Carter's last puppy shot!

Carter has finally had all of his puppy shots. That's good and bad. I am glad they are over because driving all the way to the rescue we got him from (even though I am very grateful they took care of all his shots for free!) was a pain because it was SO far! John is a good man and has taken Carter the last two times, but I know it's a lot on him to go that far every time. That and gas is RIDICULOUS!

As a side note- John and I filled up our car the other day and it cost us $97. WHAT?! Geez. We are not driving anywhere that is not required now! haha.

Anyway, Carter did great getting his rabies shot. Now he has a green bell tag along side his name tag to prove he has the shot. It looks very Christmasy, so I dont much care for it but I can write it off on him being born at Christmas. lol. The vet said that we are doing a great job with him. His brothers and sisters had gotten their shot the same day and everyone got weighed. All his brothers and sister were 30lbs. Carter was a good ol' 34lbs. lol. He was the biggest of the litter, so they said he was right where he should be.

We also had the vet check his allergies. She again said that it was probably just seasonal allergies, but if we wanted to have him tested we would need to find another vet. I was talking to my Administrative Assistant, Tracy, and she said that her dog has similar allergies and she just puts a shirt on her dog so the oils from the grass dont get on the dogs and she's less itchy. We tried it that evening with an old shirt and he was TOO cute! Here's a picture.

It looks like a dress on him.. lol

Dancing puppy!

He wore it for awhile and then he peed on it when we went to the bathroom. LOL. no more shirts till we get a dog one for him to wear. haha. Carter is also teething hardcore now. We've seen that lots of his teeth have fallen out or we can see where the adult tooth is coming in behind the baby ones. His gums are swollen and it just looks like he is in so much pain :(. Ice is his best friend right now.

On another note, John and I have been leaving the patio doors open for him and he has had MANY less accidents then before! In fact, since the door has been open he hasnt peed in the apt at all. When the doors get shut it's a bit more risky. When it's shut he will just go sit in front of it- but if we are not in the room to see him, we dont open and then an accident happens. SO I think we are going to train him to ring a bell for us so that way we know he has to go. I will keep you posted on what we decide to do with that.

Next week, Leigh Ellen is going to go with us to meet the vet they used to use. She says he is really friendly and was a really good vet, so we are going to go and do a meet and greet with Carter next week. I will also keep you posted on how that goes! :D

Unfortunately, he has gotten more difficult on walking on a leash. I think a lot of the problem is he has decided to have selective hearing and does not listen to us well when we give him commands. Obedience training is a must as soon as we can get in. I want to train him as quick and as young as we can so it's easier for all of us.

I do love him very much! He is adorable. Here is a picture of him cuddling with me in bed one night :D

I got the job!!

I would just like to thank you all for your sweet words of encouragement and prayers. They must have helped because I got offered the permanent position!! I am now officially the Area Director of Mahoney Residential College :D

Phew! You have NO idea how relieved I am! I have been in anticipation for this for almost the entire year. I have all these great plans for my building and I really did not want to give them up and step back down! This means so much for me!
*I got a promotion within 6 months and then it became permanent after a year
*I get to finally supervise full time a staff that I picked and hired
*I get to implement all the great plans I have for Mahoney
*I get to continue doing what I love
*HUGE move for me professionally :D
*I dont have to step down and things be real awkward. haha
*AND John and I dont have to move! *HUGE* blessing!!

Since the job is permanent now, our current plan (things always change) is to stay here for a few more years and then head back up towards our beloved NC.

While I am here in this position, I am very much looking forward to growing professionally and personally even more so than I already have. This University still has a lot to offer me and I plan on taking full advantage of it!

EASTER!

Easter here is just not the same as it is back home. It's not a big deal here at all. :( We did end up getting to go over to a friends apartment to dye Easter eggs! Seth is a coworker of mine and he has the sweetest girlfriend, Danielle, that hosted it at his place. Everything was eggs! There was egg candy, deviled eggs, and of course eggs to dye! it was super cute. :D

I couldnt believe that John had only ever dyed Easter eggs like one other time! It was such a huge tradition in my family! I feel like a bad wife for not making him do it sooner! lol. Every Easter my family would dye eggs the Saturday before. Then Easter Sunday we would get up and see our baskets from the Easter bunny!, head to church, come home and eat a HUGE Easter dinner, and then my parents would go hide the eggs we colored and we would go hunt for them! We usually did that until it got dark outside and we couldnt play anymore :D I would really like to do that with my kids some day because it meant a lot to me as a child and it made Easter more special :D

Anyway, I dyed a few eggs and John dyed one. lol. He is so meticulous! BUT his egg was the best. He always out does me in the kind of stuff. haha!
Us dying the eggs- a lot of my coworkers were there. It was fun!


