Swing Life Away...

such a busy few weeks

2009-07-12T23:27:03Z

we are finally all moved in as of about a week ago. but there has been so much going on i haven't gotten everything unpacked yet.

a week ago we all went to tahoe for Sara's bachelorette party. Aimee and i had so much fun. And thanks to Artie, the party was DEFINATELY at harvey's. it was beautiful weather when it was 108 here in the valley. i love tahoe, i wish i could go more often. i never get to do the fun outdoorsy things i don't get enough time for.

then this friday was Sara's wedding. it was really one of the best wedding's i've been to. suprisingly there was no drama and everything went along quite nicely. i don't cry, but my uncle made me well up in tears twice. it's hard seeing any grown man cry i guess. Nick and i had a wonderful time and luckily i lost just enough weight sweating my butt off moving to fit into my bridesmaids dress.

finally cleared to close!

2009-06-17T05:41:14Z

It's unreal that within the next day or so i will officially be a homeowner. it's been almost 3 months and suprisingly the hardest part about it was simply being patient. The four, to five, to sometimes two week wait was ridiculous at times. But it's worth it.

I finally took Nick over to see the house this last weekend. He was very pleased with my decision. He thinks it's our great first home. I do too. I LOVE our big backyard. Finally plenty of room for murphy to run around in and i also can't wait for the best inventions in the world...AIR CONDITIONING AND THE DISHWASHER!

I'm planning on moving on the 29th since we have to be out of here by the 1st. This weekend i probably won't have keys and next weekend i'm in Tahoe for Sara's bachelorette party. i'm excited i love Tahoe. There is just so much to do in the next few weeks.

There goes another check of my list of life goals. i never imagined i'd be able to do it at 26.

well that was...exciting?

2009-06-06T05:49:14Z

So Murphy does NOT like clipping his toenails. whatsoever. i've always made a point to handle his feet since he was a baby but it seems like suddenly quite a while ago now he won't let me near his paws. he doesn't like he touching his toes, and won't let me near him with clippers or a dremel. We switched groomers a while ago because it seemed like they were very rough with the dogs that we saw them grooming. i've alway suspected they cut too deep one time, so i've tried everyday to show him that getting his nails clipped was a good thing, but he's not having it.

i've tried everything, and he still tries to bite me, so i finally caved and bought a muzzle. Nick was holding him and making him stay calm and he seemed okay, but as soon as i tried to clip one of his back toes, he kicked hard and i ended up cutting the quick. SHIT. and it wasn't like, a little bleeding, it was like a steady stream.UGH. luckily i had quick stop, right? yeah, apparently Murphy at some point chewed the cap off so the quick stop was hard as a rock and completely unusable. GREAT. i read online a while ago (which is probably not a great source, but hey it was a .org?) that flour or cornstarch can stop the bleeding as well so i put some on, bandaged up his little foot and made him lie on the ground for about 30 minutes. i look away for 10 seconds to go wash the blood off my arm and he has chewed the gauze off and started licking his foot again. blood EVERYWHERE. so off to the emergency vet Nick and i go.

$150 later, murphy is rocking a green bandage and soaking wet from freaking out with the muzzle on while the tech and the vet wrap him up. Granted, Murphy is the biggest baby even when he's not hurt at all, he was carrying on so bad in the back that the 3 other dogs in the waiting rooms started howling and barking along with him. WONDERFUL. When the doc finally came to see us he just told us that we might want to seek tranquilizers from our vet and was concerned that he had a muzzle on and that he might be viscous. no he's not, well, only when you touch his paws.

i don't know what to do at this point. i've worked with him on this for almost 2 years now. nothing seems to be working. i wish he could make him understand that if he just sits still and relaxes for 10 seconds this awekward moment will be over!

i wish i had my house already

2009-04-26T22:10:20Z

I should have my appraisal back next week. Finally it will feel like something is actually getting done! i recieved both my title papers and my loan docs in the mail on thursday. when i was going through it all it actually hit me that i was buying a house. it's crazy. Both Nick and i are anxious to move already, especially after the 90+ degree weather this week. My little wall air conditioner in my apartment just ain't cutting it. Sure it keeps the dining/living room cool, but the bedroom is still a sauna at night. it just sucks sleeping here in the summer.

i'm supposed to be at my cousins baby shower right now but it seems aunt debbie gave me her cold/flu/whatever this bug is. my head feels like it's going to explode and my throat feels like i'm swallowing daggers. bah. i think i'll head over to the clinic tomorrow and get some good ole penicillin to kill this off. i can't afford to take days off work right now.

