"Ah, lovely October..."

 "...as you usher in the season that awakens my soul, your awesome beauty compels my spirit to soar like a leaf caught in an autumn breeze and my heart to sing like a heavenly choir." 

~ Peggy Toney Horton

Warm hellos from chilly Western Pennsylvania! 

I thought I'd drop in quickly to say hello! I have some clothes to fold and floors to sweep before I head into the gym this evening but wanted to stop by my blog and share some photos from lately! :o) 

October has started out wonderfully for us in PA weather-wise. We enjoyed comfortable temperatures and lots of sunshine. The temps have now gone down and it's starting to feel more like fall! I love how autumn makes me feel....all cozy and cheerful. I don't know *what* it is...I just really enjoy this weather. I guess I like not being so hot that you feel grumpy and yet, not being so cold that you can't put on an extra layer and still sit outside in the rocking chair!

I've got fall candles burning. The boys finished their schoolwork and headed off to work a short time ago. So I've got the afternoon to finish my housework and then head into the Y to exercise and teach spin. Speaking of exercise...Chris, talented and handy man that he is, made us these racks for our weights in our basement gym...

If you go HERE you can see a pic of our gym if you missed it! Oh...I almost forgot to tell you about that top photo! That is an upside down cake I made to celebrate a birthday here at our house this past weekend. Madelyn's beau turns 20 this week but with his work schedule, we decided to celebrate it early! It is absolutely delicious (and yes, even I had a piece!). You can find the recipe HERE if you are interested! 

Anyone who has read my blog for a while knows I'm not a huge fan of Halloween. I just act like it doesn't exist. I'm not into gory decorations and costumes etc. It's just not my thing. Morgan (X's girlfriend) loves to carve pumpkins though. She and her dad grew some huge ones in their garden and brought them up for the kids to carve. (She also brought me smaller ones to decorate with!) So below are some pics from yesterday afternoon. First we had worship at church in the morning...followed by tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch. Then out to the porch we went. It was *cold* out there....but they carved on...

Me and Madelyn (can you even believe this girl of mine is 20!?)...

 

Me with our cocker spaniel, Mickey (yes...I was decked out in sweats ~ it was SO cold outside!)....

So, absent from these photos is my son, Xavier. He and Morgan had carved pumpkins at her house a week or two ago so he opted to work on his truck instead. So, we have Morgan on the right, in the background there. To the left in the black sweatshirt is Madelyn's beau, Caleb....then Madelyn and closest to us (in a TSHIRT no less!) is Jaxson! 

I tried to convince Jax to put a sweatshirt on but he claimed he was totally fine...meanwhile, I'm freezing sitting in my rocking chair and watching...

The porch with the small pumpkins Morgan gave me to decorate with...

And the finished pumpkins...aren't they huge!? And bonus: Cash in the background...haha! He's 14 yrs old! I think he may just live forever! 

I hope you each are doing well and enjoying October. I know things in the world are crazy right now...but we just keep living. We just keep doing our thing. We take each day as it comes...glorifying the Lord in all we do and keeping our eyes constantly on Him. Isn't it so nice to know our hope lies in the sovereign Creator? The omnipotent King that is in complete control....always faithful. 

Thank you for stopping by today. I have housework to finish so I best be scooting off this computer! I hope you will come by again soon! I'll try not to be so long between posting....but I can't make any promises! :o) 

Warmly,

Katy

"Summer afternoon -- Summer afternoon..."

 ....to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."

~ Henry James

Ok, so I must confess...summer isn't my favorite season (despite the quote I posted above) but I have come to the conclusion that I don't have a favorite season anymore. I used to say it was the lovely autumn that was my favorite....but now, I truly must admit that I love each season for the different blessings they bring (but also each has it's not-so-great things about them too)! 

Summer is a time of gardening, being outside, swimming, sun, and fun! But it's also a time of heat (sometimes unbearable) and for me ~ bug bites! Oh, how they love to get me! My husband barely gets a bite. We enjoy sitting on our Amish rocking chairs on our back porch some evenings...but I just can't stand getting so bit up! Chris lights a citronella candle....but it doesn't help. I am not super fond of the bug off sprays either....unless I *have* to wear them. 

I'll have to photograph our vegetable garden to share with you. We have lots of corn and green beans growing! Above I shared some of my perennials as well as an area we just finished planting and mulching in! It was a lot of work (and sweat) but I'm so happy with how it turned out!

