"The Man I Want"

If you know me, you have probably noticed that I have various little notebooks that I use to write things down in...most often lists, but sometimes I just need paper and a pen to write down my thoughts.  Some people have their smart phones, or a tablet, or a laptop, and even though I would like a tablet to do some of these things on...nothing can really replace my pen and paper.

Recently, I've been trying to tidy up and simplify my life a little, and doing that means that I need to use up some of these half used notebooks.  The one I've recently been using for my To Do Lists, and Grocery Lists apparently had some very important thoughts written in it, over 2 years ago.  And apparently, writing things down can have extremely fortuitous results.

On July 6, 2010, I shared with the universe what I wanted in a man.  At the time, I was struggling, because what I wanted more than anything was a partner with whom to share this life and all the experiences that come along with it.  I was in the midst of trying to meet guys via eHarmony, rather unsuccessfully, and after the 10th first date, I had decided it was time to take a page from my Landmark Forum, and make a declaration: My Declaration of The Man I Want.  

As it turns out, the universe really is listening.  6 weeks later when I met my ex, I thought "Wow, the Universe is on top of this sh*t!"  Little did I know that the Universe does not work on our time table, and was really sitting there chuckling, saying "Oh, you poor, silly girl, no, no no...first I must give you a terrible trial to live through, so that I can be sure you will appreciate the gift I will give you later.  You see, you must earn this declaration that you seek."  And after enduring this trial, and picking myself up out of the sh*t puddle I had let myself fall into (with the varying aids of many, as well as myself), the Universe sent me my declaration...13 months later, to the date, in the form of my fiance.  

When I discovered this last night, it was a wonderful reminder that something, somewhere is listening...whether you believe in God or just the power of positive thinking...and as a result I will be writing a  lot more declarations in the future.

"The man I want has to be ballsier than me.  He has to be willing to open himself up to another human being and be himself fully.  He can't be easily scared away.  He has to be willing to be vulnerable and say 'Yes, this person here could hurt me, but they could also turn out to be the love of my life...and that is a risk I'm willing to take.' 

The man I want will be a strong man, a gentle man, a genuine man, and a gentleman.  He will have integrity.  He will always be honest as much as he can.  He will be loyal to himself and those that he loves.  His commitment and follow through will know no bounds.  

He will have a heart of gold - love animals, children and his country.  He will have a smile that lights the darkest room and his eyes will smile too while showing depth of both knowledge and character.  He will be young at heart, energetic in step and playful in manner.  He will value life, love, family and growth of self.

He will long for a partner to be his teammate in life; to support and be supported, to love and be loved unconditionally, and to laugh...most of all, to laugh."

~Me 7/6/2010

Many of you who know Geoffrey, will see in my description, that I was describing him almost as if I had already met him, when in reality I wouldn't meet him for another 13 months, after a series of very fortunate events that, had they gone any other way, I may not have met him.  The Universe is listening, and is benevolent.

The Month of Giving Thanks Vol. 1

Giving Thanks, Week #1 - Nov 1-7

Day #1 of the month of Giving Thanks, and I am thankful for my cooking/baking talent. Many people can't throw stuff in a pan, bowl or baking sheet and have it taste delicious the first time, with no recipe, I'm thankful for that.

Day #2 of the month of Giving Thanks, and I am thankful for good sushi. It's amazing, tasty, healthy and it makes me smile.

Day #3 of the month of Giving Thanks, and I am thankful for Olivia and Beau.

Day #4 of the month of Giving Thanks (this is for yesterday) and I am thankful for old friends still being friends, even when I don't talk to them all the time, or for extended periods of time. ♥

Day #5 of the month of Giving Thanks, and I am thankful for my arms, legs, feet, muscles, bones and joints that allow me to move and be active and most of all to sweat it out at the gym or on the field because I love it.

Day #6 of the month of Giving Thanks, and I am thankful for students who like me better than their real teacher and despite my insisting that they'd *still* have to do lots of work and essays, want me to be their teacher instead. They remind me, after tough days/weeks why a big part of me still wants my own classroom.

Day #7 of the month of Giving Thanks, and I am thankful for crime dramas. Both for the pure entertainment value and for the way they make me think; thinking through the "who dun it" aspect always gets my problem solving and deductive reasoning going :) #CriminalMinds #CSI #Elementary #Bones

Vegetable Garden Vol. II

Plant:  Tomato  Variety:  Yellow Brandywine

I had one plant, and even though I got it very early in the summer (mid June) it did not produce tomatoes for the longest time.  It was giant, healthy plant, with blooms, but it just never put out tomatoes.  Until late August, after I had moved it outside (from the greenhouse) for a couple weeks.  Then I got a few tomatoes out of it.  While it wasn't a super high yield, the tomatoes are amazing and totally worth it.  I will definitely grow it again next year, and will probably grow it's cousin, the Pink Brandywine, as well.

