Monday, July 27, 2009

The Weekend Festivities

What another whirl wind weekend we had. Friday ended up at a friends house for several hours hanging out with people that Todd went to high school with. It was a great time and the kids all had a blast playing together. We ended up home pretty late and off to bed we went for an early wake up call.
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Saturday morning was packing up the cars and heading out to the Greene Arts and Crafts Show EARLY! We set up, the sun came out and it was a gorgeous day! Hoards of people roamed the streets of Greene looking for that treasure. I saw a lot of people that I knew and it is always such a fun time! Business was pretty good. I met my goal for the day so I was satisfied with the day. It is always so hard prepping for something like this because you never know what will sell and what people are interested in!
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So off to bed early we went on Saturday night for another early wake up call. This time for the Tim Fancher Memorial 5K race in Great Bend, PA. Graydon wanted to do the kids run and I was doing the 5K. Friends of ours (Hi Kim) raced also! The above pic is us before the races.
It was quite the humid day for a run but a lot of people showed up and I knew some of the runners which was great. Graydon and Anastasia (on Graydons left) headed out on the run.

I think it was about 1/2-3/4 of a mile...


Here is my kid in 1st place!!! Go Graydon!!!
He has pretty good running form too!

So in the end, Graydon got 1st and Anastasia came in 2nd. I was so proud of these two!! Maybe we have a couple of new runners in the family!

Kim and I before the race!! She has been such a good friend. She's a great running partner who encourages me to get out there and perform!!
THANKS KIM!!

Yours truly!!
I came in 3rd in my age bracket!! I was so surprised!!! I guess it was a good day for a run!! After the race, Todd dropped me off at the Red and White close to our home so I could put another 4-1/2 miles in to meet my 7 mile quota for the day. You know I gotta keep to the training schedule or else I'll never be ready for the race in October!

Me and my buddy after the race!! I'm so proud of him!!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Saturday, July 25th 9-4:00PM

Greene Arts & Crafts Show
THIS SATURDAY
July 25th, 9-4:00 PM
rain or shine
If you want a good excuse to get out of the house, stop by to the Greene Arts & Crafts Festival in historic Greene, New York! There are tons and tons of wonderful artists with many different arts. It really is a great show and I always have a lot of fun at it. You can find me in the above photo...
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Make sure you stop by and say hi!!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Wedding Weekend

What a fun filled jam-packed weekend we had! Saturday my cousin Patrick married his fiancee Melinda in a beautiful catholic wedding held at St. James. This photo above was taken outside the church after they got married. I just love the look of it, very vintage! Melinda looked absolutely stunning in her beaded dress with her headpiece made of white feathers and a vintage looking veil. The reception was held at the Binghamton Club where we were entertained all night with dancing and music (Rooster and the Roadhouse performed). So much fun!! Graydon even danced a bunch of songs with me.
Here is a photo of my sister D'Lynn on the right and my cousin Brooke on the left. Brooke is from California and the only real chance of seeing her is for weddings! But is was great to talk to her and her adorable son, Tristan.

Here is another cousins shot, minus a few who were partying!! Liza, Mitchell, me, Graydon, Dustin (back), D'Lynn and Shea!
In between the wedding and the reception, my sister and brother-in-law hosted an in between party. During the party, they had a birthday celebration for my niece Shea. She turns 8 this Friday!!! The cake was specific to her request! Flip flops, palm tree, sand and ocean!! Do you think she liked her cake!!
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Notice MoJo under the table. This dog travels the country. He normally lives in California with my aunt and uncle, but he summers in Michigan and travels to New York!!
Boy would I love to be him :)

Then on Sunday we went to breakfast with my family at Park Diner. I think there were close to 50 of us from the wedding including my cousin and his bride. It was great to catch up with family and friends and afterwards we went to see the new couples house they just closed on and moved into a couple days before their wedding.
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After that we took Graydon fishing to our favorite spot. My fish catch of the day was a sunny and then perch and then a BASS! Graydon also caught a bunch as well as Todd.
It was a perfect ending to a perfect weekend.
I'm exhausted!!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Happy Wedding Day

