Friday, May 29, 2009

The Calm After The Storm

To say I've been slammed these last few weeks is an understatement for sure. I was able to pick up a transcription job for the same folks I did last time, and ended up transcribing 15, 40 minute sermons over a period of three weeks. WHILE still meeting with our small group, WHILE planning out a small group camping trip over Memorial Day Weekend, WHILE meeting with my high school girls D group, WHILE going to a friend's baby shower, WHILE watching out-of-control and ridiculously adorable 4 month old puppies. It was insane and I think my arms are going to fall off now. Or maybe just my fingers. Either way, I really could do without being around a computer for a while.

But the good thing is - the transcriptions are done! I've made some extra moolah! Our small group ended for the summer with a bang! The camping trip went off without a hitch (for the most part anyway). The shower was a blast! And the puppies are still out-of-control and ridiculously adorable 4 month old puppies, only now a few pounds bigger.

For fun, let's just do a little comparison right now, shall we? Yes, I think we shall.
Aww....so cute. Just 8 weeks old. Jason's hands held their little chests close to him.

And now.

Holy Crap! ONLY 11 WEEKS LATER!!! And they're not even half way grown yet!!! We are now accepting donations for dog food to keep them from eating us out of our home. Just kidding. Sorta.

And really that's about it for news around these parts. Well EXCEPT for the fact that Jason and I bought our plane tickets to California in August! We decided to spend the first couple days in San Francisco with Scott & Kelley, enjoying the city for a couple days and then driving up to Clovis to stay with Jason's family and attend his 20th high school reunion. I know right? 20 years!!! At least he gets a reunion. I just get to live vicariously through him and see what the hoopla is all about.

So I leave you with these photos from our camping trip. Yes, I know, more dog pictures. But what can I say, we love them and they're a big part of our lives. And I'm sorry, but if you don't love looking at adorable Labrador puppies, then seriously you must have no heart.

I know, your wondering if Tim McGraw joined up on our little camping excursion, but alas, its just my redneck-trucker-wannabe husband that decided to surprise me with this fun little look when I met him up at the campgrounds. No, no, no, it's not Earl from My Name is Earl. Ah yes, that would be a nice close shot of the hotness I like to call my man. Though that day, I was more referring to him as a convict from America's Most Wanted. Scary.If you notice, we camped on the side of a hill. Thankfully the place where our tents were are nice and level, but everywhere else was like camping in a Dr. Seuss book, all topsy-turvy.
Look at Jason's truck and you get an idea how steep it was. My calves STILL hurt from walking around.
Probably the highlights for us was taking the pups for their first swims in the lake. It was awesome, they loved it and we loved how much it wore them out! I got some great shots of them on the rocks and learning how to swim.
Seven is a born natural at fetching sticks out of the water. And I know the water looks nasty. It was really muddy by the beach, but a lot nicer further out. Regardless, please believe there was no way I was getting in that nastiness.
Though Seven had no problem bringing the nastiness over to me. He was sopping wet and decided he'd like to snuggle. My new shirt is still stained and I'm tried to get the mud out. But he's too cute to stay mad at for long.

This close up of Seven is why I need an SLR. Our friend Chad took this shot and I'm in love with it. What a beautiful boy.
Seven learning to swim with Jason.
Jeep also learning to swim. He wasn't a big fan of it at first and had no intentions of fetching a stick. But as soon as he got his paws on a water bottle, he was all about the fetching. That's my boy, nothing but the best :-)
Typical fetch with Seven & Jeep. Seven fetches and Jeep waits to take it from him.
A whole lotta wet dog. The dark brown puppy is our friends Chad & Tabby's dog Beasley.
Resting and drying in the sun.
They're cleaning each other here - I love the tiny bit of Jeep's tongue you can see. So cute.

I'm proud to say I took this pic. It was pure luck it turned out the way it did, but I love it.
Home sweet home. Jeep is not our cuddler, but he's learning :-) They are too adorable. I look at this and know someday Jason is going to be an amazing dad.

And finally here's Seven sleeping behind the couch and up against the wall. What a goober, my monkey.

If you're still reading this, I hope you have a great weekend - I know I will! Nothing but catching up on shows, coffee, reading, sleeping in and a hair appointment - ahhh, perfection!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Grow faster! No wait, slow down!

Alright, so once upon a time (4 months ago), Jason and I became parents to a little black lab we named Seven and his bigger brother, a yellow lab we named Jeep. And they came to us as furry, tiny bundles of love weighing only 9 and 11 pounds. I mean look at them! They were so small that their first set of collars were too big and we had to fasten them around their bellies!
And now, they're huge. You know how everyone says babies grow so fast? Try having a Labrador puppy. You don't get 12 months of chubby little cuteness to squish - oh no, try like 3 weeks or a month! This is Jeep now at 4 months of age and weighing in at 30 pounds. He might actually be even more than that. He's gigantic and he's got a heck of a lot of growing left to do. I can barely lift him now.We love to snuggle them late at night on the living room floor on pillows and blankets, since they're not allowed in our bedroom - I know, we're such awful parents. But seriously, there's barely enough room for Jason, myself and Banks in the bed as it is. Speaking of Banks, the poor girl is not getting nearly the attention she used to get. She tries hard to be around them but in the end growls, hisses and scratches out at them. We're hoping as they get older and more mellow, she'll be more brave. To make up for the lack of attention, she's now taken a liking to curling up under the blankets next to me under my left arm when I sleep. I think its adorable and am glad she's becoming a snuggler. The pups go down for 2 naps a day, one at 10:30 and then another around 2:00 or 3:00. They play hard and they sleep hard. This picture of them on the porch is right before their next nap.
You can always tell how tired Jeep is by how red his eyes get.
They're really adorable when they team up and carry a big stick together around the yard.

Aw, my boys I love them so much. They drive me crazy sometimes and house training at times has been a bear so I wish they would grow faster so they have a bit better control. But then other times I want them to slow down from growing, so I can enjoy their puppiness. I can't imagine how much bigger they'll be in another month or two!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Paint & Feathers

As the heat turns up here in the South, the weirdness of my dreams increases. This weekend I dreamt that I was in a play, a play I didn't know I was in. And the night of the performance, I was freaking out because I had never seen the script and the show had already begun! The next thing I know, people backstage are grabbing me and shoving me in a massive white suit with huge go-go white boots and a headpiece. They take me into the basement and start spray painting me bright yellow and rolling me in feathers. My roll apparently in this play is to dress as Big Bird from Sesame Street and perform some interpretive dance.

What the?

Yeah, thankfully Jason woke me up out of that one, cause believe it or not, I was completely stressed out about my role. I did not watch sesame street, see feathers or wear yellow the day before.
Please, explain this to me.

Yup, big bird.

Friday, May 01, 2009

Friday Fill-In

ffi

And...here we go!

1. The first rule of working in an office and getting along is not gossiping!.

2. I've never had clams.

3. When I think of carnivals I think of cotton candy.

4. Gerber Daisy's are my favorite spring flower.

5. Things on my desk include tons of folders & files, pens, Kleenex, lotion, water bottles and all the cards my husband has given me.

6. Friday's makes me wanna jump for joy!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to picking up my friend Julie to head to Jill's house, tomorrow my plans include hanging out with the girls and celebrating my birthday with lunch and a movie and Sunday, I want to relax, read and hang out with my man!