Just Made Fruit Leather! Boo-ya!

When you marry a farmer, you think of creative ways to cook and/or store food. When it was apple season, we were eating apple sauce, apple pie, apple syrup then apple juice, cider, and so on to vinegar. "Waste nothing!" is the husband's motto. Now that Bryan is harvesting cherries, we have been eating gallons of them a day. But last night we made cherry fruit leather and it was delicious. So if you got a cherry tree, I suggest blending your cherries and putting them in a dehydrator for some great snacks!

Butterbrown Photography

Our friends Nick + Tara have started their own photography business and it is so so cute! A couple weeks ago we went on a double date and they took some pictures of us. Here are a few of our favorites!

This abandoned barn is such a dream. I really wish the city would put it up for sale, so B and I can snatch it up!

Nick + Tara are such a joy to be around. We feel so fortunate to have them as our friends. And seriously photo shoots are so fun! Need any portraits? Hire them! They are too amazing to pass up! Check out more of their stuff here!

Living by the tracks makes for cheap rent...

Sometime we laugh at how great our apartment experience has been. Things that most people would hate have actually worked out really well for us. Let me name a few...

First, the railroad tracks. Every morning we are awaken by the sound of trains moving, which slightly sounds like an earth shattering apocalyptic war. And it isn't just a train passing through--the trains park here. Have you ever heard a train stop or start--sounds like a line of crashing cars. Normally this would be awful, but we actually prefer waking to this over our buzzing alarm clock. And because of the steady morning wake up call, I am starting to become a morning person. Bryan makes us breakfast as we sit and chat over the metallic squealing and crashing that shakes our household. Occasionally, they park the train there overnight and we like to climb the cars and admire the amazing graffiti work. And the best part, we have the cheapest rent in Davis [which is not very cheap at all].

Second, lack of space. Take two people who lived in houses in college and then put them together into a one bedroom apartment. Hilarious! We've got Bryan's closet acting like a part time garage with all his tools, our bed is ridiculously high [you have to get a running jump just to get on] just so we can store camping gear and board games underneath and our collapsable dining table stores buckets underneath that we use as chairs. It's fun figuring out how to fit everything--kinda like the adult version of Tetris.

And finally, the parking lot puddle. I really wish I had a picture to show you, but every time it rains [even if for a little bit] our parking lot floods. Sometimes we hear our neighbors complaining and begging management to fix it, but Bryan and I cross our fingers that they don't. It gets really exciting coming home when you get to tear through a giant puddle before you park or have puddle jumping adventures or watch your dog go for an afternoon swim in your parking lot.

Someday, B and I will be ready to move onto something bigger and better [like an apartment that has a bathroom where your guests don't have to go through your bedroom to get to it], but for now we're pretty happy where we're at.

Last Friday, we celebrated my incredible friend Sara's birthday. She is my co-leader, my co-worker, was one of my bridesmaids, a Costa Rican travel buddy, and most of all one of my bestest friends [I realize bestest isn't a word, but it fits]. Next fall Sara will be off to North Park University in Chicago to become a youth pastor. I have been so blessed to get to know this girl for the past two years and I'm excited to visit her in the windy city! Anyways, [before I get all sappy], here are some pictures of the night. I realize I have no pictures of Sara on her birthday, but here are some of the people who love her...

Taco Bar with a fancy quesadilla maker

This is our friend Emma; it's was her birthday the next day!

Homemade tortilla chips by Steph was the popular choice

We had a taco bar potluck and later watched Heavy Weights [such a great movie] on a projector in the backyard. Thanks to our friends Nate & Joseph for always letting us use their backyard for events [they're one of the only few that don't live in an apartment].

Mama's Day Weekend

This year we spent Mother's day with Bryan's mama. I feel so blessed to have her in my life. Without her I would not have my amazing husband. She is one of the strongest women I know. Right now she is working her tail off in nursing school and is so good at what she does. I see so much of her in Bryan and I am so thankful for the wonderful mama she was and is to him.

Weekend with the Family

This past weekend, my family got together to celebrate a late Mother's day. It was so good seeing my uncle, grandma, mom, dad, sisters, & my nephew. I love them so much and really wish that we all lived closer. Anyways, here are some photos...

Uncle Bryan with Jack

Shasta found a bed in a old wine barrel planter

Jack hugging his Great Uncle and Great Grandma

Since I'm in the midst of finals [and need a reason to procrastinate], I thought that I'd make of list of things I'm looking forward to about this summer...

• Camping with my sister and her beautiful fambam
• Practicing my photography skills
• Celebrating Bryan's grandparent's 6oth anniversary in Monterey. Sixty years of marriage! How beautiful is that?!
• Sewing summer dresses out of sheets with my friend, Sara
• Spending a week houseboating on Lake Shasta with pretty amazing high school kids
• Renting a beach house: a lot of our friends are movin' on to bigger and better things this fall, so as a last hoorah we rented a beach house this July.
• Celebrating a full year of marriage with the best guy I know
• And come August, I'm training to become a trauma chaplain. There's a lot of places that could take me, but I'm hoping it will mean working with Courage House

As these events unravel, I'll be sure to update and give more details.

However, if I don't you can be sure that it's because I'm enjoying

summer far too much to be on the computer.

Cherries

Hey, Bryan here!

So it's really exciting out at the farm right now because spring has sprung! There are finally leaves and greenery everywhere! We've been having to water things because the rains have stopped; however, the first fruit of the season is here.....CHERRIES!!! We have 4 varieties out at the farm and the "Early Sweets" are living up to their name, and as soon as those are done we'll move to the next then the next.... at least that's the plan. This year we've been having trouble with the spotted wing drosophila. These little fruit flies are a brand new pest in california that someone snuck past the border checkpoints. They're making a mess of cherry production because they don't have any real predators here and are hard to control, luckily this first variety didn't get hit too hard yet though, so we have been munching away! Here are some pictures Sam took of them...