Josh and I had stated our new year with typical New's Years resolutions. We were both excited about the new year and the changes that we had decided to make for our family. The biggest change was that I was no longer going to be working. Though I actually really enjoyed my job and felt good about the work I was doing with my clients...I was not coping well with the 55-60 hour work weeks that happened often. I had one too many nights in which I came home at midnight. The line between work and home life began to become very blurred as I never really knew when I would be getting home each night so it made it hard to plan things to do or make a commit to anything. So Josh and I talked about it and we decided that I would go ahead and quit my job to become a housewife :-) this way I would have more time to take care of the house, get back involved in some of the volunteer work I used to do, and most importantly, I would have time to work out and take better care of myself. Getting as healthy as possible is important to us, but specifically now since we're trying to have a baby. So, I put in my two weeks notice and began the insanely busy process of trying to get my cases ready to be transferred.
On Martin Luther King Day both Josh and I technically had the day off, since it was a holiday, but both of our jobs were keeping us so busy that we each went into work anyway. I spent the morning working since I had afternoon plans while Josh had planned on going into the office that afternoon. So once I was home, we had lunch and after Josh left I cleaned up the house a bit preparing for my afternoon company. It was a pretty normal day. About 5 minutes after my company left, I got the leashes together and was about to let the puppies go outside for a bit. I was just about to go outside when I tripped walking into the backyard. I didn't even make it to the grass. I had tripped on the sliding glass door rail. I didn't actually fall to the ground, but I heard this horribly loud "SNAP"....I didn't feel any pain, but was instantly dizzy. I thought to myself "I think I just broke my ankle" but since I didn't feel any pain I tried to steady myself (I also had both dogs in hand) and then I fell to the ground unable to stand. I still didn't feel any pain, but was now on the ground shaking pretty badly. I have never felt such fear before, because here I was...in the backyard...ALONE. NO PHONE. HURT. it was absolutely terrifying. I knew that Josh was supposed to come home in an hour or so, but here I was hurt and stuck on the ground. Thank God my neighbor happened to walk out of his house within the next few minutes. We don't have a fence so he was able to see into my backyard. He thought that I was playing with the dogs because they were sitting beside me. I asked him if he could come over to me for a second and he very confusedly came over. Once he got close to me, he saw that my ankle was already turning black and blue. He put the dogs in the house for me and got me the cell phone. It was Josh's phone. I had lost mine and had a new one ordered and coming in the mail so Josh had left me his phone in case I needed it....but it meant that I was not able to call him to help me. I was still shaking pretty bad and getting to the point I wasn't able to talk without stuttering. I wasn't feeling any pain yet, so I was really confused why I was shaking so bad and stuttering. My neighbor called an ambulance for me as my other neighbors began to gather around. Someone placed a blanket on me and told me that they would let Josh know what had happened if the ambulance came before he got home.
Within a few minutes, the paramedics arrived. I kept telling them I wasn't cold but that I couldn't stop shaking. The paramedics told me it was because I was going into shock and they were going to get me some oxygen and morphine once they got me into the ambulance. Josh then pulled up. I have NEVER seen him look so afraid. He drove up to see an ambulance and fire truck in our drive way, me on the ground, and all of our neighbors surrounding me. The paramedics filled him in on what happened as they hoisted me up into the ambulance and took me to the hospital.
I had never been inside an ambulance before...they are much bigger inside than I had imagined. Once inside the ambulance, I started to feel an indescribable pain...it really doesn't compare to any other pain I have felt before. I was hooked up to oxygen and one paramedic held me down (I was shaking pretty violently at that point) while another gave me a shot of morphine. The morphine didn't really do much and so they administered another dose. The 2nd shot calmed my shaking but did nothing for the pain. I talked a lot while in the ambulance. I knew from my previous crisis response training that I needed to keep my mind focused on something if I didn't want to panic or pass out. So I talked about anything at all. Mostly about my kids on my case load as my last day of work was the next day and now I was on my way to the hospital. great huh?
