom :) the baby will be ok if it cries for an extra 2 minutes or 10 minutes while you go to the bathroom or eat your lunch!  Also, take a shower. Do your hair. Put on makeup. It will make you feel better!

2.) Don't forget about your marriage! You and your spouse, or significant other will be so consumed in this new life it is easy to forget about each other. If at first it is hard to separate your marriage from the baby, do things together.. Give the baby a bath together, let your husband feed the baby or burp the baby... After all, you've been taking care of him/her all day!

3.) Some people will tell you to sleep when the baby sleeps, others will tell you to get things done when the baby sleeps. My advice.... Do WHATEVER you want to do when the baby sleeps because, they sleep A LOT. But naturally, the one time you're ready to lay down and rest after a feeding thinking the baby will go to sleep like it's been all day, is the time he/she will lay there staring at you wide awake. Strap them in the swing or baby rocker and lay down... They won't run away :)

4.) People, for whatever reason will have an opinion (like it's their business) on whether you've decided to breast feed or formula feed, cloth diaper or use disposable diapers. Be honest. Tell them what you do, since they really care enough to ask or have an opinion. But that doesn't mean you have to defend or explain yourself.

5.) Don't confine yourself to the house.  You will need to see another human besides from that sweet baby ( sometimes I refer to her as the tiny monster).

6.) Lots of people will want to see the baby. Most will be respectful of your time and how you feel. Others won't. Don't be afraid to tell people if they need to leave or if you don't feel like having company, it's ok.

7.) You will cry. You will be completely exhausted both mentally and physically. You will be overwhelmed by EVERYTHING. You will hurt (a baby just came out of you!) all of this is okay :) You will make it through that first night home from the hospital. Take each day one at a time.

8.) If you want to spend the entire 3 hours between feedings holding and staring at this beautiful creature that you made.. Do it!

9.) Ask for help if you need it, whether it's from your husband or your parents or friends. People will help you. There are so many people who love you, just wait!

10.) Enjoy every single minute with your beautiful baby because before you know it they're 3 weeks
old and half of your maternity leave is already over.

Praying for you all to have happy & healthy labor and deliveries! Don't be afraid to ask for that epidural :)

Love,
Katheryn and Emma

Flank Steak & Veggie Roll-Up

In our house, we LOVE flank steak, so I am always trying to find new and creative recipes to feed a very hungry husband! I came across this recipe on Pintrest... [where else??] but didn't really want to go down the Asian marinade route in that recipe so I made my own!

Flank steak is such a great steak, but it can be very difficult to cook...best served rare to medium rare so it stays tender, but we prefer ours medium. The steak is still pretty tender and has great flavor! For this dish, I did a very basic marinade:

1-2 Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce per side
Salt & Pepper to your preference

First I take the fresh or completely thawed flank steak and tenderize it using a meat tenderizer on both sides, followed by a fork to poke small holes so the salt, pepper and Worcestershire Sauce can really penetrate the meat. I like to let our steaks marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes-1 hour so it  can really absorb the flavor.  {{if you don't feel comfortable leaving your meat out in room temperature... that's totally fine, pop it in the fridge until you're ready to cook it}} 

In the mean time, you can get your veggies together... lucky for me, my mother-in-law works for a produce growing and packing company, so I can usually get just about any vegetable I need fresh and local. In this recipe Bradley wanted squash, carrots, green pepper and scallions.. so that's what we had. Cut all of your fresh vegetables up into toothpick-like pieces and toss them into a pan on the stove-top with your choice of cooking oil, some salt and pepper.. and I added garlic powder just to add some flavor. You want to slightly saute your vegetables, they should be warm and still crunchy {{not soggy and over cooked}}.

Normally with flank steak, I like to get a non-stick pan smoking hot in the stove stop and sear the steak 3-4 minutes on each side and then cover and let rest off of the heat for 10 minutes... Not with this recipe!  Once your steak is ready to cook, depending on the size of your flank steak, you're going to slice it LONG WAYS into pieces. There are only two of us in our house, so I cut our steak right in half. Once you've cut your steak, place your vegetables neatly in the center of the steak and bring the two ends together {like a roll} and secure with 3-4 toothpicks. 