Today my cousin Patrick is marrying his lovely fiancee Melinda.
It is going to be a jam packed day full of family, wedding and even a birthday party to boot. We are going to an in between party at my sisters where we will be celebrating my niece, Shea's birthday! So far the day looks good outside, there is a chance of rain but HEY, what else is new here in Upstate!
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So for now I leave you. I am off to get 6 miles of running in, come home, wrap up the wedding gifts and get ready for the big day!
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Congratulations Melinda and Patrick!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Absent

Yes, I have been absent from blog world lately with really no good excuse except for I have been really busy with life in general. Summer, time for relaxing and hanging out but not for this chic. I feel like I have been living in my car...going to school, work, back to school, doctors appointments, errands...ugh!! I am so tired of it already! I wish for one day at home where I have nothing to do except for pottery and hanging out. I'm not too sure when that will be though!
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The above photo was last Wednesday night at around 11:30 PM. Todd had an idea for making tie-dye shirts for Graydons soccer tournament on Saturday. Needless to say it was for a contest and I could not pass up an opportunity to create. So for an hour and a half I rubber banded the shirts and then proceeded to dye them. All in all I think I got to bed at 1:30 AM.
But the kids came in 1st place and they received a McDonalds soccer ball. I was happy to see the kids thrilled with that ball...was it worth no sleep....hmmmm, sure!!

Graydon and I were walking home from my in-laws the other day when we came across this tiny little frog. We brought him home and I proceeded to take these photos of him to show you the actual size of him. The daisy was just a little wild daisy that grows everywhere. He only fit right in the center perfectly!

This is Graydons hand with the little frog on it. He was sooo cute and we put him in my flower garden to start a new home for himself!

Tippy toes Stitch peeking at the birds in the front yard!
Too funny!!

And who is this you might add...well it is Frodo and Graydon and I saved him from being killed on Route 12 in the construction zone. Apparently he got out of him leash and ventured onto the busy road. He is almost deaf and blind and really didn't know where he was going. I stopped the car and ended up grabbing him before something happened. Turns out we knew the owner and the owner was very happy to have him back.
As was I!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

The Flight of the Blue Angels

The good old 4th of July was something to remember. First the day started off with me running a 5K in Montrose, PA for the first time in a very long time. It was fun and very hilly. At one point I thought that we were never going to come back down from going up all those hills. I did well considering the knee, which I might add had been feeling very well (knock on wood).
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There were I think about 400-500 runners, some doing the 10K and some the 5K. When the race started, nobody was saying a word and the pitter patter of all the runners shoes was pretty cool to hear. That lasted until the first hill and then people started talking to one another around me...which also was a little weird. I typically try not to talk when running (unless I'm bs-ing with my running partner) because it screws up my breathing. I'm also not too sure how many people were in my race but I will not tell you my time, even though I was happy with it.
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After the race, I raced home, made a pasta salad and off to our annual air show party at friends house. A twist happened this year, we had to evacuate during the Blue Angels show. So they bussed us up to the Air Show at the airport, gave us free tickets and then my sweet taking husband weaseled our way into the VIP area. The above photo is of Graydon waving to the pilots before they took off. Each had their own way of saluting the crowd. The thing that was so impressive with these guys is their precision. Not only in flying but their ground work also.
It was such an amazing site to see especially on the 4th of July. We had a primo location for photographs and both Todd and Mr. Ellis were my eyes for helping me take these great shots.

Two planes right side, two planes upside down!!
CRAZY!!!

Only 18 inches apart doing about 400-600 mph!!!



Graydon had so much fun watching them...we did too!!
What a 4th to remember!!

On another note...FOOD!!
I picked some peas from my in-laws garden while they are gone. So Sunday night we had a delicious dinner. I made salmon cakes (like crab cakes), homemade tartar sauce, fresh peas from the garden and rice pilaf.
YUMMMMM!!
The cakes were pretty easy but a little time consuming. You can find the recipe in this months Martha Stewart mini magazine. You know the food one...
I highly recommend these and coming from me who does not really care for cooked fish, these were GREAT!!