Sunday, May 31, 2009

Take THAT, HOA!

On Wednesday Brent and I got a letter from our Home Owners Association that said that we were in trouble because of the weeds in our yard. Huh? Our yard looked fine! We were so mad because our yard looked like everone elses in our neighborhood! Well it turns out that a ton of other people got letters, too. So we didn't feel as bad after we found that out. But still, no one tells me my yard sucks and gets away with it!


So on Thursday I woke up early and went to a place called Flower World. It's basically a place that is the size if Disneyland, but with all flowers and plants. They actually give you a map when you get there so you won't get lost. I walked in the door and stood there for a minute comtemplating if I actually wanted to go farther in or if I was just going to go home. Well, I got my bearings a little and ventured into the place. I ended up finding some super cute bushes to replace the ones that died because of the awful winter we had. I'm going to go back next week to get more for the backyard!


Here are some before pictures of our front yard.





Of course I had my helpers. They sat in the window the whole day!
Macie even wanted in on the action!
I had no idea how hard it was to dig up a bush! After I got this thing out I thought it looked like something that Harry Potter should be fighting! When I started I was so grossed out by the worms, beetles, centipedes, and snails that I saw. But by the end I was ignoring them! I did get grossed out when I found 1/2 a worm though (I guess my shovel got the other half!)
The three bushes I had to tear out
Supervising
There was a bush in our backyard that has been dead since we moved in so I got a little one to replace it. I thought it was so cute!
Finished product! This little bush was probably my favorite. It's so pretty!
Yay!
I also got a hanging basket at Flower World! We had gotten a hook a couple weeks back but waited to get one so Brent didn't accidentally kill it while I was in New York. Well the hook we got was too flimsy and when I hung the basket on it, it completely bent over! So off to Home Depot I went covered in dirt and all. I felt pretty hardcore going to the store like that!


Happy camper that her mommy is done!
I wanted to sit outside and just stare at our yard for the rest of the night. All of that work (plus an unexpected trip to Home Depot) took me 7 hours! Needless to say, I couldn't move the next day :)
Up next: The backyard!!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

New York 2!

This is our last day on the bus tour. It was really cold and my mom told me I looked like the Unibomber so she took a picture. My favorite part are the two NYPD in the background (not planned). The reason we came!
Yay sister!
So happy she's done


Cool place to have graduation!
My dad always talks about how this is the best pizza on the planet. I thought it was pretty good!
I love my Momma!
Sister and her boyfriend Jim (who we LOVE!!!)
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge!


My mom and I flew back on the 19th. This is our last day in New York.
Central Park with G-ma
Riding the carousel with Pops! (he is excited, I promise)
I climbed this rock!

We had such a fun (and exhausting) vacation and I'm so proud of my sister for graduating! Congrats Bubba!!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

New York 1!

My mom and I took off on May 13th to the Big Apple for my little sisters college graduation! We had such an awesome time! I'm going to have to do a couple blogs because one would probably take up the whole page. So just a warning this is going to be VERY picture heavy!! Also, I'm not going to comment on every picture, just the ones that I really like or the one I think need comments :)


We went to Target the night we got there and got Raid. It's a good thing we did becasue THIS guy decided to make an appearance. My sister said it was one of the biggest cockroaches she's ever seen!



At the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. This was one of my favorite thing we did on the trip. Everyone except for Dad who was taking the picture. Left to right- Grandma, Bubba, Mom, me and my Godfather Ed





I love this girl!















My sister made it into the Pratt Show (because she is awesome) and we got to go see her project!

The next day we all went to DUMBO and hung out!







This was the only day that was miserably hot (probably 80) so the shade felt VERY nice. I get extremely fussy when it's above 70. Good thing Brent moved me away from Utah summers!



We did the Red Bus Tour for 48 hours and here are pictures from the night loop!


On the second day of the bus tour, one of my biggest fears happened and I got pooped on by a bird. I was lucky, a few inches over and it would have been my head.
Grand Central Station
... pretty much everyone around us was staring so I figured I might as well take a picture.
St. Patricks Cathedral


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