Nostalgia....

Gosh, I miss her so.



This is the soundtrack to my childhood, and I really think she looks like my mom here!  Same gorgeous hairstyle from that time - you can check in photos.  There wasn't a note out of place, and the audience couldn't wait until the end to burst into applause.  She was meant to sing, not to model other people's creative designs, that's for sure.  I'm glad I got a chance to bask in the brilliance of Whitney's talent, if only from an upstairs bedroom while playing Barbies or coloring at my desk.  Mom actually got to see her in concert once - lucky!!!  Whitney, you'll never be forgotten.

P.S. I love that dress - so girlish even while it tries to be so seductive!

Pumpkins, Part 2

I'm on my way to solving the photo storage crisis, but it will take a lot of work.  On a similar note, we got a new dishwasher and then got that dishwasher fixed after it stopped working!  (It needed an adjustment to the door.  Sheesh.)

As part of our Halloween festivities, we also went to a pumpkin patch near Newberg that Kenny discovered on his way to work.  Here are our findings!

The pumpkin patch was accessible through the woods - I felt like Gretel with my Hansel as we traipsed through the trees together:

Lo and behold, there was the patch around the bend!

A lone pumpkin marks the path back up to the barn and our car:

The patch and a handy wheelbarrow:

Ken checks out the selection:

I found mine!

Ken carefully cutting the stems of my picks:

Looking back:

As Kenny and I climbed back up the hill to pay for our pumpkins, we heard mooing and went to investigate the animals at the farm.  We got to pet bunnies, baby calves, and some skittish goats and pigs!

Ken scratching the ears of some very nervous piggies:

Bunnies!

And curious goats:

Two baby calves who had been born just that month.  They were SO cute and, as you can tell from the video below, were missing their mom:

What Next?

I have a lovely post nearly all prepared for "Pumpkins, Part 2."  Except that apparently I've used up the 1 GB of storage that Google allots me to post pictures on my blog, so now I either have to buy more store from Google (yeah, RIGHT) or create a new blog.

Megan, have you ever had this problem?  If so, how did you get around it?

It looks like I won't be blogging for awhile until I figure out what to do next.  I'm very crestfallen about this!  At least now my camera can stay at home instead of being toted around in my purse, I guess.

~ A sad Katie

Pumpkins, Part 1

I got home tonight from work and grocery shopping to discover Ken on the floor elbows deep in fixing our leaking dishwasher, which means the following:

I am to stay as far away from him as possible while still remaining within calling distance, offering no help or suggestions whatsoever other than what is specifically and precisely requested, with no alterations in my actions and no commentary on my part in any form.

Which means I am in the living room, starving and without having put away the groceries, quietly updating my blog.

Kenny and I had a great Halloween this year in regard to pumpkins!  We visited a beautiful and quaint professional pumpkin patch with Mom and Jim courtesy of Mom's annual office party, Ken took me to a small local pumpkin patch he had noticed on his drive to work, and we carved pumpkins together while watching a hilariously gross/schlocky/silly horror movie called "Slither."  Here is a photo tour of our squash adventures!

Plumper Pumpkin Patch 2012 (finally, my turn to go after Camryn Taylor wows everyone at Mom's office with her cuteness and I only get to see pictures!):

Plumper Pumpkin Patch is a farm run by a family - and how lucky that family is!

Jim and Ken eye pumpkins to determine which is weird enough to grace the door outside Jim's office.

Mom and Kenny debate pumpkin plusses and minuses - it's a serious business!

What a view!

So many to pick from....

Ken checks out the "pumpkin washer:"

Pumpkins in their autumnal glory:

Jim gets ready for some "face" painting action!

.... but went with his pitching arm instead!

As we make our way up the hill toward more adventures, here are some delicious sights:

A pumpkin-dotted hill:

White pumpkins, should orange not be your color of choice:

Whiiiiich one?

Choices, choices!

An autumn bounty:

Gourds, baby pumpkins, and more!

At the top of the hill we discovered the pumpkin cannon, a huge air-pressure-powered pumpkin gun similar to the one Megan and I built in high school to shoot potatoes, only much more powerful and much cooler!  

A truck out in the farmer's field makes for a great target, while baby pumpkins stand by as ammo.

Ken sizes up his target....

Takes aim....

And BOOM!

Huge grin!

The stance of a victor:

Jim is impressed - and wants a turn!

Tree Paparazzi

I am a confirmed stalker and photographer of beautiful autumn trees.  I can't help it - they are so gorgeous and set the stage for the thrilling delights of Halloween.  Plus, it's good exercise being out in nature, walking around snapping pictures of fall foliage and enjoying the crisp (or damp) air.  Here are some shots of local flora in fall:

Kenny discovered a tree farm on his way to work that had a veritable rainbow of autumn colors, so he took me on a drive one morning on my day off before his next shift:

We visited a Christmas shop between Sherwood and Newberg and enjoyed the view as we left:

Tualatin bedecks itself in red and orange as I wait for the rest of the family to join me at Buffalo Wild Wings!

Megan and I rode in shopping carts at this Haggen's with our friends Ammon and Jordan one night during our junior year in high school while waiting for our buddy Matt to get off work!

This tree made me grin - how is just one part of it turning red?

Hey, here comes Mom in her truck!

I took a walk through the neighborhood in search of trees I had seen while out driving and got some great shots.  The weather caught up to me near the end, though, and I had to hurry home!

This tree is just perpendicular across the street from my house:

I drive past this one, just up the street, every day on my way to work, grocery shopping, or to go toward Tualatin:

This stretch of trees on the other side of the tiny airport begged to be photographed!

On the same street, a gorgeous red tree was doing its best to hide from me:

We take this street a lot on the way out of Newberg toward Tualatin or Tigard:

The storm is catching up to me!

Hurrying home, but I have to take a pic of my favorite tree outside the Newberg Fred Meyer:

And on my way back, down the street I take everyday from 99 W past Fred Meyer toward home:

This house looks perfect for trick-or-treaters, if the porch doesn't collapse on them!

Even the homeowners' apple orchards aren't kept up - dozens of apples are going unpicked.

I beat the rain home but was sad to go in - what a gorgeous walk!

Here are some shots over near where I work - Scholls Ferry is so filled with color at this time of year, especially in the ivy that covers the walls meant to block traffic noise, but my lunches are too short to park and walk to take pics, and I can't park in the bike lane or take photos and drive at the same time!  These will have to do: