Office Summer Outing

This past weekend was my office summer outing held at Funway Park just south of Manchester, NH. Yours truly was in charge of making sure everything went well - and I have to say, everyone had a blast! :-) woot!

There was mini golf, go-karts, laser tag, a laser maze, and a New England style lobster/clambake dinner!
Pardon the quality of photos - that part I did forget - these all came from a co-worker!

Triangle Garden

I s'pose since it's a triangle garden, it makes sense that it took 3 steps to do it? Not really, this project could have easily been done in 1 day if I had planned it better. ah well! Life happens!

Step 1: edging. had to stop due to injury

Step 2: finished edging (can't go any farther due to underground mountain!)

 and started filling in with good soil. Had to stop due to lack of soil.

Even Reese was disappointed!

 so a few months later... the grass has taken over and I finally got to the store to buy more dirt.

Step 3: 10 bags of dirt to be exact.

 But, lucky for me! 10 bags did the job :-)

While the bed is now defined and filled with good dirt, it still needs plants!! I'm thinking about moving the iris bulbs from the back raised beds into this one with the rest for starters..... bulbs would be a bright and happy addition to the center of the yard. maybe some wildflowers in the summer after the spring bulbs?

I'm still thinking.... any thoughts?

Missing Family

 These photos are in no particular order.... just some pictures I found from this summer - I only wish I had more!!!
I'm super-bad with pictures of people in general - usually I'm just lovin' the moment or laughing too hard to think - camera! picture!
I promise to work on that!! In the meantime, here are some fun pics :-)

Psst! here is my proof that even the most stubborn 'cat-person' can love dogs!! :-)

.....they love him too

Juicing Mishap

I have been experimenting with my juicer.
Wait.
Let me back up.
I have no idea why I waited so long to get one - it's freakin' awesome! Have you ever watched one work? I mean COOL! it takes fruit, veggies - all raw - and turns them into liquid! even the peels, stems, seeds - everything goes in! Juice comes out the side. I know, I sound like a crazy person, but just wait until you've taken an entire BAG of spinach and turned it into 6 ounces of juice!!

Ok. So, I have been experimenting with my juicer for a few weeks now. some juice turns out more delish than others (I haven't thrown any away!), but I'm learning and I have books and recipes and my imagination has been leading the way to new and creative combinations of tasty (and SUPER healthy!) juice.
This morning I was really pumped to try a new combo: baby spinach, celery, beets, apples and a dash (quarter) of lemon. Most of my ingredients are totally organic and coming from our local CSA program which means they are extremely fresh and tasty even before they meet the juicer!

Hello breakfast! :-) you taste mostly the beets and celery which I find interesting. spinach tends to fade into the background but usually apples and lemon are pretty solid but the beets took over - you can see that by the color too! which is where I got into trouble....

So while juicing, I put on an apron to make sure I didn't get anything on my work clothes.... can you see where this is going already?

Yep! I got to work and my white shirt had juice spots alllll over it. Charming.....

It will be having a date with oxy-clean this evening. if that doesn't work, bleach will be the next step.

BUT!! lucky for me, my wonderfully awesome hubby hadn't left the house yet when I saw my shirt and he brought me a new one on his way to work, so I didn't have to walk around in my spotted shirt all day :-) Isn't he just the best?

Does anyone else have a juicer they love? what's your favorite combo of fruits and veggies?

Acadia...take 2!

A couple weeks after we got back from camping with Oliver and Melissa, Matt took a few days off and went back to Acadia with our good friend BB for a few days of R and R, hiking, kayaking and decompression. I joined them on the weekend. Here are a few pics! Sorry about the blurriness and or small/large sizes - camera phone!!

 Until next time, Acadia!

I heart good food

Stuffed peppers with ground lamb, caramelized onions (red and white), broccollini and green beans - YUM!
Happy to note that all veggies aside from the peppers came from our local CSA :-)

In other news, we now have a Breville Juicer and I am loving the new yummy combos I can make!

Hot Air Balloon Ride!

It took us 5 times to finally get to go up! Matt planned this as our Anniversary Surprise for Sept 2012. We flew on July 16, 2013!!! Weather can be so fickle - lol.  We had an absolute blast and highly recommend it to anyone - just remember to have patience and pray for NO wind!!