More improvements

Today I attacked some projects in the yard, including spraying all the dandelions in the front, weeding the river rock beds around the front (ugh), and doing some work in the flowerbed.

Here's the before (taken a few weeks ago) and the after photo.  I can't take credit for all the weeding - Erin and Mom helped me a lot with that on clean-up day.  I was amazed that five of the plants (sage and dianthus) I put in last year had survived (despite serious neglect).

I bought mulch, planted three Tickseed "Presto" flowers (yellow perennial flowers), and planted five sunflower seeds along the back of the bed.  This is the BEST it's ever looked - can't wait until everything starts blooming!

City-wide Cleanup

This week is city-wide cleanup, so it was time to get rid of some stuff!

My family also helped me do some sprucing up outside, including removing the ugly metal awnings on the doors, taking down the old satellite dishes, weeding, and more. Here are some before and after shots.

You can't see it in this picture - but there used to be a bungee cord holding the mailbox together (classy!), and that's gone, too!

We also took off the second mailbox (?), the old mount for the doorbell, and the overgrown bush by the door.  LOTS left to do, but it's a good start!

Rainy Morning

Taking some pictures instead of doing homework

Growing

Erin and Mom kidnapped me last weekend to start some of our garden plants from seeds. I put one of the trays in my entryway and turned the heater up - instant greenhouse! Some of them are getting so big, I think they need to be thinned (must google how to do that).



White Squash sprouts




Cucumber and Bright Lights Kale

Edit: Bright Lights Swiss Chard, not Kale...oops ;)

Lake Herman

The weather has been so beautiful here - unseasonably warm and sunny - perfect for a walk out at the lake (coordinated by my sister, Erin - thanks, Erin!)

Ansel Adams Show

A few weeks ago, I went to see the Ansel Adams Masterworks show at the Washington Pavilion. So neat to see his prints and learn more about them (especially that my favorite image-and one I have hanging in my dining room-was taken in the Sangre de Christo Mtns in NM - no wonder I love it so much!)



I couldn't take any pictures in the gallery, but a I did get this one from outside the museum.

From the backyard

Everything is melting (thank goodness!)

Winter

Sunday morning - too cold and windy to take pictures outside

2012!

Happy New Year!

My resolutions:
1) Exercise 3 times a week
2) Clean up 15 mins a day
3) Walk a dog once a week

What I'm looking forward to:
Fun home improvements (new curtains, hang pictures, etc.)
Getting more settled in our house and new jobs
Knocking out more classes toward my degree
Having a fence for our backyard (as soon as the ground thaws!)
Second season of Downton Abbey on PBS (less than a week!)

What I'd like to learn in 2012:
How to cook eggs
Good slow cooker recipes
Mad piano-playing skills

Firsts from 2011:
Buying our first house
Getting laid off (ugh!)
Learning programming (Visual Basic)
My own laptop (no more hand-me-down desktop for me!)
My own piano
Went to my first auction
Going to New Jersey and New York City

Favorite things in 2011:
Top Gear on Netflix (also American Pickers and Bones)
Yoga and Zumba classes at the Community Center
Visiting Bren in NJ and going to NYC
Second-hand shopping in Brookings
The Hairpin
Squirrel Nut Zippers Pandora Station (especially when cleaning/cooking)
David Wax Museum
John's homebrewed cider
Girls' trip to the Black Hills (which I never blogged(?), but here's a pic...)

Catching up

Here's everything I missed updating in 2011 ;)

After three job changes (one for me, two for John), I work for Rserving now as marketing coordinator, and John is a sous chef at the Brownstone in Brookings.

I got through another semester of the Information Systems Master's program at DSU even though the dogs liked to make things difficult...



We had a great trip to Ohio for Thanksgiving, visiting family, visiting friends, taking the dogs with us, and buying a snowblower (which meant the 18 hr drive home involved a dog riding on our laps - no space anywhere else!)


(Amanda, me and Krista at Tony's)

With the snowblower, we're ready for the winter weather...but this is all the snow we've gotten (and it was melted by the end of that day)



Even without the usual snow, we enjoyed decorating and getting ready for Christmas



Cooper liked to fluff the Christmas tree skirt and only chewed on the corner of one present



The Christmas tree



John made hand-lettered tags with one of his fountain pens.

