What time is it? SUMMERTIME

photo credit to Joseph Hoban via freeimages.com

(Do I have a post every summer with that title?.....)

Everyone's talking about summer right now - Are you excited for it?  Are you excited school's almost out?  Do you have any summer plans?  Are you going anywhere?

Here's what I think.

I'm excited for my kids to sleep a little later

To go swimming and to the splash pad and the lake / pond thing.

To wear my cover-ups and sun hats.

To have the whole day free instead of just until 2:00.

To be more spontaneous with plans.

To see our flowers fill in and our yard get prettier.

TO EAT STRAWBERRIES.

To grill for dinner and eat picnics.

To go to baseball games and practices.

No, we don't have any big plans, and we don't know if we're going anywhere.  Do people already know that?  Unless you're flying, needing a hotel, or meeting other people, how far in advance do you need to plan?

To have a regular summer routine.

To go to waterparks.

I want my kids to play with their friends.  I want to go on dates with Joel.  I want to go on a temple tour [visit temples in Utah].  California - the beach, my sister, Disneyland, the fabric district.  Family pictures.  Making some videos.

We're gonna need more than one summer. :)

___________________________________________

On the off-chance that you won’t live forever, maybe you should try being happy now.

The Newsroom

Leesa

No, she's not a child.

She is, in fact, a bed.

So, Joel and I have been wanting a new mattress for a long time.  Ours had a HUGE dip in the middle, and we've both been waking up sore for at least a year.  We went mattress shopping a few times, but it's so hard!  They all were good, better than what we had, but not "perfect enough."  We weren't willing to commit to any of them.  I don't remember why, but one day, I started looking online and discovered that buying mattresses online is a thing.  What?!  I read about it for hours - how to buy a bed without trying it first, return policies, reviews of certain mattresses... and what started as, "Haha, wouldn't that be hilarious and weird if we bought a bed online?" became, "Alright, shall we do it?"

Here's what we learned:

Buying a mattress online can be less expensive because there's no middle man.

Most online mattress companies have 1-3 firmness levels, making it easier because you don't have to test a million beds, but a little scarier, too, if you like to try out the mattress first.

All online mattress companies I read about produce a pretty firm mattress - what's "average,"  or about 6-7 on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the cushiest.

Every company I researched had a 90-101 night return policy - if you don't like it, you can return it for a full refund.  They all have a free pick-up policy.  One company's policy was to pick it up and then donate it to a shelter.  (No restocking fee because they never restock a mattress.)

Ours is pretty foamy, as opposed to having coils.  It came in this box: 

It weighed 96 pounds.  Never have I been so excited to see a package on our front porch!  And never have I been so disappointed to hear the "you have a package" knock on the door that came two days earlier...

The mattress was vacuum-sealed in the box, so the instructions were that we position the box where we wanted the bed to end up, open it on its side, pull out the mattress, and cut the plastic enveloping it.  Then we just watched!  Five minutes later, we had this: 

a beautiful, super soft (to the touch), firm mattress...

THAT WE LOVE!

I never would've thought I'd enjoy a firm mattress, but man.  It's so nice.  We love it.  We budgeted for the possibility of buying a $100 mattress topper if we hated the firmness, but we didn't have to.  This particular mattress has a thin layer of soft foam on top of firm foam, so it feels cushy but firm... if that makes any sense.  We're still far away from our 100th night, but I can't imagine our opinion changing.  Would we buy a mattress online again?  Definitely.  Would we buy a Leesa again?  Also yes.  If you need a new mattress and want to lay on ours to see what Internet beds are like (and if I'm friends with you in real life...), let me know!  

___________________________________________

In life, the hardest decisions often have to be made more than once.  But each time, it gets easier.

Icefall

by popular demand... video proof!

You asked!  And here's the video proof I mentioned in my last post.  Also, my family's Christmas card from a few years ago.  (Isn't my family the greatest?)  You're welcome.  Enjoy!

