vegetable & fruit garden attempt year 2

I love to garden. I love to be outside with my hands in the dirt feeling the sun beat down on me working the ground. I love to have the cats out there (Hester on a leash) walking around where I am working and playing in the grass. However, I am not a great gardener. Last year I had a handful of carrots that where as big as needles, 3 strawberries and 2 small tomatoes. I'm not giving up, this year I will be back in full swing. I'm off to a good start with the inside plants but not so much with the outside ones.  

My inside tomato plant. I love this plant. It sits by the window and just keeps growing. I have 12 separate cherry tomato plants in it. Hopefully, we will give us a lot this year. 

I just planted this strawberry pot a few days ago so nothing has come up yet. The box it came is says that we could have strawberry's growing out of all sides of it. 

My outdoor strawberry pot isn't doing very well. It's from last year. I hope it comes back. 

I planted about 30 seeds in this container and I got nothing. Not one seed made it up. 

Last year my strawberry pot had long running vines and apparently one of the vines got into the dirt. Can you believe it? I actually have a strawberry plant growing right out of the ground and it looks great. I found it last week and have decided that if it survived the whole winter without me touching it maybe I should just let it be. I'm excited for this and hope that it takes off and gives us lots of strawberrys in the years to come. 

we had a great weekend

Michael and I took our friends TJ and Jen up to the mountain with us this past weekend. We had a great time and we were truly blessed by a family who let us stay in their beautiful home up at Alpental. Thank you to the Davis family!!!!

Michael and I swinging on the porch swing, looking out at the snow coming down. 

Stacey and Jen skiing Saturday morning. It was beautiful. There wasn't any fresh snow so it was a little icy at first but the sky was blue and at about 9:30 the top snow melted under the sun and made for a really nice day. 

The patrol were doing recert's on Saturday and I asked if I could be a volunteer patient. They let me and took me down in the toboggan on parachute- a black diamond run. Here's Lori in the front of it and Tammy in the back. Michael took the picture skiing about 15 feet from us backwards down the black diamond. 

Here's Michael taking me down parachute. He did a great job. I totally trust the patrol with my life. I loved going in the toboggan.  

Here we are in front of the Davis' house. It was such a treat to stay somewhere other than the lodge with friends. We slept in warm cozy beds and sat in the hot tub after a full day of skiing. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

While on vacation in Rome, I noticed a marble column in St. Peter's with a golden telephone on it. As a young priest passed by, I asked who the telephone was for. The priest told me it was a direct line to heaven, and if I'd like to call, it would be a thousand dollars. I was amazed, but declined the offer. 

Throughout Italy , I kept seeing the same golden telephone on a marble column. At each, I asked about it and the answer was always the same: It was a direct line to heaven and I could call for a thousand dollars.

Then I finished my tour in Ireland .. I decided to attend Mass at a local village church. When I walked in the door I noticed the golden telephone. Underneath it there was a sign stating: "DIRECT LINE TO HEAVEN: 25 cents." "Father," I said, "I have been all over Italy and in all the cathedrals I visited, I've seen telephones exactly like this one. But the price is always a thousand dollars. Why is it that this one is only 25 cents?" 

The priest smiled and said, "Darlin', you're in Ireland now. It's a local call."

underworld

Michael and I just went to see rise of the lycons, the new underworld movie with Nate and Melissa. I loved it! I love seeing more of a story that I am already following. I fell in love with underworld a few years ago and now we have both of the ones already out on dvd. I really enjoyed seeing the new one and hearing more of the story. Michael and I were talking about why I like it so much on the way home because I normally hate horror/gore type movies. The story line in all three movies leave me with a sense of hope; that somehow in this world, there's a chance and hope for love no matter what evil we come across or have within us, kind of like no matter what great of evil we see around us, love will always be better than that evil and it always available to us. And it has some pretty kick ass action scenes in it. I like those too.

anyone know a quilter/mentor???

