Wellington fun

I know that I've been absolutely naughty in not writing in two weeks. The truth is the weeks weren't exciting enough to warrant a whole blog. Truth be told, Gordon and I are starting to get into a routine so everyday can be the same...sometimes.

The Air Force rocked the cricket tournament and Gordon was on top of the world for being on the winning team. I got an unexpected surprise half way through that week. Trust bad things to happen while Gordon is away on Cricket. I was going to go and get Dax's present for his birthday. My little Godson is going to be 2! I go out to the car and find it has a flat tire and proceed to try and change it. I guess I was feeling frustrated because I couldn't change it at first. I went back out at dusk and was able to get the spare on. Now I had to wait for Gordon to get home so we could go and get a new tire.

Other than having to spend $120 bucks on a new tire, the week was pretty quiet. I went to a Women's Fellowship, spare and all, on Thursday to see what it was all about. It looks like I'll get to talk about what life is like in New Mexico. The ladies were very nice and accommodating and took a bit of interest in someone young coming to their fellowship. It felt nice to get out of the house for a little bit because I couldn't go anywhere far due to the flat tire. Gordon was able to get home without any scratches but it turns out that he forgot his charger in his room at Blenheim. Now, we have to look at getting a new charger for him at a cell store. It was the week for mishaps for the both of us.

We haven't been able to take anymore trips to the beach because the weather has been absolutely awful during the weekends. All the sunshine seemed to come on the weekdays for us rather than Saturday and Sunday. Right now, the weather has been very temperamental. The past couple of days has been full of wind and rain so the sunshine has gone away for awhile. Apparently, we are at the precipice for fall. We've had a pretty mild summer but I've been inside for most of it. Oh, we just had a heat pump/air conditioner installed in our married quarter. I haven't been using it too much because I'm afraid it will use too much energy. I think the only time that I'll really use it is when it gets really cold in the house during winter and I have to go around the house bundled up. Someone did tell me though that it was cheaper to just keep it running at one temperature then turning it on and off. We'll see what the energy bill says this month. The fireplace will stay unblocked, probably due to Transfield not wanting to take the time to do it, which I don't have a problem with. It also means that we can use the rest of our firewood during the cold evenings, when they come.

The most exciting thing that happened to me was that I got to go on a day trip to Wellington on a Wednesday! It was so thrilling and I wish that I could stayed there for a couple of days. I had given my friend, Kay, a ring about joining her small group study for church and we got to taking. It turns out that there was a Monet exhibit going at Te Papa, the museum in Wellington, and she was going to see it on Wednesday because her husband has some meetings to attend to in Wellington that day. I mentioned that I absolutely adored Monet, he is one of my favorite artists and I love Impressionism, and she suggested that I come with her. Gordon was going to golf that day and wouldn't be home at the normal time so I decided to join her.

Wellington is about 2 hours away from where we live. I've been begging Gordon to take me to see Wellington. It reminded me of San Francisco with its hilly roads and we had to drive through a "gorge" to get to the city. It was definitely smaller than San Fran though, I would say half the size of Albuquerque with two-thirds of the population of Albuquerque. We got to go to the water-front because that was where Te Papa was and I saw the "cake tin". That's Wellington's sports complex where they play footy (rugby), cricket and soccer. It actually looks like a huge round cake tin. We decided to make a day of Te Papa and give the whole museum a look through

The Monet exhibit was absolutely fantastic though! Its on loan from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, I guess they are doing a world tour of Monet's paintings. I could have spent all day there just looking at all of his magnificent paintings. They also had some sketches, sculptures and painting from other artists. I instantly recognized a sketch by Degas and some painting by Renoir. I never thought I would be able to distinguish one artist from another but I could definitely see the difference between the various artists. I also finally realized what "Impressionism" meant. The painting has more to do with perception and impression that the artist gets from the settings rather than trying to creat a still life. You could see that he created a new niche of painting from the dark, nature and realistic painting that his mentor and predecessors had done before him. My favorite painting was "Cap Martin, Near Menton", it somehow captivated me along with a beautiful painting of a garden that he captured. I think because it used so many colors, dark greens for the trees, light blues for the clouds and hillside, red and orange for the dirt road, a beautiful blue for the water. His waterlily painting are always beautiful to look at but it was so much better to see all of his other paintings, besides the haystacks. I felt so alive looking at them and just enjoying that I was out and about.

