Garden!

So here it is the garden! Photos taken at week one and again at week 2 1/2. So much can happen within that amount of time it. It never ceases to amaze me. Having a garden of my own has given me something to look forward to every single day. Waking up wondering what has doubled in size, what is starting to sprout, what can already be harvested, and so on. Feels like Christmas every day. I forgot to take a photo last week, and within the last two weeks it seems like everything has doubled in size. Insane!!! Hard to believe that these plants grew from something so small! We have had a very hot and sunny spell for the last two days, and it doesnt look like its going away anytime soon, which is great for tubing, but bad for the plants.....I have been trying my best to water in the evenings and keeping my fingers crossed that the plants dont dry out.

Hez Says: Get Bored

Instead of doing something extremely lavish to celebrate our same month birthdays, Abe and I decided to rent a small cabin in the Northeast Kingdom of VT for a couple of days. The weather cooperated well and we did a lot of relaxing. Abe played a lot of guitar and I finished a great book. It was nice to get away from town for a bit and try to enjoy our natural surroundings and each other without all of the "modern" distractions of our apartment. Im not going to lie, I definitely got antsy at moments and found myself thinking, "hmmmm what should I do now?" but those moments quickly subsided when we saw the most amazing birds soaring through the sky making jet noises, or when we threw sticks into the water for Jameson (the dog) to retrieve. We live in a society where we are so spoiled with entertainment and distraction that even a short moment of boredom leaves me feigning for stimulation. This tends to scare me a little because it makes me feel as though I depend on these things more than myself at times for enjoyment. Spending some time at this cabin with no electricity or internet connection made me realize that boredom is a good thing. I don't think people get bored enough anymore, I don't know how you could with so many in- your- face- distractions. I realize now that moments of boredom are almost necessary for creative ideas to come to fruition because when I reach that tipping point I usually find something to do that is more fun, challenging, and entertaining than surfing the web or checking facebook. Most of the time the simple things like catching tadpoles and building campfires are more rewarding and enjoyable anyway :)

Amazing views of the mountains and sunset from our back porch.

Farm breakfast.Living with and

apprenticing for Shawn and Molly

in Maine was an amazing experience,

and so was the food that I ate there.

This is a photo of a homemade pesto

with tomato slices spread over toast.

Healthy and delicious.

Sun Tea

On one of our first sunny and warm days in Vermont I decided to make some sun tea on our back deck. Sun tea is delicious, virtually effortless, and uses solar energy. All you need is a mason jar with a lid, cold filtered water, tea, an hour or two, and a sunny day. I prefer loose tea because of its gentle taste, but any bagged tea would work as well. The sun tea shown here is Armenian Mint.....yum

Welcome to my blog. I began blogging during college through a printmaking class. As a student it was a great way to hold myself accountable for finishing work on time and displaying it for the public. However, I graduated college in 2008 and have not been consistent with my "Beautiful Life" art blog since. I was always tempted to add some poetry or a new recipe, but hesitated due to my belief that my art blog should remain purely just that. In turn I have decided to create my....life blog...I guess some would call it. There are so many wonders in my life that I feel so inspired and passionate about, which I always feel compelled to share with others. I figured that a blog would be the most efficient way for me to share, and it will also hold me accountable. I have many journals, sketchbooks, quote books, ideas scribbled on half torn sheets of paper scattered around my things, and it has begun to clutter my mind. This will hopefully become the place where I accumulate all of these small wonders, a place for me to express and share, and hopefully a place to gather feedback or motivate others! Thank you.