Today is Mother's Day and my Mama's birthday, which I think is very fitting. She was born to be a mother and she makes such a lovely one.
In my opinion, there is truly no way to describe how one feels about their mother. My mother is the most beautiful person I ever saw. And if I could sum up the kind of selfless nature she has in a sentence, the following would explain.

"She is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."

-Tenneva Jordan 

90'

If only I could be more like her.

I love you Mama.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

I love when my husband asks me out on a date. ♥ I get so excited. Spending time with him is one of my favorite things and it's always really fun to find something we both enjoy doing. Husband and I dream of gardening. We love it and although we live in a 900 square foot condo with a small balcony for a yard, our garden seems to be getting along wonderfully for us. Tommy is taking me to a garden party at our favorite local nursery tonight. I'm sure we will let our gardening imaginations run wild while we're there, but there isn't much more room on our balcony for all of our gardening daydreams to come true. We have done a pretty thorough job of packing in the plants. 

In our small space we are currently growing:

Green Onions

Garlic

Romaine Lettuce

Lemons

Radishes

Swiss Chard

Green Beans

Baby Spinach

Kale

Spotted Lettuce

Blackberries

Strawberries

Peaches

Blueberries

Rosemary

Basil

Daisies

Jasmine

Wildflowers

Ginger Flowers

If you think your space is too small to garden, reconsider. We've been able to fit all of these with square foot gardening beds and pots. Our balcony doesn't get a great deal of sun, which is obviously essential for gardening, so we've tried to stick with winter plants (mainly lettuces) that can survive with out all-day sunshine. 

No matter your space size, geographical location, amount of time, or other circumstances, I encourage you to garden. It's such a pleasure to sink your fingertips into the earth. It's even more of a pleasure to eat what you have planted, cared for, grown, and harvested with your own two hands. I believe there is something both humble and Godly in cultivating the earth. I guess gardens are humble recreations of His artistic masterpiece. Mine and my sweetheart's sure is small, but I think it's lovely and suits us fine.

Now, go get a foam cup and a bean seed and get sprouting! 

“The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.”

- Abraham Lincoln

If you don't believe me, believe Abe. He's honest.

It's February!
One of the most glorious months of the year in my opinion. 
Valentine's Day is one of the best excuses to wear red, pink, and purple, make and send homemade love notes, and be a dove all month long. Embrace it people. ♥ 
If you're having trouble embracing it, maybe these goodies will help.

1. Pink skinnies from H&M - threads for February.

2. Oversized purple sweater from H&M - threads for February.

3. Wildflowers - for this wild girl.

4. Heart-shaped sunnies from UO - threads for February.

5. High Beam by Benefit Cosmetics - easy-to-use highlighter.

6. Baby Lips by Maybelline New York - a must for this girl!

7. XOBC- Brandi Carlile's Heaven - love tunes.

8. Be My Valentine Charlie Brown - classic Valentine's Day movie.

9. Sleepless in Seattle - Nora Ephron's classic Valentine's Day movie.

10. Van's classic white lace-ups - always a good choice.

Because changing your name is fun...

Let's play a game, shall we?

Step one:

Get a piece of paper and a pencil. Just do it. This is fun.

Step two:

Write down your favorite color. 

If your favorite color is blue write down what type of blue, like navy or sea.

If you can't decide between navy and sea write them both down.

My answers: Navy, gold, sea

Husband's answers: Sea, navy, forest, aqua, marine

Write down one or two adjectives that describe something you did a lot in your youth.

If you played basketball or soccer, you could say running.

Stick to basic adjectives like sitting, running, playing, etc.

My answers: Running, dancing

Husband's answers: Running, jumping

Write down your favorite animal.

If your favorite animal is a dog write down what type of dog, like husky or hound.

If you can't decide between a lion and a bear write them both down.

My answers: Husky, horsey, tiger, fawn, fox

Husband's answers: Tiger

Write down your favorite flower and/or element of nature.

If you can't decide between a star or a tree write them both down.

My answers: Wildflower, moon

Husband's answers: Tree, gold

Step three:

Now take your words and combine any two or three of them to find your Native American name.

My Native American name: Dancing Gold Moon

Husband's Native American name: Jumping Gold Tiger

pretty drawing by this girly.

What is your Native American name?!

I want to hear!

I've been away.

I've been in heaven.

This pretty much sums up what I've been doing.

So yeah... There are some new things going on.

I got a new home. Bye-bye Rexburg. Hello San Diego.

I got a new name. Life's Rad in Carlsbad is now the golden burrow. Just because.

And a new last name. Just because.

It's now a new year. Well hello 2013. And welcome.

Oh yeah, and I got a new husband! His name is Tommy and you can read all about our special day right here on the "our day" page.

A few things.

1) I'm still alive. Since I know SOOoo many people are concerned about that.

2) This girl crush of mine has decided to grace us with another album! And thanks to an impulse iTunes purchase, I've already been enjoying the fruits of her labors. Thank you, Brandi Carlile, for rocking so much.

3) My kid sister, Tibi, just graduated from HS last weekend. Congratulations to her! And it will be so fun to spend some more time with her! (We'll be invading Rexburg and showing that place what's up come fall. :)

4) Come one! Come all! To the best shave ice hut in the entire wewld! (You see, that's supposed to be an accent.) Truly. Amazing.

5) I've been called: sweetheart, darling, dear, princess and baby girl more today than possibly ever. All by total strangers. That was just nice. Aaaannd... somebody left me a 5 dollar tip today. And it wasn't even a guy trying to hit on me. Just a girl that was feeling generous. Booya Monday. I win this time.

      Well, there went February and March. It's amazing how much of my life I allow to go by without recording a single second of it. It's sad is what it is. Because it's been a great two months and now what do I have to show for it? Well, I will soon have the privilege of belting out this song again... That's something I guess. But it's been another great semester at BYU-Idaho. And aside from a most likely lower cumulative grade point average I've also got a few other things to show for it. For instance, the 40 pounds I've gained. Okay, just kidding. But it sure feels like it. I bought a pack of hotdogs thinking that it was a good/inexpensive idea to finish out my last days of the semester/to try and welcome summer to show up anytime it fancies. Looking back, I realize that I have some cubes of Crisco in the cupboard, maybe I could have just helped myself to those. On the brighter side, I have a few new found loves to take with me as well. One of them is corn tortillas. I used to have a disliking for them, but this semester I have just fallen in love with them. They are cheaper, they keep longer, they taste more authentic, and they are better for me; it's just a win win win situation. Love em. Another new found love is my new favorite flavor of ice cream. Breyer's Butter Pecan. So. Good. As for an old found love, the good ole' county fair is coming up and that means time with my family. It's fun to put on my country girl and get down to my roots once a year. Soon this little lady will be tippin' her hat to this semester and sippin' on sarsaparilla!