Moving Day!

No...I am not moving, but my brother, Glenn, or as we call him "Bubba" is. He just got a job in Pennsylvania. He changed career paths recently and decided that he wanted to become a mud engineer. If your like me your thinking "what is a mud engineer?" I have heard him explain it several times and I think I sort of get it now. He will be working on an oil rig drilling site and he is the guy, in a trailer, that determines how much mud "drilling fluid" is needed for the drill bit to keep drilling through different rock and layers of the Earth.

He just graduated from mud school in Houston and we were thinking that he would get a job on the rig where he was trained in Corpus Christi,Texas. Who knew they drilled for oil In Pennsylvania!! Anyway, I am really excited for him because it's a great opportunity, but he will be a long way from home. He came home last week to spend some time with family and pack his things in a U-Haul to move. My dad is going with him and driving the U-Haul behind him all the way to Pennsylvania and then flying home. My mom and I were hoping to go, but the timing wasn't right...if only school let out a week earlier!! I am still trying to get over that, but hopefully we can go visit this summer.

Dad and Glenn with the U-Haul all loaded and ready to go!

Bye Glenn!! We will miss you!

Girls Night

Every girl needs a good girls night! About a year ago my friends Katy, Alecia, and I decided to start having girls night out once a month. We decided we would go out to eat on the first Monday of the month. I am so proud of us because we have not missed a month. Sometimes we have to reschedule, but we always get together. I look forward to it every month!

This month we decided to have a girls night in. We went over to Katie's house because her husband, Michael, was supposed to go out of town for the weekend. His plans ended up changing, but he went out with some friends and let us take over his house anyway :) We ordered pizza and just caught up with each other.

Katie and Alecia

Every good girls night should always include ice cream and chocolate!!

I am also very blessed to be able to get together with my friends who live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area once a year. When I moved home to Beaumont we decided to get together every March during Spring Break (two of us are teachers so it works out great). We have not missed a year since I moved.

We went to the beach the first year and that was enough for Britni-it was her first visit to Crystal Beach and I think when we said beach she thought blue waters and white sandy beaches :) We stayed at Britni's house the next two years, and then in a hotel in downtown Dallas the next. This year we stayed at Britni's new house in Weatherford and we went to Grandbury to eat one night. Grandbury is the cutest little town complete with an adorable town square, antique shops, craft shops, coffee houses and restaurants.

Britni (and baby Pierson), Me, Carrie, and Heather at the coffee house in Grandbury

I am so thankful for the friendships that God has blessed me with. I love each of you very much!! I look forward to many many more girls nights!!

"I thank my God every time I remember you" Phillipians 1:3

Harvest Time!

This past weekend I was able to pick the first vegetables (and a strawberry) from my garden! I was so excited to taste the tomatoes and they were delicious. I made a tomato salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It is a great snack to have in the summer time. I usually make it with store bought tomatoes and as you can imagine the fresh, garden tomatoes make it so much better. I am going to make fajitas tomorrow night with the bell peppers.

The strawberry was a different story. It looked so beautiful and red, but it tasted really sour. I am not sure why. The only thing I can think of is that it is the first strawberry off the plant and it is not quite strawberry season yet. Maybe that has something to do with it. Hopefully, in June I will have sweet strawberries!

I planted different varieties of tomatoes so they range in size from medium to small. It's hard to tell in the picture but they are they prettiest color red. I also have at least 4 more tomatoes to pick off the vine in the next few days. I have so many tomatoes that I am trying to think of some good recipes with tomatoes. I have a tomato bruschetta recipe I am going to try. If you have a good one please share!!

Mother's Day!

"Her children arise and call her blessed..." Proverbs 31:28

Grammy and Mom with their presents!

We celebrated Mother's day at my Grammy's house this year. Dad is out of town, Glenn is working in Pennsylvania, and Stephanie and Ross are in Waco so I promised them I would post some pictures. We missed all of you!

I am so blessed to have a mom that I can also call my best friend!

Grammy's favorite..coconut cake

Painting 101

In a previous post I told you how I wanted to replace an old picture I had over my bed with a new one. I looked and looked and I couldn't find anything I liked. So, I decided to try and paint a painting myself (I don't know what has gotten into me...I have had this creative streak lately). I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted..a nature scene with a tree and blue sky. Sounds simple right!

I went to Michael's craft store to get all the stuff I needed. I wandered around trying to find paint brushes, pick out the paint, and get a canvas. It began adding up to way more than I wanted to spend. I couldn't spend that much money on a project I wasn't even sure would turn out. I began to realize that Michael's was more for a "serious" painter.

Then, I remembered I had a Wal-Mart gift card, and a short while later I had my 2 for 1 canvas boards, acrylic paint, and economy pack of paint brushes. Let me say here that I am not a painter at all!! I took the required art classes in school and that is it! It's funny how later on you wish you would have payed a little bit more attention in classes like art, Spanish, and math :)

Anyway, here's a look at how it went.

I guess it's not too bad for my first painting...ever! I am happy with how it turned out. I hung it over my bed, but it just didn't look right. I am sure I will find a place for the painting in the future. Instead I found these letters etched in glass. They were half off and there weren't many letters to choose from. At first, I was thinking about spelling dream, my name (just kidding), or peace. Dream seemed a little too cheesy so peace it was. I love these letters!

Garden Update

I have found that I really love vegetable gardening. I admit that I find myself going to the back door and just staring out at the garden looking for any changes and just admiring it. It has been so much fun to see the vegetables and fruit grow. I have even enjoyed working in the garden pulling weeds, watering the plants, etc.. Many people have told me that gardening is very therapeutic and I agree. I highly recommend it!

My garden has undergone a few changes since I planted it in March. It made it through the late freeze we had one night in April. Both of the cucumber plants I planted died because we had a heavy rain and the roots couldn't take it. So I planted two new cucumber plants and they seem to be doing fine. I also put mulch in the garden thanks to a tip I read online. It keeps the soil warmer, keep insects away, and helps with weeds.

I want to have an organic garden and a friend of mine gave me a tip to keep insects away. You mix a small drop of lemon Joy dish washing soap and water in a spray bottle and spray it on the plants. It is a natural insecticide. So far it has worked great.

I took these pictures today of the garden.

little strawberries

beginning to turn red!!

small yellow squash

bell peppers