The best of friends

I recently read a post about someone who lost their dog. I felt myself begin to cry as I read the many comments of love from her friends and family. That's what a dog is...a friend and family. It is so very hard to lose a pet, because they become part of your life in a way you can't explain. I count on my pups when I am feeling like crap and need someone to listen and not talk. They are my inspiration to go for a walk around the block and thoroughly enjoy it!!! They always want to have dinner with me and are never to busy to play catch in the backyard. Many people find their lives to be insignificant and claim that dogs do not have spirits. I look into my dogs eyes, and I see their spirits. They experience feelings just like us! They can be mad or happy and sometimes even sad. They feel the pain of rejection or love from hugs and kisses. Take a moment to sit and look into the eyes of a dog and you will find their inner human. It's innocence in its purest form. In many ways a dog is far more emotionally advanced than we humans. They possess the ability to love us unconditionally for what we are and what we are not. One day they leave us for a better place, but their love and devotion remains.

The Bachelor Party

Evidently, it is the best evening my soon-to-be-husband has spent in some time. I wake up this morning on the couch and wonder what has happened last night to my fiancee. He did not wake me up when he got home?! Did he make it home?! Ah, there are his keys on the coffee table...and his shirt on the chair...and his shorts on the top step. I spy my intended sleeping like a baby, once I reach the top of the stairs. Money, credit cards and his license are laying in disaray on the floor. Must of been a good time, I think.

Gift Registration

Registering for gifts is that last thing on my list of to-dos for our wedding. However, I made a firm decision that I was going to get online and make the effort to find a few things we would like. Well, those few things turned into like a million things. I became a woman in a trance! Seriously!!! I had no idea how many things we don't have!!!!!! It's not to say that I am expecting to get even a third of these things, but it was soooo much fun! Why yes, I think that $300 purple KitchenAid mixer will make all of my cake mixing dreams come true. Alas, my voice of reason (Justin) broke through and helped me clean the list up a little. I did most of my registering at Sears. I had no idea I even liked Sears until today.

The only thing I can't figure out is, when I started dreaming of feather-down beds and toaster ovens!?

This Girl's Best Friend

In one month, we will be married. We will share all of our tomorrows.
I am so glad that six short years ago, you came into my life. Some how you became the greatest friend I ever had. And then one day you asked me to join your family and be your wife. There are not many moments in life that have taken my breath away, and that day in the fountain will forever be locked away in my memory.
Hind sight is 20/20, but I still wouldn't change the way we got here. I am so glad to walk next to you. Thank you for always holding my hand. Thank you Justin, for six years of hugs, kisses, laughter, and true friendship.

Curiosity Got Me

Morbid curiousity and temporary insanity lead to me click the "Buy Now" button on Paris Hilton's single.

The Saga Continues

I love to window shop online.
I do not love to purchase online.
If I can't touch it before I buy it, I shouldn't even bother.
The Knot.com is a great website for ideas. But I don't think I will ever order online from them again! Three times my order has been totally wrong upon arrival!!!! I ordered wedding bell favors and all my bridesmaid gifts from their website. I did not receive one of my gifts and the other two had the wrong font in the personalization. So I returned the order, except for my bells. Two days later, I got the missing gift, but with the wrong font. I called them back (Monday-Friday only...grr) and told them I had received the missing gift, but that the font was wrong. I sent that one back and the next day, I got another one with the wrong font!!!! By now I'm a little frustrated, but still behaving like a good little bride. So a few more days pass, and I get a new package which contained 3 of the same personalized gift. I can't very well give all of my bridesmaids a gift with Tiffany's name engraved on it! So, long story short, I had a mental meltdown and called up their customer service and freaked out. This was supposed to be the easy stuff! "Sorry for the inconvenience miss, what can we do to satisfy you?" I don't think that I was unclear about where my satisfaction lies!
3 gifts with personalized names in a Victorian font.
I should be receiving my new order in a few days, less the expense of shipping. I'm afraid to open the box.

A Crazy Coincidence

So...my mom went to meant her almost, new mother-in-law the other day. I guess it was some type of family gathering, in which all of his brothers and their wives were invited as well. My mom finds out that they are having a party on August 7th for their mom's birthday. My mom thought it was a funny coincidence that their mom's birthday was the same day as hers. Later in the afternoon she finds out that the party isn't just for their mom...it was for all their wives as well!!! THEY WERE ALL BORN ON AUGUST 7TH!!! How crazy is that? Now the party is for 5, my mom included. Just thought I would share this anomally!

