Growing Things

It was a very busy weekend, pictures hopefully to come of my birthday, tubing, and our friends' wedding. I wasn't the one taking pics at any of these occasions (as Alli and I discussed recently, being the photographer really does change your experience of an event) so I may rely on friends to supply proof of the festivities. Anyone willing to share images?

In the meantime, here's a picture of our garden on Sunday, June 29. It's really taking off!An interesting lily growing on the side of our house.
Can anyone tell me what's eating my tomatoes! Slugs, hornworms or what? I haven't been able to locate the perpetrator.
A few of the fruits of my labor. 4 beets, a handful of Amish snapeas and some tasty garlic whistles (scapes).

More Pics from Camping Adventure

For those who are interested in seeing more camping/scenery pics from our trip: http://lissa82.shutterfly.com/action/

Camping Adventures

My dad used to take me and my sister camping when we were kids and he really instilled in me a love of nature. Wherever we have lived, Troy and I have made it a point to find places of beauty in nature in order to help us relax and unwind. Being away from the craziness and demands of daily life allows us to really reconnect with ourselves and with each other.

This past weekend we ventured to West Virginia to the Greenbriar River Trail. We camped at a lovely spot in the Seneca State Forest. Troy assured me we would have a leisurely bike ride and enjoy amazing scenery. At least the latter turned out to be true.


The bike ride just to get to the trail was windy and hilly and even necessitated us fording a river with our bikes. Needless to say, I was not pleased. Troy is hardcore when it comes to these types of things. He even likes getting lost because he thinks it's fun and challenging. If you know my personality, you know that I disagree.We ended up trekking up a river bank with all the gear too.
This photo taken with the new gorillapod Troy got me after we finally reached the trail itself and had a much deserved picnic.

And a beer!

After what seem like any endless trip back to camp, Troy surprised me yet again with his fancy bartending skills. He had pureed raspberry, blueberry and mango for a mojito of sorts that was fabulous and helped ease my aching muscles.

Roughing it!

The next day we took a longer route back so we could check out Lake Moomaw in VA on the way back. It was gorgeous, crisp and clean. Perfect for swimming. We are hoping to get to canoe camp there later in the summer.

All in all, despite the fact that I'm still sore from our 14 mile bike fiasco, it was really a great trip.

Crossing Our Fingers

We still haven't heard if it was the mumps that Troy had. We've been waiting to hear back from Public Health. I am pretty nervous about it because the incubation period is so long that I could be at risk of getting the mumps until mid-July. Let's hope we are in the clear because we have a trip home to MN planned for over the 4th!

Troy is feeling much better. He was so terribly sick that he didn't even have a beer for a whole week! Those of you who know Troy well know that is a feat! ;) He came home on Sunday with a carload of beer (supposedly to last through the summer) so I knew then he was in the clear.

I got a few pics of the garden this weekend. It is growing like crazy now. We are enjoying sugar snap peas and garlic whistles (scapes). A few of my purple beans made it through the pests and are finally growing too.

Here are two pics of how the garden is growing. The first is from May and then second from June. They were taken only maybe 2 weeks apart.

Building a Bridge

When I was in Minnesota I stayed with my friend Courtney who lives outside of Minneapolis. She was kind enough to bring me to the airport which meant driving past the infamous site of the bridge that collapsed late last summer. I snapped a few pictures as we drove by. This interstate is a main artery through the city right near the University of Minnesota. It's still pretty unbelievable to me that the bridge went down without much of a warning, killing and injuring so many people. I just hope something has been learned from this tragedy.

Courts tells me they have been working 24/7 on rebuilding the bridge since the collapse, even despite MN's freezing winter temperatures. It really is pretty incredible the amount of work that goes into making these structures that we take for granted every day.

On the Mend?

Troy is feeling a bit better, though he still is having head and neck aches. He still hasn't had the results of the mumps test back--hopefully by tomorrow or Monday. I've been affectionately referring to him as "Mumpo" and making him lots of smoothies. Big thanks to Steve for lending him some MacGyver DVDs and Sarah for the box of movies as well. They have been helping him get through this long quarantine.

I'm trying not to jinx myself but I'm starting to feel a bit sickly now. I'm feeling very, very tired and have had somewhat of a headache--which is how Troy's sickness started. Let's hope I'm just being a paranoid hypochondriac. I'm hitting the sack early tonight just in case. Cross your fingers that I avoid this awful plague!

Makeshift Eyeshadow

There are some truly lovely gardens on U.Va.'s campus (or "Grounds" as people in the know call it). Today I was on Grounds to interview a cell biologist for work. I chose a route passing by some of the gardens on my way back to the car. I spotted some of my favorite flowers--tiger lilies growing along the wall.

I couldn't resist taking a picture and then emailing it to my sister. These flowers bring back a sweet memory. When we were little, Laura and I used to pull out the stamens of tiger lilies and use the powdery orange stuff on the ends as eyeshadow. Not sure how we got that idea but it's pretty funny to think about now.