So we've finally hit the first cold night of the "fall/winter season." This past week we've had a couple nights in the 50's and then a high 72 during the day, making its absolutely beautiful outside. The only downside to the cooler nights, is that I've been eaten up by mosquito's. I guess its a small price to pay for such wonderful weather to enjoy.
This weekend, Josh and I are planning on going to the Pumpkin Festival. From what I understand, its a huge farm that even has a 7 acre corn field maze. I'm pretty excited, I think its going to be so much fun. There's a petting zoo too! The thoughts of a fun weekend with my sweetheart, homemade pumpkin pie, and sweet corn on the cob all rolled up into a festival is what has been getting me through a busy work week. Thank goodness its almost here. :-)
Another thing that has helped this week fly by is excitement about the future. :-) Josh and I are officially trying to have a baby! :-) Now that the house is just about done and our financial goals and budget is working out smoothly, we decided that now was a good time to plan on beginning our family. Its super exciting, and yet scary at the same time. I can't believe that possibly this time next year, I could be a mother. Its a crazy and wonderful feeling at the same time. So we'll see what happens. I've got a good mix of friends that were pregnant just weeks after stopping birth control and others that have been trying a couple years. So we'll see how it goes for us. I just know that I'm excited to be taking this next step for our family with Josh. He's got to be one of the most patient and caring people I know and I am sure he is going to be a great father. :-)
At first we didn't think we'd tell anyone we were trying to have a baby. We thought we'd just wait and tell everyone once we got pregnant. But then I reconsidered because this season in our life is still super special to us and we want to begin this journey with our friends and family by our side. So here we go, I'm excited to see how God guides us down this new path. :-)
Grace Family
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The big 24! :-)
This past week was birthday week in the Grace house. It was my 24th birthday and it was very nice. Josh started the birthday celebrations by giving me my birthday present early (he is just as bad as me about waiting to give gifts, lol) he gave me a sewing machine! :-) I have been wanting one for a while now and was very excited to finally have one. I went out the store right away and bought sewing materials to try to make my first sundress...lets just say...I learned very quickly that I need to enroll in a beginners class if I want to be able to make clothes that I can actually wear. The pattern was simply enough, but I didn't understand quite all the terms...so Josh had a good long laugh at the finished product that was supposed to a dress. :-)
My actual birthday day was a super busy day at work followed by dog classes for Lucy that night, so we planned on celebrating my birthday on Saturday by going to Disney. We recently bought year passes so it seemed like a good idea, however, once Saturday came, I realized that I was a bit too tired to make the trek out to a theme park all day. So we decided to sleep in, and then we took the puppies to the dog park. It was a beautiful morning! only 70 degrees outside! HELLO FALL! :-) It was so nice out that we stayed at the park for about an hour and a half, letting the puppies play while
we soaked up the sun and cool air. When leaving the park, we decided that for my birthday lunch, Josh would break out the grill and we decided to continue our fall day with grilled hot dogs, onion rings, fruit salad, and pumpkin pie (instead of birthday cake). I know the menu seems more fitting for summer than fall, but summers are usually too hot to enjoy the outdoors. So while Josh got the grill going, I turned off the AC and opened ALL the windows and doors. It was a beautiful afternoon. After lunch Josh and our friend Dan, put together the guest bed for our office, its a twin sized daybed that put the trundle part pops out and up it turns into a queen sized bed. That was the last piece of furniture for the office, making it now one more room finished. So the day was a good mix of rest and fun along with being productive. :-)
I'm starting to get very excited about Thanksgiving, the guest list is ever expanding but when we've got the space, why not? I'm going to be so in my element cooking for everyone! I can't wait! I've already requested the day before and after Thanksgiving off in order to prepare for and then enjoy my guests and the Holiday. :-) Its going to be fun.
Not much has changed lately for us, our days have been filled with work and then decorating the house. So we decided that we needed something fun and bought Disney passes. We've entered into the nice part of the year and so thought now would be a good time to get them. We started out with Animal Kingdom as it had been along time since I had been there and Josh had never been. We've got access to all the parks as often as we like, so it takes the rush out of the day and we can leisurely explore the park. :-)
We've also started Lucy's dog classes to begin her training. If I'm going to have a house full of people for the holidays, then my two silly puppies will have to be on their best behavior. So far Lucy has been to one session and was pretty unsure and distracted by being in a large room with 20 other dogs, but I think she is going to catch on really well.
