Green thumb?

Two weekends ago I got an urge to have colorful plants out on the balcony. I trucked on over to OSH and bought all the fixings for a cute floral window box-type planter: potting soil, planter, various flowering plants, plant food, and a trowel. I passed on the gardening gloves, because all these delightful things were adding up and I decided that I wasn't going to be digging all that often anyway. I took a picture of them right after I planted them just in case I killed them all and they just deteriorated into brittle death.

Before...

Sadly, I do think that some of them have started to deteriorate. They're looking a little limp-ish. Lots of the snapdragons in particular are dying, and I can't see any new buds opening. But some of the white pansies seem to be loving it. I made sure they had enough water, and even gave them some MiracleGro. Maybe I overwatered? Part of the problem is that I haven't a clue what I'm doing with this whole container gardening thing. I might have to break down and buy a "dummies" guide before I try to repair the damage. I haven't taken an after picture because I'm still hoping that they bounce back. Updates to come.

New digs

About a month ago, Steven and I moved into a new apartment. This one is much nicer than our old place, meaning it is newer and has a nice big kitchen with a gas stove, and a huge patio/balcony. We're on the top floor, which I really wanted so that I didn't have to worry about footsteps, etc above me. I know it's not that big of a deal, but the footsteps thing always kind of weirded me out in other apartments. We were in certain agreement that when we move out we'll be hiring professional movers, though. Steven's brother and one of his friends helped us move everything out of the old and into the new, which was great. Because if we'd had to do it ourselves, I honestly think we wouldn't have been able to finish.
The biggest perk of where we live now is that I can walk to the train station in the morning to get to lab, rather than wake up at 6 so I could drive to the train station and make sure I found a parking spot.
As part of moving, we (meaning I...there's more inclination to decorate in my pinky than there is in all of Steven) wanted to upgrade some of our furniture. Steven's aunt and uncle had donated half of an old sectional to him several months ago, but only one side had an arm. I finally convinced him that we needed a real couch. (And Levitz delivered it, so we didn't have to carry it up the stairs!!) Today I found an exciting sale at the JCPenney home store and spruced it up a bit:

Look, a real couch!

Now I can do all sorts of TV watching, knitting, reading, blog updating (cuz, you know, the couch was really what was holding me back there...) on a comfy comfy sofa. Huzzah.