Blog Award!!

This morning I woke up to a fun surprise: an award from Steph over at The Adventures Of Jon and Steph!!! I'm so excited!! Thanks Steph :)

The Honest Scrap Award

The rules are:

1. List 10 honest things about yourself that your
blogging friends do not know about you.

2. Give the award away to 7 bloggers.

3. Let them know they've received the award.

1. I only paint my toenails one color, it's bright pink, and I've been using the same "Strawberry Electric" shade since high school. The only time I've ever changed it up was for my good friends wedding, I was a bridesmaid and had to paint them red. Don't worry, as soon as I got home they were switched back.

2. I was originally triplets in my Mom's Belly (the other 2 didn't make it). We joke that I killed the other two (Because I am really destructive and I like breaking things haha), plus there is only room for one daddy's girl not three, and only enough money in his wallet to buy one Jetta - and we all know I don't like to share hahah

3. I'm allergic to pretty much everything that grows out of Mother Earth, which is somewhat ironic considering my Dad owns his own Landscaping Company.

4. I don't drink, I've never been drunk EVER. And I never tried any sort of drugs while in high school or college. I'm just a square, but I don't care!

5. I like Pee Wee Herman, a lot. I have 3 seasons of his show on DVD. I loved his show as a kid, and I still think it's hilarious.

6. I don't eat fruits or veggies (only salad and corn). I'm a texture person, and I hate the texture of fruits and veggies in my mouth, yuck!!!

7. I can never finish a Hot Dog. I always eat almost all of it, and then by the end I start realizing what it is, and I just can't finish it. So I leave a little piece of hot dog on my plate every time.

8. I'm a VERY clean person. Perhaps on the verge of OCD. I have places for everything, routines for cleaning, and I am a huge germ-freak. I have special dish towels for drying dishes, special ones for drying your hands, and special ones for wiping down the counter. One towel can't be used for all three tasks, that would be gross.

9. While on my high school swim team I won the "Most Enthusiastic Team Member" Award. I'm a really outgoing and enthusiastic person, wether you are trying to swim your fastest time and need some encouragement, or if you need advice, I LOVE to talk, and would be happy to listen.

10. My mouth is tiny. When I go to the dentist to have impressions made they always have to use the child mold because the teen and adult ones don't fit in my mouth. Needless to say, my retainers are the size of a half dollar if not smaller.

Thanks Again Steph for the Award!! I tag:

Annie @ Chapters of Our Life
Ivy @ Little Woman, Little Home
Maryellen @ Mare's Mind
Sarah @ Miss Adventure's Misadventures
Casey @ The Ever Changing Life of a Military Wife
Jennifer @ Crazy Shenanigans
Heather @ Step Inside

100th Post Give Away Winners!

Finally the day is here, I'm so excited to announce the winners of my first give away!!

After putting everyone's name into one of those super high tech random name picker thingys, the results are in! (and remember, EVERYONE is a winner in my give away!!)

For the Super Cool, Super Special, Surprise Gift:
EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Of course the surprise gift isn't Vera or anything, but I will give you a few hints:
-they are cute
-they may or may not be handmade by yours truly
-I just may have spent WAY more than I should have at Michael's on them (despite the lies of the clearance event sale which was only for items worthy of an old lady in a floral print Mumu)


~~~

For the Vera Travel Gift Sets
#1 Maryellen
over at Mare's Mind

#2 Erin
over at A Tiger's Tale

#3 Casey
over at The Ever-Changing Life of a Military Wife

~~~

Well there you have it! I can't wait to send everything out!!

It doesn't matter if you didn't win the Vera (or if you forgot to enter),
I still have something super cute for you!

So please send me your address so my hard work doesn't go to waste haha.

katieandjoshsblog@gmail.com

-Katie

Show Us Where You Live Friday!

Today is Master Bedroom Day for the 'Show Us Where you Live Friday' over at Kelly's Korner! So here are a few pictures of our ever so tiny Master Bedroom/Office (we only have a one bedroom apartment, so there isn't really anywhere else for our desks)!