The Tattoo

To earmark my 25th year on the planet, I am getting my first tattoo. I have saved my first inking experience for this landmark moment in my life. This tattoo will also represent a year of incredible changes. I will be a newly married woman with a home of my own and two wonderful dogs. Let's not forget the new family I am acquiring officially this September, or the job promotion that I have worked so diligently for over the past 5 years. All these things will be commemorated by a beautiful blue and white tattoo of a snowflake at the base of my neck. I have spent a considerable sum of time searching and at the moment when I nearly settled for a butterfly, it came to me. I am a snowflake kinda girl! Who else do you know that will sit on the front porch in November until 2 a.m. waiting for that first snowfall of the season? Who owns more gloves or boots that me? Who loves winter and all its beauty more than me? I have finally found a symbol to represent me and the most special season of my life.

Reasons I Love Friday

I love Friday. I think it all stems back to when I was in school, and Friday held the promise of two full days away from the classroom. But Friday was also the day the cafeteria served pizza for lunch. And in grade school, it was gym day!! (which always was my favorite, until high school) But then again Friday meant that Mom would take us to Pizza Hut for dinner and then we would get a new video game and play it all evening. (pizza and Friday just go together!) On some Fridays my grandparents would pick us up and take us someplace for the weekend. I remember how excited I would be waiting for them. What will we do this weekend? Roller skating, the zoo, an amusement park, or maybe we would set up tents in their backyard and "camp-out" all weekend. Friday now represents the busiest day of my week (bank manger!) and when I get an opportunity to leave early or have the day off altogether, I do something special just to keep our family tradition alive! My dream is that one day I can have a Friday Family Tradition for my own little family.

My Obsession

I am obsessed with iTunes.
Somewhere a stockholder for iTunes is cheering me on as a click "download", over and over and over again.
I mean it's only .99, right? Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a total sucker for anything that costs a buck. And what could make my life more complete than to own every popular song from the 70s and 80s? I own the entire Cyndi Lauper collection in original recordings and concert series. And just the other day I said to myself...geez you don't own enough Alison Krauss. I got 'em all, now! And as if it wasn't bad enough that I download atleast 2 new songs everyday, I am now into downloading comedy series at 1.99 a pop. Which is not as addictive, because I could get 2 songs for that price. See how I justify my spending? Justin has proclaimed that this is going to all culminate into a "step" program in which I will be deemed an ituneaholic, and never be allowed back on that computer again! Until then, I am downloading furiously to get my fix.

Reminising

I recently found myself sitting in traffic...waiting to get home. It was an unusual time of day and there was an abundance of people on the road and I found myself doing something my brothers and I did as kids. When we were bored, sitting in the backseat of the family mini-van we used to make up stories about the people sitting in cars around us. We would collaborate and weave this intricate story about these people and their lives. All lies of course. But, ultimately very entertaining. This led to me thinking of the "less-than-normal" antics of my family, that make us laugh 365 days a year. So, I decided to make a list.

1.) Anytime you leave Grandma and Grandpa's house, you must honk the horn and wave frantically until they can no longer see you. It does not matter what time of day or night you are leaving.
2.) If my grandmother buys you something or makes you something, you claim your undying love for it over and over again. If you don't seem struck by awe and wonder and proclaim to use it everyday for the rest of your life, she tells everyone within earshot that you hate it and she can't seem to relate to her grandchildren anymore. You don't make that mistake twice!
3.) Every family member down to our 5th cousin removed will be at my grandparents house for the 4th of July. And everyone pretends that they have known you your whole life and that they remember when "you were just this tall", when in fact they have only seen you on the 4th of July for 20 years.
4.) My grandparents spend October, November, and half of December fighting about putting up a Christmas Tree, EVERY YEAR. They will openly fight about it in front of everyone. Grandma wants a tree, but she wants Grandpa to put it up while she supervises. He hates christmas trees.
5.) Anything in your house that is broken can be temporarily fixed with duct tape.
6.) We send atleast one Christmas card every year to a family member in jail...hmmm.
7.) Grandma cheats at cards.
8.) My dad's ATV cost more than his two trucks together.
9.) We all fight over the heel of a loaf of bread.
10.) My grandparents own a beautiful couch that no one has ever been allowed to sit on. It is preserved and in its original condition from like 15 years ago.

