My nephew

Most of you know that I am expecting my first every nephew! Needless to say I am very excited. I am also very excited because my very dear friend Andrea is expecting her first child also a month after my nephew should be here. I plan on making the two babies great friends. :)

I wanted to share some things about my future nephew. My sister was kind enough to email everyone pics of the baby so here he is. They haven't decided on a name yet and honestly even if they had, I doubt they would tell anyone. Keeping it fresh, that's their style.

 

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And the theme for his room is going to be monkeys! Which I think is really cute! I'm sure his room will be adorable because my sister has great taste! Here are some of the monkeys he has already accumulated.

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I can't wait for all the babies to get here! This upcoming spring and summer are filled with so many exciting things that I will get to be a part of and I can't wait! It makes me so thankful for everything and everyone I have in my life! I hope the summer and spring bring you wonderful things as well.

Potty training....or not

So most of you who visit my blog know that we have a fairly new member of the family, Plato Phillips, our English bulldog puppy! We just love him, he's spunky and playful and EXTREMELY cute! However, like most new additions to a family, they come with a lot of work. Work that prior to their arrival you are ALL about. Because in my case, I don't remember it being that hard with Harli, my first furbaby child. "It" referring to...dunh dunh dunnnnnnnn....potty training. For some reason when I think back to when I was potty training Harli it was a piece of cake! (Yeah, I'm sure it was.) However easy I remember it being it is NOT so easy for me this time around. Plato could care less if he has to sit in his kennel covered in pee until mommy gets home to discover him. I mean I know he's a baby still, but the vet said he should be showing signs of understanding, which he kinda is. For instance when we open his kennel door he comes bounding out and runs directly over to the door. And when you open the door he knows exactly where he's going and what he's doing! So for these new developments I am so excited and thankful.

But I still don't know what to do to help him not pee during the night or day when we're gone. I promise you I have read every web page and magazine that could possibly help you potty train your new puppy. I make sure to let him out right when he wakes up and after he eats and plays. I don't let him drink water after a certain time at night and I always make it home within the same time period for lunch.  He goes as soon as I get home for lunch and before I leave......yet somehow he always manages to pee in his crate. It's gotten to the point that we don't even know what to put in there for him to lay on because it won't make it a day. And we can't bath him everyday it's horrible for his little puppy skin, but we can't very well just let him run around with pee all dried to him. So basically I am asking if any of you have any advice. I know he will get it eventually, but if you know of anything I can be doing better or more often or at all.............PLEASE, PLEASE share it with me. 

Pictures to come later today to show you how much he has grown!

I'm so thankful for......

Life! I woke up today feeling like I was on top of the world!!! And as I'm winding down tonight, I think about so many things that have happened in my day and I am thankful! I meet with my "little" today for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and I'm thankful for the opportunity to give back to this little girl in a positive way, the same way many people gave to me!!! I read this blog about a baby girl named Harper and I see the outpouring of love and hope and encouragement for her and her family from friends, family, and complete strangers and I'm thankful this world still has those kind of people in it. I'm also thankful for the amazing faith in God that her parents show! I talked to my friend Jamie today and she told me about her  future plans and goals and how she is going to achieve them, and I'm thankful that I'm blessed with such a wonderful, motivated best friend. I called my sister today and asked how the baby was growing and I'm thankful that some wonderful little boy will get to have the greatest mom EVER! I asked my dad today what color he painted the somewhat expensive birdhouse I bought him for Christmas and when he told me the many colors I laughed and I'm thankful that I have such a funny man for a father!!! I talked to my friend Andrea today who found out this weekend she is having a little girl and I'm thankful that I will be able to buy little boys clothes AND little girls clothes. I'm currently sitting on my couch listening to my dogs play and watching HGTV and I'm thankful that I have a house, a warm bed and my wonderful boyfriend working in home office.

I am thankful that everything don't always go my way, that sometimes the lights always turn red when I get there, that  I sometimes spill my breakfast on me in the car while I'm rushing to work, that for some reason our new puppy can't play with his toys unless you're playing with them too, and I'm thankful that I have people who actually read this blog.........

