garden musings

I didn't want to leave you all anticipating with 'bated breath about the garden. By the way, I looked up the saying 'bated breath since good ol' J.K. Rowling used "baited breath" but it's actually from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice and the shortening of abated. Shakespeare wins, of course, no surprise there. It's fun to figure out where sayings come from and it helps me learn my native language all the better.

Back to the garden. Davis and I picked up our love of growing plants about three years ago. I have been around gardens my whole life. As a child when at grandparent's house in North Carolina, I was much more reluctant to help and more eager to play (or watch TV, let's be honest, that was a factor as well) than to spend time in the garden. I remember more fondly now picking blueberries, shelling peas, eating fresh tomatoes for every meal, and sitting with my grandpa as he peeled tart apples from the tree in the yard for my grandma. Every time they visited, they brought sacks full of vegetables from their yield as well as home canned goods to be enjoyed year round. It is an interesting thing that while you are building these memories that will one day be somewhat romanticized and most definitely nostalgic, in the moment it is often hard to appreciate life. So much competes for our attention at the moment. I have often heard that it is not enjoying music in the moment that is so pleasant, but the memory of it as we play our favorite bits over and over again in our minds. I do not know why, but I do believe there is truth in that. Life is often most enjoyed in the memories not the moments. I can't decide if that is  bad, good, or neutral. I have decided though it is a huge grace and a blessing from God that we so often are able to forget the pains, difficulties, and anxieties we frequently experience in the moment and only play the favorite bits over and over in our minds. These are the parts and experiences we share through stories with our loved ones. Sure, we remember hardships but as tools and lessons to grow.  It is the good times or the glimpses of hope we love, cherish, and share the rest of our days.

Okay, now really back to the garden. My mom's family were not wealthy farmers in the Piedmont of North Carolina for many generations. Davis' grandfather, whom he never had the joy of meeting, worked for Mississippi State University's agricultural research park. His specialty was Muscadine grapes. While we do not have the greenest thumbs, we love to grow things. We feel like, especially in the desert here, if you have to water it and nurture it so much, you should be able to eat the fruits. One day when we own our own plot, probably in the distant future (gosh I so badly want to say the year 2000), we plan on having the tiniest bit of grass to lounge on and the rest cultivate for eating. Looking for places to live, one of the best things about our current house is the yard/dog door and the garden beds. One of the best things about obsessively planting things is if your harvest is decent, there is so much to share. We plant to share. I love to check up on the garden daily and grow odd attachments to the little struggling sprouts. You can ask Davis, I have the hardest time thinning. Can't all the sprouts get a chance at life? I usually try to transplant those sprouts if possible. There is just so much to learn about gardening and most of it comes from trail and error. Every time we move, we have a set back in our learning as well. Keeps us on our toes!

So, now that I have overwhelmed you with a wall of text that should probably just go in my journal not in a post about the garden, here are a few shots from yesterday. Ingrid, of course, was following me then too and she is currently sleeping at my feet.

the pear tree
without all the bug issues the south has, fruit growing in the west
is fairly easy

turnips, beets, kale, lettuce and
the bolted spinach

turnips, we are big fans of plants you can eat
multiple parts of :)

squashes, beans, peas, and carrots

beets, onions (not doing well), cilantro, marigolds, and tomatoes
...and ingrid's crooked tail

beets, one of our favorite things to grow

sunflowers making their way towards the sun, about 2 1/2-3 ft tall

the tomato jungle and the basil friend in the middle

my favorite, the tomatoes!
cannot even express how much this makes
me so so so so happy, especially after last year

cilantro obsession and it's fairly easy to grow

beet forest

infant zucchini

we are using the bank for gardening as well, obviously one is
doing better than the others

two strawberry plants for the win!

one of many rose bushes, at the twilight of it's season

neighbor's roses

these are also the neighbors but they stick out
over our driveway and the color is so vivid

basil and rosemary friends, need to make some pesto soon

So there you have it. Our garden, thus far. We are by no means experts nor pretend to be. I cannot say how pleased and excited I am to have finally eaten five strawberries after years of trying. Also, I am so tickled with the tomatoes, last year all of six tomato plants did absolutely nothing but look pitiful all summer. It's gotten hot fast here, so our lettuce/spinach season was quite short compared to the first year in Colorado. But our growing season has been slightly longer here. Thanks for checking in on us!

one more plant:
i think this plant has been around since dinosaurs
looks like it belongs in jurassic park

it's not the house that makes a home but this is our current house

 

Probably the main reason you may have read this on occasion was to see what our new place looks like. So, I pretty much haven't done any decorating/updating/furniturebuying since about week three here. Davis and I have been discussing a lot how much space we need/want. Our current place is rather large for us. Probably after the lease is up, we'll look for something smaller to free up our budget more for giving and living. This place is a huge blessing though, we hope while we are here to utilize the space to build community. When the move came up quickly, to land this spot was an answer to our prayers and my anxieties. The area is super central to so many unique corners of Salt Lake City. But that being said, I've backed off on filling the space because when we do downsize, fitting our belongings will not be too challenging. 