John's is the one egg that is 5 colors on the bottom left. He spent so much time dying it! haha It is definitely the best!

My Attempted NC State one :D

The rest of Easter we went and got Carter some more toys and stuff. :D He was also 4 months yesterday!!! He is doing very well :D We got him a few toys since he is starting to lose his baby teeth and grow the adult ones. We dont want him to chew our stuff up! He needed more toys anyway. We got a few and only gave him 2 new ones. We also cleaned up all the old ones so he would be excited about them again when we pulled them out. He is only getting the same toys for 3-4 days and then we will switch so he doesnt get bored with them. He LOVES plastic bottles, so that's always a cheap toy for him too :D Anyway, we gave him a stuff elephant yesterday that makes lots of squeaky noise and he loved it so much he played with it for about 2 hours! haha. then he cuddled with it and takes it everywhere with him!! We also gave him a cloth bone that freezes that is good for his teeth that are coming in :D Anyway, Nate and Leigh Ellen also let us borrow a dog hammock thing for him until they get another dog and he loved it! he jumped right up on it and plays on it now. lol. I couldnt believe how quick he took to it! Even when his toys fall off, he goes and gets them and get rights back on it! We will have to buy him one when they need theirs back now!! haha. :D
The Hammock!

Easter night we watched another movie (we LOVE movies) and then I went to bed so I could start work again today. The long weekend was very nice and much needed. I am such a lucky woman to have such an amazing man that I get to spend every day with :D YAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

The Saturday that Brad and Mitch left was also my daddy's birthday!

He would have been 56 on April 23rd. Birthdays have always been a really big deal in my family and so approaching the day has been really hard for me. I miss my daddy like crazy and cannot believe that I wont see him until I get to Heaven.

John and I ended up making the day a very chill day hanging out around the apartment. We played with Carter a lot and just spent some time together :D I also napped a lot and John played xbox. We were going to go to the Marlins game, but neither of us felt up to it after the few busy days we had with Brad and Mitch. We did end up going to see a movie! But that was a lot more chill than the baseball game would have been.the Marlins stadium is an hour away, it was super hot out, etc. We did end up going with the girl I met from the beach. It's nice to make some friends outside of work. It was a bit awkward, but she was really nice and I guess that's how making friends is now. haha. Anyway, we saw Source Code. It was AMAZING! I highly recommend it! Then we came home and watched another movie- Little Fockers. It was awful. lol We had to see it because we saw the ones, but IT IS NOT WORTH IT! lol.

Anyway, the actual day was not as hard as I thought it would be, so that's good. I did call my family and they all seemed to be doing well too. My sister got my mom tickets to one of her favorite singers to kind of celebrate, so they are excited about that! My mom and I decided that when we go home have our daddy day, we will also do something for his birthday all together :D

I am going to work on a list of ways I am like my dad, I was hoping to be able to post that on his birthday, but things have been too busy! So I will as soon as I can! :D

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY in Heaven Daddy! I am sure it's the best one yet!

Brad and Mitch

The last guests that we have any plans for coming down here have already come and gone :(. So sad. However, it was AMAZING! Like I have mentioned before, Brad is one of my favorite people and we always have such a good time!!

We always give him a hard time because he never goes on trips with us, so we were really glad when he decided to at least come visit us! i think it helped that Mitch, his roommate, wanted to come too. So they got here Tuesday morning. John went a picked them up from Ft. Lauderdale. I had to work all day, so John took Brad and Mitch to the beach for the day. After I got off work they got home and showered and we decided to out for an early dinner because I had a program that same night. They got FRIED at the beach! Luckily they were able to recover before we went to the beach again on Thursday :D
After the beach...

That night we took them to Titanic. It's a sports bar near campus that brew their own beer and have AMAZING food. We had a really good time. When we got back I went back to work and they all hung out. It was an early night for all because Brad and Mitch had traveled a lot and then spent the rest of the day on the beach.

Brad and Mitch goofing off a the alumni center. It's behind Titanic so we had to take some pictures!



John, Me, and Brad!
Wednesday I had to work again all day. The boys just hung out in the apartment and John gave them a tour of the campus. After I got off work we all went and played some disc golf. I held my own for awhile there, but the I let it slip towards the end- dang! haha. I LOVE disc golf and really miss playing it at home. Brad introduced us to it years ago, so we love playing with him. After that we headed home to grill out. We decided that we would grill out one night and stay in and play cornhole on the patio. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing! I went to bed earlier than they did because I had to work the next morning, but they stayed up late hanging out and playing xbox.
Lots of xbox :D
Thursday I worked a half day and then we headed to the beach! We played a bunch of boccee and threw the football in the ocean :D I love the beach and had not been in awhile, so it was much needed! haha. That night we hung out and played some games and had a great time.

