Christmas 2012 Blogging Break and Year In Review

First off, I'd like to say Merry Christmas!!  This is, simply put, the most amazing, magical time of the year.  A time of gratitude for a baby born in a manger and the greatest gift we've ever been given.  We would be completely lost without the hope given to us by Jesus!  I love celebrating His birth and being with family this time of year.

As is typical for this wonderful time of year I'm officially starting my blogging break.  It's a time to spend with family, and celebrate!  I am not sure how long this break will last, but expect some changes upon my return.  2012 was a year of unexpected adventures and bloggy confusion!  Let's take a look back, shall we?!

January

365 Reasons I Love My Husband-I started the 365 reasons I love my husband challenge!  I did not finish this because I got behind and then gave up.  However, stay tuned to see it's redo for 2013!

Come On A Walk With Us-We had some very warm temperatures last January so I let you all come on a walk with us!

February

Simplified Meal Planning-I discovered a simple and effective way to menu plan with contact paper and note cards!

March

Gardening Ideas-A list of ideas found on pinterest for gardening.  Great resource!

April

2012 Ultimate Blog Party-I partied hard with other bloggers and met new friends!

May

Homemade Fresh Spaghetti Sauce-I shared how to make fresh, homemade (delicious!) tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes.

13 Truths About Chickens-I shared 13 truths and things I'd learned about chickens.

June

DIY Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts-I shared how to make your own boneless skinless chicken breasts. Super simple by the way!

July

I have no posts from July!  During this time I tried out wordpress and didn't like it.  I unfortunately lost some blog posts because of this.

August

Kissing Frogs-I wrote a post about kisses.  Saving kisses, or not, I share my experience and how I was grateful for it.

Nasty Nagging-I wrote a post about how nagging, and how detrimental it can be.

September

Hoop House-I shared our hoop house with you.  It wasn't what I had expected when I got chickens, but it has worked out wonderfully.

October

Homemade Pie Crust Tutorial-I shared a super awesome pie crust tutorial.  My first ever successful pie crust!

November

Marriage Truths-I shared truths about marriage...like it isn't always perfect, and sometimes things hurt.

2012 Thanksgiving Guide: Menu Planning: In this post I shared how I menu plan, make a grocery list and how I keep from forgetting anything when planning for the big day!  (This could totally be used for a big Christmas party as well!)

December

Our Priorities as Christian Women-This is a post I just recently wrote and kind of love.  It's been one of my most favorite blog post I've written in a while!

Christmas Cookies-A pinterest resource for quite a few cookie recipes...just in time for you to do some last minute cooking!

It's awesome to see all these posts lined up together!  Although I felt as though this year wasn't my best when it came to blogging, looking back maybe it wasn't so bad after all!

Here's hoping 2013 is a year full of unexpected surprises, and adventure.  A time of learning, growing, and changing.  I am hesitant, a little scared, but completely excited!

Although I won't be blogging I can still be found at facebook, here, and pinterest, here.

I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas, and a wonderful new year!

Top 5 Tips For A New Housewife

I've been a housewife and homemaker for about 3 years now.  Most people who read my blog know my plan wasn't to become a housewife, so I was a little lost at first.  I did a lot of things that were really unnecessary, and lacked on a lot of things that were more important!  I've recently revamped my daily routine once again, and I thought I may as well share what I've learned.  So, here we go, the top 5 tips for a new housewife...

1.  Ask your husband what is important to him.  This is such a simple thing, that is so important!  I would suggest and advise all keepers of the home to do this.  Our husbands are all different, they all have expectations on what clean is.  Often bloggers say doing x, y, or z is what will make us successful homemakers, when our husbands really care about a, b, and c being done!  What my husband wants and prefers done is the backbone of how I run things.  My husband personally cares about his work uniforms being clean, dinner to be done, our home to be picked up of clutter, and a generally clean home before the weekend.  My list is more detailed, like washing windows, checking baseboards, mopping, dusting, and all other fun stuffs like that.

2.  Get your cleaning done as early as you can.  This is something I struggle with.  I am not a morning person, so hopping out of bed and getting my chores done is not easy.  I need some time to wake up and be pleasant.  I spent a lot of my early marriage waiting until the latter part of the day to get my cleaning done.  This meant I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off before my husband was due to arrive home.  It made me flustered and more easily annoyed when my husband got home, and also meant some things were neglected due to lack of time.  My goal is to always get the house tidy as soon as I can, and then do a whole house check at the end of the day.

