Pumpkins

Look! A picture of DS!

Remember Nick? He's three now, and has spent the last year asking when I was going to take him back to the pumpkin patch. He still has a thing for green pumpkins.

He has also developed a fondness for white pumpkins. I was the wise one that let a three year old pick out my wedding decorations.

Here you see DS, Kel (MOH), Nick, and Chanda (Nick's Mom, one of my best friends). They are very excited to be feeding an assortment of koi, catfish, bluegill, ducks, and one mean white swan. (Okay, Kel is trying to kick the swan, but they're feeding everything else.)

"Whoa whoa whoa! ... a ghost!" - Nick

Sunny!!

DS and I have been fretting over the weather forecast for our wedding lately. For days, Saturday's weather prediction wavered back and forth between a 60% chance of rain all day, and partly cloudy. However, the closer we get, the better it looks. Today's forecast for Saturday?? Sunny, chance of rain only 10%. Woot!!

We're in Louisville now. I'm going my best to let the wrinkles fall out of my dress without letting DS see it.

This morning we're going to get our marriage license, and then we're off to get pumpkins for the tables!

The sad news? Internet is $10 a day, so I'm not sure how much I'll actually get to update everyone. Apparently it's the same in Jamaica, but here's hoping I can convince DS!

MMmmmm, Pears

Yes, you were all right (Monkey first!!), Spinning Girl sent us pears for our wedding! I don't know a whole lot about pears, but I can tell you this; those are THE juiciest pears I have EVER had. The company's motto is that you'll have to eat them with a spoon, and I tell you, I nearly did..

In other news, we're having snow flurries. The low tonight is 27. Are you all so jealous you don't live in Wisconsin right now?

11 Days.. ACK!

How well do you know your fellow bloggers?

That's right, another contest, because I love them! Your challenge: to be the first person to tell me who is responsible for this box of delicious pears that I found sitting on my doorstep today! (No cheating, you awesome gift giver!!) I have to admit that I hoped the golden one was chocolate, but alas, it is another pear. Is there some tradition there I don't know about??

Felix and Winston reminded us last night of why we can't play board games without having extreme patience anymore.

Also, Winston likes to lay like this sometimes, and it cracks me up. He always starts off in some normal position, and then after a moment he inches forward, dragging his belly. He does this belly crawl a lot, like when he's escaping my snuggling but doesn't really want to get up, and when he wants to chase something but is feeling lazy. Apparently, he also does it just cause.

Fall at Governor Dodge, 2006

You may recall that last year, DS and I took a fall hiking trip to Governor Dodge State Park. Well, this year was no different....

DS, the explorer!

Can you make out that rock outcropping on the far left side?

Yeah, we climbed it.

The first tree is from this year, the second is from last year.

DS is laughing at me beause I'm skipping across the parking lot.

Jen is the Coolest!!

I think blogging has made such a wonderful array of connections possible for me. Take, for example, today's wonderfulness.

Through many other people's blog, I even tually came to know and love Kimberlina of Gimchi. Because of her many talents, and her many talented friends (wistful sigh!), she is now part of a group called Girlfriend Sweatshop (GFSS). These girls get together and make things, which they then give as gifts, or sell.

Through Kimberlina, I discovered her friend Jen, whose GFSS affliate is known as Ligurian. These wonderful women all sell their wares on a little place called Etsy, the coolest online store I've found to date. This place allows for a thing they call Alchemy, which is really just custom work.

Being impressed with Jen's books, I requested that she create the guest book for our wedding. And boy did she! I am telling you, never have we seen such a beautiful handmade book. We wanted to do something different with our guest book. I knew that if we got one of those traditional white satin things, I'd hate it, and it'd just go in a box in storage as soon as we got home. And who ever looks at a list of names? So, we decided to find a beautiful book, and have people write us notes in it. We left the actual design up to Jen's creativity, and we are not disappointed!!

(Note: Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.)

So please, let me take this opportunity to remind you all to think about the people you know when buying things that are special. There are some wonderful artists out there. Everything I've bought from these GFSS peeps has been amazing.

Jen also makes albums and notecards. Her books come in all different sizes. If you're in the market for a new journal, get one from her!!

What is this?

5 bonus points to the first person who can correctly tell me what this picture is!

Dearest Fans (and anyone else as well!),

You'll be happy to note that I've been on quite the creative kick lately, and those ornaments I've been finishing are just a few coats of paint away from being done! The hardest part, actually making the penguins and getting them inside the glass, was finished last weekend.

For those of you who said you wanted some, but haven't paid, I've made yours too. If you still want them, please drop me a line. If not, that's cool too! I don't mind hanging on to them, so don't feel obligated.

