Sunset Beach!

We're here at Sunset Beach in NC. So far the vacatino has been a lot of fun! We drove through the night on Saturday night so Blake would sleep the whole way, which he did, thankfully. The drive down actually went pretty fast. Driving overnight is the way to go. Absolutely zero traffic! The majority of the time we were the only car on the road. The busiest part was driving past pittsburgh. So far we've been just being beach bums and doing beachy things! Here's some pics.

Giggin Frogs

Friday night Travis and I had a nice fire outside by the lake after Blake was in bed. We were up until about 2:00am. It was fun. After sitting around the fire for quite a bit we decided to graba flashlight and catch some frogs! The frog Travis caught is "Ol' Bad Eye". He's always in the same spot all day and apparently all night. (and no, he's not dead, he just lives there) He only has 1 eye , hence the name. I missed a couple before I finally caught one. The first video is Travis, the second video is me. And then the pictures explain themselves. *Notice the size difference in the bullfrog i caught and the itty bitty frog travis caught :) hehehe.

Hey everyone. How was your Mothers Day? Mine was great. Travis got Blake out of bed for me and changed diaper; wow! Then we went out for a nice long drive around the back roads and walked a little. He took me to a place they call the "Tubs". Its on Beaver Creek and its just a part of the creek where there are huge flat rocks that go almost all the way across the creek, so the water flows into these little paths and its very fast moving. Its really pretty, but unfortunately i left my camera in the car, but in my defense i had no idea what the "tubs" were so i didn't know i'd need my camera. Travis should have told me to bring it. I'll get pics later, its really close to my house. Anyway, its these semi falls...but not really falls, more like chutes. Theres on rock that the water goes over/through and you can go in a hole, and it sucks you down into the rock and underwater and you go through the rock and it pops you at at the end! You could not pay me enough money to do that. What if you got stuck?????? Your dead for sure. No thanks, i'll pass on that. Travis' dad did it once back in his younger days. He's braver than me. I did take one pic of a pretty overlook we drove by. Its the picture at the end of my blog. As for the rest of the pictures, the first one Blake looks like he's talking to someone, and the second one looks like and Olan Mills picture where they make you put your hands under your chin just so and hold the pose forever.

I started work this past tuesday. Its was fun. I was really not looking forward to leaving blake for that long, but it worked out. His Grandma Barb watched him and then his daddy watched him after he got home. He did fine for the day and so did I:)Next week will be a breeze.

Pretty Pictures of My Sweet Boy

I love these pictures. I took these yesterday afternoon. They are in sequence and I think they are cute. :)

He looks like he's yelling for someone

High-yah! (i have no clue how to spell that...but you get what i'm trying to say, right?) The boxing blake. This is his worried look

He is getting mad at me

This is such a lazy "what?..." picture. love it.

"Huh?"

Look at those eyes!

Working Mom

Well, some news, not big news, but something kind of exciting. I'm going back to work for one day a week at the vet office. I'm excited because i really love that job, it will get me out of the house, I will get to socialize with other people and their animals, and Blake will get used to me being away and him being taken care of by other people. It will be good for both of us! I've never been away from him for more that 2 or 3 hours at a time. Barb is going to watch Blake on her days off (Tuesdays) and I'm going to work on that day. Its about 8 or 9 hours a week which isnt a lot but it will be nice to have that as some extra cash. :) I will miss Blake on that day. Here's some quick pics.

This is my sweet deaf Hank dog snoozing away
I have a clothes line! Yes, we are slightly amish. But is energy/electric saving. Plus, they smell good

This is me and Blake yesterday morning. He was sleeping on my and i was trying to get a picture of him sleeping, but to my suprise he was awake!

Laugh!

This video of Blake was taken the other day. Its so funny! He's just laughing at us taking his toy away. he has the kind of laugh that makes you just have to laugh along!

