This will be our second Halloween in our new house, but last year we just didn't feel settled enough for a party. Well, this year we are more settled and planning our first Halloween party! I hope to make this an annual tradition that gets better with age. I'm really excited! I Love Halloween!
We have created invites and sent them out. The only one I have yet to get out is for Nicole & Tyler and that is because we CANNOT find their address! It is killing me. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do, but I'm gonna have to figure it out soon.
We went last night and bought a bunch of Halloween decorations because we didn't have many to start out with. So, I think we have our "starter" Halloween decorations now. I know that the decorations will grow over the years. I think that we will most likely make some decorations over the years also. I would like to make some this year, but I'm afraid we are starting to run short on time.
We have not yet gotten our costumes together and that is a tad more important than making additional decorations. Tony is going to be an Evil Priest and he ordered the main part of his costume online yesterday. I think mostly all he has left is just a few minor accesories. I however have not exactly nailed down what I'm gonna be. I am thinking either a Goth Vampire or a Fallen/Dark Angel. Either way it is almost the same costume. The big difference is that there were these Awesome black and burgandy wings at the party store that would make it the angel. I think I will likely go with that just because the wings were cool. AND then it would kind of go w/ Tony's costume.
So the other big order of business is food and entertainment. I have been looking in magazines and online for food ideas. There are a lot of really cool ideas out there. The only problem I'm running into so far is that a lot of the ideas are for sweets or finger foods. I want some of both of those, but we are starting the party around 4pm so we will need some substantial dinner food also. Entertainment is easier and harder at the same time ;-) The most basic and easy plan is to set out a variety of our multitude of board and card games to be played, preferably some of the group games we rarely play. Options include Pictionary, Beyond Balderdash, Cranium, Taboo, and various trivia games. We have about a hundred other games to choose from also, but those are the good group games. The other more difficult plan is to do some Halloween themed adult games. That has proven very difficult. The only thing we have so far is "Bobbing for Bottles" in which you bob for the little mini bottles of liquor. We are thinking it will be $1 or $2 per bob and whatever you "catch" you have to drink. (nothing else will cost, but those little bottles add up)
So, I'll update the plans as they come along. I'm hoping to come up with at least one more Halloweeny game to play.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
My busy weekend
Yesterday we went to a local market at Wesleyan College. It was small and mostly people were selling crafts. There were a few gourds and some flowers. I think it is a new market and they are only doing it once a month right now. I will try to go to it every so often to see what they have. There is another market that is downtown every Saturday, but we never seem to make it down there. We wandered around the market and then came on back home without buying anything.
After the market we spent all afternoon working on the house. We started at 11:30 and didn't finish until 5pm. We did break for lunch briefly. I swept the patio which was difficult because of all the ridges in between the "stones". I also cleaned everything off my bedroom floor, did several loads of laundry, and straightened/cleaned the spare bedroom w/ all the Christmas supplies in it. I never really got them back under control after last Christmas. My plan had been to buy rubbermaid type boxes and group everything all neatly... but it has yet to happen. Tony worked all day in our big game room downstairs. He had a lot of junk that needed to be sorted, cleaned, and organized. He now has nicely and neatly stacked 6 CPUs and 7 monitors that are old junkers various people have given him to work on/salvage. It is ridiculous!
After all the hard work, we were invited by two of Tony's friends to hit Red Lobster for the Endless Shrimp special. We do this every year with a varying sized group. I know better every year, but still end up getting it. I ate WAY too much, but was able to stop just short of the completely miserable point. ;-) It is always enjoyable to hang out with the guys though. We laughed and had a really good time. Good company is so valuable these days.
Today the plan was to have the in-laws over, but they canceled at the last minute. That is not like them, so it is forgivable. Then I thought I would hang out with my sisters because my youngest sis is in town for the day. But we all three got conned into helping my dad and grandma clean some junk out of her barn. So, I guess technically I did hang out with my sisters, and my mom and dad and grandma.... just not in the way I had imagined.
