Civil rights? Soooo Last Century

I don't normally publicly share my opinions on political matters because it only stirs up trouble, but I am truly disappointed in the people of my home state of North Carolina.  We have passed an amendment that says in our constitution that marriage is only between a man and woman.  The problem with this is that this amendment is so poorly written and the people of this state obviously did not do their research to see what this will actually do to the people of this state.

For those of you who are not familiar with the amendment, here are the facts.

I do truly hate that people saw this as a black and white issue. (AKA if you are okay with gay people or not).  Homosexual is the NEW black.  Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it.  Stop the hate/bigotry.  I am a Christian and I know that Jesus wants us to love EVERYBODY.  Judge lest not ye be judged... 

Votes by County

Please notice that counties with larger Universities and major NC cities have voted against this amendment. Just an observation.  Take what you want with it.

My last thought....

This conversation is a lot bigger and more complex than can ever be covered is this short blog post, but I think this topic is worth talking about.  Everyone has opinions and that's what makes us a democratic society.  Thanks for your time.  I welcome tasteful comments.

Have a happy day!  :)

Spring= Wedding Season

  

Oh yes... It is the beginning of wedding season and we kicked it off with my grad school roommate's wedding this past weekend in Raleigh, NC.  He was also Chris's roommate in undergrad (stange?...maybe.).  I am so happy for Callie and ,his now wife, Stacie.  We wish you all the best for the rest of your lives together! :)

 Here are some more pictures from the evening.

Aren't I so lucky to get to surround myself with such handsome men?

Me and my Boo in Blue

ECU Group picture with the Groom (Blurry camera phone pic)

Tis the season... We have a wedding to go to in March, April, and May.  I am the MOH in my best friend's wedding in April and Chris is a groomsmen in his brother's wedding in May.  Ofcourse, we have OUR wedding in September!

Have a happy day! :)

FETCH!

  

I just stepped into this century and got an iPHONE!!!  Whoo hoo! This is big news because I have never had a smart phone only a "purty smart" phone with many limitations.  One of those limitations was the ability to take decent phone photos.  The second day of being an official iPhone user, I tried out my camera on my favorite little redheaded subject. I was very impressed with the quality of the pictures especially the action shots of Sophie running.  I love me new phone! 

 

 Have a wonderful day! :)



Dachshund Training Continues

In a previous post, I told you that the weenie and I have been participating in beginners training at PetSmart.  Last week, we worked on "Leave It" given some distractions and "Paw" or Shake.  Each week we are supposed to go home and practice some of the things we learned.  We are supposed to do our homework twice a week, but Sophie is extremely motivated by food (Pup-Peroni) so we can do one longer session. 

Here is a clip of part of our training session.

Sorry for the poor quality and... the sound of my voice.

Tomorrow night we are supposed to learn 2 tricks of my choosing and "STAY".  I haven't decided what I want to do yet so any suggestions are welcomed.  I will post a video when she has mastered the next commands!  (Hopefully soon).

Have a Happy Day!

UPDATE:  This week I have started my first big girl job as a Registered and Licensed Occupational Therapist.  Whoo Hoo!

Rematch

I'm Getting Married?

After being engaged for almost 2 months and visits to several venues, by golly I think I'm actually going to get married!  The place is beautiful downtown Wilmington, where I lived for a brief time.  I love everything about this town and am sad that I had to leave. 

The wedding will be in September of THIS year which gives me a little anxiety, but I know we can make it happen.  The purple star in the map to the left represents where Chris and I live in Greenville and the blue star represents my family.  Ofcourse, the red heart is Wilmington!  I see a perfect little triangle!  I am super excited to finally be moving forward and making this thing happen.  Please stay tuned for more updates!  I'll leave with you some pictures my mom took in Wrightsville Beach as we left Wilmington last weekend.

Have a Happy Day!

                      

Walkin' in a Weenie Wonderland... Or Not

For the past 3 weeks, Sophie and I have participated in Beginners Obedience Training at PetSmart.  It is a 6 week program and we meet once a week.  This has been a very interesting experience so far.  Sophie is almost a year and a half old so we are getting started at this a little late.  Chris (the fiance') wanted our stubborn puppy to be better behaved before we all have to coexist together in a few months. 

