The Reason Why I Bought a Mini Van

 

I bought a mini van last summer and this is the primary reason why:  my bikes.  I rigged up my bike rack in the back with two front shock mounts.  It fits both of my bikes plus all my gear, clothes and towels for clean-up afterwards.  I can safely keep my bikes in the back of my van all day long in the parking garage at work or sitting at home.  I'm ready to hit the trails and I can decide which bike to ride when I get to the trail head.  How convenient! 

Now, let's go ride our bikes!

Gardening Update

Our garden is growing.  Our indoor plantings are coming right along.  Our peas are growing rapidly.  We enjoyed our first bounty from the garden in dinner last night.  Grilled asparagus!  Delicious!!  We also planted vidalia and candy onions last night.

Here are photos of our indoor plants progress.

Trail Workday

I have been biking for 10 years and Saturday marked my first trail workday ever!  It's about time I did some work on the trails that I have been so fortunate to be riding in my backyard for so many years. 

We worked on the downhill section at the end of Trail 7 at Black Partridge.  Here's pictures of the trail and berm/retaining wall.  We rode Sunday afternoon and it is smooth!!  So sweet!  Plan on riding it again tonight!

A few spring wildflowers were blooming and I got to see Dutchman's Breeches and Prairie Trillium.

Honeymoon is Booked!

We are going to the Riviera Maya in Mexico and staying at the Secrets Maroma Beach Resort!  The photos are gorgeous and it looks fabulous!  Can't wait to lounge around on the beach with my husband!

Here's the link to the website.  Check it out.

http://www.secretsresorts.com/maroma/#

St. Louis Weekend

Mike & I visited my brother, Jim and sister-in-law, Rosemary in St. Louis this weekend.  We went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens Saturday and it was a beautiful day.  The cherry trees, daffodils, magnolias, and many more plants were in full blossom! 

 There was this really cool blown glass sculpture hanging in the foyer. 

Once we got back home, the rain storms came blasting down.  Rosemary and I were caught at the
nursery, luckily we were inside.  We waited the storm out then did some errands to some of my favorite places around their neighborhood.  The Herbarium (www.herbariasoap.com) to get some essential oils and soap, Sweet Art (sweetartstl.com/index2.phpto) get a delicious cupcake and cookies, Volpi to get some pepperoni and sausage for homemade pizza for dinner.

Here's what dinner looked like.  It was so Yummy!!!

On Sunday we went to church and had lunch at Rooster. http://roosterstl.com/.  Very delicious too!
We checked out the garden before leaving and said goodbye to 'the girls' aka the chickens.

Jim's handiwork.  One of his butterfly & bee boxes.

Gardening 2012

So, if you know me, I can't keep plants alive.  I've only attempted to grow patio cherry tomato's which resulted in yes, 1 tomato.  I attempted rosemary and failed.  I've killed a handfull of house plants.  Now that you know my track record, Mike wants me to join him this year in planting and caring for the garden.  Mike has a green thumb.  He grew up with a huge garden at his parents and he has had one at his house the last few years.  I will say that  I enjoyed the fresh veggies last summer and fall.  Walking outside and picking dinner is very satisfying.  This year Mike wants me to have some more ownership in the garden.  So, I'll say that I'm his apprentice.

We planted some veggies on Sunday and they are germinating in his basement.  We planted a variety of tomato's, lettuce, peppers (yellow, red, orange, purple and green), chamomile, lavender, marigolds, peas, broccoli.  We will add more plants in the coming weeks.

Mike, being the engineer that he is, built shelves and hung lights above them.  He has a heating pad under the plants and is keeping them at a good 75 degrees.  I checked on them this morning and the marigolds are coming up already!  I think this will be fun.  I will get discouraged if Mike doesn't put up a fence to keep out the deer.  I don't want them eating all our hard work.  Stay tuned for more gardening in the Staub house.

Suprise for Mike

As I was driving home from work yesterday and it said that it was 67 degrees outside I just had to get outside but my bikes were at Mike's house.  So, what's a girl to do?  I ran home, did a touch and go to grab my bike riding clothes.  Drove over to Mike's and took off for Black Partridge on my bike.  Mike was already on the trail, as I assumed since he didn't answer my phone call or text.  So, I thought of I'd surprise him. 

I rode the mile to Black Partridge just hoping I would run into him on the trails, and if I didn't I knew that I would see him at his house afterwards.  Just as I was approaching the parking lot trailhead, I saw him come out of the woods.  Perfect timing! 

I surprised him since I was the last person he thought of seeing out there last night.  We took a quick ride together and did Trail 6 before the sun went down.  Headed home to enjoy some Corona's and grilled chicken.  It was a perfect spring night.  Let's keep this weather going.  Plan on riding again tonight.

12.1.12

That's my wedding date!  It's 9 months away and our first meeting with Fr. Terry is tonight.

Getting married at St. Patrick's Church in Washington, IL
Reception at The Waterhouse in Peoria, IL
Dress is purchased!


It's reassuring that I really like to plan things and I hope that I don't get overwhelmed and anxious. 

 CHEERS!!