Beaver Creek

Travis, Blake and I went to Beaver Creek this Monday and had a nice family day. Travis played hookie from work and so we decided to make a great day of the beautiful weather. We went for lunch, walked around, fished, and just layed around on the blanket in the shade until dinner. For dinner we have turkey burgers on the grill. mmmmm. good! After that we enjoyed the creekside for a while longer and went home to do yard work. It was a really really really good day:)


This is a picture of the creek. Its a really nice state park and we are really lucky to live so close to it. Theres camping, walk paths, hiking trails, horseback riding trails, and even a little foux town with grain mill, church, school, blacksmith shop and covered bridge. They are all very historical buildings and its really interesting to walk through.
This is me pushing Blake in the stroller (obviously) i think its cute because all you can see are his little legs popping out

Lovely picture of me....

Me and Blake looking for fish! He looks real interested, right?

Travis making turkey burgers while Blake relaxes in the grass

Am I handicapped? Physically, no. Mentally,however, thats questionable.

What kind of trip would it be if travis didn't bring his fishing pole? I fished once that day. I cought a big rock and lost my worm....I was done after that.

Happy Blake ready to go for a walk! Yes this little fisher hat is a little too small but i love it so much! and it really keeps sun off of him so i made him wear it. He kept pulling it off though. I think he was embarrassed to wear a hat that was too little.

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, its kinda hard sometimes with no internet, plus not a lot goes on so there's just not that much to write about. There's always pictures though!

This is from when I was at my moms for Easter and Blake discovered his feet. He loves them now!

The last time I brought Blake over to visit Grandpa Bub it was very very nice outside :) This is them on the outside swing

This is our neighbors bloodhound puppy. Yes...puppy. He's only about 6 months old and he's already huge. He adopted us for about 4 or 5 days and lived on our porch. He was such a sweet sweet dog and did not want to go back home to his owners (i can't blame him, his girlfriends pretty nuts) Anyway...we almost had a new dog :) cute

I painted my kitchen! Those of you who have been at my house know that its all the same color (white with sponged grey or silver panneling) I've lived there for almost 2 years now and still had only painted Blake's room. I wanted to paint it a spring green so it would brighten up the house. Well boy did it ever! It turned out to be LIME green which was not exactly what i was going for. Its OK though, i think i like it. It really makes the cabinets and counters pop and actually every color looks good with it. I'm not really one for dull colors (have you met me family? i dont think any of us have a white or beige room in our house) so i like bright colors. I would have never picked out lime green but i think it turned out ok. Do you?

This is Blake eating his 1st real meal. peas! I love his faces when he eats it. He loves them now! He also ate oatmeal for breakfast for the 1st time instead of rice. he really liked that.

Funny Pictures of Guess Who......Blake!

I took these pictures the other morning. Its like a story.....He sleeping so cute and peacefully, then he's awake and sooooooooooo happy! Then he's like, "OK, i've been cute and happy now i'm really ready to eat. This isnt fun anymore. Please stop"

Another Day in Parkersburg!

Hello. Another day in Parkersburg. We just got back from Foodland so Debbie could see Blake. He really liked her, he just kept smiling and smiling. It was really cute.

Lets see, yesterday Travis and I shopped. I came home and fed Blake his cereal (which he really likes). Then I played dolls with Elli for a while. That was fun :) She's too cute. She has such a little personality. Its going to be so much fun when Blake gets older. Travis and I played with her outside for a while too....swinging in her swing and then we were swinging in the "Big Swing" as she calls it * the hammock *. We swung and sang all the songs we could think of. Fun Fun Fun :) We ate dinner and Mom and I went to Grandma's for a little bit. Then Blake got very tired and cranky so we came home, fed Blake, put him to bed and not long after we were all in bed.

Today I was going to go ride Friday out at the farm, but i just didn't make it out. Me and mom were on our way out there because i changed my mind on riding and just wanted to hike, then i got to Grand Central and thought, why am i going all the way out there to hike? I dont really want to drive that far today. So since i just wanted to go for a walk we headed over to city park and got out to walk. That was when we realized that it was really not as warm as it looked outside. The sun was warm but the wind was VERY cold! I had plenty of bundles for Blake to wear so he would have been toasty but we would have froze our tooshies off. SO we just got back in the car and went to panera bread and came home. With all that driving for nothing i could have just drove out to the farm, had a nice hike in the woods with blake, seen my horse and visited with Lois, came home and been done. I should have just done that. Oh well, sorry Lois, I'll see you tomorrow. I ended up taking a nice much needed nap....i'll admit, I was getting pretty cranky myself. As for right now i'm going to help Mom clean up the kitchen and get started on some Easter Dinner food. Yum!