3.  Pick up after yourself.  Oh boy do I hate this one!  It makes a difference though.  After the home is clean, any time you do something that makes a mess, don't wait to clean it up.  Go ahead and wash the dish, or pick up what you dropped, it just makes things easy for you later.  I also encourage this same thing if you have children or a husband.  I wish I would have had this mindset ingrained in me as I grew up so it wouldn't be such a chore now!  I do not expect my husband to do any housework at all, especially the days he works.  However, I do ask him to at least pick up after himself on the weekends.

4.  It's OK if you do things differently.  As a young, impressionable housewife I really thought I wasn't as good of a housewife if I didn't do what other housewives did.  I spent a lot of time on homemaking journals, and schedules that were really useless to me.  I am a free spirit, I don't do schedules.  I do however do lists, which is an entirely different beast.  Make your own rules to keeping house.  Find out what works for you and do it.

5.  Accept that you will never be done.  This is a hard, hard truth of being a housewife and homemaker.  Your job will never end, and you will never retire.  Just accept it.  You will always be needed to mend socks, wash dishes, and do laundry.  You will always be needed to make your house feel like home.  It seems so exhausting and overwhelming, but really, where else would you rather be?  Although you may always be buried under laundry, you'll also be making a house a home which is priceless.

What do you think?  If you are an experienced homemaker what are your tips to new homemakers?  Share in the comments below!

Squirrels.

When I think, I have a tendency to walk around.  Movement seems to help me think.  I also tend to look out windows, spying on nature.  The other day I was rewarded with these two squirrels foraging in the yard.

I'm pretty sure this was the momma squirrel.  She was just munching away on acorns.  She was not spooked by any cars, or the dogs occasional barking.

Then I spotted this adorable baby (ish) squirrel on the tree!  It was noticeably smaller, and much more feisty and nervous.

It flew around and down the tree, jumping down and taking just a few steps before it plunged it's little claws into the Earth!

He was really getting in there!  Moving leaves, and pushing himself into his work.

Bingo!!  An acorn was found!  It was though, all too dangerous to eat it there on the ground.  There could be other big mean squirrels, or dogs...or CATS!  Eek!

So with his acorn firmly clutched in his mouth, he flew up the tree...

...to settle onto a branch, and happily feast on his tasty morsel!  All the while, mother squirrel was steadfast and oddly unamused by her youngsters squirrely antics...

As you can see, she had already had an acorn or five by the time junior found and fled with his very lonely acorn!

Just a List

We've been at my parents all day getting work done.  It's late, and I cannot think of anything to write about.  Partially because I'm tired and maybe a hint of writers block.  In this spirit, I give you...a list...

-I am struggling to write this list even though it should be easy!

-I'm trying to figure out what my blog is about.  I want to write about homemaking, but what do I say about it?  I want to write about self sufficiency...gardening, chickens, goats but not much is happening now that it's so cold.  I wish I could read all of your minds so I'd know what you wanted to read about!

-I cannot wait until Thanksgiving day.  It's such a wonderful holiday.

-I am brainstorming some ideas for a Christmas series but not sure how to go about it yet.

-I tried Earl Grey tea for the first time yesterday.  It was SO good.

-You know those cold, fall days?  The ones where it's drizzling outside, leaves are falling and it's dark and grey?  My favorite part about those days is waking up under my amazingly warm blanket, next to my husband.  Usually trapped by two dogs, and two cats.  <3

-I wish I had more friends and an excuse to cook them dinner parties.

-Although I am so, so, so excited for fall and winter.  Although I am so excited for Christmas and New Years, I can't wait until spring either.  Baby chicks, goats, and planning a garden are all so exciting.

-I never knew how difficult it was to pick out curtains, and find furniture.  Ugh.

-My husband and I eat tacos every single week.  We love it, they are so delicious!

I hope you didn't mind my random list today.  A more sane post is scheduled for tomorrow!

Marriage Truths

Last month my husband and I shared our 3^rd wedding anniversary.  It’s hard to believe it’s already been 3 years.  At the same time I'm glad, because it means we have many more years to go.  I thought today I would share some of the truths I've learned over the course of our relationship and marriage.

-God is important.  It is important, and vital to keep God in the middle of your relationship and marriage.  You won’t succeed all the time, you will fail, but it’s an important thing to strive for.

