Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Hi again. Long time, no talk!

I have not been able to access blogger for a few days and I finally figured it out- it was just our internet filter- geesh- so easy I can't believe it took me that long to figure out.

'Cause let me tell you, I would've blogged my heart out this weekend.

See, I'm home alone.

My hubby and his buddies take a weekend trip up north every year and stay on an uninhabited island called Manitou Island. There are no bathrooms on this island, no sinks, no showers, not even real "campsites" to speak of. There's only one spot where campfires are allowed (takes the whole fun out of camping, if you ask me!) They have to take a ferry to get there and have to hike in everything they will need- food water, gear, etc. And they actually enjoy it! Greg lives all year for this, God bless him!

Well, while they are getting back to nature by eating freeze-dried food and granola bars and digging holes for their you-know-what, us wives get to hold down the fort. And since we've no little ones, yet, that means I got to do whatever I wanted all weekend!

-Chick Flicks (Sense and Sensibility and The Nanny Diaries for me this weekend!)
-Starbucks (that's right, Greg, and I made it a grande, too!)
-Crafting until all hours (check out the shop here)
-Shopping (just browsing without a care in the world!)
-No cooking (yay for frozen pizza!)

Doing all that much fun stuff took time. Too much time to enable me to clean house! So, I leave you, my friends, to bring some tidiness and cheer into my abode. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday afternoon (after I get done cleaning, I'm going to read a book and take a nap! =).

MATURE CONTENT and McCAIN - OBAMA

Did my title lure you in? Hope so...that was the point!

Wow, I can't believe I snagged 2 treasuries!

One is a regular treasury and one is in treasury west.
(For those of you with no idea what a treasury is, it's a place where us etsy nerds gather cool items in a display. Click the links to check them out.)

My first- MATURE Audience ONLY!!!

Get it? The items are all over 100 years old. =)


My second- MCCAIN or OBAMA?

Personally, I'm for McCain, but the point is- exercise your right to VOTE!!!

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Okay, it was more like one hour-

I made it to Etsy's front page! After opening shop last year, I have finally had one of my items (my super-fab Cootie Catchers) make it on the front page of Etsy. Yay!!!

Thanks to FriendlyPairings for featuring me in her jaw-droppingly beautiful treasury

An ETSY Wedding in Autumn

Drum Roll Please...and the WINNER is...

You can't eat.


You can't sleep.


You keep crossing yourself and saying Hail Mary's (and you're not even close to being Catholic).


So, I am going to put you out of your misery- (humor me, people!)

The winner of my fantastically fabulous, first-ever,
fall giveaway is............................
(Picked by a super cool random picker)

THERESA J
(Click on her name and visit her fab etsy shop)

So, there you have it. Thanks to all for being a part of my blogging life and sharing what you love about my favorite season (wiping away a tear).

GIVEAWAY!!! Last call for entries!

Just a quick reminder to get your entries in for my fabulous fall giveaway!

I will choose a winner Wednesday afternoon, so make sure to check back to see if you've won.

Good Luck! =)

New Cricut Cartridge = Fall GIVEAWAY!!!

Ok, yesterday I got the most fab new Cricut Cartridge- "Stretch Your Imagination." And since I'm pretty crafty-nerdy like that, I decided to celebrate.

So... (drum roll, please)...it's a giveaway!

Here's what the lucky winner will receive:

3 Gorgeous little note cards

One super-cute Thanksgiving card:

How to enter: Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite thing about fall is AND what you are thankful for this year.

I will draw the winner on Wednesday afternoon, so get your entries in now!!! =)

Gobble, Gobble!
Kat

Never, EVER Make This Huge Mistake, People!

Warning: Rant coming.

Last weekend I had something happen to me that is the absolute worst! No, I'm not talking about running out of chocolate, having a fight with the spouse, or missing an episode of the Office.

Worse, people! (I know right now you are thinking, "What could be worse than running out of chocolate?" Trust me- read on.)

Here it is in all it's gory splendor-

I traveled 3 long hours (in a car with my mother, sister, aunt, AND husband driving- but that's not what was awful...I digress) in order to go to a Couple's Wedding Shower. Yeah, the hubby was thrilled about being dragged to that, let me tell you.

Anyhow, we get there just fine, say hello, bring our gifts, mingle, etc. I hadn't seen my family in a while and I've been doing the whole Weight Watchers thing- lost about 25 pounds, actually. (Go me!!!) So, you know I have dressed in a cute, flattering outfit, so that the compliments from my relatives who haven't seen me in months would just come rolling my way.

Wrong. Nothing. Absolutely no mention of how good I'm looking. Until.....


Relative: "Congratulations!!!" Well, it's about time people!

Me: "Thanks." Long Pause "Ummm...for what?"

"You're Pregnant!!!!"

"Uh, no."

