2013 – A Look Back

Highlights from 2013..

Around the World in 2013 – Know your history!! Key events from around the world for the year 2013 can be found here, here, and here.

Image courtesy of here.

Personal highlights

• Finally started my own blog. Hopefully 2014 will bring more dedication to actually posting on regular basis though.
• Really dug in to beginning “DIY/Natural homemade lifestyle”. Some recipes that I made and actually continue to use include cleaning products, facial toner (this recipe), laundry detergent, and no-poo hair routine (similar to this routine). Made first ever maxi skirt (used this tutorial) and dyed my own shorts for summer. Actually completed some crafts that I have “pinned” on Pinterest and pictured in my head including turning wooden crates to bedside tables, door hanger, and flower tower.
• Had a column published in the  local newspaper. And actually was paid for it!
• Completed 12 hours towards my Master’s degree, while still working full-time and continuing to grow in expectations/responsibilities at work.
• Was successful at first ever public speaking engagement that was actually for my job rather than for a grade in school.
• Quit smoking!

Jekyll Island, Georgia – first full family vacation where Ronnie Dean got to experience a full week of vacationing with my family, and my family experienced a full week of vacationing with Ronnie Dean. This included:

• Ronnie Dean was able to truly experience my sister’s love of “birding” – as in every time she yelled at Dad to randomly pull over on the side of the highway for a picture of a “rare” bird.
• The family experienced the Montgomery focus and dedication when discovering a new way of hobby. Ronnie and I discovered the “old school” way of catching blue crab, and Ronnie also got to walk along the beach with a homemade spotlight looking to “spear” fish. Although they have heard me talk about it, they finally experienced first hand how Ronnie Dean is like a kid on Christmas morning when discovering a new kind of “hunting”. Poor Dad did not realize that staying with his daughter and son-in-law on the beach to catch crabs would last until 2:00 in the morning.
• This family vacation also provided Ronnie Dean’s first actual flight and the first time we actually flew together. Saw Captain Sig Hansen from Deadliest Catch tv show in the Atlanta airport – Ronnie Dean got pretty excited! 😉
• Ronnie Dean and I discovered that no matter where we go, we can always find a fellow “redneck” to discuss fishing/hunting and the different techniques in different parts of the United States, hence the “old school” crabbing and the spear fishing.
• Whole family went deep-sea fishing. It was fun seeing my parents and sister, especially my mom and sister, reeling in the black sea bass. They even touched the fish! And of course we have the large fish we caught at the taxidermy to go on our wall and the piece of driftwood hand chosen by Ronnie Dean on driftwood beach for the fish to be mounted on!

Mom caught a fish!

Catching our blue crabs!

Found a baby shark washed up on beach.

Sums up our goofy family.. and yes we actually did pedal that thing around a parking lot!

Ronnie Dean’s favorite piece of driftwood ever!

Ronnie Dean and his crab

Hunting highlights

• Ronnie Dean broke his bad hunting streak and got that buck he has worked towards. Plus the freezer is full of venison!
• Got my first coyote!

Ronnie’s buck! Dec. 15th

First ‘yote! Dec. 1st

Family highlights

• Ronnie Dean and I grew our first garden. And plants actually grew!! Abundantly!! We  are loaded down with pickles and peppers still. First garden and canning adventures were a success. This also led to my first ever HOMEMADE PIZZA!! and it was actually tasty!
• Celebrated our third year of marriage, September 18th.
• Our slobbery bloodhound turned three, July 18th.

Pickle anyone?

Canned tomatoes…

Pepper anyone?

Bountiful harvest

It has been an eventful year with lots memories made. However as with everything I saved the most important change/highlight of 2013 for last. This past year, Ronnie Dean and I made the decision that we were ready to expand our little family. I did not refill my birth control prescription for June and we made the decision to not exactly “try” but rather to quit trying to prevent it and if it happened, it happened. In all honestly, we thought it would take months for the birth control to get out my system and there was no reason to stress/rush the process. Well needless to say what we thought would probably take months to happen, actually took less than a month. (Yes, turns out I was actually pregnant when we went on that family vacation. In fact, my sister informed me last night that while on vacation, she actually asked Mom if she thought I might be pregnant!)

As of today, December 31, 2013, the last day of the 2013, I am 26 weeks and 5 days (based on my estimated due date). The baby is around 14-15 inches from crown to heal and weighs around 1.6 to 2.2 pounds. (Based upon three different pregnancy apps.)

Miss Harley Cheyenne Montgomery is expected to be here April 3, 2014.

