A Ladybug's Journey

It's been a long time since my last post.  Since then the Oregon rain has stopped, I've earned my first official tan (though still white compared to most people), we've gone camping and purchased bicycles. I'm still on Weight Watchers, though I have not been giving it my all... honestly, I haven't even been giving it my anything.  Babe is not on WW any longer, and I think that makes it harder for me.  I'll update my weigh in's and off scale successes soon. For Memorial Day weekend we went camping with friends.  It was a great time and a great way to start the beginning of summer.  Since then, I've spent a good amount of time outdoors and Babe and I have even purchased bicycles.  I love mine.  I'm still getting used to riding a bicycle again, I think it's been 20 years or so since I was last on one, and boy does my rear end hurt!  I'm so glad that I purchased a stability ball last week to use as a seat here at home, it's the only w...

So we moved in last weekend and have been able to get everything unpacked.  There's still some decorating to do, however here's some progress pics of the new house (and yard). First, the kitchen.  It's small, so I have to stand at each entry and use two photos to capture it. Next, the dining room, from the kitchen entry. A view of part of the living room (mirrored wall), kitchen, and dining room.   Second bathroom. Master bath. And now, the outdoors.  Right outside the sliding door is this beautiful bush, and below is a close up of one of the flowers. When we moved in, that green plant on the left bottom of the photo was taking over the whole walkway.  There's still more to clear on the other side, which you can see in the second photo. We believe there used to be something large in the back yard that covered the ground and didn't allow the grass to grow.  We're pretty certain that this is not natural (cause...

I am so excited, we are moving to a house! We won't own it, we're renting, but I am still so excited.  I'm going to plant my own hydrangeas and california poppies!  Since moving here I can fallen in love with the vibrant orange of the california poppy, aren't they beautiful? Source Breathtaking aren't they?  They grow wild here just about anywhere it seems.  I've seen them along the side of the road, at Mount Pisgah in the parking lot and in people's yards.  I only found the name of them yesterday after I searched "orange wild flower" in google images.  Beautiful. If you follow my wedding blog you may have noticed my love for hydrangeas.  These beautiful flowers get their color from the minerals in the ground, so the same plant may have different colors from one year to the next, or even better, within the same bush.  My favorite are the blue and purple colors (especially the one below that is also mixed with green), however I am a h...

I'm (usually) one of those pinners who says "that's awesome!" and then never does anything with their pins.  I've tried a few recipes and saved a ton of stuff for later, but I just haven't gotten around to most of them. There was one pin in particular that really stuck with me.  I originally pinned it over a year ago: (Still looking for original source for pic) A few months ago I created my jars, and I've been using them since the start of January. It wasn't until last night though that I added the words and they were officially done. I also added a hidden motivator: As I loose weight there will be a 'hidden' message revealed through the back of the jar.  Can you read backwards to guess what it is? It's been great moving over a total of 19 stones from one jar to the other.  I can't wait until they even out, and then the Pounds Lost jar has the most stones in it!