Anniversary Weekend Part 2: Caverns, Bird Knob Hike, and Wine-Tasting

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Day two of our anniversary weekend in the mountains (you can check out the day one recap here) began with coffee-sipping on the porch of our cabin.

We could hear a stream rushing somewhere in the woods below and a rooster crowing somewhere in the distance, but there were very few sounds beyond that. This cabin was the epitome of seclusion, and it was awesome.

After a leisurely breakfast and a quick dip in the hot tub, we drove into Luray to check out Luray Caverns. They were pretty cool–it is amazing how it all was formed–but after a while it all kind of looks the same to me. Andrew, on the other hand, my rock-loving mine engineer, was geeking out the whole time, and that was fun to watch. There’s basically one rule in the caverns: don’t touch the rocks (the oil from our skin breaks them down). We saw one guy in our group sneakily reach out and touch a rock with his finger; Andrew shook his head, and under his breath said, “Exhibit some self-control, buddy.” 😀

After our caverning adventure we stopped for lunch at this wonderful restaurant called Gathering Grounds. It’s a coffee/sandwich shop with delicious food…and gluten-free options! In a little mountain town like Luray, we weren’t sure how well-versed the restaurants would be in food allergies, but they were incredibly accommodating. They even had a few GF pastries available for dessert. Andrew finished his meal with a giant peanut butter cookie and was a very happy camper. 😀 If you find yourself in Luray, check out Gathering Grounds!

We spent a little time exploring Main Street and letting our food digest, then we drove back into the mountains for our second hike of the weekend: Bird Knob. Our criteria for choosing this hike were 1. good views (always) and 2. shorter distance… something less strenuous and time consuming than our crazy hike from the day before. While the Bird Knob hike is 8 miles if you do the entire thing, the overlooks are only 1.5 miles into the hike, so we could make it a 3 miler if needed.

I made certain to pack enough water for this hike, but I didn’t pay much attention to the elevation chart. My thought process: “Three miles? That’s an evening stroll around the neighborhood.” Wrong, wrong, wrong. The entirety of the 1.5 miles to the overlook was uphill, and parts of it were annoyingly steep. It probably wouldn’t have been as difficult if our legs weren’t sore from our hike the previous day. As we neared the top Andrew said, “Next time I choose the hikes.” 😉

As usual, the views made it all worthwhile:

We hiked about a mile beyond this, then turned around and made our way back down the mountain.

Back at the cabin we grilled some steaks, poured a couple of drinks, and watched the sun set.

Gender role reversal: Andrew with a fruity mixed drink, Catherine with a dark stout 😉

We concluded our weekend with some wine tasting on Sunday on our drive back to Richmond. We stopped at Barboursville Vineyards, which is an Italian-owned winery, made to look like an old Tuscan farmhouse. The wine was pretty good–none of them tasted as much like grape juice as I want wine to taste–but the scenery was beautiful:

The weekend was simultaneously relaxing and exhausting. It was so great to get away and be in the mountains, but we (I) picked some tough hikes 😀 Regardless, we were very thankful for the opportunity to celebrate two years of marriage!

-Beach or mountains? Andrew and I discussed this Saturday; he picked the beach, I picked the mountains (but ask me again when I’m at the beach this summer ;-))
-Have you been to any caverns (Luray or other)? What did you think? Are you a rock-toucher/rule-breaker?

Anniversary Weekend Part 1: Hiking Strickler Knob

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Today marks two years that Andrew and I have been married! We celebrated this weekend with a getaway to a cute mountain cabin in Luray, Virginia. The trip was both awesome and exhausting, filled with hiking and exploring the area.

Friday morning we drove straight from Richmond to the base of our first hike–Strickler Knob–with plans to check into the cabin that evening. I’d like to give this section of the post a special title based on our (my) experience:

Pack More Water Than You Think You Need

Strickler Knob is about a 9.5-mile hike with an incredible 360 degree view at the top of the mountain. Now, 9.5 miles is a pretty long hike, and the reviews I read rated it 5 out of 6 in terms of difficulty, but for some reason I was not taking that thing seriously before we started. I only packed one 24-oz water bottle, and that turned out to be a dangerous mistake.

