State Fair

Last week Adam and I went to the State Fair in Hutch. We go every year, and we've finally tweaked our method of fair-going down to an art: we only go for the food. Pretty simple. We only walked through one building this year, otherwise, we stayed in the general vicinity of the food. And since he and I have such different tastes, we get a big variety and then we're nice and we share. :)

We decided to go Monday, since that was the only day that week that neither of us had anything going on in the evening. We left after work and almost ran out of gas on the way, so we had to stop in Haven for gas and cash. Once we got to the fairgrounds, it was almost impossible to find a parking spot. On a Monday night? Weird. But once we got to the gate, we found out why. If you had your Dillons card (which I did), you could get one person in free and the rest for $1! Usually it's $8 per person, but we both got in for $1. That was a nice surprise. On to the food...

Adam's first purchase was Roasted Corn and Mt Dew.

Then I got a bierock (I learned last year to say no to the cheese) and a Dr Pepper.

Then we went to the indoor food court where Adam had to wait in a long line for a slice of Pepperoni pizza.

Evidence we went through a building: the butter sculpture. But I take that back. We went through two buildings. We also went through the one with the photography because my cousin Rachel entered a couple photos. I found one, and it was really good! You're not allowed to take photos in there though.

You can see the Kansas State Fair sign in the background.

Adam got in line for a funnel cake while I went to find ice cream. The lady running the booth asked him if he was Gina's husband, and since he was, he got his funnel cake for half price! It pays to be married to me. :) The people running it go to our church.

My chocolate chip ice cream in a homemade waffle cone. I watched them make the cones, pretty cool.

Me with a giant (veiny...?) Holstein.

We ended the night with some salt water taffy.

And a pickle picture. This is for you, Ginger. I know how much you love pickles. :)

And as we were leaving, we walked through the part with the rides. There were so many pretty colors, I had to take a photo.

The Big One

Unless you've met him, you can never understand how ridiculous our big dog, Axl really is. First off, he's a Doberman...big scary mean Doberman, right? Wrong. He's the most whiny, cuddly, oafish shadow-chaser I know.

My mom's convinced he's slow in the head, but I think the opposite. I think he's too smart for his own good and he knows more than I do. Okay, maybe that's a stretch...

To illustrate my point, we have Exhibit A:

No one told him it was laundry day, so he refused to move while I was trying to get the sheets off the bed.

And, more importantly, Exhibit B:

He sleeps like this sometimes. Have you ever seen anything so strange?! And the little one in the front...he's used to the weirdness.

Lindsey's Birthday

The week before last, Lindsey had a birthday! She turned 21 again. :) I'm so nice... Anyway...we had mini-celebrations throughout the day. It started out with my mom's famous Bonnie Butter Cake that I baked the night before. This cake is what my family always made on (and only on) birthdays. It's ridiculously delicious.

Ginger bought Lindsey these stickers that you can use to "animate" things.

So Lindsey proceeded to animate all our office supplies. We ended up with Carl the Calculator, Herman the Calculator, and Chomp the Stapler.

My bamboo plant never got a name.

Lindsey and a random co-worker.

Just kidding! It's Avery. :)

The three lovely ladies I work with.

And we got a smile!

We had a fun lunch at Chipotle and then came back to eat more cake. Happy Birthday Lindsey! Hope you don't feel too old! :)

Oh, People

So I've had some frustrating comments lately. Comments like:

"Oh, so you're the one who's pregnant, right?"

and

"Wanted to make sure you're not planning on getting pregnant any time soon, so you'll be able to for sure shoot our wedding."

It's hard because obviously, these people don't know our whole situation, and obviously they're not trying to be hurtful. But how am I supposed to respond? Do I plaster a smile on my face and respond "Nope," or laugh and say "Of course not"? Do I launch into the whole explanation? Should I just break down and start crying and hope they get the hint...? :) 

It just seems like one of those lose-lose situations, a socially uncomfortable and unavoidable moment.

Hmph. Oh, people.

Out of Nowhere

I was just catching up on all my blog-reading for the day and I had a weird, awesome moment. I just thought about how, when I die and go to heaven, I'm going to have a little baby there waiting for me, waiting to meet her mom (I say her...I think she was a girl).  My heart did a little jump! It will hopefully still be awhile before that happens, but I can't wait! :)

So Much More...

Those of you who know me well, know I have a special place in my heart for dogs. Especially my own. They are so much more than just dogs. As Erin Vey put it so eloquently on her blog today:

"to many they are friends, companions, children, protectors, and healers."

Today, Erin posted an especially touching story. You can read the whole thing through an album she made by clicking here. Be prepared to cry if you're softie for dogs.

I know some may think its ridiculous, but I know our pain has definitely been eased a bit by having our dogs. They're always there, loyal, loving, eager to please, and so excited to see us. 

As we speak, I'm battling my big dog for use of the computer keyboard - I think it should be used for blogging...he thinks it's a good headrest. Which results in a lot of llllllllkkkkkilklllkjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj's.

They make me laugh through my tears. They insist on belly rubs when I'm running late for work. Their tails wag so fast when I walk into a room.

I wish I could thank them.

Axl specializes in fitting his 100 pound body into the tiniest spaces, like in between Adam and me in bed. He's also perfected the if-I-lay-my-head-down-and-look-up-with-my-big-brown-eyes-I-can-look-really-cute-and-get-anything-I-want look.

Diesel's forte is burying his food in our bed (for us to find as we're trying to go to sleep), letting out huge sighs as if he has the toughest life (you just wouldn't believe...), and stealing his brother's food, bed, and toys (Axl doesn't even fight back, though he's 4 times Diesel's size).

They bring such joy to our life. 

Labor Day...in the Air

,Wowza. Today was interesting.  Adam and I went out to Benton with Lindsey and her hubby Chris to her stepdad's hangar. He's a pilot and has an amazing hangar with three planes and even a little living space. We hung out, ate burgers, Adam drooled over planes, and I....took a ride in an acrobatic plane. I believe it's called an Extra, if that means anything to anyone. Lindsey documented the experience in photos, but Adam took video of the crazy flips, rolls, free-falls, and everything else that we did, so I'll have to post that after it's done.

We started with a pre-flight portrait of my eye? Not really sure...

This is Lindsey's step-dad Steve, getting everything ready. Haha.

Adam being gay.

Getting my instructions from Steve. Notice Chris in the background? He made a deal with me last night over dinner that if I went, he would go. He didn't go! He owes me. Though, he did offer to go first, but I just wanted to get it over with, ha.

Getting strapped into my PARACHUTE. Yes, I had a crash course of instructions on how to deploy my parachute, get unstrapped from my seat, and open the canopy. A little scary.

Holy cow....can't believe I'm doing this.

And safely back on the ground. Sorry, no photos of the actual flight, we were too high up.

I was really queasy, I only lasted 10 minutes before I told Steve I needed to go down. Adam had to hold me up.

And Adam has a RC plane that's almost the exact same model as the one I went up in. So here's their picture together.