Pumpkin carving

Better late than never! My camera broke :-( Ive had a Sony Cybershot 7.2mp 12x digital camera forever, it was a Christmas gift from Hubby all the way back in 2003. It has been through alot, banged on, dropped, snowed on, thrown around, Im really surprised it held up as long as it did. But sadly all good things come to an end and my sweet little, high end electronic, has DIED! So all the pictures from this point are the product of a $100 jewel that is KAS's. Hopefully Santa will bring me a new one this year, if not you can bet your butt that there wont be any presents left under my tree for him!

Here are a few photos from the so called pumpkin patch, its actually the local corner produce stand right down the road from our house but they had pumpkins so it worked. KC has been really sick with a sinus infection so we pretty much stayed cooped up in the house the week of Halloween. I decorated more this year outside than I have before, it was fun and I got a few new things inside. Mom got me a Jim Shore Mickey Mouse pumpkin candle holder and she also gave me a Thanksgiving dinner figurine with all the Disney characters from Lenox. I rode around with the box in my car for a week and she kept saying you need to take this inside before something happens to it. I finally took it out and sure enough the thing some how fell out of the box & broke into a million pieces. Thats pretty much the way things have been going here lately so, ehh no biggie. I called Lenox to try & replace it because there was no way on this green earth that I was telling her what had happened to it, & not have that baby sitting on the shelf come turkey day. After talking to the nice sales rep and giving her my digits, they gladly billed me $85.47, HALF of the value of the brand new one and sent it to me pronto. So I got a gift, that I paid almost $100 for. Happy Halloween to me!


KC not wanting to stand still long enough for me to take a picture

maybe this one mom

cheese!

not to sure about the icky stuff

Get one of these for getting the guts out!

front porch

you think he got the clue?

my new addition

last but not least

Some Disney trips

I love love love Disney World, I could go everyday for the rest of my life & not be tired of it. I took KC to Epcot after his birthday to see the fireworks, I just went on 10/23 with my friend CaityBug to Magic kingdom for her 19th birthday, and Hubby & I went to Epcot for his 39th birthday this past Thursday. Every year during this time Epcot has the Food & Wine Festival (like the entire month of October & the first of Nov.) and let me tell you it is one of my favorite things to do. In my younger days, a friend and I would go every year atleast 2 or 3 times and sometimes
end up getting a room on property because neither of us were in any shape to drive. Epcot has the world showcase, which is Disneys version of several countries all over the world . When the Food & Wine Festival is going on World Showcase (that sits around a circular lagoon) sets up small booths from all kinds of countries and you can buy small appetizer portions of several authentic food dishes and various wines, beers, and liqueur. So basically, you walk 10 feet from one country to the next and if you buy something to eat you must have something to wash it down with and by the time youve visited half of the world, you can halfway walk. Before I was married me & my friend "Moo" went and ended up shutting the place down after the fireworks, we decided to get a room . Hubby (ya know, before he was actually my Hubby) was not pleased at my drunken ways and a few choice words were exchanged, and I ended the conversation in extremely slurred words "Immmm in Itally...and Im haven a driiink!! That was one trip, I have lots of stories...and thankfully Im still allowed to walk through the gates. Since Caity isnt 21 yet, she didnt want to go to Epcot so she opted for Magic Kingdom which has most of the big rides, we rode a total of 9 rides which is good considering we didnt get there until right before noon. We ate lunch at the Grand Floridian Cafe, and before we left I took her to my favorite spot, the Boardwalk. I ordered her a little cake beforehand and I told her to sit down I was going to get a water, then a came back with a birthday cake singing her Happy Birthday, it was great! Disney really is magical!


KC waiting for Illuminations at Epcot

Me & the birthday girl CaityBug in Philarmagic 3D show

Us with Woody & Jessie (I live in FL and its sad my legs are that white!)

CaityBug & her to die for chocolate cake at the Boardwalk

2009 Food & Wine festival

The best choclate milk creme brulee ever!

Yucky picture but oh well

Fish & Chips!!

Hubbys favorite ride

At my finest! Too much walking & too much wine!

