My 2012 Garden!

2012 Container Garden

Does my garden look a little different than expected?  Since I live in an apartment, I have to think outside the box.  All my plants were designed for containers.  This year's garden consists of three different tomato varieties, two varieties of sweet peppers, cilantro, a cucumber plant, blackberry bush, raspberry bush, and not pictured is spinach, it is upstairs on my balcony.  I am still debating on buying two blueberry bushes.

Tomato Plants:

Sweet "N" Neat Yellow:  Grows around 12" tall and produces lots of yellow cherry tomatoes.

Megabite:  Grows around 16" tall and can produce up to 60, 4" tomatoes.

Patio Hybrid:  Grows around 2' tall and produces large, red cherry tomatoes.

Tomato suckers.  To prune or not to prune?

My cucumber plant is a Salad Bush Hybrid and produces 8" cucumbers.

Pepper Plants

Left to right: Redskin Hybrid, Cactus,
and Mohawk Pepper Plant

Not quite 6" tall.

Mohawk:  Grows around 8" tall and produces 4"-5" sweet yellow peppers.

Redskin Hybrid:  Grows around 15" tall and produces 4" sweet red peppers.

I cannot wait to try my tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet peppers!

My First Half Marathon!

Pre-race

                                                             

Around mile 4.  

Running up the first "mini mountain."

Passing the walkers!

Blowin' it up around mile 10!  

At the top of the last major hill around 10.5 miles.  Someone requested one of my awesome high fives! Turn up the volume while watching.

Around mile 11.

The home stretch!

I did it. I really, really did it.  I ran my first half marathon.  All my training paid off.  I was so nervous the night before I was only able to sleep for 3 hours.  When I woke up, I felt great.  Prerace everything went as planned except for I wanted to go to the bathroom before the race started.  I didn't realize there was a huge line for the bathrooms until I walked over to the area of where they were.  The porta potties were on one side of the road and the line was on the other side.  There was about five lines for twenty porta potties. I still do not understand why people didn't line up directly in front of each one.  Being the noob that I am, I decided to forgo the bathroom and get lined up for the race, I didn't want it to start without me.  While waiting for the race to begin, I realize that I had plenty of time and could have waited to use the bathrooms.  Oh well, now I know for next time.

13.1 'nuff said!

Me kissing my medal

The first part of the race I had my music shut off so I would not start too fast.  Since I didn't use the bathroom before the race, I decided to go at the first bathroom stop.  I figured there would not be that many people waiting and it would be easier to catch up to my pace earlier rather than later.  After my bathroom break, I concentrated on my breathing and getting into my groove.  Around mile five was the first major hill or "mini mountain" as I like to call it.  I turned on my music and cruised up the mini mountain.  I passed a few people on the way up!  On the way down, I picked up some speed and passed a few more people.  Miles six through ten had quite a few rolling hills.  I was in my zone at that time and started passing people.  Some people started walking but me, I just kept going.  I was waiting for mile ten.  The "mini mountain" on mile ten was on everyone's mind.  It was either going to make me or break me.  Luckily, I had some support waiting for me.  I had my friends and family waiting on the hills to give me a high five as I passed them.  If there was a reward for the most high fives given, I think I would have won it.  I passed so many people on the way to the top of the hill.  When I finally arrived to the top and I ran the whole way up,  I read a sign that made me laugh.  It read, "I didn't wake up this early to watch you walk."  Good thing I wasn't walking, huh?  After that mountain, there was one more hill and then it was all downhill till the finish.  I killed the last two miles.  I felt like I was in a dream.  With about a half a mile left, I started to tear up.  I could not believe that I was going to finish and that I felt so amazing.  I figured I would be dragging, huffing and puffing, or something.  As I rounded the final corner, I started to pick up speed and sprinted to the finish line! My official chip time was 2:15:28.  Not bad for my first half marathon.

The Best Laundry Detergent EVER!

How do I know I use the very best laundry detergent?  I know because it is approved by Chuck Norris!!! haaaahhaaaahhhaaaaa

Some of my favorite Chuck Norris Facts:

If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.

The following is a short list of things Chuck Norris cannot do:  .

Superman owns a pair of Chuck Norris pajamas.

If you make a list of 10 things Chuck Norris cannot do, he will appear at your house and perform them all. Your life may be forfeit.

My First Black Eye!!!

First picture taken to see the damage!

