My Sweet Potato

As stated in the previous blog, I received sad news while I was in Port Aransas.  Chloe, my parents boxer, passed away on Thursday night.  We are not sure the cause of death, but we think it might have been a heart attack.  My dad found sweet little Chloe in my room in the middle of the night.  This was very unexpected, she was only 7 years old. 

Dear Chloe,

I'm so sad that you are no longer here.  When I went over to your house, I didn't receive my usual greeting of a "hello" bark, a few snorts, and a kiss on the hand.  I will miss calling you "My Sweet Potato" and miss holding you like a baby.  You were a good dog, you taught Lucy and Rowdy how to play and were an excellent snuggle buddy.  I made a Acrostic name poem for you.

C- Christmas Tree.  I remember your first Christmas, you were a complete mess!  You decided you did not like the Christmas tree and so you knocked it over. 

H- House greeter/ house protector.  You were the first person to greet me when I came over.  I love how you would get so excited you would jump around like a floppy fish.  You were also the first person to the protect the house.  If anyone came to the door or visited you made sure they knew you were there.  You watched their every move and made sure we were always safe. 

L- Lover dog and Loyal-  You followed my mom around everywhere.  No matter where she was, you were within looking distance.  You loved being loved and you loved giving love. 

O- Oversized- Over the years you became our plus size model, hence the name Sweet Potato.  I liked you with a little extra junk in the truck.  It was just more to love!

E- Ears and Elbows-  I love how you liked to nibble on my ear lobes and elbow.  That was your ways of saying you loved me. 

I know you are in heaven playing with Blossom, Sarge, Moped, Darla, Spanky, Roger, Precious, Rolly, Princess Picket, Sadie, and Garbage Truck.  I miss you so much, but I know I will see you again some day.  I can't wait to be greeted with a "Hello" bark, a few snorts, and a kiss on the hand. 

Sweet Angel

Blossom and Baby Chloe

This is from my Senior (high school) scrape book:

The bottom reads:
"Chloe is the crazies dog I have ever seen.  She is alway jumping up and down or running lap in my house.  Even through she is really hyper, I still love her to death!  She's the prettiest Boxer I have ever seen!  I cannot wait tell she has puppies!  She really is a great dog under al the crazy stunts she pulls." 

Port Aransas!

The last weekend of July, the crew (Me, Jerry, Kristen, Brady, Cindy, Chris, Andrea, Zach, Megan, and JB) decided to rent a house in Port Aransas.  Oh my gosh.... the house was AMAZING!!!  The house was so amazing that it even had an elevator in it--- now that's high class!  Everyone arrived on Thursday evening(except Jerry- he had a presentation on Thursday night, so he flew in Friday morning to Corpus.) We all drew for rooms... this was a huge deal because one couple had to sleep on a pull out bed... It turned out that Jerry and I got he master, Megan and JB got a spare bedroom, Andrea and Zach got a spare bedroom, Chris and Cindy got the basement bed.... which means..... Kristen and Brady got the pull out bed...next trip you guys get the best room.  They were really good sports about it though. 

Friday:

I got up around 7:00 and drank a cup of coffee on the balcony with Zach and later Brady and Andrea.  It was so nice sitting on the balcony listening to the waves and simply being there.  At about 8:30, Megan and I drove to pick up Jerr Bear.  On the way, I got some sad news...I will discuss this later in another post.  We picked up Jerry and headed back to the house for some yummy breakfast cooked by Zach, Brady, and Cindy.  At that point we were ready to get to the beach.  Off we all went...all 8 of us walked with beach supplies in hand to the end of the street.... looked around.... and realized that we had to drive to the beach....oooopppss.  WE FINALLY GOT TO THE BEACH!  The boys set up the volleyball net while the girls enjoyed the water.  It was a great day. 

We went home, napped, the girls went back to the beach, while the boys made dinner.  It was a fabulous day. 

Saturday:
On Saturday we knew the drill.... wake up, eat breakfast, beach it! We played volleyball, swam in the ocean, and had a BLAST!  We decided to go out to eat at a place called Trout Street and then go shopping.  At the store there was a giant shark---

Sunday:
SUNDAY =SAD DAY.... It was time to go home :(  The trip had gone by too fast.  All I can say is I have the greatest friends in the entire world.  We all had such a great time together! I love how I can be my random/ crazy/ weird self and not have to worry. 

The beautiful view!

Our Men:

Raccoon faces:

I can't wait for the Second Annual Summer Bonanza!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary!

I cannot believe it has been one year!  It is crazy how fast time goes by.  For our first anniversary, Jerry and I decided to celebrate for 3 weeks!  Don't get too excited.... I will explain why in a little bit.  So lets start from the beginning!

July 10-

Jeff and Adrienne got married!  Jeff is one of Jerry's old work buddies and Adrienne and I share the same addiction to the Twilight Series.  We definitely could not miss their wedding!  It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  I have never been to a Catholic wedding before. I must say that I appreciate the tradition.  We also got to see our wedding photographers- Lauren and Will Aves.  We love them--- they are amazing!

