Pretending to Be Grown-up

I always feel like I'm only pretending to be a grown-up, pretending to be a mom, wife, homeowner. Here are my latest "pretending" episodes. 

Towards the end of April, I bought 8 lbs of strawberries, and with them, I made my first batch of freezer jam. I made Brian take pictures of the monumental occasion--my first canning experience for MY family!

 It was super easy, and look how beautiful:

I wanted to have a garden, but since our yard is pretty small, I decided that I wanted to make planter boxes to go in our cement patio just off our basement. I came up with an idea to use cedar pickets and cedar studs--fencing materials--to make these big, deep boxes. The 6' x 5.5" pickets were less than $2, and the studs were about $5.50 each for an 8'x4'x2'. Brian took the idea in my head and helped me make a real plan. Then, he basically did most of the work. We made a 3'x2' box and this 6'x2' box. They're both around 1.5 ' deep. Here's Michael modeling the mostly finished box: 

 Here's the box down in our patio area after I planted it. We're using other pots to try and grow even more. We're so proud of our little boxes! There's nothing quite like building something to bring that warm feeling in your heart! And make you feel a little bit grown-up.