If you want them, but didn't order them, then I'm sorry, but I'm not making anymore. However, you're all welcome to start making your suggestions for this year's ornament! This time, I'm only making a limited number of them in advance, and once they're gone, I won't make anymore. I lose interest after Christmas, and it feels like a chore to make the extras, and it's not fair to make you all wait this long to get them.

That's it!! Love you guys!

Fall Delights

Fall means caramel apples covered in nuts.

I love fall.

Growing up, it also meant Little Debbie Snack Cake's limited time only Pumpkin Delights. I've been looking for them for weeks now, because I've been bringing home caramel apples for weeks. I had decided Wisconsin doesn't like pumpkin, and so the grocery stores didn't carry them.

The behold!! Last night, DS and I found Pumpkin Delights at the grocery. I'm on Cloud 9 today!!

I tell you what, life doesn't get much better than this :)

3 weeks!

Two things:

1. I have the hiccups.
2. My weddings is exactly THREE WEEKS from today!! (If you want to come, you'd better let me know soon!!)
3. The Sangria Swirl from Abuelo's is totally awesome. As is their cake.
   
4. Shut up, I can count!
   

Change is in the Air

Last weekend, DS and I went north for Cranberry Fest, which apparently has the biggest arts and craft fair in all of Wisconsin. To be perfectly honest, it took us a long time to find anythign arts and crafty about it. A large majority of the thousands of booths we saw looked more like a sad flea market, full of other people's unwanteds.

The lack of art didn't douse our spirits though, for the trip gave us our first taste of real Fall. Yes, the season is definitely changing, and I am elated!

Man I love these colors. I hope Fall holds off in Kentucky just long enough for it to look like this when I get married.

DS, in a rare moment for him, actually smiled for the camera. Though to be honest, I was merely patient enough for him to laugh at all of his scowling.

Where I live, a little further south, the color is starting to creep in as well. The temperature has dropped enough just today that I had to close the windows from the chill.

These two balconies beat the socks off me during the apartment's "prettiest patio" contest. It still looks like Spring over there.

Look at those flowers! I still can't believe I took this picture.

Of course, Felix says it's Fall, and what she says goes!

-------------------------------------------
Note: I've rearranged some things on the sidebar. Being the copycat I am, I've added a section for the book I'm currently reading. Also, Willie will be happy to note the change in his brownie points, which is due to DS and I deciding to use his suggested reading in our ceremony. Thanks Willie!!

Busy MT

I love TV!

I can not tell you how excited I am that Grey's Anatomy is starting again.

A Week of Birthday and Fun

Well, my week of birthday is over. I'm sad to say that I'm old enough that people just don't give me presents anymore, at least no one outside of DS and Mom. But I'm very happy to say that people still come to birthday parties, and they'll even make me food.

MT made me a cake with "raspberry" icing, which we've decided is most definitely pink.

The glass class was a blast, though after getting my pendants back today, I've decided a second round will be needed to create anything that will look decent. It was really hard to imagine how the colors would melt together, and my failed attempts have taught me a few things. Still, definitely worth it!

This weekend was spent in Kentucky for my bridal shower and bachelorette party. The shower had to be rescheduled for Sunday, instead of Friday evening, because my flight was cancelled, rescheduled, rescheduled again, declared broken, and rescheduled, making me arrive in the wrong town 2 hours too late to be there. However, I had my trial hair appointment, got to see the place where we're getting married, went shopping, hung out with family and friends, and just had an overall great time.

A special thanks to Kelly, my MOH, and Chanda, who worked very hard under stressful circumstances, to give me a great weekend. And also to my mother, who is doing her best to help with the planning even though she's hours away.

Now for the pictures!

Kelly decided that there aren't enough pictures of me on my blog, so she stole my camera for the weekend.

The lighting in this picture makes me feel like a movie star.

We'll stand in front this pond during the ceremony.

This is where the bridal party will come from.

Kelly insisted we go to Victoria's Secret. It's apparently not a bachelorette party without lingerie.

Kel and Chanda took me out for LIT's for my bachelorette party.

Kelly read off the answers to one of the quizzes. Trying to remember which presents go with which anniversaries gets really hard after paper, silver and gold.

Kelly took some really nice pictures of the guests. I love this one of Chanda.

My mom (in pink) and her sister.

Look at all of those awesome gifts!

With a light up crown and a sash, I felt like a princess. Or perhaps a homecoming queen. Either way, it was fun.

Birthday Week!!

Here ye, here ye! I've decided to officially start my birthday week*. I'm turning 25 on Tuesday!

To celebrate, we're having a cookout tomorrow, complete with cake and ice cream. Yum!! On Tuesday, I'm getting a chiro adjustment (very exciting to me!), and then I'm taking a class on fused glass pendants along with a few good friends at a local glassworks. Then, on Friday, I'm flying to Kentucky for my Bridal Shower, where I'll have even more fun!

