
After a late start, I finally finished the square foot garden. I used the book Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew for advice on how to prepare a garden. Carlos assisted me in clearing a spot in the garden. After the area was cleared and leveled off, a weed sheet was put
down and the garden frame was assembled. The garden frame was purchased as a pre-configured set to save time.
The potting mix used is a combination of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost in 1/3 amounts. Large quanties of vermiculite was hard to find, I was only able to obtain it in an old school feed store (that sold bab
y chicks and live turkeys). The sq ft gardening book recommended that the compost be a mix of different brands and types of compost to ensure diversity of nutrients. I mixed the soil on a large tarp.
Author: Leala R
Our new house in October 2009
Columbia River Gorge
Photos from my travels to the Columbia River Gorge with my husband (then boyfriend) and friend Rene.
Sao Paulo
We are in town for my friend’s wedding. Great couple of days so far in Sao Paulo. We had no problems on our flight here. Although many of our companions had issues due to the brazilian airline Varig going out of business. When we arrived at the hotel we were to call our friend Fe’s mom. When we called the phone we would keep getting some standard Portuguese message and then ended up “obrigado” and hung up. After many tries, we just decided to eat dinner around the block from the hotel. We ordered a recommended dish off the menu. It was a greasy chicken with cheese on the top. Not a memorable meal so far…
The day before the wedding a group of us americanos decided to take a van tour around Sao Paulo. It was set up by Fe’s relatives. The guide requested was an English speaking guide. A few minutes into the tour we realize that the guide barely knew any english and our brazilian portugese was very poor. He referred to things as the “big church” and called the market “big mac”. It actually became quite funny with the group. He kept trying to speak spanish to me and kept telling my friend Kevin that he spoke good portugese.
Futbol on everywhere
That evening we attended the bridal shower for Fe. It was at a family members condo (if I remember correctly). The condos were nice and highly secure (I guess they have to be in Sao Paulo). We were buzzed into a secure holding area and after the doors shut firmly behind us, we were let into the grounds of the condos. Note: At the time there was high crime in Sao Paulo – Fe, Fe’s mother, and cousin were robbed of their cell phones and purses at a traffic light prior to our arrival – thus explaining why were were unable to contact them.
The shower was co-ed and attended by all of the family and friends (grandparents and kids alike). After attending the shower we attended a bar together.
Secure gate
The next day the wedding did not begin until 8 or 9 in the evening so Carlos and I did some wandering around alone. At some point in the trip we ended up at a typewriter museum??? Our attempts to speak Portuguese were useless. No one could understand a word we said. Even pointing to pictures on a menu wouldn’t work because there were always more questions to be answered after we pointed.
The ceremony was in a beautiful church. The pictures I took did not do it justice.
Following the ceremony was an all night reception with a samba band and dancers. It was loads of fun. Unfortunately we booked and early morning flight to Rio so we only stayed until 4 am.
Note some of the wedding pics provided were actually taken by Kevin’s friend Chris, another guest at the wedding.
Second Running attempt
This Saturday I ran another race. I completed the 2 miler in record time for myself. I still cannot run the entire course yet but I am improving so that is all I can ask for. I will be taking a break from races this week because I will be off in Colorado attempting to ski and snowboard. This trip should prove to be very challenging for me. I have had a total of 2 hours skiing time and 4 hours snowboarding time in my whole life. I think lessons are in the near future :). I am excited though, don’t get to see much snow in the Sunshine State. Before my trip, still have much to do. Have personal trainer session today, volleyball playoffs tomorrow and I have to pack sometime. Later…..
Note: This post was transferred from an old online journal but helps chronicle my fitness journey.










































