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Wow, so it’s June!

I realized the other day that I hadn’t blogged in quite some time.  Quite frankly, I just haven’t had the time.  Nor, had I anything intersting to say.  The latter might still apply.  Shhh.

So, where does my time go?  Well, I spend most of my days at work.  I’m still enjoying my time at Frost Brown Todd.  After hours, I spend two nights a week playing softball.  I had the opportunity to play four nights a week, but thought that that was a bit excessive.

I have also been attending an unusual amount of concerts.  It’s been great!  Two weekends ago I attended a Kenny Chesney concert, which included other notable bands (Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry and Sugarland).  It was amazing!

Kenny Chesney Concert

Last weekend I attended a Taylor Swift/Keith Urban concert up in Cincinnati.  Got to say, Taylor’s crowd was a little too young and skreetchy for me, but I enjoy her music.  On the other hand, Keith Urban is amazing in every way.  Up next, Kelly Clarkson and Gavin Degraw.  That’s not until August.

Taylor Swift Keith Urban

I have some more great pics.  I’ll share soon.

I have also expanded my interests to include ATVing.  I’ll be going camping/off-roading in a couple of weeks with a large group of peeps.  Should be fun, provided I don’t kill myself.  Don’t worry Mom, I have protective gear!

ATV fun

Other summer plans include a trip to China and working on my house.  Both equally exciting…to me.  I anticipate having some amazing pictures to post for both events.  Ha!

…until then…

It just occurred to me today that I hadn’t blogged in quite some time!  I’m not really sure why.  But, that’s neither here nor there.  

Lots of things have happened since we last spoke.  First on my list…my car.  The Volkswagen Passat is no more.  It was a great car, but it was approaching 100k.  So, it was time for something new.  I traded it in for a 2006 Honda Civic…and I must say, the gas mileage is great!!  And, and I stayed right on budget.  It was a good day.  

More recently, I made an addition to the family.  My roommate and I decided to rescue a dog.  His name is Indy.  He’s a medium sized dog with lots of energy.  Not really sure on his breed (or mix of).  He’s allegedly a Shepard mix.  We were told he was 8 months old.  But we later found out from the vet that he was more like two years old.  So, training is taking a little longer that what we had hoped for.  But, that’s ok.  It will just take some patience.  Here’s a picture of him…

 

He's lounging on the deck.

He's lounging on the deck.

We have been on a few runs already.  He does ok, but we’re working on his endurance.  Haha!  He spends too much energy trying to chase after birds and rabbits.  I’m hoping the more we go, the more focused he will be.  I’ll keep you posted.

That’s the latest in my world.  Thanks and have a nice day.

Winter Storm in Kentucky

Thought I’d share a few pictures from our most recent winter storm.  We still have a few snow piles around town.  But, today’s 68 degree weather will surely take care of the remaining ice chunks.   Hooray!

 

2009 New Year’s Resolution

So, I know January is almost over…HOWEVER, my resolution is still relevant. But, before launching into my New Year’s Resolution for 2009, I feel obligated to update you on last year’s resolution.  Last year, I gave up diet coke in efforts to eliminate my typically heavy intake of the artificial sweetener called Aspartame.  It was the first year I actually came up with a resolution and I’m happy to say I haven’t had diet coke (or Aspartame) since 2007.  Now would be the time to congratulate me on my extraordinary will power.  Thank you.

This year, I won’t be giving up a food group.  Nor will I be committing to exercise (I already do that…thank you, again).  No, this year’s resolution will look a little differently.

I’m hoping to accomplish two things.  First, I want to commit to reading through the Bible in a year.  But, I don’t want to just read it.  I want study it.  Understand it.  Ask questions about it.  And this takes time.  I have a habit of breezing through things at the surface level…usually because I don’t have enough time.  I’m either needing to get cleaned up to go somewhere (i.e. work) or my favorite TV show is coming on in 15 minutes.  I must be intentional about the time I devote to reading.

And, I even have a website to help me along.  It’s called Back to the Bible.  They provide several different reading plans for readers to choose from.  I opted for the chronological plan.

