A Day In the Life: April 2017

I haven't done a "Day in the Life" post in forever (since February of 2013!!), so today I thought I'd have some fun. I'm also changing the format of the traditional "Day in the Life" post, just cause I can 😜

I woke up yesterday with the intention to blog. It was one of those mornings where I felt completely uninspired and couldn't come up with anything to say. I wrote out a post and then I reread it. Even I was bored. Deleted. One of my intentions since coming back from my break was to share quality work, not just sharing work for the sake of sharing. So I decided to take the day off from posting. To work in the garden. To do some yoga. To enjoy my pups. It was then that I had the idea to do a "Day in the Life" post so I decided to take some pictures throughout the day.

Oh yes, it's definitely time for a fun post! Let's get started-

Books Read in 2016

You guys...

I almost didn't share the books I read in 2016. I'm embarrassed. I only read 13 books in 2016, and 31% of them were those fluffy romance novels you buy at the grocery store. The kind of books that you would never review and probably not recommend either. Fun for you, but they are what they are- brain candy. The literary equivalent of a pint of ice cream. It goes down smooth and easy with no thought whatsoever. Ironically, I also read 31% of the years books in the last 2 weeks of the year, while I was on my Oregon vacation. It was a tough year. Dealing with my back injury for the entire year took its toll. Along with the injury, I also fought depression for most of the year. And when I'm depressed, my concentration is affected. My attention span is nil. It makes it tough and sometimes impossible to read. That being said, I did read some wonderful books that I'd definitely recommend. I hope next years list is more prolific but 2016 was what it was. In 2016, I read-

Got Bees?

Yesterday was the day! 

The hubby left the house at 5:30 am yesterday morning, to pick up one of his co-workers and drive west to Morehead, KY to get our bees. He was home by 11 am with a big box of what seemed like a million bees. The hum could be heard from quite a distance away. I was fascinated.

From New Construction to 3 Years

December 2012

3 years.

Well, technically it's been almost 3.5 years. But I digress. Can you believe it's been almost 3.5 years since I've done an update on the state of the homestead? Mercy. I thought we'd take some time today to remedy that. 

In case you were wondering, you can find the link to that old update here.

But for now, let's talk 3 years in!

February Findings: 2016

It's March! How did this happen? The days are flying by and I'm still way behind on my reading list for the year. Eep. 

February was a pretty jam-packed month. A snowstorm, the Super Bowl, Valentine's Day, bee school... February was pretty cool. I've got plenty of pictures from the month, so let's dive right in!

Pomegranate Lime Cosmos

I'm so excited to be posting today. And not just because I'm posting a cocktail, ha ha. Today's post is brought to you by my Christmas present! 

No, I didn't get a bottle of vodka or a pomegranate for Christmas. I besieged my family for Amazon gift cards for Christmas, all so I could pool them together and buy myself something I would use for years to come. Any guesses?

Books I Read in 2015

Time to start wrapping up 2015!

I'm looking back at the list of books I read in 2015, and it's so weird, but I feel like I just read these all yesterday. It's hard to believe that some of these I read more than 365 days ago. It was a good year for reading, if a light year. I usually aim to read 2 books a month, but I only made it to 19 this year. Mainly because I stopped reading after I read "What Alice Forgot" in October, and started writing. So I'm not beating myself up. I probably would have read 4 more books in November and December. And writing is whole other type of self-education that I'm learning to enjoy. Here's how the year of 2015 went in reading-

Autumn in Kentucky: October 2015

Hola! I'm here with a Saturday post to show you some beautiful October leaves here in Kentucky.

This (above) was the view of the road right after leaving my house. That is, until the leftovers of Hurricane Patricia went through the area, viciously taking down those oh-so-gorgeous October leaves we had going on. Well, boo to you Hurricane Patricia. We were having the most beautiful fall that I can remember around here. 

That could be because 2 years ago, we spent October in Oregon and last year we spent the last 2 weeks of October in Mexico... Hmmm...

At any rate, the hillsides have been awash of gold and red, with the occasional evergreen poking out here and there. If I were to go back and take pictures today (these were taken last weekend), everything would look vastly different. Plus, they would all be gloomy and gray and who wants to look at those right??

What I Learned In My 2nd Year of Gardening

Well, I think it's time.

I officially put the garden to bed yesterday. Actually, I did most of the work on Friday before our first heavy frost. I was at the gym, walking on the treadmill, minding my own business when the local garden guy came on the news. He advised getting any vegetables you might have in the garden, out of the garden before the cold weather. I still had a few tomatoes and peppers on the vines, so I got to work. 

I pulled the last few green tomatoes, and put them in closed paper bags in the basement. They'll be ripe in a couple of weeks, and that will be a nice treat. I pulled up the tomato and pepper plants, and added them to the compost. 

