We spent the past few weeks landscaping the backyard.

We also replanted an oak tree and added four hydrandeas. Two of them are from north Alabama and two of them are from Florida. I planted roughly 40 caladiums and 6 hostas along the house.

I built a huge vegetable garden. I have 26 tomato plants (3 types of tomatoes), 9 green bell peppers, 2 sweet banana peppers, 2 arugula, strawberries, 9 corn, 9 cucumbers, 9 summer squash, thyme, 2 oregano, 2 types of basil, 3 lemon balm, mint, rosemary, 2 types of sage, 2 cilantro, 2 parsley, and lavender.

I planted a gardenia that I found in Birmingham, Alabama. The blooms smell amazing. I planted it next to the dining room, and if you open the dining room windows, the smell of gardenia comes into the house.

I added two spotlights to the backyard: one lights the gardenia and the other lights a big oak tree next to the back fence.



We built a nice area for the dogs' house and planted flowers around it.

Eventually, I will probably put a picnic table in the middle of the yard.

Happy Happy Birthday

Today, my sister is officially 28 years old! In honor of all the great times we have had over the past 5 years (basically, since I have owned a digital camera), here is a short video to celebrate the birth of Margerine.

Whatever and Ever Amen

I was cleaning out my car, because I sold it on Ebay this weekend, and I found one of my most-loved casette tapes from high school: Ben Folds Five's "Whatever and Ever Amen."

Here's an excerpt from the liner notes:

"This recording was made with the utmost care and professionalism. Microphones were chosen and placed in the general vicinity of each instrument in order to capture the sonic characteristics of the music performed. Each instrument was tuned before and often during the recording sessions and arrangements were rehearsed or at least discussed.

The lyrics or text were created to detract from the repetition inherent in modern instrumental pop music. Iambic pentameter was not always an option, however when possible, the last syllable of a line was manipulated in order to rhyme with the last syllable of the preceding line. Where this technique has served to distort the meaning of the original text, the fuzz tone of the eletric base guitar or a virtuosic drum fill has been inserted to distract the listener temporarily from the actual song...."

Buy this album, it's pretty spectacular.

Home improvements make the world go 'round

Ashley and I love the IKEA store in Orlando. Eventually, all the hardware and lighting in our house will probably bear the IKEA brand. Here are a couple of pictures of the track lighting fixture and pot rack that we installed in the kitchen yesterday (I haven't even had time to fix the chains on the pot rack yet).

Here's a picture of the chandelier we installed in the living room.

It's almost time for the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT!!!

Here are a couple of pictures of EPCOT (taken on March 7, 2009) to get you excited:

Ashley's birthday trip to Disney World

Ashley and I enjoyed a relaxing trip to Disney World for her birthday.

We played mini-golf at Disney's Winter Summerland mini-golf course. The theme of the golf course was "Chistmas in Florida."

You had to putt through a snow-covered version of Cinderella's castle.

Mickey and Pluto dressed for Christmas.

Putting through a Christmas fireplace: Santa moved up and down the chimney to block your golf shot.

When your ball came out the other side successfully, you had to putt past the Christmas presents.

We always like to check out different Disney resort properties on our trips to Orlando. On this trip, we visited the Polynesian Resort (very old Disney resort) and the Animal Kingdom Lodge (very new resort).

Here are some pictures of the Polynesian Resort (located next to the Magic Kingdom):

A view from the Polynesian pool: you can see Cinderella's Castle in the distant background (center of the picture):

The Animal Kingdom Lodge is a much newer resort. It has a spectacular grand atrium filled with African artifacts:

The Animal Kingdom Lodge is located right next to the Animal Kingdom Park, and the animals (elephants, zebras, giraffes) can walk right up t0 the Lodge. Each room on the back side of the resort looks out over the Animal Kingdom serengeti, so the guests can wake up to the sounds of wild Africa:

This is the view from the back of the resort property. You can see various African animals in the background.

Ashley's dream: Dinner in Cinderella's Castle

My wife has always wanted to eat dinner in Cinderella's Castle. As a Christmas present, I arranged for us to experience "Cinderella's Royal Table" in the third week of January 2009 (the month of December was booked solid about 5 months in advance). We had a great time; the prime rib was exceptional, and our table was next to the castle windows, so we had a great view of the the Magic Kindgom's nightly firework show (I purposefully scheduled for us to eat right when the fireworks were starting).

I would highly recommend this experience to anyone. It's pricey but extremely entertaining. I would give the experience a solid "A."

Here's the video: