Book Series In A Week

I have never been a great reader and when I was little I actually hated to read. I just wasn't very good at it so I wouldn't do much of it but now it seems like I can not get enough. Michael says that it is probably because I denied myself of books too much as a kid and am trying to make up for it. Who knows but that might be true. One thing that I never thought I would or even could do was read an entire book series in just one week. I came across these great books and just could not put them down. They are called the Frog Princesses Tales. I JUST LOVE THEM!!! It is just such a great twist from a old fairy tale that becomes something totally new. I think that the books are very funny but also have some seriousness to them too. I would totally recommend these books to everyone and anyone (they are that good). Anyways, here is the order of the books just in case you ever decided to read them. The Frog Princess, Dragon's Breath, Once Upon A Curse, The Salamander Spell, and The Dragon Princess. Happy Reading!!!

Pioneer Day Activity

I'm sure you all know that this last Friday was Pioneer Day. I hope you all got the chance to do something extra fun for that day. For our pioneer day, Michael and I went to a stake activity that was being held at one of the parks in the next town over. We had a wonderful time with all of the things that they had to do there. They had things like horse shoes, ring toss, stick pull, face painting, a parade for kids to take part in and so much more. Part of the time that we were there I volunteered to help out with one of the booths that our ward was in charge of for the kids. I know you will all be happy that I actually took my camera with me so that means you all get to enjoy some pictures of all of the fun that we had, so enjoy.The first thing that they did was welcome everyone to the pioneer day activity. Once that was done it was time to get dinner. We were very lucky to be one of the first ones in the line. I have no idea how that happen but I am so grateful that it did. We saw people standing there for over an hour waiting to get their food. After we were finished eating we walked around to see what kind of booths there were and which ones were actually open (since most everyone else was eating or waiting in line). The first booth that I wanted to do was the dunk tank. I have always had fun watching them but, to be honest, I have never really gotten to play one. So, yes, I was very excited to get a turn. We were standing in a line of mostly kids but I really didn't care because I knew that several of them didn't know who we were. Michael was kind enough to let me go before him. You got four balls and you have to hit that target. Looks and sounds simple right? Wrong! It is a lot harder to hit that target then what I thought. I missed with all of my first three balls and was a little disappointed about that but then when I threw my last ball I actually got the target. Yeah, I DUNKED HIM! It was so much fun. Michael however wasn't as lucky and didn't get to dunk the guy at all.Another fun area that they had at the activity was this table set out with tons of old pioneer toys that you could actually play with. Some of them made me laugh because they were so funny with what they did and others I think Michael and I could actually make if we wanted to (hm....that does sound like fun). We did send a lot of time playing here.Michael is holding up one of the toys. This one is actually a little harder for me to do but I was able to get the ball into the hole a couple of times. Michael was really great at this toy. He only missed on his first time and then after that he had no problems getting it in.

I just had to take a video of him showing off his mad skills. I also just like watching him play with it too. You have got to admit that the pioneers did have some pretty fun toys.

This was one of my more favorite areas. Digging for gold. I don't know how but I kept on getting a lot and the poor little girl that was across from me was starting to get frustrated since she wasn't getting anything. I ended up give her all of my gold and that seem to make her feel better.This is another favorite of mine. I don't know why that is really but I have always been fascinated with how the pioneers would use it to help dry out the washing a little. But you really do need to be careful of your fingers. The other fun thing that we got to see was someone working on a spinning wheel. I didn't take a picture of it because I didn't want to ruin their concentration.This was the last thing in the kid area that I wanted to do. I think we look good as pioneers.Now I just had to take a picture of this because it was too funny. This was a tossing game that you through something into the hole. Well the thing that you through in the hole are buffalo chips! Yeah, gross but funny (good thing that they were fake chips, hu?).The part that I was looking forward to the most was the carriage ride that they were giving. Michael and I did get in line for it and we waited a long time but we never got to ride because people kept on cutting in front of us. I was a little frustrating so we decided to leave and go do some more of the other booths and just come back later to get a ride. When we did come back it was a little late and people were still cutting in front of us. We never did get to ride it but that is okay because I think that we got to do something even better.A boat ride! That is what we got to do that was probably a lot better then the carriage ride. We did have a wait a long time but it was so worth it. Michael told me that he has actually never been riding on a motorized boat before. So I felt extra special that he got to do that with me. It was even more of a special ride because that was the first time, as a couple, that we have gotten to ride on a boat together.As we waited for our turn all we could do was look around. Michael and I did spot these fun tepees that were somewhat set up.We also got to see the water sheriff boat. When Michael and I first got to the park we saw them starting out on their patrol and as we were waiting in line we saw them coming in. I just thought that it was kind of funny how that happened and all.

