Sunday, July 31, 2011

Why my dog is a badass

Other title options: Everyone who doesn't like my dog can suck it!

Last night Cooper was a badass.  He woke up my mom at 5:30 in the morning barking his head off.  (Wait, it gets better.)  This is sort of normal as my dog isn't quiet.  At all.  Ever.  It's fine. 

She gets up to let him go outside, thinking maybe he just needs to do his business so they can both go back to sleep.  He runs outside, still barking, and then runs straight back inside, still barking.  They go back upstairs and he stares out the window looking into the street, still barking.  My mom sits next to him to see what he's barking at and sees a man get up from behind our car that's parked on the street and run to a car a couple houses down, jump in and take off with the lights off. 

Someone was trying to steal the car and Cooper must have sensed something wasn't right.

He may be deaf, but damnit, he's a guard dog and he's protective of his people. 

I love my little baby and am so proud of him for guarding his grandma while I was away!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Movin' and Shakin'

This is the big day...moving day!  I've "hired" a bunch of friends to help me move all my crap (seriously, how do I have so much stuff!?) to my storage unit tonight.  I'm paying them in pizza, beer and love!

Once that miserable task is over (it's like, the millionth day of being over 100 degrees in Austin) I'm going to play all weekend.  I have plans to go downtown with friends on Friday and Saturday night, and on Saturday afternoon my mom and I are going to see Pooh (she's been begging me to see it with her since she found out about it) and have dinner.  At some point I need to get a haircut too.

Oh, and I think I have an ear infection.  Gross, I know.  Whatever.  I'm going to the doctor tomorrow morning so she can make the pain go away.

Bloggy Bracelet Swap

When I get to Dallas I'll post about the bloggy bracelet swap from my new fancy iPad!  (Mom, please don't tell Dad.  I wanted to spoil me because I got a raise!  Let a girl live!)  Sorry to Tyler and Meredith (I don't know your blog!) for being so behind!!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Ten things about me!

True story: I love questionnaires.  I love filling out forms.  It's strange-- I know this, but I'm never upset at the doctor's office when I have to fill out my medical history.  It's fun for me! 

I found these questions on the Healthy Tipping Point blog.

What do you have next to your bedside table?

My cell phone (which doubles as my alarm clock), the most recent book I'm reading and a fresh glass of water.  Water that's been sitting out tastes funny to me.

Do you have a tattoo?


Yes.  On my left wrist I have a tattoo in white ink that says "TRUST GOD."  I got it in college when I was going through one of the hardest times in my life and needed a little reminder.

Do you believe in abstinence prior to marriage?

With the experiences I've had I wish now that I had saved myself for marriage, but life happens!  I don't look down on anyone who has sex prior to marriage at all and I don't think it's something that can be judged.  Everyone is in charge of their own bodies and their decisions are theirs to make.

What is your worst habit?

My worst habit is not focusing on the moment.  I'm always thinking about the future and I need to relish the "now" more often.

How do you handle finances in your relationship?  Or, how would you like to handle money in your future relationship?

My relationship is me, myself and I (and Cooper) and we'd like to save more but usually spend spend spend and have a ton of fun doing it!  I do plan to start saving for my retirement in 2012 (5 short months away!) but other than that as long as my checking account isn't over-drafted I'm a happy camper.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?

I like my name a lot, but I love exotic names.  Mostly supermodels have these like Gisele and Alessandra and Naomi.  I also like classic names like Catherine and Elizabeth. 

Where do you want to go on your next vacation?


Iceland.  Ever since I saw this picture I've wanted to go and recently Melissa of May December posted about her trip so now I want to go even more badly!

What is one political cause you feel strongly about?

Foster children-- the ones still in the system and the ones aging out.  So many children are not well cared for and don't have the necessary support that children with families (even broken ones) have.  My heart breaks for these children and I would love to be a foster mom one day, and I actually would love to adopt as well.  If you'd like to help my uncle's non-profit that benefits children aging out of the system, there's more information here.

Have you ever stolen anything?

I had this stage in sixth grade where my friends and I would go to the mall and steal from lots of stores.  I took some perfume and bracelets and then felt really guilty and gave them to other friends because I didn't want to be caught with them by my parents.