I always have people tell me how much they enjoy seeing photos from inside my home. It's humble and simple....but warm and cozy. It's our "place" and I am so thankful the Lord blessed us with it! 

In the kitchen  (those floors used to be covered in carpet when we moved here 20 years ago...then underneath that was tile...and more tile underneath that...and then the whole wood floor was covered in tar paper!! It was awful! During lockdown from COVID last year, we worked hard to get all those tiles and tar paper off. It was back-breaking, knee pain! But it was worth it! Now it looks like a farmhouse floor which I love! It's not the most beautiful floor and maybe one day we will cover it....but for now, it works for us and has an old, rugged, farmhouse look to it and I love that!)....

And here's a picture of the dining room (dog toys on the floor and all!). Our hand-me-down chairs that we had for years and years finally bit the dust so we had to purchase some. We decided to get four solid wood chairs and a bench....

Although not a "pretty" picture....here's the gym Chris and I have put together over the past year. I still use our local Y most days....but it is so nice to have our own place to workout when we want. Chris uses it often! It's nice and cool in this room because it's the basement! Our newest addition to the gym is the battle ropes at the bottom of the picture! 

Stella-cat....in all her glory! She and Winnie-the-Cat enjoy sleeping through the day in our air-conditioned bedroom. They sure do have it rough, huh? 

The last photos I have to share are from our 4th of July. A local parade was held on Saturday the 3rd. My dad took one of his tow trucks through it. Jaxson (my youngest) and my sister and her children rode through on it. Xavier rode with the volunteer fire company he is part of and Madelyn just sat and watched the parade, I think (she was at the other end of the parade so I didn't see her). 

Here is Jaxson, Eloise and Audra throwing candy... (Dinah, my sister and Dusten were on the other side of the truck)...

On the actual 4th, we attended Sunday School and Church, had a light lunch and then Chris and I headed out on a bike ride on a local trail! We workout together in some way or another every Sunday afternoon! 

So that's just a wee update of life lately. Truly....tons has been going on....so much I can share. I will try to come back and share soon. This week is super busy but I wanted to pop on really quick and say hello! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and hopefully I will be back soon with more of what's been going on here! 

Warmly,

Katy

Hiking to Scripture Rocks

Many years ago, a man carved scripture and words into large rocks in our area. There are many different places around our town to find them. Today, after a wonderful church service (full of God's truth with the Scriptures properly expounded to us), we went along with some people from church to have lunch and hike to one set of Scripture Rocks. It was about a 2 mile trip, one way. 

Xavier, ready to go!

My boys and their buddy...

Leading the way...

Off we go...

Chris went too! :)

We found the Scripture Rocks! There's Madelyn...

LIGHT: John 3:19

Jaxson...

We had a really good hike...4 miles or so, total. It was pretty muggy out...and it even rained and thundered too! We were all perspiring so much that the rain was a welcome coolness! It was a good bit of exercise and I will sleep **well** tonight! The idea of getting up and heading to spin class in the morning seems almost too difficult! Maybe after a good night's sleep, I'll be rejuvenated and ready to go! 
Have you ever heard of the Scripture Rocks? Are there any neat things like them in your area? :)
I think I am going to go, put my feet up and work on some knitting for the rest of this evening!  Thank-you for stopping by! 
Cheerfully, Katy

Reaching a Goal

I am so excited to share with you all that I am reaching one of my goals. When I started spinning a year and a half ago I made a goal to one day become a spin instructor (as well as lose weight). I lost the weight (although I still have more I'd like to lose) and right now, I am in the midst of classes to become a certified spin instructor at our local Y! I am over the moon! By the grace of God I am getting healthier all the time and doing things I never imagined I would. It is *such* a blessing! Praise God from Whom *all* blessings flow!

It takes prayer, a conscious decision to exercise and choose the right foods, and lots of hard work. I find that being healthy isn't just about being *thin*...it's about honoring God in the choices I make. I still have pounds to lose but crossing this mini-finish line is so exciting to me! :)

For fun, you can see how I organize my gym bag HERE.

Thanks for sharing in this journey with me! 

