Happy Summer with a Giveaway!

Since I've been gone for so long I thought I'd reward you all with a fun giveaway!

The nice people at Firmoo not only helped KB overcome his terrible eyesight, but they are also offering up a nice little giveaway.  Who couldn't use some new sunglasses for the summer (or prescription sunglasses if you are into that kind of thing)?

Behind door number 1, here's a little bit about Firmoo....

They're the World's Most Popular Online Eyeglasses Store with 580K+ fans on Facebook. The mission is to offer varieties of unbelievable cheap yet fashionable prescription & Plano eyewear to the consuming public. All of their eyewear is directly from affiliate factory, so their price is 85%~90% lower than that in the traditional brick-and-mortar stores.

Behind door number 2, here's what you could win.....

6 winners will win a $20 sunglasses E-voucher each

These are my personal faves.

Behind door number 3, here's how you enter...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy summer!

Little Visitor

I saw my first one of these today getting a sip from one of my tulips....

I wasn't stealthy enough to get a picture, so I'm borrowing one from a really awesome website that will tell you all kinds of fun facts about the birds you see at your feeders.

Needless to say my hummingbird feeders are up in full force now.

Grow Grow Grow

We have lift off....

KB wanted to try starting some seeds inside this year.  Almost all of them came up.

We planted Black Krim tomatoes, Right Bite tomatoes, Beefsteak tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers, squash, cucumber, zucchini, impatiens, alyssum, and some gourds. Holy produce Batman.

Friday Randoms

It's been a busy week around here with lots of work going on.  My new job is taking off in a big way.  They are definitely getting their money's worth!

Here's some random things going on with me.


I just don't like yoga.  I've tried to make it work for me and I just can't do it.  I'm not flexible, I can't "quiet my mind" and I just don't feel like it gives me a good workout.  I know that none of these things are supposed to matter in yoga and that's why it's so great, but the fact that I can't do it just ends up pissing me off.

KB put up a bird feeder outside of my office window over the weekend and it's been really neat.  I've seen a lot of birds really up close.  This morning I also saw a hawk take out a squirrel that was eating on it.  Needless to say there hasn't been any more squirrels on it today.

On the same bird nerd note, when I was walking the dogs today I saw a whole flock of bluebirds.  It was magical.  I just stood there and watched them for a while.  Then Pancho got antsy and started barking at them and they flew away.

KB's birthday is on Tuesday.  He won't tell me what he wants, but did say last night that he wanted to try out wood burning as a hobby.  Wood burning?  I didn't even know that was a thing. He says he wants to make a sign for our house saying who lives here.  My grandma has a sign.  His grand parents have a sign.  I think I see a trend here.

I'm planning on getting my yard ready for spring this weekend, but it's supposed to rain almost all weekend.  I ordered a bunch of flowers this week, so I've got to get my yard in shape before it's too late.  It's rained all week almost - over it!

We're watching chickens for a friend this week and I love them!  They are so funny and pretty easy to take care of.  I've gotten 5 blue eggs already.  They are little and pretty.   I just want to look at them and not eat them.

Thoughts on a Thursday

I haven't blurted out random thoughts in a while, so here goes...

-It's my first week of completely working at home (I used to be able to every now and then at my old job) and I'm amazed at the amount of work I get done (both personal and professional) when I'm all by myself.  This week alone I've done all of my regular work, had 3 contractors out to look at our kitchen, deep cleaned a different room every day, kept up with laundry, and had dinner done by the time KB got home.  It's been pretty glorious.  I'm sure once I get up to speed with actual work though lots of the personal stuff will have to go away.

-KB has decided that he wants to go to law school (why I have no idea).  This would involve us moving at least 3 hours away from where we are now.  I'm not sold on the idea.....and he knows it.  I'm hoping that it will just go away.  He says he's tired of his job and he's bored with what he's doing.  I'm hoping he gets a new job soon and the law school idea dies a quick death.

-I"m in the process of decorating my office/closet room (pictures to come).  KB and his grandpa built me this huge corner desk.  We decided to stain it in the basement and then move it upstairs to my office.  Needless to say this desk weighs a million pounds and I was pretty sure I was going to die last night moving it.  We also had a slight issue fitting it through the door, but made it (after scratching the door and walls which will now have to be repainted).

-I got to spend some quality time with some lovely lady hens yesterday.  A friend of ours is going out of town for a few weeks and just moved close to us, so we're watching her chickens for her.  I get to keep all of the eggs and hopefully it will be good practice for when we get our own chickens (hopefully this spring).  We've got plans to build a log cabin coop like this one from Backyard Chickens that will use up a bunch of tress that KB has cut down.

Pretty Pretty

When I got home from NY I found this little lovely waiting on me..

