Garden

At the old house, we were living essentially in a mountain, full of critters and all kinds of bugs. So when I decided I wanted to try to grow some vegetables and fruits, I knew I would have to do it on my patio where most of the critters and bugs couldn't get to them. Unfortunately, did they didn't do that great, and because they were in pots, they couldn't grow to their full potential. So I ended up giving up on them. Now, at the new house we have a side area next to the house and the fence that would be perfect for a garden! I make a homemade pasta sauce and I had never tried using FRESH Roma tomato's instead of canned crushed tomatoes. This pasta week I tried it with some I bought from the store and it made such a difference to us. I also, like I've said in a past blog, want to start canning, and that calls for using fresh tomato's for the sauce so I pretty much did a small trial run and we loved it. So I decided to plant two Roma tomato plants, and two bell pepper plants. One green, and one yellow. Other than the plants its just all dirt back there. But I have plans to put some grass, and flowers back there, once I can tell that the plants will prosper. If they do well, I also want to plant some additional veggies/fruits and then we will start putting grass and make it more pretty over there. I hope they do well!

ABC About Me :)

A – Age: 24

B – Bed size: King

C – Chore you dislike: Putting away laundry for suuuure!

D – Dogs: Chloe my little Chi---I wont even pretend to know how to spell Chihuahua??? Oh well. You know what I mean ;)

 

E – Essential start to your day: Clothes. Yeah. Thats my essential :)

F – Favorite color: green

G – Gold or silver: White Gold

H – Height: 5’3

I – Instruments you play(ed): None, but I have a piano and would love to teach myself. :)

J – Junk Food: Hmm...frozen burritos from costco. they.are.so.good.

K – Kids: Just my furbabies. We are workin' on it though! Just have some speed bumps we are hurtling through.

L – Live: In a house. In America. :)

M – Mom’s name: Marla

N – Nicknames: I don't really have one.

O – Overnight hospital stays: None over nights. ::knock on wood::

P – Pet peeves: When people say "seen" instead of saw.

Q – Quote from a movie: Oh theres so many. First one that came to mind is "No ones here but us chickennnnns!!!!" NO ONE WILL EVER GUESS IT! Except my best friend. I swear. If you can, you will win my...friendship for life :)

R – Righty or lefty: Righty

S – Siblings: 2 sisters and a brother.

T – Time you wake up:  7:00 every morning. Gotta feed those horsies!

U – Underwear: um, yes

V – Vegetables you don’t like: mushrooms. yuck.

W – What makes you run late: My dang husband. I am never late. Usually...

X – X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, arm when I broke it in 5th grade.

Y – Yummy food you make: I tend to think most of what I make is yummy. Otherwise I wouldn't make it! :) But my mac and cheese is always a hit.

 

Z – Zoo animal favorites:  Hm, I don't go to zoos very often, but I guess I would say...the bears. Their cool. :)

Update- Birthdays, Homesick, Canning & Not feeling well.

Well, I am now writing to you as an official 24 year old. :) Couple days ago it was my birthday, and strangely enough it was the FIRST day in almost 2 weeks I didn't get sick during the day AND even went out to lunch! That morning my Dad brought me a sprinkled doughnut, which was nice, and told me if I was feeling up to it he would take me to my favorite little mexican place by our house for lunch. So we went and I didn't get sick the whole day. Thank goodness! Unfortunately I got a little too cocky and ate a little too much that night (even though it was hardly anything, it was more than my stomach was used to) and I ended up not feeling well that night, it was my own fault.

Yesterday I hung out with one of my best friends Heather, and my friend Brittney who I hadn't seen in YEARS and her 2 year old little boy Atom. We had a great day, we went back to that little mexican place for lunch, and came back to my house for a couple hours and hung out. Atom had never seen a horse in person, so he had plenty to see in my backyard. Unfortunately, he was a little scared, every time the horse would look at him he would say "no mama!" It was pretty cute. So we drove around on our little John Deer cart, and he got a kick out of that. Later that night once Louie got off work we went to this Sushi restaurant, and it was really good! It was really nice to be able to just hang out with friends on a whim again. Before living an hour away, it was an ordeal to plan and drive somewhere, and it didn't happen very often. It was nice.

