Not anytime soon...Thanks

Since Seth and I just had our one year anniversary, I have been getting the "baby" question quite a bit from different people. So just in case you were wondering, no we are NOT planning on having a baby anytime soon because

1) Seth is in school
2) I am going back to school- start Aug 15...YIKES!
3) We want to buy a house first
4) I work third shift
5) We both like sleeping for 8 hours STRAIGHT with minimal interruptions
6) I have not reached that level of organization yet
7) We have too much stuff and don't need to add anymore until we purge some of our own

It's not that we don't want a baby, we just don't want one right now. We are happy being together and doing things that we may have to eventually give up once we have children. But, thanks for asking :)

Touch2O

http://www.deltafaucet.com/kitchen/details/980T-DST.html

You need to go to this website and check out this kitchen faucet. It is turned on by a touch from your finger, arm, wrist, etc to help reduce cross-contamination. It also shuts off after four minutes if no one is there to stop it. This is really neat. Too bad it's $500! I bet it would be well worth it in a busy kitchen, restaurant or bakery. Found it interesting and thought I would share.

Spa Day

Today was the day. The day we had talked about and planned for quite a while. Today was..... SPA DAY! Not for us of course but for Nattie. She has been in need of a bath for quite a while now but seeing as she is an outside dog, we just don't do that every week. I feel really sorry for her because she has been getting eaten up by gnats and mosquitoes. She had a couple places on her rump that had scabbed over where she had scratched so much so we decided to give her a bath. Not only would she get a bath but she would also get her nails done, her ears cleaned and a good pen scrubbing. Good thing she is a dog because if she had known ahead of time, she would have packed her little bag and hit the road.
If you have ever been by our house when we play with Nattie, you know she LOVES the waterhose. We have to put her up when we clean the mower, water flowers, etc because she just wants you to spray her constantly and she always tries to bite the water. This is fun when we want to play but not so much when we need to use the hose. We decided to clean her pen out first, that way it could dry while we were giving her a bath. We had cleaned her ears out and trimmed her toes before this so she could play for a while and not be so stressed. After we scraped all the hair from the fence, Seth sprayed everything really good. We mixed some bleach and water in a bucket and used a big brush to scrub the pen. I had to shut him in while he was cleaning the inside because Nattie lept trying to get in and get in the water. After he finished the inside he came and scrubbed the outside to get all the algae and dirt off the pen frame. We rinsed it really well and shut the door so a dirty dog didn't run in :)
As far as water, she doesn't mind one bit if we spray water in her face or on her chest but the minute you try to get it on her back or belly, she goes nuts. Well, that was the first issue we ran into. She also hates for us to clean her ears and clip her toenails but we can deal with that. I mean, she knows who is in charge :) Anyway, the only way that we could get her to stand still while we got her wet was for Seth to bear hug her while I sprayed her. Let's just be honest, you didn't really think I was going to hold her and get wet, did you? Well, needless to say the water wasn't exactly bathwater. I thought Seth was going to die when I first got him wet; maybe a little more than necessary but that's not relevant.
Once we got her good and wet, we soaped her up with about half a bottle of flea and tick shampoo. She liked that part. She just stood like a good little girl and let us shampoo her. It was kind of like a cold belly rub. Once we scrubbed her really good, I attempted the rinse. That went over about as well as the soak. Once we got her still enough, she just hung her head like we were beating her so all the soapy water kept running in her face. I tried to hold her head up but she would have none of it. I think she was really upset with us. After we finally got her rinsed off, we let her run and do what clean dogs do. Rolling in the grass, shaking and of course, a snack. My mom had given me a peanut butter flavored Luna bar. She loved it once she realized we weren't going to take it away from her.
After she ate her snack and dried off completely, we put some antibiotic ointment on her bug bites and put some cream in her ears to help with any itchiness. I think she was glad when we finally told her "House" and she could relax. Her coat was so shiny and she smelled much better. She didn't have to say it but I knew she felt like a whole new woman :) Here are a few pictures of "Spa Day"

Helping Dad clean out the pen

Somebody please help me!

