Pumpkin Carving Contest

Saturday night I went to my Aunt Torie's house for the Annual Sutton Family Pumpkin Carving contest. A lot of my family was there and we had a good time. It was pretty funny because everyone was concentrating so hard on their projects that it was dead silent. The family members that were there that weren' t carving were teasing us because we were so serious about the event. These were not ordinary carvings because there weren't any triangles or teeth. It was also my cousin Barb's birthday and our family friend Francine made her a spooky cake.

It was awesome. I won the contest, but some of the other contestants thought it was rigged b/c my parents, my brother kyle and his girlfriend Stephanie were the judges.
This is my pumpkin. It's a witch with a cat in the center. It's hard to see in this picture.

Today my parents came over. My dad had not been to our apartment yet. We went out to lunch and showed them around Saint Joseph. My mom brought a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. My mother and I also went on a walk through the neighborhood and on the high school track. Well, that's it for now catch ya later...

What a day!

Yesterday got off to a rocky start. I was woken up early in the morning to a dog laying on my pillow who was shaking like he was freezing. He wouldn't stop for about ten minutes. He was sick for most of the morning. If was kind of scary. He was much better by the afternoon. He was jumping around and wagging his tail.

I went on a job interview yesterday at a law office. It went pretty well. I have a second interview on tuesday to meet with the lawyers. Wish me luck.

My parents are coming to visit us on Sunday. Yeah. Well, that's all for now. Catch you later!

Barkley Bastian

Our dog, Barkley, was doing well adjusting to his new lifestyle as an indoor dog. He hadn't had any accidents until yesterday when his "Birth" family came to visit. Lynn and her crew came to see our doggy oh yeah and us for the day. They also brought along their little terror of a pup named Buddy. He's blind, but he doesn't let that stop him. I think he thinks he's a Great Dane. He started fighting and biting Barkley and he scared the pee out of him...literally.

We really enjoyed their visit, but I think Barkley was more than happy to get some rest after they left. He likes being top dog now and takes any chance he can to get love and affection. He loves the one on one time he gets now. Our furry "baby" is very spoiled.

Tonight we went to Battle Creek, MI to see our friends Julia and Chad (Jordan's best man). We met them at Chili's for dinner and then went to the movies to see Flightplan. The dinner started off bad b/c the waiter had two huge parties besides us and forgot about us. Julia's dinner was burned and mine was slightly undercooked. Later, about a 1/2 hour into the movie it looked like the film melted in the projector and it took them about 10 minutes to get the film back up and running. It was pretty funny actually.

It was great to see our friends and have a night out. Poor Barkley though he was alone for the longest he has been since we moved up here. We found an excited pup at our door, a stain, and our salt and pepper shakers knocked over. Looks like he had a bad night. Hopefully he'll get a little better as time goes by. All in all I am impressed at how he has done so far.

I'm searching for a job. Hopefully tomorrow will be more successful. Jordan doesn't work until tomorrow night so I'll be watching the series here at home w/ my pupster. Jordan had his first article published with the new paper. It is about why cubs fans should root for the sox. Well, that's it for now. Catch ya later...

Saint Joseph, MI

We arrived in Saint Joseph, Michigan on October 11, 2005. My brother kyle and his girlfriend Stephanie helped us move in to our new apartment. We live in a wooded area and it's really pretty up here right now b/c the leaves are changing colors.

On Wednesday we went to the Sox game. It was game two and the infamous drop third strike game. My brother-in-law, Keith and my sister-in-law Melissa invited us to the game. We had a great time. The crowd was crazy the entire game. We kept sitting down and standing up all night....It was like going to a catholic church service. It was extremely loud. We had a great time.

On Thursday my mom came up here and helped us to wash all of our new kitchen items and put things away. Our new apartment is great. We have everything put away. The only thing left to do is to hang our pictures on the wall, but I am waiting to get our wedding pictures. I got our album, but not our wall pictures.

Sunday was Grandma Bastian's 90th birthday party and Jordan and I traveled to Elk Grove Village, IL. We saw a lot of Jordan's relatives from other states.

After the party we went to my moms house for her birthday. I made her a cake. My Aunt Susie, Kevin, Kyle, Grandma and Papa were there.

