Nativity Scene...Katie style

Merry Christmas!  Get those New Years resolutions ready.  If you’re lucky mine will include more blogging  ;-)

before you get TOO jealous…

Check out the crazy weeds I spent a good few hours destroying last Saturday:

After:

Anyone know where I can get a new barrel?  I really like the look of it but this one is in pretty bad shape…

These make me REALLY want to work on my photoshop skills:

Sometimes Snow White gets REALLY upset.

Check out these and more at Worth1000.com

In July I turned 28.  I thought 28 would be a year of travelling, wine, fun, etc.  So far?  Travel (around the beltway, once a day), wine (I try to restrict it to once a week, but who really keeps track of that?) and fun (does house-hunting count as fun?)

I also thought this would be the year to actually keep my health in check.  Best way to start?  A trip to the doc for a cholesterol check.

I know I’m not supposed to eat or drink before the check, but I figured a few sips of coffee wouldn’t hurt.  OK, I DO like my coffee to be sweet (we’re from the Mary Poppins “spoon full of sugar” generation…how can we not love it?) but me and my pudgy stomach like the fat-free (and luckily cholesterol-free) half & half.

The day I got the call from my doctor, I’d had a lazy morning…this means something “instant” for breakfast (cereal, granola bar, or bagelful) and cup-o-noodles for lunch.  The dreaded moment came right before lunch…

My name is Katie, and I have high cholesterol.  209 to be exact.

The past week has been a whirlwind of information and confusion.  Things I thought were healthy are actually havens of cholesterol, and things I thought were awful for me are cholesterol-free.

Examples (percentage is % of daily recommended amt):
Eggs – 75% (I knew they had some, but 75%???)
Cup O Noodles – 0%
Candy – 0%
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – 20%
Butter – 11%
Peanut Butter – 0%

So basically when I try to live a healthier lifestyle, I basically go swimming in vats of cholesterol.  But when I splurge on junk and candy, I’m nice and cholesterol-free.

Still trying to figure it out, but the bit of research I’ve done so far gives me the impression that sugar/caffeine can also indirectly raise cholesterol.  So screwed either way.  I’ve read that South beach can lower it, so might give that a whirl (again).  Had to quit before the wedding because I was losing enough to go down a dress size but wasn’t really into the idea of doing another fitting.

We managed to get out of bed and make it up to Leesburg for Brewfest today:

BrewFest Summer 2009

Lots of breweries, lots of beer, lots of music, etc.  Unfortunately I was dd, but all of us dd’s (I’m pretty sure I was the only non-pregnant one) got free water/soda.  Hopped up on the coffee I had on the way topped with a Pepsi, I decided my goal for the day was to collect all of the free stuff I could.  Umm, even though I knew most of it would end up in the recycling bin tonight.  Anyway, 4 hours and a LOT of beer tents later, I’ve got a nice little collection of coasters:

Beer mats

Before they hit the trash, any ideas on what I can do to turn these into art for a possible game room in the future?  I tried framing a couple of them but “meh”:

framed coasters

A collage would be cooler, if I can figure out a nice way to do it.

If this one is true, I can’t say I didn’t see it coming.  We all watch the show, see Kate berate Jon in front of the world week after week.  It was only a matter of time before the rumors started spreading.  In Touch Weekly isn’t exactly Gospel, but it has managed to peak my interest.  Here’s a paragraph from the article, snagged from Perez:

“He walked in with two girls he met at Mimi’s bar,” senior Evan Heisman tells In Touch. “It was so cool.” According to witnesses, Jon played beer pong with some girls on the volleyball team and then joined a group of students who headed to Memories bar for a nightcap. “We were talking and chilling,” reveals Heisman. Jon returned to Memories the next evening. “He was obliterated,” says Pott. “Juniata girls were flirting with him and he was loving it and having a great time.” “We might be getting a divorce,” Chloe Pott, a junior at Juniata College, heard Jon tell her friend at Memories bar on February 7.

With 8 kids I think any parent would need a break occasionally…getting trashed at a college kegger probably isn’t the smartest way to spend a night of freedom though.

Otherwise it’ll come back to haunt you:

From postsecret, one of my favorite sites…