I love my Little Levi ...

I love my little Levi ... well he's not so "little" anymore since he weighed in at 16.4 pounds today at the vet! 6.4 pounds in 2 weeks ... whoa. Anyways I always knew growing up an "animal lover" (thanks grandma and mom) I knew I would have cats and dogs galore ... in college I aquired Safin and I LOVED having a kitten. It was my senior year, living alone, and he was exactly what I needed not to feel lonely. He was and still is THE BEST cat ever! Fast forward 3 years later and welcome Levi. I didn't think Phil and I would be getting a dog until we made the move to a house. I was hesitant when we got him too, thinking can we really handle this? And we can and we have. He's so much fun and really becoming a good puppy. Wild as can be but hey all puppies are. He's already shown lots of signs of intelligence, he knows how to sit,stay, and do "shake" but I taught him in dutch so he's also bilingual :) hahaha (thanks dad). Anyways he was also brought into our life at just the right time. I'd been feeling really homesick, bummed out on my job, and unsure of the future. I know my grandma is my gaurdian angel and she's with me everyday, so I know she brought me Safin and Levi because she knows how much I love animals and need them in my life. I'm looking forward to teaching him tricks, bringing him home to West Palm for Christmas, and turning him into a FABULOUS running partner :) He's already quite good at jogging but he's still little so we don't run too far. And all of the walks we've been taking are keeping Phil and I in shape ... especially as the cold winter approaches. Oh and he LOVES Safin, here are some funny pictures from tonight when he moved his bed to be closer to Safin. Silly puppy ...

The Imitator ...

Yes that's me. I am an Imitator .. in the kitchen that is. I guess I've always been one of those people who learns by watching/doing. I believe Phil has "trained" me well in the meals he loves to cook and eat. For example, tonight ... Hamburger Casserole. I watched him make it all through college, then once we lived together I learned and now I'm a pro and can do it all on my own! Even shred the cheese :) Then take my dad ... the GRILLMASTER! I learned how to cook ribs by watching him and helping him with little tasks. I still have to master his pinapple chicken though ... yum ... And for my mom - the master baker, I hope to learn how to make my grandma's famous blueberry coffeecakes!! drool ... I think we may be making some when I go home in a few weeks!!!! Okay well must go play with Mr. Levi :)

They missed us!

Three posts in one day! Whew... well I did take 125 pictures last night. Levi and Safin def. missed playtime last night while Phil and I were at the concert. As soon as we let Levi out of the crate he sat on safin and began to wrestle. These pictures were too cute not be on the blog!!!

Special People ...

As I said in my previous post about the Brad Paisley concert, Phil and I had quite a few laughs people watching. Most of the Keith Urban concerts are all women, but last night quite a few guys.
First off we had these two lovely neon ladies sitting in front of us ...apparently trying to get upgraded to the front row ... but alas they did not. We were only 20 rows back and the lady with the hat had binoculars ...


This guy was my favorite ... along with his lovely tucked in Van Zant shirt he had a mini American Flag in his pocket which he proudly waved during Rodney Atkins song "If you're going through hell" ... he truly busted up a move and even included some signature stomp and clap moves ... rock on.

I'm so much cooler online ...

What can I say I LOVE country music and I love Brad Paisley! This was my first non-keith concert of the year and it was fabulous! Phil and I had a great time (even though it was a Thursday night) Brad was an awesome guitar player and played all my favorites. We even had fun laughing at Rodney Atkins aka The pointer and people watching some interesting characters. Taylor Swift was better than I thought she would be and she was great on stage. All in all it was an awesome show, we spent $0 thanks to the VIP parking passes, and got to the show exactly on time and even better thanks to the GPS took the backrounds to the Interstate and avoided a traffic jam disaster.

Mid-life Crisis ...

