If I could live off the land...

...I would grow my own food, veggies and fruit and raise my own chicken and all that earth loving stuff. But the truth is, I'm lucky I can grow this...so, I'll take it.

Here is my garden. It's flourishing!
I've got an empty row there, towards the middle. I've had so much success with the brussel sprouts, I might try to grow more.

 
The sage is invading the rest of my herb garden!

For the past two weeks, I've been eating brussel sprout leaves like lettuce. I didn't even think to eat them, until Erin mentioned something about it. Great idea! The leaves tastes rich and earthy kind of like kale. I'm still waiting for the sprouts to grow...

The girls like helping me water and tend to the compost bin.

Spring Fever: My Backyard Garden

Before I talk about the garden, I just want to say I'm sick.
I think I have a sinus infection. Saturday night, we went bowling with friends and that's when I started to feel like crap...I'm sure losing hard, had something to do with me feeling that way too.

Today, I'm staying at home and hopefully, I'll be back to normal, by tomorrow.

Ok, now let's talk about the garden!

Here's what I have:
Cherry Tomatoes, Brussels Sprouts, Peppers, squash, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, lavender, basil, and oregano. 

This picture is when I started working on it....I know cilantro is good about reviving itself, year after year, but what about basil??? I wasn't sure, so I yanked it from the soil, since it looked pitiful. I replaced it with living basil.

I don't own any fancy gardening tools, so I had to till the dirt with a shovel. Good workout! I added a ton of compost to the soil. There's a little bit of room to add more vegetables. I would love to have some lettuce in the garden. Also, I wouldn't mind having a bigger garden.

While I was doing that, Dakota was inside, watching me through the window. We took a short break and FaceTime'd Trey and Cheyenne. Sunday, they went to Abilene, while Dakota and I stayed at home.

My Week in Photos

This morning I was greeted with a wonderful cold front. It was cool, but not cold. However, it took everything in me, to not break out my boots, hats, scarves, and jackets. It would've been great to go running with the cooler temps, but I was still feeling cruddy, as of this morning. At the moment, I feel much better.

Early this week, we enjoyed some snuggle, girly time on the sofa.

My weekend chores, look something like this...

My Saturday morning breakfast looked something like this...

Hey look, my herb garden is thriving.

I've decided it should rain everyday for 15 minutes

Is that too much to ask?

Even with me being at home, I have slacked on watering the garden, everyday. Surprisingly, the herbs are still alive. I guess, I'm making the point, that anyone can garden???

 
And this here, is the real reason why I have kids, free labor.
 
She won't resent me at all.... :)

Pink Eye
Have you ever had pink eye? I've never had it. I noticed this afternoon, Dakota's right eye was all crusty and then when I put her down for the night I noticed her eyes were watery and she had nasty goo in them. I might have to take her to the doctors office tomorrow morning. I'll keep an eye on it <-----(see what I did there?)

P.S. Dakota's new sleeping schedule for the past few nights has been 10 pm(ish) feeding and then wake up time 5 am. She is 5 weeks old.

I Have Good and Bad News

Bad news is I'm 3 days away from my due date and I'm still pregnant. Another thing, I went to put my wedding ring on and for the first time ever, it does not fit my obese finger. I'm going to try again, later because I'm in denial. A day without diamonds is a sad day indeed.

The good news is I slept great last night, so at least I have that...

What did the doctor say? 
My doctor said I'm 3 CM, which is progress, from last week <----- I'll take that. She also swept my membrane. She did that and then told me after the fact. It was ok with it, in fact I was going to ask her if she could do that, but a heads up would've been nice. Not me asking about it and then saying, Oh, that's what I was just doing....."

She kept talking about inducing me and said towards the end, she likes it when her patients are induced -- "You (meaning the mother/family members) can plan ahead!" It sounded like she was trying to sell me on the idea....

I'm still working, so that makes the hours and days go by faster. I'd be going crazy if I was at home, especially, since Cheyenne isn't there. I plan on working up until delivery day, so technically I could go into labor, while I'm at work. That could be interesting, since my hospital is a good 30 miles away. My co-workers are on standby ready to drive me, if I need assistance.

I'll leave you with two random things:

 1. Check out my new favorite iPhone App, it's called Action Movie. I recorded this clip at London's Birthday Party. Don't blink or you'll miss it.  I told you guys, I went to film school. ;)

2. My Huge Garden Harvest:
If I had to survive off of my garden, I'd surely starve.

Backyard Garden

My girl, likes dirt. She likes digging in the garden and getting her nails full of mud. She doesn't get that from me. I hate when my hands get dirty.

I don't mind her playing in the backyard, but I need to call Pest Control so they can spray for wasps. The wasps like creating nests in the backyard. I've seen several nests already. I've never been stung by one, but last year, I stepped on a dead wasp and it stung the hell out of my foot. I can't imagine what a live bug sting feels like.

