10K - check!

Well, it's March 31st and I'm slowly crossing things off my New Years resolution list. On Sunday, I successfully finished my first 10K! Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I have no cute pictures to prove it! I did get an email about purchasing some professional race photos but let's just say I'm not all that photogenic when I run so that won't be happening!!

Anyway, for a bit there I was pretty sure this was going to be the last of my post-baby running "career." But then my competitive nature kicked in high gear and I figure since I've come this far, why not keep going? I mean, once I quit, I won't want to work up to this mileage ever again.... As you can see, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with running. There are days when I feel incredible and days where I dread running like the plague. I'm told this is normal.

Back to the 10K...Umm, let's just start off by saying you were all right: Mercer Island is NOT flat! I figured that since we'd be running near the water, it couldn't be all that hilly. Think again. I'm pretty sure there was a new, long hill just about every mile which nearly killed me. Oh and then there was the lady at the 2nd to last hill yelling "Last hill! Almost there!" She would have totally gotten my hopes up had I not already seen that the race finished. on. a. hill. (evil!) Instead, I nearly knocked her over and yelled back "No it's not!! There's still a super steep one coming, Lady!" Ok, so I didn't really yell anything but did I mention this race worked me to my core? I found myself really wanting to walk around mile 4.5 or 5 when the hills kept coming and wished there was someone there yelling for me to keep running (maybe I should have appreciated that lady more...) I had lots of time to think of all the ways running a race parallels childbirth and that I was ready for the narcotics right about then. Running is teaching me a lot about myself!

But, I think my "training" (i.e. running while pushing ~80 lbs of kid, car seat and stroller) must have worked in my favor because, surprisingly, I was able to pass a lot of people on the uphill stretches despite my mostly flat training runs. I finished the race in 53 minutes and 56 seconds at a 8:41 min/mile. I didn't really have a goal other than to run the whole way and cross the finish line. But I discovered I was much faster than I realized and was quite pleased with my time. At first when I read the results, I thought it said I got 67th in my division (25-29 year olds) and I couldn't help but think: Forget this!! If I ran THAT hard and still only got 67th in my division, this is NOT worth my while! Wait a second, were there even 67 people in my division? Did they ALL beat me? Anyway, I came to realize I'd misread the results. I actually placed 8th (8th!!!!) in my division (out of 56), 66th out of the 374 females and 173rd out of the 620 racers overall.

My friends Olona and Rachel ran the race with me and were great motivators. Before the race, they almost had me convinced to sign up for the Rock N Roll half marathon in June but then during the race all I could think was "I'm never doing this EVER again!" But then I guess runner's amnesia kicked in (does that exist?) and all of a sudden a 1/2 marathon doesn't sound nearly so bad. I can't believe I'm even saying that!!!! Olona keeps telling me I'm a runner and I think I might be, at least when I have a buddy to talk to and keep me distracted. Yesterday I wanted to prove to myself I wasn't a quitter so went out and ran 7 miles, pushing both girls in the stroller, in the rain. I felt awful and almost quit at least 3 times in the first 20 minutes but I'd told my mom and sister I was going on a "long" run so made myself keep going. And I did it! And felt really good by the end of it (thanks Hunger Games sound recording for keeping me company!)

May 19th. Seattle's Best 15K. Lake Union. We'll see how it goes. If I can comfortably do it, you might just see my name on the registration for the Rock N Roll. Maybe.

Emma: 7 Months

Sweet Emma girl is now "mobile" in that  she started rolling around the room. She loves the freedom both rolling and sitting gives her I think as she was often bored just laying on the floor and now she has the ability to change her scenery. I often find her halfway under the bed or coffee table, just tugging on whatever she can find, usually electrical cords or curtains.

We've added black beans, beef, oatmeal, chicken, sweet potatoes, green peas, apples and bananas to Emma's solid repertoire. All have been accepted favorably except maybe for the black beans which I'm trying to mix with other foods (avocado or sweet potato) as she often gags when I give them to her plain. I couldn't hold myself back and started adding spices and seasonings to the meats. Maybe I should do the same with the beans? Here is an awesome shot of her first time in the big girl high chair at my parents--totally looks like she's drowning in it!

Oh and the peas...she LOVED them but then we proceeded to go through about 6 diapers and 2 1/2 outfits in 4 hours. She ended the play date we were attending naked except for a zip up sweatshirt and a diaper. And she pooped on the carpet. I don't know how it happened exactly but at that point she was topless and just sitting up playing with toys. Next thing I knew, I looked over and there was poo up her back and behind her on the carpet-embarrassing! Needless to say, I'm feeling cautious about trying peas again. At least I know what to give her when she gets stopped up (which she had been prior...)

