New chapter has begun :)

August 15, 2011 is when I officially said "yes" to marrying my best friend and love. Sam proposed last night with a scheme that far outdid anything I could ever imagined. Here's our story: Sam texted me during the day at work to say he found a website for Geocaching in Columbus - a GPS based scavenger hunt. He said there are a couple parks in the area that have a set hunt and at the end you write your name in the log book and go online with the final code to log your progress. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking hmmm.....a scavenger hunt. I wish there would be a ring at the end. Well, I get to his apartment after work so we can go and he has a Geocache website pulled up for Highbanks Park near us with maps and the clues, etc. All hopes of a ring are now dashed because I'm looking at the website with really tough clues and I'm clicking on buttons and browsing the site...thinking clearly he didn't make this up and we really are about to go hiking through the woods to find a log book. Sam wrote down all the clues on a piece of paper and away we went to Highbanks. We get to the park and I realize I left the paper of clues at his place. I tell Sam just to look up the website again but he said no, he thinks he remembered everything and we should just start walking. So, we proceed to hike a ways and figure out the clues and we finally get to the last GPS coordinate where the clue says we have to go off the path. Sam goes on ahead and I lag behind telling him to just let me know if he finds anything, but he motions me to follow along, so I reluctantly trudge through the trees, vines, poison ivy, etc. We go down a little hill and I see a camouflaged bag by the trees. I'm excited and Sam takes it and starts to open it revealing a picnic blanket and empty vase. I still didn't have a clue and I'm wondering how we are going to record our names and I'm looking at the vase to see if there is a code on it to write down. Then, Sam spreads out the blanket, pours water from my water bottle in the vase, pulls out a bouquet of flowers from his camera bag, and gets down on one knee with a beautiful ring. It dawned on me then what was happening :) He packed a picnic dinner in his camera bag also! It was romantic and beautiful and more than I could ever have dreamed.

And that is my exciting blog entry from August 15th :)

Garden update #3...surprise!

Basil, Parsley, Roma Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, and Habanero Peppers

My last garden post was May 17th, where I took a picture of my baby "green bell pepper".... well, let me tell you, I in fact do NOT have a green pepper plant but instead, I discovered very painfully, the plant tag must have been switched at the garden center and I am growing Habanero Peppers. Yes, me who hates spicy food is growing one of the spiciest peppers in the world, with a heat index of 100,000 - 350,000 Scoville units. I had no idea my peppers were habanero - I thought they were mini red bell peppers - until I accidentally got the oils in my eyes!!!! Here's what happened....I wanted to feed the cite baby ducks by my apartment but Sam said I shouldn't give them bread because it wasn't good for them (I looked it up and he is right even though my whole life I've always given ducks bread) but the website said ducks like vegetable scraps. So, I picked some "mini bell peppers" and we walked to the pond to feed them. I then proceeded to tear apart the peppers with my fingers and rub the seeds to clean the peppers for the ducks. What should have been my first clue is that the ducks ate the peppers but spit them back out very quickly. However, I just thought they didn't like peppers. So, Sam and I walk back to my apartment (he hadn't touched the peppers thankfully!!) and I quickly rinse my hands and get back to my scrapbook project. About 10 minutes later, I must have brushed my hand against my eye because all of a sudden it felt like a swarm of fire ants were in my eye and I start screaming. I splash water in my eye, but all that does is spread the pepper oil to my lips and other eye. One of the most painful experiences ever!! I really thought I was going blind. I run cold water over my face and Sam gets me a bag of ice. It took about 15 minutes for the burning to stop, but my eyes and upper lip were red and puffy the entire next day - which happened to be my second day of work training. Bad timing!

Moral of the story - if your vegetable plant produces vegetables different from the tag picture, do some research before touching them!

If you give a baby a cat toy...

For those who followed my blog in DC, you may remember this adorable little boy, Henry, from my post "If you give a baby a lemon." Well, Henry is still as cute as ever and is now running all over the place. He and his mom (my very dear friend, Alissa) were over the other day to visit and my parents, having got 2 new kittens just a month ago, had many "toys" laying around. Henry loved the bouncing bird and ball rolling orange toy....and then went nuts chasing the laser pointer :) It was a riot! So, for all you parents out there buying the newest and greatest toys in the baby aisle, look no further than the pet store and a $3 laser light!