Petunia Bloom

Once Upon a Summer… April 6, 2009

Once upon a time, in a small village in North Dakota, my husband and I stayed in very old, old, old house with a coyote, some bugs, dead and alive, and 46 year old conditioner.  Don’t believe me??  The evidence is presented below….

It looks charming, but then we all know there is a very thin line separating charming from nightmarish.

I wonder what is in those cans to the left….  I probably don’t want to know.  Is that an old refrigerator to the left…??  It looks like an old appliance of some sort.

Speaking of old appliances…here are some that still in use:

The knick knacks were so old they were considered antiques and for sale should anyone want to take home a momento…

I assumed these momentos were free to take…

Wait….I promised a coyote.

Oh my!!!  There are two coyotes…I under promised and over-delivered.  Does the hubby look a little tired.  Well that could be because we got the honeymoon suite featured below:

It was really called the the honeymoon suite, because the bed had a bouncy problem.  At the slitest touch the bed would convulse with bouncing.  I don’t know how else to describe it.  It was unlike anything I have ever seen.  It felt like I was being “bounced-to-sleep.”

Everything was within walking distance.

Try getting these three fellows to all look at the camera at the same time….

Another summer is right around the corner and, with it, more memories to be made.

PS. I don’t have a picture of the conditioner, but I have 7 eye-witnesses.  Thank goodness I took my own.

Spring Break – more video from my camera…. March 29, 2009

Here are two more videos of the Show Choir.

Guy Song from Petunia Bloom on Vimeo.

Below:  Jazz Choir within the Show Choir.

Jazz Choir from Petunia Bloom on Vimeo.

Spring Break

We went to Branson, MO to see my sister sing during her Spring Break.

Here is my husband, me, my sister’s friend – Tanner, my sister, and my Mimi.

Their show choir performed two nights in a row as the opening act.  The first night was great!! We got video of it.  The second night was very good, but they all seemed tired.  I’m sure they didn’t get a whole lot of  sleep while they were there.

Same group….my Mom instead of Mimi at the right side.

I could have used a little more make-up!!!

Here is video of my sister and her partner singing and dancing to a song that I did when I was in Show Choir!!

Jump Jive from Petunia Bloom on Vimeo.

Our Christmas Present February 3, 2009

For Christmas we got a Traeger grill!!  It is a pellet grill that:  Smokes, Barbecues, Grills, and Bakes.  My parents have had one for years and love it.  We got a Junior size so it will fit on our small porch.

Here are the pellets.  The cool thing is, you can buy different types of pellets to go in your grill to give your food a slightly different taste.

The Traeger dealer here in Tulsa (Hanlon’s Fireplace and Patio), has Traeger grills in the shape of a giant pink pig and a black charing bull.  They are hilarous!

Christmas Pictures 2008 December 21, 2008

Ryan and I have our couple Christmas pictures tomorrow – Monday.  Although, when we were home for Thanksgiving we had Christmas pictures taken with my family.  My sister told us that the photographer we were going to had very uncomfortable poses.  It turns out, that was an understatement…

Here, I was laying on a wooden bench and the photographer kept telling me to put my head down, in and to the side.  My neck doesn’t even move in all of those directions at once…my neck hurt afterward and in the picture it looks like I have a double chin.  lol

Then the photographer wanted to add Ryan, my husband, to the photo.  I was annoyed I had to stay on that bench longer, and my neck couldn’t hold the same position any longer so it actually looks nice.

This turned out to be my parents Christmas picture.  I think it looks nice, but notice we are kneeling on ROCK!!  Oh my gosh, that hurt!!  I could never be a model.  I am too into my comfort.

I really like this one.

Born to be an aerobics instructor! December 17, 2008

My mom and me 22 years ago…

The outfits have kind of changed since then!

Family Reunion December 1, 2008

We had a family reunion over Thanksgiving to celebrate my grandparent’s 60 anniversary.  They had 17 children.  16 of them are still alive and are pictured below.  Guess which one is my dad!!

My sister October 20, 2008

Last weekend I went to a high-school football game to watch my sister cheer.  It was the most beautiful night.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera so I could zoom in on my sister.  This picture was the best I could do with my trusty i-phone.

More Pictures from the Farm July 20, 2008

I finally got my camera back.  Here are some of the pictures I took while on the farm.

Here is Brian, Ryan, me, and my Mimi and Pappy.

You can’t beat this.  This is what I grew up on.  I made hamburgers this week for my mom and it tasted so bad to her that she threw it in the garbage disposal when she thought I wasn’t looking…  My parents cook their meat on a Traeger grill.  They are amazing.  Add some home grown beef to it and you are sure to want more.

Ryan and Brian helping to band some bulls.

Okay – That is gross.  I think I am going to call your bluff.

Up close and personal now….

Brian is having second thoughts about trying them.  Is he all talk?

And he decided to just try one or two…

Sophie is very concerned….okay, no she just wants to play ball…

Spelt Flour July 5, 2008

Today I got hungry for some fresh bread – more specifically Great Harvest bread.  If you have not been to Great Harvest Bread Company in Tulsa and you like fresh bread, you are missing out.  They mill their flour every morning and use all whole wheat flour.  Anyway, I had a buy one get one free coupon and was so excited to get some fresh bread.  Before I went I made sure that they would be open since it is a holiday weekend.  The website said the store would be open on Saturday.  Well, when I got there they were closed.  I was so bummed, so I went home and decided to make my own homemade bread.  My mom gave me some organic whole spelt flour a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to make organic whole spelt bread.  I didn’t have a recipe for spelt bread so I used my recipe for white bread.  So, it was all kind of an experiment.  After making the dough, I decided to taste it  .  Yes, I always taste my bread dough which is probably weird and not healthy but what the heck.  Anyway, it was soooo good.  It had a great flavor and a very similar texture to my regular white bread.  It baked very nice and it tasted wonderful.  I made two loaves and one pan of cinnamon rolls.

Spelt flour is supposed to be better for you.  It is typically organic because it has a short growing cycle and doesn’t usually need to be sprayed for bugs or weeds.  It is supposed to contain more vitamins, fiber, and protein than regular white flour and also whole-wheat flour.  I used whole spelt flour, but my mom said she usually uses white spelt flour.  Yesterday she made bread out of white spelt flour and my brother thought it was Sara Lee.  lol

I would have taken pictures, but my poor camera is in Kansas.  Last summer I left my camera in San Antonio -Ryan was NOT happy (It was actually his expensive camera he had before we were married).  This summer I left our new expensive camera at my mom’s house -Ryan was not happy.  Luckily, we will get it back this summer.  Then when I was making the bread today I tried to move our espresso machine with the shot glasses on it to another counter….not good.  One of the espresso shot glasses fell and broke into a million pieces.  Sophie was on the situation ASAP unfortunately.  No she didn’t eat any, but she did want to help pick up.  After I swept the floor twice she went right over to two pieces I missed and looked at me, so I swept again and once again -Ryan was not happy.  Feeling like a failure of a wife, I finished with the bread.  When I pulled the beautiful loaves of organic spelt flour bread out of the oven and my kitchen was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread -Ryan was very happy.