I must mention one other thing before I move on: Emma has a strange relationship with our Bumbo seat. We have been sitting her in it to feed her solids but that needs to change ASAP. There is something about the positioning of it that makes her poop instantly when she sits in it. Every time. Sorry for the TMI but I've never seen anything like it. It had been just a tiny turd that would get stuck in her crack (a total waste of a diaper) until the peas that is... Thankfully my cousin offered up her Ikea highchair and it seems the bodily functions have died down at dinner time.

We left Emma overnight for the 1st time on our anniversary (can I just say our friends are awesome to take 2 young kids for a night???!) She reportedly woke up earlier than usual at 1 am but then went back to sleep without a bottle and slept until 8 or 8:30!! What? I'm glad to know she's capable of making it through the night without eating but we have yet to be so lucky.

And while I'm on the topic of sleep, we attempted to get rid of the swaddle earlier in the month (by removing one arm at a time) but it went horribly and so when our Dr gave us the ok to continue to swaddle, we happily pulled it back out. But since then, Emma figured out how to roll over to her tummy while swaddled which totally freaked her out so it was truly time to let it go. This time we took it away cold turkey on Sunday and put her in a sleep sack instead. Let's just say we began Monday morning for the day at 4:45 AM. :) But since then night times are better, naps are still a challenge. Now that she has figured out how to roll, she seems to only sleep on her tummy, even though she fights it tooth and nail. I've found her with binky back in mouth after some crying episodes so I think she finally figured out how to put it in her mouth and let go!

Emma is babbling now so we are enjoying lots of "Da-da-da" contributions at our rather chaotic dinner table. The video above portrays this although it's missing Isla's confused exclaimation "Mom! Why is she calling you Da-da!?"
Emma loves being held (and you can't leave the room or set her down if she's over-tired), but she's overall a happy and very easily entertained baby when left sitting with a toy or her big sister...

Isla: 2 Years, 7 Months

 This big girl is becoming quite the little ham! She loves to make cheesy faces (good pictures are hard to come by these days) and show off when any company is around yet she also has a shy side to her as well. It's difficult to say at this point whether she's an extrovert or introvert but it sure is fun to see her personality shine! Isla loves people watching and wants to know the names of everyone we pass but refuses to ask them herself. She is very independent right now and wants to do everything by herself (pick her clothes, buckle her carseat, wash her hands).

She comes up with the funniest little phrases. Her latest is "Are you going to ______ (insert a whole multitude of activities: get dressed, put on your shoes, go potty etc)? Or not?" I don't know where the "or not" part came from but she says it all the time. The other night I was trying to get dinner on the table (which has become quite chaotic lately when Graham is working--cooking for Isla and I, getting Emma's food ready and all the while trying to entertain a baby who needs to nurse, eat solids and be in bed 5 minutes ago....) Anyway, back to the other night. I'm trying to dish up Isla's plate in between slipping spoonfuls of solids to Emma who is screeching every time time she is not receiving a bite, and also trying to feed myself somewhere in there. Isla had placed Ducky in an open seat at the table and she looks at me and in a totally no-duh sort of tone goes "Are you going to feed Ducky or not?" Ummm. Not!! Sorry girlfriend, but the live objects at the table take priority!

 I honestly could not have asked for a better relationship between Isla and Emma. Isla just adores her and is such a big help to me in keeping her entertained. That's one "easy" thing about having two--they occupy each other!!!

We got to go away for our anniversary and Isla stayed with our friends the Welchs. She is very much in the what and why phase and reportedly asked them what everything in their house was. Multiple times. She was also quite obsessed with their dog Clover and would not stop asking "Where's Clover's poop?" That's my girl!

Isla got to come and watch me run my 10K on Sunday. On Monday, she woke up and immediately wanted to go for a run herself. She loaded Ducky into her stroller and tied her "dog" (the pink balloon--her own idea!) to it and raced around the house. She named her dog "Marfa" (Martha), just like our friends' greyhound. Too funny!