It was a wonderful day and Kay and Dudley took me on a Tiki tour around Wellington afterwards. We went down Courtenay Place and Lambton Quay and then past the "Beehive" which is part of the parliament buildings. I saw that there was a Terracotta warriors exhibit at the St. James theatre, maybe I'll go and see that next week on my day into Wellington that I'm planning. It was really nice to go somewhere with a good friend and enjoy the company. I confess that I don't get to do a lot of that because I'm at home most of the day.

Jobs, lets see, they aren't exactly banging on my door to hire me. I heard from a member of church that they were hiring at his food plant in Marton. I immediately filled out an application with my resume and cover letter. Things may be in the works and it gives me hope. I heard from him a week after and he said that it looked good. I just hope that it comes through. The job that I applied for was quality assurance with their food products that they make but I may just be stuck with a factory job. Its better than nothing and I won't gripe if it means we get some extra income. I just don't know how much more rejection I can take it. My lack of a job isn't affecting our marriage but it is affecting my confidence. Speaking of jobs, I got my W-2 from my previous job. Luckily, I lived in NM for most of 2008 so I get to file my taxes like a normal person. Now all I have to do is mail it and hope they get there without a scratch on them. The hard part comes next year when I have to file my federal taxes, if I get a job, and being abroad. Marrying international sure does have its downers. My Dad still wants to claim me as a dependent which I told him he couldn't because I'm way past the age limit which must be met in order to claim me and I did have a job last year before I got married. I also get more of a refund which we need in order to pay off the bills.

I did get a care package the other week from my family so that felt really nice. My Dad was kind enough to send me some acrylic paints which I've put to good use painting letters and things. I'll take some pictures of them and see what y'all think. I think they came out pretty well. I also got my swiffer sweeper for easy dusting and Crytal light packets for my water. If its gonna help me get this weight off then I'm all for it. Mom also sent me more wafer ginger snaps, yummy! It was nice to get something from home. Hopefully Ainsley and Sierra will draw me some more pictures that I can put on the fridge soon.

I also started the paperwork to change my name. I just sent out my SS form back to New Mexico. It wasn't until after I had sent it that I learned you could actually send it to the US Embassy here and they would change it for you. Now I feel stupid and scared that someone is going to open my mail and take my drivers licensce and birth certificate because I wasn't able to track it. They wanted me to pay $59 dollars to track it internationally and we just didn't have the money. It should be a bit easier with my passport though. I have to send it to the US embassy, along with $150 dollars, and it will take a week to change it. Then I have to go back to immigration and pay $80 dollars to have my visas from my old passport transferred to my new one. Being abroad sure does stink at times.

My garden has started to die now. We weren't able to use the broccolis in time so they started to flower. We did have a massive amount of carrots though and potatoes. I've now mashed, cut and shredded all of the carrots and they are sitting in the freezer ready to be used during the winter. We used most of the potatoes in a potato bake the other night. My gladiolas have bloomed so the side of the house has orange and purple blooms along with old discarded blooms. The poppies have decided to bloom as well. I've been thinking about finally transplanting the alstromeria and roses to the side garden but it seems to be doing fine for now. I've potted my carnations and rubdeckias to have them bloom and put a fiesta mix in another pot. That way I can get some late summer color hopefully. The few remaining zucchinis that we have on the vine are huge! I'd say at least 1-2 feet in length and the width is pretty huge. I'll have to have Gordon pick one and take a picture with it. The pumpkins and watermelons are coming into their own and getting ready to produce in fall. Gordon's taken the seeds from the bean plants and put them in a container to use for next year. We have a cauliflower that needs to be picked and used tonight for our fast and easy Alfredo dinner using Campbells soup.

Gordon has been on night shift the last week so I didn't have to do much cooking at all. He's back on night shift next week as well. That should save us some money on groceries next week and I'll be able to buy some meat for the next week to freeze and keep. Meat is still dear over here as well as seafood. New Zealand likes to export a lot of its meat and seafood because they get more profit for it which makes it more expensive for those of us who live here. You would think it would be cheaper but its not. We're doing okay though. Surviving from week to week, living on a prayer basically. The tax refund should come in handy though. I've learned to make lots of things from scratch though. I made a cheese sauce one night for our veggies. I made brownies from scratch! I then proceeded to eat too many of them and they were gone by the end of the weekend but they were delicioso! I also can make Mac'n'cheese from scratch as well as cheddar and pumpkin scones. I haven't tried to make any cakes from scratch, I'm still a box girl when it comes to cakes because I can never get them right. This week I'll be making Gordon some peanut butter and chocolate cookies. That's an awesome combination, yummy! Gordon says that I'll make a great mom someday with my baking. I was afraid the brownies wouldn't come out right but I guess I proved myself wrong.

