Tomato BUSH

I planted a teeny tiny tomato plant (from walmart, you know, the $3 ones?) next to the fence a mere 3 months ago. When I planted it the bottom rung of the tomato cage was higher than the plant.

I really can't believe HOW many tomatoes I'm going to have to pick this year. Fresh salsa? bring it on.


And the same goes for the strawberry plants. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see the fruits of my labor (literally) but from what I've heard, they may not bear fruit until the second year.

What really amazes me is how many runners have been sent out! Look at all these little shoots. They've already set down roots and are expanding the number of strawberries (crossing my fingers) that I'll have for next year.


Who knew that the Kansas clay would have such great results, huh?

Bird in the Belfry

Amidst the crazy week of flooring, cleaning, flooring, more cleaning, baby shower planning, girl's camp planning, even more flooring, etc, we found a moment to laugh and have fun.

A little bird flew into the garage so we left the garage door open, giving him a chance to find his way out. Instead, he flew through the open door {Ryan was moving things in and out} leading from the garage to the laundry room and kitchen. If you remember, we have cathedral ceilings. You can guess what happened next. Yep, the little bird found his way upstairs and into the bedrooms.

I captured him nestled among the branches I have arranged next to one of the beds.

Did you miss him? Oh, here he is!

A quick-thinking screenfromwindow-dectomy later and we shooed the fancy flier to freedom.

hmmm, go figure.

My pants have been fitting a little better this week. I don't question this, I just smile in the moment and hope it lasts more than the day.

I stepped on the scale tonight, you know, just out of morbid curiosity. Had to do it again. And again. And a third and fourth time.

I've lost 10lbs since I lost my job. Appears that I was stress eating. Imagine that.

Progress

{my favorite part}

A Baby Shower {you're invited}

Erin and I are throwing a baby shower for Amber in the next couple of weeks and the theme is About to Hatch.

*first - a disclaimer. The camera I used wasn't my own and so the pictures didn't turn out as great as I would have hoped. It wasn't the camera, but the operator {that would be me} of said camera. That is all.*

{invites and labels}

These are the invitations we cooked up one afternoon.

{cupcake box and insert}

{see what I mean about the beaks? no continuity - only I care about it really, though}

I LOVE them. The only issue I had was with the little birdie beaks. I wish Martha Stewart's directions included how they did those with a LEAF tip. I know, right? I considered using confetti sprinkles but I didn't think ahead and find them locally. The other option I was going to use if this didn't work was tinted white chocolate, piped onto wax paper in the shape of triangles and stick them in that way. I still might, who knows.

{beak-less baby birds}

If you didn't receive one {and you're a local, of course}, I'm sorry! We'll have non-cupcake ones available this Sunday or you can just consider yourself invited. Get in touch with me if you need details.

I'll have pictures of the shower in a few weeks. I'm still working on stuff for it and then I have to hurry and get everything ready for girls' camp projects.

{on the inside}

{boxed and ready to go!}

Right Now {found on another blog - but adapted for mine!}

Outside My Window
It's pitch black outside but I can still make out the shape of my cute little tree and a freshly-mown lawn, silhouetted by the glow from the porch light.

I Am Thinking
That I don't have a job, yet I'm calm and at peace. {Ryan is another story - he's a worrier} Whilst job hunting, I will have so much time to finish things I've had on my perpetual to-do list: paint, organize, and then USE my new craft room; paint my kitchen cabinets; finally hang things on our newly-painted walls; open my *new* vintage etsy shop and share my fab finds with others...ah, the list could go on and on.

I Am Thankful
For my supportive husband. And my awesome sister Tara {visiting and she was the first to come give me a big hug as soon as I got off the phone and started digesting *the* final phone call}. I'm thankful for our ability to save the last few months and put something into our savings accounts so we can still pay bills until a more suitable job opportunity comes along. I'm also thankful for all my friends and family who have shared in consoling me, even if it's in commiserating. I'm also thankful for Becka - who also made the ultimate life-altering decision today and quit - 30 minutes after I was let go. She's a tried and true friend, a strong woman and I love her dearly.

From The Kitchen
My dishwasher finished its hour-long hum many hours ago yet I can't seem to feel the urge to unload it quite yet. Tomorrow morning will be a fresh start. Soon, I'll smell loaves of freshly baked peanut-butter banana chocolate chip bread {thanks for the recipe, Brooke!} leaving the oven and making their way to a neighbor as payment for us borrowing their lawn mower.

I Am Wearing
a smile and the most comfortable pajama pants ever and the shirt I wore today {and pretty much everyday - I have a rotation of 3 or 4 shirts}. And a sports bra on top of my other bra to keep the girls wrangled in.

I Am Creating
EVERYTHING. I have so many ideas. I don't feel stressed. I just picked up a set of old metal police evidence(!) lockers that I'm going to clean, sand, and paint and make my new coat 'closet' for the front. I'll document with pictures.

