friday (flower).

where has the week gone? glad for an extra day off, that's all i have to say!

i thought since there is at least one flowering plant i can keep alive, i'd better get some macros of it while it's still pretty. the wind was not my friend that day, so i didn't get many that weren't somewhat blurry. oh well. how many macro flower pictures does one person need, anyway?

no links today, friends. too much going on! i'll try to post more next week though...

flowers and packages.

just a few images from right before our girly party last night. i made quiche, and it was wonderful. i always swear that i am going to take photos of it before it gets devoured, but that never happens. i'm always in such a rush to get it to the party while it's still hot! i love our dinner potlucks... so much good food to eat! i always leave very satisfied, but feeling that i must have gained 10 pounds over the course of the evening.

these little flowers i made make great gift toppers. and they have an alligator clip on the back so you can wear it pretty much anywhere! i would share a tutorial, but there are already so many out there, i don't know that it would do any good. these are super easy and fast to make though.

the gifts i needed to wrap were a little oddly shaped, but the kraft paper was perfect. and i didn't have time to make tags, so i pulled out my alphabet stamps, and that did the trick. i will have to remember this in the future, i can't believe how cute it turned out.

i really wish now that i had wrapped all our christmas presents like this. so simple, but they turned out so perfect. it's trying to snow here, but not succeeding very well. as beautiful as the snow is, i'd rather it not ruin my travel plans for the weekend.

how was your weekend?

other than not feeling very good on monday, we had a great weekend.

saturday was spent working in the yard in the morning. a trip to the home depot that afternoon (i got a new rose bush!! i love garden roses. above is a photo of one of the blooms. i still need to plant it...) and then we had steaks with d's parents and his memaw.

sunday we went to the sneed family reunion. since i took my camera with me, i was deemed reunion photographer by memaw... which would have been fine had i checked my settings before clicking away. i managed to salvage most of the photos i took, although they are blurry around the edges. (depth of field was not set correctly for a group setting). that will teach me to look at everything before i start taking pictures.

monday we tried to get out and do some more garden/yard shopping done. i knew the home improvement stores would be busy, but GEEZ. parking lots were filled to the brim, and i would rather spend the extra $10 and shop when there aren't any sales going on.

what do we still need to do in the yard?

buy more boxwood. i bought and planted 4 this weekend to replace dead ones. i miscounted, though and will need several more. there are 2 that i am trying my best to save... i thought these were supposed to be hardy?

buy dirt/compost for the raised bed. we were going to do that monday... but didn't feel like hauling soil around a packed store.

plant my veggies in the raised bed. i am determined to have some home grown veggies this summer!

i also bought some sweet asylum and zinnia seeds that i am eager to sow. there were so many seed packets i wanted to buy, but left with these two, as well as radishes and carrots to try our hand at.

i also have some bags of mulch that need to be spread on all the beds. i'm tired of pulling weeds... i know this won't completely fix the problem, but it sure will help!

there are lots of other things that need to be done in the yard, but these are the ones i'm most concerned with. it's all starting to look so much better!

spring?

could it really be here? my daffodils seem to think so... almost all 50 of them have bloomed! this has been an especially hard winter, it seems. from snowy, dangerous roads... to family i wish i could spend every extra minute with... i feel like spring will hopefully bring with it good tidings.

and speaking of change... d and i have changed our minds (again) over a few things about our home. while we love our little house, it truly is a starter home! we are ready for something larger soon, as our dreams and plans for the future continue to change and grow. we realize we need more space and have altered our plans of renovation.

downstairs bathroom | nope, it's still not finished! we have decided to just forget about the wallpaper and just texture and paint. it won't be as awesome - but i don't want the wallpaper to be a potential turn-off to renters or buyers. and i figure 2 rolls should be enough to do a bathroom or accent wall wherever we live next... if not, it didn't cost that much and i can always just sell them on ebay!

kitchen | i really need to repaint the cabinets. they look great from far off, but paint is starting to chip off, and it will have to have a fresh coat sooner or later.

sunroom | i really thought we would love this room when we bought the house, but it's turned into kind of a pain. the floor will definitely need to be repainted in here as well.

outdoors | the front yard is looking much, much better, although it still needs lots of work. the backyard is the nightmare... which is sad because it looks much better than it did when we moved in. but, i planted my seeds in my biodome this last weekend, so i'll have to get some raised beds started soon...

rest of the house | i know we'll end up painting the living room and probably all of the bedrooms before we leave. who wants an orange living room besides me? not many people i don't think. i also want to add crown molding in the rest of the house. it makes a room look so much more polished for not much $$$.

those are the plans for now... i'm sure they will change again before this is all said and done!

fun with macro.

sometimes i wish very much that i could spend all day taking macro pictures of beautiful flowers. right now i will have to be satisfied with a few zinnias and verbena in my front yard.

the people driving by must have thought i was crazy. i didn't realize how very close you actually have to get to your subject to take photos with a macro lens. you basically shove your camera as close as you possibly can without actually touching it. the results are stunning, though, with much more detail...

i know that in the world of dslr cameras, i still have much to learn... but i thought that for my first outing with my macro lens, i did pretty well! i'm thinking i may have to print a few of these up to hang in the house...

flowers.

some pretty purple flowers from the front flower bed. it's a shame i don't know what they're called... i got them at home depot this spring and guess i lost the tag. i think i'll snoop around the hd and see if i can find these again... unless anyone else knows what they are?