Yes, I just had to take another video. It was a special moment after all. I know that you really only see the water and you don't hear much of anything but just sit back and maybe pretend you were there riding along too. (I sure hope none of you get sea sick from just watching.) Well that was our fun day together. I still think that the only thing missing from it was some fireworks but that is just me. Maybe we could figure out a way to do that next year. I do know that I can not wait to see what they are going to have the next year for pioneer day. I also hope we can get a turn to ride on the carriage too but we will just have to wait and see.

Lilly's Breakfast

I also realized (after my friend Sara mentioned it) that I have not done a recent picture of Lilly, our turtle. So since I did a video of the apartment I wanted to do one of Lilly too. This is how she acts when it is time for her to get feed. She can be pretty funny when it is time to get her food. It is something that always makes me smile.

Home Tour

Now with the apartment all cleaned and organized I can let you all see what it looks like. FINALLY!!! I thought that it would be fun to do a video for you all but this video is going to have a little bit of a twist to it. Hope is going to be the one giving you the tour. I am in the video but I just tell you all what each room is so that you can know. (Some warning: don't watch this video to many times. That is all that I am going to say about that.) Enjoy!

Yard Work Grows

After Michael and I finished that one large flower bed that is in front of our patio fenced area I did not want to go out and finish the rest. I needed a major brake from it because I was so sore. Well I didn't get to have that brake. Michael was encharge of the FHE activity the next Monday and picked to go back and work in the yard again. Yeah, I wasn't to happy about going back to work out there but I still enjoyed our time together. We started work on the flower bed that was on the other side of the large one that was also close to the front door. It too had a ton of rocks and roots that we had to pull out but not as bad as the big flower bed that we had finished. Once that one was done we started on the smallest flowerbed of all which oddly enough ended up being the worst of them all too. Now you may be think, how could it be worse then the first one that we did with it being smaller and all? It was worse in that as soon as you hit an inch deep you were stopped by a terrible web of roots. It covered the area so badly that you really didn't see much dirt at all. I had no idea that a pine tree could be that bad. Michael did all of the work in getting the roots out of it and sure was sore for it too. With the top root layer gone we would still come across quite a few more root webs just thicker roots but at least not as dense. Then when we would come across a rock (I can't believe I'm saying this) I was actually happy to see it. I don't know why but at one point I actually started to collect the rocks. I was thinking that we could paint on them and that was why I was keeping them but I really didn't know why I was doing it. At least Michael didn't mind me doing it though (he probably thought it was cute or something). Somehow we did clean out that flower bed and get it ready to plant flowers in. I was so thrilled! It did take us several days to do but at least it got finished. I also love the new flowers that we planted too. I thought you would like to know the names of the new ones too so here it is. We got some: Camelot Foxgloves, Speedy Sonnet Yellow Sanpdragons, Speedy Sonnet Crimson Snapdragons, and Volcano Ruby Phlox Paniculata plants. I sure did love how they all turned out looking in the flower beds though.As you go out the front door you get to see the pretty Snapdragons that we got. I have always loved Snapdragons. Another thing that we did was move some Daisy's that we had planted in one of the flower beds. They are now in the white flower pot and are doing much better then before. They were a gift from one of Michael's co-works so I really hope that they make it.You can see but I did find a use for the rocks after all. I love how they kind of help dived the flower beds. It helps to have my flower beds somewhat divided. It really helped in the case of the large flower bed that is by the patio to have a divider since I like to have a unified look and all of the flowers just didn't go together.Here is the other flower bed that is close to the front door. I have since added more rocks to help dived this flower bed to as to yet again give it a unified look to match the larger flower bed too. I do love how the flowers turned out here and really would love to add some more but I am also hoping that these will grow to be a little bit more bushier to help fill in the area with time.This was the smallest flower bed of them all. Somehow, I think it turned out to be the best looking of them all too. I was kind of nice but I actually got a compliment from a neighbor that I haven't meet before. She said that she was really impressed with all of the hard work that we did and that she loved how it turned out. She even told me that one day she was admiring them so much that she almost drove up over the curb. I didn't know we did that great of a job but it sure did make my day. Now the only thing left to do is to take care of them and pray that they will stay alive and grow. Other then that we are pretty good. Well, we do still have to get the grass to grow back but at least that doesn't require any more digging (just more hard work).