Explanation for the videos:
My best friend (and roommate at the time) and I both love HSM.  One day, it was such perfect weather, we decided the best thing would be to have an HSM dance party in the volleyball court.  (One thing we liked to do was sync up our ipods and have dance parties with our headphones in.)  So, the first video shows how we'd sync our ipods.  The second video shows one of our favorite parts of all the songs, all the movies.  The third video is my brother recording us from his apartment.  We didn't really think about how other people could see us or might've been paying attention, so we were completely surprised when he showed us the video he took. :)  We might be crazy, but you have to admit, we're also a lot of fun.

___________________________________________

She's just a teenage maniac [with her] heart out on the dance floor...

"Frequently Baby"

Mêlée

six is the number that's on my mind

It's our anniversary!

Or, it was recently.  When our internet was down.

But, happy six years, Joel!

You're the best husband for me ever.

I would write more, but that's for a love letter and not a blog.

For those of you curious,

check out the proposal story!

It's pretty great. :)

(Photo credit to Little Boy)

___________________________________________

If I have something I want to say that is too difficult for adults to swallow, then I will write it in a book for children.

Madeleine L’Engle

things I'm loving today

flats of raspberries (12 6-oz packs) for only $10!!

___________________________________________

“Harry Potter,” he squeaked in the tiniest quiver of a voice, “Dobby has come to rescue you.”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

the Goblet of Fire

Frank Bryce.  Every time I read the book or watch the movie, I feel so so bad for him.  He seems like such a lonely old man.  I think people forget that Voldemort ruined his life, too, when he killed the Riddles.

Wormtail is more despicable to me than Voldemort.  Should that happen?  I really loathe him.  I can hardly bear looking at him while he's on screen.  Also, Baby Voldemort is way less ugly in the movie.  In the book, horrible.  In the movie, almost cute.  YES, I did just call Baby Voldemort almost cute.  Sue me.  It's the same as when Draco looked so good in the fourth movie and everyone thought I was crazy because he's the bad guy so I shouldn't find him attractive.  Well, you're all just going to have to get over it.  All of the good guys had horrible hair.

If you've never watched Harry discover Dumbledore's pensieve while listening to Joel, in Jimmy Fallon's teenage girl voice, saying, "Ew!  Oh. My. Goodness.  A pensieve!  EW!  Old person memories!!" believe me when I say YOU SHOULD.  You'll die laughing.

Because this isn't my favorite movie (WOAH. Calm down. I still love it. I just like some of the other HP movies better), I tend to forget how much I like the book.  This book is one of the best ones.  I love it.

___________________________________________

"'Yeh'll do wha' yer told,' he growled, 'or I'll be takin' a leaf outta Professor Moody's book... I hear yeh made a good ferret, Malfoy.'"

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

that reminds me... "Happy" - Jesse Palter and the Alter Ego

I like this song a lot. :)  Every time I listen to it, I think of sitting in my craft room making roses out of squares of felt and feeling thankful for Pandora and songs that make me feel happy when I need the help.  

Also, of Joel telling me it sounds like a Sesame Street song.

___________________________________________

“You will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me.  You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

pop! went the question

As per your requests, here is the long-awaited story of how I proposed to my husband.  :)

Joel and I went on our first date in April, the night before I went home from college for the summer.  We talked some over the summer, dated on and off during the school year, around February decided to date each other exclusively, and almost exactly a year after our first date, got engaged.  

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, my last before going home for the summer again.  Joel and I liked to take walks at the park on sunny Sunday afternoons, so he came down [he wasn't attending the same school as I was] and off we went.  As we were driving to the park, I asked, "Is it okay if we go to a different park this week?  The one we usually go to is really busy, and I just found this cool other one that's not too busy.  It might be fun for our last sunny Sunday afternoon walk to go somewhere less crowded."  He agreed, thinking I was just being sentimental.  Ohhhh no.  I was setting it all up.  

We laid out a gigantic beach towel on the wet grass and sat down to chat for a while before walking around.  I needed to be home in half an hour to make Oatmeal Craisin Patties with my roommate before dinner, so I wanted to make sure I had enough time to pop the question without being rushed.

It was a pleasant chitchat.  And then...

"Do you remember how you told me once that sometimes a person has to make a decision first in order to know if it's the right one?"

"Yes."

"And how it can be scary, but sometimes you have to do something to know it's the right thing?"  [Joel later told me that he was DYING because he thought I was breaking up with him for the summer.]

"Yes."

At this point we were sitting cross-legged, so I elegantly got up (instead of down) onto one knee and then said some romantic things that ended with, "Joel [Middle Name] Johnson, will you marry me?"

He didn't get it.  

Or at least, he didn't get that it wasn't... a joke, maybe?  Because all he could say for like, five minutes, were variations on "Are you serious?"  

I finally convinced him that I was, in fact, serious, and presented him with a color-changing plastic ring I'd gotten at the Career Fair that he could put on my finger.  And that was that!  We were officially engaged.

taken right after the proposal

We waited until later that evening to tell people - that was one of the stipulations I'd made.  I was pretty nervous about getting engaged because it WAS one of those situations for me, where you have to make a decision and then later learn if it's right or wrong.  I was scared about deciding to be engaged and then finding out I was wrong, so right after we celebrated getting engaged, I told him it was on a trial basis.  I was still waiting for spiritual confirmation, so I asked him to promise and understand that if I got a confirmation and found out we weren't supposed to be engaged, we'd break it off.  He graciously agreed.  So anyway, we waited until later in the evening to tell people because I was hoping I'd find out soon if we were wrong.  

after getting the ring

The rest of the week was a whirlwind!  As you might remember, it was the last Sunday before I headed home, so we only had about four days of being in the same state while engaged.  Monday was my last day of finals, and then Monday evening we went ring shopping for the first time and bought both of our rings.  Tuesday I had to pack and work; Joel picked me up from work and proposed in the same park with the ring.  On Wednesday we got our engagement pictures taken; Thursday, he helped us [my brother, friend, and I] pack our storage unit; and Friday, I went home for the summer.

engagements!

We got married three and a half months later.

Halloween, Johnson style

Joel's work has a Halloween party every year, and for the past three Halloweens, Joel's costumes have been the talk of the office!  It's hard to think of another good one every year, but somehow we've managed it so far!  It's fun to do costumes that utilize his height, so this year he went as "something that everyone wants and loves..."

The long skinny [teal] piece in Tetris.  It was a hit!  He had the Tetris song playing on his phone all day, and when he first walked into the office, he got a standing ovation.  Nice! :)

I had a hard time deciding on my costume, too.  If I went as something I thought was funny [like last year when I was a hipster], none of the students would get it, and if I went as something they loved [like a Disney channel character], I wouldn't think it was cool.  Or so I thought...

I sewed about a thousand strips of crépe paper onto a white t-shirt, covered two party hats with the same streamers, and voila!  A piñata!  And when the kids at school would hit the piñata, aka give me a high-five, they got a piece of candy.  It was so much fun!  Everyone loved my costume. :)

At night, a friend came over and we watched Halloweentown - a DCOM classic - and answered the door for a million cute trick-or-treaters.  When one batch of my students came by a second time [with masks so as not to be recognized], I even got to use the line, "What do you think I am, a piñata?"

I love Halloween!

___________________________________________

“'You know what, Harry?  If he doesn’t stop trying to save your life he’s going to kill you.'”

