Home Again!

This last week Tyson and I went down to Sandy, UT to visit family and take some time off. We got home last night, and while it is always so great to get to see those we love in Utah it is also wonderful to be home again.

Our trip was rather simple, the basic purpose was just to relax and visit family and friends. While there we went down to Provo one afternoon and went to lunch with my brother Ricky at the Brick Oven, which is always fun. Tys enjoyed lunch but didn't much care to be in Provo and near BYU, which he rather dislikes. Don't worry, I'm working on him, someday he'll be a BYU fan.

Tyson decided that we should visit Hogle Zoo while in town. He hasn't been there in ages and I had never been so we spent our Friday morning there. It was actually a lot of fun. The weather was cool and comfortable and the zoo wasn't crowded at all. Tyson had some fun over by the great apes. Turns out he is bigger than a gorilla...he checked. Though I guess his arms aren't quite as long. Really it was just a lot of fun and a nice way to spend the morning. It is funny how much it made me feel like a little kid again. I was just fascinated with all of the animals. Tyson enjoyed the building with all of the reptiles. Creepy crawlies terrify me, but he loves them. I told him he would have to visit them in the zoo then because we won't be getting snakes, lizards, or the like as a pet.
On our way home from the zoo we also made sure to stop by Tyson's Grandma and Grandpa Spencer's home. They are always a lot of fun to visit with.

Overall, it was a fun little trip and a break from the everyday routine and constant work on our house or in our yard. Of course, starting tomorrow we are back to the daily grind, but that's alright, the holidays will be here soon and then comes another break or two.

Time Off...

Today was our Friday! Tyson and I decided that is has been too long since we headed south to visit our family and friends in the Salt Lake area. Also, we were long overdue for some time off. Tys and I have very different work schedules and thus we haven't had any of the same days off for about four months now. So, we took the next FIVE days off. I know, not a lot, but it is for us. We'll be down in Utah from Wednesday through Saturday (so if anyone down there wants to see us let me know). And then, the most exciting thing of all, we'll be back home Saturday night so that on Sunday Tyson will get to go to church with me! I know, not so exciting to all of you, but it has been months since he was able to come to church because he has to work every Sunday. (Silly prison, I just don't see why they can't just close for the day). Anyway, we are off tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll make sure to bring some interesting stories back with me.

I Love Craigslist!

I just have to share the joy, I Love Craigslist! Not just because i have mastered the art of finding fantastic items on there for next to nothing, or my real speciality, finding great items for free. I have found a new reason to fall in love all over again. A couple of weeks ago when I decided it was high time to move the rose bushes I realized there was a large chore involved that I didn't want to do. You see, the bushed were in a bed that was five feet wide, fifty feet long, and three inches deep full of decorative rock. That is literally over a ton of rock. I had no desire to shovel that all out and haul it to the trailer to take to the dump. So, I posted it on Craigslist as free for the taking, but whoever took it had to come shovel it all out on Tyson's day off. I got dozens of responses. The first response I got, I called the guy back and within an hour he and a friend were at our house. By the time that I got home from work three hours later, they had taken it all. It saved me a lot a time not to mention aching back. Yeah for Craigslist!

Update on our work in progress...

I always refer to our home as a work in progress. I guess that it is bound to be such when you buy a 93-year-old bungalow that has been sadly neglected. We love our house and we are thrilled at the progress that we are making on it. I thought that I might share what we have been working on over the past couple of weeks. First off, we finally got a back yard! Tyson went and picked up the sod and put it in on Thursday while I was at work. We have had a back dirt patch for the last couple of months, so as you can imagine I am thrilled to have grass back there finally. As you can see, we are setting up to put in a walk way, I'll have to get Tyson to finish that up before the winter comes.

Our next project was something that I have wanted to do since we bought the house but I couldn't do it on my own. Again, I put Tyson to work. We pulled out (yes, I did help) the old rose bushes that ran along the sidewalk and moved them over in front of the house. They were beautiful bushes, but I hated where they were located. Three of the bushes are over fifty years old so you can imagine how large they were. What a good husband I have. We started putting in a border to create some beds, but as you can see, it still isn't finished yet.

