I love the scenery and the fact that it's the only time of the year when you have so much to look forward to! (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas, New Years Eve) Then the life gets crappy again. 
I don't care. I wanted that one and no one was going to take it from me!
Matt was on a mission to find a perfectly "round" pumpkin (whatever that means). His isn't as big as mine. Actually, mine's just better all around. Pumpkin picking is a competitive sport you know. May the best pumpkin win! (You guys can be the judges!)
The Ride Home --->
Well, at least this race was a lot closer than the last couple (finally) at about 1 hour and 45 minutes away! We left on Saturday around 4:00pm and arrived in St. Clairsville, OH around 5:45pm, went to the track so Matt and Jeff could sign up, then checked in to the Red Roof Inn... All 3 of us. In one room. (Typical trip with these two.) By then it was waayyy past my dinnertime so I was HUNGRY! There is only about every restaurant you could imagine in St. Clairsville (and I'm not a decision maker) so I left it up to the guys. It didn't take me very long to realize that it wasn't really an option anyway because apparantly they had already decided we were going to eat at the West Texas Roadhouse before we even left PA! Oh, and in case you're wondering… Here's the reason (as I roll my eyes and shake my head in disbelief): I guess Jeff had "a thing" for one of the waitresses who worked there last year when they ate there… (I wasn't with them last year thank god.) So of course they thought it would be funny to see if she still worked there and if she remembered them. From what I hear they were a little bit rowdy last year! Not that I'm surprised! 4 boys in a restaurant drinking beer... and you didn't think they would cause some kind of trouble? 
(Especially these ones.) So we went in and sat down near the bar and low and behold - there she was - Missy. She actually didn't remember them until they reminded her of the "Turkey Song". Last year, I guess the other guys kept telling her (Missy) that Jeff wanted to sing her a Turkey Song or something like that. Trust me, I know… I don’t understand it either? On that note, I don't think I will ever understand how 30-year-old men can act like teenagers and think nothing of it? And get this one - after dinner - they made me walk over a guardrail and down a dangerously steep grassy hillside to get to Krogers (to buy racing essentials I guess) and then back up the death hill and back over the guardrail to the hotel. (Again, not that I'm surprised.) Afterall, they are gncc racers so they're used to always looking for shortcuts (as if they needed to be the first ones to the grocery store?). So yet another one, I will never understand how 30-year-old men figure it is better to take the "dangerous" route than to take an extra 5 minutes to go the right way? We could of just drove. On to Sunday morning…
<--(I found this pic on the internet. This is exactly what they looked like. See below!) 
I didn’t even have time to react! I assume the normal reaction would have been to slam on the break and I didn't even have time to do that! I nailed the suckers. I've never seen a deer fly so far in my life. It was rather scary looking. One deer jumped right after the other so I hit the first one and he flew in to the air with his hooves facing me and landed like a bag of bricks in the opposite lane a little further down the road. I hit the other one a split second later. At that point I must have had my foot on the break (I don't remember) but all know is that I only knocked the 2nd deer over. (I don't remember every detail because my body was in some sort of a shock I think.) Before I knew it my car had come to a complete stop. I was trying to gas it so I could get away from the scene and back in to my own lane (instead of in the middle of the road) but my car wouldn't move! 
It was making that noise like when you're trying to drive up a steep snowy road and your tires are spinning but you're not going anywhere. Then I figured it out... There was a deer under my car. I wasn't sure what to do so I sat there for a few seconds... (good thing there weren't any other cars on the road during all of this). I quickly made the decision to just gun it. I mean, what other choice did I have? I put the car back into "drive" and I went for it… Let's just say it was like driving over a huge speed bump! So not only did I knock the poor thing out but I ran him over too! Actually, he was a she. They both were. Once I started going again I frantically searched for my cell phone so I could call Matt and tell him what just happened. (It was sitting right on my lap but it took me a minute to realize that.) I called him and very calmly told him that I just rammed a deer (well, two deer). Then 
I broke down into hysterics because I couldn't believe it happened! And while on my way home from the auto body shop at that! I was so upset! Then later on that night I felt bad for causing the tragic deaths of the deer (Matt doesn't think that they died but I have a pretty good feeling that even if they didn't they weren't going to make it much longer.. He calls them BIG rats). I was shooken up for awhile. Matt called the police and had them come out and write up a report. He felt we might need a little more evidence to prove to the insurance company that we really did knock out 3 deer in 6 days! My car is "undrivable" at the moment.
