Whew

The Cottle garden of 2009 is planted and underway. Yay!! So much time and energy has gone into this thing, so we are awfully proud. I thought I would post a few pics.





Here is the main garden. We have planted corn, onions (yellow and white), pumpkin, cucumber, carrots, peppers (jalapeno, cayenne, sweet california, habenaro, yellow and green peppers) tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, and beefsteak tomatoes.



This section is along the back of the property. It is home to our zuchinni, chives, salad blend lettuce, regular lettuce, red cabbage, kale, red kale, raspberry bushes, comfrey, marjoram, roma tomatoes, and peas.



And finally here are my melons. We have moonstar melons, honeydew, watermelon, and some other melon. We also have cilantro, basil, and parsley growing here.

It is a rather large garden and a lot has been planted but our goal is to have one year of salsa and spaghetti sauce bottled by the end of the season. Wish us luck.

Did you forget what we look like??

So much has happened lately that I don't know where to start. So here is a pic so you don't forget what we look like. I will update more when I have time to sit down and remember the last few weeks. Love you all...

Week 2...

Yay, we have growth!! This is super exciting, I think this is my favorite part. Seeing these cute little seeds coming up and growing into something productive. I love it!!! This is a pic of one of Roma Tomato plants. Cant wait to see what comes next!!



On an awesome side note, check out the lights Todd jimmy rigged for me. Pretty neat huh? Apparently the seeds will grow 3 times faster if they are warm and have light. I love having a hubby that come up with things!!

Last pic of my new obsession, I swear!! Check out the size of our garden this year. We completely expanded and are way excited to see how we do this year.


That delicious looking top soil, is fresh cow poo. Don't you worry about it, I help spread it. That's right while Todd was driving to pick up loads of it, I got in there and moved it all around. It was surprisingly fun and relaxing.



Here is where my berry bushes/herb/lettuce plants are going to go. Oh my, I cant wait for this garden season to start!!

Week 1...

So this year Todd and I have decided to be a bit adventurous. We have expanded our garden (pictures to come), and we are starting all of own plants from seeds. We started a bit late, but hey at least we got them in the dirt, right?

Tomatoes, herbs, and peppers need to be planted early, so we started. Here is a picture of week one. Nothing yet..



Next weekend we hope to get lettuce, melons, and onions in dirt. I am super excited about this years garden. Wish us luck!!

"M"

Thanks so very much to my most awesome friend Jen for tagging me, I really appreciate it. So here's the name of the game..List 10 things I love that start with M.

1- Moon bounces (need I say more)
2- Mexican food (Im sure Todd wishes I would stay away)
3- Music (I love to get down and boggie. I know I stink at it, but I just dont care)
4- Mother (love you Mom)
5- Miracles (happens everyday)
6- Marriage (Love you Todd)
7- Mozzarella (MmmMmm)
8- Moments
9- Mello (this reminds me of my brother Jeff, "whatever happens is good")
10- Mondays (haha)

So I think I am going to tag Leslee with the letter K, and Amy with the letter U. Have fun ladies.

Big decisions...

Since this is my journal I need to make an entry. I recognize that this will not be appealing to most, so please feel free to move to your next blogger friends blog.

This past week I was faced with a tough decision. I was offered a full time position at America First as a mortgage processor. Since I started this job as a temp I have looked forward to, and prayed for the day that it was over, so that I could go back to my normal life. I have continually prayed about this day and always received that when this was over I could move on. Then on Wednesday I received an email from my manager asking for a meeting the following day. I knew there was a good possibility that they were going to offer me a job, so I went home to confirm my previous answer. Well I didn't get it this time. I got positives for coming home, and positives for staying on. I woke up Thursday morning still not knowing what I was going to do if they asked me to stay on. I went to work thinking that I was going to turn it down, I prepared in my head what I was going to say. Then when I got to work I started thinking, so I asked my Heavenly Father to help me know what to do in that meeting.

I went in and was given peace, and I felt comfort in their offer. I asked for a few hours to talk to Todd about it, and think of what I wanted to do. I couldn't say no. I wanted with all of my heart to to say no, but I couldn't.

So I accepted the position. I was given comfort by Heavenly Father and I knew I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. He let me know, that I will know when my time is done, but until then I needed to continue to work.

I think that this job was hard for me to accept because it isn't what I want to be doing right now. I want to be a mom and a homemaker. I want more than anything to teach the gospel to my kids. I want Todd to come home and have little Todd's running around wanting to play with him. However, I think I have finally come to some greater understanding. My Heavenly Father knows my desires, he knows my pain, he knows my dreams, and he will bless me. First I need to show him my faith, I need to learn a few more things, and I need to live by his time table. I have been given countless blessings where he has told me the time is coming, be patient and trust in the Lord. I have special ones up there that need to come at the right time. So here is me saying to my heavenly Father, I trust. I look forward and pray for that day to come quickly, but I am able to live my life in the present as well. I have things to accomplish now, so Heavenly Father please help and guide me. Please lead me to those that need me, please guide those that I need to me. Help me to learn everything I can now, so that when the time comes that Todd and I are blessed with kids,I will be able to teach. I love you Heavenly Father and I hope to please thee. This is my testimony and my faith in thee. Amen

Saturday Fun...

"Well Brittany how was your Saturday?"

"Wonderful thanks, and yours?"

"Fine thanks. What made it so wonderful, did you do something fun?"

"That I did, I canned, cleaned, and watched High School Musical 3!!"

This Saturday was a blast for me. Since I started working again I haven't had a chance to do the things I have come to love. But Saturday and I, we made a pact and got things going again.

I love cleaning, there is something so satisfying to me when I have a clean house and everything is in order. I feel like my home is more inviting to the spirit when things are clean and put away. I love it!!

I also love food storage, and adding to ours. This weekend we went to the church cannery and rented the #10 can sealer. It was a lot of fun and awfully gratifying. We ended up canning..

17 #10 cans of refried beans
10 #10 cans of carrots
17 #10 cans of potatoes
14 #10 cans of onions
and 4 #10 cans of apples

It was a really fun experience. Although I don't want to live in Utah forever, this is one of the many perks of living here. The church is super accessible, and I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for pushing Todd and I to get this done while we have access to so many things.

And finally, I saw High School Musical 3!!! It was sooooo good. I love silly things like that, and for some reason I am obsessed with Zac Efron. I think he is super yummy!! (Todd you are delicious, no need to worry) I love watching a movie that I don't have to ignore swear words, fast forward through nudity, or worry about skipping over the violent scenes. Hooray for a clean, fun, and entertaining movie!! It was so good that I am going to save it for when my sister-in-laws come up this week, so we can watch it together!! (Did you know that my brother and sister-in-laws were in High School Musical 2? That's right I have fame in my family!!)

Thanks Saturday, I cant wait to see you again next weekend!!