up and growing

our garden has been all set up for a few weeks now. jacob worked really hard to dig the two new beds. we decided to move our original raised bed to the back of the yard and add another bed. they are both 10 x 4. then, we had to add another 4 x 4 bed to accommodate all the seedlings we had.

we are eagerly awaiting four different types of tomatoes, including one heirloom variety, bell peppers, jalpenos, habaneros, squash, zucchini, and eggplant.
 
       
i also have mint, rosemary, and cilantro growing in pots.


good stuff.

my brother is a champ at this gardening bit. maybe he can pop over to this here blog sometime and offer some tips.

focus on the good

that’s my theme for the week. i read it in my teacher’s devotional book this morning before school and immediately thought, “I’m going to make this my personal theme this week.”

i’ve been too stressed and worried over little things lately. i am letting go and thinking instead on the good things.

question

what do you think about the new blog layout?

bigger pictures. that’s why i changed it. i like having big pictures.

what do you think? too big? too spread out?
or could you really care less?

please leave a comment telling me your opinion.

my 2 cents or $65.51 opinion

back in january, we were lucky enough to find a fabulous Pottery Barn basic sofa in a thrift store. we would not have been able to buy the couch for any other price, and i could not have been happier with our find.

i was so excited about the sofa that i posted about it and then put a link in my facebook 365 album. excited.

it is absolutely living up to all the fabulousness that i thought it would. even this weekend, when i was sick as a dog and spent nearly every moment nestled amongst it's cushiony softness, i fell in love all over again.



so, when i got a random email from someone (a friend of a friend on fb) who had been looking for a PB basic sofa and was asked whether i would recommend buying the sofa for $300 used from craiglist, i said absolutely! this couch at any price less than half the original would be worth it.

and about the white slipcover, i really like it too. yes, it gets dingy. but it washes quickly and looks brand new again! beautiful. i have spilt coffee, darby has gotten it nasty, i dripped a fudgesicle, blood, and it has all come out. no, i do not yank the slipcover off each time it gets dirty. it really only needs it about once every three months. 

and about a white couch being kid-friendly? well, we don't have kids, but my nephew sure had a ball jumping on the couch from the ottoman when he was here for a week back in january. and when we do have kids, they won't be swatted away from the sofa as if it should be in a museum, they can jump too.

so, would i recommend the PB basic sofa? you betcha. now, go craigslist one.

no more griping

i promise.

so moving on to more FUN and HAPPY things…..
these are my best friend’s feet. in her wedding shoes. under her wedding dress.

see, i told you FUN and HAPPY.

she is getting married in June and i’m trying to get her girlie weekend organized.

see more FUN and HAPPY.

i’ll show more of her bridal portraits i took at a later date. oh, how i wish i could shwo you how gorgeous she is!

she is FUN. and she is going to be oh so HAPPY.

an accident (for my teacher friends)

i got yelled at today. by a parent. a parent whose child had an accident yesterday afternoon while we were outside. and i made a mistake.

we were outside to relieve some of the pent-up energy left over from state testing all morning. we were on our way inside when a child began jumping up and down. she stated that she needed to use the bathroom. i acknowledged her request, assured her we were going inside as quickly as we could, and suggested she not jump up and down because that would make it worse.

one more jump…….and the accident happened.

she cried. i felt horrible. the other kids were laughing.

then, we made our way inside, lined up at the bathroom, then i asked another teacher to watch my class for a second while i got the girl some fresh clothes.

to the library, to the guidance counselor, back downstairs to another teacher, then another. finally, pants and brand new underwear. i did not want this child to sit down in wet clothes and be uncomfortable.  i felt like i was on autopilot.

fast forward to today…and my mistake.

i remembered last night that in all the commotion of getting the child clean and the rest of the class resettled, i had completely forgotten to call the child’s mother.

horrible. unforgiveable.

i call the child over to me early this morning and apologized to her for not calling her mother. i would do it when i got a break.

then, THEN. i get a message from the office. the mother called to talk to me.

i called her back. i explained the to her that i had been so busy trying to get her daughter comfortable that i had forgotten to call. and i apologized over and over again for not calling.

the mother said that she did not understand how this could happen to her child. she acknowledged that her child has a “thing” and doesn’t use public restrooms. (literally, i do not believe i have ever seen this child use the restroom at school) she stated that she didn’t understand why i wouldn’t let her go to the bathroom. she stated that i shooshed her off and didn’t let her go.

