Happy Gay's.

We are a happy Gay family these days. :) For starters, Will drove me down to Titusville on Friday night to see the shuttle launch...happy Kathryn!!! I got home from work Friday and convinced him it was a good idea. It's always a chance with shuttle launches and it is a 2 hour drive to get there. The weather was only 60% probable but we went anyway - something told me we should. We got down there at 10:30, found ourselves great parking, and conveniently ended up with front row seats on the Banana River with Kennedy Space Center in the distance...perfect seats. I was like a little kid I was so excited. And then....the lightning started. I looked at Will and said "Are you serious? Really? We drove all the way down here...and it storms?" However, with God looking after us - the lightning was far enough away (out over the ocean) that the shuttle still launched! It was a magnificent sight. The weather in the distance and the shuttle plummeting towards space...unbelievable!! The whole sky lit up, the ground shook, and the noise sounded like deep rumbling thunder. It was well worth the trip....happy Kathryn :)

Here is a picture I took with my camera, clearly I'm not a professional photographer.

And here is a picture from NASA's website of the launch, it was beautiful.

Saturday morning I woke up with Mikado around 8:30 despite not getting home and into bed until 3 AM the night before. We had an appointment with a new vet! Mikado having no clue where he was going jumped into the car as he always does so willingly (he LOVES car rides). We arrived at Dr. Woodham's office to see if he could diagnose the lovely problem Mikado has been dealing with for the last 6 months. 20 minutes later we meet Dr. Woodham - very nice man. He even knew what Mikado meant in Japanese, I was excited. Anyway, he immediately knew what Mikado has and how to deal with it. A rectal polyp (gross). Surgery is required...but then it's all fixed, forever! I think I was just as happy as Mikado was (I really believe he knew what was going on with the excitement in my voice of someone finally being able to diagnose the issue). Next Tuesday we bring our little buddy in at 7 AM and they put him under, laser off the polyp, and wake him back up! No more bleeding Mikado. Happy Kathryn and happy Mikado :)

We get back home to tell Will the exciting news and the first thing out of his mouth is "how much is this going to cost me??" We were pretty much convinced fixing our dog was going to cost hundreds of dollars based upon what other vets have told us....the good news......$125!!!! That is it! Happy Will :)

So with everyone in the family being as happy as we are....I'm sure it'll be a great week. And it's my last week of work! Yayyy!!

Love you all!
Kathryn, Will, and Mikado

PS - here is our happy little guy....I'm telling you - he knows he will be better soon!!!

Pondering thoughts...

The title of this blog post is plain and simple, I'm not sure what to write about...I'm pondering so much! However, I feel it is time for an update - so here it is.

For starter's - Happy Friday! Everyone loves a Friday...they always make me feel accomplished, another week under my belt. A great feeling. Ok...so a review of our week!

Last weekend I got a phone call from my best friend in college that she is engaged!!! Yayyy! I couldn't be more excited for her and Tony. We lived together all 3 years at Michigan State and are still good friends to this day...and will be forever. Congrats again Angelina - I wish you happy planning (and a life time of love)!!

Will had his first softball practice yesterday with our church league. Starting September 8 he'll have games every week in the fall softball league - he's pumped. With as much as he loves baseball - he loves playing softball. Oh, and speaking of baseball - the Braves are falling off....no good. He said he isn't a fan until they get their butts back in the game or he'll be a fan next season. Yikes!

Tonight shuttle Discovery is suppose to launch from the Cape and I want to go. The weather in Jacksonville is yucky today (thank you tropical storm Danny)- but at the cape it is sunny (says the weather channel). The launch has been scrubbed twice already and tonight it is only a 60% go - so we won't decide whether or not to drive down there until around 8:00, depending on the weather. I want to go so bad! Feel the ground shake...and a ball of fire rush into the sky - so cool.

Tomorrow we have to take Mikado to the vet :( Our poor baby has had issues since February. I won't get graphic but he bleeds when he goes to the bathroom. After multiple visits to the vet we diagnosed him ourselves with hemorrhoids. Yeah, gross. We bought ourselves a tube of prep H and do what we need to do...it worked the first time but they are back. And aren't going away. So say a little prayer for our doggie that everything goes well (we don't want to do surgery!!!).

