About Us

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Monday, June 23, 2014

5 things - June edition

It's finally warming up outside. The mornings and days thus far have been cool and breezy, to the point we've only had to turn on the A/C a couple times for the month of June. The corgis are loving the warmth because that means more walkies and trips to the store.

1. I spoke!

This month, I attended a conference and spoke in front of abut 25-30 people.  Yes, me! I did it.  I was nervous and I was sure I'd mess up and freeze or not make eye contact or my presentation would die and I'd have to wing it or some crazy thing. I have never been a good public speaker, probably because I was always shy.

This time around, I knew the subject matter - inside and out. I feel this confidence came through and helped take me through to the end.

It's another thing to add to my list of "I don't know if I can, but I'm jumping in feet first" list.

2. Running

Speaking of feet first, I've started running! This is in preparation for the 5k and 10k races we are doing next year. I can do a 2k run/walk, and I'm working my way up to a 5k. Right now, I'm running for 90 seconds and walking for 180.

I am finding though, that I have to pretty much push myself to head out every other day.  Any more than that and my body gets too much rest and it's harder for me to complete the circuit the next time.

I'm also finding that when I first start to run that I want to run fast, which messes me up because I waste too much energy and burn out too quickly.  I'm sure I will learn and I'll get into a rhythm, but I have to keep telling my brain to slow down, my legs can't go as fast as you think they can!

3. 4 days off

I have 4 days off coming up and I'm quite looking forward to it. It will be nice to enjoy being at home with just the 4 of us. Work has been busy of late, not horrible, just busy. A big project is underway and I'll be on the project for quite some time.

If the weather is nice, we may take the corgis to the local park and have them romp around. We tried taking them last year, but the mosquitoes were too much and we had to run for cover back to the car. Hopefully it's not too bad this year.

4. You like my picture??

You may remember the post I did about the Castaway Cay 5k run. Well, I added the picture to Pinterest under my "Things I did" board and it's been repinned 3 times.

That's not the kicker though, someone posted it onto her Photography board.  I looked at her board and some of the things she's pinned are great photos.

Mine, a picture I took, someone thinks is good enough to end up on her Photography board. I've been told I have a good eye, but I lack the mechanics to take a shot from what you see through the lens to an amazing image. I've been getting by with just flukes here and there.

Can you imagine when I actually start photography lessons?

5. World Cup

In case you haven't noticed, it's the World Cup. Our little household was supporting England and Germany.  Well, England is out and Germany ought to win against the US on Thursday. There's a German flag hanging from our front window and Mike and I both wore our Germany team shirts while watching the game this past Saturday.

The matches so far have been great to watch - teams like Iran and Ghana have stepped up their game and one can kind of see little glimpses of where they'll be the next time around.  This just means Germany needs to step up their game too.


Thursday, June 19, 2014

Last year

It's amazing the difference a year makes.

Oh, but I miss being able to carry Merida in one arm like a football. She has grown into those ears though.

Gimli remains my main man and don't you forget it!



Sunday, June 15, 2014

Sunday Smiler - Why is Merida smiling?

Since I missed the post for yesterday, here it is on Sunday and with a little extra.

Question: Why is Merida smiling?



a. Because she broke free the leash from my hand and beelined straight for the vet's door.
b. Because she received a clean bill of health from the vet and took her vaccines like a champ.
c. Because she is a generally happy little girl.
d. All of the above.

Answer:

D. All of the above.

Yes, she went to the vet yesterday for her yearly checkup and vaccines. I took her to the grassy area to see if she needed to pee, but she didn't. Instead, she was incredibly excited to go to the vet and she ran to the door. I wasn't paying attention and the leash came free. I'm thankful she was preoccupied with the vet's and didn't bother to run elsewhere.

Merida adores going to the vet, I think because the last time she was there, she stayed over night and they lavished attention on her.

Health wise, she's doing well. She's about 22lbs and practically perfect in every way. Good ears, eyes, teeth, weight, skin, the whole package.

I really cannot complain, she's a spunky little girl and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

1 year

Merida's "gotcha day" was this past Sunday.

It's hard to believe we've had this little girl with us for a year already! Merida and Gimli are best buds... partners in crime even. She doesn't like to be away from him, though he doesn't quite feel the same way about her :)

She is a ball of personality and a lady in certain senses of the word - she likes clothes and must inspect every new article of clothing, she likes to cuddle, and adores playing with blankets left on the floor. She's very particular on the walks, she has to be in the front, and she likes to look good - clothes, scarves, brushings... a regular Corgi Chanel!

But, she's a scrapper when she wants to be. She swings her butt around to hit Gimli in the face and she holds her own when they wrestle. I'm sure she's part Arctic Fox as she's a little snow monster and would happily spend all day outside in the snow.

