Allow Me to Introduce...

Meet Carly.

 aka Carly Dog, Bubba, Bubby, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pants

Isn't she the cutest thing that you ever did see?  I thought so.

Carly is our six year old golden retriever mix.  What she's mixed with, I'm not quite sure.  We adopted her from a rescue when she was three.  We've had her for three years, and I really can't remember what life was like before her.

 

Carly is the sweetest most well behaved dog I've ever met.  When we brought her home, there was really no adjustment period.  It was like she had lived here her entire life.  She fit in right away and learned her routine easy.  She's smart and serious.  All we have to say is, "Go to your house" and she runs up the stairs to the bedroom we keep her in when we are away.  She's also fun and playful.  Her hobbies include watching TV, chewing on cow hooves, looking out the window, playing fetch and licking her paws.

 

For all of Carly's wonderful qualities, she does have a flaw.  She is afraid of thunderstorms.  She feels them coming and she starts to pace.  When it starts she wants to be a close to you as possible.  Last night as I was getting ready for bed, thunder started to roll and she wedged herself in between me and the bathroom cabinet I was standing in front of.  Normally, I don't mind her neurotic tendency because Lord knows I've got some of my own.  The only time this is a pain is when we are in bed.  She insists on climbing into bed.  Again not a problem, except she doesn't want to cuddle.  She wants to sit.  And pant. And shake. Which in turn shakes the entire bed.

After panting for a few minutes last night, she laid down and gave me these sad nervous eyes.  Could she look any more pathetic adorable?

Luckily the storm didn't last long and she eventually grew tired of the photo shoot.

What are you going to do?

Redemption

So I feel like I should write another entry since my last entry was quite... emotional.  Ugh.  Sorry about that.  I just have a lot of feelings lately and I don't know what it is.  The holidays, maybe?  Whatever it is, it really needs to go away because I'm seriously watching an episode of One Tree Hill and TEARING UP.  I'm so pathetic right now!

MOVING ON

Last night I was in a bad place (clearly) and my husband, not really knowing why I was so crabby, fixed it without even knowing he was fixing my broken heart.  He had just picked up our wedding video that day and so we sat down to watch it together.  It was just what I needed to remind me of how lucky and blessed I really am, even I don't get everything I want. 

So let's back up.  Yes, I did get married three and a (halfish) years ago, and yes, I just saw my wedding video for the first time last night.  Allow me to explain.  Husband and I got married when we were fresh out of college.  I had graduated in December and he had graduated just two months before the big day.  We were quite young and had only been working in the professional world for a few months.  We didn't have tons o' money to be throwing around and neither did our parents.  Our parents really helped out, but we did have to cover a portion of the wedding ourselves.  One of they ways we saved money was by not having a videographer, which quite frankly, is still a decision I am ok with.  Even if we got married now and had tons of money to spend on the affair, I still don't think I would shell out the money to have a professional video.  Sure it's nice to have, but I just don't find it necessary.  Besides, I hate the way my recorded voice sounds. 

Anyway, that was a long drawn out way of saying that my uncle taped the ceremony and parts of the reception for us.  It was on a tape that we couldn't play.  For years, my husband has been begging me to get it converted to DVD and for his birthday I finally did.  So finally, we got to see ourselves get married.  It was sweet. 

After watching the video though I came to the following conclusions:

• I would like to get married again.  Because that?  Was a heck of a good time.
• I was a bit heavier back then.  Not much, but I notice it.  Yick.
• The colors were gorgeous, no?

•  I still hate the way my voice sounds on video.
• I don't recognize some of the people who were at my wedding.  Is that bad?
• I STILL love my wedding cake.

But overall, I noticed how happy and in love we were (and still are).  I was reminded of what it felt like to have our entire future stretch out in front of us and not worry about the good and the bad.  It was a single night in our long past and future - really just a moment in time.  And for that moment our world was perfect, and it still is because no matter what, we still have each other.

Yeah, I think that's just the reminder I needed. 

Better Together

Day Three - Your First Love

Day Three of the 30 Day Challenge is all about my first love.  Are you ready for some sappy corny stuff?  My first love is none other than:

That's right.  My husband is my first/only love.  Sure there were dates and crushes before I started dating my husband, but they all turned out to be... lackluster.  (I really wish that I could insert some few other choice words in that phrase there, but well "being a Christian woman, I can't say it"! )

As I mentioned in my previous post, my husband and I met our sophomore year in high school.  I went to an all girls Catholic high school and he went to the public school down the highway.  We met through mutual friends and I had no interest in him or any of his friends for that matter (sorry husband, but you know this to be true!!).  As time went on, our paths crossed several times and we slowly became the best of friends.  Or so I thought.  Turns out, he had feelings for me.  I continued on being his friend until one day in the summer before our senior year.  I don't know exactly what it was, but suddenly I saw him in a different way and I decided to give him a chance.  To give us a chance. Nine years (nine years???) later here we are. We are a happily married newlywed-ish couple that love spending time with each other.  We are best friends and partners and I really couldn't ask for anything better.

We have had an amazing relationship save for one blip in college where I broke up with him (can you say worst decision ever?).  There are some specifics about that blip that I would rather not delve in to, suffice to say, I made a poor decision, but I did learn where I was meant to be so it can't be all that bad right?  Sometimes I wonder if I should have had other loves in my life, but then I think of all the things I would have missed with my husband I know that things happened the way they were supposed to.  It's the Journey and the Destination, right?