I am really enjoying checking on my garden daily to water the plants and inspect for progress. Some of the leaves are turning a little yellow (too much water? too little? I need to research), but they are looking pretty good overall.

I noticed this weekend that a couple things are making an appearance!

I’ve got a few Jalapenos…

And a couple tomatoes…

And my gerber daisies are really loving their new super-sunny spot. (Partial sun doesn’t do it for these guys.) At first the yellow ones were awesome, but the pink ones weren’t really too happy. But now they’re all blooming and making for a very happy Jacki.

As a part of our home beautification project series (both to help sell our house and just enjoy while we’re kid-free and have some extra dough), we recently had new countertops installed!

After doing some research, pricing things out, and looking at samples at Lowe’s, we decided to go with granite. I just couldn’t get over how much shinier and more slick it looked than the other options. We picked out a black color with green and tan flecks called Ubatuba.

We literally were at Lowe’s for over two hours, giving them our kitchen dimensions and signing the paperwork. I’m pretty sure I signed my name more times than when we bought our house. Sheesh!

We actually ended up ordering the granite from a local stoneworks company, rather than the company Lowe’s advertises. It was almost like a sneaky deal, as the Lowe’s associate offered this to us after we had already priced out the normal brand they sell (they can’t advertise it in marketing materials due to their agreement). The cost ended up being practically HALF for virtually the same granite, so we just couldn’t turn it down.

A couple days after we placed the order, a guy came to make a “template” for the counters, which basically means he constructed a version of the countertops with a bunch of wooden boards. They use this template to custom-make the countertops just for our specific kitchen.

About a week and a half later, the guys arrived to install the countertops! It only took about 2 1/2 hours for them to complete the job. Much quicker than I expected!

John and I both LOVE how they turned out. We’ve had them for over a week, and I still squeal with excitement every time I walk into the kitchen. :)

The ugly laminate countertops before:

And the gorgeous granite after:

My favorite part, without a doubt, is the sink!

I adore this faucet that we bought (the sink itself came free with the counters). I love the simple lines of it. And the spout pulls out, which means no extra sprayer is necessary. As you may guess, my design philosophy is always less is more.

Coming up next: new floors :)

John and I love vegetables. I love making fresh salsa, eating salads, and cooking with lots of peppers and fresh herbs. I have wanted to grow veggies of my own for a long time, but we just never got around to it.

This year, with a ton of help from John (ok, I’ll admit it, he did most of the work), we have a raised garden!

I wanted to help build it, but he was anxious to do a project while I was working today. (He is still on post-deployment leave, so he’s got a lot of time on his hands!)

When I finished work, I went outside to see this:

It required quite a bit of dirt to fill:

At the advice of John’s dad, we lined the inside of the bed with plastic to prevent the wood from soaking up too much of the water.

I did my best to figure out where things would work best. (But honestly, I was just making it up as I went along.)

Here’s what I planted…

Serrano Peppers:

Cayenne Peppers:

Jalapeno Peppers (6 of them):

Yellow Squash (not in the best shape, but they sold them to us for half price):

Chives:

Parsley:

Mint:

Thyme (LOVE the smell of this):

Basil (the plant didn’t look the best, so I planted some basil seeds too):

Rosemary:

Roma Tomatoes:

Other Tomatoes:

Mexibell Pepper (Don’t really know what this is, but it looked interesting):

Hopefully I didn’t overcrowd it too much! I can’t wait to really get to eat the fruits (and veggies) of our labor!

The afternoon after the Run for the Warriors 5K, we had a Wetdown party to celebrate John’s recent promotion. Most of his friends are either deployed or getting ready to deploy, so there weren’t too many people able to attend. But we definitely had a great time with our friends who were in town!

I made spinach dip, cucumber dip, salsa, guacamole, fruit salad, and pasta salad. John grilled up some amazing red hot chicken and Italian dressing chicken. Yum!

Cigars and Cornhole - I don’t think life gets much better for John!

The guys loved a little “friendly” competition.

I had a great time just chatting with the chicas.

And Kevin & Maria’s daughter Jazmin had a giggly time playing chase with Ania’s dog Cosmo!

On May 16, I ran my second 5K race. This one was extra fun because not only did my good friend Ann run it, but John was also home from Iraq to join in the excitement.

John’s friend Kevin was also running the 5k, and I know that John really wanted to compete with him (and leave him in his dust), but he instead opted to run with me to help me push myself. That’s love. :)

When we woke up that morning, we were bummed to hear a lot of rain on our roof. I was afraid that we were in for a very wet run, but luckily that turned out to not be the case. The rain held off for the rest of the morning, and we instead had a sunny and humid race, with temperatures were somewhere in the 70’s.

My goal for this race was to try to hit 10 minute miles (or 31:06 overall). Unfortunately, that did not happen. My Nike+ipod crapped out in the middle of the run and lost my stats (aaarrgh!), but according to John’s Garmin watch,  I ended up with a 32:28 time for 3.13 miles, or a 10:22 pace.

It was seemingly the same pace as my last race, but in reality I think I ran it faster. Ann said that the other race we ran showed up on her Garmin watch as only 3 miles instead of 3.11. So my speed there was a little overinflated.

I was bummed to not accomplish my goal, but I still had fun. It was great to have John there to encourage me along the way.

During this race, I was kind of having a rough time (I don’t think I ate or drank enough before, I was nervous). But I was amazed to find myself doing better than lots of people around us. We even passed a group of Marines! (Granted, they were running in formation and in “boots and utes”, but still.) There were lots of people taking walking breaks. According to the race website, I placed 30th in my division (females 20-29), out of 54. The division’s mean time was 33:23. That’s one slow race…who would ever think I would be better than average?!

Our next event is coming up on May 30. It’s a Sprint Triathlon Relay at Cherry Point. John is swimming, Ann is biking, and I am running. I can’t wait!

Yesterday was John’s promotion ceremony, so he now officially is a USMC Captain! Technically, he was promoted on  May 1st, but he waited until his ceremony to officially wear the Captain rank.

His brother PD was able to get a day off from Navy Nuclear Power School (a complete rarity, as it is a very intense school) to attend. His girlfriend, Andrea, came with him as well, and we all had a great day.

Here are the guys, all dressed up in the uniform of the day.

(One of John’s Marines took these photos for us, and she did such a great job!)

The promotion was bright and early at 0800, but it was a beautiful day with temperatures already around 70 degrees.

It was a pretty quick ceremony, over within probably 10 minutes, but meaningful.

They started with morning colors (which happens every morning at 8am), and then the promotion began.

The Master Sergeant read John’s Promotion Warrant,

And then PD and I had the honor of pinning his bars on.
(No, neither of us “punched” the bars in, for those of you who are curious) ;)

Then he took the Oath of Office,

And received his promotion warrant.

His promoting Officer said a few words,

And then John addressed his Marines (the ones that aren’t still over in Iraq) as well.

We all are so proud of our family’s new Captain!

I’m glad his promotion came up after he returned home from Iraq, so I could attend. He probably won’t be promoted again (the next rank is Major) for around 6 years.

There are a few more pictures here.