Dinner Guests

This last weekend was an interesting one when it came to dinner time. Last Saturday we had the missionaries coming over for dinner so I wanted to make sure that the apartment was clean and ready for them to come. It was a little hard to get the house ready when you have got books all over the living room but once those were all put away it wasn't so bad. I was totally excited for them to come because this was going to be my first time serving the missionaries dinner but they were also going to be our very first dinner guest too. Michael and I got up early that Saturday morning to make sure that everything was ready and we were cooking a meal that we do great at making. We call it a mini Thanksgiving meal because it looks a lot like a real Thanksgiving dinner but just on a smaller scale. We got the dinner started at the right time that it would take for things to cook and waited. But somehow something always has to go wrong when you don't want it to. The dinner finished cooking too early (probably because we are still not use to our oven yet and how it cooks) so we had to find ways to keep some of it warm but in the end we just had to settle to re-cook it when the time got closer. The dinner really didn't taste the best and I felt so bad for the missionaries and wanted to tell them that they didn't have to eat it. The missionaries were so nice and said that everything tasted great but I know they were being to kind. It was still really nice to have them over and I am sure we will have them over again except next time I am going to make a totally different meal. Then that very next day, Sunday, Michael and I were invited to go to a couple in our ward house for dinner. I was totally nerves, I can be a picky eater, and so I was afraid that I would not be able to eat anything and offend them. The funny thing about it though is that they served the same dinner that we made yesterday. What are the odds!?! Their meal was much better than our was and Michael and I had a wonderful time getting to know them. We learned a lot of interesting things and felt like we had made some great new friends in this ward. I can't wait to see/meet who we are going to have dinner with next.

Home Library

One of the things that held up getting the office done was our home library. I never really thought that we had collected too many books but once I started to lay them all out into groups the realization hit me hard. It took me several days just to get the books into the right order and back on the bookshelves. Hope was, again, my supervise and at first she thought that it was fun to have all of the books out. That is until she realized that she couldn't play with the books and that they also took up so much space that she really couldn't play in the living room any more either. To help give you an idea of how bad it was here is just a small part of the room.Now try to imagine there being like five to six times more of this. Yeah, we have a lot of books and sadly I can still think of some more books that I would like to add to our library. I have no idea where I would put them though because all of the bookshelves are full. We all had a hard time walking around the mess that I had created but I knew it was going to be worth it. But at least Hope was able to manage better then us with her small feet.Hope even found a good spot to take a nap. I am sure that the next time I take a book out of the bookshelf Hope is going to run away and hide in thinking that I'm going to do this mess again.

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Another thing that I just realized is that I have not kept you up to date with what I have read. I know that in my older post I would give you a picture of what the book looked like and tell a little bit about it to you but I have read so many books that I think this time I will just give you all a list and you can go out and try to find it and see if it is something that you would like to read. The books that I have read are: Fablehaven, Secrets Of The Dragon Sanctuary; Calling On Dragons; Talking To Dragons; Collier's Junior Classics, The Young Folks Shelf Of Books #2 Once Upon A Time; and another book that I stopped reading because it was really bad/scary (to descriptive). I haven't quit started another book since the last one and it is hard to get time to read with all of the things that I have been needing my attention more. If any of you hear of a good book to read let me know please.

Organized to Perfection

I can not believe it but.............I'M DONE WITH PUTTING THIS HOUSE INTO ORDER!!!! All of the rooms in the house are just how I want them to look. Everything is in a proper place and easy to get to or at least find. The kitchen looks perfect (for what I had to work with), the dinning room, living room are beautiful. The office is just amazing with how it turned out and the bedroom is a nice and peaceful area. I can not believe that I did it and that the house looks this good. I am just so glad that I have a great husband that is patient with me and my need for order. He was so sweet for helping me out with it all. The only thing left really is just to hang a couple more picture up (and I'm doing that today!). I am just so happy about this (if you can't tell)!!! I hope you also realize that this also means that I can finally take picture of the apartment for you all to see too. I know you all have been waiting a long time and you will soon be rewarded for it.