So for now, that's about it for the Grace's. :-)
My actual birthday day was a super busy day at work followed by dog classes for Lucy that night, so we planned on celebrating my birthday on Saturday by going to Disney. We recently bought year passes so it seemed like a good idea, however, once Saturday came, I realized that I was a bit too tired to make the trek out to a theme park all day. So we decided to sleep in, and then we took the puppies to the dog park. It was a beautiful morning! only 70 degrees outside! HELLO FALL! :-) It was so nice out that we stayed at the park for about an hour and a half, letting the puppies play while
we soaked up the sun and cool air. When leaving the park, we decided that for my birthday lunch, Josh would break out the grill and we decided to continue our fall day with grilled hot dogs, onion rings, fruit salad, and pumpkin pie (instead of birthday cake). I know the menu seems more fitting for summer than fall, but summers are usually too hot to enjoy the outdoors. So while Josh got the grill going, I turned off the AC and opened ALL the windows and doors. It was a beautiful afternoon. After lunch Josh and our friend Dan, put together the guest bed for our office, its a twin sized daybed that put the trundle part pops out and up it turns into a queen sized bed. That was the last piece of furniture for the office, making it now one more room finished. So the day was a good mix of rest and fun along with being productive. :-)
I'm starting to get very excited about Thanksgiving, the guest list is ever expanding but when we've got the space, why not? I'm going to be so in my element cooking for everyone! I can't wait! I've already requested the day before and after Thanksgiving off in order to prepare for and then enjoy my guests and the Holiday. :-) Its going to be fun.
Not much has changed lately for us, our days have been filled with work and then decorating the house. So we decided that we needed something fun and bought Disney passes. We've entered into the nice part of the year and so thought now would be a good time to get them. We started out with Animal Kingdom as it had been along time since I had been there and Josh had never been. We've got access to all the parks as often as we like, so it takes the rush out of the day and we can leisurely explore the park. :-)
We've also started Lucy's dog classes to begin her training. If I'm going to have a house full of people for the holidays, then my two silly puppies will have to be on their best behavior. So far Lucy has been to one session and was pretty unsure and distracted by being in a large room with 20 other dogs, but I think she is going to catch on really well.
So for now, that's about it for the Grace's. :-)
Friday, September 9, 2011
dreams of fall and thoughts of christmas :-)
I can't believe that its been so long since my last blog. Time has gone by SO fast, I feel like I blinked and August was over. But thats just fine for me. Because it means I'm all that much closer to breaking out the Christmas decorations. lol.
Things are certainly picking up for me at my job. I've got 5 new cases this week, bringing me to 15 kids so far. Thankfully, I have a supervisor that has been really great helping me get settled into the job. Everyday is something different and you wouldn't believe half the stuff that comes across my desk each day, its a constant reminder to me at how lucky I am to be blessed with the life I have. It also reminds me to carry a thankful heart and compassionate one towards others, so while its a job thats paying the bills, its also one that is continuing to grow me into a better person.
For the past few weeks, Josh has also been working a lot of overtime and crazy days at his office. Its been stressful and tiring for him, but its been a great opportunity for him to show himself as a valuable employee and to remember patience, even when he's tired.
Our little Lucy is not so little anymore. She is now 40lbs....and only 4 months old....she is slightly bigger than I thought she would be, but she is still half the size Tele is and super sweet. She is such a cuddler. But, she is also MUCH more willful than Tele ever was. Needless to say, when she starts her dog classes on the 28th of the month...she is going to tossing around an attitude. lol. She doesn't like to be told what to do. However, on the flip side, she is significantly smarter than Tele. Its interesting to see, but she uses reason a lot more than he does. So, I'm excited to see her turn into the good dog that I see glimpses of every now and then. lol.
The house is coming along nicely. I found drapes for the living room, that just came in the mail today. Can't wait to have Josh hang them up! I've found various decorations for different rooms for the house each weekend and its really starting to look wonderful. I can't wait to get it finished and then post a video tour of the house. :-)
I've begun preparing myself for Thanksgiving already. Its the first major holiday I'll have ever hosted and so I'm pretty excited about that. With family coming in for the Holiday, we'll have a house of 10 people and 3 dogs (Tele, Lucy, and Betty is going to bring Penny) :-) Since we've got the space and the beds, it just made sense to offer to host it. Plus I love having a house full to cook for. Thank goodness I married a man that likes having company just as much as me. :-) We are planning on having our Christmas decor up and out by then, simply because with family coming from out of town, and since we go pretty over the top for christmas, we decided to put it up early this year so everyone could see it while they were here. Its going to be a lot of fun. :-)
I'm excited to be moving closer to my favorite season for the cooler weather and festive decorations, but also because the fall and winter months hold a lot of special memories for Josh and I. We're just 3 months away from the 2 year anniversary of when Josh asked me to marry him. I can't believe its been almost two years, but at the same time, I can't believe its been only two years. So much has happened and changed, and they've all been wonderful.
