My thumb is turning green!

Gardening and landscaping has never been my strong suit, but every year I try to learn a little bit more. This year I planted flowers in all of the beds in the front yard, and I'm trying to re-grow some grassy dead spots.

Impatiently waiting for the impatiens to bloom

The excessive rain hasn't really helped with that, but spring is here so I'm planting my stuff anyway! I've also expanded my garden to herbs and vegetables. I even built my own raised garden bed I was pretty proud of myself.



Red pepper, yellow squash and zucchini are in the new garden bed.

 And it looks like I may even know what I'm doing, because it looks like things are actually starting to sprout. Bring on the spinach salad!

I'ms strongs to the finish 'cuz I eats me spinach...

Black and Yellow Fever

Everyone hates a winner, at least when it isn’t them. So we got a lot of flak for cheering on our Steelers as they made their way to yet another Super Bowl. Yes, I know that they did eventually lose the big game, but up until then, we were just hoping that they'd keep going, and we enjoyed the ride. And we somehow managed to luck out and get some amazing seats to their first playoff game in Pittsburgh and it might be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. So I put together a homemade Miller jersey for Eric to wear over his coat and we were ready to go.

Eric in his homemade Heath Miller jersey.  Yes, I made that.

The intensity of the crowd was unbelievable. Being surrounded by all of that black and gold was amazing and even when they were down and they started playing Renegade on the sound system, the crowd went nuts and it gave me goosebumps.



Fandom



And of course, it helped that they came from behind and won the game. It was the coolest place to be and we hope to be able to be a part of it again in the future. Fingers crossed for no lock-out next season!



Sporting our team colors



Home and Away for the Holidays

When it comes to the holidays in my family, you can't just meet everybody for one big gathering. It takes a bit to hit all the hot spots and hand deliver holiday cheer. But we managed to see everyone at some point between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. We spent Thanksgiving with my brother and his family in Ann Arbor then moved over to see Eric's parents for Black Friday, which in the Zuzek household, is a holiday in and of itself.

Christmas was spent in various spots in Sturgis to visit with my family, including a birthday celebration for Miss Violet and a visit from my half-brothers.



Violet turns 1!



We traveled back to see the Zuzeks (and their local Chinese buffet) before getting away to Cleveland (of all places) to celebrate New Year's and take in the Steelers last regular season game. The game was a cold one, but with a brand new Steelers blanket from Eric's parents and a blow-out win, it was a little more tolerable.



It's very cold in Cleveland in January...just in case you were wondering.

Favorite Time of the Year

I love Halloween! Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my birthday is so close. I saw a TV show where a woman's birthday fell on Halloween and she despised it because she always came second to the holiday. Me? I'm the total opposite. I love automatically having awesome ways to celebrate my birthday, whether it's a costume party, a haunted house, or getting to pass out candy to little ghouls. And we got to do a little of each this year.

So Winnie put on her jail bird costume, and Eric and I went as garden gnomes to a friend's Halloween party and we had ourselves a good old time.


And as for that pesky birthday, well, it wasn't so bad. I started with a simple gathering with a friend at her house and was surprised by another friend driving 3 hours to meet us and spend the night. So a day out with my girls was definitely a great way to spend my birthday. I followed that up with dinner with friends, including my mom, who loves to have a reason to put on her fancy jewelry. Bring on my 3rd decade!

Ferry and Odd Mother



The next Prince spokesmodel perhaps?

 My mother has her own business. She's been maintaining this garden center business for a few years right now, and this was the first year Eric and I got to/had to do with her to the Prince Customer Appreciation Show at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, WI.
We had to take the great Badger ferry to get there, which was a bit of an adventure for us, with temperamental weather on the way there, but smooth sailing on the way back. The concept is pretty sweet - 2 complimentary nights in a nice hotel with free access to a water park, free meal vouchers and plenty of snacks throughout the day. But walking in to those conference rooms to see all of the potential merchandise - a bit overwhelming. I don't really consider myself a great reference to my mom as to what to buy, but she said that having me there was still helpful. My mom was great with the salespeople. Me, not so much. I need time to process my conversations so the clever small talk was not coming to me so well. But she ended up getting a lot of great merchandise for her shop and Eric and I managed to act like kids for a few hours in the water park, until happy hour started back at the convention. Tapping that keg right next to the garden gnomes? Well alright then!

RKD in the CHI

Any excuse for us crazy counselors to get together and we take it. So when someone suggested we meet up in Chicago, I said heck yes. We got the royal treatment, including a police-escorted boat tour of Chicago, complete with a fireworks display over Navy Pier. Then some beach time (on the wrong side of Lake Michigan!) and a backyard BBQ. Good stuff.

Sad Goodbyes

We lost two of our loved ones this year. Both of my grandmas passed away, just a few months apart. Even if you know it's coming, it doesn't ever make it easier. We love them and still think about them often.