Friday we went to south beach! We had not taken Brad and Mitch there yet and it ended up being their favorite! We went to a place called Wet Willies that John and I had wanted to try for awhile. They have amazing slushies that you can take to go! :D So we got some and headed to the beach. It was PACKED! I guess because it was Easter weekend? Who knows. We stayed there for a few hours. The water felt amazing. There was a girl there that was sitting behind us and she had a super cute hat on. I finally went up and asked her where she got it and started talking to her. I am not usually this friendly, but need to learn to be for sure! When I was talking to her I learned she was from Charlotte, NC and grew up in Chapel Hill- SMALL WORLD! We exchanged numbers ended up going to the movies later that weekend. She was super nice and fun! After the beach, we had decided that we were going to make Friday the night we went out to check out Miami some. We got dressed up and went out! We had a REALLY great time!!

Wet Willies!

View from the balcony at Wet Willies
Mitch and John

Me and Brad!

After that John drove Brad and Mitch back to Ft. Lauderdale at about 5 am.Sad day. BUT it was an amazing trip! I cannot wait for them to come back sooN!!!!!! and that's real talk ;D

Interview and such...

Whelp, I have now interviewed for the permanent Area Director position. My interview was last Friday and I should find out soon. When I started the process back in January, I didnt not think that I would be doing all of this stuff again so soon! I was told to apply through HR and when I did I filled out the application and then they asked for my resume. I was like, dang! I didnt even think about that. haha, so I went and updated that and the cover letter and submitted.

My position is a bit unique for a candidate because as soon as I said I was applying for job, I was in constant interview mode and have been ever since. Since everyone gets to see how I perform on a daily basis, it gets stressful! Hopefully, I have done a great job and they will hire me :D I have really stepped my game up though in effort to show everyone I really want this job. It is such a leap for me professionally that it would just be great!

Anyway, as I was saying my interview day was last Friday. It was a bit condensed since I just did this a year ago. It was also so awkward because I know all of these people so well!! I had no idea what to expect or what questions they may ask. I assumed questions about my vision for the building, but I didnt know other than that! I prepared for any and everything I could think of! haha

In the morning I had the associate faculty in my building, Dr. Monica Hooper, interview me first. Again, awkward because I know her so well, but it actually was one of the tougher interviews. I think I did well though and we had a good conversation. My next interview was the central office staff. That one wasnt that bad at all and I was able to answer all of their questions and provide examples, etc. Later in the day I had the interview with the other Area Directors and that was the one I was most nervous about because those are the people I work with daily and also my friends here! haha. It wasnt as bad as I thought though and I feel I represented myself well. Next I had my interview with Jim, the director. Again, not so bad. There wasnt much he didnt already know because I am like an open book with him. Lastly, my faculty master, Dr. Moore, took me to dinner for an interview. We had a really good time. :D I answered questions and they we just kind of talked. Dinner was AMAZING. we went to a place called Anacapri. It's italian and a bit pricey, but amazing. lol

Dr. Moore lost his mother 2 years ago come this November and we got to talking about how he has dealt with that and how it's been. I asked because as you all know my dad's birthday is coming up and it's been harder than usual on me lately. He told me that everyone tells you it gets easier, but it doesnt. He said it's always hard, you just learn to deal with it. That made me feel better. Anyway, he told me all about his mom and dad and I told him all about my dad. It was really nice talking to someone who has been through something similar and really nice to bond with Dr. Moore :D

I feel like my interview day was successful. When I left here last year I knew they would offer me the job and I kind of had that feeling after all my interviews this year too. It's all in God's hands and if it's His will, I will get it :D

Anyway, that's the update about that. I have been super busy at work other than that too. Even so, John and I have managed to finish the first week of P90X! SO SORE! Good sore though. Brad and Mitch got here yesterday though, so we may end up taking a few days off and then picking it up again. It's just hard to do with guests- we also have an air mattress down in the room where we do it, so we dont really have a place to do it either. But that's okay. I am just so glad that Brad is here!! I love him and miss him so much. We also dont have anyone coming after they leave, so we can really focus on it then.

I did lose 2.6lbs last week! YAY! on my way...haha. :D

Carter is doing well. I love him so much. He watches us do p90x and usually falls asleep. One time last week when we were stretching at the end, he came and put is head in my arms like I was hugging him. it was TOO cute! He also gives me hugs :D When I get home from work he comes up to me and puts his little head on my shoulder and lets me hug him :D He's a sweetheart.

