The One with the Old Friends

Can I just say that it blows my mind sometimes how fast life moves along. It seems like yesterday that I was cheering for Friday night football games and thinking that I would never get out of Hickory, North Carolina.

I just recently was on an email chain with my closest friends from college (some of whom I also went high school with) and it is amazing to me how grown up we have become in what seems like overnight. We were just updating each other on what is going on in everyone’s lives. I mean shouldn’t we still be planning keg parties and what fraternities we are going to hang out with this weekend… Sadly (but also excitingly!) no.

Casey and her husband Travis are expecting their first child in December. Lily. Their nursery is almost done! Krysta is the ever busy business woman with a serious boyfriend. Jessie is now, Dr. Castile, and she and her husband are building their first house. Kelly is also a busy working woman and is also going back to school to get her pharmacy degree.

Where did the years go? It makes me sad to think that we have moved on from our crazy college days (well for me to it was the crazy years afterward) and that the “care-free” part of our lives is now just a bunch of amazing memories. Life moves on. But I am very proud of where we all are now. Every last one of us has become a very successful career woman with drive, focus, and compassion. We are all also very balanced. Family is a strong part of all of our lives and that can be seen in the relationships we have all developed.


Oh life…..

:0)

The One with the Bridesmaid dresses!!

As I said earlier - I love my friends!!! We have such a good time all the time. However as of late they have ALL been getting married!! Now of course this makes for many really good parties (with open bars of course! ;0) ) and many fun memories. And I suppose it has become something of a running joke that I have been in so many weddings - not quite 27 - but I am getting there!! Yeah it costs a bit of money and time, but I love being a bridesmaid!! It is so fun to get all dressed up and see your friend off to married life!! So (mainly because I am bored tonight) here is a timeline of my dresses!!! Awe... memories.... :0)

This wedding kicked off the next five or so years of wedding season in my life! Casey was the first to take the plunge!! December of 2006

This at my friend Katie's wedding in November of 2008. Good times in HKY!!

This is at Stephanie and Adam's wedding in January of 2007 (I think! Is that right Stephanie??) Apparently I had such a good time at this wedding that this is the only picture I have from this wedding!! hahahhahaha

The picture below is from just this past July (2009). This was actually a first for me - I was English MOH!!! So much fun!!

The wedding below was in May of 2008 and was the furthest I have ever traveled for a wedding. This was in Columbia, MO for Jessie's wedding!!!

I probably had too much fun at this wedding! ;0) This is Frances' wedding in Newberry, SC. Cocky even made an appearance!

I was also an honary bridesmaid in Erica's wedding - another HKY reunion! Some things never change!

Just this past weekend I was also an honorary in Bex's wedding in Greenville, SC. It was the perfect weekend for a wedding and the ceremony, bride, and reception were all beautiful!

There are more to come! There are just the ones I had pictures of on my computer!

Maybe one day I will have bridal portraits to put on here...ha. ha. ha. :0P

The One with the New Bible Study...

I have to tell you that I have some pretty amazing friends!! I love them all so much! They get roped into doing a lot with me! hahaha (i.e. poor Frances in the Mud Run as seen below!) But I like to organize and plan things/events. Although this is not reflective in my day to day living because I am neither organized nor does anything go as planned! Ha! However, I got the bright idea that we get together with dinner club as couples but we never do anything with just us girls. So we have now deemed Monday nights Girls Night/Bible Study. The Bible study came to be part of this because let's face it -none of us go to church like we should (well maybe a couple of us do - but the majority do not) and because I figured if we are all getting together it needs to have a better purpose than just sitting around gossiping. So we discuss our chapter a bit, gossip a bit, and just have a good time. I love it! It's a great way to start the week and catch up with everyone about what happend over the weekend!! :0) We only want it to get bigger so if you want to join come on!

The One with a Lot of Catching Up To Do!!!

So I have gotten really slack on my blog postings - but I do have a lot to report back!! So since I have posted on here I have moved, Michael became a godfather, hosted an engagement party, participated in a mud run, etc.

Where to start hmmm....

