To all who come to this happy blog....wuuuuuuhlkum

Most of you know that I think that Walt sounds a tad drunk in his opening day speech. I mean can you blame the poor guy? He had more people than he knew what to do with in his park on July 17, 1955, the water fountains were not working properly because of a strike and he opted for working toilets, they ran out of food!!!!! I mean, those were just a few of the many mishaps that plagued the park 50 years ago. I suspect that somewhere hidden in his apartment above the firehouse is his secret stash, and his flask that he discreetly took swigs from on that glorious day. Ok I doubt that is true, but hey.......laugh anyway!!!! And if you find that offensive....then laugh at my kitties

Cordelia is in heat, and it's driving everyone crazy. She is being fixed on Thursday, so for the next few days we get to suffer wuith her meowing, chirping and other shenanigans (Aka Marley and his constant need to...well they have had "interludes" ok? UGH)

So it was no surprise to me to find Marley drinking tonight


And of course, Monkey See, Monkey Do


But she can't seem to hold her "likker"


But amdist the craziness that is a female cat in heat are these moments





I love my cats and I think I am becoming the cat lady!!!!!

Another job title coming through

Last weekend I received a call from the Pregnancy Help Center that we raised over $9000 for back in Oct. The Nurse Administrator wanted me to call her as soon as possible. Thinking this was to ask me if I had heard from the Tidings (Archdiocesean Newsletter), I called her back Monday afternoon. She asked me if I would come in this week to meet with her and the President of the Board of Directors about some volunteer work. Board of Directors? This sounds serious!!!!!

When I had taken the kids there in December to present them with the check, I had offered my services being that I come from a strong medical background. Unfortunately, they have no need for a medical assistant, as they only do pregnancy tests and free ultra sounds, but they did, at that time, say I was more than welcome to be trained as a Crisis helpline counselor. Now, let's be realistic here. I am a great many things, but my confidence in counseling a pregnant woman who wants to have an abortion, well, let's say I lack the self confidence to do such a job. I digress.

I arrived at the Center this morning and the proposition that was placed before me blew me away.

In a nutshell, they have asked me...ME to be in charge of any and all future baby bottle projects within the San Gabriel Region of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles!!!!! Yes, this means I will call churches and Catholic schools and try to get them to raise money via the baby bottle project. The goal? To see if anyone can beat our donation of $9028.61!!!!!! Can you believe it? I was so excited and said yes immediatley. They were overjoyed, as was I. I was so happy that I called my friend Jackie and asked her when she would like to start her project (I know she had called the PHC in November to inquire about the project too.) So YAY!!!!!!

Oh and the Tidings? They called me yesterday, so as soon as I know when we are in there I will let you know.

So much to do and so little time

At times I feel backed into a corner with all this planning that I do on a day to day basis. As a youth Minister I have to think months in advance. This allows time for the proper planning that needs to take place for any one event. For example, a weekend long retreat will require at least 4 months of planning. There is a team to put together, meals to organize (and food for said meals to be purchased), supplies to buy, parent meetings to have, paperwork to organize, facilities to prepare (or at least look into renting for the weekend), buses to reserve, money to collect, timelines to work with, themes and talks to organize...and the list goes on. It's exciting, yet at times I find myself consumed with any one project so much so that it's all I think about when I fall asleep and all I think about when I wake up. Don't get me wrong, I love the hustle and bustle of it all. I love the planning, I love seeing the kids grow in friendship and in faith, but right now...I just want to scream!!!! Here is how my life looks over the next few "months" if you will:

Jan: meeting with a parent to go over her job as coordinator for our passion play (that's tonight thank you lol)

Feb: Confirmation 1 retreat (yes that means meeting with facilitators, arranging to have priests available for confession, arranging for pizza to be delivered for lunch, organizing a group here at church to serve breakfast to the kids, parent meeting to coordinate their role in the retreat...and that list grows daily)

Movie night
Youth Ministry Specialization classes (no prep there really Thank God)
Passion Play rehearsals begin at the end of the month (the day after the confirmation 1 retreat, mind you)

March: Play rehearsals continue
Confirmation classes
Confirmation 2 retreat
Derek and I have to attend Marriage prep classes
Youth Day in Anaheim
Religious Educatrion Congress in Anaheim (luckily I just show up for that and I get to shop for resources and relax)
Youth Ministry Retreat meeting (HOPEFULLY) begin....parent meetings, team meetings, food stuff, the usual...these will continue through May which is when I hope to launch this particular retreat!!!!

