My Birthday

My birthday was last Monday...Woo Hoo
I was a little nervous being away from my family for my birthday because we have always been together. I love my birthday. I know that I probably make a bigger deal out of it then I do but who doesn't enjoy a whole day about them? That isn't even normal :)
I shouldn't have worried so much about being away from my family because even though we weren't together I had a great birthday. Marshall made it great.

Thanks honey for everything that you did!!!


I had to work that day but Marshall was there in the morning wishing me a happy birthday and asking me if I wanted him to make me something for breakfast. He even got out of bed to hang out for a little bit until I had to leave for work.
Once I got home I knew that something was up because the blinds were closed and Marshall was home. There was also a happy birthday balloon taped to the front of the door. It was really cute. I walked in and there were more ballons on the walls. I also saw these...


These beautiful flowers are from my mother. They were such a suprise. I had no idea I was getting them. I thanked Marshall for them and that was when he told me that they were from my mother. She arranged for Marshall to get them for me so that I would have them when I came home. I told my mother that he didn't even try to take any credit for them. It was cute! Here is the next thing that I saw...
I got my bookshelf that I haven't been able to afford. I love it!!! All those books have been sitting in a box since I moved here because we haven't had any place to put them. How nice does it look now that they are in my new bookshelf??? Again I was so suprised because I had no idea I was getting it. He had it all put together and everything. I just had to add the books because he wasn't sure where I would want to put everything. I love it so much. I don't think that I could say that enough. It is so nice to have one more thing done in the apartment. Now we don't have to worry about bugs hiding in between the books since they aren't on the floor anymore :) They now have a new home that looks great. It matches our entertainment stand. I can't get over how good it looks. He did such a good job :)

The rest of my gifts were wrapped. He did a good job wrapping them although he probably hated doing it. I know how he feels about wrapping :) Here is what I opened next...

If you can't tell that is the movie 'Transformers'. I love that movie!!! He got it for me on blue-ray so I can't watch it in the bedroom but I am sure that one day I will be able to do just that :) I made him watch it with me once. I don't think that I could get him to do that again...Oh well I can watch it by myself. I used to watch it everynight when I was going to bed. Yea I know that I am weird but I really like the movie. In fact tonight I am going to have myself a movie night. I am going to pop some popcorn and cuddle into the couch and watch my new movie. I don't have to worry about Marshall not enjoying himself because he isn't here right now :)
He also got me two different size cutting boards. I can't wait to use them. We have a big nice wood cutting board but it will be nice to have a couple different sizes for different things. I didn't take a picture of those but I really am excited to use them. I am sure that I will get a chance to this week.
My family was great as well. They all called me throughout the day to sing me happy birthday and wish me well. I was busy when they called so I spent my lunch hour calling all of them back to thank them for all singing to me. I kept them all saved on my phone so that I can listen to all of them again. They make me smile. All of them...they are all great. I also got a card and a lotto ticket from Grandma and Grandpa Ameele. It was very thoughtful for them to think of me on my birthday. I only won $2 on the ticket but that is just my luck :) Marshall's dad also called so say happy birthday which was great. Sheesh everyone was great!!! I really appreciate what everyone did. It was all a lot of fun and everyone made it so special. Thank you everyone for everything is was such a great day...I didn't want it to end. Oh well there is always next year :)

Halloween

I was driving to work and I was thinking about how I don't have any Halloween decorations. I am such a loser. I want to go out and buy decorations right now but there in lies my problem...I have no idea what to buy. I don't think that I am very creative when it comes to things like that. I know though that I need to start collecting things so that I have stuff to put up every year. I really want to call up my sister and have her send me things that she will think will look good in my apartment but she hasn't really seen my apartment. Sheesh I don't know what I am going to do. I haven't had this problem before. I have a sign that I won playing a game but it is back in Utah so that doesn't help me out much. Plus it is kind of heavy so I don't think that I could talk my mom into sending it.
I want to get up to Marshall's dads house so that we can at least have some pumpkins but we aren't sure when we are going to make it up there again and I don't think that he would go out and buy any.
So if any of you know of any ideas that would look good in the apartment let me know. I also need to start on Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations as well.
HELP!!!

