Seeds A Sprouting...

Just a little less than a week later, I am excited to report I have some sprouts coming up..YAY! 

Awww, aren't they are so cute.  

What's Your Beautiful?

Dont' forget to take time each day to find your beautiful...Everyone sees beautiful differently, yours may be big or may be small, it may be tangible or not.  Regardless it is your beautiful. 

This is my Beautiful today...

A Lonely Bridge on the side of the road~

Thru My Eyes~

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars

makes me dream. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Photo taken and enhanced by yours truly =)

Sweet Zoey Jane~

Today we are celebrating our one year with Zoey Jane.  She came to us one year ago today, she is seriously the best cat ever!  She has grown so much and is about 21 lbs.  Hopefully she won't get any bigger. :)

To Grow or not to Grow...?

I have been thinking of ways to cut back a little bit as I tend to over spend every year in the garden.  How can I frugally grow the garden I want? There are always new things to add but I have to try to make it a little easier on the pocket book.  After going back and forth and visiting several nurseries, I decided I would try to start a few different flowers indoors.  If I can successfully grow even half of the seeds I planted, I can save a considerable amount of money..(uh oh there's a little voice saying, "or you can have more money to spend on other things") Stop it bad voice!  I really am trying to control costs...lol 

After all my research, I went ahead and got some seeds a growing!

Here's part 1..nothing exciting just a lil dirt...

These are Impatiens and a few Dianthus.

I am also going to start Echinacea and Morning Glories but I need to wait a few more weeks before I can get those started.

I am very interested to see how this will go...There are always new things to try and while I am still not working I need to take advantage of my free time.  =)

Cacti Terrarium

I cannot take credit for these terrariums except that I helped pick out the plants.  Todd put these together this past weekend and being from West Texas, he knew exactly what he wanted.

I love the way they turned out...

This adds a different dimension to our living space.  Cacti helps fight headaches and fatigue due to computer strain.  Not that it would ever happen to me....

My New Favorite Guilty Pleasure...

Starbucks - Cake Pops!

Oh my gosh, seriously these should not even be legal!

The ones in the picture are the Tiramisu Cake Pops which is what I had.  It's vanilla cake with Starbucks coffee and vanilla icing, then it's smothered in a mocha coating, and topped off with a chocolate covered coffee bean.

They are extremely moist and fresh, did I mention DELISH!  I believe I went to Cake Pop heaven for a brief moment.

They also offer Birthday Cake and Rocky Road...Think I'll have to find an excuse to cross paths with Starbucks this week.  I hear Birthday Cake calling my name!

Now this looks appetizing

Yum....

Screech this calls for a U-Turn....NOT! 

Seriously, a Phillips 66 SHRIMP CUP for $2.89, come on....Ewww.  Todd came across this on his way home one night.   I thought it was too funny not to share.

Bon Appetit~

St. Patrick's Day...Blue?

Did you know that St. Patrick's Day color was originally Blue.   That would be weird, we would be getting blueberry shakes at McDonald's rather than shamrock shakes.  I much prefer the latter.  Green  is said to represent balance, harmony, growth & nature.  I believe this is a good representation  of this day and going into spring. 

St. Patrick's Day was also called St. Patrick's Feast..which is how we still celebrate.  Lots of green beer, Corned beef and cabbage and people everywhere come up with interesting green food.  I decided to make green cupcakes this year...

Fresh out of the oven

Frosted with lime green pearls (it's hard to see that with the picture)

Moist & Delish

Yummm, these might be my favorite yet.  What a fun way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

Go mbeannai Dia duit

(May God Bless You)



Feeling Spring...

Ah, so we are having almost 60 degree weather today.  I am thrilled!  Now, if it were fall it would feel cold out but because it has been so brutally cold here in the Midwest 60 degrees to me is almost shorts weather. 

I grabbed a cute lil bouquet of flowers at the market to brighten my day even more.

I love how natural the green daisy's are...regardless they look nice on the table.

As I sit here and reflect on all the things I want to accomplish just today, I start to feel a little anxious.  Why do I put so much on myself?  Well, because there are so many things that must be done.  I sometimes need to check myself and look around I have the time and really what is so urgent?  So I should relax a little.  Easier said than done.  But, I can tell you this, my flowers look pretty sitting here in the sunlight.  Out my back door I am looking at the squirrels fighting to get to my bird feeder.  There are 2 cardinals on the ground, a woodpecker in the tree and little sparrows here and there.  I am grateful for this life.  Today I am going to enjoy it, no pressure from my left brain...I hope. 

Enjoy Today~

Elevators

Not sure why I was thinking of elevators today but this is how my brain works sometimes...

Elevators just freak me out.  I'm not sure what's creepier the fact that they are a box suspended by rope, hydraulic rams or the awkwardness of riding in one with complete strangers.

