Vermont food

I've already talked a little about the food here, and how amazing it is...I thought I would share some pictures. I mean, really, what would my blog be without pictures. So here we go:

A typical farmer's market meal. Bech made homemade buns, we used Vermont cheese, and grass fed beef, plus a yummy organic tomato!

I got this beautiful tomato from Half-Pint Farms. I hope to buy some good heirloom tomato seeds so I can grow some of my own next year!

Maybe you think I'm weird for going on about that tomato, but look at it! How beautiful is that? God is pretty incredible, and He has created so many beautiful fruits and vegetables for us to enjoy!

Another "local" salad: Vermont local feta, arugula from Digger's Mirth Farm, cherry tomatoes from (where else?) Half-Pint, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Last night, we created another yummy salad. The shrimp was grilled with a spicy dry rub, added to more arugula, tomatoes, avocado, and a spicy orange homemade vinaigrette.

We're heading into fall, so I can not wait to start making good soups out of the root veggies and squash. I am sure there will be tons of pictures of food to come...! But I will try to put lots of pictures of Vermont scenery on my blog as well.

new post...with pictures!

Well, we have internet at our apartment, sort of...It goes out a lot, which I hope will straighten out. But I'm going to try to get some pictures up online while it's working.

Here's our living room...I have most of those pictures the way I like them. There is a picture that Bech is matting tonight that will go in the corner, a little to the left and above the print of the woman in a chair.

Our bookshelf doesn't quite fit with everything, so we settled on this configuration. You can't get into those bottom four squares of books on the left without moving the couch, but we put books there that we don't use very often.

The curtains are not supposed to look like that...I just haven't gotten the hardware to hang them yet! And I'm not watching "That 70's Show"...I actually hate that show! But I had it on mute as I waited for the 3rd Harry Potter movie to come on afterward.

I just painted my dresser "Mint Whisper," which is a really light blue, and I am in love with it!

And finally, our bedding, which I still absolutely adore. It seriously makes me happy every single morning.

That's all I've got of the apartment so far. We were cooking dinner when I took the pictures, so the kitchen was a mess.

Well...we've been in Burlington for over two weeks and still no internet! The problem is that we need a modem to get on the internet in our apartment. But the modem guy hasn't delivered the modems to the housing office. So we are just waiting on him!

We are able to get on the internet in the UVM library, so that helps. Right now, Bech is at work, so I am at the library checking email and such.

Speaking of that, Bech got a job! Yay! Our plan has always been for Bech to find a part time job, so that he can be working on ceramics the rest of the time. He wants to apply for an MFA program when I am done with my program, so he needs to be working on his portfolio. He is going to be working about 25 hours a week at a cafe down the street from where we live. It's called The Firebird Cafe, and it's really cute. He started yesterday and really enjoyed his first day there.

This Sunday, we got to visit an organic dairy. A couple from church (in fact, the only other young couple) is here in Vermont interning at an organic dairy until November. They invited us over for lunch and then a tour of the land. We saw cows, the bull, calves (which are sooo cute! they run up to you and nuzzle and lick you with their scratchy tongues), pigs (much cuter than you would ever imagine), ducks, and chickens. We are actually going to be able to buy some of the chickens to eat in a few months!

We have definitely been enjoying all of those aspects of Vermont. There are tons of farmers markets here! You can literally go to a different one each week. Our favorite so far is the big one in Burlington. It's every Saturday morning. In the late fall and winter, it will be every other week, and will be inside a building. But for now it's in a large park area right by Church Street. There are so many good things to buy. I bought some fresh goat cheese a few weeks ago. My favorite booth is half pint farms. They have the most amazing heirloom tomatoes! We've also been getting fresh corn, arugula, green and yellow beans, grass fed ground beef, eggplant, cucumber, parsley, and peppers. Seriously, this farmers market is amazing! I can't wait to bring my parents here!

I have a random funny story. The blood bank here is right by the school. I have seen the signs all of last week when we went to the library. This Monday, when we were on our way home, I asked Bech to stop there. It has been over a year since we got back from Malawi, so I wanted to try to give blood. Bech ended up deciding to give too.

They were pretty busy, so right when I got done actually giving the blood, Bech has just then been pulled back to a separate room for all of the weird questions they ask. I felt fine and didn't have any problems while they were drawing the blood. But as soon as I walked over the waiting area and sat down, I knew something was wrong. So I walked the 5 feet to the closest bed thing, and asked if I could lay down.

And then I fainted. In front of everyone there. And of course I had a skirt on.

When I woke up, I was on the floor with people around me. Luckily a man I have deemed "The French Doctor" (because he was wearing a white coat and had, what I think was, a French accent--although he doesn't have to be a doctor, he is probably just some sort of technician, and Bech thinks his accent was not French--but "The French Doctor" sounds a lot more exciting!) caught me before I hit the floor. And my first question was, "Did my skirt fly up?" The answer was, thankfully, no, because "The French Doctor" had caught me on my way down.

So all in all I was fine, although very embarrassed, and Bech unfortunately missed the entire thing!

update from up north...

so we're here. we've actually been here for a week and 2 days! and i would love to post and show you all life up here. but we don't have internet in our apartment yet :( it is actually really frustrating, because it is not due to us at all. the housing office is supposed to give us a special modem, but they don't have any in right now. so we are without internet.

i do have internet on my new phone, and that is helpful. but if you've ever used your phone to check email and such, you know there's a lot you can't do that way. right now we are at the UVM library checking mail.

we are mostly unpacked, which feels great. really i should say we are all the way unpacked. we worked really hard the first few days here to get everything all together.

our favorite thing so far is definitely the food up here! we have been to two farmer's markets and have been eating amazing things. the tomatos are great up here right now. and we got some grass fed beef for a great price, so we have had hamburgers twice. i am sure there will be plenty of food posts in the next two years! (sorry, mom!)

right now we are in the process of looking for jobs. i am going to try to get a part time job while in school. i have applied to three stores (2 this morning) and hopefully will hear back soon!

well our meter is running out, so i better go! i will post again (with pictures!) when we have internet.

This may be my most boring post ever. But when Karen Braden looks at you and says, "You really need a new post...maybe even some food pictures," you know you just have to put something up!

We are moving away in one week. OH MY GOODNESS! I am so stressed and nervous. But we do have a place to live, and for that I am extremely grateful.

And my to do list has gotten extremely shorter. Here is all that's left to do:

* sell my car (we are selling my Civic and just taking Bech's Colorado to Vermont)--a little side note: you may remember that Bech and I have trouble selling cars. Not sure why. But pray that this one will sell sooner than our Malawi one!

* cancel our current health insurance

* change addresses for bills, netflix, etc.

* finish Latin--I've been working through Wheelock's Latin this past year to make sure my grammar is up to par. I only have 5 more chapters to go!

* send off our old laptop to apple to be recycled (okay, that's probably not blog worthy--well none of this is--but it's on my actual to do list)

* return borrowed items--I have started doing this, but I still have some things to return!

And finally, because what would a post be without a picture, I have posted one from the latest camera import. Needless to say, I did not take this picture nor did I even know it was taken. My food pictures are of good food about to be eaten.

Bech, on the other hand, likes to artfully arrange fresh produce...you just never know with him...