The Pumpkins

Halloween Activity #1:

Carve Pumpkins. I decided to do something a little different with mine this year and make a star lantern. Craig's pumpkin is scary (of course ;)). His pumpkin turned out really neat...especially since it makes some super spooky shadows!

Check out those shadows!

The Tommy Thompson Trail

I love this trail, and in the fall...it is absolutely stunning with all the leaves. This trail used to continue on to a bridge that went right over the ocean. Just about every time we walked over it, we would spot at least one seal.

A couple of weeks ago...a hippie set it on fire because it was "interfering with the natural currents." Grrrrrrr! The good news...the town is determined to rebuild it ASAP...the goal is by next spring. Most of the trail is still open however, so we have still been able to go on walks (just not over the ocean).

Here is a couple of snap shots from today's walk.

Here is the bridge a couple of weeks ago :(.

Isn't that terrible? What a shame. They burnt it down because it was "bad for the environment?" Hmmm...setting it on fire sure was good for the environment (as you can see). Sigh. Hippies.

Apple Pie...Before...and After

I love pumpkin patches and apple orchards. There are plenty around here, it is just a matter of choosing one to go to. We chose one called Jones Creek Farms. It was wonderful! Upon pulling up, they offered hot cider and gave explicit instructions "walk through the apple orchards, pick as many apples as you want, taste all that you want, and if you don't like an apple, throw it under the tree. Eat lots!" So that is exactly what we did. We were lucky that the weather was on our side so it wasn't raining and it wasn't too cold. We walked through the orchards and picked some apples off the trees. Every apple we tasted...we liked...so we didn't throw any under the trees...but we did come out rather full. They also had a little pumpkin patch. Unfortunately most of the pumpkins had already been picked, but we did find two that looked like good carving material. So, we made it home with about 8 apples, all different kinds, and two pumpkins.

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Yesterday, I decided to make a yummy apple pie with our pickings. With some good advice from my mom on how to make a more flaky crust, it turned out AWESOME! Once combining the flour and the Crisco, cut it with a knife until it is in small chunks. Then, work it through your fingers crumbling it further...but don't squish the dough because this will make for some hard dough. After that, add in a little bit of ice cold water until you can roll up the dough into a rollable ball.

While making the pie yesterday, it brought me back to the first pie I ever made...4 years ago. We were living in Texas, it was Thanksgiving, and Craig got called in to work. I wasn't sure when Craig would be coming home, but I went forth making dinner any way. My first task was an apple pie. I had a list of ingredients, but no instructions. The pie..didn't turn out too great. First, I had some weird type of butter Crisco since the regular kind was all sold out. Second, I didn't have a rolling pin. Third, I didn't know the trick of "cutting the flour and Crisco" so instead I just added the flour, Crisco, and water...and stirred. The dough was completely unrollable and I ended up using the "patch technique." The Fourth reason the pie turned out horrible was because...well, I didn't peel the apples. Whoops. I remember when Craig came home, there was flour all over, I was using our sugar canister as a rolling pin, and I was so frustrated because my dough would not roll. I baked it anyway, and it was edible, and I remember Craig doing his very best to say how good it was as he picked unexpected cooked apple peels from his teeth.

Last night, while Craig tried my new and improved pie....he too remembered my first pie and said, "this one tastes a lot better...without the peels and all."

Thanks honey! :)

When I'm found in the desert place

Blessed be Your name. This is one of my favorite songs to listen to when I'm spending time in prayer. This song speaks to me a lot. Blessed be Your name...every blessing You pour out, I'll turn back to praise, When the darkness closes in, Lord still I will say...Blessed be your name.

My relationship with God has taught me to love Him and trust Him even when I disagree with what He wants or if I have no idea what He wants.

God has been teaching me some powerful lessons this year. I have been very humbled. Do I have anything to complain about...no, I can't. I have way too many blessings to be thankful for.

The desert place. I'm coming up on a year since I left my job at the Naval base. It has been quite the year, and one day I'll look back and say, "what I wouldn't give for a year off." But here I am, almost a year later since I've been employed and great anxiety is setting in. Yes indeed I have been in school, but will it pan out in the end? I don't know. Will I ever find a job? I don't know. I think it is my purpose I am most worried about? What is God's purpose for me? Did I miss something? Certainly He doesn't have it in His plans for me to be doing nothing. Or...maybe He does? Why? I'm trying to do something...anything. I've never been in such a situation. It has always been about...trying...then going and getting it...no problem. But, I'm knocking on doors here, no one is answering. I want to work...and work hard, but there is not one door open. God is patiently waiting to open a door, and I'm trying so so hard to stand here with patience. Head up, shoulders back. The problem, patience is not my strong suit.
So....as long as I keep knocking, I have to believe someone will answer and a door will open. I guess I have to believe that God's plan for me is to "do nothing" (other than statistics **sigh**) right now. What a weird plan, and certainly a career desert. It isn't my plan however, and I have to have faith that it is the right plan. So...Blessed be Your name. When I'm found in the desert place. Though I walk through the wilderness. Blessed be Your name.

