Another Today Show Funny Kid Video

One reason if/when we have kids I want twins.

Traveling and Working

I started my new job last week and this week I am at their central (corporate) office.  I left Northwest Arkansas on Monday morning and arrived later that evening.  It has been a great week, and the Tacoma weather has definitely been in my favor.  It hasn't rained, but it has been a little cool and cloudy most days.  

Wednesday morning I was talking to my Mom on the phone when I opened the curtains in my room to see clear skies and sunshine.  I then told my Mom that I had a view of Mt. Rainier, and it was snow covered.  It was very nice to see the top.  Now this was also on Wednesday, and my Mom says to me, "You just now figured out you have a view of Mt. Rainier from your hotel room, where have you been?"  I just laughed, mainly becuase to see the top of Mt. Rainier is VERY rare.  It is a place almost always covered with clouds.  I actually had not taken the time to look out the window since my arrival on Monday.  Below is the picture I took Wednesday morning.  I haven't seen the top since then.

Mt. Rainier 2011

I like going to the West Coast.  I wake up early here on my own, and I can take my time getting ready.  I have had very informative days.  I have learned a ton of new information and I also learned I retained a lot of information from my readings last week.  I like my team, they are very helpful and very nice.  I feel like my brain is exploding with information, which is a great problem to have.  I am even more excited about working for this company.  I am so ready to be caught up on everything I need to know and start selling.  I thought I would share a little about my new job.  It is a great feeling to be so excited about working for a new company that has so much potential. 

I go home tomorrow and I will be back in Tacoma on Sunday. Should be a short but good weekend with Razorback Baseball.

Something Funny to Share

I thought this was hilarious and I wanted to share with all of you. Enjoy!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

I am not a big fan of wearing green except once a year in honor of St. Paddy’s Day!  Grab a Guinness and enjoy the day the way the Irish do.   Or grab a green Bud Light and have fun anyway!  Here in Arkansas it is going to be a beautiful day with warm weather, perfect day to go to a bar with an outdoor area for happy hour.  Maybe I will see some of you there!  Sláinte!!!

Green Beer in Honor of the big Day

Chicago 2008 River Dying Green

A friend and I at the Chicago Parade with our good friend Guinness

Busy Weekend

Michael and I had a very busy weekend. It all started on Friday, when Michael got off work early. We decided to go to Hot Springs this weekend to see my friend Peggy, who was in town from NYC. We decided we would go through Little Rock, so that I could meet the newest member of my family. My cousin and his wife had an adorable baby girl about a month ago. I wanted to take the opportunity to meet her since we were already heading that direction. Everyone knows I am always taking pictures, but unfortunately I did not take a single picture of my new baby cousin. My mom was in disbelief when I told her I did not take any pictures. I told her I was too busy adoring her and Michael did not think to pull out the camera. She is very very pretty, definitely taking after her mama. Honestly, I believe the baby is a nice mix of her mom and dad. We tried not to stay over too long, so after about an hour we were off to dinner in Little Rock.

Michael and I had dinner at a sushi restaurant called Papa Sushi. It was really good. I have to say I miss fresh sushi, and to everyone in Northwest Arkansas I am sorry, but there are absolutely no great sushi restaurants. Michael and I agree no more eating sushi in NWA, we will save it for when we are traveling or in a bigger city. Special thanks to the people at Papa Sushi for reminding Michael and me what great sushi taste like.

We stayed the night in Little Rock and got up early Saturday and drove to Hot Springs. I was so excited to see my friend Peggy, since the last time I saw her in person was during my wedding. Michael and I walked around the park near the Arlington for about an hour, enjoying the nice weather. It was a perfect morning. After our walk through the park, we met Peggy and her boyfriend Chris at Oaklawn. I was excited to go to the races here, because I have never gone to Oaklawn. I have only gone to the horse races in Chicago (Arlington Heights).

We had a blast betting and losing. Michael and I are not good horse betters. I always did well at the Arlington Heights Park, but maybe that’s because I had a little help. We always went there with a large group. It was still fun to hang out and watch the horses run their little hearts out. We did not stay until the end, because we had to head back up to Fayetteville for the Skrocki’s Annual St. Paddy’s Day Party. It was a long long day, but it was worth it to get to do everything.

We did not even rest on Sunday. Michael helped me get the mulch to finish our garden. I am already looking forward to this weekend, since the weather is going to be nice and we don’t have anything planned…yet.

