Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Dear Baby Gilliam,

I know I have only known of you for the last few months, but I am already so excited for you to enter this world! Your daddy and I can't wait until we can see your beautiful face and touch your tiny hands! I thank God everyday for the opportunity to grow you and help you become big and strong.  I can promise you, even though I don't really have an experience yet, that I will love you with every aspect of my being. I will protect you when I need to, and let you take steps alone when you need to. I hope to be able to teach you everything that I have learned from my mom and more! It is my dream for you to grow up free to do whatever it is you love.

I know that I haven't met you yet, but I can't wait to get to know your personality. I know you'll probably be a little stubborn, since we both are :), and I hope compassionate.  I want to teach and inspire you to see the world through the eyes of the Lord. I want you to see the beauty and happiness in the world, not just the bad.  I want you to experience all that you can and whatever you can't experience, to dream about.  I pray that the Lord gives you a heart for the people around you and to love all.

I pray that you grow up with a strong relationship with the Lord. I know that it's always a journey, but I will aim to push you and encourage you towards a love and passion unlike any other! I pray that God will protect you and keep you safe and use your life to bless anyone around you.

You know, I'm a little scared though. This is something I have never experienced and I know that I will do some things wrong, and when I do, I hope you forgive me.  I know that I won't always have the answers when you ask, but I promise that I will always listen to you when you need it the most. Although I don't yet know what joys and hardships you life may bring, I continue to pray that the Lord will give me the peace and patience to handle any situation. I can promise you that I'll mess up, but I can also promise you that I will always be here to clean those messes up.

I can't wait to meet you, my love! My love for you grows with each passing day and I know that will continue as you grow. I know I will always want to protect you from the world around you and at times, it will be hard to let that go, but I pray that I will make the decisions that will best help you become a part of this wonderful world.

I continue to pray for protection and strength as you grow. I pray that I will know the right decisions to make each step of the way and for clarity when needed. I thank the Lord that I am surrounded by amazing women to learn from and look up to! I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to grow up learning all the things I have and for the foundation I have been given. I know that I don't know it all and I realistically never will, but as I learn and grow I will work to help you learn and grow in this life as well.  Thank you Lord for this amazing addition to our family, and I pray for the strength and safety as the next few months progress!

Not too much longer until I will get to meet you, and I seriously can't wait! Your daddy and I are preparing and getting everything ready for you. We can't wait til the day we get to see you for the first time! Until then, I will love, protect, and care for you, and pray the Lord will continue to bless this pregnancy.

With mountains of love,
Your mommy, Erica

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Monday, March 5, 2012

This years gardening adventures!

This year I decided to significantly expand my container garden! Although I can't actually plant in the ground (since we rent our place), I didn't want to that stop me from having lots of veggies and herbs these next few seasons.  I did do a few "experiments" as far as how many things could go in a pot, and figured I won't know til I try! If I lose a few plants, in the long run, I'll learn a lot more in the future!

I am going to try to update you guys every week or so on how everything is growing and what kind of yield we are getting!  The best part of a container garden is that anyone can do it! You can't have to have a ton of space. I've even seen videos of people who grow veggies inside near windows and get great yield.

This year, I tried really hard to plant things that I know we enjoy! I also wanted to try different variations to see which type grows best in pots.  We also got a few new herbs that we haven't really had a chance to try without growing them ourselves. I'm really excited for my garden this year and hop that everything works out well!
Above: This is my entire garden.  We have it on the side of the yard that will get plenty of sunshine, but it's also a little more protected from environmental factors.
Above: 3 Cauliflower plants.  I've never planted them before and didn't know how they would do in a container, but I figured I would "Go big or Go home" So I put three plants in one pot.













Left: This is the "Better Boy" Variety of a tomato plant.  They are supposed to grow large tomatoes.  I also have two small Kale plants in the container with this tomato plant.
Above: Here are the "Beef Master" Tomato Variety. These are also supposed to grow very large tomatoes. Last year, I had a plant that was supposed to do large tomatoes, but instead they looked like cherry tomatoes.  I'm really hoping that doesn't happen again this year (Hence the difference varieties!). I also have some Spicy Globe Basil in this container.