So come on, grab come cake and have fun with me this week!

-------------------------------
*Note: I insist on an entire week for my birthday. It's just too much fun not to, and I say, as long as there's cake, it's still your birthday.

Winston Plays Baseball

See him trying to stop this game mid-play?? We should have named him Jeter.

--------------------------------
Note: Kitties are taking meds right now for tummy problems. I wish I could say it's mellowing them out, but alas, not even tummy problems can keep them from turning into little monsters when the sun goes down.

I blame DS

So as you may know, I'm a faithful subscriber to Self magazine. I discovered it a couple of years ago in my old apartment's workout room, and was drawn to the tear out cards with workout moves on them. (I have every card from the last 2 years in a file, because I'm neurotic that way.) From time to time, they have these get fit challenges and goals. This month, they're having a "reach your goal" challenge, where they designed 4 different plans from "get off the couch" to "run your butt off". For reasons I'm still trying to deduce, I choose the latter.

You see, running is something I particularly hate. I like to blame it on my asthma, but to be honest, I hated it even before I had asthma. There are so many things you can do to feel miserable that are way more fun than running. However, like the plan says, you have to admit that running has some nice health benefits. Not to mention the thigh-slimming parts...

The nice thing about the plan is that it ramps you up. The magazine claims that you can "kick up your calorie burn painlessly and with virtually no extra effort." Let me repeat: PAINLESSLY and with NO EXTRA EFFORT???? Yeah right. I'll believe that when I see it.

Despite my pessimism, I tried it. Before I started this plan, running made me feel like this:

Yes, that's me there, passed out, laying in a puddle of sweat and drool. Miserable.

But then! I tried the plan. Week 1, workout 1: walk fast 1 minute, jog 1 minute; alternate for 15 minutes. Sounds easy, right? It wasn't so bad. Each workout is just a little harder than the last. Each time, I think, "there's no way I can run that many minutes in a row" and each time I turn out to be wrong.

Here we are, week 3, running 6 minutes, walking 1, for a whopping 24 minutes of total running time. It's true, sometimes I feel like this still:

Feet dragging, a trail of sweat and drool in my wake.

But the point is, I'm doing it. And not only that, most of the time I'm still smiling by the end of it. So who knows, perhaps in a week and a half, I'll be running 30 minutes straight (the end goal). If I am, I'm blaming DS for deciding to run with me and keeping me on track. I mean, what kind of anti-running reputation can a goblin have if it's out there actually doing it?

Interview!

I've been interviewed by The Blog Reader! Check it out!

I miss you Pinwheel.

Chugging Along

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

Wedding plans still coming along. We've currently received 34 yes's, and 5 no's. We love those no's. That's 5 people we don't have to feed, and I'm totally cool with them being on their 25th Anniversary cruise that weekend. Not that the yes's aren't nice, but when you budget for a certain number of people, and then have unexpected yes's, it sends your heart aflutter.

Still working on wedding jewelry for everyone. And yes, it's pretty much everyone. The bridesmaids, me, and now my mother. And of course, when I don't have much time for personal crafting, my brain is working overtime coming up with other ideas. I need a new cool sketchbook to carry around just for that purpose. I've had so many ideas for new earrings, and even designer paper clips. And I still haven't forgotten about my Sleep Goblin merchandise line....

Sunday was spent at the Middleton Good Neighbor Festival. You remember that, right? The actual post will have to come later, as the pictures still aren't uploaded. We all know a book without pictures is hardly a book at all. Patience people!

2 months to go..

Talk about scary: today makes exactly two months before we get married. Crap!

The good news? The only major thing we have left to do is plan the ceremony. We're in the process of collecting good quotes and readings for potential use. If you have any suggestions, feel free to share. Just a word of caution, we don't want anything too cheesy or preachy. We're contemplating some good marriage advice ones that are short and sweet for our parents to read. So come on, pitch in!

Any of you long-term blogging friends want to come to the wedding? Let me know that too. I doubt any of you will, since none of you live in Ky, which is mostly why I know I can say this without ruining my budget *wink*. Seriously though, I'll make a backup invite list in case we have more people say they're not coming than we expect, making more room in our pocketbooks. As of right now, all of the invites are in the mail, so if you didn't get one, I'm sorry, but we're just too poor to feed you. We still love you though.

Let's see, what else? My first dress fitting is tomorrow. I've started the bridesmaids' jewelery. We've gotten back two reply cards already. Yup, that's it.

See? I told you guys planning a wedding in another state in under 6 months wouldn't be a problem! People should hire me as their wedding planner.

Behind

I keep thinking that I've got things together, and I'm not missing anything. However, I stopped by Janelle's blog today, and discovered that I had missed pretty much a whole page of posts. That's a lot!!! Where have I been?