Grocery shopping

So when Marshall came back home last week we had no food. I mean the cupboards were bare :) I felt bad for him that we had nothing for breakfast so I took him out to eat. We then when grocery shopping and spent almost a $100. Now you can imagine how bare our fridge and cupboards were :) I was just sick and then I got busy with work and training. Hopefully it won't happen again. But no worries now we have enough food for a while...

See now our little fridge is full. I am afraid that all of our liquids on our top shelf are too heavy. So far the shelf is holding up and we haven't had any spills yet :)

Speaking of grocery shopping I have to go again before Monday because that is when Marshall comes back home and I want to make sure that we havve things to eat. It isn't as big of deal when he isn't here because I am gone so much that I don't eat all of my meals here. Oh well I will make sure that I go so that he doesn't have to go with me when he is home because I know how much he likes to go grocery shopping :)

UPDATE...on Jack

I have been talking with my dad this week a lot about Jack and how he is doing. As I last posted about him he had just gotten out of surgery and was back home. A lot has happened since then. Jack at the first of the week somehow got his stitches all out so his wound was all the way open because there was nothing there holding it together. Apparently it was really disgusting. So my parents took him back in to get him fixed up again and get a cone around his neck so that he would leave his wound alone so that it could heal. My dad called me when he got that done and said that they did 4 layers of stiches and then staples on top of that so that it would stay closed. I wish I had a picture but I don't think that one was taken...oh well.
My dad told me that he totally hates the cone on his head and just looks defeated when he has it on...he won't eat at all and just looks at you with those sad puppy dog eyes that he has. So they would take it off of him when they were home because they could watch him but then when my parents went to work they would put the cone back on his head. Apparently while my parents were at work Jack got the cone off (bad dog) and got out more than half the staples and the bottom half of his stitches. So now his wound is wide open and bleeding on everything that it comes in contact with. They didn't want to take him back to get stitched back together because everytime they do this it is costing me money to have them fix him again. It is frustrating. I just wish that Jack knew not to touch it becacuse it is something that will make him feel better. I mean we as humans know not to pick out our own stitches because we know that they are there to make us better.
My parents decided to switch off and stay up with him throughout the night to make sure that he didn't get at the rest off his stitches. I feel so bad that they have to stay up throughout the night when they both have to work during the day. I appreciate them and I am so thankful that they are willing to sit there during the night to watch my dog. Apparently when he gets ansy they just give him drugs to settle down and sleep throughout the night.
On Friday they started to notice that the open part might be healing and getting an extra layer of skin...BUT when my dad got home from work again the skin was off and apparently looking bad enough for them to take him in again. From what I understand there was just no more skin there. They couldn't even stitch it back together because the skin was gone. They took him in at 6:45 pm and the doctor called around 8 to let them know that they were finally done with him. They apparently took fishing wire to try to link the wound together as much as they could to try and heal somewhat normal. They are also going to keep him at the vet for a week so that they can watch him constantly and make sure that he doesn't get at it again.
I feel so bad for him. There have been so many problems with all of this. My parents are wondering if it was worth it to have the lump removed with as many problems as it has caused. I just want him better. I called my parents and asked if they were going to go and visit my dog while he was there so that he wasn't lonely all week away from home...they assured me that they will go and visit him throughout the week. My dad said that he told the doctor to take pictures so that I could post them here but I haven't received any yet. Hopefully I will get them this week and if they aren't too bad I will put them up so that you can see what I am talking about.

2008 Summer Olympics

So this past weekend we sat down to watch the 2008 summer olympics opening. It was a lot of fun and the things that they did were crazy!!! The fireworks were amazing. It was fun just to hang out with Marshall and actually agree on something that can keep us both interested :)
I will admit that I fell asleep at the last hour...I know I am retarded. But I was so freakin tired. I did wake up when China came out but I got up and went to bed when it went to a break while they were walking all the way around. It was taking forever!!! Marshall did stay up for the whole thing...I guess that I am just getting too old to stay up late :)
Since the opening games I have been addicted to watching them. They are constantly on when I am home. When I am not home I record them so that I can watch them when I am home :) I know it is crazy but I just can't stop watching. Things that are normally being recorded I have to stop so that I can watch the games!
I am addicted to the swiming and gymnastics. With girls beach volleyball coming in after that. I do watch everything else but then I do things like make dinner or something while those are on because then if I miss anything it isn't that big of deal. I sit on the edge of my seat watching the events because I want the USA to win everything. I know that they won't win everything obviously but it does keep me on the edge of my seat :)
I can't wait to watch track and field when that comes on later in the games.
Go USA!!!

