d-day

This past Sunday Chip and I went to Bonifay to help his parents get their new donkey. A friend of theirs bought a female donkey for his farm and unbeknownst to him it was pregnant. One day he went out to feed the donkey and there were two baby donkeys (I don't know the official "baby" donkey name - maybe colt?) in the pen. One was a female and one was a male. Because he didn't intend to go into the donkey breeding business he offered the male donkey to my in-laws. They have a lonely horse that they thought the donkey would keep company. So anyways, Chip and I were asked to come to Bonifay to help them load it in the trailer and bring it back to their house.

It was pretty funny trying to get the donkey out of its pen and into the trailer. Donkeys are stubborn and the poor little guy was scared as well. Eventually he went in and we brought him back to the house. He ran out of the trailer and into the fenced in corral they plan on keeping him in until he gets used to his new surroundings. My in-laws have named him Donkey, pronounced "Dun-key" like the way Shrek says it in the movie. He is pretty cute! The horse was kind of unsure of what this new animal was and what he was doing there. Every once in a while the donkey would bray fairly loud. Everyone would just laugh. I think he will make a great addition to their animal family. Here are some pictures of the donkey.


Here is the donkey with his mother and sister. He is the littlest one on the far left.


Here is Rose checking out the donkey.

Chip in the stall with the donkey.

He's pretty cute. I'm usually scared of large animals, but once I realized he wasn't going to kick me I had a little fun with him.

Welcome home Donkey!

valentine's day and other exciting stuff

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Thank you to my sweet husband for these beautiful flowers and the half dozen treats from Au Peche Mignon :)

I've been quite busy lately reading up on all of the places and things to do in New York City. Chip and I will be going in April with Ben and Bethany. I'm really excited to go and also to see the sites with such great friends. I think that will make the trip even more fun. We've already bought our planes tickets and reserved our hotel. Now I'm working on our itinerary. We plan on going to the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, take in a Broadway show, see the Statue of Liberty, and even stand in the crowd during the taping of the Today Show. We are also going to try to get tickets to Conan or Letterman. If any of you reading this have ever been and have any suggestions of places to go or things to eat let me know.

Last night I went to a class at the college I work at about European travel. The teacher is the travel writer from the local newspaper and an avid european traveler. I am currently trying to persuade Chip to go to Paris and maybe London this fall. We'll see. Neither one of us have been overseas before and he is leary about going somewhere by ourselves where they don't speak english. I think we'd be ok. This class has already taught me quite a bit about how to plan and pack for such a trip. By the end of the class I should be ready to go. I can't wait! I have always wanted to go to Europe, especially Paris - as I'm sure more of you know :)

Recently I found out that I won an Gold Addy! Addys are awards for creativity in advertising. These were the local Addy's for the Emerald Coast region. From here the winning pieces go on to the district competition and then nationals. Addys are well-recognized awards in the advertising industry.The college/performing arts center I work for entered 9 different projects we did this year and 8 won awards! The one I am most proud of is the Art Center's season brochure. It is the only one of our pieces that won the gold, the rest won silver - which is great too. The season brochure was my project. I designed the front cover and worked with our graphic designer on the layout/design of the rest of the brochure. I'm very proud to have our marketing department win these awards.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I'll write more later.

a blog for my birthday dog

Today is Frank's first birthday! My little peanut wiener dog is already one! This is the first picture of Frank I saw when I found our breeder's website. What a sad little puppy!

And here is what he looks like now...

Don't worry, I'm not one of "those" people that have parties for their pets. I know some of you are saying, "Now wait just a minute! Aren't you the girl who's family had brithday parties for your guinea pigs?!" Well, yes, we did...in a way. We would have cake, but who wouldn't want a reason to eat cake? Usually we did have a small birthday cone hat for the guinea pig to wear. Stop laughing! It's not like we sent out invitations and had guests over! In present day, people do a lot worse and more to celebrate their pet's birthday.

We, however, are not doing anything to "celebrate" Frank's birthday...other than this blog. I didn't bake him a cake (though I do have some left over from our Super Bowl party we could eat), he will not be wearing a party hat, and we didn't buy him any presents. Frank is a simple dog. Besides, it's not like he realizes it is the anniversary of his birth.

But I did want to mark the occasion with a post. I have really enjoyed having Frank around and he brings a lot of fun and laughter to our lives...frustration too. Like when he peed on me this morning! Oops! I still love him.

this, that, and the other

Sorry I have written in a while. I figured I'd write when something interesting and blog-worthy happened. Hence the silence. But, after talking to my mother this afternoon and hearing, "why don't you update your blog?" I was guilted into it. So, here is the low-down on my January.

It has been a pretty uneventful month. I haven't travelled anywhere exciting (though Bethany and I are planning a trip to NYC in April...fun!), I haven't had anything funny happen to me, Frank hasn't done anything miraculous - I've just been "living". Not that that is a bad thing.

I do currently have a cold. It seems like I am always sick this time of year. Two years ago I had the flu (awful!!) and last year I had some sort of indeterminable viral infection (not the flu, mono or strep throat). So if a cold is as bad as it gets this year I will gladly take it. No fever, no body aches, no chills? DEAL! Other than some congestion and a raspy voice, I feel fine. Word of advice, if you feel like you are getting sick take Zycam. It really does help shorten the length of a cold. I use the nasal swabs and they do work. Yes, I still did get sick, but it could have been a lot worse.

