The Fall of Kentucky

I have lived in Kentucky for 1 1/2 years and I love it! One of my most favorite things about Kentucky is its beautiful landscapes. Often times I find myself in awe of my surroundings. The fall is a particularly beautiful time. Recently I was inspired to try and capture some of that beauty in pictures. Here are a few of the many pictures I have taken. (The top 3 photos were taken at the campground where I live.)

Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat!

One of my favorite things about living in this campground is Halloween. They don't do Halloween on just one weekend, they do it for three weekends! The first, second and fourth weekends in October are filled with Halloween fun. (The third weekend is Glendale days.) They have pumpkin decorating, a scavenger hunt, costume contests, trailer decorating and trick or treating.

This year my mom was able to join us for all of the Halloween fun. We all got special Halloween shirts.

Getting ready for trick-or-treaters

 The owners of the campground had Kelli and I judge all of the pumpkin carving and costume contests. We don't know most of the kids around the campground so we are unbiased.

The arrows point to the winning pumpkins.

My mom got to help us judge when she was here. There are so many great costumes and pumpkins it is really hard to judge!

Little Red Riding hood and the Oompa Loompa were the winners

After the contests the kids go trick or treating around the campground. It is so much fun and it is really nice to be able to just sit out and hand out candy at a scheduled time.

Even the dogs get into the fun!

The last Halloween weekend also marks the last weekend of the camping season. Most of the seasonal campers don't come back again until next year. Since it is the last weekend and everyone is enjoying Halloween the whole campground is one big party. Last year the campers started a tradition of doing drinks and appitizers in a progessive dinner style going from campsite to campsite. They continued the tradition again this year. It was so fun to socialize and there was also so much delicious food.

I know Wonder Woman didn't have a cape but I loved my shirt!

Halloween is so much fun and I love living somewhere that lets me enjoy it extra long. We have had so much fun and there is so much more to come. Next stop Thanksgiving and then Meric's homecoming!

Kentucky Momma

Last Friday evening, Kelli and I headed to the airport to pick up my mom. She was coming for all the fall fun around here and for a long over due vacation.

Fall feet

 On Saturday we went to the Crossing Festival in Glendale. (See previous post "Glendale Days") After spending the morning enjoying pumpkin fudge, honey lemonade and candied pecans we went into town and then took a drive. Growing up one of my favorite activities was taking long drives with my mother and right now all the fall colors made for a beautiful drive.

The next day we had a nice relaxing lazy day. We made some chili and cornbread and then enjoyed an evening by the fireside.

On Monday we went "Amishing" (Kelli's new word) In our area there are a few Amish communities. A many run little shops. One of the shops is part a salvage store with past-the-date/damaged items from regular stores, part Amish goods like jams and part bakery. They had some fresh made donuts that were delicious. We also got to enjoy more beautiful country scenery as we drove from one Amish store to the next.

That night Kelli and Mom went out for hot chocolate and Kelli showed Mom around Etown. Most every night I talk to Meric on Skype but while my mom is visiting we decided to only talk every other night. On the nights I talked to Meric my mom and Kelli got to enjoy a little one on one time. When they came back that night my mom had bought a puzzle for us to put together while she was here. It was a lot of fun..

Enjoying the colors

 On Tuesday we took Mom to Saunders Spring to hike a little. It was absolutely gorgeous with all of the fall colors. We had a nice time hiking around the trails and just enjoying the beautiful day.

Having fun at Saunders Spring

 Then we went to Fort Knox. We drove Mom around and showed her some of the landmarks of Fort Knox. Kelli also got to show Mom where she volunteers in the hospital. After getting some Bluebell ice cream we headed home and enjoyed another evening by the campfire.

Can you see Mom?

Wednesday I decided to take Mom back to Glendale. Glendale days are fun but so crowded with people it is hard to enjoy the little shops in Glendale. We wandered the town shops and bought a few trinkets then went to eat at the Whistle Stop. That is a VERY popular restaurant in Glendale. During Glendale days there is a line to get into the Whistle Stop 2 hours before it even opens. On a Wednesday at 1pm we only had a 45 minute wait. (Did I mention it was a popular restaurant?) We enjoyed a great lunch and finished off with a slice of Kentucky pie and a bowl of peach cobbler. YUMMY!

On Thursday we took Mom to Lincoln's birthplace. It was my 7th time going and Kelli's 5th time. I have been a lot but enjoy it every time.

Near where the "Boundary Oak" use to be

 

Mom walking down the steps at Lincoln's birthplace

 It was my first time going in the fall though and I got some really beautiful pictures. Then we drove up the rode to Lincoln's boyhood home. There is a picnic spot there were we ate lunch and then we sat on the bank of Knob Creek collecting rocks. It sounds a little weird but there really are some cool rocks. The rocks I like to collect are cylindrical with a hole on the center. They are 100% natural beads. Every time I visit Knob Creek I collect those rocks. Someday I will make jewelry out of them.

