seeds and green observations

I've got Spring in my bones! Seriously I've never pined for Spring like this before. Which was odd because I think the Winter last year was quite a bit harder. Anyway, my wonderful james and I spent some time this morning planning out our garden. We are going to try the square foot gardening method this year. I saw the creator of this method on t.v. when we first moved to our house and have been wanting to try it ever since. You can read more about it here. I've done some research on what to plant when and bought some seeds for the first cold crop. Now let's see how my seeding skills are. I'll be starting peas, spinach, onions and asparagus indoors within the next couple of weeks.

Here's the current knitting project! I'm super excited about it because it's a gift for a dear friend. Can't show too much or give too much info because I want it to be a surprise but here's a little peek.

If you are truly a fan, you'll notice that it is green and that I for some reason favor green yarn. If you didn't notice don't worry you're still a fan because I didn't really notice either. Verla at the Unraveled Sheep pointed out that I seem to favor the greens. She's right. I do love green. I wouldn't say it's my favorite color, but I really can't stay away from it.

And here's my current delight. Along with some other fun goodies, L n L brought this back from London for me.

The mug is handmade. Lance picked it out at a cute, little pottery shop in London. Nice eh? My new fave for tea. They brought James a beer, a beer glass and some neat beer coasters. They just know us all too well.

heart day happiness

My James surprised me with flowers the day before Valentine's Day. (He has a hard time hiding surprises from me.) These little purple ones in the bouquet are my fav. He also got me a little box of chocolates and a cute, lovey card. He's not a greeting card holiday kinda guy, but he sacrifices his "anti-ness" because he's knows I would probably be sad if he didn't celebrate it with me. What a great guy he is.

I made him Kahlua flavored chocolate fudge. It was quite good. I made it with Kahlua that Lisa made. Next time though I think I'll make it with a bit more Kahlua because the taste is just too faint. I also handmade and water colored a card with a lovey quote on the front, something that I think will be a tradition. (I made him one last year, too.)

And here's our Valentine Dog Bosco. (Pardon the fuzziness. His face was just too cute in this one.)

PS the leftover fudge has been sent with James to his guys night tonight because we are, after all going to Powell in 90 days! Yay!!

PPS the treadmill is being well used :)

I've been pulled out of powder sugar heaven

In the time Aida has come to live with me, I've made:

• cranberry oatmeal cookies


• marshmallows


• the best chocolate chip cookies


• 2 lemon cakes that both fell but were divine (I think it was the recipe)


• regular oatmeal cookies


• bran muffins


• shortbread cookies


• fettuccine pasta

Most of the said items I've given away, but as always some do end up in my mouth.

This has got to stop. Aida will be taking a rest for a while.

Why, you ask? Shocked? Your shock cannot match the shock I had when I was suddenly pulled out of my powdered sugar heaven and came to a dreaded realization. Here's what happened...

Thursday night my mom called me to come down to Kohl's for the most fabulous sale. Great items. Some at 80% off. She was buying. How could I say no?

I found mounds of items that were just gorgeous! Sweaters marked down from $65 to a mere $10! Pants for $12 that I desperately need. Shirts that reminded me of my dear friend Lisa for yes, $8! With my arms full and barely making it to the dressing room without dropping anything, I quickly began to try on my amazing finds. Oh did I come off of that high quickly...Gulp. Oh the horror of trying on my usual size only to find it does not fit!! What have I done?? What will I do?? We are going to be living in swimwear for a week at Lake Powell in 3 months and I cannot bear to even think of putting on my swimming suit. I was furious and disgusted at myself! And the whole dressing room knew it! I refuse to buy a size bigger!

OK I really don't like it when people constantly complain about their weight (because it annoys me when I do it), but I had to get it out there so I can move on, hold myself accountable and get going to work this off.

So if you hear less about Aida and more about vegetarian cusine and treadmill-ing, don't worry the excitement of being a KitchenAid owner has not worn off. And Aida will still be making the oh so healthy bran muffins.

My question now is...does KitchenAid make a scale attachment? Calorie counter attachment? Or better yet an attachment that screams, "Stop!! Put that cookie down! Remember the dreadful Kohl's experience??!!"

P.S. I did end up with some much needed pants and a few tops that are pretty cute. Thanks mom!!