About ten minutes into the hike, the trail turns very steeply downhill–the kind of downhill that isn’t fun at all–so steep that after .6 mile, when the trail finally started going uphill, it felt relaxing. During that section all I could think was, “This is going to be terrible on the way back…” And it was…but more on that soon. 🙂

The entire hike was beautiful; there was a stream, rock scrambling, and these views at the top:

Amazing.

The return trip is where it became painful. The temperature was hotter than expected, and with no leaves on the trees yet, there was very little shade. I’d consumed all of my water, and Andrew refilled my bottle with half of his second bottle (so by being under-prepared, I endangered both of us). In addition to being dehydrated, rationing water meant that I had only eaten a few bites of my sandwich when we stopped for lunch–with a dry mouth it was tough to swallow. All around, I did not have enough fuel in my system.

For most of the return trip I felt okay. We even ran a few downhill sections! And then we reached the bottom of that d**n hill that I knew was going to be terrible from the start. Friends, I am in good shape. Cardiovascularly I can go the distance; the muscles in my legs are strong. After 8.5 miles, however, with not quite enough water or food, this ascent was not pretty. I had to stop and rest–and not just rest, but sit down–every .05 miles. That’s roughly every minute, maybe two on that terrain. I’ve certainly felt tired on hikes before, but this was the first time I’d ever thought, “I cannot make it to the top of this hill. How am I going to do this? I’m going to have to camp here.” Andrew said he was preparing himself to have to carry me. It was awful.

And then after a grueling .6 mile, we reached flat ground…and I turned around and cursed the mountainside.

With adequate fuel, it would have been a tough hike, but with only 4.5 cups of water over that distance, it was almost more than I could take. I was thankful to have Andrew there to encourage me and share his water! Anytime you go into the woods, pack more water than you think you need.

After completing the hike, we made our way to the cabin.

Isn’t it cute?? We refueled with dinner cooked on the grill, then relaxed in the hot tub 😀

Despite the dehydration, it was a great day. I’d like to tackle that hike again with better preparation…the views are worth it!

I will post about the rest of the weekend tomorrow, but for now…

Happy anniversary to the love of my life! 😀

April Challenge: Week 1

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Last week Andrew and I began a month-long fitness challenge, with the goal of “spring cleaning” our habits and getting into better shape. Here’s a recap of our goals:

–Start getting ready for bed by 10 PM
-Plan lunches and snacks for the week, and make sure we have all necessary ingredients
-After dinner, only snack if actually hungry
-Complete at least 4 cardiovascular workouts each week
-Complete at least 1 yoga + 2 weight-lifting workouts each week

Over all, we did really well! Here’s what our week looked like in terms of these goals:

-We’ve been getting ready for bed by 10 PM on week nights, and sometimes earlier! I can feel a noticeable difference in how I feel in the morning. Check.

-When possible, we’ve planned lunches and snacks. I was traveling Wednesday-Saturday of last week, which meant eating out a lot or having meals prepared by someone else. I did the best I could with what was there (also, I may have ordered a slice of cheesecake after dinner on the company tab…). Thankfully, many restaurants now have a list of healthy options, so it’s easier to make healthy choices! (Normally I don’t necessarily order off the “healthy” menu–I order what I’m in the mood for–but it’s a different story when we’re going out to eat every night, plus lunches while traveling.) Andrew continues to pack his lunches most days like a champ.

-Andrew is the after dinner snacker, and he has been doing really well this week. When he is hungry in the evenings, he’s been snacking on raw veggies and hummus. Go, Andrew!

-Fitness. Here’s what we did:
*Andrew: run/walk (1), yoga (2), gardening (3 & 4), body sculpt class (5), walk (6), elliptical (7)
*Catherine: walk (1), weight circuits (2), run/walk (3), weight circuit (4), walk (5), run (6), weight circuit (7), walk (8)

Total cardio workouts: 4 (Andrew), 5 (Catherine)
Total weight lifting/yoga workouts: 3 (Andrew), 3 (Catherine)

Fitness goals…Check.