Snacktime :)

Getting all the water off

Smores and Deer

After the horseshoe tournament, Mandy and I went to get more ice and Seth and Andy decided to start setting up their fishing stuff. By the time we got back, they had lines in the water and were getting hungry. We had already prepared all the food on Thursday, we just had to cook it. They brought a little tabletop propane grill that was wonderful. We had hamburger steaks, Texas toast and fried potatoes from the fire pit! Andy made them in a cast iron skillet over hot coals. It was very good. After we ate and picked up I was so sleepy. It started getting dark so they worked on making the fire bigger and hotter because it started getting a little cool. The bugs were pretty bad too. We had bagged up all the trash and put it in the back of the truck just in case. Mandy had brought all the ingredients for Smores. I hadn't had a smore in forever so I was very excited. We ended up eating quite a few marshmallows by themselves too.

We were all sitting around the fire with radio going and I was about asleep when we heard this crash in the woods behind us. As soon as we jumped up to see what it was, (I was actually jumping up to escape to the truck but that sounds better :)) we heard this snort/blow. Seth says that deer do that when they catch an unfamiliar scent. They blow all their air out and take a deep breath so they can smell the air around them. We never did see it so all he could figure was that it ran across the river road and momentum carried it down the hill to where we were. I'm sure it stood up and mentally brushed itself off and thought..."Oh boy, I'm in big trouble. What's that smell?" It's funny now. I wasn't so funny that night... in the dark... with no way of defending myself...oh listen to me. I am the biggest wuss :)

The next morning, we got up and started packing our stuff. I went to get my bag full of snacks and stuff and discovered some little critter had come along and eaten all my trail mix! I had made a bag with peanuts, raisins and M&Ms. Whatever it was had taken the nuts and raisins and left a little pile of M&Ms at the bottom of the tree. It was almost half full when I put it in the bag and there wasn't a half a cup left. I'm sure the poor little guy was out in the field on his back rubbing his big belly thinking "Oh, I shouldn't have done that." After we went home, we spent the afternoon napping, washing clothes and just resting. Then it was time for fireworks!

Seth and I after Smores

Andy and Mandy...post Smores

They are thrilled, just a little tired.

Time to go home...to the nice comfortable squishy bed and pillow :)

Close only counts where?

After we got back to our tents, we changed into warmer clothes, ate some lunch and decided to play horseshoes. This is a tradition with Seth and Andy when they camp and they let us play this time. Since the girls were on 2 different teams, we designated a line at each end for our throwing line. It was about a 6 foot "handicap" for us. Well, I must say, we were quite awesome. There were a couple times when I wondered if our male counterparts were going to contribute to the score at all. They always came through though.

Seth and I won the first 3 of the 7 games. Then Andy put his CD in the truck and we had to listen to it while he and Mandy won the next three games. Lt me explain the significance of the CD. If you have ever competed at anything with Andy and Seth at all, they are very odd about things like that. I hate playing cards with them because everything has to be so so. You can't touch the cards after you deal or the cigarette has to be behind the ear or the right CD has to be playing and on and on. I finally told Seth that we would have to change the CD for the final game. I wish I had a picture of Andy's face when I hit eject. It was like I had killed his dog. I told him, " You didn't really think we were going to let it play for the championship round?" There are no aids for the last round. It's all skill and a little luck.

Seth ended up putting a Tim McGraw CD in just to be neutral and guess who won?...that's right, Seth and Katie! It was close for most of the game but Seth capped one of Andy's ringers and it was all over! I think that CD will need to play next time I play, just to be on the safe side.

Red, white, black and blue

The weekend of July 4th I got an extra day off of work. Since Seth's friend Andy and his girlfriend Amanda work at the same place I do, they got an extra day off too. Friday morning we all packed up one day worth of stuff (AKA our entire house) and went down to the campground early to try and get a good spot. Well, early should have been Sunday night because this place was PACKED. People had big tarps set up over 2-3 grills, 4 tents, a couple picnic tables, a makeshift clothesline, etc. We could have squeezed into the spot where Seth and Andy usually camp but it would have basically been in some other guys tent so we decided to drive on down a little furthur. Apparently, there is one camping spot all the way at the end of the property. It was pretty big and had HUGE firepit!