In the big Pburg

My niece is the cutest little girl in the world!! The first song she's singing is Snow White's song, then she gets distracted by something and starts singing another princess' song. We aren't sure whose or what....maybe Ariel?

Travis, Blake and I are here in the big city of Parkersburg (not really a big city, but very big compared Negley). We are here visiting for Easter:) I really enjoy coming down here and seeing everyone....plus i like to show off Blake.
SOO this weekend I will post more than once.

Travis and I just got back from a little shopping; didn't buy anything but we did eat at The Pizza Place. MMMMMMM so good and so greasy! The dogs are currently running around like idiots, well hank and june are. Emmett is busy flirting with Red and she's laying under the table ignoring him at all costs. Good girl.

I would post some new cute pictures but my camera is upstairs in my bags and Elli is sleeping in there. If I go in and wake her up by rustling around I will be in big trouble....so next post.

Hi Everyone! Blog time. I'm down here at Bub's house on this nice sunny day. Its finally beginning to seem like spring outside! Besides the occasional rain, its b-e-a-utiful. Tomorrow is supposed to be 67 degrees and sunny tomorrow! yahoo! I think its pretty certain i will taking Blake to Beaver Creek for a walk while Travis is at work.

Last night Josh and Jackie came over for hot dogs over the fire. It was pretty yummy. After we ate Jackie and I went inside and watched "Marley & Me". I read the book earlier and was so excited to watch the movie! I cried....duh, but its was a good movie. I wasn't crazy about the choice of Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston as the main characters. I think I just had my own characters in my head and they werent those two. Other than that, good movie!

Now--its picture time! Lots of recent pics and a video of our cool dogs and my cool husband doing magic tricks with them :) Watch Hank, he's funny. (he's the short one that doesnt make it in the trick...)

Whew, that was close. I almost didn't get a blog post in this week! Mom and Jackie came up though:) That was fun:) I like it when people come up and visit me; it makes me happy. Blake likes it too! He was is a very very good mood today! Well, he usually is but today he never complained and he was just happy all day! Everytime i looked at him he smiled and laughed at everything. It was funny. Well i wasn't expecting to blog today, so i dont have my memory card with me, so sorry, no pictures of Blake!
I'll write more later!

I'm starting new

hey everyone. I'm really going to try this blogging regularly again, but mind you, i dont have the internet at my house so i have to either go to the library or to Travis' parents house. So it will be as regular as it can be. Hopefully i get a new one in once a week.

I'm sooo happy its spring! I get to take Blake outside and get fresh air! This is my favorite time of year! Travis, Blake and i went for our first of many walks around beaver creek yesterday! It was so great. Then we stopped over at Josh and Jackies to hand out, eat and play yuker (a very confusing card game that i just learned the other day. Its fun though. I think i make it way harder than it really is.

Blake is so much fun right now. He thinks everything is so funny. The other day he rolled all the across the living room until he got stuck on his swing!! That was a first! Well i would write more but he's getting restless and i'm at the library so i better get out before people start giving me mean looks!

holy moly (how do you spell that?) it has been a really really long time since i've "blogged"! Sorry for those of you who checked my blog every day.....ha ha, who am i kidding, you all probably just decided i was never going to visit blog land again and quit coming to my site. If that is the case you will probably never even read this one! Any way, life has been good and the ol' butler farm way up on the hill.

Lets see....i'll just list the events in numerical order >>oooh, sounds important right?<<<

1. I'm having a BABY!!!!!! MEEEE!!!! LITTLE BECKY BOO!!!! yes in deed :) Travis and I couldn't be any happier...well, i could be happier when i'm puking, or when i'm peeing 3 times in the night, or when i get extremely angry or sad about stupid things like when i couldnt that stinking pillow case!!! Besides that i'm very excited. I'm sure once i have my baby all those things wont even matter any more. This is a humungous step in our lives, its not like getting a new puppy! So, my due date is November 4. :) That means i will be 15 weeks on tuesday. No, i'm not really showing yet, i just look like i have a gut. Its not a cute belly yet, but it will be! And i can't wait!!!


