See How Our Garden Grows!

Our garden has really taken off this year - I've never seen such huge plants!  We've already gotten quite a few squash, zucchini and cucumbers too.  Here are some pictures to show the growing process:

All three raised beds.

The pumpkin starting to go up the trellis.

One of the zucchini flowers.

The garden after Chad added the trellises.

Chad extending the pumpkin trellis to the roof!

The huge pumpkin plant - almost up to the roof!

One of our many bee friends.

A zucchini growing.

Some of the cucumbers growing.

June Vacation with Melanie & Dave

We've been trying to work out a beach vacation with our friends Melanie & Dave for the past year or so.  We were finally able to work out a long weekend when we could all go to Wrightsville.  We packed a lot into our long weekend, but had a great time.  I think I want to try to take our future beach vacations in June because the water was just perfect!  We hung out on the beach, borrowed my Aunt & Uncle's kayak's and canoe, toured the Oak Island Lighthouse, took the ferry over to Ft. Fisher and went to the aquarium as well.  We also just tried to relax and hang out on the beach too.  Here are some pictures from this vacation!

The best part of my drive home from work

When I got reassigned to the Freedom library my commute is a little longer and much less scenic - I basically take I-85 most of the way.  So, now the best part of my commute home is when I get to Hodges Dairy Farm.  Not only do I get a nicer view, but I get to see the cows who are usually out when I'm coming home.  One day I had my camera with me and stopped to take a few quick pictures.  Here are the Hodges cows who greet me every day on my way back home!

Katherine Rebecca's debut

Our friends Becca & Jason thought that they couldn't have children and after years of waiting were able to adopt their son, Braden, in 2008. Then in late 2009 they found out they were expecting as well. I was so excited for them because I don't know anyone who wanted children more than Becca & Jason - and now they get to experience both adoption and giving birth! Katherine Rebecca (who will be called Katie) was born June 6th a little before 8am and weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20.75 inches long. Chad & I were able to go visit them in the hospital the next day. Becca didn't feel up to being in the pictures, but here are some pictures of new little Katie!

Welcome Katie!

Jessica holding Katie.

Such a sweet little face.

Chad holding Katie.

Sandy Pictures

Here are some new pictures of Sandy. She loves to look out the windows - especially to watch the birds at the feeder!

Back Yard Garden

This year Chad and I decided to make the most of what little yard we have and put 3 raised beds in our back yard. Chad built the beds and put together the soil mix based on the book Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. We planted lettuce, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, basil, broccoli, lima beans, kidney beans, pie pumpkins, and LOTS of okra. Here are a few pictures of our garden:

The seeds are just starting to sprout.

Roxy checks out the garden progress.

Less than 3 weeks after planting - pretty large plants have developed!

May Vacation Part I

In the last few years I've decided that whenever my Mom comes to NC I will try to take a week off work so that we can spend time together.  She is only able to come about twice a year right now, so I definitely want to take advantage of the time we can spend together.  When she came in May Chad and I spent a week in Wilmington with her and enjoying the beach.  Here are some pictures from our time in Wilmington:

May Vacation Part II

While we were in Wilmington with Mom we decided to go down to Myrtle Beach and visit the aqarium there and also check out some of the outlet shopping.  Here are our pictures from the aquarium:

Mom came back to Charlotte for the end of her trip.  Here are some pictures from when she was here:

Wedding Dress 10 Years Later

When we celebrated our 10 year anniversary this year I decided to see if I can still fit into my dress - and as you can see from the pictures below I can!  The veil was a little crinkly from storage, but otherwise everything was in great shape after 10 years.

This one shows off the new anniversary tattoo as well.

Jess & Chad in his top hat from the wedding.