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my need for a mentor in my life. I have usually had one, so I’m at this strange place where I don’t have one for the first time in a long time. I think my ideal person would be an older, wiser woman active in a church who is a dedicated quilter.  I keep thinking about how much I want to grow as a quilter and that might be a really fun way to connect with someone and learn a few things at the same time. Does anyone know someone like this? I keep thinking about it but I am not sure who to approach or even how to do that.

our adventure on sunday

On Sunday night Michael and I left Snoqualmie Pass at 6:00 pm. Westbound I90 was closed, so we couldn’t go thru Seattle to get home in Vancouver. We decided to go Eastbound thru Yakima and around to get back to Vancouver. We made it home by 11:15 pm.

I really enjoyed our little adventure. We stopped for dinner in Cle Elum  - YEA for eating out- and then drove past his old house there. It was such a cute old house and it was fun for Michael to see it since he had lived there for so long. There were a whole bunch of cars and a motorbike in front of it, so I was guessing that a whole bunch of guys were living there but who knows.

I think Michael and I could live in the country someday. I love our house and life in Vancouver so I’m not in any hurry to move but I would love to have a house up on the mountain that we could stay at during the summer and the winter. A place where we could visit and Michael could do all sorts of recreational stuff and I could stay in the house and bake and cook. I know that sounds weird, but I love baking and cooking for others and am not as excited to go outside a try some sport. Anyway, I think it'd be fun.

so many good organizations

Michael and I went to an event tonight raising money for chaplains. Police chaplains aren't paid, just reimbursed for a few expenses, and offer the community so much. They are there when loved ones are told that someone they love has died and when the officers themselves break down after witnessing something awful. They are a good part of our community. 

On Monday night Michael and I went to another event raising funds for Young Life. Young Life provides relationships for teens and adults and has amazing summer camps and programs that kids really enjoy. It's great program for anyone to be involved with. 

There are so many good programs in our community. DoveLewis. Self Enhancement, Inc. Doernbecher. The Oregon Humane Society. Wildcat Haven. Transitions Global. Children's Cancer Association. St. Mary's Home for the Boys. The list could go on and on. So many organizations doing so many good things. I wish that there was enough funding for all of these organizations to do what they do to do in order to provide services to the public. I worry that this economic problem we're in is going to be harmful to these organizations. 

Anyway, I just wanted to post how much I admire people who do their job well and who make large sacrifices so that others can have a better life.  

last night

Michael and I attend a support group at our church for people who have family members who are mentally ill. Last night was our 6^th week into the 10 week class. There is so much information out there on mental illness that it can be overwhelming and frustrating to sort thru, so sometimes the class gets a little boring but each week near the end of the class I start to become very grateful for the things that I am learning and for the education that I am receiving on mental health. 

Last night I experienced a huge sigh of relief after finally realizing something that had been in the back of my mind for sometime but I had never had the opportunity or resources to deal with it prior to this group. I am a little hesitant to share it because it is personal but the more that I thought about it, the more I hoped that it could help someone else, and that finally convinced me that I should share it.

Mental health is genetic and there’s not a lot out there that one can do to prevent it from happening to them. If it’s in your genes, it could be possible. I think for a long time this scared me since because of my father, it’s no doubt in my genes. Because it commonly occurs later in life, I have been a little worried that I could be affected by it or that my children could be affected by it and that can be frustrating because there is nothing that I can do about it. I’m helpless about it or so I thought. Voicing this last night in group really helped me to realize just how different I am from my father. Mental illness, especially schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder is not a death sentence for anyone. There is constantly new medication in the field of mental health and often times it is only a matter of going thru a process of finding the right medication if you’re the person diagnosed. Once the right medication is found and the patient is willing to remain in contact with a certified psychologist, he or she can live a very active, fulfilling, regular life.

I think that there is hope out there for people who struggle with mental illness. I think it’s in reachable grasps of people suffering. I also think that if I could do my life over again, I would become a physiologist, specializing in schizophrenia. (Although I love my life and I love my job so I’m not complaining.) It’s fascinating to learn about the research and to offer hope to those who have lost their hope.

i can't wait for daylight savings

I can't wait for daylight savings this weekend. When there is a nice afternoon like today from next week on, the sun will stay out long enough for me to drive home, which means I can put the top of my mustang down on the ride home. I try to have the top down every time it is nice out, as long as I can make it to my destination before dark. Next, I can do that after work. I can't wait!