We arrived to the hospital and the paramedics took me into the emergency room and explained to the nurses what had happened and that my body was going into shock. My pain was pretty out of control at that point and so the nurses hooked me up to a couple IV's and gave me Dalodid. I had never heard of that drug before. But apparently its stronger than morphine and the equivalent of legal heroin. Once it was in my IV, I was able to stop shaking and was able to talk to the nurses to answer the various questions they had for me. X-rays confirmed that I had in fact broken my ankle....pretty severely at that. I had pretty much snapped my ankle completely in half without breaking the skin. The nurses explained to me that the X-ray showed that I had completely broken one bone in half and dislocated it, had a hairline fracture in another bone, and torn all the ligaments in my ankle. The doctor then started to tell me that they had to reset my ankle. I asked how much it was going to hurt to which the doctor said "You won't remember the pain" WHAT!?! See....to me that meant...."this is going to hurt a lot" The doctor explained that I would be awake while they reset my ankle, but that the pain meds they would be giving me had an amnesia effect so that I would not remember what happened. Josh had found his way to me at that point and decided to stay in the room while they reset my ankle. He said that once they got the meds into me that I said a lot of crazy things that made the doctor and nurses laugh. A few things he told me I said were "This is a horrible hospital, but everyone has been so nice," "I'm really trying to not be dramatic, I want to be professional," "I can't be hurt, I have to find new placements for my kids, " "It hurts! I remember the pain, I remember the pain!" When I came too and realized where I was again...I in fact did not remember the pain or anything that I had said or done. But was still in quite a bot of pain. The doctor than came in again and said that my ankle was too swollen for them to operate, as my break required surgery to heal. So they put my ankle in a splint and sent me home. I was supposed to see the surgeron in three days to see if the swelling was down enough to operate. Apparently they told me that it was so swollen that if they operated, they wouldn't be able to close it back up. So I had to wait. I've never seen my husband get to mad as to when he heard they would be sending me home. I was in no way "stablized" in the the area of pain control and here I was being sent home. It was the worst drive home, so bad in fact...I'm going to leave the details out. Along with the next three days at home...I was out of my mind in pain. And the pain meds did not do much to help control it. It was 3 long days of hyperventalating, stuttering (I couldn't talk without stuttering from pain). Those 3 days will probably always remain the most difficult of my life. I hope to never repeat anything that even comes close.
Finally Thursday arrived, which meant that Betty was coming to help Josh take care of me and also we went to see the doctor about operating. The doctor examined my ankle and said that it was still too swollen to operate. So it said that surgery would have to wait until Monday. HOLY CRAP! It was a rough weekend, but my pain was slightly calmed as the doctor replaced the splint I had previously on my ankle with a plaster cast, which helped SO MUCH! it was much tighter and helped minimize movement. So I was able to actually talk to people normally.
Betty left on Saturday and my mom flew in that afternoon to help out. We managed to get through the weekend somehow and I checked into the hospital at 4am on Monday morning and had my surgery at 8am that morning. After the surgery, in which they placed 3 screws and a plate into my ankle, the doctor told Josh that they discovered during the surgery that the whole week that I had been waiting for surgery...my ankle had in fact been still dislocated. Apparently, your ankle sits in a box in order for you to bend it. Mine was laying beside the box...which accounted for the extreme pain that I had been in the whole week. At least I knew I hadn't been being dramatic. But goodness...
I had to spend the night in the hospital to monitor my pain level. And then the next day they were able to send me home. After the surgery, I was placed on a Dalodid drip that I pressed a button anytime I felt pain. I was hobbling around the room, talking to everyone, and feeling finally back to normal. At the time, I believed that the reason I felt better was from the surgery...boy was I wrong. I had no idea that the pain meds I was on in the hospital were SO much stronger than the Vicodon that they sent me home with. Upon getting home, I found that the pain pills that I was sent home with didn't even come close to helping me with the pain. I got home on Tuesday and I didn't get relief until Saturday. Even now, it still hurts but now I'm at least able to get up out of bed and hobble around between my wheelchair, crutches, and walker that the hospital sent home with me. Apparently, I'm not allowed to put any weight on my ankle for 6-8 weeks, then I will have a month or so of physical therapy. Pain aside...its been absolutely terrifying not being able to do anything for myself. I've never been so incapable and so dependent on someone for even the simplest of things. Its been a very trying thing and I've learned a lot about myself. Both good and bad, and this experience has pushed me and made me realize what my breaking points are.
