Thankful Thursday

I have been so excited all day to post my Thankful Thursday post. Well, it's now officially Thursday so here goes.

I have been feeling rather swell this week! That my friends rocks my socks out loud! Knock on wood, so far this week I have no major attacks & the bathroom has NOT been my best friend!! With feeling this swell I have been able to acomplish oodles of things around the house. I kinda sorta feel like the old me!! I hope it lasts...

I very seldom call people who I don't talk to on a regular basis. The reason one may wonder is because I am not used to their voices & get tired of asking them to repeat themselves. On yucky blucky MM days I do not talk on the phone. My ears don't allow me to understand. So having such wunnaful days is a HUGE thing for me. Anyways, seeing I was having such a swell day I decided to surprise my friend Jewel with a phone call. She lives in Indiana & I have not seen her since we graduated in 94. We used to be good buds in grade school. I've also only spoke to her one other time on the phone since then. So actually speaking to her was pretty ultra fabulous!!!

I also phoned my friend Kristin tonight. This like, never happens. Krissy only lives in Gladstone but it seems we never see each other. I plan on popping into her work for a surprise visit soon. She's a beautician so I'm thinkin she could perform some miracles with my crazy hair!!

I also visited our local Farmers market today & picked up some corn stalks for decorating the front yard & porch, 15 bartlett pears & two large bags of assorted apples. I brought one bag to my real dads house. Oh, and a gynormous pumpkin!! I'm totally stoked to use my Mom's fun applesauce making gadget again!

After chit chatting with Krissy I chit chatted online with my cousin Mandy who lives in Seattle. We got to talking more & more. My fingers were getting tired from typing so I gave her a jingle as well. I haven't talked to her in eons. So catching up via phone was awesome!! While chit chatting with her Ken called. Even he was amused at my chatty Kathy skills tonight.

One more thing...if I may...game 1, Red Sox , post season, Papelbon pitching, bottom of the 9th, BOSOX leading 4 to 1...BAM! SHAZAM! COWABUNGA DUDE!!!! BOSOX win game 1!!! SHAAAAWING!!!


I know this post is rather blah. The hugest thing is I feel fabulous & it's allowing me to do so many things!!! Including being a major telephone hog, staying up half the night watching a baseball game & just feeling peachy!! And guess what? That rocks my SOX!!

Letting Go & Letting Sunshine Back In

I was uncertain what to title this post as. Last October Ken & I put our hearts back out int the world of adopting. We first joined MARE, then went into exploring the other options. We came so close to getting the most amazing little girl one has ever seen. Things seemed to be going great. I allowed myself to buy some stuff for the room, drew & painted the themes on the walls, we borrowed a crib from Ken's aunt & uncle. The whole shabang... we had everything. We were ready, our hearts completely in it.

Well, needless to say, the adopting stuff took a royal crap, as our normal luck goes. But as usual we got back up, put the pieces of our heart somewhat back together . It's a place neither of us will allow ourselves to go again. We've lost so much & picking up the pieces never gets easy. But, we've managed to go on with life. It took me awhile to use this room for any functional purpose other than a place to house the litter pans for Buster & Betsey. But I am now pleased & absolutely luv this amazing place! It was started out with such love & hope. In this room I now hope to create loving pieces of craftyness. Below are the before & after pics. Meaning...all set up for kiddo & to the now ultra fabulous Kathy's Krafty Korner!! I couldn't be more stoked!!






See the yellow blankie draped over the back of the crib? My Mom made that for me when I was in Readiness Kindnergarden to use during "nap/rest time" I cherish such things so much. It now sits on the shelf in the den. I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate it into our bedroom.

I absolutely LOVE Pooh, more specifically Eeyore. So naturally the nursery had to be in that theme. In one day I free hand drew the characters on the wall & painted them. I know, Pooh looks a bit gimpish with a wimpy arm. I've never claimed to be a good drawer. It was fun though.

She only got to play with this little kitchen a couple times. It now sits in our attic collecting dust. I'm thinking I could give it to my lil baby niece or my cousin who is opening up a fabulous daycare in her home!!

I found this adorable lamp on Ebay & totally had to have it!!
I made the cushions for the rocking chair ken's folks gave us...we were all set to spend nights rocking & lul-a-bye-ing.
Now, this is what I've transformed this baby space into! It's a craft room/office!! I've still got some work to do in there. Man, the craft stuff I have!! Yesterday I worked on the cleaning part & got inspired to make some Christmas cards. Notice a few of the blue colored jars my fabulous friends Sam & Pat gave me? I couldn't use them for food. Well I could have but to me they are way too pretty!!! They have found a new purpose now...holding my pens, markers, colored pencils, craft scissors, shells...you name it. They friggen rock!! Thank you Sammers & Pat!!

