October's First Adventure

Let me start by saying the first time I ever went camping was in 2007...in December...in the SNOW.  I really had no idea what I was about to be doing.

Am I going to be cold?

What will we eat?

Are there going to be bears?

and of course...I'm a girl so I asked...

 please don't laugh

Where/How do I pee?

My family growing up never went camping. My husband on the other hand was in boy scouts. He camped lots more than me. So I was asked a few days ago if I wanted to go camping again. Sure, why not. I survived in winter, I can do the fall. 

This time was MUCH different. How?? Well where do I start.

Weather: Snowy, icy vs. clear sky, dry

Temperature: 20's/Teens vs. 40s/50s

Experience: First Time vs. Second Time

Others: Me & 2 guys vs. Me, 2 guys & my SIL

I will leave you with these pictures.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day/night to be outdoors sitting by a fire. (Even though I remember being awake a lot during the night, I must have slept enough that I'm not crazy tired right now)

Today I need to...

• pick up projector & screen
• copy kid pages for Sunday
• head to work
• count drawers
• change signs
• pump bucket and bucket and buckets of ice every 30 minutes
• not make a mess of the place like I did yesterday while serving customers
• make the next 2 or 3 weeks of a schedule only to have the girls all switch their days around making my job semi-pointless
• finish writing lessons for Sunday
• finish my photography presentation for the Women's Retreat
• Make sure I know what I'm saying on Saturday
• Pack for the weekend

all so that on Friday I can

• head to work
• count drawers
• change signs
• pump bucket and bucket and buckets of ice every 30 minutes
• not make a mess of the place like I seem to do when I'm busy
• Leave my hubby for the weekend :( for the women's retreat :)
• Hopefully successful give a presentation on photography. (praying I won't be nervous-I'm sensing nerves starting already...yikes)

Weekend/Vacation/Excitement

Tomorrow we leave for New York. Greg has a half marathon in Flushing Meadows, New York. What we just found out today is that he has to pick up his race packet (and goodies) tomorrow between 12 and 6 and it is pretty much in New York City. I can't believe it! I have never been to NYC and I've always wanted to go. Granted I'm not going to really be visiting...more like driving through. But STILL! I am super excited about this trip. Not to mention the course route includes lots of laps which means Katy doesn't need to run around to different spots for hours trying to catch a glimpse of her husband! hooray! PLUS, it is going to be B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L weather.

Let's see, what else?!? I don't have to work or really even think about Rita's until Monday--except for a teensy bit tomorrow morning, and the schedule that I need to fix as soon as I'm done with this post. AND I got my first paycheck...wowsers. I haven't gotten a paycheck like that in a very.long.time. 1.5 months shy of a year.

I'm just about all ready to give my presentation next week on photography. I'm really excited to share with people that they can do it too! and I created this super cute brochure [aka cheat sheet] for everyone to take home with them. 

Now I must finish the schedule, clear off my memory card, charge batteries, and ahh pack! Maybe you'll get lucky and get some updates throughout the trip?!? who knows!

Crazy, Crazy Saturday

Woke up to find that my e-mail was hacked into.

But we were running late for our first day of work, so I could do nothing except send an e-mail of apology to all my contacts for the vulgar e-mail that they received.

Spent 7 hours learning the ins and outs of Ritas...well some of the ins and outs. Ice making, and all the different techniques to making Rita's concoctions. 

My mind is pooped.spent.done for. Now we are reminded that we lost an hour to just relax before it's church tomorrow, my nieces are coming, lunch with a granddad, and then back to Rita's for Sunday night. goodnight all.

Saturday happenings

I borrowed my mom's cricut machine to work on a couple projects. One of which was updating the Linsky stockings (so that I could be included on the stocking) as well as make one for my niece, no nieces sorry (16 days and counting). Anyways I found a cute bride and groom that I decided to cut out in honor of Ben & Eryn. And poor Eryn was on Skype at the time, so this is what we did. We put the bride in front of her face...because she is engaged! (Clearly I was lacking enthusiasm/momentum in the project I was working on at the time)

While I was playing around, my mother in law was hard at work. There is an old slate hearth in the living room that after 30-40 years of life it was turning green from the yellowing of the "protective coating" that was on it. She got the motivation to strip the old coating off and it looks soo much better now! (Even though there is still some left.) Here is an "ALMOST DONE" shot. The left side is the yucky side and the right BEAUTIFUL side is the uncoated/stripped slate. She did good work...no GREAT work.

And while the ladies were busy with these things, the boys tried to gather some wood for the fireplace. But the chainsaw did not cooperate, so no woodpile yet. We'll stick with the duraflame for awhile.