This is the view of our bedroom when you walk in the bedroom door. Everything is courtesy Pottery Barn Kids! haha, surprising eh? It is so bright and SO pink, I love it!

Here is a picture without flash.

The door on the left is the door to the living room and bathroom, and the one on the right is our overcrowded walk in closet, which I have successfully taken over. And of course, Joshy has to maintain some manhood amongst all of the pink, hence the flat screen tv! Now if I could just make the cord dissapear...
Under the TV is my little quilt chest, covered in picture frames, candles, and piggy banks! I didn't even mean to, but I randomly started collecting piggy banks, whenever I see a cute one, I snatch it up!

Welcome to our home office, haha! Josh's side is on the left, mine on the right, in case you couldn't tell :)

Here is a view if you are standing by the window looking towards the bedroom door. I love the parisian mirror hanging on the ribbon!

I can't wait until we move to our new place in August, we will have a larger master bedroom and a room soley dedicated to being an office, yay!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Katie

p.s. don't forget, Today is the last day to enter my give away!

Such a Sad Day...

Not only did we lose Farrah, but Michael too :(

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

To me one of the saddest parts about the whole thing, is that he is someone who would have truly benefited from knowing how much the world loved him while he was alive. I'm sure he is looking down somehow and watching all of the fans, but it's sad that it couldn't have happened while he was alive, I think it would have helped him as a person inside and out.

I sincerely hope the media focuses on all of his accomplishments and great talent as a musician and dancer, rather than all of the allegations and rumors.

It is crazy (yet not surprising) how his death has taken over every form of media: TV, Radio, Internet, and Social Networking sites - he really was phenomenal, and it is amazing to see so many people paying tribute to him.

His music has withstood the test of time and I can't foresee it dwindling anytime soon. He is a an amazing Music Icon, and it is so sad that he was taken right before his comeback tour. I just hope the new music he was planning on releasing next year is finished enough so we can all enjoy his last pieces of work.

-Katie

It looks like a 5 year Old Packed my Lunch

The Contents:

A Ham and Cheese Sandwich
Some Oreos
Ritz Bits
Gushers
and an Apple Juice

I guess it's a good thing I take my Flintstone's Vitamin every morning? haha

-Katie

Gym Freak of the Week

This week's Gym Freak of the Week story is a little different. I wasn't even inside when it happened, I was leaving to escape the circus, but apparently, you aren't free of Freaks until you are off of the premises completely.

Anyways, as I'm leaving the gym to walk to my ever so faithful Jetta which is waiting for me in the parking lot, I hear a loud BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. Similar in sound to the noise a large UPS or PG&E truck would make when it backs up, but this doesn't make sense because the parking lot is way to small to accommodate such large vehicles. Keeping this in mind I look around to see the following:

There is a lady in a red convertible Saab backing up because she overshot the parking space she wanted. Meanwhile her trusty Saab was letting EVERYONE within 5 miles know she was backing up with the annoying BEEP BEEP BEEP noises.

Seriously lady, are you THAT bad of a driver that you need a back up horn on your compact car?

-Katie

Father's Day Weekend Recap!

Warning: Super Long and Probably Boring Post haha

This last weekend I traveled to the Fresno area for my brother's State Championship for the Scholastic Clay Target Program. But before that trip started, I did a lot of other stuff!

On Friday I went to Napa and had lunch at Firewood Cafe with my good friend Lindsey. It was such amazing food, and great to catch up! After lunch we walked around Copperfield's book store and saw some really cute little things that I wanted to buy, but knew I shouldn't (ex: funny magnets, a cute journal, and a sassy reusable shopping tote).

After Napa, I drove to Livermore, and waited for Clay to get off of work at 9. While waiting I decided I would go shopping for some last minute Father's Day gifts and came away with a 16ft above ground pool, with the idea that I could set it up all by myself so it would be a neat surprise when my dad got home on Sunday from Fresno. BAD IDEA. I spent 4 hours trying to set this thing up, and finally gave up. It was so heavy, the ground was too uneven, and I was exhausted. I was really disappointed because I thought it would be super cool to have it all ready to go, but instead I drug it into our red barn to await dad's arrival on Sunday.

