"Bella" meets the gang! :-)

Well.  Bella met the family today.  She was finally able to come out of the garage and into the house.  (Vet said) :-)  

She is safe from Parvo now, had her shots, and in the house!

It went much better than I thought it was going to go!  I can tell that there will be some disagreements between her and Chloe over food.  Some disagreements between her and Pudge over butt sniffing.  Some disagreements between her and myself over WALKING AROUND ON THE TOP OF THE COFFEE TABLE.  Some disagreements with Seth over shoe chewing.  And some with Bishop over the idea that CATS should NOT be inside.  :-)

I keep telling everyone to be careful because she is a street dog.  She's tough!  :-)

Hopefully we all make it.  I'll keep you posted!  :-) 

Stray-Animal magnet.

Okay.  So why does this happen to me?  :-)

I was on my way to work today and saw this puppy.  Scared to death.  Darting across a busy street, hiding under cars.  Of course I stop.  :-)  I try to get the puppy to come out to me... and she just starts darting across the street even worse!  I try to tempt her with potato chips.  (hey- it's the only thing I had in my car)  I finally just grab her and pull her out from under a car after I see her almost get hit.  

I put her in my lap.  We drive home- to the garage.  (aka- the animal shelter) I noticed that I still had the kennel out there from the cat that I had saved about a week later.  I can't help myself.  I have to laugh out-loud.

I call work.  I am going to be late.

I call Animal Control.  Leave a message.  He is out on a call.  Oh great... Now I have to sit here and look at this poor baby.  :-)

I get her some food and water, and she goes to town on it!

Finally, an hour and half later, I have to go to work.  The baby will just have to stay the night in the garage.  Animal Control can come in the morning.  :-)

So... off to work I go.  I get home and give her a bath since she was COVERED in transmission oil.

Animal Control will come in the morning so everything is fine! :-)

Well.... Animal Control came.... and left.... without her!  :-)

Hey- I am attached now!  :-)  She was not micro-chipped.  No one had reported her missing.  So- she is staying!  Off to the Vet tommorow for shots and check-up!  :-)

Girls Day!

Katie and I have had our first "Monday is Girl's Day."  Will DEFINATELY not be out last! Maybe even every Monday.  Or at least once a month or something.  All I know is it was SUCH a great day!

We hung out and got caught up on some "girl-talk" which was very much needed!  :-)

We then went to Applebees and got the "Two-for-Twenty!"  WOW! Did we eat!  And eat! And eat!  Then we got the new desert.  Can't remember what is was called but it is crushed cookie crust.  Then peanut butter ice-cream.  Then a layer of peanut butter.  Then Whipped cream.  Then chocolate syrup.  OMG!  So...we ate some more!!! :-)

Then we wobbled home.  :-) Hung out for a bit more.  And went to Jack and Lane's to hang out for a bit.  Which was awesome too!

We talked to Jack about his new garden. (Man- that man is talented) We talked to Lane about all of our "virtual farms" :-), we facebooked, ate an awesome salad which I must find out how to make, and sat at the table and talked about ALL kinds of things.  :-)

When Jack crashed out for the night, us three girls all got on facebook and played around.  :-)

What a great day!  I can't wait till next Monday.  I am going to Fresno!  This is going to make my weeks so much easier to push through.  

Good times with best friends make life!!!

Life is GOOD!

KABOOM!

What a great day!  I was able to be part of something great today!

Kaboom! is a non-profit organization in which Lemoore Parks and Recreation has been working with in order to get a playground built for a community in dire need of one.

And it all came together today.  All of the hard work payed off!  We had over 300 volunteers out today, all rushing to build a playground in one day!  Well, we accomplished that... and so much more!  The playground was not the only thing built.  Friendships were built, a sense of hope for this community was built, connections amongst very different people were built, and a sense of community was built.  I was so proud of everyone.  Of my community.  Of Parks and Recreation.  Of the members of this neighborhood in need.  Of Kaboom!  Of all the volunteers.  And of human kind as a whole.  

Word was spread through the media outlets that this community had no place for all the children to play.  That it was a low-income neighborhood.  And that they were finally going to get a safe place for their kids to play.  Off of the streets!  Having to get 300 volunteers seemed scary at first.  However, as soon as the word got out... it was DONE!

