I moved!

I have moved my blog to Blogger.  There is a link in a previous post you can use to follow me there.  Later today I’ll put a link in this post as well.

 

Hope you’ll keep following me there!

Making a move?

I am in the decision making process of making a move from WordPress to Blogger.  Check me out over there, read my post, and leave your thoughts and opinions for me!

Living and Learning to be Country Strong

Thanks blends!

Camping Part 2

Better late than never right?  Right!  So, it’s finally here.

I left off my last camping post with me going to take some more pictures and enjoy more alone time with bugs nature and Bo.

As I was enjoying just sitting in nature I had some visitors.  At first I thought they were chipmunks but I was later informed that they are in fact gophers.

Can you see the visitor?

I was sitting in my zero gravity chair when I happen to glance to my left and spotted the little critter.  There was actually more than one and they served as entertainment for a while.  Bo was still enjoying the shade of the camper while sleeping so he missed out on all of the excitement.  Maybe that was a good thing though?

There it is!

My parents returned from the wedding after I stopped being entertained by the gophers.  We had hamburgers for dinner without ketchup!   My dad doesn’t use ketchup so of course he didn’t think to pack that for our camping trip.  I was so sad.

Even though the gophers were still scurrying around, including some tiny young ones, my dad and I found new entertainment in these crazy young people.

My dad and I were watching from our campsite to see if they would survive the strong current.  That sounds bad but it’s the truth.  We thought they were crazy for being in there and thought for sure that one of them would fall.  Lucky for them no one did.

My parents left me again to return to the wedding reception.  I stayed outside in my zero gravity chair until it was dark.  This was my view.

I of course spent some time playing with that handsome little devil!

Isn't he cute??

Once it got dark we moved it inside the disgusting camper.  Oh yea, did I mention that we found out the AC doesn’t work?  It was so hot that night nothing but clothes were needed for sleeping.  But while Bo and I were dying waiting for my parents to come back from the wedding we started watching NCIS Season 2.  Well really I watched and Bo slept because it was past his bedtime (9pm).  I counted Bo as another person so I wasn’t drinking alone when I had my four Mike’s Hard Black Cherry Lemonades.  Once my parents arrived “home” everyone went to bed for the night.

We woke up Sunday morning to the beginning of a few days worth of extreme heat.  Heat advisories were constantly on the TV and it was just plain hot.  We packed up pretty quickly following breakfast.  It felt so good to be in the truck with AC!  We made a pit stop at The Windmill for some ice-cream.  I ordered a chocolate milkshake and what I got was not what I was expecting.  They used chocolate ice-cream instead of vanilla with chocolate syrup to get the chocolate in the shake.  I’m not a chocolate ice-cream fan so this didn’t really hit the spot but due to the heat I drank most of it anyways.

After our ice-cream pit stop we drove home and enjoyed the afternoon by lounging in the house because it was so nice after being in the heat for a whole day and a half.  It made me appreciate the fact that my family can afford central air.

And there you have it!  So sorry it took so long for me to get this posted!

Upcoming Posts

Good morning blends!

I’m just going to come right out and say it, I’ve been lazy.  I have yet to type up my Camping Part 2 post or my Country Fest 2011 recap post even though I’ve been talking about doing them soon for quite some time now.

All of this laziness sparked a new post idea with some help from Navigating North, a new blog I’m following these days.  So that’s been on my to-do list too since Tuesday and I haven’t done that yet either.

Anyways, I just wanted to put it out there that I know I need to post everything that I’ve been telling you about, and I need to keep up with posting on a regular schedule.

This weekend is going to be the perfect time as I have no plans (other than what’s on my to-do list) at this point.

Be on the look out for my Camping Part 2  post, Country Fest 2011 recap, and my Navigating North inspired post!

Enjoy your Friday blends!!

Ramblings In My Head

I would love to be posting the second part to my camping weekend but while at work I’m unable to upload pictures from my camera.  So here’s a little something to hold you over until I get the post written up with pictures.

