Urban Garden Paradise: Tips and Tricks

Ok, so I've started reaping from my sowing! Look at these beauts'. Not that I am the most proficient green thumb (oops I forget to water kind of a lot), but I figured I would share some of my tricks and tips for urban balcony gardening learned along the way (read: so I don't forget next year).

1. Garden Smoothies- when I water my plants, I make a "garden smoothie!" Combine chopped oranges, coffee grounds, and other biodegradable material in your watering pitcher. (like apple peels, coffee filters, garlic skin, lettuce leaves, carrot shavings, decaying leaves, etc) Pour into pots and stir in for a nutrition infused soil!

2. When planting tomatoes, eat bananas and put the peels at the bottom of your soil before the seedling goes in. This will create an infused soil right off the bat.

3.  Mix coffee grounds in with tomato soil, for acidity. They like that.

4. DONT FORGET TO WATER- especially if its going to be a hot day.

5. Keep a compost pile going and hot for some on hand fertilizer for your potted plants- they soak up all the dirt's goodness real fast and need some food every so often!

6. Prune smaller leaves at the bottom of the plant near the base, as well as random stems that arent doing anything. This will allow your plant to concentrate its efforts on fruit bearing and not maintenance of smaller random leaves. (Don't go too crazy with this.)

7.  Rearrange plants for best sunlight. After a while you will notice what spots get the best sunlight for your plants!

8. Enjoy your garden and its glory.

9. Take pictures and document the process!

10. Read your Bible and pray every day, and you'll grow, grow grow!

Any tips you would like to share with us? 

Urban Garden Paradise: Update

Wow, so I guess its been a little bit since I updated about my wonderful garden. For some reason, I am awake at 5am this morning, and have the chance to sit on my lovely balcony and enjoy the most delightful morning. Breezy and sunny, the best time to enjoy the garden.

Ive made some new additions to the family, either from purchase of already grown plants, or from my friend Casey, so the list is now quite extensive. I have strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, peppers, lillies, tomatoes, cilantro, and basil!

The tomatoes already have little green balls growing, and have been given their own cages, the strawberries are already forming. My zucchini who once were seedlings, are now blossoming into full size planthood.

It's magical and rewarding.

I think my next post will be some unique tips based on what I think I am doing right.

How does YOUR garden grow?

Your Garbage, My Treasure: Planters

Walking down the street to catch the bus, a typical daily activity, I came across two stereo speakers that were clearly not work able and clearly in the trash pile. I saw their potential right away and hoped that they wouild still be laying there upon my return from work.

In my head they automatically looked like garden planters, and I knew it could be done. Thankfully they were there on my walk back, and I eagarly lugged them back to my apartment!

After evaluating the situation, the realization came that some major hacking had to be done. The nails were hidden, so I had to take a hammer to the wood and just pound out the speaker casing in order to have a box that was open on the top. After removing all debris and cutting out the wires, I took some nails and created drainage holes on the bottom of the boxes. Dirt was added along with the plants and viola!

 Perfect boxes for my cucumber seedlings!

Have you ever taken anything fron the trash and made a treasure?! Tell me about it!

Ahh Mulling Spices & Pumpkin Bread

Oh man everyone. If I could somehow capture a scent and share it with you, I totally would right now. Imagine a crisp fall day with a fresh tingle in the air, the evening upon you, pumpkin bread in the oven, mulling spices over the flame, hot tea in your cup, and you have my night. This has been one of the most amazing days ever.

I had nothing official planned, and having a Saturday off for me is always a treat. I accomplished my goal of sleeping until my body woke me up, not an alarm or a phone call. (Lets just say that time was after 12 and before 2opm). I took my time waking up, made a delicious breakfast omlette of eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, basil leaves, feta cheese, and a little shake of salt and pepper. 

A little while later, my roommate and I took a delightful walk. We stopped by my friend's apartment down the street and enjoyed his garden for a minute, also enjoyed some of the tart concord grapes growing in his backyard. 

We ended up at the mall and walked pretty much the whole thing. That was the first time Ive been in the mall since working there. And needless to say, when working there you dont make the effort to go hang out and shop there. You just want to be and out, putting in your hours and taking off at the end of the day. So it was quite relaxing to just puruse around different stores. I bought much needed shoes and a cute sweater for this fall weather, as Old Navy had such a good discount today!

Then we walked back home and made grilled tuna/cheese/tomato sandwhiches and had tomato soup, popping in a John Wayne movie, while baking some Pumpkin Bread.

Needless to say, these kinds of days are my favorite.

Time to go take the bread out the oven!

What about you? Enjoying the fall weather?

Setting a Precedent

Ahh man oh man, what a week. Things have been crazy busy with new classes, planning freshmen outreach events, working, and just EVERYTHING.