Tell us something embarrassing about yourself.

This is kind of gross but it makes me laugh.  (WARNING: If you don't like fart jokes, stop reading now.)  I was sleeping in the same bed as my then-boyfriend one night and I guess whatever I had eaten for dinner didn't agree with me.  I was abruptly awoken twice in the night by a really loud fart...from me.  I was mortified!!  But looking back it's absolutely hilarious.  Thank goodness he never said anything.  Hopefully he just slept through it!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Planning my life

I don't know why I try.  Every time I try to plan my life I get smacked in the face with some huge change.

Exhibit A: I was totally in love with the college boyfriend and thought we were going to spend our lives together.  Well, that didn't happen and it was absolutely for the best.  Being single post-college has been the best thing that could have happened to me.  I've grown up, learned a whole lot and finally feel secure being a single adult.  I'm happy!

Exhibit B:  I moved to Florida to get away from Texas (post break-up with college bf) and start a new fancy pants career.  Well I definitely got away, but I didn't get the new fancy lifestyle I'd imagined myself having.  I was living with my aunt, uncle and tween boy cousin (do you have any idea how disgusting it is to share a bathroom with a 13 year old boy?!).  I didn't connect with anyone my age at church.  I was depressed and gained weight like crazy.  But what I thought was a terrible move actually made me grow as a person.  I would never have moved there if I had stayed with the college bf.  Florida was where I really learned to be content with being alone and it also helped me realize how much I want to help people.  I love marketing-- it is so fun for me and doesn't feel like a job, but my passion lies with helping people and without the experience of working with a non-profit for foster children I would never have known that.
 And yes, this is an actual picture I took in Florida on one of my last nights there.  I may not like living there but it sure is gorgeous!

Exhibit C:  My plan after living in my apartment for another year was to buy a house in Austin on my own.  I never in a million years would have thought that I would be buying a house all by my big girl self, but after living in an apartment for the past couple of years I'm ready to live in a house!  With a washer and dryer IN the house!  But once again plans change and now I'm moving to Dallas.  Who knows?  I could be buying a house in Dallas in a year, but this was not the plan and that's ok.  I'm so excited to be moving and even more excited to meet tons of new people there!  And I'm trying not to plan too far ahead :)
Congratulatory flowers from my wonderful Florida family!!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

New Beginnings

This weekend was absolutely amazing!  My wonderful childhood friend came in town to visit me with her sweet baby boy.  She is incredible.  The woman is pursuing her Masters in Nursing, has a part time job in nursing and has a four month old babe all while her hubs is in Afghanistan fighting for our country.  I am seriously amazed at the strength she has and she is such an inspiring mother.  It makes me tear up because I am so proud of her and so lucky to have her in my life.

Enough gushing...let's talk about her little bug!  He is such a sweet baby and we seriously stared at him for longer than is healthy most of the weekend.  We took him swimming for his first time and he floated on his own!  GENIUS, this kid, I tell you!
I died when he laughed.  His smile is absolutely precious!  Ignore the fuzziness...it's hard to hold a baby and take a picture at the same time!
We went shopping at the mall and Whole Foods since there is nothing like that in the middle of nowhere where she lives.  Damage was done.  Also, the Biebs made an appearance at Dillard's!
 In completely unrelated news, I'm moving to Dallas in two weeks!  I came in Monday and my boss told me she needed to see me in her office in 15 minutes.  I was thinking I was about to get in trouble but had no idea why.  It was completely the opposite.  The Marketing Director was on a conference call with her and wants me up in Dallas as the Marketing Assistant.  YES!  Yes, I will be there thank you thank you thank you!! 

I am so happy that my hard work is being recognized by my firm.  I've been here for about a year and a half and everyone here knows I'm not here to be a career receptionist-- I need to do more than sit at a desk and answer phones.  This is so exciting for me! 

I haven't been able to tell my mom because she's in Europe and not answering her cell or email (who could blame her?), but when she gets back and I leave five days later she will surely be in for a shock.  She'll be proud and supportive, of course, but we're incredibly close so this is a huge deal for us.

Now I just need to find someone to take over my lease, find a new apartment in The Big D and get to packing!

Dallas, here I come!