First of all Bo is on my mind.  He has sooo much energy lately and he’s using it in the wrong way.  He’s been biting my fingers, hands, and arms a lot lately.  I barely get him to let go and he’s back at it again.  I’ve tried to hold his mouth closed and say “no bite” in a strong voice but that doesn’t seem to be working.  I am open to suggestions!  I know he’s just a puppy but seriously, I try to play with him using his toys that he is allowed to chew/bite on but of course he goes for my hand/arm instead of the toy I’m holding.  He does have a bone which he’ll chew on it for a little bit but then seems to lose interest and is back to my hand/arm.  It’s getting frustrating and makes me want to not be around him.  It’s also frustrating to my brother who is home alone with him during the day so there is no escaping Bo.  My dad doesn’t seem to have this problem, not sure what’s different about him.  And my mom doesn’t get on the floor to play with him a lot because of this problem we’ve been having.  There has to be a happy medium between Bo sleeping and being (as we call him) a terrorist dog.  What are you suggestions for teaching a puppy that people are not acceptable toys to chew/bite on?

Next thing on my mind is overtime.  My department is in a big collections push as a result of a big billing push.  Basically because the billing department has been told to “bill, bill, bill” for cash flow reasons, my department (credit/collections) is now being told to “collect, collect, collect”.  I’m not opposed to the overtime pay, and it’s not that I don’t have enough work to fill my time, but it makes for long hours at the office.  Yesterday I worked 8.5 hours by only taking a half hour for my lunch break but wow was it ever a long day.  It took until 4pm to get into a rhythm on the project I was working on.  So, until 4pm the day seemed to drag by.  I put a post-it note over the time on my phone because it sits right next to my computer screen which means I constantly glance at it.  I even put papers over the clock radio that sits slightly behind me and is not in my direct line of sight.  When I can’t look at the time the day goes by a little bit better.  If you follow me on Twitter you probably thought I was crazy when I posted a picture of my post-it note on my phone last week but I do it so I don’t go crazy.  Do you ever have to work overtime for your job?  If so, how do you get through the long days?

And finally the last thing on my mind (but not on the bottom of the list of importance) is fitness.  I haven’t been doing any sort of activity, unless you count walking around the yard so Bo goes to the bathroom.  Tonight, despite the scorching heat, I will be going for a walk.  I don’t care how it gets done, with Bo and my parents, with just Bo, or alone but it will get done!  I’ve weighed Bo twice by holding him in my arms while on the scale, and then weighing myself alone on the scale.  While it’s not the scale I usually use to weigh in and I didn’t record my weight I still did not like what I saw.  Time and time again I say I’m going to kick my butt into gear to lose this excess weight but time and time again I’m not actually doing anything more than thinking about what I should be doing.  News flash to self you won’t lose weight by only thinking  about what you should be doing, you need to actually do it!

There you have it, the ramblings that are going on in my head right now.  I’ll be posting the second part to my camping weekend (with pictures!) soon and hopefully not too far down the road I’ll be posting my Country Fest 2011 recap (with pictures!) too.

Camping Part 1

Hey there!  I hope everyone is having a good Saturday!  I am writing this while sitting in a zero gravity chair in the north woods of Wisconsin where I have no internet connectivity and no cell phone service.  It’s basically an unplugged two days of relaxation for me.

It all started yesterday at 5pm for me when I was able to take off my tennis shoes… 

And slip into my all time favorite shoes…flip flops!

Within an hour of getting home from work my parents, Bo and I were on the road north.

Can you believe how big he's gotten in just a week?!

Pretty impressive considering I had packed absolutely nothing prior to getting home.  I did make a list while at work.  

And then didn’t even have the list handy when I was packing.  A lot of good making a list does then right?  I haven’t wished I had something yet so I guess making the list was helpful because everything was fresh in my mind when I packed.

As I type this Bo is hanging out under the camper where it’s cool.

