Sky full of stars

Getting Funky

Check out my new (old) love.

A Royal Hunt

Did I tell you that we got a new queen bee? No? Well, we did! And it arrived in a Fed Ex box on our porch. Yep, not kidding! We got a queen bee delivered to our door. I seriously want to meet the person responsible for inventing mail-order bees. Just think of all of the packaging prototypes that didn't quite work out. Dead bee? No bee? Angry bee! 

We had to get a new queen because without the queen, the colony cannot survive.  

"The queen, for her part, is the unifying force of the community; if she is removed from the hive, the workers very quickly sense her absence. After a few hours, or even less, they show unmistakable signs of queenlessness."  - Man and Insects 

Anyway, we got a bee in the mail. And we (Steve) put that bee in the hive. The queen's main job is to mate and have lots and lots of babies so that the colony grows and survives. This means one night out to skank it up. She leaves the hive in search of a horny pack of drones and gets it on with ALL of them. Like 10 drones in one night. See, I told you! Skanky! No joke!

So now all the queen has to do is lay eggs. And it's our job to make sure her promiscuity was successful. A thriving beehive needs lots of new larvae, eggs, baby bees, and the queen herself. We were on the hunt.

There are 9 frames in each box of our hive. Steve learned that the queen usually stays in the bottom box, so we decided to begin our search here. We suited up, and pulled out each frame one by one in search of the queen and her offspring. Steve used a bee smoker before we began which sedates the bees so that they aren't angry at you for entering their home! Once smoked, they barely buzzed around..calm and cool.

Along the way, we found all sorts of glorious things! My favorite being honey of course!!!! 

Each frame was more and more packed with busy worker bees. They were busy making honeycomb, storing the honey, capping the holes containing eggs so that the larvae could develop inside, and  depositing pollen in other holes.

"Honeybees are social insects and live in colonies. Each colony is a family unit, comprising of a single, egg-laying female or queen and her many sterile daughters called workers. The workers cooperate in the food-gathering, nest-building and rearing the offspring. Males are reared only at the times of year when their presence is required." - Bees of the World

We knew the queen had a successful night out because we saw TONS of eggs and capped comb which meant there were larvae inside waiting to be born! In fact, as we were searching for her, we saw a baby bee pop out of a capped hole! Just like a baby chick coming out of an egg. She cracked open the cap and wriggled her way out, all hairy and small!

And on the 8th frame, we finally found her in all her glory! Do you see her? She is longer than regular bees with a narrow tail, smaller wings, with a hairless black crown. 

Research told us to look for a group of bees surrounding her like a flower. And once we saw that, we KNEW it was her.

"New beekeepers are told that the way to find the elusive queen is by first locating her circle of attendants." - The Queen Must Die: And Other Affairs of Bees and Men

You can really see the bees encircling her. They clean her, feed her, and take away her excrements. What a life, eh!?

SO COOL. And now I love my bees more than ever. 

Bang Bang

The best part about my parents moving away from my "hometown" of Vacaville is that I get to visit really awesome cities like Seattle! I spent Labor Day weekend in the City of Flowers (how lucky their state flower is the Dahlia! One of my faves!) This was my first trip to the city where I wasn't running from the car to escape the rain, or seeking shelter under storefront awnings, or covering my surgical boot with plastic to protect it from the storm. Seattle looks a lot different out from under an umbrella. And let me tell you that September is the perfect time to visit - I soaked up four rare sunny Seattle days and loved every minute.

Another first - a trip out to the shooting range to shoot clays with my fam. I have never even held a shot gun before and had NO idea what I was doing, but with a little practice and some good pointers, I managed to hit 4 or 5 clay targets. The boys were insanely good at shooting and hit almost every single shot - including pairs and report pairs (one shot right after the other) and rabbits. But, my mom was the true champ with 100% accuracy! What a natural! Phil better lookout - he might have some competition! ;)

Another cool thing about shooting was that I got a peek into my brother's job - he drives around and refills the clay machines at the shooting range in Montana.  Coolest part about hanging out a sporting clay range? Riding around in the Ranger from station to station. Think golf cart on steroids. I want one to deliver sweet drinks to Steve in the yard.