Okay, I think thats all the major things that have been happening in my life so far. I have been doing some reading from the library. I joked with Gordon the other day that I should have been an editor of books or something since I read so much. I wouldn't know the first thing about plot and character development though so I probably wouldn't be good. I'm trying to stay positive though, as hard as it is at times, but there are days when I just can't be happy. Everyone has those kinds of days and Gordon understands. What a lucky girl I was to find him! Despite all of the little roadblocks that come along I think that we're going to be married for a very long time. We were made for each other and it feels so nice to be with him. Hope everything is going well in the States! I'll make an effort to post weekly again.

Oh, I forgot. I learned that Gordon got picked for the Interbase golf team. So he's leaving me for a week to go and play golf in Auckland. I'm proud that he got picked but not pleased that he gets to go and play golf for a week while I'm stuck here. That's why I'm planning a day into Wellington for when he is gone. If he gets to have fun for the whole week then I get to have fun for at least one day.

Beach day!

Its been one of those highly emotional weeks for Gordon and me. Full of worry, angst and what not. Just another typical day in the life of newlyweds just starting out. Worries abound but our love keeps us together. Other than that, nothing exciting has happened at all. The weather was pretty average the last couple of days full of rain and coldness. It was a complete switch from all the sunshine and hotness we were having the week before.

The reason for the angst and worry was, what else, money issues. My lack of a job still has me feeling like I'm not contributing anything to this marriage besides my lackluster cooking skills. We would be free of this debt a lot more faster if I had a job. So I had an insane idea running through my head. What if I moved back to America, got a job, and sent some of my earnings back to Gordon for our bills and saved the rest, minus living expenses of course. So, I impulsively called my mother and asked her that if I moved back to America would I be able to find a job in ABQ because I desperately needed one for Gordon and me.

Every day the news keeps becoming more grim. Immigration of Kiwis back to New Zealand is rising which means more unemployment for those trying to find a job. The economy is becoming crap. It feels like one bad step after another. It was really sad to see all those homes burnt in Australia as well. I couldn't really watch the news because I couldn't bear to see those poor people talk about what they had lost. So many people died in the fires and there are still more going. It looks like arson might be the reason for some of them but a electrical wire might be the cause of the one that killed so many people. Its pure speculation at this point until they investigate it properly though.

Gordon wasn't having a good day either because he had found out that his physical fitness qualification had expired and had to do it that day! The reason was because he was going to play for the Air Force team the next week and that was when the next test was. They didn't know if he could play without an updated physical fitness test or not. So they had someone test him that day and he passed. It all started because he turned in his contract extension, we decided to sign up for ten or eight more years with the Air Force, and was getting his doctors exam when they saw that his physical fitness qualification had expired.

Gordon and I talked our frustrations and worries out though. It was good to find out that he worries about our bills as much as I do; he just doesn't show it like me. Gordon is going to join the Ohakea golf society for $50 instead of Rangitikei for $380 and I'm selling stuff on TradeMe and making cards to sell. We're each sacrificing something for each other. After all the raw and sad emotions we had, I decided that I should write him a letter to show him exactly how I felt. Which is that I love being with him despite our financial difficulties and woes. I told him that we would only ship me back to America if we were very, very, very, very, very desperate. I'm always a lot more "vocal" with my words then when I try to say them out loud. Whenever I say it out loud it just sounds really corny to me, like something from a movie scene. He did appreciate the letter and I was rewarded with a hug and a kiss. I told him that whatever life brings us I want him to be the guy beside me through it all. I also said something about him finding the missing piece to make me whole. Even when I read it now it still feels a little corny to share with y'all.

Despite a bad week of emotions, everything was washed away on Valentine's day! Saturday totally made up for any bad stuff that went down during the week. We didn't do anything extravagant because of our money problems. It was such a nice, sunshiny day though and we decided to take advantage of the good weather by going to the beach! We had three beaches to choose from and we decided to go to Himitangi beach and save Tangimoana and Foxton for another weekend. We didn't know what kind of beach it may be so we decided that we would just have fun on the beach rather than in the waves. It was pretty awesome because you got to drive your car right up to the coast and the beach was only a couple of feet away from us. You do have to be careful for dune buggies and other cars driving around.