Well - thats our update! I'll let you know if we head to the shuttle launch tonight....because I know you all want to know.

Love,
Kathryn

Peanut Butter Surprise!

Best cookies ever folks, ever. And I named them peanut butter surprise. I don't have any pictures but I do have a recipe for some amazing peanut butter cookies with bite size snickers in the middle. Amazing. The recipe is fast and easy. It made about 20 cookies for me. So if you're looking for a new, delicious cookie...here it is!

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
36 fun size bars milk chocolate covered caramel and nougat candy (I used bite size Snickers)

Cream together sugar, butter, vanilla, peanut butter, and egg.
Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Wrap one heaping teaspoon (I just took a spoonful and molded it...sometimes getting rid of extra dough) around the bite size snickers.

Bake for 13-16 minutes (13 was perfect in our oven) and let cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to cooling rack.

There you go! Delicious. I also thought of maybe trying milkyways as well in the middle....mmmmmm. Let me know if you try baking them!

New Job!

I think the title of this post explains it all...but yes! I got a new job (Kathryn). I accepted a job working for the Jacksonville Heart Center at Baptist South, an AWESOME hospital here in Jacksonville. I will be doing medical records in the morning and Medical Assistant work in the afternoon. In the future they would like to train me to be their treadmill stress test tech, which would be a great opportunity. They are also extremely flexible with school schedules and seem willing to work with a school schedule if I get accepted into nursing school this next year...yayyyy! I can't wait. I start 2 weeks from Tuesday (after Labor day). As for Will, his hunt is still on - we trust that God will make that happen when the time is right.

As for our weekend - it's been WONDERFUL. We have done a whole lot of nothing. Friday night we watched Father of the Bride (great movie), Saturday we didn't do a whole lot. Although, I did go for a great run in the rain...Saturday night we went over to our friends' condo on the beach and hung out with them and their little ones for the night - always fun. Today has been relaxing...I went to the beach while Will watched baseball. And next up is Sunday night dinner with some friends. I love the weekend. :)

Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

Love,
Kathryn

Brides Michigan.

I'm featured in Brides Michigan Fall/Winter magazine!! My day of coordinator Aletha contacted me regarding my fitness/beauty routine leading up to the wedding. She knew I worked my butt off and thought I would be a great match for the article they wanted to do. With Will moving to Florida in Jan of 08 it left me 7 months to whip my fanny into shape! So...I began eating health, running, swimming, weight lifting, walking, etc. It was great. I even ran my first 10k! My mom and I did a lot of it together with a goal in mind of feeling good about ourselves before the wedding. And by the wedding - I did! I had lost 13 lbs :) Here is a picture of my family on the big day, look at momma and I, skinny ladies!!!





Pick up a copy yourself if you're in Michigan...I'm told it is on page 138. And if you're not in Michigan and realllyyy have a desire to see it, awesome! You can check out Aletha's Pearls Events blog and she has a scanned copy of the article there. I haven't seen it myself yet so if you have, let me know!

Loves!
Kathryn

DMB.

It is that time of year...the annual summer Dave Matthews Band tour. This is the second concert Will and I had gone to together....many more are sure to come. However, it's funny. When Will and I met almost three years ago (crazy!) a common interest we both had was DMB. We then discovered that we had both been to 3 of the same concerts before we even met....coincidence?

Anyway - we had a blast this last weekend. A great end to our non-stop summer. The concert was in West Palm Beach, a 4 hour drive south. We arrived around 1 on Saturday - just in time for a relaxing afternoon. It began with Will and I being "honeymooners". Yes, thats right, a second honeymoon. The lady at the front desk upgraded us to a massive suite....way more space than we needed for one night - but it was fun :) 2 bathrooms, always ok. We had lunch across the lake and then came back to the hotel and relaxed pool side. Following a short nap, a Braves homerun, and a shower - we were off! We pulled up around 6:00 to the fair grounds with a dark, scary sky following us. But with nothing stopping us, we got out of the trunk, popped a top, and listened to Dave....until the wind and rain came.

