Relaxed

Today was a very relaxing day. This picture is a little weird because I took it from the bedroom upstairs... through the screen on the window. Anyway, as you can see the leaves are changing and falling to the ground. Do you know what that means? It means it's cold. I'm talking I-have-already-been-sick kind of cold. My body does NOT adjust well to cold weather. So today was my relaxing day. John is gone again for the second weekend in a row, so I have just been hanging out. Yesterday I did some Christmas shopping and I'm happy to say I am 50% done. Today, however was the best. First off, this blog doesn't show the correct time when I post. It is 5:01pm now. I crawled out of bed at 10:30 and went to Walgreen's in my pj's to get a Sunday paper. I came back home and did laundry, ate, and read. All day. That's it. (By the way mom, I'm reading Debbie Macomber's new book, its good!) It has been a great day. I was blessed all month with 4 day weeks and leaving early because of all the Jewish holidays, but tomorrow I work all day everyday until Thanksgiving. Also, today is the last day of Summer in Europe. It's on the calendar. I'm also in a good mood because today I booked a night at a bed and breakfast in Nashville, IN for John and I. We rarely do anything because one of us is always working. However, it's the perfect time. It's a little town FULL of small, individually owned shops. You walk everywhere and they have little restaurants and coffee shops. We went in spring when they weather was just getting to be nice. It also has quite a few bed and breakfast's and we kept saying we wanted to go. We're going to hopefully get alot of Christmas shopping done there but also just enjoy our alone time together. So now I have something to look forward to in the next couple of weeks. Anyway, I'm going back to my reading and I hope everyone has a great week!

Sad...

Ok, so John and I have some good news and bad news. The good news is we have found a wonderful, loving family for Luke. The bad news is we have found a wonderful, loving family for Luke. Like I said in the last post, we have talked for hours about making the decision to let him go. It all comes down to John losing his job and not being able to afford Luke. Worst come to worst, John's family would take Riley, but adding Luke to that would be a huge responsibility for the Brays. Anyway, Sunday Luke went over for a play date with the family. I got to see the house and yard and meet the people. They loved him right away (of course they did, it's Luke..) but they wanted him that night. I said no way, we needed one last family night. Luke is by nature a snuggler. He loves nothing more than climbing on me and falling asleep. When we go to bed at night he jumps on the bed, starts at my feet, walks up my body, the slides down the side of me and falls asleep. Anyway, so on our last night this is what we did..... He crawled on me and fell asleep. Until I told John to get the camera. We all watched our tv as a family.
Luke also doesn't like flashes so when John took the picture, he turned the other way (still on me) and hid his eyes. This one was on a timer, but just an idea of what our last night was about.
Couldn't help but post this one...
Riley and Luke love each other. They love to play tug-o-war. Here, they are being lazy playing. About 30 min ago, John and I dropped off Luke. I think he knew what was going on b/c he looked sad and stood by the gate when we left. He also gave us each a bunch of kisses. I knew today I was going to be an emotional wreck, so I made gumbo. So as I sit here, glancing at the spot beside me where Luke spent most of his time (following me, always by my side), I try to remember that he's with a wonderful, loving family. And I'm going to try to wash away my sadness with a bowl of gumbo. Love you Luke.

It's Fall...

It's Fall again. The weather is starting to get a little colder, days a little shorter, and I can feel my hibernation about to begin. Today is my first Saturday in a long time without (1) John being home, (2) being in Philly, or (3) being in Louisiana. I woke up not knowing what to do. Breakfast wasn't waiting for me, the dog(s) weren't fed, and I had no plans. It was a little weird. It also didn't help that the house was cold and I was struggling to find a sweatshirt. During my last 3 winters, I flew so much that I wasn't home that often, therefore I didn't need alot of winter clothes. Now that I'm starting to wear them everyday, I'm realizing just how little warm clothes I actually have. My ONE sweatshirt is from the Christmas Cruise 4 years ago. It's says "Carnival Cruise" on it. I have a couple thin sweaters and they have quarter length sleeves. That doesn't work for me. I need my full arm to be warm. Anyway, I decided to be productive today. All the Halloween decorations are finished. I actually had fun with this.
I was in a GO,GO,GO mood today. I went grocery shopping. Did all the laundry...
Set the table for Halloween...
and decided to cook. I'm not talking just make a meal, I made 3. I made crawfish fettuccine for me today, then I made spaghetti lasagna and sloppy joes to freeze for nights when I won';t want to cook. I also cleaned the house. So yeah, productive.

On other news, after many hours upon hours of discussion John and I have decided to part with Luke. We just can't afford him. We love him alot but we need to do whats best for him. I'm meeting a family tomorrow with other dogs and cats and a big house and yard. Hopefully it's the right fit but if not, then we'll keep looking. It's important to us that he goes to a great family and loving home. It was a hard decision but it's what needs to be done.

That's my Saturday. Its still cold and I'm told it's only going to get colder ( My blood isn't meant for cold weather. I also went to Yoga again, still fun. I'm still sore. That's all that's going on here but I'll blog more later!

Weekend

Well, I just got back from Louisiana. It was very productive. I got to see my brother Kyle in Lake Charles. I still can't believe he's in college. This is a picture of us in his room. We went eat chicken and he gave me a tour of McNeese State, which was really nice. It's always good to see my brothers (miss you Josh!). I also got to see my brother Zack and sister Katie, my cousin Brandy, and alot of other family. I love going home because I can catch up with people and eat alot of good food. I hate going for such a short time because I can't see everyone I want to see. But I had a good time. I shopped with Linda and my Aunt Barbara, which is always fun! I took a picture with my brother and sister but I'm waiting for it to be e-mailed to me. I forgot my camera everywhere I went. I know this isn't a very good blog but I am beyond exhausted and I promise to do better next time : )

New member of my family...

Ok, so yes, we're weak. We fell in love! We were supposed to keep Luke until Saturday. The family who wanted him fell through. The rescue lady goes to Petco every Saturday and Sunday to try to get all of her rescue dogs adopted. Luke went Saturday and John and I were hoping a nice family would take him. Well, one did, and they returned him. Apparently the guy was "allergic". I called her Saturday night to tell her John and I would like to volunteer and help her out. She told me about Luke going home with someone then getting brought back. We were pretty upset about it. This poor little dog. We decided if he didn't get adopted by 3pm on Sunday, he was ours. Well, she called back last night to see if we would foster him for another night. It was all too much for us! We wanted him! We wanted him home!! So, we said we were coming to get our dog. He just fell right into our lives and our family. Today we went volunteer. (Luke stayed home )It was too sad for me. All these dogs just wanting to be loved and go to a good home. I wanted to take every single one home. This morning we decided to take the dogs for a walk. John isn't smiling because he was trying to get the dogs to look. He was happy though : ) We went to Starbucks for a mocha for him and a peppermint hot chocolate for me, thankyouverymuch! Then we stopped next door at the dog bakery for some yummy treats for the dogs.
This was taken while we were cooking breakfast. (you know I like my eggs and pancakes!) They have been doing well together, seeing as how Riley is the most spoiled dog in the world!
How could we have ever let him go? This is what I wake up to. We love you Luke, welcome to the family!!!