We've moved!

Well. I've moved. Let's not make this too big of a deal. Check out Balance and Blueberries. Add me to your blog roll. We'll see where this all ends up. It should be a good time!

~Rachel

We have a map and a plan!

A week from today, Erica and I are headed off into the Smokies to hike 70 miles of the Appalachian Trail. We now have a map! Isn't it pretty?






For the past couple of months, we've been researching and making lists long-distance, in an attempt to figure out this backpacking thing. A week away from departure day, and I think we're ready. Think. Hope. Pray.

Last night we ironed out start/finish details. We're going to start on the northeast end at Davenport Gap and finish on the southwest end at Fontana Dam. We'll meet at Fontana Dam, leave a car, pick up our backcountry permits, and drive to Davenport Gap to start our hike. Then, we walk for 7 days, and end up on the south end. We drive to pick up the other car, and then have to head home, to fall headlong into the busyness of summer jobs, having conquered the wilds of the Smoky Mountains. Or something like that.

Sit up. Push up. Repeat.

I'm joining the fad. The push-up challenge. I'm going to be buff. That's a lie.

Confession time: I'm a cardio junkie. I run. I swim. I bike. I elliptical. Whatever. I could do 6 days a week of straight cardio, and be more than happy. On the flip side of that, I despise weight training. I know that it's good for me to strength train. I know that it'll make me stronger in a way that endurance cardio never will. I just don't like it. Is that valid?

So, I have a new game plan: instead of trying to go to the gym to lift weights (trying? who am I kidding? it never happens), I'm going to focus on doing just a few minutes a day of some strength training at home. I can spare a few minutes a day, right? Of course. Something little every day adding up to something awesome over the long term.

Alternating days with the push-up challenge, I'm going to do Whittle My Middle. It's a favorite of mine (by a great health/food blogger!). Maybe, this way, my abs won't be so sore for days and days post-half marathon.

Weekends make me happy. They just do.

Remember this?

I made it into this:

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 3 cups diced rhubarb
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix white sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, strawberries, and rhubarb. Place the mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, butter, and oats until crumbly. You may want to use a pastry blender for this. Crumble on top of the rhubarb and strawberry mixture.
4. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp and lightly browned.

Warm out of the oven with a scoop (or two) of ice cream=happiness.

P.S. Happy Mother's Day!

Captivating

Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul (Revised and Expanded)
By John and Stasi Eldredge
Thomas Nelson





Captivating, co-authored by husband-wife team, John and Stasi Eldrege, explains in very simple terms the core of a woman's soul. The premise of the book is based on the presupposition that, "Every woman in her heart longs for three things: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty."

We, as women, want to be a part of something. We want to be found valuable, irreplaceable, and beautiful. Stasi, through personal anecdotes, addresses the fact that the world has quelched these desires. In varying degrees, we've had wounds inflicted on us from childhood that lead us to believe that the opposite is true: that we aren't valuable, that we aren't beautiful, that no one needs us. We have been led to believe that in order to fix this hurt, we must be "good Christian women," we must follow a list of neatly scripted bullet points and how-to's. Unfortunately, these "how to's" tend to focus on our exterior actions, and not on the heart of the issue.

Captivating reminds you to pay attention to your heart. It encourages you to return to the desires that you had as a little girl, and to begin the search for romance in your story. It may not be as hard to find as you think it is.

Happy, happy weekend!

I just love weekends. I love weekends exactly like this one; weekends in which you have very little to do, nowhere to be. And so, you are able to just BE.

Yesterday I took advantage of my backyard (I mean, the park) and enjoyed the sunshine, The Horse Whisperer,

and a Green Monster:

Last night, though I have no pictures to prove it, I went to see a friend north of Fort Wayne. We played volleyball, consumed the best lasanga and cheesecake ever, and talked. A lot. So good!

This morning, my running buddy copped out on me due to illness. True confessions: I am secretly thrilled that I don't have to run 10 miles today. In lieu of the run, I spent my morning going to the farmers market, Aldis, and then a random garage sale on the way home. Farmer's market purchase:















How does one cook rhubarb? I only have a pound of it, so it's not enough to make a pie or tarts or anything. What would it do on oatmeal? In stirfry? I'll have to research, and then will keep you posted.