Compost

I started a homemade compost bin today! It's something I've always wanted to try and now that I have a garden it only makes sense. Store bought ones are too big for the space I have, so I used an extra plant pot I had with holes on the bottom. I picked a black pot as it will cause the contents to get warmer under the sun. I layered the "brown" and "green" materials and mixed in a little bit of compost soil I had (left photo).

I went outside and collected a bunch of dried leaves for my "brown" materials (right photo) for layering later. I've also started to collect paper items that I can throw in there. You can see an old toilet paper roll cut up in the first photo. And of course, I've started collecting produce scraps. This is the most rewarding part - I've always felt wasteful throwing away things like apple peels, bok choy ends, wilted lettuce and coffee grounds. Now I have a way to recycle those things!

I will keep you updated on my little compost efforts (it's a slow process). Meanwhile, let me know if you have any tips for me on composting.

Garden update

I was waiting to post an update on my garden until it was complete, but with school starting next week I might get busy so I thought I'd share a bit now. The garden has changed since I took this photo a few weeks ago - I've transplanted some plants into larger pots, and done some rearranging. Also, the layout has changed as I've gotten a better handle on each plant's sun/shade needs.

I did some basic research to figure out what the conditions were on my balcony, and then what plants would do well in those conditions as well as in a container. Another challenge I'm facing because I'm higher up in the building is that the sunniest spots are also the windiest. Here's what I have:

Veggies: patio tomatoes
Herbs: chives, mint, lemon balm mint, rosemary, basil, dill, cilantro, lavender, vinca, parsley
Edible flowers: marigolds, evening primrose (not pictured)
Succulents: aloe vera, jade (both not pictured)
Others: columbine (CO state flower), lamb's ear, black-eyed susan, showy najavo tea, salvia, tickseed 

To keep costs down I scoured Craigslist to find good deals. I found most of my pots and my patio furniture on Craigslist. I highly recommend the app if you have an iPhone - way better and easier to use than the regular version.

Where I bought stuff:
Pots: 2 from Home Depot, and the rest are free or used on Craigslist, or estate sales
Plants: Al's Pine Garden Nursery, Denver Botanic Gardens Annual Plant Sale, Cherry Creek Farmer's Market and parsley from Home Depot
Soil: organic potting soil from Home Depot, organic compost from Costco
Gardening tools: estate sale

We've had a few nice dinners on the patio, which is a nice change of scenery without going out.

Also, I'm addicted to gardening! It's amazing and therapeutic to watch things grow, flower and especially to pick and eat stuff.

I want to get some more vegetables. Since the basil is doing well, I think other veggies may work.

I will post the updated layout later.

Urban gardening & a bike

I got a bike today! $29 on Craigslist. It's not the best bike ever but it will do. Denver has awesome bike trails, where you can ride through most of it without hardly ever sharing the road with cars. The trail runs by our place, right across the street, so it's very convenient. It's really beautiful and peaceful on the trail, with trees, a stream along some sections, and all bikers, runners and walkers. Today we biked about 7 miles total, and made a stop at Whole Foods to pick up some things. Can't wait to do more biking! It's a great way to exercise and relieve stress, I've found.

My first batch of plants

I am also taking up gardening! It's something I've been wanting to do ever since we moved to Ohio, but kept putting off because I wanted to do it when we got our own permanent place. But I'm realizing I don't know when that will happen, so I might as well start now. It is a big learning curve, for sure (I've already killed some of the plants pictured above). I picked up this book from the library, and got some tips:

The book gives advice on how to create a garden in a small space like a patio or balcony. We actually have a pretty large balcony so I'm hoping to set it up so we can enjoy some nice evenings out on it, reading, eating or sipping tea there. I haven't put any of the plants out there yet because the weather's been up and down, but in a few weeks I will put them out. My goal this week is to get some patio furniture. I will keep you updated on the progress.

I was feeling a little overwhelmed about the whole gardening thing after my initial excitement (and the death of some of my plants after a few weeks), but got re-inspired by two things this week. First, my friend Allison's garden. I got some helpful tips from her via skype this week too. Here's a photo of her garden:

 

Image: Kinda' Vegan (Allison's blog)

I love that much of her garden is edible. Also, I've seen this space, and it's super tiny - so I love what she's done with it.

The second source of inspiration was a post I came across on Apartment Therapy.

Image: Apartment Therapy

This is the balcony garden of a couple who lives in a regular old apartment complex. Isn't that amazing?

My balcony faces north so it only gets about 2 hours of direct sun each day, in the late afternoon. It's also on the 8th floor and can get windy some days. Let me know if you have tips for my balcony garden!

TV-less life / pop culture

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart every morning.
Almost finished reading A Dance with Dragons.

