May Day Birthdays!

 Two of my very favorite people are celebrating tomorrow.  Heidi and Ralph are both May Day babies.  Yes for those of you who may not know... Heidi is the one in the red hat. I love this picture because this was Heidi when we were growing up; weird cowgirl shirt handmedown, no visible long blonde hair, her face hiding under a giant baseball cap, oh and you can't see in this picture but she is probably wearing really clunky ten pound hiking boots. (I still have the bruises on my shins...)  Plus she is Graduating from Utah State this weekend!  Way to go Heidi! I love you! You are an amazing person and a great sister.

Ralph always gloats about what a cute baby he was... well, maybe it's just because he is my husband but if you know Ralph... you may have seen this adorable, enthusiastic, childlike look on his face.  And the coolest thing about Ralph is... is that I don't mean maybe you saw it when he was little, or ten years ago... I mean... you can see it in his face almost every single day.  That is my favorite thing about Ralph, he manages to remain childlike in the best ways... his enthusiasm... his willingness to play... his humility... and most of all his genuine sweetness.  I am so lucky... an awesome sister, and a sweetheart of a husband.  Happy Happy Birthday.   

 

I am in Luuuuuv!

Isn't it the way life always works that the second you make a decision and settle for something, the perfect thing pops right into your life.  Okay perhaps this is a bit dramatic but I settled on buying a couch which is a great couch and was a STEAL.  But I was holding out for so long waiting for the perfect couch, I searched and searched, and came up with nothing.  Then, boom, two months after I settle, this little beauty was for sale on Urban Outfitters.  Those who don't have a flair for the mid-century modern may not understand but when I saw this I literally cried out, oh my gosh!  You can ask Ralph he will vouch, I made him come over to look and he sweetly pretended to be interested.  Well, perhaps I can convince Ralph to spend our gov't economy boost moolah.  Pretty please....

HAIRCUT!!!!!!

I've finally done it.... I cut off my hair...sniff...sniff, I will admit I did have a bit of a break down this afternoon but Ralph is amazing and he has been raving about how much he likes it...I have the best husband in the world.  Well it was about time I made a change, I've had the same hair for about ten years...wow it is crazy to think I've been stuck in a rut for ten years with the same old haircut.  It is equally as crazy how attatched I was, but honestly it has been the one thing I am always complimented on, so as you can imagine I didn't want to give it up.  It is also a huge relief not only was my hair heavy but it is nice to have a fresh new outlook on life.  Besides I feel extra spunky now!   

Some people have kids...some have puppies...we have SEEDLINGS!!!!!

We've been peeking in our little flats every hour for the past week, waiting in anticipation, watching as if we might will the little seeds to grow with the power of our stares and and yesterday low and behold, our little plants have sprouted.  Today they have magically multiplied and unfurled their tiny little leaves.  Oh, they are so cute!  If you've never grown anything, you should try it.... it really is magical.    

Planning our Garden

Is it actually coming?  Has spring almost sprung.  This winter has done a number on our backs ( okay, okay... Ralph's back) with the enormous amounts of snow, and it looks like it has still been putting up a fight these last couple of days.  But we are trusting in the seasons and Ralph finally gets to use all of his Math skills as we have been planning our garden with Ralph's perfectly accurate and to-scale drawing of our little plot o' land out back.  He has been working diligently and enthusiastically on measurements and we have finally selected our seeds... yes, I said seeds, we got ambitious this year and wanted to start our plants from seeds.  We are planting some wonderful heirloom varieties this year, we ordered them from www.seedsavers.com , a really neat company which lets growers sell and share their heirloom seeds, which is cool because of the staggering numbers of seed extinctions by big corporations who "own" the rights to those seeds.  All this info is from a great book we've been listening to by one of my favorite authors,  Barbara Kingsolver, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," it is really interesting and we really recommend it to anyone who cares about the food they eat.

The veggies we've picked also have amazing names, sheepnose pimento peppers, japanese trifele black tomatoes, and tango lettuce,(pictured above) are just some of them... I'm just excited to finally see something alive and growing again, and I admit I kinda like coming in the house with fresh picked, tomatoes, peppers, and zuchinni, and picking the dark dirt from under my nails as ralph throws together a light, fresh summer pasta.  yummmmm... I can't wait.