Kitchen renovation...

Just posting a few random shots of our kitchen...its my favorite room in the whole house because we had to start completely from scratch and everything in this room including the ceiling was chosen and finished by Kruze and I...when we first moved into our house this kitchen was a living nightmare!! The previous owners had put in make-shift cupboards (by makeshift I mean wooden boxes that barely functioned as cupboards) it was extremely hard to move from our cozy little clean and perfect house in the city to this big old farmhouse where every single room needed immediate attention and a lot of Pinesol!! Now that we are "almost" completely finished with the kitchen I thought I'd share some pics...sorry I haven't scanned any of the "befores" yet so I will have to post those nasty pics another day...

Its Pumpkin Time!! I do love fall but I am not lovin' the freezing fingers and the runny nose or the frost on the windshield in the mornin' or the 2 extra layers of clothing ...I am lovin' the colors of the trees and all the pumpkins and the smell of wood burning in our woodstove and endless mugs full of hot cocoa and whip cream.....  

The Last I Promise...

Ok I just wanted to tell you all a little something about that concert...It was sooo awesome and there are two reasons why it was sooo awesome...the very first being that I actually got to spend time with my sister without any interruptions from screaming children. We got to TALK uninterrupted for consecutive moments and repeatedly. It was the best!! Secondly... I have liked Keith Urban's music for such a long time...love the lyrics and he has such "a way"...unexplanable...especially if your not a fan of country. Only a country musician can say "Baby" and make it sound so good ya want to trip him and be under him before he falls!! And girls that boy has a "way" with that word!!

I have loved his music...without really knowing a whole lot about him, but after the concert and seeing him in person...I just think he is amazing...he was so great with his fans...I have been to concerts ...where the musician plays great and even makes a huge effort to appear like its a good time...but all you need to do is look closely at the eyes...Flat and unamused (its all in the eyes). Keith Urban was literally shooting rockets of amusement out of those baby blues...he was having a blast and you could feel it. I just have to respect that kind of love of what your doing...and so enough said HE ROCKS COUNTRY STYLE....Thanks for sharin' a little of your light Country Boy....

Just Sharin' a little of my "Urban Appreciation"....

Urban Love ... 

MMMmmm... 

Yumm 

OH.. MY.. GOD!!

There just truely are no words...WOW!! THAT BOY CAN SING!!! And the hair...yummy me likey...MMMmmm guitar MMM...MMMmmm....of coarse there will be a nice long post about last night and it will be complete with words like "the"& "and" I just need to get my head out of the clouds first....I will leave you with this first before I go though...WOW!!

The girls got a gift!!

I strongly recommend a quick peek at my sister Anna's Blog...she had a post yesterday that was a ripper and it was Oh So Very True!! Need a good laugh...check out..."Life according to Anna" and her "Too Excited" post it made my day ...I have her Link in my Links column to the right of my blog....she's great!!

Count down to Keith..Two days til Anna and I are seein' the "Urban-ator" in person........"Take your cat and leave my sweater..cause we've got nothin' left to weather..in fact I feel a whole lot better..but you'll think of meeee... ya you'll think of meeee"....Sing it Keith you know I love ya baby!! 

Piggy Races at the County Fair Labor Day weekend.... 

Have ya ever seen anything cuter?!! 

Run Little Piggy Bun's Run!! 

I baked this pie(recipe below) yesterday for the farmer that has his fields around our house. He's been awesome to us this summer and I just wanted to say thank you...

Lucy's Country Fresh Apple Pie

10 to12 Medium Apples (I love over-stuffed Pies)
1/4 Cup Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 to 2 Tsp Cinnamon (I go heavy on the cinnamon we love it)
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 Tsp Ginger

Combine sugar/ cinnamon/ nutmeg/ ginger/ flour and set aside. Peel core and slice apples and add to spice mixture let stand for 5 minutes to allow apples to marinade. Pour apple mixture into prepared pie crust.Place fourTbsp of cold butter slices on top of apple mixture before adding the top crust.Add second crust crimp edges as desired and using a knife cut three slices into top of pie to allow steam to escape. Bake @ 400 for 1 hour cool slightly and serve.We love ours with Vanilla Ice Cream. YUMMMM


I usually use a frozen pie crust when I'm in a hurry ...although if we are having guests for supper I make the crust homemade...here is a recipe that my mother gave me...its virtually fail proof (a plus if you knew the story behind my apple pie disasters!!)