Unfortunately, I think we have regressed in the potty training department. He doesnt really let us know when he has to go anymore and just goes in the apartment :(. I am not sure what we are going to do. Maybe start giving him treats when he goes outside or something. I need to do a little research on that. (I was cleaning up a mess he made yesterday and used some Lysol on it because it was so gross and I managed to bleach some of the tiles in our kitchen..whoops...lol). On a good note, he has gotten MUCH better on the leash! Still have a lot of work, but it's gotten a lot better. He's starting to get it. His itching isnt getting any better :( I think it's actually gotten worse. He has scabs now where he has scratched so hard. My boss told me that his dogs scratch a lot too during this time of the year and it's the grass changing? I dont know. we go back to the vet next Tuesday so hopefully we can find some relief for him. poor baby.

Anyway, I think that's it for now! As I said, Brad and Mitch are here!! So expect an update on that this weekend!! :D

Clifford!

Carter has a new friend!! Leslie Nevins, the Area Director in Pearson (the building connected to mine), got a dog this weekend!!

I am SO excited because that means Carter will have another dog to play with a lot. Clifford is a VERY sweet, cute Daschund mix. His fur has a red tint to it, hence the name. He is 1 year and 8 months old.

Anyway, Carter and Clifford met the first time in Leslie's office, but Carter was TOO hyper as he had not yet been walked for the day. He was a bit much for Clifford at that point, so we decided once Carter was more tired we would reintroduce them. That evening, after a long walk with Carter we took him over to Leslie's and let him and Clifford play. They ran and ran and ran!! I am SO glad they like each other! Carter is more rambunctious right now, but Clifford held his own! Clifford would even tease Carter and get Carter to chase him. haha. Carter also found all of Clifford's toys and played with them. haha. We need to teach him to share better. Anyway, here is Carter's new buddy!

Baseball!

I forgot to mention in a post last week that John and I went to a baseball game here. NCSU was playing here in Miami AND it happened to be the employee game, so we got in for $1. haha. John and I got all decked out in our State stuff and went two Saturdays ago. We sat in the State section (duh) and it was a lot of fuN! i dont usually care for baseball, but it was nice to be able to watch NC State down here and be surrounded by State fans :D

John and I ended up getting dinner at the game because we were STARVING! and we figured we got in for so cheap that it was okay :D At this point I went to look for the $20 I brought with me and realized that I lost it :( I looked everywhere and could not find it. I am trying to look on the bright side with that- hopefully I made someones day. I also just took it out of my "blow" money that we have budgeted for ourselves since I was the one who lost it. (A few days later Carter found $10!, so I am only down $10 now! haha.

Anyway, after we ate and watched more of the game and I got crap from some of my co-workers, we ended up leaving because we were losing pretty bad. We dont usually leave games early, but Carter had been in his crate for a long time and we were doing so bad anyway.

WELL, of course NC State then got 8 runs in one inning and tied it up! I was SO mad that we left! that's why we NEVER leave! You never know what NC State may do! haha. In the end we lost, but it got exciting!! Here is a picture, John got more but this is what I have :D

It was a really fun cheap date :D

p90x

John and I finally started it! We are now committed to 90 days of grueling hard work outs! We finished day 3 yesterday (we have been doing it after I get home from work). MY BODY HURTS ALL OVER! Muscles that I didnt know could hurt- hurt. I have tried many different workouts over the years and so far this tops them all. It's extremely intense.

Doing those kind of work out videos at home always seems silly to me and I feel silly doing them. So I wasnt thrilled that John was going to watch me and I know he felt the same way, but I told him I had to have a work out partner for accountability, so he agreed. After day 1 neither of us cared what we looked like because we were so sore! haha. I am SO glad that he is doing it with me because there are some days that I know I will just want to skip it. So thanks babe!

I have been on and off diets for as long as I can remember. If I just stuck to one for a while I would go ahead and lose the weight I want in a few months and then not have to worry about the weight loss, but just maintaining. So, I feel like now that I have made a 90 day commitment at least, that HOPEFULLY I will actually lose the weight I want in a few months finally! We shall see. John and I weighed ourselves before we started p90x to see how much we lose over the 90 days. My ultimate goal is to lose 45lbs (not in the 90 days! that wouldnt be healthy!) but overall. So I will keep you posted on that progress :D

Here's to day 4 and hoping my body stops hurting or I come across some pain killers ;D

