Strawberry Picking!

So we're in this new kick with gardening, and we really love the fresh lettuce - more veggies to come - so I thought that we should try to get some fresh fruit as much as possible.

Today was a great day for going strawberry picking, not to hot, nice gentle breeze. Caleb had a great time. I wasn't even going to bring my camera, but that's nearly impossible for me these days. Caleb does the craziest stuff when you're least expecting it so I really gotta be ready.

He had a great time helping daddy and walking through the rows of strawberries. YUMM!

Growing Garden

I can't believe how big its getting, these pictures were taken after I harvested 4 big salads worth of lettuce! AWESOME, fresh lettuce is seriously the best. I can't wait until the cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and onions are ready to be harvested!! The soy beans have yet to even sprout up, I'm not sure they are going too :(

slightly different perspective you can really see the height of the tomato plants.

Just a cool picture of a drop of water on a broccolli plant!

More Gardening

So we're still working on our Garden out back, this weekend was so nice so we got up early both days to get some serious work done. A couple weeks ago Tony pulled up the grass to make room for our raised bed, I wasn't able to get a picture because the rain came soon after he finished. Here it is. We have some serious clay in our yard hence the reason for the raised beds.

So earlier yesterday when Tony was working on other chores for our rental unit, I decided to put some old paver stones to work, I created a little flower bed in the backyard. A few years ago we transplanted a rose bush from the front yard to the back so its the first thing in the flower bed. I also planted some bulbs and some various seeds, we'll watch it throughout the summer to see what grows!!



So today we started piling in the dirt. And went to the farm greenhouse to buy some seedling plants to go with the seeds we also planted.

here's the list of what we planted:
From Seedling Plants:
3 Tomato plants
4 Broccoli plants
4 Basil plants
2 Green Onions
2 White Onions
8 Red Leaf Lettuce
8 Green Leaf Lettuce
8 Romaine Lettuce
8 Slicing Cucumbers
4 Pickling Cucumbers
1 Oregano
1 Cilantro
And from Seeds:
Carrots
Soy Beans



And finally a couple pictures of my little man!

Lazy Sunday... not

So today we started building our Garden, phase 1 - build a raised bed box. We decided to go with a Cedar box, something about other wood leaching chemicals into the veggies, I don't know Tony did the research. So we built our box 8'x4'x1'.

Here's the before:

Here's the after: (I think this is where we are going to put it, the house will block the wind but it still gets 8 hours of sun a day)


Caleb was quite surprised by the new addition to the yard:


And Tony finally let me take a picture of him.


Then we had dinner and played a little Wii Fit with the Lathrops, it was a good Sunday!

First trip to the ZOO!!

Wow, we just had so much fun. It was so nice outside that we decided a trip to the zoo was in order. Well we got a great wagon for Christmas unfortunately, it was still in the box, so finally like 20 minutes later we were off to the zoo (way to be spontaneous right?) LOL

We decided since it was only March that this year would be the year we would get a year long zoo pass, its good for the whole year so hopefully we'll make our way out there a couple more times over the summer. Caleb loves to be outside, he loves his wagon, and the animals well he didn't mind them much.

Caleb and his new wagon:

Our little groundhog :)

And with Daddy!

Now for the animals!!!

Book of the Month...

Part of my 52 things in 52 weeks is to read a book everything month.  Well I'm still working on my February book, The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers.  But I'm happy to say that I've already finished my March book. 

I picked a fun little novel this time by Sophie Kinsella entitled Remember Me?, Kinsella is also the author of the Shopaholic series which I've already read and LOVE!  Remember Me? is a book about a girl who goes out for a night on the town she falls down and wakes up in the hospital 3 years later.  She actually got in a car accident but woke up with amnesia about the previous 3 years, her life has changed dramatically.  Its a pretty decent book I read it in a week or so leisurely.  Oh and I found it at Costco for $8.99!

#49: Splurge on one great Item for me!

Ok another post about me completing something from my list of 52 things. #49, splurge on one Great Item for ME. This is actually really hard for me, I have trouble spending money on myself most times. I usually think that I should be spending it on my son or my husband, or even friends and family. Well today I did it. I bought myself a new lens.



The opportunity came up to buy the Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L lens, and I took it. Yes I got me some L glass!! I can't believe how awesome it is, this lens will be with me for a long time coming. I can't believe how sharp this lens is, but it is a beast next to my 50mm.

*All pictures SOOC*
Here is a picture of my new baby:

And one of the first pictures I took with the new lens (I just posted about white balance, and I totally forgot to fix it for this picture, o'well...):

And of course a picture of my first and favority baby!

