Canning Party

So the last two days have been filled with boiling water, hot juices, and a very messy kitchen......what does that mean...yup canning party, and who was invited--well I wish more than was here, cause i am tired!! Those who came to my party are crazy but loved!! :) Thanks Mom, i couldn't have done it without you!! Jolene-- thanks for not going to bed as early as my mom so that i can call you with questions at midnight!! Enoch--thanks for taking such a good nap while me and grandma did the majority of the canning, Sadie--thanks for always laying in the way as to keep me and my mom on our toes and watching where we put our feet, the many aphid looking green bugs that have now been invited in to our home-not by me but by the beets, and last but defiantly not the least Brandon--you are amazing....what husband helps do everything in the house, even down to canning(sorry girls he is mine all mine!!)
Can I now say that i love canning....not the mess, not the aching feet and back from standing all day, but the feeling that comes from knowing what you just did.... be just a little self sufficient. It really does make a huge impact on your life. Looking at the dozens of bottles on my counter, make me so thankful that i have been taught to have food storage and to have an amazing mom and mother-in-law who have taught me and my husband how to can.
Now to say a little about what exactly I and my listed helpers did the last two days..... I put up 8 half-pints of fresh raspberry/apricot jam, and 4 pints of pineapple/apricot jam last night--being Tuesday night. Then today Me and my mom, and Brandon put up....are you ready for this......15 pints of pickled beets, 31 pints of normal beets, and 6 pints of beet jelly. Holy Smokes!! We did all the beets today!! Really it isn't today anymore cause it is 3AM--but who is that technical!!!
Well i just had to share this moment. This is my first canning experience and well i am loving it. I love that i feel like i accomplished something important--and useful! I am going to go to bed now!! Here are pictures--not all partiers are portrayed, but they are all muchly appreciated--cause it wasn't much for a party--just makes it sound fun!! :)

Its Official!!!

On Monday i got my admittance letter to graduate school. I don't know if i have even mentioned on here that that was in the running for the next two years of my life, but it is!! I am so excited. When i was nearing graduation i was so sad that i was really done. I felt like i was just scratching the surface, and was really not ready to stop learning. I am ecstatic to start. It is a two year program, i only go once a week for a couple hours--like 4 or 5 i cant remember. I think i am nuts for goin back, but yet am so super excited--funny how life is like that huh!!

Ok here are the details......
Ok so i guess i forgot details on my post about graduate school, so i will clear them up now......now that I have got some sleep and am thinking more clearly than the post i made last night--well this morning..... anyway. I am going to get my degree from USU, but through extension. My classes are all satellite classes--meaning i go a classroom and watch a screen for a couple hours. The classroom i am going to is in Ephraim at Snow Collage, Utah State has an extension program there. I start on the 28th of August, and am getting so excited. I have missed school, and am happy to return....plus how nice that i can work full time and still go to school--they make grad school a little more convenient than undergrad--thats what i think right now. Hope this clears up some questions.

Peas....The Process

How can this many pea pods only equal this many peas????????


Here is the first of the crops this year!! Holy smokes peas are a lot of work, for such a small return!!!! I picked and podded peas all day today and what do i have to show for it........a half of a bowl--ok so a large bowl but still! I ended up with only 8 cups of peas!!!
It is so fun to be harvesting our own food. With the absurd prices for food these last few months, i cant help but to think how lucky Me and Brandon are to have such a large garden. I will continue to keep you up to date on the harvests....there are many more to come!!
Oh and sorry for the forever to update...summers are busy!!!

Our little friend

What little bird is always everyones favorite? Which little birdy is one that even if it does make a mess, we always set more bright red food out for it to drink. What little winged critter does everyone get excited when we see it.......Empty after just 2 weeks!!
Our little friend
Her nest with the eggs---picture to come i hope

A hummingbird of course. I have always loved hummingbirds. They are so cute and little and well just a happy little birdy. Now having a house to live in, for the first time i can feed my own little friend--and she is a hungry one. I know it is a she cause she has the cutest timy eggs in her nest....one day if i am brave i will get a picture of her tiny eggs. She is a happy little thought, and even though she is the culprite to sucking down the pretty red sugar water, i will keep her.

