And the winner is....

The winner from the bird feeder give away is Hocking Hills Garden!  Send me a message with your mailing information and feeder preference (pine cone or dragonfly), and your prize will be on it's way!  Congratulations!

One day left until the giveaway!!

If you didn't enter the giveaway on Thursday, make sure you stop by today and leave a comment for a chance to win one of two birdfeers, that yours truly picked out just for you!!

Happy Sunday, we are off to the woods to play!

Giveaway Time!

Calling all bird lovers! A Girl and Her Garden, is hosting a great giveaway to add a little spunk to your garden this year. 

You can enter to win one of two bird feeders, "one of two" you say?  Oh yeah..options, baby!   

Who doesn't want a bird feeder during these cold winter months to give those little birdies a place to feed, and for you to enjoy their presence? 

A Girl & Her Garden will randomly select one winner on Monday, January 18.  The winner gets to choose his/her choice of feeders...the pine cone feeder, or the dragonfly feeder.  Here is how to enter, AND, earn a second entry:

1.  Leave me a comment and tell me which of these bird feeders you would rather have in your garden, where you would put it, and why you should be the lucky winner! :)

2.  For a second entry, post this blurb below on your blog, and leave me a comment below with the link to your blog:

"Do you find that birds are pecking at your house numbers looking for food? A Girl and Her Garden is hosting a great giveaway that is guaranteed to improve your home garden!"

The BEST January Flowers

I don't know about you all, but January can be a tough month to get through, ecspecially when you are dreaming of warmer temps, and bright, beautiful flowers and plants!!  You would think I would have gotten married in the spring or summer when the seasons are in their peak....but no..guess which month the girl who despises cold decides to get married?  You guessed it, January!!  At the start of the wedding planning, we were working towards a May wedding, but got so tired of waiting we moved it up to January 27.

So, in early celebration of our 3rd anniversary and a HINT to my husband that maybe an arrangement of my wedding bouquet would be nice to put on the to do list now, let's just take a little trip down memory lane, shall we?

Our colors were chocolate and mossy green, and had the most talented, creative floral designer help us make our day gorgeous!  If any of you live in Fort Smith, and are planning a special day, check out L Designs!!  There were plenty of pinecones, moss, bird nests, pears, and hydrangeas to make the day perfect...along with the husband.

So without further ado...some of my favorite photos from the day...

This isn't the best shot of my bouquet, but you can see it is white hydrangeas, white tulips, and seeded eucalyptus.  A. Mazing.

You can barely see the curly willow arrangments in the background.  These were filled with pears and the curly willow were a perfect compliment to the tables. 

Don't ask why everyone is cracking up and my head is buried!!!  My MOH told the most embrassing story, one that I thought would have been off limits, but nope, not the case!

Have you heard the news?

You should feel sorry for me.  Perhaps you have heard?  Tomorrow's forecast in Arkansas is calling for the temperatures to feel like -11 at 9 a.m. and -4 at noon!  While this might be "normal" for some you, we are spoiled with Southern winter weather, i.e. we hang in the forties!  This girlie is not ready for this extreme cold.  So...how about a trip down memory lane to that wonderful season I like to call summer.  Mmmm...warm sun, Black Eyed Susans, Coneflowers....I miss you, please come see me soon.

Mums for Monday

Back to work today after being off since December 23rd, hopefully the work week won't be too brutal!  Here is a little Monday Mum color to get the week started off on a good note.  This is what my car looked like after my fall trip to Neumeiers to pick up some goodies, it was packed!!

Happy Monday!

A Walk in the Woods

Today was a chilly day in Arkansas, but we made the best of it with a hike, good grub, a trip to our favorite grocery store, and now we are curled up on the couch watching the Arkansas v. E.Carolina bowl game with a Pale Ale in hand.  Mmm... Life is good!  Here are a few photos from today's hike.  Enjoy!

 Check out this work from the beavers.  Wouldn't it be cool to see them lugging these trees to their home?

