Pick Your Favorite

When I look through my pictures and posts it scares me how much I discuss Daisy. I sometimes feel bad for my other wonderful dog, Dakota.


Now I could not survive without Dakota. Everyone who comes to visit, his family, and my family all love Dak Dak (nickname). Her temperment is incredibly sweet and loyal. She's my protector. If she hears a noise, we need to go inspect not only where she thinks she heard the noise, but the surrounding rooms. She heads in a room, does a lap, looks up at me like the coast is clear then walks out the door into the next room.


I guess I am making a point that I love Dakota.


But I have said it before and will say it again that I have never met a dog with more personality than Miss Daisy Girl. He and I talked today about how much she makes us smile. Even thousands of miles away, he always laughs out loud watching her on the webcam.


Case and point. These pictures are just from today. I could blog about her adventures everyday.


Two dogs outside in the rain for two minutes. One comes in completely clean, the other walks into my kitchen looking like this:



Over the past 8 months with her, I continue to learn my patience and sense of humor always shines through these mishaps.


I decided to clean out my car today. As soon as I open up the door:



I tried getting her out of the car. However, she wanted to go for a ride. She sat like this for a good 20 minutes looking out the window in the garage





I thrive during this deployment because of both of them. One protects me and the other one drives me crazy and makes me laugh on a daily basis.

Week Eight

Oh yes, another month down. Not another week, but another month. I convinced myself the other day if I make it through the ugly months of January, February, and March time will really start flying, especially during the summer. Tonight I left my back door open and just enjoyed the smell of warmth.

• Read The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. I decided to switch over to a more academic book and boy did it take me awhile to read. I love Gladwell though. I read his previous two books (The Tipping Point and Blink) and he makes me want to become a business/communications professor because his findings fascinate me. However, next month I go back to suspenseful, sometimes trashy fiction where I escape from my reality.



• Cooked three new menu items: Paprika Chicken, Ravioli with Sun Dried Tomatoes, and a Beer Cheddar Cheese dip for a Super Bowl party and also cooked for the boys.



• Ran outside for the first time since October. I made the mistake of taking Dakota who stopped several times for no reason other than to express to me her stubbornness



• Switched back to my original church here and finally involved myself in the congregation. I volunteered to host a few members of a choir traveling here for a weekend stay in March

• Found a painter to give me a pretty good estimate to paint the rest of the living room and other guest room

My parents drove down to visit me yet again. I know I am incredibly spoiled. My dad already washed both cars. We visited Nashville and I found the place where I want to get married

I dream of a southern plantation wedding and above is the historic mansion where it might just come true. It received some buzz because Taylor Swift did a photo shoot on this same swing below.




I do not know about you, but I think I look better minus the make-up, beautiful dress, and overall glowing beauty.

Ramblings

- DVR might jump ahead of him on top loves in my life and I am perfectly OK with it

-Might NEED to buy new jeans, not a size smaller, but a size bigger to fit my rear end

-Going through a 40lb bag of dog food weekly

-Destiny and Lynne told me Criminal Minds actually airs on A&E too, most exciting news I heard this month

-Daisy entertains me on a daily basis, never met a dog with so much crazy personality

-Working from home, not as easy as it sounds...too many distractions

-Buying a flat iron really did convince me my hair looked longer

-Ran outside in my robe, chasing Dakota and our pool skimmer, which happened to be in her mouth

-DVR currently contains 12 episodes of "Miss Sunny Spider Patch Friends" for Aiden when he comes over


Oh my boring life these days.

No longer babies...

Due to recent photos, I am beginning to think I no longer own puppies.



November 2007

Now

August 2008

Now

Running out of room

I know the girls miss their "daddy", however, they definitely enjoy the extra room.



Only problem, where am I going to sleep?

Week Four

Yes my friends, another week bites the dust which brings my grand total to ONE MONTH!

And to celebrate, I joined some of my favorite ladies for wine and hibachi tonight.

You can also follow along as Lynne (far right) blogs about how early detection save lives, including hers :)

Sometimes I do not know where I would be without Destiny and Lynne. Tonight we discussed our bucket list for 2009. Obviously one of my mine was to continue with my deployment goals.

Let's see how I did in the first month:

• My run total is on the rise. 22 miles since he left. Thanks to the wonderful D.A.R. I definitely stole her idea on her tracking device on the left side of my blog.
• Finished Beach House by Jane Green which means I read 3 books, Marley & Me, Shopaholic & Baby and Beach House this month. 2 more than I wanted to read!
• Cooked 3 new things this month including a Penne Vodka, Sweet Potato Salad, and some delicious peanut butter cookies for my cookie exchange party hosted by the wonderful MG.
• Few leads on the job front and hope to make decisions by the end of this month
• Attended a wonderful church service last Sunday
• Game night...definitely happening next week.
• Daisy did not jump on Destiny tonight, again, holding her down, but progress!
• Sent a care package on 20 Dec and very excited for my "Things You Miss at Home" care package, almost ready to go that I will send out 20 Jan

I did not cook for the boys yet with block leave and the holidays, but we have plans for next week.

