Life in the Slow Lane

Well, as always, it’s been a loooooong time since I last updated my blog. I would like to say that I’m going to more often, but I think I probably say that every time as well, so instead I’m just going to state the obvious: I suck at this lol. Either way, I’ve been back from my birthday trip to Texas for a while now and lots of life has happened since that time! But first….about my Texas trip! I had such an awesome time and I was lucky enough to see most of my family (although only one of my friends). Since I didn’t want to take too much time off work right before our busiest time of the year, I had to decide if I wanted to fly in to SA and get to visit with friends, or into Lake Jackson and be able to see my family. Family won out. I spent every waking moment of the day visiting with everyone and I got to continue the long standing tradition of celebrating my 24^th birthday along with my Aunts Sara and Susan, whose birthdays are within a couple days of mine. My mom and Grandma Margie also took me to the Houston Galleria for a birthday shopping spree, and to dinner at Lupe Tortilla to top the day off. It was such a good time, and I especially enjoyed every single last bite of tex mex. 

Additionally, mine and Michael’s good friend, Wes, recently moved to Lake Jackson, so he spent a lot of time hanging out with my family and I. On my last night home, my cousins and I met up with Wes and his roomie and went to the movies. I know that wouldn’t be too exciting for most normal people, but I had only been the movies one time since moving to Iowa and it had been months since Michael and I had been able to do anything at all, so it was a pretty fun time! Though the whole trip was great, I have to say my favorite part was fishing at the beach with my parents and little cousin Kristyn. I have literally never in my life had a more successful day of fishing! At this point, I can’t even remember how many fish we caught, but one of the days, we hit the max yearly limit for Red Fish over a certain length, so we had to start throwing them back. It was crazy! 

 Mom and Dad's new dog, Dixie. I met her for the first time that weekend!

 Dixie loved chasing the cranes

 The ice cream truck came by hehe :)

 

 One of the 30 inchers

 nothing completes a good day of fishing like a ninja turtle popsicle!

Though I was sad to leave Texas, I tried to think of my hubby and puppies waiting for me to arrive in Des Moines. That was the one thing that could have made my trip even better! It such a balancing act—in Iowa, I’m always missing my family and friends back home, but I can’t fully be content in Texas either, unless Michael is by my side. I felt so so guilty for leaving him here to study a million hours and take care of a new puppy, while I was having fun with everyone else. Just in case he forgot how much I would miss him while I was gone, I made him a man bouquet with some of his favorite things. On the morning my flight for TX left, I pretended I forgot something and while Michael waited in the car, I ran up and put his bouquet on the table for him to find when he got back from taking me to the airport. I think it held him over alright, because by the time I returned, he had eaten every last thing in the bouquet hehe. 

 After being back for a couple days, I was trying to get fully back into the swing of things and prepare for Medicare Advantage Season, which would start the very next week, when I got into a car wreck. And on a quick side note, I just want to take a moment to rant about how ridiculously rude the people in Iowa are! I was in the middle lane of three, and when we collided, none of the cars around me would even stop to let me pull over to the side of the road. I was just stuck in the middle of an intersection, as the cars on both sides went around me, and the truck that hit me took off. UGH! He did end up stopping down the road, however. As it turns out, he had run a red light while playing on his phone…frustrating! It was especially irritating because the police dispatcher told us the cops couldn’t come because there were too many domestic disturbance disputes being tended to. After a few hours of waiting we finally just decided to leave. The guy ended up lying to the insurance company, which caused a bit of stress since Iowa has some weird law that basically says a person is generally not 100% at fault and both people will be assigned partial blame, regardless of what happened. Thanks to a witness who stopped and gave me her contact info, they ended up assigning him 100% of the blame. Yay! They also ended up not totaling out my car, so after 2 weeks with a rental, I got my car back! Couldn’t have turned out better!

Another recent happening was the presidential election between Obama and Romney! It was my first time voting and it was a really cool feeling to be doing it in a swing state. Although it obviously didn’t turn out the way I would have liked, I feel like Obama’s re-election and all the changes that are now taking place as a result, will be a huge wake up call to all the people who have the unfounded belief that the government can afford to take care of everyone, without anyone actually paying for it. I don’t mean to rant, but I feel this country is on the verge of a necessary hardship- a hardship that will lead to real change. Positive change. Perhaps people will realize America, as great as it is, isn’t immune to destitution or any other consequence of trillions of dollars of debt.

