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A Garden View: April 2014 and April 2015
April 2, 2014 March 31, 2015 Biggest differences: more weeds this year, leaves for mulch because we haven’t mulched again—yet, and the pine tree is gone. Last year was much more maintained! The irises near the front door are blooming in both photos, though hard to see.
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Sunday Hike On the Chinquapin Trail at Huntsville State Park
It was 2012 the last time we were at Huntsville State Park. We were planning to camp last weekend but bad weather on Saturday deterred us from venturing out. I think had we not had Forest we might have attempted it, but it worked in our favor anyway as Forest came down with a nasty cough and it was probably better he wasn’t outside in a tent overnight. Chris still wanted to get out and do something on Sunday so instead of hitting up Sam Houston National Forest again we opted for Huntsville State Park as they have a diverse trail system and we enjoyed our last visit there. The…
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Early Spring Hike at WG Jones State Forest
Carolina jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens was in bloom everywhere. A pileated woodpecker hole??? Rubus trivialis, southern dewberry Last weekend we jaunted back over to Jones State Forest for a short hike. Google Earth was giving me a pain but my estimate is that we walked a short 2.25-2.5 mile loop. We started at the most western parking lot on the south side of FM 1488 and headed down the west perimeter ‘trail’, Jones Trail. We turned east on the Upper Horsepen Trail and then cut-up to the north on Cochran Trail before heading back west on the Middle Lake Trail. Before getting to the lake we cut back north on the…
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Happy Spring!
How fitting that the iris outside our front door decided to open this morning! I’m loving the warmer weather lately and the later sunsets. I’m so happy that we’re heading into spring and anticipating the spring wildflower blooms around the state.
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Life in Words | 5 Years
Five years ago today Chris and I turned into Panther and Ridley. We climbed out of my dad’s car at Amicalola Falls State Park, weighed our backpacks and signed the register at the gift shop, then ducked under the stone arch just outside and embarked on a side trail called the Approach Trail that would take us to Springer Mountain and the official start of the Appalachian Trail. It was chilly down in the lower elevations and threatening to rain. Weather conditions only worsened as we climbed in elevation that day and I wondered why on Earth I had thought up this harebrained idea the year before. By the time…
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Current Reads & Favorites
+ Fitbit! I got one for Christmas from my parents and while I initially thought I wouldn’t be that into it, I really do love it! I took some time off from using it back in January but ramped it up in February. The goal is to get 10K steps a day. Prior to having Forest I don’t doubt this wasn’t a problem because I either worked out every day or did yard work in the evenings. Now it is much harder. I’ve started helping out my step count by working out during lunches when the weather is permitting and if I am not far off from my step count…
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Life In Words | Birth Plan Grief
I knew it was there. Anger. Envy. I thought I’d come to terms with it, but it bubbled up when I saw the Bradley Method book tucked in my nightstand drawer a few months ago. It came rushing to the surface when I tried to listen to a podcast interview of a blogger I like describing her most recent and second Bradley birth. I got a few minutes in and had to turn it off. I hated her and hated that she got what I didn’t. AND both of her babies were larger than Forest. I’m still a bit pissed off that I didn’t get the labor and birth I…
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Spring Is Coming
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First Family Hike | North Wilderness Loop in Sam Houston National Forest
It’s been a long winter! It’s been far longer since I’ve done any hiking, last May when we were at Nails Creek State Park and I was six or seven months pregnant. We’ve had some nice stretches of weather these last few weeks intermingled with cool spells, but this last week we were in the middle of a beautiful stretch so I mentioned to Chris that I wanted our first Valentines Day as a family to be a hike. I decided early on I wanted to carry Forest in the Ergo carrier but then I got to thinking that I thought he might be big enough for the Osprey Poco…
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Life in Words | Sunshine
I went for a jog at lunch yesterday. We’ve had some great weather recently and I have been missing all of the good running days. Either I was sick or Forest was sick or something was up and I just never got out for a jog during my lunch break in the last few weeks like I had been wanting. Finally, though, the weather was still nice again and I was feeling good, so outside I went. Luckily where I work is tucked next to a neighborhood. The neighborhood is comprised of larger, wooded lots with small houses or mobile homes on them, the quality and upkeep ranging from not-very…