Eighteen years...and Still Looking Forward to Every Day!

Today is my hubby and I's 18th anniversary.  It seems like yesterday that we said those "I-do's" and walked into our new life together.  I won't say that it was always easy but I do know that every struggle, obstacle or challenge we faced only cemented us closer together.  We've never been willing to give up, and I think that's the key.  There are times when you look around and feel so lost and things look hopeless and it is so tempting to walk away...but then you miss the best part.  God has done amazing things out of the chaos that we've had in our lives and I know I am blessed to share my life with this amazing man.  We are better together than apart and that's the whole story right there.

Just as our marriage has changed and evolved, so has our household.  The life we're living now that is so steeped in making things from scratch, living a bit more frugally, and even the fitness and almost vegan diet would have been laughable things if you'd told me that 18 years ago!  Our diet consisted of packaged foods like Hamburger Helper, hot dogs, boxed macaroni and cheese.  Blech.  When he went back to school we thought we had to exist on those types of foods to save costs.  I remember our weekly groceries costing $50 and being nothing but those boxes and hot dogs and cheap ground meat.  Now, I know with $50 I can do so many more things but it took a long time to get there!!

It has been a journey - food and fitness.  When the hubby and the boy started mountain biking seven years ago, I was completely not on board.  I was shocked at the cost of the bikes, and once he took me out there with him on a cheap bike I had but never used and I cried.  Seriously.  I cried.  It would take two more years before I would get on a mountain bike and eventually get one of my own.  I will say that I am still not an accomplished mountain biker and I'd prefer to bike just about anywhere else but that's the thing...I bike.  At that time, I wasn't biking, wasn't running, wasn't doing anything really.  He started on his path to fitness before me and I was resistant.  I didn't want to move out of my comfort zone but once I did?  It was like the floodgates opened!  I started running, biking, walking and hiking so much and loving it!  And along the way our diet started changing little by little to a more and more healthy one.  I went vegetarian for about three years, only giving it up when I thought it was hurting my endurance while running and biking.  I know now that it was the types of foods I was choosing and I'm being much smarter this time around.

Watching movies like Forks Over Knives has shown us the benefits of a plant based diet and we're working on making small changes to limit our dairy and egg intakes as well as eating no meat.  It's a change but we're working together on making it and it's actually fun to find new favorite foods!  I made wild rice burgers for dinner the other night and they were pretty awesome tasting.  That recipe has made the short list.  (And I'll share!)

All in all, I guess what I'm trying to say is that life doesn't have to be one way or another.  It's constantly evolving and changing and our marriage has been lucky enough to be one that can roll with those changes and come up stronger.  I am looking forward to whatever lies ahead for us and I'm so glad I'll be sharing my life with him.

Wild Rice Burger recipe

Makes 8 burgers

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, beaten (I know this is not vegan, but I think with some tweaking ground flax seeds would be a great complement in their place)


• 2 c cooked wild rice mixture


• 3/4 c bread crumbs, more if mixture is too wet


• 2 tsp seasoned salt mixture


• 1/4 c nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. Preheat skillet to medium high and coat surface with cooking spray or oil for more of a crust on the burger.


2. Mix all ingredients together and form into patties.


3. Place patties in heated skillet and cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side.


4. Serve on a bun with whatever toppings you life.  I love tomato and avocado and it paired perfectly!