Gender reveal picture…

Harley Cheyenne

Oak’s even trying to bond with the baby.

Christmas 2013. Next year baby will be in picture (and Ronnie Dean will probably still be in camo! 😉

Needless to say, 2013 was an excited year with lots of memories made and milestones. However, the year two thousand and fourteen is shaping up to be the most life-changing so far, and I for one cannot wait!

Happy Birthday Oak!

Happy Birthday Oak!! Our pretty boy is 3 years old today!!

He is goofy, loud, slobbery, wrinkly, big, stubborn, hungry, playful, hairy and a complete mess. He is our “child”, and he loves us unconditionally!

Take a look back at the past three years of the crazy, loopy, howlin’ bloodhound that we call Oak!

“A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty.” ― John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog

Thanks Mom!! My Mandolin Slicer

So yes, I am a dork. I am thanking my mom for a mandolin slicer. Back-story: my mom gave this to me over a year ago. We tried it out while she was at my house with an orange. It made a mess; I think we did it wrong. Ever since, it has been in its box in the back of cabinet. Last night, I decided to make zucchini pickles and was DREADING having to cut all the slices. I can never cut them even, and it just takes forever. Then I remembered that weird little slicer in the back of the cabinet. I decided to give it a shot, and the outcome: IT’S AWESOME!!! My slices were perfect, and it took no time to slice the veggies. YAY!

So we are starting to get quite a few zucchini from the garden, and with the hubs on the road this week I am tired of trying to eat them all by myself. So after giving some away, I headed to Pinterest to find a zucchini pickle recipe.

PERFECT SLICES!!

I found this Pickled Zucchini Recipe at neckredrecipe.blogspot.com. Really simple recipe.

Sunday Afternoon Door Hanger

Yesterday afternoon I had time to kill so I decided to make decor for my front door.

 For this project, I used an old frame I had, plus letters purchased from Hobby Lobby for our initials. As you can see, my “M” broke in half, which was quickly remedied with a hot glue gun and duck tape. 😉

First I painted the letters and frame green. It looked a little plain to me, so I dug into my paint stash and found pink, white, and blue paint. 

I used a skinny paint brush to paint white on the frame. I added pink and white lines with blue dots on the letters.

After the paint was dry, I used clear fishing line to tie the letters together and attach to the frame. It still needed something extra, so I used colored burlap and burlap flowers (both purchased from Hobby Lobby) to add some depth. The door hook was also purchased at Hobby Lobby – I just love that place!

Oak keeping me company in the garage while I paint! Ain’t he cute??

Finished door hanger for the front door! All together this project took me a couple of hours, including time for the paint to dry.

Happy Memorial Day!

Before I begin this blog post, I just want to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day!!! God bless our troops – past and present! Thank you for your service and dedication to this wonderful country!

Free image from new blog I found here.

For the past several years, my husband and I celebrated Memorial Day weekend at the lake. This involves fighting with the pontoon to get it running after sitting still all winter, cleaning up a bit around the camper, meeting up with our “lake friends”, and working on our tans (or sunburn in my case). This year however, we decided to stick around the house, get some yard work done, and (for me) complete a D.I.Y. project that I have had my eye on. I will admit, I was a little upset at staying at home – I was really looking forward to getting out of town, swimming, and perhaps trolling some flea markets and yard sales around the lake. However, I must say I actually enjoyed just relaxing at the house on my four day weekend. This is a little what my extra long weekend involved…..

Friday, I decided to travel to a nearby town and check out some flea markets. Although I didn’t find anything I just had to have, it was quite relaxing. I did find some elephant decor that made me think of my elephant-obsessed coworker! Her blog (www.elephantgrace.com) is actually one that helped inspire and encourage me to create my own.

Turned some plain wood crates into new night stands for the guest bedroom. Blog post on that project coming soon!

Warning! If you happen to get wood stain on you, your legs WILL be stained for a couple of days! Needless to say, I could not wear shorts in public for most of the weekend.

Although my husband has gotten to go fishing several time this year, I finally got the chance to tag along! First catch of the year (for me at least)!!!

Weeding my garden was spread out over all four days. My garden makes me so happy!!

Radishes fresh from the garden!!

Found this recipe for pickled radishes here and here.

Along with my co-chefs, made some pretty awesome radish dip with this recipe.

Of course our Sunday afternoon was planned around the big race and grilling some burgers. While my husband and friends watched NASCAR, my previously mentioned co-chefs and I built a sleeping bag tent in the kitchen!

Oak won that wrestling match!

Poor Oak was wore out by the end of the weekend!