Also worth noting is that Hostess announced its bankruptcy on Friday. It’s strange to think that our kids will never know the joys of biting into a fluffy Twinkie with delicious cream filling L Oh well, I suppose good things come and go! After hearing the news, Michael decided it would be a good idea to buy up all the hostess stuff we could find and try to sell it on ebay. Apparently it was a good idea… who knew a box of Twinkies would be worth $30 lol. We now have more hostess products than I’ve ever seen, outside of a grocery shelf. I’ll have to let you know if it ends up making him enough money to make it worth the 3 hours of time plus gas it took him to drive around the city collecting the little cakes haha. Either way, Michael was pleased with himself. 

Our sweet Darcy girl is MUCH bigger than the last time I wrote. She’s just reached 20 lbs! I really can’t believe how quickly she grew. At this point, she’s big enough to reach food anywhere on the dining room table, and about halfway back on the kitchen countertops.  She’s been easy to train to do tricks because she’s so smart, but when it comes to accessing food (human or dog), she’ll take any punishment we can dish out, so that’s been a little more slow going. She’s still not all the way potty trained, though she’s coming along alright. Her and Gizmo still love each other just as much, and spend most of their time playing tug-of-war or wrestling. 

 Hahaha I love this picture! Even though she's double his size, he still always beats her at tug-of-war

 She has him pinned lol :)

 

 She is NOT allowed on the couch, but she pretends she doesn't know it. 

 

 My giant babygirl

We’ve also recently celebrated Michael’s 25^th birthday! I really just can’t believe he’s already in his mid-twenties…I still think of him as a reckless 16 year old with his newly acquired driver’s license burning a hole in his dash. We didn’t have too much time to celebrate, but I did take him to Zombie Burger to get one of the greatest burgers of all time, and then we went home for some Reeses Peanut Butter Explosion Cake that I had made. It was seriously delicious. I intended on letting him open his present too, but it came a bit late, so he had to wait on that. Nevertheless, when he did open it, he loved it just as much! 

 That's right...star wars wrapping paper lol 

 

 Pink Floyd leather guitar strap

 I made it a Spurs theme since our lives lately have revolved around The Spurs and Aggies

Other than that all that, life is pretty much the norm. Although winter is approaching, the weather hasn’t been too miserable here yet. Everyone keeps saying how unusual this “warm” weather is, but it’s really only been like this since we moved here, so I guess we can’t really say we’ve ever experienced a typical Iowa winter.  I am so abundantly thankful for that. I hate the cold, with a passion. Though I’m not looking forward to snow and I haven’t enjoyed thawing out my car in the morning, I’ve loved watching the leaves change and fall. Autumn is gorgeous here! Now I’m just looking forward to a relaxing Thanksgiving with Michael and the pups, and of course getting ready for Christmas- my favorite time of year! Happy Thanksgiving, y’all! 

Oh one last thing...how could I have forgotten! A&M is doing insanely well in the SEC and is now ranked #8, after our big win over Alabama! Our entire Saturdays revolve around watching them, which has been a lot of fun for Michael and I. I really can't express how gratifying it has been to rub our success in my co-workers faces, mostly because they gave me so much crap at the beginning of the season lol. Okay that's all, THANKS AND GIG 'EM! :)

Our Fall Arrival

Happy third day of Fall! As always, it’s been forever since I last updated you, so I have lots to report. 

First and foremost, though, I am pleased to announce our most recent addition to our family- our sweet little Darcy. We really weren’t planning on getting a dog right now, but were thinking we might after medicare advantage season (the busiest time of year in my line of work) ends in December.  I had been looking around, though, and when I saw an irishdoodle listed at $300, we jumped at the opportunity. I had really been wanting a doodle-mix because I want a big dog, but definitely will not have time to vacuum the whole apartment every day. The only issue with getting a doodle was the cost- which is usually anywhere from $600-$1200. We really just weren’t willing to pay that much for a dog, when there are plenty in the shelters. Although, I do have to throw out there that the dogs at the local shelters here are from $250 up to $350, which seems like quite a bit for an adoption!

