the life of a dog

Last night I decided to be brave and take the two pups for a walk...here comes the brave part...all by myself. I must explain so that you can truly appreciate my bravery.

Going for a walk is like the ultimate hot fudge sundae or free trip to anywhere in the world grand prize sweepstakes win for our puppies. It is the highlight of their days, nonetheless their lives. Our puppies are not trained to walk well or obediently. We have come to accept that fact and take full responsibility. We have decided that it really is okay because we don't take them on the walks for our enjoyment it is truly because they enjoy it so much. Anyway, we take them during the dark hours of the night so no one can see. (ha ha...we really do this because it is the only time that it is cool enough!)

That said...walking Boo and Ashes involves the following: Bolting out the door at lightning speed, running for the first few minutes to get some of that walking excitement out of their system. It then involves a very brisk walk while inspecting every moving leaf, blade of grass, insect or frog. Last night we saw at least six frogs. They would sniff them, poke them, prod them, lick them, and chase them. Our puppies really enjoy frogs, especially when they play dead. Don't worry we don't let them eat the frogs. Anyway, the walk also involves taking a gigantic poop (it is almost like they don't poop all day so that this one can be gigantic) on the lawn of some poor unsuspecting neighbor right under their porch light while I cower and hope they don't look out their window. It then involves me picking up the poop and putting it in a bag which I then have the pleasure of carrying for the remainder of the walk. Let me tell you there is no smell like fresh puppy poop. Mmmmm. Throughout the walk I am required to use my best untangling skills as they cross leashes and get wrapped up in each other. The walk gets easier as it nears the end...by this time they have run themselves tired. My favorite part is when we get to the front door, it is a welcome relief. I open the door, let go of the leashes and they dart as fast as they possibly can to their water bowl. We love walks!

Jimmy is doing really well in flight school. He has been flying all this week and is studying like crazy. I'm proud of him. He's really digging in and doing a great job. It is painstakingly time consuming but will be well worth it.

I stole this picture from our family blog that Natlie is doing. I won't even ask her the secret to getting a certain symbol off of the front...sneaky Natalie. Anyway...here I am with my brothers and sisters. This picture was taken at our wedding. Brian, Samantha, Melissa, Natalie, Mark, and Scott.

Early Mornings

It is 4:46 a.m. I have been awake since 3:40 a.m. in Utah time that is really 2:40 a.m. Jimmy rotates between early and afternoon flightline hours. This week is early flightline. Which means waking up at 3:40 and going to bed at 8:00. Yesterday I went back to bed but felt tired all day. Today I am trying a new approach...an all-nighter! Just kidding. Jimmy finally got to fly yesterday (Monday). Last week he was supposed to fly but there were issues with maintenence and weather so it got postponed. Yesterday was the big day and he loved it. He'll be going back up again today. It's exciting and so fun to hear him talk about flying not to mention a little nerve racking.

The puppies have discovered the dirt in our backyard and they are definitely taking advantage of it. Jimmy had to give them a bath last night and this morning at 4:46 they already need another one. Lucky me! Oh what fun being a naughty little puppy must be. I'm going to be really good and go for a run this morning....we'll see how long this lasts.

Alabama

I really do love Alabama. I honestly have enojyed our time here. Here are a few of my Alabama favorites and not so favorites...



Enterprise is where I work. It is a small town outside of Fort Rucker or should I say Fort Rucker is outside of Enterprise...hmmm anyway...in the center of town is a monument built in honor of the boll weevil. What is a boll weevil you ask? I know you're asking...I asked myself the same question. To answer all questions the boll weevil is a bug. A monument built for a bug. In a nutshell the farmers grew cotton, the boll weevil ate all the cotton crops so they turned to peanuts and then they became rich off of the peanuts and are now huge producers of peanuts. They even have a huge Peanut Festival. Which brings me to....



Ever had "bowled peanuts" actually boiled peanuts. For the longst time I was asked if I had tried "bowled peanuts" and I couldn't figure out what "bowled peanuts" were until the light went on in my head and I realized...AHA! BOILED PEANUTS! They are a hot item here. I think my expectations were a little high when I had my first taste of the Alabama delicacy. Jimmy and I stopped to buy some at a stand similar to the one above and thought they tasted like salty mush. Now don't take our word for it come on to Alabama and try some yourself.



