Week Forty Three

What time is it? Houseplant time!

Week Forty Two

From my walk to work last Monday

Week Forty One

From the restored lobby of the State Theater in Sioux Falls 

(where I got to see a silent film with live accompaniment!!) 

Week Forty

Week Thirty Nine

Week Thirty Eight

Week Thirty Seven

The whole reason I plant a garden

Week Thirty Six

Week Thirty Five

Week Thirty Four

Week Thirty Three

Jökulsárlón - Iceland is amazing

Week Thirty Two

My front yard on a foggy morning

Week Thirty One

Week Thirty

Week Twenty Nine

Week Twenty Eight

My garden + new (to me) 28-105 mm lens

Week Twenty Seven

One of my wildflowers

Halfway!

Week Twenty Five

Garden's in!

It's such a relief to have the garden in!

This year, with some help from my dad, I tilled a compost/manure combo (8 bags of it) into the garden before planting. I also added Osmacote to help feed my veggies and flowers. I'm hoping both of those will help with the poor growing results I've gotten in the last few years.

My sister shared a bunch of seeds (and started tomatoes) that she'd gotten from the Rare Seeds catalog, so I'm excited to see how things turn out. I hear some of the tomatoes are yellow with blue stripes (!!).

I also got two different kinds of sunflowers this year - one that's bigger than the Mammoth ones I usually get (already forgotten the name) alternating with Lemon Queen sunflowers (shorter but should be a really pretty yellow).

As of yesterday, I also have straw and newspaper down around all the tomatoes, peppers, and between the radishes and herbs. I'm going to give the rows time to come up (and give myself time to get more straw) before I do the rest. If it works as well as it did last year (completely lifechanging), I'm looking forward to doing almost no weeding this summer. 

Week Twenty Four

Week Twenty Three

Hey there, pretty.

Week Twenty Two

Week Twenty One

At Palisades State Park

Week Twenty

Week Nineteen

Flowers at Whitewater State Park, MN

Week Eighteen

Week Seventeen

Blue Mounds State Park, MN

Week Sixteen

Week Fifteen

Week Fourteen

All tree branches, all the time ;) 

Week Thirteen

Looks like spring at Clinton Lake State Park

Week Twelve

Week Eleven

No dog butts this week (just a new camera body and 50mm lens, yay!!) 

Week Ten

Warm weather? Time to get our butts outside

Week Nine(ish)

Week Eight

Week Seven

Freezing fog + a tree in my backyard

Week six

Another dried up branch and sky picture

Week Five

Back outside again for week five

Week Four

Continuing with the indoor photography - here's one of Mom's houseplants

Week Three

Cute window display at Pinch and Pour in downtown Fargo

Week Two

And so it begins

One down, 51 to go

:)

Welcome 2016!!

My resolutions
Do a #Photo52 project (take and post one photo a week)
Keep reading (at least 20 books)
More walks for Callie

What I'm looking forward to
Drawing every day in January
More getting my photography out there
Making a triangle cowl

What I'd like to try in 2016
Cross country skiing
Snowshoeing at Newton Hills State Park
Taking pictures with my Brownie camera
Block printing (curtains for dining room?)
Sashiko embroidery

2015 Resolution Success
Read more books (at least 12) 23 books!! (partly thanks to the Kindle I got for my birthday)
Do a 5K  Did two :) 
Get my photography out there - had photos in two juried shows (Northern Area Arts Council - Red Show, Frederick Arts Center Resident Artist Gallery - Lush Vibes show)

Favorites from 2015
I'll Have What Phil's Having
The Great British Baking Show
African Peanut Stew
Skillet meatballs and marinara
Hamilton
Lawrence trip with Christina and Heather

Firsts from 2015
Ran a 5k! (and then ran another one)
Camped at Palisades State Park
Roasted a chicken (for Mother's Day, with help)
Went to yoga class in an actual yoga studio (Sunflower Yoga, Hutchinson, KS)
Got a smartphone
Made maki rolls
Made naan
Stayed at an Air BnB
Picked out and painted trim for my kitchen
Got a fence for my backyard

And another one...

I did my second 5K this morning - the Tour the City 5K Race in Madison. I finished in 27:52:50 (less than 9 mins a mile) and was 17th out of 42 participants.

I didn't have anyone to take my picture - but here's an excellent car selfie from after I finished

I did it!

After putting it in my new year's resolutions for years, I finally did it - ran my first 5k!

At the finish!

I did it in 28:52 (timing with my watch) including two inflatable obstacles (with things I had to climb over, scrambling kids, and slides) and that comes out to 9:17 per mile.

I was really excited to finish at that pace. I started with a walk-jog program, and I've been running based on time only (running 30-32 mins). I had NO idea how far I was going (no smart phone, not running on a track, etc.) so I wasn't sure whether 32 mins would get me to 5k or not (I was thinking/hoping I ran between 10-11 minute miles). I also resisted the urge to look at my watch (so discouraging when you realize you've only been running for 3 minutes) so it wasn't until after I finished that I saw I'd made it in less than 29 minutes. So, while I'll remember this as my first 5k, it seems likely that I've been running 5k+ for a while :D

Mom and me after the run

My parents and Kailee came to support me during the run (and saved a table in the Pub House).

2015! 2015! 2015!

My resolutions:
Read more books (at least 12)
Do a 5K
Have friends over to my house more often

What I'm looking forward to:
Finishing painting my kitchen cabinets Done!
More photography (and more getting my photography out there)
More camping

What I'd like to try in 2015:
Block printing fabric
Cross country skiing
Taking pictures with my Brownie camera

Firsts from 2014:
Hiked Harney Peak
Online dating
Hit a raccoon with my car :(
Did the Tour Sioux Falls bike ride
Went stand up paddle boarding
Went climbing at the Palisades
Saw the Avett Brothers in concert
Saw Jason Isbell in concert
Tried Ethiopian food

Favorite things in 2014:
Planet Money podcast
Haley Bonar
Sylvan Esso
Baked oatmeal from Budget Bytes (like this one)