The Fennels: April 2013

April 1st marked the two year anniversary for Matt and I living in the Madison, Wisconsin area. I cannot believe we've been here for two years. Just recently I was shocked at how I could exit the Beltline because it was bumper to bumper traffic and still find my way by taking back roads (without using my nav!)

When did this happen?

When did I start to feel like Madison was home? And when could I navigate the roads just from memory? I remember when living in Chicago, I couldn't find my way if I was five minutes down the road from my apartment and I lived there for almost three years. Every time I went back to Rockford, I felt like I was finally back home... in my comfort zone.

But when Matt and I moved to Madison, things were different. It was amazing at how quickly we fell in love with our new city. I mean, its Madison -- Voted one of the best cities to live in by Forbes Magazine, one of the top cities with the lowest crime rate and lowest unemployment rate, and it has a booming downtown with a fun nightlife/college campus kind of feel but yet, it is also one of the best cities to raise a family. Now that I think of it, how could we not fall in love so quickly?? But what is really amazing is how quickly Madison changed us.

Before moving here all we heard about was how liberal Madison was. "Environmentally friendly, democratic, eat all organics, All You Need is Love, hippie kind of people live there... Are you ready for that?" We were constantly asked....

Now I was born in Texas to a Conservative, Republican, Southern Baptist family who stood strong to their traditions and their beliefs. Belly button rings were OUT of the question when I was growing up and I didn't even dare to think about getting tattoos....

So once we moved here, Madison was extremely appealing to me. It was amazing to see how important living a healthy lifestyle was to families at my work -- eating all organics, shopping at whole foods, riding your bike instead of driving your car, frequent exercising (yoga, yoga, yoga!) were a few qualities I noticed right off the bat. It was also amazing to see a boy without painted toe nails. Mommy had painted toe nails and if a little boy wanted bright green toe nail polish... he could have it! (I noticed this a few times in Chicago, but in Madison it was rare to not see it). While working at a daycare here in Madison, I watched how a family started to dress their 2 year old son in girls dresses because that's what he liked to wear during "dress up" time. Now, personally, I think that's a little extreme, but I specifically remember asking Matt a couple years ago what he would do if his son wanted to wear toe nail polish. Let me just say his answer has drastically changed in the past two years.

But, that's what happens. Your city changes you.

In the past two years, we have:

Really noticed our evolving political views... I will leave it at that to spare myself on political rants via Facebook.
Accepted the importance of working out, practicing yoga, and being active.
Made a conscious effort to eat more healthy by only buying organic meats, fruits, and veggies and getting rid of soda in our house.
Became much more "green" -- I even have an air drying rack in my laundry room and Matt is a stickler when I absent mindedly forget to recycle.

And I have personally fallen in love with the concept of "hipster"

Wait, what?

No, I don't quote song lyrics. No, I don't smoke p-lights and I don't hate everything mainstream. I simply love their style and for months now, I've secretly wanted to be hipster.

Yes, hipster.

My UW Madison friend laughed at me after I told her I wanted to be hipster. She continued to laugh then pointed out my Northface jacket and Coach purse. Uhm? Again, I'm not against mainstream. I just think their style is adorbs. One of my favorite shirts in my closet is a $2 Good Will shirt.

That one.

I'm well on my way. Just you wait.

This makes me think of one of my fav songs....

What will hipsters do now that thrift shops are mainstream?! I've always wondered this since I first heard this song...

Anywho. I'm getting distracted. Isn't this post about cooking?!?

Our views on eating healthy, cooking with organics, and living a healthy lifestyle didn't just come overnight.,.. or did it? I posted a status on Facebook asking for articles debating organics vs. conventional foods and boy of boy... I am so happy I did. I feel like a completely different person since I posted this. And it was a whopping two weeks ago.

One friend recommended reading about Monsanto

And another recommended following Raw for Beauty

Just by doing these two things, I've completely changed the way we eat, cook, and live.

A few things that really put it in perspective....

Perfect.

Funny and True.

True.

So true.

Gross.

Amazing. And yes, I take a tablespoon before every meal.

But how could I eat, cook, and live healthy if I didn't COOK!?!

Ah, remember this post?

Luckily, one of the moms at my work recommended a meal planning website that she uses and it--

CHANGED - MY - LIFE!

Its called the The Fresh 20

Taken straight from their website...

"It’s about buying less and making more. It’s about loading your dinner table with delicious, preservative free food.... It’s about saving that takeout money for something more rewarding than takeout!... We are a meal planning service. Our meal plans rely on simple, healthy and homemade dinners using just 20 fresh, seasonal ingredients per week. No more grocery lists with 80 items that will eventually go to waste. Our meal plans are carefully created to utilize everything on the list so you can stop throwing money down the drain. We don’t just grab 5 random recipes and call it a meal plan. The Fresh 20 mixes and matches a small list of ingredients to create 5 balanced dinners that play off each other.... We include detailed guides to meal prep, original recipes everyone will enjoy (even picky eaters) and motivation to help you stay the course on busy weeknights."

Well, needless to say, after doing my research on this website, I was sold. I purchased a year subscription for $50 and have already seen it pay off in the two weeks I've had it.

Do you realize how much we used to go out to eat?!

Do you realize how many gross, icky BOX DINNERS we ate?!

YOU CAN ONLY EAT SO MANY FROZEN PIZZAS!!

Well, that's no more. Our lives have changed and we LOVE our new family dinners.

Let me explain.

Before -- when I tried to cook five meals a week -- I threw together five opposite meals that didn't share any of the same ingredients. I would walk out of the grocery store spending well over $150.00 and most of the time, I wasted half of the food because the other recipes didn't call for it. And you all know about how I could never think of anything new to cook, right? Well... with this website, they tell you what to cook and how exactly how many of each item you need. That way, I didn't have to find recipes, add ingredients, and make a list. The Fresh 20 gives you a new shopping list every Friday for the next week's upcoming meals. They're all fresh. No preservatives. And it's much more inexpensive than what I'd come up with.

Printable shopping list that says exactly how many items I need, how much each should cost, and conveniently grouped together by different areas of the grocery store.

Estimated cost of 73 dollars for five dinners ($14.60 a meal) of four servings ($3.65 a serving) AND ALL FRESH FOOD!

Healthy Fridge!!

My receipt after getting all the ingredients for five meals, breakfast, coffee, and other weekly grocery items (shampoo, cat food, wine, etc.) = $107.40

Weekly Menu

Weekly Prep Guide:

Every week (after going grocery shopping), you need to prep for the upcoming week by chopping veggies, baking chicken breasts, etc. Typically, this will take thirty minutes (if your a PRO in the kitchen.... a little longer if you're not).

(Wine always helps)

After prepping your food, dinners shouldn't take more than 30 minutes each night - And they really didn't. It was extremely convenient. The dinners were amazing. Matt was super duper impressed. And I was shockingly excited to make the next night's meal.

Here are some of my masterpieces....

With the exception of pita bread, pasta, and garlic bread -- all of this food was made from scratch and it 100% fresh. Amazing!!

So far, I've made:

Veggie Sloppy Joes with Parm Zucchini

Fettuccine Shrimp Alfredo

Crispy Chicken Tenders with Apple Salad and Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Italian Beefaroni

Two Bean Minestrone

BBQ Oven Chicken with corn and orzo pasta salad

Blackened Cajun Style Salmon with quinoa, dill, and cucumber salad

BBQ Chicken and Corn Pita Pizza

Italian Wedding and Meatball Soup

Mediterranean Chick Pea Pitas

Things I'm amazed I ate:

Salmon

Quinoa

Orzo

(^^ all extremely healthy foods!!)

Things I'm amazed I made from scratch:

Alfredo Sauce

BBQ Sauce

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Salad Dressings

Italian Breadcrumbs

(Sounds silly, I know.... But three weeks ago I would have bought all of these items. Surprisingly, my home made versions tasted just as good -- if not better)

Other benefits from this website:

1) The servings are for four. So Matt and I take the two extra servings and bring them to work the next day. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY WE SAVE ON LUNCH?!?!? No more fast food!

2) I told Matt that if I cook for him every night, we will keep the TV off until after dinner. Before then, he can sit in the kitchen with me, talk with me, and help me cook. At dinner, we eat at the dinner table without our cell phones.

Do you know how wonderful this is?

I can't even put it into words. Its by far the best part of my day.

3) After going grocery shopping, Matt and I prep for the upcoming week together. More time spent together that doesn't include TV, cell phones, etc. -- just us.

As you can see, we are definitely fans of The Fresh 20. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to say goodbye to box dinners and say hello to healthy, delicious eating. Its amazing how empty my junk food cabinet is and how full of fresh food my fridge is these days. I was shocked at much time I spent in the produce section and how little time I spent in the dry food aisles....

The only somewhat annoying thing about cooking these oh-so-yummy meals is that my kitchen looks like this afterwards.

Oh well, thats what dish washers are for, right?

So overall, Madison has soooooo much positively impacted our lives and we are thrilled to be here. Matt and I joke about how much we love our new Wisconsin lives. We'll be here forever...

Oh and remember that comment about how I didn't dare to dream about tattoos....

Well, you know :)

My husband has officially signed my heart <3

PS: Next Thursday, I will be in Florida at The Little Gym reunion trip where all Little Gym owners and gym directors from around the world meet together under one roof (I'm going to meet the founder, CEO, and president! WAHHOO!!!) So I will catch up with you all when I get back.

Until then... Lots of Love!!!!

Oh, this is going to be a long one............

I sit here with a box of wheat thins, a container of hummus, and a glass of wine (with the bottle sitting next to it for convenient refills) fully prepared to spend the next three hours of my night blogging about this. You should expect to spend at least thirty minutes reading it.

