September 20 - Day 259 of 365

30 Day Baking Day

My friend, Jennifer, and I do 30 Day cooking together a few times per year. This time, we decided to bake instead! We made cobblers, pumpkin rolls, banana bread, soup, breakfast muffins, pumpkin bread, etc. It was a LOT of work, but it's so fun to have all of our fall baking done. Now... if Mother Nature would only recognize this season as FALL and cool off!

This is fresh apple cobbler filling...

September 19 - Day 258 of 365

 The rest of our day trip was spent at Audubon State Park (named after John James Audubon - artist & nature lover). We have been to this park before, but never inside the nature center/museum. One of our quests was to have a park ranger sign our book and take a photo. Once we did that, he told us to go through the museum for free, because it was about to close. It was so neat... with a bird viewing room and a tower room. Beautiful park!

September 18 - Day 257 of 365

Actually, I'm cheating... back-dating the blog. I really have no photos from the 18th, but we had a big family outing on the 19th that is going to take two posts. :)

I've been so lax on blogging that you probably don't know that we are participating in the Family Adventure Quest through Kentucky State Parks this year. We opted to do several weekend/day trips in lieu of a "real" vacation this year. Partly to save money and partly because it is difficult to get away for a whole week!

With the FAQ, we paid $15 to register our team and received a backpack, water bottle and booklet of 25 quests. If we complete all 25 quests, we will receive an $85 gift card to KY State Parks. Pretty awesome! The quests take you to many of the 52 KY State Parks... some can be answered with a little online research and others require a photo of your team for proof.

We live pretty close to Kentucky, so our day trips are sometimes only an hour away... but some weekend trips are 4-5 hours away. We've taken 3 day trips so far and one weekend trip. We're camping in October for fall break also. For this weekend's quest, we visited the Jefferson Davis Memorial. It was a lot of fun, but my one regret is that we should have waited until the trees had turned fall colors first. Ah, well...

The memorial is 350 feet high (as compared to the Washington Monument that is 550 feet high).

In this part of Kentucky, we saw many Amish buggies. Can you spot the buggy in the pic below? Do you see what else is on the corner?

I'm a Yankee through & through, so it was interesting to see so many rebel flags in the museum and gift shop. I still see the rebel flag as a symbol for racism... but that's a story for another day.

 On our way back home, we passed through this town...

 And saw some tobacco fields...

September 17 - Day 256 of 365

We love Max!

September 16 - Day 255 of 365

The not very cheer-leader...

This little cutie cheers for Truman's team. Sometimes she's not very cheerful. Ironic, isn't it?

September 15 - Day 254 of 365

Harrison is in love with his teacher this year (which is an answer to prayer!). He keeps making and/or bringing gifts to her. I think it's so sweet!! He even wrapped his gift in a gift bag with tissue... *awww*

September 14 - Day 253 of 365

Harvest Time in Southern IN

Finally a name

I finally got in to see the Rheumatologist today after a 7 week wait. My original appointment was at the end of October (a 3 month wait!), so I'm very grateful they had a cancellation and got me in today. I haven't said much about my current physical ails on my blog, because I've been feeling very out of sorts and was undiagnosed... no need to alert the world to listen to me whine about my aches & pains. :)

In a nutshell, I got bit by a bug (type unknown) on May 23rd and immediately started having joint pain (along with tiredness). The joint pain is a daily thing in my fingers/toes with occasional "flares" in other joints of a more serious nature. I've "donated" quite a bit of blood to the cause and had no definitive answers. At this point, both the doctor and Rheumatologist agree that the bug bite & joint pain are unrelated, though it is strange that they occurred at the same time. Anyway, they are testing for Lyme disease (again) just to rule it out for good and also doing some other tests. Unless something major turns up from this round of testing, the Rheum. has diagnosed me with:

Palindromic Rheumatism

I'm relieved to have a name for it (aka - I'm not crazy!)... but I'm still believing that God can and will completely heal me. Most important to me right now is that PR does not develop into Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

Right now, I'm supposed to keep managing the pain with Advil (as I have been doing for the past 4 months) and keep a log. When I return to the Rheum., she will determine whether I should take further meds. The blood tests should show her whether I am one of the 40% who may develop RA. There is one medication that can help prevent people with PR from getting RA.

September 13 - Day 252 of 365

God and Me class for Cub Scouts

Truman is taking a class to earn his religious knot. I'm assisting his teacher with the class. It has been very fun to teach the boys about God and see what answers a group of 6-8 year old boys come up with! I'm honored to help teach the leaders of tomorrow.

 

September 11 - Day 250 of 365

First flag football game of the season!

Go Bengals!

September 6 - Day 245 of 365

On Labor Day, we ate at Monical's Pizza right before leaving to head home. Oh, Monical's... how I love thee! The original Monical's is in Tolono, IL (and closed on Labor Day, just in case you were wondering). We ended up eating at one in Champaign. Their pizza is thin & yummy and a family pleaser includes a large pizza, pitcher of pop and salad. The Sweet & Tart salad dressing is perfect for a salad or on the pizza itself. I have wonderful memories of going to Monical's after every Friday night football game during high school. Good times! I always try to eat there when I'm in town. Ask anyone from central IL and I would bet they love Monical's!

September 10 - Day 249 of 365

Happy Birthday to me (1 day late)! We celebrated by going out to our favorite Mexican restaurant, then home for ice cream cake & presents. The boys wrote sweet love notes to me and Tommie got me the perfect present! Life is good...

September 5 - Day 244 of 365

On Sunday, we had a Majeres family gathering.

Lots of sports, ride-on toys, chatting, eating and S'mores! I love my family!

September 4 - Day 243 of 365

I'm not sure that I will be able to keep up with Project 365, however I will post a photo per day whenever possible. :) Last weekend, we visited our families in IL and my in-laws gave me a fantastic new camera. We went to Argyle Lake State Park in the afternoon and tried it out. Pretty awesome, if you ask me! Thanks, Mom & Dad Payne!!

Neglected

Dear Blog:

There have been many reasons why I have neglected you over the past few months.

• I was busy in April/May and got out of the habit of updating you.
• I didn't think anyone was reading you (I have been corrected about this!).
• I have had a rough time with my health since May and did not want to use you as a platform for complaints.
• I was cheating on you. I started a 2nd blog for my business and was planning to leave you forever. I have since gotten a different job, so my business plans are on hold. I hope you will forgive me and take me back.

For all of the lame excuses I can think of, I am sorry. I make no promises about the frequency of which I will visit you... but I promise not to banish you from my life completely (yet!). lol You have been there for me through thick and thin and I enjoy your company. Thank you for not leaving me.

Love,

Amy

(This post is starting to make me think of a comparison between a blog & God... but we'll save the deep thoughts for another day!)

September 8 - Day 247 of 365

We had my first big event for my new job today. The event involved local restaurants and some fun local entertainment. This was one of my favorite entertainers... a 7 piece Dixieland band!