PS. I have to share a cute story about Carter. We have two doors in our apartment- one to the living room (regular door) and one to the kitchen (swinging door) that we can shut to close off the back of our apartment from the front. Well if we shut all the doors in the back of the apartment, Carter has the hall and kitchen he can roam in and none of it has carpet. Well we started to put him there and close him in that space when we were only going to be gone for a little bit. For example- when we go and eat in the dining hall or go and grab food somewhere else that wont take too long. Well, John and I went to lunch with some of our friends and were gone for about an hour. We decided we would put him in that space because it was too hot on the patio and we didnt want to put him in his crate. We gave him a few toys and left. When we got back, we walked in through the patio and there sat Carter on our couch, in one of his favorite spots!!! LOL. John and I just looked at each other like "what in the world"! Carter just looked at us like ha ha, I figured out the swinging door AND figured out how to jump up on the couch. We couldnt help but laugh. We have never seen him try to push the swinging door or even seen him attempt to jump up on the couch (he will put his paws up, but has never jumped). Anyway, we freaked out a little and searched for what he ruined. We looked around and besides a nice surprise of dog poop, he didnt chew on anything or ruin anything! We did find that he put his mouth on John's controller, but he didnt chew it! I'm guessing we were not gone long enough for him to get bored, but I am still super proud that he didnt chew anything up! There goes our little place in the back for him to hang out though! Darn smart dog! haha.

WE PAID OFF OUR CAR!!!

YAY! John and I have been saving and with the raise I got recently, we were able to pay our car off a little bit quicker than we had planned! Now, the only debt we have is my student loans. GREAT feeling!! We got our car 2 years this past March and have worked very hard to pay it off as quick as we can. :D Thanks Dave Ramsey! and John and Mr. Martin for making me attend that class!! It has been much appreciated and I feel like John and I are much smarter with our money now.

If you are curious Dave Ramsey gives a class on Financial Peace- it talks about how to budget, pay of your debt, save for the future, how to buy a house, etc. Dave Ramsey is a Christian and uses a lot of Bible to support the reasons why he advocates for financial peace. : D

John and I have decided that we will continue to put money aside like we still have the car payment. It will go into our "car" fund, so when we need to buy another car (not for a few years hopefully since I work where I live) we can just buy one out right- or at least close to it!

I feel very blessed that we were able to do this so quick and even more blessed that I have a financially responsible husband :D Here is a picture of us the day we bought the car March 5, 2009!

Happy Puppy!

Carter is feeling MUCH better!! thank goodness! it broke my heart to see him not feel well. Carter has already gotten so much bigger!! John took him to the vet two days ago and he weighed in at 27lbs!! The vet said he was a little over weight, so we have cut back on how much food we give him. Soon, I wont be able to pick him up anymore. His body has gotten so long and he is getting heavy! sad day :( I dont want him to grow up! haha. We also asked the vet about his scratching and the vet doesnt think it's a food allergy. It's pollen season and she is thinking it's just that, so we are giving him baby benadryl until his next appointment and if it's still bad she is going to run some tests.

Carter has gotten MUCH better about walks. I would say he has improved about 50%. He still wants to sniff everything, but also walks with us. We can get him all the way around the lake without it taking too long. And when he gets back he flops down on the kitchen tile. lol this is a picture of him right after a walk. He looks so pathetic. haha We also got him a new food bowl! We had not gotten one yet because we thought we were going to have to get him one of those slow feeder bowls since he ate his food so fast. However, after he got sick he stopped eating so fast! So we purchased him some bowls that have adjustable legs, so he doesnt have to bend over so much when he eats. Here he is trying out the new bowls :D I have also been super happy because he is finally sleeping all the way through the night! He doesnt get up until I get up now! I have made the mistake in the past of thinking I hear him get up and need to go out, when in reality he is just shifting. Since I have already gotten up it wakes him up and then he wants to go out. I learned my lesson fast and check before I get up. haha. I have also started to notice that when I shift around in the morning before I actually get up, he is already awake, but just laying in his crate. I watched him this morning and he will get up when I shift but if he notices I am still sleeping, he will lay back down! GOOD puppy!! Our morning routine is still about the same: I wake up, let him on the back patio, feed him, let him wander around with me as I get ready, and then put him back in his crate. Not sure how it goes after that because I leave for work. John is on his own at that point!

John and I have decided that we are going to start clicker training him. I think he will start listening better if we do. He has gotten better about listening, but when he gets focused on something he can be difficult. I started reading a blog about a lady who shows dogs, she tracked everything she went through with her lab and I believe John and I are going to start doing some of the things she does. Her blog is here: http://www.clickersolutions.com/blog/index.htm if you are interested! it's long, but really interesting and I have noticed Carter is very similar to Pax(her lab) in many ways. I'll let you know how the new training goes!

On a not so good note, he is still having accidents. John and I are going to start tracking when he goes- time and what he did right before had to go. Then hopefully we can start getting better about knowing his signals for having to go. Right now he just gets up to leave the area we are in and most of the time we can catch him, but every now and then we miss it!

Right now, I am off to walk my super hyper puppy (not sure why he is so hyper today!) and get some lunch! Have a great day!

