Saturday, September 26, 2015

Hello!

Wow, 2015 is rockin' and rolling! It is already almost October! I can not believe it has been since April since I wrote! I get in these funks where I do not want to write any...or if I do want to write I never seem to have the time!

Let's catch up!!


May: 

- We went and saw Blackberry Smoke at House of Blues. This is the 3rd time we have seen them and it is a rockin' concert. If you haven't heard them, the best I can do to compare them is like Lynyrd Skynyrd/Southern Rock sound.



- Comicpalooza
As always Comicpalooza is in May! It is one of my favorite times of the year! This year we got Summer Glau's autograph!! We got to meet her. I was super nervous and such a dork. I just said "hi!". She was very nice to everyone in our fan line. For those of you who do not know who that is, she is most famous for River from Firefly/Serenity, Sarah Connor from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. 

- We went to Hayley Atwell's panel and got her autograph! We knew her from "Pillars of the Earth". She was a very nice person and she had a great panel. She was inspiring to listen to. 

 - Of course I couldn't leave without getting some loot! I've been wanting a baby dancing Groot (from Guardians of the Galaxy) and I finally found one! 

June: 


- Our key lime tree started going crazy this summer! I got at least 3 of the bowls full and there are still limes falling off of the trees, not getting used. I hate to see them get wasted, but I have no idea what to use them for! We do not like Key Lime Pie and it's hard to find non-dessert recipes for these. We used some on fajitas and that was yummy.

-Homemaking Things

 - I made salsa!! I have made 2 different batches now. I tried a stab at it back in June, while Joey was away for business. I made 2 jars the first time. Which was a little disheartening after all of that work with blanching the tomatoes and such. However, this past time I was faster and I was able to get 3 jars using store tomatoes (we didn't have any to pick).

For the first batch I used our tomatoes, our jalapenos, and our bell pepper.
It turned out delicious!!
I also pickled some of our jalapenos we grew in the garden. They were so delicious! This past batch, I didn't have any jalapenos to use from our garden, but we went to the farmer's market so I bought some there and pickled them. I was able to get I think 4 jars from the bunch!

I absolutely love it that I can use what I planted to make food for our family!  How neat is that!?


-My Birthday 
I turned 27 this year! It was one of the best "adult" birthdays I have had! I say that because after 21, birthdays aren't super big anymore. It's like "oh, happy birthday!" lol

However, this year was different!! Joey asked me this year what I wanted to do. I told him just hang out with our friends on my birthday, that would be enough. Well...he then came up with the idea to get Killen's BBQ.  Which is some of the best BBQ we have ever had! The wheels start turning and our cousin (on Joey's side) agrees to let us have it at his house and use his pool! 

The morning of my birthday, Joey and I drive to Pearland and pick up our order and put it in an ice chest to keep it warm until evening. Then once we get home Joey said he wanted to go to his cousin's house to see if he needs any help. Turns out they went to Wal-mart and picked up all sorts of party things! 

They put up streamers, had hats and even A MINION PINATA!! (I love the minions, but I wanted what was inside more....so I took him down!)

It was such an amazing birthday and even now I am so grateful for our friends coming and even bring things to my party. It was awesome!


July:

-Joey's Birthday 
Joey turned 30 this year! We went out to eat and then hung out with some friends for his birthday. 
It is unreal how much I love that man! :)


- Vegas 
We went to Vegas! Yes, again! :)

We went early this year due to my new teacher orientation (I switched school districts).

The view when you near Vegas. 
Since we live in a totally different type of climate it is really neat to see the desert this high up. 



This was the most exciting part of our trip!! 
Not only did we go to our first club, but we saw one of our favorite artists there! 
Zedd
For those of you that have no idea who that is, he is a DJ that plays EDM style music. 
EDM= electronic dance music
To some it may sound like random noises, but if you can find the beat and just enjoy it... that makes all of the difference!

We went to the club XS and danced the night away. 
Basically an EDM type concert is a huge dance party!
It's so much fun!!


I will post more about Vegas really soon, since I have SO many more pictures to share.