In regards to the homesick feeling I was having, it is slowly fading away. I knew it would. It just takes time. I think now that I'm feeling better, seeing friends, and the house is getting together more, I'm starting to feel more myself and happier in general. I'm definitely happy about that.

For my birthday my husband got me two things, one was something I had no idea he was getting...when I was little my mom used to collect Precious Moments for me, and we are big big Disney/Disneyland people and I noticed that Disney has a Precious Moments collection. I've always wanted to get them for our child one day. So my husband saw they had some at Hallmark apparently and wanted to get one to start the collection. He bought me the little snow white on a rocking horse. Its adorable.

The other thing he bought me, is what I asked for. I have been REALLY researching and watching a ton of youtube videos on water-bath canning foods. I originally started to look into this because I wanted to make a large batch of my marinara and have a ton on hand. So I started researching and seeing how to do it, what supplies I would need, and I realized I really wanted to do it. So he bought me a set that came with the large pot, and all the utensils I need. I am very excited, I also want to try to make some jams, salsas, and pie fillings. I figure they would be great gifts too.

Saturday is my family birthday get together. It is supposed to be OVER 100 degrees here tomorrow though, and originally I wanted my dad to BBQ, but, I changed my mind lol. So we will be going out to lunch. I am excited about that. Then Wednesday I'm going to my best friend Amandas house, who happens to only live a street over, and her boyfriend who is the king of BBQing I have decided, so I'm really excited to that also.

So things are looking up. I'm so thankful I'm finally feeling better, now I just need to get my craft room/office put together so I can start doing my crafts again! :)

Adjusting

So its been about 5 days since we've been in the new house and that I have been learning the ropes of being the "farm manager". Its been an adjustment to say the least, but, I think I'm catching on pretty quickly. Its not difficult, just dirty, and time consuming. lol. The dirty part is the part I'm having to get used to the most. I have hay everywhere. Seriously. I have never sneezed so much in my life either! First day feeding at night with my dad, we were in the feed room, and he was showing me how to do it all, and I gasped to sneeze and as I breathed in before the sneeze I sucked in a FLY! Yes, a LIVE FLY! It got stuck in my throat. I was sucking down water, trying to throw it up so bad. Oh gosh, it was disgusting!! But, hilarious none the less. My dad had no idea what the heck was wrong with me! lol!

 Still feeling pretty sick. If I don't feel better soon I'm going to have to make a doctors appointment. I've hardly eaten in like, 4 days. Its not good. Last night I tried to eat chicken noodle soup and toast, and all I could eat were the veggies out of the soup, and the toast. The rest I couldn't stomach. But I was STARVING. lol. I was watching TV so angry because it seemed like in everything I was watching people were eating the most delicious looking food and I was so jealous lol! I can't wait to eat. BUT, with being sick I've lost a few pounds, that's a plus right? lol. Anyway, the point of this blog, is to say that I am adjusting, slowly but surely.

Homesick

So as of a couple days ago we are officially living in the new house. Funny, I say new, but its the house I grew up in for half my life. Since before we moved I have been SO sick. Perfect timing right? Pretty much a constant stomach ache, throwing up, the whole sha-bang. I don't know why or how to make it go away. Add on top of that, its so odd, I am completely homesick. Like, BIG time. I never thought I would feel this way. Prior to being here I was so excited. Not that the reasons I was excited aren't there anymore because they are, I guess my life has just changed drastically overnight, and with the 100 degree weather in California and feeling sick, I am overwhelmed. Yesterday after feeding the horses, I just started balling in the feed room, I pulled myself together and as my parents were leaving they asked me what was wrong and I lost it again, pulled myself together again, called my husband, and lost it yet again! Maybe a big cry (or multiple cries for that matter) is what I needed.  I'm feeling a bit better than the house is getting more in order. For a couple days it was just boxes everywhere you stepped (we went from 2700 sqft to about 1500 sqft) but now that most are unpacked (thanks to mom and dad for helping) I'm feeling less overwhelmed. I'm sure that once a couple weeks goes by, we finish the house, and I get used to my new routine as "farm manager" I will feel like this is home.