Blah ... is this a midlife crisis? Hopefully I'm not at "midlife" and I can figure out what I want to do in life. My job is just not cutting it these days, I feel underappreciated and totally unmotivated. I would quit my job in a heartbeat but I don't want to be sitting at home twidling my thumbs waiting for an interview. I could quit and go back to school but for what ... I have to decide. Do I want to stay in Marketing or maybe venture to another career field. I thought it would be a fun waste of time to take some free career tests online and these are the results:

People with blue Interests like job responsibilities and occupations that involve creative, humanistic, thoughtful, and quiet types of activities. Blue Interests include abstracting, theorizing, designing, writing, reflecting, and originating, which often lead to work in editing, teaching, composing, inventing, mediating, clergy, and writing.

People with yellow styles perform their job responsibilities in a manner that is orderly and planned to meet a known schedule. They prefer to work where things get done with a minimum of interpretation and unexpected change. People with a yellow style tend to be orderly, cautious, structured, loyal, systematic, solitary, methodical, and organized, and usually thrive in a research-oriented, predictable, established, controlled, measurable, orderly environment. You will want to choose a work environment or career path in which your style is welcomed and produces results.

The Artistic Personality Type
Likes to do creative activities like art, drama, crafts, dance, music, or creative writing; generally avoids highly ordered or repetitive activities.
Has good artistic abilities -- in creative writing, drama, crafts, music, or art. Values the creative arts -- like drama, music, art, or the works of creative writers. Sees self as expressive, original, and independent.

The Social Personality Type
Likes to do things to help people -- like, teaching, nursing, or giving first aid, providing information; generally avoids using machines, tools, or animals to achieve a goal. Is good at teaching, counseling, nursing, or giving information. Values helping people and solving social problems.
Sees self as helpful, friendly, and trustworthy.

Levi's 1st Road Trip

Saturday was Levi's first road trip and I have to say he did pretty awesome. We are starting him traveling early so he'll be used to riding in the car without getting car sick or drooling everywhere (like Febo and Zorro). Phil did an excellent job of puppy proofing my car, I thought we only had to lay the blanket on the seat, but he found a way to attach it to the tops so everything was covered. It was great he did that because not even a mile up the road Levi decided it would be really cool to climb over the back seat to the top part (little did he know it was sloped) he stayed up there for a few minutes and then slid down. Phil caught this one when he first climbed up:

So after 3 hours and one stop we made it to Gaffney and introduced Levi to Aunt Molly. We played for about an hour and then headed to lunch to Brandy, her husband Jim, Baby Caroline, and Amber. It was so much fun and as always Yamato's express was heaven. We swung by Gaffney again and then headed to Spartanburg where we got lost a few times but managed to find our way, not such a good sign for our Amazing Race aspirations but oh well. Levi had a great time at the courts even though it was 3:30 and still really hot! It was open and not crowded so he got to run where he pleased and dig in the clay (I wish I caught a picture of his orange nose!). After an hour or so we headed back to Gardner-Webb to get ready for the alumni dinner and help set up the food. Phil did a great job of getting the food and setting it up, oh and calming down the crying baby! It was a really fun day and I know Levi had a blast too! He was so worn out he slept the entire way home! Here are a few of my favorites :)

I love it when he makes me pancakes ...

With the purpose of this blog to document our life, I don't see how I could not blog about my husband's delicious pancakes :) Phil is a superb pancake maker, it takes a skill and I have to say he has come quite close to pancake perfection. It's a team effort usually on Sunday mornings. I'll start by making the batter the correct consitency between too thick and too watery and then I hand the spoon to Phil. Last Sunday we tried out our new mini pancake pan from Crate and Barrel. Thanks to my wonderful Uncle Kim we had some extra $ leftover on his gift card from the wedding and decided to splurge. At first it was a little tricky but once Phil got the hang of it he was a mini pancake master as well. And with 7 slots it makes pancakes a lot faster than one at a time.

Dustin off my Cowboy Hat

Well okay not really since I don't have an "offical" cowboy hat but maybe I should get one. Next Thursday is the long awaited Brad Paisley concert! whooo hoo I bought these tickets last April I think and the show was supposed to be last month but moved to September ... ahhh I can hardly wait! My mom's done the research and tells me Paisley gives a great concert. Then I just learned that I'll be flying home to go to another Keith Urban concert with my mom in December. Yesssssss ... let the countdown begin!

