Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Harrell!

Our friends, Zack and Hope Harrell got married a couple weekends ago in Parkersburg, WVa. Zack's dad, Pastor Brian Harrell, married Bryce and I, as well as Zack and Hope. We had so much fun celebrating with them. I got to go to Hope's bachelorette party/bridal shower on Thursday, we got to go to the Rehearsal dinner on Friday, and then to the big day on Saturday. It was really special watching Brian marry his son. It was the second time I've seen that-the first was Mr. Brereton marrying Emily and Tim! The church had an awesome organ up front. The reception was also a beautiful setting, with a big balcony overlooking a pristine golf course. Congratulations guys!

Co-Op

We joined our first ever "Co-Op" through Sausser Farms this year. Basically, it eliminates the middle man (grocery stores) and we get our fruits and veggies directly from the farmers. We paid one price for 5 lbs of produce for 24 weeks starting June 1st, plus a pumpkin and several ears of corn are included. The people at Sausser Farms have been so nice and helpful. It's pretty popular, and usually I try to stop there early during their business hours, so there's more variety of produce available. You should check out their website. If you live in the area, you can still stop by their shop, off of 460 between Blacksburg and Christiansburg, to buy fresh produce at a better price than grocery stores. Whether you do or don't live here, you should look into Co-Ops in your area with local farmers.

Here was our first week's produce at the beginning of June:

Down at the River

We've been going down to the river more often with the summer weather finally here. We took a little canoe day trip a couple weeks ago. We let the canoe in and floated down about 5 miles to where the New River Junction is. Bryce fished all afternoon and caught a pretty big small mouth bass. At first, 4 or 5 miles sounded like nothing in a canoe, but I was surprised when we got back and I looked at the clock. We left at 11am and got back at 6pm!

We knew we would have to go down the rapids because the tubing staff at NRJ wouldn't appreciate us unloading our canoe on their beach. (All you who have experience hanging out down there understand and probably have seen how they monitor everyone that area especially on busy days) We pulled over on the opposite side of the river to check out how steep the falls were, and Bryce claimed that we would make it down in the canoe.

We strapped on our life vests and started paddling, trying to steer straight. Next thing I know, we tip, I'm going down the rapids holding on to my paddle, hitting rocks with my rump, and trying to grab tupperware left and right that flew out of our cooler from our picnic lunch. Thankfully it didn't fully tip, it just tipped US out! I really wish I had a video. It probably looked ridiculous as we were scrambling to grab all of our stuff and not get too scraped up from the rocks we were riding down.

Besides one bloody knee and a pretty bad sunburn, it was really fun. We love going down to the river.

Speaking of going down to the river, I love this song:

Our Vegetable Garden

Bryce's parents came to visit with Harley in early May. We spent all day Saturday buying garden stuff at Home Depot and then working outside.

Roger helped Bryce prepare the little plot and turn up the soil. That day, we transplanted the green beans and tomatoes that I had growing inside, as well as some pepper plants and a couple tomato plants that were farther along from the store. Harley had fun hanging outside with all of us. (See picture of Harley loving on Bryce) Then the boys put up the fence in hopes that the deer wouldn't eat everything. We've heard that the deer in our neighborhood don't allow many gardens to be successful.

It was super windy that weekend, and almost all of the plants we transplanted from inside to outside died, so we went ahead and planted new seeds outside. We planted peppers, greenbeans, 3 types of tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs. It's fun to go outside everyday and see how they're doing. They are doing great now, especially with the warmer weather and tons of sunshine.

It's so awesome to read about sowing and reaping in the Bible and then watch it with actual seeds. Even if we don't get 1 piece of produce from all of it, I have loved watching God's miracle of growth with these plants from one tiny seed to a growing plant that can (and hopefully will) bear fruit.

1 Corinthians 3:7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Poor guy

The property line behind our yard is a popular trail for deer to walk along and hang out among the trees. Early in the mornings, we will sometimes see a small herd of deer hanging out. Back in early spring, there were a few times we saw this poor guy limping along, trying to catch up with the rest of them. I can't imagine how painful a very broken leg would be out in the wild, trying to run around, find food, and run from predators. I wonder if he survived.

