The Great Escape!

Nina did it again. She got out.

We left the house around 8:45am this morning only to return at 11am to see a cute kitty in our front yard.

I said "Aww! Shane! Look!! A cute kitty!" .. . "aww, it's chasing the birds"! . . . I glanced a little closer at the cat. . it was Nina! OMG!! So I got out of the car and walked up to her calling her name, while she just meowed back to me. Then she finally walked up to me and I picked her up. . . . what the crap!??! How the heck did she get out?

So we walk in the house and I call Jinx's name to see if she's still here . . yep. . . she comes running all excited to greet us. . . so then I go out back and see our back door wide open.

Last time Nina got out, the door wasn't open so that is still a mystery, but this time we knew that's how she got out . . how the door swung wide open?! Who knows?! We have some weird wind suction stuff going on in our house which is why I think that happened.

But yeah . . . Jinx had no inkling to go out and explore. She stayed in the house. Nina loves to explore (which is actually how she got her name . . . the "Nina" ship from Christopher Columbus's ships).

Thank goodness we found her again . . . ugh. . this is just getting too scary. We need to put super duper locks on or something. Our cats are like houdinis!

Date Night! Up . . Up . . . and Away!

Super excited about tonight. It's been a while since Shane and I have gone on a "date". When Shane and I were in Virginia, the focus was always on each other. We went out to dinner about once a week. Since we've moved back, we kinda forgot that we need "just us" time. I think we've gone out to dinner together just once or twice in the six months (holy crap, it's really been that long already?!) we've been back. So this is long overdue.

We are going out to dinner and then to see the new Disney Pixar film, UP . . . in 3-D!! I am kinda nervous about the 3-D part of it. . . I've never watched an entire movie in 3-D . . not sure if it will make me sick or not, but I heard the movie is awesome, and I looovee Disney Pixar films, and I looooveeee my hubby, so I think it will be a good combination. I'll let you know how it is!

Behren's . . . . Smile?!

When we see Behren in the morning, it goes from this . . . .
. . . . . to this . . .
And no, that's not him attacking us, that is his crazy smile! From when Behren was a little pup, whenever he was really happy or excited he would get this little snarl to his face, and with him getting older and bigger, his smile has gotten bigger too! It just cracks me up and is so funny and so cute to see!

Bryce Update!

Brycee is getting so big!! She will be 10 months on June 15th!! It has just been amazing watching her grow and seeing all the new things she learns and all the cute things she does! This above pic was when she found a piece of grass on the driveway. She thought it was the coolest thing ever!
She has been standing up and sitting down all by herself for a while!! She is also a crazy fast crab crawler now too! It will be any day that she starts walking on her own! She holds your hand and walks (almost runs) with you!
She has 8 teeth now!! And is finally taking a bottle! It really is such a blessing to have her and all of my other family and friends in my life.

Nina & Jinx's 2nd Birthday!

We celebrated the kitties 2nd birthday a couple weekends ago (I'm so far behind . . ugh) . . . I feel bad we didn't really have time to celebrate like I wanted to, but the kitties hardly ever get wet food (I heard it's worse for their teeth and such), but they LOOOVEEE it!! Like, seriously. They FREAK out when I get some out. . . . So for special occasions (when they are being good or are being really cute or it's their birthday) they get some!! They were super excited!! I really can't believe it's been 2 years already since we got them! Time flies when you have kitties, I can't even imagine how time flies when you have kids!!

House in a Garage!

Well, we got our stuff moved back . . . . . . we don't really have a house to put it all in since we are living in Shane's dad's house, and we don't want to pay for storage, so Shane's dad was gracious enough, to let us keep all our crap @ his house in his garage.
We had to lock up the kitties while the movers were there (we did bring in our living room furniture and a couple other things) . . . . they were not very happy.Shane's dad cutting the lawn! We have it made! He brings our mail to us every day, plows for us in the winter, and cuts our lawn in the summer! Maybe this isn't so bad!
So if you ever wondered what a house looks like in a garage, there you go! Hopefully soon things will work out so we can get our own place, but until then we will greatly appreciate the house, the mail to our kitchen counter, the driveway plowed, the grass cut, and the storage space!

