I love painting class...

Some finished products...

Wine Bottles on a Tablecloth...

The same still life in monochromatic and color (don't judge my lemon, they are HARD)...

A quickly done still life (a bit rough, but I only had about an hour)...

And some works in progress...

the start of a still life, just colors blocked in and super basic shading...

And after day two, The bowl, apple in front of the bowl, front right apple in the bowl, and the back right apple in the bowl, all enhanced and shaded. (The front apple is my favorite.)

And our first potential house decor, a painting of the lighthouse we visited in St. Augustine, FL. 

If I like it enough, we will hang it in the guest bathroom, next to the blueprint Jamie bought of the same lighthouse.

Still needs some clouds, and detail work in the trees, windows, and railings, but I'm really happy with it so far. 

Taking this class=best idea ever.  

I'm so excited to discover a skill leading to something that I really enjoy, and that is relaxing and productive. It's great.

♥

Lessons learned...

Well folks, it's that time. The harvesting is done, I'm in the process of tilling the garden, and making it winter ready.  That being said, I have learned many things from having a garden this year. Some have come easily, others not so much. But here they are folks...

Top Ten things I've learned from being a first time gardener:

10. Mosquitoes like me. A lot.  This is important. I have received more bug bites this year than the last 3 years combined. And I'm pretty sensitive to them, and have bad reactions. So, bugspray has been my best friend. Seriously. I should start buying it in gallons.

9. Have a good fence. Rabbits are smart.  Learned this one the hard way. After several of my plants magically disappeared due to little bunnies. Check it continually, too, they are pretty crafty. A baby bunny got in there the other day (I have no idea how, current theory is that he grew wings and flew in) and husband spent 30 minutes trying to catch him and help him out.

8. It's okay to get dirty. In fact, expect it. I don't know why at the beginning of the summer that I could garden without getting hot, sweaty, dirty, and gross. I figured out pretty quickly that was totally dumb. It washes off anyway, so just dig in.

7. I need to get tough. And learn to build things. Take the compost bin, for example.  Every time I tried to build it, I'd work for 10 minutes, give up, and go whine to my husband. Then when I tried to finish the fence, I did the same thing.  Only then did I realize I was going to have to suck it up, and get a bit tougher.  So I stuck the fence out, and was able to finish it, and then I felt pretty good. I need to remember that.

6. Plant extras! This was a tough lesson learned when I had no green beens, hardly any lettuce, and no strawberries. I didn't plant a lot, because I was so afraid I would have a ridiculous amount of veggies, and then wouldn't know what to do with them.  So, when plants didn't come up (or where eaten by rabbits) I was out of luck.  So, it really is important to plan for the worst and plant extras, and that leads me into my next point...

5. Have a plan for your produce.  Whether it's recipes, canning, selling them or giving them away, make a plan for your stuff so that it doesn't go bad. It's a waste of your time and effort if that happens. And then you feel crummy about letting your hard work go to waste. Just ask me.

4. Crabgrass is of the devil. No explanation needed. Just look at my pictures. It's everywhere.


3. Hard Work does pay off.  It really does feel good to get to the end, and see your hard work pay off with produce.  And even before the end, when you set out to do something, and you accomplish it, the positive feelings are worth all of the effort.

2. There is always next year.  When things haven't gone my way, this is what I've told myself.  It's okay that everything didn't always work out perfectly, (only having one tiny green bean plant, for example.) It's okay.  You can just try again next year.  Next year, however, requires my number one fact about having a garden...

1. Patience is key.  This is a very difficult one for me.  I get really annoyed sometimes that the whole process isn't so much faster.  I just need to suck it up and realize that time can be my friend.  Really. It can.

So there you have it, folks! 

I'm ready for round 2 next year. 

♥

Mail that makes me happy...

Civil Wars Tickets and Mother Earth News Magazine.

Heck. Yes.

♥

These past two weeks...

Sorry friends, it's been a while.  

These past few weeks, I've started re-taking E341. 

That's right, folks, I lost my appeal. 

It's been incredibly stressful.

I feel like everything that should be easy comes with some massive complication that causes it to be 10x harder. 

I would just like to go one day without being super stressed and having a meltdown.

Just. One. Day.

But I'm not going to focus on the negatives, It's my night off, I want to enjoy it.

