More dots

Remember how I changed this little ditty a few days ago? (I wore it to an after party one night and got tons of compliments! I was so excited!) Well, I had some extra fabric left over from the skirt. I wanted to experiment with some more flowers, so here is what I came up with...

I bought this black shirt from Target on clearance for $4! I couldn't pass it up. It was a little baggy, so I actually used the belt that came with the thrifted dress. It worked out perfectly. I wasn't sure that I liked both the flowers together. It made the top a little heavy, so I ended up just wearing the one on the right. Just added some tulle to make it pop more on the black shirt.

For the flower on the left, I used this tutorial from House of Smith's

 Mine is smaller, and then I also added some tulle over my existing fabric for the center row for more texture. Just had the button on hand and glued it to the middle.

I wore it in my hair to the opera.

I'm always excited when I envision something in my head, and then it actually works!

Now I have some fun new flowers that I can pin wherever I want!

The Colonel

Gabe was talking to our oldest niece on the phone the other day. The very first thing she asked was "How's the fried chicken?" We both laughed. Quite honestly neither of us have been to a KFC in years. We might have to make a ceremonious trip just so we can give her a full report. I'm sure she'd like that.


The very next day we went to the Louisville Visitors Center downtown and guess who we found...

...and then...

Gabe tried unsucessfully to steal his chicken.

Watch out Colonel, you don't know who you're messing with.

Done.

So, I finished it. Well, we finished it. Gabe before me. We were reading it together. At first aloud, then reading silently side by side laying in bed. After awhile I was done (with reading together). I was getting a neck ache and I realized that often, I will re-read something, not only for comprehension, but also if I felt like the statement was powerful. Just to absorb it all again.

The series was definitely an all time favorite! If you haven't read them, you should give them a try. You won't be disappointed. After reading all three, I think I still like the first one the most.

Mainly because of this quote...

..."because when he sings... even the birds stop to listen."

**********************

The opera this weekend was amazing! So excited he is here working with this fabulous opera company. Everyone is wonderful!

Click me.

This evening marks the opening night of the first show of Kentucky Opera's fall season. It is a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci. They are one act operas, usually always done together. Gabe is in the chorus for both of these shows and is covering (understudying) the role of Silvio in I Pagliacci. I'm going to the Sunday matinee. So, fingers crossed that everything goes well.

If you're interested in the synopsis of both, just click on the opera name above. I put in links for the Wikipedia pages.


Don't you just love wiki?      Seriously?



It's amazing. 

Anywho....

How about some pictures.

This is a creek at Cherokee Park. We drove through and then made a stop to take these pictures.

Moments after this I fell, hard.

I have the bruises and scrapes to prove it, but, I'm not going to show you. You might think I'm a wimp. Instead I'll let you imagine my injuries.

The camera almost died too but it must be made of steel.

See, because then I took this picture.  Really I was fine and so was the camera.

This was our view from a restaurant in Indiana, called Buckhead Grill. Yummy.

I love the sky in this picture. It's totally unedited. Isn't it pretty? Gabe was feeding the ducks some bread.

View of downtown Louisville and Gabe

I just wuv him. He lost his facial hair a few days ago, and got a haircut. No facial hair needed for all operas this season. I couldn't believe it. I just stared at his face all day. I hadn't seen it since May.

We added an extra page to the blog on the right side. See the pick of Gabe singing that say "Click Me"

Well, click it.

It has his upcoming performances with links. So, we'll keep that updated for anyone interested. Which should be everyone :)

Thanks for your comments and emails about the recent dress refashion. Y'all make my day and as always thanks for reading!

Dots

So, while we were in Iowa, we frequented Goodwill a lot  sometimes. I had read about people refashioning thrift store finds and was excited for the challenge. I bought the dress like two months ago, but finally decided what I wanted to do with it.

So, here it is....

Like my new look? I basically just chopped off the bottom, and made a new hem. I was pretty excited, especially when I paired it with an even cheaper find at goodwill- my favorite belt! It is so easy to find good belts at thrift stores.