Behren!

(This picture cracks me up! I don't even remember what Shane and I were saying so that he would look at us, but I know we were saying two different things, and Behren was probably confused.)

We went to my parents house for lunch today so we could spend some time with the pup! He's doing ok. Still limping 2 months after surgery. Went to the doctors on Monday and the doctor said he wants Behren to lose 10 lbs and was hoping he'd be farther along than he is now, but he said that everything seems to be in place. He said Behren can go on mile walks now, but to just make sure we keep him on the leash. Behren got loose a week ago or so and ran like crazy, which is why he is probably limping so much. I just feel so bad. I hope his leg heals so he doesn't limp any more.

Doctor?

Anybody know any good doctors?!


Since moving back, we have yet to still find a family doctor. My old doctor in Erie retired, and then we moved to Virginia, and now we moved back to Erie and need to find a good doctor.

So I would LOVEEEE if you could recommend a good family doctor for us?!?

Packing Up!

Last Wednesday we made our last trip to our house in Virginia. We had movers come and pack everything up!
While they did that, we all did yard work. The grass was rather tall and there were soooooooooo many leaves that needed raked up. My mommy and our pup Behren came to help us out!
He was such a good boy!
When I was weed-wacking I found a HUGE spider like this one, my mom found this HUGE bee (above), and then I found this: The skin of a cicada!
And here are lots of boxes all packed up ready to be loaded on the truck!
And more! I think I am going to miss our kitchen the most! It was so big! . . . And I'm going to miss our big fenced in back yard.
Oh my gosh! So I seriously wish I could've bottled the scent up of this Lily flower! It smelled like grape sweet tarts!! Best smelling flower EVER!! But I was so excited to see all of the flowers I planted so big and so beautiful! We put a lot of work into the landscaping, and it looks great! The rose bush quadrupled in size and had 3 big roses on it!
Getting ready to leave. One last sit on our selfmade deck. Kisses all around.
There she is. All packed and ready to go (minus our lawnmower that somebody stole :-( . . bummer!)
Our last visit to our house. I hugged Shane when we were getting ready to leave and just started to cry. It was like we were closing another chapter of our lives together.

Bryce's Dedication

On Mother's Day, Shane and I also got the opportunity to see our niece, Bryce, get dedicated at church.
A lot of people don't really understand what getting "dedicated" means. I found a good explanation online . . . "I am an Independant fundamental Baptist and we do this at our church. When a baby is dedicated to the church all it means is that the church prays for the child and Gods will and way in the childs life .It does not mean that the child is now saved ar anything like that. It is more so a public confession or prayer that the child may grow up to be under Gods authority and will. It is The parents saying " We give this child back to you Lord"
** the child would have a choice when they grow up. This dedication is only giving God back what is his and saying that the parents realize that the child belongs to God and the parents want God to work in the childs life. there is nothing magical about it. The child can grow up and still make a choice to turn away from God or give his life to God. Salvation is a personal choice."Brycee did so good! She didn't cry and was looking at him when he was praying for her.
Bryce being cute! The super yummy cake that Bryce got for her dedication! Too bad she fell asleep as soon as we got home, so we had to celebrate without her!
Sommer's dad and mom, Sommer, Bryce, & Bry!! They are so cute!

Congrats on your dedication Brycee! Along with God, we are always here for you!

Mommy's Day!