Secondly, I’m hoping to apply the words found in Acts 20:24 to my life.  It’s going to be my theme verse for the year (or perhaps longer).  It says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”

Luke had it right.  The most important thing in life is not riches and fame.  It’s not what we accomplish or who we befriend.  Rather, it’s about sharing the good news of God’s grace.  God loves us for no reason.  We don’t earn it, nor do we deserve it.  But, it’s given to us nonetheless.  Grace.  Why shouldn’t I share it?  

So, in 2009, I want to pursue God.  Serve others.  Love beyond condition.  

…And thereby testify to God’s grace.   

That’s it.

Christmas Videos and Pictures

It’s the day after Christmas, which means it’s either time to go shopping OR it’s time to post pictures and videos of your favorite nieces…

The first video is Christmas morning.  Ella is exploring the gifts under the tree, and learning to not open the ones marked for other people.  :-)

The second video is a little dark, but worth the watch.  I’ll try to edit it soon.  We have just finished Christmas dinner and Ella is entertaining everyone.

And now for a few pictures…

Ella watching Dora.

Ella watching Dora.

Kayla in her high chair.

Kayla in her high chair.

Ella is drawing.

Ella is drawing.

Kayla playing with her gifts.

Kayla playing with her gifts.

Ella entertaining us at dinner.

Ella entertaining us at dinner.

Sleepy Kayla.

Sleepy Kayla.

Happy Festivas

Tyler, Katrina, Ella and Kayla arrived back in Kentucky some time after 1 AM this morning (I lost track of time).  Once we got back home, it was of course time to play.

I’m sure I’ll be able to catch a few more moments over the next couple of weeks…

Pretty Ella!

Beautiful Kayla

The Melting Pot

I just realized I didn’t post one thing in November.  How sad!! I think I wrote a few drafts, but never got around to publishing them.

Well, I guess I could blame it on my busy-ness.  But, instead of sharing every detail of my schedule with you (that’s what the Christmas update letter is for), I’ll share my evening at The Melting Pot with you.

Wednesday night was ladies night at The Melting Pot.  Sounds fun, right?  My friend Heather made reservations for 7:15 PM.  A group of us were to meet there, have dinner and exchange Christmas ornaments.

I had never been to The Melting Pot, so I didn’t really know what to expect.

When I first arrived, I got a front row parking space in a very crowded lot.  I knew this was going to be a good night.

Upon entering the restaurant, I was immediately overwhelmed by the mass of women standing by the door waiting to be seated.  It was ok, though.  I was just glad we had reservations.

Or did we?

Heather insisted she had set reservations for 7:15 PM.  But, once 7:45 PM passed us by, we began to question.  Not long after that, we were finally seated toward the back of the restaurant, near the kitchen, with only one neighboring table.

Our waiter took our drink orders and returned promptly with drinks in hand.  He asked if we wanted sit and chat with our drinks for a while or if we were ready to order.  I promptly responded, with my water in hand, “bring the food, please.”

I realized a little later into the meal that a nice thing about The Melting Pot is that they don’t rush you through anything.  Which, of course, is why we didn’t get seated right at 7:15.  The meal experience lasts for several hours per table.

Our appetizer was a white wine/sherry based cheese sauce that included a shredded cheese blend, blue cheese, spice of some kind and shallots.  I’m usually not a blue cheese fan.  In fact, I loathe blue cheese.  So, when he dumped the blue cheese into the pot, I felt my heart sink.  But, I decided to give it a try.  And, much to my dismay, I actually liked it!  We had bread to dunk in the cheese, as well as apples and an assortment of vegetables.  The apples were my favorite.

As we ate our appetizer, the table next to us (four “ladies”) became increasingly loud…which of course coincided with the amount of liquour they were consuming.  Martinis, if you must know.  Anyway, it wasn’t that bad at first.  They were talking about mild things…like anti-aging cream.

