Changes

Changes in the seasons, changes in life....

Summer is winding down, the garden isn't giving me much anymore, just some lingering tomatoes and cucumbers...this morning the weather is glorious fall weather...rainy in the 60's....perfect for a quiet morning of hot chocolate, baking blueberry muffins and reading a good book. I love fall!

Life is changing very drastically....I finally got a job! As of October 1 I will be a 4-H Extension Educator! With this crazy awesome new jobs, means a move! We will be moving to Warsaw, IN a nice seeming small town. It is 2.5 hours away from where we are living now! So from when I was offered the job to when I start I have 4 weeks to find a place to live in a town I've been to once, pack up our whole life, and move! Not only that but we were just in FL for 5 days on vacation taking care of our nephews, and will be gone 2 other weekends in September, leaving this weekend the only weekend we're around! And we are both trying to finish up all our work here!

But I am so excited for all the changes, I know they are for the best (as crazy at it seems now!) My heart is at peace with this move and excited for the future....

So bring it on fall! You're a time of endings and new beginnings and I love it!

I just created a totally awesome dinner.... Penne Pasta in a Balsamic Brown Butter Sauce with Mushrooms, Garlic, and Pine Nuts (and spices).....it was sooooooo good! Served it with homegrown garden tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper hummus, and white wine. I love to cook and create!

My garden is going great! I picked tomatoes, peppers, and an eggplant today! My tomatoe plants are taller than me with tons of fruit on it, the peppers are going great guns, bush beans are starting to get pods on them, runner beans are growing, eggplants have lots of fruit on them, cucumbers are growing! The herbs are doing great and the onions are getting picked :)

My tomatoe plants are taller than me!!!!!!! Got our first tomatoe off of one of them....the rest have lots of green fruit on them!!!!

Planted another round of beans - runner beans this time!

I can't wait to start eating stuff from my garden!

And preserving it!

Maybe I'll can some relish today....cabbage & peppers are cheap...and it would be a great thing to bring to the upcoming BBQ's for the weekend....yes cleaning and canning - sounds like a great afternoon!

Tomatoes are huge! And have lots of baby fruit on them! Peppers (both hot & bell) are starting to flower. Eggplant is flowering. Beans are getting huge! Herbs are growing awesome. Cucumbers are doing decently....yea for my garden!

Still looking for a full time job...working 2 part time ones!

Purging stuff out of my life.

Looking for ways to save $$$$

Got cable for the World Cup....and have been watching the Food Network & Cooking Channel like crazy :)

Maybe I should go back to culinary school.... i love to cook :)

So Grad school is over....I finished my internship April 16....graduated on May 7th!

I am looking for a full time job....I am working 2 part-time ones right now....but full time is needed...

Plants are going mostly well....head lettuce is done & eaten (until more is planted late summer), Brussels Sprouts are growing still, leaf lettuce didn't make it (i think the random late frost/freeze we had at the beginning of May did them in), Kale never got past the sprouting stage - not sure why. Chard is growing, Onions & Radishes are doing great....can't tell with the carrots yet. Spinach is going slow but still hanging in there! Herbs are all doing great!

Transplanted tomatoes today....going to prepare the beds for the sweet peppers & hot peppers this week...and get my eggplant, peas, & beans in.....

Best friend got married yesterday! I was a bridesmaid - so it has been a crazy fun experience - throwing bridal showers, bachlorette parties, and helping with wedding planning/executing! It was a beautiful wedding & lots of fun!!!!

Now hopefully for a low key week with work, errands, coupons, gardening, and cooking in it! (I've starting making all our own bread again :) )

4/13 & 4/14 - My carrots, Kale, & Chard started to sprout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything that was already sprouted is continuing to grow! I love my garden!!!!!!!!!!

Once I'm actally home & awake when it is light out I'll take pictures of my crazy garden and all it's sprouting nature....but that might not be till this weekend or maybe even Monday!

My life is crazy! I finish my internship this friday - have a recreation workshop that I am on the board for this weekend, and then start 2 part time jobs next week!!!!! Did I also mention I am in the final interview stages for 2 other full time jobs, plus thesis, and my Rec Therapist Certification Exam....and graduation and 500 million (ok 7, one of which I'm in & one that i'm the photographer for) weddings in the next 1.5 months!!!!!!!!

So I'm thinking this blog is going to turn into a place to chronicle my garden...along with a place for me to document and share my cooking, preserving, and fiber arts efforts :) So here goes...

Planted 3/20 - Brussels Sprouts (sprouted plants), Lettuce (sprouted plants)
Planted 4/6 & 4/7 - Kale (seeds), Rainbow Chard (seeds), Yellow & Red Onions (sets), Rainbow Carrots (seeds), Radishes (seeds)
Planted 4/11 - Spinach (seeds), Mixed Baby Greens (seeds), Rosemary (sprouted plants), Sage (sprouted pants), Basil (sprouted plants), Cat Grass (seeds)
Already growing from last year still - Chives

4/10 - Sprouted - Radishes

thesis....

is the bane of my existance....I'm so tired and my brian is fried after working 40 hours a week at my internship that I just can't even bring myself to look at it!

I've been applying for jobs like crazy.....so far nothing. I'm praying and trusting that God's plan is perfect and trying not to worry - which isn't working so well.

Rich's job situation sucks which means money is tighter than ever.... I wish I was making money - stupid unpaid internship. I feel so bad for not contibuting....even though he tells me not to worry and that I'm doing what I need to be doing....but am I really?

I guess I'm just in a moody melencoly type mood right now.... I'll help that by baking....and cooking dinner....and organizing my kitchen & living room....

Desperately Hopeful

I love the phrase desperately hopeful....it embodies so much feeling. A feeling of desperation and hopefulness...and feeling of the potential joy in life and the hardships that can be overcome. I stive to live my life being desperately hopeful in all that I do.

This blog is a place for my thoughts, a place for me to blog about food (I love to cook), a record of my life in my second year of marriage, the completion of graduate school, and the unknown future.

This is me....