Scraps of My Life

My poor neglected blog. I could make excuses, but how about I just get on with the update? Bear with me, I'll make it as short as possible!

Christmas came and went. It was all wonderful, especially with Allison, DB, and the boys in town.

The day after Christmas, Rebekah and I went to the animal shelter. Troy had finally agreed to getting a dog, and we were just going to go look. We had in mind what we wanted. An adult dog, around 5-10lbs, terrier mix, and female. Well, that's what we thought we wanted, anyways. Because once we saw Iggy, we knew he was the one.

Iggy had been found abandoned by Fayette County Animal Control. When we rescued him, he had been at the shelter for 4 months, with one short failed adoption (dumb woman took him home and then realized she couldn't take him with her on her cross-country move). Poor Iggy. He's around 8-10 years old, male (and hadn't been neutered yet, which we soon took care of), about 15lbs, and had goopy, irritated eyes when we got him. Not many people want an older dog with possible health issues. But he was SO sweet! We took him into the cat room to test his tolerance, and he did great. There was no way we could leave him at the shelter, and that was one of the best decisions we've ever made, pet-wise. He is just the best little brown dog! I've since learned that he is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, probably not mixed with anything else. The breed is known to be very loving and adaptable, and we've certainly seen that with him.

Along with most of the rest of the country, I decided in January to really commit to losing weight, and started seeing a weight-less doctor. I thought I was doing it so I'd look and feel better for Andrew's wedding in July. But I soon learned that I had a much more serious reason to lose... I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. No family history, but lots of risk factors, and here I am. Did you know that there are almost 6 million people in the US who have diabetes but don't know it? I've lost 20 pounds, and already have my average blood sugar under control. I feel better, I'm eating better (usually), I've started exercising (the water aerobics classes that I'd said I wanted to take for 10 years). Yeah, in this picture I'm eyeing a whole case of candy, but it's all sugar-free! Not so bad, but not that great either. The main thing I've learned is moderation is the key, and I'd rather have one piece of really awesome than 5 pieces of so-so.

Andrew turned 21 in January, and his life has changed so much since his last birthday! I know he never thought that between 20 and 21 he would fall in love AND get engaged! And that before he was 22 he'd be married!

In February, Troy and I took a trip to San Antonio for a paint sundries trade show. Ooooo, how exciting, right? Huh. I was just looking forward to getting away with him! Enjoying the show was unexpected. Even Troy admitted to having a good time, something that hadn't happened at previous shows. I say it's because he had better company this time (my first time going). :) And I was good luck for him! We entered every drawing offered by the show and the vendors, and ended up winning a digital camera and an iPod nano! We had fun on the Riverwalk , but enjoyed even more the bed and breakfast inn where we stayed. If you're ever in San Antonio, we highly recommend The Inn at Craig Place. It's in a quiet area, a short and cheap taxi ride from the Riverwalk, and is just lovely. The innkeepers were so gracious, and the kind of people we'd probably enjoy hanging out with socially.

Christopher attended his first military ball in March, and I was able to get some of the best ever pictures of him. I embarrassed him, though, by getting excited about the color of his date's dress. When she walked out of the house, I saw it was a kinda different shade of pink, but that I had the absolutely perfect scrapbook paper that matched it! Worse than getting excited about that, I actually told her, which was the really embarrassing part for C. (But he did like the layout I did about the event.)

Easter was early this year, in March, and we gathered at Troy's Aunt Nancy's for the annual Egg Hunt. Sure, that was fun, but I was really looking forward to taking pictures of Andrew & Trisha. It was going to be their official "Engagement Photo Shoot" even though they'd been engaged since November. However, I forgot to put the memory card in my camera, which was very frustrating! I did manage to get a really good shot of them, though, as you can see.

In April, Mark turned 19. He says the best gift he got was his girlfriend Meylin (MAY-linn) being able to attend. Due to her family circumstances, they don't get to see each other much, so it was a really big deal for her to be there.

Got Roos? Also in April, my friend Robin and I took Rebekah and my niece Stephanie to the Kangaroo Conservation Center in the north Georgia mountains. Apparently it has been there for 24 years, and has the largest kangaroo population outside of Australia. Who knew? It was cool, and afterwards we shopped in Dahlonega and tried our hand at panning for gold. The most fun, though, was definitely the kangaroos.

May was a busy month. The most fun part of it was probably getting new kittens, Fiona and Mufasa. I've taken so many pictures of them that I'm not even gonna post one here, because I created a whole photo album for them over there on the left side of the blog. :)

Mark joined the Army National Guard in May. As with Andrew, my dad had the honor of swearing him in. Mark didn't give me enough notice to be able to attend, but his grandparents and Christopher were there. Before joining, Mark talked extensively with Andrew, and with Andrew's guidance and Mark's own research, he feels fairly certain that he got a good contract. A big clause in it was his leaving date for Basic Training. He was able to delay it until after the wedding, and actually just left this past Tuesday. We got a 20 second phone call from him tonight, basically letting us know that he was still alive. :)

Andrew and Trisha moved into their apartment in May, and Mother's Day was spent helping them move (though I just got the tail-end of that, since I had to work first). Not that Andrew was really there once they did. While Trisha started summer short term classes, Andrew went to Garmisch, Germany for a month (through his college), to take another Russian language course. In his phone calls home, it sounded like he was having too much fun on the weekends, what with the mountain climbing and white water rafting and all, but supposedly he spent the rest of the time in class and studying. :)

We started our summer fun in late May, with a trip to the Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain. Does this seem to be a theme with me, wild animals and Georgia mountains? This time we went south, though, to central Georgia. Christine, Robin, and I took our daughters and spent the day together. We got really up close and personal with more animals than we had expected to, but got some great pictures! And that's what it is all about anyways, for avid scrapbookers, right? :)

I was thinking that June wasn't busy enough getting ready for a July wedding, so went and filled that month right up, too. :) The beginning of the month, my girlfriends and I traveled to Arlington, Texas for the Great American Scrapbook Convention. That trip is a post all by itself! Pink feather boas, tiaras, and a newborn baby... that's just a small part of the story. :)

Rebekah turned 15 on June 11th, and had a multi-day celebration. For the first time ever she didn't have a "friend" birthday party, but did get to have her best friend Jen come to visit. Since Jen moved to Alabama in December, Rebekah has been distraught, so Jen's visit was a great gift. Even better than the iPod nano and gift cards and shopping, which at 15, are all Really Big Deals to Rebekah!

Troy and I celebrated our 20th anniversary on June 25th, relaxing on the beach in Daytona Beach, Florida. Troy is one of those people who truly needs beach time. Not so much the swimming in the ocean part, but the walking and relaxing. I think that when he is laying under an umbrella on the beach, he is able to relax in a way that just isn't possible for him anywhere else. I only wish we could go more often.

Our July 4th celebration didn't really get going until that evening, when we attended a cookout at Todd & Robin's. The kids chilled out in the pool and played video games, while the adults watched the fireworks (those that were high enough over the trees) and played with sparklers. Okay, so maybe it was just the girls and I who played with the sparklers, but still... getting that perfect picture is part of the fun for us, so we were lighting 3 and 4 of them together to make enough light.

The biggest event of 2008 for our family happened on July 12th. That was Andrew & Trisha's wedding day. Here's just one preview of the many pictures to come (and yes, they are inside the church, and that is a stone waterfall just outside the window). The ceremony and reception were beautiful, and all the hard work was so very worth it! I'll post more about the wedding when we have more pictures to share, which should be very soon!