Our neighborhood has two areas: Parkside and the County Club. We live in Parkside. Most of the homes in Parkside have smaller lot sizes as compared to the County Club so there is not very much open space between the houses, and consequently, not much privacy. The homes are separated by cement block walls to help increase the privacy but unfortunately they are not very attractive to look at.

The house next door went into foreclosure and is up for sale so I’m loving the privacy we have since the owners moved out, but the same ugly wall exists. Anyone want to move in next door? I promise we would be the best neighbors you could ask for!

One day while doing the dishes and staring at the cement block wall outside my kitchen window I thought about how nice it would be to have a hanging planter box full of beautiful flowers to look at.

Tyler told me how he thought he could build one to hang on the wall, but I was reluctant to to go with his plan since he can be like Tim Allen from Home Improvement sometimes! I asked my Dad what he thought and he said he would help us when we got around to it.

On Saturday while I was working on a website, I heard the doorbell and went to answer the door. There I saw my dad standing with a planting box from Home Depot. Aww, what a nice dad! He didn’t have to do that but of course that’s him. He’s always thinking of me and other people. Can we say Happy Daughter’s Day? Just kidding.

So as Dad & Tyler were busy working on securing it to the concrete wall, Mom and I made a quick trip to Home Depot to buy some flowers. There were not a lot of options because Home Depot sucks when it comes to flowers & it’s summer in Arizona.

Isn’t the view so much better now? It’s amazing how a good kitchen view really puts you in a good mood especially in the mornings!

I’m counting this as a new milestone in my life – planting flowers! Later on, I want to try & plant some herbs but that won’t happen until the weather cools down.

I recognize that planting flowers comes with the responsibility of watering them (especially if you don’t want them to die!) but the thought of having to go outside in the backyard and turn the hose on then walk all the way to the side of the house to water the flowers twice a day was not pleasant. I was determined to make it work without having to do that and I found the perfect solution…

…water the flowers from the window! Call me lazy but I love this. It’s actually fun!! I came home from work today and immediately watered the flowers then made some yummy banana bread.

Check out Pilot Handwriting. Thanks to Ev’Yan for sharing this via Google Reader. Do share how yours look as I’m curious!

My 86 year old grandma who is smoking hot went to a garage sale with my aunt the other day. While browsing around at the garage sale, she noticed the owner’s motorcycle (it wasn’t for sale). She’s known to be the one that always strike up a conversation with everyone she sees and everyone just loves talking to her.

She told the owner that he had a really nice bike and she proceeded to tell him that she has always wanted to ride one before. He insisted on taking her out for a ride. She hesitated only because she was not sure if she trusted him or not… it wasn’t because she was afraid. The owner and his wife told her that they would be home the next day if she changed her mind.

After a night of thinking about it…she was determined to go for a ride so the next day my aunt & grandma went back. The owner’s wife had a leather jacket and helmet for her to wear.

According to Grandma’s email…she said, “The helmet smashed my hair down but I fixed it after. I enjoyed  the ride so much. He was so nice, we talked all the way! We drove all over Edmonds, went up Sunset Ave to see the water then down my street and he showed me the church they go to. Half hour later it was all over. I thanked him and hugged him goodbye”

I’m so proud of her for doing something fun and wild for herself!

This has been kind of a wake up call for me. The other day Tyler jokingly asked me how old I was… probably because I was being silly at the moment. I told him I was 24. He looked at me like I lost my mind. I almost had a heart attack because seriously I forgot that I’m 25…. and it doesn’t help at all that I’m losing my mind too. Even worse I’m going to be 26. Don’t get me wrong… there is nothing wrong with being older. It’s just the fact that I’m getting older and I feel like I haven’t accomplished enough thus far to cross off a lot of things on my bucket list.

I need to stop being too comfortable and step out of my comfort zone sometimes. Like the quote says,

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” by Neale Donald Walsch

Really… I need to get over myself and my mini-life crisis and start living every day to the fullest. I can thank my Grandma for inspiring me to be like her when I’m 86 years old. I need great stories to tell my grandchildren some day and feed them old cookies!