Sprouts

I know I blogged yesterday about my new hobby, but I blogged too late. You see I started that project about a week ago and I am proud to say that my little babies have begun sprouting!

The basil and chives have made serious headway. There may even be some visible progress from the oregano, but unfortunately cilantro and parsley haven't peaked through the soil.

This is so exciting. Grow little seedlings, grow!

Stay At Home Gardener

Because I've been on the job hunt, a lot of my time is spent at home. I spent my days combing the web, tweaking my resume, and filling out applications. I decided that I needed a hobby - something that could make my days a little more interesting.

So a little while ago, I got the notion in my head to start an herb garden. I've always wanted one and now that I command my own kitchen it seemed time to find out if my thumb is green.

After much research on tips and techniques for indoor gardening, reading blogs about others with an herb garden passion and what they created, I decided it was time to start. I made a list of the kitchen herbs I most wanted based off of my use of them in recipes and took a field trip to Home Depot. I explored the entire garden section - I picked out cute pots, rummaged through the seed display, found the right soil, and then put all of what I collected back and decided on an herb garden kit!

Why have a huge bag of soil laying around when we are still not officially moved in? [side note: I'm taking my time, plus storage space in our apartment is very limited]

It was a match made in heaven.

Doesn't it look cute? I am growing Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, Oregano and Chives. I can't wait until they start sprouting!

Scott just laughs at me and how I'm caring for these little plants. I consider myself a mother now and I have five children that require constant care and attention. I worry about their water intake (Are they getting too much? Not enough?). I worry about the amount of sun they need.

Oh this is just so exciting. Expect garden updates once the baby seeds begin sprouting!

Silhouette'n in Seattle

Because Scott works full time for Southwest Airlines, we get flight benefits! So last week I decided to take a last minute trip to see Audrey and Austin in Seattle. And I really mean last minute - I looked at flights Monday night, and left Tuesday morning.

It was so much fun. Audrey and I chatted it up, started watching Downton Abby (only made it through 1 1/2 episodes) and just enjoyed our time. For Christmas Audrey got a Silhouette Cameo, so of course we had to try it out and make some cute little crafty-craft.

Audrey had some left over pieces of wood so we tried our hand at sanding them, priming and painting them, and then attaching a vinyl quote or phrase. It was so much fun. My green block has a line from our wedding song, Hold On by Michael Bublé. I also made some vinyl attachments for my flour, sugar, and brown sugar containers that I attached when I got back to Dallas.

And because I love this little guy so much, here is a picture of Austin dressed in a scuba BCD with a snorkel in his mouth! I took back an old microwave Audrey and Toren weren't using and the best packaging we could find was a scuba duffle bag, so while Toren and I were packing up the microwave in the bag, Austin donned on the gear.

Hello 2013

Oh my goodness gracious. It's almost February. I haven't blogged since the Birthday Extravaganza in Chicago. Because so much happened, and painfully long blog posts are not my thing, you guys will get the extra short Readers' Digest version.

In mid-December, Scott officially "graduated" as an intern. The intern graduation was nice. The coordinators read bios of all of the interns as they walked ceremoniously across stage, stood in the spotlight and received their diplomas.

He also landed a full time position (fist pump in the air) in the Customer Relations department. There were no openings in the Marketing dept., so hopefully by staying with the company, he will be able to move back to his marketing team.

After graduation and my lovely last day at work, we packed up and flew standby back to Salt Lake for Christmas to spend it with Scott's family. Crazy I know to try and fly standby during the holidays but we took the first flight out and got lucky.

Going from Dallas to Salt Lake was a bit of a climate shock for me. I almost refused to leave the airport because it looked so icy out there. I was convinced I would slip and fall to my death the second I stepped outside. But I lived!

Instead of exchanging gifts this year, we decided to share a family experience and we took a cooking class! It was so much fun and I learned a lot. I think Scott and I may take several more cooking classes in the future because of how much we enjoyed it.

For Christmas I got a new little camera and a basic camera class (hopefully new blog post photos will reflect the skills I learn) and Scott got...wait for it... his own scuba gear! He got the entire regulator system - so regulator, octopus and computer. He was so excited. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of him opening his gift and checking out his new gear, but don't worry, there will be future diving adventures and blog posts.

We also went and saw Les Mis with Scott's parents and his cousin Nathan. Scott and I both LOVED it and this time around I felt like I knew the story pretty well and feel less of a newbie.

After Christmas, our time was spent packing up and preparing to drive back out to Dallas. We rented a 16' Penske truck and loaded 'er all up and left January 3rd. It took two days, five states, and about 23 total hours of driving time to make it to Dallas. But we did and got everything moved into our new apartment semi set up (it's still a process I am working on)

Other than the Christmas adventures, life's been good. Scott started his new job and I am looking and trying to make this apartment look homey.