Weekend fun!

YAY for great weekends! Did we do much? Not really. And it was awesome. haha

Let's see -Friday when I got home from work, John was taking a nap. So, I curled up next to him and took a nap too! It was awesome :D Then we got up for dinner and took Carter to the dog park. After that we just hung out for the rest of the evening and no joke, went to bed by 11:30. What in the world?! When did we get so old? Maybe when John started having to get up around 4am? probably. I dont get up quite that early, but it had been a few long weeks with not a lot of time down time and I was exhausted.

Saturday of course I woke up at 7:30. YIKES. I went back to sleep. haha John and I were both still up by 10am. Voluntarily! Again, I feel old! haha. We took our time getting ready for the day and then and went and ate brunch in the dining hall. We decided to take Carter back to the dog park to help with some of that amazing energy he has. We got to the dog park and it started to thunder. I was like quick- let him off his leash so he can run! haha. He got about 15 minutes of play time before it started to pour. Sad. I love how tired the dog park makes him. haha. We have started going a few times a week. Last week we went 4 times! It's awesome. there is also a sidewalk that goes all the way around the dog park- on the inside and John and I decided that instead of sitting and watching Carter play- we'll walk the loop and watch him play. We only got around it twice before it started raining real hard. We figured out that about 6 1/2 times around it is a mile. At least it's some exercise!

Anyway, we left and decided to go to Jared's to get John a new wedding ring. Since it was raining and not that hot out- we just took Carter with us. Of course he stayed in the car, but he didnt mind- he napped! The people in Jared were nice as always. We found the exact same ring for John (a size smaller though). Of course the price of gold has gone up a lot, so it was a lot more expensive than the first one :( At least we had the ring insured and insurance helped pay for it. We asked about having to buy another extended service plan since the plan follows the ring, but the guy was really nice told us that nobody would ever know that it wasnt the first ring. SCORE! That saved us another $70! We also decided to have it engraved with the same thing that we had in it before, even though I joked with John and told him I was going to have "dont lose this one!" engraved in it. haha. We left my rings as well so they could be inspected, cleaned, and rhodium plated. At first the man helping us told us it was going to about $70 to have my engagement ring cleaned, polished, and rhodium plated since it wasnt purchased from Jared's. I about had a heart attack! He told us that the cleaning and polishing fee was $35 and the rhodium plating was $35 (I was expecting the rhodium plating one). I told him that back home they always clean and polish my engagement ring for free since we got our bands from them. He went and spoke to someone and waived the fee :D If you dont try, you'll never know what could have happened. Anyway, it's weird not having my rings on!

After Jared's we decided to go play some disc golf with Carter since it stopped raining. Carter isnt actually allowed at that park, but we figured if someone asked us to leave we would. We are such rebels. hahaha. Carter wanted to chase all the discs, of course. haha we took him off leash since there was nobody around and he did a pretty good job listening. He retrieved a few discs. It was too cute that we couldnt be mad. Well we got to hole 3 and it started pouring! I also lost a disc in the meantime :( We hid under a tree for a bit thinking it would slack off, but it just got harder. So we went back to the car. We were SOAKED! but it was a lot of fun :D Carter tried to drink the rain. haha I do hate that I lost a disc. Sad.
Carter playing disc golf with us!

Anyway, we stopped at Petco on the way home to get some more food and came out with a new leash and collar, and a HUGE bone for him. It's size was literally called mammoth. LOL. We are going to be ordering an antler and bullystick for him (thanks Krystal!) so hopefully we dont have to crate him during the day too. This bone is just for a special treat :D

After all of that and stopping by Blockbuster, we headed home. For the rest of the night we just hung out, watched TV, John played some Xbox, I read my book (I am addicted to the True Blood books). We also played with Carter and gave him his bone....

Mammoth size!
waiting patiently...
and we lost him for the rest of the night. lol
It was a great and relaxing day :D

Sunday, we got up around 11 and went and had brunch. John had a little bit of work to do, so I cleaned the apartment up some and did some laundry. We decided to go out to Michael's to look at picture frames so we could finally frame a few of our NC State photos. We found some that weren't too expensive, but frames are always expensive. Luckily, they were 50% off. We also got some things so we could work on our cornhole boards and I got some scrapbooking stuff. YAY! We stopped by JoAnn Fabrics so I could get some duck cloth to make some better cornhole bags. I was SO happy they had duck cloth in red and black :D After that we stopped by CVS because I had to get some make-up. As my mother in law would say "Shopping wears me out!". We were worn out by the time we got home. haha. We went and got some dinner and then relaxed for the rest of the day. Again, very relaxing. :D I love weekends like this!