One of the wonderful changes is that my sister-in-law is pregnant with my 2nd little niece or nephew. Josh and I are super excited for Salena and Jason and can't wait to find out if its a boy or a girl. Our nephew Carson is getting so big and has to be one of the most photogenic babies I've ever seen. He is adorable. We don't get to see him often because of living so far, but a few weeks ago I did get to talk to him on the phone for the first time. He said "hi" and "buh-bye" lol. It was so cute seeing Josh try to talk to him on the phone. My husband has fully jumped onto the baby train with me and he is completely ready for us to have our own kids. Its fun getting to see that side of Josh and makes me all the more excited for us to try to get pregnant this coming spring. We just want a couple more bills paid off and the house finished up with decorations and then hopefully I'll be focusing my attention on decorating a nursery. :-) Can't wait! :-)
Things are certainly picking up for me at my job. I've got 5 new cases this week, bringing me to 15 kids so far. Thankfully, I have a supervisor that has been really great helping me get settled into the job. Everyday is something different and you wouldn't believe half the stuff that comes across my desk each day, its a constant reminder to me at how lucky I am to be blessed with the life I have. It also reminds me to carry a thankful heart and compassionate one towards others, so while its a job thats paying the bills, its also one that is continuing to grow me into a better person.
For the past few weeks, Josh has also been working a lot of overtime and crazy days at his office. Its been stressful and tiring for him, but its been a great opportunity for him to show himself as a valuable employee and to remember patience, even when he's tired.
Our little Lucy is not so little anymore. She is now 40lbs....and only 4 months old....she is slightly bigger than I thought she would be, but she is still half the size Tele is and super sweet. She is such a cuddler. But, she is also MUCH more willful than Tele ever was. Needless to say, when she starts her dog classes on the 28th of the month...she is going to tossing around an attitude. lol. She doesn't like to be told what to do. However, on the flip side, she is significantly smarter than Tele. Its interesting to see, but she uses reason a lot more than he does. So, I'm excited to see her turn into the good dog that I see glimpses of every now and then. lol.
The house is coming along nicely. I found drapes for the living room, that just came in the mail today. Can't wait to have Josh hang them up! I've found various decorations for different rooms for the house each weekend and its really starting to look wonderful. I can't wait to get it finished and then post a video tour of the house. :-)
I've begun preparing myself for Thanksgiving already. Its the first major holiday I'll have ever hosted and so I'm pretty excited about that. With family coming in for the Holiday, we'll have a house of 10 people and 3 dogs (Tele, Lucy, and Betty is going to bring Penny) :-) Since we've got the space and the beds, it just made sense to offer to host it. Plus I love having a house full to cook for. Thank goodness I married a man that likes having company just as much as me. :-) We are planning on having our Christmas decor up and out by then, simply because with family coming from out of town, and since we go pretty over the top for christmas, we decided to put it up early this year so everyone could see it while they were here. Its going to be a lot of fun. :-)
I'm excited to be moving closer to my favorite season for the cooler weather and festive decorations, but also because the fall and winter months hold a lot of special memories for Josh and I. We're just 3 months away from the 2 year anniversary of when Josh asked me to marry him. I can't believe its been almost two years, but at the same time, I can't believe its been only two years. So much has happened and changed, and they've all been wonderful.
One of the wonderful changes is that my sister-in-law is pregnant with my 2nd little niece or nephew. Josh and I are super excited for Salena and Jason and can't wait to find out if its a boy or a girl. Our nephew Carson is getting so big and has to be one of the most photogenic babies I've ever seen. He is adorable. We don't get to see him often because of living so far, but a few weeks ago I did get to talk to him on the phone for the first time. He said "hi" and "buh-bye" lol. It was so cute seeing Josh try to talk to him on the phone. My husband has fully jumped onto the baby train with me and he is completely ready for us to have our own kids. Its fun getting to see that side of Josh and makes me all the more excited for us to try to get pregnant this coming spring. We just want a couple more bills paid off and the house finished up with decorations and then hopefully I'll be focusing my attention on decorating a nursery. :-) Can't wait! :-)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
new furniture, new neighbors, new puppy tricks
Well, we've now been in our new home for about 5 weeks. Its still hard to believe its ours. However, we did send off the first mortgage payment, so I guess its official, lol. It has been so much fun getting settled into the house. Every weekend, we've been furniture shopping and painting. So its really starting to coming together, but there is still TONS to decorate. So far, we have bought all the furniture for our bedroom, and our new bedding to match it. All we need to do is paint the walls and buy the curtains (we have blinds right now, but curtains are easier to dust) and then our bedroom will be completely decorated. We've painted the walls in the dining room and bought the new table, just have to get 4 more chairs (our previous table sat 4, our new one seats 10 when fully extended) and the dining room will be just about done. Our guest bedroom is currently the only room that is finished, i would like to get a small dresser for it, but other than that, its decorated. Last week we bought new book shelf's for the office from Ikea and I love them. They are white, with decorative edges on top and bottom and they have glass doors on the front. It makes it so much easier for me to dust, with the glass doors, i just have to wipe them down since the books will be protected from dust. We still need the desk, chair, and day bed for the office, so its going to be a few more weeks until that room is finished. We found a day bed, that it is set up as a twin sized bed, but when you pull out the trundle part, it turns the bed into a queen sized bed. So I'm hoping to have the office finished by the end of August. In our living room, we have it almost completely painted, it has high ceilings, so that makes it much harder to paint. But we did find our new tv stand and end tables. We are waiting to get the new couches until Lucy is past her teething/chewing stage. she hasn't hurt our current couches yet, but she chews on things much more than Tele ever did, so we're taking a few more precautions.