Once Clay got home at 9, we hit the road. He drove for the first 45 minutes, and then we stopped for gas and I took the wheel. Although he has been driving for 2 years, he doesn't have as much freeway experience as I do and a) I could tell he was somewhat intimidated by it and b) he was really inconsistent with his speed. I drove for a couple of hours then we traded again because all of the oncoming headlights were making me sleepy haha. We finally rolled into camp around 1:15 am and went straight to bed!

Saturday morning we woke up early and ate breakfast because Clay had a team meeting at 8. Then we headed from the campground over to the Traps. There were 30 traps, and the Trap range was at least a mile long, it was crazy!

Clay waiting to shoot.

Dad taking pictures with Clay's new Cannon 50D (spoiled child)

Clay's Squad has 3 girls on it and 2 boys. Girl power!

Each Shooter Shoots 25 times/Trap, and 100 times/Round. So each person on Clay's squad shot 25 times, then they moved to the next trap, and did this 4 times.

Here is Clay after his first 100 Shots, he got his personal best of 98!

After the first round, we went back to the motorhome to eat lunch. And while we were there my mom started making the Chilli for the Team Potluck Dinner that night, and she used the LARGEST can of beans I have ever seen in my life.Then we went out again for the second round of 100. That time Clay got a a 96, which sadly dropped him out of the race for best individual varsity score because the top three kids had a total score of 200, 199, and 198, and Clay finished with a 194, and I think was in 4th or 5th place.

Here is a picture of the Trap Range, it was huge! And there were a TON of people there.

Clay and Dad checking out the score board.

Another family from Clay's team was camped next to us, and they brought their pet birds!! It was so weird, who brings their pet birds camping? And what was even weirder was the fact that these people would take the birds out of the cages and kiss the birds, and let the birds pick food out from their teeth, it was disgusting!

After dinner there was an awards ceremony and a raffle. A guy named John from the USA Olympic Trap Team was there to help hand out the awards and talk to the kids which was neat. Clay won a box of shells, which is about $65.00 so he was excited about that.

And During Clay's first 100 shots he shot 75 straight, so he got a sweet patch!

Here is a picture of the river next to the campground

Home Sweet Home for the weekend!

Then on Sunday we got up and went to the Father's Day breakfast being put on by the Kingsburg Gun Club, and then hit the road! I drove the whole way home so we would get home faster and in one piece haha. We also gave a ride to two of Clay's teammates, and let me tell you, being in the car for 3 hours with 3 teenage boys full of energy was so funny. They were singing and dancing to music ranging from sad country to the thizzle dance, which made the ride go by a lot faster.

Once we got home and unloaded the motorhome we had lunch and gave my dad his Father's Day gifts. After he opened up his wrappable gifts we walked him out to the red barn to reveal the big gift that I so hugely failed at setting up alone. He loved it and we instantly got to work leveling the ground and setting it up!

We picked a spot and my dad got his baby sized tractor to level the ground. Then we raked out the rocks, and he put a layer of sand and then a layer of squishy bark down.

Dad on his baby tractor (don't worry he has big boy tractors too haha)
Then we laid out the pool and started filling it up! Which was taking FOREVER!

All in all I am SO GLAD I stopped trying to put it up myself, it was def. a few person job despite what the stupid box says.

After it was all set up and filing up with water my dad and I went swimming, which was more sitting/wading rather than swimming because there was only about 8 inches of water haha. Then we had a yummy steak dinner and looked at some baby albums and then I headed back to Rohnert Park.

It was a long and busy weekend with a lot of driving, but it was fun spending time with my family and watching Clay shoot!

-Katie

p.s. if you haven't entered my 100th post giveaway make sure you do by Friday! :)

Yay for Friday!

This Weekend's Itinerary:

Friday:
Drive to Napa and have lunch with Lindsey (1 Hour)
Drive home to my parents house in Livermore (1.5 Hours)
Drive with Clay to Kingsburg (4 Hours)

Saturday:
Watch Clay participate in his State Championship Trap Shooting Meet
(in hot/sweaty Kingsburg -yuck!)