July 11-HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Jerry and I wolk up around 9ish.  We (Rowdy, Lucy, Jerry, and I) piled up on the bed and played with the dogs for a good 30 minutes.  This has become one of my most cherished times!  I love being covered in dogs and laying next to my best friend.  What more do you need in life? 

Jerry and I decided to go out on Kristen and Brady's Boat that day.  Zach and Andrea joined us for the fun!  It was great time and I even got into the water... and didn't have a panic attack!  For those of you who do not know, I do not like getting into water that I cannot see the bottom of.  I think I was scared as teenager when I was snorkeling in Hawaii and saw a nasty eel... he was just looking at me thinking, "You would make a good lunch..." Ever since then I kind of freak out when I am in water. I also freak out at the horse races... but that story is for another day.   Anyways, back to July 11.  Once Jerry and I got back to Arlington, we got ready we decided to eat our wedding cake topper.  I ordered a back up just in case the topper was gross... priorities... hello.  Surprisingly, the old one wasn't that bad!  I loved shoving the cake in Jerry's face.. just like at our wedding!

Next we went to out for Sushi.  It was amazing!  I am officially a sushi addict!!! I can't get enough!

Oh and did I mention that Jerry got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers!  What a good husband! 

Jerry and I exchanged gifts.  He got me a new computer for Grad school and I got him tickets to the ranger game.  Here is the picture of the card I got Jerry... is this us or what?  It was an amazing anniversary. 

July 16- Fredicksburg!

Jerry and decided to take a trip to Fredricksburg to celebrate our anniversary.  We took the scenic route and I am so grateful.  Texas is a beautiful place.  I really enjoyed looking at the hills, the horses, and even the cows.  As we drove, we talked about us, our future, and our dreams.  It was one of my favorite parts of the trip... just simply being with my husband and enjoying a wonderful view of the country.  We arrived in Fredricksburg around 10 pm and went to a German Festival.  We were pretty tired so we didn't stay very long, but we did enjoy some German sausage, a little polka dancing, and some German folk music. 

July 17-  It's Wine Time!

Jerry and I got up, got some breakfast, and shopped.  The stores in Fredricksburg sell the cutest things!  From bath soap to redneck signs... those stores had EVERYTHING!  Jerry and I grabbed lunch and headed for our wine tour.  On our wine tour we went to 3 wineries- Grape Creek, Pedernales, and William and Chris Vineyards.  It was so much fun!  We got to sample all these wines and learn about how they make wine.  Our favorite was William and Chris Vineyards.  They are just starting out and the owner actually severed us at the tasting.  I don't know much about wine, but I really want to learn more.  We had such a great time! 

Next on the agenda was Luckenbach..."Where everyone is someone!" Let just say, all you need in life is good 'ole honky tonk band, a dance floor, and some cowboy/cowgirl boots.  In Luckenbach, you don't need a fancy dance hall like Billy Bob's, for them it's back to basics.  I could sit there and watch people two step all night.  I think this was one of my highlights to the trip! 

July 18- Back to the real world

We headed back to Arlington to pick our doggies from the kennel.  We both missed our babies... the entire time on the trip we would say, "I wonder what Lucy and Rowdy are doing right now?"  We picked up the dogs and they were so excited to see us!  I felt good to be home. 

July 23- Rangers vs Angels---My anniversary present to Jerr Bear

Unknowingly, I purchased tickets several months ago to a pretty big game for the Rangers.  As many know, the Rangers are kicking butt this year!  We were definitely excited about this game!  We sat in the center field bleachers right next to the Ranger's Bullpen.  It was pretty fun sitting so close to all pitchers.  The Rangers won 1-0 thanks to Michael Young's home run in the first inning. 

It has been an amazing year!  I am so proud to call Jerry my husband.  He is sweet, hilarious, kind, loving,  giving, and so much more. I love him so much and I cannot wait for the next 50 years.

Bad Dogs

As you know, Jerry and I decided to put in a dog run on the side of the house.  To say the dogs did not like it... well that might be an understatement.  Lucy and Rowdy did everything they could to get out of their Puppy Spa.  They tried to jump over, but the fence was too high... They tried to hit the latch with their noses, but we locked the gate using a stick. Finally, Lucy had a enough of this funny business... she was going to do what she does best... EAT!!!  And eat she did.  She ate her way through the fence!!!

At first Jerry and I blamed Rowdy.  For some reason Rowdy love chewing on wood.  Over the coarse of two years, Rowdy has destroyed a dresser, the exterior windows of our house, our bathroom cabinets, and has even eaten part of the wall in our bathroom. 

One day I decided to spy on the dogs.  I turned off all the TV's and lights and acted like I was leaving.  Little did Lucy know I was watching her in my super secret spy spot.  What did I discover.... LUCY WAS THE CULPRIT!  Try to imagine a dog flee biting their leg... you know they use their front two teeth and bite really fast.  Now try to imagine Lucy flee biting the fence with her entire mouth!  We tried spraying this dog stuff that makes things taste bitter to keep Lucy from eating the fence... As you can see from the picture above... Lucy won the battle between fence and dog. 

