Plant Update:

Yay! So it's only been a few days, and already we have even more plants that have popped up! We finally were able to get everything we needed to start the side garden that we wanted outside of our bedroom! So we transferred our basil plants, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, bell pepper, habaneros, romaine lettuce and cantaloupe. The basil, tomato plants and bell pepper are doing fabulous! The habaneros look pretty much the same as they did when we transplanted them, and the romaine and cantaloupe look like they're on their way out. :( But at least the majority of it all is doing great!

We also planted some spinach seeds inside, as well as green onion. The spinach popped up and has lots of little sprouts! The green onion hasn't sprouted yet, but it's also only been a few days or so. And the oregano is so tall! I'm so excited! I think I'm going to try and give the chives another swing and see if I have better luck this time. 

Plant Update!

Yay! So my basil is doing fantastic! And just a few days ago we planted some oregano as well! Oddly, yesterday it still had not grown, and as of us coming home this afternoon it was an inch and a half tall! I'm so excited! I've always done so terribly with seeds and plants, and now I'm on a roll! Yay! Take a look!

Busy Busy Busy...

Man, these next few months are just packed. Daddy has been working extra hard and taken on several overtime shifts at work. This weekend he is working two additional shifts. Next weekend we are making the drive to Jacksonville for my brother-in-law's wedding, and the next day we're having a family get together at his parents' for St. Patrick's Day. The next weekend is the Tico Air Show, which David and my brother will be working, and Sophia and I will probably try to attend. Hopefully the weather will be nicer than last year. The following weekend is my nephew, Nathaniel's first birthday party and Easter! I've already gotten Sophia's basket made up and the Easter Bunny is going to come by our house to visit and take pictures. Then the next weekend my family and I are going to New Smyrna to check out the hot air balloon festival! Then I have a C&C and summer premere for Thirty-One, and the next week David will be instructing at another Appleseed event. Then it looks like May settles back down a little, except for Mother's Day, only to start back up in June beginning with David and I's Ten Year High School Reunion and then the Magic Kingdom with my cousins and Father's Day! :) Super busy but I can't wait!

13 Months!

Man, as the days past it just goes faster and faster. Sophia is already 13 months old! We're just around the corner from celebrating her 2nd St. Patrick's Day, and her 2nd Easter!

This past month she has just perfected upon her walking, climbs anything and everything,

and has shown an actual interest in things, like more of her toys, playing dress up, 

and she really enjoys the Tinkerbell movies. She also learned to say "dada." :)

She's eating all sorts of big people food, but her favorite seems to be pasta (just like her mama!)

This month she also celebrated her 2nd Valentine's Day! We celebrated by going and having lunch with Daddy at work, and going to the farmer's market.

She's also started to do this new thing where when she sees that someone has walked into another room and closed the door, that she's going to lay down in front of the door and try to look under it to see what they're doing. She now also actually fist knocks on doors. 

And when that doesn't work, she tries to open the door. And is getting pretty darn close to being able to!

She also really loves to hang out and watch the pup's on the porch. She loves to give them kisses through the glass sliders!

She's become quite the big little person. She wants to do everything we do, including talking on the phone. Too cute!

She's also rather funny and creative. She'll take anything and play dress up, including Daddy's underwear!

This month she also got to celebrate three of her cousin's birthdays, as well as test drive some of their awesome toys! Her favorite was definitely the play house. (Maybe next Christmas?)

But our dare devil definitely didn't shy away from the trampoline. She just climbed her tiny butt up in there and started bouncing after having watched some of the bigger kids earlier. 

And she tried her first drawing on a magnadoodle! Not too shabby.

At the end of the month, we finally got in a little down time and Daddy treated us to a trip to Orlando. We went to the Florida Mall, where Sophia got to play in the Disney store and LOVED it! So since it was still pretty early and the weather had gotten nicer, we headed out to the downtown Disney! She got to dig for dinosaur bones at the T-Rex Cafe!

And meet Cinderella!

And of course try on a pair of the iconic Minnie Mouse ears (which I'm definitely going to make a pair or two of for our trip in June.)

And got to play with Mr. Potato Head! It was a much needed family day, and the end to an amazing month. 

February Reads:

Books

Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #9) by J.R. Ward

Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood #10) by J.R. Ward

Progress!

So as I mentioned, on the 20th I began my hand at trying to grow some veggies and herbs. I'm proud to say that I have finally seen some progress!

(my first basil plant sprouted on the 25th!)

(my first basil plant as of the 27th!)

(my second basil plant as of the 27th!)

Unfortunately none of my three chive plants have sprouted yet, but I'm going to give it a little more time, but super glad that the basil is coming along so easily, especially with as often as I use it! :) Yay! So I will probably try to start a few more of those next week so that I have several that I can add to my garden outside. :)

I also started a second batch of strawberry apple jelly since my first batch was such a hit, and did a little extra this time! On my first batch I was able to fill (5) 8 oz. jars, this time I was able to fill 7, so now I can give some to the others that missed out the first time! :)

On a different note, I've been having a hard time recently, and have been a little concerned as to whether or not I'm getting a little bit of late onset PPD, but am currently trying to keep it under control without the help of meds. In an attempt to help me out a little and get us out of the house, David took us out to Orlando yesterday! We went and walked around the Florida Mall to try and find me a shirt or two (with no luck). I did however, take Sophia in to the Disney Store and she LOVED it! I was sooo happy! Then we stopped and picked up lunch at Panera, and I decided since it was still early and I've been dying to take her, that we'd make our way out to Downtown Disney to the Disney Marketplace! Boy am I glad we did! We stopped into all of the little shops and Sophia was so excited by all of the toys and outfits and princess statues! She even got to dig for bones at the new (not terribly new) T-Rex restaurant! 

