I need your help!!!

I'm wanting to really get back into my blogging and posting my G Free adventures but I have such a plain and blah blog that it's not much fun to look at. So, can anyone out there help me please? Also, you can follow me on Twitter @kiss_me_kates. I'm not much fun, but every now and then get a good one put out there LOL. Anways, thank you in advance! ~Kates~

Where has time gone?

Wow! It's been a very long time since I've been here, and I promise I have a good excuse. I've been LAZY! Yep, that's it, lazy. But even more honest, I just plain forgot I even had this out there. But a lot has been going on in my life, especially lately. I've been sick since September, 2008 with terrible stomach problems. After all the different medications, gall bladder surgery and upper and lower GIs, they have finally reached a conclusion. Last Tuesday, I was diagnosed as being Gluten Intolerant. What's that you might ask? Good question! As far as I can tell, or understand (please don't quote me, and correct me if I'm wrong) but what it boils down to is that my body hates wheat products, while my tastebuds love them! Long story short, if I eat something with gluten in it, I get very sick and feel miserable for hours, sometimes a couple of days. So, I've had to make a complete lifestyle change which I was dreading and almost crying about, but am finding out it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I had started taking gluten out of my diet about a month before I was diagnosed, so the news wouldn't be as shocking. There are ton of gluten free products out there, more than I even expected. The hardest thing has been getting "rid" of bread, but I invested in a bread machine and have found some pretty good bread mixes that actually taste better than a regular loaf of bread. I've also found some brownie mix, cookie mix and my new personal favorite...Kettle Chips! I just got done making a gluten free pasta salad and the recipe is really easy...so I figured I would share it with you all since I always enjoy a good easy recipe. Especially when it's 90+ in Iowa today. All you need is gluten free pasta, a cucumber, carrotts, frozen (thawed) peas, diced onion and a bottle of gluten free ranch dressing. Take 2 cups of uncooked gluten free pasta and cook according to directions from the manufacturer. Let the pasta drain and cool and set aside. In a mixing bowl, add the thawed peas, diced onion, sliced cucumber and about 1 1/2 cups of chopped carrotts. I tend to add a lot of carrotts because they are my favorite, so use as many or little as you like. Add the drained pasta to the bowl and crack open that bottle of g-free dressing and start stirring. I also use about 3/4 bottle of dressing, but again, this is also up to you, depends your own personal tastes. Put in the fridge for about 3-4 hours and it's ready to go! Pretty easy, huh? I'll post a picture here in a little bit, but the picture won't do the salad justice...it's just plain wonerful! So, I suppose I should stop yapping for now and get back to my cooking. Please if anyone has any g-free info to pass along, do so...this is all very new to me and would appreciate any help at all. Enjoy your day and rest of the weekend! ~Kates~

Lucky number 6? LOL

Yeah, so last night at about 7pm, my best friend and I were bored and thought, "Hey! Let's go get tattoos! Again!" We had just gotten one in November, but now that they are fully healed, we thought we needed something new, something to show off for Spring and Summer. So, what is more Spring than a Ladybug? Not much except for flowers, and I gotta say, I love this little bug! This was taken this morning, the day after and it's looking pretty good if I do say so myself. It really didn't hurt to badly either. I mean, don't get me wrong, there were a few points where she hit a nerve, but after a couple of minutes, my foot went numb LOL. Now, the ride home was another story because they covered it, taped me up like a mummy and then of course I had to go run errands. But once I got home and took off the bandage, it was okay. And today it's okay too, hardly any pain until I bump it LOL.

My new man Quincy!

Well, the last time I was here, I had sad news...but now I have happy news! This is the new man in my life, Mr. Quincy! I adopted him from the Humane Society and we have been inseparable ever since. He's a purebred Chihuahua that they found running around. When I got him he weighed just under 5 pounds and they thought he was about 1 1/2 years old. When I got him, he was in a size XS sweater and toy collars. He's grown so much that he's in a size small sweater and a small collar! I didn't think I could love him as much as Bailey, but I do. He's pretty much house broken, and by that I mean he's going potty in the house on a potty pad until spring and doesn't spend any time at all in a crate. He was in his crate for about 2 weeks and I accidentally left him out one morning when I went to work and he didn't do a thing to the house except find a pair of my socks. And even then, he didn't damage them, he just carried them everywhere....still does! LOL

Not much else is new. We're still getting snow and it's been bitterly cold and we're going thru another cold snap right now. Everyone I know has that crud and so far (knock on wood) I haven't caught it, but I know I'm fighting it. I'm kinda stuffy tonight and I can't taste my Diet Coke, so being germ free is coming to an end.

We spring forward already this weekend, but still have a couple inches of snow on the ground, so it's still pretty depressing to be lighter longer when you can't do anything outside but freeze your rear off and get a runny nose. Anyways, I should run for now, just wanted to throw in a quick update. It's going to be so cold tomorrow I don't' think I'm going to leave the house...good day to craft if you ask me!