I was pleasantly surprised at how fun shooting is and thankful to have shared in one of my BONUS-Dad's favorite hobbies. Steve is pretty stoked that I tried it and we have big plans to go shooting together locally. Aw, so sweet, I know. 

Set in stone

The first tile came off the wall on January 14th. We've come a long way since then. Maybe a little slower than one would hope, but nevertheless we are making BIG progress on the bathroom! I am so proud of Steve for doing every little thing himself with zero experience, but lots of patience, love, and determination! If you are wondering why it has been 6 months, and all we have to show for it is a tub, well here is how it works in this household. Steve has to learn every step of the process from scratch. He researches by reading books and watching youtube, and then he researches some more. He spends countless hours at Home Depot carefully choosing the materials, then has to take back those materials because he bought the wrong ones, then he goes back to HD to buy new materials. All of this makes him want to read again, watch another video to make sure, measure, measure, measure, and then take a couple of days off to recuperate from all of that planning. So, basically each step is a two week long process. This is OK by me, because as long as I have a functioning shower and toilet, I am fine. 

Two weeks ago we spent the weekend finally installing the bathtub. I feel like I have mentioned that we were installing the bathtub months ago, but it has been a lovely fixture in our living room while he installed plumbing, the new valve, some 2 x 4's, followed by lots and lots and lots of leveling and measuring, and testing the placement of the tub. We literally carried that tub into the bathroom at least 100 times over the past two months. I even bought some new gloves just for this exercise. Apparently, you have to set the tub in concrete to make it secure in place. (Know how they always tell you to lay in the bathtub during a tornado? This is why!) So, it's a huge deal to make sure to get it right. Removing concrete is not something we wanted to do!

So, finally two weeks ago we (he) were ready! Here is a picture of the sub floor prep. Steve marked out where the concrete was supposed to go.

And here is where the pipe on the tub has to go into the pipe in the floor. I was in charge of getting the two to go together once we brought the tub in. And I did it!

We got one of those big plastic party drink tubs to mix the concrete in. Good idea, Steve.

I couldn't snap any pictures of the process because it was a race against time. But, Steve splattered on the concrete into the marked area, and then we brought in the tub and gently set it into place. Then, I lined up the pipes and Steve stood in the tub so that it sank into the concrete nicely. And ta da! Our new tub is SET IN STONE! :)

Getting closer...!!

Busy Bees

A week and a half ago we got our first pets! 25,000 bees!

When Steve came up with the idea to raise bees, I was a little bit nervous, scared, and not that excited about it. But, Steve got in a conversation with a Fed Ex guy at work who mentioned he has four hives in his backyard and invited us over to take a look to see what we'd be getting into. The hives were sitting on his back patio, just a few feet from their patio chairs where people hang out! I couldn't believe it! We walked up near the hives and the bees didn't care about us all as long as we didn't go in their "fly zone". The Fed ex guy and his wife extracted a ton of honey recently and gave us some to sample. It was seriously the best honey I've ever tasted and it was even cooler knowing that it came from these very bees! 

Anyway, the couple is super into bees and their excitement really rubbed off on us. They made us a list of everything we'd need and Steve went online in search of supplies. In a few days, we had everything and the bee boxes were built! The Fed Ex guy had two extra hives that he needed to get rid of (due to his small space), so he sold one of his established colonies to us..queen and all! They arrived on a Saturday morning, all donned veils, and transferred the frames full of bees and full of honey to our boxes. It took about 10 minutes in all! (I watched all of this from the safety of the kitchen window :) 

After they were done I ventured out and the bees were rushing all around, but I didn't get too close. They seemed to be liking their new home with so many trees and flowers around to keep them busy. After they settled down a bit, I put on the veil and got close for a picture. This is as close as I would get and Steve thought it was pretty funny, but I thought I was pretty damn close!!! The couple who gave us the bees told us that bees are more attracted to dark colors so you should wear white. I remembered this key tip and was sure to wear a long sleeve white shirt. But, you can also see I am wearing flip flops which shows just how brave I really am :)

The next evening, I got super close without a veil to get some shots of the bee box up close since Steve did such a great job putting it all together. It's actually really neat looking.  The bees are pretty mellow in the evening so I wasn't afraid. It is actually fun sitting there and watching the bees bring back the pollen. They carry pollen sacks on their hind legs and as they fly in that bottom slit you can see the sacks and it makes them sorta waddle when they walk into the hive. 