Today, after a quick run to Target (danger!) and the library, I snapped a few shots of our living. Additionally, the garden is in full swing and some photos where taken as well but I will do a separate post to save y'all reading time. Sorry for the bad pictures, I am not planning on keeping them so I didn't try very hard.

front porch is well loved
Ingrid followed me around during the photo shoot

 

 

 

 

she got in the way a lot

all of the delicious mint taking over

dining room

living room

my snack bowl of what was cottage cheese

love the windows and the natural old wood

marcus, reminder of the circle of life

 

guest room, ready for guests

most used room in the house, therefore messy

upstairs living space, so much space!

our bed, we got a queen size when we moved
our first large(r) bed in our whole lives

little creeper and the other side of our room

she still does this here

I am having issues with the computer tonight, so I am finished for tonight. Come visit, next post will be our beloved garden boxes :)

things and food

As our life settles into a pattern, I have less to write about. Or perhaps the daily living just does not seem as interesting as exploring, processing, and change. The changes are slowing and everyday we work, eat, sleep and so on. In other words, this post will be fairly boring.

So, today I was basically kicked off orientation at work. Not in a bad way, they said I was doing great and ta-da you are off orientation! I am not sure how I feel about it. It is not that I can't handle the patient care and all the paper work associated with healthcare. It is just that I am slow and still on the steep learning curve.  The pace and requirements are very different from floor, which is what I am used to. I am not experiencing anxiety, fear, and/or dread, I just hate the period where you know you could be better, faster, and stronger (Daft Punk shout out for Davis) but it will only come with more time. Patience is not a strong fruit in my life...

So what else are we up to? We are slowly making and building connections. To be living in an area of over a million people, we actually run into familiar faces often in our community. Salt Lake City itself is not very large, so we've been walking Ingrid or at a store and run into people we actually know.  Our neighbors are all nice, we've met most of them but can't say I remember all their names. Even if I can't remember all the names of people we've met through work, church, and neighborhood, I hope we can be salt and light to those we encounter. We are trying to collect contact information (thanks to libby's encouragement) and throwing ourselves out there and inviting people for meals. We've hosted small group a few times. Ingrid loves the influx of people to visit. Our days fill up fast and life is flying by still.

One of our favorite pleasures in life is food. Davis and I try to adhere to a primal/paleo type diet. We are not super strict but cooking at home we usually do fairly well. We do a weekly date night and alternate between less or more pricey as well as whose turn it is to pick. When we started this, we had a hard time deciding on where to go so we established the turn system and if it is not your turn then you do not get to complain about the choice. We still consider each others desires but clearly you can see it was Davis' week.

German food in downtown SLC

it did not disappoint young german lad, davis

Davis did a little internet research and found a german butcher/deli type place. He was super pleased with the results and immediately decided we needed to frequent it. It was quite good. We will have to go back just for their assortment of german chocolates and candies.

best ice cream sandwich ever

 We've been exploring the different little shops tucked in throughout the neighborhood. There is a tiny but adorable and pricey unique grocery store that sells a variety of unique beverages, cheeses, meat as well as the traditional apple and potato. This little goodie caught my eye and I couldn't resist (see not super strict with the primal thing). It was well worth it too. So refreshing and delicious for a hot Saturday afternoon snack. Oh, by the way, I am loving not working on weekends!

delicious miracle

Now, it may not seem like a big deal, but this strawberry represents victory to me. I have planted strawberries the past three summers. This is the first whole berry I have been able to eat. The first year, they would be almost be ripe and would go to the garden to pick them and some critter had already eaten half. Last year I planted no joke about 20 baby strawberry plants. Nothing ever came of it until this year but I am not there to eat them. (Libby, I am glad my strawberries converted young Viola!) So when my plants this year started producing fruit I guarded and watched them carefully. This berry survived Ingrid's explorations, weather, bugs, and our poor gardening skills. One day when our roots are more permanent, I want a huge strawberry patch.

cauliflower tortillas

 Tonight we tried some new recipes. The cauliflower tortillas turned out better than expected and actually held together about as well as a corn tortilla. Living far from the ocean, we often crave seafood but rarely buy it for various reasons. We became even more serious about our meal planning recently and added a seafood night into the rotation. They turned out quite tasty for not being super traditional. We will be perfecting these in the future.

