oh, how i love my mornings...

merry christmas eve!

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I hope you all get to enjoy time with family and friends and realize the beauty and peace of the season.

My pup wants to send her love, as well...

Indi outside, enjoying being a puppy (and hogging the webcam)!

Indi chatting with me the other night...she's a snuggler.

Merry Christmas!

definitely time for a puppy pic update

I was just looking through the past few posts and realized I hadn't updated any puppy pics. I may be the only one that cares, but I do like to look back on my blog and reminisce! :O) Here ya go for your "awwwwinnnnngggg" enjoyment:

sleepy indigo

studs biting indi...playtime!


indi staying close to mom


the pup is getting bigger!


and likes to chew on Nic


and giraffe.


just a little puppy (and roomie!) fun!!!

THE END!

really?

I was doing some quick research on crates for le poopie. (That's "the puppy" in french. Haha, not really.) But, really. I found this:

Do people REALLY do that to their dogs? Seriously. Seriously.

what a good night...

I got to meet Indigo...


and see my friends.

so, to be happy...

Gotta have a happy pic/post to follow up that last one. Apparently, my new puppy likes to snuggle. And Pelly, of course, lets her.

Introducing Indigo

Ignore my crazy hair...I've been up since 3 am and am working from home today. :O)

my puppy!

Pelly had her puppies overnight and I was able to be there thanks to videochat. This was after #8 was delivered (7 are alive and doing well!). Pelham heard me talking and started looking around. Man, I wish I was there...it's hard to know my friends are sharing in this time together and I'm not there. But, I'm thankful I can be there via the world wide interweb!!! I actually got to see several births...incredible!

it's cold.

It is 61 degrees today, yet it feels a lot colder...probably because it's windy. This weather is fine with me, but I am not sure I want it to get any colder. All of my winter clothes are still in Atlanta (minus the FEW sweaters I have purchased since I've been here), so I am anxious to get everything back so I can feel warm again!!!

I want to find my warm, snuggly clothes...I think they are packed in a tub somewhere in a closet in Atlanta. That will be a great day. The day I can wake up, put my warm, snuggly clothes on, get a hot cup of tea, and park it on the couch with my Schmoo and my new puppy and watch Saturday morning tv. (I won't get the pup until January, so it will be nice and cold by then...probably snowy, too.) Love it!

Did I mention I am getting a new puppy? Yippee! Pelly is pregnant and expected to pop those babies out around mid-November. SO, that means I can get my new pup (I have several names in mind, but won't share until I decide for sure...don't need the nicknames starting before then) around Christmastime. I CAN'T WAIT! Midi will be so excited! She is a different dog with Pelham around, so I think it will be good for her to have a puppy to befriend like she eventually did Pellers. Plus, the dog is going to be ridiculously cute!!!!

I mean...seriously?


Snuggle, snuggle.

as of november 3rd:

I will be the very proud renter of a 2 bedroom townhouse. And did I mention that I will be living on my very own?! Not with my parents? Yippeee! (Not that I don't love my parents, but seriously...it's been 3 months now.) I will have my bed, my dog (unless the roomies do something to her between now and Oct. 31), my dishes, my stuff. Oh yeah...my books, my desk, my towels, my pillows, my couch, my chairs, my tv, my movies.

I'm excited, can you tell? :O)

I'm going to be in Atlanta the first weekend in November for work and to pack up all the junk I own...not looking forward to the move, but I AM looking forward to GETTING moved. My goal is to be in my own bed Monday, November 3rd with the Midi Lou Schmoo Bear curled up in a ball at the opposite end ignoring me, as usual. Sounds like a perfect night!!!

So...that IS what's new with me. Oh, and I seem to be fighting some sort of bug...or just a really weird migraine. Not great timing, but I will have to press on. So...really, that's it.

freaky lou

The Proving Ground is testing today because it is cloudy, so freaky deaky lou is sitting on top of me. She has tried numerous times to crawl on my lap which is currently occupied by my computer...not happening, Schmoo Bear. These are the things I have to deal with....sheesh.

What a long journey...

