Trip to Texas

This little guy's birthday is today. He's three! I went to Texas for a long weekend and got to go to his birthday party on Saturday. Since Mimi's birthday was yesterday, we celebrated hers as well.

I helped Laura make the cake (but really only mixed the icing!). The only safe and calm place on Saturday ended up being the laundry room.

Mimi was a great sport about sharing a Thomas the Train birthday cake.

And she quietly opened her presents in the background while Wesley had all the attention on him.

My cousin Audra even drove all the way from Dallas to Abilene just for a few hours of birthday party. Yay for three out of the five super cousins being together!

I only spent one day in Abilene and the rest in Austin. Was sad to have only a little time with family, but happy to have time to be with my church family and friends in Austin. I miss Texas and all of my friends and family there, but I do have to say that being back with my hubby in the lovely cool California weather made it nice to come home.

*8* Orchid Blooms!

This is still unbelievable to me...our little orchid that was left neglected for months under the patio table now has 8 full blooms. I think there is a lesson here for me - that God makes beautiful things happen, many times as we are simply resting in him, not striving to make them happen on our own. The difference being I just forgot about this orchid and God made it happen whereas in my current situation (looking for a job), he wants my active trust as I wait.

Tomatoes!

Well, they're not quite ready yet.... I think they're taking longer to ripen because they don't get enough sunshine, but we will have some ripe tomatoes soon!

I took this picture yesterday and today they're already a little more red. Yay!

We also have a volunteer morning glory in our garden. I wonder if it's too late to transplant it successfully. I don't want any of our garden plants competing for sunshine, but I love the morning glory blossoms.

Sean Hayes - When We Fall In

More job applications today along with errands including a trip to the post office to try to market my handmade things. This music is a nice accompaniment.

Visitors From Texas, Episode 3!

We welcomed our third and fourth Texas visitors last week: Ryan and Josh Smothers, friends from my home church in Dripping Springs, who are celebrating their last few days of summer.

We've had a great time hanging out at the beach (everyone who comes to visit gets a complimentary beach bonfire experience!), seeing Hollywood, Malibu, the Huntington Gardens (amazing! a first time visit for all of us), Venice, Santa Monica, and more. Good times.

Sawdust

Last weekend, Colin and I went to the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna because of half price Groupon tickets. We looked at all the booths, watched an amazing glassblowing demonstration, and ate yummy Greek food.



Since Thursday, my friends Ryan and Josh have been visiting from Texas! Our living room is their home with mattresses on the floor and we've been doing all sorts of fun LA things, some of which I've never done before. Pictures to come!

Young Folks

I found this song months ago and thought I'd lost it, but I got some itunes money for my birthday and decided to search this song out again. Yay for finding it and now owning it!

First Harvest: Bush Beans!

A lot of seeds in our garden (especially the ones that don't get enough sun) didn't sprout, but we do have a good showing of bush beans and tomatoes at least, plus a few other slower growing things.

Our first harvest was this week:
The bush beans are purple, but after they're cooked, they turn green. I made a stir fry with sesame oil, soy sauce, carrots and beef. Yay for eating things we grew in our own "backyard!"