Last week my roommate and I hosted a "Taco Thursday Night" at our apartment, and we had SOOO many tacos and mexican food and tons of people. Learned the guacamole rule as well= no matter how much you make, or how many people, if you set guac out, in 10 minutes or less it will be devoured. People just cant get enough, its hilarious. Our apartment is perfect for hosting, and I am just so thankful. We had about 15 people in there, eating tacos, hanging out, and playing games. I am so happy to have a nice place that is accessible, open and friendly. And I love hanging out with all these cool cats!

Saturday night we took a little trip to Thayer St and had dinner. This was the first time for many new students, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Erica and I went to East Side Pockets for some falafel delight, and most others ate at Antonio's Pizza. Then we caught a bus back downtown and walked around WaterFire. It was one of the best WaterFires Ive ever been to. So many people and things to see and do, what a great night.

I think holding all of these diverse events through Christian Student Fellowship is such a great learning experience for everyone. I think its important to get new students into an atmosphere that is off campus. It helps them feel more connected to a community and its always good to eat home cooked food. I remember as a freshman all there was to do was hang out in the dorms, in the dining halls, with people from the school, and you almost forget that life exists outside. So far many of our new students have taken RIPTA on Smith Hill, gone to Thayer St, been to Hope highschool and played tennis, and hung out in church member's homes and apartments. Im pretty sure I didnt accomplish all of that in my first TWO years! Hopefully this is the right path to people really connecting with the school and the community.

My Russian class is going well. Its definitely a challenge to learn a new language no matter what it is, and Im trying hard. My professor is more of a immersion teacher and not so much a step by step learning kind of teacher. I tend to do much better with small gradual steps into something, but I have enjoyed her style and as of now I am the only person in the class, so it is very helpful and personal. I bought some extra study materials, and downloaded video Russian classes on iTunes which are realllllllly helpful. I could listen to the language all day long and never tire of it, which is probably a good sign.


Prayer: If you could please keep praying for missions opportunities and open doors all around, that would be extremely helpful. Also, please pray for my grandmother, as she is in a lot of pain.

Thats all for now!
God bless.

DC and Retreat Pics

So ahh.. First thing: DC. Here are the pictures if you want to see them. Go for it.

Up there is Nathan, Elyse, and I hanging out at the National Cathedral in DC. Below is a neat pic of the WWII Memorial and the Washington Monument at night.
Second: Christian Student Fellowship Leadership Retreat in Massachussetts at the Baptist Convention of New England Rice Lodge. Got all that? Pictures here is you are interested. We had a good time fellowshipping, bonding, and planning for the upcoming year. I am the coordinator of the Outreach team, and I think it is a good fit, as I do most of the jobs already.

So... all my roommates are moved in, the apartment is beautiful. I also live within 1 block of many of my good friends, and pretty close to everyone else. Like Ive said before, I am so thankful for how everything worked out this year. I relish it everyday.

I dont know what Im saying anymore.

JWU Caller: Can I be directed to the department of education?
Me: Well, we are a school.

-----------------
Kailey: Hello?
Me: Johnson & Wales University, how can I direct your call?
Kailey: What?
Me: Oh, whattt.
Kailey: BHAHAHA, I cant talk right now, goodbye johnson and wales.

------------------------

Im having a case of confused words, mixed with auto pilot, mixed with, Im tired of answering phone calls. I called my sister and then accidently asked her how to direct her call. And I cant speak. And sometimes when Im reading something online and taking a call, I say those words instead of the JWU phone prompt. I need to a. get more sleep? b. focus.

And I cant stand the sound of people chewing. It drives me crazy mad. Doesnt matter who or what or where. Im sure my family might recall times where I would be reading the paper at the kitchen tables some Sunday mornings, only to have to go sit in the other room when someone came in and started eating something. I dont know how to stop focusing on the sound. Its similar to my blatant HATE of feet. Everyone has these two things, everyone has to eat, and mostly everyone has feet, but I cant get over it. I would rather gouge out my face with a blunt object that be subjected to a silent room with someone else chewing.. oh goodness imagine if they had nasty feet frolicking about. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

This weekend went by very quickly. I dont even remember what happened. Last night was Bible Study at the McKays. We heard a quick talk on the goodness of God and how thankful we should be. Also, that he is sufficient for everything we need. Its funny how everything always ties in. I was having a similar conversation with Janelle about putting other things above God. She shared with me a very relevant quote:

"At the root of covetousness is a rejection of God's sufficiency. Covetousness destroys are ability to discern sufficiency."

So true.
hmm.

One of my roommates is moving some stuff in to the apartment this week. Shes not staying for good though. Both of my permanent roommates will move in in about 2 weeks. I am really excited.

Also excited: Casey, Janelle, and Bryan are LEGIT coming on thursday. No joke about it. Its actually happening. I give them mad props for making this happen.