Well I finally moved into the apartment complex I have been trying to move to for years!! It requires a paycheck- and now that I am a working woman I qualify!! hahahaha I live alone, which I love. I can do what I want, when I want, looking however I want to look! hahaha I think I am one of those really strange people that really loves living alone... Although I must say I am just as weird with Michael as I am when I am alone - not really sure if that's a good thing or not! hahaha

Then on September 12th we went to Charleston for Michael's neice's baptism -during which he became her godfather. He was so happy and so proud! Then we all hung out at Rachael's house (Michael's sister and the mother of his neice) for the Carolina game. Below is Alaina in her Carolina gear that Michael and I gave her... So cute!!

Go Gamecocks!!!

Then on September 19th my family decided it would be a great idea if we all did the US Marine Corp Mud Run together.... Whew.....It was fun but it certainly was a one of a kind experience. I was worried about being able to do it all!!! Michael, Dad, Matthew, and Matthew's friend Chris we a team - "The Carolina Renagades." Then Me, Patty, Michelle, and Frances were "Lady Mudonher" (say it like Madonna - apparently Lady Madonnna is an old Beatles song?????). And then Russ, Patrick, Mark, and Mark's friend Dennis were the "Rat Pack."

It was tough, butt-kicking fun!!! And for a team of all first-timers we did pretty good!! We finished 103 out of 215 of all women teams. Hey it's at least the top half! :0) I don't think I have ever been this dirty in my life!!! hahaha Believe or not that is me in that picture wiping the mud out of my eyes and that's Frances in the forefront of the picture!!

Finally - at least for this post.... My parents and and I hosted an engagement party for Nicole (my friend from high school) and Liam. Michael and I made the trip up to old HKY for the shindig... It was great to see a lot of people I hadn't seen in a really long time (and of course those I see quite often!) They are getting married next October!!

My mom, Nicole, Me, Nicole's Mom, and Nicole's Grandmother

The One with New Doggie Relatives!

Harley and Gus are not completely aware of it, but they have a very large and extended doggie family. On my side they have a half sister Layla, who they met recently.

She is a five year old beagle that I got while in college. Unfortunately, Layla was unable to make the move with me to Columbia so she has become part of the pack that live with my mom and dad. On that note, Harley and Gus also have many aunts and uncles. My parents have a 12 year old chocolate lab, Ranger, a 14 year old black lab mix, Blossom (they didn't name her - she's was a pound puppy), an 11 year old scottish terrier, Maggie, a tragic little mutt (you the "she's so ugly she's cute" type), Lexi. So recently Michael and I took a trip to Hickory to hang out with my parents for the weekend and so that Harely and Gus could meet their extended family!!

Well... let's just say the introduction of our young pups to my parent's geriatric brood was... tense. The old timers quickly put the little pups in their place. In fact we made fun of Harley all weekend because he would not come out of the doggie igloo when all the dogs were out in the back yard. Now when Michael and I got back to Columbia we figured out why Harley was being so shy and quickly felt guilty about making fun of timid little Harley. Turns out that Ranger put Harley in his place - physically! We found this large open wound on Harley's tail. Ranger had bit a huge chunk out of poor Harley. So he's now been on antibiotics for two weeks now trying to get over his mean uncle's bite! hahahahaha

Harley and Gus also have an aunt on Michael's side. Bailey, is a sweet golden retrevier mix. She would never bite her nephews. Although she has yet to have the pleasure of meeting Gus, so her tolerance may change... ;0)

And I am so excited to share that Harley and Gus now have a cousin!! My brother and his girlfirend recently got a little girl lab. Scout is only 8 weeks old, but you can already tell she is going to be a large - handful. :0) She is a unique color for a lab. She's full lab, but has the coloring of a golden retriever. Here she is:

P.S. She came to play with Harley and Gus and left minus her collar and filthy. Not surprising...

The One with Harley in the Garden...