Murphy got a very nice haircut yesterday and the groomer said he was a very good boy. He smells clean. Not froo-froo smelling like the other place. He just smells like a clean dog. i love it. He slept with me all morning and he's cuddling with me now. He won't leave my side when i don't feel good. such a sweet boy.

Speaking of Murphy, lately he has been raiding the trash and sneaking food off our plates. i don't like it. i HATE it. and so far he hasn't eaten anything bad for him, but still, tablescraps are not good for him. i don't want him to eat anything that would hurt him!

spring is in the air

2009-04-10T04:46:18Z

it's raining right now in the valley. but not the kind of rain that makes you cringe. the soft, light, dribble that comes down and then slowly disapates as the night goes on and puts you right to sleep. i love nights like this. Murphy enjoys the soft pitter patter of rain too. Only he is a bit more vocal about it. Lately he barks at everything. but that is perhaps that i have not been home that often and when i am home i have loads of homework to do. So walks have not been on the top of my priority list. Although i still make time for play. the poor guy is dying to go outside and i don't blame him. this weekend i think he deserves some time at the dog park.

Escrow is going...not badly...but it is going. i can't really tell if things are going smoothly yet. Both Nick and i are excited but trying to not get our hopes up too high. a lot of things can happen still. we're both crossing our fingers though.

holy crap

2009-03-31T01:52:34Z

the bank accepted my offer!

i still got a long way to go but it's a step in the right direction. :)

tis life

2009-03-20T02:59:47Z

we lost house #1 now onto house #2. Hopefully it won't take them 5 days to get back to me this time. Banks are so overwhelmed right now it's quite a wait for a yes or a no. oh well, waiting is the least of my worries.

Aimee is dialated to 3 now so Julie will be here any day. Neice #2 i will take many pictures of you because there is no reason why the second kid should ever be forgotten!

How many celebrities have to die...

2009-03-19T04:59:15Z

before they realize skiing is really fucking dangerous.

it should be like riding a bike, or rollerblading (do people do that still?). Wear a helmet!

i love Nicholas very much.

2009-03-09T06:06:33Z

So it turns out my department did exactly what i thought. i didn't get the buyer position, but they did promote me to a clerk 4. that's an extra $200 a month in my pocket. hooray! it really kind of sucks because the ONLY reason i didn't get the buyer position was (suprise, suprise) because i don't have my degree yet. On one side i feel it's unfair because i was the best candidate for that position, but on the other side i understand from a business stand point why HR didn't want me there. whatever. it is what it is. At least they gave me a promotion. if they didn't give me anything after this whole process i probably would have been a lot more mad about it.

Nick and i have been talking for the last few months about my need to be closer to work. My 30 minute commute to and from livingston everyday, most days in traffic, is really bothering me. It makes me cranky. God forbid if something happens to Nick or Murphy i can't easily come home and help fix it. We really want to move to turlock but it has been tough convincing Nick to leave Modesto. His whole family is here, and since his dad is continually getting worse and worse health wise it hasn't been an issue i've wanted to push.

Well for the past few months i've also been looking at the possibility of owning and since homes have come down to my range I've finally talked Nick into moving to Atwater (10 minutes to work) and owning our first home together. We are both ready to take the next step in our life together and i couldn't be happier. I never thought of renting as throwing money away, because this is the place i live, my home. But when i can own a 3/2 house in atwater cheaper than what i pay for 1 bed/1 bath in downtown modesto i think it's a good idea to seriously start looking. So i got preapproved this last monday and now i'm just looking for a realtor so i can start looking at houses. I'm not in any rush, but i would like to find something before july. we'll see! only time will tell.

viva la mexico!