We are hoping in September to have some honey to extract! That is the most exciting part about all of this! The other benefit is that the bees will work hard to pollenate all of our fruit trees and garden so that we get better quality and quantity fruit!  Gotta love nature!

Ready, Set, GO!

Tick tock, tick tock. We are already into the 8th day of March and I am desperately trying to keep my head above water! A LOT is going on with work as you might imagine and every day is filled with more phone calls, more emails, more paperwork, and more questions than the day before. It is an exciting time. It is a crazy time. It is a fantastic time! 

It is the perfect time for this month's goals about work. I need to add a new item on my 42goals list for getting to work early because I haven't been tracking that yet. But, off the record I've been doing pretty good. Every minute before 8am is actually the BEST time to get work done. It's still hard to get up early when I have a lovey dove cuddled up next to me every morning. But, it's important to get to work early when these days I have meetings every half hour, stacks of files piling up on my desk, and the day seems to pass by in the blink of an eye. It's really an awesome thing.

March - Work

• Get to work early
• Aim higher
• 1-minute rule
• Tackle a nagging task (take that Excel training class!)
• Volunteer

I think I can pretty much cross 'aim higher' off on my list. The 1-minute rule is vital in that I take advantage of doing the little things NOW so that those piles of paper don't turn into a pile of unorganized chaos. I still plan on taking an Excel training class, but I don't think it will happen this month. 

As for volunteering, I actually went to my first committee meeting tonight for Making Strides for Breast Cancer - the breast cancer walk that I participated in last year. I am officially a volunteer for this event, and I hope to do my best to make it the best event it can be.

Last Saturday, I spent nearly three hours in a conference room for another committee meeting for the local section of the American Chemical Society. I got our group into the 21st century and we tried Skyping with our fellow members who couldn't make the meeting in person. It all turned out great, and we are doing it again in May! Wahoo!

I also traveled to Sacramento last week for a three-day intro to HR course and let's just say I left with my head spinning. I won't bore you with details.

In the meantime, Steve has still been working on the bathroom remodel. Sunday, we installed the new window and it is GORGEOUS. 

Here is a picture of the outside of the house when there was just a giant hole where the window should be. Together, we put in the window which was quite the ordeal, only from the standpoint that I am so freaking weak. But, Steve had everything planned out so well that it was really no big deal. I will take a picture when he re-installs the siding on the outside. 

I also managed to re-pot 5 plants last weekend since they were all outgrowing their current pots. This meant I had to go to a home store to pick out the pots. I was there over an hour because they must have had thousands of pots to choose from! I came home with the biggest pot I've ever seen and two smaller ones, and two giant bags of potting soil.

Long story short, I potted a giant plant into the giant pot and filled it up with dirt and duh, it was too heavy for Steve and I to lift. We knew we'd need help to get it back inside so we decided to leave it be outside for the night and ask Steve's friend to come by the next evening. Well, of course it froze that night, and here, my friends, is what my poor plant looks like now. SOB!

A Sewing Notion

It took me three tries to make a functional lens cap holder. The pattern was pretty basic for a beginner and I am getting better, but I have a heck of a time with curves and cutting fabric. Sewing is a mind fuck because you sew all of these individual pieces and then you have to sew them together inside out and then 'turn it out' and you're supposed to get the final product. Well, I tried to outsmart this system and tried a few short cuts that led me to sewing my pouch shut! Oops, guess I better follow directions even if it doesn't always seem like it's making sense at the time!

Next project, re-usable sandwich wrap!

Trial One - Not quite!

Trial Two - Better, but janky and I accidentally sewed the pouch shut. Oopsy!

Trial Three - Success! Functional and pretty!

Pouch

Not bad for my second attempt at using a sewing maching..right?!

Jem Gold

Getting this on Friday!!!

