Garden 2011

Last year we planted our first garden. Grandpa Jim was nice enough to lend us some of his yard.  In the fall, he was nice enough to enlarge the space. We started working in the garden on Sunday.  Of course, we weren’t able to do it last week when it was nice & warm outside.  We did some tilling.  Nick & I helped pick up sticks in Grandpa Jim’s yard while we waited to start planting.  We planted 4 rows of peas, 2 rows of potatoes, a row of onions and 12 asparagus plants.  Last year our peas didn’t grow (I think we put them in too late).  We are trying potatoes and onions for the first time.  The asparagus is a first as well and was a request from Bean.  I think we are done until the middle of May now.  We have corn, watermelon, pumpkin, cantaloupe, bush green beans, carrots, cucumbers and radishes to plant. We’ll buy tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and pepper plants. Maybe I’ll try some sweet potatoes again.  Last year we had some “friends” eat the sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower & lettuce plants.  We are putting up a little fence/barrier this year.  There should also be a strawberry harvest this year. If not, I’m going to be mad!  We planted like 75 strawberry plants last year and they are supposed to bear fruit this year.  Anyone have any tips for planting pumpkin seeds?  Ours did not grow last year.  I’m hoping that maybe I just waited too long to get them in the ground.  If you’ve got any gardening tips, let me hear them!

My first time running a tiller:

Nick helping with some old logs:

Jim helping with tilling:

 

Fresh tilled earth…yum:

Scott hoeing us a row for onions:

Nick & I planting onions:

 

 

Jim getting potatoes ready to plant & Scott planting peas:

 

The strawberry patch is just on the other side of Jim:

Putting in the potatoes:

The asparagus:

 

Nick throwing down some fertilizer:

 

St. Patty’s Day

Emmy & I had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day.

Emmy colored while I unloaded & loaded the dishwasher:
   
Then she painted @ the easel for the first time:
     
Then it was bath time:
   
Then we took a walk to visit G’ma @ work and Aunt Pam, who was recovering from surgery:

This is what she looked like when we finally made it home:
 

My 1st Dinner Party

I was chosen through House Party to host a Philadelphia Cream Cheese First Taste party for their new line of cooking cream.  I made a Tuna Noodle Casserole and a Broccoli & Chicken Casserole.  I also made Crock-Pot cheesy potatoes & creamed corn. I also had French Pudding Dessert.  I think everyone had a nice time.  The most important thing is that no one got sick!  I actually prayed about that before hand!
   
Afterwards, we decided to play Wii bowling.  We had a couple first timers :)  Emmy Jo really got into cheering for everyone.  And Emmy finally – FINALLY – made up to Uncle Justin.  For some reason she always cried with him.  But he he discovered the key to her heart – ice.  He even took her over to Mom’s to get some crushed ice from their fridge.
 
       
Thanks for coming everyone!!  So, who’s going to host the next dinner party??

It's March Already?

Yoda Emmy

The Karate Emmy

(She’s actually doing a Karate chop in this picture. I also taught her to bow to the Sensei and to kick like Elvis.)

My Great-Great-Great-Grandaunt Margaret’s Obituary

I recently came across the obituary of my 3rd great- grandaunt in the January 17, 1884 edition of the Cambridge Jeffersonian.  She was the sister of my 3rd great-grandfather, James W. Arbuckle. His daughter Amanda Rachel was the mother of my great-grandmother, Lucy Pearl Clark.  Lucy’s daughter Velva is the mother of my mom.

Margaret was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, but moved to Cambridge with her husband (whom she married when she was only 16) shortly after their wedding in 1810. “When they came to Ohio there was only a toe path to Cambridge, and the farm on which they resided was at that time in woods and Cambridge consisted of a few log cabins, the howling of the wolf and the scream of the panther could be heard on every bend. What a change!”

{Panthers?  There were panthers in Ohio?  It would explain why Maysville chose the panther as their mascot.}

Margaret was the mother of 14 children, 10 sons and 4 daughters.  The obituary stated she “had about 230 grand and great-grandchildren.”  Wow!  That’s a large family!!

But those weren’t the most interesting parts of the obituary.  This was: “Her parents were Presbyterians. Many years ago she became a member of what is known as the "Bible Christians," and ever since has been a faithful and devoted Christian, exemplifying to her family and neighbors her confidence and trust in Christ. She was a very remarkable Bible reader. Her good, peaceable and gentle life, and her intelligence was noted throughout the neighborhood. About 9 years ago she fell and broker her hip, and since that time has not walked, only as she was helped. Much of this time was spent in prayer and close Bible reading, her Bible lying open near her when she was not reading. That text "Pray without ceasing." is applicable to her case.”

If only we could go back to a simpler time when family and faith were the most important things.  But the fact is, we can.  It is a choice one has to make.  Even though in current times we are more into what is fun, what feels good, what can bring us glory, as individuals we can make the choice in what will be the most important things to us.  What do you want your obituary to say about you? Yes, leave it to God to use an obituary 127 years old to speak the truth.

The last line of the obituary was the sweetest.  Having died on Christmas Eve,  “She had seen many happy Christmas days, but that one to her was the best of all.”