We also hit the store today to buy up some CFLs because Georgia is having a tax holiday for Energy Star items. Now we just have to pick our 16 most used lights (that aren't already CFL) and replace the bulbs in them. :-) But that can wait for another day.
After the market we spent all afternoon working on the house. We started at 11:30 and didn't finish until 5pm. We did break for lunch briefly. I swept the patio which was difficult because of all the ridges in between the "stones". I also cleaned everything off my bedroom floor, did several loads of laundry, and straightened/cleaned the spare bedroom w/ all the Christmas supplies in it. I never really got them back under control after last Christmas. My plan had been to buy rubbermaid type boxes and group everything all neatly... but it has yet to happen. Tony worked all day in our big game room downstairs. He had a lot of junk that needed to be sorted, cleaned, and organized. He now has nicely and neatly stacked 6 CPUs and 7 monitors that are old junkers various people have given him to work on/salvage. It is ridiculous!
After all the hard work, we were invited by two of Tony's friends to hit Red Lobster for the Endless Shrimp special. We do this every year with a varying sized group. I know better every year, but still end up getting it. I ate WAY too much, but was able to stop just short of the completely miserable point. ;-) It is always enjoyable to hang out with the guys though. We laughed and had a really good time. Good company is so valuable these days.
Today the plan was to have the in-laws over, but they canceled at the last minute. That is not like them, so it is forgivable. Then I thought I would hang out with my sisters because my youngest sis is in town for the day. But we all three got conned into helping my dad and grandma clean some junk out of her barn. So, I guess technically I did hang out with my sisters, and my mom and dad and grandma.... just not in the way I had imagined.
We also hit the store today to buy up some CFLs because Georgia is having a tax holiday for Energy Star items. Now we just have to pick our 16 most used lights (that aren't already CFL) and replace the bulbs in them. :-) But that can wait for another day.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Green living and the economic collapse
So, Tony has been reading a lot this week about the economic collapse that many people claim is coming soon. We have agreed that now is the time to really move forward with some of our green ideas and investing in a few things.
We are strongly looking into solar and or wind power for our home. We realize that we will not be able to get enough to cover all of our energy needs, but if we could cover some essentials it would be great.
We have a lot of things that we need to do in and around our home and then a lot more things that we want to do.
I think our priorities need to be:
- Building a storage shed/pump house that will cover our well before winter.
- Finishing the wiring in our house for internet access (Tony started this when the house was built, but has not tied off the outlets yet)
- Solar or wind power - at least starting w/ a small affordable or semi-homemade unit that will provide some of our monthly usage.
- learning more about gardening and beginning to do so.
- building a compost bin to use. ( I have a "compost pile" at the edge of the woods, but it is not very efficient)
Then the ideas that we are toying with are:
- possibly getting some goats for two purposes - eating grass/weeds and milk/cheese
- Tony is now talking about having a few chickens also.
We are also considering buying some gold and/or silver to have just in case the economy gets REALLY bad. We want to be prepared for anything. I just keep trying to imagine what it would be like if we had a collapse/depression like the 1930's. I don't think most people would be able to handle that. I wouldn't like it one bit, but I think that my grandparents, parents, and Tony & I could make it through. I think my family has lived closer to the land throughout my life than most people that I know. That is I think where America needs to get back to as much as feasible. Local, sustainable, and self supporting is really what we all should be thinking about, rather than bigger, better, and more reliant on foreign imports.
The other new thing that has been going on around here lately is that we got a new grocery store called "The Fresh Market" here in town AND it is less than 5 miles from our house!! We went last weekend and this weekend. We are totally in LOVE with the place!! They have tons of fruits and veggies, plus lots of whole foods. We also bought 2 reusable grocery bags from there today. They are very pretty And only $.99 a piece!! I just have to remember to use them now.
I also am back to reading green blogs for ideas and inspiration. I am reading one today that has me truly intrigued. It is called the Accidental Enviromentalist (theaccidentalenviromentalist.blogspot.com) and they go weekly to the farmers market and pass out reusable bags. I think that is a Great idea! Also, she talks about making reusable bags out of tank tops, called "T-Totes", which I think is a cool idea. I may start doing that myself and give them to friends and family.
