Green Thumb and Outdoor Fun

Since Nathan and I are living in a duplex and we have a yard and a patio we decided that it would be fun to try out our green thumbs. We figured we would start out small with herbs, lettuce, carrots, radishes, and a tomato plant. We went to Lowe's Saturday and picked up some seeds, some small lettuce plants, a small tomato plant, gardening gloves, a trowel, and some soil. Luckily the previous tenants left us some planters so we didn't have to buy those. While we were at Lowe's Nathan also decided that he wanted to get a BBQ grill. He picked out a little portable charcoal grill, some charcoal briquettes, and all the essential BBQ tools. After shopping at Lowe's we went home and got planting. We planted two types of lettuce. The little plants we got and then some seeds. We used the little containers that the lettuce plants came in to plant our herbs. We planted chives, oregano, and basil in those and set them up inside like the package said, but we did plant some cilantro outside. I hope it works. We planted our little tomato plant all by itself in a nice big pot. We then planted our carrots and our radishes. I really hope that this all works out and Nathan and I really do have green thumbs and not the kiss of death. After an afternoon of planting we went to the store and bought some steak, asparagus, and corn on the cob and Nathan got to use his new grill. He had so much fun out there grilling away, and the food was delicious! It is so nice to have a yard and a patio. I am really glad we live where we do. Well that's all for now stay tuned for updates on those little plants!