This is another windowsill in the room. I have miscellaneous things to put in the jars. This one has shells from Coco Beach in Florida. Buttons, acorns, pine cones & who knows what else will find a home in the other ones. I'm still working on cleaning remember...lol

This is one of my most favoritist things in life...YARN!!! And I have plenty!! I have it all organized by the rainbow color palette. It's so wunnaful being able to see just what I've got. I tend to go out and buy yarn just for funzies. There is a slight addiction to my yarn buying.
This part of the closet houses a small portion of my fabric. In that gorgeous basket I keep my embroidery threads. The basket was the one I bought at the gas & Steam engine show. Remember that Red Owl box I wrote of this summer that I got at a rummage sale? That now sits on the closet floor & holds stray balls of yarn from past projects. It makes me smile every time I see it. Brings me back to my childhood of weekend grocery shopping trips with Mom & Dad.
This is another part of my scrappin desk. I love how it looks out the window. Yeah, I still get the litter pans in my room. But that's ok. They will stay cleaner this way anyways. As who in tarnation would want to work in a cat smelling space? Plus the whole Pooh thing rocks my socks!!
Go Spartans!! Yup, still a big MSU gal!! The picture is blurry but in the rack there I have myriads of papers to fart around with.

I also have another desk area in this space. It's my old vanity. Actually it was my sister Chrissy's & then Laurie's...and now mine. I wish I knew how to insert a photo & move it around. I'm sure it will be included in another post...at another time. I've still got A LOT of cleaning to do up there! This is just a smidgen I've showed.

Anytootles...I've been ooberously busy cleaning, getting back to "me", crafting & all that fancy stuff. It took me many months to allow myself to claim this room as my own. My heart is healing & I am totally diggin having this Eeyoreiffic room to craft & do paperwork in!! =)

Fall at The Woodbury's

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been decorating. I have family & friends who are unable to come over & visit. So this is my way of inviting you into my home.








This is on top of my sewing cart. The plant is from Ken's cousin Kristie's funeral a few years ago. The wooden chest the plant sits on contains something superly special to me...My Mom's silverware. I'll have to showcase them this Turkey Day when we use them. They don't look like anything spectacular but they are rather neato!!

This picture sure turned out fuzzy!! It's of our dining room table...obviously!! I absolutely LOVE the pumpkin centerpiece! It was Ken's Nana's. My in-laws had been out East on a visit & apparently Nana was going to toss this adorable piece!! They brought it home for me =) A little pumpkin spiced candle fits perfectly!!

This is one of my curio cabinets in my dining room. There are 2 other built in ones. This one houses my Memier's dishes and some other miscellanious crystal things. Memier is French for Grandmother. If we went bloodwise my Memier would in fact be my gret grandmother. She was my real Dad's grandmother. I know, so confusing! In my case I just called her Memier. =)

This is the back wall in my den. The walls seriously need to be re-done in this room! The cedar shilgles painted mint green makes me ill!! The wreath makes me happy though. =)
Now I take you to our living room. I just love this tongue & groove wooden block wall. Ken contemplated taking it out when we re-painted the room last summer. I obviously won that one! =) I get the big wood wall & he gets all the gadgetries a man desires. My angel is now holding an autum leaf!! Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE Fall!!!
This next picture has nothing to do with fall. But I like it. It hangs on one of the walls in our living room. We picked up this quilt while in Massachusetts visiting Nana. The saying means the world to us. Not too many years ago we were living in a semi for the most part, when we came home we stayed in a camper parked at his parents house.

This lil display is behind the front door. Each year my friend Amber gave me one of these adorable angels that represent different things. I should point out. If you look at any of the wall hangings on the walls in our home you will notice they are not the "norm" Ken & I enjoy getting out in nature & taking pictures. We blow up the photos & frame them.

This is where my tortoise Chloe Michelle lives. Even she is all decorated up for Fall!!! I made the frames a couple weeks ago from lil baby pinecones we picked at Ken's family's camp this summer. Still looking for the perfect photos to put in there!!
I don't really know what I was thinking when I took a photo of this end table...
My living room. Yeah, you're seeing correctly...there seems to be a drunkan Santa STILL in my living room!! Oh well, it's EXACTLY one month until I start bringing out the Christmas decorations!! I guess he can stay there...However it's time he sobered up & stand up!!

I hope you've enjoyed your "visit" Stop by some time eh!!