4th Fireworks

The only thing left for the day was to see some fireworks. Michael and I decided a few days before the 4th that we would just try to find a place that does some big fireworks instead of lighting only our own. We didn't want to get any because we thought that the apartment people would not allow it since there are so many trees in our area. So with big fireworks in mind we started searching. The only thing is that a lot of places out here charge money to go and see them. What a funny thing to do because you could be in a different area and see them for free. So then why go to some place that is going to charge you for something that you could see for free if you are just a little farther away? We did end up finding a place that lets you see fireworks for free and it was actually in the same city that we had seen the parade in early that day. After our lunch Michael and I did decided to go and get some little fireworks that we could do at our place. We had found out that day from a neighbor that they actually allow you to set them off in the drive ways in front of the apartments. Nice! I was really excited to pick out our fireworks because that was something that I have never done before. Michael was totally a sweety to let me pick them all out. I think he was trying to help keep me and himself in line by doing it that way. We really didn't get that many but enough to feel festive. With that taken care of we had some fun while we waited until it was late enough to go. We got at the place at 9p.m. since the show didn't start until 10p.m. and ate some dinner and watched people shoot off their own fireworks, mostly bottle rockets (they actually allow that here!). Another thing that we did while we waited was play with some glow sticks. I love those things! Hope actually really likes them too. The last 4th of July (which was Hope's first) we had them too. Hope looked so cute wearing them that we had to do it to her again.I'm not sure if you can see them but she is actually wearing three different colors. A few people came up to us and again said how cute Hope was and also said that they liked the idea of a glow stick on a dog. Finally when 10p.m. hit we were all ready but the fireworks didn't go off. We had to wait for another 10 minutes until they actually started. Not sure what the delay was but it was fine. I did take a short video of what the firework show looked like for all of you.

It was an okay show but Michael and I agreed that next year we are going to try and find a better one, even if they do charge it might be worth it. When the show was over it was a little hard to get out because of some very rude and pushy people but we didn't really care. Once home we lit off our own small fireworks which sadly enough to say I think was better then the big firework show. I am sorry to say that I didn't get a picture of the fireworks that we did but I do know a few of the names. We did: two tanks, sparklers, a small fountain and a climbing panda (that is all I can remember). All and all I think that it was a pretty great day and some fun family time together. I sure know that Hope so much fun that she had no problem falling asleep that night.(Also if you were wondering Hope did fine with the large fireworks that night. She didn't quite understand it but then just gave up trying to and sat down and ate her food. It kind of made me think that she was like a person watching a movie and eating popcorn at a show. She is so cute. Hope also did fine with our small fireworks and I had a hard time keeping her away from the sparklers. For some reason she kept on trying to smell them. I'm just glad that she doesn't get scared of the fireworks. It is really helpful, especially were we live now.)

Smore Tradition

I don't really know anyone that does not like smores. They always taste great and are just a fun mess that you can eat. I decided that I would like to try and make it a tradition to have some smores for the 4th of July. Michael liked that idea a lot but I am sure it was because he wanted the marshmallows. I normally have only eaten smores when I am camping. Michael and I haven't been camping for real in such a long time that we were do for some fun smores. So we made some as part of our lunch. Good thing we did our family pictures before lunch since we had on white shirts and all.We made them outside even though it was pretty hot.This is serious business now. Michael does a great job at making smores. Don't know if that is from to much practice or just talent.Mine are done and ready to eat. Don't they just look yummy? Well they were.Sadly Hope was not allowed to have any but she did end up getting a doggy treat so that she could feel included in all of the fun. (I didn't know if you notice or not but she is actually not tied up outside. That is right we gave her a chance to prove that she could be a good outside and stay right next to us. I know we can't do this a lot but it was a special day.)