fish tacos on cauliflower tortillas

After dinner, Davis went to a manly gathering with church folk. I took Ingrid for a walk. The sunset was stunning behind the silhouetted buildings. It has been quite warm recently but it cooled off a bit this evening and lighting  was perfect. As I climbed the steep streets, I am always thinking. Either about who lives in that house/apartment and what it looks like on the inside or about living faithfully in all the big and little things of life. I know I've written about it before, but what does it look like to live in grace. How can we be warm, loving, patient and generous in even the most basic things? Most of our Christian life isn't stunning or heroic. I have been praying about this a lot lately. Just some thoughts.

good evening SLC

Anyways, that is all for today. The 6 am work start has made me quite sleepy.

holding pattern

The new job began last week. I had been thinking of this time as now my holding pattern. But when I looked up what the term actually means, it's not really true. I am not circling around the air waiting to land or to arrive at my next destination. In a sense, I don't need to be looking for the next "good" thing or step to give me meaning and joy while I work. Work of some sort will always be a part of my life.  But since I am not interested in a better title, there it is.

upside: good badge picture!

disclaimer: this gets into the icky bits of my heart, read at your own discretion


So new job. Who doesn't love being the new person? I am very much a prideful person with huge expectations of perfection and very little grace for myself if the perfection is not met. Today, I just discussing the inward sinful stuff, but I am sure that has massive implications on how I could use some sanctification on my outward relationships as well. (Just ask Davis) Anyways, I am terribly hard on myself and new job especially bring about much anxiety. I am constantly worried about how I am perceived and therefore criticize myself for every little thing. This can also turn into being very defensive and hiding behind walls of pride and insecurity, trying to preserve this pride. Nursing, in a new position more so, is about the perfect storm for my sinful insecurities and pride. One being, patients are watching and have expectations spoken and unspoken about what I am capable of doing. Two, employers are watching and have expectations spoken and unspoken about what I am capable of doing. Three, doctors and other order-giving care providers are watching and have expectations spoken and unspoken about what I am capable of doing. And finally, I have expectations spoken and unspoken about what I am capable of doing and I cannot like myself or have satisfaction and confidence in my job if there are any mistakes or room for improvement. There are only a million big and little things to need to be completed perfectly at any moment.

Hello, I am a ball of pride and stress living in impossible.

No human is awesome enough to be without mistakes.

My new job is fairly straight forward and has not been terribly hard to catch on so far with my previous experience to help. But everyday I feel nearly crippled with this mindset. This is no new struggle for me. School, tests, performances, sports and so on.  How could I not desire and look forward to the next "good" thing when daily I struggle finding joy in work and feel so much pressure? Now, I like to have things to do. Also,  I do actually love nursing, it's so rewarding but so incredibly hard mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  It is also a means of God revealing grace to me by challenging this deep rooted sin I have where I try to find my worth is myself and abilities, apart from God. There is only joy and grace from God when you know your worth is from Him independent of anything you can do. From myself, I give only condemnation, fear, anxiety, and self loathing.

Yucky yuck.

laying in the park sunday, getting distance from work

Sunday, we walked to a nearby park. Lying in the grass, I thought about this mess I live with and the sermon from the morning. Why is it so hard to live a life marked by joy? Because we rarely are resting and trusting in God's love. It's our sin nature, always at battle in our hearts. We struggle against trying to be god of our perceived universe. It is our default. It is this side of glorification sin mode. I always feel like I should do something about this and fix it. Trying to take control again, see what I did there? It is definitely not resting and trusting in God's love. I am praying for joy and peace that comes only by resting and trusting in God's love. I am no theologian and I surely wrestle daily with these sins. I am thankful God is infinitely bigger in every way than my woes. I'll be honest, driving into work today was a big long string of slightly intelligible prayers to find joy in Christ.

my family :)

It also helps to have these two handsome/cute cheerful creatures around. So, that probably wasn't what you thought/wanted to read about my job and current happenings. But there it is.

Quick details: my job is a same day surgery unit in a hospital and I work PRN for pre-op and post-op. so far, I am being trained in post-op. No weekends, nights, or holidays!


So now, the honeymoon/adventure part of the move is over. It is hard to think we are settling in and trying to make this more like home. Finding joy in our daily and mundane lives.



ps. if this doesn't have much clarity I apologize, my heart and it's outpourings are quite messy

zion

I wanted to title the post with something cheesey. For example, zion, you aint lyin'. Not really sure why I had the urge but I resisted, mostly.

view from our room, who knew rocks could be so pretty?