-Ain’t no such thing as perfection.  You are going to fail as a wife, a partner, and as a best friend.  You will fail your husband, and you will hurt him.  You will burn dinner, break something, or fall below his expectations.  You are human, and this is ok.  Learn to be humble, and apologize for your shortcomings.  Don’t ignore your imperfections, face them, and fight against them.  Everyone makes mistakes, but if you are not learning and growing from yours you have a problem.

-You are going to get hurt.  Your husband is going to say something to you in a harsh tone.  He’s going to fail to provide something to you, whether this is physical, emotional, mentally, or elsewise.  This is natural, and normal.

-Don’t harden your heart.  When you get hurt, don’t put the walls around your heart up.  Don’t harbor it, don’t let it fester.  If you get hurt, if you get disappointed, if you have a problem, pray.  Then talk to your husband about it.  You will feel better, and you will be taking steps is solving the problem.

-You gotta grow up.  Once you are married you have to grow up.  You don’t get to lean on your parents anymore; you don’t get to live your life for yourself.  You are bonded to another person now.  You won’t get your way, and you’ll have to be a woman and be ok with it.  You’ll have to get your hands dirty, and clean up a lot of dirty socks.  You will have to do things you don’t want to do, DO THEM.  Don’t pout, don’t complain, just do it.

-Life’s not fair.  This is a hard truth!  You are not going to get your way.  You are not going to be able to control your husband and your marriage.  Unexpected things will happen and you will just have to go with it.

-You will fight.  When you meet your guy, fall in love and get married you will feel perfect for each other.  No serious fights, no annoyances.  It’ll be roses and sunshine.  Unfortunately you will get your share of rainclouds.  You’ll wonder if you made a mistake, if he really is the one.  Should you have married him?  You’ll wonder how on earth someone could be so annoying!  This is normal; you can’t spend forever with someone and always feel great about it.  People get cranky…it’s ok!  Try to stay positive!  If some alone time, a nap, or a hot bath would improve the situation, do it!

-Don’t talk to others about your husband.  Don’t.  Don’t even think about it.  If your husband has gotten on your nerves, don’t go gossiping, and chattering to your parents about it.  Don’t talk to your friends about it.  If you have a problem, you talk to one person, your husband.  If you have a serious problem, talk to a pastor, or counselor.  Don’t tease your husband in front of others unless you know, 110% he is ok with what you are saying.

-Laugh.  When your husband messes up, laugh instead of getting angry.  When he breaks something, scuffs something, or leaves a dirty handprint on the wall, laugh.  The first time we moved I told my husband to be careful with one, fragile item.  A pair of salt and pepper shaker snowmen.  He broke them.  I thought I was going to burst into tears, but I laughed instead.  If you can laugh, please do.

-Communication.  This is probably one of the single most important truths in marriage.  Communication makes or breaks.  You need to talk about life, love, hurt, religion, food, everything.  Ask questions, ask what he’s thinking, and tell him your honest thoughts.  Don’t talk too much, but know your husband as well as you can.  And remember, as much as you know him, as much as you know his likes and dislikes, you don’t know all of him.  There will be fleeting thoughts, memories, and much more you will never know.  As much as you know him, there is a vast portion you don’t know.  Also, it is so important to remember the most important communication is when it’s hard.  It’s when you’re hurting, and when you’re angry.  You need to tell him how you feel and why.

Reading all this may be discouraging.  You may see a lot of negatives here, but don’t let that fool you.  You will love your husband in a way you can’t even imagine.  He will become your other half.  You will realize you don’t know how you would function without him.  The thought of losing him will take your breath away.  He will be your voice when you can’t speak, the strength you need to stand, and the friend all your secrets are safe with.

What are your marriage truths?  Feel free to share!

Delicious Pumpkin Pie

It is that time of year.  When the air gets crisp, the leaves say goodbye in brilliant shades of red and orange.  It's a beautiful time of year...and the best time to whip up a delicious, pumpkin pie.  Whether you make this for Thanksgiving, or just as the piece de resistance to a Sunday dinner, just promise me you'll make it!  This is another of my husbands grandmothers recipes.  My husband likes pumpkin pie, but he loves this recipe.  Even I have to admit it was sinfully delicious.  To make this pumpkin pie even better, is it is a very, very simple pie to make.  Seriously. So it's great for a beginner!

This time of year you should have most of these ingredients in the pantry.  Evaporated milk, regular milk, canned pumpkin, eggs, spices, and sugar.  So simple!

I have the bad habit of never cracking my eggs separately and then beating them.  I always put the eggs in first, beat, and then add everything else.  I have to say I am SO proud of these eggs.  My chickens are such hard workers providing us with tons of fresh, perfect eggs!