 We've entered into a new phase of disobedience over the past few weeks that has been somewhat trying. Isla is testing, testing, testing and we are working on teaching her to obey the FIRST time. I've found myself, without realizing it asking her to do things over and over because it's hard to figure how much of it is that she's an easily-distracted 2-year-old and how much of it is defiance. Well, the defiance piece is a little more obvious these days (i.e. she runs the other way when we ask her to come here) so I'm focusing on following through if she doesn't obey the first time. Easier said than done!

After Isla has a time out, we always go to her and ask "Isla, do you know why you had a time out?" She started responding with "Wud I do, Mom?" and I have to fight so hard not to laugh every time!

Isla's current favorites include going to the library, feeding her Ducky and babies in Emma's new-to-us high chair, going to the park to swing on swings), going to the mall (I'm serious-she asks to do it almost every day), visiting coffee shops, painting, eating snacks (ok, that's not a new one!), and sitting on Mommy's potty (an attempt to let her feel in control to see if we make any progress!)

We have been working on identifying the letters and sounds of the alphabet. Isla has mastered "I for Isla, E for Emma, C for Crozier" and a few others. She finds them all over books and signs now which is fun. She also really enjoys it when we name all the things that we can think of that start with each letter. I usually say something like "C is for ____" and then make the "c" sound and let her fill in the blank with cat or car or what have you. The other day we started with A and wouldn't you know it, the first thing out of her mouth was "A is for a$$!!" I'm not joking. She does NOT hear that word in our household so I'm not sure if she thought she was making up a word or what. I tried SO hard not to give her any response but kids are amazing. They somehow just know they said something that riled you up so she proceeded to repeat it a few times. Oh Isla! :)

And lastly, Isla was soooo excited to realize that Daddy had a Sounders shirt, just like hers so they wore them together on Wednesday. She kept repeating "Daddy, you have a Sounders shirt too!??" She can kick a ball pretty well and we're trying to keep her to catch one but she continues to call all sports baseball. Or "baseketball" (now that's a new one!) Neither of us anticipate she'll have a career in athletics (coordination isn't her forte just yet) but one never knows!!

The Living Room

Our living room has been in desperate need of a little pick-me-up. We painted a lipstick red accent wall when we first moved in which we both have loved. But after spending a dark winter almost entirely at home while on maternity leave, I questioned whether we should go back to a more neutral color to add some cheer and make the room feel bigger. In the end, Graham still wanted to keep the wall red so I had to attack something else to satisfy my need for change. We purchased our Pottery Barn couch on Craigslist awhile back and it came with these drab, orangy-brown throw pillows "from Singapore" (or so we were told). Graham's always hated them and I got so used to them I never really noticed they didn't even match the room! When I was ordering the fabric for my dining chairs, I needed to spend only a few more dollars in order to get free shipping so thought, Why not pick out something to use to recover the pillows? I found this blog which I followed to make the easy-to-remove patterned covers and I was able to whip one out in less time than it took to watch an episode of Portlandia. Ironically enough, the blogger used a fabric nearly identical to the one I'd chosen! I just so happened to be at Costco last week and spotted the solid red pillows that matched perfectly and were CHEAP so I grabbed 'em. I couldn't have recovered mine for that price.

Here is the living room with the old hodge podge of pillows BEFORE:

 And now AFTER:

Next up? The lampshades!!

Sweet Moments

Yesterday I got to take Isla on a mommy/daughter date. At first when I told her she got to go on a date with me all by herself, she kept asking if we could bring Emma (so sweet). Then I told her "This time, it's going to be just you and me!" Her face lit up and then the whole rest of the day she kept exclaiming "Just you and me!" It made both of our day, I'm pretty sure. We went to our favorite Kirkland coffee shop, Urban Coffee Lounge, and sat at a sunny window table that was prime for people-watching. Isla kept tabs on everyone in the place and loved watching the kids and dogs play around the fountain outside. She even noticed a pregnant woman and asked "That lady have a baby in her tummy?" She is so observant! We talked for a bit, ate a snack and practiced writing her name. "I is a straight line!" I gave her a penny to throw in the fountain as a special treat. On the way back to the car, we stopped at a construction site we'd been eying from the coffee shop. Isla was completely fascinated by the crane and so we stayed awhile to watch it pick up huge buckets of cement to move and pour to create the foundation.

These are sweet, sweet moments and I want to cherish them as best I can. I hope our little date lifted Isla's spirit as much as it did mine. And I pray that I will continue to learn to slow down and savor the little things with my girls.

"New" dining area

I finally completed a project!! Let me present to you our kitchen table before.....

 ....and after!

