For Jud...

Jud asked what we are planting in our new garden, here is the list:

(in no particular order)

Corn
3 types of Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Strawberries
Sweet Banana Peppers
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Oregano
Rosemary
2 kinds of Basil
Arugula
Parsley
Marigolds
Squash
Sweet Verbinium
Aztec Grass
Hydrangeas - FL and AL types (the AL types are from my Grandma's yard and I HOPE HOPE HOPE they take good root. I don't know if they like the FL sandy soil. They came from RED 'Bama clay)
some purple grass
monkey grass
little cabbages
Violas
Zinias
and we have pots with
Lemons
Key Limes
Blackberries
Grapes

If all of this grows well, I may never have to go to the grocery store again...

Doo Doo Doo lookin' out my backdoor.

We finally got to working on the yard this weekend. Friday and Saturday were a wash, literally. It rained too much to get anything done. The Springtime festival which is one of my favorite events in town was even closed early due to rain. There were no where near the number of usual vendors. I can't blame the ones who decided not to come. It rained and was cloudy all day and there were huge wind gusts when it wasn't raining. People were having to hold onto their merchandise and tents with every gust. So my parents didn't get to help with the yard, but my mom made me a beautiful skirt and I sent her home with some more fabrics for cool clothes and my dad and I designed benches for the dining room to give me more seating and storage. It was great having them here. We just hung out and ate good seafood. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

After church yesterday, Matt and I rented a tiller from Home Depot and headed home. We had 24 hours to rip up the backyard. After a few technical difficulties with the tiller we had it running. I ran the tiller and Matt raked the grass and weeded. I had the easier job for sure. My arms and hands are incredibly sore today. The backyard is no where near finished but the hardest part: ripping up the grass is over. The tiller did in about 2-3 hours what took us an entire day in the front yard. We've got an oak tree to plant in the corner, hydrangea's from my grandma to plant along the house, we're going to get some greenery, some azaleas and camellias and Matt's got big plans for a vegetable garden. I'm even going to make a cute little yard with Steve and Wil's dog house. They never use the thing, but it's going to have a path and a sign and flowers all around. We're going to put a comfy bed inside and that will probably lure them in.

So we've got our afternoons filled for the next few weeks. I don't want to run inside and hide anymore now that the grass is gone. We're looking forward to creating a space to enjoy this summer.

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Backyardigans

My parents are in town through the weekend. We’re hoping to do a little yard work with their help. They graciously volunteered to help out. The backyard desperately needs some attention. We never go out there. We’ve got to dress it up a little and make it more appealing. Matt is planning on creating a serious vegetable garden where he will plant and replant according to season. I’m hopeful this will work. Growing our own vegetables is always cheaper than buying them at the store. There’s nothing cooler than needing a tomato and being able to walk in to your backyard to choose one. We’re also going to plant some herbs, which I love. Fresh herbs give your food a lot of flavor and make it look pretty. Our work may get rained out, though. It looks like it’s already pretty heavy in Alabama and it’s headed our way. I read there could be 4-8 inches by Friday night. Yuck. But we need the rain for sure. I hope backyard pictures will be in a blog in the near future. After the backbreaking work it was to do the front yard, I kind of want to run away when I look at the back yard. Or at least run inside and watch TV.

New blog address

If you're reading this, it probably isn't news. But I changed my blog address to something without my full name in it. If I keep blogging for a while - and that's my plan, I figured I didn't want to broadcast my full name out where anyone can search and find my blog or me. I know most everyone who wanders by here anyways. Spread the word if you know someone who reads this.



Thanks!

This makes me smile..

and I needed a smile today.

Cheer for a Monday.

Happy Spring! Boy, do I miss having a spring break!

We had a fun weekend. Matt’s friend from high school came down for a visit. We ate tasty seafood, enjoyed sitting and talking on the beach and watched a little basketball.

I cooked my first gulf shrimp – we’re talking so fresh that were swimming in the gulf that morning. We bought them from a seafood vendor down here and when I first saw them they had their heads and everything. They didn’t look like shrimp from the grocery store! The sales lady literally “popped” the heads off for me (I don’t know if I could have handled that messiness in my own kitchen). I also bought some delicious bay scallops from the same place. I boiled the shrimp in balsamic vinegar and Old Bay. They were delicious and they were HUGE! For the scallops, I first covered them in salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary and a little flour. Then I heated some olive oil and squeezed a little lemon into the oil. Then I sautéed the scallops in the oil. We served everything with lemon spaghetti (an Everyday Italian recipe) and steamed asparagus. It was such a good dinner. I was shocked at how well everything turned out. I don’t know if I could repeat it. Haha.