...from Africa to the USA. This time two weeks ago, I was actually in a taxi in Zanzibar frantically driving to the ATM trying to get money out to pay our taxi driver. Wow. Hard to believe what can happen in two weeks time. Let me recap since I've been a slacker:

- Zanzibar Island (which was amazing...make sure you check out my pictures)
- Back to Uganda for 2 days to pack up and say goodbye (miss you Renee, Jeff & Christine...amazing how you can make such great connections with people in such a short time)
- Back to Atlanta via Amsterdam (Big Mac for breakfast in Amsterdam)
- Spent some GREAT time with the Duke House roomies for 5 days. They loved on me and spoiled me rotten. I managed to play Rock Band every day for ridiculous amounts of time. Also got to visit a lot of friends from my "old job" at Buckhead/North Point. (That's weird to say!!!) Kicked it with the Passion peeps for a bit, too. I guess it doesn't really seem like former anything when those people are like family to you.
- Made the long drive to Maryland to spend an extended time with the family in Aberdeen. Which is where I am right now.

So, I'll stop bullet-pointing everything now. :O) I'm currently sitting on the bed in my room at my parents' house. It is one of 2 air-conditioned rooms in the house. Comes in handy for the days and nights when the heat index soars into the 100's. Delightful. Midi (Schmoo Bear) is passed out on the bed next to me, pretty much taking up the whole bed....she will get booted to the side here in a bit when I go to sleep.

I guess I wanted to blog because I hadn't in a while and this is one of the first times I've been able to actually blog from the site and not the old blackberry. Yes, I went and stood in line for 4 hours and bought the new iPhone 3G. Everyone knew I would, so I'm sure no one is really surprised. I'm just BUMMED SERIOUSLY to find out AT&T didn't update their international plan. So, I STILL can't use the stupid thing in Uganda. Freakin A, AT&T. We are going to have a go-around about this!!!!

Anyway, that's not what I wanted to blog about. A lot of you know that I'm in this state of "what am I doing with my life?" Just so you know, that hasn't changed. If anything, I'm more than ever at the point where I feel like I should fall on my face and say, "Jesus, I need You right now." And, that's what I'm doing. But, to be honest, I don't even know what to pray for. I came to a realization tonight that I am at a really selfish point in my life. I am selfish in my desires to want to try and understand my life, understand where I'm supposed to be, what I'm supposed to do, and on and on and on. I know I'm not alone in this. I know we all go through this time in our lives...and probably more than once. So, I know I must turn to Scripture and turn to prayer.

I was listening to a favorite song...it's a song that became a favorite this past year and is very familiar in the Passion family. Part of it says,

"Heal my heart and make it clean.
Open up my eyes to the things unseen.
Show me how to love like You have loved me.
Break my heart for what breaks Yours.
Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause,
As I walk from earth into eternity."

Everything I am...how I long to say that and yet how so far away I am. I feel broken, but not broken to the point where I feel like I can be molded. I feel completely useless and completely selfish, yet want to overcome so that my brokenness is no longer a selfish place of wanting, but a selfless place of complete hope in Jesus.

And so here I sit in Maryland. I am headed to Nashville this Friday for 6 days to reconnect with friends and do some potential job hunting. I'm also not closing any doors in Atlanta. Just trying to be open to whatever God might show me. My heart knows that I don't need to be "perfect" for God to use me. My head just needs to get back into the groove. I have a few books that I'm hoping will jump start my thinking. I'm such a thinker that is continually over-thinking, over-analyzing everything that it will be good to make my mind go through the paces. I could just use some prayer, though, as I struggle through this time.

Sorry for the long post...and for the stream of consciousness crap....if you even read this far, I should send you a blow-pop. :O)

happy birthday midi lou!

My Midi Lou Schmoo is 8 years old today...crazy to think I've had her almost 8 years! She has definitely been with me through some stuff. And some moves, that's for sure. What a great dog...

I hope she lives forever and ever...Happy Birthday Schmoo!!!

one of the hardest things...