Carter and one of his toys :D I called his name and he looked! getting much better at name recognition. :D

Sick Puppy :(

On Saturday night John and I gave Carter one of his raw hide bones (peanut butter flavor- he LOVES peanut butter!) to chew on because he had been such a good puppy all day. I know some people are against raw hides, but we asked about them and if supervised they can be fine for dogs. Well we have gotten really good about keeping an eye on him while he chews on one. We take away the pieces as he breaks them off... Expect for Saturday night :(

We were watching him and then all of the sudden part of it was gone. Carter has been sick ever since- no more raw hides for him! I now see why people dont like them :( Luckily, he isnt throwing up or anything but he does have diarrhea. :( poor puppy. he doesnt want to play or anything. He has also lost some of his appetite. I just feel so bad for him. I asked a friend of mine that is in vet school what to do and she said to feed him chicken and rice. He also goes to the vet Wednesday for a booster, so we are going to have him checked out then too. Hopefully he doesnt have a fever because if he does he cant have his booster :( I feel like a bad parent!!

Since he wasnt feeling well yesterday John, Carter, and I just laid around for most of the day. It was relaxing, but I felt so bad for Carter the whole time! I just wish there was something I could do for him. Hopefully he passes it soon, so he can get back to his rambunctious self! I want to play! haha. I'll keep you posted!

Laser Tag and other life updates!

Last post and I will be all caught up! YAY! :D

Today, my staff and I had planned a staff development activity. We had planned to go to laser tag! YAY! I hadn't played in FOREVER- probably since I worked at Adventure Landing in high school! lol. John and I both drove- I drove the University van and John drove our car and we loaded the RAs up that were able to come and headed out to laser tag. It was pretty far, but totally worth the drive! We got to play 2 games and because he had paid for more, I talked them in to giving us an extra game :D YAY! John dominated- of course. One of my other RAs did too! Her name is Yashna and she had never played, but she did SO good! I wasnt bad myself :D It was a great staff bonding activity. We also got pizza with the deal, so overall it was a really nice outing :D I think my RAs done want to play anything with me anymore..I beat them in bowling and laser tag :D They just happened to pick two things that I am good at- most other stuff I am not so good at- I am just so competitive that I talk a lot of crap. lol :D We will be doing that again! and not because I kicked their butts ;D

Let's see other updates-
-I need to get moving on my 25 things to do while I am 25 list. I am already 6 months in and have A LOT to cover still! Yikes! with that means losing weight and running a 5k.

-I have not been on a diet like I had hoped lately :( with everyone visiting it was SO hard. I can tell I have put on a little weight :( and plan to go hard starting Monday. John and I have decided to do P90x, so my plan is to start that Monday- wish me luck! since I know P90x will get me in shape, I plan on practicing for the 5k after I have lost some weight and gotten in some shape. I know the program allows for some of that, so it should be really good. I am actually excited despite the pain I know it will bring. haha.

-the 3rd week of April, Brad, one of mine and John's BEST friends, is coming to visit with his roommate Mitch. I am SO excited. Brad is one of my favorite people in the world and we always have a ton of fun. We just get along so well. I'll have to work, but we will still have a lot of fun!!

-The day Brad and Mitch leave will be my daddy's birthday. I have been doing pretty well with everything, but lately thinking about his birthday has been really hard. Birthdays have always meant a lot in my family and have always been really special days. The closer it gets, the sadder I get. I have realized that day to day has become much easier to deal with everything, but when I think about him I think it's actually harder now. I think the longer it has been the easier it gets, but when I am sad, I am more sad. I know it's a process and I will be okay, but I miss him so much. I still cannot believe I wont ever see him here again. When we got Carter, it was one of the happiest days of my life, but on the way there I started crying because my daddy will never get to meet him. That makes me sad because I know he would be so proud of me and John and he would LOVE Carter!!! Again, I know he isnt in any pain but I still miss him dearly. Just keep me in your prayers as the day approaches. I am glad that we will have friends here- it will help keep me distracted. I have also asked for time off for it, so John and I can do something special to celebrate my dad. John is great and I love him so much for understanding I need this :D

-On a lighter note...lol....I have told you in the past how John and I get addicted to TV shows, well we are currently hooked on That 70's Show. Neither of us ever really watched it while it was on, but I wish I had! it's HILARIOUS!! When we moved to Mahoney we found out we couldnt get DirectTV (sore issue) so we have to rely on Netflix and stuff like that now. We haven't been able to keep up with shows we watch that are on TV now, so it's frustrating. We are going to have to figure something out!

Well, I think that is actually it for now! YAY! I like being all caught up so I can post smaller posts more often :D

HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY JOHN!!!!!!!!