The first week of training, we worked on the commands "watch me" and sit.  Sophie generally has a good grasp of these two commands.  The second week, we concentrated on leash walking and greeting strangers appropriately.  I specifically asked about kids because Sophie is NOT a fan of little ones even though they LOVE her.  We practiced approaching a young girl in the store, but ofcourse Sophie did wonderfully because there were treats involved and the little girl did not squeal.  Last week, we worked on "leave it", "drop it", "take it", and "lay down". 

I went to my parents' house this weekend for some wedding planning and rest/relaxation.  Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day so my mom and I called up my brother and headed to a local park to walk on the trails.  I was feeling pretty confident about Sophie's training, so I thought this would be a great chance to show off her new skills.   

My mom was going to park in a parking lot away from most humans, but she missed the turn and we ended up parking by all of the playground equipment with easily a dozen squealing children.  I was already thinking this was going to be bad and so did Sophie because she was already starting to freak out before my mom even put the car in park.  As soon as we got out of the car, it started!  BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK!!!  Ofcourse, in the moment, I did not take a picture, but it looked a little like this...

My mom and brother's reaction. 

Needless to say, I was extremely embarassed.

 The kids did not seem phased by her barking and continued with squealing.  I had to pick her up, get her away from the kids, and give her some OT deep pressure to get her to calm down.  My mom and brother left us so we could chill out.  We ended up catching up with them after we calmed down.  Sophie did great walking on the leash after that initial craziness (minus one passing dog incident).

 

It is hard to be mad at this sweet face, but I will definitely be reporting this incident to her trainer tomorrow night.  Have a happy day! :)



The Hunger Games

I NEVER thought I would be saying this, but I started and finished The Hunger Games Trilogy.  I'm not typically into the 'Fantasy/Sci-Fi' genre.  I am definitely NOT a Twi-Heart (AKA Twilight fanatic) and I have no interest in any of those books or movies.  Vampires, werewolves... WHAT?  I only started to read the Hunger Games from a recommendation from my mom who typically doesn't like this genre either, but said it was really good.  So I ordered the first book on my new Kindle Touch (love it) and could not put it down! 

I'll give you a brief synopis-(NOT A SPOILER) We are in the FUTURE and USA no longer exists because of wars and depletion of resources.  It is now PANEM with the Capitol and 13 districts.  District 13 was destroyed because it attacked the Capitol. In the Capitol's attempt to discourage the other District's from rebelling, they created the Hunger Games.  Each District must send 2 tributes, 1 male/1 female, each year to the games.  All tributes are teenagers.  They are put into an arena where they fight to the death leaving one Victor. 

I told you it would be brief!  I definitely do not want to give any more information away, but this trilogy definitely lives up to it's hype!  After I finish a book or series, I get post-book depression.  I don't know what to do with myself after so much time has been consumed in the lives of the characters in the story.  Is this a normal way to feel OR am I just really strange? 

Anywho, I do not have to be too depressed because the movie is opening in MARCH!!  March 23rd to be exact.  My mom already planned a date to go see it!  I'm so EXCITED!!!

Check out this trailer!!

Have a happy day! :)

Happy President's Day!

Disclaimer:  This is by no means a political statement.  Just a lil' fun to celebrate President's Day! :)

Unwelcome Guests

Sophie and I had a nice quiet rainy day to ourselves so I could unpack some more stuff in my apartment.  There is still more to do.  I can't believe I have so much JUNK!  Anyways..We have only been here in the apartment twice while it was raining and both times we have had a visitor. 

I have named him Henry because I think it's pretty obvious that is his name.



I knocked on the sliding glass door to make sure he was alive and he gave me the most annoyed catlike look.  How dare I disturb his slumber?  Well he had bigger worries... Sophie.

 

Okay so maybe Sophie was concerned about this unwanted guest, but Henry was not amused.  He was just trying to get out of the rain and get in a little catnap.

Henry is still not interested, but Sophie is trying to find a way to get to him!

Her typical, if I put my nose in the door crack and sniff loudly and repeatedly, maybe it will open.   NOT.

Henry may have been Sophie's unwanted guest, but as I was documenting our fluffy our visitor, I noticed this large saltine cracker-sized spider (yes I do realize that's an odd comparison, but hey that was my first thought and it works). 

Henry left as soon as the rain let up, but I'm sure he'll be back this weekend because we are forecasted to get some more rain.   The spider who I will now call Cracker lives to see another day mainly because it was too cold outside for me to put forth the effort of squishing him.  I am tired of cold and looking forward to SPRING!!  :)  Have a happy day!

Officially an Occupational Therapist!

