So much has been happening in my life. I kinda mentioned it in my last post but sadly, I can't give details over a blog. I ask all that read this to pray for the following things.

• Wisdom - The Lord says when you ask of this He will give it freely

Ephesians 1:16-18

16"I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,"

• Guidance - I want the Lord to go before me in all things and straighten the paths before me.
  

Isaiah 42:16

16"And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."

• Pray for our pastors - We forget that they are human as well and the devil prowls around them like lion to devour. Hold your pastors high in prayer for their protection.

1 Peter 5:8-9

8"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

• Strength - To stand in the face of adversity. The accuser is out to get all of us. Remember always who you are in Christ. He has set the value for you when He sent His son Jesus in our place for our sins. Don't let the devil accuse of your past, that's been covered under the blood of Christ.

Psalm 103:11-13

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him

I love the way the Message translation puts this next verse:

John 3:16 (The Message)

16-18"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

This now leads me to the last part of this blog. I want to encourage all that read this that we need to be spiritually alert. We need to be careful of perceptions and how we can look at something and think it's truth but, until we communicate with one another, we could be buying into a lie and not even realizing it. This can cause terrible destruction in the family of God and to His children. Here's a little snip it from a daily email I get. I pray it encourages you this day. Pray for your Pastor, pray for your church family. Don't let the devil deceive you into perceptions that you believe to be true - seek after the truth with the Lord and with others.

Perception Is Not Reality

TGIF Today God Is First, by Os Hillman

"The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken." - Job 4:10

In the advertising business we often say that "perception is reality" for the person who views our advertising message. It does not matter whether the audience believes the message to be true, only that they perceive it to be true. Their actions will be the same whether they believe it or only perceive it.

The enemy of our souls is very good at this game. He may bring on us what we perceive to be true when it is a lie. It may appear that there is no way around a situation. He may bring great fear on us. When we buy into his lie, we believe only what we have chosen to perceive to be true. It usually has no basis of truth. Such was the case when Peter looked on the waters during a night boat journey with the other disciples. At first glance, he and the disciples screamed with fear, thinking that what they saw was a ghost. It was actually Jesus.

Satan's name means "accuser." He travels to and fro to accuse the brethren. He brings an impressive front to all he does, yet behind that front is a weak, toothless lion with a destination that has already been prepared in the great abyss. He knows his destination, but he wants to bring as many with him as possible; so he often has a big roar, but little bite.

The next time some event comes into your life that creates fear and trembling, first determine the source. Look past the emotions and evaluate the situation in light of God's Word. Perception is not always reality.

OH MY! A month has almost gone by. I apologize to all those who read this, I totally slacked. Well, as some of you know, a lot has been going on. Those that know, please continue to pray.

For all others, here's a few things that have taken place over the last month. My oldest son Ethan is in honor band (he pl ayes the trombone) and they played at a competition thingy the middle of May at a Jr. High near Knott's Berry Farm. The band did great and Ethan had such a great time.

I am so proud of him. Not only cause he's improved in his playing but mostly, cause he stuck it out this year. He has in the past, been known for really wanting to do something then about half way through it, looses interest and drops out of stuff. I don't want this to be a permanent trend in life for him so seeing this really encouraged me. This wasn't the only thing this year for him, he also started and completed soccer. Way to go Ethan! :)

After his band performance we hopped over to Knott's Berry Farm and spent the day. It was kinda nice cause my mom and dad came out to see Ethan and we got a chance to spend the whole day together. I guess it had been awhile since they had been to Knott's Berry Farm. It was mother's day weekend so we all went over to Mrs. Knott's Chicken for lunch to celebrate. It was a great day and wonderful weekend. :)

Ok, ok, WAAAAYY too long between posts I know. I'm sorry. So much going on in life I forget to write about it while I'm living it. I have some great things to post too.

Just had my 31st birthday about a week and a half ago. It was the most awesomest day (if that's not a word, it is now.) It started off with my bestest friend picking me up for work as she always does, then going to breakfast at St Tropez bistro and bakery in RB. That was an unexpected treat! I had the best french toast ever made out of a croissant! AMAZING!

