The sweetest thing

Marty and I grew this. Yeah, that's right. We're gardeners.

Year ONE

This is cross posted from my "other" blog.

Yesterday was our one year anniversary. What a whirlwind of a year. It felt as if I'd just turned the corner to walk down the aisle to my Groom on a warm summer evening surrounded by friends and family. But really, it was 365 days later. And I am still madly in love, more so each day.

It's the good kind of whirlwind though, the kind where you are content in life and it just moves as it's supposed to. The kind where life happens and you follow it, bouncing along like a car on a dirt road, on a summer evening, knowing you are headed in the right direction, but not sure where you are exactly going.

I feel so blessed to be where I am. To be married to a man who takes me as I am, the good, and the bad. A man who takes the time to show me he cares, to make me feel adored, and loved. Who, without even knowing it, can take my breath away with a look, a smile, or even just the sound of his voice.

I am learning much about marriage. About the relationship it sustains and surrounds. Marty has taught me so much this last year about myself. I get excited for what our future holds, it's rich jewels we have yet to discover. But for now, I'll say thank you to my Husband for loving me the way only he knows how!

Happy Anniversary Love!


Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4 9:12

An attempt to spark my inner blogger

Really. I want to blog. I do. I feel a need to share. But, WOW, I am really bad at it. Maybe my expectations for myself are too grand. Too far fetched. Maybe I just need to keep it simple.

Okay here goes.

I found a new band last week. Marty and I listen to Sirus XMU, the indie rock station, all the time. The other night this lovely song came on. The next morning, it was still ringing in my head, so I looked them up.

They are called the Avett Brothers. They are a little indie, a little country, a little bluegrass. Check them out!

A valentine to remember

Seriously, My Husband is the best. He secretly knows the way right to that soft spot in my heart that turns to mush when he enters.

This was our first Valentines Day as husband and wife. And he out did himself. Let me preface. As a child, I was HORSE crazy. As most little girls are. I wanted a pony so badly. It was my very existence. When I was about 12 or 13 my dad and his wife at the time bought a horse. She was nuts. She had previously been abused and had a history of erratic behavior. Shortly after she came home they bought another horse, who was mellow and sweet and easy. My step-sister and I were out in the corral every day. We would have slept out there if our parents would have let us. Eventually we joined a 4-h club and horses were our lives. I honestly think having a horse kept me from getting into trouble. I loved every minute of my horse life. Well, sadly, all good things must come to an end, and my dad and his wife split. We moved to Seattle and she kept my horse.

I always wanted a horse again someday. In fact I can recall a few conversations with Marty where I mentioned this. Well, being the amazing person he is, he held onto those words.

Enter a buckskin pony with a big heart and no job. He belonged to the brother of a guy who Marty works with. He was living his life away in a pasture doing nothin'. With permission of his owner I began going out to visit him. I'd take him some apples and carrots and spend some time just hanging out with him. We'd been told he was for sale, but at a price that was out of our range. Fast forward to February, he was offered to Marty at a price he couldn't resist.

And that's how Twister became my Valentine from Marty.


We are working on getting a good bond and had our first ride this last sunday. I have some video I'll post this week, I promise!

Excuses, excuses

Wow. Sorry about the lack of posting.

Obviously I am not good at blogging. I am good at lots of other things, like cooking, laundry, work, cleaning out the cat box, playing legos (according to Julian), surfin' the net, spending money, list making, reading three books at once, being a wife (I'm only writing this because my Husband says so) and numerous other things that occupy all my time there for taking away from me being good at blogging.

It's march already. Sheesh.

Have you seen January?

Obviously, I haven't since it's been almost a month since I've been here. Uh, yeah. Blogging, sure I can do that. Well, apparently not.

January was an eventful month.... kids back to school after break. It was a little hard to get back in the swing of things. I, honestly can't remember as a kid if I had trouble or not. I am sure I did, but maybe it's one of those things that you forget to make room for other crap.

Solomon got his top braces on. This was easy peasy for him. He is a tough kid.... however it was much harder on Marty and I when we saw the bill. *GASP*

We re-financed our house. This was a first for me, as Marty owned the home before he met and married me. But now, as of the 20th of January, I am a homeowner. We got a MUCH better rate and took out some moolah to remodel 2 bathrooms and the upstairs. We will, finally, have two working bathrooms and a bedroom for each kid! HA! We started by re-arranging everyone... this was interesting. We are feeling a little cramped as the office has been redispersed throughout the house for now. Yeah.... the computer is in our bedroom. Bleh. But it's only temporary.

So we tore some crappy drywall down and bought some wood to start framing in a room and a closet. It's exciting. I have visions of redecorating when it's all done. I am taking all kinds of before and after photos so I can show you just what we accomplished when we get there.

My wonderful Husband had a birthday in January too. It was very casual being he had to work a graveyard shift that night. Boo. We had mexican for dinner and his Mom made his FAVORITE cake. It's really divine. Chocolate cake with whipping cream and bananas between the layers, then frosted with whipping cream. And for those of us who despise don't care for frosting, it's lovely. We took a day trip to Port Towsend the following weekend to have lunch and go to this antique car parts shop. It is a pelethora of stuff right up my Husbands alley. He found a mirror for his old car, so he was happy!

So, now it's February and I am going to make an honest attempt to show up around here more often. Seriously. You don't believe me do you?

New Year

I wouldn't say it was a "resolution" but I have always wanted to learn to bake cakes from scratch. Don't get me wrong, Betty Crocker has cake in a box figured out, and in a pinch for time or an occasion of laziness boxed cake is brilliant.

But, I found this recipe and really found my inner baker yelling "whoa, you should try this!" So I did. Mine, does not look like the pictures from the recipe link. And the fact that you use a pound of butter in the frosting means it is NOT good for you to consume in large quantities or to eat a piece right before you have your cholesterol checked. Capeesh?

I gathered up my ingredients and began the LONG process. Your butter and egg whites have to be room temperature so there was some waiting for that to happen.


I opted to do a raspberry filling because the crowd I was serving does not fancy cranberries. I did, however follow the recipe using raspberries instead and found it to be a soupy mess, so I drained off the liquid and salvaged them. Next time I will make the filling a little different.


Cake batter done. It was a beautiful white color.

The cakes baked up really nice. I baked them for 37 minutes, testing the centers twice. This resulting in the centers falling a bit.

To make the butter creme the egg whites and sugar have to be warmed up over a double boiler while whisking constantly. My arm fell off after about two minutes, so my wonderful husband, Marty stepped in to take over! He saved me!



After the frosting was done you assemble and frost a crumb coat. After this point we decided to take a drive and get the kids out of the house. I, foolishly, put the frosting in the fridge. I think this is what resulted in the frosting breaking down a bit.

Here is the completed cake!

I couldn't get my chocolate the curl.... I think my vegetable peeler is on it's last leg. So I shaved it with a grater. I think it still turned out nice.

It was tasty. I love butter creme because it's not like eating plain sugar. The raspberry filling was so yummy with the cake too. I will make this recipe again!