Rewind, last year Will did back to back concerts in West Palm Beach for his bachelor party (which also fell on his Birthday). Anyway - the concert they went to on Saturday poured rain - the entire time. And they were wet and cold.

Fast forward - the rain started and we got into the truck. And had fun! We made the best of it and decided if we needed to spend $15 on ponchos inside the concert, we would. Last year Will and his buddies opted to not spend that money...hence wet and cold. 1 hour later the sky wasn't AS dark and the rain let up mostly. We made a run for it into the conert. Oh wait, we had lawn seats - didn't matter. So into the concert we went....made a bathroom stop, bought tour tshirts, and headed to the lawn! We got great seats, sat next to fun people, had the time of our lives and it only rained once for no more than 5 minutes! A little better outcome than Saturday in West Palm last year. It was one of the better Dave concerts I'd been to....he played Warehouse! Until Saturday I'd never heard that live in 7 concerts. 3 hours later we got back into the truck and headed back to our hotel. Great night :)

Sunday we slept in, had a delicious breakfast, went back to bed, and hit the road by noon. It was nice to pick up Mikado and finally be home. I think our summer is winding down - praise God. We have so much to be greatful for this summer. I'd say it was a successful first full summer of married life. Now for the hurricanes brewing in the Atlantic...

Date Night.

Date nights are always a great thing. I've been having a not so great week and have been frustrated by a lot of things. Will, being the awesome husband he is picked up on this by being a great listener. So yesterday while I was at work I received a text message saying "Dinner and a movie tonight?" YES PLEASE!!!!! I didn't get out of work until 5:20 which is later than usual - but we made it work. We had dinner at Tijuana Flatts (delicious Mexican) where we learned that on Wednesday and Thursday nights they have $1 bud light. Awesome. We didn't partake in that special last night but we did enjoy some fantastic food while talking and relaxing. Next stop - gas station. Yup. We are that couple that will buy their candy bar and soda at the gas station and take it to the movie with them. Oh, and we also decided to get a powerball ticket - not like us, but the jackpot is 213 million! We have a shot, right? And lastly - "The Proposal". It was cute. Not my favorite - I expected it to go a little deeper than it did...but it was good.

All in all - date night was great. I have a great man who is aware and sensitive to my feelings and frustrations. So, he took me out of the house and gave me a great night. Had I sat at home all night....I would have complained about cooking and cleaning and would be doing laundry. Who wants to do that?!??

The Mitten State!

Was amazing. So much fun. Words can't even begin to explain the weekend we had - this post might get lengthy.

We flew in on Saturday to a beautiful, cool (74*), sunny day in Grand Rapids - home. Mom picked us up from the airport and took us over to see the Klynstra's. We were lucky enough to see them ALL! Then it was off re-acquainting ourselves with the g-rap before dinner with dad and Jill at Vitale's, our absolute favorite. Here is Will sooooo excited to be there....and so was his belly....

After Vitale's we headed down town to O'tooles....where it all began. It's a staple for us when we're in GR. A bunch of our closest friends came down and it was great to see everyone. We had fun :)
Ericka even came to see us! I miss this girl.





Ok moving on to Friday. We got up early and headed over to the east side of the state for my grandpa's memorial service, it went great. It was awesome to see all of my family, there were 2 cousins I hadn't seen since I was 12 - literally! Grandpa was an AMAZING man it was wonderful to celebrate his life and find comfort in knowing he is home with Christ now. Then we headed home in a tiny pick up truck with Stephanie and Nate (my brother and his girlfrend) to prepare for a night of shennanigans with friends. We had dinner at Will's house where Will and I decided to cut our anniversary cake the Amway had remade for us. It was delicious! We made more of a mess Friday night than we did at our actual wedding....




Then it was downtown time where the big party was. We saw so many friends!!! I wish I could post pictures of everyone but here are some favorites. And to everyone who came, we love you and miss you already!!!!



We even saw the DeCaire's! We met them on our honeymoon in St. Lucia last year...and they drove from the East side of the state to see us :)

Saturday - wedding day. We woke up to an ugly, rainy day in Michigan. Never a good sign. However, it turned out to be great (and hot)! We started our day with breakfast at mom's house and then a nap. Then it was wedding time! Here are a couple pictures from the wedding - congrats Mickey and Sammi - we love you LOTS!