I love spending time with my friends here. For never having a good group of girlfriends my entire life, I feel like I missed out on fun, but know I am making up for it now.

2008

I have no problem saying good-bye to 2008. I felt the year was a tale of two halves for me. I looked back at pictures and my old Live Journal to help me write my year in review. And what did I find...

January-June

I never thought it would happen, but I became a dog person. I fell in love with Dakota. In January I visited him down at Fort Rucker. This would be our last good weekend together for over 6 months. One of my favorite pictures from last year:

I did not realize how freaking much I worked. Looking back at my journal from last year, I updated 7 times in 6 months! I commuted one hour to and from work everyday. I worked at the office from 7am until 8pm every night. When it came to tournament time, I worked Friday-Sunday 6am-1am.

I loved every minute, however, I failed to notice how much I pushed people out of my life. I fought with my sister the first 2 months over her wedding. She wanted a better Maid of Honor. I wanted to work. As a result, I also fought with my mom. I didn't have time for her or him...

We fought and fought and fought some more through January and Feburary. By the time I finally reached out to him at the end of March, it was too late.

For the first time in 8 years, my whole body became numb towards him. I didn't care about losing him, his family, his friends, our relationship. We had the exact same relationship for so long...Visiting on weekends once a month then heading back to our "regular" life. I gave up.

He didn't...Thank God.

We dated other people. Dating for the first time since 15, I found someone completely opposite of him. While fun at the beginning, the newness began to wear away. One month into the relationship, I sat on the stairs and cried telling my mom I just missed my best friend.

However, with work, I didn't have time to reach out.

July

On July 2, 2008. He called and wanted to meet me. I had not seen his face since early Febuary. I drove to Wendy's parking lot, our favorite hangout through high school. He sat on the curb. I headed over to sit next to him and put my head into my knees and just bawled. He placed his hand on my back to console me and I felt my entire body melt.

I missed his touch.

7 days later, I found out about my boss. I immediately quit my job and drove 6 hours to Campbell from Chicago and he drove 6 hours from Rucker. We finally met in the middle.

August

We bought a house together. We bought another beautiful puppy together.

I absolutley loved living with him and our girls.

September-October

I wanted to work again. It defined who I was for so long. I started to define myself in other terms, as a friend. Our Saturday volleyball gang

Instead of being negative about my situation, I embraced it. I decorated and painted our house. I landscaped with his parents. I became a better cook. I took Daisy to obedience classes and worked with both of them every night. I began to blog more frequently. I reconnected with friends.

November

Whether I liked it or not, I threw myself in the Army. With his Pathfinder and Air Assault slot and block leave. November was definitely our Army month. I began preparing myself for his deployment. Every day I told myself I was going to kick ass.

His Air Assault graduation.

December

Our 2 weeks before he left, everything I could ask for and more. It helped tremondoulsy with the hustle and bustle of D-Day. I knew I did everything I could do to make it easier.

This month in this year was a memorable year, both good and bad.

Alone and smiling on Christmas next to his stocking.

I always feel the way I spend New Years Eve serves as a metaphor for how my year will turn out. Last year, we went outside our comfort zone to a fancy club. It was not us. We spent most of the night complaining. After midnight, we left. We left hand and hand in beautiful downtown Chicago and walked 2 miles in a breath taking light snow fall.

This year, I headed over to Jeni's. Her mom made an amazing Korean dinner. I played with her babies, played Scrabble, and rang in the New Year with a glass of wine and a hug from an amazing friend.

I smiled at her after our hug and said, "Our boys come home this year".

So see you later 2008 and bring on 2009. I am ready for it with a whole army of support behind me :)

Marley & Me

So as Dakota curled up in my lap on the couch as she does every night, I finished the final pages of Marley & Me, of course with tears in my eyes.

It was an easy read and call me crazy, I pictured the characters in this story looking somewhat like Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston. Now, I can finally go see the movie. I loved the book and felt he truly wrote down what every dog owner feels. Someone I know read the book and did not like it. I could not help but tie it to the fact she never owned a dog.

I find it funny before I decided to even finish the book on this Saturday night, I wanted to write about Dakota and Daisy due to a question my brother brought up on Christmas Eve.

"If you HAD to give up one of them, which one would you give up?". I finally understood my mom, when faced with a difficult decision, would say, "It's like picking a favorite child".

I told him without hesitation, neither one. And he replied with exaggeration on the word, "HAD" and again, I said no thanks.

I love how Dakota curls up with me every night no matter where I lay or her fierce bark when she feels our environment might be threatened. I love how Daisy can honestly lick your hand, face, leg, whatever, for hours straight or how she sleeps on her back with all four paws in the air. Is that comfortable?

Sure, Dakota sometimes annoys me with how much she wants to cuddle where she bats my hand when I try to type or read and Daisy really does live in her own world from time to time, but the good definitely out weighs the bad. And not to mention, they might be two of the biggest reasons I thrive during deployment.

Attempting to keep up with my book club idea, I found a list of questions online. Three really intrigued me to think and at last, type away....