MOST importantly- FOOTBALL starts next week! AH! We are preparing an awesome menu for the occasion :D

Homesick...again?

I feel like I am always homesick now. I mean I even miss the cold, y'all! and if you know me, you I NEVER thought I would EVER say that!

I mean there are days that I am not as homesick, but it's a frequent feeling. *sigh* I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss my old life. I know everyone needs to grow up and move on, BUT I want to do that back home! haha

I dont mean to sound whiny. Maybe I have these feelings because football season is approaching and I am 13 hours away from our stadium? maybe it's because we have not made any real friends down here? maybe it's because work is wearing on me and there isnt the escape of family and friends? maybe it's because it's STILL a million degrees outside and I am ready for some relief? maybe it's because all my friends back home are getting together for a wedding and birthday party this weekend? maybe it's all of the above and more. probably the last one.

Now, please dont get me wrong, I am still very glad that John and I made the decision to move down here. I feel like we have grown in ways that we wouldnt have been able to if we didnt. We have learned so much more about each other, about our marriage, and about what we want for our future. We feel like actual adults now that make important life decisions on our own. We have learned how much we really miss home and know how much we will appreciate it once we go back. We have explored a new city and have grown as individuals. I mean, not having many friends down here and spending ALL of our time with JUST each other would usually wear on a couple (and every now and then it can) BUT we have MASTERED it! I look forward to going home each day and spending time with just John (and Carter of course!). I know our schedules have been busy and we havnt seen a ton of each other lately, but I get SO excited to go spend time with him, be lazy with him, do things with JUST him :D A few years ago, I am sure we would have driven each other CRAZY being together so much. So, I do have to thank Miami for that :D

I have loved going to the beach, learning a new a city, and exploring. I have even liked learning a new culture. However, I miss the south. I miss manners. I miss the southern accents, cowboy boots, and delicious food. I miss when the weather starts to get chilly. I miss a lot about North Carolina. And if you were raised in the south and ever moved away, you know what I mean.

What I dont want to happen is to regret not doing something. Will I look back in a few years and say "Wow, I am really glad we did that. It was a lot of fun. I wouldnt change anything" or "Man, I wish we had taken more advantage of living in Miami"? Who knows. I just want to make sure we get to do as much as we want while we are here. I know regardless of what it is, people always wish there was more. It could have been a perfect vacation, but there was still that one thing you wish you did OR you got to go visit your best friend for a week, but you still wish you had more time.

My goal is to be content with everything we have done here, to have grown even more, and to have had a good time. The main reason we came down here was to branch out and have fun before we have kids. I want that mission accomplished! And I believe it will be. So far, it's been fun. I mean nothing is ever as it seems and everything hasnt been as we would have hoped it to be. BUT I think that's part of the learning experience and part of growing up.

I do miss home thought. A lot. And I really cant wait to move back.

Carter updates

Whelp, things have not been going like we would have liked them to go with Carter. :( I dont know he's mad at us because of our hour changes or if he's in a rebellious stage. Or both? I dont know, but UGH!

I know I posted about it already, but because of whatever is going on our wall has taken a beating. He has gotten the molding 3 times now. The last time, John was in the room asleep in the bed and Carter STILL pulled the molding off the wall. We thought it may be an anxiety thing, but if John was home I am not so sure anymore.

He has also become AWFUL to walk. He does have his good days, but he also has the days where he does not listen whatsoever. He pulls and tries to do his own thing. Yesterday, I took him for his morning walk and he did a pretty good job. When he does a decent job, I let him chase the ducks. Well when he was done chasing the ducks, I accidentally hooked his leash to the ring that holds his tags- not the one on the collar. HUGE mistake. We were close to home and he saw a cat. He trying going after it and I was trying to get him to listen to me when he yanked really hard. He went after the cat, I fell backwards, and his tags went flying. I was SO mad! I started yelling at him to stop, sit, lay down- ANYTHING. But he didnt listen. Instead, he followed the cat into the busy parking lot. I was terrified. When I finally got him- I spanked him real good. He knew what he did was wrong. We dont usually spank him, but when he does something real bad we do. He knows too. Well, I started crying because I had just been sure I wouldnt be able to get him and he would get hit by a stupid student that doesnt pay attention. I got home, made him lay down and called John. Then I saw that the darn cat had scratched his face pretty good. I didnt know whether to beat him or hug him. I was SO pissed off at him, but SO glad he was okay. I cleaned up the blood and put him in his crate and got ready for work. UGH.