Now I have a huge pile of laundry to get to this week. I am thankful that we have enough clothes that I don’t have constantly do laundry. Wish me luck!

Proverbs 31:21 – When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

Listen...

to what the Flower People say.....ahhhhahhhh......

(snaps to you if you know who sings that song. On tour this summer!)

Happy Spring!

Hope the weather is beautiful where you are too!

(btw, song is by Spinal Tap in their 60's flower child days. - Watch the movie.)

Hubby's Blog

Check out Matt's blog -
http://weretoopoortopayattention.blogspot.com/

He's got some great pictures.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'm heading up to Bama.

Disney Info

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/disneyparks/en_US/WhatWillYouCelebrate/index?name=FreeOnYourBirthdayPage

T asked about the free ticket to Disney, so I thought I'd put the link in here for anyone interested. You have to preregister your birthday and then bring the printout and an ID to check-in at the ticket office. You have to go on your actual birthday to get the free ticket, but if it falls on a weekend and you can swing it, it's an awesome birthday trip.

Birthday Vacation Extravaganza!

I had a WONDERFUL birthday trip. If you have the chance to take advantage of the free ticket to Disney on your birthday DO IT! I have never had so many people tell me happy birthday before! It’s not like under normal circumstances you wear a “Happy Birthday” button on your actual birthday (or any other day for that matter). The weather couldn’t have been better, the sun was shining, the sky was crisp and blue and the clouds were fluffy.

Since we have season passes, instead of the free ticket, my birthday present was a gift card loaded with the equivalent amount of a ticket. I had a blast shopping. We went to the Polynesian hotel in Disney, we rode all my favorite rides in the Magic Kingdom, we had an empty monorail car all to ourselves to EPCOT, we took the boat to Hollywood Studios and ate dinner at a delicious restaurant there. Then after going back to the hotel for a while we went to Winterland/Summerland miniature golf and Downtown Disney. And this was all on Friday!

The entire weekend was amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate my birthday. Above are some pictures from the weekend. Starting in the top left corner: It’s me and Matt in the Polynesian, riding the teacups, wet after Splash Mountain, riding the empty monorail car, playing the “Don’t Waste It” recycling game in EPCOT, saving the world with Kim Possible in the World Showcase and enjoying delish Italian dips and breads in Mama Melrose’s Italian Ristorante in Hollywood Studios.

Trust and Obey -

For there's no other way....

Hope God is blessing you today. I'm tired from the time change and the amazing birthday weekend. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. I am completely blessed.

Birthday pictures to come.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!

Heading to Orlando this afternoon for a Birthday Celebration Vacation. (Why can't every day have a title like that?) I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures next week. Hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend.

p.s. this is my 100th post!! Hooray!

It's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

This weekend we took a wonderful trip to two of my favorite towns. Atlanta on Friday night to see Ben Folds at the Tabernacle. Great show. And then on to B'ham to visit with Andrea and my parents. We had a fun day shopping around Homewood on Saturday. I got to go to Hobby Lobby and found some great deals. The real fun came on Sunday morning. The dogs woke us up at 6:30 needing to go outside. Andrea happened to be up as well so we got to take in the first of the snowfall. We spend the rest of the morning joking, laughing and laying on the air mattress in Andrea's apt. watching the snow fall outside the sliding doors. It was a beautiful sight and it was nice to have some down time in all of our crazy travels.

Matt and Andrea have a little joke going on about his pumpkin boxers. She claims to be scarred from the time she came over and he was wearing these boxers, cheering for Auburn over Tennessee. He picks on her about them all the time and they've kept this joke up for years. Today she kidded him about going out in the snow in only his pumpkin boxers, so he did....

It wasn't even a dare or a bet, but Matt is not one to turn down an idea that would make someone laugh. I'm surprised these pictures are in focus considering I was laughing so hard.

Matt's attempt at a fast snowman...

It doesn't quite look like a snowman...

Or a hat...

Making a snow angel

Yes, I'm married to a nut, but there's never a dull moment.

and he makes me laugh....

and he's pretty cute....

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You can see how thick the snow was when we started for home. This is Andrea's front porch.

The snow on the trees in the apartment complex.

Getting on the Interstate, headed back to Florida.