Realizations

I apologize for my tardiness on posting lately. It seems that with the events that unraveled last week that I got in a funk. I had some harsh realizations & had to dig deep within myself to un-funktify. I am certain we all get in funktify-ish moods.

I did oodles of cleaning, organizing & just thinking this past week. I tend to do that when my heart gets wounded. Everything is honkey dorey on the homefront now. I will invite you to some of this past weeks realizations:

1. I love my huband more than I love ANYTHING in this whole universe...including myself...and I wonder if he feels the same way. I know he loves the beans out of my punk ass but is it as deep as my undying love I hold for him?

2. I need to love myself more often & do things for ME

3. I have lost so much of me lately...but got back in touch with my inner self. I've been crafting more, reading more, exercising more, taking walks, etc

4. I need to not take certain things in life too seriously. Most people only know the quirky, spazzy self of Kathy. There is a serious side.

5. My doggies & Kitties are the bestest furry buddies one could ever want.

6. I'm still trying to figure out why we never do things with friends.

7. If the friends we have are more like aquaintances.

8. When I love I love deeply.

9. I am still a hard core listener of 80's music.

10. I do have issues calling my in-laws "Mom & Dad". I haven't called anybody that since I was 10 after my parents died. The part in my heart of having love for parents is not dead...just the using of the names is forever gone. I do not feel it is right for me to call someone Mom & Dad...those were special words I was priviledged to use for just a short time...and I reserve them for my parents. =)

11. I bought some yummy pumpkin candles & some Fall decorations the other day & have been decorating. I used to decorate for every season & Holiday EVER! Ken would think it was silly. So I stopped. Decorating makes me happy & makes my home feel cozy to me. Some guys just don't appreciate those little touches. It's nothing with Ken. He was just born a dude with no femininity. I shouldn't feel frumpy when he lacks interest & makes fun of my need for decorations.

12. I am still very hurt by my in-laws imposition & my husband not having the guts to say "No" I need to work on letting that hurt disipate...it's hard though...I put him 1st for everything. Like I said, I'm working on letting it go. I'm a stubborn gal so it may take some time.

13. I still despise odd numbers. In fact I contemplated even going up to 13 & if I should end my list there. Ya know, just to help with the getting over the yuckyness odd numbers put into my bones!! Ok, just this once...I'll end it on an odd #...a prime one at that! It's October, a time for Halloween & spookyness. The number 13 is "spooky" right?

Just know that this bugs the living pizzizzles out of me!!!

What Season Are You?

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

http://www.blogthings.com/whatseasonareyouquiz/">What Season Are You?

I guess the results of this quiz comes as no surprise. I indeed love, love , love Fall! It's my most favoritist season of all!! Isn't it funny how answering random questions can pinpoint certain characteristics? What is your Season?

Our Weekend

On Friday morning we left on our "romantical" weekend with the in-laws. After we set up camp, had some lunch we decided to take a ride to Paradise & show my in-laws the memorial we did for the babies. They took their truck & we took ours. We also took all 5 dogs on the hike this time too! I must say, it was a much better hike out there than the previous week. I must have been having a way "off" feeling day that day. The waves were nowhere near the size of last week. Actually the waters were pretty calm...well for Superior! The weather was amazing...up to 82!! Can't ask for a better day!







After our hike we took a ride that was about 35 miles up the road to visit Sceney Wildlife Refuge. Bill & Jeanne had never been there & Ken & I enjoy that type of thing. The sunset was out of this world amazing! I think we took like 20 pictures of the various stages of it's decent.


How stunning!!

See the white swans?

Obviously this photo was taken before the sun set. See the adorable turtle sunning itself on the log? I totally jumped out of the suburban mid roll to capture this lil guy, or gal!! For serious!!

How stinkan cute is that!!! Ahhh how I love turltes!!!
Yesterday was a gloomish type of day. Sporadic showers all day & windy. We still managed to take a walk around the lake & Ken took, or rather tried to take some family pics with us & the pups. It's pretty hard to get all 5 of them looking at the camera & have us both in the picture! LOL Pay no attention to the crazy hair atop my head! LOL

Here I am with my babies: left to right; Allison, McKenzie, Macey, Arizona & Brayden

I didn't know Ken even snapped this picture. Here was Allison chillin next to me & apparently I was talking to Brayden & he was listening. Haha I am a bit bias but my doggies are sooo superly cute!!

Almost got it....but Macey had to show her rump to the camera!

We finally gave up....

