YOU'LL NEVER GUESS!!!!!

Last night I found out some of the best news I've ever received in my whole life! I got approved by my HOA for a dog!!!! SERIOUSLY AND TRULY!!!

So now all there is to do is finish the flooring in the front room. Then the place will be ready for a brand new baby! I just can't believe it! I could hardly sleep last night. I had butterflies in my stomach most of the time, and then a mixture of fear that my life is about to change forever. I know dogs aren't children, but for me it is the closest thing I am going to get to one. And that responsibility is huge!

I am so ready and excited for this new adventure, but there is always that little thought in the back of my head that wonders if I am really ready for such a commitment. But, I am. I know it. I have been dreaming about this day since about 2005, and I just can't believe it is literally around the corner.
My first stop will be to the Irish Wolfhound Rescue of Utah. If the right guy for me isn't there, then I will put in an application to the Gentle Giants Rescue in California. I will ask for an English Mastiff, a Great Dane, or an Irish Wolfhound. Any of the three will do! I just can't believe it could all be coming true before the end of the year. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

Almost... I think...

Thanks to my favorite doctor in the whole world, the packet has been filled out for me to get a "companion animal." This would make it so that the HOA at my condo complex would have to say yes to me obtaining a dog. Well, they at least have to review what my doctor said and consider saying yes.

Tomorrow night (Tuesday the 21st) is the monthly board meeting of my HOA. I went and spoke with the president and asked him to make sure they review my application tomorrow night. If not I have to wait an entire month before they could possibly review it again. So, here's hoping tomorrow brings a vote for change... Ha... ha... oh how I love the democrats... do you like how I threw that right on in there?

Anyway, I'll keep you all posted. The "WISHING I HAD A PUPPY" thing may be a reality sooner than you think!!!!!

A Whole Lot of Nothing...

I feel as though my life has turned into a whole lot of nothing lately. And as my blog is my own personal journal (since it seems as though Chel has become the only person who reads it, which is my own fault because I am such a sporadic blogger) I am going to vent.

I look at other people's blogs and feel like so much is going on. They have kids, and magically happy marriages, and so many things to share in their posts. I, on the other hand, have just about nothing to report. I get up, go to work, go home and clean up a bit, eat, watch tv, go to sleep, and start the whole thing over again. Well, I guess I did have a class this summer. Which, I am happy to report, ended two days ago. That class was BORING and pretty dang liberally ridiculous. No point whatsoever to that class. But I did fill the diversity credit that was required of me. AND I walked away with a fabulous new friend! Her name is Ashley, and we had a ball together! Mostly because although the class description said there would be no dancing, our teacher decided otherwise. I made a fool of myself by dancing in front of 40 other people in the following genres:

Eastern Indian (as in India)
African (yep, I have no rhythm for sure people)
Hip Hop (of course she made us learn how to do a correct booty shake)
Polynesian (LOVED IT, except for the mating dance we did around a boy of our choosing from our class)
And several others I can't remember at the moment.
I guess that is one thing I had to talk about. Props to me on that one. I'm sure you are all wondering why I am posting such a depressing post, but that's how it is these days. And I needed to get it off of my chest. So there you have it, a whole lot of nothing.

What a Morning....

We can't talk about this mornings happenings without starting the story from last night. So Quenten has been sick for the last week at least. He just has a cough and a runny nose. He has been taking the codene cough syrup, but for some reason it did not do its job last night. By midnight he and I were both done with the coughing, so I went in our spare bedroom. And yes, I would rather be in my shoes than his. Especially since every time I cough, even in my own home, I have the sneaking suspicion that my mom is going to run in my room and tell me not to. But that is a story for another time. :)

Anywho, I went in the other room and fell asleep with both cats at the foot of the twin size bed. And let me tell you, it is amazing how an 8 lb cat and a 9 lb cat can take up so much room! You'd be amazed!

Now Sushi has this fabulous problem in the summer months where she gets up the moment the sun peaks its head over the mountains. And she doesn't just get up, she proceeds to HOWL for hours. Then, she promptly falls back to sleep around 7am when it is time for me to get up. It's truly lovely.

Since I was sleeping in the guest room I had my phone under my pillow. Little did I know that it slipped down the bed and underneath the now quietly sleeping cat next to me. Everytime my alarm went off I thought it was Quenten's from down the hall since it was so faint. It wasn't until I thought "It sure is sunny for me to still be sleeping." And figured out that my cell phone was no longer in its original place, that I found out it was actually 8:10 in the morning. I had slept in for an extra hour and 10 minutes!

