Wait, Where Was Kyle?

Okay so after my last post, some of you were wondering where Kyle had been all summer. Some of you know, others may not realize that we kind of have two lives, lol.

So Kyle works for a christian summer camp out here in the Tyler area. He's here in Texas for most of the year planning for camp, recuiting for college summer staff, and making crazy videos. But he also runs the family side of things: he runs the parent-child retreat weekend the camp hosts during the year here in Texas. AND he runs the Family Camp in Colorado during the summer!

But Kyle really is great at running family camp, and it really is a load of fun.

After we got married we worked the first summer together in Colorado (you know, a week after we got married). And then I got a dietitian job back in Texas. So during the summer I kind of run (or fly) back and forth between Texas and Colorado... AKA two lives.

So that's where Kyle was... in Colorado, working, and making faces like this all summer...

in places like this...

with people like this...

Can you blame him?

Happy Loving your Job! More pics and stories to come of our summer abroad, lol.

Husband Home!

My HUSBAND is home! My husband is HOME!

He's been gone all summer actually, and I've wanted to blog about it, but I'm always so concerned that someone will come break into my house thinking there's no tough man here and I'm just a weakling. And then they'd realize that I've been doing the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and that I have a MagLite for a weapon... and they'd get hurt.

I just didn't want them to get hurt, lol.

So anyways, my husband is home! And I'm ready to cook him wonderful meals, and do his laundry, and make yummy treats and give hime lots of kisses... and then have him say how much he LOVES my food and my kisses, right?

I'm also ready to paint the living room, and hang my gallery wall, and maybe redo the gazebo in the back yard...glad my help is now home! lol

Happy New Projects ;)

Most of all, Happy Husband is HOME Day! (If you have one, you should probably go hug him...)

Surprise Flowers

So a few weeks ago I was walking through the front yard and around the house...

and I ran into this (excuse our poor grass situation)...

Isn't that crazy! Popped right up out of the flower bed! And of course, I have no idea what it's called...

It kind of matches these ones that popped up in the other flower bed...

Isn't that crazy. I guess they're some kind of bulbs or something, because nothing in our yard was watered for like a year before we bought it... in a drought. Crazy what survives...

I guess there are just all kinds of fun surprises in a new house. Can we still call it new if it was built in the 60s and we've lived here for almost a year?

Maybe.

Happy Home Surprises (the good kind).

The Tomatoes

I'd be lying if I said I haven't been enjoying the very best homegrown tomatoes all summer. Because the truth is; I have been, enjoying wonderful tomatoes.

Nothing like what you get in the stores ;) My dad taught me that one early on in life.

It's been a hot summer, but the tomatoes have gone crazy. They've only survived because of the timer we bought to automatically water the garden. They get watered daily (every other day before all the heat) in the mornings at 6:30, and we know if it weren't for the timer that would not happen. Can you see me in my dark navy blue scrubs outside in the morning sweating before my drive to work??

So here they are, in all their glory. They're like my first kids or something, I'm so proud.

They've kind of taken over. Don't mind the overgrown broccoli in the foreground (apparently a winter crop) or the pots in the right bed. That's where the spinach (also a winter crop) died and so I decided to make my life easier and rig up the pots on the watering system there...

With all the new leaves, the birds can't see all the tomatoes. So I don't have to pick them all early to get to them before the birds. Ripened right on the vine!

They've grown even more. They've fallen over the large metal frames and attached themselves to the lattice on the fence. But they're still making great tomatoes!

So many tomatoes. They just keep coming so I just keep eating them. Fresh just picked yesterday ripe tomatoes on my salad tonight actually...

Wishing I had an entire field to garden... well maybe, it's a lot of work too, lol. Wonder how long these plants will produce? The bell peppers are still growing as colorful as ever! From seeds are still doing better than the green ones started from plants too!

Happy Gardening, or Vegetable Eating... or both!

Garden Update!

So we started out this spring with our first real garden. And well we'e learned a few things, lol.

First of all, the plants started from seeds CAN be just as healthy and beautiful and fruitful as the ones started as little plants. It's kind of amazing.  Well sometimes...

Remember these seeds here...

Well they grew up to be these guys! Aren't they pretty? Sad story is that now they're all shriveled up now. Pretty much I was in Colorado when the corn was ready earlier in the summer and wasn't able to harvest anything! But I do have more kernels and I can always grow more.

Corn Lessons Learned: I think I need to plant more rows next year for better pollenation, to water a little more, and to make sure I know when to harvest these things!

And there was the spinach... but let's just say the spinach was a cold weather crop. Who knew? Not me. It never had a chance.

BUT the bell peppers! Started here...

And are now all grown up... see those pretty bell peppers! (Note: Just ignore all the weeds... I've been out of town...I'm trying...)

Funny thing is, compared to the ones we put in pots, these are huge. The pots will work, we've gotten bell peppers from them, but they are much smaller.

Bell Pepper (Variety) Lessons Learned: Bell peppers can come from seeds! But next year we'll know to plant them all in the ground and give then plenty plenty of water so we get nice large peppers. And they different colors do taste different... and OH MY does it smell wonderful when you cut up home grown bell peppers. But I'm still trying to figure out why some of them get rotten-like spots on them before they're ready to be picked?

 This was one of those smaller peppers from the pots.

Yep that's a white bell pepper!

As for the tomatoes... you got a sneak peek... but, I'll show you those plants later in the week. Because they deserve a post all their own. Love them! And they're HUGE!

Happy Gardening... or keeping your plants alive (you know, depending on the weather in your neck of the woods ;)