Well well well.... I decided to replant the garden previously discussed. However, since it is so late in the season I had to settle for just planting herbs. So I went to this really nice nursery and got quite a variety of herbs and some new soil. Then Michael and I worked very diligently to secure the area from dog invasions. Well....I kid you not, one hour after we had finished the new garden it was gone again. We walked outside to find that Gus, in his weasel fashion, had gotten in and out of the garden again. Unfortunately, in between his Hudini entrance and exit, he had succesfully pulled out every single plant and dig holes so deep that the brick from the patio was falling in.... I quit. No more gardening for me........ this year..... ;0)

On a more humorous note, we did arrive home on Saturday to find that Harley wanted in on some of Gus's fun/destruction in the garden. However, Harley is substantially larger than Gus and though was some how able to get in (we still can't figure that one out!) he could not get out. We are not positive, but we are pretty sure he was in there for several hours.... hahahaha How guilty do these two brothers Grimm look!

The One with the Destroyed Garden and a new Gallery

Well it has been quite sometime since I have visited the world of blogging, so let me catch you up on all of life’s happenings since June 11th…..

Well that beautiful garden that I described below became this full, over-grown flourishing area in the back yard. Michael was even able to eat a few of the tomatoes and peppers that WE grew – so cool!!! However just as our little garden was on the verge of producing a plethora of cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs galore, cayenne peppers and bell peppers, the natural disaster that is know as Augusta “Gus” McMasterson happened. It still angers me to this day as I sit here and relive this story as I write it. I went over to Michael’s house one unassuming Tuesday after work and found that Gus had pulled some of the screen away from the breeze way. At that moment I thought okay no biggie that can be easily fixed.

Then I hear Gus. He is barking and whining. That lovely little darling had scooted under the screen he had pulled away and into the garden. In hopes of keeping our little terrors out of garden Michael had built a very functional fence that had been working wonderfully. So wonderfully in fact that now that Gus had found a way in he could not get out. So there he sat. Guilty as sin in the mess he had made of my poor garden. Tomato plants, cucumber vines, beds of mint, basil, and oregano, pepper plants all pulled out of the ground and RIPPED TO SHREDS. Deep and wide holes in the ground that was once so pretty and cared for with its organic soil. It was a disaster area. I was furious and Gus knew it… the moment he saw me all barking and whining stopped. We just starred at each other in silence – he knew I was mad and that he was absolutely caught. Ughh….dogs…. as I have said before, if I didn’t love them I would hate them. Now my aunt and mother think that this was Gus’ retaliation for having been neutered the day before all of this happened. Not a valid excuse in my book. If he hadn’t been neutered the day before, I might have done it to him that day after seeing his destruction. Hahahaha….

The plan is the re-buy and re-create the garden as best we can this weekend…. Well see….


Let’s see now … what else has happened….

English, one of my best friends in the world, got married on July 11th. It was a beautiful service and wonderful reception. I was the maid of honor in her wedding, which I cannot tell what an honor that was – however I was a nervous wreck! I knew at some during all of the festivities I would have to speak to a large group of people. If you know me, you know that I am not very good at this and certainly not good at this when I am not prepared…. So below is the speech I gave at English and Michael’s rehearsal dinner:

English and I became friends when I moved to Columbia in 2006. We were both very proud residents of 1902 College street – a house that will live on in infamy. We've seen each other through my failed teaching career, her ongoing moonlighting at Zorbas, late night parties followed by early morning classes (her attending and me teaching!), bad boyfriend drama and good boyfriend drama, an eventful raodtrip to Nashville, and endless amounts of peanut butter, frozen cool whip, and sushi – not at the same time of course, and who can forget the musicals that were often put on in our house after a lovely night out in 5 points, and now that we are in a different phase of life -dinner club and double dates. And eventually we would go on to be bonded even further as fellow Carolina Alumni – I say this only because I know her blood runs orange and I have to rub it in!. It would not have been the same without you. In fact, it was better because we did it all together.As I watch you graduate from your single life I can’t help but think of Queen's “Another one bites the dust”…. Just kidding… I see a bright future ahead. Tomorrow when you become Michael's wife, you are embarking on fun new adventures like changing your name on your social security card and joint tax returns, late night cravings to early morning feeding, silly arguments and romantic apologies, beach vacations in summer and of course a reason to attend Gamecock football games for the rest of your life! It wouldn't be the same without you so I'm glad we'll keep doing it together.So I propose a toast to the University of South Carolina for developing such fine alumnae and 1902 for making us such good friends. And of course to English and Michael as they begin their lives together.


