Kung-Fu Mama

Over the last 5 weeks I have embarked on a physical journey that has been about 12 years in the making and wanted to make that a focus of my blog for the next little bit.

Over the last few years I have done gyms, at home work-outs, you name it I probably have at least entertained the idea of trying it.  Like most people I have packed on a few extra pounds since my
early 20's - probably 20 to 30 pounds.  Being so short the added weight has not done my joints any good.
I struggle to make it through a day without Advil or my favorite drug of choice lately- Excedrin.
If I know I am going to be doing a lot of walking I make sure to pre-medicate to avoid the after-math of aches and pains.  I know that the added weight has contributed to the pain as well as a hip replacement that I probably should have had when I was younger.

So fast forward to how I got to today.  Noticing the extra pounds I was putting on as well as Chris, I realized we needed to start making changes.  We were getting in a bad habit of eating and drinking out several nights a week and this just expedited the weight gain.

Leading up to 12/7/15 my knowledge of Kung-Fu has been limited to what I knew through Chris.
When we first met in 2001 I knew that Chris spent a lot of time at "the school" but I didn't really know any specifics about what Kung-Fu was all about.  I just knew that it consumed a lot of his time and to be honest I didn't really understand.  The idea of having a hobby was very foreign to me.  Growing up I never had any hobbies or belonged to any clubs or groups.  I guess in part due to the small, private school setting - there weren't many options.

Over time, Chris slowly gave up Kung-Fu to pursue other hobbies and eventually gave it up all together.
He left the school on good terms and in fact several fellow students and the Instructor (we refer to him as "Sifu") came to our wedding.

When I first thought about mentioning Kung-Fu I knew it would be a serious commitment of our time and money and wasn't sure if I was prepared for that.  But, I knew something had to give so after talking with Chris we stopped by the school and talked to Sifu.   We talked for a bit about some of my limitations and
ultimately decided I would give it a try.

So on 12/7 we started our journey - this time together.

Don't Stop!

So last weekend Chris and I were able to see the great Fleetwood Mac at Thompson Boling Arena.  I had goosebumps from the first song (Chains) to the last song - which I can't remember right off hand... oops. 

Chris actually first introduced me to Fleetwood Mac when we first started dating - back in 2001.  Growing up I wasn't allowed to listen to anything but Christian music so if it wasn't played on our local Christian station then chances were I had never heard of it. 

Many times we would drive around and listen to their Greatest Hits album and I have been a fan ever since.  

So fast forward to last weekend when we were able to see them live.  They played for almost 3 hours and it was incredible from start to finish.  We were in the nose-bleed section - partly because of the cost of the tickets but just to be able to say we saw them will definitely be a highlight of our concert trips. 

One of my favorite songs (hard to pick just one) is Don't Stop.  It reminds me that even though bad days happen, people let me down and the general stresses of life happen,  tomorrow is just around the corner.  

If you wake up and don't want to smile,
If it takes just a little while,
Open your eyes and look at the day,
You'll see things in a different way.

Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Don't stop, it'll soon be here,
It'll be, better than before,
Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.

Why not think about times to come,
And not about the things that you've done,
If your life was bad to you,
Just think what tomorrow will do.

Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Don't stop, it'll soon be here,
It'll be, better than before,
Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.

All I want is to see you smile,
If it takes just a little while,
I know you don't believe that it's true,
I never meant any harm to you.

Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Don't stop, it'll soon be here,
It'll be, better than before,
Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.
Don't you look back,
Don't you look back.

(lyrics from AZ Lyrics) 

Yum!

So I don't really ever write too much about recipes but thought that after making this delicious recipe, oh going on the 100th time, I might spread the love.

I love my crock-pot and I love salmon.  So one day I was doing a little googling and came across this gem of a recipe .  It is my go-to, make at least 3x a month recipe AND the best part is how easy it is to fix!

I typically pair this with rice and steamed vegi's and Voila!

The other great thing about this recipe is that it works just as well with frozen salmon.  I buy a big bag of Wild-Caught Pink Salmon and whenever I go to make this I just run the individual packets under warm water for about 5-10 minutes and then once I take them out of the plastic wrap I make sure to pat them dry. Otherwise you will end up with a lot of excess water in you packets.

Hope you all enjoy this as much as I do!

Ice Day!

The great IceStorm of 2015 hit and it was a doozy.  It started around 10:30 yesterday morning and thankfully I was able to get him from work just in time.  A lot of friends were without power and fortunately ours stayed on until this morning!  It went off around 8 and finally came on around 1:30.  We spent the morning cleaning our office and reading.  Temps in the house dropped to about 62 so we were thrilled it finally came back on!

Currently I'm warming up watching old re-runs of Beverly Hills 90210 and cuddling with the pups. We might venture out later for some dinner but just depends on the roads.

