Help me selfishly win an iPad.

- Melody

I’m no photog by any stretch of the imagination. I do, however, admire dozens of actual photogs. Chimpsy is a site that helps budding photographers or amateurs develop their camera skills. I get their newsletter and sometimes I read it. Anyway, they’re having a contest to win an iPad. Registered members upload a photo and it’s voted on by peers. I entered and would love your feedback and votes! Here’s the picture I submitted:

So, if you want, you can go here and vote. I think it runs through August. If I win I’ll share the iPad with you…?

What I’ve learned about dogs.

- Melody

We’ve had Pepper for a week and a half today. Starting this journey, technically ten years ago,* didn’t prepare me much for what having a dog was actually like. I could dream about it, make plans and buy things but once we actually had her we didn’t know what we were getting into.*

Bringing her home was the weirdest most exciting car ride I’ve had so far. We tried keeping her in the back but she kept climbing out to get to us. I eventually just carried her in my lap and took pictures of her. In the beginning little things, like her panting, I was clueless about. (And still am!) We finally learned that she was panting excessively because she was nervous and anxious. Rightly so, the girl’s whole life was changing! She has since stopped and is completely healthy. 🙂

I’ve learned that getting a dog is not a decision to be made lightly, not that ours was. Deciding to adopt a dog required research and careful thought for us. The cost alone of owning a dog was enough to scare us away from it! Shots, food, toys, heartworm medication, grooming, teeth cleaning… All we did in the weeks leading up to adopting her was read all about puppies and what they need. Do we get a dog bed now even though she isn’t housebroken? What size collar do we need? How much will she weigh so we can buy flea treatments? How much does heartworm medication cost? What’s a puppy mill? I know this probably sounds overbearing and ridiculous, but I needed to know that we were fully prepared to take her on. I’d never had a puppy before and was absolutely clueless about how they operated!

I’ve learned that dogs are much, much different than cats. I can’t just keep Pepper on the couch next to me and expect her to sleep all day beside me and occasionally take her to the litter box. I have to feed her at certain intervals and immediately take her out and then clean up the inevitable accident she will have an hour later. We can’t leave her out when we go places because she will chew my antique quilt and eat the carpet. I’m not saying this remorsefully, I actually love all the planning! The planning means that I have a dog! We finally have a puppy that we adopted and named and are caring for.**

I’ve learned that having Pepper means consistency, patience, and dedication in training. The Dog Whisperer is a faithfully recorded series in this house. 😉 Just because we adopted a golden retriever doesn’t mean she’s going to turn into the perfect dog. Breed has little to do with how an adult dog acts. (Just ask Cesar! :P)

*(Times I had to get up and see what she was doing or take her outside. See what I mean? A handful. 😉

An outfit and a story

- Melody 1 Comment

tee: Hanes, vest: Old Navy (similar), skirt: Target

Wore this out to linner (lupper? dunch? dupper?) with the in-laws Friday afternoon. This week hasn’t been the best so getting out for a two hour lunch was just what we needed. (Told you I love this skirt. I literally wore it all weekend. Is that gross?)

So here’s our Story of the Week! Thursday a Direct TV tech was scheduled to come out from 12-4 to install cable. Jason was at work across the street but I was home all day sitting literally by the front door. I purposefully didn’t do anything in the rest of the house because we can’t hear when someone knocks if we’re in the back of the house. SO! 2:00 rolled around, 3:00, 4:00, no tech. At 5:00 we called to see what was up. The rep we called said apparently he knocked on all three of our doors and waited for 45 minutes and also tried our neighbors. We see that as highly unlikely seeing as how I was literally by the front door all.day. He “showed up” at 2:45 so if he stayed for 45 minutes he would have left at 3:30. Jason was walking across the street to grab his keys at 3:30. We were furious. After some admittedly heated conversations several customer service reps, we learned that no one could come back out for two weeks. The main reason we decided to turn our cable back on was to watch the Olympics! *%#$^!$@*&! I hastily emailed, after some searching, the president of customer service and got a call the next day. The super sweet girl put in an order to their field office and someone is out here right now installing it. Thanks, Josh! 🙂

Now if I could just get this tuition issue sorted out…

What I’ve learned this summer. Kind of.

- Melody 2 Comments

I only have about two and a half weeks left of summer vacation before my last year of school starts! I know I made a list of summer intentions a while back, so I’m kind of making a mad dash to get some one those done. I’ve been really bored lately which is typical me during the summer. I relish in the break for a couple of months and then, after several bouts of heat stroke, I keep really bored and want structure and things to do. Also typical me is regretting feeling that way once school starts. I honestly think that if I had a job that I loved I wouldn’t mind it so much. Of course, with a job I wouldn’t have a summer break. So it’s bittersweet. (Wait, is that bittersweet? Did I use that right?) To think that in nine months I will be a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree with no job prospects is both scary and enticing. In nine months I will be done with school forever! No more papers, no more classes, no more choir concerts, no more tests… ahhh. Just thinking about it makes me feel relieved. However, I still have no clear view of what God has planned for Jason and me or my sister for that matter. I’ve known what my purpose is since I was eleven, but still don’t have a clue as to how it’s going to play out. Though Jason and I have a fun project we’re working on. 🙂

So, I guess I’ve learned that I need things to do or I get restless, bored, and depressed. It’s only taken me sixteen years of school to learn that. 😉 To appease my boredom, and to stave off thoughts of the upcoming school year and the outrageous stress it will bring with it, I’ll try to finish up my summer intentions list. A new skirt, some new recipes, and some piano practice! Interspersed with pictures of Pepper, of course. 🙂

Also, I’ve been waiting literally all.day. for Direct TV to show up and install cable. Nowhere to be found. I just want to watch the Olympics.

Hope your summer is going well!

The curses of being short

- Melody 1 Comment

button-up: thrifted, skirt: Target, sandals: Old Navy

This skirt is the best $7 I’ve ever spent. It’s long, breezy, and pink. Best skirt ever for Texas summer heat! Although, the length was a little too long for the gas station bathroom on our way back from Houston. I brought in a Sonic cup to rinse out so Pepper could have some water. The floor was so disgusting I had to wrap my skirt up and stick it between my legs. Ew.

The day of.

- Melody

We left here on Saturday at 9am. I wanted to try and find some place fancy, which to us is somewhere not fast food since all Henderson has is fast food. Blech. We ended up going to Freebirds. I know, fancy, right?! 🙂 I was too nervous and excited to eat because I knew as soon as we left we were going to pick Pepper up! Eeek! So currently my burrito is sitting in the fridge. It’s really nice that Houston is just a three hour drive for us. It’s a huge city! Plus it’s the city that gave me my lifelong dream. 😛 We’re getting into a routine finally with Pepper. Her first night in the kennel was a disaster. She barked and whined all.night. So we moved the kennel further away from our room so we could at least get some sleep while she learned she needed to be alone. She ended up sleeping through the night! I got up this morning to a sleepy puppy clamoring to get to me. Once she calmed down, I let her out and we went for a little walk. I’m loving this new routine when at first, I didn’t think I would. She’s such a great addition to our little pet family. I just hope the cats warm up a little more to her soon!

Happy Monday!