PICTURES! Finally... (long post, sorry)

Here's a photo story type update:

First: Dogs in the snow.

Hayden



Penny running around

They loved it.

Okay, now for a few pics from the Farm


Before clearing the land


Very Tall Grasses


Items Removed...


After clearing the land - no more grasses


But we did plant a cover crop!


It WILL look like this, just not yet :)


The dogs are happy with the room to run...

The end!
More soon :)

March Madness? Spring Awakening? Another overly-used phrase that has nothing to do with this post in place of a title?

Well hello!

March seems to have brought a cleaning bug into my home. J and I have both been going through old boxes, throwing crap out that we don't need/want/use/etc. We're both looking forward to moving, but not looking forward to actually MOVING stuff that we don't have any use or desire for. I think that has us in a bit of a "let's just take care of it now" mode. I've also been working on other housekeeping type things: mailing back our census, taking care of taxes, cleaning out the fridge, etc. I love it. I absolutely love that we're getting everything in order and minimizing the crap we have just laying around.

We're also looking at other ways to save money. We went from grocery shopping at the local, expensive chain store to Walmart (yes, I know. But dude! 25% savings! When we're pinching pennies to pay bills, we do what we need to). We finally got sick and grossed out by our Walmart shopping, and I've switched us to the Farmer's Market. Yes, we pay more for meat - but we're eating organic and locally raised meat now. We're also saving on our veggies, and only buying what we need. For other products, we've taken to the Trader Joe's. I hate the crowds there, but it fills our boxed-goods needs. Now if only we can find a place to buy our dogfood on the cheap...

So, we're cleaning house, the budget, and eating better foods. All this without a New Year's Resolution looming over our heads. I like this.

That's all. Nothing new or revolutionary beyond that - I just wanted to let you all know that there's a happy bug growing :)

Phew - An AMAZING weekend

Good news everyone! I have good news!

This weekend was, beyond a doubt, amazing. And you all should know.

Friday night: not so awesome. J and I were wiped out in a MAJOR way from our weeks, and decided that changes needed to be made. In the short-term, however, we needed to eat. A short trip to the local Moosehead bar turned our spirits around completely: Hopslam was available and good food was to be had. +1

Saturday: after sleeping in as long as we possibly could, we set off in pursuit of our day. Errands, naps, and general merriment with our pups during the afternoon lead into a hilarious dinner at Boudreaux's that included Category 2, 4, and 5 hurricanes and a veggie burger that was as big as my face. I have the picture to prove it. I do need to confess something to you: I'm not sure how we weren't kicked out of there.... There was too much laughter and happiness going on there. We moved the party across the street for Mike Garrigan & Mark Kano playing at the Muse. If you were at our wedding: they were the entertainment. We love them, they love us, good times. Our evening wrapped up with some Chappelle Show. +8

Et par-dessus le marché, Sunday was perfect. Coffee and giggles in the AM, cleaning and doggie time in the afternoon, Super Bowl in the evening. There was, for the first time ever, just enough food. Usually there's too much or not enough - but last night was perfect. The game was fun and a great showing of two teams that deserved to be there. +5

So - I'm happy to report some happiness in our neck of the woods. Expect more to come with the impending Spring and planting season!

I have done it... I really have...

I have become that girl that I never could understand.
I have, legitimately, forgotten to eat.

Now, I do realize that it is around 2pm, so I can still eat "lunch"... but go with me on this:

Noon: Hey, look, Noon! I should eat. Yay Eating! Lemme just finish this one thing...
1: Woah, where did that hour go. I should go make my soup.
1:30: Glad that report is finished! Okay, going to the microwave.
1:31: What? That's a cool new feature of my product! I should look into this!
1:45: Mmm, my tummy hurts, I wonder wh-- DOH!
1:47: Timer goes off on the microwave, my lunch is ready! But, I don't hear it - drafting an email about said cool new feature.
2:04: Finally pull my soup out of the microwave and eat lunch, while telling you all about it.

Now, why on earth is it important for me to relay this information to you?
Because I don't forget to eat. I don't get so distracted that I'm not thinking about food. I just don't. And when people say: "ahh, I forgot to eat breakfast/lunch/dinner today," I DON'T understand! I mean, I sometimes just don't have a chance to eat, or don't have food nearby - but I think this is the first time that I have actually been mind-blocked enough to Forget that I was thinking about food.

I'm changing. I don't even know me anymore.

What is this?

Two posts within 5 days?!?!?! What the deuce?

I can't handle all the excitement that's been happening recently - so I decided to write about it.

First: my grandma is taking a slow and graceful bow out of this world right now. I don't know if it'll be tomorrow, or next week, or 7 months from now... but they've official begun to "make her comfortable." While it is a relief (she's been sick for 9+ months now), it is still sad.
Then, J started having issues with his back recently. They're work related, so we'll see what happens with that.

Here's some good news:
Before all the sad happened, I was able to get some major work on my office done. I know, I know - you don't believe me. But Daddy came over and helped me hang shelves - so the "office" portion of the room is done! Seriously! Everything's on the shelves and organized! I'm pleased. We also hung the shelves for the "craft" portion of the room. I'll tackle that when I dern well please.

