Happy Anniversary Honey!

"It's Monday! It's Monday! Starting a new week! It's Monday! It's Monday! Get on your feet!" This is a little ditty I sing to Mason on Friday mornings to wake him up (I use Friday, not Monday) so I thought I would wake you up with it today!

Tomorrow is our anniversary, nine years. I have to share that my marriage to Dave has so far exceeded my expectations! I love, love, love my life with you honey! Happy Anniversary.

This weekend was fun, not super eventful which is a nice change from the normal go, go, go! Saturday I took Mason and Kyle to the 4-H Make It and Take It craft fair where they made Christmas gifts for family members. The boys had a ball and really took pride in the gifts they made. Mason played soccer and from that point forward, we were home and in for the rest of the weekend.

Dave had drill this weekend so he had to get up early both days, but Sunday, Mason and I got to stay snug and warm in bed. It felt so good in our pajamas, we stayed in them all day! We watched television, ate whatever we felt like, watched movies and basically just relaxed. Dave was able to come home early and he got right in the swing by putting on his pajamas and crawling in bed with me! We sat in the hot tub and enjoyed the rain as we plan the weeks ahead with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year.

An update on my Intentional Winning book/blog, I've received some great subjects on dreams NOT come true but I need some more. I'm looking for that thing that maybe as a youngster you thought you wanted to be or maybe even something more recently. Did you want to be a Nurse? Or an astronaut? What was that dream job and why didn't you pursue it? It's not a big deep thing, I wanted to be a actress and until I was 30 I didn't pursue it because I believed I was too big and not pretty enough. When I did pursue it, I learned that I was plenty pretty enough (in fact, I was once told I was too pretty to do commercials!) and my weight was manageable. I took a different path to marry Dave and have Mason - a very conscious choice! My acting dreams are not dead, not by far, they are alive and well in different clothes. So here's an example of what I need from you: "I wanted to be in the military but could not because my vision did not meet their criteria." "I always dreamed of writing for a living but never did it because I didn't think I could make enough money to support myself and my family." "I always wanted to start a business but never went to college so I don't feel I have the skills to run a company." You get the picture, what did you want to do and why didn't you do it. Get to it, write back and tell me what it is/was for you!

Gear up for the new year, it's less than eight weeks away. Don't wait until January first to think about what you want to make happen in 2011. Start now and when January one comes, you'll already be on your way! Happy Monday!

Happy November First!

Welcome to November!

This Halloween weekend has been nothing but fun! Well, some work too, but more fun for sure! Friday Dave surprised me with Halloween costumes he picked out for the two of us, Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf! WOW! How thoughtful! The local newspaper came over to interview us about the way Dave does up our house with Halloween decorations. They took some really great photos, check them out here: //www.http//auburnjournal.com/detail/163611.html After that, we went to James and Lisa's Halloween party and then out to the Auburn Ale house where we shared funny dating stories (before we were an us) and laughed like we were young and dating. It was fun making people smile as we walked in all decked out in our oh-so cute costumes!

Saturday Mason played soccer and his team won - again! The Pistol Pete's Pirates are undefeated. It has been wonderful watching these boys learn to work together and work the plays they learn in practice. Dave and I made caramel apples for the team and I have no doubt the gummy worm coming out of a pile of candy bones made them all that much more fun to eat! We spent Saturday afternoon cleaning house and then it was time to get all decked out again for more parties. We went to a work party and then to Pistol Pete's where we met up with James and Lisa. We walked over to a little bar in town where we found our groove laughing and dancing enjoying all the costumes and smiles. After all that fun, it was hard to believe that we hadn't even arrived at Halloween yet!

Sunday, we got up and read our story in the newspaper and then went for a family run. Mason on his bike and Dave and I (with Spencer) went for a run downtown. It made me think, since we don't do Thanksgiving on Thursday, why don't we do the 5K Run To Feed The Hungry? I think we need to consider it. If you are local, do you want to go, too? I digress, so we ran some errands, got groceries, and watched Beetlejuice on TV. Dave did homework and then it was showtime! We had tons of kids, people who saw the house in the newspaper came to trick-or-treat and see the lights. It was really fun and made Dave really proud. Mason and Dave went trick-or-treating and now it's all done. I hope you had a fun weekend and I would love to hear from you, leave a comment and tell me a little about your weekend. In the meantime, scroll down and see the pictures from our fun-filled weekend! Happy Halloween and welcome to November!