Just a few days ago one of our new friends suggested that I read a blog she loves called

newdressaday.com. I quickly became addicted. Marisa lives in LA and makes weekly trips to Goodwill to find dresses for $1. It is her goal to make 365 dresses for $365. She blogs each day to show you what she has refashioned. It's amazing! Check it out. She happened to be on the Nate Berkus show today and I was so happy I caught it. Now I have even more ideas.

Happy thrifting!

sweet.

Louisville, Kentucky LDS temple

Friday was a sweet, sweet day. Temple trip in the morning and then Homeade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen that night for a treat. Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!

So good. Hope you all had an amazing weekend!

We sure did.

Poem

What Cancer cannot do

Author: Unknown

Cancer is so limited...

It cannot cripple love.

It cannot shatter hope.

It cannot corrode faith.

It cannot eat away peace.

It cannot destroy confidence.

It cannot kill friendship.

It cannot shut out memories.

It cannot silence courage.

It cannot reduce eternal life.

It cannot quench the Spirit.

 

.................................

 

I used to read this poem daily when I worked at M.D. Anderson. It was on little index cards posted all through our clinic, as a daily reminder, that it will never defeat us.

 

 

Louisville Zoo

Last year, we bought a membership to the Houston zoo, and we loved it. We tried to go whenever the weather was nice, hit up our favorite spots and then leave. I loved the giraffes, Gabe loved the red panda. Little did we know, less than a year later we would be traveling to different parts of the country. When we left Houston, I had an "aw shucks" moment when I realized our membership hadn't expired. Oh well. That is until we remembered a little clause in the memberships. They accept it at different zoos around the country. So, we went to the Des Moines Zoo for free. Then, we got in free here too. Yah! The Louisville zoo was huge. It was also 95 degrees. What is up? Seriously?

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day.

These guys gave us a good laugh. Especially since the meerkats in Houston seem to be on a daily regimen of amphetamines.

Then we entered "The Gorilla Forest"

and saw this guy...

He was right next to the window. So, I tried to take as many pics as fast as I could before he moved, but we didn't seem to bother him at all.

 

It was so cool to see him watch us and make eye contact.

Then we stumbled on a tiger with his keeper

Note to self. Only go to zoo when temperature blow 75 degrees. Thanks.

What love means

Today, I went to the post office and then to Borders. A new favorite thing. I am going to borrow Mockingjay from a new friend, but she isn't quite done reading it. So, in order to decrease some of the anticipation I read a chapter here or there if I go.

But, I knew I had to be back by 4...you know...for Oprah.

It's her final season people, I don't know if you love her or dislike her, but I have watched for basically my entire life. I've been more faithful at times, than others of course.

So, I am home by 3:45 and decide to read some blogs and catch up with bloggy friends and read this post by cjane. I was totally captivated by her friend's story. So, then I read her blog and was in awe. She is so witty and charming and faithful. Next thing I knew it was 4:34!! What!!!!

I missed 34 minutes of the second episode of the last season of Oprah! The Judd's were on!

It was okay though, the blog was worth it.

Did anyone else love the Judds? Then Wynonna, when she went solo?

My sister and I use to sing Love can build a bridge and No one else on earth into remote controls as kids.

Anyone else?




No.

Ok.

So, needless to say I loved watching it. The dynamic between the two of them is quite unique. Then wanna know what happened?

They sang Love can build a bridge.

I cried. I also cried watching the premiere yesterday, so now I have cried twice watching the first two shows of Oprah's last season. My, my, my. Gabe was here when it happened. I felt bad for him.

Here is a piece for you...

I'd gladly walk across the desert

With no shoes upon my feet


To share with you the last bite


Of bread I had to eat


I would swim out to save you


In your sea of broken dreams


When all your hopes are sinkin'


Let me show you what love means

A love list

Right now I am loving...

1. this guy, well duh, and his new jeans + cowboy boots look.

2. You

3. Peanut Butter

4. Walking to Borders

5. Popcorn

6. Anything fall, mostly orange leaves

7. Marthastewart.com------- enough said

8. Suzanne Collins, because she writes some unforgettable characters. Haven't read Mockingjay yet, but can't wait.

9. Sundays, not to be confused with Sundaes, although those are yummy.

10. Sunsets


What are you loving right now?