How can a bug be so big? What purpose do they really serve? Are they really necessary? And...how do they multiply so quickly. These big buggers are everywhere and they are uuuugly and not to mention fast! We find at least one a day and quite frankly I can't take it anymore! Ha ha. Now mind you these aren't the "your house is disgustingly dirty so cockroaches make it their home too" kind. They just live here and it's normal...can you believe that? It's normal?!



The beaches! We love the beaches! Anywhere from Panama City to Destin to Fort Walton to Pensacola...they are all beautiful! There is nothing like the ocean! All of which are within 2 hours from us! Yahoo for us!



Ahh the taste of Larry's. Larry's is here to represent all of the great, scrumptious,yummy, absolutely fabulous barbeque in the South. Oh my! It is good.



Have you ever had dippin' dots? Maybe I am just living in the stone age and haven't been properly introduced to this newage icecream but it's pretty good. It's all over the place here. I think I may have had something similar to it in Utah once. You all probably already know this and there's probably a local dippin' dots stand in a mall somewhere in Utah but they come in every flavor you could imagine! Amazing!



What would the South be without a Piggly Wiggly? I haven't been in one but I have had my picture taken in front of one. I have heard that the food tastes like the store smells. I'm not sure I want to find out if that one is true.



What would any part of the United States be without one of these? In Enteprise it even doubles as a weekend hang out. Oh the excitement!!

Momma Mia

Isn't she beautiful? Mom and Nat were going through Grandpa's old photo albums and they sent me a few of the pictures. This is one of my favorite. I think my mom is the most beautiful person.

The countdown has begun....

Coming September 27th to a television near you.

Up Up and Away!

Jimmy is no longer on hold! Yahoo! He started back on Monday and will be flying by Wednesday...yes by wednesday of this week. The late nights of studying have begun! We're both so glad to say that there is finally an end in sight! He'll start off training in the TH-67 . He'll fly in this for a few months until he gets done with the primary and instrument training and then he'll get assigned to one of the following helicopters: Apache, Blackhawk, Chinook, or Kiowa. (By the way for all of you that are new to this blog thing you can click on the bold words and it will take you somewhere and tell you more....amazing) We're so excited!

Randomness....

Things in Alabama seem to be heating up. We went on a run outside tonight and the overheat meter on my internal motor was flashing red. This year I must say I will miss the snow (at least for now that is). I know it's hot when I find myself day dreaming of Salt Lake in the wintertime. There's nothing like 100% humidity on a 98 degree day!

Just a little bit of an FYI to get you all up to speed on what we are up to...

Jimmy is still on hold...no longer on medical hold that is. Now he's just on regular hold. He's patiently waiting to get back into a class and that could take who knows how long. It really could take anywhere from a few days to a few months so we're just waiting and waiting and waiting. In the meantime he is studying a lot and best of all, he has gotten the okay to play soccer again. He will be making his big comeback debut this Saturday. Hopefully we'll make it through Saturday without another knee surgery.

Boo and Ashes are getting big. Boo has learned when it is time to go on a walk and he is relentless at going when he wants to. It is definitely the highlight of their day. Ashes is big at heart and likes to pounce on him when he is least expecting it. She has just discovered her bark and boy are we glad (ha ha).

I chopped off my hair on Friday. I am still getting used to it but it seems to be doing the trick. I have been called a bonita chiquita and a fiiiine white chick. Who could ask for more? Ha ha. Work has calmed down a little bit and things aren't quite so dramatic but I never really know what to expect. Isn't life interesting? It amazes me that we have already been here together for 8 months! Where does the time go?!

A friend of mine has given me a little bit of know how and a lot of inspiration on how to decorate my home without spending a fortune. I have told some of you how I have been trying to refinish some old furniture and you asked me to show you some pictures so here they are. Some of you have also just asked me to post pictures of the inside of our house so here they are too. It's coming along just a little at a time. Some of these are works in progress....