More good news: The Jets and Vikings did not advance to the SuperBowl, but the Saints did. Why am I happy about the Saints? To start, they represent the NFC South and are not the Falcons (I have a horrible dislike for ATL). Second, they haven't been to the Big Dance before. They've been around since 1967... so this is severely overdue. Third, Drew Brees is the Bacchus Parade King this year. I think it is quite fitting that he also bring the team to the SB. And Last, but not Least: Cajun Food. Why would this be included? I tend to cook meals based on the teams playing. For example, if the Panthers are playing the Buffalo Bills: I make Wings. Once the Colts won the AFC title, I was begging for the Saints to win. There really isn't a food highly associated with Indi, and I didn't want to make Brats for the Vikings. Thus, thank goodness the Saints won because now I know what to cook.

And the final piece of good news!
I have received my Peaceful Valley seed catalog and I'm gearing up for the planting season. I just wish I had more land... We'll see how this year goes!

See, I'm trying to be happy and optimistic! :D

New Post!

Hey guys.
It has almost been a month (again) since we last chatted. Not tooooo much has happened - we're just sort of chugging along.

We've been getting some good work done on the Hop Farm though. We've picked 5 of our 6 hop varieties, and should have the last one soon (deciding between 2). Once we get it figured out, I'll post it so y'all can get excited. We've also found a good number of homebrew buyers in the city who think they can buy our whole first year crop. With the varieties we've picked, we hope they'll be able it buy it all - they are heavy producing plants! If not, there's plenty of homebrew markets that will take a few pounds off our hands. Basically, we're stoked.

Babies have been born in our little world recently. None that belong to me and J (just us and the dogs). Its nice though - seeing little ones brought into the world that are healthy with 10 fingers and 10 toes. Little babies that are loved, even if the parents' world has been totally shaken to the core. Babies aren't just a miracle of science and biology. They are a miracle of emotions too. Its nice to see that.

Life has been keeping us on our toes recently. But as wild as the ride is right now: we're trying to keep it simple. There's been a lot of football watching and back-patio grilling... We're thrilled that LOST is coming back in a couple week. I love that things are simple - but I'm excited for when we get busy with the farm.

Okay! Its time to get the weekend started. Happy January everyone, and may your resolutions be easy to keep!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Hey-a everybody!

What a wild and crazy December it has been.

J and I have attempted a fairly low-key month, and failed miserably. It has been wonderful though.

The brewery launched two new beers this month. One was a short release (only 950 bottles total, 10 kegs), and the other was for their winter beer. The short release is now 100% gone (3 weeks later...), and the other is rockin' and rollin' throughout the city. The brewery has also received national accolades for the flagship beer! Of course, this means that J has been relatively busy to keep up with the increased demand. Hooray!

I've also been busy with work and taking care of family stuff. Nothing too terribly exciting there. :D

However, we did have our annual Christmas party, and it was a blast! Lots of good food, friends, wine/beer, and memories. Seriously, once I figure out pictures on this thing, there will be some up here.

This past weekend was especially nutty. Friday night was icy and rainy and gross: so we opted to stay in. Thank goodness for the little bit of sleep I got on Friday night! Saturday was spent in the wild world of Christmas Shopping. We usually do all our shopping online, but circumstances required we leave our glowing computer monitors and venture into the world. Stupid.
Then: Athenaeum concert at Amos' until 3AM. Yeah - have I mentioned that I'm too old for that? No? Okay. I am too old for a 3AM concert.
Sunday was football, more football, and then going to the Panthers/Vikings game in the evening. I have to tell you all about it because it was one of the best nights of my 20's (of course, getting engaged, married, and all that stuff is up there too).

First, we had tickets on the 30-yard line, 13 rows up. Yeah. CLOSE. (Squeal) They were given to us by a friend of mine who wasn't going to be able to make it to the game.
We arrived in uptown a little early, because we actually wanted to watch the pre-game warm ups and the like. I mean, Brett Farve in our stadium? Yeah - I want to see this. We walk into the bowl and have ourselves a sit - nestled in the middle of a crowd of Vikings fans. Wait, what? Oh- yeah, we're behind the visitor's bench. Crap. It looked like it was going to be a loooooooooooooong night. A few more Panther fans arrived during the next 30 minutes... so that was nice.
Then, the game happened. Not just any game though, and definitely not the stomping we were expecting to receive. The Panthers looked great. Defense was hitting hard, Offense was coordinated and finally looked like they were all on the same team. Heck, even the fans were in it to win it. We had nothing to play for: our playoff hopes were dashed the night before. But we were out for a W, and we got it. Not only that, but J and I were sitting in a hot bed of awesomeness. The cold never got to us, my voice never stung, and the Panthers never relented. I yelled on every down, and the crowd was responding. At one point, I yelled "Momma wants a first down!" A couple sitting a row in front of us responded with: "Give Momma her first down!" I taught a little girl (probably 5 years old) how to trash talk. She was a natural. There was also some pretty decent coffee at the stadium. Who would've thought?

Also, I love it when friends come into town for the holidays. It makes my heart happy. Especially when I can bring them to the Brewery :D

Happy Holidays everyone! We hope you and a very merry holiday with friends and family!