Before

 After

Before and after

 I am in love with the final result and I'm pretty sure every single person that has walked in our home since I did the reupholstering has commented about how much they love our chairs. The fabric is resisting spills just as I'd hoped and I like that I can see the 3 chairs at the bar from the living room which brings the two rooms together. And the final cost? About $28--MUCH cheaper than a new dining set! 

Isla: 2 1/2 (30 Months)

Isla is officially 2 1/2!! We celebrated her 1/2 birthday along with my brother's birthday by going bowling. It was her first time and she did great (and I did really well too after she left because I got to use her bumpers!)

She is totally obsessed with the "Where's Spot?" books right now. Every time we go to the library, we check out 3 of them and they are pretty much all she chooses to read until we go to the library again and swap them out. So it seemed fitting to make Where's Spot cupcakes for her half birthday dessert. Maybe I should be proud that she doesn't have more of a sweet tooth but I must admit I was a little disappointed when she took a couple bites and then asked to be excused. But that was only after asking Grandma and Grandpa W to sing her Happy Half Birthday again with candles re-lit and everything.

We got her an adorable "pack pack" (backpack) as she calls it and she has been wearing it proudly ever since. It was a win-win gift really as the diaper bag has been overflowing with both of the girls' stuff.

As for other highlights about Isla this month, she is a total morning person! Even when we have to get her out of bed just before 6 AM to leave for work, she jumps up and excitedly tells us "Good morning!!!" She has a superb memory too. If we tell her what we are doing the next day as we are we are putting her to bed, it is the first thing she talks about in the morning.

Isla's mothering instincts are in full force. She loves to read to Emma and "help" her roll over. I love how at the beginning of this video how she tells Emma "Jesus asks that we obey!" as she reads her a Bible story.

Unfortunately, Isla picked up the phrase "I don't like it" somewhere along the line. She doesn't use it very often but pulls it out every once in a while at the dinner table. We've hit a few food jags (her never-ending desire for bread and pasta!) but all in all I'd say she's a pretty good eater. And her fiber intake is as high as any adult I know with the amount of raisin bran she puts away! She has also gotten really into pb & js this month. It used to be that she wouldn’t touch anything with peanut butter and I was beginning to question how she could possibly be my offspring! I think she thinks peanut butter and jelly are an all-inclusive sort of thing though as she doesn’t want one without the other. She loves dipping things and can often be caught licking lettuce leaves to get the dressing or the other day I spotted her dipping her pears in ketchup...

We have entered the phase of pretend play and imagination! Isla now spends a good portion of the day "playing house" with her tent, going shopping with her shopping cart, putting her babies (and water bottle!)down for naps, pouring coffee or making soup for Graham and I etc etc. It's really quite fun to watch. She is also really enjoying having us tell her stories. This is exciting for Graham and totally petrifying for me. It has illuminated the fact that I tell unbelievably boring stories and that I led a relatively risk-free/unadventurous childhood. I remember my Dad telling us stories about the time he crashed his sled into the blackberry bushes or the time he got a splinter in his bottom...man, I guess I haven't lived! I will work on that so I can share more thrilling stories.

Isla loves going shopping or running errands with me. I, of course, love going alone if ever the opportunity arises but this causes great disappointment for Isla. Her very favorite continues to be Trader Joe's (where she gets to push her own mini cart) and Fred Meyer/Safeway (where she gets to ride in the car cart).

Speaking of running errands, having a 2 year old is a good reminder just how odd figures of speech can be. The other day I asked Isla if she wanted to run errands with me and she said "YES!!!" Then the whole time we were out and about, she kept asking when I was going to actually RUN. I had a hard time explaining that one to her. Then a couple days ago, we were driving home from somewhere and I got really tired. I said "Wow Isla. I've really hit a wall!" I realized right away that I need to figure out another way to express my weariness! She must think I'm nuts.

Isla somehow has figured out technology without us even having to teach her. A couple weeks ago, Graham was using his ipod Touch. Out of nowhere, Isla walked up, grabbed it from him and said "Daddy, I show you!" and proceeded to scroll through and show him the various app options. Uhhhhhhh, thanks Isla? Apparently it's time to talk about screen time (i.e. take that thing away from her!)

She continues to be quite independent, and, shall I say, type A? She likes to hold her books all by herself, even if it means we can’t see the words to read it to her. Graham also noticed the other day that she’d laid one toy or doll on each step, in a nice straight line on the right side of our staircase. I PROMISE I didn’t teach her to do that!