August: 
I got hooked on True Detective. 
I think the first season is better, but it is hard to compare since the seasons are totally different story lines. 
I just like the Criminal Minds/mystery aspect in the first season. 

- My sister-in-law got married!
She was absolutely stunning!
I got misty eyed as I watched her walk down the aisle. 
I've known her since she was in 2nd grade (when Joey and I first started dating). 
Crazy how time passes!




School Starting: 

School is now in session and I started working in my room early August, as soon as I could get in there. I teach little ones and so getting into a new-to-you space at a new school is a little crazy. I got in my room as soon as I could so I could set it up. It was basically that and going to trainings and school starting for the rest August.

September: 
- We went to an Astros game! This actually happened this past Monday. 
Joey one night asked if I wanted to go. 
It was tickets, free hot dog, free soda, and free popcorn!
Heck yeah!

We haven't been to an Astros game in quite a while. 
It was much more fun than I remembered! 
Astos won their game against the Los Angeles Angels (6-3)






This was last night!
Zedd  came to Houston!!
As soon as we saw him in Vegas, we looked up to see if he was coming to our town. 
Sure enough he was!!
Since last time we saw him, our feet were ready to give out by the time he came on (which was 1 am); we decided to get seat tickets. 
Such a good decision! 
This time there were 3 openers. However time went by so fast!
Once Zedd was on, I was on my feet dancing the entire show!


The visuals and lights at this show are phenomenal! 
The most amazing part is, the lights and the visuals are all done live. 
It is not pre-recorded. 
Zedd does not like doing that because he wants to be able to change his set list at a whim if he wants to, based on the audience's mood. 





It feels so nice to finally sit down and write about everything! 

Hope you have been doing well! 

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Garden Update!

So every week I have been trying to take pictures of my garden's progress. It is fun for me to look back and see how much it has grown as well as keep a record of the plants for next time.



The morning after I planted (March 14th): 

 Week 2 (March 22nd): 

 March 27th I noticed my first bud on my squash! 


In 3 more days I noticed another bud popping up! 



Week 3 (April 4th): 
 
I put a trellis up for my cucumbers since they were getting tall. 



Some of the most fun progress to watch are the cucumbers climbing! The 2 pictures taken below were taken 4 days apart! 

April 4th

After getting the trellis, the cucumbers took off! 

April 8th
Do you see the difference in the height of the left cucumber?! 


The first bud! (April 4th) 

Squash buds!


Another view from week 3

April 7th: squashlings!

Tiny yellow bell peppers!


April 8th






Week 4(April 11th): 

My basil is doing better. 
I sprayed it with vinegar and water mixture to get the pests away. It worked on whatever was chomping at the end of the leaves. I also took off the half eaten leaves, which seemed to help it grow better.  Today I noticed I have a new pest that is making a hole through the leaves. 

Not sure what I am going to do when my climbing friend gets to the top! I am partially hoping they will just climb back down again! 

Mammoth Jalapeno is finally getting into the action!

I've had buds on my grape tomatoes, but now they are actually forming!

Big Bertha Red Bell Peppers are getting along well!

Better Bush tomato plant

You can see the garden a little better from the back angle. 
My grape tomatoes are out of control! :)

My cucumbers are growing SO fast! 
They have grown about a foot in a week!

The newest pest in my garden!
He looks cute, but I just read that grasshoppers can be a nuisance!

If you are wondering if I fertilized my garden, I have only federalized it once, last Saturday. 

Pest issues so far: 
- Strawberries are getting picked of the vine that attaches to the strawberry. It is getting eaten through. I have one quite large strawberry that is growing. If it makes it, it will be our second to eat. 
- Basil is getting eaten first by leaves bit off at the end, like big chunks. I think those have gone away and now it is tiny holes in the leaves. 
- Gnats are super bad around the garden. I do not think they are affecting the garden, but they are annoying to have when you are working out there. 

So in short: a recap!

Week 2: 


Week 3: 

Week 4:



It is such a blessing to be able to grow veggies and go out each day to see the progress! :)



Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Spring Break 2015!

