Vacation!

http://www.eldoradosparesorts.com/hotels/el_dorado_royale/index.php

This is where Justin and I will be staying on our Mexican vacation to the Riviera Maya area. It is an all inclusive resort and adults only, so we are super excited about it. We are going for some much needed R&R. Hannah will be our house and dog sitter while we are gone and before she starts her internship at Dresser. I can't wait!

Hannah also came in last weekend to go shopping with me to get new bikinis and cover-ups; the necessities for the beach. And of course, since I will shortly be seen in bikinis, I have been working out on my Wii Fit like crazy! Bella sure has enjoyed going on runs/walks everyday as well.

Bella Pictures

Crazy Critters. Have you seen the ad on tv? Well, every time this commercial airs, Bella goes nuts when she hears the squeakers in the toy. When I was at HEB the other day, I happened to pass by a display - so I bought one of course. I picked out the raccoon. There is a squeaker in both the head and tail and no stuffing at all. She loves playing with it!





I gave Bella a bath today after she played in the neighborhood lake. She was shivering outside (I normally bathe her in the bathtub with warm water) so I wrapped her up in the towel and made her pose. She's so cute!

Crazy Weekend!

I had about the busiest weekend I've had in a long time, and it was all without Justin! It started Thursday on my drive home from work. I was talking to Mom on the phone because I knew she and Jacob had gone to College Station for Jacob to take a "College Day". I decided on my way home to drive to College Station that night. So I got home, packed a bag, fed the animals, and threw the dog in the car and made my way to CS. I went straight to Hannah's intramural soccer game to watch her play (with the dog, mind you) because I have NEVER seen her play before. The one game of hers I went to when she was in high school she didn't play. And then her boyfriend came over so Mom could meet him so it was a fairly late night (for me, anyway). Then on Friday, Mom, Jacob, and I went and got my car inspected (I didn't want to take it here in Houston and have to pay for the emissions test - and my car is registered in a non-emissions county anyway), then went to lunch. Jacob was forced to be with us while we did some shopping at Bed, Bath, and Beyond which he so thoroughly enjoyed. After that, we dropped him off on campus so he could go play games in the computer lab then returned to our shopping at Charming Charlie's (I LOVE that place). After picking Jacob back up, we went back to the house where I loaded up and left to head back to Houston. That was about 3:00. Once back home, I unloaded the car and got ready to go out because I had to drive up to Tomball for one of my girlfriend's birthday. We went out to dinner then to a bar for a couple of drinks before I headed home (we are such old folks, we were done with the bar by 11:15). I made it home just after midnight. Then the next morning (Saturday), I had to be up early and outside to help my neighbor do my yardwork. He's helping with the mowing/edging while Justin is gone (we have some great neighbors). I basically pulled weeds while he did the hard part, then helped sweep up the trimmings. Finally! I had some down time until Saturday evening when I went into town to meet Justin's family for a late birthday dinner for Taylor. I left soon after as I was just exhausted. On Sunday morning, I took Bella to the dog park and let her run around for awhile, gave her a bath before we left, and headed over to Petsmart. I needed some more kitty litter and she was so worn out that she was very well behaved. While we were there, I decided to get her nails grinded out, so I killed 2 birds with one stone. We made it home and it was only 1:30. For as much as we had done, I felt like it should have been 5:00 already. Anyway, I ended up running to the grocery store for a few things I really needed (I usually try to avoid HEB on the weekends like it's the plague, but I really needed some milk!) before making it back home before my Aunt Julia came over. We chatted for awhile and I sent her home with some of Dad's smoked sausage - I'm cleaned out now, so I need some more! (Hint Hint Dad! Justin will be coming back through soon!) So, that finally concluded my weekend. I can't wait for this weekend - I'm planning on doing nothing all day, both days!

Justin's Gone

...for a few weeks at least. He's out in Ft. Stockton, TX, aka Middle of Nowhere. He left yesterday morning and drove for over 500 miles to get there. We've got some vacation time coming soon and I think I'll end up driving out there to meet up with him. Then we will head on to Big Bend State Park and go camping. At least that's the current plan. The only thing that sucks about it is I have to drive out there and back by myself. I hate long car rides when I have to do the driving! And then, once our vacation is over, he will continue to stay out there for who knows how long. He may not be home for another couple of months!

Doo-Dah's Scratch Box

I just had to share these pictures of Doo-Dah enjoying his new scratch pad. First of all, the cats love scratch pads, so they are used constantly. I saw this unique one at the pet store and figured I'd try it. It's actually two different pieces that fit together so I can arrange them a couple of different ways as the cats scratch them up. However, Doo-Dah loves it like this because it has become his napping perch.
On a side note, I tried to bring a cat home with me that Justin and I found while out on a walk with Bella today. He was an orange cat (like my cat I grew up with, Bernie) and very friendly. I actually picked him up and carried him about a quarter of a mile to the house with no problem...until Justin opened the garage door. He freaked out and twisted out of my arms. Also, I did not plan to "keep" him, rather I wanted to put some food out on the front porch for him and let him stay outside. But I guess it wasn't meant to be; he ran and hid under a car so I went ahead and opened a can of wet cat food and left it outside for him. I hope he finds it and gets a good meal tonight.

The Big Build

I finally have a back deck instead of my mud pit! With the help of a couple of friends and Justin's Dad, we were able to build a deck this weekend. It's not quite complete as it needs a couple of trim pieces and still has to be stained, but it is one sturdy structure. Below are pictures of the progress. On Friday, all of the materials were delivered and Justin and I carried all the paver stones to the backyard. Justin then laid it out so I could get an idea of the size it was going to be. He already had the plans drawn up (must have been a slow day at work on Thursday!) Then on Saturday, his co-worker and friend Bobby came over for several hours to get the framework done. While he was there I babysat his 2 year old son. They left at about 3:00 and then I helped Justin finish the framing. On Sunday, Justin's dad and friend Jim came over to help finish. I basically stayed out of their way and made sure they had plenty of water. And I made sandwiches. It ended up being about a 16' x 15' deck. Justin is sunburned, tired, and sore, but my weekend warrior built me a damn fine deck!

Taxes

We e-filed our taxes on February 27th then had to go to the gun range. We fired somewhere between 300 and 400 rounds. Enough said.