About Me

My photo
I live on 6 deeply wooded acres in the boonies of Middleville, MI. I'm married to an amazing man, Brian. He's pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm a big animal lover. I have 5 cats; Bella (6), Cognac (3), Georgia (3), Maggie (2), & Auggie (8-9mos.) We recently lost our kittens, Aesop & Amelia, to a battle with Feline Leukemia. I feel the need to mention them. They were amazing beings that showed unconditional love like no other cats I've had. I also have Cheech (9) that I'm fostering. We have two puppies; Charlie & Henry. Having a blast! I'm a dabbler in photography, photo shop, & crafts. I'm kind of a bookworm/nerd/geek. Yes, I have read the Twilight Series. No, I'm not obsessed. I love Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, and L. Frank Baum - among others, obviously.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

I Will Never Buy Pasta Salad Again

This weekend, I thought I'd take another whack at this pasta recipe that my cousin, Addie, gave me. My first attempt had failed. I tweaked the recipe and was pleasantly surprised.

Ingredients:
Pasta
Feta Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Italian Dressing
Small Tomatoes

As the pasta was boiling, I chopped up the tomatoes and cheddar cheese (cheese not pictured).

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When the pasta was done, I drained it and rinsed it in cool water. Then I combined all of the ingredients.

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After a taste test, I felt that it was a little too zesty, so, I added a little bit of ranch dressing to make it creamier. It was amazing.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

It's Official! Happy Birthday, Aesop!

Well, Aesop is a one year old!

He went to the vet this Wednesday. He is still feline leukemia positive. I wasn't too happy about the results. Aesop is a whopping 11 pounds, though. (His "big" brother that passed away was only 6 pounds at 16 months old.) The vet said that he had a very strong heart and a good set of lungs. She said to just keep an eye on him. She said he's really healthy considering he's fe leuk positive.

We still aren't sure how much longer he'll be left in our lives, but we're enjoying every minute with him.

... Even when he wakes us up at 4:00 in the morning to "party."

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But he's just too precious.

For now, we're just going to continue him on his viralys medicine and keep him active.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

This Weekend...

This weekend had a lot of pros and cons:

Pros:
1. I got to drive over the Mackinac Bridge for the first time.

2. I got to travel to Mackinaw City, Mackinac Island, & St. Ignace for the first time.

3. I got to spend time with family.

4. I got to take some awesome pictures.

Cons:
1. I found out that I cannot digest Alfredo sauce. (I think it's been about 5 years since I had it.)

2. Our truck would not start and had to be towed to Cheboygan, MI. Since it was a holiday weekend, no mechanic place was open until Tuesday.

3. I woke up at 3:20 a.m. on Monday with incredibly low blood sugar and fighting nausea. My body isn't normally awake at that time, so it wasn't giving me proper amounts of insulin.

4. Brian and I missed work waiting for the truck to be fixed.

But, it was totally worth it...

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I loved the fabric of the pillows and bedspread at the hotel.

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A view of our room.

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We traveled to Cynthia's Yarn Shop.

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She had so many yarns. I wanted to live there!

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She had a lot of items on display.

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I bought two skeins of this, too. I don't know what I'll make with it yet, but gosh it's a great color.

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I also found this bag in Mackinaw City. I thought it would make a perfect knitting bag.

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We saw this guy on our first night there. Check out his site here.

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This was the restaurant we dined at for Colleen's birthday. Click here to view their site.

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I liked their table lamps.

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When we went to the island Brian and I had lunch at Goodfellow's.

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I got this amazing picture of Brian there. Isn't he handsome? :)

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In Mackinaw City I bought this. (It's a general rule that I must buy stuff with my middle name on it.) I also got it because...

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... it mimics the awesome housewarming gift that Brian's Mom bought for us.

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This picture is from the island.

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Gorgeous.

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Horses. :)

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I took this fresh off of the ferry.

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This is the Mackinac Bridge from the island.

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Some of the shops on the island.

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There were mini classic coke bottles at Ryba's Fudge Shop. :)

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Look at how "gorgeous" I look after biking 4 miles.

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This was the view from our hotel. :)


I had a great time even though I was sick for part of it.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Couches and Cats

I forgot to mention in my earlier posts that Brian and I got a new couch. Well, it's not like a huge couch. It's more loveseat sized. It's called a "chair and a half." We bought it while we were in Bay City.

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Georgia is almost always laying/sleeping/grooming on it.

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The fabric is almost like a thick corduroy.

I also thought I'd add a few pictures that I took tonight... And by "few" I mean eight.

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Georgia laying in front of the fire place. (No idea how she got that little cut. I suspect Bella.)

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Aesop finally sat still!

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Cognac doesn't look too thrilled that Aesop swooped in to groom him. He tolerated it, though.

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Aesop toes.

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I mentioned in my previous post that I'm learning how to knit. This is my practice assignment.

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As fall approaches, my flowers are wilting. Still beautiful, though.

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Tonight a moth got stuck in our floor lamp. Aesop was very interested.

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Just look at that concentration!

Quick Update

Little Bud, Aesop's big brother, died two days ago. Heartbreaking. Aesop is the only one left. It's so frustrating. I scheduled an appointment to have Aesop checked out next Wednesday September 8th. We'll be checking his red and white blood cell levels and also seeing if he's still positive for fe leuk. I'm praying that he'll be negative so that I don't have to be in a constant state of worry. Georgia is also getting a check up and a few vaccinations.

Feline leukemia can attack at the strangest times and areas of the body. Though Cassie's blood cell levels were fine, her lungs started filling up with liquid. The same thing happened about 6 years ago to our kitten, Muggins. We had just adopted him about 2 months before from the local animal shelter. (Muggins died September 14, 2004 and Annie died September 20, 2004 - In the same week from Fe leuk.)

For some reason Aesop is still alive and kicking. I freak out a little every time I see him napping because I'm worried that he's lethargic. The stress about this is almost constant. But, he eats very well. I put his viralys medicine on his food. And he is such a water baby I don't even need to worry about him being dehydrated. He's very big and is a good weight. He's not really fat, just thick and muscular. (Which, that's something all the other siblings didn't have; size. Little Bud was Aesop's "big" brother, but he was far smaller than Ace.)

I cannot stress enough how much I want Aesop to survive. He's got so much personality. I keep him active and play with him every night. He's got some strong lungs on him from all the jumping and flipping he does while playing with his favorite feather toy. Please send good thoughts our way.

Coming up this weekend we're heading up to Mackinac for the holiday and for Colleen's birthday. I've never been up there, mainly because of my fear of water... But I made it through the Alaskan cruise. So, I can make it through this, too. I'll be hanging out with Brian's Mom a lot. We're going to try to get some good pictures up there of colorful things. She'd like some one-of-a-kind art pieces for her downstairs bathroom that she's been redoing. Hopefully we'll get some good shots.

This past weekend we got quite a bit done. Brian started his wood cutting. He cut a good amount for his first time. This is our first year having a wood burning stove. (Well, actually we have two of them and a fireplace.) Since our new house requires propane for heat, we want to save money in the winter.

My cousins, Addie and Anna, came over this weekend, too. Addie has been knitting for about 15 years now. And I decided that I wanted to learn. So, I had my very first lesson. I think I'm pretty good for a beginner. :)

On Sunday we went to Battle Creek to spend some time with Brian's parents. We traveled to Marshall to go to the Family Bible Church. The sermon was interesting.

Well, that's about all for now...

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Goosfraba....