Today, I am pleased to share with you my very first guest post. And, interestingly, it actually comes from one of my very first friends.
A long time ago in a land far far away, Shannon and I became friends in grade school. This was during my very early and impressionable years when I lived in Ohio, and boy, did we have fun! We were both talkative little brunettes who bonded immediately. We loved to dance (yes, me) and we loved to have sleepovers. This I recall vividly.
When I left Ohio for Tennessee in 1991, Shannon was one of many friends I left behind. Through the miracle of the internet, we’ve reconnected via social networking and have been able to stay in touch ever since.
Now, when I say stay in touch, I mean it in a VERY bloggy way…. We read each others’ blogs. I learn all about Shannon’s beautiful girls and her life in Ohio, and she gets to hear about all my Western living adventures in weight loss.
Snannon and her beautiful family at Disney
Shannon, too, blogs about healthy living and has made a commitment to raising her family in an active healthy fashion. She blogs at Waits and Measure(ment)s,, and I believe you too might enjoy her stories. One of my favorite features she’s started is Feel Good Friday, where she blogs about great things that are going on in her life. Her very own version of the “glad game”, I’ve become a fan.
Without further ado… here she is! Thanks Shannon for contributing to NTTC this week!
Hello NTTC readers, my name is Shannon and I am the blogger behind Waits and Measure(ment)s, a blog designed to help create a healthier and happier life for myself and my family. I am THRILLED that Kelly asked me to guest blog while she is away, especially since her blog is what inspired me to start writing mine!
I love September! Part of the joy that September brings to me is purely selfish. My birthday is in September. Couple that with the fact that I get to share my birthday month with 2 of the most amazing girls in the world (my daughters) and it seems that there could be nothing better. But guess what? There is one more thing, how could this be…I can feel your anticipation…September is the heart of apple season, and I heart apple season!
Every fall when I was a kid, my parents would take us to the Hartford Apple Orchard. It was awesome! We were able to climb the trees and pick apples and “test” a few as we filled our bags. I loved it. Apple picking meant birthday, and fresh homemade applesauce and pies and cookies and all sorts of other goodies. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. When my oldest was little we took her to that same orchard that I had loved and I was excited to see how much she enjoyed it. Another generation from my family enjoying a favorite pastime. Sadly with the economy, my beloved Hartford closed the following year. Now, my family and I live in the greater Cleveland area, and when my oldest was young we were East siders (there is a very strong line between East and West side in Cleveland, but that is for another post). There is a BIG orchard on the East side called Patterson’s Fruit Farm. It’s a great resource for fresh apples, and we had fun…but it wasn’t the same experience I had as a kid. Now that we have moved to the (South) West side, we found a place that is perfect. Its’ called Pick and Save Orchard and it has the tall trees and a pumpkin patch and berries to pick. It makes me flood with nostalgia just thinking of it.
My little one eating an apple she picked last year on my birthday
I look forward to apple season every year, and it’s made me stop and think about food and the seasons. We go to the local farmers market quite frequently, and I have never given much thought to the various foods each week and how they change. Sounds silly right? I mean, we don’t go with a shopping list in hand, we just go and buy what we need and what looks extra tasty that week…or what the girls want, but it (obviously) does change throughout the summer based on what is in season. So I have started doing some homework and am trying to incorporate into my recipe rotation foods that are in season. My hubby hates buying apples in March from the grocery store because he knows they have been flash frozen or shipped in from some random place in the world. By learning about and focusing in on what’s in season locally, I am making sure that I am giving my family the freshest food I can, and teaching them (what should be) very basic knowledge about food. I am also teaching them that just because you CAN buy something at the grocery store at any time, it doesn’t mean you SHOULD.