2009-02-24T06:55:04Z

So it's been a few days since i've returned but last week we went on our cruise to mexico. i had a blast. i've never been on a cruise before and despite my hesitations it actually was not boring at all. only one day we ran into some bad weather so we rescheduled a port for another day, but all in all...a good trip! It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Ensenada while we were there and we took this wonderful horsebackriding trip. it ended up being the funnest and most painful part of the trip. my back didn't quite like it 2 days later but whatever.

before i left i applied for a buyer position in my department. apparently before i left i was a shoe in, then something happened during my vacation and now HR is having a cow putting a non-college graduate in a salaried corporate purchasing position. pfft. they still haven't told me whether i got it or not but i'm not holding my breath. i'm the only one that could do that position, (it's pretty much what i do right now as a clerk 2) and i'm not going to get it. i'm a little disappointed. i can't not work, and a degree is not going to happen in a short amount of time for me. they say they know that, but their hands are tied.

i'm hoping at least if i don't get this position that they will perhaps restructure and make my current position a clerk 4, but again...not going to hold my breath.

meanwhile 6 of our current directors get promoted to vice presidents of the company. pfft. the rich get richer and the poor keep eating shit. *sigh*

nice little sundays

2009-01-26T06:52:16Z

the thunder today scared not only the dogs but it scared me too. the boom through our quaint little neighborhood was enough to shake the walls. I was outside taking murphy to the potty when the hail started up and yea, hail is not fun in PJ's and a tank top. Yesterday i took him to the groomer and today at the dog park the first thing murphy wanted to do was splash around in the HUGE puddle in the middle of the park. All the other dogs we brought (4 in total) stayed far away from the water. not murphy. he couldn't WAIT to run through it. It's a good thing he has a hard coat or else i would have had to bathe him again. instead when it dried i just brushed him out. awesome. Best haircut he's gotten ever as well by the way. i'm glad we decided to switch groomers. and they actually got to clip his nails! phew.

i think i journal way too much about my puppy. but i can't help it. i love him.

i also really love my boyfriend. i obviously slacked on cleaning the house this week and when i got home on friday ready to conquer the task, it had already been done. fresh flowers on the dining room table and everything. after a hectic week at work it was a really nice gesture to come home too.

there's a possible opportunity to move up the ladder at work soon. i won't know for sure until tomorrow but i'm going to need to redo my resume again. i have a really good chance of getting it. there is only one other person that i think would be considered and they don't really like that girl. they like me of course because i do as i'm told and i don't complain. how wouldn't like that?

i just don't get it.

2009-01-20T07:32:30Z

Why do the All-American Rejects look like coked-up pirates these days? Are we back in that time frame where nobody showers or cuts their hair again? It didn't work out that well when they did that back in the 90's...or the 70's for that matter. can we please not do it again?

Speaking of not cutting their hair. Both Murphy and Nick look like shaggy lumberjacks. Nick constantly tells me about how he can't grow a beard. So i've forbid him to shave for the last month and not to shave at all until we go on our cruise on the 15th. And let me tell you...it's pretty ridiculous. Mike has followed suit and now both boys are growing some pretty pussy facial hair on their chinny-chin-chins. One more month to go guys!

i'm old tomorrow. apparently there are festivities planned for me tomorrow, but in all honesty all i want for my birthday is a clean house. mopped, vacuumed, and everything! i doubt that will happen. *crosses fingers*

another year over

2009-01-03T02:07:22Z

2008 was a pretty damn good year. i've met some new friends, got a raise at work, got a couple B's and A's in my classes for school, and my relationship with Nick is the strongest it has ever been. I survived the roommate from hell and moved into a new place that i absolutely love that's all my own.