4 days!!!

4 Days until I get to see my three best girlfriends in the entire world :) I'm lucky enough that two of them still live in the same city and one is willing to drive so we can all spend the day together! During college we were inseperable, especially my very first year, which was important since I was homesick about every day. Having great friends and fun memories helped me enjoy college. Years went by and visits were far and few in between. I stayed in touch with Molly since we were on the tennis team until graduation and then kept in touch with our weekly phone calls and updates. It was only until I got engaged that I realized how much I missed my friends in my life.
My whole life after graduation had been about moving to Atlanta, living with Phil, and getting a job in the "real world". So now we've made a pledge, well an unspoken pledge that we'll get together and see each other within months ... not years! I talk to Amber through emails about every other day, which is nice because I really missed her funny stories. Brandy is harder to get ahold of with her family and baby but when there is a visit scheduled I'm always able to get her on the phone. Molly is easy going and I feel like I can go months without seeing or talking to her and we get together and its like we never left Boiling Springs. The visit this Saturday will be either our 5th or 6th visit this year, which is a record seeing as after graduation I went almost 2 years without seeing Amber or Brandy. Even though its only for lunch and dinner and a quick afternoon I can hardly wait to spend some quality time with my friends and to plan our next visit! Looking forward to a fun weekend :)

Good news of the day: The road between friends is never long ... well for me only 2 1/2 hours long but still that's not THAT bad!

We're Famous ...

Yes that's us! On our photographer's new and improved website! How cooooool ... Annnnnd I'm going submit some pictures to Destination Wedding magazine so maybe someday I'll get a call that we'll be published too! Now that would be really cool :) Oh and a job would be cool too Thanks!

It's almost that time again ...

Yep ... Christmas time! Okay so maybe I still have to wait for the leaves to change and for Halloween and Thanksgiving to come and go but still I LOVE CHRISTMAS ... next to my very own Birthday it's probably my most favorite day of the entire year. I love giving presents (and getting them too) but the thought that goes into buying the perfect gift and then seeing the other person's joy when they open it is the greatest feeling ever! Yesterday when I went to the Hobby Lobby it was a winter wonderland and for a slight second I felt stressed that I was not "ready" for christmas yet. Ummm... it's September! But I still decided to start thinking about some possible gifts and get a list going. My mom seems to be the front runner this year as I already have a slew of possible gifts for her and some I know I will def. be getting her. Which is a good thing because I am the official family shopper. What does that mean exactly, well my mom hates to shop (especially around the crowded holidays) and my dad well he's a last minute shopper ... Christmas eve is his time to shine. So in turn I do the shopping for a few months then come home with loads of unwrapped presents ... lay them out on my bed and have a viewing for my dad or my mom ... sometimes even Pat to come and "shop" from what I have already bought. Most of the time I get a nice "commission" hahah... but its easy for everyone, I even throw in a free wrapping job! Last year I was able to capatilize on some EXTREME deals the day after Thanksgiving when I woke up at 5 a.m. and went to the outlets, Best Choice Ever! I love a deal and I came home that day at 8 a.m. with almost my entire Christmas stash! I'm def. going to strap on my sweater and boots and freeze my ass off again this year!
My husband on the other hand views Christmas entirely different than I do. When we first met he didn't really see the need to decorate the outside with lights and do all the "christmasy" stuff, but he did it for me... last year he did it all on his own and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at what he came up with and our house was decorated lovely. With presents he views them as "things he needs" ... blahhhh BORING ... a present is what you want (I keep telling him this) He also demands a list, which I sometimes disagree with (as I never ask him for a list). I think you should know the person well enough to know what they will love, put some thought into it right! Plus I think of myself as an easy person to buy for ... but maybe not. Since I know he will ask for a list in a few months I am slowly making him one, because I know thats what he likes ... give him a list and he will go out and get it ... so we compromise. I'll lavish him in gifts he doesn't really need and he'll stick to my list like glue :) haha ...
I def. get excited for this time of the year, I love shopping for gifts, wrapping them, and giving them. Most of the time I get so excited about a gift I have to tell someone about it, usually my mom knows ALL my gifts except hopefully the ones I give her! haha... So I'm saving my pennies and refraining from my weekly TJ Maxx urges to save up for the shopping sprees that are soon to come. As always I'm not looking forward to the lovely GA winter weather, but ehh I can't complain. Where we live I am 20 minutes away from 4 malls and 2 outlet centers ... a shopper's paradise. Happy Holidays :)

Go Dawgs!

It's GameDay!!! Go Dawgs :)

Levi no longer fits in his hand-me-down "GA" Jersey ...

we managed to slide it onto one of his legs and snap a few pictures.

Then he decided to try to rip it shreds ... lovely.

My Mom

I don't know what I'd do without my mom ... simply stated. She's got good days and bad days with her battle, and on the bad days I'm reminded of it ... cancer. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about what this disease has done to the people I love. It took my grandma away from me way too young and now its an everyday thing for my mom. I can't even imagine what she goes through or what she has been through, she's the toughest person I know and yet she still manages to do what most "healthy" people would only dream of doing. Riding her bike 20+ miles, taking care of a household of people and animals, all in a days work!
I talk to my mom constantly throughout the day. I usually get multiple emails, some just quick questions, some long funny stories about the animals or crazy relatives, either way I enjoy them so much! Between the 20 or so span emails I get it's always nice to see my moms name pop in my inbox. It's wierd when she gets busy and I don't get an email from her all day, then I always call and say Hey I didn't get an email from you! hahaha ... I've kept all of her emails for the past few years, I now have 11 pages of emails in my "mom" section. One day I'll have to go through them all - what a task that will be! So even though we're far away I'm thankful we have email and phone calls that it feels like we're not so far away ... except when you want to give the other person a giant hug, sometimes an email just won't do.

Of all the days ...

To have to go to the hospital! I woke up this morning at 4:00 a.m. with what I thought was some bad indegestion. I felt like I had to go to the bathroom SO BAD, but after many attempts at 4:30 I couldn't even lay down anymore since my stomach hurt so much. I went downstairs to get some pepto and ended up pacing for the next hour and a half. I lost track of how many times I threw up around 15 or 20. I was so hot then cold, and I thought okay I'll go sit in the bath. I filled it with cool water then had the chills, put hot water in and then started sweating. Finally at 6 a.m. I couldn't take it anymore, this was more than a stomach ache. I felt so bad waking up Phil since today was going to be such a long day (1st GA Football game). I told him Phil you need to take me to the hospital, de leaped out of bed and didn't hesitate taking me. Drove like a mad man 5 minutes down the road, we caught basically every light and couldn't believe the traffic at 6:00 a.m. We pulled up to the new hospital in Johns Creek (only 6 months old). I entered the E.R. and was in a room in less than 2 minutes. They immediately took my blood .. yuck, and lots of it. While I sat there and moaned, demanding pain medicine I started to hyperventalate (which only made things worse). They got Phil thinking he could calm me down and he did a bit. I never knew hyperventalating would make your hands go numb ... but it does! I drifted in and out of sleep for the next 4 hours, had a cat scan (my 1st) and finally a diagnosis .... kidney stones. I would of bet $5 it was my appendix, I never thought kidney stones. Apparently I only have one, 4 millimeters in size ...they only zap 5 millimeter ones. Its about to get out of my pipe so they filled me with fluids and then sent me home with medicine, orders to drink water all day, and a strainer to catch the stone. What a morning. I have to give huge "props" and thanks to my wonderful husband who stayed in my room the whole time and took care of me. And also many thanks to my many fans ... I mean family :) I got two beautiful bouquets of flowers, from Dell & Randy (my inlaws) and then my mom and dad (+ a BALLOOON! yesss ...).

From my mom & dad ... I love Balloons

From Dell, Randy, and Andi ... I love the smiley face cup :) Mr. Levi :)