traditional thanksgiving dinner in an untraditional place

we spent thanksgiving this year in st kitts with some great friends

you can tell a country is americanized

or caters to americans

when they offer a traditional thanksgiving dinner at nearly every restaurant

so we partook!

the food was great

and even gave me inspiration for the appetizer for next year's anniversary wine dinner

but it wasn't my mom's thanksgiving dinner.....

fall in maine

i've never liked fall

it means the end of summer

and the segue into cold winter!

but maybe that's just because i never lived anywhere that really had a fall

until maine

and my whole outlook on fall has changed!

my wish for everyone is that they see maine in the fall in their life

it's truly a spectacular sight!

the BIG birthday month celebration - week 4

day 22 - spent the day trying to recover from the "excitement" of the 4-wheeling trip

day 23 - did some stuff around the house i had been putting off and snuggled on the couch with my honey (cuz he was finally home during the week!)

day 24 - i had something else planned for today but then the honey asked if i wanted to watch a movie and how could i turn down cuddling on the couch during a movie - especially during the week (he's been out of town quite a bit this summer)?!?!

day 25 - i pampered myself with a trip to the salon - it was LONG overdue!!!

day 26 -

day 27 -

day 28 - attended a benefit dinner/auction thing for a friend that was in an atv accident; we even won a sign that our friend made for the raffle!

day 29 -

day 30 -

So you may notice some holes here...
the reality that it's almost time to head back to texas hit
and life got in the way of the birthday month
i know - a total travesty
but instead some of it has spilled over into october

like just yesterday i had a bra party
there's a great home company that sells undergarments
and they're AWESOME
all my texas peeps be ready cuz i'm going to have another one with you guys!

and so concludes the 40th birthday month celebration!

pig roast

we have some friends that recently moved back to maine
from california - talk about a long haul!

we're glad they're closer now though!

apparently they used to have pig roasts every year (pre-me in sean's life)

now that they're back in maine
they decided to start up the tradition again

so we packed up duke (and his ball to play catch with) and headed to western maine
isn't this a gorgeous view?

that's from their bedroom
notice the tree on the right is just starting to turn
oh and there just happened to be a double rainbow one morning

that mountain on the left - mount washington - all the way in new hampshire
here's the pig all done and being served up

after that shot i had to walk away as i started to feel bad for him...
but not bad enough to not have any
he was TASTY!

for the love of our pets

when we were in kansas city for our friend's wedding
we also visited my brother and his family
i was super excited to get to stay for the extended holiday weekend
their kids are getting so big
and i miss a lot being so far away  :(
these are their 4-legged babies

once i opened the curtain they just sat in the window waiting for their parent's return

so sweet!

details of a wedding

over the labor day weekend we headed to kansas city to attend a friend's wedding
it was an elope of sorts, although we all saw it coming!

we all met up at the bowling alley
then took the cutest trolley to the ceremony location

after the ceremony we waited for them to send a new trolley

as the original one had a little brake issue

the trolley took us back to the bowling alley

where we bowled a few frames

and had glorious cupcakes

it was the perfect place for their wedding
and i wish them a lifetime of love and happiness together!

***************************
all the pics except of the cupcakes are of all the cute little details at the ceremony location
the lemonade was to die for (lavender mint, if i remember right)!

the BIG birthday month celebration - week 3

this birthday month is becoming the most memorable one ever - and not all in a good way!

day 15 - attended a home brew beer tasting to benefit our friend that was injured in an ATV accident

day 16 - took time to blog again!

day 17 - i cannot for the life of me remember what i did - must have been good or relaxing - maybe i just vegged and caught up on trash tv...

day 18 - attended a taping of the local late night talk show - won a new beer glass and a gift card to a local restaurant!  was totally my night!

day 19 - attended a wine tasting and found some new whites i like - who knew i could like white wine?

day 20 - went tent camping with my honey and duke and friends - sat around the campfire, giggling about old days enjoying the crisp fall air and great company

day 21 - went on a 75 mile 4-wheeling trip, enjoying all the fall colors and cool fall temperatures.  the part that was not enjoyable (and i wouldn't recommend as part of a birthday month celebration) was the trip to the er after wrecking the wheeler.  i'm really not sure how i came out of it with nothing broken but i did.  i'm pretty banged up with bruises and whiplash but nothing broken and already on the mend! special thanks to the er nurse that made me feel comfortable while in an area i'm not familiar with and who recognized that our appearance after a day of wheeling isn't what we normally look like!