How is my garden?

I miss having so much time to myself!!! But I'm not complaining because we've been blessed with a second job that I enjoy doing. We've been having a great summer with family starting with a 2 week visit with Penny, Amanda & Heidi. Those girls are so precious!! We were spoiled with Penny's great meals and our home was filled with the happy sounds of young happy voices always eager to do something fun! We spent Father's Day with Doug and Jenny. The surprise came later in the evening with Bert showing up after his 8 day lifeguard training camp. He made it coming in number 16 from a group of 52. Next weekend, we will be having my family over when Jordan's soon-to-be bride, Rose will be over to meet our side of the family. Then we will have a housefull of boys with Kelly, Julia & their 4 sons visiting from Logan. Kevin is so looking forward to taking them to Magic Mountain and getting on those death-defying rides. I promise to post pictures later.

We are getting some hot weather this week (about time!). My flowers are blooming!!! The pink/blue hydrangeas in the front yard caps the luscious nasturtium flowers ranging from yellow to gold. I couldn't take a picture this morning (I'm still in pjs!!) but I took some from our backyard. I just learned to make a movie so here are some photos !! Hope it works!!!

Week 1

I've beem leaving home closer to 9am & am getting to work in 10-15 minutes. My cubicle is in the 2nd floor. There are 2 other marketing staff in addition to myself. We share the 2nd floor with Accounting. I got a 32" Vizio display monitor by Thursday and a new Dell notebook by Friday on my 1st week (I was using a loaner my 1st few days. They have several wireless networks available so people can work on their notebooks to meetings and I seem to be in meetings a good part of the day each day. So far everyone's been really nice & I am really enjoying my work & the company. I especially like my boss. He is very mellow and even keeled. I loved my previous boss but he was a little too hyperactive. My new boss seems really calm. To my amazement, very few execs have type A personalities and there is very little yelling/cussing. People also don't act important which was what I really disliked about people from my previous job.

Our irises are blooming like crazy!! I don't remember them being this beautiful! The fig tree and one of the wisterias are finally sprouting leaves!! I just love the snapdragons & bacopas. I think I will be planting those annuals more often/all over since they are just so lush, beautiful and easy to grow in the spring.

The weather was nice last Saturday (last weekend was HOT!) for us to plant in our front yard. We planted carnations, delphiniums & some groundcovers. The fruit trees in the front yard are not doing as well as those in the back but Kevin fixed the sprinklers so hopefully they'll catch up.

Kevin & I were called to be Ward Family History consultants. Kevin is especially excited about this calling. We missed church again last Sunday and also Rob's birthday dinner. Linda, Ryanne and her boys dropped by Saturday afternoon on their way home from visiting Jenn but Kevin wasn't home. He was out buying some stuff for the sprinklers or the pond or something. He stayed home again Monday but was feeling much better today so he went back to work.

End of my leisure days

We removed the rosemary (which I had earlier thinned to 1/4 its size) altogether. It was a direct view from my kitchen window so we decided to use the prime space for more flowers. We trellised the pink jasmines back against the wall (and planted a new one too) and added a Delphinium, Azalea and other flowering groundcovers. Here is my first mulching experience. I remulched a few days after this photo was taken because I read mulch should be 1 of more inches thick above the ground. We've also been spending a few early evenings weeding and working around the yard.



Denise gave me cuttings of her Chinese wisteria which I planted in the front yard. I hope for it to hang over the front fence. She also gave me cuttings of her plumeria and Arabian jasmine. I planted the plumerias in pots for now and the Arabian jasmine in front of the Pink jasmine. Arabian jasmine is sampaguita which is the national flower of the Philippines.

I've been doing several errands this week requiring me to leave Max & Cooper home (not something I've done while I've been home). After coming from one earlier this week, I found that Cooper has been doing a lot of digging in my newly planted garden beds. Cooper was a heavy digger when he first lived with us but he stopped after 6 months or so. I figured this is because he's feeling more secure about his place in our home. I think he is sensing I will be leaving them home alone again so the digging has started. I am torn between wanting to give them full access to the yard or just keeping them in the house while I'm at work. I think I am going to keep them in the house until he becomes more confident and then slowly give them outside access. I hate the thought of not having him around me all day. As a consolation, it is only a 10 minute drive from work to home so I plan to come home for lunch as much as possible.

