bleeding heart

I have the coolest bleeding heart plant ever.  It was already planted at the house when we moved in.  I honestly don't remember how big it got that first summer (I was interning in Oregon the ENTIRE summer).  But last summer it was huge.  At the end of the summer I even divided the root ball and gave half to Sherry and Dad.

I thought it might be fun this year to document how fast it actually grows.  The first six pictures are of the first seven days (I only missed one day of pics).  A weekend passed between the sixth and seventh photo.  The last photo is it about two weeks after the very first picture.

Crazy huh?

Remember?

Remember jelly shoes?

When I was visiting in Boise this past January, I spotted these clear Converse shoes and had to get them.  They are definitely in the "so ugly I love them" category!

I have a thing about socks.  The funkier the better!  So these shoes are PERFECT for showing off my collection of socks.

and I don't ever have to worry about rocks getting stuck in the heels of these "jelly shoes"

wearing a pair of purple checked socks

Let there be light!

We finally put in a new back door.  The one that was on the house when we bought it was old and drafty and had the crap beat out of it by a hail storm.  If we had of known how much of a difference a new door would make, we would have done it sooner!  It is amazing!

A big THANK YOU to my Dad for coming over and helping!!!!  We truly couldn't have done it without you!!!!

We were able to put in a slightly bigger door, which was nice.  But the best part of it all is:

The insane amount of light it lets it!

New internship

Last fall I was offered a supervisor position back at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve where I interned last summer.  I originally accepted the offer.  But as the school year moved along I realized that this is possibly my last summer to intern.  I am graduating in December 2010.  I then realized that I have never spent a summer at home since returning to school!  Skott and I had many talks about the pros and cons of this supervisor position and being gone yet again.  It wasn't an easy decision but I decided to turn down the supervisor job and search for something local.  Internships are RARE in the Eau Claire area but I was willing to take that chance.

A strange series of random "right place at right time" incidents happened that led to me applying for an internship with the DNR (Department of Natural Resources).... and I found out Friday that I got it!

This internship encompasses a variety of things including field work, education, public speaking, and networking.  I am really excited that it is pretty flexible and (for the most part) local.  This will allow me to continue research with my plants professor that I worked with last summer up at Cedar Creek.  But most importantly, this means I actually get to spend a summer with my wonderful husband and family!  We are looking forward to growing a small veggie garden, camping, sitting in the swing, fires in the fire pit, bicycle rides, farmers markets, yard sales, disc golf, ........ and our list keeps growing!

I will be working with the endangered species of Karner blue butterfly.  I will admit, I dont know much about them yet.  I have training the first week of June.  Luckily, my advisor has been working on Karners for about 15 years so she is a wealth of knowledge.

Here is a link if you are curious:
 http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/kbb/kbb_fact.html

Fucie is 10!

It is really strange to think we have had Confuscious almost as long as we have been married.  Oh the stories he could tell!  This last year he has really started turning grey (this picture is over a year old) and he is almost blind.  But still the crazy, happy-go-lucky puppy we brought home 10 years ago

This is crap

I am in a fine foul mood, probably shouldn't be blogging.  Like drunk texting.  Just shouldn't do it.

But I think it is B.S. that you hire a certified professional to do a job and they screw it up!  and who pays?  Oh no, not the incompetant A-Hole....

you do.

Or in our case, we do.  Big time.

Stupid dumb idiotic moronic accountant!

Well, our lovely 2006 IRS audit is complete and if you havent noticed I am pissed beyond belief.
Thank you Mr. Oompa Loompa-orange-from-too-much-tanning-I-bought-my-degree-on-clearance-from-Walmart accountant.  How do you manage to maintain your own business?  You suck!  You screwed up and we have to pay.

Plus interest and penalties.  Oh, and if we can't cough up the money right away, the government puts a lien on our home while we make payments. Just lovely.

Shouldn't there be some sort of law to protect people in this kind of situation?  Why pay someone to do a job if they aren't even held liable for mistakes?  Shouldn't the idiot be at least responsible for paying the interest? 

What a totally crap day
and it's only 2pm

It's April already?

I held my breath the entire month of March, hoping to make it until Spring Break.  It was a late break this year and by the time it arrived, I was READY!  The weather was amazing and, as usual, I planned way too many things to do.  I was able to get a big portion of the kitchen painted.  The only part left is around the kitchen sink and the backsplash.   

Skott and I decided to take a section of our lawn that never really does very well and make a vegetable and flower garden.  (Wow.  When I type it out, that actually doesn't seem very logical.  Maybe we should first stop and think about why the lawn never does well in this location?  Oh well, too late!).  So, we got some seed start kits and some peat pots and got a bunch of things started.  Skott likes to make bird houses out of neat shaped gourds.  Last year we planted too late and they didn't get very big.  We got about 5 different varieties of various shaped gourds started indoors this year.  Plus, we started some native prairie flowers and herbs.  Oh, and for the record:  seeds that are dated "best sell by 2007"  will more than likely still germinate.  I wasn't sure, so dumped an entire package between two peat pots.  I think every seed made it!  hahaha  Anyone want cherry tomato seedlings?  We are excited to try our hand at this garden stuff.

Other news.  Skott is officially "old".  He got glasses.  Right now they are only for night driving.  I think he looks sexy :)

Our fence was never sealed properly.  We don't want to cough up the money to stain it this year so we did the next best thing:  we power washed it.  This is after it has dried.  As you can tell, we still have one more panel to finish, plus the back fence but WOW!  I was amazed at the difference!

The flower bed here is going to be part of our vegetable garden as well.  Nothing crazy, mostly herbs, peppers, lettuce, spinach, chives, etc.  I also want to rip out the strip of sod outside our fence along the driveway and put in a wildflower garden.  More pics to follow.

I have started the second section of my Conservation Biology class.  This is all the "hands on" field work.  I think I have found my calling in life!  LOVE IT!  I love working outdoors!