More about moving

I just realized I haven't really explained why/when we are moving. Here goes. Dave is expecting to finish school next year, possibly in May, so we're selling our condo and looking for a place to rent until he graduates and we find out where he gets a job. Rochester friends, if you know of any 2 bedroom rentals in the area, please let us know!

Our condo and veggies are on the market!

After about a month and a half of primping and painting, we're ready to sell. Now's the time to see if someone's ready to buy. And it's the time to clean, clean, clean like nobody's business so our house can be ready to show at a moment's notice. I am not exactly Martha Stewart, and she doesn't have an 18-month-old, so thankfully our realtor has promised to give us overnight notice whenever possible. Though it's a lot of pressure to keep our home super-clean and super-organized, it sure is nice living in such a tidy place!

So we're wondering how long it'll be on the market. Will we get to reap the harvest of our vegetable garden, or will somebody else? Speaking of which, I should post an update on the veggies. The last pics came just after we planted them. They are now huge!

Cucumber, zucchini, and squash, 1 of each. So we learned this year that we need to devote more space to these plants next time around!Actually, pretty much all our plants need more space next time.


We planted the big tomatoes in planter boxes that are similar to Earth Boxes. Our friend Kay Dodds found the instructions online, modified them to suit his needs, and helped us make them. We can't wait to use more of these planter boxes next year!


4 pepper plants--we can't remember all the varieties b/c Natalie loves pulling up the white markers. We're pretty sure we have one red pepper and 2 green peppers, and we're positive that there's one banana pepper. I transplanted the 2 peppers on the left--they used to be dwarfed by the tomato plants and they weren't thriving. Hopefully they will take hold. Our 6 grape tomato plants are on the right. I love grape tomatoes, and I can't wait for them to ripen!


Our basil, which we've already used once for pesto. Yummy! I was amazed how fast the new leaves grew in after I plucked the plants. In this pic, you can see my reflection in the window AND you can see a couple of our grape tomatoes ripening on the windowsill :)


I can't wait to see this tomato ripen and then EAT IT!!







Dave gets giddy every time he sees this plant. He loves pickled banana pepper slices on sandwiches. Anyone know how to pickle banana peppers? We found a recipe online, but if you've got a recipe that's tried and true, we'd prefer to use it!

Happiness is ... a visit from Grandma

My mom came to visit us in June. It was SO great to have in-person hugs and for Natalie to have a chance to bond with her Grandma Carlson (the chocolate-covered raisins from Grandma sped that along nicely). Here are just a few photos from our week together. Lots of the week was spent with my mom watching Natalie while Dave & I fixed things up around the house and packed extra stuff (which we have a lot of) into a storage unit.

Where have I been?!?

Wow, over a month and no posts! I have been missing blogging a lot lately--we've been busy getting our condo ready to put on the market. But lots of fun stuff has happened too! So now I'll take some time to chronicle a few of our recent adventures and the photos to go with them. Enjoy!