We've already had our first visitors. Jordans dad and stepmom Patty came up on tuesday night. We showed them around St. Joseph on Wednesday.
Lynn, Jordan's sister, gave us one of her dogs a 2 yr old shitzu named Barkley, or as the kids call him broccoli. He's adjusting very well to his new place. We love having a dog. Jordan started his new job at he Herald-Palladium which is the Benton Harbor/St. Joe paper. Well, that's all for now. It's been awhile since I last blogged so this was kind of long. Catch ya later!

Go Sox! Red Sox That Is!

Well, my wonderful husband has done it again. Scored me some free tickets to tomorrow nights game. The Jays are playing the Red Sox. It's the last game of the series here in Toronto. I'm pretty excited b/c I've only gone to one baseball game this entire season where as my husband on the other hand will have gone to 52 by the end of the season. I went to one earlier this summer with my bros and Stephanie. I'm going to this one by myself. Anyone wanna join me? Maybe since Johnny Damons injury isnt' that bad he can fly in from Boston and sit with me! I'll rub his shoulder! I mean no I won't! Just kidding Jordan! I love you!

Today I stopped by this cool pottery place. They sell the pieces and you paint them. They had all kinds of dishes and figures. Looks like fun!

I must have been a good girl b/c today was mail day. I got three letters from people back home! Love you guys! See ya in 3 wks!

Ok...I'm officially depressed...

So last night Jordan and I were relaxing watching TV. It's about 2 a.m. and we're watching some show about firefighters and our apt becomes pitch black. Crap! Our power goes out. Wait! No it doesn't the fan is still working. Oh, no! It's the TV! We franticly push the power button. Nothing happens. We unplug and then replug the TV. Nada. Yeah our TV is broken and we have a month to go, I've almost finished my project and I am sick of reading my stupid book. I don't know what I'm going to do. Stay tuned to see how whiney Kelly can get over the next month!

Happy now?

My husband has been nagging me to post a blog. So here it is. There hasn' t been a whole lot going on around here and that is why I haven't posted. Jordan has been off of work since Monday and I will get to keep him at home until next Monday! He has some side stuff he has to do, but he's actually here which is a good thing. I don' t have to talk to myself anymore! Tehe just kidding.

I have been glued to my TV watching the hurricane news like many other Americans I'm sure. I have to turn it off many times because it is so draining to watch. Especially today when I watched Oprah do her take on what's going on down there. It was terrible. I need to stop watching TV.

Tonight, one of our favorite shows is on, RockStar INXS. We are big dorks, but it's one of the only reality shows that we can stomach. It's on three nights a week and tonight is the performance show. We missed the house episode last night b/c we went and saw The Brothers Grimm. It was decent, but more of a renter.

I've been hearing from a lot of people from back home which is awesome. It's kind of lonely when I'm here by myself all the time. It's good to hear someone else's voice besides Dr. Phil. Well, I'm back to my stitching project while Jordan is busy playing GameCube. If any of you have time shoot me an email and say hi.

Taking it easy...

Since we returned we haven't done very much. The laundry is still piled on the floor, dishes are in the sink, and Jordan is still in bed. Yesterday, we did get something accomplished during the day. Our air mattress was having technical difficulties the night before we left for the USA and we decided to exchange it yesterday. It's nice to sleep on something a little stiffer, but this one is a little bit smaller. It's supposed to be the same one, but it's not. It's ok I dont' mind b/c I actually got good rest on it. We also found a new grocery store that we like and it kind of reminds us of Jewel.(in the suburbs of chicago for all you out of towners!) It was much cleaner than Loblaws the one right next to our apt. and there was more food we recognized unlike Loblaws which has a lot of kosher and ethnic food.

Last night we enjoyed good old American Hamburgers cooked by yours truely. I am really getting the hang of cooking in this teeny tiny kitchen. You gotta make due right? After dinner we relaxed and watched Mickey Blue Eyes on TV. It stars Hugh Grant.

Today's tasks are hunting down change for the laundry, doing the laundry, dishes, and taking a run. Exciting I know. Jordan is off until Friday. Well, that's all for now catch ya later!