April:
Passion Play (Palm Sunday)
Confirmation Ceremony (the Bishop is coming and that is a big dang deal right there. Not to mention printing the programs, typing up cards, getting certificates printed, working with my co-worker to get our catered lunch with the Bishop taken care of.)
Begin campaign to pre sell roses for Mothers day

It doesn't seem like alot when it's all typed out, but it really is. Maybe, just MAYBE I am over reacting about it all? I don't know. Maybe I am but partly because on top of all of this stuff, I am planning a wedding as well? Weddings (and the impending move) are expensive. I think I should start playing the lotto again. That would help alot!!! If I won, I mean. LOL

So I feel like everything is hitting me at once and I don't like it. I guess it's just me being stressful me, and I just need to let go of some of it and let others take the reigns in some areas. I am slowly learning to do this, but IHATE having this feeling like I am never going to get it all done!!!!! I have parents willing to help which is GREAT!!!! I'm learning to let them do things and not stress, but it's a long road to fully giving it all up. And it will all fall into place, really it will. I just wish it wasn't all coming at me at once.

Not much to post about really

Really I only have a couple things to talk about at this point. The first being that I had a big huge ordeal with my "new boss" at work. K was hired in like October to be our "formation Director" and Fr. Tony has since submitted her name and credentials to be our Pastoral Associate. MY guess is that his offer to the Diocese in the Philippines, coupled with the fact that he was requesting his nephew as our Associate pastor was turned down rather quickly. At any rate, K really stressed me out last week over my Confirmation 1 retreat and I really let her know. I filled her in on some things that have gone on and how I have not been "allowed" to be creative (something she has really been wanting to see from me) because everything I suggested was shot down, and I could not get ANYTHING approved once Fr. Tony and Romy arrived. So annoying. She was very understanding and very supportive of a few things I suggested. So that is good but it really felt good to tell her "You really pissed me off last night" Tee hee.

The highlight of the weekend this past week was the fact that I got my annual pass renewed!!! YAY. I met M and J in DCA and had a blast!!!!! Sunday after work I hurried back to the park to join the Mice Chat 1st anniversary Celebration. Unfortunately I was unaware of the fact that my camera battery was low, so my pics are very limited and I only have maybe 3 good ones. I had so much fun with everyone and nearly froze my tushy off with the wind and the cold. I lost my voice a tad as well, due to screaming on Space Mountain. It never fails that when I hang at Disneyland with my Mice Chat friends, we are crazy, silly and going home with aching sides (from all the laughing) is not uncommon.

Other than those two things, not much else is going on. I have to call the reception location place this week to make sure Derek and I get the hall and then call my cake lady as well. I swore I would not let the wedding planning stress me out....yea that lasted all of like 2 months. I'm totally stressed out about it all. The food, will we have enough? The honeymoon, will we be able to even have one with the impending move? The move....Will there be enough funds to lug my crap across country (it's not cheap to rent a U-haul). Such stress.

M'Lynn you just missed a chance of a lifetime. Half of Chinquapin Parish would give their eye teeth to give a whack at Ouiser!