So, I'm currently really inspired to reduce, reuse, and recycle when possible. I just have to continue that momentum ;-)
I'll let you know. :o)
We are strongly looking into solar and or wind power for our home. We realize that we will not be able to get enough to cover all of our energy needs, but if we could cover some essentials it would be great.
We have a lot of things that we need to do in and around our home and then a lot more things that we want to do.
I think our priorities need to be:
- Building a storage shed/pump house that will cover our well before winter.
- Finishing the wiring in our house for internet access (Tony started this when the house was built, but has not tied off the outlets yet)
- Solar or wind power - at least starting w/ a small affordable or semi-homemade unit that will provide some of our monthly usage.
- learning more about gardening and beginning to do so.
- building a compost bin to use. ( I have a "compost pile" at the edge of the woods, but it is not very efficient)
Then the ideas that we are toying with are:
- possibly getting some goats for two purposes - eating grass/weeds and milk/cheese
- Tony is now talking about having a few chickens also.
We are also considering buying some gold and/or silver to have just in case the economy gets REALLY bad. We want to be prepared for anything. I just keep trying to imagine what it would be like if we had a collapse/depression like the 1930's. I don't think most people would be able to handle that. I wouldn't like it one bit, but I think that my grandparents, parents, and Tony & I could make it through. I think my family has lived closer to the land throughout my life than most people that I know. That is I think where America needs to get back to as much as feasible. Local, sustainable, and self supporting is really what we all should be thinking about, rather than bigger, better, and more reliant on foreign imports.
The other new thing that has been going on around here lately is that we got a new grocery store called "The Fresh Market" here in town AND it is less than 5 miles from our house!! We went last weekend and this weekend. We are totally in LOVE with the place!! They have tons of fruits and veggies, plus lots of whole foods. We also bought 2 reusable grocery bags from there today. They are very pretty And only $.99 a piece!! I just have to remember to use them now.
I also am back to reading green blogs for ideas and inspiration. I am reading one today that has me truly intrigued. It is called the Accidental Enviromentalist (theaccidentalenviromentalist.blogspot.com) and they go weekly to the farmers market and pass out reusable bags. I think that is a Great idea! Also, she talks about making reusable bags out of tank tops, called "T-Totes", which I think is a cool idea. I may start doing that myself and give them to friends and family.
So, I'm currently really inspired to reduce, reuse, and recycle when possible. I just have to continue that momentum ;-)
I'll let you know. :o)
I'm back!
Well, it's been awhile since I posted. Way longer than I had ever intended. It seems I hit a small bump in the road of life and it derailed me further than I realized. Anyway, several months later, I'm trying to get back on track.
So, an update on the little challenge that I had set for Tony and I. We didn't do very well with it. We started out strong and then tanked BAD. Basically we did ok w/ not eating out much in July, but then in August we went WAY, WAY off track and ate out constantly! We did not exercise at all and really suffered for it when we were at Disney World.
We had a very nice and enjoyable trip to Disney World and even managed to go to DragonCon for a day and a half beforehand. We were completely exhausted afterward, but enjoyed ourselves none the less. We have said that we will not be going back until we have children that are old enough to remember at lease some of it. So we will not be there for awhile. I think that I have gotten my fill of Disney for the time being though. I love it, but I think I will be ok with not going back for several years. We want to go to some new places anyway.
Since I've been back I've been trying to get back into my exercise routine and eat better. I haven't really been working on any green initiatives lately though. However, this week we have been talking a lot about the changes we want to make.
I'm going to try to post here more often now and give regular updates of what is going on, for better or worse.
So, an update on the little challenge that I had set for Tony and I. We didn't do very well with it. We started out strong and then tanked BAD. Basically we did ok w/ not eating out much in July, but then in August we went WAY, WAY off track and ate out constantly! We did not exercise at all and really suffered for it when we were at Disney World.