"I guess we all get lucky sometimes..."

Pictures from our time in Boston:
click here

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My Lamp Came in Today!!!!!!!

 =) =)  I want to thank Fantabulously Frugal again for the amazing addition!

**Here are some other great little tidbits from my apartment (nautical theme much?) :

Target for  68cents. I could not resist.

in the bathroom.

this is the anchor that Esther bought me for last Christmas. Finally found a home in the kitchen!

And that is all for today. Nothing super exciting. Just quick updates and pics. The family wanted to see what we are up to this week while my mom and sister are in town. I finally have a garbage can, instead of just being all broke college student and hanging a industrial sized garbage bag from the door. My mom made me throw out the dead flowers sitting in the vases, and we bought really great cherry blossoms to go in there. It gives the living room a modern twist. I would say the theme for the apartment is modern nautical americana. Its hot. Okey dokey. Newport today. Peace out.

Lawlz. So Cute. Its All Coming Together..

Apartment.
Electricity. Check.
Gas and Hot Water. Check.

Furniture. Check.

Internet. Check. Check. Double Checkity Check.

I am so blessed. Everything is just coming right along and everyday I feel so thankful. Once I get my camera fixed I will take some pictures. Actually.. speaking of pictures.. here are some pictures of our kitty.. named Kame.. or Comet in English. It is crazy. It loves the toilet and shower.

Granted

How often we take for granted the essentials of life. Some things that I took for granted last night:

• you cant go to the bathroom if you dont have toilet paper (unless you are Russian but thats another story.) 
• You cant microwave hot water because your hot water isnt working when you dont have electricity.
• You cant plug in your phone charger when you dont have electricity. 
• You cant sleep in a bed when you dont have a bed.
• you cant check the bus times when you cant go on the internet because you dont have wifi.

My apartment is bare right now. National Grid kind of messed me over.  So I dont have any modern conveniences until next week. Thats ok though. Its purely amazing and beautiful and I look forward to every second I spend there. Last night Eileen brought some stuff over and Nathan came over and we sat on the balcony and he played guitar and it was like one of those perfect summer days that you never want to end. Oh man. I woke up at 7am today and I was up and ready to go and pumped.
I can see the difference in my outlook already. I am not bogged down by crappy attitudes and the constant feeling of just wanting to hide away. I am free and happy and so thankful for what I have now.
Hey real quick: One of my pictures got featured on the Greater City Providence blog. Check it out here.
Its the picture that I took of Kennedy Plaza, black and white, the statue. So yeah. cool beans.

Happy belated Birthday Casey.
Everyone should come visit me.
-Alissa-

Oh AAA, and pics

With tomorrow being the last day at AAA, things are winding down. We had our huge presentation this afternoon, speaking in front of top execs at AAA Southern New England, alot of marketing people, HR people, travel people, you name it. It was basically a project about helping AAA SNE get into the young professional market 21-35 year olds, and creating an event that brings them all together.. Its more complex than that sounds.. But it was awesome. They told us that our presentation was the best one in at least 2 years of interns. (which is how long the program has been running I think.. haha.) I love AAA the most because I feel like I got the most real world experience out of it, as well as the fact that each and every single employee there treated us interns with respect, from the front door man to the head person of the club.

Well.. enough about that.. here are some pics:

From top left going clockwise: Bill Southerland- a super top head guy at AAA SNE, Vivien, Chimene, Me, Latoya, TA Meghan, and Professor Tremblay.

We got some super cool AAA swag as a parting gift=)

Someone stole my lunch today at AAA. Straight up from the cafeteria fridge. Heh really? yeah it was from Whole Foods too. People are absurd. But thats ok.

So GREECE. 2 more days before I leave on Saturday, May 9th-17th. For those who are not familiar with this- I am going as a part of my Travel Internship through JWU. It is what every travel intern gets to do, and its not just a happy good time vacation either. We each have a day that we thoroughly run from sun up to sun down, we plan everything, make sure people are awake in the morning, getting on the right bus to the right place, know where we are eating for our meals.. where to shop, maps, communications, money stuff, educational stuff.. Its hard core. Yes this trip is fun, but its also some work involved too. All of us interns, there are about 20 of us this trimester, are so excited because we have been waiting since our freshmen year to do this. We have also slaved away for the past 10 weeks at our different rotations- from AAA, Collette Vacations, State House, Airport.. and all our hard work gets rewarded with this awesome treat. YAY!

Something else that is awesome- I am officially moving on May 20th into a new apartment!!!  (If I sit out in my current apartment in my kitchen at night I can watch a whole family of mice trample back and forth across the floor. Its cute. NOT.)

...More about the new place coming soon.

Praise GOD ALMIGHTY LORD!!! 

