Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Rocky (cause I have huge paws)

You're already wrapped around my paw aren't you?



I'm a puppy (even though i look like a DOG) and I need sleep...



Yes, I will eat you out of house and home, but you'll love me anyway...




OOHHHH that air conditioning feels good...






Who are you anyway?







Pleeeeeaze come out!






















Social Anxiety Disorder??




There have probably been moments when many of us have felt a twinge (or a slap upside the head) of social anxiety disorder. I know I have, and more often than I'd like to admit. I'm pretty sure that Courtney's new puppy was feeling a little S.A.D. today when we picked him up. After driving an hour and a half to the middle of no-where to a hauntingly desolate town who's name I shant mention, and dragging Courtney happily (reluctantly) into a thrift store that scared even me, we met said puppy's breeder at the only truck stop (retail establishment) in town. After chatting for a few minutes Courtney decides to set him down for a moment to stretch before we make the drive back home. BIG mistake. He promptly shimmies under the SUV and refuses to come out despite all of our coaxing. When we finally are able to grab him, we jump in the car and make our way towards home. Now mind you this is a 10.5 week old puppy, I expected something that would curl up in my lap with plenty of room to spare. WRONG. I think this lab my have some horse somewhere in his bloodline. No kidding, this is the largest 10.5 week old puppy I've ever seen. There were body parts hanging off my lap in all directions. Now lest you think the "diving under the car fiasco" is over...oh no no no. We arrived at home with our hands FULL of puppy chow, lunch and drinks (we're starving by now), and Courtney says, "put him down so he can go to the bathroom before we go in the house". Which he promptly does. And then walks under the car. Yeah....did you hear that? Walks under the car. We watched him do it, but we had our hands so full we couldn't do a thing about it. I know what you're thinking...live and learn. We should have known better. Anyway...10 minutes and the soft end of a broom later, we retrieve him and hustle into the house to eat our cold food. It seems he and his brother and sister puppies liked to play under a shed. DUH. Either that or he just really doesn't like us. He's SO cute though, it wouldn't matter if he climbed on the roof. We'd just laugh and go get the ladder.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Ziplining in the Smokies







































































































50 Blessed Years


Just returned from celebrating my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary in the Smoky Mountains. My sister, brother and I wanted to surprise them with something special and a trip back to the place where we spent several family vacations when we were kids seemed the most obvious choice! We stayed in a fabulous cabin with a view of the mountains near Pidgeon Forge. We went to Gatlinburg, up into the mountains and over to Cherokee. Our memories of Cherokee were considerably different than what we found when we arrived there though. It was virtually a ghost town, seems a nearby casino and the growth of Pidgeon Forge and Galtinburg had stolen it's glory. We were hoping to take some pictures with the local Indians like we had as children, but there were none to be found. No worries though. Indians or no, we had a wonderful time and the mountains are just as beautiful as they ever were. That will never change. We shopped, we ate, we saw a fantastic show and we ziplined!! We crammed everything we could into that 5 days. But most importantly we celebrated a union that has been blessed by God for 50 loving years. We should all be so lucky! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! We LOVE you dearly!