For Andrew, gardening this week counts as cardio and weights, as he was working up a sweat doing some serious digging, tilling, and carrying heavy bags of dirt around. You know, just another day at Two Storey Farms.

Also, the “run/walk” that’s listed for both us of has kind of a funny story. On April 1, day one of this challenge, we finished dinner, and Andrew suggested we go for a walk. While we were getting ready I said, “What if we walk to get ice cream/Italian ice?” So we started the two mile walk to our favorite dessert place. A minute into the walk Andrew said, “Let’s run so we can get there faster!” So we ran for ice cream and ate it on the walk home. Four miles in the bank. 😀

The other funny exercise-related incident this week was related to the body sculpt class Andrew attended. I was still out of town at that point, and he’d told me the night before that he was going, so I texted him Saturday afternoon to see how the class went. He said, “It was like, ‘Which one of these things is not like the others?’ All women… mostly moms.” He saw a friend from church in the class who assured him that there’s usually at least one other guy! I’m still so proud of him for sticking it out. 😀

For anyone who’s interested, this is the weight-lifting/body weight workout I’ve been doing this week:

If you move from one exercise to the next with no break, it takes about 10 minutes per series (30 to do it three times), and it’s a pretty good little workout! You can always adjust the reps or weight you use as needed. I plan to change it up next week so my muscles don’t get too used to one workout, but it’s been serving me well.

So far I don’t feel super different (except being more well-rested), but I think part of that is having been out of town for four days and getting off track food-wise. I am confident that we are making healthy choices most of the time, and I am excited to see how the rest of the month goes!

-Have you ever literally run for ice cream or some other type of food?
–Have you ever been the only person of your gender in a group exercise class?

Spring Cleaning Our Healthy Habits

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

This weekend Andrew and I cleaned out the closet in our bedroom. Our closet is wonderfully huge–it could probably fit two queen-sized beds foot-to-foot with some walking room–which I love, but it also means there’s great potential for huge messes. Generally speaking, Andrew is a lot neater than I am. His side of the closet had a few articles of clothing scattered on the floor, some drawers open, and some shoes out of place, but nothing that couldn’t be straightened in 15 or 20 minutes. My side of the closet looked like a suitcase had thrown up its contents after I’d packed for a month-long trip. Cleaning it involved multiple hours of sorting, folding, trashing, and Goodwill-ing.

Epic, mostly clean closet. With my wedding dress hanging on the left. 😀

Also this weekend Andrew and I discussed doing some type of wellness challenge during the month of April to get ourselves in better shape. As we examined our exercise and eating habits, we realized that our current routine is pretty good…when we actually stick to the routine. Our lifestyle doesn’t need a complete overhaul, like what I had to do on my side of the closet Sunday, but rather a dusting off of our healthy habits, more akin to straightening Andrew’s side of the closet. <Phew.>

So how do we stick to the routine? A crucial part of maintaining healthy habits for me is planning ahead. I know what I need to do, and I have this great idea in my head that I will get up early each morning to workout, pack a healthy lunch, and go to bed early at night. If I am not intentional about planning ahead, however, this is what ends up happening:

We stay up late one night watching one more episode of whatever on Netflix. I wake up too tired to workout in the morning, reset my alarm, and tell myself I’ll go for a run when I get home from work (it will be warmer then, anyway.) I go to work, but run out of time/forget to pack a lunch–I’ll just grab a big salad around noon. Noon arrives, and I’m in the middle of something, so I delay going out. Around 2:00 I finally decide I can’t put off lunch any longer, and by this point I am starving, so I end up buying something greasy/fried/cheesy/etc. (The later in the day it is, the more unhealthy my lunch will be.) When I arrive home after work, I’m tired and have a stomach ache because I ate such a crappy lunch, so instead of going for a run I park myself on the couch, telling myself that Andrew and I can go to the gym after dinner. We don’t, but instead watch a few more episodes of whatever on Netflix, once again staying up too late…

Can anyone relate to that? I consider myself a fairly healthy person; I know what good eating and exercise habits look like, and I still fall into that trap if I fail to plan ahead. In light of that, our “spring cleaning” involves committing to some guidelines that will set us up to make healthier decisions, and recommitting to some fitness goals. By doing it together, we can hold each other accountable and encourage one another to get our butts of the couch more often. 🙂

Here are our goals and guidelines for the month of April:

Spring Cleaning Our Healthy Habits

~Start getting ready for bed by 10 PM.