Road Trippin'

On Thursday Jordan and I headed out on our 2 day journey to Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls, and Cooperstown: The Baseball Hall of Fame. On our way there we stopped off in a small town to get gas because Jordan was so excited to see their name:

We arrived in the town of Niagara on the Lake and were pleasantly suprised. I wasn't quite sure what we would find when we got there, but what I saw was better than I imagined. There were tons of quaint little shops, beautiful flowers everywhere in large hanging baskets, and horses and carriages. I ran into my leading man in town, Bogey.

The scenery was beautiful when we wandered down by the lake. There is an old fort off in the distance and a nice park to sit and enjoy the view in.
After lunch we headed to Niagara Falls after stopping off to watch a glass blowing demonstration. Jordan had been to the falls when he was 10 or 11 and I was there when I was 14. We stood next to the falls and got quite wet by the mist. This is what greated us: Then we took a ride on the Maid of the Mist which is a boat that travels to the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls on the Canada side. I had done that once before, but Jordan had never done it.

We stayed around in the Falls and had dinner at one of our favorite places, Rainforest Cafe. We have now been to one in each of the countries in North America. Yes, we're dorks, but we like the food. We waited for it to get dark so we could see the lights on the Falls. They were awesome. At first it was just huge white spotlights, but then they began to change colors. It was pretty sweet! We stayed in a hotel that night on the American side near Buffalo in Tonawanda. What did we find across the street from our hotel? Yeah, a Chili's and we stopped for chips and queso of course.

The next morning we headed towards Cooperstown. We enjoyed the drive through the hills and taking in the scenery. I loved looking at all of the old homes along the way. When we got to the town Jordan almost caused me to crash off the road and get rear ended when he saw this sign b/c he wanted to take his picture there.

We reached the Hall of Fame and the main street that it was on. This was another cute little town. It had a lot of shops that I had to drag Jordan out of. It was so strange b/c all of the towns along the way were vacant and this one was teaming with people.

Here is Jordan with his childhood heros and one of his main reasons for going to the hall.

I don't see any Bastians in the Hall of Fame, but it was easy enough to find a Sutton!Don Sutton This one's for you Melissa.

King KellyLay off the high ones. I like the high ones. Mule! Nag!

This is for all you Sox fans!

Going to the Islands....

The Toronto Islands that is! We tried again today to head to the islands, but unlike yesterday we were successful this time. We traveled by subway and arrived at the ferry dock. We took the 10 min boat ride across the lake to the Islands. The water was very calm and I was very thankful for that. The last time I was on a boat like that I did not have a good experience. I get motion sickenss rather easily and the thought of getting on a boat again was not very inviting. This time went much smoother. I did not feel ill at all. The trip was very quick which helped.

When we got there we decided to rent bikes and ride around. Before we got there we stopped off at a hedge maze and explored around inside for a bit. When we got to the bike rental place and they handed us our bikes I had to chuckle a little. They were very old fashioned bikes. The handle bars curved up excessively and the only way to stop was to push the petals backwards like a small childs bike. It was funny. Nothing like the bikes I have been riding with my parents on the trails in Glenwood back home. Jordan hadn't been on a bike since 8th grade/Freshman year of high school. The bikes didn't have any gears and mine was really squeaky, but it was still fun. My legs are really tired now after our long walk around the city yesterday and the biking from today.Here is a picture of our wonderful bikes. Other people rode tandems and quadricicles too which were funny looking.




We biked all around the island. When we got to the far west end we arrived at the place where Babe Ruth hit his only minor league homerun when he was 19 years old. There wasn't a stadium or a statue like we imagined we'd see by the symbol they had on the map. There was a small little plaque screwed to a rock in some woodsy/weedy area. We laughed outloud when we saw it. I took Jordans picture anyway. At least we'll see some better stuff on Friday when we head to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Yeah, USA I can't wait. We're going there after Thursday when we go to Niagra Falls.

How do you spell Crabby?

Apparently this morning it's J-O-R-D-A-N. We are heading out to early church and Jordan is moving in slowmo. Last night we stayed up really late reading The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. Well, actually he read it aloud to me. Yes, we're dorks, but it was really good. It's full of suspence. Even if the events aren't historically accurate we are still enjoying the story. It was funny how when we were reading we kept getting phone calls from people. It must mean you all love us. Thanks! Love you too!

