Orlando Trip

Darle had a business trip to Orlando this month and I got to go with him. While he was at his meetings I lounged around the pools reading my book and doing homework. After his meeting and on Saturday we got to play in the Florida sun. We toured the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, lounged around the hotel Thursday (Darle had meetings all day), watched the shuttle launch on Friday (very cool), Epcot on Saturday, then a swamp tour on an air boat before getting on the plane to come home Sunday.
We had so much fun and enjoyed the warm sun the whole time.


Magic Kingdom was not as fun as we thought it would be. Childhood fantasies were overtaken by adult perspective. Buzz Lightyear is just not something we squeal over like the little boys in line with us. We did the whole park in 6 hours. It would have been much more fun if we had little ones to take and be excited with.

So Magic Kingdom was a bust but we had a fantastic time at Epcot. I didn't post any pictures from Epcot but we were the from nearly open to closing, and could have stayed another 2 hours or so. Our feet nearly fell off but we had a great time. So glad we had the whole day Saturday to spend there.

We spent nearly the whole day Friday sitting in our spot with thousands of others waiting for the space shuttle Atlantis to launch. We had to get there early to get a spot with a clear view. The water was nasty and smelled like rot, some people waded in it to get a closer view even though we were 7 miles away (30 feet wont make a difference). It was really intense to watch it launch. For Darle, this event would be the equivalent to me getting to tour Tara Plantation and the Big house in Atalanta, if such places actually existed.

Darle waiting for the big moment.

This was at Kennedy.

This was on Tuesday before the launch.

This is what they call the "crawler" used to transport the shuttle from the big building behind to the pad. the road was specially made for the crawler.

And the big event...... Huston we have lift off.

This is the trail it left after the shuttle was out of site.

This the last photo from the swamp tour. Not really any alligators in that part of Florida.

Beautiful Spring

I just love when Spring comes. All the earth comes back to life, the birds are singing, and the air is filled with the smell of fresh flowers.
We planted our garden two weeks ago and have already been able to enjoy fresh cilantro on our taco night this past Friday. We also planted all of the flowers in our front yard and created a planter bed in a ring around the base of the tree in the front yard. This year my Wisteria has already produced tons of flower clusters. I absolutely love it! Last year I only had 2 flowers on the whole thing.

And a drum roll please......... The bathroom remodel is finally done!
We are elated that we finally get to fully use the Master Bath after a year and half of living in our house. We forgot to take "before" pictures before starting the demo work but here are the Bathroom before and after photos.


The wall that you see exposed made it difficult to maneuver when two people are trying to get ready for work at the same time. Not to mention that there was only one sink with a small mirror above. Attached to the sink cabinet was an attached bookcase. Since I do my homework in the office, this was wasted space; and the shelves were fixed in position so I couldn't put any bottled items on it. It pretty much was used for toilet paper storage.

Before

After

From a different view. Darle Incorporated the same glass tile into the back splash as was used in the shower. The pictures came out much darker than the bathroom actually is. The tile on counter is a light cream / beige color and the light from the window really brightens the area.

Before

It was even smaller that it looks.

After

I just love this shower! Complete with two shower heads and a center rain head, built in seat in the back and a beautiful glass tile insert. We put in a clear glass door so we could see and admire Darle’s hard work even when not using the shower. Plus, having the clear glass keeps the bathroom feeling open.

April Shower's Bring May Flower's

April started of with definite showers in our house. Bella went into heat again. Dealing with a male dog in the house with a female in heat is absolutely unbearable. The worst was over the weekend. I took Riley to work with me so for 9 hours a day there was peace. On the weekend we were all stuck in the house together. It made us look forward to Monday again; and that never happens! After eight days the worst was over. By Easter everything was back to normal and we were able to leave the dogs home together and enjoy Easter with Darle's family this year.

I currently have all my nursing applications turned in and we are now waiting to hear from each school on acceptance. I am trying very hard not to become too neurotic but I am really getting quite anxious. I have to talk myself out of coming home at lunch just to check the mailbox. All of your thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Darle has finished the Master Bathroom remodel. The shower door comes in Friday and once it is installed we will post some finished pictures. It turned out beautiful. I cant wait to share.

Bella in her sweat pants while she was bleeding. So cute!

This is the Easter cake we made. It was a strawberry flavored cake with homemade butter cream filling and covered with chocolate ganache. Topped off with a chocolate nest. Delicious!

Busy Busy

Even after all the the puppies went to their new homes we still find ourselves very busy. Over the past month I have been preparing applications to submit to the Nursing programs at 4 local schools. I have been laying awake many nights totally stressed out thinking, "Did I get good enough grades? I should have worked harder. What was the deadline for____ school again? What if I don't get in again this year?" I will find out if I move on to the essay / interview stage around the beginning of April. I will know for sure, in or out, by mid May. Then classes start in Sept. I am trying to thing positively and visualizing myself getting in. For now I am just taking a few courses and working full time.