We set up all our stuff and got all the ice in the coolers and started blowing up our float tubes. I don't know how many of you have ever floated in a tube but these are not flimsy, plastic tubes like those in the pool. These are heavy duty. There are made out of thick plastic and zipped into a canvas cover. Andy brought one of those little pumps, like for an air mattress, and used it to start all our tubes. It would only take them so far and then we had to finsh blowing them up with a little plastic tube. I was pretty sure I wasn't even going to make it to the river before I passed out :) Seth and Andy went and dropped the truck off a little ways down the road and when they got back, we put in the river right at our campsite. It was FREEZING!!! Friday was one of the cooler days we have had this summer and it was slightly overcast so it was little chilly.

I had put a disposable camera in a baggy so I could take pictures and not ruin our good camera. Once I got used to the water (numb) it was actually pretty fun for the first 20 minutes or so. Seth and Andy were fishing here and there but sometimes it was hard for Mandy and I to find places to stop to wait for them. Once, I ended up a good 200 yards down the river from them before I could get stopped. Well, needless to say, the canvas isn't waterproof and the baggy wasn't very good at it's job. Especially when I submerged it for a good minute or so. About 20-30 into the float, my tube started losing air. The arms started deflating and I had to keep pushing myself back up into my seat. We only were planning on floating for about an hour and a half so I wasn't very concerned.

By the time we got to where the truck was parked, it was pretty shallow and I was so mad I could have screamed. My tube was so deflated it actually flipped me over because the head/back rest was so full of air and the bottom was EMPTY. I had my Crocs on and they kept coming off so I had to chase them down twice. Then, while I was barefoot, I kicked a rock and absolutely thought I was going to die. I was half swimming, half walking, pulling my float and carrying my shoes. The canvas was so full of water I couldn't hardly pick up my tube and I was afraid the camera was ruined. By the time we got out, I was cranky and cold and I was ready to go home and lay down in my bed. I had quite a few nice bruises on my back, butt and chest (where I got flipped over) to show from my adventure but it was all worth it in the end. Especially when Mandy and I drove the truck back to the campground and the boys were in the back and we had the heat on the whole way there :) I will try to get the camera developed from the float and see if any of the pictures turned out. There should be at least a few good ones on there. I'll post them soon.

One year down...

On June 21, Seth and I celebrated our one year anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for a year already. It has flown by! We celebrated by going out to a movie and dinner. When we got home, we cut some of our thawed leftover wedding cake. It wasn't bad but it wasn't straight from the bakery either. We each ate a little and took the rest to my parents. I think my dad helped it disappear so we wouldn't feel so bad about wasting it.

I opened my gift from Seth and was shocked to see that he had confiscated my pearl necklace and had had a matching bracelet made for me. I have been wanting a pearl bracelet but real pearls aren't exactly cheap so we hadn't gotten one yet. I actually borrowed a little pearl bracelet from one of my bridesmaids on my wedding day so it would match a little better. It has the same type of clasp and everything. I love it!

I know this may sound crazy but I got Seth a chainsaw for his gift. I know, who wants a chainsaw to create more work for a present? Well folks, welcome to my family. The work has to be done one way or another. It's either a chainsaw or an axe...take your pick. He liked it and was pretty excited so we took it up to my parents so he and my dad could put it together. Unfortunately, it was missing a small piece so it had to go back to the store and be replaced. If you get cold this winter, come to our house. Between he and my dad, we should have enough firewood to thaw the North Pole.

I have attached a few pictures of us eating our cake and my bracelet.

Our cake...it looke so pretty last year at this time. It has started to collapse and the icing coloring has started to run. Oh well.

My new bracelet

The not so newlyweds

Update

Once again, I haven't posted in a while so here is a quick update. Many of these will have their own post soon.

We still have not found our bikes so we are researching our options...meanwhile saving a little dinero to purchase them.

We have each lost more weight and are now doing much better as far as eating habits

We celebrated our first anniversary on 6/21

We camped out and floated the river with some friends over July 4th weekend

We had a spa day with Nattie...nails, coat, bug bites, the works :)