One of the new precautions we have to take is that Lucy is now being kenneled everytime we leave the house...we didn't do this with Tele as a puppy because from what I had read, Boxers don't do very well being kenneled up. And Tele did pretty well not being kenneled up, so we thought lucy would be the same. Well...we were wrong.lol
A few Saturdays ago, we were going to go buy our bedroom furniture and we decided to put both dogs in our master bathroom while we were gone. Lucy is only 12 weeks old, so we isn't quite house broken yet and its much easier to clean up tile flooring than carpet. So we put both the dogs in the bathroom so they wouldn't be lonely (Lucy freaks outs when Tele isn't with her) and went out shopping.
Well...when we got home, I went to open our bedroom door to get the dogs out of the bathroom, and found that both of them were at the bedroom door waiting for me...How did that happen? I was pretty sure that I had shut the bathroom door before we left. I figured that Tele must have opened the door (yes...my bouncing boxer knows how to open door knobs, its scary how smart he is) however, when I turned the corner in our bedroom...I found that the bathroom door was in fact still shut. How did the puppies get out of the bathroom? Well, Lucy was rather inventive with this. Apparently, she was bored being shut in the bathroom and decided she wanted to get out. Josh and I have been watching the show "prison break" on netflix lately, so Lucy much have devised her plan from that. SHE ATE THROUGH THE DOOR! I couldn't believe it. there was a great big hole in the bottom of my bathroom door that both of them squeezed out through. All I could do was laugh when I saw it. It was certainly unexpected, but I saw no reason to get mad. Its part of having a puppy, lol. Josh heard me laughing so hard, that he asked me what was going on. I yelled to him in the living room that the dogs had found a way out of the bathroom. He laughed and said that Tele must have opened the door again. I told him that wasn't quite what happened and that he should come see. When he came into the bedroom and saw the bathroom door, he was pretty surprised. But thankfully, my husband has this ability to see humor in almost any situation, and he said "I guess that Lucy is no longer allowed to watch "Prison Break"lol.
So now, for the time being, we have a Lucy made doggie door on our bathroom door. lol. It won't cost much to replace the door so there wasn't much harm done. However, realizing the ability of my little Lucy...she now is kenneled up when we leave just to prevent something really expensive getting broken. We also have been kenneling up Tele, because Lucy freaks out when Tele is not near her. But when they are together, they don't seem to mind the cages. They each are in seperate cages, but they are side by side and the cages have open bars, so they can see everything. We tired kenneling just Lucy and she flipped out. But when Tele is in his cage too, she is pretty calm and doesn't cry. I'm pretty sure that she is SO bonded to Tele because we got Lucy a little too early. She was only 5 weeks when we brought her home, so she is pretty attached to Tele. The only time she leaves him is when she comes to sit with either Josh or me. And Tele is almost always at our side, so she really is never too far from him. lol. goodness...my little puppies. I'm pretty happy that we brought lucy into our family. Tele is such a playful and social dog, so him having a little buddy has been great.
We've started meeting our new neighbors over the past few weeks, and so far everyone has been pretty friendly. Its funny, I tell Josh I feel like I'm on Wysteria Lane, getting the latest gossip from all the housewives. lol. However, its not just the wives, but the husbands too. Each new neighbor is quick to give us to "low down" on the "crazy neighbor" the "problem neighbor" the "friendly neighbor" lol. its really funny. Each couple even has their own set of nicknames for various neighbors. So far we've heard "Captain Crunch" "P. Diddy" "Mystery Man" "Lawn Mower guy" and "weird borrow everything not nailed down guy" hahaha. I'm pretty sure that Josh and I have landed the nickname "The newlyweds" lol. Its funny, so far it seems that we are the youngest couple in the neighbor, but i guess most 23 and 26 year olds aren't in the purchasing a house stage yet. But despite the humor in our rather attentive neighbors, I am thrilled that most of them seem to know the neighborhood well. Its a nice feeling, because they'll be the first ones to notice if something isn't right or a suspicious person is lurking about. I'm pretty sure that while we live here, we're going to encounter some funny memories with our fellow friendly home owners. :-)
One of the new precautions we have to take is that Lucy is now being kenneled everytime we leave the house...we didn't do this with Tele as a puppy because from what I had read, Boxers don't do very well being kenneled up. And Tele did pretty well not being kenneled up, so we thought lucy would be the same. Well...we were wrong.lol
A few Saturdays ago, we were going to go buy our bedroom furniture and we decided to put both dogs in our master bathroom while we were gone. Lucy is only 12 weeks old, so we isn't quite house broken yet and its much easier to clean up tile flooring than carpet. So we put both the dogs in the bathroom so they wouldn't be lonely (Lucy freaks outs when Tele isn't with her) and went out shopping.