I'm thankful for the opportunity to BE thankful! I sometimes forget how blessed I am to be surrounded on a daily basis by such amazing things, people and moments that I encounter. I'm thankful that I have someone to thank for my life!!! I think you get the point. I haven't been feeling like myself lately and today I woke up remember what it was like to feel that again and I'm thankful.

I hope you can stop from time to time and remember while your thankful, you'll enjoy it, I promise.

 

Long overdue.....a vacation

First I want to start by asking you all to visit this blog and pray for this sweet family and their little girl. They need your prayers and their faith and story is very touching.

Okay, now onward. I have to say I've become addicted to reading people's blogs. My friends, strangers, random people I know....they're all great!!! Which makes me think of how freaking boring mine are! I mean honestly, mine aren't funny, they don't teach you anything or show off my trade (you wouldn't want to see it). Nothing...my blog offers you me, whatever mood that may be. So this is just a note to self and to you, I will try to be more entertaining!! Please bare with me as that might be a while.

My boyfriend, Jake, is a wonderful man who also happens to be very busy around this time of year. Why? Because he is an accountant....correction an auditor. Which means that he is in what they call "busy" season. Busy season breaks down like this, boyfriend works entirely too much and too late so you sit at home bored but can usually get a lot done, on days when there isn't too much to do you're just bored, you have plenty of time to be alone or spend time with your girlfriends, but basically you're single for about 3 months AND the best part is that after busy season we usually get to go on some fun vacation!!

Our latest vacation which was in May was spent at a place close to my home of Mena. Yes we were in the big, huge town of Glenwood! Whoa, exciting vacation I know. But the thing is that it was exciting. We rented a cabin which was really nice, it had a dipping pool and big deck. We cooked some great meals and watched some horrible movies. And best of all we went canoing on the one day it decided to rain like crazy!! SWEET! So we bought some poncho's at the Dollar store and had to literally convince the man to let us canoe since the water had risen 2 feet above it's normal level. The man running the place asked if we were experienced. So finally he's convinced and shuttles us to where we are going to put in....I have to tell you once I saw how fast the water was running compared to a normal canoe trip, I almost backed out, but nope in we went. So since we were the ONLY people on the river that day we had the whole thing to ourselves and we had a blast!!! The few people hanging out on their porches that day thought we were probably the craziest people around. Nope, we just like an adventure. So, here are some pictures of our vacation adventure. I hope you enjoy!

 

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It's a Monday and it's a boy!

Well it's Monday and so starts another week! Surprisingly I am thrilled. I'm in a wonderful mood today, besides feeling guilty about just eating some chocolate cake. I'm not worried.... the feeling will pass. My friend Rachel emailed me a picture of her wedding dress and it's BEAUTIFUL. I'm so very excited to share in her big day with her and her future husband! In fact the next few months will be spent preparing for my upcoming busy summer. Let's see, bachelorette party, 2 babyshowers, wedding, new baby nephew coming, beach wedding.......I think that about covers it, but granted all this will happen in a span of 3-4 months. So there will be plenty to do in the next few months!!!

IT'S  A BOY!!! My sister is having a baby boy, they just found out today and I couldn't be more thrilled. Yes, it's true I was secretly hoping for a little girl that I could buy cute clothes for and tell her all the things that I wish someone would have told me. For example, Cinderella and Prince Charming did live happily ever after, but it wasn't without a lot of hard work and a few unhappy moments. BUT I am just a happy to have a nephew. It will be a new experience for our family since my parents had two girls! My mom is VERY excited, she told me the other day that she wanted it to be a boy! So let the baby buying begin!!!

So our little chubby monkey had his first play date on Saturday. We visited our friends Keli and Abram who recently married. They have a westie named Barkly who was very excited to play with Plato. It was funny to watch because Barkly is the first dog besides his sister Harli that Plato has been around! Then on Sunday he met Jake's boss's cat, Steve, who was also willing to play with him. He had a big weekend. Now if only he could get his own sister to play with him. Our vet, Dr. Winters, told us it could be up to 2 months before Harli wants anything to do with him. So we will keep waiting. Anways....I hope you all had wonderful weekends!! And of course here is a picture of Plato courtesy of our friend Keli.

 

[caption id="attachment_75" align="alignnone" width="130" caption="His face is too cute to resist!"][/caption]

I have GREAT friends!!