Being one of few Gamecock fans in the room – it got a mixed reaction! Hahahahaha All in good fun! Anyways, her weekend was beautiful, she was beautiful, and they looked so happy!! Yeah!! Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Gallery!!!


Okay more to come later…. :0)

The One with the New Blog Topics

So I have been recently told, by more than one person, that my blog is boring. Nobody cares about what my dogs do or what Michael does except me. This is quite sad considering only about 4 people read my blog. 50% of the people read this only out of mere obligation or boredom…probably more likely the latter… So while my topics are wildly hysterical to me… I will change my focus in hopes of better entertaining my 4 friends who are extremely bored at work (or in Ashley’s case should be studying ;0)).

This blog may be misleading. I assure Michael and the dogs do not constitute all of my time or interests….So let’s talk about me a little more…

My top three interests right are works in progress…

Cooking
Gardening
Shagging

I can do none of these three things, but dammit I am trying! HA!

Michael and I just started intermediate shag lessons (I got the beginner lessons for Christmas, b/c yes I was that bad…). And I think slowly but surely I am getting there. Poor Michael though…. He has the patience of a saint. He was a good shagger before all of this, so he has to go through the motions while this poor white girl with NO rhythm tries to pick up the moves. Last night we learned the sugar foot. Looks cool – like we actually know what we are doing. After multiple nights of practice I am gonna be ready to show off at the next wedding! :0)

As for the cooking…. PLEASE SEND ANY TIPS, SUGGESTIONS, RECIPES…. I am working with nothing in this area…. Hahahahahahhahaha

Gardening – I think I am slowly but surely developing a green thumb. I currently have planted (at Michael’s house of course – it’d be quite tragic in pots on my apt. patio):

Like 20 tomato plants ( I mean one of has to yield something right??? The odds of probability…)
Cucumbers…nothing yet but flowers
Cayenne Peppers – 2 big peppers so far – just waiting on them to turn red!
Sweet Banana Peppers – Michael has already sliced the one produced and eaten it on a salad
Citronella – you wouldn’t believe the amount of misquotes in his back yard
Lavender – also a misquote (and tick) repellent – for the dogs!
Pimento – like the one’s in pimento cheese…yummmmm
And tons of herbs (basil, oregano, but the green onions have already died…wah wah…)

Wish me luck!

I will try to make this more interesting and humorous for those of you reading….

The One with the Crazy Dogs and Lessons Learned…

As previously mentioned Michael and I spent an entire week on Hilton Head Island at the end of June. Harley and Gus had been doing pretty good together lately, and we just didn’t have money to board them, so we had the genius idea to just leave them in that back yard (with access to a covered area to get out of the rain) for the week and a friend of mine would come by a couple times a day to feed and water them. It was going to be perfect and it was perfect until Sunday afternoon…. (side note we left on Saturday afternoon)

My friend who was watching the dogs called me Sunday afternoon in a panic. On the verge of tears she says, “Suzanne, I am standing here in Michael’s backyard holding Harley’s collar and Gus is sitting beside me, but Harley is no where to be found. I have looked around this whole yard and I see no way that he could have gotten out!” Blind-sided by this information I told her I needed a few minutes to process this and I would have to call her back – a reaction didn’t come immediately….

My thoughts at the moment were “oh ghudda!!” (this phrase is also my attempt to learn Arabic ;0) ) Then, ohmygosh his collar is off, whoever finds him will have no way of contacting us or letting us know where he is. Then, oh great we got him from Project Pet if the Pound picks him up he goes back to Project Pet and away from us forever – stupid contract! Then, how am I ever going to find this dog while I am in Hilton Head and my poor friend is dealing with all of this. Then, ohmygosh Michael and I are going to have leave, drive back to Columbia, get the dogs situated, and come back to Hilton Head. Then, oh great Michael is out in the middle of the ocean fishing and I am going to have deal with this by myself.

Fortunately, in the middle of all of this mental chaos my friend calls me back to let me know that Harley has just sauntered back into the front yard as if nothing was wrong at all… My poor friend! I could tell she was stressed out and irritated with my dogs. I would be and I love them! So I thought, good - crisis averted and told her to just put them in the kitchen and she could just come over a few times a day and let them out. This should have been fine since this is how they have lived their lives while we are at work.

