Wednesday, July 25, 2012

It's pickin' time! How to harvest leaf lettuce, cucumbers and grape tomatoes!

Yay!!! Finally something to pick from the garden!

My first cucumber!!

On a side note: Bert said do not wash the cucumbers. Keep them refrigerated in a big until you are ready to use. They will last longer if you do not wash them. I of course at the cucumber immediately with a little salt and pepper therefore it didn't have a fighting change, but maybe future cucumbers will!

These grape tomatoes also didn't find have a fighting chance.

Kind of fuzzy, but this is an Anaheim Chili. I left it on the fine as Bert said it could grow to get a little bigger still.

These are my New Mexico Big Jim Peppers!

And my lettuce!

Harvest lettuce by picking the leaf and breaking it off at the base. You do not want to pull the lettuce and uproot the plant. This would cause the other leaves to die, so simply snap it off at the bottom. Don't pick the lettuce until you're ready to use it. If you have a lot of lettuce that needs harvested simply store it in a sealed plastic bag in your refrigerator's crisper and try to use as soon as possible.

If you remember we planted the lettuce and the carrots in the same row. The carrots aren't quite ready to be picked, but as you can see they are coming in and are mixed in the with the leaf lettuce. Yummy! Bert says a carrot from the garden will blow your mind and you will never eat carrots purchased at the grocery store ever again!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Budgeting - Ugh

So I posted my initial blog (Gordon Ramsay vs Dave Ramsey - Both are scary.)

and thought this is a cake walk! Little did I know that Dave Ramsey, being the evil man that he is, had more in mind than here's a list of what I'd like to spend per month. Check out Sam's step by step instructions on How to create a zero-based budget for more information and to begin your budget! I have since established my budget and well it's complicated. Dave said give it a few months to figure out what is realistic and iron our your budget. I won't go through the whole thing, but here are the common household expenses and how I'm doing.

Expense Budgeted Amnt Spent Amnt Difference

Groceries $150.00 $98.53 $51.47

Eating Out $100.00 $236.39 -$136.39

Fuel $120.00 $212.41 -$92.41

Shopping* $100.00 $113.49 -$13.49

Entertainment $100.00 $165.62 -$65.62

*Shopping - $53.91 of my shopping budget was spent on Dave Ramsey's new FPU kit, so it's kind of his fault that he made it so expensive and more than 1/2 of my budget!!!

Total I am off Budget - $256.44

Unfortunately I am off budget, but I may have been a little aggressive in month one and know that tracking what I spend on a regular basis really made a huge difference in comparison to what I normally spend! There are 7 days remaining in the month, so have to do my best to not go over anymore!

That means yay for ramen!

(Source)

"52 Reasons" Deck of Cards Book for Buffalo Bleu

Buffalo Bleu managed to get a whole week off of work because his boss was going out of town, so he came to Colorado! We had an absolutely amazing time and it broke my heart to have to drop him off at the airport this morning. I wanted to thank him for being an absolutely amazing person and show him how fortunate I am to have him in my life, so I made him a "52 reasons" Deck of Cards Book. I'm not really sure who came up with adorable idea as I've seen it all over Pinterest and the internet, but wanted to share my version that I made for the man in my life!

Here's what you need:

Deck of Cards - I bought a plain ole deck of cards at Walmart
Glue - (Did they outlaw rubber cement or something?) I know it's been awhile since I was in school, but seriously? I loved that stuff and couldn't find it anywhere!
Index Card Rings - I bought the pack of 6 which included various sizes as I wasn't sure how fat the book would be.
Hole Punch - You also need a hole punch which I didn't think about until last minute and had to run to the grocery store.
Card stock or a piece of cardboard to make your hole punch template.
Your "52 Reasons"!

I made my 52 reasons by setting up a label template in Microsoft Word. I set my template up so that they were 2"WX3"H. I used the label template so I could print light gray lines along the borders making them easier to cut.

Then I cut them all out and glued them to the front (the side with the number and suit) of the card. I laid my cards out over night to ensure they were all dry and didn't stick together.

The next day I created my whole punch template. I traced around a card on card stock, cut that out and then used the template to whole punch each playing card.

Aren't they cute!

I was deeply engrossed in the TV show Dallas, so accidentally whole punched three of them upside. I didn't have time to re-do them, so Buffalo Bleu just had to live with it!

Now hook all the cards together in whatever order suits your fancy and make a cover using the jokers or extra cards that came in your deck.

And Wa Lah!!!

Needless to say Buffalo Bleu loved it and has agreed to keep me around for another day!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Grow baby grow!

This green thumb is paying off! I haven't been able to pick any veggies yet, but have been watering the garden daily and hoeing around the plants to remove any nasty weeds!

Farm Fashion and Western Wear

I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, but detested "country style", In those days I wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of cowboy boots or pearl snap shirt. Now I can't get enough of this stuff! I want to wear by cowboy boots and my Dekalb hat every day! I mean seriously look how cute this get-up is!

The problem is that dang Dave Ramsey if forcing me to have a budget, so I can't frivolously splurge on Old Gringo Boots like I used to! Don't tell my accountability partner, but right before I started Dave Ramsey's class I bought these!