After church, we are headed to the Toronto Islands. They are a series of 12 islands right off of the shore. We found the web site yesterday and it looks really interesting. Yes, ma you can rent bikes on the island we should have done this while you were here. Also there's a Babe Ruth monument so you know we'll check that out. Well, that's it for now crabby is finally ready for church. Later gators!

Two weeks with Jordan

Yes, that's right. I get Jordan all to myself for 2 wks. Well, almost. He might have to do the occasional minor league story or something, but for now there will be no going to the ballpark for him. The Blue Jays are on a road trip and will not return until the 26th. Yesterday, we did one of our favorite things and went to the movies to see the new Kate Hudson flic, The Skeleton Key. It was quite creepy, but I love a good scare at the movies.

I would like to apologize for not posting in quite a long time. Jordan was giving me crap about how I haven't been updating my blog regularly. Let me update you on what I have been doing:

While my parents were still here in Toronto we went to the beach. Afterwards we came home and then went to dinner at a place called Montanas. On the way home we stopped to take a look at the smart cars that they have here in Canada. They are only 8 feet long, get 60 mpg, and have changeable faceplates like a cell phone. They're really cute and are only two seaters.

We drove home on Sunday, but the ride didn't seem that bad. When we got home it was 104 degrees in Thornton so we decided to jump in the pool. I made sammy, my dog go swimming with me. He was not too happy. The rest of the time I was home he would run away from me if I was on the deck and head onto the porch. He normally would be laying on a lawn chair sunning himself, but he wanted nothing to do with me. I know I'm mean.

I visited with my Grandparents while I was home. I went over to my Aunt Torie's for a BBQ and to see my Aunt Sheila who was visiting from Alabama. We had the Sutton's over for a BBQ for my bro kev's b-day. Yes, I ate a lot of BBQ, but it was great b/c I dont' get any of that up here.

I hung out with my sis-in-law and her crew a few times. The kids are great and we had a great time in the pool one day. I sure got a work out carting them around in the water. They were like little leaches, but cute leaches. I loved their swimmy suits. They were the kind with the floatation device in them and it makes them look like lil football players. I got attacked by her heard of dogs on my way in and out of their house. It was really muddy there and the dogs would jump on me and by the time I got to the house all I could do was laugh because I was totally coated in mud.

It was fun to be with my family for the 2 wks, but it was great when I got home to see Jordan waiting up for me when we arrived. We got here really late and my bros and stephanie headed straight to their hotel.

The next day we went to the casino/horsetrack b/c kyle is 19 and you can gamble at 19 here in Canada. I had never been before either. We came back and hung out in our apartment while Jordan was at work. We ordered pizza and watched tv.

The next day Jordan got us free $65 tickets. We also got into the Press box and the Jumbo Tron room. It was great. It was so hot outside and we had to go up by the bar to cool off for awhile. After the game we went to Milestones for drinks and Jordans favorite Spinach artichoke dip. We saw two yankees there-Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez. Later that night we went to the movies and saw Wedding Crashers. My brothers headed home on Sunday and Jordan headed to work. I was pretty lonely. : (

Jordan and I might go to Toronto Island tomorrow to see what is out there. You have to take the ferry across to it so hopefully I won't get sick. I don't do very well on things like that. When we were in Cancun we took a ferry to the dolphin discovery and on the way back it was very choppy and I was making Jordan very nervous. Anyhoo, I hope the island is interesting. It would be great if we could rent bikes and ride around on the island. We'll see I'll let ya know.

USA

Today my parents and I drove back from Toronto. We got home around 3 pm and headed straight for the pool. It was 102 degrees! After dinner my brother, Stephanie and I went to Dairyville in Lansing. Now I'm just trying to dig out a place to sleep because my room is very crowded. That's it for now because I'm pretty tired. Goodnight!

Toronto Adventures

Today we began the day disappointed. It was gloomy and rainy so we called off our trip to the beach. Instead we visited Casa Loma, which was the second largest private residence until it was sold in the 1930's.

It is actually a castle that was built by Sir Henry Mill Pellatt, a prominent Canadian Financier, industrialist, and military officer in 1911. It cost around $3,500,000 at the time to build over a period of 3 years. It was never completed because during World War I all of his workers had to leave to fight.

