Ruby

It wasn't always easy and I'll just say it's a good thing she is sooo stinkin' cute :) Here are a few of my favorite pics of Ruby so far...

Playing Catchup

At some point I'll update this enough so every post doesn't have to start with a comment about how I haven't posted in forever... maybe I'll make a new year's resolution to keep up with this blog. Ok, just made it :)

So, of course a lot has happened in the past 2 and 1/2 years. One of the biggest things is this:

In November of 2009 we bought our first home! It has been quite a bit of work but so much fun and we love having a house! It really is the perfect house for us. Here are a few things that we did because of the house purchase:

Here is a list of what I can remember that we've done to our house:

• removed wallpaper (lots of it! lots of layers of it!) and painted
• sanded the upstairs paneling and painted
• replaced toilets
• replaced old weird bathroom vanity
• ripped out old carpet
• refinished hardwood floors (already under the carpet! lucky us!)
• removed popcorn texture on ceilings
• replaced old light fixtures
• replaced all the light switch covers (simple but makes a big difference)
• transplanted bushes from front flower bed to create a hedge in front of window
• planted lots and lots of daisies around porch
• tilling and planting garden

I wish that I was keeping up with this blog throughout the whole process of working on our house and all the projects we did cause, I'm not going to lie, it is a little dream of mine to have one of those cute home decorating / project blogs that thousands of people look to for advice... maybe someday! ha! :) For now, I hope my mom and sisters enjoy it!

Not sure what to do...

It's been a while again since I've posted... I didn't end up doing the Special K diet the whole time but did lose a few pounds anyways, softball has started up (going pretty well too!!), Adam went to Nebraska (No Turkeys) then LA (got some good work done) then I went to LA to spend the weekend with him (we had a lot of fun!) and now the latest thing we are dealing with is a sick kitty :( It's soooo sad and really stresses me out because I know she is uncomfortable but it's so hard to know what to do. We took her in initially because she was scooting around and making frequent trips to the litter box and they found she had a lot of bacteria in her urine and they also did an xray to make sure it wasn't something more serious and found she was super constipated! They gave us antibiotics for her infection and sent her home and said if she didn't "relieve" herself soon she'd have to get an enema done. Well, when I got home from work and saw her I noticed she was limping... I called the vet and they didn't know why she would be doing that but thought it could be because she was constipated which I didn't think was the case since it was just her left leg. Well, then as the night went on and the next day we noticed it was her right leg sometimes and then it progressed to where she was walking funny on both her back legs! I called the next day and they said we needed to take her in for the enema. I got an estimate on the price and it was going to be another $235!! (We'd spent almost $300 already the first appt!!) So... I called our old vet and got an estimate from them on what we had already had done and what the other vet was saying she needed and it was basically half the price! So... we took her into the old vet the next day and took her xray for them to look at and they thought she should try a stool softener and pain medicine and see if that works. Well, 2 days later it doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot... maybe has worked a little but it's really hard to tell with 2 cats who is doing what... She is still walking funny too so I called the vet this morning and they are going to call me back with what they think we should do... Anyways, that's kinda what's on my mind right now... how hard this is for me trying to make her feel better makes me realize how hard it must be to care for REAL kids :) So we'll see what the vet says later today... I just hope we can get her feeling better soon!

I know... I know...

That title actually refers to a couple different things... I know... I know... I haven't posted a new blog in a long time! I try to tell myself that not much has been going on, but that makes it seem like the blogs I did earlier were REALLY important or something... :) Also, I know... I know... the "Special K Challenge" is a major marketting gimmick but... me, Greta and my mom are doing it anyways! As I've realized over the past couple days, not as many people are aware of it as I thought. Basically, you only eat Special K product for breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks and have a normal dinner. (which for me has meant Skyline one night and lasagna last night...hmmm maybe not what they meant when they said "normal") So, for breakfast Greta and I have 2 waffles with lite syrup and fruit (strawberries today), then around 10.30 we have a snack. I usually have a snack bar but today I had a package of their multigrain crackers. All of it is portioned to be 90 calories for the snack. Then, for lunch we have 1 cup of Red Berries cereal and some more fruit and some carrot sticks. Then, at 3:00 (8 min ago) I had a "Chocolately Drizzle" snack bar. That drizzle is a very mere drizzle too! The plan is to do it for 2 weeks and this is day 3 so we'll see! I think we can make it! Being able to eat a normal dinner really makes it easier! Supposedly you can lose 6lbs in 2 weeks. We'll see :)

My Zone

So, lately (as Adam puts it) I've been nesting... not the "nesting" that happens when you are having a baby but some other kind that I've invented when you suddenly, after 5 years of working somewhere, decide your desk area needs some sprucing up :) It's gone beyond that too where I've actually taken great care to organize my drawers and file cabinets that no one even sees! I think maybe I've just really come to realize that this is the job I'll most likely have till I don't have to work anymore so why not make my little office zone more appealing to me? Plus, I don't have my own office so this zone I create is all I have. I got some new trays to hold some paperwork for Christmas from my mom, a really cute desk calendar from Jen, and just this weekend I added the two 3-ring binders in the cute patterns. It's starting to look pretty cute :) I'm still on a mission to find some stacking trays (I'm thinking white) to take the place of a tower 7 trays high I have right now now that is black. An awesome website for cute office stuff is seejanework.com

(The mouse pad is a gift from my boss...kinda tricky to replace) :) (The tower on the left is what I want to replace so it is white...)
(I want a new basket too now that I see this picture!)

Adventures in Babysitting

So, Adam and I babysat our friend Kevin's baby Jennahvieve on Tuesday night... there weren't really many adventures like my blog title would suggest, but it was pretty fun! Mostly because she is just sooo cute and seems like such a perfect little baby. She didn't fuss even once and we were there from 6:30 till around 11:30! Plus, she didn't ever poop in her diaper! :) Good girl! We changed her a couple times though just in case... Also, she was enthralled with Adam! (Girl's got good taste!) :) It was pretty funny! I was trying to feed her and she wouldn't stop staring at him so I made him move next to me on the couch so when she was looking at him she was still looking in my direction too so I could feed her! It definitely made me excited to have our own baby! I know Adam will be such a great dad and it'll be so fun to see him with our kids :) It also made me excited for our new niece or nephew! We'll find out in 4 days when Jen and Chad get their ultrasound! I'm guessing boy for some reason so we'll see!

We've both taken up smoking!

Adam and I decided it is about time we become smokers... we've gone this long in life without it but we knew we were missing out :) We had our maiden smoking experience on Saturday. Adam was planning on getting up at 5 to start the pork butt (hehe) and he told me Friday night when we were going to bad that it was my job to make sure he got up when his alarm goes off. Well, lo and behold I stirred awake at 5 as I noticed he was getting out of bed and I hadn't even heard his alarm go off! That's because it didn't go off! Like a kid excited for Christmas morning, he woke up at 4:58 just before his alarm went off cause he was so excited :) I know he was planning on putting it in and then going back to bed but he ended up staying up. I got up around 9:30 :) He added woodchips probably about every hour and sprayed a vinegar mixture on it every so often and at 5pm he took it out so it could rest for an hr. (it had had a very long day) :) Our guests (the fam) came over around 6 and by 6.15 we were eating pulled pork sandwiches with 2 homemade bbq sauces, potato salads, coleslaw, baked beans and several chip options. It was soooo good! I'd say we are both pretty addicted to smoking!