2. We put up a dog fence :) I'm pretty happy about that. Now i can let our outside dogs off their chains so they can run around with the rest of us. So if any of you want to come visit us but you can't find a dog sitter don't let that stop you!!! NO! Just bring your furry little friend right up, we have wonderful accomodations for pets.

3. We now have 5 horses. We own 3 and our neighbor owns 2, which in reality means Becky and Travis will take care of them while i live at my girlfriends or stay the night in the bar parking lot or dont come home until wee hours of the morning, o even if i am home they will feed them. In all actuality i don't mind. I like taking care of the horses, it keeps me sane. All of our horses but 1 are lame right now. (lame = limping) Friday and Ruby got caught it fence somewhere and cut their legs pretty bad. Friday was mostly superficial but it was very swollen and she was 3 legged lame (only when i was looking though. If i wasnt watching her she was OK, but as soon i would start watching her she would hop on 3 legs......brat) Ruby was cut down to the bone and cut part of her tendon in 1/2. It is a pretty nasty cut. She's on antibiotics and we have to keep a big wrap on it. Of course now its covered in proud flesh and is really gross. We will probably have to have the vet come back out and burn off the proud flesh to get back to normal skin. Proud flesh is when a wound is healing and the new growth cells just to haywire and mass produce. Its technically called "exuberant granulation". So the cells just mass produce and it can get pretty out of control. It looks like a big head of couliflour growing out of her leg. And Boston, our normal horse, just got caught in the fence too (we finally found the broken wire, so hopefully thats all over) so she's limping. And Jasper is foundered so his feet are all messed up anyway. I have found peace in all of this though. All of the horses that i would ride are not rideable. I've decided that God did this so that i would not be sad about not being able to ride because i'm pregnant. So at this time of the year when i really have that riding fever but am ultimately depressed that i am not allowed to ride, my horses arent rideable anyway. So even if i WAS able to ride i still couldnt. So God did this so i wouldnt feel so sad :).....thats the sense i'm making out of it. Don't judge me.

Anyway, this is getting really long so i'm gonna wrap up. I'm sure there have been many more big events that have happened since my last blog, but its too hard to think back that far. Next time i'm around a computer i will try to blog again. But since i live in 1973, we dont have a computer or the internet at my house.

Peace :)

Finally an update!

I am still alive everyone. You can stop worrying now;) I know, i have not written in here or emailed since i left Century. This is the first time i have been on the internet since i started my new job (2 weeks ago) Since we are in a potential blizzard Travis and I came over to Josh and Jackie's for GAME NIGHT!!!! Da da daaaaaaaaa!!!! No but seriously we got like 5 inches of snow in one hour. My boss actually called me and told me not to come into work tonight. Here in Ohio we are under code 3 or something like that where we arent aloud to drive.....oops....i guess we drove over here. Oh well. Arrest me.

Well i'm really enjoying my job! Lots of little furry animals....lots of really ugly long haired goopy eyed stinky old lady dogs, but once you get past those, and the long haired cats there are some pretty cool dogs that come in! I'm very happy with the job:) Its much better than accounting...except I can't wear my high heals and cute skirts and stuff. Scrubs it is! Actually i found a store in our mall that sells nice scvrubs that are bot cut hip huggers so they arent dorky or anything and they have nice fit shirts to match. Of course a single set is $40, but if i just buy like one part everytime i go to the mall i buy either a pair of pants or a shirt i will get a descent collection of classy/fashionable scrubs.

Well, It is game night so we better get to some games! Travis and I are coming down to WV December 22 and 23 because i have to work over Christmas. That will be our Christmas down home! We we be at your Christmas Party though Lois!! I'm excited to see everyone!!

Peace & Love

Yes....that's my husband!

