Blast from the Past 44 - 25 deep questions 2

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From January 2013



I was going through my old posts to post them on my blog and as I was reading this one I realized that some of my answers have changed since I wrote it in college. So I though it would be fun to answer it again :)

25 deep questions, only answer for yourself if you really want others to know the real you :)

25 Deep questions that will really tell you something about yourself. Not stupid questions like "What is your favorite pizza?"


1. What is more difficult for you, looking into someones eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someones eyes when they are telling you how they feel?
Looking into their eyes when I tell them how I feel, I am not responsible for how they feel.

2. Think of the last time you were REALLY angry. Why were you angry?
I don’t remember, I was probably angry at [Mr. Random] about something, but I don’t remember what. I try not to hold on to past hurts.

3. You are on a flight from Honolulu to Chicago non-stop. There is a fire in the back of the plane. You have enough time to make ONE PHONE CALL who do you call?
[Mr. Random] and he can tell [Little Man] how much I love him.

4. You are at the doctor's office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. What do you do?
Go on with my life but also be more intentional with my time and spend more time with my loved ones. And do my best to prove the doctor wrong.

5. You can have one of the following two things: trust/love. Which do you choose?
Trust, love can develop out of trust, but it is very hard if you love someone you can’t trust.

6. You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late even once more, you are fired. Do you save the dog?
Yes, for one thing I don’t have a boss or a “job” and can’t get fired, for another if my boss is such a jerk that they’d fire me for saving a dog I’m not sure I’d want to work there. Of course if my family were depending on my income and there is no way I could find another job that may change it a bit.

7. You are unfaithful to your spouse/significant other. Do you tell him/her?
Yes, although I choose not to put myself in a situation that could lead to me being unfaithful to my husband, including not getting close emotionally to any man besides my husband. I am very intentional about this because I know that for women most affairs start with emotions and just “harmless” talking. But since that is not the question, if somehow I was unfaithful, yes I would tell him, because that is the right thing to do.

8. Your best friend of the opposite sex confesses that he/she has feelings for you more than just friendship. He/she is falling in love with you. What do you do?
Probably cut off contact. I am married and it is very wrong if he has those feelings for me. It is not honoring to my husband for me to continue that friendship. Although I am not sure that this question really applies to me because as I stated in the previous question I don’t form close friendships with men so I do not have a best friend who is a man. Well, besides my husband, so if the question is asking about him then I would tell him I love him too :).

9. Think of the last person who you know that died. You have the chance to give them 1 hour of life back, but you have to give one year of your life. Do you do it?
I doubt it, the last person who I know who died is my husband’s grandmother and she was very old and very sick and ready to go. I doubt that she would have wanted me to give up a year of my life so she could live for 1 more hour.

10. Are you the kind of friend that you would want to have as a friend?
I hope so. I try to listen to and care about my friend’s and their lives. I try to help out where I can.

11. Does love = sex?
No. but sex = love/marriage

12. Your boss tells your co-worker that they have to let them go because of work shortage, and they are the newest employee. You have been there much longer. Your co-worker has a family to support and no other means of income. Do you go to your boss and offer to leave the company?
Well again I don’t work or support my family, so yes. But if I had a family to support I don’t know, probably not, but it would depend on whether I had other job possibilities.

13. When was the last time you told someone HONESTLY how you felt regardless of how difficult it was for you to say? What did you have to tell the person? Was it difficult?
I don’t remember, I guess when I wrote the breastfeeding post for my blog and I shared how hard breastfeeding is, and brought up hard memories.

14. What would be harder; for you to tell somebody you love them or that you do not love them back?
Depends on the situation. It is easy to tell my family that I love them, and I won’t be telling another guy that I love him any time soon, so that is not hard. Telling someone that I didn’t love them back would be hard because I would hurt them and would have to cut off contact as said above so I guess that would be harder.

15. What do you think would be the hardest thing for you to give up? Why would it be hard to lose?
I am assuming that this is talking about objects that I own so I am going to answer it that way. I guess my pictures. I would have a hard time remembering everything without my pictures.

