Dear Honey,

Wow! I can't believe that it has been over a year since I updated this blog. So much has happened I don't know where to start. Greg and I bought some property that is 15 minutes outside of town. Right now it is raw land (18 acres). We plan on building but haven't decided what exactly we want to build. We do know that we want our home to be as efficient as we can get it. It is exciting because there is a ton of wild life but not neighbors.
SOOOO...
Since we have so much land I can indulge my hippie tree hugger self and start planning green houses, beehives livestock and the list goes on and on. Today I got a book about bee keeping in hopes that this land can produce honey.

Its exciting to have our own little piece of raw land. In a way I feel like I'm homesteading the wild wild west!

room to breathe

Greg and I wold love to buy some property and build a home in this area. However prices here in the Fruita area are too expensive. We have some good friends that moved up to Glade Park which is on top of the monument. We casually look for property and drive to check it out often. This property really has us thinking.

No we aren't moving just wishing.

Help!!

I need your help! I am taking a class that requires I collect data on library perceptions. There is a survey that asks some questions...I need YOU to take this short little survey. Really 3-4 minutes tops. The link is:

Click here to take survey

Can you help a girl out. I am summarizing the data on Friday so please within the next few days...i know pushy, pushy...

ode to the peony

Growing up in the family i did its hard to not love plants. Although allergies tormented many members I was blessed with clear sinuses. While perusing the lovely choices at the nursery or home depot greg will ask "where are you going to plant that?" My answer is always the same "i'll find a spot" I love to watch each selection of plant grow. This year my favorite flower by far is the peony. I bought one 2 years ago and have loved it. This year when it came back after winter I was surprised to see how large the plant had gotten. So I bought a second plant.

the flowers remind me oddly enough of Jane Austen. I'm not quite old enough to have talked and befriended Jane... but through her novels and the time period history it brings a sense of strong yet dainty appearances. This describes a peony to me.

And the smell...intoxicating!

Hip Hip Hooray... I'm going back to school to get my masters. I was accepted to the program to become a librarian. I know sounds BORING, but let me tell you it has its perks in schools these days. I start my first class this summer.

That part where you can come into play is through MONEY!! I am now accepting donations.

I know it would be nice if we all had a little extra hopefully with loans and grants i can make it out without too much debt.

so what do you get when you turn 32??

A motorcycle!!!
i was getting jealous of greg always going on trips with his motorcycle and so we bought one for me. I actually am not bad at riding it. I haven't dropped it once and I did catch a little air on some whoops. I remember riding the 4 wheelers in mexico and the feeling of just pure control. Same feeling just a little slimmer.

work hard, play harder...

what have we been doing?



if you look past the "el combino" you can see the blue motorcycle greg bought me for my birthday and Christmas...

In the mean time...

Catherine has been pretty busy with school and the end result is that our blog has been neglected. Blogging really isn't my thing, but I suppose I'll add something to hold you over. It's nothing surprising, just what I know, work and play. Where do we start first... how about work?

We've had some bad luck on the 'ole Union Pacific railroad here in Colorado in the first week of October, 2 derailments and a rock slide. 1 of the derailments was massive and we ended up staying on-site for 2 days getting the track back in service. The conductor of the train didn't fully release a brake on one car they picked up and it started dragging until it derailed, right on a switch. A total of 15 cars piled up, carrying varying loads. Here's a teaser shot, for the rest of them you will need to look at the link to our photo album.
Link- Derailment Cleanup

And now some playing... after all that work, I needed a break. I ended up taking a big motorcycle ride spread out over 3 days. It was amazing, but I really missed having Catherine there to share the trip with me. Mabey in the future we can pick up a motorcycle for her, so she can come along. I posted the trip report on my forum, so click the link below to read more.
Link- Motorcycle Ride

$422.87

So what would you do with that much money? I know i would pay a phone bill, cable bill and a car payment. Nothing exciting but all very necessary. Well last month someone decided that they needed the money more than I did and used my card number. How they got it? I don't know.

So for the last month I have been calling and filing out claim forms and faxing them and re-faxing them and mailing them and re-mailing them only to get provisional money back.

Provisional money like they think I stole my own money?

Anyway I painted my nails black to give off a sign of terror to anyone who crosses my path...of coarse the nail paint is provisional.

twilight is coming...

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

I'm still alive...

The last 2 months...
tim and aleca came
i started my new school year
mom and dad came
greg got sick
i got sick
at least one of my students had swine flu
i have had 3 doctors apt
i helped with a baby shower
i have worked at 3 volleyball games
canned tomato sauce
canned pickles
canned beets
made raspberry jam
made blackberry jam
went on a trip over black bear pass and lived
graded countless papers

and my favorite...
snuggled with greg and daisy

squash???

For the past couple of years I have grown vegetables and fruits...however I never really reaped a ton of fruit. This year I am planning to do a lot of canning and want my plants to be overwhelmed with fruit. I have a few squash that for the past few weeks have had a lot of blossoms on them but i still have not seen and fruit.
Am I doing something wrong?

buisness time...