Of course it wasn't without it's downsides. a few i've mentioned and another big downside hit me on new years day. One of my best friends was given an incredible career opportunity and she will be moving to Sacramento. which is not so bad, but really, when the hell do i go to sacramento? i'm so proud of her, a little sad, but mostly happy because she is and she'll always be my friend despite the distance.

i don't usually make resolutions, but if i did, it would be to maintain the cleanliness in my home and my car. i just need to overcome my laziness in general so perhaps i'll make this one resolution and see how it pans out.

More and more i am seeing that foster farms might not be the employer for me. there are certain office politics that really irk me about family owned businesses, but it's to be expected. i'm lucky to have a job in this current economy and i have no plans on changing where i work. when i actually graduate in 2309423409 years, now that may be a different story.

Last night we saw Marley and Me. oh god, was i a WRECK watching that movie. there was one time in the beginning, but the last 20 minutes of that movie was absolutely brutal. i cried the whole time. i'm glad i wasn't the only one crying my eyes out in my group though. i was good walking out of the theatre and then we stopped at starbucks. Waiting for my friends i started talking about the labs that i've owned, my best friends growing up, and it hit me all over again. i miss scout. i miss him so much. i've witnessed a lot of animals die in my short almost-26 years of life but scout was the worst for me. perhaps because his death was so sudden. he didn't drift off in his sleep or in my arms at the vet like i had hoped. he just got hit by a truck, and died. and i wasn't there. and i didn't get to say goodbye. oh scout you are a hard one to forget. and you always will be. you were such a good dog.

studying and homework and finals, oh my!

2008-12-09T07:16:20Z

i hate this part of school, but good news is my teacher said as long as i turn everything in i should get an A. woohoo!

2 week winter break starts in T-minus 4 days. SWEET.

i have not gone christmas shopping yet. well that's a lie. technically i bought murphy his present. i'm hiding it 6 feet above where he sleeps on a shelf. shhhh! don't tell!

I love this time of year. everyone's houses are so pretty and people actually say hi to you on the street. it's nice. why can't it be christmas all the time?

PS....

2008-11-22T08:04:22Z

My sister IS having another girl!!

See you in 4 or 5 months Julie!

vacation makes me hate hate hate work!

2008-11-12T02:26:22Z

This last weekend Nick and i went to tahoe for his almost-but-not-quite 30th birthday. It was so beautiful up there it makes me not want to come home. The ski season is not quite here yet, and it's too cold for summer stuff, so they didn't have much going. but there weren't a lot of people there so it made up for the lack of activities. thursday and friday we gambled a little and just walked around the shops. For a ski town it sure was hard to find a nice pair of mittens! It was sad that the gondola wasn't working yet as well(the ONLY thing i really wanted to do while i was there) and the ice skating rink was closed. Saturday night Mike and his "girlfriend" came as well so we gambled for quite a while and had some drinks and it was a blasty blast. driving home yesterday was not fun, there was probable snow and ice on 50 just as you leave so scaredycat me was doing about 30 the whole way to placerville. sofar.

i love the bestwestern station house in that we stayed in, however this time we were really close to housekeeping, so the first morning they knocked on our door 4 times to see if we needed anything. that's what we get for not putting the "privacy please" sign on the door knob perhaps?

the one bad thing about the trip is that i seemed to have left my cell phone up there. :( this morning i opened up my suitcase and found a charger...but no fone. it was broken and no one ever calls me anyways except for my mom when i don't come over for dinner but still...over 3 years i've had that thing! goodbye my friend...

and hello to my new friend!

my JOHO BF says he will get it for me for christmas. pfft. you don't believe in christmas! how about you get it for me now, eh!?

vote vote vote!

2008-10-11T04:30:14Z

Given then fact that the majority of my county is repoublican you'd think i wouldn't be shocked to see a lot of McCain/Palin signs around my neighborhood, but infact it's just the oppossite. i apparently live in a liberal part of town. really i shouldn't be that suprised, i do live 2 blocks from the city college. But what did suprise me is the ONE lonely house with a "Yes on Prop 8" sign in the yard. Now i'm all for respecting someone's freedom of speech. But apparently someone else was not because the sign promptly went missing the following morning when i drove by.

Prop 8 is straight up DISCRIMINATION. the commercials for a yes vote make me want to vomit.

