All dressed up

So last night was my office Christmas party. Despite the catering disaster which Renee and the gang handled superbly, it was a nice night! Seriously though, props to them for whipping up appetizers in like 30 minutes for over 100 people!

So John and I got all dressed up for the party. I found a cute dress at Kohl's believe it or not and I wanted a certain hairstyle. I have been really into the show "Samantha Who?" with Christina Applegate and her hair is flippin' cute! So I requested assistance from my dear pal Kassi who colors and cuts my hair normally. She whipped up the perfect do and I was so pleased! Of course I had John take some pictures to document this fabulous look! Anyway, that's all this blog is about...the pictures from last night!

My long shot showing my cute dress!


The hair close up..thanks Kassi!


John and I at the party. I got him a cute tie to match me!


The very cute Corinne. Didn't she do the 40's well?


My carpool buddy....only a few people understand that one!


I will probably post some more pictures soon! Until then...

Just a little update

So I realized it's been a month since my last post. I feel as though I am slacking but there just hasn't been much to post. Things have been going pretty well here. Scooter has been on his medication but has had 4 seizures in the first 3 weeks of taking the potassium bromide. This past week we have been seizure free!! So we are hoping it's starting to take effect. That would be so spectacular if the seizures stopped. I can't stand to see my baby during one of those. He had one the day after Thanksgiving and Trish and Jamie were there to see it. They were freaked out too. It's hard because there is nothing you can do but hold him until it passes. But let's keep our fingers crossed that the medication is working! Oh and on another note, Scooter has conjunctivitis right now and is NOT happy. I have to keep wiping his eyes and he gets so mad! That should go away in a couple of days though. If not, back to the vet we go.

For Thanksgiving we made the trek down to Orange County. We left Wednesday night and were pretty worried about traffic. Surprisingly though we made great time and saw minimal traffic. We were quite pleased, especially because we opted to bring the pups along for the trip. We were having Turkey Day at John's uncle John's house and he has 2 pups and we wanted our dogs to meet each other. Funny thing is Uncle John has a puppy named Penelope too. Total coincidence because we got our pups around the same time. Anyway, we stayed at Trish's house (John's moms) and had a great time. The dogs were pretty crazy and we decided that would probably be their last trip to Orange County for awhile. It's just too hard to keep an eye on them. While he was outside in the back yard, Scooter got into a fight with a cat!! Sigh...poor Scooter.

So that's pretty much all I have to talk about right now. My office Christmas party is coming up this Friday so I should have some fancy pics of John and I to post. And then John has his party the following week. And Christmas morning will be full of pictures this year again! Scooter opened all his presents last year and this year we have to teach Penny!

Until the next post....

Busy

So, this is really the first chance I have had to sit down and write in quite awhile. Things have been pretty busy around here. John is working full time at KSI and up until last weekend was still working every Saturday and Sunday at Red Robin. I'm so glad he is done there!! I have been subbing pretty much everyday. I have been lucky to get sub jobs at Patriot for most of my days, but occasionally I am at Centennial as well. Next week I will work at Endeavor for the first time. I'm a little nervous about that, but I'm sure it will be fine. And of course, I am still working at the office everyday after school as well. Subbing doesn't pay well here and I can't afford not to work at the office. My classes at dance are going well too. I was nervous before the year started, but now I'm feeling okay about it. So that's a good thing.

On other news...aka...PUP news! We had a bit of a scare with our oldest child, Scooter. Scooter was having random seizures recently. We weren't really sure what to make of them or even what to do about them. All we knew was that they were getting worse and scarier. So after a really bad one on Tuesday night, I got him right in at the vet's on Wednesday morning. They ran some blood work and on Thursday informed us that it doesn't look neurological (meaing we didn't have to go to LA and have an MRI). So that was GREAT news. Basically Scooter has to be on Potassium Bromide for the rest of his life. Hopefully it is effective and minimizes the seizures. It's not too pricy which is also a plus. If the Potassium isn't effective, he has to take Phenobarbotal which will destroy his liver over time. So we DON'T want to have that road be our option. So keep your fingers crossed for our little guy. He has had such a rough time in his short little life. He is such a good boy too. It breaks my heart when he is sick. Today was his first day on the meds, so we won't know if they are working for a couple of weeks. I will update though.