WRONG!!

That very same night I get yet another frantic phone call from my friend. She had been nice enough to go over there one more time that evening to let them potty before bed, only to walk in on a DISASTER area….

Harley and Gus had gotten into the flour and rice. My friend said that flour was ALL OVER the kitchen and poor (I use that term lightly- as he was really the co-conspirator) Gus was no longer a black lab, but a stark white lab with the flour “caked” to his face. There was dried rice all of the floors (we are still finding it in various nooks and crannies of the kitchen) and Lord only know how much of it they ate. On top of all of this, my poor friend had put these two crazy mutts outside while she cleaned all of this up and Harley got away for the second time that day. Fortunately, just like before, he came right back.

In fear of her sanity, I told her to just put them in the house and I would call my Aunt to come and get them. Which is exactly what happened. My aunt came and got them and they were boarded for the rest of the week…coming full circle to the entire thing we were trying to avoid…

Then, as pay back for boarding them for a week, they gave us a whole new set of issues to worry about after we returned from Hilton Head. As I said before, by this time I had moved out, so these were Michael’s stories that I am sharing with you….

Feeling that as the owner of these creatures and knowing their tricks he could secure them safely on the porch while he was at work all day, Michael did just that. (It was too soon after the event to test out the backyard again). Day one - fine, no problems at all. Day two and three great. But day four…. Oh day four….

Apparently about 2 o’clock Michael got a phone call from the neighbor saying she had Harley and he needed to come get him. So Michael left work and went to the neighbor’s house to get Harley. As he was getting out of the truck the neighbor assumed that Harley listend and would go straight to Michael. Again… WRONG… He took one look at Michael and one look at the other end of the street and BOLTED… So there is Michael running down the street in dress shoes and tie chasing after Harley. Luckily, Harley simply decided to stop running and turn and come to Michael. He was able to get him back to the house and in to the kitchen and back to work all before a 2:30 client call… Pretty impressive!

Enter me.

That evening I arrive at Michael’s house, before he does, to find that while in the kitchen again the dogs of gotten into the trash, shredded and distributed it all over the place, AND eaten 5 months worth of Heartguard. Fun…

If I didn’t love them like they were my children…. I’d hate them… :0)

The One with the Entire Month of May WASTED….

So we are quickly approaching the middle of June and it has been quite some time since I have blogged! There are quite a few reasons for this, but mainly because Michael’s computer just quit working! So for that lovely month of May that I had “off” I felt completely disconnected from the world! It was a special occasion when he let me use his work computer to check Facebook and email, but sadly my daily dose of Perez Hilton was banned … wah…wah…

Anyways, so that ambitious list you see below of what I wanted to accomplish in May – rubbish… all of it…. I didn’t do a single one of the items I planned to do. I didn’t even pick up a book, let alone finish that entire list. As for the losing weight item – this will be a life long battle. No matter how badly I want to lose weight there always seems to some event that comes up that is more important at the time and allows me to say “after [insert event] I will begin my diet.” Well I have been saying this for probably 13 of my almost 26 years on this planet and clearly that day after never comes….

What is really sad though is that I absolutely cannot remember what I did with those lovely three weeks that I had off. Apparently nothing productive… That’s the problem with time off. Many productive things are planned and scheduled, but because it is “time off” nothing gets done….at least with me… am I alone here???

What I do remember from this lackadaisical stint is that Michael and I had a very serious and life changing “emotional discussion.” I won’t bore you with the nitty gritty details but it resulted in us deciding that even though it stinks right now, what is best for our relationship in the long run is that I move out. Back to my apartment (in the ghetto…) that I share with my brother – and for the next 3 months his girlfriend too. Whoopie….I hope that you can hear my sarcasm in that sentence. Again I won’t bore with the why’s and why not’s, but as much as I am not happy about it, I do think it is a good thing. It feels like we are dating again, which is fun! I mean for the past six months, let’s face it, we were “playing house,” acting like the old married couple I have no doubt we will be one day. Everything had become routine and mundane and just felt kinda blah. I think it’s because we were both living with a guilty conscience knowing that if our families knew we were living together it would NOT go over well. Don’t confuse the issue though – this is merely for appearances and our parents’ sakes. I was very happy doing the boring and mundane routine with Michael. That’s what made it so hard. All the typical, boring stuff I was doing with him… I now do alone. I miss it. But I suppose that will just make married life (God willing we get there) all that much more to look forward to….