...I've had to ever experience happened today. It seems so silly, but it's ripping my heart out right now. My parents just took their oldest dog, Gabe, to be put to sleep. Gabe was my buddy. I got him as a senior in high school and we were inseparable for the few years after that I attended community college and lived with them off and on. Every time I would visit, it was like we were never apart. So, I feel like I've lost a best friend today...and it's even harder not being there, knowing how terribly hard this is on my parents.

Why do animals grab hold of our hearts so viciously? For the past two days that I've known it might happen, I've been a crying mess which is not the typical me. My mom just sent me an email and said that it was done. I told her yesterday that I didn't want her to call me because I knew I wouldn't be able to talk to her without becoming a blobbering mess...and she didn't need that on top of dealing with her own emotions. So, it is over. I keep remembering all the fun times Gabe and I had together...he was such a great dog and did the funniest things, so I have the best memories...which I guess is what is making it so tough to deal with.

Anyway, this post is just my way of spilling my emotion so I can hopefully stop being a basketcase. Sorry to be a debbie downer today. In honor of Gabe...a great dog and buddy...

dogfights and voting

This is the face of a killer...


Or at least the face of a dog-fighter. Apparently, the Schmoo decided she had HAD ENOUGH of the dogs in the house yesterday and let it be known that she was the queen. When I got home from all of my various runnings-around-town last night, I found her in time-out in Nicole's room. But...my definition and Nicole's definition of time-out definitely varies. I would put the dog in a dark room and make them think about what they did. Nicole puts Midi in her room with the lights dimmed and the TV on. It was like a freakin' spa when I went in there. :O) Oh well. She'll never be trained (Nicole, that is.). Ha ha.

Did you vote today? I did. I don't talk politics, so don't even ask who I voted for. But, I will tell you to go vote. Being that we live in a country where we have the freedom to vote for any person we want to (including being able to write our own name in at some point), there is absolutely NO EXCUSE for every single one of us not voting. I look at what is happening in Kenya and it makes me even more thankful for the democracy we have in this country....no matter how messed up we think it is. At least we don't have to worry about being beat, burned, or tortured for our vote. So, GO VOTE!!!

guess I better pop over here for a while.

Hello friends!

Sorry, I've been wrapped up in Kenya. Obviously you know that if you've been anywhere near me or my Africa blog the past 10 days. Seriously...it's ridiculous. I should just go ahead and move there. Wait, who said that?!

See...I'm talking to myself. It's pretty bad. So, let's catch up in the real world. Bullet points:

• Midi has made herself Pelham's "official ear-funk-cleaner". She licks inside Pelly's ear to clean out the infection that is housed there pretty much all of the time. It is gross and disgusting (the infection AND the fact that Midi likes to lick it out). I thought it would be over by the time I got back....not so much.
• Our side-by-side refrigerator/freezer conked out on us. The top half is warm, the bottom half freezes everything (on both sides). So, we lost a lot of food and also got a really good grilled meal last night from meat that had to be cooked. Thanks, roomies. It was nice coming home from work and having dinner prepared! You guys rule.
• Apparently, my roomies had some good "Amy's Birthday (I guess we have to celebrate New Year's Eve) Fun" while I was in Kenya. I've seen pictures. Good times! Wish I could have been here, but I celebrated with hippos, camels, and impalas in honor of Amy.
• I'm currently in the market for more work. I have two trips to Africa on the books for this year (South Africa in May, Kenya in the Fall), so I need to have some more income coming in. I would appreciate prayer about that. God has always provided, so I'm not worried...I'm just intrigued to see where He leads.
  
• Jodi & Anna visited this past Friday and Saturday. Too much fun! I got to play "parent for a 17 hour period of time". It even included an overnight. That's big time, friends, big time. I might be ready to start looking into adoption. Or maybe just dating.
• I'm on Day one of another 5 day cleanse. For those of you that are just joining us (or if I haven't shared before), I try to cleanse for 5 days every month. That involves consuming only water and a concoction that consists of freshly squeezed lemon juice, grade B organic syrup, water, and cayenne pepper. Yummy (really, I actually DO like it)! I managed to persuade Tammy into cleansing with me this time. Hee hee.
  