~Plan lunches and snacks for the week, and make sure we have all necessary ingredients

~After dinner, only snack if actually hungry

~Complete at least 4 cardiovascular workouts each week

~Complete at least 1 yoga + 2 weight-lifting workouts each week

What are are NOT doing: counting calories, restricting what we eat in any way, or trying to lose weight. Again, we both know how to eat well and have a desire to do so; if we are proactive with lunches, they will be healthy, so we don’t feel the need to dictate what exactly we’ll eat. Plus, we don’t believe in deprivation. My weight hangs out in the same 5-lb range no matter what I do, and Andrew’s is pretty steady as well. Body fat, on the other hand, we’d both like to lower a bit. We did weigh-in this morning, and while we are not super concerned with the actual numbers, I am curious to see if there will be any changes at the end of the month!

Andrew
Starting weight: X
Starting body fat %: Y

Catherine
Starting weight: A
Starting body fat %: B

(Unsatisfying, I know. 😉 All numbers fall in to the “healthy” range.)

I will give progress reports each week on Wednesday or Thursday–and because there are 30 days in April, but only 28 days in 4 weeks, we’ll have two freebie days in there somewhere. 🙂

The first major challenge for me will be this week, as I am traveling for a work conference Wednesday-Saturday! I won’t have to think about packing lunches, but I will have to find time to workout. (This will also be a major challenge for Andrew, who won’t have me there to drag him to the gym. :-D)

We are looking forward to embarking on our “spring cleaning” , and even more so looking forward to feeling better, stronger, and healthier by the end of the month!

-What are your wellness goals for the spring?
-How do you set yourself up to make healthier decisions throughout the day?

Mountain Biking at Dutch Gap

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Well, it seems the warm weather we had Saturday was just another spring teaser, as it is very likely to snow again tomorrow. I feel certain that even the greatest snow lovers in Virginia are over it by now. <Sigh.>

Andrew and I enjoyed the nice weather while we could; on Saturday we packed up our bikes and drove to the Dutch Gap Conservation Area, a park not too far from home.

The park has a 4.5 mile trail that runs around a pond, with lots of spur trails that we rode down as well. We didn’t ride super fast or super far, but it was a very enjoyable afternoon! We spent about two hours exploring the area and enjoying the outdoors.

At one point we took some photos with the self-timer on my camera…

In case you were wondering, jumping photos are incredibly difficult to capture with a self-timer. 🙂

We did have a pretty good laugh at my expense at the beginning of our trek: Andrew’s sister, Jenny, gave us the water bottles seen in the bike photo above for Christmas. My previous water bottle was a Camelbak. As we were getting set up…

Me: I can’t quite figure out this water bottle.

Andrew: What do you mean?

Me: I don’t know how hard to bite the straw part. Sometimes hardly any water comes out, and sometimes it flows freely, but I can’t figure out the right way to do it.

Andrew: You don’t have to bite it at all. It’s just a straw.

Oops. 😀 We laughed.

The rest of our weekend was filled with doing some odds and ends around the house, watching Robin Hood: Men in Tights on Netflix (I loved this movie as a kid, and it was exponentially funnier as an adult, :-D) and watching basketball (my March Madness bracket is pretty much done, by the way). Speaking of basketball–and backtracking because I’ve been very undisciplined about blogging lately–the basketball team that Andrew and my brother, Ross, play for won their championship game on Thursday!

So proud of these guys 😀

The medal is now hanging from our mantle, of course.

Have a great Monday, everyone!

-What was the highlight of your weekend?
–Did you fill out a bracket for the NCAA tournament? Are more than two of your teams still alive?

Tastes of Spring

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

My office is closed today, and I’m watching the snow fall outside through the kitchen window…again. I like snow, but I am ready for the warmer weather we experienced briefly this weekend. It was quite the teaser! We did manage to squeeze in a few spring activities, one of which I am so, so excited about: planting vegetable seeds!!