Texas Or Bust: Part Two

!!!!!WARNING IT'S LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ever since Nathan left for Iraq he has been missing his baby, no not me, his car! I wasn't able to drive my truck and all of our junk down to Texas and Nathan's car at the same time. Don't worry Nathan doesn't have to live without his car forever, just a few weeks. On February 6th, Nathan's 30 days of leave started and we jetted off to Washington to pick up his car and to see friends and family.
To start things off we hung out with Nathan's Aunt Judy and cousin Eric. They picked us up from the airport and we had dinner. It was nice to see them and chat. It had been more than a year since they had seen Nathan. The next morning Judy took us to the airport and we flew to Yakima. Nathan's parents picked us up and we went to CostCo to get stuff for the BBQ that night. Nathan was so excited to get to his parent's house to see his car and go for a drive. Little did he know that he was in for a surprise. I got Nathan a welcome home/ birthday/ anniversary/ whatever else we missed present. I had some things that were wrong with his car fixed and I had fog lights installed. I was nervous the whole ride to their house because I wasn't sure he would notice and if he really even wanted it done. When we pulled into the driveway Nathan got a big grin on his face and just stared at his car. Rich stopped the car so he could look at it and I swear it took him fifteen seconds before he said " Are those.... did you put?" And I said yep those are fog lights! He was so surprised, it made it all worth it.
Later that night after Nathan got to drive his car and check out the new lights all his friends and some family friends came over for a welcome home BBQ. It was a lot of fun to see Nathan with all his friends. We spent the night hanging out talking, eating, shooting off fireworks, playing music, and playing games. After the party we spent the next day or so just hanging out with Rich and Karen.
On Tuesday February 9th we had the chance to stay the night at the same bed and breakfast that we stayed at on our wedding night. We even got the same room. It was so nice to have a night there just to ourselves. The breakfast was delicious and later that morning we walked around the property and watched the ducks in the pond. It was fun and very relaxing. After we checked out we had the chance to stop by and visit with my good friends Karine and Gail. It was so nice to see them because it has been way too long.
After hanging out with friends in the Selah/Yakima area we headed down to Ellensburg to hang out with Nathan's friends and say hi to the ROTC people. We had fun walking around campus and even bought a cool pen drawing of some of the buildings on campus to put between our diplomas. After the walk down memory lane we headed over to Charles and Jill's house where we had pizza and I played Guitar Hero while the boys played poker and hung out.
The next day we headed over to the west side to see my family as well as Jobie and Mike. We had a lot of fun at my sisters. We went to two valentines day parties and even made home made ice cream. After hanging out with my sister we had dinner with Jobie and Mike and then headed up to my parents'. Nathan and I had a ton of fun just hanging around playing games, hanging out with the boys, and watching the Olympics.
After a few days of having fun we finally decided to get started on our long drive home to Texas. This time we decided to take a route that neither of us have taken. We started our trip by driving down I-5 from Bellingham to Longview where we crossed over the Columbia and then headed over to Astoria. Once we got to Astoria we headed down the 101. Our first stop was Cannon Beach, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed stretching our legs on the beach. Then we headed off to Tillamook, Oregon for a tour of the cheese factory. We got there just in time to enjoy some yummy ice cream and a quick tour before they closed for the night.
The next day we headed out to see the Redwoods. We drove through the Avenue of the Giants and tried to see the tree you drive through. Unfortunately it was closed so we didn't even get to see it. We did however get some awesome pictures with a painting of it. After a couple of days on the 101 we decided to get back on the interstate and headed off to I-5.
The next day we didn't do much but drive down I-5 until we crossed over onto I-10 near Pasadena. After a long day of driving and not much sightseeing we stopped in a smaller town outside of Pasadena and went to a Drive-in movie theater. It was so much fun and it was Nathan's first time. I had a ton of fun just because it was something we used to do a lot as a family when I was younger. We watched the movie Valentines Day and then headed out to make it just a little further for the night. In the morning we headed out to Joshua Tree National Park but we didn't go in because it looked kinda lame and we were feeling cheap and didn't want to pay. After that we drove almost all the way to Tuscan, AZ but stopped just before because the place looked nice and we didn't feel like driving anymore.
Okay, if any of you know Nathan, you know he was really disappointed when he moved to Texas and didn't see any saguaro cacti. For whatever reason he just pictured Texas with those cacti all over. Of course we all know they don't grow here so to make Nathan happy we stopped by the Saguaro National Park. We drove the 8 mile loop and got out and walked the nature trail. It was really neat to see all those cacti close up. I can't believe how big they are and how many arms some of them have. After seeing all that the park had to offer we headed off to Truth or Consequences, NM. We took the scenic route through Silver City, NM. It was a lot of fun and we went through grassland, shrub and brush, and then an actual forest where it snowed on us. Just before we got to Truth or Consequences we turned on I-25 and I notice that there was a man lying on the side of the road. It was crazy, I didn't know if he was sleeping or dead so I called 911 and told them. After I got off the phone with 911, Nathan and I turned around to see if they found the guy. They did and they had two ambulances and three cop cars. The guy was alive at least because we saw him up and walking. We will probably never know why he was laying there but I am still glad we called 911.
After all that excitement we got a hotel room and made an appointment for a private soak at this awesome hot spring. We had dinner at a little Italian restaurant and then walked around town for a little before we went to our 2100 soak. The temperature outside couldn't have been more perfect it was like 40 degrees out. Nathan and I hung out in the pool, then lied out and stared up at the stars and cooled off, and then hung out in the pool some more. We had so much fun just hanging out together for our hour long soak. The next day we headed out to Jimmie and Alexis' house in Alamogordo, NM.
We had so much fun hanging out with Jimmie, Alexis, and Catherine. We played games, we watched movies, we went to the zoo, the toy train depot, went sand sledding and went to watch a test on the high speed sled on Holoman Air Force Base. It was nice to see family and relax for a few days after driving for almost a week. Catherine loved having Uncle Nathan there, she even told her mom that she liked Uncle Nathan more then Alexis. Catherine is such a cutie. When we were getting ready to go home I told her we were going home. I asked her if she would miss us after we left. She said, " Then I will be sad." It was so sweet, but we needed to head home so we had to say goodbye to the Perez family. We decided to make the 13 hr drive in one day. I must say after being gone for almost 21 days it was so so so nice to be home and sleep in our own bed. It's crazy to say but Texas actually feels like home!