16. Excluding romantic love, when was the last time you told someone you loved them?
When I told [Little Man] I loved him. I tell him many times a day.


17. If you're cross-eyed and have dyslexia can you read correctly?
I have no idea, I don’t know how either of them work very well.


18. Imagine. It is a dark night, you are alone, it is raining outside, you hear someone walking around outside your window. Who do you wish was there with you?
My husband, although I would rather he called the police than go outside himself. I don’t want to lose him.

19. Would you give a homeless person CPR if they were dying?
Yes, why wouldn’t I?

21. You are holding onto your grandmother's hand and the hand of a newborn that you do not know as they hang over the edge of a cliff. You have to let one go to save the other. Who do you let fall to their death?
Well, this is assuming that I am strong enough to hold up a person with one hand, which I am not. And that I would be strong enough to lift whichever I choose over the side of the cliff, which is most likely only true about the baby. So for practicality’s sake it would most likely be the baby I would save because I couldn’t lift my grandma over the side or hold her up very long. On emotionality’s sake I would probably ask my grandma, and she would most likely say to save the baby.

22. Are you old fashioned?
Yes, but also modern in some ways.

23. When was the last time you were nice to someone and did NOT expect anything in return for it?
Umm, I don’t remember an exact time, but I do fairly frequently, so probably recently.

24. Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a broken heart, or never loved at all?
True love with the guarantee of a broken heart. A loveless life (no love, meaning not even a family’s love), I wouldn’t want to go through that.

25. If you could do anything or wish anything, what would it be?
I am pretty happy right now. I guess I would wish that I could tour Europe.

100 goals update

Last December I posted my 100th post. To celebrate I posted 100 goals for 2013. Yes, I knew that it was completely impossible to think I would get anywhere near accomplishing all of them, I just thought it would be good for me to know what directions I wanted to head. Anyways, I think it would be interesting (and fun :)) to see how I am doing on my goals.

Long Term

1.      Pay Off House (working on it, and doing well)

2.      Save up and either add on to current house or buy a new house with cash (this will have to wait until we get the house paid off I think)

3.      Have good relationships (this is doing pretty good for the most part)

4.      Have more children (working on #2 now so going well :))

5.      Serve the community and world (I don't feel like I am doing enough, but I do a little)

6.      Continue as a Stay at Home Mom (check, so far)

7.      Home school our children (still planning to)

8.      Be Organized (I am trying to get together a household binder, but this one is slow going, organization is hard for me)

9.      Have book(s) published (not yet, maybe one day)

10.  Express myself through Art (not as much as I'd like, but I did get my craft area organized, that's the first step, the second step is wait until it is done being a construction zone)

11.  Travel (we went on 1 vacation so far this year)

12.  Be more positive (I think I am doing better)

13.  Have better posture (not doing great, but occasionally remember)

14.  Be healthy (working on it)

Personal

15.  Go to bed by 11 pm (not doing well on this one. I have a hard time because frequently if I go to bed at 11 I wont fall asleep for an hour or two, so I feel like I might as well be up working)

16.  Get up by 9 am (this one flew out the window when I got pregnant, I need to sleep when I can actually sleep)

17.  Only check email during email time (I haven't yet established an email time, so not happening so far, but in the spirit of the goal, I am doing better at not wasting as much time on email, it helps that I started unsubscribing from emails I don't really need to be getting)

18.  Think about (and adjust) my posture twice a day (not doing great on this one)

19.  Write down one good thing someone else did every day (oh, I totally forgot about this goal, I need to work on it)

20.  Listen to WBCL's midmorning program one day a week (I don't always do one day every week, but I try to listen if I am working in the kitchen or around the house, and then I listen to several that day)

21.  Enter at least 20 sweepstakes per week (I stopped doing this because I don't have time now, maybe I will start again later if I get organized)