Then, after breakfast we started back towards work.....then drove right past it! SWEET! Christy then informed me we were spending the morning at a day spa having massages and facials. Massages!!!! I was so excited until I realized I hadn't shaved my legs in about a week and a half. So, we made a put stop at CVS, got some supplies and took care of it in a local bathroom (thanks for being the look out Christy!) Hehehehehehehehehehehe

After our morning of pampering, we headed off to the beach where I took an awesome nap (didn't mean to but, it all worked out). It was the perfect day for that too - bright sun, light cool breeze.

We hurried back then to get ready for my husband Jeff's plans for the evening. I knew we were going to Red Lobster and some other stuff but had no clue what the other stuff was. :) After we ate at Red Lobster, I was standing outside cause I needed some fresh air (ate too much, felt a little sick) a limo pulls up behind me. Jeff was all "I didn't know it was prom season already" and I was like "I guess maybe it is". Then the limo driver walks up to Jeff and asks if he's ready. THE LIMO WAS FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!! I never had a limo for me. I have been in one other one (hummer limo) for my brother in laws wedding but never one for ME! MEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEEEEE!!!!! (Can you tell I was happy?)

So he drove us downtown, and I'm still not knowing where we're going. La lalalala...still don't know. Finally, we pull up to this place where people are standing outside and I'm like "Is this it?" and I still had not idea what "it" was...til I finally stepped out of the limo and saw the sign on the building "Comedy - Josh Blue performing" SWEET!!!! As my 7 year old son would say, "Wicked Sick!" I was totally excited! Excited for a lot of reasons. #1, I think Josh is very funny and I supported him through last comic standing. And the even more reason, #2, because my husband had totally planned the whole thing. This means a lot to me cause he never has. You see, our marriage for the last 11 years hasn't been as healthy like it should've been. But now, that night was proof that things are better, and getting better. God has so transformed my husband and now, he showed me that I'm worth something to him. I was worth all this planning and scheming, all the behind the scenes that he worked on to make sure I had an awesome wonderful birthday.

Thank you so much Jeffrey for all your planning. I felt so special that night, felt like a queen for an evening. It was wonderful. Thank you Christy for getting me out of work for the day and surprising me with so much that day. It was the best. :)

We're going to the zoo zoo zoo...How about you you you... :)

It's my birthday this coming weekend so this last weekend for my birthday my bestest friend ever Christy took me out for the day to celebrate ME! :)

We started our day off right...with a yummy donut for breakfast (oh, on special celebration days, diets ARE NOT allowed.) :) After, we drover down to Balboa Park area where all the museums are and such. I went and saw my first IMAX movie. It was on the coral reefs and how in certain areas they are dying. There was such amazing footage though. Beautiful fish and reefs and sharks! It was so cool. I am now inspired to go scuba diving. :)

After we headed over to the San Diego Zoo. But before we did that we made a stop at the car for lunch. That was so yummy! My husband made us peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches. They were oozers.



Onto the zoo. It was SO MUCH FUN! We saw just about everything...no, we did see everything. :) The funny part was I wanted to go see the Orangutan. There were 2 right by the glass and everyone was all gathered around. I inched my way forward to try and get some pictures and as I got up close, I noticed something a little odd. One of them was laying on the ground and the other towards the feet of the other. The one by the feet raised up the foot of the one laying on their back. Now, I'm thinking "How cute! He's playing with the others foot" and at the moment, it turned interesting. He moved the foot out of the way and mounted the other. OH MY GOSH! Had to turn away quickly, it kinda grossed me out. What's with this! Are they like exhibitionist or something! But what disturbed me most was all the parents letting their kids get up close on it and watch and all the perverts around snapping photo's like it was the president! Goodness people, that's just wrong. (the picture below was BEFORE I knew what was going on and BEFORE anything had really taken place. Just so you know. :) )

The rest of the zoo was awesome. Saw the Panda's, Koalas (they're my fav), elephants, and all kinds of other animals. Towards the end of our day we went over the where all the kitty's are (VERY BIG KITTY'S) and went over to the snow leopard's area. What a treat! They were not only out but right up against the cage are RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! They were so close I could've reach in and touched one...but the sign said not to or a band aid will appear on my finger. :) Such a beautiful cat with big fluffy tails. It was great.

