Secrets of the farm...

Ever wonder how the acres upon acres of white fencing stays so white?  Well, probably not, but I did.  I thought that for sure they'd begin looking run down and dirty eventually.  Truth is... they do, but here at this farm every year they powerwash and repaint the fences.  I have been watching the guys do this over the past week or so as they have made it closer to our house.  It is the most boring, time consuming looking work ever, but the end result is gorgeous!

From a distance, you can't tell how bad the white fences really look... in fact, from a distance, you can't even tell how many fences actually run through this 800 acre farm. 

**Sidenote: Those of you flying into Lexington soon should try to look down from the airplane for an aerial view, I heard it's incredible.  The farm we live on is located right next to Keeneland Race Track.  Keeneland has black fencing and we have the white fencing.  Tons of planes fly over our house every day, so there is a good chance your's will too.

Up close, you can see the paint chipping away.  *This is an iphone picture and not in the best lighting, but you can still tell....

Then, compare the 2 sides.  The left has been freshly painted (you can tell by the grass), the right side has not been... already you can see the cleaner/crisper look to the fences.  It really does make a difference!  Now... if they would just repaint our house...   :)

Showers

Nope... not rain showers, although we have had plenty of those up here in Kentucky...  I am talking about baby showers! 

First, we were SO blessed by the shower that was held back in June by our CBC family.  The western themed decor before leaving Texas and attention to detail was so incredibly sweet and thoughtful!!  People were so sweet and gave the cutest outfits, bows, blankets etc and were extremely generous in their gift card donations since they knew we'd be moving.   I am still having TONS of fun shopping at Target for stuff we need! 

Then, I started a bible study up here in September at a church I had been attending.  The lady in charge of the study asked if they could have a little lunch shower for me today.  When I showed up I was so surprised because they had gone out of their way to decorate and make things so personal.  They had even invited ladies from their sunday school classes that I had never met.  About 9 ladies showed up, but you'd think that 20 had been there with the amount of gifts they so generously gave!  It was very touching to see these ladies, half of whom I had never met, come to something and give so generously to someone they didn't know.  They knew I had already had one amazing shower back in Texas, but they said they wanted to make sure I felt at home here too.  How sweet!!!

So... now we are thoroughly covered in pink stuff!  Matt comments all the time about how pink the outfits are :)  Everything is so precious and I can't wait to start using it all in the coming weeks!  God was so good to us in Texas by blessing us with an incredible church home and wonderful friends.  He has been faithful here in providing another church that has so graciously welcomed us.  Rain showers can be refreshing and bring new growth.  These "showers" that have been given to us have been both refreshing and brought a source of new growth.  Thank you so much to everyone who made these possible and for all the love that was shown to our new little family!!!

June 2011, Central Baptist Church Shower- College Station, Texas

October 2011, Immanuel Baptist Church Shower- Lexington, Kentucky



 

Countdown!

Well, the countdown has begun to Caylee's birth...!!! (not that I wasn't counting before, but now it's more official)

After discussions with both a GI Dr and my OBGYN we decided it was best to schedule a c-sec.  Many people will disagree with this decision, but we are confident in their opinions.  With my Crohn's disease my OBGYN feels it is much safer this way and most likely less recovery for me this way.  The research on Crohn's and pregnancy is scarce and much of what I read recommended a c-sec anyways for my symptoms.  Matt and I were both concerned with the effect this would have on Caylee, but the dr was not worried at all.  He said that with today's medical technology a c-sec is safe and many people have them all the time.  So now we are confident in the decision and very excited to hold a baby girl in just 13 days!!!

Yep, Caylee's scheduled arrival is Tues, Oct 25.  This also happens to be Matt's birthday!  How cool is that?  No, we did not pick the date.  I walked into my appointment today and the doctor told me the date he had picked.  It's pretty neat though and we are really excited!  Matt will never forget her birthday either!

Off to the Races!

As mentioned in a previous post, we had weekend visitors.  My dad and Debbie drove over from Iowa to bring us some beds for the office/guest room.  They got in late Friday night after our event and then stayed all day Saturday.  Matt and dad set up the beds and they will work perfectly because the room isn't huge and we still have to use the room as an office as well.  Saturday morning we went to my favorite little town of Midway.  This time we were able to browse through the shops. 

In Midway, the train runs right through the center of town- I thought that was pretty cool and very old-timish!

We ate at Wallace Station...  it's famous for being on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"- a show on the Food Network.  They had a delicious chicken salad sandwich! 

See... I told you Guy Fieri was here... 

Late afternoon we headed up to Keeneland Race Track.  They only race horses 2 months of the year (April and October).  It happened to be opening weekend for them.

The first step to betting on a good horse is to buy a book of all the races.  In the book they give you horse stats, trainer stats, jockey stats etc.  Then, we headed over to the paddocks where they walk the horses around for you to look at before they race.  This is where I pick my horses-- I pick based on name and which horse is the best looking.  