So, after he finished moving the roses Tyson tilled up the dead area around our front lawn and up where the rose bushes were (poor guy, never gets a break). The lawn was very uneven so we were able to level it all out and till under the dead weeds. Once we get back from our trip to Utah next week we'll put down some grass seed in the areas that we tilled up and also in the existing lawn to thicken it up a bit.Once Tyson finished tilling I put in a border along the front of the property to create a bed that was about half as wide as the old bed used to be (see, I help). Once I finished that I planted some new Nandina, heavenly bamboo shrubs that I believe we will like so much better. They aren't as thick and bless them, they are evergreen. Not really, the leaves turn red in winter, but they don't fall off until new green grown replaces them in the Spring. We went looking for five more because the ones we have are spaced out a little far, but every nursery in town is out of them. I guess we'll have to wait until Spring.Our other project that we just finished was putting in a bed on the southwest corner of our house. It was just kind of dead space so I thought a raised bed might look nice. I'm still not sure what all I will plant there, but I did find two beautiful hibiscus plants which I placed on each corner. I need to find a nice item to put in the back corner, if anyone has suggestions let me know. In front of this bed we'll continues the shorter bed that runs all the way around our house (or will once I finish putting in the border).

Memory Lane...

So last week Ali and Chaz were over at our house and Chaz made a comment about the beard that Tyson had just started growing out. So, the subject of beards continued and I was reminded of a photo that we had from last August when Tyson and I got engaged. Since they were over I have been looking for that picture and low and behold, I found it. This picture was taken on the day that we went shopping for my engagement ring (Tyson didn't trust himself to pick it out on his own). He was gone on wildfires pretty much all summer. This was during one of his relatively longer stays at home, about 38 hours. He would be out for about 14 days at a time and then home for about 2 days. Hence, the beard. I guess that when you are camping all summer long shaving is just too much of a hassle. The best part about it all was that two weeks after this picture was taken Sarita and Eric got married. So, the night before the wedding when all of the family was gathered, Tyson showed up to meet my entire family with this bushy beard and wild hair. Quite the first impression... The beard was gone by the following morning in time for the wedding.

Salsa!

My plans today changed a bit. I had planned at first to start painting my kitchen today, and then I was going to go pick some peaches and can them, and then I was going to go to the lake with my family. Well, none of that worked out for me today. The lake idea got shot when Tyson got scheduled to work overtime, and then I couldn't get a hold of the right person about the peaches, and I can't reach my kitchen ceiling because I'm too short.

So, I changed my plans. I went through my garden this morning and it seriously needed some harvesting. I decided that I would go ahead and make a couple of batches of salsa. Tyson loves my mom's canned salsa and so when we planted our garden we made sure to plant what we would need to make salsa. Luckily our garden is producing what I need at the rate that I need it. I had exactly enough ripe tomatoes and jalpenos to make two batches today. We pulled our onions a week ago because they were set to go. We found a great variety of tomato that we love. It is called a Jet Star Hybrid and it is perfect! It has a really good flavor with a lot of flesh to it. I know, not overly interesting to all of you, but I'm thrilled with it. Anyway, that is my exciting day...

We got a lawn!

This last week we bought our first batch of sod for our yard. Basically our entire back yard and side yards were non level at all, the grass was weak and the lawn full of weeds that just would not die. So, we killed it all, tilled it up and re leveled the yard. So now the process of putting in sod has begun. We purchase 500 sq. ft. this last week and we need about 800 more so we'll be getting that in a few weeks. But in the mean time it is really nice to have our west side lawn done. I'm excited about it!
I hadn't posted an update on our garden lately, so here it is. My garden is insane! By the 4th of July our corn was taller than Tyson and it is just getting taller. It is producing well though. We are having some of the corn for dinner tonight and one of our cantaloupes as well. I took over a dozen tomatoes to my parents yesterday because I had more than I could use and I have dozens of jalapenos and bell peppers. This is fun! More fresh veggies and less money spent at the grocery store. Tyson and I finally decided how we are going to do our garden beds next year so I can't wait to get those put in this Fall.
This next picture is just for fun.

I love my petunias that I put in the planter box next to our front door. It will all get taken out in the next month or two though. The planter box takes up a lot of space and doesn't offer up much planting space in return, so we are going to tear it out and widen our front patio. I figure that once we put in a new railing I'll just buy a planter box to hang over the railing. For this summer though I though it would look silly to leave this box empty. My grandma also had barrels of petunias all over her front and back patios so I went with the petunia.