Well, that's about all for now. We went to Orange County last weekend to visit some family and friends. We went to La Cave for the Halloween whatnot. Anyway, here are some pictures from that night. Sorry no pictures of the dogs this time!!

This one is of John and me. Can you tell he didn't really have a costume?!


Me and Torie (my old gym buddy)...I like this one because I'm finally starting to look skinny!!! Yay! Thanks Torie for all your help and inspiration!


Our La Cave friends. Josh (dressed as a "cholo") and Dave (from "Blades of Glory")We really miss them!


Anyway, I promise more pictures of the pups soon!

Slightly Ridiculous!

Yes it's been awhile since my last post. Things have been going great here. John finally got a job! Go John! It's a really good one too. He should be leaving Red Robin shortly. It's just not worth it having no days off...which is what is happening. Anyway, now the stress level has decreased tremendously and that is great! I have been subbing almost everyday. There is a possibility that I could have a long term assignment during the second half of the year. That would be great! Then I could really get my foot in the door!

Anyway, we should be coming to the OC for a visit in the coming weeks. Once John is done at Red Robin we will have weekends free. Expect visits soon!

Most importantly and the REAL reason for this post is the addition of MORE pup pictures! I thought we weren't gonna get Halloween costumes for the dogs UNTIL I saw these! I know, we are awful parents...subjecting our dogs to this torture, but it was just too cute to pass up!

Scooter makes a great jailpup!! The hat was the greatest part...don't worry he only had it on for the picture!


Penny is a little witch!!


Blame John. He enables me and my madness!!!



So that's it for now! Hope you enjoy my cute pups!!

Pumpkin Pie

So it hasn't been TOO long since my last post. We are staying pretty busy now. I am subbing usually 3-4 days a week now which is nice. Dance is going well. It's so refreshing to be back. My body feels better...in a strange way, because although I'm sore and ache, I wouldn't have it any other way!! My Thursday night classes are going well. I don't think I have scared any girls away and as far as I can tell, none of them hate me. So that's a plus! The last two weeks I totally worked them and they were major spazzes!! It was great! We had a lot of fun. :)

John is still on the job hunt. He has been working a few days a week at the restaurant and he recently got set up with 2 temp agencies. Hopefully something will open up with that. We are trying really hard to be patient. In the meanwhile, I am working extra hard to make money to pay the bills.

On a super cute note, many of you know we have a Halloween costume for Scooter that he wore last year! But Penny is so tiny in even Scooter's clothes, that we can't really find much for her that doesn't hang off and bother her. BUT last night at Target I saw an EXTRA SMALL pumpkin t-shirt! I grabbed it up! So Penelope is a pumpkin and I posted Scooter's picture from last year! Because Penny's middle name is Pie, we have a little Pumpkin Pie!!!

Care Bear Stare!

This post is pointless but I had to post this picture. I can't explain the Care Bear...but what's important is my dog's love for the stuffed animal!

Our OC Visit!

Well I feel like a blog slacker cuz we went to the baseball game on Labor Day and it has taken me 5 days to post this blog. I guess it's better late than never.

Anyway, last weekend we dropped the dogs off at my Dad's and drove down to Orange County for a short visit. We had fun just laying low. I did some shopping while I was there. That is one thing that I REALLY miss...shopping! It's soo much better there. And since I lost so much weight, none of my clothes fit anymore for work. So I had to break down and spend some money for clothes.

Anyway, we went to the Angel game on Monday. I was excited because they had fireworks after the game and I had yet to go to a game with fireworks. So I was looking forward to that. I was also hoping they would win. See, every game I have gone to, they have lost! I was starting to feel like a curse. It was sad. But on Monday they came through for me and beat the Oakland Athletics! We had great seats too! We took John's best friend Eric along (he's an A's fan). He wasn't too happy during the game (A's were losing) but all in all we had a great time!

As you can see, Eric isn't having too much fun watching his team lose!



This is how close we were. We were on the 3rd base line. Front row seats...sadly no foul balls were in our area.