**Sidenote: The people in the middle of the paddocks are the owners and trainers.

When you've made your decision (you have about 30 minutes or so in between each race), you head to the betting window.  Yes, we bet on three different races.  We knew how much we wanted to spend that afternoon and had no problems not going past that amount (especially after losing most races!).  

Then you head over to the track with ALL these people!  The place was packed!  We always found a place to sit though (probably because they felt sorry for the pregnant lady!).   The only part I didn't like was the constant smell of cigars... people love their cigars at the track apparently.  

The horses get loaded.... 

And off they go...  (that man got in my way! It would have been an even better pic!)

I like watching the back half on the big screen... the screen also posts the winners as they come across- this is very helpful for those "photo finishes".  I bet on 1 horse in 3 different races and they all came in 4th place... clearly I can pick the 4th place winner, but that doesn't count for anything!  I guess picking by name and appearance doesn't work out too well... It was still fun though! 

That was our weekend!  I was extremely tired after all of that and spent Sunday relaxing after church.  I just had to leave y'all with my favorite part of the farm.  It's completely yellow and all ready for Fall.  I love this little drive on the farm, so enjoy! 

Blue Grass Farms Charities

Over the weekend Matt and I had a fundraiser to attend.  The only problem... this was a boots and high heels event, basically it was cocktail attire.  When you are 9 months pregnant and going to have a kid in about 2 weeks, it's difficult to find anything to wear that looks good-- and even more difficult to put on high heel for an evening!  But, I did it :)  Thanks to the clothes of one of the other vet's wives who just had a baby a while back, I was able to pull something together that looked ok. 

Matt's practice was a big sponsor of the evening, so we had a table for 10.  Although, only about 4 showed up.  They had dinner, silent auction, live auction and gambling.  We made it through the dinner and the live auction and then headed out to meet our weekend guests (more on that later).  The charity helps lower income families who work the Keeneland Race Track.  They help provide medical care to these families, housing, etc.  They also throw a huge Christmas party for the kids of these families.  I don't know what they ended up raising, but by the end of the live auction someone said they had raised close to $30,000!  I thought that was pretty impressive! 

So that was our big Friday night....  (of course the dogs had to be in the picture!)

Pillows!

I firmly believe that you can never have too many pillows.  However, they can get pretty pricey- especially with the number of times I like to change them out.  So... my new friend taught me to sew pillow covers!  This is the perfect solution because I am able to buy fabric for each season.  Since they slip over the pillow, they can easily be washed (which is great to have with dogs who are extremely spoiled).  I'm not great at sewing yet (practice makes perfect), but I picked out patterns that hide mistakes.  I'm excited about this new hobby and may have to look into projects other than pillows, but for now I am very happy with the pillow making :)


You can see why being able to wash these covers is so important...  apparently, they thought I made these for them... This is the fall fabric...

This is the Christmas fabric I picked out...

Next, I just need a general winter pattern, spring and summer!  I'll be well on my way to having cheap decor that I can frequently change out...     :)



Fact or Fiction?

The other day, I was talking to some ladies and everyone was commenting about the cold weather.  I was told that this is not normal weather for Kentucky.  Lately we've had some really cold nights (30s!) and the days don't quite reach 55. (Luckily, this week is slowly warming up to about 70!)  So as they were talking, they began telling me some old myths they had heard... but are they really myths?  I guess I'll have to wait and find out....


Fact or Fiction 1:

When these guys have a bigger brown stripe than the black ones, that means winter will be extrememly long this year.  If this is the case... we will have a LOOOOONG winter.  I saw one just today and barely the tips were black- it was mostly brown! 

Fact or Fiction 2:

If you see these start to fall off early you can expect an abnormally COLD winter.  If this is the case, we will have an abnormally COLD winter because I have seen a bunch of fallen acorns.  (According the the ladies, "early" is falling off before mid-Oct... they began falling mid-Sept)

I don't know if these are true or not, but the acorn tip actually made sense to me.  It reminded me of Matthew 6 when Jesus talks about worrying.  He says, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?" (vs 26)  I know God is not talking about squirrels here, but even the squirrels don't worry about tomorrow because God provides for them.  If we are going to have a cold winter, then God is providing early for the squirrels so that they don't have to worry.  God provides for us too, every day, but sometimes we just don't see the small ways in which He chooses to provide.  Instead, we try to see the big picture (impossible, we know only God knows the big picture) and we spend our days worrying, instead of looking at what has fallen right in front of us... little acorns to prepare us for what is to come so that we no longer have to worry. 

So... even though I am dreading a LONG, COLD winter... I know God is already making preparations for my life and I just need to pick up the small acorns and not worry--- I might need to pick up an extra jacket too ;)