Fail Proof Pie Crust

2 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
5 Tbsp Ice Cold Water

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl just until moistened making sure not to "over-handle" dough. Separate into two balls. Place one ball in between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out .Repeat with second ball. Remove parchment (obviously ;0) ) Then prepare pie.

Obnoxious People in Positions that require Compassion...

So yesterday I had an appt with my OB/GYN...I was under the impression that this was strictly a verbal visit..and all about getting some answers to a lot of questions...I was relatively certain that I was mistakin' when Doc's nurse came into the room and took my blood pressure and weighed me(by the way does anyone else HATE the doctors scale?)and then said strip from the waist down.WHAT!!?!! The blood rushed from my face... WHAT?!I have to be NAKED to talk!!? I am a woman that needs days..even weeks to mentally prepare for these types of exams not to mention the fact that I had just "too" recently had one!! Needless to say Exam he did...and I had a wonderful captive audience I think the entire third floor of the hospital was in my Examination room (including Kruze who graciously hid behind the privacy curtain...Thank You). I will spare you the details mostly because I dread reliving the horror. I did get to "talk" eventually and the Doc answered all of my questions and for the most part gave me at least a minor sense of relief for the time being anyway. Apparently the words that the nurse felt was her duty to "spew forth" the week earlier while on the phone with me...words such as "Ovarian Cancer" and "Biopsy" and "Surgury" and "Benign" and "Malignant" were all horribly premature and not even within her right to discuss. Thanx Nurse Renee for giving me an entire week of sleepless nights,headaches, puking everything I ate and almost giving me an Alcer and a Brain Anurisium to boot!! WOW I do feel relief. This is what the Doc had to say...in my Layman terms...I have a bump on my Uterine wall that needs further investigation...I have an enlarged Ovary that needs regular supervision (due to my mothers history: Ovarian Cancer). I do not have Ovarian Cancer (Doc's exact words) they just need to keep an eye on it. I have to have another Ultra-sound on October 28 to have my bump and ovary re-evaluated at that time the doctor will determine if a biopsy and surgury are required. So there you have it...and I wish to God that Nurse Renee was reading my blog right now....WOMAN would ya for the love of god quit scarin' the begeebees out of poor defenseless people!! Just Keep Your-Big-Cigarette-Induced-Raspy-Voiced-Cake-Hole Shut!! Am I feelin' a touch bitter?....

Best Dressed Animal Portfolio...

Just so that ya all don't be sendin' me a whole lot of hate mail...I swear these models were treated with the utmost respect and dignity...ok...well... maybe not dignity but I respect the fact that they are good sports and play along peacefully...and besides they both know that there are huge rewards (puppy and kitty snacks all around) after each session...And Em and Sar always try to coordinate clothing and accessories and are careful to be sure that only a tasteful amount of fur is showing. Its all about modesty...

Beagle Jammies... 

Sometimes a girls just gotta feel a little fancy... 

Em and her fluffy baby ...if you think he's being tortured I promise he is not ...he loves this much attention and I have pics of him sleeping dressed up like this in a baby stroller wearing a bonnet... 

Maizy looking very much like Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean..."Elizabeth I should have told you from the first time I saw you I Love You...I've always loved you...(I know Orlando said that...not Johnny but I LOVE THAT LINE sue me) 

The Cat in the Hat... 

Couldn't stay away...its an addiction...

Anna... I know your going to want to kill me for posting a pic of you ...but girl ya look beautiful!! 

More pictures of Mexico...

I especially like the "sunrise thru the balcony" and the "glistening water" pics...

One of the very few "assless" pictures of me that Kruze has taken... 

One of the views from our balcony... 

another view from balcony...

I took this picture so that I would never forget how the water glistened...

Sunrise thru our balcony ...  

Traci and I getting ready to scuba dive in the cove...thats me adjusting my bikini top and lookin pretty much like a frog... 

Jami and Traci two of our friends that we went to Mexico with...miss you guys!! 

Temporarily at a loss for words...

Today I was given some news that kind of threw me for a bit of a loop. It is a little complicated and personal so I won't be getting into details just yet. For the next few days I will mostly be posting pictures ...I chose some from a trip we took in March, to Cancun Mexico it was so beautiful I hope you enjoy looking at these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them...

Experiencing awe and extreme terror...flying is not my favorite thing...but God... the view was beautiful...