Well...when we got home, I went to open our bedroom door to get the dogs out of the bathroom, and found that both of them were at the bedroom door waiting for me...How did that happen? I was pretty sure that I had shut the bathroom door before we left. I figured that Tele must have opened the door (yes...my bouncing boxer knows how to open door knobs, its scary how smart he is) however, when I turned the corner in our bedroom...I found that the bathroom door was in fact still shut. How did the puppies get out of the bathroom? Well, Lucy was rather inventive with this. Apparently, she was bored being shut in the bathroom and decided she wanted to get out. Josh and I have been watching the show "prison break" on netflix lately, so Lucy much have devised her plan from that. SHE ATE THROUGH THE DOOR! I couldn't believe it. there was a great big hole in the bottom of my bathroom door that both of them squeezed out through. All I could do was laugh when I saw it. It was certainly unexpected, but I saw no reason to get mad. Its part of having a puppy, lol. Josh heard me laughing so hard, that he asked me what was going on. I yelled to him in the living room that the dogs had found a way out of the bathroom. He laughed and said that Tele must have opened the door again. I told him that wasn't quite what happened and that he should come see. When he came into the bedroom and saw the bathroom door, he was pretty surprised. But thankfully, my husband has this ability to see humor in almost any situation, and he said "I guess that Lucy is no longer allowed to watch "Prison Break"lol.
So now, for the time being, we have a Lucy made doggie door on our bathroom door. lol. It won't cost much to replace the door so there wasn't much harm done. However, realizing the ability of my little Lucy...she now is kenneled up when we leave just to prevent something really expensive getting broken. We also have been kenneling up Tele, because Lucy freaks out when Tele is not near her. But when they are together, they don't seem to mind the cages. They each are in seperate cages, but they are side by side and the cages have open bars, so they can see everything. We tired kenneling just Lucy and she flipped out. But when Tele is in his cage too, she is pretty calm and doesn't cry. I'm pretty sure that she is SO bonded to Tele because we got Lucy a little too early. She was only 5 weeks when we brought her home, so she is pretty attached to Tele. The only time she leaves him is when she comes to sit with either Josh or me. And Tele is almost always at our side, so she really is never too far from him. lol. goodness...my little puppies. I'm pretty happy that we brought lucy into our family. Tele is such a playful and social dog, so him having a little buddy has been great.
We've started meeting our new neighbors over the past few weeks, and so far everyone has been pretty friendly. Its funny, I tell Josh I feel like I'm on Wysteria Lane, getting the latest gossip from all the housewives. lol. However, its not just the wives, but the husbands too. Each new neighbor is quick to give us to "low down" on the "crazy neighbor" the "problem neighbor" the "friendly neighbor" lol. its really funny. Each couple even has their own set of nicknames for various neighbors. So far we've heard "Captain Crunch" "P. Diddy" "Mystery Man" "Lawn Mower guy" and "weird borrow everything not nailed down guy" hahaha. I'm pretty sure that Josh and I have landed the nickname "The newlyweds" lol. Its funny, so far it seems that we are the youngest couple in the neighbor, but i guess most 23 and 26 year olds aren't in the purchasing a house stage yet. But despite the humor in our rather attentive neighbors, I am thrilled that most of them seem to know the neighborhood well. Its a nice feeling, because they'll be the first ones to notice if something isn't right or a suspicious person is lurking about. I'm pretty sure that while we live here, we're going to encounter some funny memories with our fellow friendly home owners. :-)
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Living in the Suburbs
Its been 4 days since we signed the final papers and closed on our new house. The closing went super smooth and last minute we were able to save a lot of money at the closing date. It was an amazing surprise. So Friday night we walked into our new home for the first time as the owners. What an amazing feeling. We ended up going straight to Lowes to buy paint and we spent the night painting the living room. We even slept on the floor at the new house because we were excited it was finally ours. it was an eventful night though with the two puppies. Lucy decided to jump head first into the pail of red paint that we were using to paint the living room with. Apparently my little Lucy did not want to be blue anymore, she prefers red. Thank goodness it didn't make much of a mess because I picked her up right away, and the paint came right off once I rinsed her off in the sink. So it made for more of a funny memory rather than a frustrating one. Saturday was spent moving our furniture over so that way we would have our bed to sleep on, lol. We still have a few things left at the duplex, just little odds and ends, but we've got plenty of time to transport it over during the next month. It was a long and tiring day, but still exciting. Then on Sunday we bought our new fridge and guest room bed. I LOVE the fridge that we bought. Its a black french