Family Update!

Introducing Micah James

Born June 9, 2011 at 3:27 PM

Weighing 7lb and 19.25 in long!

(More updates to come...we are a little tired!)

Gardening Expedition

So being without cable TV I have found that I have had a little more time for some fun hobbies. My first is to try my hand at having a garden. We have a perfect little area that is already blocked off on the side of our house that I used last year as a garden - but we had some limited success. I tried to start everything with seeds but ended up putting them outside to early (at least I think that is what I did!) and they didn't prosper so I ended up buying plants instead. Needless to say I spent more on the plants and seeds than I would have if I went to the store to just buy the produce! So this year I started out in February with some research (surprise surprise - me doing research!) Since Andrew was in the basement creating beautiful masterpieces for our little junior, I had some extra time to get on the Internet and find out how exactly to plant a garden.

So for all of you trying to do gardening - the website I ended up using to plan out my garden was awesome. I was able to just use the free sample software (although I might try to buy it for next year because it was pretty cheap and useful) GrowVeg.com. I told them where I lived, what I wanted to grow, and how much space I had to work with outside. They then got me a little diagram that looked like the measurements of my garden. I was able to put little pictures of the plants I wanted. The best part if they made them certain sizes so you wouldn't plant too close and allow you to judge how many you would need.

As you can see my diagram - it shows me how many to plant of each item. It was a fun program as you just click on the picture of the plant you want and then click and hold over how much of the area you want of that plant. So easy! Another great tool they have on there (and probably more than I even tried out) was a little "cheat sheet" you clicked on that told you to plant next to this item or away from this item. So that helped to know where to put things. Once I was finished playing with my garden - I then was able to print of this sheet as well.

Now this sheet was my lifesaver. I still have it setting on the desk, covered in mud and smudged because I would bring it with me when I planted. I did a variety of plants - some from seed and some started as a plant (depending on what Farmer's Almanac said about which was easiest!) My seed plants were lettuce, peas, beans, carrots, and broccoli. The plants I bought were tomatoes, peppers, squash, and onion bulbs. I didn't have a lot of luck with these plants as seeds last year so I went to the giant sale at Sutherlands and got tons of my plants for dirt cheap. Making up for the money I wasted last year! So here are some pics of my garden so far - some plants have turned out and some haven't but for being my first large scale garden, I am pretty proud of myself :-) And I think Andrew was a tad bit impressed as well - especially after our somewhat disaster last year!

So here is a view of the entire garden.

My lovely lettuce (which we have been able to eat and is delicious!) along with my giant onions. These have just grown and grown! I also did a few marigolds in there to help keep the rabbits away (as well as the fence - lesson learned from last year)

And a few tomato plants - we did a variety of types such as Big Boy, Cherry, and Early Girl. All were recommended on the Kansas State website as being very easy to grow!

Those two tiny green sprouts were my attempt at broccoli. Sad - they obviously did not turn out. Our neighbor who has an amazing garden (with beautiful broccoli) told me to try it with a plant for next year as I probably planted them too late so they didn't quite sprout. You win some you lose some - Andrew doesn't really enjoy broccoli so he didn't seem too upset! But behind my broccoli are some pepper plants (bell peppers) that seem to be doing quite well next to some random marigolds.

And here we have my peas and beans. I think I need to get something to have the peas start to grow up on. The beans are supposed to be bush bean so hopefully I won't need to much of an extra support. The peas have little pea pods already! Can't wait to enjoy some of those.

And the squash. The first year I planted squash it took over EVERYTHING. I will have to make sure to watch it this year. Nothing like some summer squash on the grill.

Another somewhat fail - carrots. Those two green plants are supposed to be two full rows of carrots. I guess we will have to wait and see if they turn out! On the other side of these I have a few more tomato plants (I couldn't find the potatoes they suggested so I just grew some more tomatoes in their spot)

And then our herb garden. I just have a little basil, cilantro, and oregano to help us cook some lovely veggies once the garden has taken off.

And these are Andrew's little pride and joy. We were at Lowe's and Home Depot on Earth day and they were giving our little evergreen tree starters. Andrew got one from each store and has planted them on our patio. We will see which ones are the best!