My sweet sweet husband turned 25 on March 31st!! Now he is old like me :D I wont hear that I am old again for at least 6 months now. haha. This year we ended up having a pretty low key birthday for him. Since none of our friends live down here and we have not made many yet, we decided to keep it just us- at least for his actual birthday.

I had to work :( but we got lunch together and when I got off work I had planned to make his favorite meal, make a cake, and then we were going to go out to the movies :D
When I got home John was playing Xbox with Brad and he was having a lot of fun. I walked Carter so John could relax and have fun and then I made his cake and dinner. I was glad he was distracted :D When all of that was finally done, we ate his favorite- parmesan crusted chicken and I made squash, zucchini, and carrots with it along with some garlic bread :D After dinner he opened his cards that he got from people and the present I got him. Since we are trying to save money and pay of loans, we have decided that for awhile we wont get each other much. Anyway, a few weeks prior I had found the 1992 Sports Illustrated that has Jimmy V on the cover. I figured he would like it and it would go great in our State room one day! Of course he loved it :D One of the cards he got was not addressed from anyone and when he opened it, it was "from the dog." it was PRECIOUS! The dog on the card looked JUST like Carter too! John thought it was me and I had to convince him it wasn't. lol later we found out his mom did it. He LOVED the card and loved even more that she had thought to do that for him. :D

After dinner we took Carter out and played with him some since we were going to be leaving for the movies. We tried to make him as tired as possible :D it worked too! he went right to sleep :D

John and I left for the movies right after. Thanks to the AMAZING groupon, I was able to get tickets to Lincoln Lawyer for only $6 a person! they were half off!! SCORE! so we splurged a little while we were there because of that and it was Johns birthday and got popcorn :D YUM. Movie Theater popcorn is my favorite :D I am such a fat kid. haha. The movie was EXCELLENT! we were almost the only ones in the theater which was nice too :D The movie was long so we didnt end up getting back until like 1 (it started at 10:25). It was worth it though!

It was a great low key birthday and I am so glad John enjoyed it :D I love him so much and would do anything for him to make his birthday awesome!

When we got home we took Carter out to go potty and I headed to bed since I had to work the next day and had a LONG day ahead. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from here. Carter did NOT want to sleep. He wanted to play. I tried putting him in his crate and he whined. I let him whine for a long time hoping he would go to sleep, but he didnt. So about 30 minutes later I got fed up and put him in bed with me hoping he would go to sleep. He laid and down and then proceeded to roll around and want to play. I just laid there hoping he would calm down and go to sleep. He did this for like 45 minutes until I got fed up again and put him back in his crate. He FINALLY fell asleep around 3. A little while later John came to bed and that woke him up and it took him a little while to fall back asleep again. Then around 6 he started whining so I took him out to potty and he just wanted to play. I ended up leaving him on the patio and then of course 10 minutes later he started barking to be let back in. Then I put him back in his crate and he whined, then I tried the bed. By 6:45 I wanted to cry because I hadnt slept well at all. John ended up getting up and taking the dog into the living room because he knew I had to work. He is SUCH an amazing man. I slept from about 7-8:30 when my alarm went off. I felt SO tired that it made me feel sick :( I went out to the living room and John and Carter were still awake and I told John I was going to have to go in late because I felt so bad. I called and told people and went into work about 11:30. The extra sleep was nice, but I still felt bad. I took my temperature at work because I felt so bad and had a fever of 100 degrees- I think it was just from being so tired. I feel like I have been fighting something off and lack of sleep was not helping. I was SO mad at Carter. I know I shouldnt be, but I was so freaking tired.

John ended up sleeping as long as he could after that and I felt so bad for him! I wish I didnt have to work so I could have watched Carter while he slept. He is a great man though. We did learn our lesson with putting Carter to bed so early tho! NEVER again!

Other than that I know John had a great birthday and we still plan to go out with our friends here when everyone isnt so busy. :D

The Hutch!

So our last visitor for a little while has already come and gone. Time flies!!! I just cant believe how fast sometimes. Chris arrived on March 19th and was here through the 28th. It was a great visit!

Unfortunately, I had to work during the week so that is why he decided to come a little early and spend the first weekend with me! Him and his brother had tickets to Ultra, which is why they were headed this way and it worked out that he could visit us too! The Saturday he got here, we kept it pretty low key because he got here around 5pm. We ended up going shopping and making dinner and of course watching march madness! We left Carter alone for the first time for that long (about 2 1/2 hours) and that's when he ripped apart his bed :( I felt so bad.

Sunday we got up and we headed out to the dog beach for the first time (see previous post) it was a lot of fun. When we got back Chris got to help me give Carter a bath. haha. Chris was SO good with Carter. They got along really well.

