life
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The day Mr. Julio almost got a kitten
Yesterday morning started off just like any other day until I got to work. A coworker was in the elevator with me and as soon as we were on our floor she asked if I wanted a kitten. Duh! Of COURSE I want a kitten! She proceeded to tell me her boyfriend found the kitten in the back of a tractor trailer at his work. She had accidentally been shipped from South Carolina and had been in the truck for 3 days without food or water. As my heart is breaking, I tell her to email me a few pics. I will need to talk to my husband.
I immediately forward the emails with pics to Matt. He never responds, but I also know he is busy, so I don’t push. Around lunch time we are chatting and I mention the cat again. He finally responds with “fine you can get the kitten but there is no more ‘fun’ money until her vet bills are paid.” WHAT!?!? He actually said Yes! Woo hoo!
Thankfully I’d heard from another coworker that the kitten had found a good home so I knew she wasn’t available when I asked Matt again. I finally told him she’d found a good home, which made me happy. I mean if it came down to it, she would now be living at our house. I just couldn’t stand the idea of her going without food or water for days and then not finding a good home.
I do have a feeling that Mr. Julio is going to end up with a kitten sooner rather than later. I want him to have a friend before he gets too old. He is so social I don’t know what he’ll do once Hal is gone. So the next “free” kitten might just end up at our house. 😉
~k
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Tornado footage
A large tornado hit the small town of Macon MS today. I lived there until I was 8. We still have family friends who live in the area so when I saw a video on fb of this large tornado I texted mom and told her she might want to call our friend Cindy. Mom responded to my text that the video was actually Cindy’s house! What!?!? Of course they were fine but there was damage in the surrounding areas. The video of the tornado from there house has made it’s way around since early this afternoon. First I saw it on fb. Then I saw the footage on Fox News and now it’s on CNN.
Crazy! Thankfully it seems our friends are all safe tonight!
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/11/us/storms/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
~k
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Flea Market Finds
We finally had a beautiful weekend so on Saturday I knew staying indoors was off limits. Matt didn’t care to go to the flea market with me so I asked mom if she’d like to go. She said yes and I picked her up after lunch. I didn’t really have anything in particular I was looking for, mainly I just wanted to be out of the house and outside. There is a big flea market that sets up on the Fairgrounds in Raleigh most weekends and it’s mostly outdoors.
We wandered around for a while and the only thing that peeked my interest was an ammonite. The vendor was asking $15.00 which I didn’t feel was a bad price but, hey, it’s a flea market! You should never pay asking price right? 🙂 I decided to keep looking before I committed so we wondered around more. We stopped by a vendor selling fresh fruits and veggies and I picked up a container of strawberries and some grapes for Matt. This also broke the $20.00 I had in my purse. 🙂 We made our way back to the vendor with the ammonite since we were about to leave and I asked if he would take $10.00. He said yes and I grabbed the ammonite. I knew it would look awesome on the bookcase.
As we were walking out we saw a vendor that had some amethyst pieces. He was asking $8.00 and wouldn’t take the $5.00 I had left so we headed to the parking lot. As we were headed to the car we noticed a sign for the Tar Hill Gem and Mineral show in one of the buildings. Admission was free so we decided to check it out. There were tons of cool minerals, fossils, gems and stones. As we were walking around mom said she would buy me a mineral or rock if we found something cool. (There were tons of cool things, with really cool prices too!) There were a lot of vendors that had amethysts and the prices ranged for a few dollars to $20.00+. We noticed the deeper the purple the more expensive the piece. I didn’t really care about the color so much as the size. I wanted something kind of big to display.
I think we looked at almost every booth there and finally returned to a vendor that had several pieces under $10.00. I found a pretty big piece for $4.00 so mom bought me that. I have to say, for someone who isn’t a nerd, I was pretty darn excited over my finds. I knew my dad would be really proud of me buying these things.
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A rant for equality!
I don’t normally post about things going on in the media but yesterday was national equality day. Throughout the day numerous friends began changing their profile pictures on fb to the red equality sign. I did my fair share of “liking” these but I had no intention of actually changing my pic.
Having been born in small town Mississippi and raised in smallish town Alabama, I grew up around strong “southern” values. And by southern I mean small town southern – which to me was being Republican and of a strong religious background. I feel I was pretty sheltered growing up and it wasn’t until I was in my 20’s that I really developed my own values. What I believed in regardless of those around me. At some point in time (probably while living in Austin) I learned to look at those ideals that were outside of my comfort zone. And while I don’t agree with this or that I feel like I have a pretty solid foundation at this point.
With a little background out of the way, I will continue on the path I started.