As we were leaving Knob Creek, Kelli suggested we walk around Hodgenville. That is the small town we drive through to get to Lincoln's birthplace and Knob Creek. In all the times I visited those places I have never gone into any of the little shops. There were some cute stores and a yummy sweet shoppe. They serve Bluebell ice cream and make their own fudge. It was really good. Then we went home and once again enjoyed a campfire. I love living at a campground and being able to have fires.


On Friday we had planned to take Mom hiking at a place in Etown. Unfortunately the rain decided to start and we had to shift our plans. Instead we went thrift store shopping. Mom loves to see what kind of treasures and deals she can find and I actually found quite a few myself. First we hit a regular Salvation Army and then we went to a place I had never been before, The Peddlers' Mall. It was HUGE and not at all what I was expecting. It is a place where they rent out a booth and people can bring whatever they want to sell. Some booths were very professional and "store" like while others looked like a garage sale. There was so much stuff to see and every time you turned a corner the place just seemed to get bigger and bigger. We actually only got about half way through the store before we decided we had enough shopping for the day. It was definitely a unique experience and I am almost glad it rained.

Lucy demanded to be held every morning. She will miss her grandma!

On the way home I stopped and bought another puzzle. We had so much fun putting together the first puzzle and with the weather turning cold I liked the idea of staying in and putting together another one. We worked on it that night and throughout the next day. That night I talked to Meric again and I didn't want Kelli and my mom doing the puzzle without me so I made them go to the Whistle Stop and get dessert. They ended up splitting a bowl of soup and a piece of sugar cream pie. They said both were delicious!

Saturday was my mom's last full day in Kentucky. We had fun working on our puzzle and also enjoyed the Halloween festivities at the campground. (More on Halloween in the next post.)

I love my mother!

I can't believe how quickly the trip went by. We had so much fun and I loved seeing my mom again. She liked the trailer. At first the bathroom scared her. Trailer bathrooms are VERY different than regular ones. By the second day though she decided she really liked my bathroom and the toilets would be great in the house because they use less water. Also we couldn't have asked for better weather. The first day she was here was cold (50s) and over cast. The next 5 days were warm (upper 70s) and sunny. Of course then it rained and turned cold again but even that was perfect.

All in all it was a great visit and I think my mom really enjoyed herself. I am glad she was able to come and I want to thank everyone in my family that made it possible for my mom to stay for so long. Can't wait to see them in December!

Glendale Days

I love Glendale days (the actual name of it is The Crossing Festival.) I love all of the booths and wandering through seeing what goodies they have to offer. There were a few things I got last year at the festival that I was definitely looking forward to having again. PUMPKIN FUDGE! There is a lady that makes homemade goodies and sets up a booth. She has a variety of fudge and candies. Last year I discovered pumpkin fudge and have waited all year to have another piece. Okay, have another 4 pieces. We also sampled her cookies and cream fudge, coconut bon bons, peanut clusters, and vanilla walnut fudge. All were super delicious! That lady is my favorite part of Glendale days.

Wandering through the booths we found a lot of other goodies too. My mom found some presents for people back home, I found some Christmas presents and some presents for me. 

One booth in particular did a great job of selling. They were selling jewelry made out of silverware. They were really interesting looking and I went over for a closer look. The lady had me put one on so I could "see how easy it was to take it on and off." Then I made a comment about how I liked the square look on one and in a few seconds I had 3 similar ones on my wrist so I could compare. Then they made sure I knew I could pick any bead I wanted to "customize" my bracelet. By the end I had a one of a kind bracelet made just for me. I know I was lured in by the sales lady but I am really glad and I love my bracelet.

Another booth was selling necklaces and a variety of different items. They were selling them to raise money to adopt a child from Africa. The necklaces were made by African women to make money to support their families. They make the bead out of paper and it takes 24 hours to complete one bead. The necklaces were really pretty and knowing the back story we couldn't resist getting one. (It will be a present to my niece Doralicia. Shhhh!)

Mom and Kelli enjoyed some candied pecans. We watched sorghum being made. We drank some honey lemonade. Kelli drooled over some classic mustangs. We ate pumpkin fudge (did I mention how much I love that stuff?) All and all it was a great Glendale days. Part of me hopes that I am still living here at this time next year just so that I can go again.

Invasion of the Ladybugs

Yesterday was beautiful. The sun was shining and the weather was warm. We decided it would be a great fall day to sit outside at our picnic table and eat our cornbread and chili. As we were eating I realized there we a few ladybugs crawling on the outside of my trailer. The more I looked the more ladybugs I realized there were. None of us had ever seen so many ladybugs. It was kind of cool.