Nothing Like Workin Hard

So this past week me and Brandon went to Gunnison to help with the farming and moving cows. It turned out to be such a good weekend. This weekend was very refreshing to me. I loved growin up on a farm, and have always loved working hard. Lately being home all day has driven me kinda nuts. Even though i never run out of things to do, i still get so bored and really want more to talk to than Sadie. While she is a good listener, she doesn't respond, and I start feelin a little weird talking to someone who cannot comprehend what i am saying. This weekend landed me with the opportunity to talk with other people, and to work hard which always feels good...even having a sore bum due to the fact that it has been since last year since i was on a horse felt good. I love that i married into a family that does cows, i have always wanted to be one who got to move cows up the mountain, that always sounded like a good time, just another bonus of marrying into such an awesome and fun family. We were all lucky to come out it with only one man with bruises and swollen body parts--out of like 9 people--i think that is pretty good. The only bad part is that it was Brandon. I really think he got bucked off in hopes that it would get him out of speaking in church Sunday....ha ha...just kidding. He was on a borrowed horse who has never moved cows before, so when they let them out it might have spooked him and he started bucking. This caught Brandon off guard and he jumped off, but caught his leg on the saddle horn( not really what it was, but i dont know what the other part is called, so we are settling for the horn)--causing him to have a swollen knee and a few bruises on his knee. I am so glad that is all that happened--I really don't like seeing him get hurt--it causes me to panic a little.
Well once the cows were up on the Mountain, we came home and hauled hay for the rest of the day. I got to go straighten bales--this took me back to my childhood, and really just made my day. I loved being out there, and workin(and getting a tan). I really helped prove the fact that someday i want a family farm that me and Brandon can raise a family on. Work is so food for the soul...I love it, Brandon loves it, and i know my kids will someday too.
Hope you like the pictures and i have on thing to say about the one with Grandpa on a horse...
and that is I impressed with Grandpa--he is 75 years old and on a green broke colt--Hats off to him!!! What an amazing man!

Yummy dinner

So how likes heating up the house with the oven when it is 50000 degrees inside your house?? Ok so not me, that is why, among other reasons too, that i have been in love with my Crockpot. It is easy dinner, throw it in and not worry about it till it is time to eat, plus the fact that no oven is involved. I am posting this all cause i love that Crockpot link i have on here. I find so many yummy recipes on there, and in my own Crockpot cookbook.
Last night though i tried Bacon and Cheese Chicken, and well it was wonderful. How can you go wrong with bacon and cheese though, seriously. I recommend it. Click HERE for the direct link to that recipe.

Growing Garden

So i finally thought i would show you all my garden...i showed you the plants we started inside quite some time ago, this is what we have now.........
we have 3 yes 3 packages of beets, 2 packages of carrots, i package of radishes, 1 onion, 1/2 green onion, like 10 plants of peppers, Anaheim, Jalapeño, green( 6 plants), and Serrano i think, i think 24 tomato plants and 2 cherry tomatoes, Honeydew, watermelon, and catalope, 2 rows of beans, 6 rows of peas, 20lb of planted potatoes--LOTS!! and 4 rows of corn. We just planted lettuce and swiss chard, and then we have pumpkins, zuchinne, yellow squash, banana squash, butternut squash, and i think that is finally it.
Its so fun to walk out and see seed that we planted coming to life and growing. There is something invigorating about seeing things grow.
PS ya know i am totally up for putting to practice the Little Red Hen story....you guys come help weed and i will let you have some!!! Eh sound good!!!??

Answered Prayer

Well it is time for a good news post again. I was just offered a job that i have been wanting and praying for, for a long time. The story behind this job, and why it is an answered prayer is this.....
Before Me and Brandon even left Logan we were looking for jobs here in Sanpete County. I would say a good month or two before we left i found a job postings at utahjobs and could not pass up. There were two jobs for Head Start in Gunnison. One for an assistant preschool teacher which sounded great, and a job for a education specialist. Reading the job description for the education specialist i knew it was the one of the two i wanted. Besides the higher pay and better benefits, it was my dream job. I would get to supervise the preschool classes, teach kindergarten readiness classes and do other things pertaining to education for Head Start. Right away i called. They said i would have to come in and get an application. I was so bummed....we were in Logan, they were in Gunnison....but we made a special trip down, with family so close both mine and Brandon's the trip was not just for the application, but that was the main purpose for the trip. I went in, only meeting the secretary and got the application. I was so bummed i didn't get to meet anyone that had anything to do with hiring, but oh well i thought. I got back to Logan, perfected my resume, filled out the application and mailed it in. Mind you that this is like the end of March-ish. After a week i called to make sure the mailed resume and application had got there, and when i could expect a phone call about an interview or the like. The secretary just said she didn't know....that was it. I never gave up hope. I called again the week we moved here, and got to talk to the head lady. She said she was not doing interviews till July, and not going to have the person start till August. I simply said i was still interested, and that was that.
Well last week i got a call from her asking me if i could come in for an interview on the 12th. I WAS SO EXCITED!! This was earlier than i thought. I went to the interview, and felt so good about it the interview the whole time. I was not even nervous, ok i was but not the bad kind of nervous. The nerves i was feeling had to do with the fact that I have NEVER gone for a real job before. I have never wanted a job as bad as i wanted this one, never. After they were done interviewing me she said she would let me know that same day if i got the job.....and yep later that afternoon i got a call.......I am now the Education Specialist for the Gunnison Head Start!!! Wow. I have never been so grateful for my Heavenly Father, and that He would help them know that i could do this job. He is the one who got me the job ultimately, I have the skills but He has the power to get me in.
So there is my good news. My many prayers to get this dream job came true, and I will be able to start sooner, just as soon as they get my background check. How blessed i am again. I have a great and amazing hubby, a wonderful home to live in, a garden that is actually growing, a rambunctious but stinking cute puppy, and now a dream job to work at!!