Yep, that's a true story people. Who would have thought such a tiny lass could mute a phone like that?! Not me, that's for sure...

My Day...

This is MY cat. He is just the love of the world these days. He takes such good care of me and Chels. I just have to show him off a little. ISN'T HE STUNNING?!
And here he is letting Jesse know that there is NO WAY he is joining him in the backyard while it is snowing.

I'm just so grateful that the Lord gave us animals. Especially little kitties. I can't remember a moment in my life that I haven't been obsessed with them. We even have home videos of Chels and I pretending to be kittens when we were three years old. I just love them, what can I say?!

The Beginning of It All...

There is one day from my past that I truly believed changed mine and Chelsea's future as we would know it. We had just moved from our Grams' house in West Valley up to our new house in Cottonwood Heights. Though we didn't have much money, my mom somehow scrounged up enough money to pay movers for our big move (did I mention that my mom HATES moving, and as this was our third move in a very few months, she did not want to do the work again).

It was June of the summer before Chels and I would be entering 4th grade. My mom instructed Chels and I to go and play in the yard so as to keep out of the way of the movers. This was no problem for us because the yards that surrounded our new giant house were FUN! We were just laughing and playing when a lady squoze through a tiny crevice between a chain-link fence and a wooden fence. Chels and I said "Hi." And she introduced herself. She said "My name is Niki, what are your names?" We told her, and I am sure gave her an earful of information she did not ask for as well, and then she continued "How old are you girls?" We told her, and she said "I have a daughter your age that I would like you to meet."

She came back a few minutes later with Jessica in tow, and a hammer in hand. Chels and I bombarded Jessica with questions and noise while Niki proceeded to tare down a few planks of wood from the fence that lead into their yard. She wasn't worried about resale value, or appearances, she just knew that having that fence open would be vital to us becoming friends. And it sure was. I think I spent more time in the Ford's house while I was growing up then I did in my own.

I am so grateful that Niki did that that day in June so many years ago. Jessica has become a sister to Chels and I. We truly were and are a part of their family. I am also grateful that Niki was such a courageos woman. She did everything full-steam ahead. If it needed to be done, or if she wanted it to be done, she did it. No thinking or waiting, she just went right on and did it. I do not believe I would be the woman I am today without her influence. She taught me to be fearless, and most importantly, that I could do anything I wanted to. Whether it be sawing down a tree for hours on end to teach someone a valuable lesson, or any other thing that you might find amusing. I am so glad I had the opportunity of knowing her, and that I still get the pleasure of calling Jessica my best friend.

As a side note to the picture, that is truly the fence this story is about. Almost one year ago my sister Marissa moved back into the basement of our Cottonwood Heights home. I made Jesse take this picture with his phone. It isn't the best, but you can still make out the new pieces of wood compared to the old, weather warn ones that are original to the yard. I had to take a picture for memory's sake.

Beating Like a Hammer...

So for the last few days I am paniced about something. Literallly and truly. Only I can't put my finger on what it is exactly. I have a list of several things that I think could be causing it, but then when I really focus on one of those problems I realize I am not that worried about it. Let's tell that to my heart people. My blood pressure is up from the moment I start getting ready in the morning until about lunch time when I get to see Chels. I guess she fixes it when we go to lunch, because then I am fine. I just don't enjoy feeling like my heart is going to beat right out of my chest.
I had a lovely echo-cardiogram about a year and a half ago and everything came back perfectly clean (thank heavens). So it was determined that anxiety is the freakin cause. Thank you my friend Anxiety, I sure do like having you around to keep me up at night and freak out my heart. I do so enjoy having you in my life... Or maybe not... Just an FYI, nothing makes you feel more mortal then watching a picture of your heart chambers pumping blood from one quadrant to another. I do NOT recommend it, and it actually made me almost pass out. Which is funny because I have never been effected by medical stuff before. Guess it is different when it is your own body.

Anywho, this post was really for myself. I just needed to get it off my chest. Ha! Ha! No pun intended. I do feel a little better now. I wish Chels still made all of my decisions for me so that I didn't have to experience grown-up-ness. And thus anxiety. Freakin-A. I do believe having a dog would fix the problem entirely. :) YEAH FOR MY PUPPY! HOPEFULLY I WILL HAVE HIM SOON!!!! (must tackle selling the condo and finding a place to live first...)