Do as the {Seniors} Do

 Over the last few weekends we have been putting in some blood, sweat, and tears into our backyard. 

Yes, we have a backyard. 

Small but one known the less

When we moved in the backyard had been severely neglected by the previous owners. 

{which considering how much cleaning and dusting we had to do when we moved in... it isn't a surprise}

I grew up with a GIANT garden filled with vegetables. 

Now that I'm married I wanted to take that with me. Kind of

Now to understand you must take a gander at this picture. 

Rough shape right? This is after some weeds and NOT so little trees were taken out
Yeah.. trees

Some newly purchased tools to help get the job done. 

I'm sure Jeff would like me to add that there is at least 6 inches deep of rocks and think hard clay. 
I'm sure if he knew how much work it was going to be
It would have told me "no." 
Or at least thought about it more

 I can't thank my husband enough 

It took 2 Saturdays

25-30 trips to the dumpster

(which is near the entrance of our town home community) 

carrying 40 {plus} pounds of rocks and dirt each time. 

Not to mention the digging and breaking through all the clay (yuck)

This is after a good solid hour of constant work, at least
The amount of rocks was unbelievable

Well this weekend we finished our garden completely. 

Whoot... whoot!

I'm so excited to have my own garden

Hopefully, I don't kill it..yikes

This is after all the bags of soil, mulch, and fertilizer are added.
You can tell our next project is a new lawn and pulling the weeds from the other side of the air conditioner.

Just a few of our many flowers and vegetables

More flowers and some of the herbs for my herb garden {For details click here}

My favorite vegetables are tomatoes (by far), cucumbers, and zucchini
So naturally I have 4 tomato plants
Remember there is only 2 of us, and Jeff doesn't really like tomatoes

This roma tomato plant is HUGE. Already has buds and flowers. 
I'm expecting fruit within a week or two
We'll see

1 zucchini plant and 1 cucumber plant

Cucumber plant

Zucchini plant... pretty little. In 3 days its triple the size now

 I wanted to plant 2 of each, but I learned they take up twice as much room as tomato plants
and the little, old man promised it would provide more squash than I could eat
Jeff loves salsa
meaning... I have to bottle it now that I am the wife
and we both love roasted bell peppers
So naturally the remaining space in our garden includes:
2 bell pepper plants

1 yellow wax pepper plant

1 jalapeño plant

Heck yes I figured out the little ~ over the n! Peanut would be proud
Don't know who Peanut is? Shame on you. Click here for part 1 and here for part 2. Trust me... watch both 
After everything was planted and Jeff added some decorative dividers
Here is our garden

This seriously made a huge difference in cleaning up the yard. 

I learned that pretty flowers are my weakness
2 hanging plants... one beginning GIANT. no joke

There are these little purple flowers tucked away

We have dahlias, the flower that my entire wedding was based around

a Dick Clark rose bush

Some Gerber daisies

some other flowers I don't know what they are called

Funny side note: Oakley

Now if you have met our {not-so} little retriever

He is a curious one and wants to be in the middle of whatever we are doing

We compromised with him

Yes, with our dog

How can you not love this dog?
He just stayed all day like this watching every move we made.
He's a good boy. 
Must of the time

Love Always,

Oakley: The Retriever

He loves him some football

Oakley is the quirkiest dog I have ever seen.

He can be the craziest dog or the sweetest most mellow dog on the planet.

He sleeps upside down and twisted

Has since he was a little puppy 

There is very few things that we have found that he doesn't like to eat. 

He will do Anything for food

Despite the fact that he is 60 {plus} pounds he thinks he is a tiny dog.

He will come and sit on either of our laps like he belongs there. 

