School Update...

Just a little update post because I haven't shared with all of you, my quilting buddies and gardening pals about school lately! ;) Two more weeks and I'm off for summer break! I'm so excited. This next week I'm going to spend virtually every waking moment studying for finals, but I am fortunate enough to be able to take the summer off and relax a bit before getting back down to it next fall. My schedule is loaded with tough courses in preparation for the nursing program too. I'm going to take the next level up chemistry course, the second half of my anatomy course, and another writing class that from what I hear is a lot more writing than I've had in my previous classes! I also have to take a Human Development course before going into the nursing program that I haven't heard much about to really know what we're going to be doing.

As for the dreaded math - I'm struggling this semester quite a bit, but hopefully I can keep my head above water and at least pull a C. I really strive to keep my GPA up but this class is incredibly fast paced and the instructor demands a lot from us. I have another opportunity to take it in the fall though if I don't do well this time around, and even though I hate the thought of repeating a course, hopefully the second time I will have a better understanding of it. Several of my friends have repeated courses two and three times before getting into the nursing program, so at least I'm not alone! The staff joke at our school that our campus is the "Harvard of Nursing" in our area because the classes are so tough. Part of me would LOVE if they eased up on us a bit, but I can't tell you that I'm not proud of myself for sticking it out so far. We're not even in the program yet and people are dropping this major like a bad habit! LOL* I keep telling myself I'm going to be so proud when I get through it, I just have to stay motivated!

One more semester, ONE MORE LEFT! Lol* This fall I will be taking my last semester of pre-requisite's and I am going to apply for the nursing program! I cannot wait! The nursing program itself is 4 semesters long so assuming all goes well and I stay on course I'm almost 1/3 of the way there! The other day a friend and I were walking in through the health building, and there are glass walled rooms set up to look like a hospital in there. We saw meti-man and other simulators and students practicing, we both looked at each other and said, "I can't wait to do that!" Just a few short months and it'll be us.

Please keep your fingers crossed and send good thoughts my way! I'm really struggling these last few weeks to keep up with everything but the excitement of finally getting into the program is all that's keeping me going! ;)

One Plant at a Time

How do you like my bucket of tulips? Lol* I bought these rusted out old buckets at a yard sale yesterday. Hubby said to me, "What are you going to do with that junk?" I told him, "decorate!"


I'm getting closer to the garden of my dreams! Also learning the importance of strategically placed spring bloomers to awaken your garden this time of year. Last year I bought lots of plants that were finished blooming for the season in anticipation for this year's show. Like this creeping phlox that is just starting to bloom!


I need more of these...more, more, more! Lol* Some day I want one of those gardens that is just dripping with flowers...but on a smaller scale.


I am loving right now irises for their flowers and the interest of their foliage. They will be another of my focuses this year, adding them in clumps throughout the beds for that "awake" look that they give the garden this time of year.

Here are a few more things I was happy to see coming along on my walk this morning through the yard...lily of the valley emerging...


Mulch is actually waiting out front to be spread, something I didn't do last year. BIG MISTAKE. Lol* For me this did not work at all. I succeeded in getting tons of reseeders but more than that, the weeds were OUT OF CONTROL. It was embarrassing by fall how bad the weeds got. So this year, I'm getting back on the wood mulch bandwagon. Lol* I've also got to find a way to guard some of my plants because Hubby stacked mulch on top of my astilbe and bleeding hearts!


I have also had bad luck with hyacinths. I buy them every year and the bulbs rot out on me. This year I tried to bury the bulb well and hope for the best. Maybe the mulch will protect them this winter from rotting again.

Three more weeks left of school! Wooohoo! I have the urge to sew in the worst way. I haven't sewn a stitch since Christmas. Time is limited but I'm still a quilt junkie like no other! Lol*

WHAT is this? Weed or Plant?

Just a quick post today...does anyone have any idea what this is? It's growing near echinacea I planted and looks reddish like echinacea leaves but I have grown them from seed before and they are usually more pointed than these and as seedlings don't nearly have as many leaves. They almost look like little asiatic lillies coming up but there are about a hundred of them in this one spot and I didn't plant any there! Anybody know? Have any ideas? Are they just weeds? They are near previously planted gooseneck, lillies, echinacea, rhudbeckia, foxgloves, and probably several other plants I can't think of at the moment. I can't decide if I should yank 'em or leave 'em!?

Early Spring Garden 2010

Hello! Here I am! I have spring fever big time. Five more weeks of spring semester and I'll have some time free again to sew and garden. I cannot wait! My mind has already been turning to seeds and plants when I should be focusing on muscles...eek! Here are some early spring photos I am so excited to share!

The display on our front stoop...tulips aren't ready yet and my crocuses are done, so not much color going on right now without the good ol' garden junk to liven things up. ;)


Hens and chicks! Who doesn't love these? I love the reddish color they turn when it's cold. These little guys seem so happy in their little bird house.


Irises!!! These are ones I planted last year, from a clump that my Dad had given me early in the year. They have about doubled and aren't they gorgeous already? I cannot wait to see them bloom...I also am anxious to see some yellow dwarf ones I purchased at a plant sale and some that my Husband's Grandma shared with me. Yay!

This doesn't look like much yet, but I've got lettuce sprouting around the border of this little bed, while I'm waiting for spinach and peas to show up. Behind them all will be radishes that I will plant in May.

Oh, here are my lettuce sprouts!


Here are the Irises from Hubby's Grandma - I think those are either strawberries or perennial geraniums growing around them.


Here are some hardy geraniums about to bloom...YAY! I think these also came from Hubby's Grandma...she was so kind, she knows I love plants so when she thinned her garden, all the extras came to my house. Woohee! ;)

A lonely little daffodil hanging out with the lamb's ears. Oh I love it! :)


Aren't they a pretty combination? I think Mother Nature is telling me I need to plant more daffodils here. :)

A primrose about to bloom - yay! I adore it!

Oh now these are really just weeds, a bunch of crowded buttercups, but don't they look pretty? I almost don't want to mow them! I might just let them grow there, they look so darn pretty. :)

Oh and my hydrangea is getting bigger! I can't wait, I wonder how many blooms I'll get this year!

After some cleaning and some studying I'm going to try to visit blogs - I miss everybody and I'm excited to see what you've all been doing! :)