• After the cleanse, I'm going to start training for the Nashville half marathon. That's if my body can take it. HOPEFULLY my stupid sciatica won't come back. That was no good. I'm going to start at the gym first, strengthening my muscles. I've been a lazy arse the past few months. Losing pounds, but most definitely not building any muscle. So, that is going to change. Watch out...Bizzle is back!
• Geez....I've been gone a while. Too many bullet points.
• I'm all by myself right now. Kind of sad on a Monday night when you can't eat anything. Guess I will go get a "cup of dinner" and turn the TV on. Maybe go read some later. I need my mind to shut down for a little. I posted on my Africa blog...check it out if you want to see why my mind is going nutso.
  
• Oh, and one more thing. Not that I think everyone should care about Kenya (you should, though). But, check out the BBC every once in a while and keep up. There's a lot of stuff happening and our friends there need our prayer.
  

christmas goodness

Merry Christmas!

This was the first Christmas I didn't spend with my family...I'm leaving for Kenya tomorrow (what?!), so I decided to just hang here in Atlanta and get ready for my trip. Nicole and I spent the morning with the dogs and then her mom arrived around 2 to spend the rest of the day with us. She ended up bringing frozen leftovers from Thanksgiving, which actually tasted really good! We ended up playing Wii, starting a fire in the fireplace, opening up a lot of silly dog presents, and renting a movie On Demand. All in all, a really relaxing and fun day! Of course, I have pics...

creation, 6 miles & the iphone.

Today, Nicole and I decided to take the dogs to Stone Mountain to do a little hiking. We were only planning on going a few miles, but ended up doing the entire 6 mile route of the Cherokee Trail. I'll pay for that tomorrow morning.

Needless to say, God was showing out. In a good way. Creation was at its finest. Behold the amazing ability of the iphone and the even MORE amazing display of God's hand at work...



Pelly couldn't stay out of the water. I think she managed to jump in every side of every lake at least 14 times. Midi would occasionally wander in, but only up to her belly.



Then, here are random other shots from the adventure...



And then, finally, the day ended and we had two very exhausted pups.

an afternoon of lazeeeee & catching you up

I worked hard this morning so by this afternoon, I was ready to veg. That consisted of laying on the couch catching up on TIVO with Nic, the 3 dogs and Schubie. Oh, yeah. 3 dogs. Let me introduce you to the newest addition.

This is Toby and he is Sarah's dog. Such a sweetie....he's the little dog in the house. Although, he's able to hold his own. Apparently, he took a "turn" at Pelly today. Pretty good for a dog 1/3 Pelly's size. Ha ha.

Back to my afternoon...I think I will probably continue my quest for complete laziness. This weather is making me sleepy and giving me a bit of a migraine, so the couch seems like the best place for dealing with all of that nonsense.

In other news, Ross sent me some new music which I am lovin'....he needs to send me more. I am going to let him know that as soon as I see him online. Staying with the whole music theme here, I'm going to see Paolo Nutini and Sara Bareilles Saturday night and CAN'T WAIT. Sara has become, BY FAR, one of my new favorite singer/songwriters. If she can pull it off live, she will be in my overall top 5, I think.

I was in Nashville this past weekend and was able to spend some great time with the peeps. It actually turned out to be good baby time, which rocked. Here are some pics from the fun weekend...

This is Anna, my friend Jodi's beautiful little girl....


This is Smith, who appears to be very hungry...


Smith is the cutest little boy in the world and is the son of Bebo and Shady...


Obviously, Danielle is not a baby. :O) She's my D-Con...


Well, I want to post more but Nic is making me get off the couch and do some stupid "slowrobics" thing on TV. How dumb is that? I can probably do it FROM the couch, but she's challenging me, so my competitive side says I must get up and beat her down. So, more to come later.

**Ok, so I'm adding now...just got down "slowrobics". It WAS quite a workout, but I'm not really into the whole aerobics things, especially on TV. But, Nic and I made a pact to TIVO a show everyday and do it. We will each take turns picking the show and have to do what the other picks. I REALLY want to do a real life boot camp, though. It will probably kick my arse up and down the street, but I think that might be good. So...I'm going to start looking into it. That would make for some good blogging, I'm sure.