Oh, Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas everyone!

Joshua and I have had a really wonderful holiday season so far! It's nice to be home with our families and not at work! 2013 has been a great year for us with a lot of changes, a new town, a new home, new work, etc. and we are really looking forward to the new changes that 2014 will bring!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is setting up a Christmas tree. My family grew up with a fake tree but Joshua is in the die-hard 'real tree' camp so we go and get a real one every year. I love picking it out with Joshua and then stringing the lights up and going through all of the ornaments. I usually like to get our tree the week after Thanksgiving so that we can enjoy it for a few weeks before we leave for Georgia. 

Joshua has started making fun of me, but before bed every night, I will shut off all the lights and sit on our recliner and just gaze upon our beautiful tree for  like 10 to 15 minutes. I love sitting there in the dark, with the only light coming from the tree, and soaking in the peace and beauty of Christmas. And I just  think our tree is so beautiful!

Before we left Greenville to return to Georgia for the holidays I took a few quick photos of our tree and some of my favorite ornaments. Check 'em out!

That has pieces of our wedding program in it! Mrs. Nightingale made that for us!

This was from the trunk of our tree last year!

This was from our Anniversary date when we went hiking round Mount Mitchell!

From our family to yours, we hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas full of laughter and rest, reflection and peace, family and presents, and all the joy of the season!

Love,

We'll Call It...Puzzles!

Something else that has been going on in the Harkey house this past fall is jigsaw puzzles!

Last year, for Christmas, we were given two puzzles of the exact same castle (but from slightly different angles) and we finally (almost a year later) got around to putting them together. One is 1000 pieces and the other is 2000 pieces.

Here are some pictures!

 

 

But Sugar Is So Tasty...

This past summer we had some friends, Nathan and Raina, come and visit us. When they were here they told us about something that they had done before they got married this past summer called the Whole30.

Now, if you're super health savvy then you have probably heard of this, but to me it was new information. They told us that it was basically a clean eating challenge that is meant to kind of reset your metabolism and break down a sugar dependency.

It peaked my interest so, naturally, I went full-on research mode (I swear, sometimes I feel like Hermione) and did a little digging on the internet. Apparently the Whole30 was developed by a couple named Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. They have a website dedicated to the program and general health philosophy (found here) but what was even more exciting was that they had written a book so that I could read up on all the science behind the plan and the exact details of how food affects different aspects of my life (again, channeling my inner Hermione).

It's called 'It Starts With Food'

We haven't done the program yet (I'm still in the research phase) but I finished the book a few weeks ago and I think I've bought into the idea enough to give it a try for 30 days. No sugar, no grains, no legumes.

Luckily for me, my loving husband is on board with doing it together so I think the plan for now is for both of us to start on January 2 after the Holidays (I am a planner). This gives me plenty of time to do some research about different farming practices, scope out how to buy well-raised meat (something they insist on), figure out what the heck ghee is, and wean myself off of sweet n low in my coffee.

I will definitely share some of our thoughts as we're going through the challenge, but if you think about it during that time, please pray for us! I'm sure we're going to need it as our self control and restraint will be refined!

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

When we moved to South Carolina this past summer, one of the things that we were most excited about was the abundant availability of beautiful hiking trails.

You see, Louisiana is very flat. Which meant no hiking for us.

But now that we're back in beautiful Appalachia, the great outdoors' beckon is simply irresistible. And I would love to say that we make time to go hiking and hit the trail at least once a week, but unfortunately I'd be lying terribly. Remember that busy fall I've been telling you about these past few days?  ....well it's carried over into other areas of our lives besides the blogoshpere.

We've only been hiking twice since we moved.

But a couple of weeks ago we did manage to make it out to one of the most recommended trails from my coworkers: Table Rock.

It was BEAUTIFUL. I'm kind of glad we waited so long to get out there because the weather was perfect (high sixties and sunny) and the autumn leaves were simply stunning (leaves changing colors is another thing you miss out on in Louisiana).

Table Rock is a more strenuous hike (7ish miles round trip...the real killer is the ascent) but there's something about breathing in the fresh air and your muscles burning as you climb to the top of a mountain that really makes you feel alive.

As always when we do finally get to the spectacular views at the top, I wished that I could have just teleported down the mountain. It's immensely satisfying to work hard and peak at the top of a climb, but spending the 1+ hours to get back to the bottom always feels tedious to me.

Anyways here's some pictures of our beautiful Sunday hike!

 

Side Note: I don't know this kid. I just thought that him climbing this tree would make for a good picture.