The day came- and we had OVER 300 people.  All working so hard to get this done in one day so these kids in this neighborhood have something to be proud of.  

I went out there yesterday.  The day before build day.  The land was being leveled.  That's it!  Everything else would be done today!

I was not there at 8 am when it all started.  I had worked a graveyard so I needed to get a couple of hours of sleep.  I got there at noon... and this is what I drove up on.

Seeing the looks on the kids faces at 4pm when we did the ribbon cutting ceremony was awesome!  I am SO inspired!  What a hard day that was worse every blister from shovels, every drop of sweat that burned the eye, every clump of dried concrete on my body, and every bit of sunburn. 

Project of the day!

Lately it seems that I have a project to do everyday that I am off work.  Which I am kind of enjoying.  It's nice to have things to do around the house when you have the time.

Today's project has actually been a thorn in my side for some time now.  My sister and I decided, out of the blue of course, to paint one of the walls in my spare bedroom.  The room is all black and white with one red accent- the awesome red velvet headboard.  

So.... I was thinking of painting the one wall behind the bed black.  But Caitlan says, "NO!  We have to do black and white strips!"  NEVER AGAIN!  :-)

So...we get busy taping off our stripes.

And then... on to painting.  Well, I started painting.  By this time, Caitlan had realized that it wasn't much fun.  She was already out with her friends.  :-)

So...off comes the tape.  That tape that took so long to get it put up in straight lines.  

Drum roll....and....I HATE it!  Because of the texture of the walls, the paint lines are not straight. 

So, needless to say, I have to figure out something to do!  I took a few days to do that.  :-)

I then decided to get red velvet ribbon that matched the headboard and attach it to the walls, covering those hideous lines.  

About 50$ worth of ribbon and every kind of wall adhesive.... and I am ready!

Only problem is.... the day after carefully gluing every strip of ribbon on... it's all on the ground.  :-)

So.... plan C? D? I lost track.  :-)

I think today I finally finished it!

It was a pain in my butt, and I will most likely never do strips again.  However, I LOVE it now.  I think the harder things are to get accomplished, the more you appreciate them when they DO get accomplished!

Until next project..

African Violets

Katie posted a blog about her African Violets from her and Zack's wedding, and it was so nice to hear her talk about them.  I, also, LOVE my two African Violets from her wedding.  Every day while I am standing at the kitchen sink, I look at them and smile.  It is so nice to have a reminder right there, in your house, of how beautiful that day was.  Every time I look at them, I remember another part of that very special day and it always makes me smile.  

Now, Katies are a lot bigger than mine.  I still had them in the same pots they were in at the wedding.  So- after seeing Katie's post, off I went to Lowe's to get them bigger pots, African Violet soil, and African Violet food.  They are so happy now.  They are already getting bigger.  

Katie and Zack- what a great gift to send home with people.  Just know that they are very much appreciated by a lot of people!

I love Spring!

I love Spring weather.  (Just wish my allergies loved it as well!)

Seth and I decided to grill a Tri-tip on the grill, make twice-baked potatoes, and steamed Zucchini for dinner tonight.  The weather was so nice, and I just love being out in the backyard now, so we decided to eat outside.  It was so nice!  Probably didn't help my allergies any, but hey- I can't stay cooped up inside all the time!  :-)

As I was in the kitchen making the potatoes, I kept hearing loud bird chirping.  As I approached the window, I noticed that there was a nest in one of my homemade wreaths on the front door.  I was so excited!  There wasn't a bird in the nest- but several right outside my front porch- apparently standing guard.  (Making a lot of racket!)

So I ran outside to snap some pictures before Mommy bird returned home!

As I was taking the photos, I realized....there's eggs inside!!!!  Man, I love Spring!

As I was snapping the photos, the "guard birds" were going crazy.  I assume they were alerting Mommy bird that there was an intruder.  So, I quickly snapped the picture of the eggs, and ran inside.  I just can't wait until these babies hatch!  My front porch will most likely be very loud...but worth it!

Just another reminder that....."Life is Good!"