Right: This is the "Black Cherry" Tomato plant.  I've never seen these before, but they are supposed to be a variety of Cherry Tomatoes that are supposed to have a deaper color, almost a purply-black. 

I also have "Cowhorn" Cayenne Pepper plant in this container.  I didn't know if these who would grow very well together, but I figured it was defintiely worth a try! I dont' know what will use the Cayenne peppers for yet (besides salsa), but I'm excited to try some new things!
Above: Here are my lovely Sweet Basil plants! Last year my basil did incredibly and I dried a ton of it! I'm hoping that this year I can dry extra to keep for the off seasons.  I also have a Grape Tomato plant in this container as well.
Above: I was getting creative with my containers (These are free after we eat the strawberries!). Here I have some Romane Lettuce plants.  I didn't know exactly how they would do in the smaller containers, but I figured it was definitely worth a shot!
Above: Here is one of my two Strawberry plants! I planted both Strawberries in strawberry containers from the store! I'm very excited for them as they are already starting to get little buds!
Above: MMMMM Chocolate Mint! Every time I go over to water them it smells so good!! I don't yet know what to do with it, but I don't care! It was a MUST in my garden!










Left:  This is actually my oregano plant left over from last year! I did great through the couple frosts we had down here! I ended up transplanting it into it's own container this year as it likes to take over whatever world it lives in.  This year it's in the bottom of a milk jug!









Right: This is the beginning of a chives plant. I have never seen a baby Chive plant, so I don't really know if it's doing well or not, but I am really hoping this one works! Kendall and I both LOVE adding chives to our meals!

Also, you can see that I planted this in a milk jug as well! Gotta recycle those plastics!
Above: Here is my Swiss Chard plant! I absolutely love the bright colors of these plants! I also have another one planted in a strawberry container as well! I can't wait for these to grow big and strong so we can eat them!












Left: This is Curly Parsely.  I also have two regular parsely plants as well in milk jugs.  I have never grown this variety before and am very excited to use it in some fun cooking!










Right: This year I also did a German Thyme plant! I haven't planted Thyme before either.  It's not something Kendall and I typically use in our cooking, but I think it's about time to add it to some of our recipes! Suggestions on how to use it would be very welcomed!
Above: Here is a Sweet Green Bell Pepper Plant! I am very excited for these as they are great to eat alone and to cook with! I'm really hoping that it will yield some fantastic fruits! I also have some cilantro here. I haven't grown this before, but we love to use it in guacamoles and salsas we I thought we might as well have some in our garden as well!
Above: This is the only plant that I didn't plant anything with. This is my "Bush Goliath" Tomatoes.  This is a bush tomato plant and since it is supposed to be more thick and bushy I didn't want to plant anything else in the pot to avoid things being over powered! From pictures I've seen these have great yield in containers, so I'm hoping that I get something very similar!









Left: Here is my rosemary that is leftover from last year as well! It has survived this winter really well and I am hoping that it will perk up again as the weather gets warmer!

I also have two broccoli plants in this container as well! I haven't done broccoli before, but I am really excited as they have almost doubled in height over the last 2 weeks!
Above: Here is my Bok Choy plants! I am so excited about these because they are doing so well already! I planted them about 2 weeks ago and they have definitely grown really well. I can't wait until they are ready to pick! These go great with stir fry and in salads!
Above: Here are four more broccoli plants! These were planted about a week ago, so they haven't really perked up like the other ones, but I am hoping that they will grow well this spring! I am also planning on replanting these this fall for some more broccoli later in the year!
Above: Last, but certainly not least, is my Thai Basil plant! I am very excited about this because of the gorgeous colors and a new use for basil that we don't already do! In this container I also am trying some Crewneck Squash plants. I'm not totally sure how they will do in the container, but I figured it was definitely worth a try!

I hope my little garden as encouraged you to try something of your own, whether it's large or one small plant, there is something about growing things yourself! I can't wait to see how everything does this spring!

What are you planting this year? Anything new that you are super excited about? I'd absolutely love to hear about it!
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