He isn't afraid of thunderstorms or fireworks doesn't even pay attention to them at all

{Maybe because he was born on the 4th of July}

He adores laundry baskets

Awww...
He was so fluffy and little

If there is ever an empty basket he can get to... its play time

Now he's too big and can only sit in them

When it is time for bed he won't go upstairs unless I'm going upstairs

I'll say bedtime and he will search for a bone 

Then he will wait at the bottom step until he's sure I'm coming

He does like any dog have his naughty moments... some are very memorable

First day of Spring Semester
The dog... Literally... ate Jeff's homework
and binder, syllubuses, and any other papers he could get to
Lesson learned keep things off of the counters and tables when he is home alone

I don't understand why...
He thinks he is a paper shredder 

Apparently, I didn't completely learn that lesson. 
I was dying some chocolate with food coloring and had to go to class
Jeff would be home from work maybe 5-10 minutes after I left 
Just enough time for some mischief
Oakley got a hold of the neon food coloring
Mostly the blue one, but some green and purple mixed in

In less than 10 minutes
Oakley managed to die himself and our entire kitchen like a neon rainbow
(P.S he didn't eat the wall, that was from the previous owners and we just haven't fixed it yet)
Needless to say we have finally learned our lesson
We haven't had any major naughty moments for months
He is even now allowed free range of the house while we are at work
{Before he was kept in the kitchen by a gate}

He is the most stubborn dog on the planet
If we are somewhere and he doesn't want to go he will sit down and refused to move

Leash fully extended
This was his first time at the vet

  He quickly learned that the vet comes yielding treats
And it was his favorite place

Until... they placed a cone around his neck
and took his manhood 
He did however figure out exactly how to get the cone off within a day or two
He loves to sit on the back of our couches, like a cat
He is the biggest blanket hog and bed hog on the planet.

If there is a blanket, pillow, or anything that is soft on the ground or couch
He will be on it 

We came across these pictures and this accurately depicts how we sleep every night

Same as anyone who has a dog with them

Even with the lack of sleep each night

We love having a dog

I want another one, but Jeff says no. Boo. 

MOST OF ALL

He loves people more than anything.

At times I think he believes he is a person

Whenever we have company he just gets so excited and he thinks they have come to play with him.

His favorite person is my mom.

I promise he is not being mean
My mom said something that made him think he was going to get to go somewhere
Meaning he would get to go in the carIf you say "Where's Grandma?"
he will run to the door and sit there whining and waiting for her to come.

He knows my mom comes yielding treats

He also knows that whatever trick {or mixture of tricks} she won't be able to resist

He is super smart and learns extremely quickly

Especially if being motivated by food

He can sit, stay, lay down, bow, play dead, shake (both paws), roll over, jump and give high fives

Will you come and play with me?

"A dog is  the only thing on Earth that loves you more than he loves himself."

- Josh Billings

Love Always,

Ode to Our Mothers

“All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” 

-Abraham Lincoln

I can honestly say I have the best mom in the world. 

She has pushed me and encouraged me through every step of my life. 

She has been my rock and the person I always turn to. 

She raised me by herself and worked so hard to make sure that I had every opportunity available to me. For this (and so much more) I owe her everything.

I know how hard it was for her to be a single mom and that she had to make many sacrifices along the way. 

Even with working full time she never missed a single activity, dance performance, or any important moment. 

She always made sure I had a ride to dance after school or to whatever activity I was involved in.

As I grew up she was there to support and help me get through the tough patches, as I learned to find my own way in this world.

I can't say how much I appreciate it all. 

Thank you.

Whenever we are together we end up laughing (over stupid things) to the point that we can't even look at each other and our sides are killing from laughing. 

We can walk around Target for two hours, for absolutely no reason other than just to hang out.

My mom is beautiful, sweet, loving, and the most wonderful person on earth!

Everyone always assumes that she is my sister and are shocked that she is my mom. 

(I hope that means that I will age as well as she has) 

I love you mom, you are with out a doubt my best friend. 

Thank you for all that you do for me (and now us!)

Along with a wedding your family grows and this year I gained a mother in-law. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful mother in-law. The first thing I ever learned about her was that Jeff and his mom share a birthday. Jeff and his mom share such a special bond and he is definitely a mamma's boy (not in a bad way). Jeff was raised to be so kind, caring, and loving towards everyone and he definitely got that from his mom. She is always willing to help everyone around her. I have loved getting to know her this past year and look forward to getting to know her more. I love being part of their family.

Most of all I am so thankful to Linda for bring Jeff into this world and raising him to be such a wonderful husband and some day he will be a great dad. 

We are so blessed with two wonderful mothers to look up to and get wisdom and support from. Thank you for always being there for us. We love you both so much! 

Happy Mother's Day!

Love Always,