The smoke detector...haunted

So, our smoke detector knows it is Halloween time. It started beeping yesterday morning, so I quickly grabbed a ladder and a battery. I changed the battery....and... it still beeped. All day...while doing my homework...BEEP....BEEP....BEEP! I had a headache by the time Craig finally came home. I figured he knew the special trick to get it to quiet. Well, he changed the battery (again)...and 20 seconds later...BEEP BEEP. We wanted to watch the Broncos game and worry about it later so Craig unplugged and removed the entire thing from the ceiling. We also removed the battery from it. This is when things got creepy. So there we were, sitting there enjoying the game...and....BEEP! BEEP! The smoke detector. It was removed the ceiling, sitting on our counter, no battery. Again..BEEP BEEP. 15 minutes later...BEEP BEEP. Where is it getting the power!?!? Short of throwing it out the window, we ran to the store, got a spankin new battery stuck it in, plugged it back in, problem solved. But...the question still remains..how does a smoke detector work with no power! It is haunted, I swear.

Boo!

It is that time of year again! We made our yearly trip to Party City to gather some Halloween decorations to add to our collection. I give the reigns to Craig as far as decorating...I like cute...he likes scary. As we drove to Party City today I was asking him if we should get some cutsie decorations this year. His response, "There is nothing cute about a ghost Katie." Got it. Nothing cute about a ghost, we'll go with scary. So...this year, we added on a bloody hand, a weird net thing, and a cemetery door sign. Also this year...we are borrowing from our church a strobe light and a fog machine on Halloween night! Pretty sweet. We have music and everything. At night it looks cooler, but you'll have to use your imagination. Once it was all set up, some of the neighborhood kids came over to run in our grave yard. They weren't so sure about the bloody hand...but they finally got close enough to see that it was fake. I can't wait for Halloween this year. Now, all we need are some good costume ideas... MWWW HA HA HA HA!



The Graveyard! Halloween night...Fog, a strobe light, and some music...Boo!


Ewww...holding the bloody hand!

Check out the new net thing...we hung some bones from it.

VIVA Las Vegas!

Last weekend...Vegas! We met some of Craig's family there for a nice getaway weekend. Craig and I arrived a day early, and spent some time with our good friends Dave and Jess, ate some good food, and then spent the day on the strip just walking around. Our favorite thing to do in Vegas...people watch. Wow..you see some interesting things. The next day, Craig's family arrived. We met them for a late dinner and the weekend began! Highlights from the weekend:

- Drinks are expensive..yes indeed...however, they are free too! Just chase a cocktail waitress around, sit at a slot machine, hand husband a wad of cash...and...cha ching!...the cocktail waitress heads right over to ask what we want to drink! For free! Sweet! Good times.

- Make a game out of chasing the cocktail waitress for free drinks. So....good idea?...absolutely! Run into casino, competition is on. Um...we forgot to tell Craig's fam, that we are sort of pros at the free drink thing...so yes...of course we won! :)

- Yummy food everywhere! We ate at a really good Asian restaurant. Everyone ordered something different, and then we all shared. Yummy....and thank you Scott for picking up the tab on this dinner (he actually played the slots while chasing the waitress around...and he won $200!)...see free drinks pay!

- A good game of craps! Craig found a crazy craps table in the Casino Royale. A loud table is a winning table! Cha Ching!

- Circus Circus....or as Craig calls it Cirque de Cirque (sounds fancier...does it better justice :)). Okay...so confession. Craig and I are well...sort of cheap....especially when it comes to Vegas. We don't care where we stay as long as it is cheap. Okay $20 bucks a night...we're there! So we stayed in Circus circus. Minus the weird clown pictures everywhere, the clown TV shows, and the weird clown that came with our room (ok...just kidding about this one), it wasn't bad. It was a little far down on the strip...but that meant a lot of interesting walks to and from our hotel...late at night...can't beat that!

- Watching some uber duber rich guy play black jack...$5000 a hand? Seriously? Wow. $5 a hand is a little pricey if you ask me.

- And last but not least...I did indeed watch $800 disappear into thin air. One roulette spin, all on...was it Odd? And boom, gone, just like that. Wow...almost lost my lunch!

- After Craig's fam left for the airport, we had a few hours to spare so we spent the afternoon with Dave and Jess. Highlights...got to see their BEAUTIFUL house...way cute...and Bogie (their dog) likes me now! Last time...he wasn't too smitten with me!

A great weekend..and Craig is already trying to figure out when we're going back! Circus Circus, here we come!~

On our way back to the Cirque de Cirque one night!

Notice the scary clown in the background. Clowns everywhere!


Yummy Dinner! Lots of food.

The crew

The Gals!

De Boys.

And...a creepy clown picture in our room. Waking up to this thing every morning...not sure it is worth the $20.