door model. We were going to get a stainless steel one, but then we found the black one for such a good price that we couldn't pass it up. Then we also picked out the bed for our guest bedroom. We needed to have a Queen bed for when we have overnight guests, and it was good timing to get it with the fridge because Jay and Betty will be staying with us this weekend so they can visit and see the new house. I'm super excited to see them, plus they will get to meet Lucy too :-) Although, I'm pretty sure that Tele will hog all of their attention, he LOVES them so much. The puppies did have a tough time over the weekend adjusting to their new house in the suburbs, but after a trip to petsmart where they each picked out a bone and got tons of attention from people at the store, all was right in their little world. :-)
In other news, I PASSED MY TEST!!! For the past 10 weeks I have been in a training class for my job in order to begin phase 1 of obtaining my certification as a Case Manager. Its been a long 10 weeks, full of a TON of information. The test was 135 questions and I needed an 80 to pass. My job depended on my passing the test, if I didn't, I would get fired. No pressure right? Well, I took the test today and passed with a 90%!!! So I'm "halfway" a case manager. lol. I can now get cases and do the job, but it will take about 10 more months before I'm passed phase 2 of certification. But at least I'm done with the test. It was not easy. I've got a couple more days of training and then I get my first cases on Friday. But now that the test is over, it makes allows me more time to decorate my new house :-)
In other news, I PASSED MY TEST!!! For the past 10 weeks I have been in a training class for my job in order to begin phase 1 of obtaining my certification as a Case Manager. Its been a long 10 weeks, full of a TON of information. The test was 135 questions and I needed an 80 to pass. My job depended on my passing the test, if I didn't, I would get fired. No pressure right? Well, I took the test today and passed with a 90%!!! So I'm "halfway" a case manager. lol. I can now get cases and do the job, but it will take about 10 more months before I'm passed phase 2 of certification. But at least I'm done with the test. It was not easy. I've got a couple more days of training and then I get my first cases on Friday. But now that the test is over, it makes allows me more time to decorate my new house :-)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
3 DAYS LEFT!!
We have just 3 more days until we get the keys to our new home! I can hardly wait. Our final walk through of the house is on Thursday night and then Friday afternoon we sign the final papers and get the keys! :-) We were planning on moving things gradually over since we have a month left at our current place, but we're too excited to wait. I've been looking at magazines, web pages online, and at the store of ideas to do to the house. I'm so excited to start buying things, I've had to wait, since we didn't have the place to put it in the little duplex we're in right now. Its going to be so much fun getting the house together. :-)
Our new puppy Lucy has adjusted very well and is super loving. She adores Tele, and is never far from him, unless she is sleeping in my lap. At the moment, she seems to be leaning towards being a "mama's girl." lol. I've taught her to not nibble on my face and hands as much, so she settles down quick and just cuddles. However, with Josh...its full on playtime every minute for her. lol. She waddles after him and as soon as he picks her up, she starts to nibble on his face, ears, and hands. She definately has an attitude about her, lol. She starts to cry as soon as she is disturbed from sleeping. If Tele or Josh bother her too much, she whines and waddles over into my lap. lol. Its very funny. But once she feels rested, Tele is her favorite. She constantly chases after him, attempts to play tug-o-war, and wrestles with him. They are the best of friends already. Its very funny though. I really feel like I have two children, when I get home, both of them are battling it out to get into my lap first. Lucy wins because she is so small, but Tele has no problem pushing her right out or simply sitting on top of her.lol.
The past week was a pretty tough one. I was pretty sick with what I thought was a sinus infection, but then I ended up losing my voice as well, so I'm not sure what it was. I took meds for 7 days before I was "better" even now, I'm still pretty congested, but at least my mind is clear. I have a major certifcation test for my job to prepare and study for. I've been in a 10 week training class for it. So being sick right now was a bad time. But thankfully I only ended up missing one day of work and was able to catch up on missed material. I'm pretty sure that whatever I was sick with, stemmed from my allergies. I haven't been able to get my allergy shots because of of my insurance change with my jobs (I will start the shots again next month) and its made my allergies flare up big time. I've been told that I have very small bone inside my nose, so small that if I sneeze too many times in a row, my nose swells shut. So when I'm sick, its no fun. Apparently, I can fix this by having a surgery in which the doctor would shave the bones down inside my nose....NO THANK YOU! talk about painful. So I'm hoping that once I get my allergies under control, it should control the issue enough.