That whole experience made me realize even more that being a parent is going to be SO incredibly tough. I felt bad for spanking Carter- it KILLED my heart. But I knew he had to learn a lesson. I just wanted to hold him and rock him and give him kisses. But he wouldnt learn anything from that. If I had that hard of a time with a dog, how is it going to be with a kid?! I know my child is going to make plenty of mistakes and I know punishing them and teaching them consequences is part of being a parent- but it's going to be SO hard! Especially when they are able to talk back say mean things to me. *sigh* Definitely not ready to be a parent. haha. Carter is enough for me. I am glad he is teaching me so many lessons though!

Anyway, when Carter has his good days, we let him chase the ducks like I said before. He knew before that if he left them alone while he was on his leash and listened to us- we would let him chase them. He was pretty good about leaving the ducks alone when he was on his leash too! Well now it depends on the day. I dont know what we are going to do with him.

Carter is also not used to so many people being on campus again. They are such a huge distraction. I feel like we have to train him all over again. Very frustrating. I think because John and I have been so busy and we have not been consistent on setting aside specific time to train him (other than giving him commands on walks) and that has probably played a role in his misbehavior too.

Well it isnt ALL bad! Carter may be distracted by all the people on campus now, but at least he doesnt jump on them anymore. SCORE! He has gotten really good about going up to people and not jumping. Granted, he is still so excited his entire body is shaking, which can still unsettle people, but he doesnt jump up!!! He also has not had an accident in forever! Even with all the rain we have had :D AND he likes swimming more and more-

Checking out the water...

Taking a swim!

To help get out some of Carter's energy, we took him to the dog park twice this weekend. I LOVE THE DOG PARK. I forgot how much energy he gets out. IT'S AWESOME! He always has such a good time with the other dogs too. Some of them can be aggressive sometimes, which can scare me, but the rest of them are just playful and run around with Carter. Carter didnt seem too interested in the other dogs when I first took him- he seemed to want to sniff all their pee first. lol. After awhile he played though and had a good time :D We will be going back way more often!

On the way back to the car- he jumped in the driver seat- I think he wanted to drive? haha
Carter after one of our long walks

John and Carter cuddling one day after work :D
Carter has also starting ripping apart his toys. I think it must be an adult dog thing? Who knows. he LOVES to get the squeakers out now! I hate that he rips his toys apart, BUT at least its not our stuff! We do need to get him some more toys now though.

Anyway, that's the update for now. Now that opening is over and John has started sorta getting used to his schedule, we are gunna focus on training him better again.

RA Training and Opening 2011!

WOW! These past few weeks have been SO busy! I know you heard me mention it in other posts, but the hours these past few weeks are definitely ridiculous and are a major contributer to all the compensation time I have during the year.

I was SO excited when my staff started arriving and training started. While I am not a fan of the long hours, I was really excited to work with a staff that I was responsible for hiring. Every time I have hired a staff, I have moved. So these are my babies :D

I am not going to go through each day of training with you, because that would be boring. BUT the Sunday after they all arrived we had a day of staff development. I had arranged for us all to go kayaking. :D We went for the first half of the day and then we did team builders in a park near by. We had SO much fun! Here are some pics:
Me with one of my RAs...I love John's face in the back ground! LOL
All my kiddies kayaking! :D
My entire staff :D I adore them SO Much!

The rest of training was dedicated to actually training the RAs on things they will need to know for the year. We also did some more team building and getting to know each other. I LOVE my staff. They all get along so well and I know this year is going to be awesome and not carry with it all the drama from last year :D Now there are 19 of them and 4 desk assistants, so I know there will be issues, BUT I am very ready to have an amazing first full year as an Area Director with an AWESOME staff.

Yesterday marked the first full day of opening! Crazy busy but exciting. I'll just be glad when all these kids are checked in and I can go back to a more normal routine! Getting up at 5am and working till 7 just isnt cutting it. haha


Carter doesnt like it either. He has more victims. Both victims are the molding to our walls....:(


When I got home from work on Tuesday night I found the first wall damage :(

It was the first time Carter had been alone for 8 hours straight. I usually come home during lunch and play with him some and give him a treat, but I was too busy to on Tuesday. We figured he was really mad at us so that was why he did it. He was in his crate when I got home and he wouldnt even get up. He knew he was in BIG trouble! John got home a few minutes late and we locked him in his crate for a little bit. Afterewards we let him out and played with him.