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

jobs (other than my own) that I would love: part 1

There are a few jobs in this world that I would love to have.  Not only would be they provide a great amount of joy to me, but I also just think I would rock at them.  I considered posting all of them right now, but then I realized I have a lot to say about some of these, so, without further ado, here is "Jobs (other than my own) that I would love: Part 1." 

here

Let's be honest, I already love this job.  Every time I go grocery shopping by myself, I'm excited to return the buggy, and every time I go with Joel, I volunteer to return the buggy to the cart corral.  I would LOVE to be the buggy gatherer at a grocery store.  Love.  Why?  First of all, scenes like this...

here

...make the OCD "I enjoy organizing" part of my brain start filling up with endorphins.  Seriously.  I get excited just looking at this picture.  I want to clean it!!  Secondly...

here

...look how happy they look!  I'm kind of kidding - most shopping cart picker uppers do not look that happy, and every time I've talked to someone about this dream job, they tell me I would hate it soon after starting.  I have to say, though, I'm really good at doing repetitive organization tasks and still liking them at the end.  I feel like I would look like those people if I were doing that job, especially if I were allowed to, 1) talk to people and/or, 2) listen to music.  Also, I could go around taking people's buggies for them when they finished unloading!  Fun.  And thirdly...

here

...there would probably be an unlimited amount of opportunities to do that.  So there you have it!  One job I would love to have (and be great at) is that of Grocery Bugger Gatherer.

here

___________________________________________

"'I have often,' said Smee, 'noticed your strange dread of crocodiles.'

'Not of crocodiles,' Hook corrected him, 'but of that one crocodile.'  He lowered his voice.  'It liked my arm so much, Smee, that it has followed me ever since, from sea to sea and from land to land, licking its lips for the rest of me.'

'In a way,' said Smee, 'it's a sort of compliment.'" 

- J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

thought questions

I found a website today called ThoughtQuestions: Asking the right questions is the answer.  The questions tend to be pretty simple and interesting to think about, so I thought, maybe when I feel like writing on my blog but don't know what to write about, I'll look something up on there. :)  This one is just for fun, not because I have nothing to say.

Hey! Snow day!

___________________________________________

"But undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw."  - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Laaaaaambert, the sheepish lion

Okay, this post is not about Lambert, the Sheepish Lion.  I did watch that show / sing that song when I was younger, but this is about an entirely different lion.  Christian.  I love watching this video!  It is one of my favorite animal stories in the entire world.  Please watch it at least once (feel free to repeat several times).  I dare you to do so without smiling! :)  (Also, this is your Valentine's Day post.  Can you get much cuter than this kind of love?!)

___________________________________________

"[Hook] was never more sinister than when he was most polite, which is probably the truest test of breeding;"  - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

oh yeah, this happened in December :D

It was a fun surprise. :)

Usually when someone is chosen as Teacher of the Month, one of these banners is put on a wall outside her classroom.  Because I'm a traveling teacher this year, though, I don't have a classroom so I found this one day hanging on a random wall in a hallway. :)

___________________________________________

"It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things that, while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor." - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

bookmark

I have a student who is a handful.  I don't know that it's necessarily his "fault" - he just likes to talk and he's social and likes to be silly... but it is hard to teach around him.  About a month ago, I took candy to class for the first time.  Everyone who was respectful to me during my time there got a piece of candy at the end.  He didn't.  He was either the only one or one of two, I can't remember.  For two or three weeks in a row after that, he was awesome.  He would ask at the end of class if he deserved a candy, and once or twice I gave it to him (and only him).  The third time, I told him I wasn't giving candy to everyone anymore but I would leave one in his teacher's box because he deserved it.  That was last week.  

This week, I wrote him a note.  I told him I'd noticed how hard he'd been working and how proud I was of him.  I taped a piece of candy to it and left it in his teacher's box.

Yesterday I went to his class.  As soon as I got there, someone said, "[Boy] got your candy," or something like that, and another boy said, "He got your note, too," kind of teasing.  A girl remarked, "Yeah, he uses it as a bookmark."  They took it away from him, teasing him, and he fought to get it back.  I took it away from the girl who had it - I don't tolerate disrespect in my classroom - and gave it back to the boy.  