I love Garrett Anderson! He kicks butt!


It was SO hot that day. I was sweating!


This one is a good one. I personally like the conflicting teams!


We're pretty cute!


Well, our visit was short but sweet. We are hoping to come back soon! So to all our friends at OM and La Cave, we will make a stop by to see you all!

School Days

So it has been awhile since my last post. I haven't had too much new to add but I thought I would post a tiny update on life here. So school started for us here in Bakersfield back on the 20th. We start a bit earlier here...Orange County doesn't even start until after Labor Day! Well I will be subbing at a few districts this year in hopes to get a permanent teaching job. But because not too many teachers call out during the first two weeks, I haven't had a sub job. I wasn't expecting to though. So instead I have been working back at the office (where I worked before I left Bakersfield). They have been really great. I have just been helping out wherever they need me. They have been flexible with all my school stuff...meetings, orientations, etc. I might even work some days here and there once subbing picks up. Every little bit helps! Dance starts next week and I will be teaching 2 classes. I'm a bit nervous because I haven't TAKEN a class in 3 years...so teaching will be interesting. So we will see how that goes. I'm also taking 2 classes. I'm excited about that. The extra exercise will be nice! I get bored on that treadmill everyday! This will add some variety!

As for John he is still on the job hunt. He got a part time job at a restaurant here though. It should be good for him just to give him something to do. I think he was getting quite bored. But we are optimistic about him finding a job in the next month or so!

The kids, Penny and Scooter are doing well. They spend most of their day running around the backyard and jumping in the little swimming pool. Scooter has a permanent spot out by the back fence. He has a friend from the house behind us. He just loves sitting there and staring at that dog over there. Most of the time the dog doesn't even come to the fence. Silly Scooter. I don't know if it's a girl or boy. I'm guessing girl and he has a crush on her!

Oh well, no pictures to post right now. We are going to Orange County this weekend to see an Angel game! I'm sure I will have pictures to post then! Until next time....

Water Dogs

I know it seems a little ridiculous that all I post are blogs about my dogs. But, they DO consume a great deal of my time. Especially since school hasn't started which means no work for me. So as I mentioned in an earlier post, Scooter has to go swimming for "physical therapy." Well he isn't really all that interested in being in the water. Unless his ball is in there and then he just jumps out. Well NOT Penny. At first she wasn't interested, but now she jumps in even when we aren't outside. This poses as a problem because she then tracks her wet little self back into the house and onto the furniture. Well if we are gone, this can go very badly! Anyway, I snapped a couple of pictures of my water dogs!

This is a picture I took the first time we caught her in the pool unsupervised. The water is really low because we were planning on draining it that night.


As you can see Scooter is only in there for his ball.


My cute lil guy!



This is just a funny one I had to throw in. Penny was barking like crazy while I was getting ready in another room and I just figured she was being silly like usual. NOPE. She got herself tangled in John's baseball bag. She was barking for help! It was quite entertaining watching her drag it around the house.


And this ends yet another blog about my dogs! Hope you enjoyed! Until next time...

Job Search Progress

So, we have been in Bakersfield for a little over a month now. We are all settled in of course. John is getting used to things here and is actually pretty good about finding his way around...well at least in the Northwest part of town. School starts here in a week and I wasn't hired for a full time position. That means I will be subbing for the next year. Things happen and teachers get hired mid year and what not, so that is always a possibility, but for now I'm just planning on subbing. Right now I'm signed up with 2 districts. I plan to get on 2 more lists as well. That should keep me busy, from what I hear. I will also be teaching a couple of classes at my dance studio. I'm excited to get back into dance. I'm so out of shape, but it will be fun!

As for John, he is still seaching. He has been checking online since we got here and applying to any kind of accounting/finance job. No bites yet. It's a little discouraging, but it's only been a month. He has also applied to a bunch of restaurants. He is hoping to get a bartending job while he keeps looking for a day job. If anyone knows of any openings in a restaurant or office, let me know. He just needs to get his foot in the door and get a start here. He's pretty open.

Anyway, not much else to update. I will keep posting any new things that come along!