On our walk around the lake we almost walked right into this...Bear poop!!! Luckily the dogs didn't decide to forage on this berry pile! Sooo gross!! I had to take a picture though seeing I have never seen bear droppings. We went back to camp, dropped the dogs off at the camper & asked Bill & Jeanne if they wanted to go blueberry picking. It was Ken's idea. I however told Jeanne to take a bucket...and she did! Just down the shore we saw the footprints.

The views from across the lake were astounding! The Fall foliage is really coming to life here. On our drive home today we noticed even more color.

Can you see this lil guy in the weeds? Ken almost stepped on him.

Yesterday Ken & I decided to take a ride to gather some more firewood in the woods & check out the other campsites. We just wanted some time alone, time to just chill with one another. We were just chillin at one site looking at the colors, relaxing & then his parents had to come find us...so yeah...there was an issue of privacy.

I would be lying if I said I am still not hurt about what happened. I would be also lying if I said I didn't have any fun. Because I did. It was an ummmm interesting weekend. Now, next weekend should be ultra fun!!! We know we will have the weekend to ourselves. They have my nieces recital in Wisconsin. We originally planned to go to Fayette for the fall festivities next Saturday. But now are planning on going up to Houghton, MI on a camping trip & do a Fall color tour... With a possible stop in Ironwood to say howdy to my brother. Just Ken & myself & our fab 5. =)

Autumn is here!!

Today is a much better day than yesterday. I'm still a bit on the upset side. But nowhere near the state I was in yesterday...which is a good thing!!


We are still going camping this weekend & we hope to make the best of the situation...we'll see what happens.


Anyways, today is Thankful Thursday!! Instead of focusing on one thing I'm gonna let my scatterbrain lead the way.



I recently joined Facebook & have reconnected with oodles of friends from high school & college!!! I totally stole, I mean borrowed this photo from my brothers facebook photo album. I don't have a copy of this photo. But now I do!! It's of the 10 of us Pepin kids taken at my brother Darryl's 25yr Jubilee celebration. It's not too often you get all 10 of us in one place!!

Back Row: left to right Christine, Darryl, Bruce, Joe, Jim (he's my real Dad)
Front Row: left to right Pat, Mike, Laurie, Kelly & me

Yeah, in this photo we are lined up according to age =)











My most favoritist season is Autumn. The U.P. is by far one of the best places to spend the season! New England area comes pretty darn close, if not tied with Yopper Land. The cool mornings that turn into sunshiney afternoons & crisp evenings is by far the best! Some other favorite Fall things are:














Homemade turkey noodle soup on a cool Fall night











Quirky scarecrow on the fence & Pumpkins

and don't forget the foliage in reds, yellows & oranges!!

The smell of cinnamon, a pumpkin scented candle

Apple season!

Wearing jeans & sweatshirts

The smell...yes, I do enjoy the smell of Fall, even the dead rotting leaves

The fact I'm not getting swampy butt from being hot. and no, my heine does not smell like a swamp!!

cornstalks, pumpkins, gourds

bonfires & smore's

The Upper Peninsula offers some fantastical aurora borealis (northern lights) shows. If you have not witnessed the northern lights, you best get your fanny up here in the fall! It's amazing! It also seems like there are more shooting stars in the Fall. Sitting outside gazing at the stars is something we enjoy.

Knowing Christmas is right around the corner. Which reminds me! We will have two additions to our household this Christmas!! We, I mean I will be adding 2 more big trees to our home this year!! No clue where they will be put yet but holy stokage!!! November 1st begins the decorating spree!!

Next weekend Ken & I are going to go to Garden, MI to attend the Fall festivities at Fayette. We've never been to it but holy beans! Totally can't wait! After that we are stopping at the apple orchard. I foresee batches of applesauce in my very near future! OH! And at the orchard they have a used book store! So we know where Kaffy's silly self will be!! Ahhh the smell of old books!

Being in the U.P. we have oodles upon oodles of trails & places to hike & explore. Especially for geocacheing! What better way to spend a day! Pack a couple sandwiches, some cider & snacks & head into the forest on a treasure hunt. Don't forget the GPS!! Feel the crunch of the leaves under your feet, look up at the foliage, breath in the crisp air. Guess what's also neato about this? It's FREE! And fun!!

Be sure to get out & enjoy your Fall season!! Before we know it'll be snowing!!

Is part of my heart dead?

There is such thing as needing time together right? I'm talking as in a marriage. Or any relationship for that matter. Even in the best of relationships. It's so important to take time to yourselves to reconnect & keep that fabulous relationship alive...right?

