I've dug myself a little hole.

I'm going to have myself a little 'ole pity party in that hole.

Nah, make that a BIG pity party.

My fellow travel-lovers are invited to join me.

I want an airplane ticket, passport in hand and map......I'll be back when I've seen the world.

Like thats ever gonna happen!

Finally

I have finally arrived...

...at the door to the next 7 years of my life.

Now don't get me wrong; alot can happen in 7 years. Alot can happen in 1 year for that matter- but I feel like I'm on the right track.

Oh yeah- I guess you are wondering what I've done.


I'm officially a college student at NSTCC.


And I'm scared to death.

But we won't talk about that.

I'm really excited.

J.R.

Rachael

There's no-one I adore more than my little sister......she is so cute. I can't believe she'll be 7 years old this year, it's hard to believe that she's been around that long!









































































Did you ever meet anyone so sweet? or mean? LOL

Dirt Under Her Nails

I have had a bit of a head ache concerning my plants. As you know, I decided to begin plants indoors this year from seed. Each seed packet announced the amount of time before the seedlings would emerge, most from 10-20 days.

Except mine came up in 3-5 days.

That's a big difference when you are not only waiting on a fence and beds to be built, but what do you do with 500 plants that are ready to plant at the same time.

You cry.

Not really, but you want to.

And when you finally do get to plant some of them, coming outside to find them dead is less than exciting.

I think I will stick to buying adult plants from now on. I can't trust fickle plants to come up when they are supposed to.

I don't know- everything may turn out OK in the end, right now I really don't want to worry about it.





(do you see the red thing in the background- yes, it's a grocery cart. Our neighbors steal carts. ; )








And of course, after we get my lovely bed ready- some unfortunate news was brought to my attention. You can't plant any edible plants near railroad ties because of the chemicals inside of them. Great- that's why I wanted the bed built, was for my tomatoes, and not only that, but this ruins my ten year plan...I'm not happy.

Actually..I am ; )

I found that catmint serves as a perfect cut flower, it looks nice in my house too.





Our fence before it was finished last week.

Three-Cheese Pasta Bake

Three-Cheese Pasta Bake

I am posting this for all the Mac 'n' Cheese lovers in my family! If you love Kraft, you must try this....at least once! It's a very expensive dish, so buy an ingredient everytime you go to the store- so you don't feel the shock of paying $20.00 for macaroni and cheese. It's to die for!!

Ingredients:

8 oz Package Penne Pasta
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp All-purpose Flour
1 1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Half & Half
1 cup (4 oz) Shredded White Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 cup (8 oz) Shredded Gruyere Cheese, divided*
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
Pinch of Ground Nutmeg

Directions:

1) Pre-heat Ioven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 pan.

2) Prepare Pasta according to package directions.



3) Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan over med heat.




4) Whisk in flour; cook, whisking constantly for 1 minute.




5) Gradually whisk in milk and half & half; cook, whisking constantly, for 3-5 minutes or until thickened.



6) Stir in Cheddar Cheese, Parmesan and 1 cup Gruyere Cheese, and next 3 ingredients until smooth.

7) Stir together drained pasta and cheese mixture. Pour into Pan.



8) Top with remaining Gruyere Cheese and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbly.




Some say that you can use Swiss Cheese in place of Gruyere, which is true I suppose since Gruyere is in fact swiss cheese, but I wouldn't advise it.
The experience of eating cheese that came from a farm nestled in the alpine hills of switzerland is so much more amazing than thinking about cheese coming from american super dairies. On the same hand, at $19.00 a pound, Gruyere is definately a hefty price for one dish...but oh so worth it!
Just think, for every dollar you spend, you've supported the private, small farmer in a little european village for at least one more day.

(Pic refuses to right itself.)