Pardon my thumb!  While writing this post, and looking over the directions I really just DIYed this pumpkin filling.  The directions say to combine the pumpkin, sugar, salt and spices, then blend in your eggs, milk and evaporated milk.  I did the eggs, and then just added everything else.  Like I said earlier, this is basically no fail!

Next, poke holes in your pie crust! (Which I forgot to do until after I started to pour.  I did poke holes, you just can't see them!)  Anytime you make a pumpkin pie and pour in the filling it will get very full.  Like, can hardly keep from spilling it, kind of full.  I've even had some that didn't totally fit in the crust!  Make sure if you do a store bought crust to get deep dish.  If you do your own crust use a deeper dished pie pan.

Ta da!  Beautiful isn't it?  I wish I had a picture of it when it was done, but it did NOT last long enough.  We had it with my parents one evening and it was so, so good.  My husband and my parents like a nice dollop of cool whip on top.  I however, eat it plain.  I cannot stand cool whip!

Below is a printable of the recipe.  Try it out, and consider adding it to your holiday dinners.  Enjoy!

Adventures in Life

The last three months have been some of the most unexpected and difficult in my life. A part of me hates to write about all the unexpected crazy, but this is real life, and this is my story.

As everyone who reads this humble little blog knows, we moved in August to a sweet little home on a little slice of land. 2/3rds of an acre to house chickens, gardens, goats and only God could imagine what else. Before moving we had been living in the home I grew up in, as my parents moved out and into my grandfather’s home after his passing. This was a much more tender and fragile situation than anyone knew or could understand. The house I grew up in was my mothers first real home, she spent 25 years of her life cleaning it, loving it, decorating it, and living in it. My husband and I moved in and it didn't quite feel like ours, some of my parents things were still there, and my mother and I are not quite eye to eye when it comes to how things are handled. I am by nature, and God’s own design laid back, whereas my mom is, and always will be a super busy worker bee. Always cleaning, and working, it’s just her nature. We got into a fight about the house, very mean and hurtful things were said on both sides, and my husband and I started house hunting.

In mere weeks, after looking at three homes, we made a decision. We decided to move 30 minutes away, to the place we felt was perfect for us. We had no hesitations, no reservations. It was pretty cozy (aka small), but had two rooms, nice sized kitchen and living room, and best of all that 2/3rds of an acre. We could manage cozy, and we could have our chickens, and eventually all the other critters I could dream of. The house I grew up in would be polished up, and put on the market to be sold. My parents had to make some repairs to it, and were working with real estate agents on getting things appraised and listed. As repairs were made it seemed as though my parents wouldn't be able to get the price the house was worth.

Just weeks after moving to our cozy home, the fateful question was asked, “Would you want to move back to and own Adrian?”

My husband and I laughed. Move again? No thanks. Move to a city house, with neighbors all around? No thanks. To lose our little slice of heaven? No thanks. Knowing that to have goats and a garden I would have to travel to my parents farm every day? No thanks. It was an easy decision, we said no.

A few weeks went by without us thinking a thought about it, when my parents asked again. Again our answer was, no thank you.

A couple weeks more, and the question was posed again. I think this is when we paused and thought about it. To be asked if you want something more than twice, makes you think that maybe there is more too it than what you thought. Maybe this was something God wanted. We thought about it much more seriously. To lose our little slice of heaven made us sad, we were attached, we had everything we wanted there. However, we were in debt, and making payments living there. Our budget was much tighter, though not beyond our means or impossible. There were some repairs that needed to be done, some cosmetic, and some that were probably much more serious and costly. We also took into consideration the distance. We go to my parents at a minimum of once a weekend, and often more than that. Then we also thought of the what ifs. What if something happened to my parents and they needed help, or what if we had children. Where would we put the children?! Although not impossible, things would be very tight with extra bodies of any kind.

We told my parents no, that we still liked our slice of heaven, and the thought of moving made us sick. We started some repairs, and did some painting. In the back of my mind though, I couldn't shake the thought that maybe we should move. Maybe this was a mistake, maybe God was trying to lead us.

My parents asked a few more times, either directly and indirectly, sometimes just jokingly, but we were sure pretty sure we were sticking with where we were. Then something just kind of hit us, and we started thinking about it. We started talking with each other about it, the pros and cons, the good and the bad, the reasons to move and the reasons not too. We couldn't shake the thought of moving out of our minds, even though we were happy with where we were.