Well, I have been staying very busy since January. Work has kept me busy and I've also been working on projects around the house.


The most recent one I am still giddy about!

Over a 3 day time span on my Spring Break I built a garden!

I've been telling Joey since we have gotten married that I wanted a garden. He never stopped me, but other obstacles halted those plans in the past. Finally in this house, we have the yard space, a good sun/shade ratio, and we also have great soil!


To understand where I received all the dirt, will be another post. Over Christmas break we built a patio!! We had awesome family and friends lend us a hand to dig out (with shovels) a 10 x 30 space. We dug down about 7 inches. All that dirt needed to go somewhere...so we dumped it behind our shed.



I did not take a picture of the dirt...
just picture a huge mound of dirt behind the shed

Well, as the weather started to warm up some I started thinking about my garden and what I wanted to plant. The biggest issue became what to do about all the dirt. 

The awesome thing about the soil we have at this house is that it is full of earthworms and grubs, meaning it is good soil. I knew I wanted to use it in my garden. 

Tuesday on my Spring Break, I started planning. It had been raining and more was to come in the forecast, so I relaxed and took that day to plan, research companion planting, and calculate how big a garden I needed/wanted. To my surprise, Wikipedia has a great companion planting guide! 

Tuesday


Wednesday: I dug two trenches in the pile of dirt and moved some dirt around .

Thursday: 

I dug out more of the trench  I ended the day with two blocks on the back wall completed and laid the front blocks of the right bed. 
It was a fun drizzly/rainy day, but I was determined to get some progress in between the showers. 

Friday: 

I completed both beds!!
That meant:
-Finished digging the trench in the back of the left bed
-Dug a trench in the back of the right bed
-Moved dirt to the corners that needed it

- Made a trip to Home Depot to get one more large cinder block and a half size
- Leveled the dirt
-Raked up the soil to loosen it. 

I moved all of the cinder blocks myself! 
Joey helped me load the first 12 in the car, but after that I unloaded those 12 and the 13 more that followed. 


When Joey got home that day, it was off to Home Depot!! 

I had my list in hand! 



We came back home and I got to placing the plants in their spots. 
By the time I got to planting the marigolds, I was racing the sun. 
I finished just in time. 

Finished garden (taken the next morning). 

One Week Later: 
 (March 22nd)
Left Bed
First Row (closest): 
- Big Bertha Red Bell Pepper, Jalapeno, Yellow Bell Pepper
Second Row: Lavender (experiment plant), 2 Basil plants
Back Row: Tomatoes! Normal size (Better Bush), grape on the right (Sweet 100)


Right Bed
- 2 Strawberries (left side) we are experimenting to see how well they do
- 2 Yellow Squash (straight neck) on the right
- 2 cucumbers in the back

Garlic Chives are planted in the left bottom corner. 

I planted Marigolds around the outside. I read that those are supposed to help with pests. Then I read in my magazine that it is a myth. Either way, they were on sale and they add more color to the outside of the garden. It is worth a shot!

I picked our first strawberry last Tuesday (17th)
How, you say? So fast? 
This little guy was growing on the plant at the store! 

However, we have more coming! Each plant has buds and a couple baby strawberries growing!



I checked the garden tonight. The tomatoes have buds on them. The squash seems to be doing awesome, there are multiple buds on each plant. The lavender is doing well and growing. The cucumbers seem to be starting to want to climb the trellis I have for them. No buds on the peppers yet or the cucumbers.  
The basil is getting bigger, but something has been munching on it. 
My clues: bite marks on the leaves and tracks in the dirt. I may net it soon, just so it can grow more.

Overall: I am so thankful that I am able to have a garden this year. I am so pleased that I was able to think, plan, and do a project like that. It makes me so proud when I see the garden to know that I did that! As crazy as it may sound, there were moments when I was digging and placing blocks, jamming to music I don't normally listen to (Nirvana...good trench digging music) and I was relaxed. The next morning after I planted my garden, I woke up early on a Saturday to go water. Something about that morning sunshine and watering plants. 

I am so thankful for the slow and simple moments in the garden and in life!