tennis balls, yorkie launches, and other sorted tales from the backyard

this may take a lot of pictures to illustrate, but i keep breaking into laughter so great it leads to tears because of something that happened about three minutes ago.

i came home for lunch today and found norman with one of his favorite things, a tennis ball. i swear, he entertains himself for hours dropping it on the hardwood floors then chasing it wherever it bounces. so after lunch i step out onto the backporch to play fetch with sweet, sweet normie.



norman and i are playing fetch from the porch because i didn't have shoes on. he fetches, mckenzie stands on the porch barking, i throw, repeat, repeat, repeat. (below, a pic of mckenzie barking from said porch*)



on one trip back, norman didn't come up the stairs, he went to the side of the porch*, seen here:



suddenly, mckenzie's barking reaches a new level and my precious tiny girl, who at her tallest is seven inches off the ground, JUMPS from said porch to the ground over THREE FEET BELOW. i gasp, i scream, norman stops in his tracks, stunned. i mean, this is literally probably far enough to break all her tiny twig-like legs.

"that's like me jumping off a building...mckenzie are you okay!?!?!," i scream aloud, as a jogger passing by stares at me with a VERY puzzled look (considering i was the only other human in the backyard).

mckenzie landed on all fours, looked around, turned around, and walked back up the stairs as if nothing had happened. as if to say, "oops. didn't mean to do that." so calm, so cool. so FREAKING FUNNY. i mean, three feet is a long way to go for a creature that is seven inches tall. it was like it was happening in slow motion, with me going..."NOOOOOOOOOO!"

a reinactment*:






whew. i can't stop laughing. i hope this translates, otherwise i'm sorry that you can't have that minute of your life back. heehee...

*all pictures are reinactments. no animals were hurt in the production of this blog. ; )

baby shopping

so my friend mollie is going to have a sweet little girl, lily, this summer. today i went online to look around for a unique and cute little something to give her and found the above possibility to put on a t-shirt. i wanted to do it, but felt it might be a little charged for lily, so i will just put it on my blog instead. we'll spare her our political views and let her make up her own mind. ;)

travel

jay and i both love to travel. our philosophy is that the only thing more fun than a vacation is a last-second, throw-your-stuff-in-a-bag-and-race-to-the-airport-vacation. this website is awesome; jay just sent it over. i went on and planned a four-day trip to orange county for $310 per person, flight and hotel included. wow!!

i'm seeing many more weekend getaways in my future than i have ever had before.

www.site59.com

i love this child.

seriously, he is my hero. and for the love, please watch it to the end. his moves are greatness.

go mavs!



in case the above link doesn't work,

bentley green, mavs favorite rap-kid

his myspace is the best one i've seen yet. i'm loving this. can you tell?

www.myspace.com/bentleygreen

my two favorites.

weekend pics

what a fun weekend!!! my future sis-in-law, jacque, had an all-girls shower in dallas friday evening and let me say, the girls had a fun time!!


saturday was the day-o-the-drink in dallas, otherwise known as the greenville party. it's funny, the house parties of the m-streets are SO much more fun than the actual event. we had a great time and chris and courtney throw a fun party! the dogs are really tired today from all their playing and partying. i seriously don't think i've ever seen norman so sleepy, and 'kenz is right alongside him napping herself. it was a fun dallas weekend, made me very homesick for all my dallas peeps!!!!




below is another funny pic, and here's the story: last year at our greenville party, two of the people there met, fell in love, and are now engaged! they came to this party and we were able to get caught up. the couple they brought with them...jay and katy. same spellings and everything. the funnier thing? they are also HUGE OU FANS. i mean, how crazy?!?


tired dogs:

the hills

i don't know if i should be admitting this, but one of my favorite shows on tv right now is "the hills" (yes, the one on mtv, i know, i know)...if you happen to also be a fan, this information will also interest you. jason got arrested (from people magazine: "Jason Wahler, a star of MTV's The Hills and formerly of Laguna Beach, was sentenced Tuesday in Los Angeles to two months in jail for the beating of two men.").

serves him right after the way he treated our sweet little lauren.