Picture perfect night at Epcot

Halloween timeline

Since Halloween is so close, and Im not quite done with this years costume I thought Id post some previous Halloween costumes & photos. I love this time of year like most people, but being in Florida theres not a whole lot of change except you can watch football, strawberry season, and pumpkins - which remind you how close Christmas really is. I have lots of Halloween decor that Ive collected over the years, but since KC came along Ive started decorating more outside. KCs dressed up as a monkey for his first Halloween, and KAS was Hermione from Harry Potter that year. Last year, KC was Nacho Libre which his Dad picked on a whim 2 weeks before Halloween. Thanks to ebay, a few websites, and huge local Halloween store I pulled it off. KAS was Allison Vernon-Williams which was the love of Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker from the movie Cry-Baby. The girl loooooves Johnny Depp! She had the whole outfit, & a wig that was hilarious. This year KC will be a Fisherman, because once again thats wat Dad picked out. Inspired by Dads favorite music idol, Les Claypools song "John the Fisherman". Thankfully this has been alot easier than Nacho was. I have no idea what KAS is going to be, I have asked her several times but no answer yet.

Hubby & I have a costume party to attend after trick or treating & its a toss up between Mr. & Mrs. Pacman, or Fat Albert & ummm Mrs. Pacman. Im gonna be Mrs. Pacman by myself if I have to, because thats going to be easy & cheap to make.


Hubby, KAS "Hermione", & KC "Our lil Monkey" 2007


My Nan & Pop with KC "A sleeping Monkey" 2007


my Mom, Gigi, Me, & KC "My Monkey" 2007


KC & KAS, "Nacho & Allison" 2008


KAS as "Allison Vernon-Wlliams" 2008


KC as "Nacho Libre" 2008

On the road again

My aircard didnt quite workout like I had planned, so it was a real boring week in the boonies. We did have a pretty good time visiting family and being lazy though. Saturday we spent the day watchin football, first we rooted for our home team the Gators, then we switched over to our second home team Alabama. It was a intresting day of football to say the least. By the time the Gator game was over I felt like I needed a drink or two to calm my nerves. But hey a win is a win! For the Tide game we went to our cousins and ate dinner, Beth made Chicken Spaghetti that was out of this world. No tomato sauce but it was good, and KC loved it! I painted a bathroom while I was there (fun), saw a bunch of deer, rode 4 wheelers, and went into Tuscalosa do do some shopping and get my Starbucks fix. Other than that it was pretty uneventful. i'll be home in hopefully 6 hours or less.

Wish me luck!

Heeeeeeeeerrrrrreeeeeeeeee's Johnny

We lost one of our very best friends a few weeks ago, he was in our wedding & in our lives since Hubby and I have been together. "Taco", one of his many nicknames was 38 and he died on his birthday & was from near Pittsburgh, PA. He was drinking with some friends celebrating, & as he was en route to another bar he had a heart attack and died before the ambulance ever made it to the hospital. A heart attack?? 38???? On his BIRTHDAY?? What??? my point exactly! Thats like, unheard of right?? We got the phone call around 4am and you know those are the worst kind of calls to get. Our other very close friend up there "Ebo" called & all I remember is waking up in a daze feeling Hubby grab my arm telling me Taco was gone, Taco was dead. I dont know how some people react to news that a loved one is gone, but for me I start thinking of moments together with that person & relive the memories in my mind. Every thought & moment he was with us was a smile the guy was the king of fun times!