Master Bedroom Update

It's done, it's finally done!

A funny thing happens to those who like to take pictures, and take them often. You start to lose any patience with bad pictures. You start to become a little bit of a perfectionist, not wanting to share any pictures that are less than perfect. That's exactly how I've been with this project. Taking and re-taking. Re-taking and taking more pictures. Moaning over shadows and light and angles, and a million other things that I'm sure I'm the only one who cares about.

I'm done. I've decided that the layout of the master bedroom and the location, size, etc. of the windows in the room are always going to produce lighting and angles that are not pleasing to me. Enough is enough, and it's time to share the update.

May in the Jarrell Garden

-plus an announcement!

Good morning, and happy Wednesday!

I know I've been away all week, and I apologize. It's been a fairly busy sort of week, between getting the garden going, keeping up with the lawn, and oh yeah, raising a puppy that's new to the homestead. I just wanted to share how the garden is looking at this oh-so-early time of year-

Spring 2015 aka Chipmunkpaloosa

Hello from Kentucky this wonderful Tuesday morning!

I'm not so sure about the wonderful part, since I've gotten up early for an appointment plus it's raining. But, to look on the bright side-

1. I got to see a big frog this morning, since it's raining. Just chilling on the driveway, enjoying the early spring rise in temperature.

2. I don't have to water anything I planted over the weekend. 

Home Decor: Window Box Centerpiece

I thought I would take a quick break from food blogging today to share my new spring-y centerpiece. I mentioned (more than a month ago, BTW) that I'd purchased a new runner and I was planning on over-hauling my dining room table centerpiece. It's now complete, so I wanted to share it with everyone!

My 2015 Goals

It's time to talk change. Self-improvement. Growth. You know, all that stuff that we humans loathe to do. I, myself, am a highly self-motivated person. When I set a goal, I work hard to get there. As such, I thought before I laid out my 2015 goals that we would see how I did on last year's goals.

My first goal was to run a 10k. Accomplished! I ran my first 10k in August. It was extremely hilly and my time wasn't the best, but I did it.

Me and the hubby at the Cincinnati Beer Run in May 2014.

For The Birds

Female cardinal at the feeder.

Nerdy confession time-

I really like bird-watching.

I mean,  I really, really like bird watching. They fascinate me. I could spend an afternoon in a chair by my French doors leading to the backyard, camera in hand, endlessly watching them fly from one tree to another. The hubby and I have acquired 2 bird feeders (and 1 one squirrel feeder that's now a woodpecker feeder) thus far, and I think it's just the beginning. I'm so excited to get some birdhouses in the spring to try and attract some nesting families. 

Are you snickering at me yet? Probably, but that's ok. I'm ok with my avian love. On that note, yes, I've taken lots of pictures of those flying, feathered creatures in my backyard. In the snow no less!

This is my squirrel feeder that now appears to be a woodpecker feeder. This is the female woodpecker at her claimed meal spot. She loves banging away on it.

This is Woody, the male woodpecker.. He's never far from the house, you can always here him when you go outside. He's the loudest woodpecker I've ever known.

A fat little bluejay.

The female woodpecker likes the other feeders as well.

The female cardinal guarding the feeder from what appears to be a finch (or chickadee? Don't know on that one).

Male cardinal by the re-claimed squirrel feeder.

I just love male cardinals.

Nuthatch at the feeder.

I found the female woodpecker's hiding spot!

She's a crafty one :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! We've still got inches of snow on the ground (although not nearly as much my loved ones in Oregon who have received 13 inches of snow in the last couple of days!), which I'm not loving. Our private lane is packed hard with ice, making it hard to get out of the house. The roads are clear if we can get off our private lane, which takes some effort. There's also a chance of more snow in the forecast. I bet you can guess what we're doing today... That's right! Hunkering down and watching movies!

Are we the most exciting couple ever or what?

Happy Sunday friends!

Home Decor: Holiday Decorating

Happy Wednesday!

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm 30 years old, and I'm just starting to accumulate holiday decorations. This is my first home, and we've been in it for 1 year as of yesterday (side note- I can't believe it's been a year already!). While the hubby and I have had our Christmas tree for a couple of years now, I've never had any other holiday decor. I never really cared. Call it getting older, or whatever you want, but the list of things that interest me has changed wildly from when I was younger. I am now ravenous about decor. So weird. Anyhoo, building a home full of decor takes time and mucho dinero. A little at a time has always been my motto. Here's what I added to my collection this year:

I already have a house full of hurricanes, because I'm a candle nut. I'm finding that switching the material in my hurricanes is one of the cheapest and easiest decor changes I can make. I removed the sand from my dining room table hurricanes, and replaced it with cranberries. Very festive!