After we finished our appetizers, the waiter cleared the table and then delivered the freshest of salads.  It was a field greens-type salad with cubed pieces of mango (or something like that) and hearts of palm.  It had a citrus vinagrette dressing.  It was perfect for clearing the palette.

Meanwhile, the group next to us continued to get louder.  They shared things that I wish I had never heard.  I’m glad they have healthy sex lives with their special someones.  I truly am.  But, really.  I don’t need to know the details.  I don’t need to know what turns them on.  I don’t need to know to what degree of pleasure they’ve, um, experienced.  I really don’t.

The entrees were brought out once our vegetable broth had come to a boil.  We had two large plates of meat that included chicken, shrimp and sirloin.  There was also a few stuffed ravioli on each plate.  And, we were given a bowl of vegetables that included potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli and squash with a “search and rescue spoon” in case food items fell off the fondue forks while cooking.  The waiter also gave us all kinds of sauces to dip our food in.  We had a curry sauce, a teriyaki sauce, a barbecue sauce, a Gorgonzola sauce, a spicy cocktail sauce and a green goddess sauce (a house favorite).  They were all delicious.

While we were enjoying our entrees, excitement rose at the next table.   Apparently, one of the ladies found a hair in their food.  Naturally, the discovered hair led to another delightful conversation.  Again, I don’t care to know where these ladies did and did not have hair.  It’s not table conversation.  Their waiter and manager soon returned to their table offering a free round of drinks.  Great.

By the time our entrees were eaten, I was fairly full.  But, I could manage some dessert.  We had a white chocolate dipping sauce with chopped butterfinger (the candy bar) stirred in.  The dessert plates contained cheesecake, brownie bights, pound cake, oreo covered marshmallows, grahm cracker covered marshmallows, rice krispie treats, strawberries and bananas.  All were good.  The rice krispie treats were divine!

As we finished up dessert, the table next to us got eerily quiet.  I realized they were all trying to figure out their tips.   When their waiter returned one of the ladies felt the need to share her feelings regarding the Jonas Brothers with him.  I felt sorry for him.  He had to stand their and smile and pretend to be interested.  I wanted to tell him that they had already filled out his tip…he didn’t need to fake it anymore.

I was uncomfortably full by the time we were ready to leave.  But, I was ok with that.  If I’m going to spend $27 (tip not included) on a meal, I better be ready to pop by the time it’s all said and done.

All in all, it was a good experience.  The food was tasty and the service was great.  And, I have to admit, the ladies next to us certainly made it memorable.   I’ll be back.  Just not on ladies night.

My Downtown Adventure

So, as I was walking into work yesterday morning I noticed (out of the corner of my eye) that a guy had caught up to me and then continued to walk dead-step-even with me.  If I slowed down, he slowed down.  If I sped up, he sped up.  Then it happened.

He said, “you smell awfully good this morning.”  To which I responded, “Thank you, I shower regularly.”  As we continued to walk, not saying anything, I happened to sniffle.  That tends to happen when it’s 40 degrees outside and I have wet hair.  He asked me if I had a cold.  I said not yet, but that I probably would because everyone I knew was sick.  We took a few more steps and then he asked me my name.  I didn’t feel threatened by the guy so I thought why not…”I’m Katie,” I said.  He told me his name was Charles.  He then proceeded to ask me if I had a boyfriend.  I was thinking to myself, oh great here it comes.  I said, “why, Charles?”  Yes, I was having a little fun by this point.  He said that he could only assume that someone as beautiful as me would be taken.  I couldn’t help but agree, but I told him no I didn’t have a boyfriend.  He then asked me if I was interested in gaining a friend…someone who I could hang out with, go to dinner with, etc.  I said, “Oooh Charles, I’m flattered.”  He then asked for my number.  I said no.  He pleaded for a while.  I didn’t waiver.  He then grinned and said, “well, have a blessed day.  I was supposed to turn a few blocks ago, but I wanted to talk to you.”  I told Charles that it was lovely meeting him and we went on our separate ways.

I continued on and couldn’t help but laugh.  I just kept thinking, “did that really just happen?”  It was funny.  Little did I know that that was just the beginning.

