August 14, 2008

Reunited and it feels so good

The interwebz has returned to my house - finally.

August 6, 2008

Attack of the killer tomatoes!

Alright, so not really attack of the killer tomatoes, more like attack of the 10 feet tall tomato plants. It is crazy how tall our tomato plants are this year.

Case in point:
Garden 2008 - tomato plants
Oh! By the way, that is my neighbors vehicle in the background. Granted we have a raised garden, but still...it is crazy.

Take a look at the size of the stakes we are using to support the plants.
Garden 2008 - tomato plants

Besides the ridiculous size, I am happy to report that my tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen up! I was starting to get paranoid.
Garden 2008 - tomatoes
I am glad the tomatoes are finally changing colors - I have a ton of peppers that are just waiting to be diced up into salsa.

I am by far no gardening expert, this is only the 3rd year we have had a garden at our house, so I curious as to what is the deal with some of my Early Girl tomatoes.
Check out the black spots.
Garden 2008 - tomatoes
What are those? What causes them? And how can I prevent this in the future??

August 5, 2008

Yeah, I read "young adult" books, what's it to you??

On Saturday I went to the closest Barnes & Noble with every intention of picking up Stephanie Meyer's new novel Breaking Dawn and a few other titles that caught my eye.

As I made my way to the checkout line I witnessed a teen girl coming rushing into the store, run up up to the table where a friendly Barnes & Noble employee was handing out the pre-ordered and non pre-ordered books. The girl screeched out, "Are there any books left? Please tell me there are books left!"

The employee not even phased by the outburst handed her a book which led to the girl jumping up in down in place with the novel tightly clutched to her chest.

She raced to the checkout line with her mother lagging behind. I ended up directly behind the mother and daughter in line.

The mother glances at me, notices that I too have a copy of Breaking Dawn. No lie. THe mother rolled her eyes at me and says in disgust, "Oh! Not you too!"

I most have had a look of bewilderment on my face for she followed up with the following line. "You are obviously not a teen, therefore I cannot imagine why you would want to read that book." Note - she stressed the words obviously and that book.

I replied why shrugging my shoulders, "I like the series."

Her reply, "But it is a teen book".

I wanted to blurt out "SO" but instead I just shrugged my shoulders again and said, "I happen to enjoy reading all different types of books - including young adult."

I have never seen someone be so disgusted at the thought of an adult reading a "young adult" novel.

Honestly, what is the big deal? Just because I am of a certain age does not mean I am suddenly restricted to reading certain types of books. I was astonished.

I feel bad for this woman - she must lead a life of restrain and do what everyone expects of her. How boring.

Not me. I shall continue to live my life enjoying all types of novel, short stories, graphic novels, etc. Isn't that the point of reading - to enjoy yourself.

Hmph...some people.

Regarding the book, I started reading it Sunday evening after the in-laws left. I'm about 530 pages into the book and all I will say is - it is different. I'm not going to pass judgment now. I'll wait until I actually finish the book. I will say - my favorite part thus far were the chapters told from Jacob's point of view.

August 4, 2008

It's like Christmas...but in August

After a so-so day at work, I was pleasantly surprised to find my package of yarn from Sunshine Yarns.

Confession time - I'm a total Harry Potter geek and so when I found out that Dani at Sunshine Yarns hand dyes yarn in HP colorways I pretty much freaked out. I splurged and bought myself the following colorways:

Tonks
Sunshine Yarns - "Tonks"

Welsh Green Dragon
"Welsh Green Dragon"

and lastly
Dobby
"Dobby"

Yay! If I only didn't have three other projects on needles, I would totally dive into that Dobby colorway.

I tell you, yarn is like crack - super addicting.

July 22, 2008

A whole lot of catching up to do

Okay, I'm a little ashamed of myself. Really. Who starts a blog and then disappears for 3 months?! Apparently I do.

But in my defense, I have been pretty busy over the last 3 months. I agree, still no excuse.

I guess I am just going to do a summary, since trying to post about the past 3 months would be mind numbing for me and anyone that attempts to read this.
So, here is what I've been up to over the past three months since I last posted:

- Finished up the semester and maintained my sanity throughout finals week.

