Update

I can't believe it! It seems like time has gone by so quickly from the last time I blogged about my flowers but in all actuality it has been almost 2 weeks. I usually go look at them everyday after work to see their progress, and encourage them. I always find another one that has found it's way to the surface so I am never let down. I am in awe at what tiny little miracles they are. I am so excited for the fun adventures of all the gardening I get to do in my yard this year. Here are what my little babies look like now. It was cold and windy outside today but they are for sure holding their own.

Crocuses:
(look close & you'll can see the 3 blooms that will probably open sometime this week)

Little Tullips:

Big Tullips:
(they have spotted strips on their leaves)

Daffodils:

A big thanks to Mom & Pam (my expert gardeners!) who answer my daily phone calls to answer all my questions!

I also wanted to update you on my bike riding progress. I've been trying to ride about 3 times a week for about 30 minutes... at least. I think it's working. I feel so much better and I even feel skinner! I've been preparing myself to ride to work for the first time (it's only a couple miles). I have tried a few times but I chickened out as soon as I walked out of the door. There are two things holding me back:
#1 It's still kinda cold! But I'm determined to get past this, I just need to tell myself that I'll be warm in 1/2 mile.
#2 It's dark. To fix this I bought these lights today that wrap around my bike handles.

They blink to tell everyone on the road not to run over me!

So now I have no excuses. I am planning on riding for the first time this year tomorrow morning. Everyone wish me luck!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Pam!

Today my Aunt Pam is celebrating her half birthday. She has a birthday party at her house every 3 months and invites the whole family over. We usually have dinner and play games together. The last one we had we all shared a memory and videoed taped it. My favorite part is when we have a scavenger hunt. We have to do things to earn us points like starting a fire in the middle of the winter, planting water cress, identifying ancestors, and finding certain flowers in her yard. One of the ways in which we can earn points this time is to tell everyone about her blogs. My Aunt is a professional photographer, a gardener, and a fabulous cook! So that is what her three blogs are about.

Picture a Day

Gardening Tips

Recipe a Week, Food for a Lifetime

I was suppose to post this and tell people about it (to earn points) before Friday. Oops! I know I was a bit of a slacker, I hope she'll forgive me. Please, go see her blogs! They have some really great stuff on them. Some of my recipes are on her Recipe Blog, and they are really good and EASY! Just type my name into the search. Let me know what you think.

My Good Friend

I know how important exercise is. I really do. But, I'm not very good at motivating myself. I'm a lot better if I have a buddy to go with. For a while I had a friend who ran around the greenbelt with me every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. After two months I started to get pretty good and was getting better, but for some reason or another we stopped running together :( Now she as since moved. Briant and I run and go on walks together but that is only possible in the summer. This year I'm determined to get a routine down! I realized last year that I really don't like running all that much. I'm pretty slow. I like active sports like Volleyball, Hockey, Tennis, and Ultimate Frisbee. They seem to have more of a point to them and my mind isn't on every step I take, but on what's going on in the game. But I think my favorite sport is Biking. When I was little I think I rode my bike ever day. When I'm on my bike, I am truly having fun and I'm not ever thinking about how out of breath I am. It is a great way for me to get exercise and not hate it. I can always rely on it because it doesn't ever have plans. I think it will be that friend that will help me stay in shape this year.
Well, even though the weather has been a bit nippy this week, there were a few days where the sun was beckoning me to come outside. So I got my bike down, filled up the tires, and took it for a spin around the neighborhood. It felt great! It was so good to go spend some time with my good friend.
I'm not one of those Bikers that has the skinny wheels like Lance Armstrong. I don't go extremely fast but I do push myself. I usually go somewhere around 11-15 mph(I have a speedometer on my bike, cool huh). There are lots of places that I can ride to that are really close to my house, so I'm sure I won't get bored with this. Or I can load it up in my car (yes it fits) and go on the trail with a friend. Anyone interested? I really want to get a cheap bike for Briant sometime this summer hopefully at a garage sale so he can come with me. I even ride my bike to work in the summer, but I wait till it gets light for safety (and I'm a whimp in the cold). I only takes me about 10 minutes one way. Saves a lot on gas! And I always wear a helmet.

Spring is finally in sight!