geez, i know how i must sound, but this is my only reality show vice, so let me enjoy it. i've learned more recently that this show has a more widespread audience than i once thought (boys, you know who you are, of ALL age groups) so i feel more at liberty to discuss it on the blog.

now if we could just get heidi and lauren to make up. ;) ok, ok. i'll stop there.

saving

so all of this saving-for-the-wedding stuff is getting kind of old. i have always been a pretty frugal girl; i really never spend money on something i haven't thought through first. and i never get stressed, but i think i just kind of lost it for a minute today. new job, new house, new city, planning a wedding, i think it's all finally catching up with me. ;)

about an hour ago, the skies opened up above fort worth and let out a downpour of rain and lightning. in a panic, i raced home to let norman inside. i was soaked from head to toe. i think something snapped, because the last hour is a blur.

before heading back to work, hair dripping, clothes looking like i just stepped out of the shower, i made an impulsive trip to target. why? i'm not sure why. i didn't need anything from target (see how tight my rubber-band of emotions are, i was stressed b/c of a storm, i'm like a puppy). so anyway, remember that scene in father of the bride (yes, i know my audience)when steve martin gets stressed out in the grocery store over hot dog buns and ends up in jail? i think i probably looked about like that walking through target. i was wet, tired, frazzled, and walking funny because i had mud in my shoes from chasing norman...so i wasted some hard earned cash on the following (which i must say, is a good alternative to jail):

- front porch mat that reads "woof"
- bright blue sports bra (after all, i only have 45 of those things)
- two grey t-shirts (again, probably have 15 grey t's, so i definitely needed more)
- lipstick and lipliner (when do i wear lipstick?)
- some sort of magical tan lotion (i don't wear sunscreen, why do i need self tanner)

now i'm back at work. satisfied and feeling very wasteful. good times.

spring forward

it's almost here, one of my favorite times of the year, when we "spring forward" and have more light at night. it's so nice to have the evenings back. it is seriously exciting to me, and the prospect of having it come a few weeks early brings me GREAT joy.

i've read a lot of articles about the pros and cons of "spring forward" coming early. oh and yes, i realize that bush signed the final bill, so there it is---my favorite act of his presidency. good job, buddy. i'm personally thrilled that it may help us environmentally; but really i just can't wait for next week...long walks with the dogs at night, no rush for an outdoor workout (after work), cooking outside on the grill, porches...spring is around the corner and i cannot WAIT! THIS is one of those moments that it is a great time to be in texas!

a shared thought...on a spiritual note:

"Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if
someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain
it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way."
-1 Peter 3:15-16a

i love this verse. it has always been a foundation of my faith, because that "hope" is what gets me through the times that are so difficult to understand. when i make mistakes that i can't comprehend, when tragedy strikes, when someone i love is hurting, hope keeps me going.

i am so thankful that God gave us the gift of free will, to choose Him, to make decisions...he could have made us puppets, but he didn't. we are each different and unique, and we are each responsible for choosing whether we embrace or refuse this "hope" that Christ offers us.

as i read this little devotional, this sentence really stuck out to me:

"Too many times people are turned off to the gospel because
of the approach, not the message."

that covers the portion of the verse, "but do this in a gentle and respectful way." i've had moments in life that i was too forward about my faith, and moments in life that i let an opportunity to share it pass by. but i think what this verse is saying to me today is this; our "hope" in many cases, IS our witness as christians. it's the hope that i have, the trust, the confidence in my faith in Jesus Christ, that keeps me going.

twinky-dinks

as a follow up to the post about norman and his new golden-retriever-friend, payton, i wanted to post this pic. they are not related in any way, but i swear, don't they look like twins? that's normie on the left and payton on the right (after a hard day of swimming and roaming the neighborhood together). cutie patootie.

oscars

i was out of town the night of the oscars, but i caught the end in time to hear robert downey, jr make fun of himself about his drug use and see the best actor/actress awards handed out. i missed this sketch, and somehow just heard about it today. so in case you haven't seen it, i give you mr will ferrell and mr jack black...