 I don't usually wear my helmet gansta style.

Getting home from the doctor's office

and no, I didn't go to the doctor for a cheek implant

 The night of day one.

 The morning after...

The second night and ready to go out on the town to show off my black eye.

 Day 3

 Day 4

 Day 5

 Day 6

4 weeks later...

I went mountain biking with my sister a few weeks ago.  It started out as a normal ride.  I asked my sister to bring her camera so we could take pictures of ourselves attempting to do some of the tricks along the trail.  The trail that we ride is, for the most part, fairly easy.  There are some technical parts that you can avoid, but this girl, likes a challenge.  When we came to the fork in the trail, I told my sister to take the easy path and I would meet her at the bridge where the two trails meet again.  


As I started off on my own, I was hyping myself up for what was about to come.  There is one dip that is covered in rocks and I have only made it through successfully one time.  I was bound and determined to do it again this time.  I had one dip to go through before the dip in question.  I was in *the zone, and started to go down the dip.  I was looking ahead to see how I had to maneuver to go back up.  I had some speed and started to turn when all of the sudden, I did an *endo and decided to take a *soil sampling.  After a minute of figuring out how to get my bike off of me, I got up and look to see what made me do a *superman.  When looking at the ground, I noticed that I could see my cheek.  I freaked out because after my *auger, I slid about a foot.  My initial thought was that I scraped my face and I was seeing all the skin bunched up.  So before I yelled for my sister, I took a picture so I could see the damage and warn her.  I saw just a cut but was still freaked out.  Oh, and the only thing I saw that my bike could have possibly flipped over, was a tree stump that was about three inches above ground and five inches wide. 


 After I found my sister, we rode back on the levee.  I figured it would be easier than going the rest of the way on the trail, but I did think about finishing our ride on the trail.  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be because we ended up having to ride into a 20 mph wind.  We were about four miles away.  With the wind, it felt like we were going no where.  It was so bad that we got off our bikes and walked for a little bit.  It felt like we were walking faster than riding. We finally made it to my vehicle.  I dropped off my sister and I went to the doctor to see if I needed stitches.  I didn't need stitches but I did have my cut glued so it would heal properly.  


When I arrived home,  I looked to see what other damages I had.  My hand was pretty scraped up.  I have a few scrapes on my shin, arm, and shoulder.  I had a huge bruise on my inner thigh, probably from my handle bar.  The next day my whole left side was sore.  It hurt to raise my left arm.  It has been about four weeks after my wreck and my cheek is still sore to the touch but other than that, I am completely recovered.  I will be back on the trails next week for some more action!

*The Zone- The state where you don't think, you just do.
*Endo- The maneuver of flying unexpectedly over the handlebars, thus being forcibly ejected from the bike.
*Soil Sampling - a face plant
*Superman - a rider who flies over the handlebars and doesn't hit the ground for a long time.  This may result in injury, and when it does, it's really funny for everyone else.
*Auger - to involuntarily take drill samples of the local geology, usually with your face, during a crash. 
Definitions found at http://www.trails-edge.com/bikedic.htm

Slow Growing???

Hen and Chicks

Euphorbia Horrida V Nova

aka

African Milk Barrel

My hens decided to produce chicks.  I was a little surprised since it is the middle of winter.  What was more surprising to see was that my African Milk Barrel decided to bloom.  I thought winter was a resting period for cacti and succulents. 

I didn't even know if I was taking good care of my African Milk Barrel.  Since it was given to me, it hasn't produced more thorns.  It has grown taller but I was still a little leery of the care I was giving.  It is really hard not to water a plant for three months, but after a couple cacti dying in my possession I learned very quickly not to over water.  Over watering is the number one killer of cacti.  I had a cactus that looked fine and then one day it collapsed because it had rotted from over watering.  So seeing the blooms puts a smile on my face and lets me know that I am doing something right.

My Indoor Plants!

 Part of My Night Blooming Cereus Plant

Hen and Chicks

A Flower From My String of Hearts Plant

Now that fall is here and winter is coming the weather is too cold for my plants to remain outside so I have moved them indoors. While I was collecting houseplants and succulents from friends and family over the summer, I failed to realize that I would have to bring them indoors for the winter.  Needless to say my apartment is now a jungle.  

My Balcony

One of these things is not like the others....

My balcony from the outside

My balcony from my chair.

My favorite picture of my balcony.