The 4th's Family Pictures

You will remember that in a earlier post I mentioned how I was going to make Michael and I some matching T-shirts for the 4th of July (link on, 'matching T-shirts). Well it is kind of funny but I didn't get around to doing them until the night of the 3rd. But hey, at least they got done and I think that they turned out really good. We wore them the entire day of the 4th and since we just all looked so cute we had to do a family picture. This is also kind of a new tradition that I would like Michael and I to do (a family picture on the 4th of July).This is one reason that I take the pictures in the family. It just isn't safe to give Michael the camera. I am dusting the fireplace area since we decided that would probably be the best place for us to take the pictures.I got my picture with Hope first. I think that we look pretty cute together even with my face being pretty sunburned from that morning.Now here are the best lookers of the family. Michael and Hope without a doubt.This years family picture! I am sure glad that we did this since we haven't done a family picture in a long time. It is just nice to have a updated one. I am also impressed with how well Hope did with actually looking at the camera. But I think that we are going to need to find someone to take the picture for us so that we can get a better shot. We had to put the camera on a chair but then again you really just have to work with what you've got.I had to put this one in of Hope. It is totally one of my favorites. My little patriotic girl. Now it is time to get messy and eat some lunch.

Parades Band

I don't know why but for some reason in my last post it would not let me put on a video that I took at the parade also. So you get to have this post as an add on extra. This video is of a school band with some drill flags. I have always loved watching the drill line flag group go so I had to add them in my video also. Well, here comes the band.

Now a funny story for you all. When this band was walking by I leaned over to Michael and told him that I thought it was strange that they would have the Junior High School band play and not the High School band too. Michael then gave me this really funny look and said that the band we were seeing was the High School band. I was totally shocked and just couldn't believe it. He then pointed out the banner that they were carrying that said they were from the High School. They all looked to young to be in High School. Does that mean I am getting old?

Morning Parade

Michael and I went to the Pasco parade for the beginning of our fourth of July. We left as early as we could so we would be sure to get a spot. There was really no need to worry about that since most people didn't arrive at the parade (or at least our area) until after the parade had started. It sure was fun to watch it as a family day out. Although I was a little surprised that the people that came to see the parade had not dressed up in patriotic outfits. We were pretty much the only ones that I saw dressed up for the holiday. But we still had a good time Hope most of all I believe. Hope got a lot of attention from people in the parade and several of them (as they passed by us) would actually slow down enough to tell us what a beautiful dog we had. Several of the kids actually said hello to her. I think we will just have for find a way to get Hope in a parade one day. I did end up taking a lot of pictures of the parade so I decided that it was time to try and do a slide show. I hope you like it and be patient as I try to figure this thing out.

Happy 4th of July!!!

This is just going to be a very quick post to say, "HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!" This is one of my favorite holiday's because I love how everyone shows the love that they have for this country with being patriotic. I love that you can be among people that you do not know and yet you can both celebrate the thankfulness that you feel for living here in this beautiful land. I also love the ways that we celebrate it with parades and fireworks but I also love to see the family traditions that come about because of this holiday. Michael and I have a TON of things planned for the day and I really only had this little moment to write before we are off again but I will let you all know of the fun that we had today. Hope all of you have a wonderful day too.

From Roots & Rocks To Flowers

For this week the yard work consumed most of the free time that Michael and I had in the evening. When we worked in the yard we had to go fast because we only get so many hours before nightfall and it is way to dark to see. If you remember the last time I told you how we didn't get very far because of all the rocks and roots right? Well, it was far worse this time because the roots were much bigger and so were the rocks.Here you can see the dirt that we have turned up. The dirt hill that is to the far right is all clean dirt. I say clean in that it doesn't have any roots or rocks in it that will bother the new plants that we will be putting in. The dirt hill that is next to it on the left is dirt that I still needed to check to make sure that I got everything. You can also see our collection of rocks and roots in the corner of the picture too.This picture makes our collection look tiny! It was really big and if you were in person you would think so too I am sure. This was not all that we got out of the flower bed. We had about five piles in total just from the one flower bed (we have two more left to do).Hope was a really good dog in watching us to make sure that we were doing our work right. What a great supervisor (wish I had that job at the time).When we had finally got all of the rocks and roots out to my satisfactory we put in a plastic edger. We had a neighbor tell us that one of the reasons the person before us moved out is because in the winter they had a real problem with mud coming to the front door. It is no wonder why that is because if you could see our yard you would notice that the ground slops off in our apartments direction. Whoever built this place was not totally thinking. So we thought the edger would be a good way to keep the dirt where it belonged. The sad part is that we will not know if it worked until this winter.Finally! The best part of all that hard work was putting in our new plants. I think that they turned out really good and I love how we have them arranged too. I love how the Lily's were blooming when we got them into the ground. We have had to cute the flowers off because the plants are struggling a little and so we want them to focus more on staying alive then producing a pretty flower. Now if you are a big gardener and are wondering what are the real names of the plants here it is (I kept the tags so I could tell you). Starting from the left: Hibiscus European Series (the tree looking thing), Ruby Sensation Calla Lily (the smallest plant), Lily Orientals San Pedro, (the blooming plant). I am sure that eventually we will get some more plants so that it doesn't look so empty. At least this next time that we plant anything it will be a lot easier to put it into this flower bed.

