5.29.2011

Garden Update


Our garden has more than doubled in the past 4 weeks!!  It's HUUUUGE!!!  But don't take my word for it, check it out:
4 weeks ago, just starter plants.

 Today's picture.  Look at how it's all growing so much!!  The zucchini and yellow squash leaves are MASSIVE!!

 These are the flowers on the yellow squash!  Food coming soon!!! Whoohooo!!

 As I said before, I planted popcorn.  Even if I only get 2 ears out of it, I don't care.  It's still nice to think I can make my own popcorn.

 This is the strawberry planter.  See all those little flowers and all the new leaves?!  Yes, in full bloom!!

Now, the herbs aren't doing quite as well as the rest.  The cilantro had a few bad looking stems, so I pulled those off.  The basil seems to be a bit droopy?  I think we may have over-watered it.  Still trying to figure that out.  The mint was doing really well, but lately hasn't been looking so hot.  Partially I think it has to do with the recent temps, since it hasn't been very sunny or warm lately.  Hopefully next week will help them perk up a bit.  I've gotta figure out how to tell when the herbs are able to be plucked for cooking/eating.  Anyone else out there know? 

5.25.2011

My Perfect Outdoor Space

Recently, I was sent an email from Pottery Barn with their new Summer line and specials.  And boy, oh boy, am I in love!!

So here I am showing you my IDEAL outdoor spaces.... 
(the first two pictures from potterybarn.com)

I think I like this one the most because it also has a beach as the background.  Someday I WILL own a house on the beach!  Just saying.  I love this table and chairs with the dark umbrella.  Of course the beachy feel and the lanterns really speak to me, too. 

You have to ignore the white guesthouse(?) in the background.  I love the acutal outdoor SOFA, especially with the beach/shell touches.  Soooo perfect!!


... and of course you can't forget the covered trellis!!!

Unfortunately our "outdoor" space reflects nothing of this sort.  Our balcony has our tabletop garden, a couple chairs, and our tiny little grill... all crammed into approximately 7x5 balcony.  What can I say, I'm really good at cramming stuff into a small space.  Ask my husband about our cabinets and pantry in the kitchen :)  As for the patio downstairs, it has NOTHING outside other than a doormat.  There are so many little kids running around and thieves in this area, I dont trust putting nice, good quality furniture down there for fear that it will dissapear.  Someday when we move into a house, we'll get the perfect backyard.

What is your ideal outdoor space???  

5.24.2011

Extreme Couponing

Has anyone out there been watching the Extreme Couponing show on TLC?  This show is NUTS!!!  In the last episode, one lady spent like $5 on $600 worth of groceries!  And it's all based on coupons, coupons, coupons (and timing them right with sales). 

I'd LOVE to be able to save the insane amounts of money that they save.  But the question is HOW?!  How do people get into this?  How do they continuously save so much money?  Part of it is hard for my family because we buy mostly fresh stuff, and I've never seen a coupon for apples or romaine lettuce.  I do use coupons for anything I can, but I definitely am not getting my bill down to nearly nothing.  Apparently there are plenty of stores out there that do double coupons in addition to the store sales.  Does anyone know which stores these are? 

Does anyone have any suggestions on websites to check and stores to shop at to get the best deals (probably on things like TP and laundry soap, as we eat mostly fresh)????

5.08.2011

Happy Anniversary

Today marks the hubbs and my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  I can't believe it's already been a year since we've been married!  I love Josh more and more each day, and love that he stands by my side even when times are rough.  It's been an interesting road this past year!  Trying to get where we want to be in life is a long, exhausting road, and it can really take it's tole on a relationship.  But as my mother always says, "this too shall pass."  And this just goes back to why I started this blog.  We aren't where we want to be in our lives, careers, financially etc.... but we will get there. 

So again...  
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my BEST FRIEND and HUSBAND!!! Love you!!

**And yes we blew out a candle for good luck.  I thought it was a GREAT idea**

The Garden is Coming Along!!

Alright, so it was finally warm enough to get everything planted in addition to the herbs we planted earlier.


So as you can tell we started with "starter" plants this time, being our first time with the garden. We figured the garden had a better chance of surviving us and our lack of green thumbs.  haha!  

Here is the list of everything we planted:
-Popcorn (yes, popcorn!!!  if you know me, you know how much I love it!!)
-Zucchini
-Yellow Squash
-Cucumbers
-Garlic
-Roma Tomatoes
-Regular Tomatoes
-Strawberries (below) for jam
Once the zucchini and cukes start growing, we will tie them to wood stakes so they don't overrun the garden.  Again, I'll keep you all updated...

In this little planter is strawberries for jam!!  And that's Jake protecting them! :)  I've been wanting to plant strawberries, but had been warned that they have a tendency to overtake a garden, so when we found these "jam" strawberries that are meant for a pot, I figured it was a sign and we got them right away!

I can't wait for the garden to start producing so we can get our own organic produce, as well as homemade jam and salsa... and hopefully popcorn.  Fingers are crossed I get a little something out of that popcorn!!