Last time I updated about the garden, the squash plants were in full force. We planted zucchini, yellow squash, and some patty pan squash. Squash always seems to do well, and we always have a plethora of the brightly colored vegetables. Truth be told, I was sick and tired of seeing, picking, and eating squash. That’s when it started to get bad. There was squash in the garden, in the refrigerator, and even on the counter. I finally decided to do something with it today. I ended up freezing three gallon bags of various squashes and I’m thinking that tomorrow I’ll probably have at least that much more to do. This is what I did to freeze the squash so it will be yummy in the winter. 1. Washed and cut the pieces into a nice size for stir fry, casseroles, etc. 2. Started a large pot of water simmering to almost a boil. 3. Prepared an ice bath 4. Put the squash in the hot water for almost five minutes, just enough to get it nice and bright in [...]

We have two dogs, a chocolate and black Labrador Retriever.  Since we don’t have any kids yet, they are like our children. Luckily, they are young and fairly healthy (knock on wood), so they don’t cost us too much money except for dog food each month. We can handle that.  We love them tremendously and enjoy their presence in our family.  I was talking to one of my friends yesterday about them, and she told me about her dachshund.  She told me she had to take off work on Monday because her dog was sick.  That was puzzling for me, but when she told me she had just spend $4,000 on surgery for him, I was dumbfounded. $4,000 for back surgery on a dog?!  She then proceeded to tell me (over email) through three paragraphs how her dog is like her third child and she loves him more than some of her family members.  She said she would do anything for this dog, which is apparent with the $4,000 surgery. Now, I love my dogs like anyone else, and I [...]

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this here or not, but I do photography on the side.  A few years ago I saved up money and bought myself my first digital SLR, a Canon Rebel XTi.  It wasn’t cheap (around $800) and served me well through a few weddings and random photo shoots.  I’ve never advertised my photography anywhere; in fact, it’s all word of mouth, and I’d like to keep it that way.  It makes me nervous to take pictures for people, especially of their weddings.  I mean, if I mess up, that’s a huge deal, and I can never replace the pictures. I just need to gain some confidence and get over it if I’m going to pursue this as a side business. Anyway.  I’m shooting a wedding Labor Day weekend.  I can use my camera, but I would really like a little bit better camera so that the picture quality is higher.  I have a few different options figured out right now, and I’d love to get your opinion. 1. I can rent lens(es) and use [...]