The weather was absolutely beautiful! There was a wonderful breeze! After we'd checked out all that the Marketplace had to offer, we walked over to Pleasure Island and picked up some raspberry sorbet to share and let Sophia run around this little area of fake grass while she watched the hot air balloon. It was a perfect night! I loved every minute of it and it brought my spirits back up a lot!

In more exciting news, my mom's family is having a family reunion in June (which we will definitely not be attending) but we are however going to try and get all of the cousins together with their kids while they're down here and do a day at the Magic Kingdom! I'm so excited! I've been wanting to take Sophia so bad! I have so many fond memories from my early early childhood of Disney, since my mom and other family had worked there! I want so badly for her to experience all of the magic as well! And after seeing her reaction to Downtown Disney, I can tell that she is at the perfect age for her first time and is more than interested! Yay!

Doing It On My Own:

For a long time now (although I didn't quite understand it when I was younger) I've felt that DIY has become a lost art. Women even two generations ago did everything themselves! They cooked, they grew crops, they tended farms, they sewed their own clothes for themselves and their families, they knitted, they crocheted, they canned their own goods. I want to be that! I want to be the person that can do it all myself! I want to be able to take care of family. My mom can cook, boy can she cook, and thank god for that because I like to eat! Haha! Thankfully that got passed down to me, because I too am good at it and boy do I love to cook and bake! The only problem is finding time or being able to afford the many items to make them all! 

Growing up I was pretty crafty, and so was my mom, but more in the sense of cute cards, scrapbooking, painting, drawing, etc..Unfortunately, she didn't really know how to crochet or knit or anything of that nature, so I never learned how. I had a great aunt that would sew, and crochet and knit, and french braid until the cows came home, but unfortunately, by the time I grew a great interest in it, we'd lost her. :( 

Luckily though, my mother in law knew how and was willing to teach me! So now I crochet, and I absolutely love it! It's something that gives me a break and relaxes me. And I love that I can always look back and go "hey! I made that!" It's a great feeling to see your end product! Since I've learned, I've done potholders, lord knows how many hats and scarves, leg warmers, a blanket, etc., but my most recent items that I've been working on are market bags! Below is the first one I made, but it was a little smaller than I'd like, so I started on a second one that is currently about 2/3 of the way complete, but I'm really happy with it! 

Why market bags, you ask? Good question! Growing up, I never would have ever thought I'd ever hear myself say this, but I want a farm! Or if not a farm, a decent bit of land. I want so badly to be able to grow my own produce and herbs! We eat so many fruits and vegetables, and I would love to be able to grow my own, not only for the fun and being able to see it all grow and know that I did it, but to save money on food as well as the ease of just having it when you need it! Unfortunately, I'm a ways away from being able to purchase that kind of property and our yard here is a little on the smaller side, but I've decided that I am going to try and work with what I've got and see if I can get some things going here! So with the help of my friend, Carrie, I now have some basil, roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers, but have also started some on my own to keep in the kitchen! As of two days ago, I now have more basil, chives, and cabbage (or the seeds to them anyway). But I am hopeful that they will grow and am excited to share the progress as it goes!

In the meantime, while I wait for my own produce to grow, I have decided that I really enjoy going to the local farmer's market! I love keeping it local and knowing where my food is coming from and knowing that it's fresh! I've been dying to get out to the strawberry fields the next town over, but sadly they seem to always be all picked out by the time I'd be up and ready to go. Unfortunately, our town's farmer's market is super disappointing. I drove with my friends out to Orlando to check out theirs and while it was much bigger and better, it was also slightly disappointing as there was only 1 fruit/veggie vedor, 2 bread vendors, 1 cheese vendor..I don't know, I just figured there would be more fruits/veggies to choose from. I did however find some wonderful dips that will go great with some pita chips! So now, the place I like to attend is a new thing that they've got going on through April on Thursdays at UCF called Produce on the Patio! It's smaller, but nice, and a bonus is that I get to stop in and see my husband! Tomorrow I will be returning for my second time in hopes of finding some good strawberries and tomatoes. 

Naturally, after going to the farmer's market, and wanting to grow my own crops, I also want to make my own foods! I've been trying my hand at homemade breads with my beautiful mixer that I got at Christmas but have not had much success with any of the breads that I've tried that require yeast yet. :( But then I got to thinking, and decided that even if I can't have my own farm, I can still make yummies and can them! So I decided to try my hand at a strawberry apple jelly, and OHMYGOD is it delicious! I am soooo happy at how it turned out! I was able to fill 5 jars full! 

My intentions had been to keep one, give one to my friend Carrie, one to my parents, one to my brother and his girlfriend, one to my in laws, one to my sil and her family, and one to my husband's aunt. Well the first problem is that it only made 5 jars. The second problem is that it came out so much better than I'd imagined it would and we have been eating it like crazy on some yummy cream cheese bagels every morning. Even my sister said today "I don't even like jelly, but that is the bomb diggity!" and so she stole my brother's as well. So needless to say, I am  heading back to find more strawberries so that I can whip up another batch and pass some on to the others that I'd initially wanted to give some to! 

I also have two other things on my list to try next to can, and that is my yummy homemade pasta sauce, and a tomato bruschetta! Mmm! Just thinking about it makes me hungry. Tonight I made up a double batch of baked penne (penne, fire roasted garlic tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, mozzarella cheese, philadelphia italian herb sauce, black olives and chicken) and boy was it good! 

So I'm not quite exactly where I hope to be, but am trying to do what I can with what I have, and so far I think I'm off to a pretty good start and it feels great!