Oh Yeah

I should probably update this thing more often.

So, the house is officially ours. I was handed the keys over a month ago, and have since been working hard to make it feel like home.

These are the last pre-completion pictures from late October - Mid-November.

Cabinets in the garage:


Interior in early November, still looking rough:


(no cabinets in the kitchen!)

Aaaand the finished product, right after completion (camera phone pictures, sorry):

(entry)

(kitchen)

(powder room)

(laundry)




I have since painted the dining room an olive green color and the kitchen PURPLE. I'll post pictures of it... eventually.

Okay, Sorry

I try SO hard not to get political on here. Once I start ranting, it's hard for me to stop, so I usually keep my mouth shut altogether.

But sorry, this is driving me insane.

"Maj." Nidal Malik Hasan is a terrorist.

He did not snap due to stress. He was a psychiatrist, I'm confident he had great coping skills. I can't pretend I fully understand his motivations; I don't. I'm not in the business of mind-reading, but there comes a point when we need to call a spade a spade. His history of misconduct is long, and he was outspoken in his beliefs that Islam came before the constitution, the war on terror was a war on Muslims, and that his "fellow Muslims" in Iraq and Afghanistan had every right to rise up against their American aggressors. Further investigation by the FBI has uncovered all sorts of ugly stuff, more and more of which is being revealed every day.
He gave away most of his possession before the attack; he knew he was going to die. Eye witnesses to the attacks heard him "praising Allah" in Arabic as he fired on some of our country's bravest. He sent terror through the Fort Hood community, and to our country as a whole.

He walks like a duck, he talks like a duck, and his history of conduct is equally duck-ish.

Joyous SNL

This last Saturday, SNL was hosted by Taylor Swift, and her opening monologue was the best I've ever seen. I downloaded it, and have had the "Monologue Song - 'La La La'" stuck in my head for the last five days. Normally song viruses are bad things, but I don't mind this one.

New Favorite Scripture

Psalms 126:5

"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

Doesn't that just make you feel better?

Bedtime With Captain Picard

I'd like to express my profound gratitude to the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Thank you, TNG. You've become my nightly routine. Though you don't have any Vulcans in your lineup, I've come to love you. I never considered myself a Trekie, but I can't imagine another night without you.

Also, I can't forget my friends kmyq (channel 10). Filling your 11pm weekday slot with TNG is the best thing you've ever done for me.

The Enterprise has solved yet another intergalactic mystery, and now it's time for bed.

The House is Ahead of Schedule!

Donald's been patiently awaiting these pictures. Here ya go, babe!


I went by our house on September 1st, before the foundation was poured. Here's a few shots:

The "front" (it's a corner lot) facing where the front of the house will be:

From the back/side yard:

Then, yesterday I went down to take more pictures. The framing was scheduled to start on the 24th (today) so I was excited to photograph the freshly dried foundation. Instead, I showed up and found that 1/3 of the framing was already complete! Can I just say how excited I am that things are AHEAD of schedule!?!?

The front:

The side:

Only six more weeks!

Doin' the Puyallup

I could do it at a trot, I could do it at a gallup, but I did it real slow so my heart wouldn't palpitate.

Military families get in free to the Puyallup Fair on Mondays, and I was keen to take advantage of the deal. My mom and I planned to go with my cousin Amy, but when morning came mom was too sick to go.

Amy and I had fun checking it out together, though. It's not often that I get alone time with her, so it was nice.

We started our visit out by admiring the arts. This one was modeled after Amy.

We somehow got lost, and it took us a long time to find the barn with all the cattle. For a few minutes we thought that we'd be leaving the fair having only seen bunnies and birds. We were thrilled when we finally found the big boys.

We milked Mabel!!!!

The pigs were probably our favorite part.

I loved this picture. Look at that cute little pigglet butt right by the momma pig's snout!

It had been four or five years since I last visited the fall fair, and it was good to be back. As usual, it was sad to do something so fun without Donald. I miss him very much, but he'll be coming for a visit in less than a month!

I'm planning on going again next Monday, and I can't wait!

New Ward and New House...ish

Today was supposed to be my first official day in our new ward. Instead, I spent my first official day in a ward I didn't belong to, and then spent my first official day in our new ward, which was also my second day in the Graham ward.

Official and technical are two totally different things, btw. And today... it was official. Donald and I went to the Graham ward a few weeks ago.

The Graham ward clerk took 20 minutes intensely consulting with the other ward's clerk on which ward we belonged in. Not only were there 3 different wards in our area, but there were 3 different stakes. Is it Graham? Or the Elk Plain ward? Or perhaps Spanaway?

Their final decision? None of the above. We were sent to another building.