Well those are my beliefs anyways...apparently not all people find things such a nurturing a marriage important. For me my marriage means everything to me. Well what occurred to me today has got me beyond disgusted. My mind is just boggled & my heart is just hurt.

For months Ken & I have had an "alone" camping trip planned. Sure, we don't have kids and I go on the road with him. But it's not the same as spending time with one another. This away weekend is something I looked so forward to. To reconnect with my hubby means everything to me. He's been working a lot. So when he is home he's pretty tired & has been cranky. He's not usually like this. He's been so snippy & ornery and it's wearing me down.

We have talked about this alone weekend for some time. Our friends & his folks knew we were planning this get away. So, today I was completely floored when we were asked if they could tag along for the weekend. Now is it rude of us, more so me to be upset about this? This was a weekend we set aside for "US" and us only. A time for our marriage.

I handed Ken the phone & let him tell them no, that we wanted a weekend to ourselves. He did that but then he got off the phone & said "good one, Kat, you broke her heart" Then he said a bunch of other stuff about them leaving soon for TX & we'll have time then. So why...I've got to wonder...why would they do this. It totally put Ken in the middle having to choose between his parents & the weekend with his wife to work on our relationship. And just so everybody knows...no there are no problems on the homefront. It's just something we do now & then to keep the relationship nurtured.

Needless to say, his parents won, he chose them & they will be joining us on "our" weekend. He went on to tell me a part of my heart is dead...the part where there's a love for parents. I haven't had parents since I was 10 so this whole parents wanting to be around is so new to me. But I don't think my heart is dead. I do love them so dearly. I have phenomenal in-laws. It hurts me greatly the things Ken said and that his folks would impose like that...knowing we had this weekend planned. Do they not understand we NEED this. Life has been crazy hectic. I miss my husband...

Please pray that our weekend turns out well. I'm not having much hope for fun times at this point & am contemplating staying home & working on my craft room while Ken goes to nurture our marriage with his folks...

Those are some big waves Batman!

So, I decided to post a couple of the videos Ken took last weekend. The photos don't do these gynourmous waves the justice they deserve. I was sitting 20-30 feet from the edge of the rock walls & as the waves crashed & went over the cliff walls I was still getting splashed! By the time we left my jeans were wet!

Visiting the Memorial

I'm still here...just taking a break I guess. So many things have been going on. Usually when I don't have much good to say I get pretty quiet. But after thinking about it a bit I realized I should allow myself to vent a bit. I feel like I haven't been "me" in some of my posts. Well I've been in a "funk" these past few days. I guess we all have those not so swell moments. Right??

On this past Saturday Ken & I took a ride up to Munising to visit the memorial we carved in honor of our babies Angel & Alex & do a little hiking. The fall colors were astounding!! Now some people will say our babies don't exist. But to us they did. Anyways, this place where the memorial is located is in one of the prettiest areas in the whole Upper Peninsula. It's quite a hike into the woods to get to the actual carving. It's one that's even harder when I am a dizzy mess. Well Saturday was one of those "off" days. Usually we are off exploring this that & the next thing. In a couple areas we have to hold onto a tree & balance on a ledge to get to the other side. Well that was not an option for me that day. Ken would become frustrated at my inability. Plus we had Arizona Clarie with us. That's our youngest doggy.

The waves were astounding! It wasn't even all too windy. But if anyone knows Lake Superior, it doesn't take much. What a gorgeous lake full of rigor. When we got to the memorial I was in need of a rest & sat down. Just needed some quiet time, ya know. Time to reflect & honor the memory of our babies. It's a very special place. Most people have grave sites to go to...we have this rock in the middle of nowhere. Anyways, Ken was more into exploring the area, taking pics & videos. I just needed him to be with me.

I think I had such a hard time this time going there because the walk in was more challenging than the last time. I know one day we will not be able to make it in there. Or at least I won't be. Not when I'm a dizzy bird all the darn tootan time. I have come to an acceptance of this whole MM crap but every now & then it really gets to me. This was one of those days.
I am thinking we need to make a different memorial, something we will both be able to access...even when we're old geezers.

Below are some pics we took on the hike. I will include a picture of me in the cave...you will see just how high the water was. There was NO cave exploring this time needless to say.

On our way to Munising

Actually this beautiful tree was on our drive home =)

Below is what the caves looked like last weekend. Usually we can walk inside these caves & walk in the water on the outer edge of the caves no problem. The water level along the edge on Saturday was well above our heads!

Here's a pic of me video recording inside those very caves last summer! CRAZY how water can have a mind of it's own eh?

Another look into the cave this past weekend...not heading in there!!