Other tidbits I don’t want to forget:

-She always wants to be included when Graham and I are hugging so family hugs in the kitchen are rapidly becoming a commonplace.

-She (finally!) started saying “I love you” back when I say it to her!! Apparently all it took was my telling her “You can say that back to me when I say it to you, you know.” Now she says it at random and I just can’t get enough of it! The other day she even said “Thank you for loving me, Mommy!”

-Her latest coin phrase is “Yes I did!” and she uses it very emphatically throughout the day in response to almost anything. I need to record it on video because she has such a great tone of voice when she says it.

-She finally (and unfortunately!) figured out how to open our doors. Major bummer for me but she’s pretty thrilled about it! She loves “checking” on Emma when she’s napping…

-She fell into a fabulous nap rhythm over the past month where her nap length extended to about 2 hours minimum. She used to nap for only an hour or hour and a half but this two hour plus thing is awesome! And she sleeps from ~7:30 PM-7:30 AM at night.

-She loves going to the park and will spend the entire time on the swing if allowed.

What's For Dinner?

I love trying new recipes and seeing my dinner menu for the week fills me with more excitement than a kid in a candy store. In fact, I even told Graham last night as we were reminiscing over our almost 5 years of marriage "If we get to be married another 50 years, think of all the recipes we will get to try!!!" I think he was expecting me to say something a little more sentimental but hey, I have many wonderful memories that involve food.

Soooo, what are we eating this week? We tried Cooking Light's Orecchiette with Kale, Bacon and Sun-dried Tomatoes on Monday and it was well liked by all. It was super fast and utilized our current favorite veggie: kale!

Graham convinced me to give Bon Appetit's Ham and Cheese Waffles a whirl later on in the week. I refuse to used the 2 sticks of butter it calls for so will be doing my best to tweak it to make it more "healthy," but I will admit I do love breakfast for dinner! We started subscribing to Bon Appetit magazine about a year or two ago. We both love it but unfortunately it has caused Graham to view the fat content in my Cooking Light magazines to be subpar....

Tonight we are going to try Swedish Meatballs, Ikea style with Lingonberry jam and everything! I think we'll serve them with mashed yukons and roasted asparagus.
Graham made a request for our go-to favorite Bolognese recipe from my Gourmet cookbook. We were on a huge bolognese kick awhile back whenever we went out to Italian but we have since stopped ordering it because we always end up liking this version better.

Oh and lest I forget Graham's Chorizo and Gigante Bean Cassoulet! He made this on Saturday and it was incredible!!! I am normally not drawn to recipes with beans (horrid I know since I'm the fiber queen AND a dietitian...) but this was sooooo good. We used dried large lima beans instead of the gigante beans and hot Italian sausage instead of the chorizo (which, as it turns out, is incredibly hard to find in link form).

I will have leftover white cheddar cheese from our dinner waffles so I plan to try this Sweet Potato Soup with Curried Cheddar Cheese Crisps from Better Homes and Garden. It looks super simple but who doesn't love a creamy soup? Of course, I think I'll use some half and half in place of all that cream!!

Then lastly, we are going to have these Croques Monsieur sandwiches for a quick work night meal (again using less butter than the recipe calls for!)

It's shaping up to be a good week of eats! Hopefully this list inspires any readers in a dinnertime rut!

So thankful (checking off the bucket list...)

I went to bed last night so grateful! Oh how the Lord knows me and knows when I am about to totally lose it! I feel like my previous post needs an addendum as God is really showing himself to me right now. On Sunday (the day after I last posted), the girls took long afternoon naps that overlapped by ~1 1/2 hour. It was incredible and magical and something I could totally get used to! I was able to sit next to Graham during that time while he wrote a paper--there is something about being next to a person when they have been gone a lot--though we both sat with computers in lap, working on our own things, it was wonderful. Then that night, while I was at a MOPS meeting, a sweet friend sent me a text to say I needed a date and could she please watch the girls? I'm totally serious and spoiled.

On Monday, Isla did the unheard of and slept in until 9:30 AM!!!! For a girl who has woken up religiously between 7 and 7:30 for over a year, this was incredible. I put Emma down for her morning nap and once again found myself with an hour of time to myself which I used to finish reading my square foot gardening book. That afternoon, I was able to book appointments to a) get my haircut, b) get the carpet cleaned (something I've been wanting since before Isla was born) and c) set up a time to go to the dentist (not something I'm looking forward to but hey, it needed to be done!) 