At this point, you're flank steak & vegetable rolls are ready to grill! I grilled our rolls on a Weber Gas Grill at approximately 400-450 degrees turning them every 4 minutes {4x} so all sides of the roll were cooked. If you like your steaks a little more cooked, you could keep them on for longer. The longer they're on the grill, the more cooked through they'll get {{since the steak is rolled-up, it is a little harder to get the interior of the roll cooked completely through, so check them before you turn your grill off!}} 

Once they're cooked to or almost to your liking, let the steak rolls rest before enjoying! 

Garden & Gun Recipes

So, Bradley and I have recently been purchasing the magazine GARDEN & GUN and we absolutely love it! In the most recent issue, there are a ton of really great late-summer side dishes, so tonight for dinner, Bradley, mom and I decided to make them! 

The first recipe we made was the Cast-Iron Charred Corn--- AMAZING!! The sweetness of the corn mixed with the delicious taste of bacon and fresh Vidalia onion really makes a great dish!

Ingredients:

8 ears of corn, husks and silk removed
1/4 cup bacon, diced
1/2 tes. unsalted butter (we used one tablespoon)
1/2 cup Vidalia onion, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt
Cracked black pepper, to taste
1 tsp. chives, minced

Preparation:

To remove corn kernels, cut off the ends of each ear to make flat surfaces. Then, stand ears in a wide casserole dish and , one at a time, carefully cut down the sides with a sharp knife. Next, hold each cob over a bowl and scrape with the back of a butter knife to remove the milk and pulp. Discard cobs and set liquid aside. 

Heat a cast-iro pan on medium-high. Add cut corn and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add bacon and continue to cook until kernels are slightly charred. Remove from heat and set aside. 

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-low. Add onion and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add pulp liquid, charred corn, and heavy cream (**we only added the heavy cream and then put the reduced pulp/cream mixture until the corn and bacon cast-iron). Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring often, 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chives and serve. 

**These are the exact directions taken from our issue of Garden & Gun.**

Image from Garden & Gun website

The second recipe we made was Candied Sweet Potatoes with Pecan Bacon Syrup. This recipe was absolutely delicious, but could have been more like a dessert than a side dish! This recipe was a little more complicating that the corn dish, but turned out excellent!

Ingredients:

3 (we used 4) sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into rounds
Canola oil for frying
Salt 
Pecan Bacon Syrup

Preparation

In a large pot, boil sweet potatoes until just tender. Allow slices to cool completely. Then press them between 2 pieces of parchment paper or foil, working in batches, so the slices flatten slightly and the edges spread. This can be done up to 2 days ahead.

To finish, fill a deep skillet with an inch of canola oil and heat until shimmering. Fry sweet potatoes for about 4 minutes on each side, of until brown and crispy. 

Drain on paper towels and season generously with salt. To serve, stack sweet potatoes, top with syrup, and garnish with sliced scallions.

Pecan Bacon Syrup

Ingredients

2 cups bacon, diced
2 cups pecans, chopped
2/3 cup sliced scallions (white part primarily), plus more for garnish
2/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/3 cups maple syrup
1/4 tsp. chile flakes
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. butter 

Preparation

Heat skillet over medium and render bacon until almost crispy. Add pecans and scallions, and toast for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer until mixture has reduced by about one-third. Whisk in butter just before serving. 

Image from Garden & Gun Website

We hope you all have some time this fall to make these delicious side-dishes! 

Love,
Katheryn 

Loving Where We're Going

In the past month (that I haven't posted one single new entry) Bradley and I have made some huge changes in our lives. For the past 6 years for me, and 2 years for Bradley we have lived in Knoxville, Tennessee and have had our mixed emotions about it... somedays we loved the convenience of living in the city and all of the things to do, and other days we dreaded the 15 minute drive to work (only 5 miles away) and all of the noise and light pollution. 

In the 6 months we've been married, it has been extra hard to be 3 hours away from both of our families... they live in Western North Carolina. We've talked at buying a house, but have never gotten close to that point, and have been in a constant struggle between moving and not moving, that honestly became very exhausting and draining.

Bradley and I are not hugely spiritual people, but after praying for guidance, the Lord gave us an extremely clear answer as to what we needed to do with our lives. The answer... move to North Carolina to be closer to our families! In the matter of two weeks we were both blessed to find amazing new jobs, a house to live in, and pack up our apartment into a U-Haul and move! Seriously, it's been an absolutely crazy, fun, exhausting, emotional, and expensive whirlwind. 