The rain let up so we could go out and see the beautiful fountain and gardens. We took the guided tour. We heard the story of how the place was built and what happened to Sir Henry that caused him to loose all of his money. There was an auction that was run by his bank when he defaulted on his loan where all of his possessions were sold off. They did a very poor job of it too. They sold his things at an open auction where there was no minimum bid. A $170,000 pipe organ was sold for $40. Yes not $40,000, but $40. Crazy!

Several movies were filmed there - X-men, Cocktail, Vin Diesel's the Pacifier, and a few others. It was cool b/c Jordan has Xmen so we went home to check out the scenes. After we visited the grounds, the rooms, the tower, and the stables we headed home to change our clothes.

My parents and I at the skywalk between Union Station and the CN Tower.

The CN Tower

Our next stop was the CN Tower where we dined at the 360 restaurant. The Restaurant spins at the top and we got to enjoy the view while we ate. The food was great. Afterwards, we went to the glass floor to look down. That was pretty sweet. Jordan thought it would be really funny to take bad pictures of me all day long. Here is one.

We're pretty tired now. We are going to try and hit the beach again tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

They're here!!

My parents got here today at 3:20 pm. Jordan was still at work so we just hung out in the apartment for awhile. They left at 5 am this morning like a couple of nut jobs. They went through the border and when the guy asked them what they had in the back seat my dad said, "An air conditioner" and my mom chimed in, "A pizza." The guy probably was confused. The pizza was an Arrenellos pizza from Glenwood, which was requested by Jordan. I bet that was the longest pizza delivery ever!

My dad started to fix our air conditioner. It is really cold now! Jordan will sleep like a baby and I will have icicles hanging from my nose and will be reaching for another blanket. My parents and I went to check them into their hotel. We stopped and had a little appetizer at a place called Rocky Mountian High while we waited for Jordan. When he finally got home we met him at our place. We hung out for awhile and then Jordan said he was starving so we went to East Side Marios. It's kind of like Olive Garden with a more gimmicky New York theme. They call it American Italian food I guess.

We also stopped at Home Depot to buy stuff to fix the air conditioner. We had to drag my dad out of there or else we would have never gotten to go home. While he fixed the air conditioner my mom and I went on a walk through the neighborhood. We only did a mile and a 1/2 b/c she didn't have very good shoes on.

Tomorrow we plan on going to The Beaches which is you guessed it a section of town with a bunch of beaches. Jordan and I went there once before. They have a boardwalk and then you can go to a bunch of shops along Queen Street. After that we'll head home, clean up and hit the subway to downtown. We will also go see the CN Tower and eat at the 360 restaurant. Busy day, but it'll be fun. Saturday we are going to go to the Island and check that out. Sun we will be heading home very early I'm sure. If anyone would like to get together while I'm home give me a call after sun b/c I'll be around aggravating my family I'm sure! See ya soon!

One more day!

My parents get here tomorrow, Yeah! There are leaving at like 4 or 5 in the morning like crazy people. Jordan will not be here when they get here. He has a 12:37 game tomorrow which is weird. This should be a great weekend and I'm really excited about it. The one thing I am not excited aboot is the 8 hr drive back. Hopefully my parents won't have as bad a time getting in as we did. Jordan came home tonight with yet another picture of the CN tower. Maybe he'll stop taking pictures of it after friday when we finally go up in it. Well, that's all for now b/c we have to get up earlier than usual.

Fantastic Four

Today Jordan and I went on our run. I was a little slower than usual which kind of annoys him. He's a motivator when he runs w/ me, but sometimes I just get mad at him. I know he's just trying to help and I'm a brat.

Tonight I went out w/ a woman from church. We had dinner at a place called Montana's which kind of reminds me of The Texas Road House minus the peanuts. We went to see Fantastic Four which turned out not to be so fantastic. Jessica Alba is a terrible actress and needs to learn how not to miss buttons on her shirt.

Tomorrow I will be cleaning my apartment and doing laundry before the folks get here on Thursday. Real exciting day. Jordan covers the Mariners tomorrow.

