Lola's first big outing

Lola has not been outside much because of the cold weather. She's so small that she starts shivering uncontrollably when it's cold. So today was full of adventures for her. She met lots of other dogs, and children and adults who always stopped to admire and pet her. We are used to her smallness, but I guess she was something of a novelty to strangers.

Today we decided to take advantage of the warm, sunny afternoon (after 2 weeks of temps in the 30s) and get outside. We took Lola to one of our favorite spots in Atlanta, a trail/picnic area along the Chattahoochee River. It was a beautiful day, and thinking about it now I wish I would have thought to take a picture of the sun on the water. It was breathtaking.
Here she is having a great time going for a walk.
This is her "what did I do?" look. Oh, and this is her FAVORITE spot to sit--right on your feet.

She loves to snuggle on my shoulder, right up against my neck. I think we should have named her parrott. When she whines she sounds like a little pig. I think we should have named her piglet (and she has the short, curly tail to match). She's finally getting the house training thing, and when she does something wrong, but we haven't figured it out yet, she runs and hides in her kennel. She's a smart one! But she's also so sweet. She never tires of snuggling on our laps and loves to play. We can't believe we've only had her for one week. She is a great incentive for me to come home from work at a decent hour, and we just can't get enough of her.

The funniest thing she does is chase her own shadow. We thought at first that she had an imaginary friend or something. But then I noticed that she was actually pouncing on, biting at, and running at her own shadow. What a nut. Pure joy.

A Day of History

I have to take a moment from my day to record my feelings about this historic day. As I just watched on tv President Obama take the presidential oath, I couldn't help but have chills and get a thrill of hope and excitement. This was truly an historic occasion. It was one of those moments that I will never forget as I sat amongst my co-workers of all ages and races, gathered around the tvs in our office to participate in waching the inaguration of our next President of the United States of America, who happens to be the first African-American president. It was poignant as I looked around at the tears in the eyes of many of my co-workers, some who have experienced discrimination and racismn at its worst. I felt the thrill of the moment through their eyes. It also reminded me of 9-11 when we again gathered around the tvs in the office, united in a common purpose, all bipartisanship aside.

As I listened to the speech of Obama as our new President, I couldn't help but feel a rush of hope and joy as the prospects of change and movement were evident. I know many of you do not like Obama, but at this point, I hope you can put aside those differences and revel in the greatness of our freedoms that were evident today.

As I listened to the National Anthem being sung at the end, I couldn't help but think of the time when I watched the re-enactment of the beginning of the Revolutionary War on the green of Lexington Square in Lexington, MA several years ago. The picture of the guns and cannons appearing through the fog, and feeling the anticipation of what was about to happen, raced through my mind, brought tears to my eyes, and a lump in my throat. The Lord has blessed this country from the beginning, and I am so thankful to live in such a blessed land. Even in these hard times for our country, when we are faced with so many problems from a micro-level to a macro-level, at least for a few moments America was able to push aside our cares and remember what our nataion came from, and look to the future of where we are headed. God bless America!

Say Hello to Lola

For several months now Nathan and I have been discussing bringing an addition to our family. While we would love an addition in human form, we have also been talking about additions in the canine form as well. Ever since we had to get rid of our dogs several years ago, we've been wanting more, but I kept saying there is no way I'm having a dog in a 1-bedroom, 800 sf apartment. As such, we put a deposit down on a lab (black or yellow--Nathan hasn't made up his mind yet) that will be born in June, perfect for when we move. That will be HIS dog, his hunting buddy, his graduation present.

So what about me? I have wanted a little dog for quite some time, a dog that will be MY pet, that can sit on my lap and snuggle. After looking at puppies over the last few months, I finally settled on Boston Terriers. When the weekend began we had no intention of adding a puppy to our home, but things changed. It all started when we stopped at WalMart on Saturday. There was a a pet store nearby and we went in to see if they had food, etc. for our fish. They also had puppies. That started it. Nathan kept saying how fun it would be to have something to love, blah, blah, blah. I kept saying no, citing aforesaid reasons for not having a dog in the apartment.

We came home, and Nathan started looking online at Boston Terrier pups, and found several litters within a few hours drive, old enough to be purchased. We discussed it, and I finally broke. I decided that I'm tired of waiting for things--my job to get better, Nathan to graduate, to get pregnant, to get a dog. You get the picture. I decided that this is something that I want and that I could do right NOW. So I relented.

So yesterday after church we packed up the car and drove 4 hours south (almost to Savannah, GA) to see some pups. I wanted a girl, and there were 3 available from one litter. Needless to say, say hello to Lola, the newest addition to our family.

She's about 6 inches tall, and 10 inches long--small enough to fit in the foot space under the kitchen counters. She was GREAT on the 4 hour drive home, and had a great first night. I actually got 6 hours of sleep. Because she's not used to the apartment just yet, I'm working from home today so I can bond with my puppy. This is the best Monday I've had--well, just about ever.

Irrational spider fear

The other night Nathan and I were searching YouTube for something and came across this video about an irrational spider fear. This is a fear I have always had about spiders, and I have had nearly this EXACT conversation between me and the spider (me speaking for the spider, of course). By the end of it I was laughing so hard I was crying. I never had any idea that anyone else in the whole world had this same crazy fear/conversation. Thank goodness for YouTube to make us all feel a little more "normal."

Watch the video here. Irrational Spider Fear Skip to about 55 seconds--that's where it get's to the spider part. And then only watch until about 1:57. After that it gets rambly.

Very few things make me laugh that hard. Let me know if any of you have this same fear, or if you think I'm just plain crazy.

What a good day

Today was a great day. The first two weeks of the month are always the most stressful for me at work, so needless to say I've been having a bunch of long, stressful, overloaded days for the last week. So when good things happen, it's a HUGE boost. Today was one of those days. Without going into the boring details, I received word today that some of the things I've been wanting and needing for my group and my employees are finally going to happen. This has been a long uphill battle with upper management, trying to get them to see the things I do. I have been praying for weeks now for help to find answers to some of the most pressing issues in my job. It has been amazing. The Lord truely works in mysterious ways, and some of the things that have come about, and the creative solutions we've come to I know have been inspired by Him. As the scriptures say, we are supposed to pray over ALL aspects of our lives, including help at our livlihood. This is the second time I've had an experience in my current position with answers to specific prayers. What a good day!
Oh, and American Idol is on tonight. Does it get any better than that?!

Work hard...play hard later

Here I am blogging when I should already be sound asleep gearing up for another week at work. I just feel like I was cheated out of a weekend because I ended up working late every day this week and all day Saturday too. Guess that's what happens when you take 2 weeks off for Christmas. But this is a typical Sunday night where I stay up late to try and hang on to the last few minutes of the weekend. I will NOT work on Sundays, which allows me to enjoy the Sabbath day, and also gives me a much needed break. But then I just want more, and hate for it to end.

Nathan is no better. The last semester of the 2-year MBA program at GA Tech is usually the easiest. By then you've got your job lined up and can just coast through classes until graduation. Well, that is the average student anyway. But as we all know, Nathan is not average. He's crazy! We had to come back earlier than originally planned from Christmas in Utah so he could attend a 3-day "Six Sigma" seminar, which will give him the first level of certification. This is a big deal. Bank of America is huge on Six Sigma, so if Nate already has the first level certification he'll be that much more ahead of the pack. That is always his goal--be ahead of the pack.

So after spending three days last weekend in business seminars all day, and then starting the semester this last Monday, he's been going non-stop for 10 days without much of a break. I think he was thankful for church this morning just to break the pattern. I don't know how he does it. On top-of the Six Sigma project he'll be doing this semester, he's taking FIVE classes. Yes, five. He fretted over whether that was a good idea, but couldn't bring himself to drop any because he's interested in them all and this is his last semester. Guess he's trying to take the most advantage of school that he can. On top of all that, as if that's not enough, he's still working 15 hours/week at the Altanta Technology Development Center, and THEN...he decided that he wants to compete in the Purdue University case competition like he did last year. The difference is that this year he is the one who organized the team and is heading all the efforts.

Winning a case competition like this is huge for your resume, so of course he wants it. Schools all across the nation participate. They are all given the case information on Friday and have until Monday to turn it in. That is the first round. The top 10 or so get invited to Purdue for a 2nd round in a month or so. Grand prize is $5,000. But if you don't get grand prize, you get nothing for all your hours and hours of hard work. He was very frustrated with his group last year (LONG story), so he just couldn't pass this up. So here is what I've seen all weekend.

That is the back of Nathan's head while he's sitting at the computer. Insert frantic typing sounds, and there you've got it. So after spending all weekend alone last weekend and loving being able to get all sorts of projects done around the house, this weekend I've tried to keep quiet as a mouse. It's really hard because our computer is in the corner of the living room, which is right next to the kitchen. It's either that or the bedroom. Not much space for me when I need to keep out of the way and stay quiet. So it worked out that I needed to work yesterday and went to the office to get away. Someday I will get to see Nathan's face, and not just the back of his head. Here's to another 5 months!

OMG!!! What in the heck is that!!!!

Last night as I glanced in the mirror after washing my face, I just about lost it. There it was--staring right back at me. At first I thought it was just a glare or weird reflection from the lighting, or maybe some extra shine. But no, it just kept staring at me. Several emotions ran through me in just a matter of seconds ranging from surprise, denial, disregard, fear, anger, disdain, discouragement, and finally self pity. By the time I arrived at self pity, I had already calculated the dwindling number of days left in my blissful 20s...45 to be exact. It continued to stare at me and I just stared right back as I took it between my fingers and did what we all do when we spot a stray...I plucked that gray hair right out and flushed it down the toilet with an air of defiance and triumph. *sigh*

Oldies but Goodies...Friends, that is

On our last day in Utah I was able to catch up with two of my best friends from high school--Mel and Amber. The final missing piece was Shantell, who called us at the last minute to say her purse had been stolen and she wouldn't be able to make it. What a bummer. I think the four of us haven't been together in one room since we graduated, so it would have been a momentus occasion. As it was, three of us were together and we enjoyed walking around Gardner Village (an assortment of boutiques in antique houses), catching up, and sipping some hot chocolate together. Love you guys!

Christmas Memories

We had such a great time in Utah for Christmas. What did we do for 9 days? Well....



A few memorable moments not caught on camera, and sharing of a few others:

Bryt's Christmas Eve birthday dinner: Instead of staying at home for a birthday dinner this year, Bryt decided he wanted us to all go out to celebrate. We wanted to go to Olive Garden, but weren't excited about the 2-hour wait. So over to Chili's we went. We waited about a half hour, and then Liz asked how much we'd pay her to go tell the other large party to hurry up because we were waiting for them to leave before we could be seated. Mom offered her $10. We were all in shock as she walked over and politely told them that they were holding us up just sitting around and talking. Liz, what else will you do for $10? :) We had just ordered when the power went out. It was fun eating our appetizers in the dark! We'll not soon forget that dinner. Happy 27th birthday, Bryt!

Games, games and more games: As is tradition we played a few games during the Christmas holiday--Phase 10, Killer Uno, Rummikub, Wii, and Carcassone (otherwise known in our family as "Carcasses"). Carcassone was a new board game that Chelsey had, which goes to prove that you can teach an old fart new games. Bryt and I loved it and thought we were pretty good until Nathan played once and beat the pants off all of us on his first try. The guys had several Wii tournaments, which the girls didn't need to be present to know they were going on, you could hear them from upstairs. It sounded like a rival football game was on or something--lots of laughing and yelling. I think I would play games until the end of time, and with Bryt and Chelsey always there to egg me on, Nathan thought he'd never see the end of it. Heba, I mean Anna, often rounded out our game-playing team.

"Once there was a snowmound:" There was LOTS of snow for Christmas--nearly 24 inches had fallen. We didn't get to take our annual sledding trip due to Nathan's incapacitation, so I had a small jaunt in the snow in the backyard with Bryt, Liz, Ellie and Cassady. Ellie had wanted for several days to build a snowman. By the time we made it out into the snow, it was unsuitable for snowman making. So instead of making a snowMAN, I decided to make a snowMOUND. Bryt soon joined in the engineering efforts and before long we had ourselves a very nice mound. My camera was on the fritz, so Liz took some great pictures of us playing on the mound, which ended up being a great little sledding hill/ snow slide. Oh, and Ellie did NOT like the snow. Every time she was set down she immediatly wanted to be picked up, and then kept telling us, "I tired. I go inside! I tired. I go inside!" Too cute.

Another cute Ellie story that needs to be written down (btw she'll be 3 in about 10 weeks)...We were playing games in the living room. Ellie was there opening some mini Reeses peanut butter cups. Liz told her she could only have a few, which she promptly shoved in her mouth. She took one more, and told Liz, "I give to Tyler." Tyler was downstairs. As she left we were commenting on how good she shares things, except toys. About a minute later Ellie comes back in the room with the peanut butter cup in her mouth, and over a mouthful says, "Tyler didn't want one." It was funny that she said it with a mouthful, and even funnier when we found out she didn't ever ask Tyler. It seems Ellie has learned the benefits of telling a little white lie. At 2 years old she's too smart for her own good.

The rest of the time was spent sitting around and talking, teasing nieces and nephews, shopping, going to the MFA (thanks, Tweed!), and visiting with friends. I was able to meet up with two of my high school friends whom I've kept in touch with all these years, visit with both set of my grandparents, and go to church with the whole family. Thanks to all our family and friends for making it a memorable time! We miss you already!