So this video may be a little inappropriate for some but it is HILLARIOUS!

one man's junk...

so greg and i had a garage sale last weekend. All summer I have been pulling things out and making piles and saying "do i use this?" Once we got everything out on the driveway i was surprised at how much stuff we really didn't use...or want.
We made some good money considering that by 9am it was almost 500 degrees. I bagged and boxed up what didn't sell and took it to goodwill.
I took my audio books down to the used book store and they gave me almost 50 bucks in store credit!
With my money I bought some new dishes at target. I bought melamine plates and bowls that match not only each other but the house too. The best part is they wont chip.
Daisy sold her traveling kennel to help pay for Lulu's stuff that we also tried to sell.
I feels good to purge the old stuff that collects dust and then to buy new things with the rewards.
LONG LIVE GARAGE SALES!!

im a lazy blogger...i know

So about 2 weeks ago my parents came out to visit and we had soo much fun with them. I really intended on blogging about it but now i don't know where the camera is. i'm sure that if i asked greg he would know...but then i would be admitting he knows more than i do.
so if you want to know what we did with my parents im directing you to my mom's blog...

while my parents were here we noticed a little squeaky visitor...who we caught with a trap and apparently he had invited his 2 friends who we also caught. We decided to get a cat to keep our castle private from all those nasty little creatures. We had been talking about it for a while and finally...we found LuLu...

I had been looking for a long hair cat because they are sooo much more fun to snuggle with. Sure, sure Daisy snuggles with greg but i usually get the butt end and the hind feet that like to kick to stretch out. I wanted a snugly kitten. i realize this picture is a little hard to see but i took it with my phone when i humble myself to ask greg where the camera is i'll post more pictures.
We found LuLu in the local want ads and she was free. Right now she is 7 weeks old and living in the bath tub. She loves to sit on my lap and purr. The name LuLu came from...Dukes of hazard i din't have the guts to name her cooter. Daisy loves her and acts like a mom/sister. We decided Daisy must be a cat person more than a dog person. She lets LuLu snuggle up to her chest but draws the line when LuLu starts sucking on her. So i think LuLu will stay.

the new commuter vehicle is...

so many of you were correct with your assumptions however only one person waas truely correct...timmy! yes it is a bike but what kind? A tricycle!!!!
It is a shwinn tricycle meridian. Greg helped me assemble it and then he took it for a test drive. it is soooo nice.
Daisy loves to chase it and run in front of it and then stop. When you slam on your brakes to avoid hitting her she then proceeds to bite your toes. she may be a little bike retarded.
i needed the extra storage that a tricycle has with the basket on the back. My calling at church is the family preparedness person so this last month when we canned wheat and beans i delivered the cans to people and found that the bike was the perfect way to do it. I can fit 12 #1o cans in that basket. awesome.
so in summary...
bike: $250
gas: $0
exercise: priceless

too much commitment...

So I have been teaching 8 years! To me that seems like a long time. I feel like I should just be getting out of college. Looking back at my teaching history and it seems that every 3-4 years i switch something around. Well I have been teaching up here at the same school for 3 years now...so i switched it up.
I requested a transfer to the middle school in the town i live in. It is exactly a mile away. There were 8 people that applied and 1 spot. All teachers had worked in the district. I got it!!!
You could say I'm going green because with the new job came a new commuter vehicle. I decided that I don't need to drive the 4runner everyday. its so nice out that I should take advantage of that.
Can YOU guess what the new commuter vehicle is?

I have a new blog for buttons...
click for the button:


So check it out. If you would like a button then post a comment. Next i'm going to see if i can figure out how to create labels and backgrounds...but don't hold your breath...remember i'm a full time teacher!

So I have been playing around with the html codes and buttons. I have created a button for Melissa and myself...go ahead and click on them to the right. Fun! i'm new at this but send me a comment if you want me to play around with a button for you as well. hopefully my design skills will become better with each button.

We ADOPTED!!!

The Gardner family has grown! After some research and seeing how many families have been adopting, we decided to prepare ourselves for adoption. With some changes around the house, we made preparations for the new member of the Gardner family.

Today while shopping, we came across a couple selling a dog out in front of Sportmans Warehouse. Catherine has been talking about getting a German Shorthair for years and was quite interested in this one when we saw him. We talked to the couple with the dog for about 5 min and the whole time the dog was just snuggling with both Catherine and I. He isn't papered, but is a pure breed. We paid approximately the price of a large bag of dog food for him, which is a good deal for a pure breed.

The couple that owned him had rescued him from an abusive family. They've had him since last Fall, but due to money getting tight for them, they needed to let him go. He's very thin, so we need to fatten him up and get him healthy. He is shedding a lot, the previous owners say it's due to a recent diet change and feeding him cheap food. We're going to take him to the vet this week, get his shots updated and give him a good checkup.

He is soooo friendly, almost to the point of being annoying... he loves to cuddle, he'll just rest his head on you and hang out there. So far he and Daisy, are getting along great. He's very vocal too, talks often and we've yet to hear a bark. He's very mild-mannered, hopefully that will rub off on Daisy.

Catheine named him... Rosco, after Roscoe P. Coltrane! Daisy's full name is Daisy Mae Duke, so you can see what direction we're headed. So without further adieu, here's some pics of our newest family member. -