Last year we took the “go big or go home” approach with our vegetable garden, tilling a 10-ft x 20-ft plot in the middle of our back yard, and we experienced surprisingly great success. (You can check out last year’s garden updates starting here.) We ate amazing, fresh produce throughout the summer, and we are still working our way through the veggies we froze by using them in soups and stir-fries. It’s been wonderful.

This Saturday we gathered our supplies–some seeds saved from vegetables last year, some new seeds, dirt, a seed starting box, a clear storage bin to use as a makeshift greenhouse–and set up a planting station in our driveway.

We planted:
-Brandywine Tomatoes
-“Sweetie” Cherry Tomatoes
-Black Krim Tomatoes
-Yellow Pear Tomatoes
-Bell Peppers
-Pimento Peppers
-Tomatillos
-Butternut Squash
-Spaghetti Squash
-Watermelon

And now our guest bathroom is a greenhouse. 😉 In the seed starting box in the foreground, which has a clear plastic lid, we planted all the tomatoes and peppers. For the others, we are experimenting with 1. bigger containers and 2. a bigger greenhouse: a clear, upside down storage container. We put our space heater in the bathroom with the seeds to make sure they are nice and warm. 🙂

Even though our garden last year was a success, I feel so nervous about how well these little guys will do; we are still rookies who just happened to have ideal growing conditions last summer. We’ll have to wait and see what happens!

Sunday was even more gorgeous than Saturday. With temperatures in the 70’s, we simply couldn’t stay inside, so we drove to the University of Richmond to play disc golf. If you’ve never played disc golf before, I think it’s the perfect compromise activity for people like Andrew and me–it’s essentially taking a walk in a park with elements of competition and athletics. 🙂

Also, we found a turtle:

#selfieswithturtles

It was an awesome way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 🙂

And now we return to our regularly scheduled winter weather. On the upside, I took these photos this morning of a giant hawk that sometimes hangs out in our back yard…so beautiful in the snow!

Have a great Monday, everyone!

–What’s the weather like outside your window today?
-Have you ever played disc golf? What do you think?
-Are you growing veggies this summer, and have you started the seeds?

Valentine’s Day 2014

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Valentine’s Day was full of good food and love for us this year. My mom gave us a heart-shaped egg cooker, so Friday morning Andrew fried us some heart eggs to go with our banana muffins from earlier in the week:

I met my good friend Kate for lunch at The Daily (the restaurant where Andrew and I had our awesome date night last week). Kate and I realized that, for various reasons, we’ve had lunch together on Valentine’s Day for the last three years. New tradition 🙂 We went to The Daily because I really needed some more of those Brussels sprouts:

Mmm 🙂

After work I went for a 30-minute run–the first in my new running shoes that I bought last week! I’m not usually a pink girl, but these are the best shoes for me, and this is the current color. It’s tough sometimes, but I never pick running shoes based on the look! It was festive for a Valentine’s Day run, anyway.

Friday was a beautiful day here–I’m pretty sure the temperature was in the upper 50’s when I ran, but not all the snow had melted yet. It feels a little funny to run in shorts with snow on the ground, but I’m not complaining!

After my run I took a quick shower and was getting ready for our Valentine’s date when Andrew arrived home with these goodies:

Beautiful flowers and all-natural chocolate: he knows the way to my heart 🙂

We turned to the Frank Sinatra station on Pandora and began prepping dinner. While cooking, we enjoyed some festive pink cocktails that were quite delicious: cranberry-pomegranate juice, passion fruit rum, and lime (plus tonic water for Andrew). Amazing.

We tag-teamed the cooking and ended up with this very tasty dinner: steak, garlic green beans, and baked sweet potatoes.

(I only ate about half of that giant steak :))

After taking our time and really enjoying dinner and good conversation, we started watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s on Netflix. Neither of us had seen it, and it was so good! Midway through the movie, once our food had digested some, we brought dessert to the living room:

Dark chocolate fondue with strawberries, marshmallows, bananas, and rice crispie treats

We made the fondue in our Crock-pot “Little Dipper”– chocolate chips + almond milk + vanilla. We plugged it in while we were making dinner, and it was ready to go by the dessert course!

