Puppies are Like Kids...Well, at Least 75% of the Time

When Jimmy and I got Izzie, we knew we'd be giving up some of our free time to be with her, train her, etc. Once we felt like we mastered that, we decided Izzie needed a sister (Angel) to wear her out so that she wouldn't wear us out so much! I'm so happy we made that decision..they are two peas in a pod :) Love my girls!
Since having them, Jimmy and I don't always have the one-on-one time that we would like to have because the puppies are like kids...we have to pay attention to them, make sure they aren't causing trouble, getting into something they shouldn't be getting into, trying to escape (ANGEL!!!), etc. This weekend, we went on a church retreat to Salt Fork Lodge and Jimmy's mom watched the girls. I'm always nervous when I have to leave them because I want them to behave and I'm so freaked out by Angel's escape artist skills.
Despite my fear of leaving the puppies, I had an awesome weekend. Jimmy and I got to hang out and enjoy some quality time together. Our time was as simple as laying by the pool and getting our tan on (well, I got a tan...Jimmy got a few more freckles), sitting in the hot tub, playing stupid kid games with each other in the pool, being scared by the deer that kept walking by the bonfire...I just had so much fun with him :) I love my boo. By the end of the retreat, we were ready to get home and enjoy our reunion with Izzie and Angel.
I'm so thankful for our little family :) Love you Jimmy, Izzie, and Angel!!!!

Izzie Davis

This past Sunday, Jimmy and I decided to drive to Columbus Grove, OH to pick out our first puppy as a couple! If you had asked us a week earlier if we wanted a pet we would have said NO! But, in the snap of a finger, we decided we wanted to get a Mini Aussie. We did our research and ended up at Anderson Acres :)

After our long adventure there, we had 4 puppies to choose from and we ended up making the BEST CHOICE EVER! Her name was originally Sarah but Mrs. Anderson said we were welcome to rename her...we had already picked out the name Izzie before we even got the puppy so we went with that...IZZIE DAVIS!

She is such a joy! So cute, so playful...just a blast to hang out with!! I hate leaving her home while we're at work! I just want to be home to play with her all the time :)

She was nervous at first but has really come around in just 2 days! Here are some of the highlights:

Sunday: threw up on me in the car 4 times..but it was ok because she is cute...we figured out she hates the leash but LOVES the snow

Monday: her first day alone...so sad for me...when I got home there were 4 poop piles on the floor...our fault for leaving food for her to eat all day long...the good thing is that every time we take her outside (which is a lot) she pees and poos!





Tuesday: she finally got used to the leash...still not the greatest but we're working on it!





As the week went on, we continued to play chase in the snow and have barking wars on the floor...she thinks I'm the insane one and Jimmy is the calm one...now that's backwards!!! Overall, Izzie is AWESOME and I'm so excited to have her...she is really loving it here and I'm so happy for her :)





Next task: crate training...we start that tomorrow (I'm tired of picking up poo and pee when I get home!)

Christmas...thank you 8 lb. 6 oz. baby Jesus

Yes, that is our tree and, yes, it's in the dining area of our kitchen! I always thought Christmas was awesome as a kid...but, as the years go by, I feel like it gets more awesome! As fun as it is to receive gifts, I think it's more fun to give them :) Here's a bit of what was given to me:

My mom gets all of the kids a game each year...this year I chose Scattergories and totally forgot that I did...which is awesome because I was surprised when I opened it!

This is the amazing gift from my husband...this is a super sweet study bible that my pastor suggested getting...it gives a lot of historical background.

This card was in my stocking and had that piece of paper inside...the paper allows me to get 2 hours worth of spa treatments!!

And here's my stocking...it says "Give Love This Season"...my goal is to try to show people love all year long!!! Hope you all had a blessed Christmas holiday!

Painting adventure in our new crib...

I'm gonna make this short and sweet since Jimmy and I are insanely busy and we are preparing to have people over for the first time on Saturday. Please pray for our sanity....this "getting-the-house-together" thing is VERY overwhelming and I'm probably not enjoying it as much as I should. I'm really stressing out about having things ready for people to come over...BLAH!
Here's our start:

Our house after the first snow storm...

Our spare bedroom before we painted it...

Our spare bedroom while painting it...

Our spare bedroom after painting it...

Week 1 of homeownership...Is that a word?

Jimmy and I closed on our first home
November 23rd...we are so excited!!!
It's located in Gahanna, OH (east side
of Columbus) and sits on a corner
lot...3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths.

It's a split level home with this layout:
The top floor has the three bedrooms and full bath...two of the bedrooms have hardwood floor and the third has carpet (with pink and orange walls that we will paint!); One of those rooms will be an office/prayer room (Jimmy's great idea)...

