so much yard work, ladies night out, & some food we made

Good morning! I promised I’d be back to regularly scheduled posts this week, so here I am! I was determined not to let anything distract me, so I straightened up my office (I always work better in a clean space), made a cup of coffee, and planted myself at my desk. I usually watch YouTube videos or listen to a podcast while editing photos for the week. It’s a relaxing and not-so-hectic way to start my Monday.
I know many of you are probably thinking, “ugh, not another recap post with gardening,” but it’s all I’ve been doing during the evenings and on the weekends. We had a lot to do to get ready for summer. It’s also one of my biggest hobbies. An obsession with flowers is an understatement. I definitely get it from my mom because I remember her gardening all of my childhood, and her flowers were always over the top. I always love it when she comes over with new plants for me or when she comes to the rescue when one of my flowers needs a diagnosis or revival. 😂

One of the first things I do in the morning is make my coffee and walk around the yard checking on my plants. It’s crazy what one day can do f0r the growth! My gladiolus sprouts were just an inch about a week ago, and now they are almost a foot tall. I’m so fascinated by it all, and it feels rewarding when your bulbs come up! I used to think it was all a bit overwhelming until I dived headfirst into it. That is another reason why I like to post about my garden projects. I get so many questions from people asking me how I got started and asking for advice on where to begin. Anyone can do it! I just want these posts to inspire someone to go out and try it. You don’t have to have a green thumb. I love seeing photos of the flowers you all plant, and I also get a ton of great advice from people!
I am still on track for hitting my 70-mile walking goal this month. I have about six more miles, and I’m there. It’s been so nice out here that walking outside has been pretty easy to do.

I’m still on that frozen fruit bowl kick. I shared it in my last recap post, but it’s the Wyman’s frozen fruit bites, coconut water, and pomegranate seeds. It’s the strangest yet most satisfying combo I’ve ever had. When I got back from my walk, I made a chai oat milk cappuccino. It was so nice out, so I sat on a blanket while working so the dogs could run around and play. My dogs only run around when I’m out there with them. Does anyone elses dogs do that?
Kyle and I have been ending our evenings on the porch watching the sun go down. It’s so nice out there now that we have remodeled the whole space. I will share a blog post on that soon! We are waiting on a few more things!

We’ve also been making this healthy hot cocoa combo. It has cocoa powder, almond milk, stevia, and Reddi whip.
I made my favorite oatmeal cream pie cookies on Monday night. We had our CM coming over to do a walkthrough since our one-year warranty is coming up, and they’re his favorite. I also brought some over to the neighbors since we can’t be trusted with too many of them in our house. The backyard skies are always so much prettier in the spring and summer. I love waking up with my coffee and going outside to catch them! Since the sun rises in the backyard, it’s the perfect place to be. I’m thrilled now that the trees are getting their leaves! 😊 After my Tuesday morning walk, I made a protein shake and cleaned the house for about five hours! There was absolutely no stopping me! When I’m in a cleaning mood, I just go to it. I also swapped some winter clothes out of the closet. I purchased some organizing bins/bags for winter sweaters that I’m going to test out today. I’ll report back on how I like them.

I had a lot of you ask about selling my clothes that I minimized on. I am going to be putting them up soon! Hopefully, by next week, you’ll be able to check those out!

My smoothie had spinach, avocado, almond milk, chocolate protein powder, and one banana. So many blossoms on the crabapple tree!!! I had frozen Cappello’s pizza (my favorite) for dinner and crispy smashed brussels sprouts with Tessamae’s habanero ranch dressing. After my walk on Friday, I made a frozen fruit smoothie and mixed in vanilla yogurt on top! The smoothie had raspberries, peaches, coconut water, ice, and lemon juice! I never get ready during the week, so I had to get Kyle to snap my photo! I went out with some neighborhood ladies to a pizza and wine night. I found this cute top at Target, and I’m so obsessed! I love floral and eyelet, so I threw it in my cart fast! 😊 I’m glad I did because it’s now sold out. Their puff sleeves sell out super fast! They need to do a faster restock.  We headed to Margaux’s for dinner. It’s a new restaurant in Pineville, and it’s amazing! The environment is so cute, and the food was amazing! I ordered a glass of chardonnay, the seasonal salad, and the cauliflower Sicilian pizza. I told Kyle that we have to go back asap and order the same thing! The cauliflower crust was the best I’ve ever had! After dinner, we headed to our neighborhood’s clubhouse to sit around the fire. It was such a gorgeous night out! I was up bright and early on Saturday morning. We had a coffee truck at the clubhouse, so I made Kyle walk the trail with me to pick up an oat milk cappuccino. We also picked up this blackberry cream cheese danish since we were starving! It was way too good!! I did a second-morning walk with my neighbor! We hit six miles. 😊