The next step was to cover up the hole.  So Jerry nailed a piece of wood that Lucy could not get her nose between.  We thought we were so smart.... WRONG!  Lucy and Rowdy decided to dig their way out of the Puppie Spa.  I came home and parts of my precious garden had been eaten and I could see paw prints in the dirt...and there stood Lucy and Rowdy smiling and wagging their tales...

Enough was enough... you mess with my garden... you mess with me!  Jerry put some really heavy rocks over the spot they dug out, hosed the fence down with the bitter spray, and put and extra nail in the new fence post... THIS WAS WAR!  The "Puppy Spa" was now converted in to Doggie Alcatraz. 

It has been 4 days since we have converted the Puppy Spa into Doggie Alcatraz.  I am proud to say we have not had any escapees!  I just don't understand why they hate it so much!  They have water, shade, and grass.  I think Lucy and Rowdy are simply spoiled! 

 I will keep you posted! 

Things to look forward to!

Jerry and I have a lot to look forward to this summer! 

1. SUMMER!!!! Although I am doing summer school- I love summer.  I am also super excited about my summer school position! 

2. My 24 Birthday!  Jerry and I are going to see Wicked!  It is going to be amazing!!!!

3.  Birthday Month!  Cindy, Andrea, and I all have birthdays in June!  We plan on staying at the W in Dallas the weekend of the 19 with just the girls and going out to dinner with the boys on the weekend of the 26.

4. Our First Year Anniversary!!!!  We are going to go to Fredricksburg to a bed and breakfast!

5. At the end of July- We are going with all of our friends to Port Aransas for the weekend!  Here's the house we rented:

6. My garden!  As you can see it's really growing!! Look at the sunflower in the back right corner!!! I'm so proud!

7. Chilling out!  This summer I look forward to the days where we simply just chill... lay out by the pool... hang out with friends.... and just be! 

Growth

It absolutely amazes me to think about baby Claire and how much she has grown!  Here is a picture of Baby Claire the first day she was born!  So cute!

Here is a picture of Claire a few days later.  Love the flower!   Watch out people, we have a princess on our hands!!!

I love this picture... what a big girl- holding her head up!!!  She's only about a week old in this picture!

Here's another picture of her about 2 weeks old.  She weighs a whopping 8 pounds 11 oz:

I talk to Lauren every day on the phone.  She is an absolute pro at being a mommies!  I'm so proud of her!  Everyday she sends me a picture of Claire in a new outfit.  Honestly, I look forward to it every morning!  I cannot believe how fast Claire is growing!  Everyone says, "She's going to grow up before you know it..."  It's so true!  I try to go over there as much as possible.  I can have the most stressful day at work, but when I go see Claire- all the stress just goes away. 

Lauren told me that she is getting so big that some of her onesies won't stay buttoned!  I told Lauren this is the one time in a women's life where she can celebrate buttons busting because of weight gain!  Claire is the coolest chick ever!  Watch out world! 

The Backyard Project

Over the past 2 years, Jerry has been battling the backyard.  Whether it be grass, flooding, or dirt... the backyard has constantly been on my Jerr Bear's mind. For awhile, I considered having Jerry see a backyard therapist or even calling one of those shows on the DIY channel.  Every weekend I would catch Jerry looking at the backyard with hope... I'm not going to lie, I thought the backyard was a losing battle. 

But after this weekend.... the VICTORY GOES TO JERRY!   

Maybe I should travel back in time so you can get the full extent of Jerry's obsession... I mean hard work:

Summer 2009- Jerry laid sod- it did not take- our backyard is just too shady

February 2010- Jerry tilled up the backyard and laid seed for grass

March 2010- GRASS!  We finally have grass!

March 2010- Adventures of French Drains- Jerry decided we needed a French Drain.  At first I was very hesitant....but after seeing the french drain in action--- Jerry was right, we really did need it

April 2010- We hired some guy to cut our trees back so there would be more sunshine in the backyard- he also fixed our sprinklers.

May 2010- Pavers

Over the past couple of weekends, my Dad and Jerry have been hard at work putting down these pavers.  First they put down a frame:

Next they put down sand:

Then they put some stones down: 

The last step was to rent this vibrating machine that mushes the stones into the sand so the stones won't move:

Finished product:

My dad and Jerry worked so hard on the backyard.  It was so hot!  I'm especially proud of Jerry, he has worked and worked to make our backyard a beautiful place!  Maybe this will take his mind off the backyard... I doubt it... I can tell he's already thinking of the next little project he wants to do in the backyard. 

Also, we my dad's crew put in a new dog run in our backyard. 

The dogs are not big fans-- We told the dogs it was their very own "Puppy Spa" but they are acting like it is a Puppy Prison.  The dogs have already learned how to escape the Puppy Prison... I mean Spa.  They have learned if they hit their noses on the latch, the door will open and they are free!  Crazy dogs... we have to put sticks in the latch so they can't open it!  Also, Lucy just stands by the gate and jumps up and down.  I think she thinks that she can jump over the fence.  She probably could if she lost 10 pounds and got a running start.  Let's hope she doesn't figure that out. 

The backyard still needs some work, but we are getting closer.  I think I'll but this weekend down as a win for Jerry!