Little over due . . . but I was so fortunate on Mother's Day. What I thought was going to be a breakfast with my mom, dad, grandma, and aunt (that I was going to have to miss), turned into being an awesome huge breakfast @ the Golden Corral with my mom, dad, both my grandmas, my aunts on both sides, my uncles on both sides, my cousins, and Shaney of course too!
My mother is the most amazing person. She truly inspires me. She is the most generous, thoughtful person I know. She is always trying to do something for some one else or buying them goodies. She takes care of everyone she knows. She makes the best cookies (chocolate chip and no-bake especially)! And is the best grandma to our little pup, Behren (even though she spoils him WAAAAAYYYY too much)! I can see so much of her in myself, and that makes me so glad, because my mom has the biggest heart and is the best mommy ever!
Here is part of my mommy's gift. Shane and I made her a flower box for by the front steps. We made it two tiered. We still need to fill in the 2nd row with some more potting soil and plant the flowers. I think we will get some annuals to put in there too. Those are all perennials (come up every year). Shane did an awesome job! I helped a little, but he definitely deserves most of the credit!
Here is my cousin, Carrissa, who I got to see at the breakfast as well. This was a complete surprise! I had no idea she would be there and it was so great to see her because it's been forever! She will be a mommy next month!
Here are the flowers I got for my mommies, grandmas, aunt, and sister-in-law. They are beautiful gerberas from Wegmans! All of the mommies I know are so great and have taught me so much about love and about life. Shane and I are getting ansy to have some of our own, but we know now is not the right time. But when we are ready, we know we will have wonderful mommies all around us to help guide us and support us. We love you all!

It's Gonna Be A Long One!

It's gonna be a long one!

8 hour work day then 7 hour (or more) drive to Virginia to pack up our stuff!!

And I'm already almost passing out because I'm so tired!! Eek!

It's Official!

Shane and I will see our 1st house that we had together for the last time next week.

We are still in the process of "selling" it, but we are moving all of our stuff out of it next week!

This is very bitter sweet for me . . . .

I mean. It was our first house together, and I loved the house. It was perfect for us. Just enough room, a huge fenced in back yard, a nice big kitchen, a roomy master bedroom with a master bathroom, a huge walk in closet, close to town and tons of stores . . . the only thing wrong with it was that the majority of our family & friends were too many miles away.

We put so much into the house. Added a brand new roof (done by ourselves and family members), added a deck (done by Shane and me . . but mostly Shane), added a closet (also done mostly by Shane), painted the garage floor with epoxy paint, re-painted mostly all of the rooms in the house (including the tearing down of tons of wallpaper), painted the entire outside of the house, updated light fixtures, did tons of landscaping, painted our shed, re-roofed the shed, took a head level soap dish out of our shower and put in decorative tiles. We thought we were doing such a great job. Bought a house as an investment, put tons of sweat and work into the house to update it and make it better, . . . then the housing market/banks stuck a knife in our backs (a couple of them actually . . and maybe even twisted them around a couple times . . I think they are still in there).

We lost way too much money on our house in just one year (too much to even say . . . including not only the value of the house, but all the money we spent on the improvements)! It's totally depressing. And we are still trying to get help to sell it, because we cannot even afford to sell it. We owe so much more on our loans than what the house is worth now. And it's so unfair, because it's nothing we did. It seriously makes me cry.

We put our hearts into that house to make it the best, and it totally backfired in our face.

So . . . 1st house we ever had . . . I love you. I really do. So many memories, so much work.

Banks/economy . . whoever the craps fault it is for this mess . . . I despise you. You have ruined all the work we did, all the time we put in, all the money we spent. The next several years of our lives will be difficult for us (financially/homey) because of you, and there is nothing we can do about that. . . .

I mean don't get me wrong, we didn't HAVE to sell our house, but to us the most important thing is our family and friends, so we needed to move back to Erie. We knew we were going to have some issues with our house, we just never realized it would be to this magnitude! To us, our families and friends are more important than material objects, . . .obviously houses and money are still important . . b/c it sucks that we are losing so much, but we have gained so much more by moving back home.

Super Busy!

Yikes! This summer is craaaaazzzzyy!!!

I think I might have 1 or 2 weekends free from now until September! 4 months just full of stuff!! And really, I am not that popular, so I do not know how I am so busy.

