Out with the Old, In with the New!

Why is growing things so hard?

Really...gardening just isn't my thing. I was so excited when spring finally arrived! Pretty sure I wrote a post about how excited I was...I even bought a plant at the market downtown! It was finally what I thought Italy would be like! The weather, the markets, the people outside! Spring was awesome and my plant represented that for me.

Well. It died. Pretty quickly. I watered and watered it. Someone told me I probably drowned it. The gardener eventually started feeling bad for the little thing, because Friday afternoons I would always find that the plant had been watered...and at this point in the summer, I had completely given up. My plant is SO DEAD that it looks dried. Like what people do with their wedding flowers to always have them....so embarrassing.

Every time I walk by, I make a mental note to go find another plant and try better. Every time. I walk in and out of my front door ALL the time. I have just been too lazy and honestly, slightly scared to try again. What if I kill this one?! If I think about it too much I can go down a long rabbit hole that leads me to question my ability to care for a child if I can't keep a plant alive. We are definitely going to need to practice with a puppy first.

Well today was a blessing. A blessing in disguise. I wanted to go to PWOC- Protestant Women of the Chapel. I did a four week Bible study this summer and really enjoyed it, but this fall will be my first time doing the REAL thing. I was a little nervous....I know people who go, but not a lot of people and I was just nervous I wouldn't fit in...reminds me of middle school. So I got up. Late. And exhausted. Contemplated not going. Decided to go. Took a shower. Noted that I was running late. Realized that I didn't was the conditioner out of my hair. Now running REALLY late. When I jumped into the car, I really thought that I should just turn around- clearly I wasn't suppose to go. I pushed through the thoughts, and just went. I am so so glad I did. I got into an awesome Bible Study, listened to a filling little sermon, and walked away with a flower plant!!

How did you get the plant, you ask??

I WON IT!!!! Woohoo!! And as we all know, I love winning things. It was great.

So I immediately came home and removed the old, crumbly dried up plant and replaced it with new life!!

Does anyone happen to know what kind of plant/flower this is....Need to look up and figure out if it likes sun/shade and how much water to feed it. It WILL live.

The Newest Additions

Last week, James' parents were able to come over here and visit us! It was a wonderful, wonderful time (more to come on their stay later). While they were here we were able to add some "things" to the house!! I was so excited!! Mike built, yes, built me, a pot rack!!! Woohoo!! It frees up so much space in the kitchen, and it looks awesome:

And Amanda and I found this great chair to go in the living room. The one couch and computer chair were not cutting it. We looked around at some thrift stores and couldn't find anything worth while and then one day we randomly decided to go to Ikea. The trip was much needed. I had been looking at their chairs online for sometime now...but you can't just order a chair online, you have to sit in it and actually see it, well I do at least, so that is what we did. I had no intention of actually buying one, just wanted to go and look around at my options. But I really really liked this one chair. It's Ikea, so who knows how long it will last me, but it just has to get me through these next 2.5 years! That is all I'm asking!

And the place is complete!!

Updated pictures on the blog of what the house looks like now!!

Also, found another one of my skype favorite pictures:

Hanging Pictures...

...Is a struggle. First of all, the walls are concrete, so using nails is a no go, and drilling into the walls and using special nails is way too much work. I heard of these special hard-wall hangers- when we got here back in November...and every time I have been to the PX I have been on the hunt for these things and seriously found them for the first time 2 weeks ago. I'll go ahead and admit that I'm sure the PX hasn't been out of stock the whole time, but they were difficult to find. This is what they look like:

Weird looking, right? And I feel like they are backwards...those prongs go into the wall and then you have to slip the hanging wire between the wall and the hanger to get it to hold. 

It took a couple of attempts but I got the pictures hanging!! Woohoo

I'm sure my mom will re-hang these when she comes out here at the end of the month. Mark my words.

Mom and Mary Kathryn Came!!

I came home late Sunday evening and eagerly awaited for Mom and Mary Kathryn to come into town. They had a little rendezvous at the outlets in Gaffney so they were running a bit behind, but I got a really cute skirt, so it was totally fine by me :)

We spent Monday walking around post, going to the commissary and doing a little shopping. The last time Mom was here we were so busy unpacking and setting up the house that we did not go onto post- so she got to see where James worked and all the pretty houses. And then we picked out some fabric to re-cover my table chairs in. Mom didn't trust me to do it alone, so she thought it would be a good project for us to do while she was here. We ate a wonderful homemade pizza. It was definitely good, but the crust was SUPER thick and the homemade sauce had a touch too much tomato paste...James is much, much better at making the crust that I am...and it became VERY evident. We topped off dinner with ice cream from Chill. Ice cream is wonderful since it has been so hot.

Tuesday we spent the morning recovering one chair. One. It took us a bit longer than we thought, but we figured it out and then we finished it that evening. Our day was filled with peach picking. It was a huge "family" affair. Laura and her two kids, Mandy with her two kids, Tiffany with her one kid, and Meredith joined us. It was about an hour away and it was definitely in the middle of no where. We had to drive out through the orchard, because the front part had already been picked over. It was a ton of fun, but it was so hot- we were literally drenched in sweat. But we got a ton of peaches!! And then got some homemade peach ice cream from the farm. Mary Kathryn threw us for a bit of a loop when she broke her retainer when she was trying to bite into a peach and then she almost passed out when we were waiting for our ice cream. BUT I got to play nurse, so I was totally fine with it. I went to go get her some water and by the time I came back she was as white as a ghost and Meredith was looking over her saying "Oh my..." She was fine once we got her some water, food, and A/C.

It was a wonderful couple of days- we definitely laughed A LOT. So visit success.

Here are some pictures from the visit:

Productive

I guess that my day ended up being productive. I tackled my project for the week- my baby gift for Rebecca. I will probably head to Hobby Lobby again tomorrow to pick up some more things to modge podge because it was so much fun and now I have a ton of modge podge left over. Rebecca and I met in Oklahoma- we worked on the same floor at the hospital. We got along really well and I attribute that to her being from Alabama. We quickly bonded over the fact that we were new to the state and didn't have any friends- the best way to make a new friend. I was was even more excited when I found out that she was pregnant. Literally almost cried. Then I moved and she moved and I never got to throw her a shower... but I got invited to her shower in Alabama! So that is where I will be spending Saturday night and Sunday. I decided to get crafty for her little one Grace Anne. This is what I made:

 Yes, the birds on the G and the R are upside down....thus the reason for another trip to Hobby Lobby- might be redoing those. And then I made the sides of the G and the R the same paper as the face of the A and the side of the A the same paper as the face of the G and the R. Confusing. Here is another picture.

I loved doing this! I decided that projects like this are going to be the way to go... doing stuff for other people can definitely help with the sadness that I have recently been feeling.

Then I went to the grocery store- so I could make these awesome cookies that I found on pinterest and I got some ice cream with Fawn, Renee and Tirzah! The little was so precious. She kept me entertained the whole time.

Then came home to make these DELICIOUS cookies!

So all in all a much better day than it started out.