I'm trying to get into orchids, so KB got me one for a little present while I was gone.  I have another one that finished blooming, I repotted it and it hasn't flowered again (apparently it takes them a really long time to reflower).  It's not looking too hot these days, so I'm not really sure what's going on.

Any orchid growing tips?  I see them in design magazines all the time, so somebody out there has to know what's going on.

Pinteresting Wednesday

Here are my favorite Pins of the week....

Source: cravebyrandomhouse.ca via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: superskinnyme.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: bymildred.blogspot.be via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: sallysbakingaddiction.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: neverhomemaker.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins this week???

Auld Lang Syne

2012 was a pretty good year I guess.  We bought our house.  We moved in.  We did lots of work.   2013 will probably be pretty similar.

I try not to make resolutions because I don't ever keep them, but more like goals.

This year my goals are:

Work out in the mornings.  I just bought this bad boy yesterday so hopefully that will motivate me.  I'm planning on getting up 30 minutes earlier every day to use it.

Stop spending so much money.  To most people I'm a really frugal person, but I think I spend too much money on useless things that I don't necessarily need.  I've been taking lots of stuff to the Goodwill recently and every time I take a load I stop in to see what I can find.  I've gotten all kinds of "new" clothes and things for the house and what not, but over long term that stuff adds up.  My goal is to try to spend no more than $50 per month on random things that we don't need (clothes, house stuff, coffee, etc).

Take my dogs for more walks.  When the weather is nice and it's not dark when we get home I almost always take the dogs for a walk.  Those days only comprise about 1 month out of the year though.  When it gets too hot Rosa can't walk because she gets overheated, when it gets too cold Pancho can't walk because he gets too cold, and when it's winter they can't walk because it's dark when we get home.  I'm going to make more of an effort to take them out in the mornings and on the weekends in the winter.  Rosie is getting quite a little pudge that needs to be worked off!

Hopefully I can keep these up!

Pinteresting Wednesday

Here are my favorite Pins this week....

Link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Source: birdsandbloomsblog.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: shopbop.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: ziplist.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: collofthewild.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins this week???

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Spring in my house!  I moved lots of my plants inside for the winter just to see how they would do and they are going like crazy.

There's lots of things growing around here...

I got this Christmas cactus from Lowe's last year sometime in January.  They were selling them for just a dollar.  I left it outside all spring and summer and it never really did much.  As soon as I moved it inside though, it went crazy!  It's growing like crazy and this past week has started blooming like crazy.

I've been wanting an orchid for a while, but could never find one that was affordable enough.  These things are seriously expensive.  I found this one in Aldi a few weeks ago for only $9.  I couldn't pass it up.  I love it!  I've read a bunch about all their needs (they are as needy as a hormonal teenager), so hopefully I'll be able to keep it alive.

I love their blossoms!  I must be doing something right though, because I have a little bloom that's popping up.  Supposedly you can take that bloom when it gets a little bigger and transplant it into a whole new plant.

I'm also planning on trying to root a pineapple plant.  My grandmother has a pineapple plant that she rooted from a pineapple top and it is huge!  You can actually harvest your own pineapples from them after a few years.  I read online that you need to let it root first in a shallow dish with water.

I also moved inside my African Violet.  I made this fun little pot out of jute twine last night.  It turned out pretty well and my African Violet fit right inside of it.

We're also working on doing some outside work on our new garden spot.  I'm not sure what the people that lived here before us were doing but it involved lots of landscaping fabric and irrigation pipes (can you say sketchy).  We're trying to rip up all of the landscaping fabric before tilling it up, but the stuff is everywhere!

What do you have growing???

Pinteresting Wednesday

It's time for another Pinteresting Wednesday post - here's my favorite Pins of the week!

Source: marthastewart.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: tk-jk.net via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: livelovediy.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: whatsgabycooking.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: peanutbutterandpeppers.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Finally!

It's finally done!

We (and by we I mean KB) started building this retaining wall on Labor day. Almost 3 months later and it's finally done!

This probably would have gone faster if everything KB did didn't have to be perfect. It turned into a nightmare of civil engineering complete with load of gravel, soil conditioner, drainage pipes and outdoor caulk. Hopefully once spring comes and we can get some plants in the ground it will be just beautiful.

Thursday Randoms...

It's been a random week.

It snowed on Monday and Tuesday, so going to work was weird because no one was there. Then it was Halloween and everyone was jacked up. We only got one trick or treater and it was really late. I was messing around with KB (in the biblical sense) when our neighbor kid stopped by for some Jolly Ranchers. Needless to say it was a bit awkward. That should teach us for leaving our porch light on during Halloween.

I did score these yesterday off of Craigslist....