He keeps that note with him, using it as a bookmark.  He won't let anyone read it, and he fought to get it back when someone took it away from him.  Perhaps it's a coincidence - maybe he needed a scrap of paper for a bookmark and he's embarrassed for anyone to read it because he thinks it's dumb - but I'm choosing to believe it meant something for him to hear that someone was proud of him.  You can tell he craves that kind of attention.  One person can make a difference.  Don't hold back a compliment when it's deserved.

(Note, because I feel weird not explaining this: I don't typically use candy as a motivator.  I'm not a fan of using a lot of extrinsic motivators.  It's the only thing he's responded to, though, so for one kid, when it's helping him learn, I'm okay with it. :)

___________________________________________

"There were odd stories about [Peter Pan], as that when children died he went part of the way with them, so that they should not be frightened.  [Mrs. Darling] had believed in him at the time, but now that she was married and full of sense she quite doubted whether there was any such person." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

thoughts on Halloween

Tonight was my first real giving-out-treats-for-trick-or-treaters experience, and it was every bit as awesome as I always imagined it would be.  I counted how many groups came to the door, and we got 50!  And almost every single time the doorbell rang, I literally became giddy with excitement.  It was so fun :)  Here are some things I thought tonight...

midget Joel

- It really doesn't bother me when older kids come trick-or-treating, as long as they're at least dressed up. We had some kids come who I think are like, 18, and I thought it was fun because they were dressed up and into it, but we also had a group of three 15-ish-year-old girls come who weren't even trying to look dressed up.  They just had plain t-shirts, jeans, and purses.  I wanted to deny them candy.
P.S. Joel (and Carrie if we're neighbors at this point like we should be) - When we turn like, 90, we should go trick-or-treating. I think that would be hilarious to get old people trick-or-treaters, so we should do someone else the favor when we're old. Oh - not as escorts to little kids.  Just as old people.

hipster Alison

- I don't care if you are in my Primary class - you don't visit the same house twice (unless you're really great friends or something, because then it's not just about getting candy out of people).

- Isn't turning off your porch light the universal signal that you've run out of candy? (Why, yes, I was granted the privilege of running out of candy on Halloween! :)

- [as I'm walking to the door]: "Hey, this is the Spanish teacher's house!" [and, as they walk away]: "What are the chances?" (comic on that topic)

- I am so much more disposed to think kindly of you when you say thank you than when you take my candy and run away.  (Luckily, that was only a couple of kids.)

- One of my Primary kids was so focused on the fact that he was trick-or-treating that, when I said, "Hello, [name]," I think he had no idea who I was. :) Adorable.

- I'm kind of sad that Halloween is over.  It's never been my favorite holiday, but it was a lot more fun with a house for some reason.  I loved it this year. :)

¡¡Happy Halloween!!

how to have a good week at work...

For those of you who aren't aware, I got a job! working at a school about two minutes away from my house!  Nice!  It's part-time, which I am sooooo happy about, and I'm teaching Spanish to all the students grades 1-6.  I was pretty nervous to start (this last Monday was my first day) because I've been trained to teach secondary students and I love secondary students, but things have gone well so far!  It's been a lot of fun, and there have only been a couple of tricky classes, classroom management-wise.  I've been making some good friendships with both students and teachers.  Here's an excerpt from my journal last night that I wrote after a great first week...

I've been collecting nice things for when I have hard weeks, and here are a few that I heard this week.  Some were said to me and some I overheard as I was walking down the hallways... All of them made me feel so happy that this is my job :)

"You are so fun."

"I used to never like Spanish, but now I do."

"I think I understand you even better than our normal [English-speaking] teacher!" (Said by an English-speaking girl. This was quite possibly one of the best compliments ever.)