Plant:  Carrots  Variety:  Rainbow

These are amazing!  They are beautiful, flavorful, and fun.  I grew them from seed, in long rows, and then thinned them when they were about 1-2 inches tall.  After thinning and replanting, many of them did not get any bigger, but many of them did, which is fine since I had about 200+ planted.  I will definitely grow these again next year, but I will be sure to give them more than the suggested 1 square inch of space so they don't get twisted and stunted by each other.

Plant:  Potato  Variety:  Yukon Gold

What can I say, it's a potato, it's good stuff.  This was my first time growing these, and I have to say I had no idea what I was doing.  I planted one, in an old trash can (a suggestion from my neighbor) about 3/4 of the way inside the can, then added dirt on top of the plant as it poked out of the dirt, until it got to the top.  It stayed green most of the summer, then started to turn yellow and look dead toward the end of August.  That's when you harvest.  I got 7 potatoes, from my one starter potato.  So next year I may grow 2 or 3 now that I know an approximate yield.  It didn't need fertilizer, just plenty of water and good soil.  And they were super fun to dig up...layer after layer, like searching for treasure :)

Plant:  Tomato  Variety:  Rainbow Heirloom

Delicious and heavenly.  These tomatoes are so flavorful...once you taste them, you'll never want to go back to buying your tomatoes in the store.  They are ripe anywhere from a greenish yellow, to a bright yellowish orange and they are modeled and sometimes striped, and very juicy (as you can see in the picture).  I have approximately 5 different Rainbow Heirloom plants, and the one planted in the raised bed (not in a separate pot) at the beginning of the summer (but started in the greenhouse) is HUGE...it's October and it's still trying to take over the whole raised bed - now covered with a hoop house.  Super healthy plant, delicious fruit, not a lot of maintenance.

Vegetable Garden Vol. I

Plants and veggies I have grown/will grow again from 2012: Installment 1

Plant: Heirloom Tomato, Variety: Black Prince (from starts)

I grew two different plants, and the yield was good.  I would definitely grow this variety again, because it's a healthy, hearty plant and the fruit it yields has one of the more deliciously strong tomato flavors I've tasted.  One of my favorites.

Plant: Peppers, Varieties: Serrano, Early Jalapeno, Hungarian Hot Wax, Sweet Banana, Cayenne and Poblano (from starts)

I have one plant in each variety of pepper (except Serrano, of which I have two).  The Sweet Banana pepper produced a lot of peppers in the beginning, then stopped.  All the other peppers continuously produced through the summer.  However, I can not keep the aphids off these pepper plants no matter what I do :(

Plant: Onion, Variety: Walla Walla Sweets, or Sultan Sweeties (from starts)

I grew about 25 of these this year, and most of them turned out great.  They grew more oblong and down, rather than out in width, not really sure why, but they still taste great.  I have pickled many of them, and plan to dry and store the rest for the winter.  I will definitely be growing these again next year, although perhaps from seed next time...

Plant: Kale, Variety: Curly Kale

Bought these guys as starts last August, they wintered through in our greenhouse and then exploded once I put them out in the garden this spring.  I still have 5 of my original 6 plants, and 3 of the 6 have turned into kale trees...they are huge!  They do really well in this climate, and neither G nor I can keep up with the yield even though we make kale chips, as well as blanch and freeze it for smoothies.  However, they are very susceptible to mildew.  G really likes them though, so I will keep growing them.

Plant: Strawberries, Varieties: Albion (day neutral), Allstar (everbearing), and Quinault (everbearing)

This season I have three varieties of strawberries, my two Albion plants are in their second season and are producing the biggest, sweetest strawberries I've ever had.  My Allstar plant is also doing well for it's first season.  And my 12 Quinault plants are in my strawberry pot, the strawberries they've been producing are rather small, but are super sweet.  All of the varieties are great, and the only issue I've had has been with spider mite on my strawberry plants, but it definitely hasn't been constant.  I will definitely be trying to winter these over.  Once you taste home grown strawberries, you can't go back!

Plant: Cucumber, Variety: Burpless

I grew (from seed) probably 15 to 20 cucumber starts over the course of the spring, only about half survived (they were very touchy with temp, water, and other conditions) and the ones that did survive, only grew up and up and never gave me a single cucumber, despite having plenty of flowers.  They also got spider mite pretty bad, and I couldn't seem to ever get rid of them :(