Updated Weight Loss Pic

Ok...here it is. An updated weight loss photo! I was asked to share it...so here you go! :) It was taken in my bathroom mirror since I don't have any full length mirrors in my home and hate when others take photos of me when I have to *pose*. So this is as good as it gets. (It's so embarrassing to post pictures of myself...so please be kind!)
I have been steady at this weight now for probably 6 months. I still exercise daily and am mindful of what I am eating. I still have 30 pounds that I would like to lose...but it'll happen when it happens. I am going to keep up this healthy lifestyle and continue to glorify the Lord in the process. 
Tomorrow is our family's big fall festival (over 50 vendors this year!). It will be a super busy day for us but I will try and get photos to share! Hope your weekend is *wonderful*! Thanks for stopping!
Warmly, Katy

A Quick Hello!

Things are super busy here this week! With preparations for the upcoming fall festival, homeschooling, co-op class day, housework, organizing, errands, cooking,  blogging for Simply Organized Homemaking, and celebrating my 13th wedding anniversary...I am one very busy (and extremely exhausted) lady!

So...today I am just stopping by for a quick **hello** and sharing a few photos. :)

A funny I really want to share is about my spin shoes. They are well-worn (considering I wear them to spin 6 times a week). My toes have pushed through the mesh tops and made holes. In order to keep them from tearing, I have used duct tape to preserve them (new spin shoes aren't exactly cheap!). I had plain old yellow duct tape on them for quite a while...but I wore through that as well. The children and I found this super-cute pickle duct tape on clearance and couldn't resist!

*Dill with it!*....hehe, isn't that cute?

So, I hope you are each doing well. I'm so glad you took the time to stop by! We are enjoying beautiful autumn weather here (and the weather for our fall festival on Saturday looks very promising too!). I keep pumpkin-scented candles burning frequently and I am absolutely loving it! I hope you are enjoying your change-of-seasons!  Warmly, Katy

5K = 3.1 miles

My first-ever 5K race was today. My nerves were all jumbled up...my anxiety was through the roof. I kept wondering if I had over-estimated my abilities! Chris was a constant encouragement! I am so thankful for him because truly, I wanted to crawl back under my quilts and hide. I have never been a "runner" and I just couldn't imagine that I would be able to finish a race that was over 3 miles long! I prayed...and also had the encouragement of my friends and family so off I went! 

 It was *cold* outside! This is what it has been doing the days leading up to today...

The snow is beautiful as it lays gently upon everything outside...but I think we've had our fill! We've already passed the first "official" day of spring...with no actual *spring* in sight! And you know me...I am quite anxious to get my clothes out drying on the lines! :)

The two older children spent time outside shoveling (so thankful for them)!

So...as I mentioned earlier in the post, today was race day. I was *not* in it to win it...but rather to *finish* it. Here is a photo of my friend, Ann (this was her first 5K too! We ran it together!), and me (we spin together in the mornings)! I hate when I smile so big like this (it makes me look as though I am overly-giddy!). Also, the shirt I had ordered was too large so it looks like a night-shirt on me (but afterwards, Chris bought me a long sleeved shirt from the race in a smaller size and it fits nicely!)...

The race started at 11 (well, it truly got started a few minutes after that) and we all took off...music in our ears and the road (plus snow, ice, gravel and slush) beneath our feet! Down through alleys, around buildings, up hill and down hill and across bridges we ran....and ran and ran! 
Here I am *after* the race (below)! Yes...we finished ~ with a time of 33 minutes (about an 11 minute mile) which I incredibly pleased with. I had expected to take a lot longer than that! Two of my little darlings were with me (aren't they sweet in their hats?) in the car. Chris and X went in the Jeep! (Yes, they all came to cheer me on, despite the frigid temps!)

So now, other than some sore leg muscles (around my knees)...I feel great! This is a big accomplishment for me and I hope to get to run some more of these through the summer! Chris mentioned wanting to run one with me in July! I can't imagine anything better when running a 5K than getting to run it with your best friend (except the hard-to-swallow fact that he will probably out-run me!). 
Thank you, so much, for all the prayers, well-wishes, kind words and encouragement you have all given to me. To some, running a 5K is quite easy...but for me, this was something to show me that I am really getting healthy and all the spinning, right-eating and hard work are worth it! Who would have believed 10 months ago (remember THIS?) that I would be over 60 pounds lighter now and running a 5K?? I truly praise God for the strength He gives! 
Thank you for coming by!  Have a great Lord's Day!
Warmly, Katy

It's all about Jesus Christ being first....and second and third and fourth and fifth.  What I'm saying is, don't put Jesus first.   Jesus is everything.   He's not just first in the rank, He is everything.  ~Paul Washer