Friday, July 29, 2011
6 Year Anniversary
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Butterfly Container Class
So I signed up to take the Butterfly Container Workshop where I would learn how to make a container garden that will attract butterflies. The Propagator at the garden taught the class... who is basically the coolest person that works at the garden... so I knew I would have fun.
The class started with a basic overview of the life cycle of the butterfly and what it takes to attract and keep butterflies around the garden. Like mama butterflies lay their eggs on host plants... so when the baby caterpillars hatch... BAM instant food. Crazy. So after the little overview, we had the chance to pick out the plants we wanted. I wish I knew the names of the plants I picked, but the only one I recognized was parsley, which is food for caterpillars.Really I was grabbing pretty flowers that she said would attract lots of butterflies!
Then came the really fun part... we all took a tram out to our butterfly house to have a personal talk with the gardener that designed the butterfly house. So cool! Now even though I work at the garden, I don't really get to see the gardeners (except for meetings and stuff) so I never get to actually talk to them about the work they do. So I was super interested to hear from her all the cool stuff behind the house.
In the end, I decided to use red and purple colored flowers with lots of green from the parsley. The main thing with containers is to have the different heights for visual interest, so I had some that would grow up and some that would grow out and down. The final product ended up being very green, but I am really happy with it. Once the flowers start to bloom it will be so colorful. I'm excited to see how it develops.
Friday, July 15, 2011
My Forever DIY Project
Case in point, the dresser I bought at a thrift store the summer before my senior year at ECU. I bought it for like $20 bucks and lugged the massive thing all the way from VB to Greenville. The finish on it was horrible (white chipped paint with crayon markings everywhere!) and it was obvious that there were many coats of paint on it. So I painstakingly started scraping off each layer at a time with a razor blade. I could have used some chemicals to help, but I was living in an apartment at the time and didn't want to kill myself or Lexi with fumes. So I scrapped and scrapped and scrapped. I remember finals week right before graduation, scrapping at the dresser thinking ... I should be studying instead of working on this stupid dresser! Still not finished, I lugged the thing back to VB where it stayed in the garage while I putzed around. Eventually I gave up and slapped a coat of white paint on it. I didn't even sand it, so to say it looked like crap is an understatement. But I called it shabby chic, so I could get away with it.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
I'm Back!
First off, I am finally done with my actual graduate classes. Whew! And I made it through with a 4.0... quite an accomplishment I think... I am super proud of myself. All I have left is my student teaching in the fall (which is pass fail, hence the 4.0). That will be quite a challenge in itself... mainly the whole working for 3 1/2 months in the school for free, but is necessary. I'm looking forward to it... but more looking forward to getting it done and moving on to a real job!!
Second, I bought a new car! I had to say goodbye to my old Trooper and hello to my lovely brand new Mazda, named Rita. I had the Trooper for 7 years and I absolutely loved it, but it was slowly falling apart. Every month was a new repair, so it was time to move on.
I have also fallen off the wagon a bit too as far as my fitness goes. After Shamrock, I just didn't have time for any running or anything. Between school, work, and practicum... I was just swamped and that was the first thing to go. Now that the semester ended... I still had trouble getting into it. I was planning on doing my first triathlon in June... but when the semester ended in May, I felt totally unprepared to do a tri. In the past I have been know to just wing it and run a race even if I am not prepared... but a triathlon is a bit different. I decided to postpone it until I had the time to devote to training. I don't want to half ass things anymore!
Which brings me to today! I am slowly getting back on track as far as my fitness goes. I have started the Couch to 5k program over and am slowly getting back into the grove. The next race I am officially signed up for is the Wicked 10k in October, but am looking on adding on more. But I want to make sure I am back on track before I start signing up for things again.