22.  Make a To Do List (I do sometimes when I remember, it always helps me stay focused)

23.  Make my own laundry detergent (still hasn't happened yet, but I have all the ingredients)

24.  Try at least 1 pin per month (I haven't kept track of this, but I do try new recipes fairly regularly)

25.  Make schedule cards or personal binder (working on it, slow going)

26.  Find out how to publish a children's book (haven't had time to work on this yet)

27.  Attempt to get the Children's books I have written published (same)

28.  Write 1 more Children's book (not yet)

29.  Learn how to publish ebook (I have read a little, but not enough)

30.  Write 1 ebook (thought of ideas, but nothing written yet)

31.  Read 2 books on parenting toddlers (umm, I don't remember if I have read toddler books, I have read several on random child/teen issues/ parenting)

32.  Read at least 1 relationship book (I am pretty sure that I have done this)

33.  Read at least 1 spiritual book (Also pretty sure I have done this, I don't keep track of everything I read because I read tons of books)

34.  Clean up email so I don't spend so much time in it (have been working on this, seems like no matter how many I unsubscribe from there is always more, but it is way better)

Family

35.  Do devotions as a family after supper every day (we kinda fell away from this, we need to get started again)

36.  Go to at least 1 Moms and Munchkins event every month (unfortunately Mom and Munchkins is no longer happening :( )

37.  Go on at least 1 family vacation (we took a weekend away :))

38.  Go away for the weekend at least 4 times (1 down, unlikely to get in all of the others because of trying to stay nearby in case I go into labor :))

39.  Paint the back room in the basement (Mr. Random is working on this now!)

Marriage

40.  Have 2 date nights per month (we haven't had one for a while, time to get back on the horse)

41.  Go on at least one vacation without Little Man (Not sure if this will happen because of the pregnancy/ waiting for delivery/ will be dealing with a newborn, but we'll see)

42.  Go on a marriage retreat (unfortunately not going to happen unless we can find one for free that is close)

43.  Read one book together with Mr. Random (does the bible count? oh wait, we haven't finished that either, well he did show interest in America's Cheapest Family, maybe we can read that)

44.  Do The Husband Project (I keep meaning to do this)

45.  Go to at least 3 ballroom dances (We did a dance at our church talent show, but other than that, no)

Children

46.  Spend 15 minutes a day just playing with Little Man (I do play with him probably more than 15 min a day, but not in one chunk of time like I was wanting to yet)

47.  Read at least 1 book to Little Man every day (many days I read him Hello Baby, his current favorite book)

48.  Have Little Man try 1 new food every week (having him try it, most of the time he doesn't eat it, but I am doing my part)

49.  Have at least one photo day per month (I do not even remember what I meant by this, but I do take pics and videos of him regularly)

50.  Have one Mother/Son date night every other month with Little Man (haven't started this yet because we spend so much time together, I am thinking that it will prolly be more important once Little Man 2 is here)

51.  Let Mr. Random go on one Father/Son date night every other month with Little Man (same)

52.  Write down Little Man’s new schedule (check)

53.  Begin preschool with Little Man (nothing official after I posted this I realized there is not much official that you do with a 1.5 year old)

54.  Find information on home school groups for preschoolers (not yet, but I should)

Extended Family/Friends

55.  Get together with each side of the family at least once a month (most months we do, some months we haven't because of different people being out of town, but do as much as we can)

56.  Get together with aunts to scrapbook once a month (that fell apart because of busy schedules, maybe we can start again soon?)

57.  Have people over 1-2 times a month (umm, we need to do better on this)

58.  Visit my Sister at least twice (not yet, she lives a couple hours away, so we'll see if it happens after the baby is born)

Spiritual

59.  Do my devotions 4 days a week (I did pretty good while in BSF, not doing well this summer)

60.  Go on time to BSF (what is on time, really?, obviously didn't do well on this)

61.  Finish this year's BSF lessons (I got many of them done)

62.  Sign up for BSF for next year (check!)

63.  Continue being involved in family group (check!)

Serving

64.  Write at least 1 note of encouragement every month (I forgot this one, so I haven't done it yet, I will try to remember this month)

65.  Take in a Foster Child (this one stopped being a possibility when we found out we were expecting again. With the first pregnancy I was put on couch rest at the end, and this time I was on semi-couch rest at the beginning. We knew that if I couldn't take care of myself and our child we shouldn't take on someone else's child, we will see if God leads that way again after we get settled with Little Man 2)

