lets never forget..

Sometimes things happen in life in which you never want the particular moment to slip away. If you wait too long to write it down or don't retell the story enough, eventually it floats away never to be fully remembered again. What a shame.. One thing I never want to forget is my success at kicking Cory's ass at rock-wall-climbing. For those of you who don't know Cory, he's a maniac. He actually likes doing things that are risky– like riding a motorcycle, not only for his personal enjoyment, but also for work. He likes to drive fast and he even used to have a barfy crotch rocket (thank goodness that was out of the picture when I came along..). I, on the other hand, am a cautious person and value the life I have been given.

On Saturday we had a "date day" and decided to get adventurous by taking on the rock wall at REI, something neither of us had done. I took the liberty of going first after we made our bet that whoever made it higher would get a free dinner courtesy of the other. Apparently I was a natural (so said Cory and the dude holding my ropes). I climbed and climbed, making it to the top in no time. (There's me at the very top)

By the time I was back on land I was shaking from the thrill of it all (I think it's a first-timer thing).

Cory's turn. About half way up we heard him say he was done. The rope dude gave him crap and said he couldn't be done yet– I followed his lead. So he kept going, making it past the hardest part (good job, Core). Just above where he is here:

Shortly after, he again said that he was done and made his way down. "What the hell, Core?!" I jokingly asked and he claimed he looked down and suddenly recalled his fear of heights. It was a proud moment for me. My competitive, manly boyfriend got beat by me, his wimpy girlfriend (who's wimpy now!). I am pretty sure he didn't do it to be nice, but maybe five years from now he'll claim that to be the case. For the record, we had an appetizer later so I have yet to enjoy that free dinner (sushi tonight, babe?).

More *special* moments to come...

ta-da!

Thank goodness for handymen. And thank goodness I have a boyfriend who happens to be one! Cory put in many hours of hard work after his regular work hours every day last week and the results are awesome. The new wood floor has made a world of difference in the dining/living room as well as in the kitchen.

Lucy loves it so much she even agreed to be in a photo!

View from the front entry:

The kitchen:

Slate tile in the front entry:

As well as in the back entry:

sleepiness.

Lucy is the most cuddly dog I've ever known and is quite possibly the best cuddler ever. [I like to call her a snuggle buggle.] She wants to be right up next to you when she sleeps, preferably embraced as well. Whether it be on top of you with her head cuddled right into the nook between your shoulder and chin or spooning so your arm is around her. And she definitely needs to be under the covers (if there are covers involved). As you can see below, laying every which way is okay when she is sleepy. I just love her!

She was so out, she didn't even wake up when I had the camera four inches from her face!

projects.

The wall of photos:

One of the new lights:

Out with the florescent cloud, in with the recessed lights:

The sunroom office converted into surround sound theater room:

dogs.

My most recent project at home was purchasing six 20 x 20" black frames (with a white mat) and six (well, technically 15 because I couldn't decide) 12 x 12" black and white photos of dogs. Lucy is the main feature of course, but her cousin Zoey made the wall and so did her boyfriend, Parker. The first two rows above are the final photos in the frames. Photos of the 'wall of photos' are still to come so check back!

need a laugh?

Is this week ever going to end? Maybe it's because I've been in the process of teaching myself Flash. Something that is foreign to me. I have no clue where to start or how on earth I'm ever going to get to the final product which happens to be a high-end-looking component for our website. Website building and Flash is definitely not my forte (yet). So I pick a place and begin with free online tutorials. Yay, I got a circle to move from one side to the other and then to morph into a rectangle. Looks pretty high-end. Not. This morning I was able to make a boot fade in and out. But how the hell am I suppose to get areas of the boot to stay while the rest of the boot fades by clicking on that particular spot? How? There is no online tutorial for that. I have attempted to read a book on Flash Video. Is it in English? And just when I thought things couldn't get any more irritating, the worst voice ever is screeching through the radio. AC/DC. I'd rather listen to a baby cry on an airplane. So, to ease the frustration of not getting anywhere with a program I know nothing about, I watched the best video of all time. A video of Lucy with her head out the car window as we drive 55 mph. Even on the worst of days (or the slowest week ever possible), this is sure to make me smile and sometimes even laugh uncontrollably. The still shots are just as entertaining as the video. I love this furry animal...

two-thousand-and-nine.

This post is a little late for the start of 2009, but what the heck. The picture above was taken on New Years Eve. Cory and I had high hopes of going on a romantic date to a chic restaurant where we could dress up and enjoy a bottle of wine along with some amazing food. Didn't happen. We called nearly 15 places for reservations only to be told they had openings at 4:30 or 10:00 or not at all. I expected to get home from work and have to rush to get ready and out the door, however that was not the case. Instead I put on sweatpants. Cory called a local place — The Mississippi Belle. Oh, they had an opening at 7:00 (and 6:00 and  6:30 and 7:30 and so on). That, itself, was red flag #1. Screw it we thought, lets just go. We walked in to a room full of nobody. Red flag #2. We took our seats. After interacting with our server a few times we came to the conclusion that he may have been a mechanic who was laid off, therefore began serving. He tried very hard (and did a decent job) to be all professional like it was a fancy place, but it was mostly just awkward.

I took a bite of a cherry tomato in my salad and literally gagged. I thought I was going to barf from the fishy taste. And at the bottom of my plate underneath the lettuce was some weird liquidy stuff.. wasn't the dressing because I got that on the side. Gagged a little more as I pushed the plate to the edge of the table. Our food came. I ordered scallops with a pasta and Cory ordered his usual salmon. Mine was okay. I'm not sure if it was the whole atmosphere and the barfy salad that only made it "okay" or if it really was just that blah. After Cory had a few bites of his salmon he decided the white sauce on top was a can of cream of mushroom soup with added mushrooms. Classy. I didn't eat much so just got a to-go box out of kindness. The best part of the meal was the glass of wine and the best part of the experience was doing so with Cory. A good reminder that New Years Eve is just another day!