Swimming Pup

So, as promised, I am updating Scooter's condition. We went to the vet on Friday to have Dr. Hamilton check Scooter's leg. She said it looked much better. He was still sensitive and guarding his leg. But, she said it was a great improvement. She gave us a "physical therapy" assignment for him. He has to go swimming at least twice a day for the next 2 weeks. If he does that, he should be strong enough to regain normal behavior. Well, we have been letting him run around the house and yard but he isn't allowed to get "crazy." No playing ball or jumping around. And he's been doing pretty good with that. We don't have a swimming pool, so we had to go buy a little one. Well apparently in August stores stop carrying pools. We were lucky enough to find one on clearance. Scooter loves to swim! I didn't get any pictures taken, but I will soon. It's really cute to see him in the pool. Penny doesn't like to swim but can't help but be curious enough to keep getting in.

So hopefully in 2 more weeks, Scooter will be as good as new. Thanks to everyone for all their nice thoughts and comments! I'm sure Scooter will give you a BIG kiss (or lick) when he sees you!

Scooter Update

Well, there isn't much to update with regard to Scooter but some people have been asking how he is doing. Well, he is doing great. He is still in his kennel or as I like to call it, his "house." He has to remain there until Friday. That is when we see the vet and she can tell us what to do next. But in the meanwhile Scooter is ready to play! He hates being locked up...as anyone would, I imagine. And I feel so bad for him. But it's better than a surgery that would cost thousands of dollars!

So we are keeping our fingers crossed for good news on Friday after the vet does some tests on his leg! Then hopefully he can come out and play, even if it's just a lil bit!

It's Here!!

Our dining room table and server arrived today! We are so excited. I promised I would post some pictures for a couple of special people! So here they are!

This one is a bit dark, but its the view from the entrance to the kitchen.


This is the server BEFORE John put everything inside.


This is the server AFTER John put everything inside AND on top!


This is the top view of the table! Isn't it great?!


I still need to find a centerpiece of some sort. But other than that, WE both LOVE our new table and server. We can't wait to use it! I love to cook, so I'm sure it will get great use!

I'm in LOVE

So, those of you know that I LOVE daschunds (aka weenie dogs). Anyway, I have two and that is all John says we can have. It's perfectly rational, but I still get these puppy bugs!! Scooter came from a kennel in Iowa and they have a website. I frequent it to see the new puppies and oh goodness right now they have some really cute ones!! I sometimes wish I could have another one, but I know it's not a good idea. The two I have are crazy enough. Not to mention expensive! But they are totally worth it!

Anyway, if you want to see some really adorable puppies, click here:

http://dachshunddoxies.com/babydachshunds.html

Hopefully it works! Enjoy!

Pretty Penny

I had to post this picture of Penny. She looks absolutely adorable! I found this little shirt at Build a Bear. I call it her pretty princess dress!

I can honestly say she HATES this dress! I rarely put it on her. She just chews on it! But I WAS able to snap this picture!

Poor Scooter (WARNING: very long)

Well, I'm sure most people reading this blog (if very many at all) don't really want to hear about my dogs everyday. But I don't care. The pups grandparents (John's Dad and step-mom) like to keep up with the kids this way. And since John doesn't relay info that great, they rely on me! And I have some sad news to report.

On Wednesday we took Scooter and Penny to the vet because Penny had some stiches left over from her spay that we needed removed. Even though we had to pay for an office visit here, it was still cheaper than paying for gas to drive down to the OC and have it done for free at our previous vet. So while we were there we had Scooter tested for Heartworm (which he was negative for) and got both he and Penny started on Interceptor (heartworm preventative). Scooter has vaccine allergies so I wasn't sure if this would bother him or not. It's pretty powerful stuff you are giving to a dog. Anyway, he was fine. Then Thursday (yesterday) he started acting strange. He didn't want to play ball which is unheard of for him. He wouldn't play with Penny. He wouldn't even run. And he even went pee pee in the house which he also NEVER does. So I knew something was up. I thought it was a reaction to the Interceptor. It says they can get lethargic. Well later that night he started yelping like he was in pain. So we thought he had hurt his back somehow. Doxies have problems with their backs. So I was stressing. Poor Scooter slept on his back last night and was shaking and looked like he was in pain.