"You're trying?"

"Nope, just fat." I don't have much tact, if you hadn't noticed.

"Oh....(trailing off)... I thought I heard you were pregnant.

And...cue the ego deflation.

Please, for the love of chocolate and all things holy, NEVER mention pregnancy to a person unless-
A.) They've told you flat out that they are pregnant.
or
B.) They're in labor.

Rant Over.

Cooties are for Everyone!

Just updating the shop with some new Cootie Catcher designs and colors, and hoping to give a little inspiration to all the future brides out there!

These make the most awesomely unique little wedding favors! If you have a special event coming up, contact me- I would love the opportunity to create a lasting memory!

Whoever Has the Most Babies Wins $750,000

Sound a little ridiculous?

It is.

Well, it was. (Caution: true story coming)

Apparently, Charles Miller was a pretty eccentric rich man from Toronto who loved to mess with people's heads. That's right, he was also a lawyer- big surprise. When he died in 1926, a bachelor with a perverse sense of fun, he left behind the most ridiculous and yet completely legal will that had people all over Canada talking and some doing more that that!

His will is best known for starting the Toronto Great Stork Derby of the 1930's, but there were a few other oddball stipulations-

* Valuable shares of a Jockey club were left to 3 men- 2 upstanding pillars of the community who had been very vocal in their opposition to racetrack betting, and the 3rd, a pretty shady character. Would greed win out over principle?

*Shares of another jockey club were given out to every minister in 3 nearby towns. The irony in this is that while they publicly agonized over the dilemma of accepting, the shares only turned out to be worth half a cent each!

*The use of a vacation home was willed to 3 lawyers notorious for not getting along with one another.

But the most famous part of his will, the part that had all of Toronto, umm... staying behind closed doors was Clause 9-

*Whoever has the most babies in the 10 years immediately following Charles' death was entitled to his estate! And if there was a tie, it was to be split.

It's important to remember the era. This happened in the late 20's, the depression hits in '29 and the dirty 30's have begun. Minimum wage was $12.50 for an entire 60-hour week, and you were lucky if you got that. The Miller fortune would change lives, even if it was dispersed among many...willing... mothers (and fathers, of course).

By '33 the mothers leading the pack had become household names- the 5 of them had 56 kids between them! (Only 32 were deemed eligible at that time to be counted.) There were many questions about the will's legality, and should stillborn children count, etc?

But finally, after the finish line in 1936, the race ended in a tie when 4 women demonstrated 9 properly registered live births, each winning $125, 000.

Wish you were of childbearing age in 1926? Me too.

I ran across this story on Snopes- check it out and read the whole story here.

Double Chocolate Fudge

In the mood for some chocolate? Well I was yesterday when I compiled this etsy treasury.
(I think PMS helped make that decision!)

Makes you kinda want to have some, doesn't it?
(Off to get my Ghiardelli Espresso Escape bar of dark chocolate)

7 Degrees of Katrina

(Props to Melissa from Stretch Marks for this idea! Thanks! =)

Seven Things I Plan To Do Before I Die:

1. Have children! (At least 6 of them. Why are you laughing???)
2. Travel to Europe.
3. Missions work (God hasn't revealed just where or what yet...)
4. Get a facial in a really expensive spa, you know, with the works!
5. Learn to play an instrument well. No more dabbling!
6. Learn to make up my mind and stick with my decisions, without constant wavering.
7. Learn to drive a motorcycle. (Already have my permit and a few lessons under my belt!)

Seven Things I CAN Do:

1. Be silly.
2. Love my husband.
3. Forgive.
4. Sing.
5. Cry like nobody's business. (It doesn't take much!)
6. Kreate just about anything.
7. Cook like a pro.

Seven Things I CANNOT Do:

1. Be everything to everybody.
2. Kill spiders (not because I value their existence, just 'cause I'm terrified to!)
3. Sleep well without air conditioning.
4. Keep up with my laundry- it's ridiculous!
5. Stay within my grocery budget.
6. Remember how a car engine works.
7. Pass up chocolate of any kind.

Seven Things That Attract Me To My Spouse:

1. His gentle forehead kisses.
2. His biceps.
3. How he looks when he's doing the mechanic thing.
4. How smart he is.
5. His silly sense of humor.
6. His commitment to Godliness.
7. That face- that smile- that body! You're hot, Greg!

Seven Things I Say Most Often:

1. GRE-EG!
2. What do you want for dinner?
3. Whatever.
4. Geez-a-lou!
5. What do you want to do this weekend?
6. Are you done in there, yet?
7. You poop-steak/stick! (You know there's a story behind these!)


Seven People Who I Think Should Do This:

1. Trish
2. Greg
3. Shelly-Belly
4. Anita
5. Grandma/Grandpa Becker
6. Dad
7. YOU!