Happy

Summer light until 9pm, thunderstorms, the optimum apartment layout, weekend day trips, hiking, an unstressed husband, lots of veggies, and increased income makes for a VERY happy Mimi.

Garden Update

 Check out the awesome planter box/step with handrail we* made!

*"we" being Justin.

Change and Adapt

It is crazy to think that one year ago tomorrow, was when we rolled into Bloomington, Indiana after packing up and driving 3 days to move here for grad school. It has been a long, hard, stressful, maddening, fantastic journey. We have grown so much and I find myself quite content these days. We are in a good place and we have good friends (with the cutest baby ever).

It is strange to reflect on my well being 1 year ago compared to today. I feel that if we can do this, we can do anything.

And hey, time is going by fast and we'll be back soon! We'll pack up with the 3 little guinea pigs in the back of the car and go "whee, whee, whee!" all the way home.

Wildlife Habitat

A woman called into my office wondering if she could find someone to help her create a wildlife habitat in her backyard. She is 71 and has stopped mowing the yard. I volunteered to help, and she has given me a budget to make her backyard nice. It's purpose is to be a place for wildlife, specifically pollinators. Bees, bats, birds. It is going to be a TON of work, but I am excited about it!

Before pictures:

Below are my "inspirational" photos. These are gardens that I hope to at least get a little close to.

Birdies

Eastern Bluebird

White Breasted Nuthatch


Justin and I went on a walk the other day when Mother Nature was playing a cruel, cruel trick on us and it was about 60 degrees out. (It will be 12 degrees tomorrow) These are some birds we saw that we haven't seen before. 

Even more birds!

We have had some purple finches outside our window the past couple of days. They are pretty!

Body Image

There used to just be days. Certain bad days that I felt fat, insecure, and uncomfortable. But these would happen usually when I was stressed or hormonal, around my period. These days would stand out to me.

But over time those "fat days" became more and more frequent. And today I had the realization that every single day I feel that way. Now the days that stand out are the days that I don't feel fat. Basically never.

Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

Birds of Indiana

One of the things I have liked here is seeing birds that I don't see at home. Recently we saw some new birds and I wanted to post pictures so you can enjoy them too. (Although, sadly, I didn't take any of these pictures, haha)

Northern Cardinal

We for certain saw the cardinal. What we aren't certain of is what little yellow bird we saw on campus. We bought a Birds of Indiana book at the Barnes and Noble and these are the ones we have narrowed it down to:

The Common Yellowthroat

American Goldfinch

Yellow Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Part of the difficulty of identifying it was that it was chasing another bird and was darting in and out of foliage. But hopefully we'll see it again and be able to identify it!

We also found a nature preserve where we sat on a bench and looked out into a marshy lake bed. We hadn't planned on going to the nature preserve, it was just on the GPS and we decided to be impulsive, so we weren't equipped to go on a hike. Instead we decided to sit and look around. We didn't really recognize any of the trees or plants, so we also bought a Trees of Indiana book. This is a plant that I thought was very distinctive and so when we got the book I was able to find it quickly:

Sassafras! Such a fun name to say.

Napoleon!

Our apartment has a floor to ceiling shelf and I have dedicated a corner of one of the shelves to Napoleon! (I had to put that union jack behind there. I couldn't help it. I am much more of an anglophile than a francophile, but I have a certain weakness for Napoleon Bonaparte, as you may have guessed by now...)