So, Memorial Day weekend Davis and I took a little trip down to Zion National Park for our third anniversary, which was May 15. After much deliberation, we picked Zion out of all the places within our three day weekend and budget reach. A lot of people around these parts claim Zion is their favorite park. After thinking we could split three days between Vegas and Zion, I, the one who never has had a desire to go to Vegas other than for inexpensive food buffets, crossed Vegas off for timing and found a room still available right at the entrance of the park. Which by the way, turned out to be an excellent internet find. If you go to Zion someday, we do recommend this place. Perfect location, great views, gardens, on the river and so on.

virgin river just past the trees

Davis and I began our westerly adventure about three years ago with the intent of seeing as much as we could of this side of America while we made it our home. We were not as good at exploring while in Fort Collins. It turns out Fort Collins lies pretty much as far east as you can get while still being considered in the west. While we loved Fort Collins dearly, it is just not as centrally west as Salt Lake City. Now, it seems we have been given an indefinite extension to the western adventure with the move to Salt Lake City and a more central location. We are working on enjoying this location as much as possible. It has not been too challenging since there is so much just a weekend trip away or just a quick trip down the road.

So anyways, the last hurrah before working, we made our way down south with maybe half of the population of Salt Lake City. No joke, we were stuck in traffic for well over an hour just getting out of the city. At least the mountains all around us made a more enjoyable traffic jam. Needless to say, we got down to Zion slightly later than planned. I am going to have to get accustomed to vacationing when everyone else vacations. Having adult jobs with very limited time off makes us join the masses trying to squeeze in vacations every national holiday.

awesome sunset enjoyed on the interstate

moonrise

What should have been about four hours, thanks to 80mph speed limits, turned into five and something hours. It doesn't matter though because we made it safe and sound and had a fabulous time.

Zion during the summer primarily accessible by park shuttles only. It is great since there is only one road in and out to all the main spots. Compared to Rocky Mountain National Park, Zion is tiny but so different and beautiful. We had lazy mornings, hiking middays, and relaxing evenings. The first day we took the shuttle to the back of the park and began wandering into the narrows. 

river trail, super popular
route to the narrows

looking into the narrows

this is the face of numb feet

The narrows is in my top ten(ish) favorite hikes. I like it because it is different, unlike any hike I've ever been on. There is no path, only the virgin river through an increasingly narrow canyon, and you pick your own route based on how wet you want to get. Pictures do not do justice to scale and beauty. Nor do they adequately depict how many people were enjoying the narrows with us. I hope someday to go back when it's not as busy. It is totally worth it if there is not risk of flash flooding even with the crowds.

I am not sure how far in but it narrows quite a bit and the river splits. Or I should say, you come to where two streams merge since you are going upstream. We adventured around this area a bit but then headed back. We are glad we went when we did because the early afternoon was increasingly crowded and we were going against the high traffic flow coming in.

davis in awe of rocks at the split

That evening after resting at the pool, we did a short evening hike up to the Emerald pools. The canyon frogs were singing loudly for all to hear in the spectacular lighting at dusk.

trail head at dusk

Without much argue, the most popular hike is Angels Landing. However, it also happens to be rather challenging and not for those who have fears of heights. The path is not long, total of 5 miles around trip, but is primarily uphill. But the view is totally worth it. However, part of the interest lies in seeing everyone's reaction to the final ascent/descent, because it can be scary either way. Conveniently, the park installed a chain railing that some people cling to for dear life. At points, the path is no more than 5 feet across with sheer canyon drop offs  on either side. Even for people who do not mind heights, it can be an interesting experience trying to share the trail with a multitude of slow moving, terrified, chain hugging hikers. We met some interesting friendly hikers and enjoyed our second day adventure. Of course, if you go to Zion, this is a must-do if you can.

looking towards the narrows

the hiking experience

see the line of people up and down the spine of the rock?

chain railing is great, especially if you have
bad balance

ascent

yay, the top!

looking down towards zion canyon entrance

down view

at the top together, post picnic lunch and most of our water gone

bend in the river

inching too close to the edge for davis

 The trail ends at the Angels Landing, which is where a guy thought angels would convene. It about the size of a living room and you sit and soak in the vast surroundings. It makes you feel quite small.

post hike spot

anniversary dinner date :)

We had plenty of time to relax, eat chocolate, lay by the pool, and enjoy a dinner out. It was lovely.

The road home on Monday took us by Bryce Canyon National Park turn off and we also were pretty close to the Grand Canyon. I had to calm myself and not try to see everything while it was nearby. We want to really enjoy each place and not rush through.


Davis and I are taking this weekend to relax after traveling and working. Hope everyone has a lovely restful Sabbath.

ps. noticed the weird shadowing in the corners of some of the pictures? yeah, that is my stupid otter box case that broke a long time ago and shifts out of place partially covering the camera. i suppose it is better than no cover but then there is the one time i dropped my phone and the case came off in the fall. one of these days i'll get a new case... sorry for the bad pictures it is hard to tell when it's sunny outside if the shadow is there or not.