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” Ashley Smith

Halloween Photos

Our front door - a little fall with a little Halloween

More ghouls greeting our little trick-or-treaters!

The witch in her lair - skulls and bones tell the tale!

More lost souls! (This is Mason's display. He's very proud!)

The Pumpkin Patch - the sweeter of the displays.

Mason, Kyle and Evan doing the downtown trick-or-treat.

Robin's Nest Daycare! So cute!

Dave and Kathy as The Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood

Kathy and Lisa

Sweet!

Scary!

This Wolf stands alone! Oh yeah!

Lisa asked, "What would you pay for a look?"

And a Big Hunk? Oh, la-la!

A Birthday Party And A Storm!

It's been that kind of a weekend. Mason's birthday party was on Saturday and the plan was to cook up some hot dogs in the backyard, let the kids play, and then eat cake. It was fast becoming clear that even if the rain didn't get here early (which it did), it was going to be too cold to hang out in the backyard. Call me crazy, but I didn't feel like whipping the house into shape for 26+ guests to move the party inside. We went to Old Town Pizza and had a ball. The rain meant some of our "No" RSVP's turned to "Yes" so that made for a the-more-the-merrier scenario. All I could think the whole time was, WOW! Look how many friends we have! After pizza we went to the high school where the students put on a haunted house. Certainly not a Hollywood production, but the kids thought it was fun!

Sunday was heavenly! We slept in, stoked the fire, had pancakes for breakfast, played Monopoly and basically just enjoyed the storm. It poured here, something like 3 inches of rain and snow was expected last night at the higher elevations. We did venture out to sit in the hot tub and it was raining so hard, we put one of our patio umbrellas smack dab in the middle of the tub! It made the soak so much more enjoyable. I bet that was pretty funny to see, neither of us wanted to get out and get the camera so you will just have to use your imagination!

With that, use your imagination a lot this week. Imagine what you want your life to be. Imagine one little thing you can do today to make that happen. Imagine you are wildly successful. I will imagine you are taking that action because to me, you can make it happen, all you have to do, is do!

Fall Is Finally Here!

Welcome Fall!

For real this time! Oh, I'm not fooled by this lovely rain we had yesterday, I know we have lots more warm, dare I say even hot days left this year, but the cool weather and rain was a welcome treat!

This weekend was a nice balance of "got lots done" and "did nothing." Don't you just love when things balance out like that? I do! Saturday was the annual Community Festival in Auburn. Mason and I had recipes entered in the contest and Mason won 1st place for his cookies. We also went to Mason's soccer game and yet again, the Pistol Pete's Pirates won! It's safe to say that Saturday was a winning day! We spent the afternoon decorating the house and enjoyed the evening visiting with Mike around the fire in the backyard. We made s'mores and the specialty for the night was the key lime pie s'more! It was really yummy, but still doesn't rank above the pumpkin pie s'more!

Sunday it rained! Dave split some wood and we put the lawn furniture in the garage. I did the grocery shopping while Mason played and Dave napped. Yep, while Dave napped - he never does that! We all ended up in our jammies early hanging out in the living room enjoying our first fire of the season. All in all, it was a lovely weekend.

Now we head into a new week and I have a proposition for you; how would you like to start making your dreams come true right now? Yes! I'm starting an Intentional Winning In Life group that will meet twice a month with e-mail updates the other two weeks. My plan is to work together to get the ball rolling on making your dreams come true and see some significant results within 90 days. If we start in November, that will have you well on your way by February 1st. How cool will it be to be two-thirds of the way to living your dreams instead of making a resolution to start on January 1st? Come on, I'll show you my plan and help you find a way to make your dream come true, no matter where you are in your life, you can do it! If you don't want to join my group, but would like my two cents, send me your dream and why you haven't pursued or achieved it and I may select your dream for my blog in 2011. You don't have to send some major essay, just what your dream is/was and why you didn't follow through. Dave's is that he has always dreamed of being a Park Ranger in a national park. He got detoured by marriage and military deployments. That simple!

