:::Part 1 -- A Dark Night in Virginia:::

Let me tell you a story...

3 1/2 years ago I left California on a jet plane. Six-ish hours later I landed at Reagan, and that's how all of my now began. I went to baggage claim, dragged my gigantic suitcases over to the taxi line, and gave the driver directions to a house that I had never been to before.

It was pitch black dark, like 11 pm at night, as we drove into my new neighborhood in Pentagon City. Not a soul around, and so dark. The driver stopped in front of a house that didn't look anything like the fuzzy picture I'd been sent. I didn't want to leave the cab. I was scared like a baby. The cabby was fidgeting, so I asked him again if he was certain that we were at the right address, and very reluctantly got out of the car. He didn't help me with my bags.

I lugged my suitcases up the creaky wooden steps and knocked on the door even though I knew everyone was home for Christmas. I wanted someone to welcome me to my new home, but I had to open the door myself.

Once I dug out my key, I opened the door to more darkness and more emptiness. Up more creaky steps to my attic room with heavy luggage thumping and bumping behind me. Out came the air mattress. I looked around my room and accessed the situation -- an attic without insulation with a tiny room eked out with wood paneling that bowed when I press my hand against it. The wind was howling, and it cut through my new room, and through me, like a knife.

To be continued...

:::Organizing Junkie and Giver's Log:::

1. Organizing Junkie is a fantastic resource. Website and blog. I found this entry on clothes purging to be very helpful.

2. Giver's Log...oh, be still my heart. I've been reading for over a year now and I just love everything that Amberlee does. Her 13 ounces series is probably my favorite.

Did you know that you can send a frisbee through the mail? Bouncy balls? A stack of Post-its? A box of Junior Mints? Genius.

Primarily, she has amazingly simple yet thoughtful gift and ideas. This is one of those sources that you hate to pass on because you plan on using all the ideas for the people in your life and you don't want to spoil the surprise. But, I have to share. It's the right thing to do.

:::The Will to Do:::

Through my gardening endeavors I've realized that there is often a huge difference between what 'They' say you can do, and what you can actually get away with.

Tomatoes and peppers won't germinate in cold weather. Well, if you sit them on your stove at night they will. Slowly, slowly, but you'll get there.

{Tomato -- Sweet 100 or Currant}

You need fancy heating mats, special soil, and a tray of neat compartments to start seeds. Or, you can use old takeout containers, Styrofoam cups, and milk jugs, and fill them with whatever soil they're selling at your nearest grocery store. Done.

I've even read information from DC area gardeners that says that you have to start seeds in January/February or all is lost. But I have a friend at work who has an awesome garden each year and he didn't start seeds until the middle of April!

Little by little, I've built a pretty sweet garden on a concrete slab in the middle of the city.

And things are starting to grow.

{Spinach}

It's been a lot of work...

and a lot of carrying ri-donkulously heavy and awkward loads of gardening supplies through multiple metro stations...

but I've done it. I've done all the hard work over and over again.

Early on in this process I realized that I just had to do what worked for me and what I could afford using what was available to me. After all, plants have been growing for millions and millions of years without human intervention. One year my dad went up on our roof and found a healthy, viable tomato plant growing in a mound of opossum doodie. All that little plant had going for it was a small amount of compost, sun light, and a teensy weensy amount of morning dew, and it grew.

{Arugula/Rocket if you want to sound posh}

I don't have a green thumb at all. I've killed several cacti and succulents in my lifetime. But this year I've sprouted a lot of seeds in not the best environment, and now I have a lot of seedlings and plants that look like they're gonna make it. I've probably over- and under-watered all of them at some point or another, and will probably continue to do so, but, guess what? It's going to be okay.

{Zinnia}

Bottom line -- I think that intuition, common sense, and trial and error are the best teachers. I still do a lot of research, but I forced myself into just doing and possibly failing as opposed to waiting until I have the time, money, and space to kick things off exactly the way they should be. I don't usually have this attitude, but I'm making myself push through this time.

:::From the Archives: I'm Here:::

I wrote this post some time last August, but never published it.


I can hear children playing in the housing project across the street from my building. Children still play outside.

And crickets singing in the night air.

The white noise of cars.

Buses moving down their route.

The hum of my refrigerator.

That vacant but sonorous noise of cities at night.


My blinds are moving in the subtle breeze.



This is a good moment.

:::Sugar, Snap:::

A big, big surprise this morning from the sugar peas.

:::Winning, duh:::

The level of my anxiety is thus -- I've been having panic attacks for three weeks about the royal wedding.

Just like I had a panic attack over the inauguration, and just like I have panic attacks before and during the Olympics. Also, awards shows, season premieres, general conference, major sporting events, elections, eclipses, large natural disasters, parades, and sequels (books or movies).

Last minute suggestions for our Relief Society's service auction would be appreciated. My friend asked me what I was going to offer, and I said, 'Myself as a second wife in the celestial kingdom.'

*rimshot*

But seriously, I can't auction myself off yet, so I need some ideas.

:::Treasuries:::

My new favorite time wasting creative outlet is making treasuries on Etsy. I just finished my first one today, which was inspired by the weather + the scenery from the loads of Miss Marple movies that I've been watching lately/always. There's a little sneak peek below, but you can see the full collection here.