In the past week while Bradley continued to work out his notice, I spent the week at my parent's house while cleaning up our new, but very old house. {Many, many posts to come about the cleaning and renovation to the house & once we can get back on our feet, I will finish the 7 Days of Herbs series}. 

Bradley and I are so excited about the changes in our life and can't wait to share our journey with the rest of you. 

We are "Loving Where We're Going" :) 

Love, 
Katheryn 

Gorgeous view of our new backyard from the living room

{{7}} Days of Herbs

In February, Knoxville held it's annual 3-day Dogwood Home & Garden Show, and since the company Bradley works for had a garden display, my parents and I decided to check it out.

Bradley's company's garden display. Proscapes Landscape Design Group

While we were there, we came across the cutest vendor, Erin's Meadow Herb Farm. They had everything from cute herb markers and dried herbs to little accessories for a fairy garden. {Fairy Garden post to come}

The next day after talking about how I wish I'd gotten some herbs while we were there, Bradley comes home with them!

Not only did he bring home five different types of herbs { rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme and marjoram}, he also brought home a nifty little book about all the kitchen herbs!

This backstory leads me into my blog series "7 Days of Herbs". Using the five herbs Bradley brought home along with two others {basil and dill}, I will give you an overview of each, along with a recipe.

I hope you enjoy!

Love,
Katheryn

Good, Good Friday

Every holiday, Bradley and I pack up the car and the dogs and travel back to North Carolina to spend the occasion with our families. I am so blessed that my parents allow the 4 of us to stay with them, usually my grandparents stay the weekend too.

This weekend for Easter is no different from any other holiday. We love to sit around outside during the day, letting the dogs run their little hearts out while we sit around and talk. At night however, the men (Bradley, my dad, and my grandfather) sit around the kitchen table with their whiskey and cards playing poker, while my mom, my grandmother, myself and the dogs relax on the couch drinking wine and catch up with each other.

Today was a little different, we decided to have our own little wine tasting. While at the grocery store today, I discovered a wine that we have never seen in Tennessee... Barefoot Sweet Red. Usually, my favorite is a Red Moscato so this seemed liked something that would be right up my alley. We purchased the Barefoot Sweet Red, Barefoot Red Moscato and just for fun, Duplin Carolina Red Sweet Muscadine Wine.

At the end of the tasting, results were in! 

(1.) Red Moscato won the most votes. It is not too dry but not too sweet and has a great taste. Definitely a good wine for someone who is new to the world of wine or who is trying to transition from sweet white wines such as regular Moscato or a pink Moscato to more dry, red wines.

(2.) The new discovery, Sweet Red was second place. Since it is a blend of reds, it was still a little too dry for me, but did have a surprising little sweet after taste.

(3.) Duplin Carolina Red ranked at the bottom of the list. It tasted more like a very sweet grape juice rather than wine and was not a favorite of anyone involved in our family tasting.

Mom and I after our wine tasting :-) What is your favorite wine? Are there any that you've been wanting to try? Let me know in the comments section!! 

Happy Easter!

Love,

Katheryn

A Little About Me..

Happy Snowy, Spring Day! I thought this second post would be a great one to tell you a little about who I am, as well as my journey.

{Who Am I?}

• Tennessee Graduate (raised in North Carolina)
• Newlywed to an amazing man (he runs all the power tools for my crafts)
• Mother to two very furry creatures Tucker (2 year old chocolate lab) & Mollie (4 year old black lab mix)
• Passion for crafts and cooking (with a little help from the hubs)

{What is my journey?}

I am on several journeys right now, (1) to be a great wife. I love being a wife and having the responsibility of a family. They are my number one priority, that unfortunately can sometimes get lost in the mix of life. (2) to be an expert in the field that I love, health and wellness. My dream is to become a public health educator and revamp health and wellness in our public schools. I currently work full-time in a physical therapy clinic as an exercise physiologist. (3) to share with the world the things that I love, my family, cooking and crafts, and finally (4) to have a blog that inspires people in any way that it can, and keep up with it! 

{What's Going On Now}

Bradley and  I have a few fun crafts going on right now, they will be posted once they're done :-) I'll give you a hint... Pinterest (my addiction) both crafts are made from wooden pallets!

I hope you've learned a little about me and my journeys! I'd love to know what your journeys are! Post them in the comments :-)

Love,
Katheryn