We did everything a young couple in love should do, that was PG of course. We had a nice walk along the beach, had a picnic on the sand, ran into the waves and got our pants wet... Despite all the trouble that living in New Zealand seems to be for me, there's always something to remind me why I fell in love with this place. It helps that I'm with someone I absolutely adore as well. Gordon and I even built a sand castle. You can't go to the beach without building a sand castle! We decided to call it Castle Flora because of the old butter container we were using to build the mounds with. It was oh so much fun and we even through the small nerf football around. I had to stop after awhile though because catching it was making my arms red. I noticed that there were little gold flecks in the sand too. It reminded me that each beach is different in its composition, kinda like people in a way. It was an absolutely fantastic beach day that will be forever in my memory. To top it off, I even got to drink Vanilla coke! How awesome is that?

Gordon is off playing Cricket this week so I'm here alone. Its been a week full of "what else can go wrong?" but I'll tell you about that next week. Its going to be okay though because Gordon comes home Friday and I can't wait! I told him that if he gets picked for Interbase golf then I'm taking my own mini-vacation without him for a whole week so he knows how it feels. As if I could ever go on a vacation without the love of my life! Everyone have a good week and stay warm. The sun has come out over here and it looks like another hot week is in store for us.

Half-versary

Our life seems to be settling into our little niche now because all's quiet on the Schofield front. Gordon was on night shift last week. That technically should mean more time for us but Gordon has a habit of sleeping in and then trying to do chores around the house. I like it when he does things around the house but sometimes there's just no "us" time. Its one of the things that I've learned to deal with concerning Mr. Schofield. We did get to work on our Wall O' Pictures. I made a frame for my sister's family that's labeled "The Martins" and I'll be putting in new pictures when I get them. It always reminds me of my Grandma's house in Maryland (now Pennsylvania)where she has a collage frame devoted to each of her grandkids and now great-grandkids. I have a little piece of my family with me in the lounge.

Last Monday was our 6-month anniversary which Gordon took off for. We ended-up being at the doctors though because I wasn't feeling the best and had to tape the game. No worries now, I'm starting to feel better. I just felt horrible for having to spend time at the doctors but I was a little concerned with my symptoms. Turns out there was nothing to worry about, silly me. We watched the "big" game on ESPN but we didn't get any of the commercials! Its okay, I got onto myspace and caught a couple of the good ones. Gordon's favorite had to be one with the astronauts speeding around the moon and then their tires get stolen. He had to watch it twice. It was pretty funny.

After Superbowl in the afternoon, we went out for dinner to "The Rat Hole" which is a pub and restaurant in Bulls. We needed to go with something cheap and affordable because of...well, money. It wasn't a bad meal of side dishes but I wasn't a fan of my main course. Next time, I'll stick with chicken. Gordon got, what else, a steak to eat and a massive pile of side dishes to go with it. The side dishes come free with the meal so we didn't pay extra for it. It was a nice night and Gordon spent some quality time with me. While we were at dinner, a young farmer's club was starting, it made me think of Kylie right away.

Friday was Waitangi day which commemorates the treaty between the British and the Maori. Everyone gets off for this day and there's usually some kind of uproar at the Treaty house in which the prime minister or politicians are accosted. Gordon had sold a cricket bat the previous day and was dropping it off in Palmerston North so he decided to take me to lunch at my favorite bagel place. We also had a nice walk around the square and I got to go look at a couple of shops in the Plaza.

Gordon was on duty crew this weekend which is essentially on-call in case any helicopters need to be taken out or put away. Friday he had to be there at 2pm. Saturday he was called in at 7:30 and didn't come back until 3pm and then had to go back in at 5pm. Saturday was not a good day for either of us. I did catch-up on some correspondence with friends and family. One good thing that we did do on Saturday was take a nice relaxing walk around the neigborhood. We decided to count how many cats we could see and we got up to 15 and that was only 2/3 of the married quarter! I would say that five of those cats were kittens. No wonder the SPCA is so adamant about getting your cat fixed. I do wonder though that if all the domestic cats got fixed then where would we get free kittens from? Would governments create special licenses for cat breeding so ordinary people could afford a pet? Just makes me wonder and I realize that not every domestic cat in the world will probably ever be fixed. We found a good sunset on Saturday and I had to cajole Gordon to stay outside and enjoy it with me.