Life hasn't changed much since my last post, between being sick and focused on the house, everything else has been put on hold. Friday can't get here soon enough! :-)
Our new puppy Lucy has adjusted very well and is super loving. She adores Tele, and is never far from him, unless she is sleeping in my lap. At the moment, she seems to be leaning towards being a "mama's girl." lol. I've taught her to not nibble on my face and hands as much, so she settles down quick and just cuddles. However, with Josh...its full on playtime every minute for her. lol. She waddles after him and as soon as he picks her up, she starts to nibble on his face, ears, and hands. She definately has an attitude about her, lol. She starts to cry as soon as she is disturbed from sleeping. If Tele or Josh bother her too much, she whines and waddles over into my lap. lol. Its very funny. But once she feels rested, Tele is her favorite. She constantly chases after him, attempts to play tug-o-war, and wrestles with him. They are the best of friends already. Its very funny though. I really feel like I have two children, when I get home, both of them are battling it out to get into my lap first. Lucy wins because she is so small, but Tele has no problem pushing her right out or simply sitting on top of her.lol.
The past week was a pretty tough one. I was pretty sick with what I thought was a sinus infection, but then I ended up losing my voice as well, so I'm not sure what it was. I took meds for 7 days before I was "better" even now, I'm still pretty congested, but at least my mind is clear. I have a major certifcation test for my job to prepare and study for. I've been in a 10 week training class for it. So being sick right now was a bad time. But thankfully I only ended up missing one day of work and was able to catch up on missed material. I'm pretty sure that whatever I was sick with, stemmed from my allergies. I haven't been able to get my allergy shots because of of my insurance change with my jobs (I will start the shots again next month) and its made my allergies flare up big time. I've been told that I have very small bone inside my nose, so small that if I sneeze too many times in a row, my nose swells shut. So when I'm sick, its no fun. Apparently, I can fix this by having a surgery in which the doctor would shave the bones down inside my nose....NO THANK YOU! talk about painful. So I'm hoping that once I get my allergies under control, it should control the issue enough.
Life hasn't changed much since my last post, between being sick and focused on the house, everything else has been put on hold. Friday can't get here soon enough! :-)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
new house, new puppy, new season
10 days! That is all that is left until Josh and I are officially the proud new owners of a 30 year mortgage, lol. I'm so excited to get moved into the new house and its been so much fun picking out new furniture, paint, and house decorations. Josh is thrilled to actually be able to put money into landscaping our OWN yard, instead of one that we're just renting. Honestly, the entire house buying process has been very smooth for us. I've yet to feel the "house hunting stress" many people talk about. The biggest issue that we've come up against was securing house insurance, and even that only took a day thankfully. At first we were only finding high quotes or companies that no longer insure Florida homes. Then we came across a company suggested to us by our realtor that gave us the coverage we were looking for at a great price. I was surprised at the discounts available as well. We received a discount because there is a fire station located 2 miles from the house, the fact that we will have a security system in the home, and because of who built our home. Apparently, the insurance company said that they don't receive many claims from homes built by the building company of our new neighborhood. So that was really nice to hear, as well as having a security system. We knew that we wanted one, but I thought it would cost us more money, but instead it saved us quite a bit of money. So I'm thrilled about that.
Another nice thing about the house, is that the current owners did not paint most of the house. So with the exception of one room that they painted yellow with a monkey border for their baby's nursery, the rest of the walls in the house are white. So we're starting out with a blank canvas :-) I've changed my mind a bunch of times, but I'm pretty sure that we've finally settled on the living room colors anyway, lol. Josh is going to put up a white wainscotting (not sure how to spell that) paneling with a chair rail and the top part of the wall will be red. And then I've decided on chocolate brown couches. I've looked through enough pictures and room ideas and I keep coming back to these colors. So for the living room, I think we're all set. The dining room will share the same coloring since its sort of included with the living room. I've found a table that I really want, I just have to measure the it will fit alright. Its seats 6 people, and then with the leaf 8. I've wanted a larger table for awhile because it'll make entertaining much easier. Now I'll be able to let loose the "martha stewart" in me a bit more formally when we have a dinner party. :-) This years Christmas party is going to be awesome :-)
It other news, we've added a new member to the Grace family :-) Our new Blue Tick Hound, Little Lucy. She is absolutely adorable and Tele is amazed by her. He has been lonely since Penny went to live with Jay and Betty and so he has adjusted to Lucy wonderfully. I was pretty set on getting another Boxer puppy, but when I found Lucy, she stole my heart :-) We researched the breed and found that the personality of the breed was just what we were looking for. She has been a challenge, because we brought her home entirely too early but she is super sweet. She was 5 1/2 weeks old when we got her, so her mental capacity is not up to par yet. So correction hasn't been apart of training her yet, mostly we're just redirecting her focus onto something she is allowed to do. Tele is just about the perfect dog but when he starts to get out of hand, all we have to do is put the squirt bottle on the coffee table and its enough for him to start listening again. We don't have to correct him much anymore because he is pretty good about staying within the rules set for him now. But we've spent a year and a half training him, so Lucy has plenty of time to catch up to him. Lucy has been enthusitically accepted into the family as the newest Granddog, although I've promised the next addition to the Grace family will be a real child. lol. I just want to spend a few months decorating my new house and then we'll see what happens :-)
For the past month, on Saturday mornings, we've been taking Tele to the dog park. He LOVES doing this. The car ride alone is the highlight of his week, but then he gets to run in a field off the leash as much as he wants and there are TONS of other dogs for him to play with. I'm pretty sure its his version of Heaven. lol. Last weekend, Josh took him (I stayed home with Lucy, cause she has to get her shots before she gets to go) and there were 5 boxers at the park along with a couple labs, and even a saint bernard! Tele had a lot of fun and after about an hour of running, jumping, and playing with the other dogs, he was all tuckered out. The summer heat us starting to creep into early mornings, so we don't let him stay at the park much longer than an hour. But after that, my bouncing boxer sleeps most of the day away.