January…so far

January has been a pretty fun month so far.  Ohio State played a great game in the Sugar Bowl…and actually won!  Emmy hung out with me in my living room for a lot of the game.  We had fun just being silly.
   
Monday we – Bean, Todd, Emmy, Nick, Bobby & myself -  went sledding.  It was a blast!  I hadn’t been sledding in several years.  I laughed the entire time I was sliding.  For someone who has motion sickness and can’t ride hardly any amusement rides, it was wonderful!  It was Emmy’s first real time playing out in the snow.  She cried a little at first, but she did go down several times.



     






Today we’ve gotten about 6 new inches of snow.  Unfortunately, it’s going to be too cold to go out and enjoy it.  Maybe we will crack the paints out and let Emmy try out her new easel. 

31 Goals New Year Update

It’s been a while since I made an update.  Some goals are complete.  Some goals are well on there way.  Some goals haven’t even been touched.  But I’m really excited at the progress that has been made in the 3 months and a few days since my birthday.

1. Get back into Church.  Still teaching the Jr./Sr. High Sunday School class.
2. Read the whole Bible.  Well, I’ve done Matthew & most of Mark.  My Sunday School class has been studying Genesis. Now that the holidays are over, I plan on getting back into this.
3. Make an apple pie.  Not yet…I have this whole picture of going out and picking the apples myself.  Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen.
4. Sew a skirt. I guess I need to start looking for material for this.  I already know I just want to make a simple A-line.
5. Finish my bedroom.  This one I’m not sure of anymore…As I search for a job, there is a question as to whether I will still be living here full-time.  I really hate the idea of leaving for any amount of time, but if I can’t find a job around home, I’m going to have to really consider going elsewhere.  Which makes this goal hard to define anymore.  Should I even hang the frames?  Should I start the projects I’ve been wanting to do?  I don’t know.  There’s a lot of uncertainty.
6. Make a 2nd quilt.  Yea!!  Here’s one that is finished.  On Christmas Day, I presented Mom & Scott with the 2nd ever quilt I made.  It is called a Baby Bricks quilt and a grandmother of one of my former students gave me the pattern.  I chose to make it in Red, Gray & Black fabrics to match their Ohio State basement.(Sorry, I didn’t get a picture before I wrapped it.)
7. Take 20,000 pictures.  By my rough count, I’ve taken 3,182.  Under where it should be, but I’m not concerned. There are so many photo opportunities coming up in this new year.  I actually didn’t take many at Christmas or I might have been closer to pace.
8. Sell something on my etsy store.  I’m almost ready to post my first items.
9. Host a dinner party.  I’m really leaning towards a summer fete in the backyard.  But that also depends on what happens with the job hunt.
10. Get a mani &/or pedi.  Not yet…
11. Weigh 150 lbs.  Getting really serious about this now that the holidays are over.
12. Save $1000.  I’m probably not even close to $100…which probably goes with the not having had a job this entire time.
13.Visit a state I’ve never been to.   I’m hoping to at least get to Nebraska this Spring for a family wedding.
14. Read 20 books.  I’ve only completed one thing since the last update, a really cute Christmas book called Christmas Homecoming.

1. As Young As We Feel
2. I Heart Bloomberg
3. What She Left for Me
4. Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest
5. Let Them Eat Fruitcake
6. Spring Broke
7. Spring is in the Air
8. Amazing Gracie
9. Three Weddings & a Bar Mitzvah
10. Twilight
11. New Moon
12. Eclipse
13. Breaking Dawn
14. Christmas Homecoming

15. Grow a pumpkin.  I’ve already been looking into seeds and researching what I need to do to grow them and I think I know what might have went wrong with last year’s crop.
16. Build something.  I did this…for Christmas I made Emmy Jo (with Scott & Nick’s help – I did cut the wood all by myself) an art easel and a baby doll bed.  I’d like to make a bookshelf for my bedroom…but there’s that question again…lol.
17. Get published (article or picture) in a newspaper, magazine or reputable website.   I had even forgot about this.  I do have a topic I wouldn’t mind writing about.
18. Try 10 new recipes.  I haven’t done this yet.  I’ve got some recipes saved that I want to try.
19. Go camping.   I can’t wait for warmer weather so I can enjoy some time with my family camping. I was so bummed our plans this fall didn’t work out.
20 – 29. Do 10 things I’ve never done before.  I was thinking the other day that I had done something for the first time, but then I can’t remember what it was…????  Oh wait, I know what it was.  I was all the way down on #31 and that jogged my memory…I got my hair professionally dyed for the very first time in November.
30. Watch 20 movies.  I watched Eclipse, the third installment of the Twilight Saga.  I started the day watching Twilight & New Moon and then Eclipse.  I think I ended up watching it three times total before I sent it back to Netflix.  Now I can’t wait until November for the first part of Breaking Dawn!!  Then I spent the rest of December watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel.

1. Letters to Juliet
2. The Bounty Hunter
3. The Love Guru
4. Diary of a Mad Black Woman
5. The Last Song
6. Date Night
7. Madea Goes to Jail
8. The Pelican Brief
9. Eclipse

31. Dress more girly.  I need to go shopping…lol.  I have some gift cards to spend.