Relationships

I was just thinking the other day about the dynamic of the relationship I have with my mom and wondered when we became more than just "mother" and "daughter".

Growing up our relationship was always close and she would do just about anything for my brother and I. Heck, she even quit a job at TVA to stay at home with us.

When her and my dad split it was months after I lost my brother in a car accident and I felt that my whole world was falling around me.  She ultimately chose to leave and for close to a year I harbored anger and bitterness that she would leave me to help raise my niece when I was trying to start my own life.

After months of months of pushing my mom away I realized that it was making me miserable.  I don't remember the exact chain of events but I do know that we started to repair the damage.  It took a long time for me to regain the trust that I once had with her but it finally happened.

So through the years the dynamic changed and became one of friendship.  She's usually the first person I call for advice and I know that we can pretty much talk about anything and she will be as diplomatic as possible when I have a decision to make.

Maybe this is normal for most mother's and daughter's but I feel pretty lucky to have her as mine.

August 2014

August in the Harp home was about average.  Nothing terribly exciting happened. The weekend of the 22^nd we went to Atlanta for a race with our good friends and that was an exciting weekend.  

We left work and headed down the road arriving at our hotel around 11:15 pm.  As we pulled in to the hotel I went to the trunk to get our luggage and low and behold it wasn’t  there.  While I’m usually calm and collected this time I was neither calm nor collected.  It was Atlanta.  In August and it was going to be HOT

So upon realizing that a certain Harp, who will rename nameless, left our luggage at home I did what any supporting spouse did and started slinging the curse words and “How could you?” and “What are we supposed to do now”.  To which my husband replies:  “Well, I’m sure the hotel has an extra toothbrush”.  Toothbrush?!  That was the least of my concerns.  How about clean underwear, deodorant, makeup, the list goes on and on.  Oh-and since I had worn my glasses down I didn’t have my contacts either which meant that I couldn’t wear my adorable sunglasses that I had recently purchased. 

So we did what we had to do and found the closest Walmart.  Upon entering Walmart I hear the muffled voice on the intercom “We will be closing in 45 minutes, please bring your final purchases to the front”.  Are you freaking kidding me?!  I thought ALL Wal-mart’s catered to those that forget their luggage and are open 24 hours.  Nope – not this one.We decided to split and Chris went to his department and I went to mine where I did find a few pairs of shorts that I thought would do for the weekend.  But alas, the fitting room was closed.  I begged the poor janitor – but nope, nada, nothing he could do.

You see, being 4’5 has always brought challenges where clothes were concerned.  It always means trying things on, majority of things having to be altered, etc.  So by this time Chris has returned with all his treasures and I am standing in the aisle spewing profanities like that was magically going to make everything ok. 

With that said Chris was a good sport and helped me find a few pairs of gym shorts and tshirts that suited the occasion but not before we spent $200 on all the necessities.

I am glad I can laugh about it now but at the time it was not a pretty site.  Over the weekend it was a running joke about how everything we were wearing came from Walmart.
  

Just making memories as my mom always says..  

May - July 2014

Happy Summer Ya'll.

Things are rockin' and rollin' on my end.  Finally, finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to our financial journey.  We are on track to be debt free by the end of the year (minus the house)!
As I type this I am listening to Dave Ramsey and it's so motivating!   I think our original plan was to be done by August but we had to cash flow some other medical bills and took some money to do some fun things.  It's hard to find a happy medium between spending and saving.

My new job is going great and I love learning new things every day.  My co-workers are amazing and love being a part of a great team.

I had a random dream about dad the other night.  He looked like his old self and I remember thinking he looked so handsome.  I miss him so much.

In May we went camping a lot and had a blast.
The first trip was with some friends of friends that own some property on the river.  We had a pig roast and that was interesting to say the least.  It was a great weekend just to relax and get away.

The next trip was with mom and her friends up at Elkmont.  It is the prime spot to see the synchronized fireflies.   This brings people from all over and we got lucky enough to get a spot in the campground to whee we could walk to see them.  It was amazing!  I definitely would go to it again.

On a separate occasion we spent the day in a kayak- that was sort of fun.  We are definitely novices and manage to flip it twice! Once we decided to sit in the bottom of the kayak we managed to keep it together. It's funny now but at the time I was thinking I wanted to turn around and go back!  We ended up being on the lake for about 7 or 8 hours and by the end we were exhausted. We definitely had a good workout!

We have also found ourselves going to some great concerts.  Thanks to Spotify we have found some great bands.  Chris and I went to Cincinnati to see the Turnpike Troubadours and had an absolute blast.
Last weekend we went to the Shed in Maryville to see the Damn Quails.. another band Chris found on Spotify.  Tomorrow night we are off to see Jamey Johnson with some friends in Greeneville, TN.  Should be fun!