Busy Weekends

Mom and dad have been visiting on the weekends lately. They have been helping me slowly move stuff to St. Joe for the big move and complete some house work. One project mom and dad worked hard on was installing a storm door. Since dad is so manly and handy, he decided to do it himself-I noticed an expansion in his vocabulary.


Our first clue to how these 2 days of door installation would go, should have been when Steph read off the 'tools needed' list and one of which dad insisted wasn't necessary. Well, those lists aren't lying, in fact we learned that on our 4th trip to Lowe's. Then, we had to contain McDuff. He LOVES to escape and run, run, run, so we came up with a way for him to stay in the house and not get away...





Finally, mom and dad were successful in completing this project and we have a wonderful storm door that Gracie loves to look out of and it is nice to have some extra sunlight filtering the house!



While my parents were working on the door, I had my own project. I wanted to paint an old lingerie chest to put in my apartment. Well, the color turned out a bit, 'pinker' than I anticipated...this may take some getting used to. Still, it looks better than before!















I guess I have been in an artful mood lately because I also painted a picture to go above the fireplace at the new apartment!





After all of our hard labor, Steph and I treated the family to a baseball game at Hammon's Field to see the Springfield Cardinals. (this was actually dad's father's day gift, a little tardy). It was the PERFECT night to go to the game and I'm happy we went as a family; I really do enjoy all of the great things we have done together!

Summer Days

Dillon and I have been keeping busy. Of course, there are the days where we just don't want to do much at all, but then there are days like yesterday. While I was helping Micki with house chores, Dillon was playing video games. Then we went to Subway for lunch (like everyday-he is obsessed with tuna on flatbread; at least I know he is eating healthy!).
We followed lunch with some bike riding and I think we managed about 10 miles. Dillon was going at an all time slow pace, when I was hoping to get a work out from the day. Once I said, "why don't we pick up the pace?" I felt as if we had entered a race along side Lance Armstrong. I was feeling it in muscles I wasn't aware existed!

We cooled down with a nice smoothie and a dip in the pool when we got back to the house. Before we knew it the day was over. I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by. In less than a month I will be moving to Nebraska and in exactly one month I will be starting Grad School! ahh!

A Long Time Coming

Sorry, I realize it has been a long time since I last posted anything. Well rest assured, I will bring you up to speed!
I have been working everyday, which is why I haven't been keeping up with the blog. When I get home, I am so exhausted that I eat dinner and go to bed. While working, Dillon and I have done some fun and crazy things! Over the 4th of July, I worked at the Lake of the Ozarks, watching Dillon. We went to Big Surf, the waterpark, mini golf, looked at the million dollar boats at Port Arrowhead, watched movies, and on. The most exciting thing we did was something called, "Downhill Ruckus". We dove into a huge plastic ball, filled with a little water, and rolled down a hill in it. I'm not sure if you call this bravery or stupidity! I was very apprehensive about this adventure, but was reassured by Dillon that when he did it before, they were harnessed in. Well, naturally, the ball with the harnesses was sent to Germany for maintenance which meant we had to ride in the one with water and NO harness! That should have been the first red flag, the second should have been when I heard there were only 6 of these in the world. Luckily, we made it out safely, but toward the end of our ride, I started to panic due to the increasing speed, very small space, and Dillon on my lap. Then, the ball runs into a wall to stop it which means your head goes under water briefly, but unexpectedly. On top of all of this, my swimsuit top malfunctioned and Dillon made evident that he noticed. Lets just say it was quite an experience, but one I don't ever care to repeat! Dillon LOVED it though...










We went out on the boat
to watch the fireworks on the 4th, but fought with the weather. It was actually pretty nice as we were leaving the dock, but right after the firework show ended, the rain started pouring and we were caught in a thunderstorm. It was pretty scary especially when you are surrounded by thousands of boats who are leaving at the exact same time, in the dark, during a storm. We made it back to the condo without any harm, though just before the storm worsened!





















Just as I was leaving the lake early Sunday morning, I saw a family of ducks, all lined up in a row, headed down the lake. I went to get my camera to take a picture, when I came back they were gone, but I found a couple of ducks swimming in the pool at the condo!