1 book down

One thing off my list of 52 things to do in 52 weeks was to read a book every month. I am happy to report I have finished my first book of the new year! "Learning to See Creatively" by Bryan Peterson. I've also read Peterson's book "Understanding Exposure" and let me say, I love his writing. He is great at illustrating his points in teaching you how to be a better photographer. His books are not just for the ones with SLRs, but for anyone and everyone who want to learn another view point or correct composition. Even if you don't care how to take better pictures or if you don't even know how to read :), he has a lot of cool pictures in this book! 2 thumbs up! Buy it from Amazon, its much cheaper!!

Next Book for February:

"The Photoshop Elements 6 Book for Digital Photographers" by Scott Kelby

I've already peaked at this one, and it's so helpful - I'm really learning a better workflow for my post processing!! woohoo

Being Green-er

So one of my goals for the New Year was to be Greener. In 2008 we were recycling, most of our stuff, and we were trying to bring our canvas bags when we shopped, but in 2009 we WILL recycle anything and everything we can, we WILL use canvas bags. I also decided to try and stop using so much paper towel in our house in 2009.

Stuff I wasn't recycling before but I am now: baby food containers, soup containers and tin cans, duh just rinse them and put them in the bin - easy!

So... we are about 2 weeks in to the new year and where are we... I am happy to report that we haven't changed a roll of paper towel in weeks!! probably 3 or 4 weeks and we still have lots left. I bought a package of 60 white shop towels from Costco to use for cleaning, and we no longer use paper towel for napkins, we use cloth napkins!!

I am also happy to say that for my first grocery shopping trip of the new year I used my canvas bags!! It is so much easier in my opinion, you can fit most of your groceries in 1 costco canvas bag, thus reducing your trips from the car to the counter. Also I don't have to store all those darn plastic bags, although they are recyclable so if you have them laying around, please don't put them in the garbage, put them in the recylce bin.

Also today my lunch was totally green. I have these wonder bread sandwich plastic containers that I made my sandwich in today (also used one for Tony). Then to save a little cash, I usually buy a big bag of chips and separate out a portion for lunch (I do the same with cookies and other treats). Well instead of putting it in a baggie, I decided to use some of my rubbermaid tuperware. I'll just go home and refill it for tomorrow and voila, all set for my green lunch with little garbage! So that's portion control / cash control / and eating green all in one meal!!

Have a nice day!

UPDATED: 52 things to accomplish in the next 52 weeks...

I decided to build a list of things I want to do, learn, accomplish in the next 52 weeks. I'm sure I won't be able to build the list all in one day but I hope to have it complete by the New Year and then accomplish it by the end of 2009. We'll see!

Black Text - Not Yet Started

Purple Text - In Progress

Red Text - Complete

~Be Smart:

1. Build a budget and stick to it.

2. Learn Custom White Balance.

3. Create a weekly menu and use it, at least 4 times (0/4)

4. Learn and create a workflow in Photoshop.

5. Try 7 new meals in 7 days (0/7)

6. Learn 1 new recipe every month (3/12)

7. Stay Debt Free.

8. Prepare a Will.

9. Shoot in RAW.

10. Read 1 book every month (3/12)

11. Take on a difficult task at work.

12. Learn to see the light and photograph it.

13. Read a book to my son every day (75/365)

~Be Green:

14. Stop using paper towel.

15. Only use reusable grocery bags.

16. Eat leftovers.

17. Plant a garden and eat what grows.

18. Plant a tree.

19. Go to the Farmers Market and buy something.

20. Recycle

~Be Nice

21. Send someone a card for no reason.

22. Donate unused clothing and home goods each season.

23. Get a list of birthdays and send birthday cards.

24. Send someone flowers for no reason.

25. Make Tony breakfast in bed once a month (2/12).

26. Reconnect with an old friend.

~Be Healthy (body, mind and home):

27. Organize my bathroom.

28. Organize my kitchen.

29. Clean out my closet.

30. Clean out the basement.

31. Stop biting my nails, its a nasty habit.

32. Go down one pant size.

33. Drop X lbs (its a secret!)

34. Pack a Lunch 4 days a week.

35. Go to the Dentist.

36. Buy all new Makeup.

37. Clean and Organize the Laundry Room

38. Paint one room in the house.

39. Give up Pop for 30 days. (0/30)

~Be Happy:

40. Update pictures in our picture frames!

41. Cook and host a holiday meal.

42. Buy something from Etsy.

43. Get a pedicure every month in the summer.

44. Take Caleb to a baseball game at Comerica Park

45. Take a photo of Caleb worthy to be made into a canvas and do it!

46. Take Caleb to the zoo.

47. Have a date night with Tony once a month. (3/12)

48. Finish Caleb's 1st year Scrapbook.

49. Splurge on one great item for me.

50. Have a spa day.

51. Start a Disney World Fund.

52. Keep a blog.