It is with great sadness...

that I am typing this tonight. Tonight I made one of the hardest decisions of my life. To have my baby (dog) Bailey put to sleep. She was only 8 years old, but had lived a wonderful and full life and I owed her at least that much tonight. 3 weeks ago I took her to the vet because the right side of her jowls were swollen and she couldn't eat. We both thought that it was an infected tooth until she looked further and discovered it was oral cancer. Bailey had tumors all along the bottom part of her jaw, and they were wrapped around the roots of her teeth. They gave her 2 weeks to 2 months to live, so I started spending a lot of quality time with her. Things were looking okay, but I knew it was just a matter of time...and that time came tonight. Bailey had stopped eating and taking her pain pills on Thursday. She didn't eat on Friday, but Saturday ate a little bit. This continued until tonight. I went to McDonald's to get her her favorite meal, a cheese burger and fries. She would have nothing to do with it, so I called her vet. The vet said that there's a good chance that she could have gone in the night, but it wouldn't be very pleasant. The decision had been made for me then and there. Dr. McClure was great and met us right away at the office. It was so hard, but I knew this is what I had to do. She went so peacefully and is no longer in pain. There will only be one Bailey and I'm so happy that she decided to bless me with her life. She is up in puppy heaven right now playing and eating....I love you Bailey! Love, Mama

The Dog Days of Summer!

That's right, the Dog Days of Summer are here and I just couldn't pass up these 2 pictures. I think if I had a fan that sat on the floor, Bailey would be in front of it too! The heat index is supposed to reach over 100 today and tomorrow! Can you believe it?!? Last night I ran upstairs to straighten up a few scrapbooking things and Bailey placed herself right in front of the a/c. I was so cold I had to turn it down and I think it almost offended her. I think I saw her raise her middle claw at me! I don't know where she would ever get attitude like that, certainly not from me. :)

I was upstairs straightening things up because I'm getting ready to start making Christmas gifts. I know, it's early, but it will be here before you know it! I'm making cookbooks for my mom and sister that have family favorite recipes from my 2 grandmothers. I'm going to make copies of the original recipe cards on photo paper and somehow paste them in the books for them. I hope they like them. I'm also going to make a small altered clipboard for my mom to use at school and hope to get that done today. I'll try and remember to post pictures on here of them.

I'm also looking for great ideas to store ribbons in my craft room. I'm thinking about using quart Mason jars and lining them up by color. What do you think? I would love to hear from you guys with any ideas on the ribbons, the cookbooks or even the clipboard. I know, I know, I need to post pictures of my scrapbooking room...I will try to remember to take some tonight, it's actually looking pretty clean! Anyways, I suppose I should hop in the shower and finally start my day. I have lots to get done and should probably start on it. Have a great day, stay cool and stay inside! Katie

My newest obsession...

Hummingbirds. These pretty birds are amazing and fast! Did you know that they can see the color red? That would explain why all the feeders have red on them, huh? lol There are lots of good sites out there with helpful information on these little guys and also tons of feeders out there. Just use www.google.com and search "hummingbirds" or "hummingbird feeders" and see what you find!

My other new adventure is gardening, mainly perennials. Above is also a picture of Golden Honeysuckle, which is a plant that hummingbirds love (or so I'm told). I put this bush in a corner near my bedroom window, along with a hummingbird feeder and am hoping that by the end of summer I will be able to wake up to the wonderful smell of flowers. Next to the Honeysuckle I put a trellis and an old antique chair for the plant to climb up and hopefully it will. I still plan on putting some other potted flowers around that area to attract more birds and add more color.

Not much else is new, I've joined NutriSystem and love it. LOVE IT! I haven't lost a whole lot of weight, but I know I've lost inches and most of all, I've learned how to eat better and a lot about portion sizes. I know more about food values and food combinations and hopefully will carry that with me for a lifetime. Eatting 5 times a day is a dream come true for a girl who loves to eat. There are days where I feel all I'm doing is eatting, but if it's helping me drop weight, I'm all for it. I've also gotten hooked on making smoothies. I make at least 2 a day for my fruit/dairy servings. I make a double one for my afternoon snack and take it to work to have at about 5pm. At 7pm I eat dinner and I'm not hungry the rest of the night. They are easy to make, especially with my Magic Bullet blender. If you don't have one, I highly suggest you get one, unless you like dragging out your big blender every day. Anyway, the base of the recipe is so simple: 1 container of fat free yogurt (any flavor you want), 1 cup frozen fruit and 2 Tbsp of fat free Cool Whip. I layer mine in that order and go to town! If I use fresh fruit, I add a handful of small ice cubes to make it a little thicker.

So, that's the quick update about what's going on with me...I know I'm really bad updating here and will try to get better. Hang in there with me and have a great day!