They say the first three months of the marriage are the most difficult. Well, its been almost two -- and its been the best two months of my life. Probably because we've already done the finance thing, living together thing, buying a house thing, and so on. But we were totally relieved once the wedding was over. At one point, I was putting 42% of my paycheck to the the wedding (yes, I just did the math). It was hell. And I almost got to the point of despising my own wedding. But looking back, it was totally worth it.

Would we do it all over again?? Lets just say our vow renewal will be in Vegas.

Looking at the pictures, I can't help but to remember how amazing of a day it truly was. Yes, I had WAY to much wine. Yes, I cried the entire last thirty minutes at end of the reception. And yes, planning it was the most stressful thing I ever went through, but I also married my best friend and the best man I've ever known. And at the end of the day, that's whats important.

Before getting married, I learned that people measure the success of a wedding based off of three things:

1) How did the bride look?
2) How was the food?
3) How was the dancing?

1) Well, I have never felt more beautiful in my life. I don't know what other people thought, but I know my husband loved the way that I looked.

2) I know a couple who purchased a pizza to go, I received several compliments on our food, and ITS LINOS! If you don't like Lino's, you don't like food. And your anorexic. Get - some - help.

*Maybe there was too much food. Maybe dinner took TOO long. But I couldn't speed them up. It came as a bundled thing.

3) I had this horrible fear that people wouldn't dance at the wedding (I've been to several non dancing weddings and how BORING!) In my wine induced coma, I remember yelling at people and telling them to dance. From what I hear, it was a packed dance floor by the end of the night. I even remember doing some kind of wobble......??

Yes, that's it.

So, I'd like to say that our wedding was absolutely amazing --not only for us, but for our guests as well.

Back to the beginning of the day----

Courtney and I stopped at Starbucks before going to Linos to set up the space at the bright and early 8am! I had so many wonderful helpers set up Linos and I'll never be able to thank them enough! The space was SO pretty and I wouldn't of been able to do it alone.

Following Linos, I left to get my hair and makeup done. This picture was solely taken for a makeup check. I look very calm in this picture, but I was really freaking out on the inside.

This pose was stolen completely from Pinterest. And it is most definitely cropped for job purposes. The true picture shows a lot more leg and zaza zing. Its stunning and I'm so happy my maids of honor made me take this one. The blown up version of this will hang beautifully in our master bedroom.

Once we were all ready, we left for the church!

My bridesmaids were completely ready and all I had to go was get into my gown.

My girls are beautiful.

Once we had it on (IT FIT!!!!!!!), my bridesmaids and maids of honor got to see it on me for the first time!

Mom put on the veil and hugged me tight.

Mom on her wedding day.

I made sure my Dad never saw me in the gown or knew anything about my dress. I wanted Dennis, our photographer, to get his first reaction on camera. What he really got was my first reaction of seeing my Dad on the wedding day. I didn't realize how much my emotions would get to me. But boy oh boy, they hit me hard.

Daddy

Mom and Dad

Meanwhile, upstairs.....

My handsome husband to be arrived.

And then, it was time

Let me just stop here and say that I was extremely emotional throughout our wedding ceremony. I remember telling my bridesmaids downstairs that I didn't think I would cry....

But in my defense, there was a very long and very serious point in my life that I truly believed that I would never be happy, in love, or married. I had accepted it and was prepared to be alone my entire life. It wasn't until Matt came along that all my prior beliefs or thoughts on love demolished and he showed me what real love was.

I remember standing downstairs in the surreal state. I found him. No more heartbreak. No more loneliness. I was with my best friend. And he loved me more than I could ever deserve. He was the reason for all of my happiness.... the creamer to my coffee.... the bacon to my cheeseburger. And I was about to marry him. I think it hit me right here......

And of course, I had my Heather there to console me. She is the best at it.

I remember walking up the stairs after the doors had shut. I was about to walk down the aisle and I was gripping my loving father's hands for my dear life. I remember thinking:

Make sure you smile. Don't look at anyone else. Just look at him. Its all about him.

Once the doors opened -- Everything around me went blurry. I couldn't hear anything except my heartbeat and deep breathing. Matt was the only thing in focus. Then -- suddenly.... tears of joy.....

Apparently, after the pastor asked who was giving me away, my dad said, "Her mother and I" then gave my mom a high five. HA! Only my parents....

Here are our favorite's from the ceremony:

As a surprise, we chose to give our beloved parents roses to show our love, respect, and appreciation.

Then it was smooching time!

Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Fennel

We did it!!!!!

Making it official!

Ah, now he's stuck with me FOREVER!

Here is the entire ceremony if you'd like to watch to entire 23 minutes.

Here are our favorite formal pictures:

Our handsome Dads

The Smith Family

The Fennel Family

Brother and Sister

Sisters

Our Nephews

Our nieces and nephews

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids and Matt

Groomsmen

Groomsmen and me!

In between the ceremony and the reception, we drove around in a party bus for an hour with our wedding party and 5 bottles of liquor to get the party started.....