When I returned home from my bike ride today, I was poking around my flower gardens and look what I found:
I had a permanent smile on my face for the rest of the day! I'm so excited that the tulips, daffodils, and crocuses (and I think Iris') that I planted last fall are coming up! I can't wait to see all the flowers in my flower garden and get started on my food garden!!! I'll keep you posted.

Just Another Day in March

How could a day that looks so sunny and so welcoming...

...be so cold.
It was 16 degrees when I walked into work this morning. When I got home, I kept looking out the windowAnd despite the snow on the ground and dead looking trees, it looked warm. The sun is playing tricks on me. I went outside for just a second and it felt like January.
Alas, I will stay inside and eat my homemade soup.I made it yesterday. It was my first attempt EVER at making soup, and it turned out very good. It was even better in a Great Harvest bread bowl! I was even more excited when Briant had seconds and then thirds! Yep this recipe is a keeper. I'm starting to enjoy cooking more and more. I try to make something new at least once a week.
Now Briant is off to a Merritt Badge Pow Wow.Doesn't he look cute.... handsome in his scout uniform? He is such a good guy, and an even more wonderful husband. He has a really good sense of humor (as you can tell from the picture above). He's so fun to hang out with every day. I just love him so much!

Drawing of Chalkboards!

Tuesdays are currently my project day. Meaning I go to work and work on any "side" project that they want me to do. I'm pretty sure that they created this shift just for me because to my knowledge, I'm the only one who does it. Lately, they have had me clean a few things here and there for a few hours and then I'm done. These projects are usually areas that just need a little more time and care. Nobody on a shift can do them, because they may take too long or they might not have time. No worries... Missy to the rescue! (For all of you that know me as Melissa; Missy is my nickname. My whole family and most of the people at work call me this... unless I am in trouble.) While projects can be quite nasty sometimes, they can also be pretty fun. They're also calming and allow me to just kinda have time to myself to think. All in all, projects tend to make me feel important, because #1 sometimes I'm the only one who knows how to get a particular thing clean, #2 I might be the only one who is daring to touch something that is really dirty (or crawl into a really dirty place to clean it), and #3 most of the time I won't turn a project down so they know they can always count on me.
Well, this weeks project was actually really fun for me. I got to draw on the chalkboard. I like to think that I am the creative type. I really like to do crafty things, and art, cards, typing something up on the computer to make it look really good, draw, doodle... I like it all. So this project was totally my cup of tea. I think it turned out pretty good, what do you think?
(See that really dusty fan blade in the top of the picture? That will be my next project.)

Lunch Date

Yesterday, I had the day off. So, I figured I would get some much needed things done, like my visiting teaching. I know how important this is and I made a goal to get 100% this year. But, I reached a desire to do more for them than just come and visit once a month, I want to do the little things too. Like go bring them veggies from my garden, and send them cards in the mail. Then I started thinking about all the friends that I have that I don't see anymore. Not that I don't want to, our lives are just different and for some reason or another our friendships sort of get a little lost. I really don't want this to happen. That is one reason I like facebook, and why I blog, because it really helps me to stay caught up in family and friends lives. But sometimes that just isn't enough, and you just want to talk to and be with your friends or family. Yesterday was one of those kind of days.
I have this really awesome friend, her name is Gina. She and I met in the singles branch before I got married.
She has some really cool roommates that I'm really good friends with too. She and I are very similar. We are both the only girls in our families and have quite a few brothers. We have the same taste in clothes and we can speak our minds to each other. It seemed like we had just met and become really good friends when I met Briant. Even though I loved spending most of my time with Briant after that, I missed Gina. Briant and I were actually really good friends with Gina and her roommates before he met me and so that was kinda nice that we could all hung out together. She was my maid of honor at my wedding, and she helped me out so much.

I hope she knows how much I appreciate her! And her sense of humor.

I was watching my wedding video yesterday and I saw Gina. "How I miss her," I said. Then I suddenly remembered her telling me that she has Fridays off. After a few text messages and a phone call I found out she indeed had the day off and we had a lunch date planned! Yeah!!! We had a nice burger at TGIF s. But, that just wasn't enough time so we went to her house after, and pretty much spent the afternoon together. I found out that we even like the same kind of books. It was good to have a friend to talk to. I'm pretty sure we need to do that again. I had so much fun. Thanks Gina!I love thee Gina-kins!!!