WILW

Happy Wednesday Morning!! Here's what I'm loving this week:

1. Saving $$$- I've been trying to be a little more conscious about my spending habits lately.  Several years ago I was a little reckless with my spending, it didn't help when Baron and I first started dating because we drove so much to see each other not to mention the wanting to look cute thing, which means I had to buy new outfits, jewelry, bags, etc.  Well by the time I realized that he was "the one" I had racked up some ugly credit card debt. It wasn't as much as some people walk around with but I can admit that even if I put 100% of my earnings towards paying it off it would take me more than a couple of months to do it.  I made a decision to get it paid off before we got married and it ended up being a race to the finish but I did it!  Since then I've been 10x more conscious of my spending habits and trying to make better decisions.  I've even started using coupons...the horror!! It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be and I've even gotten some things for free this week!  I got a bunch of handsoap, pens, and sharpies for free, not to mention the only money I've saved throughout the week.  And of course my responsible, money smart husband is proud :)

2. My mom is coming TOMORROW- Yay! I feel like I haven't seen her in a year!  Actually it's only been 7 weeks, and we used to go longer than that without seeing each other but I think the distance thing makes it feel like longer.  I'm excited to show her my new home and new puppy and get to spend some QT with her. Yay

3. Day #1 of Weight Watchers- Went to a meeting yesterday afternoon and got all the info I need to do this!  We had some of Baron's friends over for dinner last night and made this:  Zucchini & Bacon 3 Cheese Lasagn.  Yum!! A "last meal" of sorts :)  

4. There are no words necessary.  But it's the exact color of Tiffany & Co. boxes, I'mjussssayin.

5. My hubby- My heart just melts!  I walked in on this little scene the day after we got Max and he cried on and off most of the night= very little sleep for the rest of us!  I guess these two just had to catch up on a few zzzzzz's.  Precious!

For the Birds

Some puppy snuggles to start off your Monday morning. Awwww!  The relationship that these two have has drastically changed over the last week or so.  They are constantly playing tug of war and wrestling.  I mean non stop.  At least they keep each other busy.  Any time they're not wrestling they curl up somewhere together for a nap.  It's pretty darn cute.  Max has been doing so well with potty training, no accidents in a long time and when he has to go he'll just walk over to the door and sit down and look at us.  At least we have some warning now, before he'd pop a squat in the middle of playing with something and there'd be no warning at all.

Baron's mom got to come up and spend a couple days with us last week.  Macey enjoyed having her here and Max enjoyed meeting one of his Grandma's.  We did the tour of our town and I took her to Big Spring Park during the day while Baron was a work.  Last time we went there were several sets of baby ducks but we could only find one little family this time.  There were a ton of geese, but they seemed a little perturbed that we were walking around on their sidewalk.

Nothing else too exciting going on here.  We had a laid back weekend but enjoyed spending time together.  Max's leg is pretty much healed and he's back to normal.  We're having some of Baron's friends over for dinner this week and then my mom's coming on Thursday!  I'm so so excited!  We don't have a lot planned while she's here but I'm sure we'll find some trouble to get in to :)

I joined Weight Watchers today, gonna start going to meetings too, you know, the whole shebang!  It's something that I've done before so I know I can again, just gonna take some work.  It's nice because I have plenty of time now for cooking, planning, and working out.  I found a meeting downtown, so I'll head there tomorrow to try it out.

WILW

1. My sweet puppies- They are constantly cuddling and napping. Love these babies.  Max is doing much better.  He's using his leg almost like normal and doesn't act like he's in any pain. 

2. Cooking- Not kidding folks!!  I made use of all the veggies we got at the Farmer's Market last night and made some baked chicken with zucchini, sliced up some tomatoes and roasted the patty-pan squash with a pinch of brown sugar, it was delicious and colorful! Yum!

3. Finding a great hair place-  I got a haircut yesterday and I'm excited to go back and see her to go even shorter!  Had to make sure I could trust the girl first! Please excuse the self portrait in the car shot, had to send a pic to some peeps for approval ;)

4. That I'm feeling better- I've had a weird abdominal pain thing going on since last week and decided to go see someone on Monday because it was getting worse.  Docta thinks I have an ulcer and hooked me up with some antacid meds that are the bomb! I feel so so much better after taking them for 2 days.  He did say I had to cut way back on Diet Coke, caffeine, and acidic foods for the next 2 weeks or so :(  I've been surviving on 1 can of crack Diet Coke a day. Ugh...it's not pretty!