So there it is - our garden (from the other view). For next year Andrew is already planning on making a rain barrel to put at the other end (see where the rose bush is located near the wooden fence?). We didn't have enough time to research it for this year, which stinks because I feel like it rained all the time! But next year that is his big project and contribution to the garden. Say a little prayer that it keeps going well and we can have lots of fresh produce to make some lovely baby food in the fall :-)

My Cable TV episode

So Andrew and I have been looking for video cameras for when baby arrives and we found ourselves out at Best Buy on memorial day. (side note - if anyone of you have opinions on which type of camera to get either pocket cam like a Flip or a full out video camera - let us know. We are so undecided!) Anyways, while at BB we had someone approach us and ask us if we wanted to do a trial on direct TV ( this was obviously them trying to sell us Direct TV). They asked us which cable company we were with and with my smug look I told them "We don't have cable." At first I think we caught him off guard - apparently people just don't go without cable or he has never come across that answer. Then I think he thought "oh the perfect target" and tried to give us a schpeel on all the savings he could get us. Andrew is much better at saying no (and saying it with some type of  remark on how we already save money without cable) and we left good ol' BB for the day with no purchases.


This little incident got me thinking about how much TV we watch and how this has changed since we cancelled our cable in February. I will have to say it is ironic that we did this since last June we bought a brand new HD TV with Andrew's "Good Job for becoming an Architect" gift card from his work. So at least we had a few months of HD cable channels.  But in February when it dawned on us that
1. We are going to have a baby and they are EXPENSIVE (yes this was a freak out moment for Andrew, our resident thrifty dutchman)
2. Our cable bill was super expensive. I had even called numerous times to get a "deal" but after a while they say you no longer qualify. But if you tell them you are cancelling your cable, they are quick to find you something you do qualify for!


We looked at the shows we love to watch and found about 75% of them were on non cable channels. And many of the others you could find online to watch (which we usually did anyways because we weren't home to watch them during the time they were on).  Plus the Samsung TV we got has apps such as Hulu Plus and Netflixs that allows us to watch a lot of programs just by purchasing a $9 membership fee (much cheaper than our $80+ for cable, HD, and lovely state of KS taxes that are ridiculous). So we did this as a trial and 5 months later we will not go back.


I think I am realizing what a change it has been since I am back to my trophy wife status (for the next 17 days or until baby decides to arrive!). Back in my previous trophy wife days, I usually would spend the day with the TV on in the background until I got sucked in by some lame movie or show that I had already probably seen 5+ times but just "loved the ending" or something lame I told myself. Now I only turn on the TV for the news or if I know there is a show I want to watch. By doing this I am just amazed at all the stuff I get done in one day! I know Andrew is going to just love this comment since he would tell me that all the time over my school breaks.
I never thought I would say this - but without ABC Family and Lifetime it has really let me do a lot more. Crazy! Apparently I really was a "couch potato"! :-)


Here are my top 5 Reasons to Cut Your Cable:
1. Saving Money - with our Hulu membership and if we decide to do Netflixs - we will save around $60 per month (that is $720 per year for all you math challenged such as myself)
2. More Family Time - Andrew and I really have spent more time together doing things we don't usually do. Such as just sitting around, listening to the radio (yes, we have used the radio more in 5 months than our entire time being married). Andrew isn't much of a reader so some nights I would read my baby books to him so he knows what to do once baby arrives. I know once baby arrives we need all the "extra" time we can get (yes I am aware there are only 24 hrs in a day - but you know what I mean!)
3. Less frustration - I can remember when the cable would be not working and I would yell "Ahh I hate _(fill in with cable company at the time)___" Then spend 40 min on hold trying to get it figured out.
4. Less time in front of the TV - When we stopped cable I thought I would watch the shows I liked online - but I have found that I don't even do that anymore. Apparently they were not all that special to me as I thought. I still watch the ones I like but have cut down on how many.
5. Less Stress - I now don't base my nightly activities (such as when to do the laundry, when to go to the store, etc) on which night my show is on. Yes - sad and pathetic but I did do this! I wouldn't want to go to the store on Monday when my ABC family show was on. This drove Andrew NUTS!


Just the other day I was joking around saying, "Man since we don't have cable we actually talk to each other more!" I never realized how much TV really did tie me down at nights. Now I usually go to bed thinking "wow, I was pretty productive today" - even if I am taking naps every afternoon. (I tell you - kids take everything from you, including your energy) I read more, do more crafts, and just feel a lot more relaxed as I am not hurrying to finish up something because "my show is on".


So that is our cable story. Can you live without cable - of course. Yes - there are days when I just wish I could watch that chick flick all afternoon. But those feelings do pass. From a recovering couch potato - I would give anyone advice that living without cable these past few months has been wonderful.


Oh and I better mention this too. Growing up I didn't have cable TV and always thought it was just crazy because we were the ONLY ones who didn't. So mom and dad - after all these years and me thinking were just too cheap to get cable - I now understand why we didn't have it! The things you come to realize once you become (or almost become) a parent. Thanks Mom and Dad!