gardens and such

I found this on Lawrence's Farmers' Market page. I'm guess it might not be easy to see so here is link.

Might come in handy some day. But, if apples are in season now, then why are they more expensive than when they were in March?

I think that once I move (in a couple of weeks), I'm going to give up on my tomato and pepper plants and try some other vegetables. Does anyone know about growing lettuce in containers? What about potatoes? I think someone mentioned growing potatoes in a black plastic bag once... What about onions? I've found a lot about green onions online but, I don't usually use green onions. I think I'll also plant some tulip bulbs in one of the pots.

I took some apple cake to FHE last night and to work today. People seemed to like it. Joey and I made it a couple of times when I was in Kansas. Here is the recipe (okay so this is all from my head so....):

Mix: 2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Add 4 cups chopped apples to the mixture (I think I got 8 cups with 5 fairly large apples).

In a separate bowl mix:

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp of something else...oh yeah, cinnamon

and 1 tsp salt

Then pour the dry ingredients into the apple/bad for you stuff mixture.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. This should be enough for a 9x13 pan. And I think you are supposed to grease and flour the pan. I didn't this time and it seemed to work okay.

People here are getting excited for football season to start. I now have KU and BYU shirts so I should be ready. Someone at work told me once that everyone has to choose between Alabama and Auburn. I still haven't chosen. I mean, Auburn has orange as one of its colors and that's cool and Alabama...well, it's Alabama. Decisions, decisions.

Ha, ha. I was about to comment on how it hasn't rained today even though the forecast yesterday had it raining all day today and tomorrow . I just looked outside and it's pouring.

family history

This is from new.familysearch.org. I have done some minor edits (okay, so I was in a hurry and don't use Photoshop very often). The first time I logged into this site, one of the first things I noticed was the link to "Add or find husband." I still haven't clicked it but, I wonder if it really works...the finding the husband part. What if I click "Add or find child"?

fortune cookie

I went out to eat with some people from work and this was my fortune: "Don't give up. Your problem gets better next month." I didn't know I had a problem but, I am relieved to know that it will go away (whatever it is).

Well, I'm back in 'Bama. It's been interesting. Very quiet in my apt. Work has been busy (I'm only a little behind) which is good. I at least feel like I'm being productive. There is a lot to catch up on at work and just in life in general, though.

In other news...I got kicked off a plane. I had a layover in Denver (I was staying on the same plane and more passengers were getting on). Turns out our flight crew had to switch flights because of weather issues so, we all had to leave. We only got to Nashville an hour late :)

Matthew has to speak 3 times this weekend. What should he say?

Well, I had better get to going through all of my finances and junk. Trying to get organized again. I do pretty well for 2 weeks and then I stop keeping things filed and have to do a big organization session again. Here goes...

catch up

I guess I should start off with the YSA conference. I don't have any pictures so I included a water fight picture. It was good...there was a dance. On Saturday we did a service project, had a good lunch, went swimming, and had a barbeque (i don't know how to spell that word). Then there was the traditional fireside/testimony meeting. All in all, fun was had.

There's been lots of hanging out action but, it all is kind of smushed together. Work is going well...almost done with a big project and ready for the next.

So...I have included some pictures. Hopefully the slide show will work. Some background:

There was the annual air show in Huntsville a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty fun. We didn't see a lot of the smaller plans who do cool loops but, we caught the Blue Angels. It was pretty sweet and pretty loud. We watched it fromt he Boeing parking lot and had a great view (especially of the runway). After that, a few of us went out to eat and then we went to Bridge Street (an outdoor mall of sorts). Brandon wanted a watch. He found one and so did Amanda. Laura found sunglasses. We spent a long time at the store. Then we walked around a little. It's a pretty cool place.

Dad and Janae came down for the 4th of July. I don't know if they had fun but, I did. I only had to work for 2 hours on Thursday so that was nice. We played some Hand and Foot, got a new windshield wiper, and went out to Macaroni Grill. On the 4th we went to E. Law's homecoming party, a barbecue with the crew, relaxed, and then found a sweet spot to watch the Bridge Street fireworks. They started a lot later than we thought they would but, they were pretty good.

