Thursday, March 31, 2011

Play Ball!!

Wahoo... today makes the list of my top ten favorite days of the year!!  I consider it a national holiday.

Today my friends is OPENING DAY for the Cards.  






Fredbird has come out of hibernation and the brats are cookin'. The folks at Busch Stadium are filling up the peanut containers and mixing up those drinks that come in the obnoxiously large glasses. You know- the ones that you buy because they look so fun and they end up tasting terrible!

There is no experience like going to a Cardinals game.  I may be a bit partial since I grew up going to games... but I don't really think so!  You can't really argue with Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, and Ozzie Smith.

There is something so exciting about walking to Busch Stadium, hearing the loud music, smelling all of the delicious foods that are so greasy and unhealthy, hearing the National Anthem, watching the first pitch, eating a delicious brat, having an ice cold BudLight (which I will ONLY get at Cards games), and of course hearing the glorious sounds of the fireworks.  If you're a Cardinals fan you know what those fireworks mean!!

The season officially begins today at 3:15 PM when the Cards face the San Diego Padres.  Rumor has it that Jim Edmonds will throw the first pitch and Chris Carpenter will start his sixth opening day... his fifth with the Cards.  It's going to be an exciting season...as it always is!

Tune in to FoxSports Midwest, ESPN, or KMOX radio to watch/listen to the game.  Last year Brian and I signed up for MLBtv.com and we were able to watch all of the games on TV... since we're out of the St. Louis viewing area none of the games are covered here.  We had reservations about signing up this year since we're gone so much and had decided to pass this year.  However, today I have decided that we must not have been in a good state of mind when we made that decision.  MLBtv.com here we come!!  Its a great day to be a Cardinals fan...


We hope there is a sense of purpose in everything. -Ozzie Smith

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

A Good Week...Sans Sunshine!

Lots of great things have been happening over the past week or so.  Amy came to visit over the weekend. Whitley went on her first official walk.  And... it's the final countdown to the end of the interview trail!!  Brian is in the middle of his last stretch of call days, post-call days, and interviews.  After this week he will only have one interview left. And that is a blessing.  We're having lots of ugly, rainy weather in east Tennessee but it isn't slowing us down.

Amy came to visit over the weekend!  It was so great to see her.  It is so hard to coordinate schedules between work, weddings, interviews, and everything else that is going on in life but when we do we certainly try to make the most out of it.  She drove four and a half long hours to visit... which I accidentally estimated to be three hours!  I'm really terrible with navigating places...

She brought me an amazing gift.  A special holder to keep corks from wine bottles with a bottle of wine from a local vineyard in Raleigh.  I like to write the date and event on wine corks.  It is so fun to look through your corks and remember who you were with, where you were at, and what you were going... great memories!


Her first night here we made the drive to Knoxville to go to Cirque du Soleil's Alegria.  I have heard such amazing things about their shows and have yet to go... until this weekend.  The good parts of the show were great!  Then there were the clowns.  For those of you who don't know I'm not a fan of clowns...AT ALL!  And these were the clowns in the solid grey suits with the solid yellow ties that stretch all the way to their knees.  Red mohawks. With giant red noses.  It confirmed all of the previous emotions that I have felt towards clowns.  We ended up leaving the show a bit early and went out for some appetizers!  The best times are the ones you spend actually getting to catch up... Despite the show not being all that we hoped, the company was great!


The next day we headed to Asheville for some retail therapy and a great dinner.

Then home for playtime with Whit, popcorn, and a chick flick.
Let's just say the weekend added one great cork to the new holder!

Speaking of Miss Whit... She is HUGE!  I feel like she grows every single day.  She is constantly doing new things.  Her trick of the week is to hide her new "cheese bone" in mysterious places.  It is crazy that at eleven weeks she knows to hide her bone, burry it with her nose, and then remembers where she put it the next day.  I can't even remember where I put my shoes when I take them off...
And now for a few obligatory highlights of Whitley's week.

I guess similar to a baby you buy toy after toy... after toy.  Then they decide that their favorite toy is...

Your sock.
Or the leaves off of the plant in the living room. Or perhaps your slipper.


She started to get hypoxic from her harness because she is growing so much... so we shed the harness and moved into a big girl collar.  Then we ate the harness... obviously!
She has had some bonding time with Brian.  She just loves him to pieces.  The only time she has an accident in the house is when he comes home and she gets so worked up that she just cant stand it. 
We went on our first walk to the park this week.  This was an adventure to say the least.  There was a lot of leash pulling, leash biting, and sitting down in the middle of a random yard refusing to move.  However, we were able to take a little bit of time to enjoy the beauty of east Tennessee.  