I'm also crazy about flowers, I love a poinsettia for the holidays. I also couldn't resist this little snowman snow globe.

I usually keep fruit in these glass jars I keep on the island. Again, it's super easy to switch out the material. I filled one with ornaments, one with decorative pretzel sticks, and one with Christmas lights (the glass jar in the back, it's hard to see). 

Glass full o' Christmas lights. 

Our tree! We've had it for 4 years, but I still love it. The hubby has to fight me every year to take it down. 2 weeks into January :)

I love this rustic, country holiday sign. I placed this on the entryway table. 

Another update-

I did the unthinkable. I joined a gym. Dun..dun...DUN. I hate gyms, but I've determined I hate running when it's under 40º. After a 5 day rest from running and a complete case of cabin fever, I knew something had to be done. I never realized how much I took my elliptical for granted before it kicked the bucket! Yesterday was the first day I went, and it actually wasn't too bad. I don't think the gym membership will last once the weather is nice again, but it will do for the winter. I gotta move, or I go nutty cuckoo.

I hope everyone's having a good week, I can't believe how fast time flies during the holidays. Pretty soon I'm going to have to start baking!

No complaints there :)

Enjoying Something I've Always Hated

I'm not a natural-born runner. Or a fast runner. Or even a good runner.

I've hated running my entire life. I've come to realize now, as an adult, that while my childhood self was really speedy, I also had no endurance. Not a lick of stamina. I was technically in good shape, I loved being athletic. I played soccer, basketball, softball, volleyball, ran track, and competed on my high school's dance team. I was playing sports year round, which means I was getting plenty of exercise everyday. But I never ran. I hated conditioning, and ended up giving up soccer and basketball to focus on the two sports that made me run the least: volleyball and dance. Loved them, still love them, but they don't require the same endurance as say football or cross-country. They just don't.

For the last couple of years, I've had a pretty much exclusive relationship with my elliptical machine. While I got in some yoga and Pilates on the DL, I pretty much stayed loyal to that machine. That lasted until one month ago. My elliptical machine found its way to that special place for dead electronics in the sky. It was bound to happen, it was 6 years old. I'd logged in plenty of hours on the ol' girl, she had a good life. It was time to think about what I was going to do. Buy another one? Join a gym? Become a couch potato/obsessed soap opera fan? After a lot of thought on the subject, I'm currently at that I-really-want-a-new-elliptical-but-I-really-don't-want-to-pay-for-it state of mind. I decided I would run stairs here at the house until I found a good deal on an elliptical.

2 days into running stairs (OMG, I hate running stairs. Talk about BORING), I up and decided to go for a run. Outside. What was I thinking? I hadn't run in years, and besides, didn't I hate running? Sure enough, the first run sucked. My legs felt like they were being yanked from my body, my hips felt about 80 years old, and I never felt like I could gulp enough air. I wasn't even able to run a mile without walking. At the same time, it felt kind of good. I found this strange, because I'd never felt that way before. In fact, it felt so good, I've continued.

Yesterday, the hubby and I participated in the Path to the Cure event in Huntington, WV. 3000 walkers and runners showed up, all decked out in pink for the 5K. I'd only been out running a couple of times before the race, but I managed to run almost the entire race. The hubby thinks I may have walked 2-4 blocks, which isn't bad for me. I'm pretty proud I just finished. Plus, now I have an actual time that I can try to beat while I'm enjoying my fall running.

Path to the Cure
Huntington, WV
September 29, 2013

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone has a great week!

Shifting Gears

Retail Value: $136.14.
Paid: $30.39
Saved: 78%

This couponer has come to that point in their life when their stockpile is good enough. Or rather, enough is enough. I have more shampoo than I could use in the next couple of years, enough chap stick to give 20 of my closest friends 5 of their own sticks, and toothpaste really seems to be spontaneously regenerating itself. For all my ideas about making beauty baskets for people for Christmas and just giving out items here and there, I'm just not using enough of what I've stocked. I've decided it's time to use my powers for good. Couponing for charity! I love couponing, I love to shop, and I like to help people. I cleared out my stockpile, and I'm donating the bulk of it to our local women's shelter. I also decided that since I'm going to be there anyway, I might as well take all my old clothes and shoes while I'm at it.

What I've got going to the shelter tomorrow- 3 large tubs of clothes, 1 large tub of shoes, and 1 large tub chock full of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, razors, deodorant, etc. There's at least 20 warm sweaters in those tubs (among the plethora of other clothing items), I'm hoping they go to good use this winter.

I'm starting 2 other projects as well. A donation for my local animal shelter and a donation for my local homeless shelter.

I'm starting small on these next 2 projects, but everyone's got to start somewhere. I'm hoping to have sizable donations to make in December. How am I doing this? Just using my coupons to pick up free, or close-to-free items.