- Spent 2 weeks in Mexico on a study abroad program with the College of Nursing. We spent time in San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. We explored the culture, the history, the health care system, and what health/illness means to the Mexicans. We also spent some time in Spanish class - which is where I realized just how rusty I am and how much of a foreign language one can forget when not using on a regular basis. We learned some Spanish for health care employees which I know will be beneficial for when I actually get a nursing job in the city.
A few photos:
San Miguel de Allende - a beautiful colonial town. So quaint and just all around lovely.


Guanajuato - a large city, quite a stark difference from San Miguel. Look at all the beautiful brightly painted houses. I told Kev I wanted to live in a bright green house and he just looked at me like I was nuts!


- Went to my future sister-in-law's bachelorette party


- Went to Summerfest. Enjoyed the Tim McGraw concert immensely. Took in a really awesome cover band from Arizona, I think. Drank beer and ate far too much fried food (mmmm...corn dogs).

- Went to some Brewer games. Go Brew Crew!

- Stood up as a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding. Cried a little. Laughed a lot.


- Worked.

- Embarked on some craft adventures. Will blog about this at a later time.

- Helped our friends from New York move back into town.

- Spent some time with our friends who just recently had a new addition to the family. Realized that by the time Kev and I get around to having children all the names I love are going to be taken. Boooo.

- Went thrifting and checked out some flea markets. Scored some goodies and enjoyed the sunshine.

- Watched my garden grow and thrive (with the exception of our peas and cucumbers - hmph).

- Attended a wedding of a friend who we thought was going to be a bachelor for life. Partied with Bucky Badger.



Yeah, that pretty much sums up the past couple of months. Now hopefully I can stay up to date on my blogging. Or at least try.

April 15, 2008

Bathroom Art

Just framed up and hung some new art in the bathroom and I am so excited about it. I absolutely adore these prints.

Before any asks, yes, there is somewhat of a frog theme going on in the bathroom. I love frogs. Always have. I figured if there ever was a good place to go a little crazy with the frog stuff it would be the bathroom. I would like to think that I have restrained myself somewhat from going hog crazy and have utilized just a few fun and entertaining frog items to set the "mood" for the bathroom.

Check out my newest Etsy purchases...
Art in the bathroom

And close ups
New art work
I practically squee everytime I look at this little guy. Seriously, I love him so much it is probably not healthy. Just look at how cute he is in his little sweater and tie. As I mentioned before, snagged this guy on Etsy from an artist known as berkleyillustration. I urge everyone to go check out his work. He has some other cuties (a squirrel, and an owl) that I am eyeing up - just need to find a good home for them and they will be mine!

And the other print
New art work
As for this print, I saw it and just knew it must be mine.

I must admit, I have a tendency to walk into the bathroom and smile now.

Gone but not forgotten

You know, this always happens to me. I wish I could be one of those bloggers that can consistently blog about their life, house, or whatever. But in the end I am one of those that blogs and then life consumes me and I kind of disappear for a period of time. Pretty sad. I really need to work on that. In my defense, I blame school. University has gotten all sorts of chaotic with the end of the semester quickly approaching. With the end of the semester drawing near means my stress level has increased tenfold. Or more. Who knows.

Anyway, I'm taking the time to update about our progress in the bathroom. We are almost done with the painting, just need to trim out the top of the wall. Then we can move our focus to finishing up painting the trim, and the medicine cabinet. Oh yeah, and there is the door yet. But something tells me that is going to be more than just one coat and we are done.

So we say good-bye to Feeling Froggy green and hello to Asparagus green. Kev felt the Feeling Froggy was waxing and waning on his nerves. Just a bit too bright green for his taste. And in all honestly, it was bright. Really bright. Almost bordering on obnoxious bright green. Despite the brightness of Feeling Froggy, I really liked it. No, really I did. But now that we have Asparagus up on the wall, yeah, I have no idea what I was thinking when I decided on Feeling Froggy. Asparagus is such a better color and it doesn't cause heart palpitations upon walking into the bathroom, which I guess is a good thing.

I don't think there is any way I could accurately describe the greens for you, so I'll resort to pictures instead
Old wall color
Yes, that is Feeling Froggy in all of its glory.

And now for the new color - Asparagus
New wall color

Just for fun, a shot that shows both color at once.
Painting - in progress

In my opinion, even though I loved Feeling Froggy, I definitely see the new color as an upgrade to the bathroom. It seems more tranquil and more inviting.