I'm so excited!  I found out today that I passed my National Boards for Occupational Therapy!  My state License should not be too far behind and then I start work in a little over a week! YAY! :)

Happy Valentine's Day (DIY Love Coupons)

This is my first and hopefully only Valentine's Day as an engaged couple.  Oh Wedding planning...   Chris and I don't ever buy eachother gifts for V-day, but we do spend time together and typically do dinner and exchange cards.  I wanted to give him something a little interactive this year and easy on the wallet.  All I used was my printer, a ribbon, and some construction paper.  All of which I already had.

 I made Love coupons.  I made my own template using Microsoft PPT.

I made 8 different coupons.  Here is an example of one. 

They all say "Feeling <adjective>?"  The ones I have made are personal to Chris and I so won't share all my specific Coupons, but you can get really creative with these and the more personal they are, the better.  I am certain he will have fun redeeming these coupons!  (I did put an expiration date on these...hehe)

 This whole Valentine thing bores Sophie...

 They say that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach and Chris definitely has a sweet tooth.  I made a heart-shaped brownie for Chris (his favorite).  Note the heart shaped brownie and ofcourse Sophie basking in the sun.

"Mom, Stop taking pictures of me."

"Did you just take another photo of me?!?!"



"Alright, Enough of this... I'm leaving."



Heart Brownie + Love Coupons = Happy VALENTINE's DAY!! <3



DIY Laundry Gift Basket

My mom and I are going to a bridal shower tomorrow for my best friend Ashley.  We did not want to do the same ol' same ol' wrapped present with item that the couple registered for.  Don't get me wrong, that is perfectly fine, but that is not how we roll!  We did get her something off of her registry, but we added some more items to stick with our laundry theme.  ENJOY!

Items in Basket:

• Shark Steam Iron (On couple's registry)
• Clorox Bleach (Bride's FAVORITE!)
• Laundry Detergent
• Snuggle Fabric Softener
• Shout Stain Remover
• Lingerie Bag for Washing Machine
• Drying bag for shoes (The bride and groom both work in the medical field so it is absolutely necessary to wash/dry their tennis shoes often.  This way they will not have that awful noise from banging shoes because the shoes stay on the door of the dryer.  Super cool!)

 I also included this personalized hanger that you see on ETSY that she can use on her wedding day.  You can see in later pictures that I added a blue bow to the top to go with our basket colors.  I will add a tutorial on how to make this soon because I will be making these for my wedding!!! :)

To decorate the laundry basket, I got the idea to make rosettes out of socks that were left behind in the laundry.  You can see the tutorial on how I made these here.  I hotglued three sock rosettes together then attached them to a blue ribbon.

 I wrapped the ribbon in and out of the basket.   I connected the ends of the ribbon with a dab of hot glue.  I did not want to glue the ribbon or flowers to the laundry basket so that she can actually use it in the future.

Here are some pictures of the finished product.  Hope she likes it!

This was a fun project that my mom and I got to do together.  There are so many themed baskets that you could do and since so many of my friends are getting hitched soon, we will have plenty of opportunities to make baskets and I will post them all here!  Have a wonderful day!  :)

Sock Rosette {Tutorial}

Yes…Most people make rosettes out of beautiful scrap fabrics, but no not me.  I used those sad lonely socks that you find randomly in the laundry room. Everyone has at least one or two of these mysterious socks!  I got the idea to make sock rosettes when my mom and I were making a bridal shower gift basket for my best friend.  (I will post this soon.)  Here is a quick tutorial on how to make these!  You could use this tutorial to make rosettes out of most any fabric. 

I started with a lone sock.  You can use long tube socks to make larger rosettes and no-show socks to make smaller rosettes. 

Cut the sock down the “imaginary’ seams to the toe.  Tip: Make small slits on both sides of the toe area to make the sock as flat as possible.  Fold the sock in half (hot dog style). 

Tie a loose knot in one end of the sock.

 

Start to wrap sock fabric around knot semi-tightly while covering the loose fabric at the end of the knot.  While wrapping, twist fabric to create petals. 

Tip:  Always twist in the same direction. 

Keep wrapping/twisting until you come to the end or the rosette is the size you want. 

Do one final twist and tuck the remaining fabric under the back of the rosette.  Secure it with a dot of hot glue.

Now you have your very own SOCK ROSETTE!  It's Simple, Easy, and CHEAP!  My Favorite!