Anyways, i officially started recieving sample ballots this week so it looks like my voter registration actually went throught this time. yay! now i'll get to permanantly vote by mail and will probably also start recieving jury duty notices.

My landlord started replacing my roof the other day. Murphy likes all the activity outside. It gives him something to bark at. My back porch looks like a tornado hit it because they just did the demo. hopefully it won't rain! i do not appreciate rain indoors thankyouverymuch.

PS, i googled "mestboard" tonight. i didn't know there was a facebook group? wtf mate! oh well i don't go there anyway. it seriously took me back to the countless, mindless hours i spent on there, laughing, making and meeting great friends. i don't think anyone in my real life will ever truly understand it but that's okay. they aren't meant to. goodtimes.

sad news

2008-09-19T05:01:24Z

So my cousin Margo anounced last week that they were expecting a baby as well but it turns out the pregnancy wasn't viable. she was a week farther along than Aimee. life is so fragile.

twins runs rampant in my family. and NONE of my cousins has had twins yet. the only one's left out of 16 of us is my younger cousin Danielle, Matt (dad is a twin), and me (Nick is a twin). it's gonna be me. i just know it. i didn't want babies for most of my life and pretty much damned them for the longest time. it's definately going to be me.

but at least that won't be happening for quite a while. i'm still far to0 selfish for babies.

you know what's super cool?

2008-09-12T05:20:30Z

having no roommates! it's peaceful. i can do my homework without the tv really high, or people being obnoxious in the other room. there aren't a ton of dishes to do all the time, and i actually can clean the whole house in a couple of hours rather than DAYS.

the only thing that sucks is when Nick is gone for work. the time when i'm truly alone, when Murphy is sleeping in the other room and i'm bored and have nothing to do, really sucks.

this last weekend Jenny and i went to visit our friend Julie in Oregon. we've been trying to make this trip for literally 5 years. we had a really good time. Julie is exactly the same as she was in high school. same naive little Julie! only now she's going to be a mommy. Julie's mom is so sweet and it was nice of them to let us stay with them. They live in Lebanon Oregon which is like the Hilmar of Oregon. Sunday was her baby shower. seriously the longest baby shower i've ever been to, but oh well. it was really fun and her family is really sweet.

in other news, i had to turn in my review for this year on tuesday. this year has been challenging i must admit. at least twice a week i feel like i just want to quit. but then i think of the good people i work with, my incredible boss, and a steady paycheck and i can't seem to break away from it. it's not what i want to do for the rest of my life, but i also can't see myself being happier anywhere else.

One last thing before i go tonight. My sister is pregnant again. she got pregnant a month or two ago and lost the baby in a few days so this time they waited to tell everyone. she's about 10 weeks along right now. SUPER BITCH. my mom and i can't wait until she's passed her nausaea phase. she's seriously ridiculous. My cousin Margo and my cousin Valerie are also pregnant, so this christmas is going to be fun with a bunch of pregnant woman around. Come next April my grandparents will have 12 great grandchildren. that's crazy. i remember grandchild #1. and now he's starting peewee football. so crazy.

the things you do when you're alone

2008-07-23T02:38:59Z

so far in the last two days i've done more dishes than needed to be done, began cleaning my filthy room, did all the laundry, played guitar, watched monster's inc (twice because i fell asleep) and played with Murphy uber lots.

i'm bored.

school needs to start soon so i have something to do. i keep thinking about work, and when i'm not at work, that blows.

Murphy and i fell asleep last night and he woke me up about 1:30 breathing on me. He had stolen half of my pillow. i was on the very corner of it and he was laying with his feet pushing my side and half his body on my pillow. i love my little guy, but good lord is he a bed hog!

i'm gonna be an Aunt!

2008-07-01T05:09:37Z

again!

girl.girl.girl.girl.girl! *crosses fingers*

hahahahha!

2008-06-29T06:14:39Z

so i was cleaning out my myspace messages and i came across this one...

