5 Years & a Green Thumb

Mark and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this weekend!  I was very low key, but fun at the same time.  We didn't go to a fancy restaurant, on a vacation, or any big events.  We spent the evening in our home cuddled up on the couch while we watched a super hero movie.  Mark isn't a big cuddling fan, so that was a special event in itself. ;-)  We don't usually exchange gifts on our anniversary, but decided that 5 years is kind of a milestone so we made an exception.  Traditionally the 5th anniversary gift is wood or silver.   Since Mark's not a gushy cheesy gifts guy I gave him the best thing I could think of that fit the categories I was given.  What's better wood/silver combo than an Axe?  It chops wood and has a silver blade.  Perfect? Maybe not, but he likes that kinda stuff so it worked and it managed to surprise him!  Mark on the other-hand did find the perfect gift!  The first thing in the bag was a wooden sign that says "Love You More".  We've exchanged "I love you"s followed by "love you more"s for the past 6 years so finding that little piece of decor was perfect.  I thought that was it and started packing up the bag when Mark told me there was something else inside.   It was a double heart necklace that is 1/2 silver and 1/2 yellow gold with ity-bity diamonds set in the silver parts of the 2 hearts.   SO BEAUTIFUL!

 

It's odd because 5 years seemed like such a big deal when we were first married.  Oh the plans we had!  We've accomplished most of them and had some unexpected adventures along the way too:

Moved to SLC, UT

Mark accepted to Duke from his 1st application

Moved to Durham, NC

Adopted Gizmo

Moved to Atlanta, GA & then back to Durham

Visited Italy, Bahamas, & Mexico

Jill teaching 4 years of elementary school

Mark's Duke MBA

Moved to Bentonville, AR

Bought a home

Planted a garden ;-)

Okay, yeah, that last one didn't really fit in with the rest, but it's a good transition eh?  Last week I built this garden box while Mark was at work.  My cute little neighbor Allie wanted to help so she planted Red Onion bulbs, Green Bean seeds, Squash plants, and Strawberry plants.  Her brother wanted to help to so he did with the tomato plant.  7 days later and we're seeing some great growth!

The red onions are sprouting, we have some red strawberries, flowers on our tomato plant, the squash plants have doubled in size, and the green beans are sprouting too!  We planted almost twice as many beans, strawberries, squash, and onions as we could use because I figured I would kill off at least that many plants!  So far they're all thriving so I may have to thin the crop pretty soon. 

My family had a garden when I was a little girl, but I remember pretty much only the fun parts of having a garden in Kaysville.  My parents set aside about 1/4 of our large back yard for a fenced off garden. They grew corn, carrots, either watermelon or pumpkin (a little blurry there), and a few other things too.  I remember planting and harvesting - that's it.  Mom and Dad must have taken care of the weeding and watering.  They did it right!  I love the idea of gardening - only good memories.   Hopefully little Allie can have some of the same memories (except with her goofy neighbor instead of her parents).  She's already told me that she hasn't ever eaten out of a garden and she's never eaten red onions, squash, or tomatoes.  She's excited for the experience and reminds me almost daily that we need to check for weeds and water.   So maybe it's not my green thumb, but Allie's that is gonna get me a harvest this summer and fall.