Friday night one of our friends asked us to go out for a drink. I was in the middle of trying to finish up the snickerdoodles I started baking (FYI - they came out better than the last time I tried to bake) so Matt decided to take my car and go to the ATM to get some cash and was going to just pick me up on the way back. No big deal.. right? Well, when he pulled in I noticed the two of them out in the driveway "inspecting" my vehicle. I knew it! Right away, I knew it! I went out onto the porch and said, "What'du do? Wreck my car?!" "No!" It wasn't his fault. "A deer ran into me!".. He says. 
(I knew he wasn't lying.) The same thing happened to me 2 years ago... A dumb deer ran right into the driver's side door of my Cavalier. He dented my door so bad I couldn't even open it! I had to crawl over the seats and get out through the passenger's side. I seriously thought his antlers were going to come through my window and stab me in the head but they didn't. (I know, I have a wild imagination!) Before that happened I didn't even think it was possible because I didn't think that these animals were THAT stupid. Boy was I wrong!
So now my 2005 Chevy Equinox (that I just got in June and believe it or not - is the nicest car I ever owned!) has deer dents in it AND deer fur stuck in the cracks! There was also a piece of deer skin stuck to it until Matt pulled it off.. Gross! I took some pictures so we have "evidence" in case the insurance company questions anything... I mean, that's what insurance is for isn't it?.... In case deers decide to commit suicide using our vehicles as their murder weapons?
Just as the title says…
Of course my mom and dad said "no" but at that point in time Kelly (my sister) didn't care. She told whatever his name was (I don't remember) to drop one off at our house. I came home first before my parents and saw him. He was SO tiny! He couldn't even eat real kitten food yet and he was suckling on a blanket - it was almost as if he was looking for his mom so he could eat. So of course we now have to take care of him because we can't just let the poor thing die! So Kelly and I went to PetSmart and picked up a bottle and some formula and nursed him from tiny baby kitty into kittenhood. This was during the summertime. About 6 months later (around Christmas) mom claimed that he peed under the x-mas tree (I still don't know if I believe that… I really think she just didn't like him… probably because he was mean back then too!) Growing up we had a lot of different pets and everytime mom and dad didn't want one of those pets anymore (because they were too bad or something) dad took it to "the farm". (I don't know if I believe that either… for all we knew he could have just drove it down the road and threw it over the hillside. I'm kidding. Sort of. I've never actually seen "the farm" though so I don't know!) But that's where this little kitty was going to end up if I didn't take matters into my own hands. 
So what did I do you ask? I told Matt and begged him and Mitzi (Matt's mom) to take him in and they kind-heartedly did so. He lived at Matt's house up until we got married and then he moved in with us. I have to give the thing some credit… he did fairly well for all the transitioning he went through. He's a fairly good cat at our house, I mean… he doesn't pee or poop on the floor, or scratch anything up with his claws. He's caught 7 field mice and a little mole since he moved in. (We didn't have carpeting in our house for awhile so it was easier for little critters to get in from the crawl space under the living room.) Either they don't get in anymore because we now have carpeting or because they're afraid of "Mousebreath"! (Just one of his many nicknames!) Seriously. He ate like the top half of almost every little mouse he caught. So we started calling him mousebreath. Yuck! One day he licked my leg after eating one. From what I remember, only one little mouse survived the cat attack. We found him playing with it and Matt captured it and put it back outside. I still think it made it's way back in and had to face the cat's wrath again.. (he probably ate it).
Anyhow, the point is, he may be mean sometimes but at least he's good for something! I know it's a little early (September) but I put him in his Halloween costume already. As you can see in the pics.... He's a Devil this year. For those of you who have met him.. Suits him well, don't you think? Last year he was a Chicken.