Don't Wish it Was Easier...Wish You Were Better

I have never been a super athletic person. Sure, when I was a kid I played soccer for a few years and I was a pretty decent goalie at the height of my traveling career. And yeah, I danced in high school, but just for fun and not seriously enough to do any sort of real conditioning.

College was a great place to be active without having to put forth any real effort to make time, what with pick up Frisbee games, a super nice 24/7 gym at my disposal, intramural sports, and even walking to class (if it wasn't cold/ raining/ I felt like it). But when Joshua and I got married and moved to Baton Rouge it was so easy to come home from work, plop down on the couch, and read a book or watch TV or just sit and talk until it was time to sleep.

But MAN, after 9 months of a significant decrease in activity, we were seriously feeling it.

We weren't sleeping as well, I had gained a little weight (let's face it, Joshua doesn't have that problem), and our bodies just weren't as spry as they used to be.

So when we moved to Greenville we had decided that we wanted to be more active, and since our schedule was going to change anyway, might as well make the change when we relocated.

I thought long and hard about what would be the most efficient and effective way to get back in shape. Because we work 9 hours a day, there's not a ton of spare time to dedicate to a gym (and we're definitely not at a level where we wake up at like 4am to work out). Also, because neither my husband or myself are very gym-knowledgeable, chances are if you set us loose in a gym we wouldn't know how to design an effective workout for ourselves.

That's how we became Crossfitters.

Crossfit is a sort of group personal training program. The workouts usually include some type of strength training, metabolic conditioning, and core components. The workouts take 15-40 minutes to complete but they are HIGH intensity, so you're getting a lot out of your time.

YES we do double unders (well, try to) and burpees and hand stand push ups (against a wall) and all of the other crazy crossfit terms that you hear. And YES we do the snatches and cleans and push jerks and all the other crazy lifts that I had no idea even existed before 5 months ago. And YES I have felt like throwing up and wanted to cry when I read our WOD (workout of the day) and thought I was going die after some workouts (not really, but being dramatic makes me feel better).

But all in all it's been AWESOME.

We really do like it a lot, which is a big surprise to me. Don't get me wrong, we're not like competition level dedicated, but the program has really motivated us to be more active and to push ourselves farther than we would on our own.

It's also a social thing. So it's been nice to meet other people in our community by connecting over how much we despise burpees or trying to teach each other how to improve our squatting form (unless you're Joshua and have perfect squat form...ugh).

Crossfit is also competitive, which is one of the easiest ways to motivate me to push harder, run faster, or lift more.

     

This is Tommy. He owns the gym we go to and has been super great getting us started with Crossfit!

That last pictures is not from Corssfit, but our time with our buddies from the gym inspired us to train for our first 5k race. Joshua came in first place for his age division and I...well I was just happy to finish the thing without stopping. I would have laughed at you a year ago if you told me that I was going to be able to run 3 continuous miles.

Some People Are So Much Sunshine to the Square Inch

For two of the weekends in October we had some lovely friends come to see us! Being in a new town is strange and little lonely sometimes, so seeing some dear friends is like a plate of homemade cookies still warm from the oven.

First, Kayla, Haley, and Scott cam to see us and we were so excited to spend a little bit of time with our friends and to share our new city with them. We took them to check out downtown Greenville and my new favorite tea bar (OCHA) down on the Reedy River.

These three also visited us when we lived in Baton Rouge, so it was especially fun to be able to share some of the similarities and differences between our two homes that we've had since we've been married.

This trio is incredibly dear to Joshua and me as we have walked with them through the last few years of our lives. It's been difficult being away from good friends that love us so faithfully (even at a distance), but Haley, Scott, and Kayla always bring in the warmth like a ray of sunshine whenever we see them.

Here are a few pictures!

 

On another weekend in October we found out that Lauren was planning to come visit us as well! 
Joshua and I have felt so spoiled to have all of our favorite people take time out of their work, school, and rest to come be with us! Lauren brought her usual spunk and some great questions (I'm so proud!) which reminded me anew the appreciation I have for my little sister and her accountability in my life.

We also hung out downtown a bit and, since the weather was nice, had some great photo practice with our camera. Lauren even snapped a few great pictures of us (which you may see featured on the Harkey Christmas card this year). We also bought some pumpkins and I let Joshua and Lauren go at it while I stood around annoyingly taking photos while they did all the hard work. On Sunday, Lauren came with us to the church that we have somewhat recently decided to start attending (The Summit). The pastor spoke on finances and what it means to be a good steward of the resources that God gives us which lead to some really great conversation between the three of us.

Here are some more pictures!

  

        

It's so nice to be closer to Atlanta and to reconnect with our college buddies!