How do you pair herbs with food? I love mixing herbs in chicken, pork, beef, veggies, and salad bowls. It's wonderful having easy access to fresh herbs. It makes food tastes so much better. This season, I mainly planted herbs because to me, it's low maintenance compared to a veggie garden.

However, I did plant 3 small tomato plants. The little tomato cherries are starting to grow.

And here are the banana peppers. I guess they are done. I should pull them before bugs or birds get to them first.

My Week in Instagram Pictures

Mornin', friends!

I'm on my way to take photos for two nursing events. I'll be on my feet all morning and then for several hours this afternoon. I GOT THIS.

Here is what my camera bag looks like (see pic below). I have 2 cameras and 4 lenses (one is missing from this pic). I think I'm going to leave behind my portrait lens. I had 2 other photography events, this week and I only used it for maybe 4 shots, that's it. I just don't utilize it as much for event photography.

I really like my camera bag and to think I was considering selling it. I'm crazy.

Speaking of photography, I finally printed portraits of Cheyenne. I hung a copy of this 8x10 photo in our living room. I need to get in a better habit of rotating pictures out of the frames.

My latest coffee craving is La Madeleine. There is a LM cafe on my way to work. That's dangerous!!! However, their coffee is more affordable than Starbucks, about half the price. I'll take that. Any get up kids fans? I use to listen to them all the time in high school.


This evening, I was getting Cheyenne and Erin had all this dinner for me. She said she knew this week had been busy for me and she wanted to help out. THIS WAS SO NICE!!!!! Don't judge me, but I totally started eating the veggies on the car ride home, with my bare hands. I couldn't help myself.

I had to resist eating all this food in one sitting. I ate half of it and I'm saving the rest of it for my lunch, later today.

Trey is off the hook for mother's day. He doesn't have to get me flowers, since the faculty already got me some.

I didn't want to leave them in my office because I knew they would die fast, since it's a sauna. I'm not even joking. This is what my commute looked like. I had Chey's booster seat, so she used that.

Mmmm, frozen pizza with fresh herbs.

Herbs, pulled from the earth.

I don't know about you, but I think avocados make a meal.

I'll leave you with this sweet photo of Cheyenne. Everyone, have a fantastic weekend. I think I just want to stay home and recover from a busy work week. I'm going to have a bazillion photos to edit.

Pregnancy. Things I Miss. Things I Enjoy. Plus, Garden Update

Since, I'm pregnant, there are things I miss.
1. Wine - When I use to work from home on freelance projects, I would love to sit down and drink a few glasses of wine. Lately, I've been working on side projects and I miss my Moscato. I guess, I could remedy it by making a pot of decaf coffee. I'll try that.
2. Feeling Normal - I miss the feeling of feeling good all the time. Lately, my body is achy. At first it was mainly in the morning, but here lately, it's at any given point in the day. I'll be sitting down and then I'll get up and I'll have a sharp sting of pain in my back.
3. Running - I especially miss my long runs on Saturday Mornings. When I get back into running, I know I will have to start off slow (like a snail) and build my endurance and miles back up to where it was. I have a feeling 6 miles will be my new long run distance, at least for a while. Somewhere my old ultra marathon self is laughing at me. Remember those 14, 16, 18, 20 mile long runs? I MISS IT!!!!!!!
4. Eating Like an Ultra Marathoner and Burning Calories Like an Ultra Marathoner - Enough said. Now, I just eat, like a pregnant woman. HA!
5. Margaritas - I know. I know....another alcoholic beverage. I don't want you guys to think I'm an addict (I'm not), but I seriously miss Margaritas! What makes it even worse is that Trey never drank them before, he's not much of a drinker to begin with...but now anytime we go out for Mexican food he'll order one. I'll take a sip, of his, but it's such a tease. I hate him, when he drinks in front of me because he just rubs it in...

It's not all gloom and doom. I also have a list of the things I enjoy about being pregnant.
1. The smiles I get from strangers when they notice I'm pregnant.
2. Belly rubs from friends and family.
3. Helping Hands - It's nice how Trey has been so helpful. When we're together, he carries items for me because he knows it strains my back when I lift anything that is heavy. He is also good about helping me with Cheyenne if she needs to be carried.
4. Sleeping in - As the weeks go by, I'm getting better at this -- I'm allowing myself to sleep in, instead of waking up during the work week at 4 am, I'm waking up at 5 am. During the weekend, I've been sleeping in until 7:30 am -- which feels so late, but my body really needs the rest.


Here is my DailyMile Stats from last week. I logged quite a few miles on the bike at the Monte Carlo and at the gym, yesterday.

Walking 2 miles

Cycling: 44 Miles

Elliptical: 10 minutes

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GARDEN UPDATE
I realized I haven't said much about our family garden. Well, it's doing great. I'll post some recent pictures soon, but here are some photos that are are just a few weeks old.

