Good Times with Good Friends

Wednesday night this last week Josh and I hosted a dinner get together with some of our friends. The weather actually turned out to be nice so we were able to eat outside and use our patio! Dinner was so incredibly tasty. I made a fresh bruschetta for an appetizer, and for dinner we bought a ton of pizza toppings and individual sized Indian flatbreads so everyone could make what suited their taste buds. Instead of baking them, Josh threw them on the grill. One of the couples brought a delicious caesar salad to share, and my friend Amber brought rhubarb crisp and vanilla ice cream for dessert. We had such a good time! It was so cozy on our little patio with the colored lights strung amongst the vines on the garage and a warm campfire in the fire pit. It was so relaxing to hang out and converse with friends till late in the night. We definitely will be doing this again! Hooray for having a backyard!

Spring Flowers

So this first picture isn't of a flower, but I had to show off my new tunic I just finished making last night. I love it! I've made the dress version but have wanted to make this shorter version to wear to work or just out about town. This was taken in our backyard, and to my right is what is referred to as the "tiki tree." It's actually a mulberry tree. And right behind me is a very healthy peony. I can't wait to see what color flowers it has!
I'm not sure what kind of flower this is, but it just started blooming today. Does anyone have any guesses?I refer to this area in the back around the patio as our "woodland" area complete with ferns, vines, hostas, and......an amazing amount of Jack-in-the-Pulpits! This is such an interesting and beautiful plant. I was so excited when they started popping up everywhere. There have to be at least 20 of them.

Dorcas Widows Fund

I started off the work week by updating and doing some new drawings for a widow's village in Kampala, Uganda. The village is being built and supported by the organization "Dorcas Widows." I am so amazed that I get to work on projects like this one. You should really check out their website: www.dorcaswidows.org and read some of the widows' stories. I can't put into words what I felt after reading these stories. Once I read one I couldn't stop. These women endure so much and struggle beyond what I can comprehend. They really need our help. The organization has already purchased land to build the village, but now they need funds to build homes for 30 widows and the many children they take care of. I stongly encourage you, even if it is only a few dollars, to consider sharing some of your blessings to bless these women and children. A little bit can go a long way. It's for projects like these that makes getting up and going to work so exciting. I really feel blessed to have this job. Help me and this organization make an incredible impact on the lives of the Dorcas Widows.

Green Thumb?

It's too dark to take a picture now, but I must say our backyard looks very different from the previous post. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped us get it in shape (for all the gardening tools and plants)! I especially want to thank my mom for putting in a whole day's worth of weeding, trimming and planting with me on Saturday. We really accomplished a lot. We discovered we have a beautiful peony plant, an incredible amount of jack-in-the-pulpits, and lots of other stuff I can't remember the names of at the moment. Those were the two most exciting discoveries. Some of the things we added to our garden include hostas, phlox, lamium, columbine, tomatoes, green peppers, lettuce, carrots, coneflower, day lilies, grape hyacinths, ... and maybe a couple others.

Last night after working at REI, I spent a couple hours in the front yard trying to pull out all the dandelion weeds. I should have taken a before and after picture. I was quite amazed with myself. Although I went out there this morning and saw some of those suckers already popping up again! ARGH. The good news about the front yard is that the crab apple tree is full of little soft pink blooms. It is gorgeous! I can't wait to see the three massive hydrangea plants next to our front door bloom later this summer. I wonder what color they are.

Tonight after work Josh and I spent a couple hours tearing out the dead grass patches (which I learned is called thatch), loosening up the dirt, and planting new grass seed. Thank goodness we have a modest sized yard. The soil seems to be a decent quality, so as long as we can keep it watered I think it should grow alright.

I never was one to help my mom in the yard while growing up. I would always try to find one reason or another to get out of weeding. I'm enjoying our little yard and garden but don't think I will ever want one that's much larger! I guess only time will tell if my mom passed on her green thumb afterall.

Our New Home

We've moved! Josh and I finally have more than a crammed one bedroom apartment to call home. We are so excited to unpack and settle in (well, not that excited...it's a lot of work!). The one room we were able to get completely unpacked on moving day was the kitchen thanks to lots of extra help. I must say that is a pretty big accomplishment. Some of the other great perks of moving to Minneapolis include a MUCH shorter commute to work (for my full-time and Josh's part-time jobs), waking up to birds singing and fat squirrels sitting outside our windows (we saw a squirrel run off with a whole bagel the other day), being close to the downtown action and all the lakes, having a doorbell, having our own washer and dryer that doesn't require gobs of quarters, being able to plant a garden,... I'm sure I'll have more to add to the list soon.Come over sometime this spring/summer for a bbq!