Meet our neighbors.





East Tennessee is such a beautiful part of the country.  We always find ourselves leaving for weekends to visit family and friends or running off for vacation.  After all of the interviews, call days, and post call days it is finally time for vacation.  The countdown is T-minus 9 days... not that I'm counting.  We decided this time we would do a "staycation".  We rented a house on Douglas Lake and plan on spending the week without a schedule.  Fishing, grilling out, exploring the lake, hiking, Dollywood, a few dinners out, and quality time with our buddy.  We could not be more excited to stay in the area and enjoy it by doing a whole lot of nothing... together!

Well, this week we sure did enjoy all of the signs of spring.  April showers came early.  It is such a good feeling to see green grass and flowers. Spring certainly has a specific "scent" which Whitley experienced for the first time!





Whit is definitely growing fast...she's turning into quite the big girl!  Don't be fooled though. She's all puppy!


And now for Whitley's thought of the day... after a good T-bone always remember to lick your chops!


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Smile.

If you haven't had a good reason to smile today you may want to take a look at this face...



I figured I would post a few pictures of Whitley's week while we sit and wait for the Terminix man to arrive.  She has had a pretty big week so far...

She had her first Kong filled with peanut butter.


Her first play date with Oliver.

Her first pigs ear.


And her first bath!  You can tell how well it went... this is the only photo that I was able to capture before I had to physically get in the bathtub. Scrubs and all!



And she is developing quite the personality...  

Here are a few thought from a growing Great Dane.  Weighing in this week at 27 pounds!
"Don't even think about touchin' my pigs ear...seriously!"

"I really wish I could get these new legs to work with me."

"Mom...Why do you ALWAYS skimp on the peanut butter?"

"I hate you right now. Why, why, why would you dump water on my head and drench me with this stinky shampoo?  I am so mad!"

"I have such a rough life... I don't even know how I make it."



So far we've had a pretty great week.  The weather has been beautiful and we're loving it.  We have had a week filled with the simple stuff... dinner over the fire with our new hot dog sticks, great dinner with friends, puppy baths, and Lost!  The simple times of everyday life really are the best!  Hope you enjoy your weekend...

Monday, March 21, 2011

Whitley's Video

Sorry... I'm still new to YouTube.  I just realized Whit's video was for some reason on a "private" setting.  I just switched it so it should be up and running.  Enjoy and Happy Monday!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Perfect Saturday...AVL!

Yesterday was just a perfect day.  Brian was able to get five consecutive hours of sleep while on call... which some of you know is almost unheard of!  When he came home he was fully energized and felt as if he was able to get a full night sleep.  I'm off for the weekend so that makes me instantly happy! These two things combined made for a GREAT DAY.

We had coffee.


Whitley played with her pig.


She dug for gold.


And soaked up some sun.


Then we headed to Asheville... one of our very favorite places to spend free time.

This was Whitley's first trip.  Let's just say that she is also a huge fan and will be visiting again very soon.  We went for a quick walk when we got there. (This is one of my favorite photos...two things/people that I love very, very much!)
Whitley found her own personalized sign...which made for a perfect spot to potty!

We had a great lunch at Mellow Mushroom (where I sported my new haircut!)




And we visited the Farmers Market.




















Then we went to Wedge which is one of our favorite places to hang out.  It has an outside patio made of welded metal, people come and go with their dogs, and they have a tamale stand!  Whitley was so well behaved, made lot's of new friends, and became a local celebrity.  Who doesn't love a puppy though?


It was a perfect spring day.  75 degrees and sunny.  The kind of days that just make you happy.  The kind of days that make you sit back and wonder how you got so lucky! Great quality time with a full night sleep behind us.  And... a farmers tan!!

We are so looking forward to the rest of spring and summer.  We have an exciting couple months coming up with a vacation in April, match day, and a couple very important weddings!

And now for my very quick fifteen second soapbox...If you are a smoker please, please don't throw the leftovers on the ground.  Our puppy is not very selective of the things she likes to chew on... and then we have to try to pry them out of her mouth...which is going to become very difficult when she weighs 120 pounds. Whitley thanks you!

Here is a quick video of Whitley's adventures in Asheville... Can you tell I'm a proud momma??