As the day went on I saw more and more posts in favor of equality and each one made me smile to see the peers that had jumped on the bandwagon, as it were. To be fair, I didn’t actually see any posts that were not in favor of equality though I saw a few people mention they had. People were either speaking their minds in favor or being quiet, until last night. As Matt and I were sitting on the couch watching The New Normal (which is a GREAT show about a gay couple and their surrogate) I was scrolling through FB when I came to one of most disgusting posts I had seen.
After I read this my blood began to boil! What a rude and ignorant thing to say. I just couldn’t fathom someone had the balls to actually say that on fb. I am even more ashamed to admit this person is related to me. Infuriated, I couldn’t even think of a witty/snarky comment to make so I didn’t say anything. And then I began to feel kind of bad that I didn’t respond so I posted my own fb status (passive aggressive for the win!) and then I deleted her this morning. I’m sure she saw my post and I hope she realizes it was about her at some point. I know it’s catty and I’m fine with that. This is my dad’s brother’s daughter. She has her own issues, which she spews on fb regularly. I haven’t seen her since I was maybe 5 so I know I’m not missing anything.
I think the thing that makes me the maddest though is the fact that she puts it out there for people to see that she is not a very good parent and then she has the audacity to criticize someone, anyone else. That’s a really Christian thing to do! (The link is to a “Christian” site.)
Honestly, I don’t know why this is still an issue. Being able to marry your partner, whether is it same sex or opposite sex, doesn’t affect ANYONE else! Everyone, gay, straight, black, white, red, purple or green should have the same rights. They should be able to marry the person of their choosing and enjoy the same benefits, whether it’s tax breaks, medical insurance or providing for a child(ren) that straight people have. What I am not saying is that churches should have to honor state provided weddings. Churches are private organizations and should follow the rules that work best for them. But at a State level, I don’t think the govt should say who can or cannot enjoy the benefits of being “married.” If I get married in a church I STILL have to get a marriage certificate from the state for it to be legal, so is or should this really even be a problem or an issue? I think not!
~k
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Happy Birthday
To ME!
The birthday festivities have already begun. Matt gave me my gift this morning. A pretty Tiffany necklace I’d had my eye on. We are meeting mom and dad for lunch then heading over to a bar to watch the NC State game and tonight we are going to dinner. Fun stuff! 🙂
~k
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Proposal Story – blast from the past post
Since Matt proposed the day before my birthday, March 21, 2010, I think this will be a tradition post going forward.
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It’s Official!!! Author: aukelly // Mar25,2010
As my birthday quickly approached, I wondered what exactly the day would have in store. I told M that a nice dinner would be fine, no gift necessary. Years of birthday disappoints, break-ups, etc had left me a “Birthday Scrooge”, as a friend would say. It’s hard to be disappointed with a nice romantic dinner out.
I finally decided on a nice Italian restaurant with outdoor seating and M made the reservation for Sunday night. We both decided to take Monday, my actual birthday off. As Sunday rolled around so did the clouds. Over the weekend I received a few birthday cards containing monetary gifts. With money in hand I decided I needed a new dress for the occasion. Well as luck would have it, there was not a cute dress to be found. A last ditch trip to Target ended the dress hunt without a dress but with new shoes. Oh well
When we got home we realized there would be no outdoor dining as the clouds were looking quite ominous. We dressed, complete with new shoes and headed to dinner. While at dinner M told me he had a “silly” gift for me to open that night. I didn’t think much of this as I figured he had found some sort of Auburn memorabilia at a local sports store. After dinner we decided to head to The Cheesecake Factory for dessert. As we were waiting for a drink and cheesecake, I told M that friend of ours had asked me if I thought he would propose. I told her that if he did, he would give me a ring pop first. I explained this was a running joke with M and I. He just chuckled and asked if they still made those. With cheesecake in hand we headed back to the house. Once we were changed and back downstairs M asked if I was ready for my gift. I said sure. I grabbed the box from the coffee table and began to unwrap it. Having no idea what the box might contain, I was quite shocked to see a ring pop right there in front of my eyes. I looked at M and as I turned he pulled a ring out of his pocket. He told me that he wanted me to be his wife and “will you marry me?” I immediately began to cry just looking at him. I finally managed to say “I think I’m supposed to say Maaaaybee.” “HAHA yes!!!” And kissed him. He put the ring on my finger and I noticed he was shaking. Awww how sweet considering he had known my answer for months.
Now a few days have passed and the weight of the ring has become a familiar feeling. With that feeling comes the knowledge that soon enough I will be M’s wife.
