This was the end of my first official work week and I think everything is going pretty great so far. Monday will be the real test (that's when all the kids come back to school) so get back in touch with me this time next week and see how I'm doing :)

Living Out Loud

I got the urge to sit down with my Bible last night and let God do some talking. It has been a long time since I have simply sat, read with without an agenda, and tried to focus on His voice.

It really didn't take long for Him to point me towards the book of James and I realized that, like the Christians to whom James was writing, I have been without the support of a local church for a while now. I have always loved the book of James, but last night it really hit home for me. The book talks so much about faith and maturity and more than anything, that is what I want in my life right now.

I am reading a few verses each day, reflecting on them, and discussing them with someone special each night. I am excited to see what God will do throughout the course of this study. I am also excited about attending some local churches and finally finding a church home where I can be plug in and be discipled.

At the end of the study, it is my prayer that I will be more confident in my walk with the Lord and that like James, I will be made "complete and not lacking in anything."

Seriously?

Seriously.

Facelift

My friend Megan recently did a major update on her blog and I thought it was about time that my own site got a facelift. I wasted a whole afternoon decided to take advantage of some down time and revamp the whole thing. What do you think of the end result?

It's amazing how fast the summer has flown by. Although I am happy that I got my feet wet in the world of speech therapy by working during "extended school year," it has been difficult only working part time. I am so ready for school to start and have all my things in my room where I need them instead of traveling all over the city with a trunk full of therapy materials. And I would be lying if I didn't say that I was ready for a full time paycheck, haha.

The dogs are doing great! I think we have just about gotten the hang of house-training. Lucy is a pro (she goes to the door and whines almost 100% of the time) and Linus is slowly getting there. We always backtrack a little when it rains because they hate going outside and getting wet (which inevitably leads to someone, usually Linus, having an accident in the house).

They went to the beach for the first time last weekend and absolutely loved it. My friend Kelly allowed me to bring them to her family beach house and along with her Cavalier, Lucy and Linus ran around in the marsh when the tide went out each morning. It was so funny to watch them wrestle in the sand, jump through puddles, and swim across the water.

In other random news, I have gotten a lot of free food recently and it deserves some mention. A couple of weeks ago, I got half my wings and my drink for free at Wild Wings. I was so appreciative since that sort of thing never happens. Last week, I was at ChickfilA with a friend and had to wait a long time for my sandwich with "no pickles and they ended up giving me a free sandwich since I had to wait so long. Earlier this week, I was dining in a Pizza Hut (great way to eat a lot on a budget since you can split it with a friend!) and when we went to pay, someone had already paid for our pizza. True blessings! To someone who is living on a tight budget, I am so thankful for all this!

Good things come in threes right? Wrong. They come in fours!

Today, the cashier at lunch accidently rang up two kids meals instead of one. They delivered both to the table and when I corrected their mistake, they refunded me the money for the second meal, but let me keep it for free!

Seriously?

Seriously.

Lately

After one full week of working (and one full weekend to relax and reflect), I am so grateful for a career that I actually love. If you know me, then you know how much I like to plan. But you may not know how disappointed I tend to get with my plans sometimes. I have really been hoping that my choice of profession wasn't going to be one of those.

As it turns out, it isn't!

I had so much fun working with so many different children this past week: pre-K through high school, speech impaired to autism... you name it. I am definitely looking forward to working full time once the school year starts. August 4th will be here before I know it so now it's time to focus on plans for the rest of the summer!

I am going to visit one of my best friends from high school and her new baby this upcoming weekend. I haven't seen her since Christmas (she didn't even know the gender of the baby then!) and I can't wait to see her and her sweet little boy. (Although, I'm psyching myself out about being around a newborn.... They make me so nervous!)

I am going to be babysitting some of my little cousins at the end of the month. I am looking forward to spending some precious time with them and having some quality time with another of my cousins (she is tagging along to help and then we are taking a girls trip to the city as a treat!) Following that, I will be spending a week at the beach with one of my nearest and dearest friends and before you know it, the end of the summer will be here.

Add a little summer romance to the mix and you have all the ingredients for a fun and memorable summer!

Seriously?

Seriously.

Happy First Day of Summer!