First thing this morning I called the vet. They were able to squeeze him into their full schedule. The vet did some pressure tests on his back and he didn't cry. She had him walk around the room. Then she tested the reflexes in his legs. Turns out poor little scooter tore part of a ligament in his back left leg. This is bad news. This usually requires surgery...a $5000.00 surgery. Yikes. But the vet said it didn't look too bad and we could probably get off without surgery IF......

this is where it gets sad. She gave Scooter pain meds which make him think nothing is even wrong. He was ready to play in a couple of hours after. BUT the vet has assigned Scooter to strict bedrest for at least 2 weeks! This means locking my very active and exciteable dog in his crate all the time!!! This has already been a difficult day and it's only the beginning. Sometimes it takes as long as 6 weeks for the ligament to heal. He has to be on a leash to go potty so he doesn't try to run. We have been letting him sit on the couch in our laps while we watch TV or whatnot. But otherwise he has to be in the crate. Poor Scooter. He thinks he is in trouble cuz Penny isn't locked up.

Well that's our sad Scooter story. I know it was long, but seeing as how Greg and Karen are probably the only ones reading this, I don't feel too bad! They need to be informed about their Grandpup! So on Monday when you guys visit (greg and karen) Scooter won't even get to really be out of his crate. Bummer. Hopefully after 2 weeks he can resume regular activity. Keep your fingers crossed!

A little down time

So things are slowing down quite a bit lately. Now that we are all settled in, we have much more time. A couple of days ago it was overcast and not as hot as usual, so we took the dogs out in the back yard to play a little bit. I snapped some pictures of course.

Things started out well. We had a racquetball and a frisbee.





Penny doesn't really stand a chance with Scooter when a ball is involved. Although she likes to think she does. The only reason she is even this close to the ball without Scooter in the picture is because John is holding Scooter's collar.



This is what happens when Penny wants to pick a fight with Scooter. She goes right for the butt!



I got a couple of great shots of them though. Scooter has gotten back into the habit of posing for pictures, which is hilarious!





So that's it for now. As you can see, I have nothing better to do than spoil my pups and take tons of pictures of them!

The House

So I have a little more time now. We are finally all moved in. Granted, there are TONS of boxes in the garage that still have to be sorted through, but the important things are all unpacked! I took a few pictures of some of the house. Keep in mind, it's still a bit messy.

This is the backyard. John is working on the canopy. The pups are helping!


A better angle of the backyard. It's actually a decent size.


This is the living room. It's really big so I had to take it from a couple different angles.



This is the kitchen. We are getting a dining room table soon. We obviously have plenty of space for one!



This is the view coming in from the backyard.


So now you have a better idea of where I "live" now.

Apparantly my blogger won't let me title this one. Oh well.

Well, we are here in Bakersfield. Not quite settled, but getting closer each day. Unpacking is worse than packing. I just look around and want it all done NOW. The dogs are actually adjusting well. We only had one accident on the floor (tile I might add, so no problem there). They just run through their doggy door out into a big yard. They are quite happy.

I will post some pictures later when the place is picture worthy. My next goal is to help find John a job. Any ideas? We can use as many as possible. He is an accounting and finance business major. So, anything like that would probably work.

Okay that's all for now. Back to unpacking.

Next Week

Oh yeah. Next week on the 5th of July we are heading up to Bakersfield to sign the lease papers and pick up the keys to the house! It's happening very quickly. We reserved a U-Haul truck. It's becoming real. I'm getting more nervous each day. There are things I will miss here. We will most likely be moving on the 7th of July. Thank you to all of you who volunteered to help us with the move. I'm not sure but I think we will have a group coming up with us from the OC as well as my Dad. Most likely we won't need the extra help. Besides, I'm weird about people seeing my living space all a mess. So once we are all settled, I will have you over! Sound good? Thanks again for all the well wishes. I'm looking forward to spending time with my old friends again....and some hopefully new ones!