Recently

Cincinnati, OH

So, in the last few days we have been in three states. Yep, in the car a lot. We went to Indiana for the first time, but who am I kidding, that's "just across the river." Then the next day we took off for Cleveland, OH. Gabe had an audition there. It took us about 5 and a half hours, but it was a nice drive. On the way back we stayed with a friend near Cincinnati, which is about an hour and a half away from Louisville. We made the rest of the drive the next morning.

On Thursday night a few friends from church invited us to a Louisville Bats baseball game. They are a minor league team that feeds to the Cincinatti Reds. We had a blast! Unfortunately, they lost and it was a play off game, so the season just about ended. Oh well. It was so cheap too!

Our seats, only $11! Not bad if you ask me.

Gabe waited all game for a line drive, or even a pop up....

...but to no avail. I had a glove too, but who was I kidding. I was terrified any time someone hit a foul ball. Fast pitch softball was my downfall.

Even though they lost, we had a great time!

The Digs

Remember how I told you we lived in a historic building in Louisville. In case any of you were curious (Mom, but really any immediate family member) I wanted to post pics of our most recent digs.

Ooooh, aaaaahhh

main entrance                                       lobby                                            hallway

Historic features

Now for the creme de la creme...

 

It's small, but wanna know what? Works for us!

Remember my view in Iowa?

But, when I was in Iowa, going to Wal Mart was exciting. I'm okay with the trade off.

Wanna know what else? We can walk a few blocks and see this...

Because we're so close to Indiana, the area where we are located is named "Kentuckiana"

Get it.

Got it.

Wuv you.

Three words

I just wanted you to know something...

Three words...

The Hunger Games

Three more words...

By Suzanne Collins

I picked this book up in the only Wal Mart in Indinaola, IA...and then put it back.

Little did I know. Once I kept seeing it pop up on some of my favorite blogs and facebook status updates, I knew I had to revisit. It is the first book in a trilogy. The third book just came out. I have even convinced Gabe. He is actually reading it right now, and I am about to start the second one. Yippee.

So worth it. That is all.

HG plus DC on a beautiful day in Louisville, KY equals happiness. Hubby would have made it perfect.

Luckily I got to see him soon after.

Wish you all a very happy day.

The Biltmore Estate

While staying in Tennessee, we decided to hop on over to North Carolina to see the Biltmore in Asheville. What a great idea. It was breathtaking. I took so many pictures, I was actually dreading having to pick through them for this post. There were just too many beautiful moments. It was hard to let some of them go unnoticed.

Let me just say...It was BEEEEEAUTIFUL!

Definitely worth the trip if you are ever close by.

You aren't allowed to take pictures inside, otherwise I would have had 500 to choose from. The tour takes you through over 25 rooms, though the estate has over 250. I still can't believe we only saw one tenth of the home. We walked for just about two hours. You don't want to miss any details. The artwork and craftmanship is awe-inspiring.

The rest of the property is over 8,000 acres of forest, farms, gardens, vineyards with a winery and a hotel. It would take days and days to see most of the public attractions. It was overwhelming.

If you are interested in the histrory, this is a great resource.

Flying in the trees

Then we went down a line that had a great deal of give. The tour guide shoved the wire up and down.

It felt like a roller coaster. SO FUN!

Then they told us to go upside down...

yeah

I stayed upside down for about 5 seconds. Not so much fun for me.

...and because I love you all...

another beautiful smoky mountain view

Creek

I feel behind on blogging. I know I've been blogging almost everyday again, but I was way busy in August and there is still so much I wanted to show you. We had so much fun with our families while visiting. After Dan and Lauren's wedding we took off with Mom and Linda for a quick trip to Gatlinburg.

                                               I inhale a little deeper there. You'll see why.

You see?

Your turn. Take a real deep breath.

One more.

I was standing on a rock in the middle of the creek and decided it was too amazing for just a still photo. I imagined even on the most stressful day this clip easing my mind and reminding me of the beauty that surrounds us. How grateul I am to my Creator.

P.S. I'm doing a few more days of backtracking. Zip lines and the the Biltmore coming up soon :)

Here is a preview...

Gabe and my Mom racing

We even went upside down! Gaaaahhhh!