66.  Volunteer outside of the home at least once (I haven't had the opportunity to do this yet. I have volunteered for our church community several times, but I was hoping to do something more)

Health

67.  Maintain my weight through the holidays (I don't remember for sure, but I think I did pretty well on this even though I was pregnant :)

68.  Exercise at least 3 times a week (I am really bad at this)

69.  Fill out the Calorie Counter every day (I stopped doing this when I found out how many calories I am supposed to be eating when pregnant. It is depressing to see that many calories when I got used to far less)

70.  Lose 10 pounds in 2 months (umm, this and the next one obviously went the opposite direction since I got pregnant)

71.  Lose 50 pounds in 1 year

Financial

72.  Work on budget 2 days every month (check!)

73.  Calculate how much extra we need to pay on the house to have it paid off in 3 years (I am not sure if three years will happen because the new tax codes hit us hard, but we are on a good track to get it paid off in 6 years or less)

74.  Go through the Dave Ramsey course again (Mr. Random doesn't think we need to this year so we'll prolly wait)

75.  Pray and talk to other leaders about teaching a Dave Ramsey course (haven't started this process yet)

76.  Get the house on a mortgage from the bank (check!)

77.  Give generously as God prompts

78.  Continue to tithe 10% of gross income

79.  Continue to put at least 5% of income in God only knows fund

80.  Build up to 15% of our income going into our retirement funds (we are holding steady at this point)

81.  Continue to pay extra on the house

82.  Save up and pay cash for a new air conditioner when it goes out (working on saving up)

83.  Save up and go on a big vacation next year or the year after (not happening this year, we'll see about next year)

Blogging

84.  Write 2-3 posts per week (I think I am averaging 1-2)

85.  Apply at least 1 of the Six Sister’s ways to grow my blog every week (haven't started this)

86.  Write posts at least 1 week in advance (every once in a while)

87.  Plan out posts at least 1 weeks in advance (not happening yet)

88.  Host a biweekly linky party (I decided to cancel it because it was not getting enough trafic to be worth my time)

89.  Contact 1 company a month about sponsoring my blog (hasn't happened yet, but I have had a couple sponsor s and sponsored posts come in, yay!)

90.  Post 1 Let's Talk post a month (I have posted a few)

91.  Post at least 1 recipe per month (haven't done well on this)

92.  Post 1 Swagbucks post a month (haven't done well on this either)

93.  Post at least 1 product review per month (I have posted one)

94.  Write 1 guest post every other month (this is not happening right now)

95.  Post a giveaway at least every other month (I have had a couple :))

96.  Host a big linky/giveaway party for my 1 year blogiversary (I did, and it was great! although a lot of work :))

97.  Make a Blog Binder (still working on it)

98.  Read the Six Sister's 10 ways to grow your blog book (not finished)

99.  Find some sponsors for/Save up and go to a blog conference this year or next (Not going to be going this year, maybe next)

100.                      Grow my blog to at least 200 pageviews per day (way over, yay!)


Well there you have it, obviously I got nowhere near doing them all, but it was good to review. And exciting to see the things that I could check off :)

Have you made any goals this year? How are you doing with them?

Blast from the Past 43 - I was only homeschooled for one year, met my husband that way though :)

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From June 2010


The stereotypical homeschooler. X the boxes that apply to you. (Hey even if you weren't home-schooled try it. 'Cause it's fun :P)

Growing up/now:
[] You own/have owned a denim jumper.
[x] You were at least 13 when you got your first "trendy" haircut.
[x] Everything in your closet at some time was referred to as modest
[] You do/have tucked things in that shouldn't be tucked in.
[] You have been a member of at least 3 co-ops.
[x] You were a true 16 and had never been kissed.
[X] Your mom drives a van of some sort.
[] You have at least one childhood picture where you, your mom, and all your siblings matched.
[] You are/were/will be a PSEO Student.
[x] At some point in your life you were more comfortable with adults than kids your own age.
[] You have studied ways to defend your beliefs, debate, and/or create laws
[] You used super-conservative ABeka curriculum
Total: 5