Okay so since I didn't (note the past tense) blog enough, I have a lot of catching up to do. So I will make this blog about how great my friends are......ALL of them!! I thank God often for loving me so much and surrounding me with such great people. People you love me, laugh with me, lift me up when I am down, and are always there for me. So thank you, in case I don't say it enough.

Speaking of great friends, my friends Jamie and Rachel threw me a graduation party and following are some of those pictures:

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And of course I must post some more pictures of the baby. He had kennel cough and we were very worried about him because he looked like he had lost weight. Apparently we were wrong, the little guy has gained 2.5 pounds in only 6 days. Talk about a chubby monkey (I often call him this). He is acting like he feels much better and we had a very good visit with Dr. Winters today! So here is the chubby moneky:

 

 

[caption id="attachment_66" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Our chubby monkey"][/caption]

I can't figure out why it's posting his picture twice, but oh well here he is.

New Year Resolutions

I think that writing things down make them more real, more meaningful and more tangible. So I am here to present you with 2009 New Year Resolutions...dandt dandt dana da. Impressive I know. So without further ado and in no particular order here we go:

1. Blog more (which I am doing are you can see)
2. Be healthier and I mean this in a complete sense, metally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually
3. Be more ambitious
4. Try to work out at least twice a month in the morning ( I mean I used to be able to get up at 5:45 AM or 6:00 AM 5 days a week)
5. Take it back to the old days ( I realize that this is vague, but I will give you insight. Send letters and cards, write thank you notes, etc.)
6. Worry more about me so that I can eventually worry more about others
7. Volunteer more ( I have an interview with Big Brothers Big Sisters on the 20th)
8. Take more pictures ( I only this one life on this earth, might as well document it.
9. Read more
10. Take the steps to accomplish my goals ( because they won 't get accomplished on their own!)

So there you have it. Very exciting I know!! So let me end it with a few photos, some which are long overdue and some which are brand new. More pictures to come.

 

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Whatda ya think?

My friend Rachel created my new blog header! Isn't it awesome! She's very creative, she is also a pet photographer and has an amazing eye. You can check out her work at fourlegsphotography.com!

Well life has for the most part been uneventful. I am struggling staying motivated, but picked up a few sparks from my long time friend Sam who has been able to make great changes with her life! Keep it up Sam! Jake and I will be attending our good friends wedding this weekend in Pine Bluff. It'll be my first time to go to Pine Bluff I heard it smells bad because of the paper mill. Which means it smells like Ashdown........which to me smells like brussel sprouts!

I am also lending a hand to my friend Patrick Wright to help him stuff goodie bags today after work. I believe in karma so when your friends are in need why not help if you can?! Karma is also a reason why I try to participate in surveys, that and I feel like it will end up benefiting more people if the company/product knows what's wrong or what people are looking for!

I might have some exciting news coming up.....but you'll have to wait til Halloween to find out. Not too much further!

OH!!! And I would like to wish Dr. Roark a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope you're having the best day ever!

Fall is in the Air

Or like my friend Jamie likes to say, "Christmas is almost here!" Which it is! I'm very excited! Well I've kinda slacked this week with working out and it's only going to get harder for me to keep it up. I have 2 classes to maintain and shortly I will be starting a part-time job at William Sonoma. I'm super excited about the extra money and all the good Christmas gift everyone will be getting, but not excited about how I'm going to work a gym workout in.

I'm really missing Fayetteville lately, or I guess just my friends! Maybe both! But change is coming soon for Jake and I and I'm ready for it!

Plan on working out today at the "Glovin up" class. I really enjoy it, although we have a new teacher, not sure what happened to the old one. But I like the new one, last week though I could barely move the next day! Such a great feeling! I hope everyone is doing great!!!

5 lbs!!!

So since I missed my normal weigh in day yesterday, I weighed in today! And I have offically lost 5 lbs since I started working out on August 6. It doesn't sound like alot and I would love for it to be more, but I'll take it and I'll keep working!!!! The hardest part for me isn't work out, it's eating right!! I just need to learn to not over endulge for one and to try and make the healthier choice, I know it won't always happen, but I should still try! Hope you have a good weekend!