Just chillin'

It’s plenty warm and humid here so just sitting outside in the shade causes me to break a sweat but Bo doesn’t seem to mind as he’s been sleeping pretty much the entire time under the camper.  

My parents are off at a wedding ceremony right now so I’ve been able to just relax in the quiet and listen to the waterfall which is basically in our “backyard” for the weekend. 

I’m finding that I love this alone time with not only Bo but myself.  I can reflect or simply enjoy the fresh air and bugs.  Well ok so I’m not really enjoying the bugs but they’re part of nature so if I want to enjoy it I have to deal with the bugs right?

I highly suggest taking advantage of some alone time out in fresh air at a park, camping, or simply taking a walk.  So let me know where you’re enjoying nature this weekend!

I’m off to continue enjoying my alone time with some more picture-taking, Kindle reading, and maybe some picture organizing on my computer so I can finally get that Country Fest post up that I know you’re all waiting for!

It’s finally time!

Yes you read that right, it is finally time that my surprise/secret (whatever you want to call it) is revealed!

As many of you know my family had to put our dog Duke to sleep in June.  The day after was weird.  We no longer had a dog in the house, or outside.  The first time in my 21 years of life that I didn’t have a dog.  It was sad.

Duke after a grooming appointment 4/22/11

Duke waiting for my mom to come up the driveway 6/3/11 (while he was sick )

No dog can ever replace Duke but we wanted a dog in our family again.  And funny enough the one thing my mom agreed to before she married my dad, he would always have a hunting dog.  So the topic came up the very next day about getting a puppy.

Monday (6/13/11) we attempted to contact Holly, the breeder we had gotten Duke from.  Her number was no longer in service.  I searched online but kept coming up with the same number.  So our search turned to the internet.  My dad and I were Googling like crazy.  We ended up emailing two kennels that night; one responded within 10-15 minutes with a video of his puppies and then shortly after called my dad.  We ended up setting up a time to come out and look at the puppies as there were four males available.

Tuesday morning at work I checked my email and was pleasantly surprised to see an email from the other kennel we had emailed.  I responded back requesting that he call that evening.

Again we set up a time to come out and see the puppies.  We were lucky that we could visit both litters on the same day which also happened to be my birthday.  Bet you were wondering why I was on the road when I mentioned it in my last blog weren’t you? 

Finally Saturday rolled around and we went to see both litters.  The first puppies we saw were much older and would be ready to be picked up the weekend of the 25th and 26th.  While the puppies were cute (but what puppies aren’t?) they weren’t what we were looking for.

We ate at Red Lobster between stops.  The second litter of puppies were much younger and wouldn’t be ready to go to their new homes until mid July.  Even at a young age we were able to pick a favorite, boy #7.

We decided we wanted boy #7 by the time we got on the high way but waited to call them back until the next night.  We put a deposit down and then all we had to do was wait.

We were expecting to pick up our puppy, who we decided to name Bo, on the 16th of July until we received a call on June 30th saying they had miscounted how many weeks old they would be and we could actually pick Bo up on the 9th.

We were prepared with a new blue collar and leash along with treats.

And finally what you’ve all been waiting for….pictures!

Bo in the car on our way home

Bo weighed in at 12 pounds Saturday at our vet and already by Wednesday night he weighed 14.5 pounds.  He’s growing up so fast!! or ???

Sleeping next to me on the way home

He decided he needed a new sleeping position

Bo between my feet Love my puppy!

Sleepy puppy after hanging out in our yard. Much bigger than he's used to so he did lots more running around

Well there you have it!  My secret/surprise has finally been revealed and I posted all the pictures I have of him right now.

My parents and I are going camping this weekend so I’ll be sure to take more pictures.  Sadly, I do not get cell phone reception or internet connection at the campground we’re going to so I’ll be unplugged until I get home.  I don’t mind being unplugged but I would like to be able to do some blog posting while it’s just me and Bo at the camper while my parents are at wedding.

Still to come my Country Fest 2011 recap!  Have a great weekend!!