[X] You use big words that most adults could not use in conversation.
[X] You can use the words sublime, epiphany, and cognizant correctly.
[] You have a favorite word.
[] You have an understanding of Latin root words and how to use them.
[] People from the outside world are referred to as "public schoolers."
[x] You or one of your siblings knits or crochets.
[x] You laugh at the decline in literacy in America.
[x] You score constantly higher than "public schoolers" on standardized tests.
[] You have no concept of cafeteria food.
[] Family vacations are/can be referred to as "Field Trips."
[] Traveling on said vacations have included stopping at historical site markers along the way. :)
[] You have never been in a public elementary school, middle school, or high school during regular school hours.
[] You have gone to or been involved in a homeschool convention.
Total so far: 10

[x] You read books on a regular basis.
[] You have taken part in a political protest.
[] You were a Pride and Prejudice fan before the movie.
[] You were a Lord of the Rings fan prior to the movie.
[] You were a Chronicles of Narnia fan before the movie.
[x] You speak a language other than English.
[] You dream of dating characters from books instead of celebrities.
Total so far: 12

It has been assumed that you:
[] Have won many spelling bees.
[] Have no social life.
[] Have no friends of the opposite gender.
[] Are outstandingly smart.
[] Are extremely inept.
[] Only listen to classical music.
[] Play piano or the violin.
[] Do not own a pair of trendy jeans.
[] Have no knowledge of drugs or alcohol.
[] Don't date, only court.
[] Have never been to a "party."
[] Know no other beliefs other than what your family believes.
Total so far: 12

You have been asked more than 10 times:
[] If you wear pajamas to school.
[] If you get perfect grades because your mom grades you.
[] If your mom teaches you or if somebody else's mom does.
[] How do you meet people?
[] Why you aren't in school?
[] If you get days off whenever you want.
[] If you're going to be homeschooled through college.
[] If you have a big family.
[] What your parents are protecting you from?
[] To quote something famous.
[] For the answer, because supposedly homeschoolers always have all the answers.
Total so far: 12


You have rebelled by:
[] Listening to "worldly music."
[] Wearing black fingernail polish.
[] Wearing tight clothes or letting your midriff show.
[] Watching a *gasp* PG-13 movie.
[] Wearing pants to a homeschool event if you are female.
[] Listening to music with a beat
[x] Dancing. Especially dances that involve contact for longer than 2 seconds. With somebody of the opposite gender.
Total : 13

1-10 You're not really a homeschooler...you just do school at home
11-21 You're a homeschooler, but not what the world expects
22-32 You're a homeschooler
33-? You probably wouldn't have facebook to begin with...but congrats you're the stereotypical homeschooler


Tag your homeschool friends and see what they are! 

Computer Tips from Mr. Random: Tab Your Way to More TIme

We have a wonderful new guest blogger on Domestic Randomness. Say hello to Mr. Random! And because he is so wonderful (if you don't believe me that he is wonderful you can read about his wonderfulness in many of my posts including this and this), anyways, because he is so wonderful he has agreed to become a regular guest blogger on Domestic Randomness! Mr. Random works with computers regularly so he has a lot of knowledge and expertise to share with us. He knows a lot of shortcuts and even some fun practical jokes you can do with computers. His first tip for us is about using the tab key to save yourself some time.

So, take it away Mr. Random!

When you are filling out a form that has multiple spaces in which you need to input information - instead of navigating and clicking the mouse in each space all you have to do is press the “TAB” key to move the cursor to the next text entry field. 

What if you accidently skip a field that you need to enter information into? Never fear, in that case press the “CTRL” key + the “TAB” key and the cursor will move back up to the skipped space.

That is it for this week’s Computer Tip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isn't that interesting? I knew that you could tab through different fields but I didn't know that you could go back using keys. I always just use the mouse to click back. That would save a decent amount of time. Also as I was asking Mr. Random about how this works he showed me how it works in Microsoft Word. I didn't know that you could tab your way through the menus on Word (and other Microsoft Programs), did you know that?

If you have any questions about how this works feel free to leave them below and we will answer them. 

Thanks for reading and please comment below to leave Mr. Random some new blogger love!