Darle's job has been very stressful lately. As the manager of his office he is dealing with insubordination and general lack of effort on a daily basis. Which I think in this economy is foolish. A wise man always builds his house up on a rock. As usual in this house, Darle has a project going. This is one of the "major" ones though. We (he) is remodeling the Master bath and closet. There was a bunch of unused space in the closet so he knocked out the wall shared with the shower. The plan is to make the closet more functional and the bathroom bigger. We never used the shower in there because it was a single stand up shower. Also, the toilet was so close to the shower that your knees were in the shower while sitting on the toilet. At this point the closet is done and the bathroom is about 20% done. Here are some of the remodel pictures.


This is the closet with the wall into the bath already gone. The part where the ladder is will be where the shower will eventually expand to.

Old Shower.


Bathroom in the process of being torn apart.
The new closet. Both sides are symmetrical. On the floor Darle built a shoe rack that is tilted under the clothes. Perfect shoe solution! On the back wall there is a special portion specially custom made by Darle for my long dresses and shelves above for purses and whatnot. I love whatnot stuff!
This is the shelves and rod for long dresses. (we just don't have the rod yet. But you can see where it will go once we put it in.)

This will be the shower. It will be huge compared to the old one. The big box in the back will be a bench on the back wall of the shower. The shower will have two separate spray heads and a big rain head in the middle. It will feel like a spa in my very own home! (Actually, I have never been to a spa so I have nothing to compare it to).

6 Week Pictures

This post is mostly for my mom so she can see all the puppies. She was going to come out to Oregon to do me and Brandy's hair, but she couldn't make it out, and didn't get to see the puppies. The first part is right off the blog we are using to sell the puppies so it has a little description of each pup. Then there are tons more of them just playing.
Mom, here are the videos I promised you. Make sure your speakers are nice and loud so you get the full effect! Wink Wink...









Chocolate Girl #1. She is a very sweet girl. She is the smallest of the litter but she is very feisty. She does not let the other puppies push her around even though they try. She loves human attention and is a little cuddle bug.





Chocolate Boy #2. SOLD His owners have named him Trask. A real handsome boy. He is sweet and playful.




Chocolate Boy #3. He is sweet and funny. He loves to play and bounce around. The other day he was running and looking behind him and ended up swimming in the water bowl. This little guy love attention and to be held as much as we are willing. He is a light chocolate color with a white shoulder and arm, very cute.


Tri Boy #4 SOLD. His new owners have named him Boomer. Boomer’s little face just says it all, very charismatic. Once he knows we are home or awake he is usually one of the first to let us know he wants out of the puppy box to play or be held.



Chocolate Girl#5. She is sweet and snuggly, content to sit with us on the couch and watch a movie.


Chocolate Boy #6. He is a sweet boy and loves to play with all the others but does not have to be the center of attention. He has a cute little splash of white just above his tail.

Tri Boy #7. SOLD This guy is the smallest of the Tri boys. He really has the cutest little puppy bark. He loves to play, bounce around and be silly. I find him doing silly things all the time. From the day he was born we would find him sleeping on his back. He loves having his little pink belly rubbed. There is a classic picture of him below on his back.

Tri Boy #8 SOLD. His new family has named him Sawyer. Sawyer is our biggest puppy but he doesn’t know it, always sweet and gentle. He really loves to be held and cuddled. We have found the littlest girl (#1) playing and tugging on his ears and he just gently plays with her and she is half his size, literally.

Here are lots of pictures taken this past week of the puppies playing and other cute shots.

Chocolate #5 with a stuffed puppy toy.

Boomer with the stuffed puppy toy.

Girl #5 and Boy #7

Chocolate Boy # 3 giving momma kisses.

Chocolate Boy #2 with Riley. So cute!

Both sisters being cute and snuggling.

Tug of war.

Tri Boy #7 posing so cute

Sweet picture of Girl #1

A funny shot of the puppies sleeping like they are in recliners

3 Week Old Pictures

The puppies are three weeks old this week. They have had their eyes open for a week and are now playing with each other. Their personalities are beginning to come out as they play and interact with us. Enjoy their sweet pictures!

Chocolate Girl #1

Chocolate Boy #2

Chocolate Boy #3

Tri Boy #4

Chocolate Girl #5

Chocolate Boy #6

Tri Boy #7

Tri Boy #8

Other Cute Pictures:

Big Yawn!

I'm a happy girl!

Will somebody come hold me?

We are still bottle feeding the first little girl.



Girl #1 aka Scrunchy, snuggling with Darle