Share A Smile

Hope has this toy that is a very long and skinny red dog. This toy dog also has a very big smile on his face which at first I thought was kind of creepy but it grew on me and became kind of cute. It has been coming apart for quite some time now but I still let Hope play with it. This is just one of the toys that I am not going to even try to fix because the time that I did try to fix it (several know that I think of it) never holds. One day when Hope was playing with it she did a really funny and super cute thing and I ran to get the camera but when I got back she had stopped. I never got my picture and that was a long time ago and the toy is worse then ever and so I decided that it was time to get rid of the thing. I guess Hope must have known what I was thinking because she started to play with the toy in that super funny and cute way.Yes, this is it. She is sharing a smile with the toy dog. So cute!Here you can see more of Hopes pretty teeth while she shares her smile with the toy dog.Just another cute picture of Hope playing with her toy.This picture is just a little creepy to me but I still wanted you to see it because the toy dogs smile looks like it it more of Hopes smile. Well I hope that you all enjoyed that and maybe smiled a little bit yourself while looking at the pictures. Now go out and share a smile with another. Not in this way of course.

July Birthday's

I hope you remember but on my last birthday post I said that I was going to start doing this differently, well this is it. On one of my friends blogs she does this thing where she list everyone that is going to be having a birthday that month and wishes them all happy birthday. That is what I am going to be doing from now on. That way I can say happy birthday to everyone and will not miss their birthdays. The funny thing though is that this month there is only one birthday for me to wish a happy birthday too but I am still only going to do it today. So a very, very happy birthday this month to my best friend Linda! Hope you have a wonderful day (when it comes) and don't get to spoiled either. Love Ya!!!

Yard Work

I don't think that I realized that having a bit of land also meant that you get to take care of it. Like I know that you have to take care of it but it is a little bit harder then what I thought. I was actually kind of expecting it to be like how it was at my parents house. The dirt there was great because you just dig a hole put in the plant, water it and it does fine. Here it is a bit more difficult then that. You TRY to dig a hole but really can not because you have a ton of tree roots that are everywhere in the ground (we have three pine trees in our area). Then if you do make it past the roots you have to deal with some really big rocks. We were only able to get down three inches before we started to hit all of those things. I felt really bad for Michael because he was the one that was doing all of the digging while I tried to pick the rocks out. Then while I waited for him to try and get more dirt out of the hole we were trying to make I raked up all of the pine needles that are killing the grass. While we were doing this yesterday night Michael decided that he would cook dinner outside on our little BBQ.We got this as a wedding gift. For some reason though it was just not working that well last night. It also got very dark outside a lot sooner then what I expected but then when I looked at the clock I couldn't believe how little we had done in the amount of time that we were outside. The hard part was when I had to ask Michael what he wanted to do. I knew that the people that mow the lawn where going to be coming the next day (today) and that we could not leave our dirt mess around. Which meant we would have to fill up the hole that we had been working so hard to make. Michael wasn't happy about that and he still wanted to continue but the more I talked to him the more he realized that I was right and that we would have to stop for the night and fill the hole up. Here is what the area looks like that we had to fill up.I know that it doesn't look like much at all but it will soon enough (I hope). I wet down the area a little this morning to see if it would help make it a little easier to dig up later on today. The reason that we are also trying to work so hard to get the front done (or at least this area) is that we are going to be having some company coming over for dinner in a couple of weeks so I would like the front to look better then what it does now (at least that is one of my reasons). I also just want it to look nice and feel more homey too. I hate to just look at the dirt and dead grass. I am sure grateful that Michael has such a green thumb when it comes to things like this. We did get some really pretty plants yesterday to put in this spot.The plants here are in the order that I am going to have them in front of our fence (where we are digging). Now don't ask me the names of these plants because I really don't know except for the Lilly's. The Lilly's are the pretty big pink flowers. All of these bloom about the same time too so it will be really pretty when that happens. I am just glad that they have got some good height to them so that it will help cut some of the ugliness of the fence. I did have to also organize the patio so that I could put the plants here last night.I think it turned out good and at least it looks nice and organized to a extent. It sure is going to be a lot of work to try and fix up the front. I am starting to think that all of the people that ever lived in this apartment before us did not care about having a nice clean looking home. Since the inside of the house smelt bad when we got here and now the yard is just a total mess. I really don't understand how someone could let it get that bad and not care. At least we were able to finally get rid of the bad smell and I am sure with time we will get this yard looking really good too.