He & Hubby met at work a year or so before we got together and he said they instantly became friends. Taco was one of the funniest, make you smile kinda guys that always had something smart ass to say. He moved down here with a few friends and he lived here until about 4 years ago when his Dad was going through throat cancer. In all those years he lived here he became a part of our family, the guy that was always around. Christmas, birthdays, any day he & Hubby would be side by side. For my birthday one year Hubby bought us tickets for the Family Values Tour & I was happy, then I figured out my birthday included our two tag-alongs Taco & Ebo. We ended up having a blast, and we didnt get kicked out for once. He loved the Steelers, the Pirates, hats, beer, women, Britany Spears, ER, UFC, beer, partying, traveling, having fun, smiling, his family, his friends, money, his dog, beer, women, smelling hair (which my poor best friend found out first hand during our wedding getaway), women, feet, beer, and enjoying his life. He was such an awesome guy, I never once saw him get mad or heard him raise his voice, and his laugh & smile would take over any room. On top of some of the smiles were lots of beer and drinks but whats a bachelor to do? Since he moved back to PA Hubby talked to him almost everyday, & I talked to him on occasions,but the very last time we saw him in person was the day after our wedding when everyone went back home, October 1, 2006. That made this anniversary very difficult for Hubby & I both, and I know its going to be "attached" to the celebration of our lives together from this point forward. There has been alot of tears shed in our house the last few weeks, alot of whys, and what-ifs. He had planned several trips down to meet KC and stay with us, but none of them ever panned out. Tacos funeral was 2 days after he died in Pittsburgh, and Hubby & I and 2 other friends rented a car and drove over 1000 miles & 15 hours one way to get there in time for his funeral and to say goodbye to our best friend. Its weird to even sit here & think hes actually gone, & I will never see him again in this life, he wont ever find "the One", he wont have children, we all wont grow old together & talk about the good 'ole days, and I will never see his beautiful smile again here on earth. In the last 2 years there have been alot of loved ones lost unexpectedly, a very very lot. And the saying the older you get the more people you know that die is becoming a truth, and not just a saying anymore. All this makes me appreciate my life, my health, my hubby, my son, my family, and just my heartbeat so much more. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, so tell the ones that you love, that you DO everyday!

I love you & will miss you everyday Taco, Jklu, Fatboy, Pollock, Big'un....Johnny....


Our friend Johnny
John R. Kuklinski Jr.
9/25/71 - 9/25/09

Gone, baby gone

KC & I are gone on a road trip this week with Nan & Pop to Alabama. This is when its fun to not be strapped down to a 9 to 5 job, and to be able to enjoy life. This will make 3 times this year we have made this trip except this time its just the 4 of us, and this trip is for nothing special except to enjoy each others company....I hope anyways! Im really glad Im able to share these special times with my grandparents and my son, because you just never know what life holds in store. But for now Im living in luxery at the Hampton Inn in a king size bed with free cable and free wi-fi.

Aliceville here we come!

***My aircard may, or may not work in the boonies, we shall soon see***

My Belated Anniversary

Hubby & I were married for 3 years on 9-30-09, and it for sure seems like longer to me. We've been together for 10 years the end of this year so maybe thats why it seems like forever. We were married in Townsend, TN in the mountains which is by far my most favorite place to be! Living in Florida I always said I'd have a sunset beach wedding, then I wanted to be Cinderella at Disney World, and finally at age 27 I decided the best place to get married was far away from where I was. The whole 300 guest wedding no longer appealed to me so I wanted a small, intimate place that we both loved, where our family & close friends could be with us to share our day. I found a place where I could get everything in one spot, wedding/reception site, cabins, food, flowers, cake, everything! We rented 4 cabins total for us & family, but ours was the party pad! Four stories with a big screen, game room with bar & pool table, and balconies on every floor. The view was something out of a storybook, it was a amazing place. Several of our close friends stayed with us in our cabin, and we made the most of the place, it was a blast! Everything was simple, I made our invites myself, I got my dress from David's Bridal on sale for $200.00, the entire cost of the wedding including some plane tickets, all wedding party attire, cabins, rental car, etc. was under $9000.00. That didnt include our rings though, I had nothing to do with the ring part, Hubby picked out what he wanted me to have. It was at a point where we had extra money so he gave me some bling! Our bands match, I have 3 rings, a wedding band which is white gold, engagement ring that is yellow gold, & a anniversary band that is also white gold. Hubby has a very heavy and solid smooth band that has the same combination of colors. After the wedding we went back to my moms cabin for a get together, then our close friends & us went back to our cabin where we partied until the sun same up! I only had one disaster with our wedding cake, which was thrown in the floorboard of the van by the baker. Still, I cannot believe how perfect it was, I was relaxed and calm, there wasnt any chaos or last minute fires. We were able to enjoy ourselves, family, friends, and just be in the moment. I am so thankful for that day, thankful for the Hubby that is by my side everyday, thankful for the family that supported us, and thankful for the very special friends that were a big part of our lives together. Having the pictures from that day and seeing everyones smiles just solidifies it even more that it was a great day! A day I will always remember year after year.

Since our baby boy was sick, he stayed with Gigi while we snuck off to dinner to celebrate. We ate dinner at a resturant in the Hard Rock Hotel close to our house. We exchanged some sweet cards and watched a movie later...nothing to fancy. Ahhhhh if every day could be a anniversary!