I met a prospective vendor for lunch.  This was a re-scheduled lunch from last week.  Why was it rescheduled?  Well, because I COMPLETELY forgot about it and ended up standing her up.  Oops.  Anyway, back to yesterday.  We were supposed to meet at 12:30 PM at a place that required me to drive.  Not a big deal.  Well, I get there (she of course is already there) and there’s like a twenty minute wait.  That’s ok cause we’re chatting.  Not a big deal.  The food was great and the conversation was enjoyable.

It wasn’t until the end of our lunch that things became uncomfortable.  Don’t get me wrong, the conversation was still lovely.  The food was still delightful.  And, my pumpkin spice latte was near perfection!  But, when nature calls…

Anything said within the last ten minutes of our lunch was lost to me.  All I knew was that I had to get back to the office.  We said our goodbyes and I glanced at my watch.  It was 1:49 PM!!  I had a 2 o’clock meeting.  I park ten minutes away.  I needed to go to the bathroom.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!

I got in my car, sat down gingerly and was off to the races.  I thought about parking in a garage that was closer.  But, my stinginess got the best of me.  I parked in my garage.  It was 1:54 PM.  My shoes were already giving me a blister.  But, I didn’t have time to stop and complain.  I had to keep moving.  By the way, it was still cold and windy.  My hair was no longer wet, and it wasn’t exactly curly…more of a wind-blown look.

As I walked inside my building, I saw that an elevator was open…but starting to close.  I lunged…and caught it in time.  To my surprise there was a gentleman already on the elevator.  He was an Italian looking man, wearing sun glasses.  As I leapt onto the elevator he said sorry for not seeing me/opening the elevator.  I said it was ok.  He then said, “I better take these things of (referring to his sunglasses), you can’t see me wink.”  I laughed.  He said, “it’s not every day an old, chubby man can wink at a beautiful young lady.”  I said, “I understand.”  He said, “oh no you don’t.”  I laughed and said, “no, I’d wink at me if I were you.”  We wished each other well and I got off at 27.

I raced back to my desk.  Well, I didn’t have the login info for my 2 o’clock webinar.  My boss didn’t have it either.  So, I had to email the guys running the thing.  In the mean time, I went to the ladies room.  Disaster, partially avoided.

I eventually got logged on, but my computer speakers are so soft and the printer behind my head was/is so loud, I could hardly hear.  I was getting frustrated.  When my neighbor started talking on the phone, it was all over.  Eventually the sound stopped working.  This was about the same time that I realized I had left my pumpkin spice latte in my car…four blocks away.

Since my sound stopped working, I decided to make the trek to my car.  It was a pumpkin spice latte, after all.  And, I figured the outside air would do me good.  Otherwise, I would have hurt someone.

Well, I was about a half block away from my garage, by a bus stop, when I almost stepped on a huge piece of chewed gum.  I saw it in time, but it definitely caused me to trip.  An older, black gentleman advised me “not to trip.”  I kept walking.

I got my latte out of the car.  It was luke warm.  This, of course, was a victory for me.  I thought it would be ice cold!

As I was walking back, the same black man approached me as I was passing the same bus stop.  He said, “you almost fell earlier, didn’t you?”  I said “yes, I totally tripped.  But, I was trying not to step on that huge piece of gum (I pointed).”  He smiled and said, “if you had actually fallen, I would have caught you.”  I smiled and said, “well, thanks.”  We parted ways.

I was again laughing as I walked back toward the office.  I couldn’t help but wonder, “what next?”  Well, I was about ten steps away from the revolving door to go inside, when out walked the Italian man in his sun glasses.  We both just busted out laughing.  He had no idea the depth of my laughter.

I don’t know if it had anything to do with my outfit (um a sweater and khakis – nothing slutty)…or my beautiful frizzy hair.  Perhaps it was God realizing that I was having a bad morning and a frustrating afternoon.  He knew I needed a laugh, or two, or three.  So, I quite enjoyed my disturbing, yet funny, encounters.