After the wedding we ventured over to Terp's house for his annual Summer shindig. Always fun. From there the crew headed to Kyle and Amber's new house - a fun night was had. I won't say much...other than fun was had and bedtime was at 5 AM - ughhh. Here we are acting 14 again.



Sunday was relaxing. We got to sleep in until noon (which isn't really sleeping in when you go to bed at 5). I got to spend time with dad while Will hung out with his friends and Sunday night I got to see all my high school girlfriends. So fun. Aaaaand Monday, our last day. Another relaxing one. We had lunch at our favorite deli, The Schnitz and did a whole lot of nothing. Monday night was dinner at Vitale's again (we missed it THAT much) and out with our friends one last time. Here Will is enjoying time with his buddies.




And Tuesday morning was home again. It was good to get home and sleep in our OWN bed. Thank you again to all of our friends and family. We love you all and it was wonderful to see you. We'll be home at Christmas - and can't wait to see you.

Love,

Kathryn (&Will)

Thank you!

HUGE thanks to my amazing friend Aletha who re-decorated our blog for us. Of course she would come up with something this cute - she is a wedding coordinator for a living! In fact, she was ours. :) Between her and I - we were the 2 most organized ladies on the planet 7-26-08! Check this picture out...I love it to this day.

Literally, my wedding day would not have been what it was without her...she helped me create this!

Anyway, major thanks to her. She rocks. Not only is she a planner but apparently internet savvy! I'll update you all soon from Michigan.



Love,

Kathryn

So excited.

I'm literally pee my pants excited. Will is too. We can't stop talking about it, planning for it, thinking about it.....MICHIGAN!!!! We leave on Thursday. 2 days. Less than 48 hours away. Florida is wonderful, sunny, and we truly do love it. But nothing beats Michigan....we miss it. My family is up there, and our best friends. We can't wait to see everyone! It's going to be a crazy busy weekend but we'd love to see everyone. Friday night we are going downtown and anyone is more than welcome to join us! Oh and the heat....looks like we won't be having much of a break from the heat while we're in Michigan. I was told today by Jodi that it's suppose to be in the 90*'s! Yikes. I want a break from the heat.
On the Agenda tonight....packing! And talking about Michigan :) EEeeekkkk!!!!

New.

I changed it. I didn't like our Gay marriage and I didn't like how it looked. I'm still not digging the title completely but something will come to me...I felt like the blog needed to be more "Floridaeee", if that makes sense. If you have any thoughts of a fun, creative title, please do share. I'm terrible at simple things like this. And I want to be into this blogging thing! It's fun :)

Good night ya'll....

PS - I though an updated picture of Mikado would be nice - here he is in the trunk. That's right, the trunk. He loves being in the car SO MUCH that it doesn't matter to him what "door" opens he will jump in. And in this case, it was the trunk.

I forgot...

That we even had a blog!!! I'm terrible. Apparently when we started the blog I got to busy else where and fell off (although Karin you did remind me a couple of times). And now that my family lives all over the country (Michigan, Florida, Tennessee Georgia, and Illinois) I think it would be appropriate to jump back on the blogging train.

Ok! So...happy summer! I can't believe it's already August. Will and I have been so unbelievably busy this summer I can't stand it. My mom spent 3 weeks with us back on June. Jodi came back for a week over the 4th of July. Will turned 27, we celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary, and now we're headed up to Michigan in 3 days!!! whoohoo!!!! On a not so fun note I lost my grandfather in June and Will lost his Great grandmother in July. But with all of our faith given to HIM - summer has been wonderful.

Will's younger brother Bradley recently got accepted to Pharmacy school in Atlanta so him and Nichole moved a couple weeks back. Nichole is having a tough time finding a teaching job so we're keeping them in our prayers. My younger sister Lis moved to Memphis this last weekend to start a two year program in Youth Ministries. God is good. Our families are all doing well (except maybe moms and dads whose children are venturing off) and we ourselves are doing well.

I promise, we're back. I'll talk to you soon friends.

~Kathryn