some quick shots of the apartment

This is where we live...


For my momma who worries about the neighborhood I live in: It's a street full of lovely houses!



Here's the courtyard


And the living/main/dining room


modeling the couch


the "kitchen" or more like extremely tiny space good for preparing only frozen dinners. I'm constantly running into things in here. Things get ridiculous when two people and a dog are crammed in. Makes for interesting cooking experiences. Just don't turn or make any sudden movements with a knife in hand!


The empty looking bedroom which is surprisingly pretty large. We have a big desk to the right of the bed. Lots of space! 3 closets!


For Aunt Carol:


Tom insisted on taking a picture of our fridge


Our outgoing mailbox. It gets the job done.


And here's the little monster after his brawl with the neighbors sweet little dog Bella. They were friends hanging out in the courtyard for hours until bad looks where exchanged and Poof decided to attack for no good reason. He got what he deserved (a huge huge gash above his eye that I thought would require some serious stitches...and getting beat by a girl half his size) but it healed up shut by morning. It also did some serious damage to my wallet for the vet bill the next morning. Oh, Poof.

The Long Drive Out

And so begins the lengthy post of a not so interesting and never ending drive to Texas from Asheville. Here are a few highlights...

This was my rear view mirror view. Thank heavens for Mamma Joanie and Da transporting 75% of our stuff first to Florida then to Texas! We would have had to leave nearly everything behind without her! Thomas' car was packed to capacity with artwork alone!


We drove from Asheville, NC to Mobile, AL on our first day. That's a total of 543 miles and 9 hours! 9 hours of a whole lotta nothing to look at! Flat lands sure made me miss the mountains pretty quickly. Here's an amazingly high bridge we crossed to get to Mobile. It really looks teeny tiny in this picture though!


We met up with the Calder parentals in Mobile and had an awesome night of pretty tasty hotel buffet with 3 free beers and margaritas per person!! Alabama folk sure are friendly and Poof loved hotel life. Our room on the second floor gave him perfect views of the hot ladies swimming in the pool. He was constantly looking out the window.

Day 2 consisted of 468 miles in 8 hours from Mobile, Alabama to Houston, Texas. We crossed through Alabama, Mississippi, and into Louisiana in 2 hours time since you are driving through the smallest portions of those states. I think this picture was in Mississippi.


This one's for my momma. Mississippi loves this Canadian hunk!!


I was surprised at how many signs driving through Louisiana were really in French! Pretty cool!


My first glimpse of water! I think we drove on bridges over the Gulf and wetlands 85% of the time through Louisiana. However, I had no idea how long the state was and gotta pretty bored after the first hour.


But then we drove through New Orleans!


the superdome!

After that...there were more bridges.


Follow that Texas trailor!


Biggest bird's nest I've ever seen.


Poof provided little to no entertainment on this trip. He was probably exhausted from the rollercoaster of emotions leading up to our departure. I'm convinced he thought we were leaving him in Asheville! I couldn't load anything in the car or go in the garage without him speeding down the stairs, sitting patiently by the car door and jumping in as soon as he could every time I opened it. Not to mention the sheer joy once he realized we were definitely not leaving him behind. But a few hours in he probably realized he was in it for the long haul and got bored. I only wish I could've heard his thoughts when he found out there was a whole other day of driving after the first one. Here's the mentally exhausted dog.


Crossing the mighty Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, LA.





Fun Louisiana signs for my family to giggle at:


Oh, how I thought this sign would never come! Woohoo! Finally!


Fun facts:
Total mileage- 1,024
Total travel time- 2 full days of driving/17 hours
States driven through- North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas...SIX!
Average outdoor temperature throughout drive- probably 101F

Houston

All I can tell you for now is that we made it to Houston...


And this was our place 4 days ago...

More pictures once we get internet at home!

how does your garden grow?

Here's a yummy dessert I made using lots of the berries I had picked from the farm. A shortbread napoleon with blackberry sauce.


While trying to clean up some of the garden today I realized I haven't really posted any pictures or anything about it at all since I first put things in the ground. Here it is now. It's pretty messy, but so far we've enjoyed a few tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, and cucumbers. The beans are almost ready and when that happens, I'll be in over my head with them. The white carrots will have to sit around until Autumn for family and neighbors to enjoy and the sunflowers should be blooming any day now. That middle one is as tall as I am!



One measly little head of corn.


The beans, and what's left of my cucumber weeding. They had all turned yellow.


Here's my largest cucumber. not sure why they all turned yellow so fast but I had to remove all of those. This thing is about the size of a baseball.


More to come!

Delayed

This is my momma in Asheville. She's awfully cute.


I made her peach and strawberry crepes.


And poor Poof was hoping he'd get to try them.

Berries Galore

Look what I picked at the farm today! Yum!

Houston

I'm so excited for Houston, I can hardly contain myself! I'm ready to try out big city life. I'm ready for a massive road trip halfway across the country. I'm ready to start exploring "The West!"

Houston, here we come!!!


We have yet to secure a place to live but we have narrowed it to the Montrose area. It's less than 5 miles from the university of Houston downtown campus. There are plenty of hip small apartments, houses, and plexes that we are in to. My only concern is being able to somehow grow things. Whether it is on an apartment balcony or in an actual yard. Montrose is known as the "hip" neighborhood with lots of thrift & antique stores, restaurants, bars, art galleries, and crazy street art like this!

a vortex/tunnel built connecting two neighboring condemned houses with scrap wood!


I'll be shopping at this local produce market. I cook too much so this is my absolute dream market. Bins and bins of produce, spices, and more.


I'll be witnessing some seriously awesome sunsets. We'll see if they'll top what I've seen in South Florida over the years.


I'll be back near the wetlands. Gators, snakes, and lizards oh my!


Apparently their are fields of wildflowers all along the way to Austin. It's less than 3 hours away and I've heard nothing but great things about that city.


Oh, and have I mentioned I'm excited about the beach? Galveston Beach here I come!!!!!!



I plan on conquering the Texas coast.


Less than a month to go!!!