Greenish Thumbs

We have spent this week and little of last week digging river rock out of the landscape of our yard. It was awful! I might exaggerate the work involved on some other projects, but the removal of rock from a garden really stinks. It's heavy, never-ending, and did I mention HEAVY?! Well, we have removed the rock from about a third of our property and finally got to plant this week! It was so exciting, and as luck would have it, everything is on sale since it's nearing the end of the summer season. We got bags of mulch for $1.50 each (which has been fantastic since we've already gone through 10 bags just for the front yard landscape) and were able to get a great deal on hydrangea and peony plants. The house already had hostas growing in a side garden, so we have just been separating and replanting those.

Here's a few snapshots of our work, we're pretty pumped about it all :)

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Now where did I put that?.......

I feel so bad because I can't post pictures of the newest renovations to the house! Somewhere in the move I lost the charger to my camera and have been unable to take pictures since the beginning of July, it really stinks because we've been getting a lot done and I just want to show it off. Oh well, I guess this means I'll either have to scour through the house for the charger or go shopping for one....it may not be such a "horrible" situation after all. :)

Since baseball ended this has pretty much been it for us, working on the house inside and out. Hauling out river rock from the garden, adding to our entertainment center (we have SO much storage now), decorating, etc. So far we have almost all of the rock removed from the front of the house, so I get to plant some flowers and move my hostas finally!! This weekend we have a wedding to attend where we will meet up with all of our friends from college and some other friends that we live near, but life just gets in the way of us seeing each other as much as we'd like to.

On another note, I have a buddy for the rest of the summer. My sister, Amanda, moved out of my parents' place in Sioux City and in with my brother, Tom, in Ames. It's nice because now I have someone to do all the things that Jerod won't do with me: swimming, shopping, movies, I'm loving it. She'll be here until leaving for basic training October 20th, I'm looking forward to spending more time with her until then. Jerod is looking forward to being able to chastise her for any and everything he can until her departure.

Wish me luck and pray to Saint Anthony for me that I find my charger so I can post pics of the house and hopefully the wedding weekend!

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Rally Caps!

I'm not gonna lie, it's been a rough season for the West Marshall Trojans baseball team. Every night they played there was something missing: their hitting and pitching would be on, but they struggled on defense; or their defense was great, hitting was okay, but they couldn't get the ball over the plate. I also noticed that the boys lacked the "spark" and charisma they usually display during games. In the past they had always come up with little antics or inside jokes to help them relax and stay loose during games, but this season the boys just seemed to overthink themselves.

Well I don't know what changed this past week, but someone ate their Wheaties! They lost a close game to Nevada on Thursday night, their last regular season game, but they did not go down without a fight, the game ended 10-9 in the 10th inning. Then, at their first round district game on Saturday, they displayed the same energy and confidence that I witnessed in them at the Nevada game, and it paid off. They played hard, they played well, and they earned a win. Their faces were so bright with smiles and whooping and hollering, it was about time we got our baseball players back. So wish the Trojans luck as they take on AGWSR in their second round game on Tuesday night!

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