Drapes for the bedroom

With the sun coming up facing our only window in the bedroom I knew that we had to get something put up there fast because it gets bright so early and it is hard to sleep. I don't have as much trouble as Marshall because when I am in the mood I sleep with an eye mask on so it blocks out all the light which is nice because then I get to sleep a little bit later :)

Marshall was away and so I wanted to suprise him. I went to target to look around at what they had. I was actually nervous picking something out without Marshall's input because I wanted him to like whatever I picked out. I did something I thought was really nutral and goes somewhat with the comforter that we keep on our bed in the winter. It is a darker shimmer green color with cream behind that to block out more light.

With it being so hot here the only blanket we have on the bed as you can see is a purple blanket that I made years ago. The blanket that we have on in the winter is brown so it goes better with the blinds that I picked out. I hung them and everything by myself :) I am so proud. I didn't tell Marshall until he figured it out for himself when he got home...he was also very proud that I did it all by myself and it wasn't even that hard.

It does the job of blocking out the light so that is good and it lets us sleep in a little bit longer on the weekends :) Just another project down in the apartment. There are many more to keep me busy with thinking of new ideas. I am still working on something in the kitchen to give us a little bit more storage but that is still a little ways away. I will let you all know though when that gets done. Let's be honest though and say that it probably won't be this year. Oh well :)

Jack

Okay for those of you who don't know I have a dog that I had to leave behind in Utah. It is very sad because I miss him like crazy. He is such a good dog. I am very happy that my parents love him enough to take such good cacre of him.

He just a birthday this month so he is one year older. My mom has a dog as well that keeps my 'older' dog busy :) They love each other though and get along great so that is another plus with having to leave him behind. He is a lab/brittany mix. Several years ago I noticed that he started growing lumps on his body. I was really worried about them and so I asked about them when I took him in for his shots. They took a sample and just said that it was a bump full of fat. They said that as long as they weren't hurting him that there was nothing to be concerned about. So I didn't really do anything because they didn't seem to bother him which is a good thing.

I guess one of the bumps on his leg was really starting to bother him according to my parents. They said that he started favoring that leg and didn't like it when people touched it. I told them to take him in to see what they had to say. They finally took him in last week. My dad called me to let me know that the surgery would cost almost $800!!! I about freaked out. I knew that it would be expensive but I had no idea that it would have cost that much. I asked my dad questions about if it was really hurting him or not. He told me that the doctor did say that it was bothering him. Even though I didn't want to pay that much as soon as I heard that it was causing him pain there was nothing I could do except suck it up and pay the money to get him taken care of. I couldn't just let him suffer because I didn't want to pay the money. Fortunatley the doctor had some cancellations that day so they fit him in right then.

***WARNING***

I am going to post a picture of the before and after of my dog but I wanted to warn you that when I showed it to Marshall he didn't like it very much because he thought that it was gross. So if you don't want to see the picture I suggest you don't continue on reading...

I am sorry if that is too gross for you to look at but I wanted everyone to know what I was talking about. I am just glad that it is gone and done causing him pain. They didn't put a cone on his head because the doctor doesn't like doing that. They just told my dad to watch out for him to make sure that he doesn't lick his sore too much. If he does then they will have to take him back to get a cone put on around his neck so that he doesn't lick his wound. I have called every day to check on him. He seems to be doing just fine. I guess that he has started licking it...that or Gizmo. They just keep telling him to stop licking it so I hope that it doesn't get infected. I want them to take him in on Monday because I guess my dad noticed a gap that might not be connecting back together. I really hope that he takes him in to see if there is anything that can be done so that it heals correctly. I really am just glad that he isn't in pain and that he is getting better everyday. I miss him like crazy and I can't wait to go home and see him :) I hope that he is excited to see me!!!