Yesterday, I gave him good long walk before work and then again at lunch. He was only home for a 1 1/2 by himself afterwards and got the wall again! UGH! We thought it was because he wasnt getting walked enough, but now we think it may also have something to do with all the students moving back in. He barks and growls at them when they make noise. lol. Maybe it's a combo of being mad we are gone so much and the noise he's not used to? Either way he's gotta be locked in his crate until we know he wont tear up our walls. *sigh* I hate him being locked in his crate.

Well, here's to a great opening and sleep when it's over!

Date Night!

The other night John and I both had really bad days at work (before the RAs came back). So that night we decided that we were going to have a date night :D We just went to Titanic and had a few beers and a burger, but it was SO NICE. It was just so nice spending time with him off campus, not talking about work. :D I told him we have to do it more and he agreed :D If we do it every now and then, it’s really not that pricey.

Anyway, we spent some of the time planning our upcoming trips! I have to go ahead and ask off, so we started talking about dates and it got me excited :D Pending we can both get the time approved off, we will be going to Baltimore in October to visit Krystal and Josh. YAY! During that visit we will be going to the NCSU v UVA game. :D Woohoo!! In November, we hope to go home for Thanksgiving. It looks like we would both only need to take like 1 day off, so that should be easy to get off. We would also be going to the NCSU v. Maryland game. YAY FOOTBALL! Then at Christmas I went ahead and asked for that time off too- again not too much, but enough to spend with family and friends :D It definitely made both of our days better to have something to look forward to- even if it’s months away. Haha :D

Anyway, each day I am more and more thankful for John. He really does know how to make any day, a better day <3

Work, blah & p90x, blah

Ever since I got back from vacation work has been ridiculous. I have worked a ridiculous amount of hours and there has been a stupid amount of drama. It has really made my work experience for the summer pretty craptastic. I am SO excited my RAs came back this past weekend. Now,I can stay over in Mahoney in my own little bubble with my Mahoney family. I know most work places have drama, but the amount here has just made me dread working. Luckily, most of it doesn’t directly affect me, but most of it does indirectly and it has just created a very high stress work place. Like I said, I am glad my RAs are here so I can focus on them :D


SO, I mentioned my RAs have returned..! CRAZY! Summer has FLOWN by! I have been SUPER busy. We have training pretty much through opening and opening is the 17th-23rd. So basically, I’ll be even more busy through the 23rd. BUT I am very excited about having an awesome staff and getting to bond with them all :D I will do my best to update, but we’ll see how that goes :D


As for working out and p90x. HAS NOT HAPPENED. Ugh. By the time I have been getting home in the evenings, I have just been drained. I have tried waking up early and that doesn’t work either. JUST. TOO. TIRED. It goes without saying that I have not lost any weight either. *sigh* I don’t think I am going to meet my weight loss goal by my birthday anymore. That kind of stresses me out, but not much I can do about it but keep trying and get close. Since RA training is here that means 7am-9pm days, that means it wont happen this week if I am realistic. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on all of the above.

John's Job!

YAY! John got a new job! It’s still not what he wants to be doing, BUT it will be a great resume builder! He will be working for a place called Creative Caterers. It’s still under the same company he was working for before. He will be managing a kitchen. The kitchen provides lunches to the Miami-Dade County schools and daycares. WOW right?! That’s a LOT of meals and a A LOT of schools! It would freak me out to be in charge of all those meals, but of course John knows he can handle it! He will also be supervising the kitchen staff and will be in charge of ordering all the supplies for the food. Apparently, if the food isn’t a certain temperature when it reaches the schools, the company doesn’t get paid for the meal- I think that’s what scares me the most- TOO much pressure for me. Haha : D Anyway, the supervision piece will be great on a resume! :D I am so proud of him :D

The job also pays much better and has better hours. He will be working from 5am-1pm M-F. It’s not super because he’s not a morning person, BUT he wont have to work Saturdays anymore and will be full time, so we are counting our blessings! Since it pays more, we will finally be able to start paying down my loans more quickly. We have also planned to set some of it aside for a down payment for a house and for another car. The house wont come until we move back home, but the car will probably be sooner. His work isn’t far, but our car still chugs gas quickly. We have to do the math and figure out when it would be best to buy another one (would it be best to save up and just buy it out right OR would it make sense to have a car payment?- one way we are using a LOT of gas, the other way we have to pay interest- you can see the dilemma).

