lemon seeds and missing trees

 i grew up on a plot of land that housed my family, my grandparents, and my great grandparents. it was any child's dream. cookies and hugs from gramma at any desired time. games of skip-bo and charade's at great-gramma's. trampoline, tree house, swing set. stealing things from grampa's workshop to build forts {i can count 15 forts that we made and manned over the years!}.

then there were the trees. pomegranate. pecan. peach. almond. chinaberry {you don't eat those, they're poison, you have chinaberry wars}.

and then... the citrus. lemon. grapefruit. orange. limon {it grew limes and lemons because the lime tree was too close to the lemon. cross-pollination, friends!}.

oh, how i miss sitting under the orange tree and eating and eating and eating. we used the gate latches to get the first hunk of skin off, then peel to our hearts content. the only rule was we had to clean up our peels.

before the frost would come, there would be a mad scramble to pick all the lemons and crate them up. did you know if a citrus tree frosts, all the juices in the fruit go back into the tree to help keep it warm? this results in very dry fruit, and no fresh lemonade.

dad made his bestest grapefruitade on a regular basis, and it is definitely not the same with store bought grapefruits. in fact, i will probably never it make it that way again.

needless to say, i miss my citrus trees.

so i planted some. even if you don't want a full out tree, the little baby lemon sprouts are so cheerful, bright, fresh, and they smell good, too! it's quite simple to start your own little citrus forest.

step 1: get a lemon {or orange or lime or grapefruit, doesn't matter.} and take out all the seeds.

step 2: let the seeds soak in some water for a couple days to a week.

step 3: try to clean off any outside casing by rubbing them. if nothing comes off, you're good. if something does, discard it. don't do this over the sink, the little guys are slippery and like to escape.

step 4: put them in some soil! i filled a mug with all the seeds the lemon had. i wasn't sure how many would germinate. i probably planted 15 seeds, and i have seven baby trees.

step 5: put them in a sunny window, and wait for two weeks. give them water {enough to soak in the soil without drowning them} about every other day.

enjoy your little citrus forest! it certainly brings a smile to my face. i was so excited when sprout after sprout popped up in my soil! having it in my windowsill and not outside made it possible for me to watch the progress every day! happy planting!

xo

i'm coming home

i leave in two days.

brock and i are driving three hours to an airport. to then take a three hour flight. to then drive another hour and half until i will finally be home with my family.

it will be so worth it!

i miss my family to pieces! of course, it won't be complete. my brother is serving a mission for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints right now and won't be there. but i know he's doing important stuff so i will let it slide this time.

it just so happens {totally planned!} that my cousin/b.f.f. since b.l.o.e. {before life on earth} is getting married! i'm so glad to be there for her and share in the best day of her life.

i also have a very important date with the local eegee's. if you don't know what i'm talking about, go to tucson. then go to eegee's. then call me. {best slushy ever created. pina colada, here i come!}

we will also be venturing to my beautiful tucson mountians. arkansas is quite hilly. i miss mountains. that was inevitable, i knew that coming, out here. but what the heck? i miss other stuff, too. not dirt, not cactus, but i guess, as a whole, i do miss the desert. can't believe i said that. i miss adobes. tehehe. that just makes me giggle inside that i actually miss them.

i've created a little show of things that remind of tucson and my desert home.

sabino canyon. been there. love it. i love hiking!

 

la placita village: i always thought the freakin bright colors of downtown office buildings were ridiculous. but now... they just look so cute and inviting. right?

photo credit: carol woolverton

this is a sunset at sabino canyon. there is nothing like an arizona sunset! i will have to finagle my daddy into sending me some of his shots. they are gorgeous. i will share them if i can convince him.

desert rainbow pottery: i have always loved the navajo pots. there's a little hallway in the mall that is all about stuff like this: western art, cowboy hats, rugs, ponchos, cactus pots, and so much more. i've always loved it.

now you have a taste of my home. i can't wait to be there!

power-packed parfait {recipe}

it's been quite a busy weekend as i mentioned earlier. i think i went to my church building a total of four different times saturday.. and then of course again on sunday. but really. i was just running, running, running. in a good way. but whew!

so let's talk about a good way to start a crazy day like my saturday! how about with a delicious breakfast? this was going to be on my pinterest challenge, but i couldn't wait to try it, so i ended up eating it before i started the challenge and had to pick something else. the original recipe is called the 6-flavor slimming breakfast sundae, but i just call it....

power-packed parfait 

servings: 2
gluten-free

1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup ground flax seed {or wheat germ or anything like that!}
1/4 cup of sesame seeds or sunflower seeds
1 handful of chopped nuts {we used almonds}
pinch of salt and ginger {or nutmeg, or cloves, or cinnamon, any kind of sweety spice}
2 containers or about 1 1/2 cups of yogurt {we like brown cow greek yogurt! mmm)
1 banana, all sliced up
1 cup of berries, fresh or frozen, any kind

1. mix all of the dry ingredients.
2. in two small bowls, parfait glasses, something pretty that's see through {wink! gotta see the layers!}, layer the dry mix, bananas, berries and yogurt until the glasses are full.
3. bon apetit! make sure to get a glass of milk to wash this goodness down with!