The above title, is a line from one of my all time favorite movies, Steel Magnolia's It's a story of laughter, love, and strength. I first saw this movie in January of 1989 with my two high school friends, Kim and Tricia. The day I went to see it, I had broken up with a guy I really only "dated" for what, 3 days or something. Really weird and really stupid and to get my mind off of it, Kim and Tricia took me to see it. I fell instantly in love with it. Little did I know that 4 years later, I would have a role in this play, my Sr. year in high school. I played Truvy and Tricia played Ouiser!!!! It was incredible and the girls and I had so much fun. (I wish I had pictures of us, but yea, long story as to why I don't have those anymore). One thing I remember most about that play is how much fun we had rehearsing, constructing the set and just growing closer in friendship!!!!! I also remember the girls allowing me to have a picture of my dad on the set next to the couch. It meant the world to me.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when M'Lynn is having a breakdown after Shelby's death. You feel her pain, you understand her frustration and you're sitting there crying, with the biggest lump in your throat ever. You want to just reach through the TV and hug Sally Field's character. She goes from one extreme (being completely ok with things and giving you a sense that she's moving on) to the other (complete tears and breakdown). She says

"I don't think I can take this, I don't think I can take this. I just want to hit someone, I want to hit them until they feel as bad as I do, I want to hit something...I want to HIT IT HARD"

All of a sudden Olympia Dukakis' character grabs Shirley McLaine's character and tries to convince Sally to hit her. In the story Shirley's character is like that crotchety old woman whose never happy, and grouchy, yet deep down she DOES have a soft spot. It's as if you are in this moment of crying so hard and then you LAUGH!!!! You laugh HARD!!!! It's so unexpectd you can't help but laugh. Oh I love it. I love crying and getting crap out of my system (and after this week it was good to have that cry) and just LAUGHING!!!!!! My gosh I love this movie!!!!!!

My sister had the movie on a few months ago and she told my oldest niece that it was our favorite movie. Seriously W and I will quote parts of the movie to each other

"The older you get the sillier get"
"Well, the older YOU get the UGLIER you get"

So, I tell B this one time, "This is mine and mom's favorite movie"

" I know she's told me about 200 times already"

Ah, as sad as it is to know that Robert Harling had to deal with pain and anger in losing his best friend, his younger sister, Susan, I am so glad he chose this outlet in which to share her life with us. It truly is a great movie. LOVE IT!!!!

So what is the point of this post?????

MY DVD PLAYER WORKS!!! I figured it out!!!!! Yessssssssssssssssss

Well, I also wanted to talk abotu my favorite movie, but I also wanted to pat my own back for figuring out how to make my DVD player work finally. I RULE!!!!

Ouiser I can guarentee there will be no more gunshots"
"But he was gonna fire a gun AT ME"
"Drum would never fire a gun at a lady"
"He's a real Gentleman!!! I bet he takes the dishes out of the sink before he pees in it!!!"

The kid is on to something

For Christmas, my niece, M, recieved this really cute toy tea service set. It's Cinderella themed, has tea cups, saucers, spoons tea pot, creamer, sugar holder. The usual tea set. All of these items sit in this try that rests on a cart with wheels. So after Derek and my sister put it together for her she was wheeling the cart around the house offering us tea. Being that there are many flavors of tea to choose from, I asked her what flavor the tea was that she was currently serving to me.

"Chocolate tea" She replied.

We got a good laugh out of this, as we had never heard of such thing as Chocolat tea. But we enjoyed our tea and she was a very gracious hostess offering us a rose to smell and snacks to eat.

Forward to yesterday. I'm at Trader Joe's and I'm looking for some healthy snacks. I am in the frozen food section and on one of the end caps I see.......Chocolate Tea!!!!!! What are the odds? My niece is brilliant!!!!!! So this week will see a shipment of said tea to my nieces. they will be thrilled!!! Again I will reign as world's greatest Auntie!!!!

Need some opinions...I want to change the layout of the blog...yay? Nay??

FOOTBALL!!!!!!

Ok, so in 2004 I fell in love with a quarterback from Louisiana. He was drafted as a free agent by the N.O. Saints and then went to the Carolina Panthers. His name? Jake Delhomme a CATHOLIC boy from LA who is just humble and nice and um....HOT!!!!!