The Sighting

So, as many of you know, I work at a restaurant in Costa Mesa/Newport Beach called La Cave. It's underground and cave-like, hence the name. Anyway, we have gotten our share of celebrities in for dinner or entertainment. Dennis Rodman, Nikky Hilton, Leif Garret, etc. etc. Anyway, I was just mentioning to John how I had yet to see one of these "celebrities." WELL, wouldn't you know...I saw one tonight. I don't normally work on Wednesday nights, but I was filling in for Jesse as the hostess. I was told the owner was coming in for dinner with a few friends. I didn't really believe who he said he was coming in with, cuz, well, he was a celebrity. Anyway, later on, I turn around and the elevator opens at about 8:30 tonight and out strolls the "guest." It was none other than Jaleel White...to those of you who don't know him by his real name...it was STEVE URKEL from Family Matters! Anyway, because I was the hostess I got to chat a bit with him and his friends while they waited for their table to be ready. It was very strange. Nobody noticed him except employees...its pretty dark down there. He was a very nice guy...super polite. I was bummed cuz I couldn't be all cheesy and ask for a picture because:

1. He was eating dinner...its kinda fancy.
2. He was at the table with the owner...not a good idea for pictures.

So there ya go. I have three days left at La Cave and I finally see my celebrity. Hey, its Orange County...it's not L.A. It's not like we have celebrities on every corner. So it's pretty cool when you get to see someone you watched every week on TV in the flesh!

So yes, I'm a cheeseball. I was excited to meet him. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Wicked!

Ahh! John took me to see Wicked last night! He gave me tickets for Christmas this year. I was so surprised because we saw it 2 years ago and when it came back to the Pantages, I said I wanted to see it again. He said that I had to see the other ones on my list before I started repeating. So that made sense and I didn't think about it anymore. But then SURPRISE! He got me tickets! So we went last night and it was SPECTACULAR!! I noticed things even more this time around. If you haven't seen Wicked, I seriously suggest it. I know its super expensive, but it is soooo worth it!

Moving

So our moving date is approaching quickly and it's starting to set in a bit. I'm getting nervous and excited...but mostly nervous. I think John is excited only for the reason of not having to work. I think moving will be more difficult for him than he thinks. Anyway, we are still waiting for the final word from the rental office about our actual moving date. They are going to give us a date when we can move in, but most likely we will actually move in on a later date. Right now we are tentatively planning on Saturday July 7th. Hopefully nothing happens to push that date back because then we would be pushing it with our apartment here.

The packing has begun. John brought me around 20 boxes from the T-shirt outlet. They always have the best boxes! Anyway, I pretty much packed up the spare bedroom a week or so ago. Now the packing has stalled. I am feeling overwhelmed. I like having boxes for each room/area filled. I don't like mixing rooms. But there are so many things we are still using, it is becoming frustrating. I can't pack a lot of things. I'm going to figure something out this week so I can pack a couple more boxes. There HAS to be something for me to pack around here!

On another note, I will be in Bakersfield on Thursday for the dress rehearsal for the dance recital. I will be leaving early on Sunday morning though because of course I have another wedding to attend...but this one is in Orange County. This year has actually been a relatively quiet one for weddings and that pleases me. Those things can get expensive and tiresome with traveling.

So, I just might see a few of you while I'm in town. If not, no worries...I will be back for good before you know it!

Yay for us!

So we finally heard back today that we were approved for the house! So now we don't have to worry about getting a storage unit or anything. And the best of all, Scooter and Penny will have a yard to play in! That should make them VERY happy! We won't be moving until July. The rental office website has a front view picture of the house and I thought I would post it for your viewing pleasure. The only difference is there are no longer trees in the front. At some point they must have chopped those suckers down! I think it looks better without.

The little things...

Hello. Just a quick blog today. Many of you do not know that I have been dieting and exercising like a crazy person...crazy for ME, that is. Anyway, my gym buddy Torie and I started going to the gym twice a week. That soon progressed to 4 times a week. I also got a treadmill and have been walking at least 2 miles each day...sometimes I run, but that hurts my large boobs! haha! I cut out soda from my regular diet...which let me tell you, was EXTREMELY difficult. Right away I lost 5 pounds. Now I have worked soda back into my diet but not nearly as much and only DIET..I know it's hard to believe. I usually drink at least 2 bottles of water a day. If I don't drink a soda, its more like 4 bottles of water.

