Springtime

"Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day." - W. Earl Hall

I can't believe how quickly time flies. About two weeks ago Jon's Grandma Taylor got married (now making her Grandma Otteson) and a few days later we moved into her home. We absolutely love living in a house, especially one as beautiful as Grandma's. I think my favorite part is her beautifully landscaped yard - both front and back. The tulips are on their way out, but when we first moved in, they were gorgeous and the front flower patch took my breath away every time I pulled into the house. I took this picture yesterday, and I think you can get the gist of what I mean.

Yesterday, Jon and I realized that despite living in a home approximately 4 times larger than our previous apartment, we still only use up about as much space as we did before. We rarely go to the basement, and the dining and living room go untouched. All of our time is spent in the kitchen, family room, study, or bedroom. Granted, all of these spaces are a little bigger than in our apartment, but you get the idea. Actually, the kitchen is a ton bigger and I love it!! I'll never be able to go back to an apartment kitchen again, so it's a good thing that prospect will be delayed by living in my folks' house in Boise.

Our family room and kitchen

Then again, if we didn't have half of our possessions in the garage, maybe we would use up more of the space. :)


So this spring has meant a lot of changes for us and foreshadows even more as we get ready to pack up again and move to Boise in six weeks (actually, 5 weeks and 5 days, but no one's counting, right?). Jon's working hard trying to juggle his last 8 credits that he's taking this spring term, a new T.A. job, contract work, and oh yeah, starting a business! We're so excited about the plans that are falling into place for the business, and we have a lot of confidence that with the boys' smarts and hard work ethic combined with a little bit of luck from the economy, nothing can stop us! As marketing director, Jon created the business logo, which he's still putting the final touches on, but I think it looks pretty sharp, don't you?

As for me, I'm busy finishing up work at GEAR UP, helping Jon with 3D floor plans, looking for new job in Boise, and trying to maintain some semblance of a domestic wife by keeping up on housework, cooking, and crocheting a baby blanket.

Finally, I have to mention our light bulb plant, at least for Pat and Lindsay's sake. About a month ago, our former neighbor Pat decided to try and grow a plant in a light bulb. He got all of the materials from Lowe's or Home Depot, walking up and down the aisles until he found everything he needed. Actually, everything except the light bulb itself, which Jon and I happened to contribute. Once he got all of the materials together, he threaded a jalepeno plant through the light bulb and viola! Light bulb plant! When they moved to New York a few weeks ago, I asked if we could have custody of the plant while they were gone for the summer, and we promised to post pictures of it's growth. So here you are:

You can see from the picture that there's condensation on the inside of the light bulb, and that water comes from water in the dish the contraption is set on. The base is all filled with soil, and we put it by the window so it's gets plenty of light. I think it's one of the coolest things I've ever seen! We're hoping that it gets so big that it busts open the light bulb, but the practical side of me things it'll just start to get really crowded in there. :)

So, how about that for an update from the Hastings? I apologize if I let anyone down by not posting pictures of the two of us (I'm thinking of Aubrey in particular), but I told you we're not photogenic! Actually, we got some cute shots at Grandma's wedding, so we'll post those when we get the copies. Love you all and Happy Spring!