As Seen on TV

So, it’s been almost a month since my last post. I realize that’s a sin in the blogging world. But, hey, I’ve been really busy! I posted pictures of my Bernheim adventure on my Facebook page. Thus, I’m moving on to my next topic of interest…the Aqua Globe (as seen on TV).

The Aqua Globe

The Aqua Globe

You see, it all started one day when I was watching TV with Kate. This commercial came on TV insisting that the aqua globe would keep plant owners from, well, killing their plants. We all have busy schedules, so remembering to water your plant can be a challenge, after all. It showed all these before and after photos. It was great. And, from that point on, every time that commercial came on TV I said I wanted one.

And one day, my wish was granted. Apparently, these things were on sale at Walgreens and Kate couldn’t resist. I now have my own Aqua Globe, as seen on TV. Let me tell you a little more about my gift…

This, my friends, is a great tool. It’s a glass globe that you fill up with water and then shove down into the pot of your plant. It waters your plant for up to two weeks (depending on how thirsty your plant is). They also come in all different colors. Here’s a picture of the one I’m using in my Peace Lily:

My Aqua Globe

My Aqua Globe

Isn’t it pretty? Well, it’s also efficient. I took some before and after pictures of my own. Here’s a pic of my Peace Lily before the Aqua Globe, as seen on TV:

My Thirsty Peace Lily

My thirsty Peace Lily

Sad, isn’t it…well, in the words of Phil Collins, “Take a look at me now”:

My Happy Peace Lily

My Happy Peace Lily

My Happy Peace Lily

With the Aqua Globe

Yep, you know you want one…

As promised, I’m writing about landscaping.  I figure I’ve learned a thing or two this last year, so why not share it with the rest of the world?

First, let’s talk about grass.  Do you remember my mowing adventures last April?  If not, that’s ok.  Basically, the experts recommend you cut your grass twice a week.  I’m sure this only applies to yards with lush, fertile, golf-course-like grass.

For a while, I was mowing my yard once a week.  This was more than sufficient.  I noticed last spring that I was starting to see some clover in the yard.  But, I didn’t do anything about it.  As it turns out, if you continue to mow your yard (without bagging), eventually, your entire yard will be made up of clover.  One might think that this is a bad thing.  But, let’s be honest, clover is nice and green and it only grows to be a couple of inches high.  So, now I only have to mow once a month.  Tip One.

Second item, weeds.  Have you ever seen that black garbage bag-like material in your landscape?  Do you know what it’s for?  Well, as it turns out, this is used to prevent weeds.  In fact, landscape plastic or fabric is used quite often.  But, what I discovered is even when black plastic has been used in a flower bed, weeds still grow (as shown in the picture below).

Overgrown

Overgrown

Apparently, flower beds require attention no matter what.  My tip?  Don’t plant flowers in your back yard, by your deck.  The deck blocks your view and weeds can grow to be six feet tall.  And quite frankly, it’s a lot of work to clean it up.  Tip Two.

No More Weeds

No More Weeds

Third, let’s talk about plant choice.  Overall, the landscaping in my yard isn’t bad.  It won’t be pictured in Southern Living, mind you.  But, with a few improvements, it will be in pretty good shape.  What do I mean by improvements?  I’ll continue ripping some things out.  I’ll trim some things back.  And, I’ll do some planting.

But, before planting anything, I will do my homework.  Hostas, for example, don’t like a lot of direct sun.  When planted in the proper environment, hostas can be beautiful!

Healthy Hostas

Healthy Hostas

Unfortunately, the hostas above are not in my yard.  No.  My hostas, the one below, in my front yard isn’t exactly thriving and will probably need to go.  Tip three.

A very sad, slightly dead, hostas

A very sad, slightly dead, hostas

There you have it!  I’ve offered my best tips for landscaping.  Good luck with your clover!  Be sure to leave questions in the comments and I’ll be happy to offer some sage (not the herb) advice.

Up next, Hiking Adventures in Bernheim Forest…followed by How to Shape a Shrub.

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