If I don't watch Cheyenne she'll drown everything, but as long as I supervise, she's does a good job. She really is a good helper.

My Cilantro has really taken off. If you want some, let me know, I've got plenty!

I Rolled Up My Sleeves & Jeans

Saturday, I rolled up my sleeves and jeans, put on my old sneakers, and buried my hands in the earth. Springtime means, it's time to get the garden in order....
'
As I've mentioned, my vegetable garden didn't do too well, so this weekend I focused on HERBS! I picked up a few potted plants from Central Market. I like potted more than seeds because they are predictable.  With seeds, I never know how many seeds to plant, in a given area. Potted plants, take most of the guess work out. I prefer it that way. Oh, yeah and I'm impatient.

Welcome to the garden: Basil, Parsely, and Chives -- I'm gonna eat you up!

At the moment, this is what the space looks like. The cilantro has decided to take off and I'm okay with that. Oh, and my mint, there at the bottom left, is coming back to life. I'm glad I didn't pull the roots out.

With all these herbs, there is still room on the left side for me to plant something. Soooooooo, even though my veggie garden failed miserably, last season -- I think I'm going to give it another try this season. I'm not going to go crazy on the veggies, but I'll plant a few. I'll keep you posted.

Honey Do List & Time for a Spring Garden

Trey and Cheyenne went for a walk and they found a nice patch of bluebonnets in the neighborhood. Do you take pictures sitting in bluebonnets? I never cared to, not until I had Cheyenne. Now, every year, I look forward to taking her portrait in a field of flowers. I may get out this weekend and do that.
 
I may be busy taking photos, but Mr. Handyman has his on set of projects to take care of. He asked me to make him a list. These are things that have needed attention for months. We've just learned to live life without. We're adaptable. We've had drainage issues with our master bathroom sinks, so instead of using the sink in there, we've been using the sink in the kitchen and/or the guest bathroom.

Do you have a honey do list you need to take care of?
One thing I need to add to my list is start my spring garden. I think we're clear of any freezes. It was so warm this winter, I had an herb garden year round. Basil, Parsley and Mint were the three herbs that didn't survive the mild winter. I had Cilantro, Rosemary, Thyme, and Oregano year-round. I need to consider what I will plant this season. I'm taking suggestions, if you have any. Herbs and Veggies!

This photo is from last spring. Oh, I'm looking forward to the smell of spring - bright colors, fresh cut grass, cool breeze, grilling. Oh, I've missed it.

It's Like Christmas, My Treadmill is Working Again

November, 16th I shared the sad news that my treadmill was broken. It was the worst time of the year for it to stop working... I was training for Cowtown Half Marathon, it was Christmas time (no extra money) and winter time (cold weather).

After months of doing without, I finally bought the replacement part. The error code message called for, a mother board kit. Trey even got conformation from a treadmill technician, that's the part we needed. The part arrived Friday evening and yesterday Trey started to install it, when he discovered there was a blown fuse. Ends up, we didn't need an expensive replacement part, we needed to replace the blown fuse. By the way, we didn't even have to purchase a new fuse because there was an extra one right next to the messed up one. I would've never been able to figure that out, but thank goodness for Trey. He such a handy man and knows everything about everything.

This is a picture of the messed up fuse. Itty-bitty part.
I'm not even mad. Sooooooo, this means I can return the pricey part, that is if I want to. Trey thinks we should keep it, in case the board ever breaks, we'll have the part. You, see this is an older treadmill and the part took forever to get -- it was on back order. Plus there's re-stocking fees for returns and shipping cost, so we'd be out at least 30 bucks. I don't know. I think, I still want to return the part. What would you do?

This morning I woke up and went for a walk on my HAPPY-MILL. It was so convenient . That's what I've missed the most.

After walking I was pretty hungry, so I made breakfast. Lately, I crave salsa and eggs.

A few hours ago, I had a coffee date with Krista. Her and the kids came over and the girls enjoyed playing in the backyard. Which reminds me, I'm so excited, this is the first year ever Trey and I will hire a professional company to maintain our lawn. No more weeds and stickers, we hope. Our yard is going to look so nice.

The girls were wonderful helpers, now I don't have to worry about watering the garden. They took care of that for me. Hmmm, maybe I should hire them to maintain the yard. I can pay them with candy.

While the girls were outside, Kye had a diaper mishap, it was gross and I shall spare you the details. It was quite funny for me to observe, but Krista was grossed out, since she was the one cleaning the mess. Krista didn't have a change of clothes for him --- all she had was Makenna's girly-strawberry shirt. He was rockin' it!

So, that's what I've been doing for the first part of my day. I have lots more to do, so I better get moving. Have a great Monday, friends. Here's to a good week!