I'm excited to start some new projects. Here's hoping my pictures of my final donations in December knock everyone's socks off!

Hey, It's Ok... Fantasy Football Edition

Image source: NFL

So, I guess I could be considered a girly-girl. I like clothes, makeup, shoes, purses, shopping, hair, etc. However, this girly-girl loves football. I grew up in a football-centric household. If there was a football game on TV, the TV would be on that channel. No if's, and's, or but's about it. No negotiations. My childhood home was a football dictatorship run by my mom. Yes, my mom. Maybe I inherited my love of football from her? It's hard to say. All I know is I was raised in a household where when my brother brought home a girl from the Bronx, New York, she was completely flabbergasted that my mom and I were at a college football game, and my dad was home cleaning the house and cooking us dinner. I look forward to football season every year, it's like Christmas time for me. I love Saturday's spent watching college football, Sunday's spent watching the NFL, and Monday night's with pizza, beer, and MNF. And one of my favorite parts of football season? Fantasy football! This could be why I like fall so much... Nevertheless, here is my fantasy football edition of "Hey, it's ok..."

Hey, it's ok...

-if you've had one too many gin and tonics on draft day, and your first round draft pick is Mark Sanchez. Quarterback's not an important position, right?

-to call your commissioner and tell them that your hot water heater blew up, taking out your electrical grid, and causing a massive power outage, which stopped you from setting your lineup and could they please just unlock the lineup so you can set it?

-to hastily add that the hot water heater also took out your wireless internet, so you couldn't even set your lineup on your phone.

-if Week 6 you are desperately searching the waiver wires for a wide receiver after Reggie Wayne just dropped his millionth pass of the season.

-if you have an epic meltdown (complete with screaming, tears, and snot) after Reggie Wayne scores more points than he ever has the week after you drop him.

-to ponder if you are bipolar after your defense (the Broncos) intercepts a ball late in the 4th quarter, and instead of a pick 6, Danny Trevathan drops the ball at the 1 yard line. You've never gone from so elated to so pissed so fast.

-if you win your league, and believe you own bragging rights for the next 5 years.

-if you picture laying waste to your spouse in your head when they take Peyton Manning before you, even when you told them that's the only person you cared was on your roster.

-to make your spouse sleep on the couch for their audacity in participating in this Manning-gate.

-to secretly cheer for your team's division rival because you have their quarterback and tight-end. Even when they are playing your team. Just don't admit this one out loud.

-to be apprehensive about watching football around children, the elderly, or your in-laws, because you are actually afraid of what might come out of your mouth after downing a 6-pack of beer.

-if you go into a deep depression followed by a drinking binge when football season is over. Now who will you scream and throw your beer can at on Sunday's??

Superbowl 2010

Happy Hump Day! :)

25 Things You May Not Know About Me- Take 2!

1. I'm a speedy reader. I read Catching Fire in 7 hours.

Image source: Wikipedia

2. I watch at least 2 hours a day of Friends. Well, I might not be completely watching it, but it's on in the background for at least 2 hours a day.
3. I didn't eat eggs until I was 16, or clam chowder till I was 20.
4. I've got a girl-crush on Jennifer Lawrence.
5. I'm addicted to online shopping. And Pinterest.
6. Sephora is my favorite store to shop in, with Victoria's Secret and American Eagle coming in close second and third.

Image source: simplychicxox.blogspot.com

7. Gone with the Wind is my favorite book and movie.
8. I wish I could have hedgehogs as pets.

Image source: rosecityhedgehogs.com

9. I hate the Patriots.
10. I love the Steelers.
11. My dream job would involve working with dogs in some manner.
12. At one point, I had braces, glasses, and a perm. All at the same time. Yikes.
13. I love living in the country, even though I never thought I would growing up.
14. I don't wear my engagement ring all the time, because I'm scared to death I'm going to lose it.

15. I carry at least 2-3 lip balms with me at all times.
16. I don't feel supportive of Paula Deen. The n-word tops my list of words you don't say, along with the r-word and the f-word (and I don't mean the f-word that rhymes with luck).
17. HBO and Showtime shows drive me crazy. Why do they only do 10 episode seasons once a year? True Blood, Homeland, Dexter, and Game of Thrones all make me want scream when they wrap up a season.
18. I think Game of Thrones is the best show on TV right now.

Image source: Fansided

19. I think Homeland is a close second.
20. I secretly wish I could pull off bright red hair.

Image source: Tumblr

21. My favorite color is purple, and has been since high school.
22. I wear yoga pants 90% of the time.
23. I've bought 872 songs on i-Tunes.
24. Sleeping is one of my favorite things to do, but it's also one of the hardest things for me to do.
25. I like to make up dance routines in my house when no one is home.