My favorite part of her is when she greets me in the morning. She crawls over and gives a long snuggle-kiss-snuggle-roll-over-and-scratch-belly-please.



Thankful to have her in our lives, cannot wait for what the next year will bring.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Things to do for 2014 - May

Yikes, I missed April and May's update...

1. Complete the first two levels of Rosetta Stone - German

2. Read 25 books - Last year, I read 16 books, four short of my 20 book goal. This year I've upped it to 25 as I don't feel I read nearly as much as I should.

Finished reading:
- The Yard by Alex Grecian
- It by Stephen King. Can I tell you, I wasn't scared while reading the book, but now I'm still a little scared... especially when it comes to bathrooms.
-The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
- Napalm and Silly Putty by George Carlin - While I enjoy Carlin's stand up routines, the book didn't really translate too well, despite my attempts to read it with his voice in my head. I think I'll stick to his stand up instead.
- The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
- The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
- The Mist by Stephen King.
Brotherhood of Fear: A Willi Kraus Novel by Paul Grossman - I enjoyed this installment. I finished it during the week we were away and I'm sad that I now have to wait for the next book in the series. *sad face*

To be read at some point this year:
- The Black Country by Alex Grecian
- The Devil's Workshop by Alex Grecian - due out in May

3. Spend less time on the computer in my non-working hours

4. Maintain the blog with regular posts - I've come up with a tentative schedule for postings, but it is still a work in progress.

5. Go through the Digital SLR for Dummies book and improve my photography skills. - I've made it through chapter 1,which is the intro chapter... so really it's kinda like I haven't started looking at the book :/

I really need to get on this one.

6. Continue to photograph Gimli and Merida.

7. Lose 20 lbs. - Last year, I struggled with this and am struggling with it again as the year begins. I was doing well, then I stopped exercising and all the progress I did was lost.

January 31 2014
- down 4 lbs to 144
- lost an inch
- I've been working out my arms and they look a bit better. Not chiseled or anything, but you can see the muscle start to take shape.

February 28 2014
- 144 lbs
- lost another inch/ inch and a half
- I'm starting to see changes - ie I was able to wear a pair of pants through a full dinner and dessert and didn't feel like the button was going to pop off.  This is good news.

March 31 2014
- Am the same as I was at the end of February.
- To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, though my tailbone isn't helping. My arms look great though, so there's that. For April, I'm going to ease back into my stomach exercises and I'm sure once we start running, it will be a big help.

May 31 2014
- Same as before. There's a slight decrease as I was able to wear a pair of pants that I haven't worn in a while.  I still have a way to go.

8. Finish painting our house - The office and master bedroom have been painted. This leaves just one room - the spare room. We did get a quote for this room, but had we decided to paint it, there would have been no room to move the bed and bookshelves what with the furniture from the master and office strewn about the upstairs level.

We will get to this one, probably later in the year.

9. Frame and put up our pictures.

Have gotten the layout for 2 rooms so far. Working on the living room next.

10. Go to The Arboretum at least once a month - weather permitting.

11. Discover local restaurants/bistros etc in my city or in the surrounding areas.

12. Take more pictures of Mike and me.

13.  Enjoy our backyard.

14. Surprise someone.

15. Put in more flowers/shrubs etc in the yard - We picked up some flowers yesterday and planted them today. We also transplanted our irises, which have never bloomed by the way, from the planters and into the ground. Maybe they will bloom now?  We filled in the planter boxes with the flowers we picked up.

Later in the summer, I may have to separate the flowers in the planters, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

16. Move off of "Medium" on the drums in Rock Band and to "Hard".

17. Complete the Minas Tirith 3D puzzle

18. Take up running. I'm nowhere close to the point of doing a 5k of straight running, but it's something I want to do. The ultimate goal is to do one of the RunDisney events at the parks.

Well, we are planning on going to the 5k and 10k races in January. We've booked our rooms already - (Yay DVC members!) and our running training will start once the weather improves. I've got it in my mind to start in April, but we'll see. We're also going to do smaller runs closer to home to focus on a timed race.

I will admit, this is not something I'd ever thought I'd be doing! I've been a self-confessed "non-runner" all my life.

Update: I purchased proper running shoes last week and provided they are broken in properly, I will be ready to start running by this weekend.

19. Put in a smaller garden in the backyard.

20. Organize the spare bedroom so it actually looks like a bedroom and not a place to shove "stuff".

21. Scan in our baby pictures.

22. Start putting together our Disney album.

23. Start cooking more Trinidad type food.

24. Work on the corgis' recall.

25. Travel to a new place. - We went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Falmouth, Jamaica this year. These posts are coming.

26. Go through my MasterChef and Gordon Ramsay cookbooks and make the recipes. - I've done a couple recipes from the MasterChef book. These posts are coming also.

27. More to come...