So after we spent a week in Hilton Head with his family I packed up all of my stuff and moved back into the apartment. It was timed pretty well I think because the next day I started my new job. So it wasn’t like a major change in my life – it was more like starting completely over with a whole new life!

Not to mention I don’t live with my boys anymore…. More to come on them later…

The One with the Entire Month of May Off....

So I finished my administrative Residency last week and now I have absolutely NOTHING to do.... Of course I have to find a job, which may become a full time job in-an-of-itself. However right now I am giving myself a break. A down time for a week or two to just enjoy having nothing to do....I don't exactly know what I am going to do with my time, especially since none of my other friends have time off (sadly they have jobs... wah.... wah....).

One thing I know for sure is that I want to read - for fun not for education. My book line up consists of:

Eat, Pray, Love
Shopaholic (the first two in the series)
Blink
Outliers (maybe the tipping point)
Primal Leadership
the two Nicholas Sparks books that I bought a year a go and haven't read yet....

I also want to do this reading outside. I am a scary shade of pasty white - I mean like that homely girl white that never leaves the library... yikes! So I would like to get something of a tan while I have this time off....

Catch 22 with this goal: I am fat. The thought of putting on a bathing suit makes me want to vomit (so maybe I should think about it a lot, vomit a lot, and thus become skinny....hmmm.... JUST KIDDING - seriously JK).

So I am also do the whole no/low car thing right now too....

In addition to wanting to be able to put on a bathing suit and not make strangers point and laugh at me, I also have a beach trip to get in shape for at the end of the month. This is not just any beach trip. It is a beach trip with Michael's entire family.

side note: Michael's family consists of these beautiful, skinny girls of Lebanese heritage (so they have beautiful olive skin and dark hair). I mean no matter how much I lose (which aint gonna be that much in 3 weeks) I can't compare to them! ahhhhh!!! :0\

Anyways so that I do not gross out his entire family I must lose SOME weight and get SOME pigment in my skin.....


It may be mission impossible but hey I have nothing else to work on right now, might as well work on me! :0)


Wish me luck....seriously.....

Different note if you have any suggestions on how to better occupy my time.... please let me know! :0)


P.S. Michael was so not happy with me about the previous post! Apparently everyone doesn't "need to know that." Who doesn't like an entire post of compliments about themselves!?!? hahahhahahahhahahahhahaha

The One with the Amazing Boyfriend....

I am sure that some of you (as in Emily because only Emily, Michael, and myself read this blog! ha ha) will find this particular blog nauseating. Mainly because I feel the need to tell you all how amazing my boyfriend is. Now you would probably think that this blog would come after a wonderfully romantic weekend where he wined and dined me and totally spoiled me (he has done this!), but this weekend is not that weekend. In fact we spent a good portion of this weekend fighting and being irritated at each other. I think the mere fact that I am still sitting at his house, still love him, and still think he is amazing is a testament to what a wonderful person he is.





I truly think there is nothing that he cannot do. He tests and challenges me everyday - yes this does sometimes drive me crazy-but it also challenges me and makes me a better person. He portrays himself as a no nonsense, tough guy, but he is truly the sweetest most compassionate person I have ever met. Seriously, I wish I were as good-hearted as he is toward every person he meets. He is strong and disciplined and keeps his morals in line where I would be weak.





