We are proud to announce...

We have a baby bell pepper!! Day 10 of our Garden and we are still going strong. We thought for sure that the storm was going to take it out but, apparently, we bought some resilient plants.

Out of 3 bell pepper plants we have 1 that has become the over achiever of the group and already producing. The other 2 are showing promise with some buds and small flowers. Our banana peppers are still just blooming with no buds just yet. Our zucchini's are doing great!! The seedlings are catching up to the starter plants we purchased. Though I am worried that I might have planted either 2 different varieties of zucchini or didn't buy a zucchini plant since the leaves of the starter plants do not match those of the seeds...oh well. Keeps life interesting.

I think our Chunk might be a little upset that we took over her stomping grounds for the garden. She keeps laying on a cantaloupe plant and when we leave her alone to long outside, we find her tromping around inside the garden...oh well.

Our herbs are doing great! The cilantro is going wild! And the herbs in our window planter box are doing great. Sadly I think I may have lost a dill plant those...

Day 1

Day 10

Into the Garden...

Since it has been a little while since I last posted let me catch you up some exciting news...we bought a house in December!! It is a cute three bedroom, two bathroom and two car garage with a nice size backyard. Moving in was a little stressful with Christmas and New Years Eve so close behind our closing but it was all handled. :)

Since we have the yard now and enjoy being outside so much we decided to try our hands at gardening. A girlfriend of mine (Jessica) helped me pick out some plants and my Dad came over Sunday and tilled up the area for us! Hopefully we don't kill all the plants and have a nice hobby for the future.

Here we have bell peppers, banana peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, watermelons and cantaloupe!! We may add onions next weekend.

On our patio we planted some herbs (dill, cilantro, rosemary and mint) and Strawberries. I'm hoping all the rosemary and mint produce a wonderful aroma for us to smell while on the patio!

So here it goes!! Our fingers are crossed that we can get our little garden going!!

The Game Plan

Okay, so apparently I am on my own in wanting to lose a little weight. And that is fine with me. I'm a big girl and can do this! So...here is the game plan.

With the up coming weekends filled with doing Tax Returns and two of my week days at school, I thinking setting a goal of working out everyday will be a little challenging and thus self-destructive. So, I am going to set a goal of 3 days a week working out and changing my diet.

I'm not going on a diet per se, I will just be transitioning my diet. Steve Edwards of Beach Body wrote a way to transition a non-healthy diet to a healthy one in 6 weeks back in 2001. He has now revamped and expanded it to 8 weeks. I think this is very do-able and will be starting it on Monday the 24th.

The first week of my diet transition will have a goal of deleting the "junk food" from my diet. I think I will be able to achieve this week easy. No chips, candy, ice cream, cake or fast food. I will also have the goal of 6 glasses of water each day. The only down side I have found for week one is that I will have to use water or milk for my Shakeology in the morning. But that is do-able as well. I can allow myself two "cheat days" if I am just craving that brownie sitting on the counter for this week. Hopefully I will be strong enough that I won't need them.

The second week will consist of eating small portions and often but when that gets here I will talk more about it them. :)

Should you want to join my new eight week journey you are more than welcome. There is success in numbers when dieting and holding each other accountable.

Until next time, be healthy and happy.

Weight Loss Challenge

Okay...so the new goal of 8 pounds and 11 inches hasn't gotten off the couch. :( I was hoping that posting my goal on Facebook would in essence motivate me to acheive it (or get people to bug me about it). But sadly...I should have known that wasn't going to work. I can't make my self do anything that I am not whole heartedly into.

Damon has been doing great! He has gotten up every morning at 5 am and hit play. He is already 1/6 of the way through the program and is starting to see some results. In the first week he gained a 1/4 inch in his biceps! He is "Bringing It".

So...we are going to try another tactic and see what we can accomplish. I am going to try and blog about the ups and downs of this journey. (According to Yahoo! this worked for 8 other people) If you would like to join me that would be great! We can all lean on each other for support and encouragement. I can be a great motivator, for others that is, but need competition to get me going. So anyone who would like to join me in this effort let me know. Just post your goals (in as much detail as you want) and we can get this new year started right!

I am going to try and do the workout program P90X and probably the treadmill. So here is to getting fit and looking great!

Denali's Adventures with the Faulkners - Night 1

(Written by Denali Mason)

Okay...so a my new family has decided to fly to Alaska and I get to stay with some new friends! They seem nice and all, but I sure miss my Mom and Dad. They have another playmate for me up here, so I am okay without having Shadow with me. This one is more my size anyway. :)

The drive home was long and I just couldn't keep my eyes open. The big guy, I think they call him Damon, wouldn't let me in the back seat! I guess he just wanted to hold me or something but wish I could have stretched out back there. PLUS! That was where they were hiding my food, I just know it. We finally get home and there is this blonde dog that would not leave me alone! The Big Guy wouldn't put me down until we got on the couch. Then this other dog, who I learned is confused on her name. Sometimes she answers to Scarlett but then Chunky. I don't know what is going on with her, but she seems pretty cool; other than the fact that she would not let me sleep last night when I got there. AND neither would that woman! She kept poking me and making me stand up. Why wouldn't these people just leave me alone? Geez. Couldn't they see I just wanted a nap! I played after we came in from outside. Oh and that is another thing I need to talk to them about. They put this thing over my head and snapped it around me. Then keep dragging me all over the place. Mom and Dad don't do that!

