So I’ll admit it, I’ve never planted anything. At least not as an adult. I’m sure we planted things in school and I can remember going to the garden with my Gramma from time to time. But I’ve never had a garden myself and I don’t do any landscaping here at the house. I’m guessing I have my mother to thank for that. I don’t recall having ever seen her tend to plants either. Actually, I believe I remember her saying once that she could kill fake flowers… or something along those lines.

Now my Kiddo is a different story. She’s interested in all kinds of digging & planting. She certainly didn’t get it from her father either (FarmVille does not count!). She spends a lot of time with my In-Laws who have always had a small garden and who always have new things planted all around the house. I’m thankful that she has learned so much from them about different flowers. She’s 4 years old and she can point out more types of flowers than I can.

Last summer she had her own garden spot at their house. On occasion, she would finish eating a piece of watermelon or an apple and she would ask to save the seed to plant in her garden later. Of course she just went out, tossed it in a whole and never thought of it again. Nothing ever grew. But this year, we decided she was big enough to really try some of her own gardening.

We found these awesome little kits at Hobby Lobby, where I also purchased some cute garden tools for her for $0.99 each! We picked up two of these kits from Crayola – Tomatoes & Zinnias.

You get a little tray with 10 ‘pods’ and one pack of seeds. After adding water to the tray, the pods will begin to expand. The soil is encased in some sort of coconut fiber. The package gave a website to learn more about coconut fibers but when I tried, I couldn’t find any information. I’m not sure if using those fibers benefit your plants in some way or if it is just a green alternative to using some sort of synthetic material. I’d like to find out more.

Once you add the water, the pods will float and then the waiting game begins.

Once the pods have soaked up most of the water and are no longer floating, you’ll notice there are small holes (some of the seemed to have ripped and are larger) in the coconut fiber. This is where you can place two seeds in each pod.

The Kiddo was able to do every step of this project. She made sure all of the pods were face up before adding the water, poured the water herself, placed the pods back into their designated areas after they had floated around in the water for a while and then placed two seeds into each one.

When you’ve finished, you replace the clear covers that came with the tray and you have your own greenhouse! Allow them to grow in the greenhouse for a while then remove the lid. After a little more time in the tray, we’ll be able to take them out and plant them outside. I think we’ll move them to a pots this weekend and leave them for a bit before putting them in her garden, We are in Tennessee after all, who knows when it might snow again!

I have some photos from week one and I’ll take some this weekend, which will be the end of week three. I’ll post them later.

This town completely depresses me. No offense to my friends here. I know you all love living here. It just isn’t for me. I’ve been here for nearly 9 years and I’ve honestly never enjoyed it. It never has (and never will) feel like home.

I live in a nice neighborhood with no crime. Mostly older couples who’s grandchildren come to visit or young couples who are starting their families. Yet I still don’t feel safe answering my door when the Hubs isn’t home or taking the Kiddo out to play alone. Why is this?

I moved here in August of 2001 and the first interactions I had with people in this town were in our church. Now there were some terrific people there but for the most part, it wasn’t a good experience at all. No one knew me or knew where I had come from and they didn’t bother to ask. They knew I was the girlfriend of their new Youth & Children’s Pastor and apparently they weren’t crazy about that idea.  My hair was too short and messy, my ears had too many studs in them, my jeans were too long and I was definitely too young.

They didn’t know my Hubs (boyfriend at the time) either. Their minister had been great friends with my Father-in-Law for many years and had previously been the minister of their church as well. The secretary was the wife of another minister who had been at the church my Hubs grew up at too. Besides the two of them, no one else knew much about him. So why did they seem to think I wasn’t good enough for him or something?

I don’t know and I really don’t care. But I do think that this experience had a lasting effect on me, on the way I’ve felt for the last 8+ years. If you don’t feel safe or loved in your church, where can you?

Be careful about how you treat visitors or new members at your church. They are your family and you may be the only family they have. Some of these people may be taking a huge step to be in a church at all and it may also be their last resort in trying to figure their lives out.

There’s this girl – a friend - she’s been mentioned before and probably will be again. So you might as well check her out at SouthernBelleSimple and see some of the reasons she is hearted by so many people!

She recently had a birthday and you know, it’s fun to do something nice for friends. Unfortunately, when friends live about 200 miles apart, that isn’t always easy. Now if you read a bit of her blog, you’ll learn quickly that she has a thing for cupcakes! Having a Foodie for a friend is awesome, they are so easy to buy for!

There’s a place in Knoxville called Magpies. Kate, from SouthernBelleSimple, speaks highly of them. Their website was very informative and they actually check and respond to their eMail inquiries! This is a major plus, not everyone likes doing business on the phone.  They are partnered with a local delivery service and you can place your order online too.

The cupcake options were terrific. Regular or Minis in over 20 flavors. Classics combination of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla and chocolate butter-creams. Deluxe recipes of Red Velvet, Strawberry Cream, Coconut and more. Then there’s the Super Deluxe – three new flavors each month. Of course there was only one obvious choice… Super Deluxe Minis!

The friendly staff at Magpies had informed me, via eMail, that their customers can place orders through 622-EATS and have them delivered. Nothing like surprising a friend with a delivery for their birthday. Unless you don’t know their work address and you have to ask them and explain why. She never knew what was coming though so it was still fun.

Now before you order something from any business – local or national, online or in store – check out their Facebook fan page! You won’t believe how many deals there are on Facebook. 622-EATS was actually offering a discount on the exact item that I wanted to order from Magpies.