Sunday was a nice day and Gordon didn't get called in! There was a picnic at one of the parishners houses' for the pastor's birthday. I made five-cup salad with fruit salad for the festivities. I was afraid that no one was going to eat it but it was nearly gone by the time we left. We met a couple of new people who introduced themselves and chatted. The theme of their questions seemed to be what did I do for a living. I guess its an innocent enough question to make small talk. Gordon talked about being a aircraft technician which left me with the "I stay at home for now" line. It made me a little awkard because they asked what my degree was in and if I've been looking for jobs, etc, etc. They mean well but its starting to get discouraging. The way the economy is I don't know when I'll get a job. I like to think that there is a plan out there for me that God knows about and when I achieve it he'll clue me in. For know, I'm just stumbling in the dark and putting myself out on a limb applying for jobs. It doesn't worry me so much anymore because something will eventually come along and it might not be anything related with biology.

I have been trying to find ways for us to save money. Lots of people have been coming out with lists on how people can save money. I always find that I'm doing mostly everything that they talk about. We don't eat out (maybe once in two weeks), we have a veggie garden (with so many veggies we don't know what to do!), we're paying our card off as fast as we can, we think about any purchases before, we go to the supermarket on a full stomach, we always look for a sale, and we're getting rid of everything we don't need. Gordon has been selling a lot of things on Trademe lately. He's also going to sell his extra golf clubs, the ones he used before he got his new ones a couple of years ago. I'm trying to narrow down my tea sets and sell them as well. So far i have a one cup/teapot that I never used, a sunflower set, a betty boop one and a wicker basket set. I found it hard to part with my things mostly because it cost so much to bring them over. If someone else can like it though then I should give it away and if I can get money out of it why not? We're doing the best we can with what we have. I just wish I could do more for Gordon at times. I was very proud of myself on Tuesday because I made my linen sprays with vodka and bottled water, it says distilled which is bottled.

I've started making cards to fill-up all the time that I have at home. So far, I've made about 10 Easter cards and 6 Valentines day cards. I sent them to Christine so she could sell them in the shop in Tirau. If I can get a little bit of money for Gordon and me then I'll feel like I'm contributing to the household. I could put that money aside for our "emergency fund" so I don't have to worry so much. The size of my cards makes them at least $2 so that will be 36 dollars for us! I'm working on some more to do as well. This picture is just a sampling of what I've done so far. I've been making some really cute ones that look like gifts with bows on them. I also have some pretty flower ones that I'm looking at as well. I even thought of a name for the brand of cards, Scrappy Apple. Scrappy because I use my scrapbook tools and Apple because I'm American, like Apple Pie. I don't have a logo or anything but I think that I'll start putting that on the back of my cards. People like labels.

The garden, what can be said about it? My side garden is taking away which has me a little concerned. I just got a notice today that they are finally going to start painting our outside windows. Which means that I can't plant anymore in my side garden until they are done, which will be 2-3 weeks. Figures that would happen when I have carnations and rubdeckies and cottage mixes that need to be planted. My plants should be able to survive for the next couple of weeks, I'll just have to get those carnations and rubdeckies into some pots for now.

The veggie garden is starting to come into its own and needs a mighty, good trimming, hmm...I sense a chore for Gordon, hehe. The pumpkins and watermelon are trying to muscle their way through the garden, well they are vine plants. We need to stick some cardboard under the cucumbers so they can grow a bit more bug free from the grass. I told Gordon that next year we are downsizing our number of plants because we don't need these much produce and we have limited space in the freezer right now. Like everything else, we're working on it. It does feel nice to have a good garden though, we're definitely going to have fertilize it over the winter to restore the nutrients in the soil. Gordon's tomatoes are getting bushier and bigger.

This is where I leave off for the week. I hope everyone enjoys their V-day on Saturday. We might get to go to the beach that day! I would be so excited if we did. I already have Gordon's card and I still have to think of his gift. He's going to buy me another Alstromeria for the day. We have to get Roger a gift for his birthday on the 24th and my Daxter is going to be two in March so we'll be getting his gift to send as well! Everyone have a great week!

Hubby-free week

This week I had a visit from Gordon's mom, Christine. I guess she wanted to keep me company while Gordon was away at Interbase and she said that she needed a break from the shop for a couple of days. I survived my first night without Gordon with flying colors, I wasn't overly paranoid and I got some good sleep with my kitchen nightlight.