Some small examples:





We went to Charleston this weekend to see his adorable niece again (it's amazing how much babies grow in just one week!). When we got there her house was overflowing with family. However, Noah (Michael's brother-in-law and the baby's father) was called out of town for work this past Tuesday. Leaving his 2 day old daughter and wife at home! I felt so bad for him - can you imagine how sad he was to leave his new family! Moving on.... Needless to say that with all the baby commotion and Noah not being there, their lawn was un-kept and out-of-control. So Michael volunteers himself (and recruits his brother and father) to spend the day cutting their grass. Now mind you we were only there for a few hours, he was already exhausted from the drive and working all week, and was certainly not prepared or dressed to do yard work at his sister's house. But he knew it would be a great help and that Noah would much rather come home from his trip to no other chores than to oohhh and ahhh over his new baby.... I thought it was so sweet and thoughtful! :0)





Another example:





While in Charleston we left Harley out in Michael's backyard. Of course this was not a wise decision.





You see last week we planted this beautiful garden with vegetables and herbs and even put in a pretty fancy irrigation system. I was so proud of it! Even showed it off to people who came over to visit.





Well ... While Harley was alone all day while we were in Charleston, he took it upon himself to pull out most of the plants, throw most of the dirt all over the patio leaving huge holes, and even tear the irrigation system out of the ground. I WAS PISSED...... Ohhhhhh I hated that dog on Saturday night....





Like I said earlier, I honestly do not think there is anything Michael cannot do - and do well... He is an amazing cook, excellent and continuously rising through the ranks in his finance job, and he can fix/build any and everything. He even had his contractors license once.





In order to make all things right with the world Michael spent all day Sunday fixing all of Harley's (well maybe not all, but most) disasters outside. First he replaced the porch screen doors. Harley had created his own doggie door by busting through the screen. (Please keep in mind that Harley had a actual doggie door right next to the screen door but just chose not to use it.)





Then he built this elaborate gate to put in front of my/our garden to keep the dogs out. I mean it is awesome! You can remove it when you want to work in the garden or when company is over and put it right back in place afterwards. There is no way those mangy mutts can get into the garden now. I know it may not seem like much, but I was so proud and impressed with him. Its just the little things ya know...





These are just the examples from this weekend... He really does surprise/impress me almost everyday. He is such a leader, visionary, builder, provider, etc. etc. I feel so lucky right now...





(Now like I said we did spend a good portion of the weekend fighting so he's not perfect - but close! ;0 More to come on the fighting issues later.....hahahhaha)

The One with the New Baby!

Oh my goodness…. So much has happened since I last filled you in…. Well the dogs are doing pretty good together, though every now and then we will hear these blood curdling screams from the room where Gus and Harley stay. It sounds like Harley might quite literally be trying to eat Gus! We are trying to develop a new living arrangement… TBD….

On a much different note ~ Michael is an uncle!!! It was the most amazing thing! I feel so lucky that I am dating such a wonderful person with a wonderful family that includes me in such amazing events. I was a little hesitant to allow Michael to include me in going to the hospital and being there for his niece’s birth (I mean it is a very intimate thing and sometimes people might just want family there – ya know?), but I am so grateful that they made me a part of this! Michael got the call on Saturday night about 10 pm that they had gone to the hospital and that the birth was imminent. So we jumped in the car and headed down to Charleston.

(After calling every one of my friends in my phonebook, none of which answered because it was after all 10 pm on a Saturday night, I was finally able to reach my aunt to come and take care of Gus and Harley while we were gone. I must say that I love my aunt dearly, she’s awesome, but she was not my first choice to come and take care of our beasts. For no other reason but that I spend a lot of time at Michael’s house – more than I would care for her to know. She surely knows now after being in his house and seeing my stuff everywhere (my stuff everywhere is a whole ‘nother issue….). Anyways… back to the story)

We get there at midnight and everyone is just sitting around the hospital waiting patiently and making idle chit chat. So Michael, the constant man of practicality that he is, decides it’s silly for us to just sit around the hospital and wait. He and I go to his sister and brother-in-law’s house and take a quick nap until we get “the call.” About 4:15 the call comes. We get up and rush back to the hospital. I was so glad that we got there just in time. Michael, his dad, his mom, his brother-in-law’s mom and grandmother, and myself were standing outside of the hospital room waiting and listening for the baby. We heard her enter this world. It was amazing. It even makes me tear up now a little bit as I think about it. Her first cry. Rachael and Noah becoming parents. A new life. It all happened in that moment – 4 minutes before 5 in the morning on April 26th. She was beautiful. All 7 lbs 13 oz. and 21 inches of her. Alaina Rose Garrett. Like I said I am so grateful that Michael has such a wonderful family that would include me in this.