Laura's birthday was this week so Jason and I made her a cake. She wanted an F-18. We tried our hardest. It only took like four hours...but, it was worth it.

Oh, I learned to crochet (well, enough that I can make a scarf...still working on it).

Last night I watched "Stardust". When I got home from my mission, it seemed everyone was commenting on it on their facebook profiles. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Made me laugh, made me cringe (too many people died), and had a cute ending. What more could you want?

And now, the usual garden update. I actually have a few cucumbers! I have only picked one so far but, a few more are on the way. My tomatoes are now turning red but, they aren't very big. In fact, one plant has one big one and lots of tiny ones that haven't grown all week. And, I'm finally getting peppers! I'm glad I invested in those stakes from the Home Depot last week...they are helping my plants stay up straight:)

Well, I guess I should get back to cleaning before I go clothes shopping...

Oh, most of these pictures are Laura's and Jason's. My airshow ones turned out horribly.

Guitar Man Superhero

This week has been pretty uneventful. The water fight was fun and I found a house that I really like. Maybe I'll get a big raise and then I can convince the owners to sell it. FHE was good and I've worked long hours this week so I got off at 11:15 today. It was good. Now I have lots to do before 4:30. We'll see how it all works.

My garden is growing. I think I have 4 tomatoes and my cucumbers are flowering. Still nothing with the peppers, though.

Okay, so the main reason for this post is to put pictures up of our cake making last night. I made the cake and Laura did most of the decorating (I did help put the gummy bears on, though). She did a good job. My favorite part was when she was going to write "guitar hero" but messed up and had to improvise.

I dropped off the cake at Jason's work today after I got off and Corey sent me a picture or video or something of his reaction but it didn't work. Guess I'll have to wait until tonight.

The first layer of the cake.


Laura and the cake. Notice the popcorn in the background.

The finished product.

"Guitar Man Superhero!"

We had to find a way to cover to transport the cake and this was it. Duct tape saves the day, again.

When was the last time I wrote? A long time ago...so...here's a run down.

Memorial Day: It was good. Some of the YSA came over for breakfast and then we went to the lake down in Guntersville and people jumped off cliffs and stuff. We went to Applebee's. We had FHE. Fun was had by all (I think).

Then, I went to work for a week. That Friday there was a YSA dance which was pretty good. Saturday we all went to Amanda's and played games. On Sunday a bunch of us went to Amy's house for ice cream and a movie. There were only a couple of kids in Sunbeams on Sunday. It made it really, really easy.

This week, I went to work again (I know, it's a bad habit). I really enjoyed getting off at 1:00 yesterday and I went to Wal-mart (I even get to go back today). Then I did some cleaning and Laura and I went to the European Market. It was like Disneyworld...or Christmas. The people who own the store are Russian so a lot of the food is Russian. Lots of German products, too. I didn't bring my camera but, Laura got a couple of shots of me eating one of my favorite things from the Baltics (the only Baltic product I saw there)...it's like a chocolate curd/cream cheese with chocolate chips inside and then a chocolate coating. Love it! I bought a Lion bar, a mix to make Russian pancakes, some cards in Russian to send to my companions for their weddings (they aren't wedding cards, though), and some other stuff...oh, Nutella. You can buy nutella in the normal store but, it's from Canada. This stuff is made with real European ingredients. It was a happy thing.

We came back to my place and Corey and Jason came over and we played Scattergories. Laura's work friends were going out to eat at some place so we went there so she could make an appearance. We never saw them. Then we came home and watched Pride and Prejudice and it was fun.

Today, we are hopefully going to have a water fight...still in the works, though. I guess I will go buy the waterballoons and we'll be one step closer. Oh, and I found a basketball hoop a block from my house so I need to buy a pump so I can use my basketball. Here are more pictures of my garden...I know, I take exciting pictures.