The visit went kinda well I think. We ended up going into town one day because she wanted to get a scrapbook for the wedding pictures that she had and ordered a while ago. We had a good time at Spotlight and I remembered to get a card for Gordon's grandma because her birthday is Tuesday. We also got to eat at the bagel shop I had gone to a couple weeks ago. I had a breakfast bagel and Christine just wanted a bagel with bacon and butter. The next day we spent part of it looking at the shops in Tirau. She's always wanted to look at the little shops to see what they had to offer. There is a craft shop that is a bit of a ways down the road from the main shop. It had cute little crafts, wall-hangings, clay figures, painted wooden boards for the garden and little wood animals. My favorite was all the mosaic tiles though. It was absolutely beautiful and I wish that I could try to do something like that. I wouldn't know where to start though and it would cost money that we don't have. There was this huge mosaic tile bird bath that I loved but then thought that it wouldn't be a good investment because then it would get all crummy and dirty because of the bird poo.

We did simple dinners and I treated Christine to a milkshake on her last day here. It was a nice visit and I felt good for having her input in what we watched at night. She doesn't get control of the remote at home very much. Luckily, Gordon's nice enough to pick-up on my cue that I would like to see something other than sports from time to time. It was a nice relaxing week but I didn't get too good of a sleep because of Gordon's absence. It was all fixed by Friday though. Friday I took a walk with one of my church friends and she was asking what the church could do to make me feel more welcomed and included with my transition with moving to New Zealand. It was very nice and I've been thinking of ideas.

Gordon did fantastic at Interbase Cricket. He helped to lead his team to victory over Auckland in the finals. He got 5 wickets and was called "the Destroyer of Auckland". Incidentally, he'll be leaving me in two weeks to play for the Air Force cricket team. His phenomenal performance made the Air Force recruit him for the team. I'm very proud that he's done such a good job and I'll just have to find something to do while he's playing Cricket. I have been having some good ideas about making extra money and volunteering in my community.

Gordon and I went to my first New Zealand birthday party. It entailed going to the Bulls RSA, which is for men in the armed forces who have served overseas, so there were lots of WWII vets there. It was a very laid back affair and we stayed for a hour and a half. I guess it would be like when everyone in my family would get together on Sunday and have an impromptu party, just with more alcohol this time.

Saturday was errand day so we went into Palmerston North and I was able to get a few things. We found a shelf unit on sale for the bedroom so I can get the rest of my clothes places somewhere other than in boxes. I also printed some pictures for our wall and got some nice frames to put them in. The walls going to look so great with my family and Gordon and me pictures up there. I've become such an avid fan of pictures because its one of the ways that I'm able to share my life with others. We also stopped at a gypsy fair and looked at all the crafts and goods they were selling. They had helicopters and planes made out of aluminum that were pretty neat as well as some mosaic mirrors. Gordon said that I could do those mosaics easily, he thinks that I can do anything.

Sunday was a very subdued affair. We went to church but I wasn't feeling so super so I had to sit-down a couple of times. There were some notices about helping out in the church. I'm going to look into it next week. There's two opportunities to work with children so I may try that. At the church they are trying to work on introducing new people and old people so everyone gets to know one another. It's very nice. We also did some gardening. Gordon finally fixed the bean poles and I planted some gladiolas and poppies into the side garden section that was ready. I noticed some buds the other day and am so excited to see what will come out. The poppies are baby plants so it will take a while for them to get to their full potential.

We received a booklet in the mail the other day that was showing adult classes that were being offered at the Feilding High School grounds. There are a couple that interested me. Three of my favorites were a one-day workshop about natural remedies using garden plants, a workshop on publishing a booklet, and a painting class. There was also a knitting class but I think the other three are more interesting. I've been debating whether I want to take them or not. It would be nice to try out my artist side to see what I can do. It mostly would be pictures of nature and abstract, my realistic side of drawing isn't super. The little publishing class is neat and I think that I really want to try it. I was thinking a little book full of my favorite family recipes or trying out a children's book. I have no idea what I could write about that children would find interesting but I can brainstorm. There is a worskhop in February and then one in April, I may choose the later one. Its so exciting! I really want to try it out and see what happens.

I've attached some of my scrapbook pages that I've done as well as the garden so I hope everyone enjoys it. There is an abundance of produce in my garden; I wish that I could share it with all of you. Everyone have a safe and warm week!