Anyway, Torie has been losing a lot of weight really quickly because she is actually on a diet plan/program and is sticking to it great. I on the other hand, have just been watching what I eat and making my portions smaller. The other day I flipped over the bread pacakge and to my disgust realized that my slice of bread was 120 calories PER PIECE!! Everything I eat pretty much has to have a label for me to read now. It's crazy because I have NEVER been like this in my life. I gained ALOT of weight after I stopped dancing and moved to Orange County. I didn't feel good about myself at all. I had to buy all new LARGER clothes which is NEVER fun. So THAT is what has inspired me to start losing weight. Well that and the looks I get from the dance girls and some family members when I come home. And even some small comments here and there in the negative direction. I didn't appreciate it but realized the only thing I could do was to lose the weight. I am doing this to feel better and to be healthier. It's important to do things for yourself.

So to wrap this nice little blog up...today I went to the gym and weighed myself. My new weight has me at a total loss of 12 pounds! This may not seem like a lot to most people, but to me its incredible! I am so excited! And the best part of all...I came home and tried on my size 8 jeans which I have not worn in about 2 years! They FINALLY fit!!! I'm hoping to lose a few more pounds before I come home for the recital. But now I have to spend a few bucks and buy some smaller clothes. All my pants are falling off me!! Yay!

The only down side to this is once I move home to Bakersfield I won't have my gym buddy Torie! I will need a new buddy! Any takers?

12 pounds...it's the little things in life that make me happy!

Go Angels!

First, a quick update. We went to Bakersfield on Monday and looked at a few places to live. We put 2 applications in. One for an apartment and one for a house. The house is our bigger hope! We already got approved for the apartment. But if the house comes through, that will be GREAT! I will let you know when we know!

Tomorrow is John's birthday! Yay! The big 2-6! Because we both have to work tomorrow night we decided to go to the Angel game today. They had a DAY game so it worked out perfectly! I am pretty sure that I'm a bad luck charm for the Angels. Every game I have attended, they have lost..including today. So that part isn't fun. But the game was fun. We had pretty good seats. We were up high but right above first base so we could see everything. We both got a little sunburned, so now I'm paying the price tonight. Gotta love Aloe Vera.

John wants to go to a few more games before we move away. Hopefully I can see the Angels win one of those times!

We got the stadium attendant to take our picture. It was so bright I ended up looking even more pale than I already am!!


I LOVE these hats! I can't even tell you why!


Happy Early Birthday John!


It wouldn't be me if I didn't post a picture of My Kids! And yes Scooter is wearing an Angels jersey and Penny has on an Angels T-shirt!


This picture makes me laugh. They ran up on the stairs and were perfectly aligned for the picture. I couldn't have planned it better...except for maybe flipping Penny's ears forward. But when her ears flip back, it makes me laugh!! Plus look at her expression! It's great!

Feedback, poop, and graduation!

Well, it's been awhile since my last post. A few things have changed. I finished up at Original Mike's on Tuesday. And in true fashion, my power in my office was shut off that day on accident. Sigh, oh how ridiculous the OM is. It's strange really, because although I spent a large amount of time there, it hasn't really set in completely that I am free!! I have been able to sleep in the last two days...well sleep in until Penny and Scooter are ready to eat at 8am! It has been nice.

The feedback from the news of "the move" has been okay. I think most of our friends understand why we are leaving, but many of them still don't understand why we are choosing Bakersfield. I will miss a lot of things about Orange County, including many of the people I have met here. Ever since I moved here in August 2004, I have wished for the best of both worlds. But I had to make a choice and Bakersfield is going to have to be it...for now. I don't know what is in store for us, but I'm hoping it's something great. We are taking a small day trip up there on Monday to check out places to live. We have 3 places lined up. It doesn't seem like a lot, but when you have dogs, the choices are LIMITED. So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that one of those places works!

