snookums

yesterday, as i was walking the dog, i realized that i probably sound pretty silly sometimes calling him by the nickname that i've conjured up for him. his name is bozeman, but somehow, i came up with the name "snugglebunny" for him as well. i think i was just talking to him one day as i was doing things around the house and you know how words don't always come out right? well, that happened and then the name kind of stuck. when i was growing up, i had a cat named snowball. my aunt called her "do-do" and i called her doobins. my husband and i also have nicknames for each other, but they aren't cheesy like the ones i've used for my animals. does anyone else out there have any cheesy nicknames for their pets, kids or husbands?

what does blogging do for you?

i was laying out by the pool today with my favorite 70+ year old neighbor who was reading her NYT as we talked. she brought up the topic of blogging and she couldn't understand why people just want to lay it all out there on the internet for any and everyone to read. she also couldn't understand why other people are so interested in reading about ordinary people's lives in their blogs. without telling her that i actually have a blog of my own (i have no idea why i feel it necessary to withhold this information, other than the fact that she'll probably want to come read it!), i tried to come up with reasons for why people blog. so that made me get a little introspective, wondering what my true motivations are behind the blogging. and then i wondered about other people. so i'll pose her questions for you guys: why do you blog and why do you read other people's blogs?

ta da!

here is the dress that i'm going to wear to my husband's homecoming (sorry for the sideways pic. i just wanted you all looking at my blog sideways =) ). for some reason, it doesn't show up on the store's website, but whatever. it doesn't look super special in this picture, but it is like it was made for me because it accentuates everything that i want it to and hides the parts that i need to hide (thighs!). hopefully i'll have a picture of me actually wearing it for you guys soon. what kind of jewelry would you guys suggest? the WH/BM store had a cool, chunky, black bracelet, but it was half the price of the dress and i just wasn't willing to spend that much on a bracelet that i might not wear again. maybe i can find a look alike somewhere...

i'm back!

i've been out of town for the past several days and away from the computer (mostly). as soon as i get everything unpacked, i will post pictures of this amazing dress =) thanks for your patience!

THE dress

last night, 6 of us met for dinner at PF Changs and then embarked on a very important mission: to find a HOT dress for me to wear to my husband's homecoming. it felt like i was trying on and modeling wedding dresses again and i loved it. i had 5 different girls bringing me armloads of dresses in the fitting rooms of the various stores and they critiqued everything from the color of the dresses to how my chest did or didn't fill out the top (usually the latter) and what they thought my husband would say the first time he saw me in it. it was a blast. we finally found THE dress in white house black market. it was the first outfit that i've ever bought there and i think i'll be back. the dress is a black eyelet halter dress with white lining and i got a big "wow" when i came out of the fitting room, so i figured that it was "the one." one of the girls is a photographer and is going to come and take pictures of the entire homecoming, so i may post some of those after the fact. now i just have to work on my tan...

no black eye!

hurray for my cool ice pack!

this is the story of a bear

sara (story of a girl) and i have been best friends for a really long time. i'm sure we could both tell you endless stories about our adventures together, but there is one story in particular that must be posted. it's the story about how sara was attacked by a bear while we were on a backpacking trip together. yes, you read that correctly.
those of you that read sara's blog regularly probably wouldn't peg her as the type to go backpacking. we won't get into how long it took to convince her that she would have a fabulous time backpacking and camping with all (think, think... how many of us WERE on that trip?) seven of us. she was a trooper and decided to believe us about how much fun backpacking is. never mind the fact that it had been snowing, and then the snow had melted and then it had iced over and then snowed on top of that.
the ice and snow kind of slowed us down a bit and also made the hiking a little more painful for the body (falling, rather than hiking, down steep inclines made for some nice bruises).
i'm not sure how long we had been hiking, but sara decided that she needed to sit down and take a break. only, she didn't really tell anyone and sat down on a fallen log out of sight from everyone else. she sat down and suddenly heard this noise right behind her that sounded like a bear growling at her! jumping out of her skin, she screamed something about a bear attacking her and ran toward the rest of the group. fearing an agressive bear, the men in the group ran back to investigate. after a thorough search, the discovery was made that the "bear" was actually some branches from a fallen tree that had scraped up against her backpack =) i gotta love sara, but i will never force her to go backpacking again!

what not to wear to my husband's homecoming...

a black eye. i was playing with the dog and got knocked in the face with his "knee" (do dogs really have knees?) when he was jumping on the couch (yes, we let him get on the couch). hopefully the ice will do its trick and i won't have any bruises. don't you love my ice pack cover? =)

snakes. why'd it have to be snakes? i hate snakes.