~ and just as a side note M did get me an actual gift for my birthday, a cute pink Ipod shuffle
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I’m addicted to bags
I love bags! Like LOVE them! If there is a free gift that includes a bag, it’s mine. At one point I had a ton of small bags and I finally had to get rid of them. Now my bag collection (side note: this does NOT include purses) is pretty small. A few here and there and that’s it. Until last week. A friend saw a Coach deal for an overnight bag. I looked at it and was like, it’s cute. Then we started talking and figured if we ordered them together we could get free shipping. Hmmm. That of course made the deal a little sweeter. Finally I was like “AHHHH do it!” so she placed the order. Needless to say some of my birthday money is going to my new bag. 🙂
My justification is Matt and I are going on a trip soon and I can totally use my new bag as my carry-on. The backpack I normally use is falling apart and apparently North Face will take it back and fix/replace it, 12 years later. HA! Who knew! Anyway my friend met mom and I out on Sunday to drop off my new bag and it is adorable! It’s just the right size and the color is perfect. It also folds up and fits in to the front pouch, which snaps in to the larger bag. This makes it a great “extra” bag should you travel some place you might need an extra bag without having to actually bring another piece of luggage. I am soooo smart! 😉
~k -
I feel another Pinterest Project coming on…
It’s been several months since I have been inspired to create any of the craft projects I currently have pinned. I found this adorable pic from Esty dealer drawGabbydraw and just knew I had to do it. I have watercolors so all I really need it probably a good pen. I have no idea where I will put it. I might need my own little lady cave so I can display all my random art projects. 😉 I still have my NC heart lying around somewhere.
In other news, I think Matt and I have finally decided on a location for our trip. More details soon. 🙂~k
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Cookies, Cakes and Pies, oh my!
A few weekends ago some friends invited us over for dinner. Since they were providing the main dish I told them I would bring dessert. I scoured Pinterest and came up with 2 options, Oreo cake and Nutella cookies. We bought 2 containers of Nutella at Costco so I decided the cookies were in. And well, you know I also baking cake! I ran to the grocery and picked up what I needed for Oreo cake and when I got home I started baking.
The cake was pretty easy overall. I just used a box cake mix and the filling wasn’t tough to make. I used chocolate frosting instead of making chocolate sauce and it turned out fine. I think next time I make this I would scoop out one of the cake layers and make more of a filled cake. The reason being, the filling was a little runny so my cake didn’t look quite as nice as my inspiration pic. Overall I think it was a good first effort. I took the leftovers to work and everyone loved it so it will be added to the list. 🙂
Matt loves Nutella, as does our friend, so I figured I would throw those together too, just for good measure. They were super simple to make and tasted delicious We were a little surprised that they were more brownie like than cookie like. So they were a denser more heavy cookie.
Then my dad asked for an apple pie for his birthday last weekend. He was in luck since mom gave me an apple slicer, corer for Valentine’s day. This made quick work of peeling the apples. 🙂 Anyway, I threw together a homemade apple pie using the same recipe from Thanksgiving. The recipe is pretty simple including the homemade crust. From what I’ve been told it is “the best apple pie I’ve ever had!” Woo hooo! I wouldn’t actually know what my apple pie tasted like since we met mom and dad for dinner on Saturday and handed it to them as we left. I am really glad it turned out well though. I might have to make another one soon. Just because.
~k
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I’m running out of room
For plants in the yard. Ya’ll this is craziness! I have NEVER been a gardener but lately I can’t seem to get enough plants.
Saturday I ran to Lowe’s and picked up some cute Coral Reef Sedum ground cover to replace the old, yucky, spotty monkey grass. I had no idea what I wanted when I went to Lowe’s but this cute stuff caught my eye and for $10.00 a flat I couldn’t pass it up.
Yesterday I started working on digging up the current monkey grass. Thankfully it was a pretty small area but it still took about an hour for me to get it all pulled up. I planted my sedum and as I was finishing up Matt came out to check on my progress. By this time I knew I needed more garden border, potting soil, and mulch. He happily ran to Lowe’s while I worked on a few more things. Then he helped me get the border in place. Since the sedum is a trailing plant I figured it was probably a good idea to contain it the best I could. Plus the border makes the space look nice and finished.
Unfortunately my gardening didn’t just stop with the ground cover. As we were walking into the grocery store I saw some beautiful flowers called ranunculus. I immediately fell in love and ended up buying a pot when we left. 🙂 Now I have to plant it. I thought I might pot it but I have a little space in the corner of the front with nothing there. I was just thinking I needed something for that space so I have a feeling that’s where the ranunculus will go.
I have failed to mention just how sore I am. My hamstrings are killing me today. I knew it was going to be bad as soon as I headed up the stairs yesterday. I was right. Sore back, sore butt, sore hammies.
Here are a few pics of the yard.
This is last year before I did any yard work. I HATED these ugly bushes.
This is after we pulled the bushes out with the new Azaleas, Mums and Pansies. You can see the monkey grass by the porch. I’m thinking I might put the ranunculus in between the mum on the left and the bush. It’s pretty open and could use a filler.
My ranunculus
Close up of the Coral Reef Sedum
The Coral Reef Sedum where the monkey grass used to be. It should fill the bed in a few months, I hope.
~k