On other news, Penny has a new fun little habit. I know it is gross to talk about, but in a way it's kind of funny too. Only funny now that I can look back on it! Well the other day I came home and saw some poop on the carpet in the living room. I knew Penny had an "accident." She is still learning, so I wasn't that mad. But then I noticed it wasn't fresh AT ALL. So, I thought, that's weird. Then looked over and saw more poop. Then I saw some on the couch! At this point I was completely disgusted and reaching for the disinfectant! It seems as though Miss Penelope Pie Puplington enjoys the occasional piece of poop! How gross is that? Why oh why would she want to eat that? Well it hasn't stopped there. I have to constantly watch her. She hasn't brought any more inside yet but we are pooper scooping as soon as a deposit has been made! Today I found her "stash" and disposed of it! So gross.

Enough about that. Hopefully I will have some more pictures up. We went to John's sister, Jamie's graduation last night. I of course took no pictures with MY camera! She graduated with her BA in Business Marketing from CSU Long Beach. It made me really glad I didn't walk at my college graduation. She only had 800 grads or so...mine had like a couple thousand. So not interested!! But seeing Jamie graduate was pretty cool. What a great accomplishment. The speaker said something like they were in the top 25th percentile of the country's population because they graduated. Most people clapped. I just thought, wow, how sad. So many people don't go to college, let alone graduate. Although its a great thing, it's really sad that they are ONLY the top 25th percentile. Shouldn't there be MORE people going to college and graduating!? Our country has no educational values. And it's just getting worse. Instead of focusing on educating our kids, who by the way are the future of this country, we are more focused on updating the status of Paris Hilton's jail sentence or whether Lindsay Lohan is in rehab AGAIN at the age of 20. It's ridiculous and exhausting.

I have said my piece for the night! Maybe next time there will be more pictures and less ranting! We shall see! Congrats to Jamie Horn! She's all done with college...bring on the real world!

The News

So...I finally posted "the blog" on my myspace that announces THE MOVE. It was actually a bit difficult to figure out what I wanted to say. People are finding out that we are leaving Orange County and just about every single person has something negative to say about BAKERSFIELD. But strangely enough, none of them have even ever been there. DRIVING THROUGH DOES NOT COUNT. Anyway, I got tired of explaining WHY. And mind you, I have plenty of negatives about Orange County but I will only name two:

1. Expensive.
2. Traffic.

I don't really even have to go past that. If you are the type of person who likes to go to bars and nightclubs every night and just party all the time, then of course Bakersfield is NOT for you. It isn't exactly known for the night life. However, if you are just looking to buy a house, start a career, get married, and start a family...then Bakersfield IS for you. And I think that's where I am heading...much of a surprise to me and YOU! I never thought I would be this person I have become. But I like it.

And don't even get me started on it being HOT! Dude at least in Bakersfield everyone has a pool AND air conditioning. I am still shocked that people in Orange County don't have air conditioning! It reaches 100 here too! Geez. And nobody has a big enough yard for a pool, so forget that. And besides, Bakersfield is only really hot for maybe 3 months. Then its perfectly fine!

Hopefully between this blog and the myspace blog, people will at least stop asking "why?" I am starting to feel like a broken record...and its only been 3 days since the news broke! AH!!!

Lessons Unlearned...

So, as you might remember, my sweet puppy Penny decided to break into the food bag one night and eat herself to sleep. Well as a remedy we put the Beneful bags (Scooter and Penny have different bags of food) in the pantry. Well the pantry is pretty tiny. They were both about 3 days away from running out of food so I bought 2 new bags. Well there just wasn't enough space in the pantry so I decided to put one bag behind the refrigerator again. I thought, well its sealed so she can't knock it over and climb in. WRONG!!! Today I come home to find the little princess has torn a hole in the bag and chowed!! She looks huge! You can totally see the extra food in her tummy! And of course she just wants to lie down cuz she doesn't feel well.

So morals of this story:

1.Penny is smarter than I thought.
2.Never leave a bag of dog food within reach of Penny.
3.Don't eat so much you want to barf...which I'm waiting for her to do!

This is the hole she chewed in the bag.



Doesn't she look miserable? This is how she looked when I found her.