Then yesterday, Graham knew I needed a day "off" from the normal routine so sent me to Home Depot with his gift card to buy the soil ingredients I need to get my garden going. After lunch, he shooed me off to Starbucks where I was able to pound out a couple hours of MOPS tasks that had been piling up with my lack of free time. And the barista just so happened to forget to make my drink so gave me TWO coupons for free drinks next time--3 for the price of 1! Oh and you know what Graham did while I was gone? He cleaned the house-a task he has not been able to help out with for quite some time.

Last night we got to go out on our little date and it was totally refreshing and wonderful and so here I sit with a full and thankful heart. Oh and did I mention that my Dad was declared CANCER FREE last week?!!!? More on that later but I just feel so passionate right now that the Lord knows how much we can handle and that He truly sustained me his week and said "I've got this" when I was feeling about ready to totally lose it.  I am so thankful!

Today's Bucket List

If I had all the resources in the world today (time, money, supernatural mothering capabilities), I would do the following:

-Make reservations at The Herb Farm to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary in two weeks. Dream on sister, I know. I keep telling Graham that I'm still hopeful an extra $500 is going to show up in the mail to make this one possible. He seems doubtful. But, to his credit, we played a rendition of The Newlywed Game with some friends a couple weeks ago and one of the questions was: "If you were given an extra $500, how would you spend it?" Guess what he said? He said he'd take me to The Herb Farm for our anniversary!! What a guy!

-Teach my children to nap at the same time. I think it is safe to say I am about to go insane. Free time is not in Graham's vocabulary at present. He's either a) at work b) at a coffee shop writing a paper c) in class or d) sleeping. And the girls have been perfectly alternating their naps for about 2 months now. I thought it was hard with one kid but two? Waaa, waa, waa, I know but seriously, this is HARD.

-Go get my haircut! I honestly can't recall whether I've had my haircut since having Emma. I went back to work last week and after spending 30 minutes trying to do my hair in the morning, I looked in the mirror at work and saw that my post-baby kinky crazy hair had reemerged despite my straightening efforts. GASP! I totally looked like a mother of two!!!

-Go somewhere, anywhere for 4, maybe 5 hours. Like shopping. Or sitting at a coffee shop and reading/blogging.

-Book a trip. Europe would be lovely, but really anywhere would be nice. It's that seeing it written in PEN on the calendar that I'd like-a trip to look forward to.

-Set up weekly dates with Graham. I love that man. And I miss him too. I can do this! 9 more days until the quarter ends!

-Buy new running shoes. I've had mine since pre-Isla. Oops.

-Shop for skinny jeans. This one is mostly to make my hubby happy. The bonus is that I'd get to wear my cool boots just that much more if I had me a pair of these.

-Find some closed-toed black dress shoes. Apparently I threw all mine away? I realized that the day before I went back to work....

-Get Emma to sleep through the night.

-Read my book on Square Food Gardening. And then go out and buy my soil and compost so I'm ready to plant when my seeds arrive!

-Figure out a way to have a few hours to myself each week. (See almost all of the above). :)

These are the things I would do today if I had endless resources. I like lists so writing these things out is helpful to me so I can refer back (ok, let's be honest--so that I can remember what is was I wanted to do--I'm still infected with "baby brain"). I certainly can't do them all but, I CAN do some. So I'm gonna!!!

It's that time of year again...

It's almost spring! And we all know what that means.....time to put some seeds in the soil! I'm excited because in a couple weeks we will celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. Apparently the traditional gift for 5 years of marriage is something made of wood so how perfect is it that I would request a new garden planter this year? My father-in-law ever so kindly agreed to make me one and I plan to try my thumb at square foot gardening, thanks to the recommendation of my mom. I have a book on hold at the library that I hope will offer a little more insight but it seems like a pretty effective way of growing the most bang for my buck in my limited space. My planter is going to be 2' x 6' which will give me 12 squares to work with. I just placed an order last night for the following: bush beans, both red and golden beets, a broccoli seed that is sort of a cross between traditional broccoli and broccoli rabe, carrots, arugula, a variety of lettuces (including romaine) and kale. I am so excited (and hopeful!) that I will be successful. I plan to do hanging tomato plants and strawberries again and will probably add some cilantro, basil and maybe chives somewhere in there as well. I moved my rhubarb out of a planter and into one of my garden beds at the end of last year and was pleased to see some buds on it yesterday. Hooray! I didn't kill it!