We had a very nice and enjoyable trip to Disney World and even managed to go to DragonCon for a day and a half beforehand. We were completely exhausted afterward, but enjoyed ourselves none the less. We have said that we will not be going back until we have children that are old enough to remember at lease some of it. So we will not be there for awhile. I think that I have gotten my fill of Disney for the time being though. I love it, but I think I will be ok with not going back for several years. We want to go to some new places anyway.
Since I've been back I've been trying to get back into my exercise routine and eat better. I haven't really been working on any green initiatives lately though. However, this week we have been talking a lot about the changes we want to make.
I'm going to try to post here more often now and give regular updates of what is going on, for better or worse.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
What color Green am I?
Found this over on MySkinnyGarden.blogspot.com and thought I would share my shade of green:
You Are Mint Green |
 Balanced and calm, you have mastered the philosophy of living well. Your friends seek you out for support, and you are able to bring stability to chaotic situations. You're very open and cheerful - and you feel like you have a lot of freedom in life. Your future may hold any number of exciting things, and you're ready for all of them! |
Challenges
I don't think that I have mentioned here the challenges that Tony and I set for ourselves while we were on vacation. We vacationed at the beach the last week of June. It was a very nice and relaxing vacation. Our next scheduled vacation is to Walt Disney World. We will leave on 8/31/08 and return on 9/6/08. That is a full week at the most Magical Place on Earth AND I will get to have my 30th birthday there no less!!
Anyway, we decided to set up a few challenges for ourselves between vacations. They are as follows:
1. We will only eat out for dinner once every other week. - this is quite a challenge for be because, even though I know it is bad for me, I Really Love eating out and look forward to it.
2. I will eat out for lunch a maximum of once a week, less often if possible.
3. We will increase our exercise to 3 to 4 times a week. I had been doing a lot better, but over the last month really have done NO exercise. Tony cracked his tail bone back in November and really hasn't done any exercise since.
4. We will each try to lose ten pounds before Disney. We decided that this should be based on our pre-beach weight since we were Very bad on vacation. That means that I had about 4 extra pounds to work off. Tony claims that he was basically the same before and after....I smell something fishy though.
5. We will not buy anything that is not a necessity. That means basically we can buy groceries and not much else. We have modified that just a tad. We have a few gift cards left over from Christmas time. We decided that if we REALLY just feel the need to shop or eat out (we have a Cracker Barrel card) then we can spend the gift cards.
Anyway, we are going to try to stick with all of these things until we go to Disney. We started out with like 63 days for the challenge. I think we are down to 55 days now.
I have lost a couple of pounds so far. We haven't really gotten moving on the exercise yet though. We ate out for dinner last Thursday and so aren't supposed to eat out again until week after next. I didn't actually eat out lunch last week, but did go out w/ a coworker for ice cream. So I counted that as my "lunch". So far so good on the not spending thing.
Today, though we had a little bump in the road. We usually have lunch with my parents, my sisters and my grandparents on Sundays. Well this Sunday my parents weren't going to be there, but we were still going. Then Tony and I overslept. Plus one of his friends called late last night and said he needed a place to crash for the night. So we had to consider him for lunch also. SO... we ended up going out for lunch. This was mostly my idea which I feel really bad about (but I also was kinda happy about) but we did not have anything good to offer for lunch. So, we decided that it was just a slip up and we will continue to stay on track from here on out.
We had been in a REALLY bad eating out pattern that we Have to get out of. It is not good for our health nor our wallets. I think that even though we went out today, we are still WAY better off than if we had not been on this challenge. There have been weeks in the past when we would eat out on Thursday and say that we would not eat out on the weekend. Then the weekend would come and we would eat out on Friday. Then on some of our worst weekends we would eat out again on Saturday! We must break the habit. Tony would say I should rephrase that to "I must break that habit". He does not struggle with this nearly as much as I do.
I will keep you posted on how we do! I figure if we do well on 1, 2, and 5 then we will have saved a good bit of money by vacation time :o) That will be a nice bonus.