This is a video I took on Halloween of Travis in his costume with intensions of putting it on here a long time ago but I never got to it. So here it is!!

too bad he didn't last 8 seconds.....
Haha Just kidding. :)

Tiny Hank and June...and Weird Red

I have this super cute / funny video of little hank when he was just a tiny little puppy and couldn't even see or hear yet....oh wait, he still can't hear. Anyway, i have no idea why he was doing this and then its even funnier when it pans over to Red. June (Mom and Dad's puppy is the other one in the video. I wish Hank was small and harmless again, I'msure Mom and Dad do too. (By the way, the little pee monster has now peed on my foot a total of 3 times)
This is my last day at Century with a computer at me desk! So sad.... but atleast i will be doing what i want to do.

Enjoy the video and wish me luck at my new job!!!

Saturday Night Toga Fun

I went to my first toga party this Saturday night. We only had one white sheet that Mom gave us to use so we cut it in 1/2 and we each used one 1/2. (Sorry Mom, we had to cut your sheet) One 1/2 of a Toga was not enough to cover all of me so I just made a shirt out of it. The back of it was held up with a string of pearls. It was pretty cute. I didnt get a picture of the back though. Everyone was supposed to be dressed up in Togas and the winner was going to win a free drink or something. Me and Travis werent drinking that night at all so we didnt really care if we won or not. There was only a couple people in Togas out of everyone though. We left early because we were really tired, so we dont know who won.

Travis' cousin's band was also playing that night. Now, this computer I'm on right now does not have speakers so i THINK this is the Garth Brooks song "Low Places" But, not being able to hear and i can't lip read...i'm not sure. Its either Garth Brooks or Betty Loo's Getting Down Tonight. Either way its a really good band and we go to see them a lot.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Nothing exciting has happened up here so theres not really much to write about. Travis and I will be coming down to Parkersburg on Friday and going back home Saturday. Wish we could stay longer but we have too many animals to feed and we dont want other people to have to do it more that one night. SO i guess I will see everone at home soon!!!

Oh Yeah, Of course Red and Hank will be coming with us:)

Ellwood and Chippewa Animal Hospitals

Yes everyone, i am now an employee at the Ellwood and Chippewa Animal Hospitals!!! Woo Hoo!!!! I'll start by how my interview went.

OK, My interview was Wedensday evening at 6:00. I left work at 5:00 with my mapquest directions which said it was 32 minutes from my house. My house is 10 to 15 minutes from work. So if i left work at 5:00 at 5:15 i would be at my house and at 5:45 i would be at the vets office and then 15 minutes to spare. Makes sense right?????? Was is that easy? NoooOOOOOooooooooOOOOOooooooo. I left work, drove past my road, made it to PA, and then all hell broke loose, well figuratively speaking of course. I got myself so incredibly lost it wasnt even funny. I don't know PA at all, heck i barely know Ohio.

Oh wait, let me remind you all that i was driving my little green beast, the mazda, which is not even fit to drive anymore. Lets see, its the darkest night of the year, its raining, i have no inside lights to read the map directions, and there are no street lights way out in the no mans land so i could see NOTHING that my paper said. To add to that the headlights are not the best and i can see a grand total of maybe 10 feet in front of me, dimly that is. And as a final touch PA officially has no street signs, road signs, speed limit signs, street lights, nothing. All PA has is crazy drivers with their high beams on. (No offense to any Pennsylvanians who may be reading this.)

Somehow 20 minutes later after being positive i am lost i found myself in chippewa which i have no idea how i got there because i would have to have crossed a really really big highway which i know i didnt do. Anyway, i was relieved when i found chippewa because atleast i knew where i was. I wasnt supposed to be anywhere near chippewa but atleast i wasnt lost anymore.

So i called the vets office to ask for directions. The lady gave me the most confusing directions i have ever gotten. So after talking to her for 10 minutes i took off again to try to follow her directions in the dark rainy night. Luckily in the city of chippewa there was enough lights around that i could read my directions. Once i got out of the city though it was all over. Here i am, driving along with no idea where i was,and trying my best to read my directions by the light of my cell phone. Impossible. Needless to say i got lost, again. I drove all the way to the end of that road, which was quite a while and turned around and came back to Chippewa. I called the lady again because the road she told me to turn on did not exist. Aarg. She's like, "Oh boy, let me think......" So its now about 5:55. I need to be there at 6:00. She gave me directions again. I made her stay on the phone with me until i made that turn, which by the way did not say what she said it was going to say. I'm driving along forever it seems and finally i come to the next turn i need to make. Anyway, i got lost one more time and had to call one more time.