5.  Visits from family-  Baron's mom is coming later today for a day or so.  She's on her way up to an air show in Wisconsin and making a pit stop here to see us.  Then next Thursday my mom is flying up and staying through the weekend!  It'll be so fun to have family here for a little while.  Macey will be so excited to see her Grandmas and I know they're excited to meet Max.

6. My husband-  It still feels a little crazy to say that.  Tomorrow we've been married for 2 months!  Time flies ;)  He is so good to me, not really sure how he puts up with all my craziness.  Let's face it, quitting your job, getting married, and moving to a new state all within 6 weeks would make any sane person crazy, but I may or may not have been firing on all cylinders before all that happened if ya-know-what-I-mean, haha!! Sometimes it's hard to be a girl.  Sometimes you just feel like crying and being in a funk.  Thankful that he puts up with me and knows how to make me feel better. <3

Us at Joe Nall RC Event- Greenville, SC- 1 week before our wedding 

What about you?  What are you loving on this Wednesday??

Weekend Recap

We had a busy weekend!  It started at 8am, Saturday, when the dogs decided they were done sleeping.  Can't complain though, Max has been sleeping all night for the past week.  We wanted to go to the Farmer's Market in town and buy some produce and Saturday was overcast so it was cooler than it has been lately.  It's insane how many onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes that we go through now that I'm trying to cook more, so we figured the Farmer's Market would be fun.

It was a lot smaller than we expected but they had a little bit of everything.  Homeade baked goods, salsa, cheese, fresh eggs and tons of fruits and vegetables.  I got all this for $8 bucks!!

The big saucer shaped white thing in the center is called a "Patty-Pan Squash".  We sampled some that was grilled and it was really good.  It's similiar to a spaghetti squash, should be interesting!  And those are banana peppers in the back.  I didn't know until last night that there was such a thing as spicy banana peppers.  I chopped one up and put it on our salads.  Baron was the guinea pig and was sniffling and sweating within a minute or so of eating one.  Oops!  I must've gotten the juice from them on my fingers while cutting them, and even though I washed my hands like 20 times it still got in my eyes when I took my eye makeup off last night.  Oh. my. word.  Holy fire eyes!!  That's the last time we'll buy banana peppers.

We came home and spent some time with the dogs.  Max is doing great with potty training! Two days with no accidents!  A while ago Baron got a BOGO deal on tickets for the Botanical Gardens so we decided to try it out.  It was still overcast, hot, but not nearly as hot as it has been the rest of the week.  The gardens were really pretty, lots of things for kids to do and we even saw some wildlife. Lots of pics:



Petting a box turtle :)



Sunflower

Late last night Max was playing on the couch next to us.  He got startled by a noise and jumped, and fell right into the coffee table.  He was crying and running away from us.  Baron finally grabbed him and he calmed down but was still shaking and looked pathetic.  We put him on the ground and realized he couldn't walk on his back foot.  We gave him a few minutes, but he couldn't put any weight on it at all and when you touched it, it was completely limp.  We looked up the closest emergency vet and headed there.  They did an xray and determined that it was just a bad sprain.  He got some sedation and pain meds while we were there and some to take home with us.  The vet said to just let him be as active as he wants to be and don't try to push him or limit him at all.  Today he's been playing and moving around on 3 legs pretty well.  He's been  little more sleepy than normal but thankfully doesn't appear to be in any pain.  He broke my heart last night, it's horrible not to be able to make him feel better :(

Poor-sedated-baby can barely keep his eyes open :(

Today we've just layed low.  I don't think we got one single thing accomplished but that's okay, there's always tomorrow! :)  Max goes in for a regular vet appointment tomorrow afternoon, which will be nice to have a second opinion on his leg.  Hope our little boy will be okay.

Things about Alabama

Some things I've learned since moving to "The Heart of Dixie", whatever that means:

1. You should expect to have helicopters whizzing what seems right by your head during the day and it doesn't necessarily mean there is a police chase going on.  I'm not talking those cute little police or news helicopters, either.  I'm talking big boys like this...

I guess it's all part of living next to an Army base but it has taken some getting used to.  Back in Jacksonville when I heard a helicopter it was usually connected somehow with a car crash or a runaway prison escapee so I knew to be on the lookout!  But here apparently they use them for training which means to fly them as close to the Burlington Coat Factory parking lot as possible and scare the living daylights outta the Florida girl who just moved here.  The first time one of those big chinook helicopters flew by me I was walking into Target and thought I should run for cover.  I mean the thing was like 50 feet up in the air and not a soul was bothered by it.  Except for me, haha.  I still get a little nervous and think we're about to be bombed several times a day when they fly by the house. 