The few positives in my life lately:

I have been completely vegetarian for almost a month.

I'm pretty proud of myself, It's not been easy.  

Indiana isn't very accommodating to people with different eating needs.

I don't know yet if this is a lifelong transformation, but I just wanted to try it for a while.

I've been trying many different tofu recipes. 

Today's recipe:

Fried tofu. 

Pretty good, it could add some texture to steamed veggies, and would be good dipped in some sauce.

Also, my cousin got married this past weekend, so I got to get all dressed up and see a lot of my family, which was very nice, 

and spend the evening afterwards with the lovely Amanda and Joe. 

She has been a huge support to me, and even drove her book 40 minutes one way from her house to mine, because I couldn't find mine and was freaking out.

So thankful to have her as a friend.

And my last bit of good news, I love, love, love the painting class I'm taking to have enough credit hours to keep my financial aid.

Here is my first official still life, done in monochromatic form.

I'm not quite done, but I'm pretty happy with it. 

So that's life lately.

One giant ball of stressed out mess, with a little happy here and there.

I just have to get through 4 more weeks, and then it's painting for the rest of the semester.

Pray for me.

♥

Fall garden...

I waited on these seeds for my fall garden for 2 weeks,

and have been patiently and carefully getting them started in pots in my kitchen windowsill.

Yesterday, they looked like this.

See all the little sprouts with the little leaves on them? I was very excited.

Emma got on the window sill today.

10 minutes later, they looked like this.

The ones that aren't ripped completely out of the dirt are missing their leaves.

There are even little kitty teeth marks in some of the leaves!!

Anyone want a stinking cat??

This is her "what are you going to do about it, mom?" face.

Grrr.

(Okay, I don't really want to get rid of her, but the thought did cross my mind for about 10 minutes after I found them.)

I. was. furious.

So, I guess it's back to square one for a fall garden.

Dang it. 

♥

This weekend...

What a weekend it has been.

It started Saturday morning, with the arrival of our awesome new fridge...

That definitely didn't fit into our fridge space...

So Jamie had to scoot the counter over 1/4 of an inch.

He's so great. =)

It's basically the best. fridge. ever.

Then, as Jamie sat down to work on his new computer (that I waited for all day Tuesday) It died. 

Completely.

So, while he was completely freaking, I made an emergency appointment at the apple store.

Which looked like this.

And husband looked like this.

They told us his computer was DOA. Dead on arrival.

They said it only happens in 1 out of every million sales.

So, Jamie is waiting on a new one. 

He's adjusting to the idea, although he's not thrilled. 

I didn't mind the trip too much, because I got in a long overdue trip to Teavana. 

I now own a large jar of rock sugar, 2 oz. of "Spice of Life" White and 2 oz. of "Anjou Pear-adise" Oolong.

So very yummy.

Then I only had 1/2 an hour to get ready for work.

While at work, this happened.

Crazy.

The power went out, so I spent most of the evening re-booting the computers, and running around like a crazy person.

What a day.

Then today was the Mossman family picnic, 

which was fun.

We went hiking, and had a good time.

Husband then put the wine cooler under the counter on brackets, clearing some counter space,

While I started some seeds for a fall harvest (hoping it works!), 

And made a pretty flower arrangement.

And we are pretty much exhausted.

But, it's been a good weekend, and I'm hoping this week will be equally as good.

♥

Working on my grade appeal argument. 

All I want to do is quit. 

And give up.

And just be done.

It's hard, having to put one of the worst times of my life down in writing. I have to describe everything in detail, and it just makes me frustrated and upset. 

This is what's getting me through:

My husband, family, and friends, who love me no matter what, and these two scriptures:

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 

Hebrews 10:35-36

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

Even if I lose, I will know that I went into it strong, confident, and giving my best. 

For the first time, I think I can do this.

♥

Sitting, waiting, wishing...

I had plans to maybe go hang with my friend Amanda today. 

But, instead, I am sitting at my house, waiting for Jamie's computer to come from Fed-ex. 

It didn't come while he was here, so he's panicked that it won't come. 

So, here I am.

Waiting for his macbook.

Oh well, at least I've gotten stuff done around the house and yard!

Gotta look on the bright side, right?

♥