More garden

A few pictures from earlier this month. I finally weeded and put straw down, and the plants are SO much happier. I also got fungicide spray for the tomatoes (leaf spot) and squash (powdery mildew), and I replanted some green bean seeds and spinach.



Tomatoes in action



Peppers doing their thing



Overall garden



I also bought shepherd's hooks and put the birdfeeders up in front of our bay windows

4th of July

My grandparents were here for the weekend. We grilled out and shot off fireworks (while getting eaten alive by mosquitoes). Good times!

Buffalo Ridge Resort

About 3 weeks ago, John started working at the Buffalo Ridge Resort as their Kitchen Manager. Over the July 4th weekend, we finally made the 1 1/2 hour trip up to see him and try the food.

A shot from the drive up



and the drive back



(actual pictures of the resort next time)

Garden update

Flowers

from my friend, Cassie. They looked beautiful and made the whole ground floor smell heavenly!

Garden 2011

Baby parsley



Our in-ground garden



More herbs in containers

This year, we're growing: bradywine, roma, yellow pear, and grape tomatoes; green peppers, banana peppers, chili peppers, habenero peppers, and jalapenos; spinach, lettuce, beets, green beans, carrots, radishes, italian squash, and sugar snap peas; rosemary, dill, sage, mint, parsley, basil, tarragon, and cilantro.

=)

House and Cooper

I've been cleaning and finally remembered to take pictures of the house. Here you go!



Living room



Another view of the living room (can see a bit of our entryway)



Our entryway



Kitchen sink

Today - I'm hoping we can plant our garden and hang pictures (right now there are only pictures up in the kitchen).

More Pics

Jersey Shore

The shore was really beautiful - and even warm (when the sun was out and the wind wasn't blowing too hard). I enjoyed watching the waves, dipping the very bottom of my feet in the water (once, for a second - it was COLD) and eating beach snacks (combos, double stuff oreos, and goldfish).

Espresso and a free puppy

On Monday afternoon, we drove down to Cranbury, NJ (after stopping at Anthropologie). We spent most of the time in the Book Worm, a great used book store.



Bren told me about this sign, and I couldn't resist getting a picture. I also got three books, Spook, When I was Puerto Rican, and Dreaming of Snow in Havana. All for $4 - gosh I love used book stores!

After that it was time for some ice cream and sitting by the lake.

Back to the city

We started the day by chilling in Union Square park and Washington Square Park and then walking through SoHo.



Then we were back on the subway and on to Central Park. We stopped by Dean and Deluca for some sushi and walked to the Alice and Wonderland statue to eat. It was so warm that I kicked off my shoes and rolled up my jeans.



Ahh, sushi and edamame...



Then on to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was incredible and overwhelming. I saw more art in a few hours than I've seen in my entire life.



The Temple of Dendur

Efes for dinner in New Brunswick - falafel sandwich and dark cherry nectar

Princeton

On Saturday, we drove down to Princeton in a drizzling rain. We had pizza for lunch and a successful trip to the awesome consignment store (cardigan and gray top). By the time we left the store, the sun had come out. Next, we went to the Bent Spoon for ice cream (one scoop coconut and one scoop lavender mascarpone).

Then we walked around Princeton's campus - such gorgeous buildings! I can't imagine how much tuition must be - maybe I just don't want to know.



Can't resist blooming trees...



After Princeton, it was back to New Brunswick and then to Origin for Thai-French Fusion (awesome deliciousness).

NJ/NYC

From Central Park



At The Cloisters

So far, I've had Greek food (heaven!), Thai food (double heaven!), a Papaya King hot dog, a knish, gelato (Bren said it was as close to Italy's as she'd ever eaten in the states), and some fancy tea.

Yesterday, we saw Times Square, The Cloisters, Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, part of Central Park, and a very busy part of 5th avenue.

Not sure what the plan is for today - it's raining, so I think NYC is out (and honestly, I'm not sure I'm up for that much walking two days in a row! ;) ) Maybe Princeton?

Otherwise, I'm enjoying visiting Bren and hanging out with Rogue (who remembered me, or at least acted like she did).



Cool stuff on Brenna's ceiling

In the house!!

Hooray!! We are here, the dogs are here, and most of our stuff is here (but just some of it it where it needs to be).

I'm loving this place - especially the garage and my awesome closet. I'm still trying to figure out where all the light switches are and which goes to what light. The dogs are enjoying zooming around the rooms and up and down the stairs (and I'm counting down the days until the ground thaws and we can put up a fence).

I'm also thankful that my neighbors aren't so much into secure internet ;) (ours doesn't get hooked up until the 23rd)

Pictures to come (maybe when things get a little cleaner ;) )

In the last eight days...

We've looked at a house. Liked it. Contacted a realtor. Looked at three more houses (didn't like any of them). Went to an open house (of the first house) with my family. Made an offer. Toasted our offer getting accepted. Signed piles of paperwork. And scheduled an inspection.

If all goes well (inspection and appraisal), we'll be packing up and moving in on March 4th.