Another weekend, another race. What can I say? He loves it. The day Matt quits racing dirtbikes will be the day pigs fly! The boy's been on 2 wheels his whole life. I wish I had something I felt as passionate about as he does. I did have fun this weekend though. The race took place at the Snowshoe Ski Resort in W.V. The resort reminded me of a little "town-like" place. It's like a little town that sits on top of a mountain all by itself. We had to get up at 5AM on Saturday morning to make the drive there. It was me, Matt and Jeff (as usual) in Jeff's van. I couldn't pry those two apart if I tried - they do everything together! (Not in a homosexual kind of way.. just in a "best friends" kind of way! Haha..I swear people that don't know them probably do think that!) It's actually kind of funny. No matter what we do Jeff is usually with us. I'll post another entry about our "third wheel" a little bit later. I really don't mind that he is always there… he's like a big brother to me now. We joke around, make each other laugh and even fight like siblings do! So in the van on our way to Snowshoe… all I can say is thank God I have an ipod now because sometimes listening to those two talk about motocross the whole way to our destination can get a little annoying! That's ALL they talk about ALL the time! Ahhh! It makes me want to scream sometimes! I try to change the subject but that only ever works for about 5 minutes or so and then it's back to motocross! And if it's not motocross…. it's GNCC's, Supercross, Yamaha's, Kawasaki's, Honda's, Suzuki's, dirtbike accessories, riding gear, which friends are riding where that weekend, what bikes they have, various tracks to go to and the list could go on and on and on. (I promise I won't bore you anymore with the xtreme sports lingo!) At Snowshoe...…. We finally made it there and checked into our hotel and little did I know that my day had already been pre-planned to walk the track! There's like 12 miles worth of track! It goes back into the woods and everything! (Ok. Granted we didn't really walk 12 miles it was only about a mile or a mile and a half but still…) It was hot that day and these weren't the easiest woods to walk through. I had mud up to my ankles… I had to maneuver through trees and over logs and dodge about 50 million quads that went flying by splashing mud everywhere! (I guess the quads usually race on Saturday and the dirtbikes race on Sunday.) I mean, your literally right on the track and if you don't move it's not like they're going to stop for you.. It's a race! So while I thought I was going to die by being slammed into by a quad.. Matt and Jeff ran around the forrest like it was no big deal. I was just trying to keep up!
Matt did, however, make it out the woods just fine and he finished the race in 19th place out of like 25 or 26. This was a tough race though and it was at one of the most difficult tracks. Jeff got 1st place in his class… which, didn't make Matt feel much better about his race but we were both still really happy for him. He's pretty good.
Well, I know it's a little outdated but I am going to start with my kitchen because it was one of those big, exciting moments in my life! Matt and I got married in May 2006 but we didn't have a full functioning kitchen until June 2008! A lot of people we talk to have no idea how we survived. Looking back on it… I still don't know how I survived! No running water, no sink, no kitchen cabinets, no stove, no dishwasher… And those are just the big things! BUT, we did have a toaster oven, coffee pot, refrigerator and a microwave (until our microwave kicked the bucket about 2 months before the kitchen was done). Try living without a microwave for a month or two… I think I lost about 10 lbs! No leftovers, no microwavable frozen foods… I couldn't microwave my tator tots or chicken nuggets… I had to use the toaster oven which took like 25 minutes! A hungry girl just can't wait that long! My one and only counter top consisted of two of Matt's sawhorses - that were once used for work - with a piece of plywood laid across them. I tried to make it look pretty with festive plastic table cloths from Wal-Mart. (Although, Matt wasn't very impressed by my decorating skills.) I'd rather stare at a cheap plastic table cloth than a plain old piece of wood! Anyway, so for two years it was like camping in my own house when it came to meal time. 
And at that time in my life I had never cooked a meal for myself before. (I know what you're thinking.) I do have a reason… Because I commuted to college for four years and lived at home up until the day I got married I still relied on mom's home cooked meals everyday. I know, I know… I'm a late bloomer. But luckily for me I married a man who knows how to cook and does it well! We were so limited in what we had and yet I still came home to a home cooked meal everyday. Just another reason why I married him… (not just because of the food but because I have to say he does take pretty good care of me). I couldn't exactly return the favor at that time either… I barely knew how to do laundry, clean a house, or any of those other "housewifey" things. But I have to admit I've gotten a lot better over the last 2 years and 4 months! I can now knock out 3 loads of laundry in one night, keep the house fairly neat and clean, and cook a couple of easy meals (burgers, hot dogs, spaghetti, macaroni & cheese - just to name a few!). I was really into crock pot meals for like a week. I made 4 of them (Mon. - Thurs.) and then Thursday night I was getting ready to prepare another one for Friday until Matt stopped me and said that he would take care of Friday's dinner. He wouldn't admit it but I really think he just didn't want another crock pot meal. I don't blame him. Some of them weren't as delicious as I thought they would be. 