Monthly Archives: April 2012

Apr26

Business After Hours

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I love my new job.

Today I got to go and be a part of Business After Hours which is an event the Chamber of Commerce puts on a couple times a year.

We had a booth and I got to go early and help get everything set up which was fun – I had designed almost everything that we were using and giving out. Here is a quick snap of our booth.

bah2

So I got to spend half of my day getting paid to walk around and stand at the booth and promote our company! It was really quite fun! I also got a load of fun junk the other companies were handing out…hand sanitizer, pizza cutter, water bottle, etc etc. :)

I felt a little weird today because I had to wear black pants. I don’t know what exactly it is about black pants, but I feel a little off whenever I wear them.  But it was part of our branding – we all wore our bright green polo and black pants and there were 14 of us wondering around so I’m pretty sure we made an impression. Even though I felt pretty unoriginal walking around in a “uniform” it was fun to be part of a team. I had hubby snap a couple pictures quick when I got home.

bah

Yep, I like my new job and my new co-worker peeps.

Today was a good day.

Apr24

Tulip Time!

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Has it been like a week since I posted last? Wow – time, please stop whizzing by me so fast.

It was a beautiful afternoon here in the valley and husband is gone at conferences so I spend some time outside in the gardens after work. I didn’t get much done other than enjoying the weather and pulling a few weeds, but it does look better out there.

The tulips are in full bloom right now. What a sight! I don’t have as many fun colored blooms as last year, some of my bulbs rotted, but there are quite a few and they are spread all around which is awesome.

magenta tulip

I love the different colors in the centers of them. So pretty!

red and yellow tulip

And a close up of the petals reveals really pretty feathering in the colors. Nature is so awesome, don’t you agree?!

I also noticed last night that one of my perennial geraniums in the front of the house is starting to bloom. Everything seems to be so far ahead of schedule this year! I love it! Also saw that one of my bleeding hearts is just starting to bloom! Which is crazy, because the other one I have hasn’t even broken ground yet…hope it’s still alive!

Life continues to be busy for us – but a good busy. I went to a city wide garage sale on Saturday with a new friend from work. We found a few AWESOME deals. So fun. Then hubs and I spent part of the weekend in the cities for our niece’s baptism and then had to scurry back for dance class Sunday evening. Part of me is enjoying all the craziness and part of me is missing the days of working from home and enjoying lots of downtime. We’ll get this balancing act figured out someday…

One last pic from the backyard – love that sunshine! Everybody have a great week!

pink tulip

Apr17

If this was my backyard…

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would you be jealous?

view

Hubs and I went out to that property yesterday after work. The acreage was amazing. Beautiful views in every direction, and the wetlands were awesome. We walked out a ways and there were all kinds of birds. Pretty much the whole wetland area is included in the property. FUN. Think of all the wildlife that is probably around out there. Exciting!

The bad thing about the acreage was that it was full of junk. Everywhere.

junk

Around all of the buildings, in the trees, on the lawn.

I am talking very serious amounts of crap. (Uncle Don, might be too soon for you to quit scrapping, we could have a fortune on our hands for you!)

But look at this shed – can you see the potential?

gardenshed

Oh look,  random pieces of junk laying in front of it.

Look past that and the falling down siding, broken out windows, overgrown daylilies, etc etc.

OH EM GEE it would be so freaking cute as my gardening shed! I want to fix it up RIGHT NOW!

The house was in pretty rough shape kind of- I think it would be a total gut and remodel job. It is a split level which I have mixed feelings about, but I think the bones of it are probably good. Ok, I have no idea if they are or not. All that I can tell for certain is that the house smelled strongly of stinky (not to be mean or rude, but old people stinky) and has not been updated in a very very long time. But I could work with it.

So between completely renovating the house and the humongous tasks cleaning up and fixing up the yard and outbuildings, I feel like a crazy person for even considering this property.

But it’s 24 acres.
And it is in a nice location.
It has it’s own wetlands.

So what do you think? Should we make an offer and move in next week?

Apr15

Getting my Garden Nerd On

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It was “Gardening Saturday” in Grand Forks yesterday and I made the trip with a friend from Master Gardeners, the other co-chair actually. She has a blog too – The Dirt. It’s pretty funny and full of good information on gardening.

I actually had not been to a garden day as a participant before, only as a worker bee so it was fun to be there and not have any pressure! Their keynote speaker this year was the famous (at least with the gardening crowd) Paul James. I actually didn’t know who he was before my friend told me about him. He had a gardening show on HGTV for about 15 years I believe. At any rate, he was very funny and knowledgeable about gardening.

The day was beautiful and we actually skipped out after lunch to head home – we were both anxious to get out and do some gardening. As much fun as it is to go to garden days, it is more fun to actually garden. :) It was really nice to have some girlfriend time though – husband and I usually spend our spare time together which I love, but it was really nice to have some time away. I didn’t realize how much I missed it!

While I was up there hubs and FIL went down to their lake place and put in the docks and lifts. Sounds like it was a lot of work but I know they are happy to have it done!

Tonight was the start of another round of dance classes – we have two classes of social dance this time around. The first class is SO good – we are going to be able to cover a LOT in that class. The second class is HUGE – 16 couples and it will be interesting to see who is left after the 5 weeks! My legs are tired after all that dancing, but it is a lot of fun.

Tomorrow we are going to look at another property about 25 miles from town. The house is ok, but it is on 25 acres and it has a pond/wetland on it! HOW AWESOME! Fingers crossed it is a good one!

Everybody have a great week! I have tulips blooming now – woohoo!

 

Apr11

The difference a week makes

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Hey Spring – what are you doing? Are you here or are you not here? I keep getting confused.

80′s one week and 20′s the next – the weather up here has been craaaazy. But I like it. Plants are coming up all over my gardens and it makes me giddy and excited. A week ago this is what some of my daffodils looked like.

daffodil bud

This week, they look like this.

daffodil

But the heat and water must be randomly distributed throughout the yard because some are in full bloom and some are just barely visible above the dirt. Sounds good to me though – extended blooming season!

And the blue flags that have been passed down from my great-grandma were actually the second thing to bloom this year after the crocus (those that didn’t get eaten by rabbits) beating out the daffodils by a few days. Here they are last week-

blue flags

And then BAM! They exploded into this-

blue flags

Again, I have these in a few different spots and this is the only patch blooming right now. What fun!

Hubby has also been feeling the itch to get some stuff done outside – the other day he brought home a roto-tiller and tilled up some of the grass along the fence in the back. That fresh dirt makes me SOOOO excited to start planting! I’ve got big plans for the backyard – hope I have time to get out there and enjoy it!