(I thought it'd be years before we got to this point and here we are, just eight days)

Looking back at 2010

2010 Firsts:
Moving into our current house
Competed in a Greased Pig Contest
Made Challah Bread
Nanowrimo - wrote 50k words in November
Cooper
Went to Portland
Turned 30!
Grew an in-ground garden
Knitted my first (mini) sweaters
Photographed a lunar eclipse
Became an aunt
Went to a Pheasants Game
Went to the Corn Palace
Rode a hovercraft
Ate at Elevator Brewery in Columbus
Made Mushroom Lasagna
Made Chocolate Ice Cream

Biggest Changes in 2010:
Started exercising again
Got my photo mojo back

What I'm loving right now:
Zumba for the Wii
Avett Brothers
Total Training Class at the Community Center
Netflix Instant Streaming (All Creatures Great and Small, No Reservations)

2011 - What I'm looking forward to:
Visiting Brenna in NJ and going to NYC
Paying off my car (just two months left!)
Starting Graduate School at DSU (Information Systems)

December pics

The sunrise from our front porch



My Challah Bread success! (Made for my coworkers for Christmas)



Christmas tree picture from my parents' house



John checking out the neon light installation at O'Hare



Killing time during our 3 hour layover on the way to Columbus

Travel

Prompt: How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year?

In March, I got to go to Oregon for work (a new state for me!). It was beautiful, and their weather was a nice break from the snow!







In 2011, I'm going to visit my sister in New Jersey (and go to NYC for the very first time!) and maybe some other not-yet-planned-adventures.

Finally...feeling in my fingers again

It was a cold night to be outside taking pictures (first time I've EVER taken pictures of an eclipse! Very cool...and cold...)

O, Christmas Tree! O, Christmas Tree!

We put the tree up on Sunday, outdoor lights up over Thanksgiving (when it was warm - SOO much better than last year), and still need to put Frosty the snowman out (today? Maybe if I bundle up enough to brave the cold and the snow).



John's braver than I am ;)

Winner!!!

Picture to be posted soon

229 words to go

I'll be knocking this goal out in the next ten minutes (barring massive computer failure or John getting in a life threatening car accident - since he's in the other room and not planning to drive anywhere, I think we're safe)

I'm super psyched and just wanted to send out an update before I cross the finish line! =D

Only 1367 words to go!

Nanowrimo ends tomorrow - and I'm just 1367 words from hitting 50k! So far I've written 48,633 words. I'm on page 81. It's by far the longest thing I have ever written.

My book won't actually end at 50k unless I'm going to pull the "and it was all a dream" (I don't think so ;) ). I spent too many words setting up the story so I haven't even reached the main conflict yet. The good news is that as long as I hit 50k by midnight tomorrow I'll be a nanowrimo winner (and then I can keep working on this story at whatever pace I want)

I really was going strong on my word count - total slow and steady wins the race-until last Monday when I started missing days. Thank goodness I was about 4k ahead or else I probably wouldn't be finishing (at least not without some very late nights).

I was still 200 words behind going into this morning, but I decided that this evening would be for two things - writing and sleeping - and I got 2,166 words in. I'm halfway tempted to finish tonight, but I'm also really tempted to sit on the couch.

Tonight, the couch wins. Tomorrow, I win!

=)

Over halfway

This evening I hit 25K (and kept going, I'm at 26,230 now). More than halfway there and by far the longest thing I've written yet! What a great feeling!

(and I did mop today...I was procrastinating on this and my grad school application - taking classes part-time at DSU starting in January...who knew nanowrimo would help me get my house clean? ;) )

I think they're on to something...

Write or Die

My words are in for the day. 1700+ in less than an hour. Total nanowrimo godsend (I don't have speakers connected so I can't hear the evil sounds when I stop typing, but the screen turns deeper shades of red and will start erasing my words if I don't type quickly enough)

I really need it for every part of my life...
Mop or Die
Fold Laundry or Die
Stop Watching Real Housewives or Die

;)

20k

Whew, my writing has been a slog fest for the last several days, but there is good news...

I'm 1/3 of the way done (when it comes to days) and I hit 20,000 words this morning (and I have my words in for the day).

Parts of my novel are okay and other parts are a complete mess. I'm not sure I'll end up with anything worth reading or even editing, but I'm telling myself that's okay (sometimes I believe it and sometimes I don't).

So I tell myself that Nanowrimo is my Fourteener - completing something I didn't think I could do is the goal.

Could anything be more different--hauling my butt up the highest mountain in Colorado and sitting in my pajamas typing away at my desk? Somehow it seems the same.

The adventure continues...

(P.S. I went looking for a picture of me hiking Mt. Elbert. No luck, and wow, do I really need to organize my pictures. Here's one of me and my Dad at Schaefer's Pass, Philmont from August 1999 instead)

10K!!

Hit 10,000 words tonight for Nanowrimo. As long as I keep it up, I'm totally on track to hit 50k. Yay!

Nanowrimo

So after thinking about it for a few years, I'm finally doing Nanowrimo (writing a 50,000 word novel during the month of November). I'm two days in and sticking with the slow and steady plan (1,667 words a day will get me to 50,000 by the end of the month). For the first two days, I've gone over on my words (about 1,800+ a day), so I'm feeling pretty good. I'm at 3,764 right now.

For the past two days, I've been getting up around 6ish to write in the morning before I need to get ready. I hate to get out of bed that early, but I'm afraid if I left it until the end of the day, I'd never get it done. So far, I've been getting about 900 words written from 6-7 in the morning and then picking up the rest over lunch or in the evening.

I'm enjoying the challenge, and I'm really thankful that John and my parents encouraged me to do it--otherwise I probably would've spent another year just thinking about trying it...maybe...someday...