What has 2 thumbs and needs a vacation?

THIS GIRL!

Here is where I really wanted to go. But, in reality, this is where we ARE going. It's all good, though...it's always nice to visit with family and old friends. And, you can't really complain when your loving mother is footing the bill for your ungodly expensive travel with 2 small children and a dog. Yep, Sake is going along for the ride (under my seat, of course). She's a pretty mellow gal, but just in case, I procured some doggy narcotics for the plane ride. Plus, I really hope to meet up with her while I'm there. She's one of my fabulous fellow Tulip Girls, and she literally lives just down or, rather, up the road from my mom. Small world, no?

Anyway, that was a little longer absence than I had intended from the old blog. We've just been enjoying having our house back to ourselves, and working in the yard. Bryan and I intend to bite off more than we can chew in the landscaping/gardening department. During his fabulously long 4-day weekend last weekend, we decided to install a new flower bed that will run the entire length of our walkway from the driveway to the house. And, as if that wasn't enough, we are starting to install our all-American perfect white picket fence around our front yard. Seemed easy enough to accomplish on a long weekend. Or not. We scrapped our plans to go to the beach THIS weekend so we could attempt to finish our projects. I'll post some pics when we're done. In the meantime, I'll share this from my garden:



We planted that magnolia tree as soon as we bought our house 2 years ago. The first year...no flowers. Last year...a measly 2 blooms. This year? More than 13 beautiful, fragrant flowers! I belong to The National Home Gardening Club, and they are having a photography contest. This will be my entry. The only stipulation is that the photograph come from your own garden. No problem there. And, they have some pretty sweet gardening prizes. Wish me luck!

If you missed my Garden Journal class over at Label Tulip on the 27th, not to worry! It's still available here. Let me know if you have any questions. I had promised to post some photos of what have inside the journal. Keep your eyes open for that sometime this weekend.

I'd also like to take the time to say a quick thank-you to all of you fabulous gals that have posted comments, and sent such kind e-mails in regards to the whole blog-stalker issue. It means a lot to me. And, the biggest thank-you to my now-favorite blog buddy for sending me the fabulous Johnny Cash video (you know who you are). ;0) Who would have ever thought that there was such a PERFECT song?!? Anyway, enough wasting time talking about all that crap. Moving on...

Two other quick notes...I am looking for a roommate at CHA in July. Otherwise, I might not be able to go. It's still up in the air as it is, but a solid roommate confirmation would help out a lot. Let me know if you're going and are interested in sharing a room. If you don't want to post a comment, you can always e-mail me at charmedgirlnc@gmail.com. And, about the round robin art journal that I mentioned a few posts ago...I'm still planning on doing it. But, I was thinking about pushing it back more towards the fall/winter. Let me know how that sounds. I just know how busy summer can get here, and how time can get away from us. I know that the paper and glue definitely takes a backseat to the gardening gloves and shovel for the next couple of months...at least for me.

Have a fabulous weekend!