He led his Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2004 and in the last few seconds of the game they lost. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and was just heartbroken when they lost. They deservedto win!!!!! I mean 8 yrs prior, their team was new on the NFL scene and here they were pushing for the National Title. Ah well........they would try again, no doubt.

This year the Panthers are trying to get back to the Superbowl in Detroit to get the trophy they so deserve!!!! I am a 49er fan, have been since I can remember, but I have adopted the Panthers since that Superbowl in 2004!!!!! I love Jake Delhomme. I love that he's a nice guy and I love that his team fights hard, never giving up.

Last night the Panthers beat the Bears!!!!! I flipped the channel back and forth between Sunday Night Live on EWTN and the game on Fox. The suspense of the game was killing me. I couldn't take it. I admit, I am a wimp. But the Panthers pulled it off in the end.

Derek went down to the Panther's stadium last night (after MUCH encouragement from me I might add) to welcome the guys home. I told him if he got to meet Jake that he was to call me and let me congratulate him and wish him a happy belated bday (his bday was Jan 10...same day as my nephew's...how awesome is that?)He waited and waited and I wished I could have been there freezing my tush off out in the Carolina cold to cheer on the guys!!!!! Everytime he called me, I'd answer, "Hello? Jake?" Derek is such a sport!!!!! Most guys would be all mad and irritated that their fiance thought a QB was hot. Not my Derek. No sir, he passed the phone to Sean Tufts ....ok quite possibly the second cutest NFL player in the world (Derek took this picture right after I got off the phone with him!!!):



He took the phone from Derek, asked me my name and the conversation went like:

Sean: "Hey Katie how are you?"
Me: "Hey congratulations man I am so happy for you guys"
Sean: "Yea, thanks alot"

That was it....but yea, it was so great cause I TALKED TO AN NFL FOOTBALL PLAYER. It wasn't Jake, but hey....at least Sean took the time to say hi to me!!!! Casey Cramer also took the phone from Derek and said "Hey, congratulations" So, yea. it was UBER cool and I am still on cloud nine!!!

Did I not tell you how good Derek is to me??? Hee hee


GO PANTHERS!!!! Beat the Seahawks!!!!

Honor each other

I had the honor and priviledge of attending the wedding of my former co-worker today. It was a beautiful ceremony and a fun reception. I am so glad they asked me to be a part of their day.

Fr. Michael (my former boss) was there to concelebrate the Mass and he gave the homily which was so moving and so wonderful. I was moved to tears just hearing his voice echo through the church. I miss him so much at SLR. In his homily he said something that really made me reflect on my relationship with Derek.

"Honor each other"

A simple sentence, request, charge, phrase. Yet so much meaning behind it. There are times that I get so caught up in the craziness that is wedding planing, and work, and Disney, that I become short with Derek. Am I honoring him in my short temper with him? Am I honoring the love we share? Or am I merely pushing him aside for things I think are temporarily important? I believe so much, that we hurt and take for granted so easily the ones we love the most. I'm guilty of it, Derek is guilty of it...we all are. Sometimes I get caught up in wanting things to run almost too smoothly for us that I get too caught up in not just being. Being myself with Derek, being silly and goofy, laughing over the dumbest things. I get too uptight and forget to just let my hair down. I'm borderline Type A personality, so this tends to come out from time to time. I can learn alot from Derek. I can learn to just not care and not to worry about what people think of me (my current job has me constantly worried about my abilities and such), just to live life for what it is....another day to cherish my Derek!!!!! I vow to honor you babe, now and always, and to let go more and let God have the reigns for a while. Cause He is in control. I will honor you by honoring us!!!! With the little things in life from a good night call, an email to ask you about your day rather than griping about mine. I will honor you by building you up on YMX instead of making too many jokes, though they are pretty funny jokes!!!! Goofy head. I will honor you by placing you on the same pedestal in which you place me. All the days of my life

Honor each other!!!!! And when you go through the rough spots in life, come back to the first kiss, the first time your hands touched. Remember that moment always. I laugh about this because it all happpened at the Charlotte airport in front of an audience (people waiting for thier families) yet, the moment our eyes locked, and I saw that big gorgeous smile on your face, it was as if we were the only ones in the airport!!!!! You make me feel safe

Honor each other!!!!! Love each other!!!!!