After the zoo I met up with my husband and boys for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. YUMMY!!! Got my meal free. No, not cause it was my birthday...it was because at the very last bite of my scampi I noticed something in the juices...a foil wrapper thingy. I showed it to the manager just to let them know about it and to watch out for that kind of stuff and they took my meal off the bill for us. SWEET! :)

Then we parted ways and Christy and I went over to Extraordinary Deserts. If you have never been, you need to go. They specialize in pretty, elegant deserts with yummy in mind. They look beautiful and still with every bite, pure bliss. Christy had the Chocolate Raspberry cake (so thick and rich...she let me have a bite...mmmmmmmmmm) and I chose the Apple Croistini...something like that. Mine was a baked light a crispy pastry thingy with warm custard apple filling on the inside. It was delicious!

Ahhhh, the night came to a close. It was such a wonderful, WONDERFUL day. I like these kinds of gifts cause a shirt will wear, cards will fade, but the memories from this day I can keep forever. Thank you so much Christy for a great birthday present and wonderful memories. :)

My dad sent this to me this morning. I love getting some of this good stuff from him. He's the best dad ever. :) Thought I would share it with you all. :)

1. Faith is the ability not to panic.


2 If you worry, you didn't pray. If you prayed, don't worry.


3. As a child of God, prayer is kinda like calling home every day.


4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.


5. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.


6. Do the math. Count your blessings.


7. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.


8. Dear God: I have a problem. It's me.


9. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.


10. Laugh every day -- it's like inner jogging.


11. The most important things in your home are the people.


12. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.


13. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open. Come on in.


14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.


15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.


16. We do not remember days, but moments. Life moves too fast, so enjoy your precious moments.


17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it; otherwise it's just hearsay.


18. Its all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.





I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well

New picture's of Madison! - Just wanted to share some new one's with you all and give an update. She's doing much much better after Christy and I reset her brain a few weeks ago with the training collar (it was so an accident...) Oh, I didn't share the story with you all did I. I think I will. But all you animal rights people and all that, don't get all pissy when you read this. IT WAS ACCIDENTAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have had some issues with Maddie. She was finding it fun to chew up my couch, Jeff's shoes (one of them being his favorite) and the one that REALLY got to me, nipping and biting at my boys. We were faced with an ultimatum, well, at least she was. Shape up or ship out. My friend Christy and I took a day off to use my friends training collar and work on eliminating these bad bad habits.

We couldn't remember how to use the remote from when we last used it on Riley (her dog) so we looked up on the Internet and figured out which buttons do what. There's a positive tone, and negative tone and the shocker one.

Ok, time to figure out her level of response. There are a total of 8 settings on the remote for shocking, 1 being the least amount of shock, 8 being the most. Riley, her German Shepard/Rottweiler mix has a response to level 2. So we started her on level one....no response. Level 2.....no response. At this point, I make sure the collar is tight and in the correct place..it was. Level 3....no response. Ok, this was really weird we both thought. What kind of stubborn dog is this really!!??

Then, we set the level at 4. At this point in time, my friend Christy who is holding the remote realizes that it's not enough to just press the button once quickly, that it only would let out the negative tone then. You actually have to HOLD IT DOWN for like 2 seconds before the shocker comes on. Well, she pressed it, held it, and right in front of me (I was on the floor right in front of Maddie) she jumps 2 feet into the air, let's out a little "YIP" and tweaked to the side!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! I was looking to see if she was smoking from the ears!!!! Christy started cracking up laughing and so did I (after I realized what happened and that she was ok). We only thought that happened in movies with special affects! I had no idea that a dog can jump STRAIGHT up into the air 2 feet. We laughed so hard that we cried.

Ever since that moment, she has been a totally different dog. She still jumps and is all excited when you first see her ad all but boy, she sure responds quickly when we tell her no. :) As I stated earlier, it's not that I purposely zapped my dog. She was 100% fine and it really made for a funny memory. :) Thanks Christy for your help that day. I'm glad you were the one who pressed the button and not me that way I can hold you accountable for her brain damage....HEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHE Just kidding. :) She's fine really.... :)

YAY! Opening day at the PetCo stadium. Would've been totally awesome if those darn Padres would've won that night. Oh well, the company totally made up for it. Christy (my bestest friend ever), Neal (my husband's friend) Jeff and me went last Friday night (well, 2 Friday night's ago now...meant to post this last Friday) and it was a lot of fun.