There are lots of other bits and bobs going on, but I can't give it all away now! I have lots of DIY, cooking, frugalness and yes, work out posts to come. Get ready!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Shamrock 8k
After a long day of work on Friday I came home and the last thing I wanted to do was drive to the beach to get my packet. But the Momsters convinced me to go and went with me. The expo looked cool, but I was ravenous, so hanging around the expo did not interest me. So we went home, ate dinner, and all headed to bed for an early morning wake up call.
The morning of the race I was feeling better and getting in the mode of racing. I figured it was too late to back out now since the Mom, Jen and Scottie were all going with me. Traffic was horrendous and my oatmeal started to taste more and more like Elmer's glue with every bite, but we eventually made it. The start line was crowded and the spitting rain was not fun. Since we got there at the crack of dawn, there was lots of waiting around, which did not help my nerves.
I finally made it to my corral and waited to scoot to the start line. I ended up basically walking the whole way up to the start next to the family. Which provided great photo opportunities...
Finally at the start and we were off. I had a nice steady pace in the beginning since my past couple of races I found myself start off with too much umf.
I was almost at the 1st mile marker when I saw a friend from high school, so I slowed down to say hey. After a quick chat I took off because they were already walking and I was not trying to walk the whole thing. I did get a fun crown out of the chat because my friend did not like running with something on her head. I said I'm used to running with things on my head... think Wicked 10k.
The rest of the race was just a normal race, nothing odd or bad went wrong. No cramps, pain, nothing. I was super pleased. I ran with no ipod, so I had the chance to take in the scenery and interact with the people around me. There was a little girl who was running about the same pace as me, so jokingly I asked her Dad if she could be my pacer. He laughed and said sure and the rest of the race the little girl would look around to make sure I was near. She was super cute, but as I saw the finished I picked up the pace and had to leave them. I did thank her for pacing me and she smiled... what a cool kid. I always find the kids in any situation to hang out with.
As I was approaching the finish, I saw the family and kicked it into finish mode. It is amazing the juice your legs get when the finish line is near. Crossing the finish line felt great and I was super happy I ended up doing the race. My final time was 1:04:40. I was hoping to get a little closer to an hour, but I am still very happy with it. Especially since I didn't really train for it... like at all.
After the race we started to wait in line for the beer tent, but it was sooooo long and I was not ready to wait. So we ended up heading over to Pelon's for some breakfast burrito. Yes, now I remember why I run.
As usual, the race made me feel really good and now I want to sign up for another one. But I think I will stick to the 5k for now until I can get into a regular training routine. For now though, I will look forward to my first sprint triathlon in June. I promise I am really training for that one!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
30 Day Challenge
I know it looks nice and neat or whatever, so I am going to try to get in the habit of doing it. Part of my 25 list is to make my bed everyday for a month. Well today is day one.
I changed over to my summer time bedding, so I am taking the opportunity to start off right! I'll take a picture everyday to document the bed making. (Don't worry I promise not to post a picture everyday of my made bed) But I'll definitely update about my progress.
Here's day one:
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Travel Bucket List: Grand Canyon
Now this brings me to my new series, Stephanie’s Travel Bucket List. As a way to dream a little and put down into words where I would like to go in this World, I will highlight various locations on my Travel Bucket List. I know that some of the places on my list might never actually happen, but that is why it is a Bucket List, right? A girl can dream!
This brings me to my first location on my list, the Grand Canyon! I am currently observing in a 4th grade class (which is awesome by the way) and they just started learning about the Southwest states. Their teacher read a book about the Grand Canyon and even showed pictures of her sister’s travels there, which got me thinking about visiting there. The photos she showed were simply amazing and I would love to experience that one day.
And I have never been an outdoorsy person, but I would love to camp there! Growing up I always wanted to go camping, but I only got as far as sleeping on my back deck with my neighbor friend. And if I recall, we actually came in after an hour because of the bugs! I think to hike and camp in the Grand Canyon would be simply an amazing experience.
So let this be my first entry onto my Travel Bucket List: The Grand Canyon!
*Photos from wikipedia