More work from the beavers...

 

If you look closely, you can see the beaver dam.  Follow the crack in the rock to the water and you will see the brown of the tree logs.  Just beyond this rock is a known bald eagle spot, particuarly in February, but we saw 5 bald eagles today!!!

Jezebel is bringing up the rear.

2010 Goals

I am really looking forward to 2010.  As I told my husband last night, I feel like I was asleep at the wheel in 2009.  I think this was partly due to grad school and feeling like my free time was always zapped by writing a paper, reading, studying, tests, etc.. 

2009 wasn't toooo shabby though, there were a few highlights...

*  I ran two marathons in 2009.  If you would have told me a year ago this would have happened, I would have laughed.  The hubby and I ran 26.2 miles in Little Rock in March, and 26.2 miles in Chicago in October.  You can even find my name, "Anne Thomas," on the wall of names outside of Niketown. 

*  We added a new bed to the garden and filled it full of goodies. My favorite being the salvia leucantha, or Mexican Sage Bush. Talk about an impact! We also added a new raised bed and grew tons and tons of tomatoes, along with a few green peppers, and jalapenos.

*  I graduated from grad school!!!

*  I won a blog award from Blotanical.

Now...Onto 2010! 

Since I don't have to dedicate any more time to papers, studying, weekly runs, long runs on the weekend, etc. I have had a lot of fun reflecting on what I what to accomplish in 2010 to reclaim my life!  So here goes the partial list..

1. 
   
   I want to read the Bible cover-to-cover with a 365 day reading plan.
   
   
   
2. 
   
   I want to spend more time on my bike this year and ride three Epics:  the Womble, Syllamo, and Berryman.  (I used to be an avid mountain biker, but running kind of took over and baby blue isn't feeling the love.  In fact, I was working out yesterday in an old t-shirt I picked up at a race and noticed it was from 2003, wow it seems like just yesterday I used to race..not so much.)
   
   
   
3. 
   
   I want to re-vamp our eating habits.  (I've gained 30 pounds since we got married in 2007 - yikes!  I learned a lesson the hard way this year, you cannot do a 15 mile run and reward yourself with pizza and beer, just becuase you spent your day running for 3 hours!!)  Specifically, limit white, sugar, alcohol, GMO, grainfed, partially hydrogenated, MSG, high fructose corn syrup, refined, processed, high GI foods, saturated fats, dairy, and artificial coloring; increase vegetables, fruit, grass fed, bitter foods, green tea, and eat more fish.  I've spent my break obsessed with some of the foodie blogs, such as, "Heather Eats Almond Butter," and "Eat Live Run." Maybe I'll start a foodie blog this year..."A Girl and Her Kitchen" hmmm?  I'm starting the new year off right with a bowl of steel-cut oats, pumpkin, bananna, walnuts, dried cranberries, and almond butter this morning - YUM!
   
   
   
4. 
   
   Hike at least once a month.  There are so many gorgeous places in Arkansas we talk about visiting, and this year I want to make it happen!!  Additionally, hike more sections of the OHT...we have an indefinite goal of hiking the OHT a few sections at a time.  We've knocked out a few sections, but it is time to get on the ball again.
   
   
   
5. 
   
   Read more.  No more books for school!!  I can read for pleasure, again!!  Right now, I'm reading The Art of Racing in the Rain.  Anyone have any good suggestions?  Send 'em my way!
   
   
   
6. 
   
   Visit the Dallas Botanical Gardens and spend a weekend in Eureka Springs.
   
   
   
7. 
   
   Celebrate my 30th birthday in Oregon with my best friend, Liz, and our hubbies.  Yep, the big 3-0 is this year and I plan on making my way up for a visit complete with hiking, microbreweries, hot springs, mountains, mossy creeks, and hopefully a trip to a McMenamins.
   
   
   

 Here's to 2010!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from A Girl & Her Garden!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Winston!

Baby Winston turns three today!! 

Happy Birthday our little Christmas Eve-baby!!!