Oh man, baby I love you!!! This is the second mushy post I've written to you, but I feel like over the last few weeks, I've just been so caught up in the crap at work, that I have not honored you enough!!!!! I can't wait until the stress I carry with me now is lifted and the worries that consume me day by day with work, are a thing of the past. When I will walk in the front door and say with joy "Honey I am home" and there you will be with open arms ready to greet me!!!! Hopefully I won't trip all over the 4 cats!!!!!


What did I do to deserve such blessings?

For Derek

I hope I never learn to take you for granted, though at times I know I have. You love with a love that is so deep. I never thought anyone would feel this way about me. My past has been filled with conditional love, and you love me even at my worst. When I am grouchy, you don't let it bother you. Not even one bit. And when i realize how horrible I am being, you rea assure me with an "It's ok baby". This is something I will never comprehend!!! How I can be so nasty and mean and you love me despite that. When I am angry at my job, you comfort me and reassure me that it will all work out in the end. I hope I never take this for granted

I hope I always remember how much you love me, but how could I forget. Most people get flowers and cards and such, but I get phone calls and emails and your heart. Those things are far more precious to me that flowers that will be thrown away and cards that will fade to yellow and become brittle. To hear you say "I love you" makes me melt. I thought I was unlovable!!!! You have proved me wrong

I hope I never ever have to live one day without you in my life. I don't know how I did before. Yes there were past relationships, but no on as truly patient (yes, with ME you are patient), and understanding, and giving as you. Just when I think my heart cannot hold another ounce of love for you, you give me reasons to love you more.

I hope we never stop laughing with one another. i love the sound of your laugh. I love that stupid things make us laugh. and I love hearing you say "You're a goofy head goofy head" My gosh your voice is so sweet!!!!

I hope we live to a long and happy old age together. All I want to do is grow old with you. To reminisce about the "good old days" and to tell our children and grand children the story of how we met and fell in love.

I love you baby, with all my heart

I will post here more

I've noticed lately that I have been bad about posting here. I am going to try this year to be much better about this.

So much to blog about!!!! I'll start with Alabama a short day by day breakdown. Alabama was so much fun and so hard to leave. Derek left on the 29th after arriving on the 21st and I left on the 30th after arriving the same day. This trip was one trip closer to never having to say goodbye again to one another which makes it both easier as well as more hard. But I am happy to report that we are getting married THIS YEAR!!!!! YAY!!!! (insert a small level of stress for planning a wedding in 7 months at this point). On to the break down for Alabama

Dec 21st- I did not sleep all that wonderfully because I was so excited to get going. I woke up at 6:30am to finish my last minute packing and to goof off online before P got here to take me to the airport. We had planned for him to get here at 10am but he did not arrive until 10:20ish. It was ok though because we ate and then headed to the airport and I had plenty of time to check in and go through security. My flight left a tad late which got me to Atlanta late and caused more stress than I ever want to have in a lifetime. I had 22 minutes to get to my next flight. The Atlanta airport has 4 different terminals. I landed in terminal A and had to go to terminal B. STRESS. But I got there in time, thank God. On the way to Birmingham I got into quite the religious discussion with the girl sitting next to me. She was a nice person, a couple years younger than me, but I questioned how she could be Christian and not believe in the trinity. I listened to her reasoning and offered as much explaination as I could and answered all her questions. I guess no matter how I explained it to her she just would have nothing to do with the belief. I found out as we landed that she is a Jehovah's Witness. This would explain why he was so strong in her disbelief of the trinity???? Interesting. So I get off the plane and apparantly I walked past J, who was waiting for me upstairs. At the time I was missing my left contact and could not see well, but at baggage claim I was looking around thinking "Where is he?" I figured maybe he had not made it yet. And then the bags came out........and I waited....and waited....and waited. Guess what? Mine did not make it!!!! Fun times. In the line for Delta to get my bag located and delivered, I contacted J, who met me in line. Took care of all of that and headed for his house. By this time Derek had made it to J and E's house house (W gave him Thursday off so he could leave Weds)but no one was there (E was not home from church yet) so he decided to get dinner for us at Milo's. He asked what I wanted....sweet tea!!!!! We basically just hung out at the house, ate and J's brother A came over. Derek and I were introduced to Dog the Bounty Hunter. Interesting show!!!! That guy can find ANYONE!!!