During the week John and Chris hung out a bunch around the apartment, around campus, and went to the beach some. In the evenings, I cooked most nights and we hung out and played games and what not. Thursday Chris's brother Eric flew in and we were able to spend a few days with him. I love Eric. Both of the Hutcherson's are incredibly nice people and so much fun to be around. They are so easy going and laid back :D We ate lots of good food while they were here!

That Friday through Sunday they had Ultra and that is also when John and I went to the fair and kayaking. They ended up not going Sunday because it was so crazy. I cant believe the stories they told me about the people that were there- what they were wearing, doing, the drugs, etc. Ridiculous. It was basically one huge rave. No thank you. I am glad they had fun though!

Due to a fuel farm explosion at the Miami airport, Chris's flight ended up getting cancelled. It was happening a lot because the airport was so short on fuel. I called my Aunt Vicky and we ended up getting him on a flight later that same day, which was good for him. I know he was ready to be home before he had to go back to work.

Anyway, again I forgot to take pictures :( but it was a great stay and they are always welcome back!!! :D

The Fair and Kayaking!

I am almost finally caught up! haha just a few more posts and then I will try to get in a better habit :D Last weekend John and I ended up chaperoning two different events for the University. One was to the fair for Mahoney and the other was Ocean Kayaking for University Village since the AD was out of town. I'll start with Friday!

After work John and I got ready for the fair- we were both exhausted but still excited :D I had also got a dog sitter (the last time we had left him alone for 3 hours he shredded his bed apart and this time we were going to be gone from 5:30-1- so I wanted him to have someone). John and I asked one of my RAs who has a dog similar to Carter and knows a lot about them. Plus I trust her a lot. I felt like such a mom! I told her everything there was to know about Carter and taking care of him! haha. I even checked up on him while we were gone. John just rolled his eyes at me. I have never had to ever ask anyone to babysit anything, so it was a weird feeling. lol. Traffic was awful to the fair, but the fair totally made up for it! We got unlimited ride bands for everyone. John and I never really got to ride a bunch of rides when we were younger so we were thrilled! First we did the Ferris wheel!!! YAY! the first time John and I ever rode the Ferris wheel, we were in high school. When we got to the top, we stopped and the fire works started going off! and that was the first time he asked me to marry him :D So the Ferris Wheel has a special place in my heart:D this time it was still light out, but it was still a lot of fun!

View from the Ferris Wheel!

Next we went to bunch of fun houses- and being cheesy that we are got the Grease song stuck in our head while on one of them. We also went through a fun house that was all glass windows- it was confusing! haha. Then we rode a bunch of big scary rides. I got in line for the "inverter" without knowing what it was and then while in line realized that it goes upside down and holds you in the air that way. John made me ride it anyway. haha. then of course he wanted to go on the one ride I said I wouldnt go on! The whole things spins in a circle then you are sitting in a 4 person chair thing that also spins around. It was CRAZY! Of course I loved it :D but John owes me for that one!

the scariest ride we went on! hard to get a picture because it was going so fast!

Then we did the Mega Drop, which was also awesome! After those rides Nate and Leigh Ellen showed up and we met up with them. We walked around a bit and checked out the place some. John and I rode another ride that was scary and awesome called fireball. It was great :D I love rides like that!!! I wish I could describe it better. Anyway, about that time it was time for food! John and I ended up getting a HUGE corn dog and a fresh lemonade to share. He LOVES lemonade from places like that (just like my daddy :D). We ended up sliding down the jumbo slide- in honor of mom, it's her favorite. haha. Then Nate and Leigh Ellen left because it was time to get the baby to bed. John and I walked around the park a bit more and checked out everything. It was a really fun time. FUN free date!! :D Carter was also great :D so YAY!

Fair fun!

The next morning we got up bright and early! 7:30 on a Saturday is TOO early! Nate and Leigh Ellen offered to watch Carter for us, so we got ready and took him over there. I know he will be fine being alone eventually, but I just didnt want to leave him alone for so long both times! Then we headed over to UV, where we all took the bus over to the place where we went Ocean Kayaking. It was 2 1/2 hour tour and ended up being about 3 miles worth of kayaking. John and I were tandem- thank goodness :D haha. It was really interesting though and beautiful to go in the morning. We got to hold star fish!!!!!!!! that was my favorite! they were EVERYWHERE! SO pretty!! We also got to see a lot of conch shells- 3 different types and they were all alive! On the trip there were also sting rays in the water and we got to see the only fossil reef in the US! It was a really nice trip, it was early but we were able to see a lot because the water was so calm. YAY for school trip! haha. We ended up sleeping a lot of the rest of the day. :D

The map of where we were kayaking. I didnt get any other pictures :(