I want to take a moment to express the fact that this was a hard decision to consider. More than words could place here. There were so many reasons to stay, and so many to move, and for the longest time we just didn't know what to do. We prayed, we asked my parents, we talked about it, we asked for signs from heaven. Finally, somehow, we made a decision.

A decision to move back. There are more details that could be added, but  I've hit all the important parts. We moved last weekend, and we feel a lot of peace about the decision. There is a lot we've lost, and hopefully more we've gained. So I guess this is it, I’m closing the tumbleweed chapter in the story of my life. Now it’s time to plant roots, and start an entirely new chapter.

I would also like to add that I'm hoping for a different direction when it comes to my blog.  I've struggled with a niche, but may have finally found it.  In the weeks to come expect to see a lot of cooking tutorials, helpful holiday hints, and advice.  You won't want to miss tomorrows post!

Remembering

Duke's story in my life starts long before I ever met him.  I was moving out on my own for the very first time in my life.  The move to an apartment would be too much for my childhood dog, so I adopted a cat from the shelter.  We visited the shelter a few times trying to figure out what to pick, but it was the large, buff cat whom kept sticking his arm out and grabbing me whom I fell in love with.

We named him Reginald, and he was affectionately known as Reggie.  For the time I lived alone (which wasn't long) Reggie was my constant companion.  We bonded almost immediately, and he was unlike any cat I had ever known.  I could talk with him and he would answer with little meows, and he followed me everywhere.  Just six months after becoming his owner, Reggie was hit by a car and passed away.  I was a mess.  I had loved him so much and just never expected him leaving me so soon.  He took a piece of my heart away I'll never get back.

A day or two later, my mom said she saw an add in the paper for "cute mix puppies".  We went with my sister to go look at them.  The car ride was long, and it was cold and rainy out.  Upon arriving we saw a gaggle of tiny, short, fluffy black puppies playing in a wet patch of grass.  They were adorable.  It didn't take me long to pick the little puppy getting picked on.  The lady said he was a schipperke min pin mix, should be about 20 pounds fully grown.

A month or so later, we took a "little" 30 pound Duke to the vet for shots and a check up.  The vet told us Duke could easily weigh 100 pounds fully grown.  Needless to say we were shocked.  As Duke grew, so did his personality.  He quickly went through what I call the adoption phase...as in the stage you want to give your dog away because they are taxing to your patience!  He was ornery, but I slowly fell in love.  Once he got past that stage we bonded immensely, and he is the greatest companion I've ever had.

Last year at this time we took Duke to the vet because he had been limping.  He was diagnosed with a torn cruciate.  Basically one of the ligaments in his his knee tore.  It was scary.  I thought I had lost the happy dog I had.  I was scared he would no longer run, no longer jump, no longer be able to play with his sister.  We had hoped to do a more expensive knee surgery, but when they said it would cost 3200 dollars, it just wasn't  possible.  Instead we went with a less expensive surgery that everyone said was best for smaller dogs.  His surgery went well, and we brought home a bandaged and limping dog.

With only leashed walks, no stairs, no jumping, playing, running of any kind for about a month, Duke was finally released to go back to "normal" activities.  It was a time of a lot of uncertanty as we knew physically Duke may never be the same.  That thought tore at me, how can you give a dog a good life if they can't do what dogs love to do?  The day he tip toed on his foot delighted me, when he started using it occasionally gave me hope.  Time slowly passed, and his knee healed.  If you saw Duke today outside, running, playing, swimming, you would never know he had surgery.  He's completely normal, and very happy.  After a long, hard day of playing he may limp a little, but other than that he is doing great.

I started out writing this because it was just about a year ago we found out what was wrong.  I just wanted to recount the story, but there is one thing that has kept popping into my mind the entire time I've been writing this.  God loves me.  He cares about me.  He wants me to be happy.  He also knows what is best for me.  When I found out Duke couldn't have the more expensive, more scientifically logical surgery, I could have throw a fit about it.  I could have cursed about it, I could have blamed God.  (I do admit I did worry more than I should have!)  God knew what He was doing, and everything turned out just fine.  I hope in the future this will remind me sometimes you just have to trust God.  It may not make sense, but if God closes a door, there's a reason.

Nothing Exciting

Day's are slipping by quickly, but the hours seem so slow.  I feel fall on it's way, slowly creeping closer, and feel the need to prepare for the cooler, cozy weather.  We have much to do here to get prepared!  We are painting this coming weekend, redoing the floor the weekend (s) after that, getting some furniture, and I hope to get some decorating done before the holidays start.  My goal is for things to be done by the 1st of October.