Dec 22- A came over again, and we just literally bummed around until my luggage arrived. I thought it would get there at like 2pm, but thankfully it arrived early!!!! Whew. Everything was there and I was happy to have clothes. We picked up E at work and went to this restaurant called Wings. We had to check this place out for our Panthers game viewing on Saturday!!!! It met Derek's approval!!! He had some ultra hot wings!!! OMG these things looked like they could make you poop fire! I just don't know how people can eat those things. I'm such a whimp. We took a trip to Best Buy and Derek pointed out this card reader he wanted. I acted as though I had no idea what it was and told him I am glad he pointed it out because I probably would have gotten the wrong one. LOL We went to Wal Mart and got things for Christmas Eve/Christmas. E had to do some baking that the family was REQUIRING her to do. Their favorite dessert that she makes. (Which I got the recipe for...YAY) and I got the last gift I needed to get which was M's bday gift. A Cinderella Dress. Went back wraped presents and again, bummed around and discovered the joys of G4....Brainiacs!!!




Dec 23- Again, we were bums. I am not used to being so lazy on vacation!!!! We picked E up at work and met a friend from YMX (I'll link later) at Panera. Panera is great!!! They have great sandwiches and their soup.? Um, yea...YUM!!!!! It was good to meet J, who is the 14th YS/YMX person I have met in the last yr and 4 months!!!!!


E and I went to a scrapbook store near Panera while J and Derek went to Barnes and Noble. We met them there and just looked around at books. I showed J and E "Walter the Farting Dog". I had to ask and employee where it was and he took me straight to it. I found that to be quite comical!!!! He must REALLY like that farting dog. We went to J's parent's house. They are just really really nice people!!! We got to see where J and E met, and also see the home which they will be moving into later this month. Went out for Chinese, got the Ghetto Christmas light tour (well, we saw some gorgeous houses too), and rented Crash and Bad News Bears.

Dec 24- Woke up and watched Crash. GOOD movie. Then it was off to Wings for the game. Derek has this shirt that says "Got Jake?" on the front and "We Do" on the back. Jake is Jake Delhomme QB of the Carolina Panthers. Seriously one of my favorite QB's right now. So yea, he and J and A watched the game (Thanks to the Wings Manager for putting it on for us) and E and I went online (free wireless at Wings!!!) I think I bored E to death with pics!!!! Poor thing. She gets an award for bravery!!! Derek was insane with his cheering and yelling and at one point kicking a chair!!!!! The Panthers lost to the Cowboys, sadly!!!!! We said our goodbyes to E and J and A and then it was off to pull off the big surprise!!!!! The nieces were so happy to see us!!!! And my goodness they have gotten so darn cute!!! A is the sweetest boy, even though he just got a little scared from all the excitement. I am just so amazed at how blessed I am with wonderful nieces and nephews. We had pizza for dinner and then the girls helped me make dessert for the next day.



Dec 25- B woke me up at 6am, and we went and opened stockings and the one gift Santa left. Then we tore into the presents under the tree. MY GOSH those kids made out like Bandits. (Derek has that pic of them with all the gifts, so I can't post it.) Lamb was on order for dinner and it was sooooooo good!!!! This was the first Christmas I had spent with my sister and the girls in 3 yrs!!!!!Went to Mass at 11am, and just played with the girls and their toys (and tried to keep the boy out of the small swallowable stuff)

Dec 26- WE WENT SHOPPING!!!! I gave B a gift card for her favorite store, Bed Bath and beyond. It was her belated bday gift. We walked around the place 3 times before she decided on a pink lava lamp and a cute little chair. I also bough one for M. (they were $10) While Derek played at Panera, I took the girls over to Dabid's Bridal to try on dresses for the wedding.