Blast from the Past 42 - New Note

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From June 2009


Well I just spent my morning reading through all of the notes that I wrote and posted on Facebook in the past. I have come to several conclusions. 1. When I went to [my first college] I had way to much free time. Or I spent too much time procrastinating by writing notes. 2. I have not had enough free time since I left there. Or I just realized that most of my notes were inane and weren't worth writing. 3. I miss writing notes about nothing. It is fun and I enjoy doing it. I don't know if anyone else enjoys reading them but I enjoy writing them. 4. It is fun to read people's response to my craziness. Sometimes it is fun to be crazy just to see people's responses.

Once again I am writing a note about nothing, I love it! I'm back!

I am watching Gilmore Girls. [Mr. Random] and I bought all 7 seasons when we got married. I have watched through all 7 seasons 5 or 6 times since we got them. I am on the 5th season right now I think. I love this show. And so far I have not gotten tired of it. I think that is because by the time I finish watching the 7th season it has been a month or two since I watched the first season,and the first season and the 7th season are vastly different. So it works.

I am taking a class this summer. This is the first time in my life that I have had to do school during the summer. I suppose I don't have to, I could wait to take this class. But I only have four classes left before I can finish my degree and two of them have to be done in different semesters. So it is either take the class during the summer or take another semester in the spring. At this point if everything goes as planned I will be finished with my degree in December. I am looking forward to being done. I have been in school a long time (as have most of you :) and I am ready to be done. I am not sure what exactly I will do when I am finished. I have several options. I could take another nanny position. I could apply other places and try something new, I have thought about applying at a wedding dress shop or something similar. I could work on getting a degree for wedding planning. I could start a summer childcare program that I got the idea for this past semester. I have several options and we will just see which one happens when the time comes.

Well It is now 12:46 and I have wasted all of the morning and now a little bit of the afternoon on this so I should probably sign off and get some lunch and then do something meaningful, or at least necessary. So I will talk to all of you later. I will try not to let 2 years go by before my next note. I love you all! Please comment!

How I Planted My First Vegetable Garden Sponsored Post #MiracleGroProject

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.


I am not a gardener, or at least I didn't used to consider myself to be. As a matter of fact as a kid I used to detest gardening in any and all forms (I have never been a huge outdoor person, I don't care for the bugs, and heat, and getting dirty). My mom on the other hand was a huge gardener. She actually enjoys gardening; I think she finds it therapeutic or something (I don't get it). And of course she forced us kids to help her in her gardening endeavors (which we all hated). Which is why I was surprised this summer when I decided that I needed to grow a garden. When we bought our house a couple years ago I planted a few tomato plants (I eat tomatoes like they are candy, so it was a necessity for me, worth the inconvenience and work). Last year I didn't get any tomatoes planted (despite the fact that I had some free plants given to me) because I had a young baby, and I am a procrastinator, and I didn't find the time to get around to it during the tomato planting season. I really missed out, but my mom being the good mom that she is did share some of her bounty with us :). Well this year I have been reading some books on saving money and trying to cut down on our grocery costs and I decided that I need to save some money on produce (without cutting down on our produce consumption, I am not willing to cut out the healthiest category of food). So I decided to try out this gardening thing for myself (I think my mom might have fainted, not really, she's smart, she knew I would come around eventually :)).

This year I have planted squash, zucchini, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelon, green beans, and peas. I also planted some fruit bushes, but that is a different post. I know super ambitious, possibly too much for getting started, especially since I am pregnant, but oh well. A lot of people recommend starting with herbs, but I really don't use that many herbs and spices, so that would be a waste of money for me, not saving money. The reason that I chose those vegetables to plant is because they are my favorite veggies and I want to be able to eat plenty of them without worrying about the cost. (And with the squash and zucchini, Mr. Random doesn't like them at all and I feel bad about spending our family's precious produce money on veggies that only I eat, but I didn't want to have to live without them). The pumpkins and watermelon I am doing because someone gave me free seeds a couple years ago so I thought I'd give them a try.
Here are the steps that I have gone through in my ambitious project of planting a garden:

1. Pick my seeds. I had some free seeds that I got at church at few years ago, but there were several other plants I wanted to try so I picked up some seeds on one of my Wal-Mart runs. I read the backs of the packages and looked for ones with good descriptions, that didn't require too much work, and didn't cost too much. I don't have time to start plants inside then transplant them outside (also we have almost no sun coming in our windows so it is almost impossible for me to do so, I did try with tomato seeds last year) so I made sure to avoid any seeds that needed that. For the tomatoes we bought plants at a local farmers market. I am not sure why, but my mom always buys tomatoes as plants instead of seeds, so that is what I do too.