We celebrated Christmas at my parents' house with lots of presents, food, and dogs causing trouble (but not lots of pictures taken)

Pumpkins!

My mom, dad, Erin, and I carved pumpkins yesterday night (and ate pizza, listened to Halloween music on Pandora, and drank Pumpkin Bog - good times!) We used all the pumpkins to decorate my parents' front porch.

Erin's were the VERY cutest, but I think they all ended up looking pretty good.




Dad's pumpkin



Erin's pumpkins



My pumpkin (front) with Mom's pumpkin and Erin's



Whole pumpkin family

Food Show!

We spent last night and today in Sioux Falls - one of John's main food distributors was having a food show, got him a nice hotel room for the night (he totally wins, it was WAY nicer than anything I've stayed in for work!), free reception last night, and LOTS of free samples of food this morning (nice!).

Afterward, we went downtown to shop and walk around. Some of the pictures I took...



Me reflected in a soccer ball



Another sculpture



Sweet bike!

Catching up

Pics from the last couple weeks...



My new recipe for September - homemade spaghetti sauce and green beans from the garden



One of the sunflowers that John planted for me <3



Veggies from the garden (and the backyard)



A veggie close-up

It's frosted a couple times since I took these pictures - I covered the garden the first two nights, but since then, it's been on its own (survival of the hardiest?)

And a great surprise - one of our overgrown flowerbeds has mums in it (one of my favorite flowers and the main decoration at out wedding)!!

31

I turned 31 on Friday (yay!!)

We actually celebrated with family last Monday because of work schedules (I'm in Huron for the SD State Fair) and had an awesome time (grilled kabobs, risotto, cake, birthday punch, home-brewed beer).

On Friday, I was overwhelmed by texts and Facebook greetings, enjoyed some time at the beer and wine pavilion, and had Mexican for dinner (yum!)

I've been thinking about making some birthday resolutions/goals. With all the unrest and uncertainty at work, 30 ended up being kind of a stressful year (although lots of great things happened, like John's new job and buying our house). I just think that 31 should be WAY better.

So here's my plan for the year:

Exercise - 3 aerobic workouts and 2 strength workouts a week (zumba and yoga at the community center start on Tuesday - can't wait!)

Reading - one book (or more) a month

Cooking/Eating - one new recipe (or more) a month (this is especially important now that I cook for myself when John's working) and a fruit or veggie with every meal

(These are actually pretty similar to my goals for 2007 - pretty much my most effective resolutions ever - so I figured it was time for a revisit ;) )

And the garden

I picked the first two roma tomatoes yesterday (a little impatiently - I was making roasted tomatoes and didn't have enough grape tomatoes). I think we're about a week from having green peppers and that the one big Brandywine will be ripe this week, too.

And, in other good news, we're one step closer to having a fence in the backyard (which we NEED - the dogs have been driving me nuts!)

More camping

Our home for the weekend (comfortable, spacious, and no set-up or take-down required!)



Breakfast of champions

More from Buffalo Ridge

Visiting John and camping for the weekend (in a teepee!)

I have snacks, a stack of magazines and books, my camera, laptop and a wireless connection - maybe I'll just stay up here forever ;)

Harvest time (kind of)

So far, we have cherry tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, green beans, peas, and beets ready to go. Just waiting for our peppers to get big enough and for the rest of the tomatoes to turn red (and get bigger).



Also, last week, I succeeded in making over-easy eggs for the first.time.ever! I really wanted eggs, but John's the expert egg maker (and he was at work). More proof that I can do ANYTHING as long as I have google

Garden Update

The good: This week, I've eaten some of the cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas. The spindly green beans are looking MUCH better (could probably start picking some). The sickly Roma tomato is hanging in there. Also, planting the garden so late meant that it wasn't producing like crazy during Achievement Days (thank goodness).

The bad: We lost the squash to borers (pulled them this morning). The radishes have all gone to seed, have crazy tall stalks and are taking over their row - I don't think any of that is supposed to happen.