They were so cute I could not stand it!!!!! B kept saying she wished I was getting married tomorrow so she could get that dress. They felt like princesses and they certainly looked like them too.

A funny thing to share: Somehow my nieces have become Alabama and Auburn fans. I do not know how this happened but M will say "Alabama (and hold her thumb down), Tennessee (while holding her thumb to the side), Auburn Bewnibursity (holding her thumb straight up)" and it's just so cute. She has also taken to being quite the singer. Her favorites? "Walking on Sunshine", "Bad to the Bone" and a new Martina Mc Bride song "This one's for the girls" (Not sure if that is the title or not). B is quite the reader and quite the speller. Gone are the days when we could spell something and she did not know what we were talking about. She is a very good artist too!!!!!

Dec 27th- We got ourselves ready and took a tour of EWTN, and then got to have an unofficial tour thanks to my BIL and his working there. Derek got to view their HUGE projector which he wished they had at his church, and then we met J and E for dinner at Jim and Nick's. Then it was off to Starbucks





Good times!!!!!!

Dec 28th- Once everyone was awake, had eaten breakfast, and my BIL had gone to work, M was allowed to open her Bday gifts!!! My little baby was turning 4 today!!! WOW!!!! Time flies!!!! She made out pretty well and was VERY happy to get a Cinderella wedding dress from Auntie Katie!!! I ROCK!!!!



B and I made cupcakes and then we went off to the Galleria to let the kids ride the carousel. We also got glitter for the girls (Which they LOVED)



Came home and decorated M's cupcake bday cake and got dinner ready then it was time to sing happy bday!!!!!!!!










Derek left that night late. And While I had my nieces and nephew to look forward to, I was still sad to see him go. I can honestly say this was the least amount of crying I did when he left. I love that boy so much!!!!!


Dec 29- We were off to Liberty Park. This place has a 1/5 replica of the Statue of Liberty. The last 2 times I have been to AL I have wanted to go see this, but we never did. Finally we had a chance. It was a fun place for the kids to run around in and a fun place to take pics








After a brief trip to Liberty Park (IT WAS COLD) we headed off to a park near B's school. Ate lunch and then played!!!!!





Dec 30- My last day!!!! The girls and I decided to explore the "woods" Actually it was a patch of land right behind the EWTN station, so after walking daddy to work, and eating lunch, we went on our adventure. Here I am thinking we will see all sorts of interesting critters, and what do we find? GOLF BALLS



Yep, we found a ton of them, and it was so funny to hear "Auntie Katie I found another one!!!!!" We decided to collect them all and place them in a pile by a tree. We had no idea how many there would be!!!!


seeing them get so excited was just a kick!!!! Of course, we had to take a break to briefly walk back home for a potty break!!!! Once that was dine, we were back to our hunt for golf balls







When all was said and done (right before it got dark) We found 26 golf balls in the "woods" LOL


Of course no trip to anywhere with Anuntie Katie would be complete without a photo shoot:








Whew!!! Alot of work that was



A few more shots with the kids and we were off to the airport. I cried....hard. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want to go back home because I knew work was waiting and right now I have no energy for work at all. Plus, I missed Derek!!!!! Terribly. I wanted him back with me. But I had to go






I boarded my plane and came home!!! The flight home was terrible thanks to the lady I sat next to for 4.5 hours. If you are ever flying and are seated next to someone, please be nice!!!!! She hogged the seat and was just rude (even elbowed me without an apology) Grrr, but I was happy to see the kitties and to sleep in my own bed.

Next up!!! Wedding plans!!!