"Who's that?" "That's our new Spanish teacher.  She's really [fun]."  (Okay, I'm making up that adjective because she was walking away and I didn't hear what she said, but this quote came from a girl whose whole face lights up every time she sees me.)

"I love Spanish now. I LOVE SPANISH!"

"Thank you so much. That was an entirely new environment [from last year] [said twice]. *I* even understood some of what you were saying!" (Said by a teacher.)

"Spanish is fun now."

"You're so fun!" (Yes, I know I've already written that. A lot of people have said it this week:) 

"You're better than the last Spanish teacher."

Really.  Pretty much every time I walk through the halls, I get stopped by teachers or students to tell me how much fun Spanish has been and how much they're loving it.  Kids wave and say "Hola" everywhere I go, and teachers are completely backing me in my use of 100% Spanish in the classroom.  In fact, almost every kid in that school is convinced that I don't speak any English, which was my goal.  :)

THIS IS SO AWESOME!  This is completely why I wanted to be a Spanish teacher - to give children an exciting foundation that would make them want to keep studying Spanish.  I didn't ever really think about accomplishing that goal at an elementary level, but since about a month ago, I've realized that it might be even more doable here than at a secondary level because the students are still so excited about learning.  Woohoo!!  

(Although it kind of puts on the pressure for next week's lesson...  I hope people think Spanish is as fun next week!)

I'll be honest.  I don't know if I've ever felt so much that a job and I were perfect for each other.  Everytime I leave school, I'm in a good mood.  It's a constant constant reminder that Heavenly Father has put me in the right place.  I really feel like I (my training, my attitude, the Spirit, I'm not sure what exactly...) was really just exactly what this school needed.  Is that arrogant?  Oh well.  I feel it.  <3 comment-3--="" nbsp="">

In the leafy treetops, the birds sing, "Good morning!"

More like, "In the leafy eaves of the porch, the birds sing, 'Get away from my babies!'"

My friend Carrie wrote a blog post recently about birds having babies on her porch and the parents hating her.  Well, guess what - the same thing is happening at our house right now!  We had some birds build a nest outside of our front room window and lay eggs - we knew there were eggs because all of a sudden, the birds hated us - but we were dismayed one day to find the eggs broken all over our porch.  Yes, for some unknown reason (perhaps the eggs were duds?) the parents had pushed their eggs out to sudden destruction.

But then!  A new couple moved in!  They built a nest in front of our front door and also laid eggs!  AND THEN THE EGGS HATCHED!  We now have the most adorable things happening all the time outside our front window, and we love to watch it.  The parents hate us.  In fact, when we went on a walk last night, they followed us for a full block screaming at us to leave their babies alone.  Anyway.  For your and my viewing pleasure, I took some videos.  Now you can see just how cute they are!  I have included only the most action-packed scenes.

At about :45, Joel walked into the front yard.  You can hear the mom and dad scolding him for it for a couple of seconds.  It went on a lot longer in real life.

Why, yes, at 1:00, that is a piece of poop scooting out!

1:55 is one of my most favorite parts, when he snuggles up and puts his arm around his brother.

Can anyone contest that seeing tiny little baby birds stretching out their cute skinny necks and gigantic beaks to be fed by their mommy/daddy is not one of the cutest things in the world?

I love these little birds living on our porch.  Sadly, their constant scolding and poop are both annoying enough that we probably will not let them live there again.  But I love them for now :)

Strawberry Days

There exists in a nearby city a fun little festival called Strawberry Days.

(Yes, this sign says "Straberry Days" instead of "Strawberry Days,"

but I didn't create it, and it was the best I could find.

You're just going to have to deal with it.)

I've heard that, every year, they give out free strawberries and cream,

but this year I learned that the cream is magical. 

Naturally, we decided to check it out.

On a pleasantly cool Tuesday evening, 

J, M, and I headed out to get some free strawberries and magic cream!

and also enjoy the free concert in the park.

The event started at 7:30, and we arrived around 8:00.