10 Year Wedding Anniversary

This year Chad & I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary!  I can hardly believe we've been married for 10 years - it just went by so fast!  I tend to worry and think about things too much, but I can honestly say I never doubted my decision to marry Chad - we were young and probably could have benefited from waiting another year or two, but I wouldn't change a thing.  We've been through a lot and I'm looking forward to many more years together!  Here are some of the highlights of our past 10 years:

We've lived in 5 different houses and/or apartments

We've had 7 vehicles between us - and just paid off Chad's truck and have 3 payments left on my car

We've had 3 cats - Duchess who's gone now and of course Sandy & Roxy

I graduated from both my undergrad at UNCC and grad school at UNCG and Chad went back to finish his undergrad at Southeastern and after taking another break after starting his business will hopefully finish up soon!

Chad also started his own business, C & J Services, in 2007!

We attended 4 different churches - finally finding Mecklenburg Community Church in 2002 where we are currently members.

We've traveled to Prince Edward Island, Canada for our honeymoon, went to Hawaii last year for my 30th birthday, we've gone to Florida twice (the first time I got to swim with a manatee in the wild) and one of our more memorable trips we drove straight from Charlotte, NC to Branson, MO (I wouldn't want to repeat that one).

And of course this year to celebrate our anniversary we got tattoos!

Anniversary Weekend Part I

Originally for our 10 year wedding anniversary we wanted to go back to Prince Edward Island, Canada where we went on our honeymoon.  Unfortunately that was not in the budget this year, so we decided to have a long weekend in Wilmington where we were married.  On our wedding night we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast called the Rose Hill Inn, so we decided to stay there on our actual anniversary night too.  Here are our pictures from the Rose Hill Inn:

Anniversary Weekend Part II

When we got married we wanted to have the ceremony somewhere unique.  Not that we have anything against getting married in a church, but since we wanted to get married in Wilmington and didn't have a home church there we decided to get married in a historic house in downtown - the Latimer House.  We were married in the back yard and the weather was absolutely perfect that day.  So, on our anniversary weekend we went back and toured the Latimer House - here are our pictures:

Anniversary Weekend Part III

The majority of our anniversary trip was just spent relaxing.  We walked on the beach and just enjoyed being together.  Chad also wanted me to go to the gun range and learn to shoot a hand gun.  We borrowed a friend's 22 calibur hand gun and that was what I was most comfortable shooting, but I did shoot Chad's 9mm hand gun too.  We really enjoyed every minute of our 10th anniversary weekend.  Here are the last few pictures:

Anniversary Tattoos!

Chad and I had talked for a long time about possibly getting tattoos for our 10 year wedding anniversary.  As the time got closer we decided that we would definitely do it!  We each had one other tattoo that we had gotten done at Immortal Images in Charlotte, so we wanted to go back there again.  We were lucky to be able to get our tattoos only a week after our consultation.  We knew that we wanted our tattoos to symbolize our marriage, but not just have our names or wedding date.  When we were first married we were trying to live in Wilmington and we were so broke it was ridiculous!  Most days after dinner we would go and walk on the beach because it was cooler than our house and it was free.  One day we were walking and one of us picked up a scallop shell with our big toe and tried to see who could throw the shell the furthest from the same point.  Just a spur of the moment thing to have fun.  When we finished we kept the shell and somehow that just turned into a symbol of our marriage.  I know that with Chad no matter how much money we have or what the circumstances are we always have fun together and enjoy being together.  So, we were so excited to get these tattoos!  Here are some pictures of our tattoos:

More bird pictures

These are now my new favorite bird pictures - I noticed Mr. Goldfinch hanging out on a branch while Mrs. Goldfinch was eating at the feeder.  Here are the new pictures of them:

Mr. Goldfinch

Mr. & Mrs. Goldfinch

Yard Sale

Our friends Melanie and Dave just finished renovating their house recently and wanted to have a yard sale so they could go through all their stuff as they moved into the new parts of the house.  Chad and I decided to join in even though we didn't have all that much to sell.  They made a pretty good amount of money and we made about $50 - but we enjoyed helping them and meeting some of their neighbors who also participated.  Here are some pictures from the yard sale:

Baby Shower for Becca

We've been friends with Becca & Jason for about 6 years now.  They hadn't been able to have children and ended up adopting after waiting almost 2 years for a baby - they got Braden in July 2008.  Then at the end of 2009 they found out they were pregnant!  Chad and I are SO happy for them - I don't know anyone who wanted children more than Becca and Jason.  Now they will have one of each since they are expecting a girl, Katie, in June of this year.  Kelly and I threw Becca a baby shower this past weekend for when Katie comes, here are some pictures from the party:

New Birds at our Feeder

We've had a bird feeder up in a tree in our front yard for over a year now.  Recently we've had some new visitiors - a Cardinal pair and a Goldfinch pair.  I'm so excited to see some new birds become regulars.  Here are some pictures of our new friends.

Mr. Cardinal

Mrs. Cardinal

The Goldfinch Pair

New Cat Pics

Here's Sandy sleeping in a very awkward looking position.

Roxy is getting some work done.

Roxy will find anywhere to relax - in our closet on top of our new suitcase.

Roxy checks out an empty box.

Library budget cuts

I've worked for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system since I was a senior in high school in 1997.  While working my way through college and graduate school I moved to various positions in various branches - now having worked at 5 locations.  Every year the library struggles to convince the county to give us enough money to offer the wonderful services that we do.  This year there were pretty steep budget cuts before the 2009-2010 fiscal year started, but our system was able to keep all of our staff and maintain programs and hours and all 24 locations.  Then in March we were told that Mecklenburg county needed $2 million BACK - so at first the library board decided to shut down 12 of our 24 locations and lay off 140 staff.  At that time all 4 of the locations I had worked in would have been shut down - that was when I decided to go and visit all my old branches and take some pictures before they were closed.  Then due to the HUGE public outcry over this the library board changed their minds and decided to keep all 24 locations open with reduced hours and days of service.  They still laid off 120 staff with about 28 getting reinstated.  Due to the lay offs staff had to be redistributed around the system - the administration sent around a survey to see where you would be willing to work - I chose Mint Hill and University City (the closest locations to me).  Then I got a call that I was being reassigned to Freedom Regional.  Supposedly because I'm such a good employee I'm being reassigned to a crummy branch in a rough part of town.  So, now I'm working at my 5th location in the system and hoping and praying that I still have a job (preferably not at Freedom) past June of this year.  They are anticipating even more budget cuts for fiscal year 2010-2011 that starts in July.  I don't think there is any way all 24 locations will be kept open, but I'm still hoping I have a job somewhere.

I can honestly say that I NEVER thought things would get this bad in the library system.  I was under the impression that any county/state jobs were much more secure than the private sector.  I fully expected to retire from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system in 19 more years, but now I don't know if I'll have a job past June of this year.  It's really hard to believe - I have so many friends and co-workers who were laid off and I don't know if I'll ever feel secure in my job (if I'm still here past June) again!  I hope that our patrons and community realize all the incredible things the library offers for FREE and keep funding us. 

I've only been able to take pictures at Sugar Creek and Mint Hill so far, but eventually I will get some pictures of the new Hickory Grove branch and Morrison and put them up too.  The next two posts are my library pictures so far.

Mint Hill Library

I worked at Mint Hill Library three time - the first time was right after I met Chad March 1999 - Feb. 2000.  I quit when we decided to get married and try to live in Wilmington.  I came back to Mint Hill when we moved back to Charlotte in July 2000 - June 2001.  Then my last time back was from Sept. 2008 - March 2010 when I was reassigned to Freedom Regional.  I really enjoyed all my times working at Mint Hill - the staff are so friendly and every event is an excuse for a party!  Even before I knew I would be reassigned I had been taking some pictures of Mint Hill - here are my pictures including the flowers my Dad surprised me with on my last day there.

I "borrowed" this picture from Aura - some of us who were laid off or reassigned wrote messages on the staff white board on our last day.