The Magpies order was placed along with an order of a single can of Diet Coke from the 622-EATS menu. The delivery charge was minimal (under $4) and you can tip the driver online as well. They even figure the suggested tip for you. Their service is mostly for people to order takeout for themselves but if you want to order a gift for someone, just make a note about it at checkout.

At 622-EATS, you’ll find a great selection of local menus. Order from one or more and 622-EATS will place your order, pick it up and deliver it at whatever time you schedule. The also have a small menu of their own where you can order things like a single can of Coke, or even a whole case. There is a flat-rate delivery fee but additional rates may apply, depending on how far you are located from the restaurant.

A little kudos to Cory, the delivery guy. He forgot the Diet Coke the first time and after shooting them a reminder in an eMail, he took the drink back to her within minutes!

I realize that most of you probably don’t live in Knoxville. But it’s a big place, maybe you know someone there that you’d like to send a gift to sometime. If not, at least you have a new gift-giving idea. When you need to send a little something to a friend in another city, check out their local markets online and see if anyone offers delivery. It was a whole new experience.

Thanks to my friend Kate from SouthernBelleSimple, I have a new need for organic eyeshadow. Okay so it isn’t really her fault. I just like to blame other people when I spend money! Really though, she had a post about an all natural mascara and after reading it, I was inspired to go on a search for healthier alternatives to the makeup I’m currently using.

Of course, I can’t think of a better way to try out a new product than to get it for free! While browsing through the tweets from my Twitter friends, I ran across this giveaway at Little Ya Ya’s & Blessed. She’s giving away three organic eyeshadows from Orglamix.

I’d never heard of Orglamix before but I’m thrilled at the amount of color choices they have and for only $4.99 each. I’m hoping I pick up these free shadows to try and review. There’s still plenty of time left, the giveaway ends on April 9th. So head over to Little Ya Ya’s & Blessed and get your entries in!

When I found out that the Old Navy in my home town started carrying plus-sized clothing, I was excited. Checked them out and bought a few things. Loved them, everything fit well. So the next time I needed some new things, I headed over to the closest Old Navy and was surprised that I couldn’t find anything in my size! I asked one of the clerks about it and she informed me that the plus-sized clothing selections were only available at certain retail locations.

The closest was the store in my home town, 2 hours away.  And when I’m there, I’m cramming too much into 48 hours and I just don’t have time to shop. However, I made a trip home and planned to take the time out to do a little shopping. Only to arrive at Old Navy and be told that the plus-sized clothing was now an online exclusive.

So I really gave up on Old Navy at that point. Someone who wears a size 4 knows that most anything in that size is going to fit them. Someone who wears a size 24 knows that at one store that may mean 22 and 26 at another. I’ll never understand how there can be such a huge difference between companies. I just need to be able to try things on before I buy. Even in the stores, you see them on the mannequins but you know that isn’t what it will look like on you. At most, you might be lucky enough to see a size 12 mannequin with a size 24 pinned up in the back. I won’t get started on that.

As usual, I gave in to a bargain a few weeks ago. I’ve been wearing the same swim suit for 4 summers. A maternity suit at that! It’s cute and covers everything that I want covered, but it was time for something new. I just can’t justify spending $80 on a swim suit that I use a few times each year. I was browsing OldNavy.com one night – anticipating a shopping trip to stock up on fall and winter clothes for my daughter – when I found an awesome swim suit for $23! I grabbed it right away. Absolutely love it and it fit great.

Last week I was thinking about the cool weather coming and how I was dreading the hours of shopping for clothing. Don’t get me wrong, I love to shop. Just not for clothing for myself at all. So I headed back to OldNavy.com and started digging around. The deals got me again, I couldn’t pass them up. I piled things into my cart but hesitated over and over about “checking out”.  In the end, I took the plunge.

Today I received my order and my nightmare came true. Everything was too big. I know, I should be happy, right? And believe me, I was excited at first. Until it hit me. “Oh no, what kind of hoops am I going to have to jump through to return these?” So I grabbed the invoice and the laptop and set out on a mission. I’ll be honest, I was prepared to get on the phone and start griping about how it’s ridiculous that I only have the option of shopping online and then if it doesn’t work out, I just lose money for shipping and return shipping and then have nothing to show for it.

But I couldn’t have been more ill-prepared for what I was about to find out. First of all, they still have everything I need in stock – in the sizes I want. Had I needed to return them, I would have been able to print a pre-paid shipping label and return the package and have $6 deducted from my refund for shipping. But for an exchange, I print the label and there is no charge to me for the return shipping or for the new items being shipped to me.

I put in a quick phone call to their customer service so that I could make sure I understood everything correctly. I have to say, it was the nicest and most helpful conversation that I have ever had with any customer service representative. She explained that I could go ahead and put in a new order for the items that I need to exchange. In my case, this is beneficial because I’m afraid things will go out of stock in my size before my exchange items make it back to Old Navy. I will have to pay for the new order, shipping excluded, but once they receive my current items, they will refund me for those.

I also noticed that some of the items that I purchased had gone up in price by $30. She assured me that it would be an even exchange and I would not have to pay the difference. Then to my surprise, she informed me that if anything I purchased was now on sale… they would actually refund the difference to me!

So tomorrow I’ll be sending some items back and putting my order in for the new ones at no extra cost to me. Terrific customer relations! I may have a new go-to clothing source.