A Night (Sort Of) Away

One of my best friend's dad recently bought a condo on the beach. One day while I was at work, he called me up and asked if Josh and I would like to use it one night. Yes, please!

The condo was literally 5 minutes from our house, but somehow it still felt like a short getaway! The condo was beautiful, and had an amazing view! They even made those fancy swan towels.

Since this wasn't exactly a vacation, poor Josh still had to do some studying. While he was doing that, I went out and sat on the balcony over looking the ocean and read (incredibly relaxing). Then Josh took a break and we both went down and swam in the hotel's pool and lazy river. While we were in the hot tub, the pier that was about a quarter mile away did an amazing fireworks show!

I wish we could take mini vacations more often.

America!

This fourth of July was exciting because it was my first one home in years! My family has a lot of really fun Independence Day traditions.

I had to work during the day time, but Josh and I went over to my parents after. We all went out to buy some fireworks at a store nearby. We always have a lot of fun picking those out! We make sure to get a few daytime fireworks, too. Our favorites are the colored smoke bombs, the snakes (Mom's personal favorite), the army trucks, and the parachute men.

When we got home we grilled some delicious food and whipped up amazing side dishes and enjoyed a great meal. Then, we went outside to shoot off the daytime fireworks. After that, Dad starts to get the homemade ice cream going, because it takes awhile.

When it started to get dark, we shot of our bigger fireworks. And fountains...I LOVE fountains.

Halston and I used the Roman Candles (that shoot out balls of fire) and had a wizarding duel. I got a little to excited with my wand waving and almost hit someone. Oops.

And, of course, no fourth of July would be complete with out sparklers!

Then we went inside and used the homemade ice cream to customize our own sundaes. How is homemade ice cream SO good?

Happy Birthday, America!

Boating!

One of our favorite summer activities is boating! We were pretty excited the first time we got out this summer....it had been awhile.

Both Josh and I are trying to improve our wakeboarding skills. Up until this summer, I was able to get up and board for a long time, but couldn't really move around. I have now learned to maneuver the board where I want to and can go up and down the wake with out falling. Maybe not super impressive, but I'll take it! I've never been a very good athlete...My biggest problem now is that this summer I have developed a terrible fear of being eaten by an alligator. I know car accidents are more likely than alligator attacks, but it still terrifies me. Josh says he would jump in and fight the alligator if it attacked me, but while sweet, that's not all together comforting. So I have to make poor Dad stay on the main channels and I won't get in if we are too close to the sides.

Josh's wakeboarding has improved a good bit more than mine has. He can move around like a pro and is close to jumping! He's gotten really in to it and as soon as we leave the waterway, he's already wanting to go back out.

Josh also spent some time trying to teach Halston how to wakeboard. It didn't happen this time, but maybe next summer...

We go tubing with Halston and Hunter, and sometimes even Mom! Dad has become unstoppable at throwing us off the tube (to be honest, I've become a little bit more of a wimp with that, too...)

We always bring a picnic lunch out on the boat, too. Apparently, Halston really enjoys Pringles...

I wish it would stay warm enough here to boat year round!

Dog Days

My family has never been animal people. More specifically, my mom and Lindsey have never been animal people. And I mean they HATE them. I can't think of a single animal they would ever want. When I was little, I loved animals. I really, really wanted a dog. But with my mom and Lindsey's aversion to them, that just didn't happen. As I got older, I started to see their point. They do smell. The do shed. They are filthy. It is gross that they lick you (and I hate it when you say that and people try to pull the "it's been proven that a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's mouth". Humans don't go up and lick you, so there).

A few months ago, I started to go back to my roots and think that maybe, just maybe I really did want a dog- but just a small one, because I still didn't like big ones. I did a little research and decided I like Yorkies. Cute and small. But I wasn' t willing to pay hundreds of dollars for one. So I watched KSL for a good deal, and one day I saw that a family was selling a tiny 7 pound Yorkie for $20. So, I called and asked if I could see it. And it was so cute! I just loved how teeny it was! So I took him home. His name was Bruno, and that had to be stopped, so I changed his name to Van (Reba, anyone?).

Van was a great dog. He never barked unless he saw another dog (Napoleon complex). He was already potty trained. He didn't shed. He loved to just follow us around the house and watch what we were doing. He did this hilarious trick where when you held up a piece of food, we would stand up on two legs and wait for it. If we were ever to have a dog, this was the perfect dog to have.

And yet...

I was constantly worried that our house smelled like dog. I stressed that he would use the bathroom in our house while we were away at work. I hated the idea that we would have to find a "dog sitter" any time we went out of town. And I constantly felt the compulsive need to wash my hands or use sanitizer EVERY time I touched the dog...which got super annoying. I tried to get over having to wash my hands, but it was just too obnoxious. To take care of the smell, I Febreezed our house a lot (and actually the dog's back once or twice, just to see if it would take) but I was still paranoid about smells.

So, after a few days, we decided that we were not dog people. We found the dog a good home with a girl that was crazy about him. I felt super guilty giving him away, but we thought it really was best for him to go to a home where he would be more loved.

I think we made the right decision. And yet...I miss the little guy. Maybe one day I'll get over my qualms and we can try to have a dog again. Maybe.