Not So NEW YEAR's Resolution

I'm not really one for making new year's resolutions, especially in September. So, I'm going to call it my End-of-Third-Quarter Goal! And, I've decided, it's a good one.

For all my friends and family out there who are into the blogging world, I just want to say a big THANK YOU for taking the time to blog. I LOVE to hear about what's happening in your life, good, bad, or ugly! I'm a user google reader (thank you Stacie for teaching me about this wonderful tool), so I don't miss any of your posts. I read all of them. I promise. You may not realize this, because I RARELY comment. Well, that's my new goal. I'm going to comment more often, hopefully on every post. I miss you guys. I want you to know that I love you, and I miss you. I'm happy for your happinesses. I'm sad at your dissapointments. My heart aches when your does (so long as you share it) because I hate to know that someone I love is aching.

I also wanted to say Ruby, you're AMAZING. I KNOW that I could never be the kind of wife you are. I complain too much. I COULD NOT handle having my husband deployed (to who knows where sometimes) and be okay with it. The longest I've been away from my husband in the last 5 years was when he went to Idaho to visit his family/friends back in March. It was awful.

So to all of you out there, expect words from me to be coming your way. It's my new goal. Feel free to tell me to shut up once in a while if you get tired of reading my nonsense that I post on your comment sections! Happy Blogging (and reading)!!!

I'm A Marked Woman...

I decided to get a tattoo, so that's what I did last Friday (the 19th). And for those of my friends and family who just GASPED at that sentence...I love ya, but get over it. It wasn't a spur of the moment thing, and no, it's no one's FAULT, and nobody deserves and BLAME. Nobody influenced me to get it. It was something I wanted, so I informed Jordan that's what I was doing. END OF STORY.

I like it, and if you don't, feel free to stew to yourself, feel utterly disappointed and hurt (I know some of you will), spout off to your spouse, tell your kids I'm a HORRIBLE person and influence, whatever you need to do, so long as YOU DON'T TELL ME. I don't need the lecture, nor do I want it. I'm excited about it and just wanted to share. Here are some pics (it's a bee with a scorpio sign).

Tax Day Is Done (Part 2)... Part 3 To Come....

We made it! .....It's Part 2 because we had the first tax deadline on April 15th, (the second on September 15th -- for Corporate taxes) and the third tax deadline will be on October 15th. We survived it without any casualties, so now we just need to get past October 15th.

And, just so you know, I've started a post about my Idaho trip, I just need to add pics. Hopefully I'll get it done soon now that I should have a little tiny bit more time.

Sorry I've been quiet so long... I do plan on changing that. :)

No Good Excuse

As I'm sure you're all aware, I went to Idaho on vacation for a family reunion recently. I flew out on August 10th and arrived back home on the 18th (technically it was the 19th cuz we got in EARLY in the morning).

I obviously didn't post anything while I was gone, and since I've been home I've also been slacking. So, as I said in the title of this post, I really have no good excuse. While I've been tired and haven't felt 100%, I guess it's still not a good excuse. SO, just wanted to let you know that I am planning on posting some pics from my trip and telling all about it........when I get the time. He he he.... :)

Make Way For The Queen!!

While Jill may be tiny, she does assert herself and make her presence known around here. We feed the dogs in one big bowl (or individually when they have to be kenneled because we're going somewhere). The other night I filled the bowl, and Jill let it be known that SHE was going to eat first. And boy did she....well, she ate, but she also made a mess.... (I have quite a few Jill messes around my house at any given time actually.) Here's 'her highness' at work...

I also feel the need to point out all of the extra "junk" in my photos today.

I'm sure you noticed the blue crate. This is where we keep the going-for-a-walk backpack, the big bones, pig ears, treats, etc. The rug to the left would normally be in the kitchen, the bobypin in the bathroom, and the sock in the bedroom. They are all in the living room right now because my 'kids' felt it was a better place for them.... Anyways, the blue treatball and the blue thing with strings (it's actually 1/2 of a treat 'pill' that we got at PetSmart--you put the treat in and twist it together and it keeps them occupied until they get it open) and the basketball (one of Miller and Molly's favorite toys) are all mobile since they're toys.

But, I'm sure you noticed right off that Jill was digging through the food with her nose rooting around looking for a specific kind she wanted. (We changed dog food, so there's some of the old kind, some puppy food, and some adult food in the bowl. She picks out what she wants, which is typically the old food, then the puppy food.) But, what a MESS!!! Luckily my house comes with 4 built in hoovers that also hog the bed and make messes of other miscellaneous things that are able to clean it up. Every time it happens. Which is every time they eat. If it's not Jill's rooting that makes the mess, it's Miller trying to bury the food for later.

She's Getting So Big!!

Not literally, but yeah, "the baby" is getting bigger and more mature. One thing we learned (very quickly) about Jill is that she DOES NOT like her paws played with/touched.

Ever since we've got Miller and Jack when they were puppies, we started them early with paw touching. We wanted to make sure they would not make a fuss when their nails needed trimmed, or if we needed to look at them for whatever reason. So, starting when they were small, we would examine them, spreading the pads apart, trimming nails, etc. and then immediately praising them like crazy. This worked wonderfully, and they are great with it. Molly, is Molly, and she's special. :) Not a lot bothers Molly. She's kind of oblivious to most things going on around her, and thus, she's wonderful with us prodding and poking on her anywhere whenever. Sometimes she will be laying on the floor in front of the 'pantry' and when I need in it, I will ask her to move. She sweetly looks up at me and rolls back so I can pet her belly. It's a cute game we play. I tell her to do something, and she looks at me like, "how can I adjust myself so you can give me the most love and attention." I know that this is just Molly and I've accepted it. So, Molly just lays there, and I just scoot her out of the way with my foot. Molly just lays there like I'm petting her, and my ankles and calves get a workout at the same time. :)

Now....Jill. Jill is special on her own in this house, mostly because she's 'the baby.' As in, "where did the baby go?" "is the baby with you?" "Jack Jack, go get the baby!" She's delicate and soft (so long as you're not trying to move her or invade her space when she's sleepy) and just really sweet. She's still a clumsy baby, and we know it's the puppy in her and she'll grow out of it. For instance, so many times she will get excited and run to jump on the couch, but she will jump too soon, or with not enough "umph" and she ends up kinda bouncing off the cushion and having to try again. Sometimes, when she's REALLY excited, it can take her four or so jumps to finally get up on the couch. She will also do this when she's trying to jump onto our shoulders. And she doesn't have enough "umph" so she will slide down.............our arms.............digging her nails in as she goes. -That's why we're typically scratched up. Anyhoo, whenever we've tried to get her used to us touching her nails and feet, she pulls away and cries like we're trying to murder her.

Today while I was at home for lunch, I noticed Jill was laying on the living room floor in front of Jordan and I and she was kinda playing/tugging on her dewclaw. We decided that it must be long enough to bother her or maybe something was stuck (like a thorn or sticker, etc.) so either way, it was probably time to trim the nails. (We've also been hoping her nails would get long enough so that we could cut off the hot pink nail polish that was on her nails when we got her.) So, I got out the cat nail clippers (the dog ones are just too big) and while I held her, Jordan cut her nails. She didn't cry ONE time, or even let out as much as a whimper! We were so proud of her, and she promptly got a treat for being such a good girl. She's definitely growing up!!!

Here's a pic of Jill playing in the yard this past Sunday afternoon.