Anyway, we decided to set up a few challenges for ourselves between vacations. They are as follows:
1. We will only eat out for dinner once every other week. - this is quite a challenge for be because, even though I know it is bad for me, I Really Love eating out and look forward to it.
2. I will eat out for lunch a maximum of once a week, less often if possible.
3. We will increase our exercise to 3 to 4 times a week. I had been doing a lot better, but over the last month really have done NO exercise. Tony cracked his tail bone back in November and really hasn't done any exercise since.
4. We will each try to lose ten pounds before Disney. We decided that this should be based on our pre-beach weight since we were Very bad on vacation. That means that I had about 4 extra pounds to work off. Tony claims that he was basically the same before and after....I smell something fishy though.
5. We will not buy anything that is not a necessity. That means basically we can buy groceries and not much else. We have modified that just a tad. We have a few gift cards left over from Christmas time. We decided that if we REALLY just feel the need to shop or eat out (we have a Cracker Barrel card) then we can spend the gift cards.
Anyway, we are going to try to stick with all of these things until we go to Disney. We started out with like 63 days for the challenge. I think we are down to 55 days now.
I have lost a couple of pounds so far. We haven't really gotten moving on the exercise yet though. We ate out for dinner last Thursday and so aren't supposed to eat out again until week after next. I didn't actually eat out lunch last week, but did go out w/ a coworker for ice cream. So I counted that as my "lunch". So far so good on the not spending thing.
Today, though we had a little bump in the road. We usually have lunch with my parents, my sisters and my grandparents on Sundays. Well this Sunday my parents weren't going to be there, but we were still going. Then Tony and I overslept. Plus one of his friends called late last night and said he needed a place to crash for the night. So we had to consider him for lunch also. SO... we ended up going out for lunch. This was mostly my idea which I feel really bad about (but I also was kinda happy about) but we did not have anything good to offer for lunch. So, we decided that it was just a slip up and we will continue to stay on track from here on out.
We had been in a REALLY bad eating out pattern that we Have to get out of. It is not good for our health nor our wallets. I think that even though we went out today, we are still WAY better off than if we had not been on this challenge. There have been weeks in the past when we would eat out on Thursday and say that we would not eat out on the weekend. Then the weekend would come and we would eat out on Friday. Then on some of our worst weekends we would eat out again on Saturday! We must break the habit. Tony would say I should rephrase that to "I must break that habit". He does not struggle with this nearly as much as I do.
I will keep you posted on how we do! I figure if we do well on 1, 2, and 5 then we will have saved a good bit of money by vacation time :o) That will be a nice bonus.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Cats & "country" life
I do love my cats, but sometimes they don't make me like them too much. Raven and Puff are the same age, but from two different mothers. Their mothers were sisters, so I guess they started life as cousins. Raven is a short haired gray slender cat who LOVES to hunt. Puff is a longish haired orangy tan cat who is quite fond of sleeping. They love each other very much. They are very sweet and loving to us also and bring me lots of joy.
The times when I don't like them too much is when they bring critters in the house. They are indoor and outdoor cats with their own cat door. Raven, who as I said is an avid hunter, prefers to play with her prey indoors before killing and/or eating it because it can't get away as easily. This is not an everyday affair but lets just say it usually happens at least once a week. She will also occasionally share her toy with her sister, Puff. Puff is not only lazy but very clumsy. It is the times when Raven "shares" with Puff that are usually trouble. Puff too often loses track of the "toy" and lets it get away. Then Tony and I end up chasing it around the house until it is caught. Which makes us laugh a lot, but really isn't all that fun. Now, if we see them with it we almost always do whatever we can to grab it and put it back outside, but that doesn't always happen.
They are not too picky about their toys either. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are mice, chipmunks, various birds, and Lots of lizards. I think birds are the worst because they leave behind a trail of feathers. I think they are Raven's favorite catch. Luckily they are pretty fast and she doesn't catch them very often.