Steve's parents were here over the weekend and his mom taught me how to sew on her Jem Gold sewing machine. I loved it so much, I bought one of my own! It's perfect for all of the basics. The bobbin stuff is the hardest part...wait, I take that back...the lingo is the hardest part!!! But, I already hemmed two pairs of pants and fixed a busted tie on a chair pad! I have all sorts of projects in mind for when I get my own machine. Maybe sewing is my calling!?

Crafty

We bought an unfinished table at a local furniture shop that we thought would be perfect as a printer table in the office. The fun part about buying unfinished, is that you can stain or paint it whatever you want! We choose a dark brown stain that matches the feel of the office and I picked out some cutesy knobs from World Market. The original piece of furniture looked similar to this (of course not the same design, but looked unfinished this way). I am so mad at myself for not taking a "before" picture, but you get the idea.

And the result!

 

I am loving the guest judges

I think the best part about this season of SYTYCD are the guest judges. I want to be BFFs with Jesse Tyler Ferguson. (If you haven't watched Modern Family, DO IT NOW and catch up before the new season starts. Best show ever.)

Caitlynn and Tadd are still two of my original favorites and I've edited my top 5 just one more time, with the addition of Ricky and the deletion of Jordan. Ricky is super cute and nerdy and his solos amaze the heck out of me. Bajillionuple pirouettes? I mean, come on! He is IN. SANE. And Jordan is OK but something about her bugs me. Maybe her face? Okay, that was mean.

And what was with Mitchell's solo costume on Wednesday night? Why did he wear a diaper? What, he figured he'd just kill two birds with one stone and shit while he danced? I don't get it and I really did not connect with him AT ALL. NT, Mitchell! (But you're probably really nice so now I feel bad!)

But really no one is standing out a TON. I am happy the All-Stars are back to give the show a little more oomph. I have a huge crush on Neil who is dancing next week which, coincidentally, is already a lucky day because my Aunt Cathy will be here and we can watch together! :)

Here are my new (sort of) top 5 favorites!

Tadd - maybe the only straight guy on the show?

Caitlynn - I want her stomach. GEEZUS!

Melanie - she is just too good to be true

Marko - but why does he always look so angry/worried/sad?

Ricky - I love you, Ricky! (and his last name is Jaime!)

Memory Maker

One of the things I like so much about Steve is that he makes things happen. If he has an idea in his head, he always figures out how to make that idea come to life. I always have big ideas but most of the time I can't get my hands to do what my brain is picturing. Steve's hands can do pretty much anything he imagines and in this case, his hands made something very special.

While we were in Hawaii, Steve found a little piece of wood from the beach where we rested after our kayak ride. I put the piece of wood in my bag and carried it all the way home without even thinking about it. When I unpacked, I put the little wooden rod on the dresser and forgot all about it. I knew Steve liked it for some reason or another, so I didn't get rid of it.

The other day, Steve comes over to me with a windchime in his hand and says, "See what I made!" And at first I didn't even recognize the wooden piece at the top and then he told me it was the piece he found in Hawaii! He had the idea to make a wind chime a long time ago and it all came together on that beach on a beautiful day in paradise.

Now, everytime I hear the lovely clinking of the chimes, I will think of our first anniversary trip and how much I love my hubs!





SYTYCD Favorites Update

Okay so after watching the first real episode of the SYTYCD competition, I must edit my top 5 favorite dancers:

Caitlynn

Melanie

Jordan

Marko

Tadd

And again, Travis Wall had the best choreography, hands down! Sonya came in close behind!! LOVED IT!

Friday Favorites - SYTYCD Season 8!

I've been glued to the tv the past couple of weeks now that The Bachelorette and So You Think You Can Dance are back to entertain! After last night's top 20 reveal on SYTYCD, I was a little bit disappointed that some of my early favorites didn't get chosen, and why are they getting rid of all of the hot white guys?? Don't they know that hot guys = better ratings?!?! Hellooo Neil, you are the last hottie to rock that stage!!! 

And also, Travis Wall has my heart!!!! I am in love with every piece he choreographs, and I am ESPECIALLY in love with the music he finds inspiring!!! 

Anyway, my favorites among the top 20 are:

Clarice

Tadd

Caitlynn

Nick

Robert

Who's your favorite?!