Sugar Creek Library

Sugar Creek was where I had my first Librarian job - I was still in library school when I got the job.  I worked at Sugar Creek from Sept. 2004 - March/April 2006.  Here are some pictures from my recent visit:

Easter 2010

Our church, Mecklenburg Community Church, has had our Easter service at Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre for the past 2 years.  This year Chad & I participated in a drama at the end of the service.  Different people came out with a sign that described what their life was life before Christ or before church and then when they flip it over it has how God has worked in them.  It was really neat and thanks to our Internet service Chad & I were able to see ourselves on stage later that night!  Here is a slideshow of pictures from Easter and then I also have pictures of me & Chad with our before and after signs taken backstage at Verizon.

Here are me & Chad with our before signs...

...and after signs!

Third and final week of fasting

Well, for our final week of fasting for Lent we decided to fast from Facebook.  At first we were going to fast from all "non-necessary" Internet use, but really the more we talked about it we both wasted the most time on Facebook.  I fought joining Facebook for so long and then once I was finally on it I was on there a LOT.  We both use it a lot and since people update constantly it's very easy to keep getting on there to see the new content.  I found that just like the other fasts after the first day or so it was much easier to get through the week than I thought it would be.  For me it was even harder because the Friday before our fast started was when the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system laid off 148 staff - so Facebook became my main way of checking on my library friends to see who had been let go and who was still around.  But, one good thing came of our fast because during that week the healthcare reform bill passed and since Chad was also fasting politics the whole time that made it easier for him to continue his political fast.  The sad thing was that once I got back on Facebook after our fast was over it only took me about 30-45 minutes to catch up on a whole week's worth of posts.  I think what I learned from this is that while Facebook is a great way to catch up with friends and family it shouldn't be the whole focus of your day.  I will continue to use Facebook, but maybe I won't log in 10 times a day just to see what's new.

Chad and I really got a lot out of our Lent fasting, but I think next year we'll try to fast from just one thing for the whole 40 days.  I originally thought doing a different fast each week would let us have a more varied experience, but I think a week is just not long enough to really get the the most out of the fasting experience. 

Second week of fasting

For our second week of fasting during Lent Chad and I decided to give up watching TV.  I thought that TV would be the hardest, but most needed fast we would do.  We have Tivo so we did set up to record the shows that we watch regularly.  It ended up not being nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be.  I found that what I missed more was not a specific show, but the "relaxing" time of just zoning out watching TV.  It was especially hard because during this week of no TV was when the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system announced drastic cutbacks of 148 staff layoffs and 12 libraries closing.  On Wednesday March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, we found out from a friend that in the past St. Patrick's Day was used as a break from Lent, which is why it became known as a drinking holiday.  So, since that was the day I found out about the drastic cuts and was in fear of my job, we decided to take the St. Patrick's Day Lent break and watch TV - and it did help me not worry excessively about my job and the library system.

Our pastor Jim described in one of the "Fast Forward" Lent services we should think about fasting from something that was "numbing" and I definitely find TV to be numbing in a way.  I don't always watch it to be numbed or forget about life, but I think I was guilty of just turning it on to have background noise or out of habit.  Chad and I have decided to try to watch less TV overall after doing this fast.  We have also decided to not eat dinner in the living room while watching TV, which was another bad habit we had.  But, overall it was not as hard as I thought it would be and we are going to try to use this past week as motivation to try to watch less TV in the future.

Our third and final week of fasting for Lent will be to fast from using Facebook.  While that might not seem like a hard fast I have found that I spend a LOT of time on Facebook - time that could probably be better spent.  So, the TV is back and Facebook is out (for the week).

First 7 days of fasting

Our church is doing a series right now on the Lent season that comes before Easter.  Some people fast from something for 40 days before Easter, but our pastor challenged us to fast from something for 21 days.  It could be anything we wanted it to be and for any length of time.  Chad and I decided to fast from something different each week of the 21 days and he was also going to fast from politics for the whole time (YES!). 

