I'm Alive!

Hello everyone. I'm sure most of you have stopped even looking for my blogs, since I seem to have fallen off of the face of the earth! It has felt like that to some extent, but I feel a little more organized and back to normal. I am at least more settled here in Houston and getting into the swing of things. I still have lots of projects to do, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for me. We just hit the one year mark since our return to the States and that was an emotional time for us. In some ways it has seen like longer since a lot has occurred in that year, and other times we think, "was it only last year?"

I planted a garden. Actually, Cody did most of the work and it was my birthday present. He plotted out the layout, built it up, started the seeds, put in the drip lines and timer. A lot of the seeds didn't sprout so we ended up buying some plants, especially the herbs. I have cherry tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, roma tomatoes and large salad tomatoes. I have 5 bell pepper plants, 2 hot pepper plants, cucumbers, pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, spearmint, fennel, oregeno, thyme, basil, lemon basil, cilantro, chives, and rosemary. I did have radishes, carrots, lettuce, peas and zucchini but those didn't do so well so I yanked them out. I plan to start some more seeds in the fall for a winter crop. It has been fun and Noah loves picking the ripe cherry tomatoes. The squirrels like to pick ripe fruit as well, those wretched beasts! They took my little watermelon that was growing. I only had one and it was about the size of a golf ball and then it was gone. They (or birds) have gotten the first 3 tomatoes that ripened as well. So frustrating! Cody pointed out that farmers all over the world deal with pests and diseases all the time and to be thankful that I don't have to depend on what I grow. Good point.

Noah keeps me pretty busy these days. I forgot how little one can get done with a toddler afoot! He is now 16 months old and really active and still really sweet. We have two new additions to our family as well, Lucius and Maximus. They are both male kittens that are 11 weeks old. Very cute little guys. Noah loves them to death, emphasis on the to death part at times. If I am not watching when he is particularly loving, he is holding them by the neck or leaning on them trying to give them hugs. Mostly he is pretty gentle and good with them. It is fun to watch all three of my 'boys' playing and running a muck in the house.


My first born, Taylor, is keeping pretty busy these days as well. She is enjoying her summer and is gone a lot of the time. When she is here, she sleeps in and stays in her room cleaning, planning or listening to music during the day. In the evenings when she is home, we watch t.v., play games, or plan her college education. She just went to summer camp with the youth group and is heading off to Spain at the end of July on a two week trip to help with some camps there (if she raises all of her support.) She doesn't have a typical job, but does a lot of babysitting and makes pretty good money. She seems to be in demand as a babysitter too, so that should come in handy with the income she needs to make. She now has bills to pay each month since she is a car owner, and since she wrecked ours back in May and her insurance went up. Poor kid. She is a better driver for it, and God took care of her in it.

Cody is doing well at work and may be going to Tajikistan, but it isn't firmed up yet. If he does, it will be in a couple of weeks, and he will be gone for 7-10 days. The longest we've been apart is 10 days when he went to Turkey a couple of years ago. A longer trip will be the one to Iran and Afghanistan for the re-cultivation project in November. It looks like that one is coming together nicely and may actually happen. We'll see.

Well, that is all for now. I will try to keep up with this blog this time. :)