Overall it was a fantastic Valentine’s Day. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, the day before V-day we did fulfill #4 on this list:

We built a very lovely snow woman in our neighbors’ driveway. 😀

Have a great Monday!

-How did you spend Valentine’s Day?
-What was the highlight of your weekend?
-When buying running shoes, how much does appearance affect your choice?

A Valentine’s Day Survey

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

…because everybody likes taking surveys 😀 Feel free to re-post and answer for yourself…or answer any/all the questions in the comments section!

1. Valentine’s Day: Love it, hate it, or something in between?
I don’t have super strong feelings towards the day. If you have a significant other, celebrate together; if not, it’s not a big deal. I really don’t get the whole, “Singles Awareness Day” thing, and I didn’t when I was single either! It’s like Mothers’ Day. We childless women don’t turn it into “Childless Awareness Day”–the holiday simply doesn’t apply to me at this point in my life.

2. Most memorable Valentine’s Day you’ve had so far (good or bad)?
Two years ago Andrew had to have a minor surgery… on Valentine’s Day. I spent the day in the waiting room, driving to the drug store, and playing nurse while Andrew came down from his pain medication high. Yaaay. 😉 He did think ahead and bring me flowers and chocolate the day before.

3. Do you have a Valentine this year? If so, who is it?
Andrew, my handsome husband.

4. Favorite love songs (cheesy or not)?
“I’ll Stand by You” by The Pretenders
“(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” by Bryan Adams
So good. So cheesy. Don’t care. 😀

5. Worst pickup line you’ve ever received or used? (And did it work?)
-A (very inebriated) guy walked up to me at a bar one time and said, “We’ll have to think of a different story to tell the kids. We don’t want them to know we met at a bar.” It didn’t work.
-My junior year in college I was studying at Panera one afternoon, and a guy walked up to me and said, “Excuse me, I don’t usually do this, but I was just noticing you from across the room…” Once I realized he was serious, I was flattered and went on a date with him.

6. What’s your favorite gift to receive on Valentine’s Day?
Flowers. Cliche? Maybe, but I love flowers. Chocolate is a close second.

7. If you were a conversation heart, what would you say?
I think I’d just be a winky face: “;-)”

8. Favorite flower?
Tulips.

9. Favorite candy?
I’m a chocolate girl. I love anything mint chocolate or sea salt caramel chocolate. Mmm…

10. Most meaningful way someone could show you they love you?
Quality time. Simply taking time to do something with me is better than any gift in my book!

11. How are you planning to spend tonight?
Andrew and I are having a nice dinner at home–we are making steaks, sweet potatoes, and green beans, with chocolate fondue for dessert!

Rice Krispie treats for the fondue… but we may have already eaten a few 😀

Happy Valentine’s Day!

-Tell me your answers to any or all of the questions above!

Snowmageddon Chicken Stew and Other Snow Adventures

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

We have another snow day here in Richmond! In anticipation of the snow, which started yesterday around 4 PM, I felt compelled to cook a lot of food. (If that sounds familiar, yes, I did the same thing a few weeks ago. It must be a primal survival instinct.)

For dinner–and what will be dinner for at least two more days–I made a big pot of Snowmageddon Chicken & Rice Stew. What makes it Snowmageddon stew rather than regular chicken stew? The chicken is only from drumsticks because when I went to the grocery store in all the storm preparation craziness yesterday, there was no chicken remaining except drumsticks. I am not exaggerating. The poultry case was empty except for a few packages of chicken legs. Chicken legs it is. 🙂

Snowmageddon Chicken & Rice Stew
10 drumsticks (~3 lb)
8 whole carrots
4 large celery sticks
8 oz green beans
8 oz mushrooms
5 large kale leaves
2 cloves garlic
1.5 c brown rice
2 qts chicken broth
Salt, pepper, thyme, smoked paprika, rosemary, onion powder
Olive oil

1. Chop all veggies into bite-sized pieces. 2. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add mushrooms and brown; add garlic and saute for about a minute. 3. Add all remaining ingredients, including whole, raw chicken legs. Stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer. 4. Check chicken in about 15 minutes. When it’s cooked through, take all drumsticks out of pot. Remove chicken from each leg (yes, this is very tedious), discarding the bones and putting meat back in the pot. 5. Continue to let simmer, partially covered, until rice is cooked through (or longer).