bozeman (our golden retriever) and i were taking a walk yesterday and walked behind a condo building that backs up to a lake. he was busy chasing lizards around the bushes and i saw an older couple that I know sitting out on their patio so i went to say hello (bozeman was still attached to me via the leash). while i was talking to them, bozeman started looking through their plants to see if he could find any lizards. i moved over (for whatever reason, i usually don't pay much attention to what he is hunting) and saw a giant snake coiled up in the corner of the building, next to this couple's patio! i yanked bozeman back with the leash (i don't think he had even noticed the snake yet) at the same time that the snake struck out at him. it was very scary. the old guy got up, looked out and said, "oh yeah, that's a water moccasin. you don't want to mess with them!" you think? we didn't stick around to see if he killed it or not (i'm hoping he did, because it was huge).

snowy river

does anyone remember the man from snowy river movies? i absolutely LOVE them! today, while i was ironing (i iron EVERYTHING... from t-shirts to pajamas to *gasp* underwear) i turned on the return to snowy river for background noise and every time i heard the theme song, i couldn't help but run over to the tv to watch whatever scene was unfolding. i mean, how cool is it when he rides his horse down the side of the mountain (sad ending, but cool until you get to the sad part) or when he finally gets to ride the stallion? i even remember where i sat in the movie theater when i saw the movies for the first time. anyone else out there like the man from snowy river, or is it just me?

blue, brown and linen

alright, i need some help. you might have read where i said that my husband will be coming home soon from deployment. i'm pretty darn excited about it and i want to look my best when i see him for the first time. for whatever reason, i have it in my head that i want to wear a sundress that is blue and brown and made of linen... so, if anyone out there has any suggestions of where to find such a dress, please tell. or, if you have any other suggestions of what i should wear, that'd be great, too.

i see your true colors shining through...

yet another blonde moment to share with you all.
this morning, i took my husband's truck into the dealership for service and all that good stuff. after hearing that it was going to take a few hours to get through my list (which included, "can you get rid of that rattling noise that has been there since i met my husband?"), i accepted the offered ride home in the courtesy vehicle. there were two other customers getting a ride as well and they were dropped off before me. after the first little lady was dropped off in her cute retirement home, i started thinking about how i was going to get through the front gate of our community without my gate pass, which was attached to my key ring and still in the truck at the dealership. i decided that i could either wait for another car to drive into the community, or maybe try and flag down the maintenance man if he happened to drive by the front gate in his little golf cart. it wasn't until we dropped off the second passenger that i realized my gate woes were not the big deal. what WAS a big deal was the fact that i not only left my gate pass on my key ring, but also my key to the house! wow. i had to admit my blonde moment to the driver and ask him to take me back to the dealership. he not only did that, but also called ahead and talked to three different people in the mainenance department to have them get my keys for me. that was very kind of him, but it also led to some laughter from the service reps waiting for us when we pulled back into the drive. ah yes, i stayed in the back of the vehicle and let the driver fetch my keys for me so i did not have to face the humiliation of admitting a second time that i forgot to get my house key off of the key ring.

the world's first, and only, electro-plastic force field

my brother and i are pretty close. we like to hang out and act goofy together, but haven't done it as much lately since i got married and moved out of town.
one weekend not too long ago, i drove up to visit my family and to spend some quality time with my bro. we quickly fell into one of our old routines and went to get milkshakes from our favorite place. after hitting the drive thru window, we parked in a nearby 24-hour store parking lot to watch the people coming and going. we soon finished our milkshakes, put our empty cups in the cupholder and headed back towards my parent's house so we could all watch a movie together.
on the way there (i was driving), i slowed down for a red light that was up ahead of us. as i got closer to the stop light, the straw in my brother's empty milkshake cup started spinning around in circles. we both watched in amazement, trying to figure out how in the world this was happening! we jokingly said that we must have found an electro-plastic force field that had pulled the straw with such force that it had no choice but to spin around in little circles..
we discussed exactly how fast i was going when i was slowing down and how steep we thought the slope of the hill was and then tried to recreate it. i mean, this was really cool how the straw just spun in perfect circles without our help or anything. After about 15 minutes of zero success in recreating the whole thing, the straw suddenly started spinning in circles again! wow! we just stared in awe (and i tried to keep the car on the road).
and then, my brother started laughing. hysterically.
he looked at me, eyes watering, and said, "it's the air from the vent blowing the straw!"
it had nothing to do with how i was driving, or the hill we were on or the speed that we were going. it was the straw catching a ride on the air coming out of the vent. wow.
i'll give you one chance to guess what color hair my brother and i have... =)