I was shocked and disappointed at Michael Johns' elimination. I voted several times for Carly last Tuesday because I was afraid she was going to be next. I just love her version of "Here You Come Again". I think I will download it from iTunes. I should have put in a few votes for Michael but I was too lazy to punch in new numbers (it was easier to just hit redial). I was a big fan of David Archuleta especially after hearing his version of "Imagine" but he no longer interests me. I am turning into a major Duff Goldman fan!!! I love Ace of Cakes!!!!

We are closing on refinancing later today. We decided to do this to avail of lower rates and hopefully get our monthly mortgage down. To the contrary, we will be paying more because portions of the loan will have a much shorter term. The closing could not have come at a better time since I'll be getting a steady paycheck to help out with the payments. We are so blessed. We can feel the Lord's hand in everything that's recently transpired in our life as things just fall into place.

New Job

I got the job!!! I interviewed with a consumer electronics company selling HD and plasma TVs (you will find them at Costco & Walmart among other places & I know Terry Lisonbee just got one late last year. You might even already own one!!!) last August shortly after leaving Playmates. They put the position on hold. They called me last week Tuesday to find out if I was still available and on Thursday they called again to set up an interview with their Marketing VP who I met the following day Friday. They called me today and the offer letter is in the mail. They are only 8 miles away from me and the job is similar to a good fraction of my last job except on a bigger scale so I am so excited. I start on Monday, April 14. Thank you all for keeping me in your prayers!!!

Neglected

So what's occupying our time lately?

Kevin & I repainted our bathroom on Good Friday. Kevin said it was going to be a 4 hour job but it turned out to be a 2 day job. We got the bathroom together a few hours before driving to LAX to meet Sam & Sara who visited after their Cancun honeymoon. We had a blast getting to know the new Mrs. Steele. She is so COOL. Doug, Linda and Rob joined us for Easter dinner.

We've been spending our Saturdays gardening. Kevin put new drip lines and fixed the sprinklers on the kitchen side of our yard. We are enjoying our flowers and seeing more color in our yard.

We visited my mom and aunties in San Diego last Sunday. It's always fun seeing them because we get to eat home cooked Filipino food and Max/Cooper gets to run around the yard where there's more to sniff and dig. We also dropped by Doug & Linda's (Jenn and Rob & Rob's friend Elizabeth were there too) and got a glimpse of The Flower Fields which is near their home. We're going back there in a week or so when the flowers are in full bloom.

Cooper sleeping with his Lion and chillin' (like a cat!) with Max in the study.
The view from my kitchen window!! And the slope as it is now - the iceplants are blooming!!

Baby Blanket & Daisy Hat

Jack Faux was born this week so I finished his baby blanket on Friday. I also knitted an upside down daisy hat for his older sister, Lucy. It is so CUTE!! The pattern had 6 daisy petals but I decided to go with just 5. I am mailing them on Monday with Ticklet Me Elmo and Cookie Monster.

We missed church today (we also missed Sacrament meeting last week because we forgot to move our clock forward!) because Kevin stayed up late putting together our new DELL computer. It's loaded with bells & whistles (and freebies) so it should keep him occupied for awhile. Also we are going to my Auntie Nieva's home in Bonita (south of San Diego) for an early birthday celebration (I turn 51 tomorrow - yikes!) with my family.

Arbor

We got this wooden arbor from Big Lots today and Kevin put it up and planted 2 Wisteria plants on both sides. We also bought some plants to hang in our backyard. I have 6 more hanging plant project to go before I tackle the front yard. Can I really be a gardener?

It was another beautiful Saturday - breezy and cold at times but the sun is bright and the skies are blue and we enjoyed working in our yard this afternoon.