I got them for $30 for both - what a steal! I'm hoping to pick them up tomorrow if I can ever track this lady down. Hopefully she doesn't flake out on me.

I'm planning on cleaning them up and then painting them black or dark brown. We have a black bench on our front porch now, so I want something that will match with that. Something like this...

Source: plowhearth.com via Heather on Pinterest

I also ordered a steam mop last week and I should have it when I get home this afternoon. I got it off of Amazon for only $25, so hopefully it doesn't crap out on me right after I get it. The reviews seemed like it was a pretty good one. It's a Sharper Image one.

I've never had a steam mop before, but hopefully it helps with the pee smell in our basement.

I painted my nails a matte black color yesterday. I feel like a real goth today.

Random Facts

Clarinda nominated me for a Liebster award.

So here's a little bit about me...

1. Why did you start blogging?

I mainly started because I was creeping on other people's and it felt weird sometimes. I started one mostly so I could comment, but then I thought "if random person can write about what she ate for dinner, so can I!".

2. Why did you choose this name for your blog?

My last name is Brown (and it had recently become so when I started this blog) and I grew up on a farm. It was fun and it rhymed.

3. If money were no object, where would you live and why?

I genuinely really like where we live. We live in Western NC. It's pretty, the weather is nice (most of the time) and both mine and KB's families are here. That being said, I wouldn't mind having some vacation properties in South America, a lodge in Montana or Canada and in Europe. A girl can dream right?

4. When you meet someone for the first time, what's the first thing you want to know about him/her?

I like to know where someone is from and where they grew up. I get asked this a lot at work because I'm one of the few people that has a Southern accent. It tells you a lot about somebody by knowing where they grew up.

5. What's the most unique thing about you?

Ummmm I don't really feel like I have that many unique things. I have really long toes (like really long). Some of them are as long as my fingers. It's kind of gross.

6. What inspires you?

Right now I'm trying to get fit, so I'm inspired by a lot of weight loss blogs and Pins. It's really motivated me so far to go online and see people who have lost a lot more weight than I want to (or need to).

7. What's your favorite dish (to eat or prepare)?

My favorite dish to each (but definitely not prepare) is country ham. It's so salty (and really bad for you) and so good. I don't eat it that often, but on a biscuit it is seriously heaven.

8. Describe your ideal weekend.

My ideal weekend sounds a lot like the one coming up. I'm going to stay at home and get my yard ready for winter by cleaning out some flower beds and moving some plants inside. I'm going to make some really good deer stew and probably some bread. On Sunday it's supposed to be cold, so we'll probably just stay inside and lay around all day. We've been gone the last few weekends, so this one will be great.

9. What did you want to be when you grew up and how does it compare to what you do now?

For a long time I really wanted to be a veterinarian I really liked animals and I thought it would be super neat.  When I got older and wiser I realized that you had to know a lot of science and chemistry and I was just too lazy for that. Now I work in marketing for large pharmaceutical companies. It's definitely not what I saw myself doing for the rest of my life, but for now it's pretty fun and I've learned a lot about that industry.

10. What is your dream career?

I honestly have no idea. I'd really like to be able to stay at home and raise some goats and chickens and dogs. I'd like to have a big garden and just can stuff all day long and make good food. That's not really a job, but more of a lifestyle I guess

11. What is your favorite song or who is your favorite artist to dance to?

One of my favorite songs is "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones. The words and music are really pretty. It's not a really good song to dance to though. For dancing, I move it a lot to 80s hair metal. I love me some hair bands.

I'm terrible at nominating people for things, so I'm going to be lazy and tag anyone that wants to say a lil something about themselves.

Pinteresting Wednesday Post

It's time for another Pinteresting Wednesday post - link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Here are my favorite Pins of the week:

Source: bourbonandboots.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: sweet-southern-charm.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: englishbulldogpuppychase.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: thelovelycupboard.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: thekitchn.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: allrecipes.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins this week??

Weekend Happenings

We decided to get out a little bit this weekend and take the puppies for a little walk.

It was bright and sunny when we left, but shortly upon getting there it rained.....really hard....for a long time.  We went to Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It wasn't too far from our house, but we had never been there before.  While it was raining we ate lunch and then after it stopped we went on a little walk with the puppies.

KB being a mountain man with his manly dogs.

You should have been able to see lots of mountains beyond there, but since it rained all we saw was fog.

Eventually it cleared off and you could see some of the mountains.

Somebody got tired and needed some assistance.

Somebody else got tired too.

We walked for a few miles and then turned around because it started raining again.

There were lots of wildflowers in bloom while we were there and I saw this little guy.

Hopefully we'll go back when we can see a little bit more besides lazy pugs and fog.