(Insert Witty Blog Title Here)

I stumbled across my own blog yesterday (funny how that happens...) and realized that I've been a little slack in keeping it updated lately. The last post was about a puppy trip to the vet so I guess I will pick up there.

As of yesterday (the last puppy visit!) Linus is up to a whopping 15.5 pounds and Lucy is a more slender 13.6 pounds. The vet is fairly confident that Linus will be about 18 full grown and Lu will be about 16. I'm happy with those numbers! I never really wanted a little bitty dog, so I am glad that they will be almost "medium" sized. (It's still so funny to me that I can't leave food on the coffee table or else they will get a hold of it without even jumping up. I remember when they couldn't even jump off the couch!) They haven't have an accident in almost a week so I'm hoping that we've finally gotten the hang of going to the bathroom outside. Other than that, the vet recommended that I enroll them in a puppy obedience class... which might or might not have had to do with their behavior at the vet (they can be a little jumpy).

I officially started work today even though I only got to see two speech kiddos. It was a little weird not have a supervisor checking in on me every second, but I didn't flounder and I think the kids had a good time. So, yay. Haha.

My parents came up last weekend and my dad painted four walls in my apartment for me. Since I didn't have to move to a different city to start a job (and because my new job is just up the road), the smart move was to actually not move at all. So painting the walls was a great way to make my little townhouse feel more like a home and less like a generic, sterile apartment. I got new bedding for the master bedroom to top the weekend off and once I make some good money, I'm going to order a new bedroom suit! I'm looking forward to having some more drawer space and a bigger bed. And my dad is happy that someone else will be moving it into my apartment instead of him!

Anyway, this will have to do for now!

Seriously?

Seriously.

Puppy Puberty

Linus and Lucy have had a rather eventful twenty-four hours.

Last night, I kept seeing Linus's head bob up and down as I looked at him over the top of laptop. I was wondering, "What is he standing on?" Much to my horror surprise, I found Linus mounting and humping my poor sweet little Lucy. Granted, my roommate and I just laughed and laughed for about ten solid minutes after it happened.

By the time I got around to calling my mom to tell her what happened, I was laughing so hard that she thought I was crying. I think I was probably crying on the inside--who wouldn't after seeing their precious little puppies lose their innocence right before their eyes?

I had lots to update the vet about at our appointment this afternoon. After relaying the story about last night's little event, she said that it might also be a sign that Linus is fighting to be the dominant dog and that was a way for him to show Lucy that he wants to be the boss. I can live with that explanation. Needless to say, after their 20 week vet appointment in a couple of weeks, I am scheduling them to spayed and neutered.

Lucy is up to 12.8 pounds and Linus is a whopping 14.8 pounds! As often as I pick them up, my arms are really starting to develop some toned little muscles. :) They got their first rabies vaccinations today and finished the last round of their kennel cough vaccines. They go back in three weeks for their final rounds of puppy shots and then I won't have to take them back for shots for a whole year. (My bank account is very happy about this.)

Seriously?

Seriously.

Might As Well Have Twins

This week, Lucy and Linus turned 17 weeks old. Linus is almost getting too heavy to pick up and carry with one arm! They have a definite schedule now and are going longer in the morning and afternoons without any bathroom accidents. They scarf down each of their meals in a couple of minutes and have started to learn some basic commands. Here is a list of the commands that they seem to understand most of the time: no, sit, stay, up-up (to go up the stairs), out, and crate. I am really anxious for them to learn "drop it" and"down" but those are a little advanced for them right now. Either way though, they are getting so grownup!

To commemorate their getting older, I finally caved in and registered them with the AKC. Officially their names are now:

Byler's Lovely Lucia Gansa

and

Byler's Linus of Alexander

It's standard to use the breeder's name as part of their registered name. I call Lucy "Lucy Goose" all the time and wanted to use it in her official name, so "Lucia Gansa" is Spanish for her nickname. And if you know anything about me, Linus's name is pretty appropriate.

Here is a picture of my lovies from this morning: (please excuse the unmade bed!)

Linus (left) and Lucy (right)

They have a vet appointment on Tuesday so I will make sure to post their current weights and all that good stuff. I have a lot of friends that blog about their kids so I thought it would be fun to have a post about my "babies." :)

After two months of raising two baby puppies, I think I could probably handle twins at some point in the future, haha.

Seriously?

Seriously.