this can also make a great summer time snack! and it's one of those recipes you can just substitute in all kinds of ways to end up with different flavors [i love that because i get bored with the same food over again sometimes].

what do you like to eat for breakfast to get a kick start on a busy day?

love the husband

i just wanted to say thanks to all of you, through texts and comments, on your hair advice. unfortunately, each one got about the same amount of votes! haha. it made me laugh. i still haven't worked myself into cutting yet, but it will either be monday, or neeeext monday.

that aside, i just want to let the world know that i have the greatest husband ever. don't be jealous.

we don't have a dishwasher, so we do dishes every night after dinner. last night, i was feeling especially drained and also had a killer headache.

sweet brock hopped in the shower super fast {we had just worked out before dinner}, while i was doing dishes, and then forcefully took over the massive pile - we hadn't done dishes all weekend - so i could take a relaxing bath. he knew what i needed before i even knew i needed it. and he made sure everything was cleaned and ready for me to just hop right in bed after my bath.

he is so thoughtful. i just adore him.

i really am not a fan of valentines, but i decided to do something this year. i can't wait to share it {it has to wait, in case brock reads this}. i have always been anti, but i think now that i'm an avid blog reader, i'm getting the bug. it's weird. i don't really like this feeling, but i am succumbing to it. don't tell anyone.

what are your plans for love day?

a craft to go with breakfast

i have something of a habit of wanting to make "beautiful" food. i never realized until my mother-in-law pointed it out to me last night. she said...

i'm not like you, i don't look at food and go 'oh how cute.'

true story. i do that. and even today, i was on my healthy pinboard looking for some meal ideas for the week and asked brock what he thought of the mexican haystacks.

'isn't it cute?'

that totally came out of my mouth. i just love food. i'm trying really hard to stay away from the delicious sugar.smothered, or fried.in.tons.butter, or just packed.with.amazing.things.i.should.never.eat. it's really hard because those things are so pretty! but healthy food is pretty, too! don't judge it just because it's good for you, ok? i have to try not to, so you should, too.

that all being said, i also love pretty dishes and pretty places. so i made some place-mats for our kitchen. i want to make tons and tons. but i just have one set for now. it was quite simple, once i got the dern thing cut {my fabric twisted a tad when i washed it and the stripes weren't straight. p.s. this was a test, you probably don't want twisting fabric for place-mats because you will wash them again and again}. i just hemmed up the edges and hand stitched a little on the corners. and ta-dah! sitting under the breakfast of champions. {will post later!}

what do ya think? si or no?
now i just have to say...
let's eat!

a happy home: one year without a fight

i thought since this is the very first post on the happenings in my home, i should explain why my home is such a happy one.

basically, brock and i have made it a whole year without a "real fight," {plus our dating months, engagement, and like 2 more months after the anniversary}. don't get me wrong, we've had some disagreements, but i can't call them fights because a] they never last longer than 5 minutes, b] rarely rarely rarely are we both frustrated at the same time, and c] they're just not fights.  so how do we do it? i shall tell you.

1. sometimes, you just have to act like children.
just because we're all adults doesn't mean we have to be mature all the time. it's exhausting! let loose and let go. children are care free and they do silly things. this is really only beneficial if both of you do it, otherwise the "adult" may get annoyed. so when the other one starts acting childish, join in! it relieves a lot of stress and you will eventually be laughing! if you start whining and pouting playfully during an argument, it tends to be hilarious.

2. when you are wrong, admit it.
this is super huge. but i feel like brock and i are pretty good at it. it's the reason our disagreements never last. this works especially well if you make a super obvious frustrated.defeated.obnoxious "you're right" face. the other will then laugh, feel free to gloat, and next thing you know, problem solved.

3. fights are better fought when only one is fighting.
this goes back to us not being mad at the same time. if the other one is laughing, no one gets hurt. on one hand this aggravates me to no end, but on the other hand, it totally lightens the mood {eventually}. brock would honestly have me laugh at him than comfort him if he makes a silly mistake even when he is super duper frustrated. i would rather be comforted, but he usually laughs and then i laugh too. win win.

4. be 100% honest. always. don't keep secrets {but you can keep surprises!}.
keeping secrets means you have something to hide. if you have something to hide, it's probably not good. if you are keeping something from them, you are not being completely honest. it's pretty straight forward. love without trust is a whole lot harder than love with trust. trust me {see what i did there?}. honesty makes those fights so much easier because you have nothing to hide. it makes resolving those fights much more possible because you count on that half of yours.  

5. if there's that one thing that bugs you, find out how it fits with yourself.
i know this seems silly, but give it a go. brock seriously loves to aggravate me. it's like his favorite past time. sometimes i wonder if he just didn't do enough of it to other girls in junior high. the picking and poking and the mocking. rawr! i go insane. i on the other hand am super dramatic. sometimes is totally subconscious, others i'm completely aware that i'm being ridiculously dramatic. brock aggravates because he likes to get a reaction out of me {he has admitted that several times}, and it works out ok because i usually like to be dramatic. it seems silly, but once i figured that out, i didn't mind his agitation so much. i still get dramatic about it, but it's more fun now.

and with that, we are fight free! there may be other factors, but these are the biggest.