Bryce's birthday getaway

For Bryce's birthday (April 25th), I planned a surprise weekend trip for us. We left on Friday around lunch time. When I picked him up, I blindfolded him and handed him clues. I gave him a ziploc bag of sand, sunglasses, and the atlas. It took him a total of 30 seconds to figure out where we were going. Next time I will have to make it more tricky. It was about a 5 hour trip from Blacksburg.

While on our drive, we made a quick stop at North Carolina's oldest winery, Duplin Winery. As soon as got off the exit, we saw some vineyards, and immediately pulled off to take some pictures. A guy on a tractor started eyeing us, and so I started snapping pics quicker. As soon as I was ready to hop in the car and be kicked off of what seemed like a driveway, he got off the tractor and started chatting with Bryce. He is one of the brothers that owns Duplin Winery! He was really nice, and told us about this land that he owns right off of the exit. He is starting a project, like a local Farmer's Market, with produce and specialty foods locally grown, that will be sold at this location. He invited us to walk around the landscape. It was really beautiful with a pond, some small vineyards, trees, and an area for some type of structure where they will sell the goods. We took some more photos and headed to the winery down the road.

It was a cute little set up, with a nice restaurant and a big store full of jellies, jams, dressings, wines, souvenirs, and other gourmet foods prepared by the in house chef. We sat down for a free wine tasting and found out that Muscadine wine is not our favorite. It is quite sweet. Our favorite wine we tasted was the most bitter white wine they offered! (It was like a typical Reisling.)

When we arrived in Wilmington, we stopped at Outback for dinner and then headed to our hotel. In the morning, we got up early, ate breakfast, and got on our bikes to head to the Wrightsville Beach. It wasn't as bike friendly as we expected, but we got there safe. The day was fairly cloudy, but still nice and not too hot. Guess who we found on the beach?

Yep, Aaron and Christin drove to Wrightsville from NC State for the day.

We went to the famous Trolley Stop for lunch and filled up on very colorful hot dogs. The Carolina was really good...chili, mustard and cole slaw. Bryce got the Surfer one and it was interesting...nacho cheese and baco-bits.

That night, we walked around downtown Wilmington and along the River walk. There are a lot of beautiful old buildings and Southern plantation-like homes. Per our recommendation from Katherine, we went to The Pilot House for dinner. It was right on the river and had great seafood. I tried fried green tomatoes for the first time!

On Sunday, before we left, we headed to Battleship North Carolina and took a tour. It turned into a 3 hour tour. Bryce loved reading about the history, huge guns and all the ins and outs of the ship. It was a huge ship and it was neat learning about how it worked and its time in WWII.

GSA Casino night

GSA (Graduate Student Assembly) held a casino night a few weeks ago. It was really fun. We enjoyed drinks and appetizers like BBQ meatballs, pesto pasta, crackers and cheese, and a chocolate fondue fountain. There was a DJ playing some hot tunes all night while we had fun at the casino tables (thankfully it was fake, because I didn't do so well). Plus we got to dress up!

Green's Grill & Sushi

We went out to eat with Danny and Meredith at Green's in downtown Blacksburg about a month ago. Bryce and I love sushi. If ever we feel lazy, we often default to Kroger's sushi bar for dinner. This was our second time at Green's and we were again impressed with the food and service. The people are really nice and the food was delicious. For the price and serving, it is a great deal. We recommend it. George, the owner, used to own More than Coffee and sold it to someone, and opened Green's. It is a mix of sushi and Mediterranean dishes. You can view the menu here.

Green thumb

Back in April, I was at Wally world one day, and found myself in the garden section. Looking at all the cheap packets of seeds, I grabbed some and thought I would try my hand at growing some. I didn't think about having a full garden or even expect them to grow (I don't know why). I have never really gardened. My mom wasn't much of a gardener, and pretty much all the indoor plants at our house were fake. My dad loves gardening, but doesn't do a garden every year. When he did have one, I would only occasionally weed or pick the veggies and that's it. I planted these little guys inside and watched carefully every day, waiting for little sprouts. To my surprise, they sprouted after a week or two. And grew. And grew.

Our living room smelled like soil. Soon, I was trying to figure out how I would continue to allow my green children to grow beyond their little black tray.