Longwood Gardens

My husband was working all day on my birthday this year. To make up for my lonely day he took me to a local arboretum called Longwood Gardens the day after my birthday. The gardens were developed by Pierre du Pont in 1907. Pierre du Pont is part of the du Pont family that started the Du Pont corporation that specializes in scientific innovations and whatnot. You've probably seen the logo on something related to cars or trucks before. Anyways, he bought the property of Longwood Gardens because the family that owned it had to sell it, and all the trees were going to be torn down. He was loaded, so he was able to make the property beautiful. He believed that no greenhouse should be private, so he opened his gardens to the public.

It cost $36 for the two of us to get in. It was worth every penny. The high cost keeps out the ruffians and bratty children, which makes it even better. We spent the entire afternoon and early evening there. We simply moseyed along the paths looking at whatever we felt like looking at. There weren't many crowds since we went on a weekday. This was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable days of my summer.

Ben bought me a new camera for my birthday, so I got a little carried away with snapping photos.

Here are some beauties I stumbled upon in the exhibition halls/greenhouses:

We also had fun watching the rather tame "wildlife" in the gardens. We had never seen bullfrogs up close like this before. They were everywhere. Ben always has to check out the fishlife in whatever body of water we come across. He found lots of well-fed bluegill and some very friendly catfish!

There were quite a few fountains scattered throughout the gardens. Pierre du Pont had a fascination with water stemming from his childhood. Some of the fountains made me feel like I was touring one of the estates mentioned in some of Jane Austen's novels. Well, except for the one my husband decided to drink out of.

By far, my favorite part of the gardens was the water lily garden. I've had a fascination with lily pads ever since my canoeing trip to the Boundary Waters back in college. There were lilies and lily pads everywhere on the lakes we canoed. I had so much fun taking pictures of these lilies. They actually dye the water black to make for better pictures and to discourage algae from growing.

At the end of the day, our feet were pretty sore from all the walking we did. My toes were actually swollen for a couple days. We probably shouldn't have worn flip flops! The last gardens we traveled through were the rose garden and the topiary garden. We were the only ones in there, so we took off our shoes and walked through the lush grass. Man, that felt good!

What a wonderful day! Can't wait to go back to see some of the light displays at night sometime!

All the pictures in this post were taken by either my husband or me. I used picmonkey.com to put the photos in collage form. No other editing software was used.

Getting off the Couch and Other Nearly Insurmountable Tasks

My spring break is over. It was glorious. This morning I woke up multiple times wanting to throw up before my alarm went off . No, I'm neither sick nor pregnant (I always have to clarify that). I've just been dreading going to work lately. It's not that I work in a miserable environment. In fact, it's a pretty good environment. I just keep conjuring up these impossible situations in my head. Once I got in my classroom and started chatting with my students, I was completely calm and remembered why I enjoyed teaching. It's the getting up and moving part that stinks.

My parents left on Sunday afternoon after my husband left for work. When they left, I ate a bunch of leftovers and watched a chick-flick. I didn't try too hard to clean up my messes. Monday I woke up in a foul mood. I didn't really want to go fishing as my husband and I had previously planned. I just wanted to mope around on Facebook looking at other people's "glamorous" lives while I was stuck in crummy Pennsylvania. My husband's messes were added to my messes. I just kept telling myself that my life was miserable. Once we got on the pond and I started catching fish left and right I remembered why I love being outside so much and why I am so happy with my current life. It's the getting up and moving part that stinks.

My apartment is now really, really, really, really, really messy. It's Hoarder's quality. It's a perfect reflection of my heart and mind right now. Messy. My husband is miserable in this state, and I'm miserable in this state. Once I get up and start cleaning, I know I will be happier. Once the house is clean, I will have an overwhelming sense of accomplishment sweep over me. It's the getting up and moving part that stinks.

Here goes.

                                                                                  Source: citygirlchichome.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

The Therapy of Fishing

I look like a little girl here...ok, ok, I am still a little girl.

Yesterday, I posted about my little excursion to a new fishing spot. Today, my husband and I spent the morning fishing there. It was like therapy (of which I know nothing about, but imagine it to be this good). We woke up kind of late because Ben worked overnight. It was supposed to rain, but we were desperate to be outside and to be outside together. So, we ran to Wal-Mart for bait and Subway for lunch and hit the pond. I almost stayed in the car to read because it was pretty chilly, but I decided time with Ben was more important than being cold.

Look at that posture! My mom would be so proud.

I'm so glad I made that decision. Ben and I each caught five fish. He even caught a little pickerel. I only caught one fish last summer, so I was pretty excited. The best part was being outside away from slow-moving traffic, obnoxious PA accents, and abrasive people (In case you didn't know, PA is filled with slow-moving traffic, obnoxious accents, and abrasive people.) It's like I was filled to the brim with peace. God led us there. There's no other way to describe it. On the way home, I kept saying "I haven't been this happy in a long time," or "I can't even begin to describe how happy I am right now." Spending quality time with my husband outside away from the pressures of real life is absolutely priceless.

Trying to humanely release his pickerel. I'm sure it's floating on top of the pond now.

 One thing that really struck me was how "ugly" everything technically was. The lily pads were dead, the reeds were dead, the dam was falling apart, the sky was overcast, there was a dead fish rotting next to me. But you know what? All of that ugliness transformed into beauty for me. God allowed me to see past the ugly in order that I could find the beauty. So that rotting fish carcass became beautiful to me. Those dead reeds made the coolest sound when the wind blew through them. The overcast sky kept the people away.

What a stud-muffin!

Tomorrow I'll deal with the beautiful mess created by the worms spilling in the back of my car. Of course I just had to detail the inside of my car last Saturday. Oh the joys of perfectionism.

Turtles, Lilypads, Beaver Dams...and oh, Doritos Locos Tacos

I had a rough parent/teacher conference via phone this afternoon. It exhausted me body and soul. It ended well, but I really had to stand my ground. I think I missed my calling as a hostage negotiator.

Anyways, my husband took me to Taco Bell because I was too tired to make the enchiladas I had planned. We tried the new tacos with shells made out of Doritos. They were okay. It was a little like eating Sour Patch kids for breakfast, though (My husband said that my analogy made no sense. It's probably because I used up all my good ones in my p/t conference.)

photo from foodbeast.com

After that, we went "exploring." The boyfriend of one of my husband's co-workers suggested a new fishing spot to him. My husband is OBSESSED with fishing. We decided to check it out to see if we wanted to go there tomorrow for a few hours. It was actually in the middle of nowhere. There aren't a whole lot of places on the Eastern Seaboard that can fit that description.

We decided to walk around the little pond once there to scout out some good fishing spots. My husband always looks for fish whenever we come across a body of water. It's so cute. We thought we saw some catfish, but then they surfaced and we discovered they were turtles. I almost cried. I know that's kind of lame. Somehow this reptile appeared beautiful and peaceful in the midst of my long, long day. God put those little guys right there to lift my spirits. A little bit later we found a beaver dam/house/pile o' sticks and some half-chewed trees. Once again, being in nature restored my spirit.

I don't know how you can appreciate nature and not appreciate the God who created all things. I know I'm always reminded of how great God is every second I spend reveling in the nature God provided for us to enjoy.

Here's hoping the rain holds off until the late afternoon so we can spend some quality time in the great outdoors.