This particular topic is on my mind today because I awoke this morning to a screeching sound. I went into my bathroom where Puff was laying in front of the tub. I had assumed that Raven had the creature in question, so I automatically dismissed Puff. It was then that she and the bird moved and I saw it. I was so shocked that Puff had the bird that I didn't get to grab it right away. It started to try to escape the bathroom so I grabbed a rag and went after it. It was a dark colored bird. It stopped and I was able to just reach down and pick it up. It did not squirm at all which made me think it was seriously injured. I walked out on the deck and opened my hand slightly. Before I even got my hand loose it just elegantly flew away. I was happy to see that it was ok to fly.
So that is our life with cats. Our friends seem taken aback when they are here and the cats bring in a "toy". My boss says she would get rid of the cat door. I just see it as a part of our life. I love my cats and they love their indoor/outdoor existence. I would not want them to be stuck inside all day or outside all day. They are able to come and go as they please and they actually come home a lot more since we put in the door. I can live with a little added nature and do not find it odd. I think the fact that Americans are so afraid of bugs and small critters to be what is a tad odd and unnatural. But maybe that is just me.
Just so you know, I do not live out in the boondocks either. I live in the middle of a fairly large city. We happen to be lucky enough to have 2 acres surrounded by woods. On two sides of us are pretty large tracts of unused land and on the other two sides are my grandparents land. They have close to 20 acres that includes 2 ponds. My parents are on the other side of them and have a pond themselves and several acres. This is all in what is considered the midtown area of our town. We happen to be in a spot that developers missed I guess. Although there is a subdivision going up on the other side of the woods on one side of us. I worry that they will build up closer to us than I'd like, but that is not something I have control of. Up the street by and past my parent's house is all "normal" city street life. Almost everyone who has come here during and since the building of our house has said, "Wow! I never knew this was back here!". Even people who grew up near our neighborhood. I call it our private slice of country in the city.
So whereas I'm not a country girl, I grew up with a taste of country life. My grandparents had cows when I was real little and chickens when I was slightly older. My parents and grandparents have had a small garden most years. I never was into the gardening, but as I get older I realize how wonderful it is to have your own food. Tony and I want to garden, but we have a long way to go before we will really be up to any kind of garden plot. We started small with a couple of planters this year. We are trying to grow a tomato plant and a few peppers. I also planted a few herbs. The herbs did ok for awhile, but I think the heat is getting to them. The peppers aren't doing to well, but I still have hope.
One of the cool things about our house and yard is that the deer come here to graze almost daily. I love to look out my window and see a deer. It excites me every time! You would think after the first week or so it would lose it's appeal but it does not. They are such beautiful creatures. I have also seen the occasional rabbit in the grass this year and that is almost as exciting.
I think that it is wonderful to be so surrounded by the beauty of nature in a world that seems to be losing touch with Mother Nature more and more everyday. I am hopeful that our family's plot of land will remain natural and undeveloped for many generations to come. I also can't wait to share all of the wonders of nature with my own children.
The times when I don't like them too much is when they bring critters in the house. They are indoor and outdoor cats with their own cat door. Raven, who as I said is an avid hunter, prefers to play with her prey indoors before killing and/or eating it because it can't get away as easily. This is not an everyday affair but lets just say it usually happens at least once a week. She will also occasionally share her toy with her sister, Puff. Puff is not only lazy but very clumsy. It is the times when Raven "shares" with Puff that are usually trouble. Puff too often loses track of the "toy" and lets it get away. Then Tony and I end up chasing it around the house until it is caught. Which makes us laugh a lot, but really isn't all that fun. Now, if we see them with it we almost always do whatever we can to grab it and put it back outside, but that doesn't always happen.
They are not too picky about their toys either. The ones I can think of off the top of my head are mice, chipmunks, various birds, and Lots of lizards. I think birds are the worst because they leave behind a trail of feathers. I think they are Raven's favorite catch. Luckily they are pretty fast and she doesn't catch them very often.