The main floor has the living room and the kitchen. The living room also has hardwood. We ordered the love seat and chair that match our current couch and we're getting a sweet 42" LG TV so that we may enjoy some sports, The Office, 16 and Pregnant, Dog the Bounty Hunter, etc. :) We are making a little change in the kitchen. In the pic above, you may notice that the white cabinets have blue on them. I wasn't a fan of that because it made the blue countertops really pop out...so we are painting the cabinets all white...we will eventually get new countertops. Finally, attached to the kitchen is a 2 car garage and a sweet patio that goes to the back yard. I'll post another blog soon with a picture of the patio.

On the bottom floor is a half bath, utility room with great storage space, and a finished basement! The basement will have Jimmy's drum set and eventually a movie/hangout room. This will be the last area we fix up because we'll have to buy a another TV, more furniture, etc. One of our goals is to host lots of get-togethers...Jimmy loves to entertain so hopefully it will be a great home for family and friends!

Here's a quick story about our first couple of adventures as homeowners:


Saturday night, we went to the house to start painting our cabinets. We thought that the paint we were using had primer in it but quickly found out it didn't because it wasn't even close to covering up that blue after two coats of paint...so, basically, we wasted our time (except for the fact that the radio was playing some sweet songs from the 90's!).


We went back the next day (with primer) and did the job the right way....that was followed by 6 hours of raking and bagging leaves! BLAH! Honestly, I was totally cool with raking...it was actually a fun little workout...but the bagging sucked super bad!!! It was so annoying! We ended up with 26 bags of leaves! Jimmy and I now consider ourselves professional leaf people! We quickly made the decision that we would pay a kid in the neighborhood to do our leaves next year!

Great things continue to happen...

Jimmy and I are so insanely blessed right now...we have had the occasional craziness but, overall, we can't complain :) I had an AWESOME trip to Nebraska to see my family...my mom surprised me by driving from Arkansas to see me while I was in NE!! I didn't think I would be able to see her until after the holidays. So, needless to say, I was super excited! Here are a few pics of the awesome little people of my family (and I'm not talking about midgets):

Drew as Mayhem from X-MEN

Quinten as that thing from Yo Gabba Gabba

Rylee being silly :)

Brennan in his lion costume

While I was away on my trip, Jimmy and I managed to put an offer on a house...he would call me several times with the latest info and he took care of signing all the papers while I was away. I'm so glad he was able to be in Columbus to take care of that :) All we have left in the process is the appraisal and that happens on Monday...we may have a house on November 30th if all goes well! Thanks for all of the hard work Boo!!
Finally, Jimmy and I joined a gym this weekend and began working out again on Monday. We haven't been very consistent with working out the last couple of months so we decided that we would recommit ourselves by joining a good gym...I'm so excited about buffing up again...I feel like a blob!
Hope all my peeps are doing well...to my family: I LOVE AND MISS YOU SO MUCH!!! I had an amazing time with you and can't wait to do it again :)

My October Adventures Continue...

I appreciate and love fall time more and more as I get older :) It's such a great time of the year! Jimmy and I decided to get a pumpkin and draw on it instead of carve it...dull, I know! Not really cuz we had tons of fun drawing together!

We had lots of fall fun this weekend. I did my first corn maze EVER with Jimmy and some of our friends on Friday night. At this corn maze, we had to find 8 different stations and use a crayon they gave us to rub the picture onto our piece of paper (we termed these stations "rubbings")! Let's just say that the first "rubbing" we found was a little on the perverted side and we wondered what other "rubbings" may lie ahead! Another highlight of the night had to be when Becca ran into the rope and bounced back like a slingshot (this was right after we were talking about how unintelligent the high school kids were acting that night)!

The next day, our friend Abby invited some of us over for a fall party. We had some yummy food and ended up watching football and UFC instead of carving pumpkins :) Nothing better than food, friends, football, and UFC all in one night! Here's another pic of the pumpkin Jimmy and I drew on...he is quite the artist (he even drew me some boobs...quite proportionate to my real boob size...lol):




Oh how I love my husband! So, let me update you all on the house process. We looked at 5 houses on Saturday. We LOVED one of them and really liked two more. The wanted to offer on the one we loved but our realtor called us back soon after and told us that another couple looked at it a week earlier and that it was in contract :( We were bummed but we keep telling ourselves that there is a reason that God didn't want us to have that house. Of the two we really liked, we decided that one of them we liked better so we are taking a second look at it on Wednesday. We'll see how that goes and maybe we'll go for it! We'll see and I'll certainly keep you all posted.
Last, and certainly not least, I get to see my sisters, nephews, nieces, and brother-in-law this week/weekend!!!!! I am so excited!!! I leave on Thursday and return Monday...I can't wait for my Nebraska adventure :)