Anyway, it may not be something he loves, but until he finds something he really wants to do- this is a great opportunity :D

Our schedules are totally going to shift now though! Since he will have to leave at like 4 something in the morning, I am going to start making my hours earlier too. I am going to try to get up around 6, walk Carter, work out, and come into work by 8. That way I can get off earlier and actually spend time with John and be on similar schedules! I am very excited about that :D I am not excited about being up so early, but to be on the same schedule with him will be worth it :D

Anyway, YAY for new opportunities :D

Carter Update!

It’s been a really long time since I have given a good update on Carter too. Well, my baby is 7 months old and about 60lbs now- WOW! Luckily, he is pretty lean and not chunky. He is just SO BIG! I have SUCH a hard time picking him up now! Haha. I am very happy that Carter is still soft and cuddly too! I was afraid that the older he got his coat would grow out and he wouldn’t be so soft- but that’s not true! YAY! :D

Carter has also been great with potty training still. I think we have finally gotten over being scared of the rain! He will go out in it to use the bathroom on his own now! YAY! He did have an accident a few weeks ago when it was raining and since John and I were in the back, we didn’t even notice it at first. We went to feed him and he wouldn’t eat. We thought something was wrong with him. We went to go find him and he was hiding behind one of our chairs in the living room. Then we saw it. It was SO much pee!! He knew he had done something wrong. He kept hiding and ran from us. We put him outside (yes in the rain) and then we forgave him and then he ate his food and was fine! Haha. I think he has finally realized that he will be out in the rain for a shorter amount of time if he just pees out in it, than if he pees in the house. Ever since then- no more accidents when it rains! YAY!

As far as training goes, after we got back from vacation Carter didn’t listen as well as he did before we left. I think it’s because so many people helped take care of him and it wasn’t consistent that he just did what he wanted. We have been working to get him back to listening well. He still has some issue with “come” when he is distracted and still has some issues pulling on his leash (both were worse when we got back home). Since then, I’ve been working with him on both and have gotten to the point where I can take him off his leash and let him play in a field near our apartment (not the one we used to go to, it’s closed now L). This field is where people walk by and there is a canal. I’ll throw the Frisbee and he’ll run and catch it. Then I have practiced walking all the way home off leash and he has don’t GREAT! He almost listens better off the leash than on it! Haha. When I walk him on the leash, he walks just a tad bit in front of me, but off the leash he walks behind me! Crazy puppy. I am really proud of him for listening so well off the leash.

Since he is so good off leash now, we’ll take him to the fields on campus and let him play. There are lots of dogs that come out there. I’ve gotten in the habit of trying to find him a friend when we go out to play. I’ve gotten good at it! He has gotten a lot better with other dogs. He still gets VERY excited when he sees them, but then calms down and they play. Most of them are not puppies so he tries SUPER hard to entice them to play with him. Some take the bait and others don’t. Its funny to watch him though! We found one dog recently that I really liked. He was a Belgian Malinois . The owner was telling me that the breed is extremely high energy and he has to take Gridley (the dogs name) out at least 3 times a day for a long walk and to play. And I thought Carter was high energy! Haha. This dog was about 4 years old and had more energy than Carter, so it was GREAT! They ran and played and Carter had such a good time. I really hope we run into Gridley more often! The owner said they only live 5 minutes away and come over all the time. SO YAY! :D

We did have an incident where he wasn’t listening off the leash when we first started and he ran up to someone and wouldn’t leave them alone. When he gets far from me now, I’ve started telling him “no” and “sit” and he listens! Now if he’s far from me chasing a ball and someone walks by or if he’s trying to get in the canal- I just tell him to sit and he listens so well!
Speaking of the canal- he’s started going to play in it! The water stinks, so I don’t let him often unless I know he is going to get bath. I am so glad he likes the water! I think he just get so hot that he will get in to cool off sometimes. He also knows that’s where the ducks swim, so he goes after them some times. :D He’s so cute :D

Other updates- I am no longer worried about any of our stuff. He doesn’t mess with any of it anymore :D We are still careful just in case, but there have been no victims or anything close in a really long time! We also got a new dog crate for him. He has gotten almost too big for the other one, so it was time and there was a good deal online. IT’s HUGE! We had to move all our bedroom furniture over. Haha. I think we will keep the other crate for when we get another dog.
John and I have had many conversations about getting another dog. John doesn’t want one until after we have kids and I want another one in like 2 years. However, I think we will end up caving and getting one sooner than we both thought. We just want Carter to have a friend. I think he would be happier with a buddy :D So we’ll see. We definitely will wait until Carter is a bit older and more mature. Who knows :D