July 4th Project

I have been wanting to start a tradition with Michael that around the 4th of July we get a shirt that is patriotic. Last year we did tie dye shirts with Michael's family which was way fun. I loved how we all matched because it made it easier to find everyone in our group when you were walking in a crowd of people. I also like the idea of having a new shirt too (smile). So while we were out looking for a patriotic bandanna for Hope to wear this holiday I was looking for something for us too that we could kind of make so that it wouldn't be that expensive but still something fun. Well we found some plain white shirts and then some iron on stars.I know that the shirts are going to be kind of simple but sometimes the simple shirts looks the best. I also like the fact that this is not going to be a very long project so I know that it will get done in time for the 4th of July. I just hope that this tradition doesn't turn into us getting shirts and then make them patriotic. I guess only time will tell on that one.

New Bandannas

One day, a long time ago, I took Hope to the dog park (I need to take her again). It was a day when there was not a lot of people at the park, actually only two other people were there. I got to talking with them and it was a lot of fun. One of the ladies made a comment that she thought that Hope looked cute in her bandanna (she was wearing the orange on that day; hey, it was what she picked out). I thanked her and then told her that when I had decided to get a dog that I would not dress the dog up but when I got Hope she was the one that actually started it and liked it so I did it to make her happy. The lady thought that was pretty interesting. Then a guy came in and heard the story too. He said that she looked like she was more ready for Halloween then just a normal day. Then he told me that she had amazing eyes (which I always agree with) and that I should get a bandanna to match them. I told him that I have been trying to find one but just haven't been able to do so. Then everyone started talking about where I could find some really good bandannas and they were all trying to figure out which place would give me the best deal. I was actually really surprised that people that didn't know me very much would be so interested in making sure that Hope looked good. It was just really sweet and has always made me smile.

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I am sure that you are thinking what does this have to do with the title of, "New Bandannas." Well yesterday Michael and I went out and actually found the color that I had been wanting for Hope. She looks so good in it and she was very happy to have another bandanna that she can wear. We actually ended up getting her two more bandannas because the store was having a really good sale. Now that Hope has some new bandannas to wear that also meant that I got to do another puppy photo shot with her (I love doing them).Here she is in her bandanna that matches her eye color. It is a little darker in color but that is ok since it really was close enough to it.I thought that it would be cute to get a picture next to something that was also kind of blue and I ended up using my wedding flowers. Hope really enjoyed looking at them. I wonder if she knew that they were fake?This is the other color that we got her, green. It was kind of funny but I didn't realize it until Michael mentioned it but that Hope didn't have a green bandanna.I do think that the color is a little dark for her but she still really looks good in it all the same.Then, of course, with the fourth of July coming up we had to get her a flag bandanna. I think it looks wonderful on her.Hope actually really likes to wear this bandanna but I only let her wear it to get the fit right and to take some pictures of her in it. She is still kind of mad at me for not letting her wear it more.I am sure that she is going to fit right in, again, for the Fourth of July this year because she has the look down pat.I love the look of, "Why can't we just celebrate it today?" Now I almost forgot something else. When my family did a vacation to the beach they left some of our stuff that we could not take in our car at my aunt and uncles house. There was also a few things extra which was really nice of them. One of the items that was given to us was a bandanna for Hope from my older sister and I realized today that I never took a picture of it for you all to see, so here it is.It is a really cool looking brown bandanna. Hope just loves to wear this one because of that you are lucky to get it off of her.Now this was just a funny picture for you. Hope saying, "Do I have something on my bandanna?" I am starting to think that my dog is a little to much into fashion. Oh well, a girl does love to dress up and look pretty.