Also, Josh and I are pretty different as a couple too. This has been the hardest thing we encountered together but now, that things are finally beginning to settle and become manageable, I'm pretty proud of us and really see Josh is a different way. We're partners now. I'm used to being the one in control and a little OCD on how things work. And this situation has quite literally made me lean on my husband and everything turned out ok. So I am happy to see some good come from an accident. I've never experienced something where I was incapable and needed someone else so dependently, and I'm finding myself incredibly thankful to have been blessed with the husband I have. Its really an odd thing, because before my accident...I was completely in love with Josh. But now after everything we've managed to get through...I view and appreciate Josh in a way I hadn't before. I feel like saying I love you doesn't even come close to it. So while, I truly and completely wish this hadn't happened...in an odd way, I'm glad it did. I know the next couple of months will not be easy. But I've learned things I wouldn't have and while the lessons were incredibly difficult, the value in them outweighs the cost by far. (Though I certainly will be glad when the days are easier and free of wheelchairs, crutches, and walkers, lol)
Grace Family
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and friends
Well I have to say that my first time hosting a major holiday turned out even better than I thought it would. All the food was perfect, there were plenty of beds for everyone, and though I spent the holiday very busy, I've never enjoyed myself more. I have 8 people spend the night and cooked for a total of 12 for the actual meal on Thanksgiving day. It was so much fun. I am hoping to possibly host the holiday every year. We'll see. :-)
We had put up most of our Christmas decor up before everyone had arrived, but saved putting the tree up to do with everyone. So the day after thanksgiving, Josh loaded up the car with all the guys and they went out to pick out a tree. Then once they got it in the house, everyone got to decorate it together. It was a really nice way to end the day. We had family stay with us until that Sunday morning. Then that afternoon one of my old college roommates and very dear friends came to visit Josh and I before she moved back to New Jersey. It was a great visit and was a nice cap to the whirlwind week.
The few weeks in between Thanksgiving and Christmas are a bit of a blur for me. I spent the majority of them working a lot of overtime. Wasn't exactly conducive to prepping and enjoying the holiday season, we weren't even able to throw a Christmas party this year to not having time to plan one. So that was a bit of a disappointment. However, it was soon lifted as we spent Christmas with Josh's parents again this year. Both Josh and I took vacation time and don't go back to work until Jan3rd. Which gives us a much needed break. Its been nice being with family and getting to see our nephew. And of course, the puppies are thrilled as they very much enjoy getting to go to Josh's parents house. They are lavished with toys, playtime, and get to sleep with Josh and I in a king size bed. So they are very spoiled during these trips. lol. But its still pretty relaxing. I always tell Josh that our trips to Marianna are like getting to take a deep breath finally and holds such a comfortable feeling of hominess. Coming home to visit family and the people in our church up here is so refreshing. Between time spent with our family up here and also with dear friends, we stay pretty busy, but a relaxed sort of busy filled with laughter, good memories, and joy. It's definately needed after the past few weeks of work craziness.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!:-)
We had put up most of our Christmas decor up before everyone had arrived, but saved putting the tree up to do with everyone. So the day after thanksgiving, Josh loaded up the car with all the guys and they went out to pick out a tree. Then once they got it in the house, everyone got to decorate it together. It was a really nice way to end the day. We had family stay with us until that Sunday morning. Then that afternoon one of my old college roommates and very dear friends came to visit Josh and I before she moved back to New Jersey. It was a great visit and was a nice cap to the whirlwind week.
The few weeks in between Thanksgiving and Christmas are a bit of a blur for me. I spent the majority of them working a lot of overtime. Wasn't exactly conducive to prepping and enjoying the holiday season, we weren't even able to throw a Christmas party this year to not having time to plan one. So that was a bit of a disappointment. However, it was soon lifted as we spent Christmas with Josh's parents again this year. Both Josh and I took vacation time and don't go back to work until Jan3rd. Which gives us a much needed break. Its been nice being with family and getting to see our nephew. And of course, the puppies are thrilled as they very much enjoy getting to go to Josh's parents house. They are lavished with toys, playtime, and get to sleep with Josh and I in a king size bed. So they are very spoiled during these trips. lol. But its still pretty relaxing. I always tell Josh that our trips to Marianna are like getting to take a deep breath finally and holds such a comfortable feeling of hominess. Coming home to visit family and the people in our church up here is so refreshing. Between time spent with our family up here and also with dear friends, we stay pretty busy, but a relaxed sort of busy filled with laughter, good memories, and joy. It's definately needed after the past few weeks of work craziness.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!:-)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
its 6:40am on a Sunday...and I'm awake, blah....
