72 and Sunny

Today, I thought I would share with you a few photos from my garden and my newest garden discovery.
My friend Joanie told me about these:



They come flat, and you fill them with water....like you would fill something inflatable with air (except it is much easier than blowing something up because of the large openings at the top).



So the whole point of these are to create a little extra insulated green house around your tomato plants or other plants. They make it so you can put your plants out 6 to 8 weeks earlier. Crazy huh? When your plants are babies, you fill the tubes half way up and let the top be kind of a roof over the plants head. Then you fill as they grow. I filled mine all the way up because it is so late in the season, that it won't freeze them, and I didn't want to cook the plants (as it was 72 out today).



So my yard has tons of stuff going on in it. Here's a slide show.

-M

tomorrow

Tomorrow I get to see Tracey and then the next day I get to see Ben Folds.
How freaking fantastic is that?

xoxo ~ stephanie

Stir Fry

I made this fantastic stir fry for dinner tonight using all the left over veggies I bought for the baby shower veggie tray.

It has chicken, broccoli, green onions, bean sprouts, red peppers, and celery. Totally tasty.

I'm so excited for mom and Stephanie to come over this weekend to see Ben Folds! I wish Michelle was able to make it, but we'll take some awesome pictures so she can pretend she is here with us.

Plus we get to spend a good amount of time in the hotel swimming pool and hot tub! Woop woop!!

French Toast

Since I have become an expert in all things French...






I made this french toast for dinner tonight. I used vanilla soy milk and it was so good! Thanks for that great idea, Steph. I also used raspberries mixed with maple syrup. Also very tasty!! I remembered to take a picture half way through my first piece.

funke's auto

eat your heart out michelle morrison

This post is dedicated to our friend michelle morrison. While I was visiting tracey over spring break we went into clarkstown to visit costco and guess what we saw...Funke's Auto Sales. Funke is the last name of a really...um...interesting (that's the word I'm looking for...i think) couple in one of our favorite tv shows that is no longer on TV; Arrested Development. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out, but give it a few episodes...it takes a while to get into the story.

hehe. xoxo - Stephanie

April

Yesterday it hit 78.
Today it snowed.
Luckily the daffodils are strong!

Skulls in the Harem

I have found another skull in my house! Stephanie apparently forgot to take a picture of this one... This is a book I read for my Rise of Modern France class this semester. It is called Tea in the Harem. I enjoyed it, but do not recommend it to any one who isn't studying the history of France. It was rather explicit and disturbing.

This can be added to my collection of skulls now :)

Love, Tracey

to tracey

drinkamugamilkameal!

So...I just found this picture again. I snapped it on the way home from Portland over Spring Break. It is kind of a little joke between Tracey and I. I mean just say it...it rolls off the tongue so well... drinkamugofmilkameal. How fun is that? Anyway Tracey, this picture is just for you.

xoxo - stephanie

the weekend

taking a break from the bike ride while jp takes some pictures

This has been the greatest weekend. The temperatures have finally been warm enough for me to want to spend every minute outside. Yesterday, johnpaul and I spent a few hours on a really nice bike ride, exploring the greenbelt in Boise. I will admit that really I was exploring, johnpaul knew exactly where he was because he runs on the greenbelt almost nightly. It was really awesome. Later in the day we walked to the CO-OP to have a little look around. It is always fun to check it out.

this is Wendy and I taking a walk during our latest Portland visit

I started a blog for johnpaul and his friend wendy to have a weekly photo contest. They take a picture each week, post it to their blog and then people can vote on which they like best each week. Hopefully, they will keep taking and posting pictures. You should check it out. It's called Two Photos. Anyway. Johnpaul took a few amazing photos for the blog while we were out riding and walking yesterday. It was fun. After he decides which one he is going to post on his blog, I will post a couple of our nice day here.

This morning I was happy to be outside working in the yard. There is this squirrel who lives somewhere near my house and he has decided that he is my new best friend. He likes to hang out...even coming up close and to visit with me! He eats out of the bird feeder and watches what is going on. It is kind of bizarre, but I do like having him around. I will post a picture as soon as I get one off of johnpaul's camera. I am thinking about giving him a name. Any good ideas?

xoxo-stephanie

A few other things.

I have finished my tunic. Here are pictures. I think it looks better in real life.

Below is my new massage chair. It is so wonderful. I am so happy to have it.

bye!
-Michelle

My Very First Post

Good morning everyone. This is Michelle and it is my very first post. Since I made the decision to join the blog, I have thought of many things that I should post. So, I hope to post multiple blogs this week, although it seems that it will be a very busy week, so I may not meet my goals on this.
My first post is all about building the greenhouse. I wanted to share some of the many photos I took during the process.
Below, is a picture of John Paul working on the greenhouse. This photo was very much over exposed, so I played with the colors a bit, and I think it looks pretty cool.

Stephanie was the ultimate direction reader and giver. Here is a picture of the excellent team work that we had. We worked until late into the evening.

In the morning, Grandma immediately started work in the greenhouse. So I thought I should get some daytime finished greenhouse pictures.

Here's the greenhouse, it even came with a super cute grandma.