Anyway, they all seem nice and I think I am okay with staying here for a little while. They even made me my own bedroom. That confused dog has to share their bedroom and bed! Sucker!! It was pretty easy to go to sleep in there. But at about 4 this morning I decided I was tired of being in my room. It took me a little while to get the Inn Keeper's attention and after I did they just keep saying, "Be Quiet" and "Shhh!" Some service. I guess Mom and Dad need to have a talk with them. That wasn't what I signed up for. But I got them back I guess you could say. I made sure to "crisin" their rug a few times this morning. I think the woman liked it or something. She kept clapping at me.

OH AND GUESS WHAT!! They have this giant bag of food in the kitchen! It doesn't smell like mine, so I am going to have to figure out how to taste it. I tried to tear the bag with my teeth but Damon took it outside before I could get through to the good smelling stuff. It smelled so good!! I am so going to have to get me some of what was in there!

Well...I am off to this place called the Vet. Confused Dog didn't really tell me anything but just kinda of laughed at me and said see ya soon. I guess that is good. Oh well, at least I get another car ride!

I'll be sure and write often. :) Love you Mom and Dad! Be sure and bring me back something neat!

Take 2: The Smokehouse Redeems Itself!

We have been redeemed! The D&R Smokehouse has been renamed to the D&R Chunkery. (We wanted to make sure our little bundle of joy was included, so instead of Cookery we went with Chunkery. Corny and probably, on some level, crazy, but we like it.) Damon took out the pots and pans again to whip up some tasty Stuffed Bell Peppers!

So in the last cooking lesson, we learned when oil is heated too hot it smokes and to not throw things in to the hot oil. In this lesson we learned to saute and stuff. :) I was hoping to be able to have something similar to the last post for everyone's enjoyment, but Damon did really well with this dish. As you can see in the pictures, he chopped, cooked and then baked the peppers all by himself.

I think he may be getting tired, already, of me taking his picture while he cooks. But I want to document his learning, that way he can't say he doesn't know how to do it! (Just kidding Love!) Really and truely I am just proud of him and want to make sure we have something to look back on and laugh at when we are old and gray. I wish I had documented our first year with all of the funness that that contained. I mean right off the bat, before we even said "I Do" he is trying to get me to go into Wal-Mart in my wedding dress! Needless to say, that didn't happen. Then we moved onto trying to get all of our stuff replaced from the break-in to who is going to sleep on what side of the bed. That, by the way, took a decent conversation to get settled. LOL!!

Definately we have had a great, but learning, experience in our short time of being married. I think we have now moved on to the expanding time in our lives. No, I am not saying that we are increasing the number of people in our little family by any means! LOL! I just think we have finally settled in and found where each of us fit. I have my side of the couch, he has his side of the bed. The drawers are all "claimed" in the dresser and bathroom. I think we are now just expanding our feelings even deeper for each other and showing each other everyday why we made the decision to spend the rest of our lives together. I hope Damon would be able to say that I have made him "better" in ways that no one else has. I know I can say that about him. Part of a song from the Musical "Wicked" says, "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good." I think Damon has changed me for good. I definately stand up for myself more, speak my mind more and have no problem being a fool in public for some fun. All of that really started when we started dating. Who knows why, but I am so glad that he was put in my path and I took a chance on someone who I could have easily never met. I mean who else am I going to chase after with a spray bottle and squirt them before bedtime until they are moist and refreshed? Plus, who would laugh at that and try to get me back?!

The D&R Smokehouse!

Well this blog is all about bragging, eating and de-smokifing the house! Yes, Damon is learning to cook. :) He is such a good husband. This fall and the next two spring semesters I will be working and taking classes so he has volunteered to learn how to cook more and help with the household chores. Such a big help!

So...our first dinner by Chez Damonator. Initially it was planned to learn to make Stuffed Bellpeppers, but our stomaches decided that Chicken Fried Steak and Mashed Potatoes was the meal to make. So out came the flour, eggs and pepper. After the potatoes were peeled and in the pot boiling he went to mixing the batter. His Assistant, a hm, me, went to heating the oil. Well, for anyone that knows my cooking past, you would know that most of the time something goes wrong. It might be as simple as putting the ingredients in wrong to a minor burn. Well this time, Chez Damonator's Lovely Assistant turned our home into a smoke filled cookery. Did you know that when oil gets too hot it will smoke? AND that smoke will fill up your home and is VERY hard to clear out! Yes, all our doors were open and fans turned on high and it still took a while to get all the smoke out.

After that was handled we got down to frying up some food. Flour...Batter...Flour...Oil. Chez Damonator did a wonderful job battering the steak. But we had a curve ball thrown at us when we had to learn how to put the battered meat into the hot oil. I may have filled the house with smoke but Chez Damonator got me back with a splatter of hot oil. Luckily, I got out with just a minor blister. From then on we learned the correct way to put the meat into the pan. :)

I don't know if it was because of her being stopped from running out the front door while we were de-smoking our home or having someone different then her Momma cooking in the kitchen, but Chunky elected to stay back on our bed and out of the way...it really wasn't that bad in the kitchen. LOL! Damon did a great job for not a beginner meal. It was tasty and very satisfying to the taste buds!

I look forward to tasting many more of his creations! :)