#348 on the library wait list for Downton Abbey, Season 1
#544 for Game of Thrones, Season 1

Haven't seen a Korean drama in awhile and could tell my Korean had gotten worse during my mom's visit.

I'm out of books to read and it's a long wait for the DVDs. Let me know if you have any good book recs - especially a series.

For Hunger Games fans: I liked Divergent and Legend.

P.S. Did you hear they're coming out with an Ender's Game movie?

Spring in Denver

I never tire of watching the miracle of winter transition into spring. Although spring in Denver isn't as much of a relief as it is in Chicago or Columbus, I still enjoy it.  I thought I'd share some phone photos of spring in Denver for your enjoyment!

Mom's visit

eating mom's delicious cooking / a walk through washington park

hiking at chautauqua park / lunch at boulder

eating crepes in downtown denver / mom making kimchi

My mom came for her annual spring break visit last week, and we had a great time. The photos above are a pretty good summary of what we did here - show her around Denver, take walks/hikes and eat! She cooked lots of delicious food as usual, and made a few months' worth of various types of kimchi.

I wanted to take her hiking and got a recommendation from a friend for Chautauqua Park in Boulder. The length and difficulty were perfect for what we were looking for. W and I are thinking about tackling the 14ers, which are the mountains that are higher than 14,000 ft in elevation. There are 88 of the in the U.S. and 53 are in Colorado. Originally, I wanted to take my mom on one, but after some research realized that even the easiest one is fairly challenging.

The weather was perfect during her visit, and although spring is more of a gradual transition here than it is in the midwest, I'm enjoying watching the city become greener as leaves begin to appear on trees, and soaking in the beauty of flowering trees before they're gone.

33 + career update + deep thoughts

I turned 33 earlier this month. I happened to be in LA for about 24 hours so I got to celebrate with both my side and W's side. I also got to see my extended family at my cousin's baby shower, which was another treat. All in all a great birthday.

I haven't shared much about my career on this blog but I wanted to update you as this week was kind of major for me in terms of career and decision making. For a couple of years now I've been pondering what career to enter, and when I moved to Columbus I decided to go into nursing. What appeals to me about nursing is that it is a hands on helping profession, can be utilized on short or longer trips overseas, and is family friendly, as you can work part time (i.e. if and when I have kids). Having not taken any science classes as an English Lit major, I took prerequisites all of 2011, worked and applied to schools. Meanwhile, W applied to jobs. Suffice it to say that it's been a big transition to enter the world of healthcare.

Over the last few months I heard back from most of the schools I applied to all over the country and I turned down some (i.e. ones in Columbus), and meanwhile W got the job in Denver. We took a leap of faith and decided to move to Denver even though I wouldn't find out till later if I got into school there. Luckily, the last day of my trip when I was searching for housing in Denver I found out I got into a school here in Denver that has a great program, so that was awesome.

But it also meant saying no to other great schools. After weeks of reflection, prayer and talking to people, this week I notified my dream school of Columbia in NYC (& dream city to live in), and also UCLA (close to family, and of course I love LA), that I would not be attending. I knew in the end I would stay here but I had to go through this process so that I could work through all of my different feelings about it, not have regrets, not be resentful towards W, and ultimately be at peace.

We've been through so many transitions in the last few years and it finally feels like we're settling down. W is happy with his new job, and I will be starting school in June. We've started lightly looking around at homes. Denver feels like a pretty good fit for us so far. Somehow notifying the other schools this week has made everything seem more real for me and I feel more committed to being here in Denver now.

On the topic of Denver...I think I have a better attitude about being in Denver because of lessons I learned in Columbus. I complained a lot about loneliness, not having friends, not being understood as an Asian American, and experiencing culture shock. But now that I've left I actually realize that I made some solid relationships there and there are people and things about Columbus that I miss. Also, I'm realizing my experience transitioning to Chicago was an anomaly. We made friends and community so quickly there and after just 1.5 years it felt like home. I think I expected Columbus to be the same way. Now that I know the effort and time it takes, and the slower pace of building relationships at this stage of life, I think I have healthier expectations for Denver.

Denver has also been somewhat easier because there are many transplants here from all over, and from California. Therefore, people are more eager and open to forming new relationships, and they know what it's like to leave friends and family behind to forge a new life in a new place.

Additionally, I approach Denver differently with regards to my ethnic identity. Some resolutions I've made for myself are the following:

• give people the benefit of the doubt
• be authentic and myself in terms of my ethnic identity instead of swinging between the extremes of isolating or assimilating
• let mistakes people make be learning opportunities: teach people in grace and truth

Aah, I feel emotional and grateful at the end of this long blog post. If you've made it this far, I commend you. And thanks for reading, as always.