In other news, my coworker brought a king cake to work today!!! She went to New Orleans this past weekend with her grand kids to see Hannah Montana and picked one up. So this king cake is from NO, so to me that makes it even better since it is authentic. It was delicious - it had a tasty cream cheese filling and lots of icing. I don't know what it is about king cakes that make me like them so much, but I do. I had my first king cake when I went to Mardi Gras my senior year of college with Bethany and Holly. We enjoyed it then and I have gotten one just about every year since. Who wouldn't like a big cinnamon-roll type bread with icing and sugar sprinkles? I highly recommend it. So if you are at a grocery store anytime soon, pick one up. They sell them in most bakeries. I think you'll like it. If you don't, send it to me and I'll be happy to eat it. Talking about king cakes and Mardi Gras prompted me to go find a picture of me and Bethany at Mardi Gras. Wow, I can't believe this picture if 5 years old now. Wow, I forgot how blond my hair used to be. You'll be happy to know I have come to my senses now and have opted for my natural mousy-brown hair color with some subtle blond highlights. :)

Well, I think I am tapped out of stories for now. Hope everyone is doing well! :) Until next time...

happy new year!

Happy 2008 everyone! We just got back yesterday from spending 2 weeks in Kansas City visiting my family. It was good to see them, especially since the last time we saw them was last Christmas. We had fun hanging out, refereeing the dogs, playing in the snow, and gaining weight(there was too much food to pass up)!

I was SO excited to see snow again! It had been a while since I had been somewhere it snowed. It was so pretty to see it falling and how it made the trees white. The only bad thing was it made the roads really slick.

Me, Chip and my dad shoveled the driveway and played in the snow. I built a tiny snowman and made a snow angel. Even Frank liked being in the snow - he hopped around like a rabbit.



My family finally got to meet Frank. They liked him and thought he was an obedient dog -which makes me proud. Frank had fun chasing around my parent's bichon frise, Charley, and my sister's dachshund Petey. They ran around like crazy dogs and would steal each others toys. Frank has been very exhausted since we got home. I also think he misses the other dogs.

We had a fairly uneventful New Year's Eve. We stayed at home and vegged out since we were tired from the flights. It was nice to have some down time to relax before we have to go back to work tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope 2008 is a great year for everyone. I'm looking forward to all this year will bring.

relief

Well, we've come to our decision about the job. We decided to pass on it. We ultimately felt like this wasn't the right time or right job for us to move for. We are saddened because we liked the idea of moving somewhere new, but know in the end that it is for the best we stay. The company understood, but said to call them in a few months and see if they have any open positions because they really like Chip. So that is encouraging.

I am relieved I can now focus on other things - like the fact that Christmas is only a week and a half away and I don't have any gifts for anyone! Guess what I'll be doing this Saturday...

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and has heard us out lately. We have been blessed with wonderful, caring friends. We love you all! :)

a fork in the road

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Life has been busy lately with holiday parties, baby showers, trips here and there and visits with family.

Funny story - we went to Bonifay yesterday to visit Chip's family and spend time with his aunt who was in town. Chip's family owns 14 acres of land and have a horse. We were outside trying to get a picture of me, Chip and Frank for our Christmas card when Frank trotted out under the barbed wired fence into the pasture. He was sniffing around and found a large pile of horse manure and proceeded to roll in it! His expression was priceless -it was like he was blissfully happy rolling in crap! Luckily it was dried horse poop, so he just ended up smelling really bad. I couldn't believe he did that. What a gross dog :) He got a bath as soon as we got home! Here is one of the pictures we got. It is so hard to get a dog to cooperate for a picture!




Anyways, life has been full of confusion lately. Long story short, a few weeks ago Chip met some guys in a training class he went to in CA. They had several conversations about work (they do similar things) and it was mentioned that the guys had an opening at their job in Huntsville and told Chip if he was interested he could send them his resume. So he sent his resume when he got back home and got a phone call a few days later. He got asked to come up to Huntsville for an interview. I decided to go with him because I have never been to Huntsville, wanted to see a place I could possibly end up calling home, and because I NEVER turn down a free trip. So we went up there right after Thanksgiving. Chip thought the interview went well, and the company must have agreed because they offered him the job 4 days later. Now we have to give them a decision...by this Tuesday. One may think it would be an easy decision, but it isn't. There are a lot of details to consider - which we have mulled over a million times. I won't go into them all because I don't feel like rehashing them for the thousandth time. There are several good reasons to go and several to stay put in Niceville. We just have to decide which are more important. So anyways...please pray for us. This is a big decision to pack up and move away and leave our life here behind for a new one. It is an exciting and scary prospect. I know we will not have a "ah ha" moment when the clouds part and the answer to what we should do is clearly laid out. We just have to trust God's will in this all and know that He is with us every step of the way.

I'll keep you posted as to what happens. If we do take this job, we'd move right after Christmas - so scarily soon. Thanks to everyone who has heard me out lately and given us advice and support. It means a lot. :) Hope every is doing well and getting excited that Christmas is just around the corner!