Anyway, I think the last update for now will be about training/tricks :D We have been trying to focus on Carter listening to us. But we have also been working on “paws up,” this is the first step to teach him how to say his prayers. He’s became really good at it! BUT then he jumped on a stranger I a popped him and now I think he’s scared to. Lol He’ll still do it- but we have to convince him. We have also started working in “limp.” He’s so funny to watch. Lastly, we have been trying to get him to howl. I think I’ve mentioned before that John and I will howl and Carter will look at us like we are crazy. Now he will bark! He even sorta howled for the first time the other day. I got so excited I think I scared him. Haha. We have started treating him when he barks at “howl” so he knows we want him to make noise. You can tell he’s trying SO hard to howl! Just cant figure it out yet. Haha

Anyway, Carter is doing great :D He still LOVES under the bed, but doesn’t fit under as well. HAHA he still tries though. Now his butt and tail just hang out from under it. TOO FUNNY! I am so glad we have him. He makes us both so happy :D

A year without my dad...

I apologize for it taking so long to update. It’s actually probably more stressful to me when I don’t post because I feel like it’s hanging over my head. Lol. But anyways…
This post was once again going to be difficult for me and I dreaded writing it. I guess I have felt like this post has to be awesome because it’s about my dad, but I think just writing something at this point will be good.

I honestly cannot believe that I have been through a whole year of my life without my dad. This year has been very very tough me and my family, as I am sure you imagined it would. And like I predicted, dealing with losing my father has also become easier. Well not easier, I don’t ever think it will be easy, but I guess I have been able to come to terms with it. I still have the days where I am like “what?! Did that really happen?” and it seems surreal, but for the most part I guess I’ve come to terms with it.

Looking back over the year, the most difficult days were not necessarily the days that I thought they would be. In some cases yes, but days like the first day football started, when we got a puppy, his birthday, and random days that I went to call him and he wasn’t there or when I had a really bad day at work and I just wanted to call him. Those were hard days. I think the hardest day/time for me was on New Years Eve when it switched to the New Year. I had the hardest time accepting that I had to start a new year without him. It’s still hard, but like I said I have learned to come to terms with it. Sometimes, I will go and just listen to all the songs that remind me of him. It makes me cry of course, but it’s kind of nice at the same time. :D So far that list includes :

· Homesick by Mercy Me
· I Loved Her First by Heartland
· Longer Than by Dan Fogelberg
· When The Rain Comes by Third Day
· I Still Miss You by Keith Anderson
· My Girl by The Temptations
· Amazing Grace

I am beyond happy that he is in Heaven with Jesus and if it wasn’t for that I would be a mess still. BUT I do know that, so it makes it a little easier. I know he is no longer in pain. But DANG it sucks not having my dad around. *sigh* I know there will be many many more moments that will be extremely hard, like when we buy a house or when we get pregnant or when NC State wins the championship (ha!). BUT I have amazing support and an awesome husband and family who have helped me through it.

I truly do not know what I would do without John. He has been there from the beginning. He was there when my dad had his first stroke, he was there for all the different nursing homes changes, and he went to visit him with me and helped me take my dad to the movies every now and then. I think that is always one fond memory I will have of us all- John, me, and my dad going to the movies. That was always a lot of fun and I know my dad LOVED to get out of the nursing home :D One of my favorite memories of going to the movies was when John brought his Firebird and my dad wanted to ride in it instead of my car. We squeezed him and I followed with his wheelchair. John had the music playing really loud and he apologized to my dad for it being so loud and my dad said that it was the only way to listen to music, so they left it like that for the car ride. I love that memory of them :D I may not have been there, because I was in a car behind them, BUT I loved they got to spend some time like that together. I think that is also one thing I am really going to always be sad about- John not getting to spend a lot of time with my dad. I loved them together! Anyway John was then there when my father was able to move home and helped with modifying my house so my dad could get around easier (a true blessing from John and his dad). And of course now he has been there for me through all of this. I am very lucky woman and words cannot describe how blessed I am to have John in my life.

I also wanted to take part of this post and reflect on the ways I am like my daddy, which is also part of the reason it’s taken me so long to post. I want it to be great! I am scared that I’ll start to forget or not realize down the road the ways I am like him, so I thought starting to create a list would help :D I want it to be awesome, so I have not finished it yet, but when I do, I’ll post it :D
Boy do I miss that man!...