We tried to get downtown in time to be able to get into this really good parking garage however, we just missed it. One car ahead of us and they put up their "Lot Full" sign which we know from past experience, it probably wasn't. :( Argggggggg. So, we went around to another parking structure over across the way. It was a little bit of a walk but not too bad. Then, just as we get up towards the stadium and are about to cross, a freight train decides it wants to cross (there's RR tracks right by PetCo stadium) and then it stopped right on the tracks. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! It wouldn't have been so bad if Jeff didn't have to pee REALLY bad. So, thought quick on our feet and hired one of those bike guys that ride people places and had them ride us down to another crossing where the train wasn't and ride us back. Just as we got back to the original crossing where the train was, he had just moved and was clear. Oh well, nice ride for $20 :) I just kept saying to myself "It might have taken hours, you didn't know". Made me feel a bit better.

Got inside and smelled all the yummy food. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Found our seats and they were better than I thought they were going to be. We were in the front of the section and had glass in front of us so we could see the field really good. Enjoyed the pre game stuff, being opening day and all they had some neat things happening. Had a bunch of fireworks on the field that would go off and some high powered streamers that would shoot right out of the stands right in front of us. It was so funny cause Christy screamed out cause it scared her. Hehehehehehe...sorry Christy, had to mention it. :) (not much scares her so, this was monumental).

Right before the game we had the Marines on the field displaying a flag the filled the entire outfield. It was cool. We live in such an amazing country. It was a nice reminder of our freedom and as Christians, I really need to exercise that and tell others about our freedom in Christ. :)

Over all, we enjoyed good food (garlic fries....MMMMMMMMMMMM) and awesome friendship. Planning another game going on the 28th but this time it'll be with family and friends. Should be a lot of fun. :)

I'm so proud of my oldest son. His name is Ethan and he just is the greatest 10 year old ever. :) He's been involved in band now for 2 years. He play the trombone and although he's not the best YET, he's having fun with it and he's not all that totally bad.

He had a concert this last week. His very first. I was so proud of him and I did enjoy the performance. They combined with the High School band (it was their music I enjoyed the most though...the Honor band was still a little squeaky....darn clarinets). Here's a few snap shots of the performance. He also received a nice certificate from our Assemblymen congratulating him on his participation in the Honor Band. Good job Ethan, you make your momma proud!!!!!!

So much has been happening in my life that I've been busy living it and not writing about it. I told myself "Self, now that you have Internet at home you can update every night" HA HA HA HA, so funny Franny. By the time I get home, I'm good for nothing but bed. Soooooo, long over do but here's some fun stuff that's been happening. :)

Every Thursday night we have "Mommy Night". It's just me and my boys. This is time that they can have my full attention and I can just love all over 'em! My husband has "Man Night" every Tuesday where it's just him and the boys. This has worked out sooo good and the boys have just loved it.

I've been wanting to plan something really fun. My best friend gave me the idea of Treasure Hunt. It was so much fun! I planted clues all over our apartment complex (the mail boxes, laundry room, under the stairs....etc. The Treasure was the most fun to create. I made up little "Mommy Certificates" for things like Mommy makes the beds, free drive to school, any snack of their choice, extra 30 minutes at night and 5 hugs (which my boys told me mom, you give us hugs anyways....I said good point but these are EVEN MORE!) :)

Here's a few snapshots of the evening. We had a blast. I was told by my boys that it was the best Mommy Night ever. I encourage all those with kids, take a special time out just for them during the week. It will nurture both of you and create great memories. Our kids will one day parents and our example will be the kind of parents they'll become. Let's create some great generations to follow.

God is sooooo amazing! I just had to share with everyone something that happened to me just recently. I love it when God has a chance to show His awesome greatness. This is a little long but it is sooooooo worth the read. :)

As many of you know, my family and I just moved. We went from a spacious town home (well sort of) to a tiny apartment. I've made the apartment home and it works but, it's definatly a stretch at times. We (my husband and I) made this choice to do this so we could save up for a house down the road. We felt led by the Lord to become even better stewards over what He's given us. It felt so good moving cause we knew it was all in God's will for our lives.