This particular topic is on my mind today because I awoke this morning to a screeching sound. I went into my bathroom where Puff was laying in front of the tub. I had assumed that Raven had the creature in question, so I automatically dismissed Puff. It was then that she and the bird moved and I saw it. I was so shocked that Puff had the bird that I didn't get to grab it right away. It started to try to escape the bathroom so I grabbed a rag and went after it. It was a dark colored bird. It stopped and I was able to just reach down and pick it up. It did not squirm at all which made me think it was seriously injured. I walked out on the deck and opened my hand slightly. Before I even got my hand loose it just elegantly flew away. I was happy to see that it was ok to fly.
So that is our life with cats. Our friends seem taken aback when they are here and the cats bring in a "toy". My boss says she would get rid of the cat door. I just see it as a part of our life. I love my cats and they love their indoor/outdoor existence. I would not want them to be stuck inside all day or outside all day. They are able to come and go as they please and they actually come home a lot more since we put in the door. I can live with a little added nature and do not find it odd. I think the fact that Americans are so afraid of bugs and small critters to be what is a tad odd and unnatural. But maybe that is just me.
Just so you know, I do not live out in the boondocks either. I live in the middle of a fairly large city. We happen to be lucky enough to have 2 acres surrounded by woods. On two sides of us are pretty large tracts of unused land and on the other two sides are my grandparents land. They have close to 20 acres that includes 2 ponds. My parents are on the other side of them and have a pond themselves and several acres. This is all in what is considered the midtown area of our town. We happen to be in a spot that developers missed I guess. Although there is a subdivision going up on the other side of the woods on one side of us. I worry that they will build up closer to us than I'd like, but that is not something I have control of. Up the street by and past my parent's house is all "normal" city street life. Almost everyone who has come here during and since the building of our house has said, "Wow! I never knew this was back here!". Even people who grew up near our neighborhood. I call it our private slice of country in the city.
So whereas I'm not a country girl, I grew up with a taste of country life. My grandparents had cows when I was real little and chickens when I was slightly older. My parents and grandparents have had a small garden most years. I never was into the gardening, but as I get older I realize how wonderful it is to have your own food. Tony and I want to garden, but we have a long way to go before we will really be up to any kind of garden plot. We started small with a couple of planters this year. We are trying to grow a tomato plant and a few peppers. I also planted a few herbs. The herbs did ok for awhile, but I think the heat is getting to them. The peppers aren't doing to well, but I still have hope.
One of the cool things about our house and yard is that the deer come here to graze almost daily. I love to look out my window and see a deer. It excites me every time! You would think after the first week or so it would lose it's appeal but it does not. They are such beautiful creatures. I have also seen the occasional rabbit in the grass this year and that is almost as exciting.
I think that it is wonderful to be so surrounded by the beauty of nature in a world that seems to be losing touch with Mother Nature more and more everyday. I am hopeful that our family's plot of land will remain natural and undeveloped for many generations to come. I also can't wait to share all of the wonders of nature with my own children.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Kind of Friday!
Tomorrow is the 4th so Tony and I are both off of work tomorrow! WOOT! We went to the beach last week so this was our first week back at work. I have had the major vacation's over blues. I am SO glad to have the long weekend. Today I was finally starting to get back in the groove though, so hopefully next week will be a lot better.
I did fairly well this week with my healthier eating. I took my lunch to work every day and my only little slip up was that I got a scoop of ice cream with a coworker on Tuesday. Tony and I also went out for dinner last night. We had Carrabba's. I really enjoyed my dinner and took my leftovers as lunch today. We went walking on Tuesday, but other than that haven't really been able to get moving. Maybe next week ;-)
I have sort of started composting our food scraps. Our house is surrounded (literally) by woods. Earlier in the summer we raked a lot of yard scraps into piles inside the woods. So when we have food scraps I have been collecting them and then burying them in the piles in the woods. It is working so far. I kind of suspect that the deer are eating most of the scraps though. I guess that still works as far as not putting the food into the landfill at least. Tony and I are talking about getting a compost bin, but just haven't yet committed to it.
