All Grown Up

Randy and I got married on March 28th.  We bought a house on March 31st, which happened to be my 30th birthday.  Yep, I went and became a grown up all in one week. 

When Randy and I got engaged last September, we had tentatively planned to get married in September 2011.  We started learning more about the housing market, and our ability to qualify for a home using Randy's VA loan.  The big surprise was that we learned that in order for us to use a VA loan and both be on the mortgage then we had to be married.  Sorry, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to get the credit for paying half the mortgage.  So, thanks to the US Military, Randy and I got hitched at a small little ceremony at the Clark County Courthouse in Vancouver Washington.  It was actually perfect.  Small, with a few of our friends and family, we were able to get married for $114.  Minimal planning, minimal drama, and all the fun and joy of a wedding day.

So now we are married.  And homeowners.  And I'm a step-mom.  Holy cow.  Things have gone smoothly, for the most part.  The most surprising thing has been the changes I feel about this house.  I seriously love it.  I am going to die in this house.  I don't want to leave, I don't want to go to work, I just find myself wishing there was more time to work on all the things I want to get done around here.  And I've realized I'm going to die in this house, because that is how long it will take me to get everything done I want to.

 My first order of business is getting in my garden.  Thankfully I have the hair stylist gift, because I am going to be pimping out my skills for trade for a long time.  I hit up my friend and Realtor Angi to see if her hubby would want to do trade and build my garden boxes.  Luckily Angi's husband loves her to be blonde, and therefore I got hooked up with some beautiful garden boxes.  And Angi will be getting her hair done for the next 6 months.  Ah, the barter system.  Gotta love it. 
Behold the garden boxes: 12 four foot by eight foot boxes that are 10 inches high. 

 And take a look at this giant pile of dirt delivered on April 29th 2011.  All 12 yards of it.

Here are the garden boxes with a layer of cardboard and hay to kill the grass and hopefully keep the weeds from coming up. 

And, after 96 wheelbarrows full, 8 for each box, here is my beautiful garden:

 And for the record, Randy helped with 36 of the 96 loads with the wheelbarrow.  My back hurts, but surprisingly it wasn't as hard on me as I thought it might be. 

I've been told that Mother's day is a great day to start the garden.  I got my onions and asparagus in today.  I planted red onions, walla walla sweets, big daddy yellows, and a mystery onion I got from a lady who gave me a bunch of stuff, including free dahlia tubers.

 I'm hoping the weather warms up this week so I can get the rest of my starts in next weekend before I have to leave town for a week for work. 

We have two trees in our backyard that started to bloom shortly after we moved in.  

I think the white blooms might be a cherry tree.  Not sure what the pink blooms will bring.....

 And check out this lone tulip that has bloomed in the junk area of our yard.  I think this is the part of the yard where the previous owners dumped their junk.

 This tulip has been blooming for three weeks now.  Amazing. 

I'm getting anxious for the weather to warm up a bit so that I can get all these starts planted that I have purchased!