Changing it up... ALREADY.

Pier 1, although it seemed like it was going to be a great job, ended up not matching our financial needs. SOOO... off I went again looking for a different job. So before I even started at Pier 1, I quit. Today I will be starting at............

Yes... Chick-fil-a. This may not be the 'ideal' job for most people (a "fast food" restaurant) but I am very excited for it! Here are a few reasons:

1. My brother works for Chick-fil-a at the Atlanta headquarters.
2. They are a Christian company and desire to Glorify God in all they do.
3. They give away food like it's nobody's business. (Each month a group of youth pastors from the area come in and Chick-fil-a gives them free food and a place to meet just so they can socialize and grow together in Christ.)
4. My boss seems AMAZING!
5. People are SOOO friendly.
6. I loved working at McDonald's (as weird as that is) so I'm excited for this as well.
7. It is a humbling experience.
8. It's a great opportunity to get to know and bless my coworkers.
9. It's a way to impact the community.
10. They are not open on Sundays.
11. They have the BEST shakes and WONDERFUL chicken!

Greek Pasta Salad

My sister and I want to become very 'well-versed' in our cooking skills/knowledge, so we have decided to have a theme (a specific herb, fresh, specific meat) every few months or so that we focus on and try to become better at.

So for this summer we are trying to focus on FRESH SALADS/FOODS.

The only week I made this salad and it was AMAZING!

Greek Pasta Salad:

12 oz penne (4 cups uncooked)
2 c. cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 medium cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced
4 green onions, sliced
1/3 c kalamata olives, halved (if you wish)
1/2 olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp fresh basil (2 tsp. dried)
2 Tbsp fresh oregano (2 tsp. dried)
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

(I also added Cilantro which made it quite good... Cilantro makes everything better though)

HOW TO:

Cook pasta


Drain and rinse with cold water.

Combine vegetables in a large bowl.



Combine with pasta.

DRESSING:
Combine everything else but feta. Shake/Mix well.


Drizzle dressing over pasta mixture and toss to coat.


Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Top with Feta.


THAT' IT!!! I only made a half-batch and it could have served 6-ish people.

I served it with bread and olive oil.



ANY OTHER IDEAS FOR FRESH FOODS/SALADS?!?

Green Smoothies!

I tried my first green smoothie today and although the color isn't the most appetizing... it tasted quite good. My sister Nicole started my family on these things. Here's her blog post about it! My parents now have them daily and my dad has been feeling incredibly better. Even Matt enjoyed it today. Today I used:

1 cup water in blender (get it spinning)
2 handfuls of spinach (put into blender)
1 banana (chopped)
1 peach (chopped)
ice (just enough to make it cold)

All a green smoothie needs is some sort of greens and fruit.

Try it!! Here are a few recipes I found online for other combinations.

• 2-3 cups any greens of your choice, 2 cups papaya, 2 oranges, 3 dates
• 1 handful lettuce leaves, 1 handful mint, 4 bananas, 1/2 cup water
• Winter Smoothie - 1 cup organic frozen berries (any kind), 2 cups fresh spinach, 1/4 inch fresh ginger, water
• Spring Smoothie - fresh orange juice, ripe bananas, frozen mangoes, and several large leaves of kale (extra frozen mango gives lovely thick consistency you eat with a spoon)
• 1/2 bunch romaine lettuce, 1 cup strawberries, 2 bananas, water
• 4-5 kale leaves, 4 apples, 1/2 lemon juiced, water
• 2 big handfuls mixed baby greens, 2 pears, 2 mangoes, 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• Choc-mint – 2 cups spinach, 10-12 mint leaves, 3 bananas, 2 Tbs. carob powder, 1 cup water
• 1 handful of spinach, 2 stalks of celery, 2 bananas, 2 pears, 1 apple, 1 cup water
• 1 small handful of spinach, 2 cups arugula, 2-3 mangoes, 1 cup water
• 1/2 head romaine lettuce, 1 small pineapple, 1 large mango, 1-inch fresh ginger
• 1 handful wild greens (e.g. dandelion), 1 small handful mint leaves, 3 cups honeydew melon
• 3-4 stalks celery, 2 ripe persimmons, 1 banana
• 1 handful chard leaves, 5-6 kale leaves, 3 large bananas, 1 cup water
• 1 handful parsley, 3 cups of peeled papaya

Plumpynut

This video was put up in 2008 and I think it has had AMAZING results. Plumpynut is an invention made of peanut butter and some other things. It has been helping with malnutrition in the world. It really made me excited! Watch it! Also I researched a little bit about it and found that there are people all over who are raising money for it. For example a guy just ran the Boston Marathon in April, raised a bunch of money and was able to save 350 lives. Now... I would run a marathon for that! Let me know what you think about this or if you find anything else interesting about it!

Welcome to our Home!

Matt and I are officially married and settled in our new apartment. Here's a small recap of the last few weeks and pictures of our fully moved in home.

THE WEDDING

We are so blessed by so many people who were involved in this day. It was beautiful and I couldn't have imagined it any better. Thanks to everyone who helped, came, etc. You are AMAZING!

THE HONEYMOON

We went to North Carolina and had a WONDERFUL time. We relaxed, went to a movie, jet-skied, laid on the beach, took a day trip to Myrtle Beach, and caught a turtle and crab in our pool. We didn't take many pictures... a lot of video though. But here are a few.

THE HOME

We got home on Saturday, went to two weddings on Saturday, and had the present opening on Sunday. It was great to see everyone and get to spend some sweet time with our families on Sunday. This week Matt has been working and I've been dong 'wifely duties' like sewing, decorating, cooking, etc. Here's our house in the 'DONE' condition!











PILLOWS- these were my short sewing project this week. I didn't think ahead when I started making them and ended up struggling a bit but they turned out pretty well.

THE JOB
I also got hired today to work at Pier 1 Imports. I start sometime next week. Pretty exciting!