ALL of those little black dots are ladybugs

Then we came inside the trailer. There were ladybugs all over the place. Some had come in when we opened and closed the door and some had slipped in through the small space around the slide. If there had been just a few I would have left them but there were A LOT!

Just a few of my invaders

I decided to vacuum them up and then release them outside. I lost count after 75. Today I lost count after 175. I love ladybugs but this is a little ridiculous. Oh well, if we had to be invaded by a bug I am glad it was ladybugs!

Before and After

When I was a senior in high school I weighed 100 pounds. I ate whatever I wanted and didn't exercise. It was wonderful! Admittedly I was too skinny and when I slowly started to gain weight I welcomed it. When I got married at 24 I was still eating whatever I wanted, still didn't exercise and only weighed 125 pounds.

Getting married and turning 25 changed everything.

I continued to eat what I wanted and slowly I wanted more. I started gaining weight so I bought an elliptical machine so that I could work out. Meric wanted me to try weight lifting but heck I am a girl and no girl wants big muscles.

Then Meric and I moved to Texas and like they say... everything is bigger in Texas! My weight had jumped up to over 160. I was the girl who was always so skinny and then ALL of my bad habits caught up to me.

Over the next few years I tried many different things to lose weight. I tried counting calories. I went to the gym and wandered from machine to machine working out. Then one day Meric found a new diet and exercise plan. (It is called Body for Life and I highly recommend trying it out.) We changed how we ate and more importantly how much we ate. We started working out with a combination of cardio and weight training.

Pretty soon Meric started seeing results but mine came much slower. I lost 5-10 pounds over the next few months. But then life got in the way and we stopped following the plan and went back to our old habits. Time and time again we would start and stop and I would only ever lose 5-10 pounds only to gain it all back. Frustrating!

Then Meric deployed to Afghanistan. I decided that while he was gone I would finally get into shape. I wanted him to come home to a hot wife. The beginning of March 2012 I weighed myself and the scale stopped at 156. I started eating right and exercising. My sister, Kelli, was my workout buddy and we helped push each other. We did workout videos like P90X and went a month without sugar. In 2 months time I had only lost 5 pound.

I started to slack a little and came dangerously close to quitting once again. Then in May Kelli and I decided to do a 5K. I couldn't quit now because I had a race to complete. The longer I worked out the more the weight came off. I also added a bit of variety to my workouts. P90X, crossfit, weight lifting, running and yoga all became part of my workouts. (Side note to all the girls: Cardio is good but weight training is important too. Also muscles will burn calories for you while you are just sitting there!)

Over the summer another sister, Kenna, came to visit. The 3 of us continued to workout and to eat right. Well not 100% right, we did enjoy quite a few desserts. Also I learned to swim this summer. Swimming is really fun and a great workout.

In April 2012 Kelli and I went hiking and took some pictures. This past week we decided to go hiking again and try to recreate some of our pictures. Here are the results:



To date I have lost 25 pounds. I still have a few more pounds I would like to lose and a little more toning up to do but I am extremely happy with my results. The real trick to my weigh loss was sticking with it and not giving up.

Now I just have to keep it off!

August Rush

This summer has been a wild ride. Toward the beginning of August we packed up the trailer and moved. Same campground, different spot. The space we were in originally was fine but there wasn't much room around it and no shade. As soon as a better site opened up we jumped on the opportunity to move.

Our new campsite

We love our new site. There is space in front of the trailer to sit and a picnic table. It is next to trees so there is shade. We also have a fire ring so we can enjoy fires. The people who moved out of the site left a tomato plant that we have now taken over. I have really enjoyed the extra tomatoes and made salsa for the first time.

The bigger site really came in handy for the last week of August. Lissy and Tiffany came to visit for a week. Kenna has been visiting all summer but had to head back home so that she could start school. I thought it would be nice if she had someone to fly back home with and Tiffany and Lissy volunteered for the job.

Emmy and Lucy were really happy Tiffany and Lissy came to visit

 Now five sisters in my trailer could have been a recipe for disaster but it was a really great visit.

We visited a few of the local attractions.

Visiting Lincoln's boyhood home

Kelli is creepy

Tiffany frolicking through the field

We went hiking.

Kelli and the cave

My sister on the Ohio River

 Enjoyed the food at Jailhouse Pizza.

Tiffany in jail

 

Lissy in jail

We had a blast hanging out at the pool. 

The weather was perfect: hot but not too hot.

Playing in the pool

Goofing around

Cannonball queens

The only thing I would have changed about their visit is that I would have made it longer. It all went by way too fast.

'nuff said!

After Lissy, Tiffany and Kenna got on the plane to head home, Kelli and I found ourselves alone. It was really weird to go back to just the two of us after having Kenna visit for two months. We really had a great summer and I am sad to see it over and have Kenna leave us.

Now we are looking forward to fall and all the fun that brings.