Etsy! And short moving update.

So the past week or so we have been packing every day. My house is a DISASTER!! Definitely can't wait to get to the new house to decorate and get everything in its place again. Oh and decorate, did I mention decorating? So excited! :)

In other EXCITING news for me, I opened an Etsy store!!! I recently did a post with a couple little crafts I had made, and I had gotten a few people asking me to make one for them and that they would pay for it...I had to keep asking, "you really want to PAY me?" I couldn't believe it! So I figured to make it easier for them to order and for me to keep track of orders, I would make an Etsy store! I also ordered some business cards off Vista Print (They are so cute, I will definitely show you them once they come in the mail) that I can put with the orders. I already have 4 orders and I am just blown away! I truly have amazing friends.

Thats another reason why I am so excited to get to the new house, so I can focus on getting them done asap along with making more ready to buy wreaths to add to the store and get my new craft room set up.

If your interested here is the link to my Etsy store: CaseyLeeCrafts
And if your on facebook here is the fan page link (way easier to get updates of new listings): CaseyLeeCrafts Facebook Page

Its very exciting, especially as a stay at home wife (and hopefully mother in the future) it would be fantastic to bring in a little bit on side money, and to do it by doing something I love? You can't get any better than that!

So anyway, just wanted to give you all a little update!

The House That Built Me

I love that song by Miranda Lambert, and thought the title was pretty fitting for this blog entry. Since I hadn't updated in a while I decided I should since we recently found out we we're moving! Going from one house that built me... to another.

Currently, we live in my Grandmothers home. We moved in 3 years ago after she passed away. Always knowing eventually the house would be sold. Well, that time has come to put it on the market. Kind of at a perfect time as well. My parents rent out their ranch (a horse boarding facility) since a year ago they bought a new house when they decided that since my Dad retired they want to be able to have the option to go somewhere on a whim and not have to worry about feeding the horses kind of thing. Well, the lady who has been there...lets just say it didn't work out. So, we are moving in to take her place. Funny thing is its the house I grew up in for almost 10 years. So I am moving from a house full of memories, to another one full of memories. Its bittersweet really. I absolutely love my home. We are nestled between so so many trees and its so peaceful. Honestly, the trees I think are what I am going to miss the most. The yard is very difficult upkeep for just my husband though (especially since we live on a hill) so he is definitely looking forward to having a normal sized, FLAT land to maintain. Only really downside to the move is the commute my husband will have to take, since he works about 45 miles away from the house. Mix 45 miles and the southern california freeways together and you have a total disaster on your hands! I would never see him with how long he would be on the road practically! Luckily though, we have a metrolink and he will be taking that, which is about a 45 minute train ride to get to work. Not too bad. It will be a little more monthly for the pass than we pay in gas now but not as much as we would be paying in gas if he didn't take the train! Another plus is my best friend literally will live a street away from me. Not to mention my parents will be 3 minutes away, I will probably see them every day anyway since they are always at the ranch, and our other friends are pretty much all less than 10 minutes away. So overall its going to be great. Plus it has a fenced secure yard that our dog Chloe will be able to use. Here, we live in a mountain essentially and have no fence, especially with the ton of coyotes that live in the area its not the safest environment for a dog, let alone a 8 pound one! She loves being outside so she will pretty much be in heaven! I am also SO looking forward to being around the horses again. The past year or two I have really missed it. Unfortunately my horse passed away a few years ago but I have plenty in the backyard to love on when I want to! Its definitely not the same as having your OWN horse but oh well.

Overall I think its going to be a great thing for us. We move in I'm assuming mid august (maybe 3ish weeks from now). The lady currently living there should be moved out by the end of the month, and then we just have to clean the place up and can move in! I am trying to get everything packed now so it can hopefully be one weekend of moving and have everything go smoothly. Since we live about 45 minutes away I don't want to be driving back and forth very much. BUT, its pretty much a rule that moving never goes smoothly, so we'll see how it goes!