I'm very excited about my cucumbers.

Everything seems to be getting bigger besides my pepper plants.



My first tomatoes.

how does your garden grow?

This is what my garden looked like on the first day (I think it was 2 weeks ago). Small tomato plants, the peppers, and no cucumbers.

It's hard to see but, the light green stuff are my cucumbers coming up (about 4 or 5 days after I planted them).

This picture was taken yesterday. The tomatoes and cucumbers seem to be growing the best. The peppers haven't gotten much taller but have gotten more yellow and are flowering now. I guess we'll see how it all goes.

Yesterday was interesting. I went over to Tari's house to pick up my washer and dryer around 6:00. Well, I wasn't picking them up, one of the ward members was. So, they load them up along with someone's fridge and we go to deliver the fridge first. Problem was, it didn't fit in the door to their house. So, they took off the doors and put it back together once it was inside. It is a big fridge. Eventually we got to my place and unloaded the washer and dryer. Just a few problems. The hot water faucet has a leak, the hoses have small, slow leaks (so, I guess I'll just go pick up a couple more), and the dryer is too new for the outlet. The outlet has 3 prongs/holes/whatever and the cord has 4. So, no laundry for awhile. I'll probably go pick up some hoses tonight after my visiting teachers come and I'll see if I can get the maintenance guy to come over and look at the other stuff. The person who helped me transport the washer and dryer said something about getting an adapter but, from what I've researched, I may have to replace the cord with an older one. Is anyone here an electrician?

I didn't make it to FHE until about 8:40 and the party was pretty much over when I got there. Oh well.

The temple trip on Saturday was pretty good...got a little sunburned during the lunch afterwards. There was a wedding going on so we all waited to see the bride and groom come out. The groom had a brown suit with a pastel yellow vest. It actually looked okay. Okay, time to go talk to management about getting stuff fixed...

I made this ice cream last night. It was good...not quite like Blue Bell or Breyer's but for not requiring an ice cream maker, not bad. And, I remembered how good sweetened condensed milk is. Really good.

So, I like the free money at Krogers.

So, my neighbor's car is finally back, it was gone for awhile. And, all of the parks around here are closed after dark. And, all of my neighbors go somehwere on Wed. nights. I can't figure it out!

I think that's all for now.

car alarms are loud

Monday night, I woke up at least six times to a car alarm going off in the parking lot. It was loud and, it was long...lasted about a minute and had about 12 different alarm sounds.

Last night, my friend Tari was over and the car alarm went off for more than an hour, hardly stopping. I heard people talking about it outside and knocking on all of the doors in my building. Awhile later, we heard a tow truck. When they were almost done towing the car, we went outside to make sure they didn't hit my car (they got within 2 inches) and just as the tow truck was pulling away I recognized the car. I told the maintenance guy whose I thought it was and he said that the policeman (did I mention the cop?) had run the tag and couldn't get a name with it. They had knocked on this lady's door when originally trying to figure out whose car it was. And, the alarm was loud. I don't know how she missed it. They finally got her to open the door (right when I was about to go inside) so I got stuck in the middle of the explanation and confusion and frustration. Oh well. I can honestly say I didn't recognize it until it was too late.

The end.

So, I realized that I never put the picture of my new table up. Here it is - all for $20. All of the boxes that are in the reflection are now unpacked. And, yes, I have a huge mirror in my apt.
Here is my pan after the stove incident.. It's a weird angle but, yeah...you can see the rice through the hole.

And, the burner. That dirty, burned water flew all over the kitchen. I don't know if you can tell but, where the rice is on the burner, it had dented the burner somehow..burned through it. Very strange.

Well, that's about it. Work is good. I had a few friends over (and a couple of people I didn't know) on Thursday to play games and that was fun. Tonight I'm going down to a YSA activity in Birmingham, well, south of it. We're just watching movies but, it should still be fun.