If only I could...

My last post could not be a better transition to this one. This week, while spending time at the Melton's, a stray dog found its way to the bird feeder. Dillon and Micki couldn't help but take the poor animal in and feed it.
It has obviously been wandering for quite some time now. This adorable dog is so friendly and I wish so much that I could take him home! Unfortunately, I am moving and it definitely wouldn't be fair to Steph, not to mention what my father might do. My heart just goes out to this animal and all the others that have no home due to irresponsible people (most of the time). This dog is lucky; he came to the right home!

Animal House

I realize I haven't posted anything in quite sometime, but I have been keeping busy with nothing all that interesting to write about! Well, this is the best I can do right now...
My current employers LOVE animals and insects even. They are always fishing creatures out of the pool in order to save its life and buying cat food to feed any cats in the neighborhood. In the winter time they keep their garage door open for dogs that need a warm place to sleep and where most people don't want raccoons near their house, they enjoy watching the families eat food from their bird feeder. Now, I have seen many different kinds of animals in the feeder because they can find some really good food in there. You can find some bird feed, hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit, crackers, any left-overs, and my favorite-KrispyKreme Doughnuts! I must say, they are the most animal-friendly people I have ever met! Along with this, they love wild animals as pets such as the bird, Corkey and the rabbit, Peanut. Of course they also have a dog, Daisy. Their animals are precious, but Corkey must know that I don't like birds because he is down-right mean and violent towards me. I don't let him out of his cage because he will fly right at me and try to bite my fingers.
The living conditions for the animals are wonderful; they each live in a mansion. Let me tell you, if I were an animal, I would want these people to be my care-takers!

Gracie Mae Archer

As time draws closer to moving, I dread leaving my dog Gracie. She is so lovable and fun. The other day, mom said, "You are really going to miss that dog." Well DUH! I don't want to think about it! She really is like my child and I must say, Stephanie and I are darn good parents! (Although, I should give most of the credit to Stephanie since she spends more time with her.) Knowing how much we all love Gracie, it is hard to imagine all of the other dogs and animals in the animal shelters who don't/won't get to experience loving, responsible owners. It truly breaks my heart. As Bob Barker always said, spay and neuter your animals so we don't have to think about the neglect and final punishment (euthanasia) of innocent, helpless animals.

Back to the hometown of Cherry Mashes and the Pony Express

St. Joseph has really been growing on me since I have been visiting more often.  Maybe it is the theory of appreciating your roots or the fact that there really isn't any pressure when I go home; it is just family time.  Well, this weekend at home was interesting and busy.  Between appointments, work, and get-togethers with friends, it was difficult to find time for dad!  Actually, Steph and I had our own day with him which was special, but we weren't all able to be at one place at the same time.  Regardless of the logistics, I am happy to have time with my dad.  He is an amazing man who is always looking out for the best interest of others.  I am blessed to have such a kind-hearted father and I love him VERY much!

This weekend Steph was working with the 'dogs'-really just Lucy, but with our dogs, you can't put special attention on just one-physically you can't!  McDuff is the Diva/Depressed dog.  He expects full attention and only your best, but has been depressed since the addition of new dogs and some appearance issues.  He had 11 teeth pulled at once and now has no teeth to hold his tongue in his mouth. :( Gracie is anything but graceful!  She is a load of energy and doesn't halt, but it makes for a lot of fun!  Lucy is the mommy, a feminist, and we wonder if she was a linebacker once before; she's built like one.  They are such funny animals and I know life would just be boring without them.

The girls (except me) got new phones this weekend at the cost of conversation.  They sat on the couch for too long playing on their phones.  No ones voice was heard while they were busy tapping on their keyboards.

Finally, upon our return to heat and misery, Springfield proved us again that no plant can survive a measly weekend without a little water.  It would be our luck that the day we leave after a week of flooding and torrential downpours, mother nature deceives us and sucks the water out of every last leaf and petal!  I am thinking that Steph's hope to have a garden in the back yard may not work out.