Its not even 7am yet and I've been awake about an hour. The house is quiet, nice and chilly due to the cold front we got, and the puppies are playing contently on the floor, tearing their numerous toys apart. And here I sit, wide awake, well before I need to wake up to go to church. Yuck! I've never really been a morning person, my dear husband can attest to that, lol. But I've found that since Josh and I wake up regularly at 5:30am or 6:00am....that even on my days off, my body still thinks its time to wake up. At best, I may make it to 7:00am before waking up, but rarely. I never thought 7am would be considered sleeping in! lol. But once the puppies realize that I'm awake, then they want to begin the goodmorning routinue. lol. This means as soon as I left them out of their cages, they pounce on Josh who is sleeping in bed. In the 30 seconds it takes me to get to the bedroom door in order to open it and coax them out to the living room, they've both pounced on Josh and lathered his face up with morning kisses. lol. Its really the funniest thing because they can't wait to see him in the morning. However, once I get them out to the living room, Josh is able to go back to sleep. I have no idea how he manages that. lol.
So, back to where I am now...sitting on the couch, playing on the computer, waiting for my day to officially start. We've got a lot to do today. After church, we're finishing up painting and putting up more christmas decorations. Next weekend is the last weekend before I have my parents, Josh's parents, and Josh's grandparents, coming to spend a few nights with us for Thanksgiving. It'll be a total of 11 people on Thanksgiving Day though, as my grandmother and a friend of hers, along with a co-worker of mine will be joining us for Thanksgiving Dinner. I'm super excited to be cooking for everyone. Its the first big Holiday I've hosted. I invited a couple friends over for Easter last year, but it pales in comparison to what I'm planning for Thanksgiving. :-) I'm excited to have everyone here and getting to enjoy our new house with us. I'm also thankful that we've got a house large enough to house 8 people overnight. I'm putting my parents in Josh and I's room, Josh's parents in our office, grandparents in guest room, and Josh and I will be in the nursery with the puppies on an air mattress. We've got queen beds in all the rooms except the nursery, we have a old twin bed that Josh had before we married. And we both can't fit on that, so we'll sleep on an air mattress. I refuse to put company on one, and we didn't put a queen bed in that room because we're planning on putting a crib in there eventually. But it all works out pretty well this way. I know that Tele is going to be thrilled, he LOVES it when we have a bunch of people over, because he gets a ton of attention. But specifically, he LOVES Josh's dad, Jay. Tele just about jumps out of his skin with excitment when he see's Jay. I'm pretty sure it foreshadowing how our kids will react when getting to see him too. :-)
I'm really thankful for the family that I have and the family that our kids will get to grow in. It's not perfect, there have been bumps in the road, but "love covers a multitude of sins..." and mistakes turn into lesson's learned and new days turn into happy memories and new beginnings. I'm a big believer in being thankful for even the hard times, as they make you appreciate the good times all the more. I saw a quote the other day "learn to enjoy the small moments, as someday you'll realize, they were the big moments" its an idea that I've adopted and its amazing how it can change your perspective.