Michael and I at the Park

My future horse...so pretty

Winning?

I just liked the way this one looked.

New Project-Garden

Michael is already making fun of my newest project. This is mainly because last summer I tried to have a veggie garden in the backyard, which didn’t work out for me. It was not my fault that everything I tried to plant, my dog ate. I tried everything to keep her out of the garden, but she is SMART. She couldn’t resist the fresh dirt or the fact that we wouldn’t let her in that area. She definitely had the, “I will show them” mentality. Oh well, he told me it wouldn’t work and it didn’t. This year is another day and another story.

We have a front garden area, which the builder setup at our house. They didn’t know what to plant or something because most everything died. I blame it on the fact that the front of our house is a direct sunlight area, and the plants burned up and died. The few that survived are going to be dug up and thrown out; survival is not in their favor.

So, I have a plan of action. Step one is to clear all dead plants and mulch out of the garden. I spent a lot of time raking and shoveling the mulch. The garden is not huge, but is big enough that I spent 4 hours working on clearing the mulch. I had to have Michael come help me. It was hard work and I am very happy Michael helped. Once all the mulch and dead/alive plants were removed, I sat on the ground and pulled weeds and grass. I want this garden to be nice and I knew if I didn’t pull up as much of the weeds and grass that it would become a bigger problem. Grass was probably the worst. We have Bermuda grass and it runs wild. At that point there was no mulch, no weeds, no grass, and basically no plants. I remembered my parents putting this black stuff down in their gardens to help with the weeds, Weed Control. So, I then proceeded to lay out the Weed Control stuff and it was by far the easiest job. Spread and cut to size, making room for the few plants we had left in the garden. In order to keep the weed control from blowing out of the garden we used a little mulch to cover it. The garden, at this point is ready for some planting.

When picking the plants to put in the garden I had two important wants. First, I wanted something that would come back every year, so that this project would not be a yearly event. The second thing I wanted was to have flowering plants. I love plants with color. Every time I see a colorful garden I think, WOW, that’s so pretty. I picked three different plants. One is called, Freesia. It is of course a flowering plant that has a wonderful scent. It will be at the front of the garden. Another plant I picked was the Gladiola. Hopefully they will become my favorite flowering plant in my garden. The last, but definitely not least, plant I chose was a Dahlias. I saw these beautiful flowers one visit to Seattle. It is a gorgeous flowering plant that was in every single bouquet at the market. I was so in love I couldn’t resist when I saw them at the store. During the first day of my gardening project, we were able to plant the Freesias.

On the second day of my gardening project, I planted the rest of my bulbs and laid the mulch on top. I didn’t forget the most important part, WATER. The garden got a good soak. I can’t wait until summer, when I should begin to see my flowers. Hopefully I will be proving to Michael that I can garden, when my beautiful flowers sprout. Below you will see pictures of my progression.

The Beginning:

After the mulch and Plants were removed:

Weed Control Black Lining Laid out:

The End Result Minus the New Plants, which will come this summer:

What makes a dog happy?

I don’t know about everyone else’s dog, but my dog is probably the easiest to please. There are a few things in this world that will bring a smile to her face. Yes, dogs smile. Sometimes they wag their tail to let us know they are happy and sometimes they truly smile. For instance, the above picture is one of my dog, Gabby, smiling. She loves the snow and she loves the water. Gabby loves our daily walk to the mailbox to get our mail. She knows when I ask her if she wants to go get the mail, which means she should go sit by the front door, which she does in the most impatient way running from the door to me and back. She also knows we only go out the front door for things she loves, walks and mail. What dog doesn’t like a good swift walk around the neighborhood? Exercise is the key to any happy dog. There is just one other thing Gabby truly loves, FRISBEE. She likes her ball but she loves the Frisbee. She isn’t the best at catching it mid air but she loves to try. I thought today I would share a few things Gabby loves to do.

Don’t worry people there are plenty of things she hates to do, as well. Gabby is probably the only dog in the world who hates going bye bye in the car. She loves her best friend, Callie (my parents’ dog) but she hates the car ride to get to Callie. We have been working on this fear for awhile now trying to fix it. Newest product, ThunderShirt. Google it. It has been helping. I refuse to drug my dog, unless it is absolutely the last resort. So, ThunderShirt is working for now, for the most part.

Well enjoy the pictures of happy Gabby.

Jumping into the pool

Swimming in the pool with her Daddy

Playing Frisbee with her Daddy

Hating the car ride