I Am Going
PLACES. anywhere I want. After more than three years with BrainStorm I feel emotionally drained. I felt underappreciated and unmotivated to work {partly due to the fact that I was paid significantly less than the two guys there, who started TWO years after me}. After a season of discouraging sales, they axed me. Well, that's what I'm guessing. I was never actually given a reason, so I can only assume that was it. I'm going places. You might want to sit down, put on your seat belt, and settle in--it's going to be a ride!

Around The House
I see projects that need finishing and walls that need a few paint touch-ups, but a lot of space, glorious space. The garage is another story.

One of My Favorite Things
is my husband. My dog comes in a close second. He's adorable. Both he's. I also like bargaining, flea-marketing, creating {sewing, scrapbooking, making, doing, painting}, but you all knew this.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week
Tomorrow will be crazy! I have 3 doctors appointments in the next 2 business days. Yard sale tomorrow morning with Tara, working on girls' camp crafts, applying for jobs/unemployment, working on baby shower invitations {they're SO cute - you will wish you were coming}. BBQ and movie outside with friends.

Epic Post of Pictures {for your viewing pleasure}

I was looking through my camera card today and here's what I saw: lots of pictures {profound, no?}. But they were pictures I took and did nothing with, so I'm going to share a few of them here.

These are in no particular order and I'll just put deets on them underneath each one. Enjoy the ride!



These peonies lasted almost a full two weeks! They're from the Downtown Lawrence Farmer's Market. I've purchased all my flowers from the same vendor there each time {I can't remember the name right now}. Fresh-cut from that morning. When I purchased them they were in tight little balls and bloomed opened fully in 3-4 days. This was a half-dozen peonies.


Our backyard during a rainy-day downpour. I think this is from a week ago, maybe a week and a half. This was after 3-4 hours of SHEETS of water coming down. The missing fence area is on our list for replacements. It blew down during a winter windstorm.


Ryan's handy photoshop work with his dad's father's day card that I picked out. The inside played the Indiana Jones theme song and said something along the lines of 'and even does his own stunts'. Isn't the card awesome? I taped it on the top of the actual cover and sent it on its way. He thought it was awesome.


I love this little tree. It's a dwarf alberta spruce and grows quickly! We found it at Costco cheaper than we could find it at a local nursery {almost 50% less expensive!} and we have a new pot to transfer it to, hopefully that will get done, soon. The little plants around its base have YET to be planted in the flower bed along the front walk - but they're still doing great in their little containers so I'm not toooo concerned. Also something I hope that gets done, and soon.


The ceilings are all painted! You can see from the picture that the color that WAS on the ceiling was quite tan. It's actually not a terrible color, it's just the finish that drives me crazy...well, and the fact that the walls haven't been painted in 12 years. 12 yrs = lots of dirt.


Can you see the cool, calm gray? I love it. It's just above 'no color' and right under 'too gray'. It makes me really happy to walk downstairs and feel like the house is so much more open now. And I love the finish. We went with Sherwin-Williams' Satin/Eg Shel finish {it's spelled that way}. The color is Aloof Gray. The tallest wall will hopefully be painted tomorrow. I'm going with a blue color. I'll post more when it's done. Also, you can see a little globe in the picture. I got it at a yard sale on Saturday. It still has the USSR on it. Awesome.


I bought these peonies yesterday at the farmer's market. This time I got a full dozen. I really hope they last as long as the last bunch. Especially because I think they're the last peonies of the season.


Yard Sale Saturday yielded a Pfaltzgraff soup tureen. I love it. I wish it had the ladle. The pattern is Heritage-white and a replacement ladle would be a pretty penny {$39.99!} so I think I'll look on ebay until I can find one for less than $10. The whole setup, brand new, would be $99. I paid $3, so I can't complain.



Another Yard Sale Saturday find. Old school Fisher Price little people. But TRUCKS! I stuck them in soapy water and disinfected them with some additional cleaner, and in that process I loosened a few of the sticker decals. Any adhesive tips? I think super glue might be a little too brittle, but maybe rubber cement or gorilla glue?

Finally, I'll end this epic post of pictures with our dream house.

Isn't it gorgeous? Wanna see another picture?



I love it! It was in the construction process when we moved here last August and finished shortly after that. Then they finished the landscaping before the winter wind and cold set in. This spring it's just gotten prettier and prettier. Both Ryan and I agree the architecture and overall design is something we could live with. Okay, more than live with...we love it. So it's our dream house!

K, one last peek for you:


Well, if you've made it this far, you deserve a round of applause.

Also, I love my husband. He got upset when he heard someone possibly say something about me recently. I heard it, too, but neither of us are quite certain what was said so I'm not jumping to conclusions. Either way, it's really cute that he got upset and I love him more and more each day. Thanks for being wonderful, Ryan.