Kyle made steak and jalapeno poppers for lunch, and I made a giant salad to go with it.   That afternoon, I made some tasty and healthy chocolate-covered strawberries!  I did my morning garden walkthrough on Sunday, and so many things changed overnight! The dianthus I planted last year started blooming, my zinnia sprouts shot up, and my hydrangeas got so big! It’s been in and out of rain all week, so I think they love that fresh rainwater followed by sunshineLeo’s favorite spot on the back patio.  My climbing roses are starting to bud! I can’ wait to see them. This is a sally holmes climbing rose. My mom’s yard ended up being way too shaded for it, so we planted it in my full sun backyard! I have over 15+ rose bushes in the backyard. I love them so much! I’m thinking about doing a rose garden in one of the spaces this summer with a birdbath and bench. Our backyard has a big slope dropoff at the end, and it would be perfect down there. I bought these bamboo plant labels and they have held up through all the rainstorms! I labeled all my roses, so I don’t forget the names. My peonies are back!! Eeek. I was so worried about them this year because they didn’t do too well with the transport. I’m hoping they do better. Peonies can be pretty tricky! There are so many factors in creating the perfect space for them to flower. I would say they are the trickiest in my garden so far.Here are my peonies from last year! We have been getting the craziest storms. When we first moved into our house, we planted mature camellia trees next to our four windows. We wanted something with green leaves all year, privacy, and flowers. I’ve always loved camellias. I now have eight camellia trees in my yard. One of our mature trees has been doing well with rich green leaves and perfect flowers, but the stems are pretty weak, and with the heavy flowers + rainfall, it has just been drooping. I used bamboo stakes on Sunday to give the camellia support. I zip tied them to the bamboo, and they held up great in the crazy wind storms we had. I also gave them a tablespoon of Epsom salt since they require a lot of magnesium. They should be given Epsom salt about once or twice a year.  I had another crazy situation in the garden on Sunday….primroses.

Last year, I was excited to add primroses to my garden! They are so pretty and bloom all season long. I didn’t realize how invasive they were! They started sprouting up in January and talking over almost 1/4 of my garden. I decided to rip them out and plant them down my back hill (where I’m currently growing wildflowers.) It took me a good hour to get them all up, and I’m sure I’ll be digging them out all summer. I replaced them with dianthus, one of my favorite perennials. Kyle and I decided to rip out the giant red cherry plum tree in the house’s front. I hated that tree there since we bought the house! It just was so out of place. Not only was it out of place, but those trees get huge, and they’re so dark. We dug it out and put it in the backyard down by the fence. I think it looks so much better back there, and since we already had a red tree in the back, it made it a bit more balanced out.

We started our project when it was pouring down rain and super windy, but we were determined to get it all done this weekend. We didn’t let it stop us! We headed to Lowes and picked out a new dogwood tree. This is what the new tree will look like. I love a tree with green leaves, and it’s SO PRETTY in the spring with its white flowers. We bought two of them since they were such a good price. We put the other one in the backyard by our porch. The dogwood trees grow about two feet a year, so we thought that was perfect for our front. After planting some border petunias, I re-mulched the entire front garden bed. This took about twelve bags, but it looks nice and fresh for summer! I can’t wait for all the flowers to make their way up. I’m still waiting on some perennials to sprout up, but so many have returned.  I can’t believe these drift roses are already blooming like wild crazy! My azaleas I planted along the fence line last year are also blooming! They grew about a foot since planting them in August. I’m so happy about it! Azaleas are so beautiful. I was covered in dirt from head to toe by late afternoon, and I was EXHAUSTED! I showered up and headed downstairs to make dinner with Kyle. He made his Sunday steaks, and I made cheesy rice and kale salads to go on the side. It tasted so good! We ended our evening watching March Madness and having 75-calorie apple pies! I’ve been making these for TikTok!

♥️ Thank you for stopping by to read, and I hope your week is amazing!

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Questions for you!

1. What is something you look forward to every single day?
2. What projects are you currently working on?
3. What clothing pattern are you a sucker for?