And then I started wondering.. how long have I been gone? What have I been doing for so long? Have people noticed that I'm missing? Can people like Oscar, where I rarely comment, tell when I stop reading altogether? And if so, where was the search party?

Here's the best I can come up with, so bear with me.

* I made a lot of wedding invitations. 90 handmade, four part wedding invitations complete with beading and ribbon.

* The kittens are bad and require constant attention.

* My job gives me homework.

* I had to get caught up on Lost, Grey's Anatomy, and House before the new episodes start.

* Mostly, I've just been computer shy.


I miss you guys!

Two Things

1. I have a long deep cut across the palm of my hand. DS has learned not to scare the kittens when I'm holding them.

2. Kittens had to go in for their 2nd Distemper shot yesterday. Cried the whole way to the shelter. Sat very quietly and calmly the whole way back. We're determined to get some of this "distemper" stuff, as it seems to be code for "sit down and shut up."

3. At the shelter, kittens were weighed. Winston, the horse, has gained 2 1/2 lbs, coming in at 6.25 lbs. Felix, the dainty one, gained a bit less, weighing 4.75 lbs. I believe they correctly estimated Winston would be a "large" cat on his initial chart.

4. You're mad I said two things, and there's really four? So what.

Watch them Fight!

Felix and Winston Love Each Other

Winston and Felix enjoy lying in the sink. Oftentimes, Felix gets in first, and then Winston lies on top of her.

Usually when this happens, Felix leaves, and Winston gets the space to himself.

They enjoy playing with each other, though often, as with this 4 ft long toy, they're not aware that it's each other they're fighting against. They just pull in opposite directions and assume the toy if fighting back.

When they're sleepy, they'll decide they want to curl up with either me or DS. In this case, it was me. This was right after Felix got her collar off, and Winston decided she was in need of a bath.

This was just taken today. They love their cat tree, and thankfully sleep there all day when we're not home. Otherwise, I'd be afraid to leave them out alone. They can be quite destructive when they want to be.

There will hopefully be a video coming soon. I'm slow with these things...

Just a quick update before work:

My first day on the job was AWESOME! I found out I have my own office with a door and everything! I'll basically be in training for about 2 months, so I can't tell you how the actual work is yet. We have the internet at work, but I can't use it for fun things. Which is probably better, because I'm very unproductive with the internet in front of me.

The kittens are enjoying getting into all the things they're not supposed to. They've already forced us to rearrange things several times, as our furniture set up has enabled them to reach things we thought they couldn't. They've eaten parts of a plant that will make them sick (though they certainly don't act like it), they've broken a picture frame, and are generally wreaking havoc on a daily basis. I woke up this morning, and they had managed to sneak their fur ball toys under me during the night. However, they're super adorable, and curl up in our laps for love and purr sessions, so how can we be mad?? Felix gets her collar off on Thursday, then we can see what she really looks like!

Kittens!

Everyone, DS and I are the proud parents of two new baby kittens! Meet Winston (the grey one) and Felix (the black one). They are siblings that were found in a barn, and turned over to Angel's Wish. We were told through the whole adoption process that they were both boys, but surgery has proven that Felix is a girl. However, the name seems to fit, so we're keeping it. You'll notice she's wearing a sexy clown collar in the photos, and that's because she tried to take her stitches out. We can take it off in a week after she goes back to the vet.

South Carolina, The Rest of It

We're home now.. Let me see if I can remember everything else we did.

We spent Saturday morning relaxing. DS's mom made me some of the best scrambled eggs I've ever had. Then we went to have our teeth cleaned, and things were done to me there that have never been done before. Apparently, my last dentist was pretty slack, and the severe cleaning I needed as a result left me with some sore gums. Afterwards, we went back to his sister's house for some swim time with the kids. It's weird having someone call me Aunt, but nice too. Then, as promised, we headed back to Columbia, where we met up with DS's college crew for some fun at The Oyster Bar.

Sunday morning was especially relaxing, since we didn't have anything we needed to do until dinner time. At some point, we decided we needed more Nintendo games, and we headed out for the nearest EB Games for some used goodies. (They're sooo much cheaper this way!) Of course, after that, we had to have our game time, which was enhanced by our discovery of how to use the Nintendo Wi-Fi feature. For dinner, we headed back to his sister's house for spaghetti and salad (ooh my the salad! I want that recipe *drool*). Then I was taken around Aiken to meet every last person DS has ever known, including his ex-girlfriend. Oy.

Monday, of course, we came home. It was a wonderful vacation, but it's always nice to be back in your own bed again. And the best part, it meant we would get our new kittens soon! (Oh yes, we're getting kittens. Did I mention that?)