(need I remind you that we were outside in the parking lot moving as quickly as we could to get inside?)

i assured her it was an accident – a true accident and that had the circumstances been different, the outcome also would have been different. i apologized again for not calling her as soon as the incident occurred and assured her i would communicate better in the future.

she continued to question my abilities in keeping the class in control and offered to call a parent meeting to get me help in the classroom.

i continued to reassure her that it was an accident. and that everything was controlable in the classroom. i apologized again that i had failed in communication.

all the while, my class was getting restless because they knew i was preoccupied on the phone and they had nothing to keep them occupied.

i hung up the phone. two tears formed on my right eye. i covered them while i got another teacher to take my class for a minute.

i stepped in the hallway and cried. until all of my mascara was gone.

luckily, i have good co-workers who watched my class and reassured me that parents will get angry with you no matter what you do. and tomorrow is a new day.

in which i talk about barbies

well, that’s what my nieces once called my boobies – barbies. the same day they said that one of them asked me if “they are like carrying around buckets of rocks”! ha – at that time i was a bit larger and my cup size matched my face size. double delight :) so, yes, they were like carrying around buckets of rocks.

when i was 20, i found a lump and had shooting pains. luckily, it was just a fybroid cyst.  unfortunately, the first time i was ever oogled and fondled by a man was by the doctor I had had my entire life.

in college, we were easily humored by boobs. in a really naive, innocent Christian college girls dorm, crazy-dorky, fun-loving girls kinds of way. like, would laugh until we cried about the extra appendages or lack thereof.  (amber, i didn’t say t-i-t-t-y just for you)

i’m noting these funny boob stories because all the booby stories in my life aren’t so good. if you know me, then you know my mother passed away from breast cancer when she was only 42.

forty-two.  

that used to seem somewhat old to me. not anymore.

(woh. woh. woh. debby-downer moment, sorry)

so, in the spirit of being my goofball self, here’s where i’ll get funny again.

I GET TO HAVE MY BOOBIES SQUISHED EVERY YEAR FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!  Woo-hoo!

yeppers. apparently, if your mother lost her battle with breast cancer, you are to begin getting yearly mammograms 10 years before the age she was when she was diagnosed.

(can you sense my funny tone in this flat screen, cold machine?)

i’m cool with it. glad, actually. early detection is good. just know, the jokes will ensue. i just can’t help it.

moral of the story: get your boobies squished! especially if you are my sister! (hint, hint) and joke about it.

a girl with plaster wall’s best friend

with our house being built in 1950, there are certain things that add charm and other things that…well, just down right make you want to cuss sometimes.

one of those things that sometimes pushes me to the brink of saying wordy-dirds in my head is the plaster walls. we are not in a position to replace the plaster walls with drywall to make it more efficient, so we just make do in other ways. eh, that is not the biggest of my concerns. 
what really chaps my hide, though, is how difficult it is to simply tack a little nail in the wall to hang a picture. OR the gaping hole that is left crumbling and crater-like if you happen to want to move the picture. heaven forbid!

so, i knew that a gallery wall was probably out of the question since I would probably make a mistake somewhere along the line and leave pock-marks all over the wall.

then, what to my dazed, tired, and overly creative eyes should appear?
this magical little strip of part-velcro, part-stickiness, and part-“i have no clue what” that caught my attention on a coupon website. (yeah, i coupon when i’m not pock-marking my walls with another decorating idea.)  strange as that may seem, but i thought i would give her a go.

with my gallery wall planned, i headed to the store with two printed coupons in hand.

voila, a gallery wall for a gal with plaster walls. and cuss free I might add!
even if you don’t have plaster walls go here and get your very own coupon. great for renters and lazy people who do not like to putty and paint. or for homeowners with plaster walls who would rather not cuss.

you can thank me later! 

Easter Sunday

May all of the egg hunts, candy, family meals, and new clothes be refreshing today. Most of all I hope your worship and praise are refreshed this Lord’s day.


Aren’t you so glad that we get to celebrate the life, death, and resurrection of Christ each Sunday? Each of the Easter traditions holds special meaning. I hope you enjoy the reason for each of them as you celebrate today.

Happy Easter!

zoo bound

on this Good Friday, we are headed to the zoo with some of (4 of 11) our nieces and nephews. 
i am oh. so. excited. we have a pretty rockin’ zoo.

the zoo by itself is fun, BUT nothing can beat the zoo with kids you love in tow. AND a beautiful day.


i think this may be the best spring break I’ve ever had!