Dogs

One of my best friends lost her childhood dog today.  Hershey was 17 years old.  He came to visit us several times while we lived in the condo in Jacksonville.  Macey loved him!

Got me thinking about dogs and how much they mean to us.  My childhood dog, Chance was 13 when he died.  I was 8 years old when we got him and basically grew up with him.  When he died I felt like I had lost a family member, I still miss him today and often get teary eyed when I talk about him.   When I got Macey, I wondered if I could ever love another dog as much as I did Chance, and I was surprised to find out that I could.  She will never take his place, but that's not why she's here.  I love her so much! 

Chance

I got Macey on May 21st of 2008.  Turns out three years later I would be married on that same day!  Macey was born on Valentine's day and was the cutest thing.  These are a few pictures of her first couple of days at home:

She's been a constant companion, a faithful friend, a comedian, and good "listener" since the very beginning.  Not a day goes by that I don't laugh about something she does.  As I write, she is underneath our bed, snoring very loudly.  I wonder why she's so afraid of thunder, because her snoring rattles more windows than the thunder ever does!  Her calm demeanor and wanting to be close to you at all times has been more than a gift to me over these last three years.  I love my girl.

I have a book with different pictures of dogs and quotes in it.  One of my favorites is this one:
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart." -Author Unknown

How true.  Rest in peace, Hershey. 


 

Baron's first day...and a disaster of a kitchen!

Baron had his first day of work today.  I could tell by his giddiness when he got home that he had a good day and is excited about his new job.  Macey and I had a good day as well.  We had lots to do and stayed busy until Baron got home this afternoon. 

As promised, I attempted to make an exciting dinner tonight to celebrate the new job.  Look at this mess!! And no, both glasses of wine do not belong to me. :-P

I used every serving/mixing utensil that we own.  Dinner turned out okay, perhaps next time I'll follow the directions exactly. Haha! I guess when you use fat free and whole wheat and all that it just doesn't turn out like the "mind-blowing" pasta dish you thought it would be.  I thought it was good but it didn't knock anybody's socks off.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...Cajun Chicken Pasta:

Hmmm...not as colorful as the picture in the recipe, but red peppers are expensive people!!!

Not much else going on right now. We're watching the Gators play in the Baseball World Series on our new TV.  I'm thinking that watching "Little People, Big World" in HD will be MUCH more exciting!  Tomorrow Baron has to be at work at 7 am (GULP!).  That means it's bedtime for me if I'm gonna attempt to be conscious to tell him goodbye.

I hope my luggage makes it!

Ever seen the one lone bag left circling the conveyor belt after you've already thrown elbows to wrestle your bag away from the big guy who swears that the black bag you picked up was in fact his.  Really Sir?! Cuz there aren't 13 of the same black pieces of luggage from Target circling us right now?!  Why don't you take a minute and yield to the hot pink high-heel luggage tag with my name on it, thankyaverymuch.  Anyway, back to the question...after what I would hope is a lot of effort to return it to it's rightful owner, that bag ends up here.

The Unclaimed Baggage Center!  This place is as big as a Super Walmart and located in the middle of the tiny town of Scottsboro, Alabama.  Baron and I went on Saturday, with his friends from UF, Dong & Katie.  Dong also works at Dynetics and happens to live in the same apartment complex that we do.  There wasn't much else for us to see in Scottsboro, but the drive was pretty. Lots of mountains hills, a lake or two, and pretty fields of hay. 

I hate to admit it, but my expectations were a little high.  It was kind of like a giant thrift store, although I'm thinking if you made frequent enough trips you'd be able to find some real treasures.  The best part about it was just thinking about where all the different things in the store had been and why someone would think that they needed to pack a printer in their suitcase. I have always carried important/expensive/meaningful things in my carry-on but I guess not everyone's momma taught them the same.  There were tons of cameras, wedding band sets, ipods, and laptops just to name a few.  My vote for the weirdest thing there was a banana pot holder like this one:

Hahaha!  I guess someone bought it as a souvenior, but I'm telling you right now if I ever bought something this great I'd make sure to protect it and keep it with me at all times in my carry-on.  That's for sure!

I did find a few things to buy, a couple pieces of costume jewely and a box of makeup with a ton of makeup in it for just 3 bucks.  I'll  be honest and tell you that it wasn't ALL brand new.  I made sure to sift through my little treasure box carefully and dispose of the stuff that would've given me pinkeye.  I got a couple brand new things though.  My favorite is a blush from NARS that I've been wanting in the exact color that was in the box...I just didn't want to pay $28 for it.  Problem solved!

I think it'd be worth another trip just to dig through the jewelry and makeup and tell myself that I'm digging through Carrie Underwood's makeup bag!

In other news, Baron's first day of work is tomorrow!  Instead of making him a good dinner tonight, I made him leftover spaghetti, two chicken nuggets, and a can of green beans. Ha!! I did promise to do better tomorrow though.  I plan to be a good little housewife and work on laundry and groceries tomorrow while he's slaving away at the office :)  We both have mixed feelings about tomorrow, naturally we are a little sad that the playtime that has been the last two months is coming to an end, but we are really excited to be getting into a routine and get settled here in our new home.  I never thought I'd be that girl, but I'm excited to be able to have dinner ready when he gets home from work.  Hopefully the fire department doesn't meet him at the door.



Our New Place

So we've been here a week now.  Things are starting to finally fit into place.  Our choatic apartment is starting to feel like home.  Macey has stopped shaking constantly and we are finally remembering where we put things.

Our kitchen. I love our kitchen!! There is so much room in this bad boy.  By far the biggest kitchen in any of the apartments that we looked at. 

 Our back porch with plants...we'll see how long they last!

 Our new bed and makeshift headboard.  We didn't want to buy new furniture other than the basics (like a bed!) because we don't plan on being in this apartment for too long.  We were looking for something to act as a decorative/headboard something-or-other and found this for cheap @ Old Time Pottery.  My sweet husband didn't mind the sparkles and hung it up for me :)

 Something we discovered just last night.  There is red clay in Alabama. Super.



Why hello there!

So I created this blog as a way to keep in touch with family and friends.  I just got married in May to my dream come true and part of the "package" included relocating to Alabama for my husband's new job.  While I will miss my family, friends, and work, I am so excited to begin this new journey of ours!

So when you google "how to start a blog" one of the first tips is to find something to dedicate your blog to...something you're passionate about, something you're good at, or at least something you have opinions about. Well folks, I guess I'm just not that interesting.  I could write about my love for Target, Diet Coke, my dog Macey, or getting my nails done but who wants to read that?  So I guess I'll just ramble and hope that someone wants to read about it (Hi Mom!!)

We just got married...that's Baron.

This is my dog, Macey.  Stats: 3 years old, Boston Terrier, lover of cookies.

Our first family picture :)  First day in our new apartment in Alabama.