Born and raised for generations, my husband and I left our homeland of Orange County, California to start a new life in Houston, Texas. Along for the ride is our son Archer who is 5. He likes listening to Chromeo, watching info-mercials, and convincing me he's magic. He hates movie credits (?), Miranda Cosgrove the girl from "School of Rock" (?!?), and anything I make for dinner. Our daughter Della Belle is 2.5 and suffers from severe developmental delays from an undiagnosed cause. She likes wearing sunglasses, playing with balloons, and pulling her brother's hair. She hates her physical therapist (I don't blamer her), anyone wearing a white coat, and everything I make for dinner (surprise, surprise).

I am a 27 year-old mama who gets to stay home with the kids. However kid #1 started Kindergarten (hallelujah!) and kid #2 starts special education preschool in January 2010. I'll be an empty nester! So I decided to go back to school to finish my Speech Pathology degree. My husband and I own our own business and we have worked hard to get it up and running.

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (you can find out more about it on Mormon.org). Our leaders have counseled us to become self-reliant through gardening and that's initially why I started digging in the dirt. Now I love it!

Chad and I were bit by the gardening bug in a serious way. We have 12 planters in our subdivision sized backyard along with 2 fruit trees. We are working towards getting some chickens (shhhh...don't tell our HOA).

We love music, like, really really love it. We also have an equally serious love for reading and are slowly whittleing away the the 100 Must-Read Books as listed on TheArtofManiliness.com (don't ask).

At the final day the Savior... will not inquire about our material possessions or fame. He will ask if we ministered to the sick, gave food and drink to the hungry, visited those in prison, or gave succor to the weak. When we reach out to assist the least of Heavenly Father’s children, we do it unto Him. That is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no pain it cannot soften, no bitterness it cannot remove, no hatred it cannot alter. The Greek playwright Sophocles wrote: “One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
-Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Bitty Farm

Tomatoes, corn, lots of lettuce, cantaloupe, summer squash, winter squash, herbs, peaches, oranges, carrots, chard, kohlrabi, watermelon, radishes, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, bulb onions, pole beans, bush beans, edamame, leeks, strawberries, garlic, cover/green manure crops, and flowers.

Humid Subtropical