I am finishing up all the paperwork and other ends that needed tying now that we are on the road and I am now unemployed (still feels weird to me lol), and I am excited to get started on researching, learning and getting things set up for my health and wellness brand. In the mean time I have been able to go to the local gym with my wife five days a week since we got here. She is totally on board and it feels good to have that support.

I quickly got the gist of the hierarchy of grocers here in the local area and realized that the CO-OPS are the place to get any real answers regarding ones meat, dairy and produce. The workers at the other stores seem oblivious to what they are actually doing. Having worked and shopped regularly at Harmon's, I am spoiled and want passion from my produce guy/gal when it comes to what they place out there. When they don't even know where it is from I know we are in trouble.

I have been preparing meals for my wife and I to eat during lunch and I have served her lunch at the hospital cafeteria each day she has worked. It has been great for my ego as her co-workers are always asking her what she had and gets the oo's and aah's when she explains. My job as her personal chef is actually rather satisfying.

I have made a creole spiced vegetable soup, a vegan chili using the entire rainbow of vegetables, I discovered a buttercup squash which I had never used before and caramelized with real raw Vermont maple syrup and cultured butter from Vermont Creamery (love their products been using them for years), I then added a hash made from parsnips,organic ground turkey, onions, garlic, thyme,sage and rosemary. I sprinkled some raw cows milk cheddar from Cabot creamery and finished it off by rendering some uncured bacon into candy with more maple syrup. It was brilliant.

Today I created my own curry (I love to combined and grind my own spice blends and yes mortar and pestle all the way). Made a Mango Chicken curry that was green and mild. Perfect with brown Basmati and a fresh pickled slaw for color and crunch.

So I am settling in with making food. I am going to make a Vermont version of lasagna meaning using what would normally grow in the state during the fall/winter so no tomatoes. We are back to using root fruits which will be interesting. Got a lead on some local pork and of course still using a different herb base. Sweetness again from Vermont's mainstay in Maple syrup, but I could punch the alternative marinara with a young white balsamic for acidity. We shall see. It will be fun to play with.

So as far as sightseeing, we have been to the Joseph Smith birthplace memorial which was really cool considering it is middle of winter and nobody else was really around. We met the senior couple in charge of the historical site. Cannot believe they were able to erect that obelisk in 1905 with just horses, wagons, pulleys and trees. It weighs 100 tons and is 38 feet in length. It took them 33 days to bring it from the nearby rail station to erect it on the hill where their home was. The Foreman in charge actually prayed for God to intervene, because they couldn't get it raised and set because the sheer weight was ripping the trees they were lacing their ropes around out of the ground. After his prayer that night they had a major freeze that froze everything solid even the ground. It was sheer cold. In this they were able to get the job done without ripping out anymore trees.

We have been to some small towns even Woodstock per CB recommendation. We have been to Burlington but of course it is winter so Lake Champlain isn't really popping. Our first week in the state we did actually go to Ben and Jerry's. It was actually quite crowded for winter time. Boring for me and my wife. Nothing really spectacular. We had more fun seeing how many out of state license plates there were in the parking lot than actually visiting the site. Their video presentation was way to political and I left annoyed.

We have been out snowshoeing twice since we got here. It has been fun. Love being outside in the winter seeing my breath and feeling the bite of the crisp winter.

This weekend my wife gets Monday off so we are going to spend 3 days in Montreal. Leave Friday. Stay in a hotel that is actually right next to the red light district and just a block or two from Gay Village. I told my wife where the hotel was located and she was all about the deal she was getting with her hotels.com membership so I said it was fine. I told her not to be too surprised if she sees a few things you don't normally see in Salt Lake lol. No worries. It is close to a subway station and that means we can get quickly underground and enjoy the shopping and eating options under the entire city. We will want to come up for air and see some of the historic locations in the city. Saturday will be fun as I have scored some tickets to watch the Canadiens play the Carolina Hurricanes that evening. Not a Habs or Hurricanes fan, but to see an NHL game in Canada is special. We will attend an English speaking sacrament service on Sunday and then attend a morning session at the Temple in Montreal before we roll back over the border into Vermont.

Other trips we have planned are to Palmyra, NYC,Quebec and Boston (We will be in Fenway catching a came against the Indians) My wife wants to take a break between assignments so for her birthday she wants to spend five days driving from Barre VT to New Brunswick and than take the ferry over to Nova Scotia and spend a couple days in Halifax. Also attend a temple session there. One requirement is if we go somewhere there is a temple we are attending so we will always travel prepared.

Right now we are looking for some great shows or concerts that will be within a 3 hour window of where we live now in the next 70 days.

Next week I will begin to work on my health and wellness branding, learning about all the social media options, using skill-share to learn how to use my existing tech as well as learn about tech I need to use for filming my cooking videos as well as set up my live stream show. It is a blast to have time to figure this stuff out.