Five simple things

Hello.

Gardening, gardening, gardening has been on the front lines this week. We've been babying our garden a bit more because of the hot temperatures. Our peas and tomatoes have been coming in one-by-one and they are delicious! Holding out for the blooms on the cucumbers, yellow squash, and the zucchini to slowly turn into nice fruits soon. The Bean has been "grazing" in the garden each day for lunch and I just love how we can walk out our back door and grab a snack. Here is what our week looked like:

Saturday: The Mr. and The Bean replaced the brake pads on our "road tripping" car. They took a little more than an hour to replace them, but I found it to be a great opportunity to see The Mr. in his teaching element. It takes someone special to be able to actually teach something to a child. Patience, know-how, and the one ability a lot of people lack-even actual teachers-the ability to listen to the one you're teaching and hear how they are perceiving the lesson. I always praise The Mr. on this ability alone. More on this below.

Sunday: We took a nice day trip to the Oregon Zoo. Not a lot of people out and about on a Sunday, so it was nice to walk around and see the animals without a lot of people crowding our views. If you follow me on Instagram you can check out the "summer" highlight to see a lot of great shots from this trip.

Monday: We fertilized our roses this week. Our go-to rose fertilizer is from a small company based out of Eugene, Oregon, and it works nicely for the roses we have.

Tuesday: We sold the train layout this week. A hobby shop owner from La Pine, Oregon, came and purchased it along with a lot of the scenery and layout items. We aren't too sad to see it go, but it is a bittersweet moment. In our process of downsizing, it just didn't make the cut. We are excited to gain a large part of the garage back though and The Mr. is happy to have space for equipment we may need for the bus build in the future, too.

Wednesday: The three us met up and played a nine-hole-round of golf with a coworker of The Mr.'s that's moving to California. The Mr. is extremely sad to see him go, but definitely will stay in contact. The golf game was played at Mallard Creek here in the Valley. Great course and well maintained. The Mr., The Bean, and I stayed up late to make three pounds of meatballs to freeze overnight for a going-away party for the coworker leaving for California. It's my own recipe that will be shared on the blog soon. They are a two day process and on Wednesday night we got a headstart with them and mixed and formed the meatballs, browned just the outside and then froze them. We finished them up on Thursday night to take them to the going away party on Friday afternoon.

   

Thursday: The Bean and I spent Thursday cleaning up the yard a bit, deadheading flowers, herbs, and vegetable plants, as well as watering everything thoroughly and picking what was ripe in the garden. Our raspberry plants, blueberries, and strawberries continue to give us fruits. We also harvested all of the garlic, braided them, and hung them to cure for a week. When The Mr. got home that evening we placed the frozen meatballs in the large crock pot along with the BBQ sauce and placed them on warm overnight.

Friday: The Mr. woke up to head to work and put the meatballs on low for the day. We met him around 11:00 a.m. for the going-away party and the meatballs were perfectly cooked through. It was a bittersweet moment for The Mr. He has gotten to be great friends with this coworker, but we made promises to him that he will be our first road trip we take in our converted bus.

So for the other part of the week, here are five simple things that made this week great!

1. This bumblebee...

On our recent day trip to the zoo this bumblebee wasn't part of the animals on display, but I couldn't help but give him a bit of attention. He was a busy, busy, little bee

2. Yogi Surprise Lifestyle Box...

Have to always give a shout out to Yogi Surprise and all of their great items. This is the Lifestyle box for July. Loving the Aloha hip pouch. You can get on the list for August here and get a $10 credit towards your first box. (Use coupon: REFTE219XWUDJ)

3. This House Finch...

  
The Bean rescued this poor, scared, House Finch from the mouth of the neighbor's cat this week. The House Finch was a female and spent all day in our bathroom sink recovering. Once she was ready to be released she let us know by flying on top of the bathroom clock. The Mr. was able to pick her up and we released her promptly outside shortly after. We were so glad she was able to take flight pretty well.

4. This herbal shampoo bar...

We've almost completely made the switch from liquid shampoos to bar soap instead. We really like the shampoo bars that contain rosemary essential oils in the mix. We are trying to transition completely to bar soaps because it's less waste, but it is a work in progress.

5. And lastly, this Instagram story post...

Regardless of where this was posted originally, I stand by it 100%. Raising children in this day in age is hard work, but raising them with values, and respect for everyone, no matter who the person is, is a great task. I am proud to say that The Mr. and I have taught our child that respect comes in all forms. We have taught him that people that feel they are better than others, those that can't seem to work past minor issues in life, and those people that always make a small issue a larger one, are people that haven't found themselves in life. We have taught him that loving everyone, no matter who they are, is a feat in itself. Living a non-judgement life and always being the person others can count on, is what matters. Living a simple life, being someone you love and understand is more important than a lonely life on the inside of always trying to stay on top. We have also taught him that he is not required to bend and fold for other people and never ever let others treat you less than what you are. No matter what life brings, always, always be the person that makes others question their own life and want to live better. The Mr. and I are still learning what's good and what's bad and in the long run there are some people and some things that will hurt you. We have taught our son that it is okay to cry, show emotion, and be the person you think you should be no matter how many come in and out of your life to bring you down. Disappointment in part of life, but it doesn't have to change you, or break you in the end. And whatever you do, tell people that want to tear you down to f-off. Your life is more important to the ones that love you with no conditions than those that want to rip you apart out of their own misery. In the end, we are giving the world a child that will become a great adult that will rock the world with his knowledge, love, and be the kind of adult that will shake up the way the world is currently. Kick ass, Skylar! You are the one!

A few more things:

• Do Sun Salutation correctly.

• Oregon swimming holes aren't like Arkansas swimming holes.

• The Bird Machine.

• Guerrilla gardening.

• The most expensive perfume in the world.

• Still living the frugal life?

• A new look at GOOP.

• Tobacco free California.

• Top 10 tips for new bloggers from original blogger, Jorn Barger.

• What type of vegetarian are you?

Have a nice weekend!