I'm struggling yet again with insomnia.  It always happens so unexpectedly, and it's hard to get sleeping schedules right.  I know I need to get back to sleeping at normal times, but it seems so difficult!  I've also been trying to decide how I'm going to work my sleeping schedule once we bring the chickens here.  That probably sounds strange!  We are converting the shed (in picture above) into a coop, with a run for the chickens during fall and winter.  I'll be locking them away at night, and then letting them out in the morning.  Once I get goats (hopefully this coming spring!) I'll also have to wake up at daybreak to let them out.  With my husband working second shift, figuring out when to sleep and when to be awake can be confusing!

I have, have, have, to get better at meal planning and following through with what I plan.  It would also be great if I could get into a better planned daily schedule!  I almost always start my cleaning routine for the day in the evening, whereas most people would start in the morning.  I think I would be less stressed if I got it all done first thing in the morning, and then worked on blogging, etc.  I need to develop more self discipline!

Lastly, I have recently stumbled upon a great craft to do.  Loom knitting.  I am totally in love with it!  I'm working on some projects and will try to share some pictures soon!

What's going on in your life right now?  Anything exciting?

Chicken Truths

Remember just a few weeks ago I posted my announcement about getting chickens?  Remember these cute pictures I shared...

Such adorable, sweet, fluffy, balls of cute, right?  Well, three weeks into a chicks life, you go through a scary  transformation.  They are getting their feathers, they are getting big and awkward.  So, I present to you these lovely pictures of my three week old chickosaurses.

Thought this lady was a production red, but after further research think she is a red sex-link.

CHICKZILLA!

Thought this lady was going to be a leghorn.  They are pure white...but...she just got a dark feather!

One of our barred rocks.

Thought this was a barred rock, now totally unsure.  Could be an australorp, or cuckoo maran.

On the left a maybe barred rock, a barred rock.

 

Another maybe australorp, maybe cuckoo maran.

Barred rock rooster!

Talk about your assortments!  As you can see, my cutie patooties are slowly morphing into dinosaurs of some type.  They are gaga over treats of any type...in fact...here's a video of them chowing down on blueberries.  Pardon the tv in the background...I totally forgot to mute it!

Here are some things I've learned so far from having chicks...

-they are messy.  As in, they don't care where they poop, the love scratching through their shavings and flicking them into their grit, food, and water.

-they eat a lot.  As in three weeks we've gone through almost an entire 40 pound bag of food.

-they love treats.  My chicks were scared of me before the introduction of treats, now they flock to my hand when I put it in.  Now, if I walk by without throwing something to them they give me the stink eye!

-they constantly peep.  They only stop when they sleep and even then usually someone is awake to peepy cheep.

-they don't sleep as much as I though.  With most newborn animals they sleep a lot.  Chicks don't.  They sleep for maybe 15-30 minutes at a time before they are playing and scratching and eating.

-they do chicken things when they are chicks.  I though they would be clumsy babies, and it would take time to learn chicken skills.  However, I put a stick in there and they knew they should try to sleep on it, they scratch and forage for food like pros, and you should see them dust bathe!

-they grow so fast.  Within 3 days of having them I noticed they looked bigger, and husband confirmed.  Now at three weeks we're at this crazy feather growing stage.  We have only about 20 weeks until we get our first egg!

-they are not picky.  They don't care what their coop, or brooder look like.  They just care about each other and food.

Mondays.

I don't think I've mentioned it recently but my husband is back on a "normal" schedule.  I say "normal" because he works second shift.  We usually wake up at noon, or noon-thirty, and are up sometimes until 6 in the morning.  Rob is also currently worked four, ten hour days.  He gets Mondays off which is so awesome.  So, yesterday we slept in, watched our favorite show, vegged out, and right after midnight, we decided we'd start our seeds.  I got only the things that needed to be started now which included, tomatoes, serranos, jalapenos, cayenne, onions, thyme, chives, basil, oregano, tarragon, and rosemary.  I'm fairly sure the other things I'm planting can go straight outdoors, but I'll need to double check!

Our containers, seeds, and soil all ready to go.

Containers full, marked, and watered.

These were my very first labels for my seeds...but I knew they would make it.

So, I used note cards to make labels and covered them in contact paper.

Another picture showing seeds and labels.

 It is so amazing to know an itty bitty seed will provide you with food.  Just simply amazing.

I hope everyone had a good start to their week!