Look how her garden grows

Love coming back from the weekend away to see so many seeds have germinated and popped out of the ground in our raised bed. So far only the lettuces and potatoes are the ones that haven't come up yet. Pictures to come.

She's sooo getting into camp!

One of the cuter essays out of all the ones I've been reading the past few days for spots at my camp! She's so getting in! Sara Goes to Camp? Once upon a time, there was a little girl who always looked forward to VIMS Summer Camp. This year, however, her mom wouldn’t let her go until her closet was clean. Her name was Sara. Sara hated cleaning her closet, and anyway, the mess was almost up to the ceiling. She knew she would never clean it in time. Sara decided she would talk her mother into letting her go. Sara went downstairs to find her mother in the living room, reading the newspaper. Sara planned to complain to her mother bit by bit, until she let her go to camp. Sara thought, “Today, I’ll just give my mother reasons to let me go, and then maybe start complaining.” She peeked into the living room again, and then walked across the rug. Her mother didn’t notice her until she was right there beside her. Sara started talking. “Mom, I’ve …“ “Shhhh”, her mother cut her off. “Just wait a while.” So Sara waited and waited and read a book, (about the Chesapeake Bay), and waited some more until finally, her mom put the paper down. Sara started again. “Mom”, she said, “I’ve been looking forward to this camp all winter. You can’t just not let me go now! I want to fish! I want to play! I want to do crafts! Come on, Mother, please let me go! The nets are waiting for me. So is Sarah McGuire! We even have the same name! If you don’t let me go, I won’t be able to go on a boat ride to the Goodwin Islands or explore habitats. I want to canoe like last year. It was fantastic, amazing!, being around so many animals, in a canoe or on the beach. It was fun. You let me go last year! Why won’t you let me go this year? We played jeopardy, and had notebooks, waterproof ones! If you were a kid, wouldn’t you want to go? Yes, you would, I just know , Mom, so please let me go, pretty please! “ “I don’t know.”, said Mom. “Wouldn’t a boat be dangerous?” “Mom, I went on a boat last year, and I had a life jacket on. It was fun-tastic, with the wind in your hair and the sun on your face.” “Well, that does sound like fun, but I still want you to clean your closet.” “Okay, that failed.” said Sara, as she stared at her closet in dismay. “ I think tomorrow I will tell her about the educational parts.” The next day after breakfast, Sara approached her mom again. “Mom, I want to talk to you.” “Oh no, not another lecture, Sara.” “Wait! Mom, you have got to understand. Camp is educational, too!” “Really? So, what are you hoping to learn this year at this camp of yours?” “Well, since you asked, I want to learn about what kinds of animals live in the Chesapeake Bay, and also around it. I’d like to investigate habitats, and especially learn about oysters, one of my favorite creatures. I want to learn more about erosion, how it affects the earth, and how we can stop it from happening.” “Sounds interesting. Go on.” “Well, I also want to learn more about the water in the Chesapeake Bay. Is it brackish, salt, or fresh water? It would also be exciting if we learned about plants as well as animals. Plants are important, too. Another thing I want to learn about the Chesapeake Bay is how we affect it. What happens when we throw trash in there? What happens when we kill too many animals? What species are endangered? I have so many questions. What do crabs, fish, and turtles eat, and what eats them? I can either learn these from a book, or I can go to camp, and non-fiction books are sooooooo boring. Please let me go to VIMS camp. Please! “Sara, that does sound fun, and educational, but I still want you to clean your closet! Anyway, why would they pick you?” “Well, I, uh, I didn’t think about that. Um, well, they should pick me because I am really inspired by this camp. I look up to Sarah McGuire, and want to learn everything she can teach me. I want to learn about the Chesapeake Bay by having fun, not by having to read non-fiction books. I love the games. I adore the arts and crafts. It is an opportunity for me to gain new friends. I get along nicely, and I love the camp. Seineing is something I only get to do at camp, and it’s my favorite activity, so if I am not picked, I would have to wait at least another year to try again, plus spend my whole summer cleaning my closet. At least let me try to get in, please Mom! I love this camp from A to Z, the activities, the seineing, the boat ride, learning about all kinds of creatures, walking through the squishy marsh, catching crabs,even weighing our lunch trash is fun. Please, at least let me try.” “All right,” Mom sighed, “You can try.” Sara screamed, “ YES YES YES YES YES “. Her plan had worked!!!!! Sara was accepted into VIMS Camp, became a Chesapeake Champion, and had the best week of her life. And, they all lived happily ever after. THE END P.S. Her closet is still a mess.