Is the story of "life and love" primarily between John and his dog, or was Marley just a sidekick in a story about John and his family? Were you surprised by how much non-dog related content the book contained? Did you enjoy the parts about John's family or did you wish he would just get on to another dog story?

I really felt if Grogan slipped away from the Marley theme, even for one chapter, the story would be lost. Do not get me wrong, I know the man loved his family more than anything, but he wanted to portray his love for the "World's Worst Dog".

Is this only a book for pet lovers or would people without pets like it too?

This question stumps me. Any non-dogowner out there who absolutely loved this book? I guess those I spoke with, who do not own a dog, really did not get the book hype.

Why do you think Marley & Me topped the bestsellers list after it was released?

Oh, how easy! John Grogan only reinforces crazy dog owners, like myself, really do exist :)



Any thoughts?

D-Day

His last day? Pretty much everything I expected. I was ok with the chaos of family, packing, and last minute errands because my time leading up to that day was amazing.

8:30am We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Cracker Barrel with the family. We laughed a lot then ran a few errands at Wal-Mart. I bought him his Christmas present, a portable DVD player. Thanks MTM-to-be :)

10:30 we arrived home and he finished packing with his mom. I said no thanks because I did my fair share of packing beforehand.

12pm we all helped cover the pool. The day before the cover caught wind, blew me over and I landed in the hole in our deck. I have the bruise still to prove my fall was hard.

1pm I started lunch, his favorite, a sassy corn-bread chilli and made his favorite dessert, butter pecan cupcakes. I let the girls lick the bowl and they loved every minute.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of finally preparations and lots of phone calls. The family made jokes about how he was off to his first day of school with one huge backpack.

Before dinner we took our Christmas photo by the new stockings his mom bought for all 4 of us. After all the picture taking, we shared with them our news and lots of hugs were exchanged.

8pm After a nice steak dinner and lots of laughs around our dining room table, he changed into his uniform. I stayed strong pretty much day, until we toasted champaign for his last night and of course when he said good-bye to the dogs. At that moment, tears started to fall. I cannot even imagine saying good-bye to our children in the future.

9:30pm We pulled up to the hangar and you could just feel the somber mood in the air. It was a cold December night where you could see everyone's breath. A lot of men and women in uniform shouting things to one another and we unloaded his belongings into the back of a truck.

10:30pm The rest of the night, we kept light. Sitting around in a circle with his family was hard, because no one knew what to say. As soon as I saw CLR, I jumped up and went to go talk to her and for some reason, I finally felt somewhat relaxed. No words needed to be exchanged about our feelings, we knew exactly what the other one felt.

My friend Jeni and I pretended to fix their rifles and a lot of laughs and pictures continued. His co-pilot on his 6th or something deployment kept the mood very light. I love his stories.

11:20pm Then the announcement came. Ten minutes to say good-bye. His family said their good-byes first and we had a few minutes alone. He was sweet and ensuring I would kick butt in the next year. I told him not only did I know I could handle this, but he could handle it as well. He held my hand and led me as far as he could. He left me with Jeni as he headed to formation. We hugged and she turned to me and said "Aren't you so proud of them".

And I actually smiled. With the millions of emotions I felt, I cannot believed I left that one out! She was absolutely right. I was so damn proud and again at ease for the time being.

We watched them load the buses. After he shook all the important people's hands. I said his name. He turned at the last possible minute and said "Love you baby". His mom thanked me as she caught his look on tape.

12am We drove away and headed home. His sister, my best friend, actually slept with me the first night. We talked until 2am and I finally fell fast asleep.

I survived. And now I am going to thrive...

While I was gone.

Life has been crazy, yet wonderfully blissful.

• My sister is married! The wedding went beautiful. If you're curious about the photos. Click on purchase photos then scroll to "Lindsay and Brett Navarro"


• On the job front, I promised myself I was going to actually try to look after the wedding. However, the whole time is precious keeps replaying over and over in my head. I'm basically getting paid to do nothing. I am studying as we speak for my personal trainer's license, so wish me luck.
  
• Everyone here has been wonderful. My FRG leader is awesome. I had lunch with my realtor, mortage lady, and their friends today. These women are so much fun. Not to mention everyone loves to get out and do something. Last weekend we had football, beach volleyball, racquetball, dog walks/parks. Its a lifestyle I absolutely love.


• Daisy and Dakota have been my sanity as well as the main reason I go insane from day to day. Daisy has learned how to climb over the babygate (smart puppy) so I always feel I have to be on my toes around her. Her puppy class starts on Saturday. Thank goodness!


• He and I couldn't be happier. Things are going really well and he's been so sweet. I love that we are exact same person. For instance, we just started a 750 piece puzzle together.
  

It's weird. Even though I'm not working, I swear I'm just as busy with so many different things. My mom comes to visit this weekend! Yeah! I can't wait to start decorating and turn this place into a home. She's pretty much amazing when it comes to this stuff.

My sister and I

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My FRG leader and the winning QB/center combination in Powder Puff