Work is going well for both myself and Josh, later I will have to write a blog about what exactly my job entails. Its very interesting and everyday is something new, I'm really learning a lot. Both Josh and I are incredibly thankful for the jobs that we have and the opportunities that they are providing us. And although I dread the summer heat for the next several months, I'm super excited to enter into yet another new season with my handsome husband and cuddly puppies. :-)
Another nice thing about the house, is that the current owners did not paint most of the house. So with the exception of one room that they painted yellow with a monkey border for their baby's nursery, the rest of the walls in the house are white. So we're starting out with a blank canvas :-) I've changed my mind a bunch of times, but I'm pretty sure that we've finally settled on the living room colors anyway, lol. Josh is going to put up a white wainscotting (not sure how to spell that) paneling with a chair rail and the top part of the wall will be red. And then I've decided on chocolate brown couches. I've looked through enough pictures and room ideas and I keep coming back to these colors. So for the living room, I think we're all set. The dining room will share the same coloring since its sort of included with the living room. I've found a table that I really want, I just have to measure the it will fit alright. Its seats 6 people, and then with the leaf 8. I've wanted a larger table for awhile because it'll make entertaining much easier. Now I'll be able to let loose the "martha stewart" in me a bit more formally when we have a dinner party. :-) This years Christmas party is going to be awesome :-)
It other news, we've added a new member to the Grace family :-) Our new Blue Tick Hound, Little Lucy. She is absolutely adorable and Tele is amazed by her. He has been lonely since Penny went to live with Jay and Betty and so he has adjusted to Lucy wonderfully. I was pretty set on getting another Boxer puppy, but when I found Lucy, she stole my heart :-) We researched the breed and found that the personality of the breed was just what we were looking for. She has been a challenge, because we brought her home entirely too early but she is super sweet. She was 5 1/2 weeks old when we got her, so her mental capacity is not up to par yet. So correction hasn't been apart of training her yet, mostly we're just redirecting her focus onto something she is allowed to do. Tele is just about the perfect dog but when he starts to get out of hand, all we have to do is put the squirt bottle on the coffee table and its enough for him to start listening again. We don't have to correct him much anymore because he is pretty good about staying within the rules set for him now. But we've spent a year and a half training him, so Lucy has plenty of time to catch up to him. Lucy has been enthusitically accepted into the family as the newest Granddog, although I've promised the next addition to the Grace family will be a real child. lol. I just want to spend a few months decorating my new house and then we'll see what happens :-)
For the past month, on Saturday mornings, we've been taking Tele to the dog park. He LOVES doing this. The car ride alone is the highlight of his week, but then he gets to run in a field off the leash as much as he wants and there are TONS of other dogs for him to play with. I'm pretty sure its his version of Heaven. lol. Last weekend, Josh took him (I stayed home with Lucy, cause she has to get her shots before she gets to go) and there were 5 boxers at the park along with a couple labs, and even a saint bernard! Tele had a lot of fun and after about an hour of running, jumping, and playing with the other dogs, he was all tuckered out. The summer heat us starting to creep into early mornings, so we don't let him stay at the park much longer than an hour. But after that, my bouncing boxer sleeps most of the day away.
Work is going well for both myself and Josh, later I will have to write a blog about what exactly my job entails. Its very interesting and everyday is something new, I'm really learning a lot. Both Josh and I are incredibly thankful for the jobs that we have and the opportunities that they are providing us. And although I dread the summer heat for the next several months, I'm super excited to enter into yet another new season with my handsome husband and cuddly puppies. :-)
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