Higher Ground

Today after dropping Jordan at the subway station , (It was raining) I went to church. I like a dummy wore sandals and pretty much soaked my feet. I sat near the back with my shoes off during the whole service trying to dry off. This church has carpeting that feels like felt, it's weird. The pastor was talking about the story of Zacchaeus. It was really funny b\c Jordan referred to that last week when we went to the Yonge Street Festival. He was trying to see over a crowd of people and he couldn't b/c he's so short like Zacchaeus. It's funny sometimes that you can go so long without talking about something or hearing about something and then it randomly comes up more than once in a short period of time. Must mean something right?

I ran home after church to change my shoes b/c I was freezing. I can't complain b/c it was better than being in my hot apartment. I came back for what is called Higher Ground. They have a small coffee bar in the church and people get muffins and coffee and chat with one another. People meet in the gym and they have someone speak about a designated topic and then there is a discussion. Today, they ran it a little different and they played a video. Afterwards the two woman at my table and I began talking. They were really nice and we decided to get together on Tuesday.

Tonight after Jordan got home from the ballpark we watched a movie. What else would we watch, but a baseball movie of course. We watched the movie, The Rookie with Dennis Quaid. It was cute. Jordan was on the edge of his seat like a little kid. He loved it.

Jordan has the day off tomorrow. I' m not quite sure what we're up to yet, but if it's hot then we'll be headed to the beach or the pool. It rained today which made it a little cooler, 88. What a relief, J/K!

There is no can't...

Today, Jordan and I decided to head out on our run earlier than usual. We had to get out of our apartment before we suffocated from the heat. We ran our normal route, but we kicked it up a notch from what I usually run at. I have a big problem with running....yes I know, I do it all the time. So how, you might wonder, could I possibly have a problem with it? It's not that my body is not in shape -- I have lost 40 lbs. since January and I am feeling better than I have since high school. So what's the deal you ask? It's my mental attitude. I defeat myself before I even begin.

When I have someone pushing me it's much easier to keep going b/c you don't want to look bad. On the other hand when you're by yourself you're more prone to let up and take the easy way out. The only one it hurts is me. I get less out of the workout, feel guilty, and have wasted the time I set aside to exercise. It's not the time you work out, but the intensity.

Jordan pushes me hard when we run. As a former cross country runner, he knows how to push through his mental road blocks and get past the "point of no return" in order to get the most out of his run. Slowly I am learning to push past my own self doubt and can't-do-it-attitude.

As a reward for our good run and a precaution against passing out we are going to the pool at the Goulding Community Centre, which is a couple blocks away. I called there today and they said it's FREE! I am so pumped to jump in the refreshing water and we don' t have to drive all the way to the beach. Well, we're off to get pruney!

Lake Ontario

Toronto is having a heat wave. It was around 95 degrees today and it was ridiculous. We decided to go to the beach instead of cooking in our apartment. It was great. We went to a place called The Beaches. There is a boardwalk along Lake Ontario which runs about 2 miles. Jordan and I walked it and enjoyed the view. Eventually it became too hot so we decided to hit the beach and run in the water. We hit the water and froze, literally. The lake was ice cold. It was no Cancun. We had to inch into the water slowly, but it was still refreshing.

After awhile we decided we needed to have lunch. We walked to Queens street where we had lunch at Licks which is a hamburger joint. We walked down Queen looking at various shops. It was so nice to get out of the apartment. It is so hot that we may head back there tomorrow to cool off.

We used the boardwalk as our exercise for the day and believe me it was enough. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the beach. It was crazy how many people brought their dogs there. When we first arrived a man and a woman both got out of their vehicles and each had 4 or 5 dogs. The end of the boardwalk must be dog beach b/c they were everywhere. It made me miss my sam-o. I may try to kidnap him when I come back to Toronto. Although, he wouldn't want to be here b/c he's quite the pampered pooch who sits in the air-conditioning every day. Must be nice, Sam!

Jordan climbed out on these rocks to give me a heart attack. He's not very coordinated and he has a bad ankle which is a lethal combination. Luckily he made it out ok. I can't say as much for when we left the hamburger joint. He almost fell down the stairs and his shoe went tumbling down. Then he yelled at me like it was my fault!?! I was in front of him, but somehow it's still my fault.


Tonight we are watching the All-Star Game at home. Go, National League!!!!