This Weekend

• Spring cleaning
• Skank night (out with the girls . . our first letters in our name spell Skank . . we aren't really skanks)
  
• Mother's Day
• Bryce's Dedication

May 16th Weekend

• Possibly moving our stuff from Fredericksburg VA
  
• Nina & Jinx's 2nd birthday!
• Tina's Bridal Shower

May 23rd Weekend

• Carrissa's baby shower
• Dan & Marissa visiting!

May 30th Weekend

• Jeremy & Tina's Stag & Drag
• KT's shower

June 6th Weekend

• Kenny Chesney concert!! (Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, and Montgomery Gentry too!)

June 13th Weekend

• KT & Mike's housewarming/Pittsburgh shower parties
• Carolyn's baby shower

June 20th Weekend

• KT's not a bachelorette party
• Carrissa's due date!
• Daddy's Day!

June 27th Weekend

• Jeremy & Tina's wedding

July 4th Weekend

• The ushe family get-togethers

July 11th Weekend

• KT & Mike's Wedding
• Daddy's Bday celebrations

July 18th Weekend

• Possibly free weekend . . this was going to be the weekend of the GE track meet in sunny San Diego, but I realized I'm waaaay out of shape and need a year to get back where I need to be.
• So maybe Cedar Point trip instead

July 25th Weekend

• Cedar Point weekend?
• Or "desperate relax and do nothing" weekend

August 1st Weekend

• Nikkie's bridal shower

August 8th Weekend

• KT & Mike's Pittsburgh reception

August 15th Weekend

• Relax?

August 22nd Weekend

• Nikkie's kidnapping weekend (AKA - bachelorette party to an undisclosed and undecided location)

Couple weekends free . . yay! Then . .

September 12th Weekend

• Nikkie & Matt's Wedding
• Shayna & Matt's Wedding (not quite sure how we are going to go to two weddings at once)
• Grandparents Day!

And then hopefully back to normal! I just want some days to relax and enjoy Erie!! I was so excited we moved back so we could go to Presque Isle and Waldameer and the Erie Zoo, and it doesn't even look like we will have the time this year!

6 Year Dating Anniversary!

Today marks Shane and I's "6-Year Dating Anniversary" . . . you know . . . . the anniversary you keep track of before you get married . . .
Well . . . I keep track even after we got married! I met Shane at Penn State Behrend. We were both on the track team together (. . .I know . . . you know.).
I remember seeing him for the first time and thinking, "gosh I'm not going to like this guy . . . he just seems way too good for everyone else." (Shane and I went to rival high schools --> General McLane and Harborcreek . . . so I knew of him already . . he was the star of his track team and I saw him on the "Athlete of the Week" thingy or something like that on tv.) I just wasn't sure about him . . .
His first thoughts when he saw me was, "man that girl has way too many things on her key chain". Ha! I just think that's so funny!
So we saw each other every day during track, and even though our coaches thought we were going to kill each other (we would have water fights, pick on each other, Shane always wanted me to tell him that he was my master, and he almost buzzed my hair off) . . . we knew it was growing to be more (that was just our way of flirting I guess).
I will never forget going to his dorm room our first couple "dates" together (and by dates I mean watching David Letterman in his old recliners in his dorm room). It was the simplest thing, but it was just so fun for me to be with him. I knew that I wanted to be with him all the time.
So then we had the greatly awkward "are we dating" talk, and decided that we, in fact, were! And ever since then (May 6, 2003), we have been together!

So, Happy 6 Year Dating Anniversary, Baber! I am so glad that you have accepted my crazy full key chain, and I know that you are the most down to earth, generous, giving person. You would do anything for anyone, and I love you.

Brian & Bibi's Wedding Preview!

I need to post about Brian & Bibi's wedding, but that will be later . . .

for now. . . . here are some of my fav pics:

And probably my absolute fav . . . I don't even know how this picture turned out like this?! Perfect angle and perfect lighting. I was lucky.