Best if eaten while sitting under blankets on the couch 🙂

The legs definitely give the stew more flavor than we would have gotten using breasts, so that’s a plus!

While the stew was simmering, Andrew and I tag-teamed a batch of banana muffins. We used a recipe from a gluten-free, dairy-free cookbook we have, and they turned out pretty great:

We added a cinnamon-brown sugar crumble on top…not the prettiest, but they taste wonderful!

After dinner and dessert, we suited-up and played in the still-falling snow. We took our sleds and found the best sledding hills in the neighborhood, threw a few snowballs, and give our inner-children free reign for an hour or so. 😀

Eating snow + Snyoga

We warmed up and capped the night with two mugs of green chai tea:

Andrew and I are both home from work today and have one snow adventure planned so far: making an igloo. 🙂 Have a great snow day, everyone! Stay safe and warm!

-Do you have a snow day today?
-When was the last time you went sledding?
–Do you cook way more food than you actually need when it’s about to snow?

10 Good-for-Your-Heart Valentine’s Day Ideas

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Valentine’s Day is approaching quickly, but who says it has to include huge, artery-clogging dinners and blood-sugar-spiking desserts? The way I see it, the day is about spending quality time with your significant other. Here are 10 ways to strengthen your love and your heart this Valentine’s Day:

1. Take a new-to-both-of-you class together at the gym. Last year Andrew and I tried a yoga class on V-Day (well, technically the day before V-Day). We had a great time laughing at ourselves because we were both horrible, and it was the start of healthy routine that we both really enjoy now.

2. Take a walk together at a local park. V-Day is on a Friday this year, so this is probably a Saturday activity unless you both happen to have the day off work. Hand-holding is optional, but recommended.

3. Visit an indoor trampoline park. These places are popping up all over the country, so chances are there is one near you (we have two in Richmond now.) Jumping on trampolines is an insanely good workout and so much fun. For any guys reading this, make sure you know your girl before surprising her with this; while I would enjoy it, I realize that some girls need something slightly more romantic.

4. Build a snowman in your neighbors’ driveway after dark. This is a personal favorite of ours any time it snows, and there’s a good chance we will have snow on the ground Friday! Building a snowman requires some physical exertion, plus, doing it sneakily is inherently fun and gives you a bonding experience.

5. Run a Valentine’s 5-k together. Festive. Good for your heart. Good for your relationship. Bonus points if you run in coordinating costumes. (I don’t foresee Andrew ever wanting to do either the running or the costume part of this.)

6. Cook dinner together. Chances are you’ll cook something far healthier than what you’d order at a restaurant, plus it gives you the shared experience and probably costs less than going out. Cooking dinner together has my vote every single Valentine’s Day (Andrew, you’re welcome.)

7. Go ice skating. It’s a classic winter activity with lots of potential for romance–hand-holding, leaning on each other for balance, helping each other up when you fall, etc.

8. Go to your husband’s basketball game and sit in the bleachers with the other wives. Wait, don’t plan on that. That’s what we did last Valentine’s Day. If you have an activity like this scheduled for Friday, maybe plan something special for Saturday instead. 😉

8. Take a cooking class together. Preferably one that utilizes a lot of whole, fresh ingredients and not a deep-fryer.

9. Go skiing or snowboarding. Bonus romance points if this is out of town and you book a cabin for the weekend.

10. Go dancing. Even if it’s just the two of you in your living room.

Andrew and I are planning to cook dinner together, and we will probably play in the snow at some point if there is any on the ground. 😀

Have a great Wednesday!

–Do you have any heart-healthy activities planned for Valentine’s Day?
-Anything you’d add to the list above?

A Two Storey Home

Where Marriage and Healthy Living Meet

Tag Archives: marriage