Sunday:
Go to Brunch with the Family for Father's Day
Then Drive Back to Livermore (4 Hours)
From Livermore drive back to Rohnert Park (1.5 Hours)

Here is my feeble attempt at showing you where my travels will take me haha



So Much Driving!! Ahh! My parents already left for Kingsburg, but Clay has to work a closing shift tonight so we are leaving around 9pm, so needless to say this is going to be a LONG day/weekend of driving. But it's going to be fun!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

-Katie

p.s. don't forget to enter my give away!! :)

100th Post Give Away!

Hello Everyone! And welcome to my 100th post :)

I can't believe I'm finally at 100! It's so exciting!! Anyways, for my 100th post I wanted to host a giveaway, but my giveaway is going to be different than most give aways and here is how:

Rules:
1. Only bloggers who were followers before this post can enter. Not because I don't like new bloggy friends, but because I want to thank those who have stuck it out the last 100 posts :)
2. You can only have one entry (via comment on this post), so no need to post it on your blog to get a second one ect.
2. Everyone will win, maybe not the Vera, but I have a very little something (don't get too excited) for you as a thank you!

The Prizes :)

I put together three Vera Bradley Pinwheel Pink Gift Sets! Each set has a Curling Iron Travel Cover (heat resistant and PERFECT for the girl on the go), a cosmetic bag, and a Zip ID case. Since I know a lot of you are traveling this summer I thought this would be perfect! You have until June 26th to enter!

Honestly, I love blogging, and I never thought I would get such a great feeling of comradery, support, and friendship from Blogger! But I have, and it's so fun! Getting your comments everyday just puts a smile on my face, and often times makes me laugh. Thanks for following, and thanks for sharing your lives with me. And here's to 100 more!

-Katie

Gym Freak of The Week

Yesterday as I was swimming laps I started to feel a bit discouraged that I hadn't had any Gym Freak of The Week experiences yet, but then I had to reassure myself that I was jumping the gun, seeing as how it was only Tuesday.

I swear, not even two minutes later the Freak Gods heard me and they provided. I had just finished my cool down laps, and was getting ready to get out of the pool. I came up from the water, took my goggles and cap off, and started to reach for my Nalgene bottle when out of no where I hear the lyrics of Elvis resonating throughout the pool house (which apparently has pretty good acoustics).

I look around and see a man in his early 40's sitting in the hot tub, just belting out Elvis's Blue Moon at the top of his lungs. Now, there isn't anything wrong with singing, but I hardly doubt I'm alone in thinking this is abnormal behavior for a public gym setting, right?

Thank you Mr. Elvis Singer for keeping Gym Freak of the Week alive and strong. At this point, people like you are my motivation to go to the gym, for pure entertainment rather than the exercise.

Aside from my Gym Freak story I wanted to let all of you know that I'm guest blogging today for Ivy at Little Woman, Little Home while she is on vacation! She is one of my favorite bloggers and if you haven't already, you should really check her blog out!

-Katie

Clay's Graduation Weekend!

This weekend Josh and I went home for my little brother's High School Graduation. I had so much fun and got to spend a lot of time with my family :)

Clay in his Cap and Gown!

Clay marching in, he is the 3rd person wearing black.

FINALLY! It's OVER! haha It was so cold/boring!

Since we had all of our family there and it was such a huge mob scene, my Mom and I found Clay real quick to take a few pictures.

He is so tall!

Graduation Day was really fun, especially seeing Clay so excited and happy.

On a side note, in the chaos of everyone leaving my house to drive to Graduation I accidentally left my dad at home. I thought he was riding with my Grandparents, so Josh, Kevin, and I left.

Long story short, a few minutes later I checked my phone and I had a missed call from dad and a voicemail saying I left him at home! Opps! So we had to turn around and go get him. I felt so bad! I forgot my Dad at home and he almost missed Clay's Graduation! Whoops!! hahaha

I hope you all had a great weekend!

-Katie

Need Creeper Deterrent?