Hopefully, if it doesn't take us long to have children, our kids will be fairly close in age to my nephew Carson and my niece Julia. I'm excited about that because I didn't grow up with any cousins and so I think its neat that my kids will get too. We haven't fully decided how many kids we'll have. We know for sure at least 2 and then we'll evaluate where our lives are. But I'd really like to have 4. I've thought that for years, but I also want to be able to feed the kids, lol. so we'll see. We were in the store a few days ago looking at Christmas toy ideas for our nephew and Josh said "Wouldn't it be amazing if we had a 4-5 kids and when they were adults with children of their own, came to visit? We'd have a huge family at that point" :-) I love the idea of that, I'm just not sure if I'll be able to survive labor and delivery that many times, lol. We'll see. I know at least we want two children. I'd prefer boys, but Josh wants a little girl as well. I told him we could have 4 boys and 1 girl. lol. Boys are high energy, but little girls grow up to teen girls eventually which leads to crazy drama. lol. In my nanny experience, boys were always so much easier even as toddlers, there was much less sass, even at that age. lol. But regardless, we'll see how it plays out. We've got names for either one we have and ironically, despite wanting boys, I only have one boy name I like so far. Most of the names I like are girl names...hopefully that's not indicative of what's to come. ;-)
Anyway, its 7:15am now...I think its late enough for me and the puppies to go wake up Josh ;-)
So, back to where I am now...sitting on the couch, playing on the computer, waiting for my day to officially start. We've got a lot to do today. After church, we're finishing up painting and putting up more christmas decorations. Next weekend is the last weekend before I have my parents, Josh's parents, and Josh's grandparents, coming to spend a few nights with us for Thanksgiving. It'll be a total of 11 people on Thanksgiving Day though, as my grandmother and a friend of hers, along with a co-worker of mine will be joining us for Thanksgiving Dinner. I'm super excited to be cooking for everyone. Its the first big Holiday I've hosted. I invited a couple friends over for Easter last year, but it pales in comparison to what I'm planning for Thanksgiving. :-) I'm excited to have everyone here and getting to enjoy our new house with us. I'm also thankful that we've got a house large enough to house 8 people overnight. I'm putting my parents in Josh and I's room, Josh's parents in our office, grandparents in guest room, and Josh and I will be in the nursery with the puppies on an air mattress. We've got queen beds in all the rooms except the nursery, we have a old twin bed that Josh had before we married. And we both can't fit on that, so we'll sleep on an air mattress. I refuse to put company on one, and we didn't put a queen bed in that room because we're planning on putting a crib in there eventually. But it all works out pretty well this way. I know that Tele is going to be thrilled, he LOVES it when we have a bunch of people over, because he gets a ton of attention. But specifically, he LOVES Josh's dad, Jay. Tele just about jumps out of his skin with excitment when he see's Jay. I'm pretty sure it foreshadowing how our kids will react when getting to see him too. :-)
I'm really thankful for the family that I have and the family that our kids will get to grow in. It's not perfect, there have been bumps in the road, but "love covers a multitude of sins..." and mistakes turn into lesson's learned and new days turn into happy memories and new beginnings. I'm a big believer in being thankful for even the hard times, as they make you appreciate the good times all the more. I saw a quote the other day "learn to enjoy the small moments, as someday you'll realize, they were the big moments" its an idea that I've adopted and its amazing how it can change your perspective.
Hopefully, if it doesn't take us long to have children, our kids will be fairly close in age to my nephew Carson and my niece Julia. I'm excited about that because I didn't grow up with any cousins and so I think its neat that my kids will get too. We haven't fully decided how many kids we'll have. We know for sure at least 2 and then we'll evaluate where our lives are. But I'd really like to have 4. I've thought that for years, but I also want to be able to feed the kids, lol. so we'll see. We were in the store a few days ago looking at Christmas toy ideas for our nephew and Josh said "Wouldn't it be amazing if we had a 4-5 kids and when they were adults with children of their own, came to visit? We'd have a huge family at that point" :-) I love the idea of that, I'm just not sure if I'll be able to survive labor and delivery that many times, lol. We'll see. I know at least we want two children. I'd prefer boys, but Josh wants a little girl as well. I told him we could have 4 boys and 1 girl. lol. Boys are high energy, but little girls grow up to teen girls eventually which leads to crazy drama. lol. In my nanny experience, boys were always so much easier even as toddlers, there was much less sass, even at that age. lol. But regardless, we'll see how it plays out. We've got names for either one we have and ironically, despite wanting boys, I only have one boy name I like so far. Most of the names I like are girl names...hopefully that's not indicative of what's to come. ;-)
Anyway, its 7:15am now...I think its late enough for me and the puppies to go wake up Josh ;-)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Baby its cold outside...
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. :-)
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. :-)
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. :-)
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