Have a great week and if you're not already, find five things everyday to be grateful for. More is better and if you can just focus on what's right, it's safe to say you will barely notice that which is not. Happy Monday friends!

Inspired!

Happy Columbus Day!

I had an amazing weekend! It started early on Friday with Dave and I driving up to South Lake Tahoe. We stopped off in Apple Hill where I performed my ritual Thanks to the Harvest Gods for all the abundance and beauty they provide (Yes, I really do this! Ask Dave or Mary D., they've been-there, seen-it!). It's a fun way to show gratitude and appreciation during my favorite season of the year.

We arrived in Tahoe in time to visit some of our retailers and a couple of prospects, too. We had a lovely dinner overlooking the lake, it's incredibly difficult to not be romantic sharing a delicious meal while watching the sky turn pink at dusk. Perfection! We went to play cards for a little while and had a blast in Cabo Wabo at Harvey's. Not only did we not lose the cash we started with, but we won the money to cover dinner. Not bad!

Early Saturday morning, Dave drove me to the north side of the lake where I met up with my new Leadership Auburn class. We did an intense day and a half of leadership training that was great fun! I am so blessed to be surrounded by and continually meeting amazing people. See what happens when you do a ritual giving thanks? Laughing! On our way we stopped at Taylor Creek where we walked the nature trail to see the salmon spawning. An impressive display of nature at work. I suppose we see those impressive displays everyday but they blend into our regular environments so we don't give them the time and awe they surely deserve. The morning walk was was a special way to end our date. Now I'm back from my weekend, completely inspired and ready to go.

So today is a holiday, are you off? Dave is. I didn't think I was, but the banks are closed so guess what? No work for me! This is good news because I have lots to do and I need your help. All of you know about my Intentional Winning In Life concept and anthology book series plan. I'm ready to start sending that plan into action! November first marks the three year anniversary of writing my blog, can you believe it's been that long? Here's the plan and how you can help:

Each month starting in January I plan to take a specific topic, the topic of your dreams placed on hold, and show you in twelve posts (give or take) how to put that dream back to work making you happy!

• I need you to share with me what it was you wanted to be when you grew up, or a dream you realized later in life that for one reason or another you stopped pursuing. I also need to know why you came to believe you couldn't see it through.

• I also need you to put this call out to everyone you know in hopes that with your blessing, they will share their dreams not come true with me, too.

• I'm going to pick ten of the most popular topics and two of the most unusual to work with next year. This will then become the foundation of what Intentional Winning In Life books will be about. Intentional Winning In Wine Making. Intentional Winning In Writing. Intentional Winning In Nursing. You get the idea. This is going to be really fun, and if I use your topic, how cool will it be to have a real road map to making your dreams come true?

Will you help me? Send me your dreams and why you are not pursuing them and send this request out to your family and friends. I can't wait to make things happen as this year wraps up and we welcome a new year!

With love!
Kath

Weeknd In Lake Tahoe Pictures

The apples are all shades of green, yellow and red!

And then the get dressed up for the holiday season.

Everywhere there are pumpkins! Big, little, green and orange.

At the summit before dropping into Tahoe, I got to meet "Super Dave!"
I love that man!

We took a stroll on the beach before dinner.

After dinner we got a little schmoopy in front of Riva Bar & Grill.

We won! The money we started with plus $80! Not bad!

Saturday morning, very early, we walked along the Rainbow Trail to Taylor Creek. If you haven't been, go! It is a lovely little park with so much to see.

With the salmon spawning, the bears are feeding. I wish we could have been there in the late afternoon. Maybe next year.

Just pretty, pretty scenery.

The light from the start of our walk to the end of it (about 20 mins) was enough to go from dark on the water, to great light on the water.

See what I mean? Isn't this picture gorgeous? Can you imagine what it will look like in a week or two when the colors really come out? I can!

It was tough to get a shot of the fish, but I did my best with my Blackberry.

This is the name of the resort where the leadership training was held. Think 1950's resort where the wealthy vacationed for the summer. Think Dirty Dancing!

This is the patio off the dining hall at the resort.
The light when the sun was setting was just so soft.

Finally, having nothing to do with the weekend, this is THE BEST fall coffee ever If you like the the savory fall flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, and cloves, you will love this Cup 'O Joe!