"I don't know how to say this without sounding like a typical guy, but I'll try. I don't know where all of this is going, I just know right now I am happy. I will never intentionally hurt you and I promise to be honest and straightforward with you. So don't worry I will not do you wrong. I'll call you as soon as I get back. "

BAHAHAHA! what a crock of shit that turned out to be!!

boys are silly.

it's amazing how fast 3 years goes by. let alone 5 or 10. where did time go? and what the hell have i been doing during that time?

the summer "gas tax holiday"

2008-05-06T19:27:32Z

so i initially thought this was a dumb idea. but i didn't quite understand the whole debate so i started to do some googling. (thanks google!) the more and more i look for pros on this topic, the less i find. in fact i was reading a lot of quotes from this site:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/29/gas-tax-holiday-splits-cl_n_99296.html

There are a lot of good points on the cons of the tax "holiday". And the mroe i think about it, the lower the price is the more people are going to drive, the bigger cars they are going to think about buying, and the more obnoxious our highways are going to be. instead of wasting your time proposing a tax that will, in the end, save americans $30 bucks, spend time thinking up greener ways to conserve and save energy and oil in the long run that is both cheap and convenient. thanks! *thumbs up*

BRING BACK THE ELECTRIC CAR ALREADY!

schools out!

2008-05-02T16:35:21Z

so i totally thought i was going to get a D in my philosophy class and i ended up with a B! i'm stoked. so i got 2 B's last semester. awesome! I don't know what my gpa is because i apparently need to update my address at the admissions office because i can't do it online (stupid). i'm hoping for a 3.0 but probably less than that. i'm definately excited for my summer break from school. Nick has one more month until he goes back to work. So it's been very nice to actually come home and cook dinner together and take Murphy for his walk together, rather than rushing here and there so i can get home in time to do my homework. No wonder it got so hard to go back to school for me. It really is a lot of work that i am just far to lazy for.

I've decided that the government really hates singles. we get the short end of the stick in everthing.

i HATE my house lately. not because of my roommates (although they do annoy me at times) just because i hate my old rickety house and my stupid landlord who always assumes we're going to pay for the repairs and he'll pay us back. Uhhh NO. you're the landlord, YOU fix it. and i really don't want to spend all summer there but i'm going to have to. 4 more months...

i've been thinking about babies lately. not in the my-biological-clock-is-ticking-i-want-one sort of way, but in the it-wouldn't-kill-me-if-i-was-pregnant sort of way. perhaps i'm only thinking that because my period was over 2 weeks late this time. YEAH. stupid period.

everyone around me is getting LASIK. i want LASIK. :(

Murphy met a couple lady poodles the other day. one was 4 times his size and she really wanted to play. the other was like a princess being walked around in a stroller. and when murphy went to greet her she didn't like the fact that he was touching her stroller. they were still cute though and murphy did really well with them.

one last push for success

2008-04-10T15:35:44Z

Las Vegas was awesome. we all had a really great time and it was just what i needed. I talked to a british fellow about politics and how the american system of government was miles better than parliament for a good couple hours at the black jack table. suprisingly it was in no way shape or form killing our buzz! I won $600 on sunday at caribbean poker and then then by tuesday it truly was burning a hole in my pocket so i gambled it back. i WAS going to buy a nice purse (for once in my life possibly one that cost more than $20) but i had a really hard time spending that much money on a fucking purse. so i decided since it was bonus money and all my bills were paid i was going to gamble my heart out and have a ton of fun. i did buy a hot new pair of fossil sunglasses though. i like them!

i have 2 weeks left of school (i think) and i can't be more excited. next week is finals week. My philo teacher decided to post an assignment the day i left and have it due by midnight of the day i returned. so it got posted at 12:04am. let's hope he doesn't consider that late!!

i'm going to buy a bike so i can start riding around town on the weekends. I'm taking Murphy to get his first haircut this weekend. Speaking of Murphy, he was apparently a "very well behaved dog" according to Nick's mom who took care of him when we were gone. His mom and Murphy are now best friends and when we picked him up he was excited to see us but i think he was a little sad to leave. awww.