My plan for the long weekend is to clean up around the house tomorrow and then be as lazy as possible the rest of the weekend :0) I need to enjoy laziness now while I still can. If we get pregnant soon then I won't know the meaning of lazy for several years, which is a bit disturbing to this lounger/ TV addict.
Till next time.
Amber
I did fairly well this week with my healthier eating. I took my lunch to work every day and my only little slip up was that I got a scoop of ice cream with a coworker on Tuesday. Tony and I also went out for dinner last night. We had Carrabba's. I really enjoyed my dinner and took my leftovers as lunch today. We went walking on Tuesday, but other than that haven't really been able to get moving. Maybe next week ;-)
I have sort of started composting our food scraps. Our house is surrounded (literally) by woods. Earlier in the summer we raked a lot of yard scraps into piles inside the woods. So when we have food scraps I have been collecting them and then burying them in the piles in the woods. It is working so far. I kind of suspect that the deer are eating most of the scraps though. I guess that still works as far as not putting the food into the landfill at least. Tony and I are talking about getting a compost bin, but just haven't yet committed to it.
My plan for the long weekend is to clean up around the house tomorrow and then be as lazy as possible the rest of the weekend :0) I need to enjoy laziness now while I still can. If we get pregnant soon then I won't know the meaning of lazy for several years, which is a bit disturbing to this lounger/ TV addict.
Till next time.
Amber
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
First things first
I am a soon to be 30 year old woman, married, with no children yet. My husband, Tony, and I have been married for 6 years now. We had a house built next to my family and moved in last year. I LOVE our home! I work for DFCS as a foster care case manager and find the job a mix between very rewarding and very frustrating. We also have two cats, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, named after the Houses in Harry Potter. We call them Raven and Puff though as their given names are too long ;-)
I have been trying to become a more healthy person for a while now and keep a weight loss journal on disboards.com. I have some really great and loyal friends there who have helped to keep me motivated over the last several years. However, lately my focus has been shifting.
My husband and I have decided to begin trying to have children. For me in many ways it has changed the way I look at everything. I want to be sure that I am eating the healthiest foods and getting exercise so that I can not only have a good pregnancy, but also give the baby all that it needs. I also have been getting more and more drawn into the idea that we must be kinder to our planet. I think that Tony and I are far from the worst offenders to the planet, but we are far from kind. I love the new "Planet Green" channel on TV (I'm totally TV addicted!) and have started to incorporate small changes into our lives.
I wanted to start this blog so that I will have a place to log any and all of my thoughts on whatever subject strikes me on any particular day. I love to travel and we have a trip to Disney planned for the first of September which just happens to also be my birthday! I am sure that I will have a few things to say about that trip. I will mostly talk about the everyday mundane life things: eating, exercise (or lack there of), being greener, trying to get preggers, work, etc.
I hope that you will join me on this not so well rounded life journey!
I have been trying to become a more healthy person for a while now and keep a weight loss journal on disboards.com. I have some really great and loyal friends there who have helped to keep me motivated over the last several years. However, lately my focus has been shifting.
My husband and I have decided to begin trying to have children. For me in many ways it has changed the way I look at everything. I want to be sure that I am eating the healthiest foods and getting exercise so that I can not only have a good pregnancy, but also give the baby all that it needs. I also have been getting more and more drawn into the idea that we must be kinder to our planet. I think that Tony and I are far from the worst offenders to the planet, but we are far from kind. I love the new "Planet Green" channel on TV (I'm totally TV addicted!) and have started to incorporate small changes into our lives.
I wanted to start this blog so that I will have a place to log any and all of my thoughts on whatever subject strikes me on any particular day. I love to travel and we have a trip to Disney planned for the first of September which just happens to also be my birthday! I am sure that I will have a few things to say about that trip. I will mostly talk about the everyday mundane life things: eating, exercise (or lack there of), being greener, trying to get preggers, work, etc.
I hope that you will join me on this not so well rounded life journey!
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