Now get me on an all glass elevator and I will be the girl standing in an almost fetal position head tucked to the floor, white knuckled.  Just praying to get me off of this thing in one piece (obviously I am not a fan of roller coasters). 

How about when you get in an elevator and no one is talking, all stuffed into each other acting as if this is a normal thing.  What is normal about getting into a box that moves with people I don't know and basically pretending like you do not know other people are there.  Standing with others blocking my view as I am stuffed into the back and everyone has blinders on.  I am not the only one pretending other human presence is not there...I think that there must be a rule book somewhere that states...when in an elevator with strangers, do not talk, do not make eye-contact and get off as fast as you can with a polite...excuse me.  Done..whooosh

Then however, there are those possibly even more awkward moments where someone decides to strike up a conversation...They obviously did not get the rule book...NO TALKING.  So, this person says, "How 'bout this weather" yep good one, I think to myself.  Or even better, "sure hope we don't have to stop at every floor"  Then they let out a loud belly laugh.  Hmmm, not sure what's funny about that but ok, I'll play along...hahaha I say, me too.   

I'm not anti-social, it's just awkward to be in a close place that is moving through floors by which I have no control and I am with strangers. 

Maybe next time, I'll just say "going up?" smile and turn away.

Terrarium

I had mentioned in a previous post that I was going to try making a terrarium. Well I did just that this weekend and it was so easy and fun. For my first one I think it turned out really good.

It was really fun picking out the plants and deciding what looks good together in a small space.  I already had the container so that made it even easier.  You can basically use any size or shape container but you want to make sure it is all glass and has a lid, the glass should be clear without any tint.  The lid helps keep it humid inside where it's a little micro-climate.

For more drama I added some rocks and driftwood which really brought all the elements together.  As you can see from this picture the humidity has already started building up and it was only about an hour later.

This is looking in, I used a mini African Violet, Mini Fern, Coleus & Sphagnum Moss.

Great project to do with the kids too.  Now that I have done one, I know I will want to do more. 

Celebrate Toni!

Just want to say Happy Birthday to the most Beautiful Mom Ever!! 

Happy Birthday Mom, you are most loved, most beautiful and the best mom ever!

We shall celebrate you today and everything you do for us. 

Love you~ Angela

Japan Earthquake

I first want to start off by saying that my thoughts and prayers are with those in Japan. This massive force of nature has hit them so hard, harder than I can really wrap my brain around. When I woke up this morning I was so happy the sun was shinging and I felt a positive new day ahead of me. Once I read the news I felt guiltily blessed. I am alive, breathing, healthy with a roof over my head and I know exactly where all my family and friends are. Unfortunately, today so many others are facing a day of horror, displacement, shock, pain and I am sure a feeling of what tomorrow will bring. Not only the people of Japan but their loved ones around the world who are frantically trying to reach their families to know if they are ok.

My heart goes out to all of them.

Now, what can we do to help? We can help by placing a donation, even a small amount will help. You can donate right online at the American Redcross website at http://www.redcross.org/. They accept donations as little as $10.00, every dollar helps. I gave my donation this morning and I hope you can too.

God Bless everyone and be grateful for today as we never know what tomorrow may bring.

My Half Green Thumb

I really miss my garden and spring cannot come soon enough. So, I thought I would give my half green thumb a try once again at some house plants.

My outdoor garden is delightful but as far as my indoor success well it is..brown. Half Green Thumb here. I for some reason have a hard time keeping plants alive indoors. Half the reason may be due to the poor natural light in my house, the other part is just, well...me. So, I am challenging myself with some new plants. Please welcome my two new house guests..African Violet and Ivy. How hard can this be? I read, read and read some more on how to keep these two happy.

They are only a week old so we'll see how they grow over the next few weeks. Now, Project Terrarium is on the way. Yep, they are coming back "in" if they ever were "in". And of course, I have to try one or two. I really want to turn my Half Green Thumb into a "Green Thumb". Wish me luck~

Almost a year...

I am the WORST at sticking with journaling. Not only do I skip months and sometimes years in my journal but now I cannot even keep up-to-date on my blog. I am getting anxious as I am typing this, my heart is beating just a little faster and my mind is racing. Shheesh I feel like I need to get some tea and relax so I can think clearly. I actually forgot my sign on, that's how long it's been. I have no excuses either except that I sometimes doubt my own self. I think who really cares what I have to say or what I am doing. But then my nice side of my brain says who cares what others think this is something I am doing for myself. Do you have conversations with the negative brain vs the positive one, or am I just a lil' crazy? Hmmmm...

Ok so on that note, I really would like to have more entries this year. There are several goals I am trying to achieve and I feel I may be more succesful if I actually blog about them and feel a certain sense of obligation to the "world wide web" and myself :). So, if any of my friends are still out there, I can use your support in getting going again.

I will have some tea and organize my thoughts and hope to be back on with my ideas.

Happy Hump day!