2. Prepare your garden area. There was an asparagus patch already here when we moved in so when I planted the tomato plants a couple years ago we expanded that area. This year we expanded that area again. Mr. Random, wonderful man that he is, took on the task of digging out all the grass down past the root. Trust me, trying to do that while 6.5 months pregnant with my back and hips acting up would not have been good, so he was very, very nice and did it for me.

 Yes, the dirt is still piled up beside the garden killing off our grass, did I mention that we are procrastinators? Maybe the dead grass area will join our garden plot next year :)

3. Plan where to plant your plants. We only dug a small garden plot and I didn’t want to use it all up with trellises so I planned a little creatively (I had some help with the creative planning by my mom :)). By the time I got around to planting (procrastinator alert!) it was a little late in the season to be planting peas, because they can’t handle the heat (my mom told me that, I have no idea when things should be planted, other than what the little map on the back of the seed packet says :)). So I started thinking about whether there was anything I could do to still have them grow well. The front of our house is shaded by two huge trees and is always several degrees cooler than the back yard. Unfortunately that means that it is also full shade, but the side of the porch is partial sun and still has the benefit of being cooler (I think) so I decided to plant them there. It also has the benefit of the poles that the peas can climb up (although when taking the pictures I noticed that there is a decent stretch of concrete between the ground and the porch poles, hopefully the poor little plants will be able to find it, I will help them out if I can :)), and will be fun and easy to pick from. The green beans also needed something to climb and can tolerate the heat so I started looking for a good spot for them. As I was looking around the yard I noticed that there was plenty of chain link fence that would be great for plants to climb. So we planted the green beans along one side of the fence. The rest of the seeds we planted in the garden plot in rows or hills or whatever you want to call them.

 The side of the porch where I planted the peas

 The chain link fence where we planted the green beans

 The garden plot - squash and zucchini in the first two rows, tomatoes in the back right corner, pumpkins and watermelon in the back left corner

4. Dig holes and plant seeds. I have to admit that we did not completely follow the directions as to how far apart they were supposed to be planted. Hopefully that won’t cause a problem, if it does, oh well.

5. Water like crazy. There were several days that we had rain, I didn’t worry about watering those days, but if it had been a couple days since it rained or I watered I tried to get out there and water again.

 Little Man likes to help me water, he stole the hose from me :)

6. Watch plants grow. I enjoy going out there and seeing intentional plants coming up out of the soil. At first I wasn’t for sure if the plants I was seeing were intentional but now I am pretty sure (and my mom confirmed it :)).

 Squash and Zucchini plants, I cannot remember which is which, I guess we'll find out when they grow :)

 Tomato plants

 I am pretty sure that the plant in the middle is a green bean plant

 I am pretty sure that these are pea plants

7. Weed. I wasn’t sure which of the plants were my plants and which were weeds. My original plan was to just let everything grow and see which ones produced fruit and vegetables (I think my mom just about fainted when I told her that, I could practically hear her thinking that she taught me better than that, but all she said was something about picking the weeds so they wouldn’t take all the nutrients, oh yeah, that’s why you weed, totally forgot that :)). So since I didn’t know for sure which were which I asked my mother-in-law (who is also an expert gardener) when she was here the other day.