2.  Even though we live further north geographically, when we moved 500 miles north we were actually headed further south.  The people that live here seem to all run on country music (not that I'm complaining), fried pickles (again, no objections), Coke products (I'm thinking I'll like this place!), homecooked BBQ, and big trucks, blue jeans, and a slow southern drawwwwwwwl.  The Sonic here has fried pickles.  Not. Kidding.  Why doesn't Florida think that's a good idea?!

3.  The people here like the talk.  You can find out anyone's life story after you've known them for five minutes, or not at all!  Take the lady behind the counter at the DMV's office for example.  She offered up some marital advice for Baron and I and then told us she was married at 14, then divorced at 45 because he beat her "all those years" and she even had to go to "one of those shelters".  Don't get me wrong, I would've been a shoulder for her to cry on, but there were 5 people in line behind us.  I wonder what stories they got?   Everyone here, the grocery cashier, the post office clerk, the mailman, the apartment manager, the person next to you at Kroger selecting chicken breasts, they all have something to say to you.  Not that I'm complaining about it, heaven knows I have the gift of gab, but sometimes their approach is just way off.

4.  Did you know there was a law passed in 1951 that says that on every license plate in the state there must be a small heart with the words "The Heart of Dixie" on it.  Yep...true story.

5.  Besides another couple that I know from Florida who moved here about three years ago, every. single. person. that finds out that we're new to the area says "Oh.  There's nothing to do here. It's boring."  Hmmm...I wonder if I should let these people who've lived in Alabama their whole lives in on a secret...this town is the same as every other town I've ever lived in.  If that's your outlook on life then they're all going to be boring.  Life's what you make of it.  It's who you spend your time with, or who you call because you're too far away to spend time with.  It the people you're thankful for and the people that you miss more than you ever thought you would.  Life is sitting on the couch with your husband and two puppies watching a movie in total darkness, with a crazy thunderstorm going on outside.  It's coffee and a sleepy conversation early in the morning while he's getting ready for work.  It's dinner made with love and burnt rice.  It's a trip to Target while you're holding hands.  It's a kiss good morning and goodnight.

Catch Up!!

Sorry faithful readers, i.e. Mom and Mom in Law ;) for being MIA.  Seems like nothing exciting was going on until something exciting was going on!  My friend Ashley came for a visit last week!  She got here on Thursday and was able to stay until Monday.  We didn't do anything too exciting, but it was nice to have her here.  A taste of home :)   She brought her dog Sofie and it was SO cute to see how excited Macey was when Ashley and Sofie walked throught the door. 


We did the obligatory walk through the outdoor mall.  Definitely not as impressive as the Town Center in Jacksonville but every town center has to start somewhere, right?  It's been "unseasonably" hot here in Northern Alabama, so we didn't stay too long.


There are two dog parks that I know of here, and we wanted to take the dogs to one while Ashley was in town.  The one we chose wasn't really impressive.  Macey and Sofie were the only dogs there so it got old real fast, not to mention the fact that there wasn't a square foot of shade to be found.  The dog park was right next to a little creek and when we got close, Macey ran right for the water!  The water was crystal clear and cold.  It felt so good!  There were several other people and dogs playing in the water.  It was fun to let them swim for a while.  Macey loves swimming in lakes and ponds but that's kind of terrifying with the alligators all over Florida.



 We've added a new edition to our family. This is Max.  He's a Boston Terrier, born on Cinco de Mayo (neat fact: Macey's birthday is on Valentine's Day).  We brought him home on July 3rd and he weighed 4 and a half pounds.  Tiny!!

He's doing well with potty training, and knows how to sit and lay down already.  He's nine weeks old in these pictures. 

Macey is doing well with him.  The first day we brought him home she totally ignored him, but as I type this they are sleeping next to me on the couch just like this.

Precious! Macey loves having a sleeping buddy.

Not much else going on at the moment.  We continue to be busy getting our house settled and making it into a home.  I've been getting into the routine of going to the gym but slacked all last week because of the new puppy.  I got back on track today.  I've also been working on planning our meals out instead of every night at dinner time asking each other where we should pick up dinner.  We've done well the past two weeks.  I'm making dinner 4-5 nights a week and we're actually eating our leftovers! (I'm not very good at that!!)  Tonight's experiment was Gnocchi.  It took me every minute of two hours to make.  I didn't really like how it turned out but Baron liked it so a win in my book.  It will probably be a long time before I make it again though.  Sorry babe!

I'm swearing off Walmart...

...at least until I've forgotten that I've sworn off Walmart. 

Today I went to Walmart to pick up a prescription that I had previously called in.  May I clarify that I only went to Walmart to fill it because it was previously filled at a Walmart in Florida.  Because we've moved states, I've changed my name, and gotten new insurance I figured it would be easiest not to switch pharmacies at the same time. 