The first week we decided to fast from eating meat.  I have always wanted to try to eat less meat and then use our grocery money to buy local meat that wasn't raised in a factory farm, but hadn't really made that happen yet.  I didn't think Chad would want to do the meat fast, but he was on board so that's what we did for the past week.  And honestly it was MUCH easier than I thought it would be.  The only real issue came when we did eat out because we had to think about where we could both get something meat-free that we both liked - we ended up eating at Panera 3 times!  I think we both enjoyed all the meals we made at home too.  Because of this we are now going to try to eat less meat overall and hopefully I can eventually work in my goal of buying more local meat too. 

So, first week down and now onto the second fast - TV.  I am ashamed to admit that I think this will be the hardest one for me, but on the plus side if the weather is nice hopefully we'll get outside and walk more in the evenings and I think we'll get a LOT of reading done too.

Just Because...

This week Chad surprised me with roses - no special occasion, just because he wanted to surprise me.  I came home from work and he had not only bought me roses, but he was also cooking dinner! 
Here are some pictures of the beautiful roses:

Gloria Steinem

On March 1, 2010 I was lucky enough to get to see Gloria Steinem speak at UNC Charlotte for free and with some other library friends - Melanie and Amrita.  I know that she is a huge feminist icon and I was super excited to get to see her and apparently so were a lot of other people - almost 1,000 people showed up and unfortunately that meant we ended up in the overflow section - not in the actual room with her.  Also, she had laryngitis so one of UNCC's women's studies professors read her speech for her, but she did answer questions from the audience herself so we did get to hear her speak/whisper.  But, I did really enjoy her speech and it is amazing to see someone who has done so much for the women's movement in person.  She has helped make huge strides for women all over the world with her work.  As most people who know me know I am a feminist, but I am also a Christian and I tell people that I filter things first through the Christian lens and then through the feminist one.  I believe that Jesus was the first feminist - He was completely radical for that time with His treatment of women as equals.  So, I was not thrilled when during the Q&A time Ms. Steinem responded to a question saying "Monotheism was created so men could be God", which I agree and disagree with.  I do think religion has been and is used to justify all kinds of evil things - slavery, keeping women in a lower status, war, etc.  But, I believe God is vastly different than how humans play out religion - God created men and women in His image and we are equal in His sight.  God is the perfect, loving being who wants nothing but the best for us.  So, while I agree for the most part with the feminist ideology I do NOT agree with what Ms. Steinem had to say about that topic when I saw her speak.  You can be a feminist and a Christian and I think Jesus was the perfect example of that! 

Now, here are a few pictures I took of the screen that night:

          The professor reading Ms. Steinem's speech.

          Ms. Steinem answering quesitons.

Snuggling Cats

The cats tend to snuggle together and with us more whenever it's colder outside.  Here are some pictures of them together on the futon upstairs.

Sandy wakes up briefly while I was taking pictures.

February 13, 2010 Snow Day

Well, we had our second snow of 2010.  It started Friday night and was so heavy and quick that I really thought we were going to get more than we did.  We probably got about 2-3 inches at our house.  But, because it was snow, not ice Chad and I were able to build a decent snowman out of it!  It would have only been better if I hadn't had to work that day - we had a 3 hour delay.  By the end of Saturday most of the snow was melted and gone, but it was nice while it lasted.  Here are some pictures from this snow day:

January 30th, 2010 Snow Day!

We finally got some snow the weekend of January 30th, 2010.  It started Friday night around 5pm and snowed off and on until early Saturday morning.  Thankfully the library was closed so I didn't have to go into work on Saturday.  Our friends Melanie & Dave were brave enough to drive over and hang out too.  Even though it was mostly icy snow it was still nice to have one good snow day this winter!  Here is a slideshow of pictures from that weekend:

Favorite Snow Day Picture

I love watching the birds at our bird feeder, but I had never seen a Cardinal until the Jan. 30th snow day.  This picture is in the slideshow, but it is my favorite picture and I thought it deserved it's own post too.  Here it is again:

New cat pictures

We have to start off the new year with new cat pictures!

Roxy & Sandy snuggle on our bed.

Sandy loves to soak up the sunshine.

A close up of Sandy's face - so cute!