The band performing the free concert in the park was none other than The Beach Boys!

Just kidding.

They were probably about the same age, though,

only this group was performing other artists' music.

They were decent, but not worth the trip.  

No, we had come for the strawberries and cream.

Let's be honest - I was pretty much there for the cream.

There were approximately 1,000,000 people there, 

and as we followed the crowds to the strawberries and cream line,

we passed many people enjoying their magic dessert.

Then we got in line.

Only it turned out not to be the line for free strawberries and cream.

Unfortunately, it was the line for watching the crew clean off the tables,

for sadly,

all the strawberries and magic were gone.

After half an hour.

Wouldn't you think that a city that apparently produces enough strawberries to host a festival named after them would have enough that they'd last half an hour? Perhaps 45 minutes?

Alas. 

So we chose to skip out on the free concert and head over for some ice cream,

since it's probably close to magic cream.

J and I recently discovered a Maggie Moo's by our house

(and I loooooove Maggie Moo's, partly for nostalgic reasons and partly because it's delicious),

and that's where we went to satisfy our craving for magic.

When we arrived, we saw this taped to the door:

Was everything conspiring to keep us from achieving magical status?!

It was really quite disappointing.

I love Maggie Moo's.  Aside from the fact that I wanted ice cream, I was also really sad that this business I'd been so excited to see wasn't actually there.

We ended up settling on Coldstone, where I discovered Oatmeal Cookie Batter ice cream.

Although it was no magic cream,

it was still pretty good.

And it was a fun night spent adventuring with my husband and brother.

We'll probably try again next year. :)

"I tippy tippy toe through my garden..."

We have a garden!

We chose to do a raised bed, since our dirt stinks.  Sometime in the future we'll have multiple raised beds, but for now, this is it.  The pot has an onion plant in it that started growing on the kitchen counter.  It's an experiment!  So above is a picture of our garden when we first planted it...

...and here it is now!  As you can see, our corn is getting nice and big, and the onion became two and had to be split up and transplanted.  All the other plants are still tiny and hard to see in this picture :)  We planted onions, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and corn.

transplanting onions

A close-up of some other plants. This picture is about a week old, and several of these have  doubled in size.

We planted a bunch of little onions, so when I was thinning them out, I decided to bring some inside to grow green onions.

And now, for your viewing pleasure:

The boy who lived

The first person who introduced me to Harry Potter was my grandma.  She sent our family the first book.  I'd heard of it, but didn't know many people who read it and had no interest, really, in reading it.  But hey, free book!  Why not read it?  Since then, there have been four (I think) midnight book releasings and two midnight movies.  T-shirts, hours of conversation, hundreds of hours of listening and reading and watching, Harry Potter food experiments, nicknames, reenactments (with and without sparklers), magic wand finding, and party planning.  Although it may sound dramatic, it is 100% completely true that my life has never been the same.  I owe you big, Grandma.  :)

I may or may not have just spent a lot of time looking at Harry Potter-related videos, interviews, pictures... you get the drift.  I love it, you guys.  Seriously.  I LOVE Harry Potter.  The books, the movies (except #6), the actors, J.K. Rowling... They hold such a huge place in my heart and in my life that sometimes I can hardly stand them not being real.  Get over it.  Yes, I may be obsessed.  Not that weird.  Anyway, if you've never read them, READ THEM.  or LISTEN TO THEM.  and WATCH THEM. (Notice that's not an "or" - you should always read them, whether or not you also decide to watch them.)  And ponder on the greatness that is J.K. and the amazingness that is her creation.

I could keep gushing.  Really, I could.  But I'll allow you to keep the amount of respect you still have for me regarding my love of fictional ideas.  (That should be an insanely huge amount, considering how great these fictional ideas are, but I know some people just don't love them as much as I do.)  So goodnight.  Sweet dreams.  I hope they're about a boy in a scar who finds out he's a wizard.