On Thursday, when I saw the ad online, I nervously called Michael to see what he would think. “well….uhh….uh….” he said at first. I thought for sure he was trying to find a nice way to let me down and tell me I was being ridiculous. What he actually was trying to find a way to say, and eventually did, was “do you have to go to work tomorrow? Or could we go get her before you go to work?” Turns out he was just as excited as I am. Though we definitely wouldn’t have time to go before work, we ended up leaving the moment Michael got home from school that evening. It was such an unexpected but exciting turn of events for what started out as a typical Thursday. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as smoothly as we planned…

The breeder was about 3.5 hours away from Des Moines, but we wanted to get our puppy ASAP because the lady had an ad coming out in a couple of newspapers the next day, and I didn’t want them all to be taken. When we got to about 2.5 hours away, we had one of my tires blow out. At first I was super frustrated because this is the 5^th flat I’ve had in the past 2 months, and the second tire that couldn’t be repaired and had to be replaced. Plus, we didn’t have an actual spare; we just had a doughnut and we weren’t sure if it was going to get us the rest of the way there and then back home again. We were just too far from home to go back without the puppy, so we decided if the tire would last 2.5 hours home, it would also get us to the breeder’s house first. Unfortunately, we had to drive 50mph on the doughnut, instead of the 78 that we were driving, so the entire trip ended up taking us about 8 hours. We didn’t get home till after 2am! 

Even though it wasn’t what we expected, it was a fun adventure, and I think we both really needed that. At one point during the ride Michael stopped studying and said “ya know…this doesn’t feel like real life. It just doesn’t”.  I knew exactly what he meant. Our entire lives here, especially his, are so consumed by his school that we don’t ever, ever get to do anything spontaneous and out of the ordinary together. I do get time to relax and occasionally go out, but never with Michael. His life literally revolves around school. We don’t get the luxury of making last minute plans or going to a movie because we’re bored. He can’t have a lazy day, a sick day, or even take an hour a day for himself. There’s really no leeway for him to make the “irresponsible” choice for any period of time, and not choose to study. To do something so rash and yes, even irresponsible, together was just… a dream come true! We talked and laughed and got a puppy out of it :)

 

So far, we absolutely adore her! She’s such a sweetie, and I’m pretty sure she’s going to be smart too! She’s caught on very quickly! She doesn’t really have accidents much inside (other than her explosive problems in her kennel last night, eewww!) and now actually stops and knows what I’m referring to when I say “no”, as she tries to chew on wires or the carpet. I’m anticipating quite a challenge with training a puppy, especially a big one…and in an apartment, but I also know it will be a bonding experience for Michael and I. Our family feels very complete for the time being. We’ve added as much responsibility as we can handle, without the addition of actual kids, and life just couldn’t be better (as least while we live in Iowa lol). 

 Aren't they so sweet together :)

Baby's first bath

 Gizmo looks like a rat because he'd just had a bath too!

 They love each other!

 She has the fattest belly ever haha!

As always, work keeps be busy, but it’s been good. I was one of the qualifiers for the trip to Kansas City, which was a couple weekends ago. We had a lot of fun, but I felt so bad for going out and enjoying myself while Michael was stuck at home studying. We stayed at a really nice hotel and I went out with the girls during the day on Saturday for some shopping and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (my fav!). It was so amazing to actually hang out with girls I really have a lot of fun with, but I was a little anxious to join the guys at a sports bar so I could watch the first Aggie game in the SEC, against Florida. We didn’t get back in time to join the guys, but while everyone was getting ready for that night out, I did end up watching the last quarter of the game, while texting back and forth with Michael. It just felt like history in the making. Our first game in the SEC….so monumental… and I wasn’t even able to mug down with my hubby. He was so sweet and understanding about everything, though, and I ended up having an awesome time that night, before heading back home on Sunday morning.

Other than that, it’s been the norm around here. Weather has been in the 60's to 70's in the day and 40's at night. The trees are starting to change and it just couldn't be more beautiful! Michael studies more now than he ever has. We heard somewhere that the 2^nd year of the program is supposed to be easier than the first, but we would definitely disagree. It’s hard to miss him all the time, but we’re making it through okay and I am just keeping the mindset that it will be worth it. Last Sunday was the first time in a long while that he was going to be able to go to bed with me. It seemed like such a waste to just go to sleep, since we get so little time together, so at 2 am, we ended up just snuggling on the couch and watching Lost. By the end, we could hardly stay awake, but it was just too comfy to get up and go to bed, and I didn’t want our time to end.

A few Saturdays ago Michael also surprised me with a new Monopoly game. Monopoly is definitely one of my favorite games and while we have been together, he’s bought me 3 or 4 different versions. This latest version is by far my favorite! Though it’s less extravagant than the glitter, princess castles, and pewter pieces of the Disney Monopoly game he bought me for Christmas, it has totally different rules and adds 4 extra properties on each side, along with an extra dice that has a function other than moving spaces. We really enjoyed playing, as dorky as it may be to be playing a board game at home on a Saturday night while in your early 20’s. His thoughtfulness is always so appreciated!

Well, that’s all for now! I’ve got a puppy waking up from her nap that needs tending to :)