Ice, Ice baby!

Well...we had an eventful weekend! Friday at 2 am, we woke up to tree branches hitting our roof. While we were up, a limb fell on the power line attached to the house and pulled it off the house...causing a fire!! Kevin called 911 while I grabbed the fire extinguisher and stepped barefoot out on the deck to put it out! (this I'm sure was life threatening but I was in survival mode!) Thank the good Lord our house is fine! We were only out of service for a day. ....Needless to say, we are having the trees cut down this week! We found out this has happened 4 times already from this tree!

We won!

So far this weekend, we have had 3 Christmas parties and another one tomorrow! But, the one we will never forget was Kevin's work party on Saturday. They always have really nice door prizes that they draw for and neither one of us have had luck in this area in the past...until this year!...

I just looked at our ticket when Kevin said it was our number they called!....we won a 37" flat screen tv!!!!!!!! God is good!

St. Nicholas Day

In my family, we celebrate St. Nicholas day.  

*A real-life bishop in what is now Turkey, Saint Nicholas earned his sainthood for numerous miracles, but his neighbors knew him best as a kind and generous man with a great fondness for children. Today, in many parts of the world Saint Nicholas delivers gifts on the eve of his Feast Day, December 6, and Christmas is reserved for the religious observance of Christ's birth.*

This year my mom got us matching red fleece jackets! I always forget about it and it's a fun surprise... especially if it's red!

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey!

We had a few memorable moments during our holiday!...

We had a Christmas picture taken for the Klim Christmas card (act surprised if you get one!),

 

Made friends with my aunt's blow up turkey (before we ate one of his family members), and

Kevin got to go skeet shooting with his dad and sister...(yes, now they have sucked Kendra in!)

Adoption Shower

Here are pictures from our friend's shower on Sunday. She and her husband are adopting twins from Russia!! Her shower theme was Curious George...

Lost blog!

Today...randomly...I remembered an old blog! I had used it back in 2005 to view pictures of the capri sun and starbucks purses I made! I looked it up to see if it was still there and sure enough...

www.artisticated.blogspot.com

this picture shows about 25 purses...i made purses every night!

Halloween weekend

This weekend we went to Lafayette. Saturday, we had lunch at Prophetstown State Park with Kevin's side and then a bonfire that night with my side...

We went for a walk trying to find the costume contest...we decided to cut through the grass instead of walking all the way around. We thought we would trick the guys walking behind us and disappear (they were way behind us). Instead, a few minutes later, they appeared saying if we would have walked a few more feet there was a path...dumb!

Kevin's dad walking Buttercup in the pet costume contest!

My dad burnt the life out of his hot dogs!...and he ate it!

It was my cousin's birthday and he always puts on a show for us.

(I think the dad pictures could be used for blackmail!)

Our Anniversary Vacation

We are back and well rested from our cruise. Unfortunately, we had pretty bad weather and only got probably 2 days of sun out of 7.  We still feel blessed that we got to go and get away.

Here is our best 'sunset' picture!

Here is our boat from Honduras. 

 

This is the main gathering space on the boat. It had a giant tv screen.

The famous towel animals!

My favorite 'artsy' picture!

1 year anniversary!

It's here! Our one year anniversary! It just flew by and we have truly enjoyed being married. We are on vacation this week to celebrate, reminiscing about this past year and what we were doing a year ago!

Garage Sale

So....my mom, aunt Von, and I decided to have the yearly garage sale. I've only recently joined the annual event but they have been having garage sales for years and sometimes 2 a year. This year, however, went down in history as the worst! ha! We made 10 times LESS than we did last year! People were coming but leaving with nothing, Von was sick, annddd the biggest thing of all....the no-see-um bugs. Dang it! Out of nowhere around 2pm they started swarming us! I must have some sort of allergy to them cause now I look like I have chicken pocks (over 100 bites! I counted!) Thankfully, we all had fun together. We did vow to never have another one...we'll see! haha!

*my mom is pictured posing with some sale items and a fancy apron...she didn't wear it all day don't worry!

our hummingbirds

    

All summer, we've had three hummingbirds zipping around our yard and keeping me busy filling the feeder! Yesterday, this one was looking plump!? Do they poof up for winter or give birth before they fly south? It was just so noticable and cute that I thought I would share!

WHITE RABBIT!

For as long as I can remember, on the first of every month, our family has "competed" to see who can say "white rabbit" first! I am very good at it! (unfortunately, my mom got me today) Today, I looked up some theories online about where this came from...

1. military tradition:the first person to say it on the first of the month has good luck or a gets a free drink

2. superstition from Europe originating from hunter-gatherer traditions...if you first caught a rabbit in your trap that meant other small animals would follow-hence the good luck

other ways people say it...rabbit rabbit rabbit; white rabbit white rabbit white rabbit; rabbits; rabbits rabbits

I am just going to say that it's good luck and a fun competition!

ps--I used to have a white rabbit. I got her on halloween and named her 'Punkin'

Rushin' to Russia

Please keep our dear friends Ryan and Michelle in your prayers. They have been in the adoption process, adopting 2 children from Russia, for a long time and have just gotten the call that they will be traveling soon to see the kids for the first time!!! We are so excited and figured the more prayer warriors out there the better! Please pray for 1. the trip 2. the children 3. Ryan and Michelle's preparation 4. God's favor!

Thanks for praying!

Garagin' in Indy!

Mom and I went to Indy on Saturday for a garage sale extravaganza!!! We went to the Lockerbie Square area...it's an annual event and soo very fun! They have very artsy stuff and great architecture!

this is me drooling over couches...

we got to visit my great friend Michael and see the updates on his amazing craftsman house! 

shop and eat...that's our motto!

Midnight snack

Well, it wasn't realllly midnight but we had a chocolate attack! We put peanut butter on our smores and made them in the microwave! It was fabulous!!! We hadn't tried them with peanut butter before! woah! 

Visiting the Millis' and Goff's

I declared it a "visit long distance friends" day. First, I headed to Fishers to visit my good friend Mel and her husband John (sorry John, I didn't have a picture of you!). They just built a house and it is awesome! Mel and I share a love for color. Here are some pictures of us...we met in 1st grade!...

yes, i had a perm...

us in 2004 at her wedding

Second, I went to see Court in Kokomo!

 us in 2005 at her wedding

Court and I met at Ball State...we had every class together and were inseparable! Now, she has 8 week old twins, Ashtyn and Savanah!!!! This was my first time meeting them!

This was how they were sitting when I got there!...asleep!

This is how they were when I left! So cute!

Booksale!

Friday night, I went to Lafayette to the booksale at the library. It's become a tradition between me, my mom and my aunt Von (who gets us in with her membership-thanks Von!) It is total chaos, tons of people and tons of books. You never know what you'll find!! I love it!  I did well this time only spending $17 on 11 books and a dvd. I got some home decor books, new york best seller fiction, and christian books! If you have a cool aunt like mine that can get you in...I would recommend it!

Dog days of Labor day!

Kevin's "new" saying is "it's such a dog day". So he asked me if that could be the title of the blog with the squirrel?...doesn't really work but ok!

Talk about lazy!! I've never seen a squirrel do this!

Kevin changing his brakes

Kevin with Cassie's mannequin head for school!

Gillespie Gathering

Sunday, the Gillespie's came to Rensselaer. Here are some highlights...

Redneck grilling in Kevin's truck!

Family picture...only 2 people missing, but 2 new babies!

Kevin showing off his high school basketball moves!

Us trying out the hamock from Brazil

Pies and cake made by Kevin's grandma! Yum!