Goodbye for now!

welcome michelle

Michelle Marie Teeter-Van Orsow

Tracey and I are so, so, so happy that we finally talked our sister Michelle into joining us on delightful and sunny all day. She is a super crafty girl and probably the most artistic of the three of us. She is going to start posting her news here with us! We are so excited! Please join us in welcoming Michelle to our blog!

xoxo - Stephanie (and Tracey too!)

College

Earlier today I was talking to my sister Michelle about our goals when we were younger. We all planned on playing college softball. Stephanie was the only one that met her goal. Michelle remembers that she wasn't all that intent on making a college team...

"I was more serious about playing the French horn in college..."

This I found seriously funny. The French horn... hahaha.

Barrister's Ball

Last night I was somewhat forced to attend the University of Idaho's Barrister's Ball. I heard about the ball about a week ago and we decided that we weren't going to go. But then yesterday evening Ryan informed me that he would like to go.

So, as quickly as possible I had to try to find something to wear. I ended up wearing a dress (which I absolutely love) that I wore as a bridesmaid dress a couple years ago. It is a cute dress, but when we showed up at the "ball" I realized I was pretty under dressed. This "ball" was basically a prom for law students. It was pretty lame, if you ask me. But we still had fun and I got to meet some of Ryan's classmates, so now I know who he is talking about. Plus it is always fun to get dressed up! This isn't the best picture of us, but its the only one I could get Ryan to pose for :)

This picture is so Stephanie can see my hair after the front was highlighted!

tin boxes

super cute metal lunch boxes

I don't know how many of you know that I have a cute, little metal lunch box collection. Most of them are newer and I just have found them or been given them over the last few years because I really like them. Recently, however, I have added two really awesome older lunch boxes.

walt disney firefighter lunch box

The first is a Mickey Mouse and gang lunch box (from around 1969!) that is rounded on the top and looks like they are on a fire truck. This used to be my mom's pottery tool box, but she gave it up under pressure from my grandma. It is so cute....don't you think?

my new muppet babies lunch box

My newest addition is this Muppet Babies lunch box from 1985. I loved the Muppet Babies. My mom found this lunch box at a antique store in John Day, Oregon (of all places!) Tracey and I have been having fun singing the theme song over the last few days...come on...you know it...

Muppet Babies, we make our dreams come true, Muppet Babies, we'll do the same for you

When your world looks kinda weird and you wish that you weren't there
Just close your eyes and make believe and you can be anywhere

Kermit: I like adventure
Piggy: I like romance
Fozzie: I love great jokes
Animal: Animal dance!!
Scooter: I've got my computer
Skeeter: I swing through the air
Rowlf: I play the piano
Gonzo: And I have blue hair
Bunsen: Me, I invent things
Beaker: Mee mee mee meee!

Nanny: Is everything all right in here?
Yes, Nanny.

Muppet Babies, we make our dreams come true. Muppet Babies, we'll do the same for you

Muppet Muppet Muppet Muppet, Babies Babies Babies Babies

Anyway. I love it! Thanks Mom!

xoxo - stephanie

spring break

I started my spring break out with Easter. My Grandma Doris was in Idaho visiting us for the weekend. We went to several nurseries and found some really fun plants. If you live in the area and haven't been to Boise's Edwards Nursery, you should really take the trip. It is awesome! We also explored some of Nampa's new quilting and fabric stores downtown. Grandma found some really awesome fabric.

On Easter Day we hung out at my mom's house and ate a lot of really delicious food. We had potatoes, beans, asparagus, bread, artichokes, fruit salad and yummy, yummy lemon meringue pie. After we ate dinner we played cards and had fun into the evening.

As you know, the next day I headed out for Tracey's house in Moscow. We had a lot of fun!

When I returned home and Johnpaul got off of work on Friday morning we headed

to Bend. We went to visit Johnpaul's parents for a couple of hours and then headed to my dad's house for dinner and a place to stay. We had a nice time chatting with all of them. The next morning we woke up early to meet Michelle at my Grandma Doris' house to put together her beautiful new greenhouse. This ended up being a very big project, only taking a break to attend my cousin Crystal's baby shower (she looks so cute!) and to visit my Grandparents Van Orsow. Here are some photos of the greenhouse project.

Here is Johnpaul and Michelle putting up the corner posts where we would eventually slide in the walls.

Look at this wicked awesome picture of Michelle and my grandpa's old electric drill. We really did use this at one point!
















Putting up the walls.









Finishing up....yes...it really is that dark out. We started at about 9:00 am and finished about 9:40 pm.

It was well worth it though, the greenhouse turned out beautiful and I got to spend a nice day with my fantastic husband, my wonderful sister and my delightful grandmother.






That night (at 10:00!) we headed over the mountain to Portland to visit Johnpaul's sister and her family. We got there after they were asleep and crawled into bed. The rest of the time spent in Portland was used to visit family and friends that we don't get to see often enough. One highlight for me was being able to see my friend Megan and her awesome family. We ate a delicious meal at her house and chatted about life.

We made it home Tuesday, just in time for us to each have a day of relaxing before we headed back to work.

xoxo, Stephanie

"If you're not cooking with joy, happiness and
love, you're not cooking well"

-Danny Kaye