I went the Pioneer Valley ward today... but guess what? We're not in that ward either. No worries though, they gladly informed us that we would be in the Gem Heights ward, which meets in the same building. He then took me to that Bishop's office. One interrupted Bishopric meeting, eight men, and twenty minutes later... I was sent back to the Graham ward.

...and that's leaving out a lot of exciting details.

Apparently we're 200 yards away from one ward, and mere blocks away from two others.

All is well that ends well, and I love our new ward!

Oh, and being in a new ward involves one huge detail. Yes, we have a house! Well... sorta. We're under contract for a house that's being built to our specifications in a new community out there in Graham. Unless it fails inspection or there's a freak gas leak at the site and everything blows up, we'll be moving into it in early November!!

I've been hesitant to blog about it, because the last house we were under contract with fell through. This one, however, has nothing to fall through OVER. I mean... it's brand new! The only downside to this place is that it's not on 1.21 acres, but we're coping.

I have some pictures, but obviously they're not of our house. It's a model home in Maple Valley that's the same floor plan we're getting. We're getting the white trim like it has, so it looks almost exactly like ours will.

The pictures were taken with my camera's phone, which explains the odd angles and not being able to capture the entire exterior in one shot.

The entry-way, viewed from the stairs.

The powder room, stairs, and entry-way, viewed from the dining room.

Dining room to the left, kitchen straight ahead, back door, and living room to the right.

Living room.

Upstairs computer nook/loft.

The master bedroom. Door on the far left, my closet down the mini-hall and on the left, Donald's on the right, master bath at the end.

Only two months!

My 4 a.m. Name Change

This is the blog of Katrina and Donald Winn. The blog's domain name (or whatever you call it!) has long since been katrinamaye.blogspot.com. I've been aware for some time that this needed updating. I changed the banner several months ago to at least reflect both of our names, but the problem with changing the blog's actual URL until now was two fold.

1. I had no idea how to change the URL. A Minor detail.

2. I could not, for the life of me, come up with a cute name. And believe me, I tried. For over a year, I have tried. Even my own name doesn't flow with it (Say it out loud: Katrina Maye Winn). Having enlisted the help of friends from time to time, and we always agreed: there's just nothing catchy out there that works with "Winn" without sounding ridiculous. Maybe we all fell victim to a group brain-fart, or maybe my friends just weren't clever enough. I wouldn't rule either out.

Well, I jumped those hurdles and we have a new domain name. How'd I do that? I got bored and starting figuring this website out for the first time. Once I learned how to change the URL, I changed it. Just like that, with no thought. Such things are pretty easy at 4 a.m.

I didn't think, I just did. Story of my life, and it usually works for me.

aPairOfRealWinners.blogspot.com

Orange County Mud Run and Eco-Fest

Last month Donald we took a trip down to California to visit some of our good friends and family. While there, Donald did the Orange County Mud Run on a team with 3 of his friends. It was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen him do.

For four young men who are native to SoCal (two of whom aren't even white) they certainly are a very pasty bunch.

From left to right: Adam, Rudy, Donald, and Albert.

The only place to pin their numbers was the tooshie. Justin didn't seem to mind helping out.

I, however, did so reluctantly.

It was just a 5k course, and wasn't very difficult (which I'm sure is much easier for me to say, since I didn't run it!), but they made the most of it!

This one was taken toward the start of the race, before they met the mud!

Okay, bad news. The mid pits weren't placed in an area that was accessible to bystanders. Bummer, right? I really was looking forward to watching them prance through the stuff. As you can see here, though, there definitely was a mud pit. However, I'm told it wasn't a very deep or intense one. No, they just LOOK like they had to swim through it. They apparently didn't fight against the stuff. They SAVORED their time in the mud, and got well acquainted with it.

My husband never does things half-hearted, and playing in the mud is no exception!

Now we come to my favorite part of the race. This is where everyone ELSE decided to cheat. After they crossed that little red rope, everyone was supposed to CRAWL through the sand.


Did they all? Only at first...










Crawling 15ish feet must have seemed too hard or boring for everyone else. Some people were even going around the obstacle entirely. Not Mr. Integrity though. Donald believed in the spirit of the race.















Do you love how he folded his shorts over in a sexy yet functional diaper-style?

He low-crawled through the un-fun people. While they stood impatiently in the congestion, he stealthily worked his way through the small crowd. Cheaters never prosper!

Look closely, and you can see Albert stuffing sand down Donald's shorts.

Then they went through some tubes before running off to finish the rest of the course.

The aftermath:

They stood in line for at least half an hour to hose off, and then we called it a day. They ran out of T-shirts in Donald's size, so he grabbed one for me. Isn't it cute? I think so. His loss is my gain!