Well, just before we moved my odd landlord went through our house and complimented and confirmed that there wasn't any major damage at all and he really enjoyed having us as tenants, and we would be getting our full security deposit 14 days after the 1st (which was stated in a letter given to us previously from him). Now, the law states the landlord has up to 21 days to return the deposit so even after the 14 days had come and gone, we weren't too concerned.

Then, the 21st came around and my husband called the landlord to see if I could swing by and pick up a check from him the next day for the deposit and such (it was a very fairly good amount) and at this point, the world came crashing down on us. The landlord told y husband that according to his wife, we didn't pay rent back in June of 2006. OH MY GOODNESS! What had happened is I had my purse taken then and I had to close accounts out and one of our checks to her bounced. As son as we found out we had told her before it all hit about having to close the account. She told us to pay her CASH and NOT TO TELL Bill (our landlord) as he would become upset. So we did as she asked and paid cash. The problem is, as they were going through tax stuff, she saw the notice from the bank from June and told Bill that we never paid her.

I was so upset, I left work to get the paperwork I had stating I would get all my deposit money back. Meanwhile, as Christy (my bff) was driving me home, she felt led by the Lord to tell me to forgive them, RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, before anything was resolved, the Lord was asking me to forgive. OH MY GOODNESS that's a hard thing to do. In the midst of my anger and frustration at this injustice, I had to forgive them. After much prayer and tears, I did what the Lord asked of me. I called Jeff and shared with him to forgive as well (he was also on his way home) and it was a total confirmation as he told me the Lord told him to do the same about 10 minutes before I called him.

Now, as I arrive home, I was under the understanding that even after they deducted the month's rent, I still should've received about $600 and it was in the mailbox waiting for me. When I looked in my mailbox, the letter was in there as the landlord had stated however, no check. Instead, there was a bogus listing of problems with the unit (all which were not from us but from previous tenants WHICH was known by the landlord before we moved in) and NOW, they stated the I owed them $181. OH LORD!!!! I broke down and cried. I wept at this injustice towards our family. We did everything as unto the Lord in giving our notice and leaving this place in even better than received condition.

At this point my husband gets home and we all pray together (Christy, my husband and myself). We agree in prayer over the situation and conclude that it would be best to go and speak face to face with him, in love and in Christ. We also felt we should bring our children along (my 2 cute boys) to share with them the Godly way to handle a very bad situation.

As we talked to him, he was very defensive at first. We continued in explaining how we had paid cash to his wife and all the events around that time. We stated clearly that we are in no way calling her a liar, but possible because it was cash, maybe she forgot. We did mention also about all the other claims on the paper and asked for receipts, which he had none. Before we even arrived, we had purposed in our heart no matter the outcome, even if we lost out completely on the $1850, that the Lord will sustain and supply our needs (it was to purchase another car). At the end of our conversation, our landlord asked to give him 4 hours to talk it over with his wife.

As the hour got closer to the 4 hour mark, I was prompting my husband to call him and find out what the outcome was. But my husband felt in his heart that it wasn't the time and that the Lord would take care of things. We agreeed that if he didn't call my husband by 9am the next morning, then my husband would call.

No call that night. But just as I was dropping off my boys to walk to school, I got a call from my husband. "You're not going to believe this. Bill just called." My heart sank for a moment. "Yeeess???" I said. "He told me that he couldn't sleep all night, he kept thinking about what we said. He said that he couldn't rest until he called us to tell us that he feels in his heart that we're telling the truth regarding rent and that he will give us a check today for the amount of rent." YIPPIEEE!!!!!! Even though it wasn't the full amount, we had trusted the Lord and knew that if this is what was given to us, it was what's supposed to come to us. I told my boys of the wondrous victory the Lord gave our family. They were so excited to see God's glory they said that they're going to praise him all the way to school.

Isn't God so amazing!!!!!! We're still trusting in the Lord for the rest to buy a car but I have no doubt in my mind that when the time is right, God will supply all my needs. I encourage all that just read this, always trust and have patience in the Lord. If we would've called at 9pm the night before (when my patience was running out), I would've possibly harmed the chance for God to work on his heart all night long and prevented God's blessing in this situation.

Thank you Lord! You are forever amazing and forever unchanging!

Maddie Moo and her Hoodie Too!!!!

Yes, I have become one of those silly pet owners that dress up their dogs. But, I thought this was kinda mild and I don't plan on getting her into any other silly costumes and such. It's a hoodie, and it's cute.