My friend recently posted this link on Facebook and I knew I had to share it with all of you. I know most of you are married or engaged, but everyone has a single/waiting to get engaged girlfriend who needs some creeper deterrent.

Feast Your Eyes On This:

Ms. Taken

There is a company selling fake engagement rings for $50 to help ward off unwanted creeps who would normally approach you if you didn't have some bling on. It comes with a carrying case that fits on your key chain so that you won't ever find yourself in a situation without your fake bling.

If the crowd of creepers just gets to be too much, whip out your Ms. Taken bling and let the stories of the beach proposal and soon to be honeymoon in Fiji start flowing.

Happy saturday :)

-Katie

Show Us Where You Live Friday!

I'm a little late hopping on Kelly's Korner 'Show Us Where You Live Friday', but I've finally had the time to clean the house spotless and take pictures, so I'll be joining from here on out. :)

As many of you know, we don't own a house, we rent a one bedroom - one bathroom apartment. Therefore, the cabinetry, faucets, and light fixtures are not my choice/nor are they pretty, but I try to make due with the canvas I am given!

Everything in our bathroom is pretty much from Pottery Barn Kids (Actually: Everything in our entire house is pretty much from Pottery Barn/Pottery Barn Kids/and Williams-Sonoma).

This may seem strange at first, but I love Pink/flowery things, plus I worked there while in college, so the generous 40% discount encouraged my already unhealthy shopping habits!

Our Bathroom :)

The lovely shower curtain! Thankfully it is untangled! Along with my stripey bathmat and flowery towels.

I bought these cute flower hooks to hang our towels on behind the door, there is also a yellow one next to the shower so our towels can be within reach when we are done getting all showered up.

When Josh moved into the dorms a few years ago his sister picked out his bathroom accessories which resulted in him being all ducked out. One of the few things that has survived the last few years is the ducky toothbrush holder. Only Josh puts his toothbrush in it because I'm a germ freak, so I keep my toothbrush in a drawer where flying germs can't get to it haha. And next to it is my Victoria's Secret Berry Kiss scented lotion, also picked out by Josh's sister (who works there). I highly recommend the lotion, it smells yummy and is super soft!

So as you can see, there isn't much to see haha. Our bathroom is pretty small, but that's okay because we are moving soon! Yay!! More on that later :)

Happy Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

oh and p.s. I am fully aware that my bathroom looks like an 8 year old girls bathroom, and I LOVE it!

-Katie

What is wrong with my gym?

I swear, I must have signed up to join the circus. As I was swimming laps yesterday I even contemplated having a weekly gym topic because I just keep coming across FREAKS at my gym. So from now on, these stories will be called Gym Freak of the Week, unless of course it happens more than once in a week, and if so, please pray for my sanity.

Anyways, for this week's Gym Freak of the Week:

As I was swimming laps, doing my thing, I took a quick refuel break to drink some water from my water bottle. I stand there for a bit, then as I'm putting my bottle back on the pool deck to start laps again, I gaze a few lanes over to see a man wearing glasses. No, no... NOT goggles, GLASSES, reading glasses.

I drew a picture to try to illustrate the situation for you (Please excuse my exquisite artistry, and don't feel intimidated, I know I am skilled) :
So there you have it. A man ready to swim laps with his reading glasses AND a Beavis on the bicycle machines within one week of each other. I'm not sure if I should be entertained or frightened haha

-Katie

3 Day Week = Many Day Weekend

This Weekend is a BIG Weekend for my (not so little) Little brother!

He's Graduating from High School!

Weeeeiiiiirrd. When he first started driving it was hard to believe, when he got a cell phone it was rather strange (especially when people called him on it! haha), and when he became a ladies man... well now that was just plain awkward.

So now he is Graduating, getting ready to go to the Academy of Art in San Francisco to become a professional photog, but all the while I can't think of him as anyone but the kid I buried in the snow at the cabin or the boy who threw a bottle of ketchup at me (which then exploded ALL over Mom's white kitchen) because I made him mad.

With family and friends coming in from all over, this should be a fun week/weekend!

Congrats Clay!!

-Katie