After parking what seemed like a mile away from the store, I made it inside.  I had in my hand my temporary prescription coverage card, just a single piece of paper.  The greeter confronts me and asks to see "my return".  I tell him that I don't have a return and he gestures to the piece of paper in my hand. 

"It's a piece of paper", I say.

"Oh, so it's not a return?", he responds.

"Um no.  But I could see how you could mistake it for a desk lamp or a broken aquarium."  (Actually I was nice and answered "no" while giving him my best smile)

So I make it to the Pharmacy Department.  I choose from one of 6 lines, the one labeled "pick up" seems appropriate.  I'm behind 4 people.  I wait 13 minutes.  I approach the counter where "Quinta'sha" is going to help me.  I tell her my last name and hand her my temporary prescription card.  Quinta-sha tells me that if I want to add my new insurance that I'll have to go to the other line.  Great.

Which line? There are 5. Consultations, Drop Offs, Special Needs, or the other Pick Up line?! 

I make my way to the Drop Off line, where I situate myself behind 3 other people.  This line is moving a little more quickly than the line I was just in.  Before I know it, it is my turn.  I walk up to the counter and the employee promptly answers the phone and helps a man figure out how many of his 10mg Prednisone tablets he would have to take to equal 20mg.  Hmmm...that's a tough one!  But I realize not everyone was blessed with my parents and maybe they don't understand this, so I cut the guy on the other end of the phone some slack.  Then the employee proceeds to tell him the same thing two more times.

She hangs up with the man who I pray takes the correct amount of Prednisone tonight and looks my direction.  I begin to state my case-

"Hi.  I need to pick up my prescription, but I need to add my new insur-".

I'm cut off.

"You're in the wrong line."

"Well actually I was in the correct line but if you let me finish, I have to apply my new insurance to this prescription."

"Ok then."

She takes the paper from me and within a few minutes, just like magic, I have insurance!  Then she does the unthinkable and tells me that I'll have to get back in the "Pick Up" line and get my prescription there.  Instead of blowing a gasket, I smiled, told her thank you, and marched back to the other line...behind 5 people.

This time it was a breeze. Quinta'sha remembers my name and my birthday!! I get my prescription and happily bid her a good day. 

I decided since I was already at Wal-mart, I'd pick up some "Diet Grapico".  I head to the opposite side of the store and grab 2 two-liters and head towards the checkout lane.  As I turn the corner between greeting cards and the main aisle of Wal-mart I hear a gruff woman yelling "You have to go around!!"  I quickly identified her as an employee because of her name badge and not much else.  I look around to see where she's pointing and I'm having a hard time identifying where exactly I'm supposed to go.  I duck to the other side of the display featuring this week's $3 movies, but the woman cuts me off at the pass. 

"I said you have to go around!" she bellows.

I still can't really tell where she wants me to go.  So an older gentleman with a motorized cart and I turn around 180 degrees and go through the jewelry department, past the shoes, and  out onto the other side of the store in order to checkout.

Ahhhh, finally the checkout lines.  I'll just look for the speedy checkout.  Oh, there it is.  The one with (I'm not exagerrating here folks) 9 people in it.  Seriously, the line wrapped around the display of rotisserie chicken in the middle of the store!  Instead I chose a line with a middle aged man, his approximately 9 year old son (who had the longest rat-tail I've ever seen!) and their moderately full grocery cart.  Things are running smoothly until he unassumingly asks the cashier for one bag of ice.

She looks though a sheet at the register that has pictures and barcodes on it.  It's got everything!  Lettuce, zucchini, lawn furniture, tire rotations, but NO ICE.  She tells him she's going to go ask someone what the code for ice is.  Again, I'm not kidding here...we watch her go to four different registers before she finally returns with the answer. 

Finally it was my turn!!
Beep! Beep!

"Is that all for you today?"

I swipe my card for two dollars and 8 cents and go on my merry way, thrilled to have made it out alive.  Then it happens.  The same straw that broke the camels back has just come into view.  Remember the greeter confrontation on the way in?  There he was again asking to see my receipt for my 2 two-liters of Diet Freaking Grapico.  Of course I've already lost it in the twelve steps I've taken since I've received it.  I tell the man that I don't understand why he wants to see it, my Grapicos are in a bag and obviously if I was gonna steal something it would be something good and I'll just leave the Grapico with him and go home. 

He smiled and said, "I'll let you go this time, ma'am. But remember that for next time. Thank you for shopping at Wal-mart."

As I walked through the parking lot to my car, I swore over and over that it would be the last time.  Goodbye Wal-mart.  It's been fun an experience.