Will and Amy

When is summer going to start?

I still have a ton to do this weekend before my summer vacation can really start. My classroom is half-packed...it still needs to be finished and moved into storage at my new school. The PTA from my new school put together a moving party - a group of parents will be at my classroom door at 9 am tomorrow, ready to load up my stuff and drive it over to the other campus. I'm excited to meet the kind of parents who would give up a weekend day to help out a teacher they have yet to meet!

This past week in Spokane was exhausting. I learned so much about the National Board process, and I am ready/excited to start. It is going to be a long year with a ton of work, but I'm ready to learn and grow and work on this craft. Teaching is such a dynamic field, and that's one of the reasons I love it - change is good, and it's going to be the law of this military wife life. Pursuing this certification is validating and humbling, and I hope at the end of this journey I have honed my skills, grown them exponentially, and made friendships and connections that will help me keep it up after the piece of paper is framed and on the wall.

So, in order to get everything done (and done well) my summer break just became a lot shorter. I'll be spending a lot of my otherwise free time reading, studying and planning. And next summer I'll take a break...

I am blogging from my phone...A whole new world of technology just entered my life, but I feel guilty because my sweet husband bought me a new phone but did not get himself one. I am so grateful though and so excited. It was a monstrously long and hard week and then it ended on such a high note.


Love you babe!

I was doing a little work in the yard today, and the gorgeous scent of the lavender in our front flower bed kept making me stop and appreciate, well, life. At this moment, life is so, so good. We are insanely busy, and it's not stopping any time soon, but having some time in the yard to think and just enjoy was rejuvenating.


I was afraid that our rhododendron was not going to bloom - it didn't really flower last year, and it was looking pretty sad this year, too. It's pink blooms appeared a few weeks ago and it's still going strong.

My hostas are doing so well. It's really incredible to me because the slugs got them last year. They started to come up, like little green and cream chocolate curls, and then all of a sudden they were huge and gorgeous. They are at least three times as big as they were last year before the slug attack.

The combination of colors in our front bed is best this time of year. The little maple's new growth is such a pretty red and gold, and it just looks so nice with it's bed-mates now that they are all mature plants. Our third summer in the house, and everything is finally starting to come together...the flowerbeds, and, well, everything else about this life - it just feels right.


It's almost summer here and I can't wait to see what this season brings our way.

Only in Washington...

Will and I ventured to a local bbq joint on Friday night. I had been once before with our friends Rhonda and Dusty, and it was pretty good - I had a salad with their smoked chicken, and a microbrew. Well, that was then.

The place boasts "Texas" bbq...Really? It was rough. We both had the pulled pork sandwich. Will got beans and slaw, and I got onion rings - we were going to share the sides, but after a bite or two, the sides sat, well, to the side. Ugh. Their house bbq sauce was just as bad as their bbq itself, so I asked for pickles and onions for my sandwhich, thinking that might help a bit. Here's what I got:
Here, let me give you a close up:
This is what they brought me...pickles and onions for my bbq sandwhich...my "Texas" bbq sandwhich. Really? No, seriously, for real? Only in Washington.

So thankful...

It's hard not to be full of joy and thankfulness when you've had over a solid week of beautiful sunshine in WA! It has truly been uplifting. I can't get enough of the cool, clear mornings, coffee on the porch, birds beating me to the backyard. The windows are open and it seems as if everything (including me) has come to life again. We had such a wet, dreary spring...

I don't mean to hibernate for the winter. We don't stay inside all of the time - we get out and try to do things, but even so it feels as if I've been sleeping for months and months and I'm just finally awake. This winter was definitely better than the last (with the addition of Vitamin D supplements) but no matter my good intent, it still was a cloudy season. And to be quite honest, I think it helps that the television show season is over. Even with a DVR, television eats up hours of our week. I'm going to be making some considerations and changes come fall...I'm so enjoying these evenings of reading, bow making, and being outside.

So, this morning I am thankful in such an overflowing sort of way. I am making some granola to bring to a writing workshop that I am attending in preparation for my new teaching job. I just can't wait. It's an upbeat kind of morning, worthy of an upbeat soundtrack...Alan Jackson singing hymns (his Precious Memories album) is just perfect. And there's not a song more perfect than "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" - a reminder of where this joy comes from, and where this thankfulness is directed. And my Grandma Margaret's favorite.

How does your garden grow?

Well, I've no silver bells or cockle shells, but I'm feeling quite contrary. My basil doesn't want to grow, I've already lost two cucumber plants, and my swiss chard looks quite peaked.

On the bright side, two veggies I have never grown before are doing well - my buttercup squash and artichokes are healthy and thriving. I was told that the artichoke will probably only flower this year, but not produce buds. I will have to mound them over with mulch and cover them for the winter, and they should produce next year. We'll see. Right now I am enjoying the surprise of it all, seeing what has grown day to day. I think Will is going to be surprised at the progress when he gets home from his 10-day trip! I'm sure he thinks I went a little too far with the planting this year, but I know he won't be complaining when he gets home and gets the first snow pea of the season (it's just about ready...).

I'm enjoying the beautiful evening, sitting on the porch, watching the birds. We are so blessed to have this house and even though we'd love to have land, we do get to enjoy room to plant, a yard for the pups, and the most beautiful yellow finches I have ever seen. They are getting used to the dogs and are becoming braver by the day. Here's a picture from last summer - this summer's yellow finches are much slimmer (or maybe one of them is this guy, and he's just been on a diet during the winter). It's just a great way to spend the evening...


After sunset I plan to head inside and work on the puzzle we have going on the dining room table, and then make a few bows before bed. Although I miss my husband terribly, it is nice to be able to fix a veggie burger for dinner and while away the evening doing crafts...trying to look at the up side of things. I am looking forward to having him home and firing up the grill so that it truly feels like summer!