Hope you had a good weekend and enjoy this short work week!!

The past two weeks…

As my computer decided to crash two weeks ago, and I have yet to get a new one, I am a little behind on posting. So as I am posting from my phone, I’ll give ya a quick photo tour of the past two weeks of my lovely world. Hope you enjoy!

It’s been a fun two weeks that have included gardening (making my flowerbed, trees, and window boxes look pretty), a quilt show with my grandma, fun times at work (enjoying our strawberries and making-or watching my coworker make-a watermelon baby for a baby shower at work), and having some redneck fun (scouting for turkey, dirt track races, and eating some good ol mudbugs with good friends)!

My life may seem country, and perhaps a bit redneck, but sure is wonderful!

Easter fun with my little family!

Usually for Easter Sunday, my husband and I attend church, hunt eggs at his Mom’s with his nieces and nephews, and then drive an hour to eat Easter dinner with my family. Although we love seeing everybody, we are always rushed like crazy! This year we planned it a little different.

This year we kept it simple and decided to have our own easter egg hunt, but with a twist. You see, our “child” is a bloodhound named Oak, and he is not really interested in Easter eggs. So we held our own “hotdog hunt” just for Oak in our backyard.

It was a lot of fun! And Oak even used his nose to find those hotdogs! It was a different Easter for us, but I enjoyed spending it with my little family hunting for hot dogs!

P.S. if you try this- remember where you hid those hot dog pieces! I forgot where I put half the pieces, which made for a very interesting hunt! 🙂

Make your own freezer burritos! – Shutterbean

Make your own freezer burritos! – Shutterbean.

I have to remember this!!!

We always buy the prepackaged, microwavable burritos at WalMart/Kroger!  This looks so much better and pretty easy too! Putting it on my do to list this weekend!

Talking the talk, but am I walking the walk?

My job is recycling.  I was hired to maintain the Recycling Grants program and develop a recycling education program for a six county Solid Waste District. This includes coordinating the office recycling program, helping cities and counties develop recycling programs, and promote recycling in schools.  I help coordinate community-wide recycling events and workshops and educate people on why they should do it.

REDUCE. REUSE. RECYCLE.

That is my motto…..  That is what I preach… That is what I do…..  at least I do at work.

My friend came to see me at work yesterday.  As we were talking about my new position, she asked me a very pertinent question, “How are your recycling activities going at home, away from the office?  Do you practice what you preach?”  Red-faced and guilty-feeling I had to admit that my recycling activities at home are non-existent.  Whoops! Guess I am much better at running my mouth about what others should do, while not actually practicing what I preach. I was asked this yesterday, and it has bugged me ever since.  Why don’t we recycle cans or glass bottles at home?  Why do I just throw my paper away when we have a recycling facility in town that takes it? This bugged me all afternoon yesterday and was weighing heavily on my mind when I got home.  I really don’t do anything to recycle??  AM I REALLY THAT WASTEFUL! 

As I worked around the house, got supper together, did laundry, made another batch of fabric softener (that’s my next blog post), and other wifely duties, I started realizing that I am practicing the “reuse” part of my talk.  The glass jar full of tea that I just handed my husband was actually an old spaghetti (cleaned and sanitized) jar, the trash bags I use in the bathrooms and laundry rooms are actually Wal-Mart sacks rather than the smaller waste bags, my homemade fabric softener container is an old commercial fabric softener container, and that stack of newspaper in my garage will actually be in my flower bed before too long (future blog post).  I realized that while there is so much more I could do, I have already started recycling in some ways. Below are just a few examples.  I also use cardboard and newspaper in the garden (smaller boxes work good to hold Tupperware and Walmart trash-bags under the kitchen and bathroom counter).  If it is a sturdy plastic food container, I keep it to take food to the lake or for other storage (I use a sturdy plastic container frozen strawberries came in to hold my baking soda and a large Folgers coffee container works perfect for a big batch of potato salad for a weekend lake trip.)

Glass jars can be used for anything, including holding homemade facial scrubs and cooking utensils. I refuse to throw any away!

Unstoppable containers are PERFECT to hold my laundry detergent. Laundry detergent container is perfect for homemade fabric softener.

Three different shirts. All are worn out/have holes. Use fabric for scarf!

Garden Border OR Fishing Pole Holder

There is always more I can do.  I am starting to compost, coming up with “new” uses for “old” items, and taking every opportunity to reduce the unnecessary waste I bring in the house.  As I grow the Montgomery Household Recycling Program, I will be sure to give updates and share any useful tips (and pics) I find along the way.