This is why I travel with these people!

Recently went on a trip to see my brother in Denver (woohoo) and it was a whole big group of us that went. Then, the bff and I took a side trip down to Salt Lake City to see Sally. And seriously, who wouldn't want to travel with them - they are so fun! :) Pictures just prove it.

We enjoy trying new food!

We enjoy having some drinks!

We enjoy trying on the local fashions!

We even enjoy making up new names for our group (aka throwing up gang signs in the middle of Breckenridge, CO) - M6!!

We most of all we enjoy being with friends and family, and taking in the sights of a new place! Great trip! :)

Hummus Vinaigrette

I made some delicious hummus vinaigrette the other night. Good for dipping sauces, salad dressing, mixing into couscous, whatever! Thought I'd share the recipe with you all...

1 cup prepared hummus (I just bought the plain hummus and used the entire container)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup parsley
1/4 cup olive oil

Puree all of the above in food processor. (I love my food processor! Except cleaning it. I hate that part.) Add 2 tablespoons of water and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Delicious! Enjoy! Recipe is from Noble Pig - highly recommend their recipes. All (except for one - the chicken on the same page as the vinaigrette) turned out well and really tasty. Chicken on that page - well let's just say we had a bit of a smoke issue in the kitchen!

P.S. Mine didn't turn out as green as Noble Pig's but still very pretty!

Break

I need a break. A break from emails, work, meetings, master naturalist classes, lectures, discovery labs, working on the weekends, etc etc. I need a day to catch up on my DVR, craft, sleep in, enjoy being home. It seems like every night there's something else....and every day a to-do list at work that is ever growing.

Valentine's Day Spirit

The bed is officially up and put together (no longer sitting in pieces in the living room and dining room). Check - something accomplished! :) What do you think? I think I need bigger lamps on the nightstands and something over the bed. Maybe a carving!! My dad has a perfect one of a tree that's really long horizontally so maybe I can convince him to lend it to me. And I want to get a rug for the end of the bed/middle of the room. And we need new curtains b/c now the old ones don't match. It's a never ending process....
I've been working on some craft projects the past few days. I made Sally and I some countdown blocks with the Cricut. Love it! As you can see my boss who offered to cut the blocks did not do so in perfect 4" squares, but they are still cute! Love the color combination. Now I just need something to countdown to. Maybe my trip to Denver next month.And today I made a little Valentine's Day banner to hang in the dining room with the Cricut. Makes crafts so easy. Just cut the hearts and letters out, Mod Podge'd them together, and hung on a ribbon using Christmas tree hooks. I'm going to make one for Christmas too! Who knows what other holidays I could do. "Give Thanks" for Thanksgiving - can you imagine a bunch of pumpkins or turkeys. Cute!

70 here - Blizzard there

A couple of weeks I was looking out at this in Massachusetts -Today it's cloudy but 70 here and a blizzard up there. Crazy weather.

Finished another craft project/decoration for 2011 - heart frames. Decided to finally hang up the mirror in the entryway that I've had in a closet for a few months. Something about putting holes into my walls was freaking me out but I got over that this weekend. Wanted something to go alongside the mirror so I put together these cute frames that I can change out each season. Hearts cut with the Cricut I got for Christmas!

Now I just need to get some decor going for the table underneath the mirror. Oh and put the new bed together that's sitting in pieces in the living/dining room. OH well another day.

Looking through my blog posts made me want to start up the photo a day thing...gonna think about that. I really did like that idea.