What's funny is she looks like Robin Williams wearing a short sleeved tight hoodie - the hair just goes POOF as it comes out of the sleeve. She's sooooo cute though, I think she'll get away with the clothing thing ok, no other dog should give her a hard time. And anyways, the hoodie saved her life last night as Riley (my best friends cute puppy) thought Maddie was a mid night snack and grabbed her violently. All his mouth was able to get was hoodie and fur. It's all good though Riley, you're still a cute puppy in my book. I'll just have to disrtact you with treats when you come to my house. :)

Been kinda down lately. So, I thought I would just tell the world about it....well, the 4 people that read this anyways. I've been battling this inner sadness. It's kinda like a frustration deep within that nothing I do satisfies. Even in my time with the Lord, the life that surrounds me drowns out anything I would hear from him. It's like trying to talk to your friend in the middle of a carnival. You see the lips moving, but can't hear what they are saying. This would be really bad for me cause I can't even read lips.

My friend recently had this burning in her as well. She took off a day and got back on tract where God's calling her (she's writing this amazing book and I can't wait for her to get it out to the world). I love music, at least I think I do...I used to...I still do....SEE! This is the inner frustration coming out. I used to always have a song in my heart. I used to always put stuff to music and lately, I don't have anything. I know...well, I think I remember God calling me to music. I want to glorify Him so much in all that I do and give Him all that I am. He taught me how to play guitar in 2 weeks. Shortly after I started leading worship at my youth group (only knew 5 chords so, songs we sure limited). There was one time I got so frustrated with always breaking my guitar strings I asked the Lord if he truly called me to worship, that he's going to have to provide another guitar. 2 hours later I got a call from a woman at my church stating that a few people had called her and said that they needed to give her money to get her worship leader a new guitar...these people that gave didn't even know me! You would think after these confirmations, I would have no doubt...

Does God change His mind? Has he withdrawn His calling on my life? Have I held back for too long now it's too late? Why is He so silent, I have no song to sing, no song to write. I feel like my life around me is so loud and cluttered, I can't focus on what I once loved to do. But, the things around me are daily things I must do - I'm a mom of 2 boys, a wife and a friend. I love all that I am but somehow, I feel like I'm missing the mark.

I got a puppy, I got a puppy, I got a puppy hey hey hey hey! :)

This last week my husband just happened next door to the animal shelter (he works for the City and the shelter is next door). He noticed this cute little furry thing that had just been dropped off. In fact, it was an owner relinquish and the owner was still there. Turns out they were moving to a place that doesn't allow dogs at all so they had to send this one to the pound. This little 8 month old girl needed a home. My husband put us on the list and we were number 1! YAY!

When we went to get her on Thursday, we found out there were like 12 people on the list. A few were there right at 4:30pm to see if we in fact did come and get her (if we didn't by 4:30pm then it goes to #2 and so on and so on). They were a little saddened when we were there to get her (HAHAHAHAHA! SUCKERS!!!...that's not very nice is it...sorry.) Anyways, we were so happy to get her yet sad cause we couldn't take her that day. She still had to go to the vet and get spayed.

So then Friday roles around and we got her at about 7pm that night. The vet said she did really good and one of the workers there said we got a jem and was so surprised to see a dog like this come from the pound. She was well mannered but didn't like to be tied up too much (they had to hold her down for the shots and all).

We named her Bailey at first. We called her that for the first few days but, it really didn't fit. Christy (my bestest friend) thought up Maddie cause she's all matted up. (we can't bath her til after 10 days cause of her surgery...she's a little smelly but not too bad.) So we officially named her Madison, Maddie for short. :)

The first and second night went well however, the third night was rather rough. She kept us up ALL night barking at nothing. Well, the power went out and it was super dark so maybe, she was just scared. It got better after we closed her up in our room with us and kept her from the living room and the front door (where she likes to bark the most). Last night was a lot better - slept all through the night. She's potty trained pretty good however, she likes one of my bears that I keep on my bed (it's a Pooky bear from Garfield - poor thing got a tongue bath the other day...it was all wet...).

She really is a little joy. Spastic when we first come home from anywhere but after she calms down, she's a sweetheart. I'll post more as life goes forward with Madison.