I finally made it there at 6:20. After being humiliatingly (is that a word?) late, my interview went very well.

As I was leaving the guy that interviewed me tried to give me directions and he told me the name of a highway that will take me straight to Chippewa. BUT it had a 50 cent toll. And did i have 50 cents? Of Course Not!!! The world of bank cards doesnt allow me to have 50 cents!! I mean of course i HAVE 50 cents, but its the form of a little plastic card, and i dont think that the kind of 50 cents they want.

To make a story that is really long, a little shorter, i tried to retrace my steps going back to chippewa the way i came. I got lost two more times. By then i was sure i wasnt getting the job because i was so late.

The next day i faxed over a thank you letter which said i was very embarrased and sorry for being late, and then the regular thank you letter after an interview type stuff. I didnt hear anything for a couple days and then Friday Evening the guy called and offered me a job! Yay!!
So my first day is December 3. The only thing i dont like is that i dont have my own office anymore with my own computer or the internet. And since i dont have the internet at my house i dont know when i'll be able to blog or check me e-mail. I will do my best though!

OK, its like 10 minutes past my lunch break, but hey, what are they gonna do? Fire me?

:) Peace

PA Job

Well I got a phone call from the vet job in PA! Yahoo! Its the one i really really wanted. I called him back on Monday and we talked for a bit. He said he would like to sit down in person for an interview on Wednesday at 6:00! Yay! I'm so excited! Pray that i dont make a fool out of myself. He said he wants to meet for the interview, then go around and meet the staff and then hang out for a bit and see the kind of stuff they do. It seems like its going to be a pretty extensive interview. Wish me luck! I will update afterwards!~

Helloooooooooo Dolly

We have a new member of the family I need to introduce to you. Unfortunately i do not have a picture yet. She is a 7 year old beagle. She is Travis's rabbit hunting dog. Her name is Dolly (Thats a good name for a beagle isnt it?) Its a good thing she had a name when we bought her because otherwise her name might me Rabbit Dog or Bunnie Dog or Beagle Dog, you know...something original like that. I will post a pic soon. She's really cute and sweet.


I put out three resumes today at 3 different vet clinics. Its not that i dont like the job i have now and i wasnt planning on finding another job but these are 3 VET CLINICS hiring. Thats what i went to college and got a degree for. I hate coming to work everyday and not using my talents with animals (and paid a lot of money to learn). So as long as the opportunities are there i will take them. 2 of them are regualar full time vet assistants and one is right up my alley. Its over in Pennsylvania ( about 20 minutes away) and they are hiring somebody to do alternative therapies. They even wrote in their add Massage, Acupressure, Hydrotherapy. Thats all the things I have a degree in! So i faxed a resume over to the number they provided. I might e-mail them to. I want that job in PA so bad!! Thats perfect for me!!! Unfortunately i can't just run over there on my lunch break and meet somebody because its a little too far for that, so hopefully a fax will do. PLEASE PRAY THAT I GET ONE OF THOSE JOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That would be so much cooler that accounting. On the other hand who doesnt love accounting? Right? I mean who doesnt absolutely L-O-V-E billing people and then calling them and prying the money out of their cold, dead, tight, poor hands. I feel like a tax collector. And you know everybody wants to talk to me, they all get in such a good mood when i call and tell them i need their money right now; no ifs ands or buts.

Oh well, it pays the bills. But how much nicer would be to have a job that still pays the bills but i enjoy it! And its what i love to do?! I think you all get the drift. Wish me luck!

Aww, my horses

Well since i dont have any human kids yet to post pictures of i will post pictures of my other kids.
These were taken this Sunday after the horses had their bellies full and we napping in the sun.


This one, if it shows up, is showing Ruby and Entree hanging out. Aww, how sweet:)

This is my favorite pic of me and Friday.

This is Boston our 3 year old.

This is Friday and Boston. They love each other

I just had to post those!