 The bigger intentional looking plants are not weeds, the smaller plants that are mostly in the back left are weeds

8. Fertilize. I don’t remember if my mom fertilized her plants or not. I know she had a compost pile so she probably used that. For me I would normally not worry or even think about fertilizing (I don’t know if I should think of it, but I wouldn’t). However last year we had a pretty bad drought that seemed to leave our soil not very nutritious for our plants (the reason that I think this is because several of our bushes did not do as well this year as in previous years). Also I am worried about this year with the planting is that the plants will wait too long to produce their fruits and vegetables. Since I am expecting Little Man 2 at the end of August I would like for the plants to produce at least some before then, and I will try to keep up with picking them after he comes. Because of those reasons I think I might try using some fertilizer in the garden to kinda help it along (we’ll see if it works :)). I also found out by reading the fertilizer bag, that this step probably should have come after preparing the garden, before planting the plants, but oh well, live and learn, this whole process is a learning process.


This is my gardening project this year, and I am really excited about the possibility to eat produce that I have grown (yes, mom, I did say that, go ahead and say “I told you so” :)). It seems that I am not the only one who is embarking on this growing adventure this year. Miracle-Gro has organized a community of gardeners to share their wisdom and stories and show their green thumbs. They have started The Gro Project to encourage those of us who are beginners to try a gardening project and enjoy the benefits of plants in our lives. If you are stuck for inspiration you can check out all the fun garden projects on Miracle-Gro’s pinterest page. You can follow them to keep up on the new inspiration.  You can also check out other tips, videos, and advice from other gardeners on the Miracle-Gro website. You can see what The Gro Project is about with this video: .

For my project I would need to use a fertilizer formulated for the outdoors like LiquaFeed All Purpose Plant Food Advance Starter Kit, but if you are growing plants in a pot (most of these plants could be grown in a pot if you don’t have garden space) you can use Shake’n Feed All Purpose Plant Food and Moisture Control Potting Mix.


What do you think? Are you going to grow a garden this year? Any plant related projects on your to-do list?

Blast from the Past 41 - Wedding Plans

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From June 2008


Ok, for all of you who haven't heard or are totally out of the loop :) The official announcement. [Mr. Random] and I are getting married in August. August 9 to be exact. As you can imagine things have been a little busy around here, what with all the planning to be done. But those of you who know me well probably know that I thrive on change and I love weddings, so this is actually a pretty fun time for me :) But anyways, just thought I would let you all know, so there you go :)

Blast from the Past 40 - I am engaged to the most wonderful guy in the world!

This series consists of notes that I wrote on facebook in the past. Enjoy reading my thoughts during my college years. Please comment but please be nice! Also please feel free to check out my other Blast from the Past Posts.


From February 2008

It is now official. [Mr. Random] and I are engaged! The day started when [Mr. Random] came to my house at 8:30 this morning. My parents let him in quietly and then my mom came and woke me up and told me to come out and look at something. So I stumbled half awake down the hall after her. As I'm rounding a corner after her I hear [Mr. Random] behind me say my name. I seriously jumped and then turned around and there was [Mr. Random] holding a dozen roses and saying good morning. We talked for a little while then he had to go to work and school and I went back to sleep. After class I came home and got ready for our date. All I knew at that point was that [Mr. Random] was planning a romantic surprise date for Valentine’s day, and that it was going to be special because he wanted to make my first Valentine’s day with a boyfriend special. His mom picked me up at 6:40 to meet him at Indiana Tech right after his class. We drove over near the ice rink and I thought that we were going ice skating, but actually [Mr. Random] had arranged for a horse and carriage to meet us there. We got a scenic tour around downtown [big city near us], and soon after we got started [Mr. Random] handed me his Valentine’s Day card. In it were two tickets to the bridal show this Saturday at the Grand Wayne Center. When I looked up [Mr. Random] was down on one knee in front of me with a ring box open. He asked me if I would marry him and of course I said yes! After that we finished the carriage ride, it was really romantic! Then we sat in the back of his van and exchanged gifts (yes he did get me something besides the ring :). Then we went to Takaoka for supper, the food was amazing and the chef was fun to watch. After that we went to Taco Bell to get a caramel apple empanada for desert (which is a joke between us because I am totally addicted to those things :) Then it was time to go home and tell my parents. My parents were thrilled and we talked late into the night. I also called my sister to let her know. I am soo excited! I am going to marry the man of my dreams! I love you [Mr. Random]! Oh and pictures to come, sometime :)