Real Quick to all my friends and family who read this- I promise that I will become a person again after May 17th. I feel completely awful for my lack of communication with so many of you since beginning of March, but its been so difficult to talk to everyone I want to talk to, with intense practicum hours, work study, different leadership obligations, side projects, and apartment hunting. Please forgive me, and keep me in your prayers! I love you and miss you all.

Greece! HERE I COME!

Nom Nom Nom

No Joke, today was the best day Ive ever had. Melissa introduced both Jon and I to Trader Joe's. Its Whole Foods meets Aldi's meets Wegmans plus pretend you are a Native American and a British explorer all at the same time. And thats really what its all about. Pretty much everything is cheaper and healthier here than anywhere else. Its quite a small store for packing such a big punch into my life. For $20 you can buy a buttload of good healthy delicious foods. Anything you can think of really. Buffalo, why dont you have one yet? Sadface.

Step Two: Apartment Shopping. Its harder than you think. And the more people the hardy harder it is. There are multiple components to everyones apartment shopping experience that are focused on in order to find "the one."  They have to be funny, taller than me, Ethnic, oh wait. I mean apartments:

1. Bathroom: Is there enough counterspace for three girls to comfortably place blowdryers, hair brushes, buttloads of different creams and coverups and straighteners and soaps. Is the shower clean? Is there sufficient mirror space?

2. Bedroom: Can I fit a bed? Is there closet space for clothes, shoes, purses, luggage? Can I fit a dresser, and maybe another dresser, and maybe a desk, or chair, and is there a window to hang cute light catchers on? 

3. Kitchen: 2 out of the 3 of us are culinary/baking/pastry students. So.. they like nice kitchens. And since I pretend to be a food affictionado, well, I want the kitchen to be pretty swanky too. Lots of moving around space, counter space for all those crafty foodie tools, blenders, toasters, bullets, whipping, mashing, contracting, condensing, rolling, baking tools. The stove has to be new. There has to be enough room for a table, and for more than 4 people to comfortable move about. 

4. Living space: I like alot of living space. I like to have alot of people over, with alot of room to move around, places for people to sit and stand and hang out and play games and talk and chit chat. There has to be a couch. And I am all for coffee tables and decorative floor lamps.

5. Extra facilities [Bonuses]: Is there laundry on premise? Is there parking? Is there a yard of some sort, or a porch? How close is it to public transportation? Is it in the ghetto of providence? Who lives around me, other students, or families or single sex offenders? How does the place hold heat and how are the utilities typically?

6. Price: really, $1400 per month for a 3 bedroom on the South Side? Haha yeah ok. But $1400 for a 3bdrm on the East Side is nothing.

7. Location: There are so many neighborhoods in Providence: Edgewood: which is near JWU Harborside campus. East Side: near brown and risd and thayer, so its edgey and trendy and indie and richer. Federal Hill: Italian and foodie and laiden with students.  Armory: not bad, just average, little lower of a neighborhood. North Prov: Far from downtownish. Lower East Side: over past Wickenden, so its pretty arty and decent price but far from campus. West Side: Pot smokers and struggling artists with a dash of crime. South Prov: Little Mexico. haha. no.

So now that we have that racious list of whats important, now its important to note that everyone weighs these things differently, like for me, a good kitchen is better than a good bathroom. And big living space is better than bigger bathrooms. So if the place has a nice kitchen, a small bathroom, alot of living space, but small bathrooms, I would be ok with it and probably  TAP THAT. But say, for someone else, a huge bathroom is key, or laundry on premises is more important than a small bathroom. Thats what makes it fun and game like. You have to match everyones tastes and rankings with the other roommates to decide which apartment will be a perfect fit for all three. 

I personally love to look at apartments. They all still have tennents in them, which is cool. Seeing how others (my age) life realy enamores me. We saw about 7 apartments today, and the range of living style was amazing. We went from one place with all the doors kicked in and graffiti on the walls, to a dark man cave pot reeking place, to a neat little colorful abode. Like whoa. Some people actually make an effort to have these apartments as their home, not just a place to crash, or a party center. Some places are tastful and modest while others are holes of crap and dirt. I love how guys live compared to girls too. Such an obvious thing we noticed. And you should tell what gender lived in that apartment in the first five seconds of being in it. Haha one of the guys kitchens had a list taped to the wall titled "Sh*T We Need." I laughed out loud. The girls places were more apt to have cleaner bedrooms too. Its so interesting to compare and contrast. I dont know why, just fascinating. 

We found one that we all enjoyed. I think. We just have to work out some more details, and so I will keep an update on that. 

I tried to be all crafty tonight by cooking some sweet potatoes in a new way. But it half turned out great. And half made me want to hurl up so many chunks of puke that you never even knew your kidneys looked like that. Yeah grossed out? Good. 

Russia in t minus 4 days. Whoa.