These are just a few "crazies" that go on in our family. If you are reading this and I am about to become part of your family, don't worry. It won't rub off!!!

Cinderella's Dress

Well...it's official. I have a dress to wear to my wedding. It's the kind that swooshes around your ankles when you sway from side to side. That was a non-negotiable. If I'm going to wear a dress it has to twirl when I spin! I had a great day with ma. I think we tried on every dress in the whole store and I ended up buying the first one I tried on. HeeHee. The girl that assisted me had a good sense of humor though. I went to the same store in W Virginia where I bought all my formals in high school. I felt like I was going to the prom all over again, except I am marrying my date! Cross one off the list. Now, I just have to get Justin, BJ, John, and my grandpa fitted for a tux. Wish me luck!

I can't get enough of these

You are Barefoot!

You're a total free spirit, go with the flow girlYou can't be restricted by shoes for very longAnd unsuprisingly, the same goes for menYour match is out there - and he's as carefree as you are

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

This silly test

Geez...always thought I was very logical. Hmmm....115?

Your IQ Is 115

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Less than 12 weeks

Holy Crap!!! Less than 12 weeks until my wedding and yours truly is still without a dress. But the internet says I can have my dream dress made to fit me and shipped to my front door in 14 weeks. Which will be great, because I will home from my honeymoon in time to receive it!! HAHAHAHA
We should have eloped.
So...what's still on the list of "to-dos"? I might want to decide what we are going to eat at the reception besides cupcakes. Although, I could make a meal out of cupcakes and milk...hehe. And yes...there is still that little matter of needing a minister. Yeah, I haven't quite pounded that detail out yet. Oh yeah, can't make a decision about flowers or music either. So I pretty much have a list of potential guests, some cupcakes, a color scheme, and a DJ. Sweet.
Tomorrow is a big shopping day with ma. I am hopeful that we can locate that oh-so-beautiful wedding dress that will bring a tear to my eye for under $400. We'll see.

Painting the Kitchen

I hate wallpaper!
The wallpaper in my kitchen, that is.
But, I'm pretty sure I hate the 5 layers of wallpaper underneath more.
Anybody in agreement?
I would love to say that my only dilemma in this situation is the powder blue and cream wallpaper...alas it is not! I stood in The HomeDepot for well over an hour collecting paint samples. But the choices are endless...and the chick in that dept. was "oh so helpful". (note sarcasm) I am not a do-it-yourself kinda home owner and so I found myself taking advice from a teenage girl with sparkly eyeshadow and a "hello kitty" bracelet. So now our kitchen walls are adorned with various different color cards, ranging from a flimsy purple (seriously!) to tan and yellow combinations. I'm leaning towards a soft yellow. But I might change my mind while I'm doing the dishes tonight. We'll see.

Guilty Pleasures

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Flannel Sheets
Skirts That Twirl
Bare Feet
Cyndi Lauper
Thunderstorms
The Pina Colada Song
Anything For A Dollar
Dandelions
Crab Rangoon
Lilacs
Pedicures
Grocery Shopping
Justin's Eyes
Pumpkin Scented Candles
Bubble Baths
Cherry Vodka

Just To Name A Few...

Lucy and Abbey

Lucy and Abbey.
Abbey and Lucy.
We say these three little words atleast 20 times a day in our house.
We're not parents, atleast not to a human.
We own 2 labrador retrievers... two labrador retriever puppies. Yeah, I know. Sometimes I still can't believe it. Lucy and Abbey are 10 and 8 months old respectively. They are cute and cuddly and everything you would want in a slobbering, four-legged, family member. My loving finance knew that I had been dying to own a dog for years. On the very next Hallmark holiday, (after we moved into our new home) he ran right out and brought home a wiggling yellow puppy. But one was lonely and so one became two. Our 10 pound puppies quickly became 65 pound puppies. Every day, they eat approximately 10 cups of Iams puppy food, 2 cans of the wet stuff, 4 large biscuits, and part of anything I might be eating. The vet bills and price tags at PetSmart alone will give you a nose-bleed . And if you prize your sofa, shoes or bathroom privacy, a dog ain't for you. However, we must truly love these beasts. Last week we booked a honeymoon suite on the beach for four.