I keep telling Michael wait an amazing event it was. He, of course, was the proud uncle but I think was to exhausted to express the same excitement that I was… Or maybe the reality of it all hadn’t set in yet…

Prior to this I have to admit that pregnancy and child birth was all a bit “icky” and scary to me. But being there for all of that makes you really realize that it is the “miracle of life.” I just couldn’t get over it all. Amazing. I don’t consider myself a skilled writer to say the least, and this is proof. My story telling and words do not do justice to the amazing events that happened yesterday….

Meanwhile… Harley and Gus where locked in a room in Columbia during all of this, except for the few minutes when my aunt came and let them out for a few minutes and feed them. You can imagine what we came home to….

The One With The Last Class and Selfish Dog

Soooo.... I am so close to being done that I can't stand it! :0) I just got back from my final class! The only thing left is my thesis presentation tomorrow!! Then I will have a master's degree.... The job part - well I am still working on that...wah...wah...It seems like the past two years have just flown by, yet at the same time it seems to have taken FOREVER!! I just can't wait to earn a paycheck again and not be totally dependent on the government for my livelihood (although with my student loan debt I think I will owe somebody some amount of money for the rest of my life...)!

Now on the boys... Gus is getting so big so quickly! It's crazy. We have only had him for a little over one week now and he's already grown. Although I shouldn't be super surprised because that little thing eats like a horse! Geeze.... So far Harley and Gus are getting along a little bit better. Harley is a bit jealous and doesn't really like to share his toys. In fact he hoards them. If Gus picks up a toy, Harley will literally go and take it out of the little guy's mouth and then either guard it or destroy it so that Gus can't play with it! We're working on it.... Slowly but surely...

We are now able to leave Harley and Gus in the room together (sans crate for Gus) all day long. This is a huge accomplishment. Prior to this development we seriously thought that Harley just might eat little Gus if he wasn't crated. The first week we left Gus crated in the room with Harley while we were at work, Harley would literally pull the newspaper out of the bottom of the crate, shred it into a million little pieces. Then he would pull out any stuffed animal or chew toy that was left in the crate (literally pull it from between the tiny openings in the crate) and dismember the toy and pull out all of the stuffing! We would get home from work and it would look like it had snowed! HA! But as I said before, we're past that! Yeah! Growing up quickly!

The One With The New Puppy!

So Michael got a dog last October... Harley, a yellow lab mix, is a pound puppy. He is amazingly cute and definitely in his terrible twos. He means well and is super sweet, but - oh lord- he's into everything! He's eaten the carpet directly off the stairs, the wallpaper directly off the wall, and dug holes into the hardwood floors. In addition to having made a trip back to the pound after getting out one day, digging 4 foot deep holes in the backyard, eaten at least $300 dollars worth of shoes, and mysteriously having handfuls upon handfuls of fresh green leaves in the house (where there are no green plants nor is there an access for him to have gotten them from outside - this one is still unsolved!). These are only incidents that have taken place at Michael's house. I won't go into all of the Harley stories, but he is a very intelligent dog - especially since he ate numerous amounts of books at Michael's parents house and at least 20 of Michael's DVD's !

I say this only to explain what a handful Harley is and how much we love him in spite of it all! After much debate on whether we could handle all of Harley's antics and how we could curb his chewing habits, we decided (stupidly maybe) to get another dog.

Intro. Gus.

After a very interesting afternoon babysitting my little cousin, we ended up at my uncle's vet clinic where one of the staff members had brought in a 9 week old black lab mix. The staff member said she found this little dog "dodging" cars on the highway early that morning and quickly scooped him up and brought him in to safety. I spent the next few days convincing Michael that maybe another dog would help tame Harley - give him a creature to entertain himself with. So after much debate, we got Gus the last Sunday of the Masters, thus his name - Augusta "Gus" Masterson. He is the complete opposite of Harley - mellow, likes to sleep, etc.

We are just at the beginning of the Gus & Harley adventure - more to come no doubt.....