my man jar

about 7 1/2 years ago, i found myself sitting on the floor of my apartment watching tv alone, while my roommates were out with their boyfriends. i had just broken up with my flavor of the week and started reflecting on how the guys i had been dating were all SO different. how was i ever going to find the right guy if i didn't focus?
suddenly, i had an epiphany. i finished the baby food i was eating (hey, college students eat strange things!) and washed it. then, i grabbed all of the magazines that my roommates and i had compiled (we had a TON), scissors and rubber cement. then i went through all the magazines and cut out pictures and text that i thought best represented the man that i wanted to marry one day. it was a ton of fun and really made me think about my desires, dreams and goals.
not only did i create this man jar, but i prayed over it. not physically over it, but theoretically over it. you see, i believed that if God gave me these desires, then He would fulfill them. i also fasted one day a week for a year while praying about my future husband. after a year, i continued to pray, but not fast.
there is a lot of "in between" stuff that happened between the time i made my man jar and the time i met my husband, including 2 years of intentionally not dating anyone, but i eventually met the man of my dreams. he was (and is!) everything that i put in my man jar and SO much more. i'm telling you, even the shallow things i put in there about him having good legs! i love God for creating this man for me and i love this man for being who he is for me. he rocks my world =)

well, why'd you marry her in the first place?

i have a problem with men who berate their wives in front of other men to make themselves look good. i know there are women who are guilty of the same offense, but i'm picking on the men today.
about a week ago, i had had enough of one co-worker's frequent wife bashing and finally had to say something:
co-worker: he said something derogatory, but it wasn't important enough to remember
me: "women, can't live without 'em." (i purposely left off the other part of the saying where you can't live with them...)
2nd male co-worker who jumped into the conversation: "you mean, we can't live WITH them!"
me: "boy, i sure hope my husband never gets to the point where he feels like he has to say that about me."
1st co-worker: "he's already saying it, you just don't know it."
me: "i'd KNOW if he ever said something like that." (and not that i WOULD, but my husband is 100 times better than these so-called men who make themselves feel big by talking bad about their wives. plus, i was just so disgusted by the conversation that i had to end it right there.)
alright, so it wasn't the best example of their remarks, but that's not the point. the point is, why do people feel that berating their spouse will make them look better in front of people? your spouse should be your best friend! someone that you wish to build UP, not tear down. i mean, you picked your spouse; doesn't it reflect poorly on you if they are a horrible person? why would you want people to think that your spouse is a horrible person?

from land developer to... homemaker?

friday is my last day of work and i couldn't be happier. one year ago, i never, ever would have imagined that i'd be happy about not having a job. i am a type-a person who loves to be busy and successful... usually. right now, though, all i want to do is spend time with my husband who is coming home soon from his deployment.
i didn't quit my job just to spend time with him; although that's not a bad idea. back in july, i married my amazing husband (yes, he IS my super hero) and moved down to the city where he lived. that meant that i had to quit my really awesome job doing land acquisitions for a high-end homebuilder and find something comparable in this city. what i found was a job as a land developer for multi-family properties... apartments. it sounded better than it really was and i never really settled in. i knew i wasn't supposed to be there, but didn't feel at peace about leaving. so, i prayed about it a whole lot and after 10 months of pure frustration and just trying to make it another day, i finally felt like it was okay to leave and gave a month's notice. my husband has been great through the whole process, always encouraging me to follow my dreams and showing me that he truly does believe in me. i have other career plans, but i'm not ready to reveal those until they come to fruition... patience, my dear readers...
monday, on my first official day as a homemaker, i'll be taking my husband's truck to get the tires rotated and will be rearranging our guest bedroom/office. and i'm totally excited about it. i'll finally get to be one of those people i envied who were taking their morning jog while i was driving into the office and one of those people laying by the pool in the middle of the week. no, i will not be lazy, but i do plan to enjoy a few days of rest before getting down to some serious housework ;)

Blog 1

so, this isn't my first blog. nope. there is another one out there, but i made it private and then proceeded to neglect it. i'm quite positive no one reads it anymore, including myself.
this blog is intended to be shared. with anyone. i've been quite entertained reading other people's blogs and i have decided that it is finally time for me to give back to the blogging world. so here it is, world.