The Carolina Raptor Center posted this photo on Facebook yesterday.  They wanted to make sure that we know they are taking very good care of the residents there during this miserable heatwave. This photo is awesome!

 

I love the eyes!  Greta's favorite Cat Hospital posted this photo:  

About twenty seconds into this video and your brain will start to go into cuteness overload.  Be sure and keep watching.  

I had a lovely night out with "The Mister" tonight.  It's time for some chocolate milk and watching tv with a cat in my lap.  Tomorrow is the baseball wedding...  Weather Bug is telling me that it will be 105 tomorrow...  The wedding is at 3:00...  I know. 

Good Day

Sophie (Kevin's dog) really enjoyed the nice weather today.  It is rare that we have days with low humidity in the Summer.  Here she is playing with her toy.

So far, our Summer has been pretty comfortable.  All of that will change over the next day or so.  We are supposed to hit 100 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Oh, and the baseball wedding is Saturday at 3:00 pm.  It's going to be hot.  I told that bride that instead of meeting on the baseball field I wish she had met her fiance in a swimming pool.  She didn't seem to appreciate my input.  I think she is pretty stressed and the thought of getting married in 100 degree weather on a baseball field isn't helping.  

For those of you who don't follow me on twitter.....here's photo of Greta doing what she does best that I posted earlier this week.

Tomorrow is massage day...boy am I ready for my appointment.

Busy Weekend

I had one of those weekends where I'm actually ready to go back to work so I can get a break.  My weekend included a tea party with some "old" friends and a fun day today with my eTeam from church.  I'm tired.  But....a good tired.  I have a really busy week ahead of me at work and I have several outside appointments I have to make.  ONE of those appointments is a 60 minute Swedish massage and I need it.  I wish I could put that on my schedule EVERY week.  Next weekend is the "baseball wedding".  I look forward to telling you all about it. 

It was also a bittersweet weekend as my team traded one of my most favorite players for another really awesome player.  To quote another fan, "Part of me is really excited and the other part of me wants to vomit".  Goodbye Brandon....

Hello Jordan....

We're happy to have you in Carolina to play along side your brother, Eric, but you better be worth the price!!!  Let's Go Canes!  How many days until Hockey season???????????????? 

April and Jason, The Sequel

OK....I have so many photos from the wedding that I don't really know what to post.  So.....I'm going to post a few from April's photographer.  Let me make sure and say....these photos are not mine....they are from Nikki Jay Photography in Lancaster, South Carolina.  Now that the legal stuff is out of the way....here are a few photos...

Aren't they just the sweetest couple? 

April is a teacher (hence the library photo shoot):

The Jones boys....Johnny, Jeffrey & Jason:

This one might be my favorite.  This photo was taken before the wedding.  The Bride and Groom could not see each other here:

Hmmmm....it has cut Jason out of the picture.  Well, you get the point of what the picture looks like.  :-)  Look, here's my handsome husband:

Random Photo:  Fast forward to yesterday....Daniel insisted that I take a picture of the two of us:

We were sitting in the grass and Daniel was showing me flowers (weeds).  He told me that the flowers were sad.  I asked him why.  He told me that flowers don't like it when the wind blows them. Who knew?

Jason and April

My cousin Jason got married yesterday.  THIS cousin Jason.  (He's the one in the diaper!)

And this cousin Jason. 

 

Jason married a wonderfully, wacky girl named April.

The whole family loves April.  She's amazing.  I took this photo off of her Facebook page!  (This will take more than one post because there will be more pictures to follow.)  Here are some photos that my Aunt Zell sent me today.  Here is a picture of Aunt Zell, her daughter Teri & Teri's son, Daniel.  

Aunt Zell is Dad's baby sister.  (These are some of my favorite people on earth!)  Please remember Aunt Zell in your prayers.  She is having surgery tomorrow.  Here is Teri, my cousin Johnny (Jason's brother), and me! 

Here's Jason's other brother, Jeff (Johnny's twin) and Teri

Daniel and his cousin Isobel

Me and my dad (because it's Father's Day - post to come later)

OK, back to the wedding.... The bride and her sister, Jill (another one I stole from Facebook) 

Daniel & Scott:

A chicken

Kevin and Laura

OK....more family wedding photos to follow.  I'm going to go celebrate Father's Day with Dad right now. 

Dog

It's hard to believe that it has been almost 4 years since we said goodbye to our beloved Sadie. I think I'm finally ready for another dog.

Boy, was that girl loved.  I'd be lying if I said being a one cat family doesn't have its advantages.  We love our Greta, and are very lucky that she is such a fun and loving cat.  There are so many benefits to just having a cat...like not having to wake up at a certain time to let her out.  Or, not having to worry about leaving her in the house all day by herself.  Cats aren't needy.  Our cat is just plain good. 

I've come to the conclusion that the perfect dog for Julie is a Newfoundland.  

 

The problem is that Scott (the husband) says that I absolutely cannot get a dog with black hair.  Enter the Landseer Newfoundland:

I think it looks like it is part Sadie (Great Pyrenees). If we lived in the country, or if the Pyrenees did not bark so much, it would be a no-brainer....we'd get another Pyr. 

I'd really love to get a dog that I can have certified as a therapy dog.  I hope to take it to visit hospitals and nursing homes.  I also believe it would be a great benefit to my nice who has autism. It isn't easy getting a dog certified as a TDI therapy dog.  The test is hard and requires a dog that is extensively trained and is under the handler's control at all times. 

I don't know if Scott will let me adopt a Newfie but I'm going to try.  I don't necessarily want a puppy, however, look how cute they are...

I know someone else that would love for us to adopt another dog....Sophie!  She sure loved Sadie!

Time will tell how the dog situation pans out.  I'll keep you posted.....

Wordless Monday

Well, not exactly wordless, I just have so many random thoughts going around in my head.  I hope I don't forget to go to the dentist in the morning.  I hope I don't forget to go to my hair appointment after work.  I hope that my poison ivy wash is working because I've been spending a lot of time with Sophie lately.  I can't wait until my cousin's wedding this weekend. I'm supposed to make a dessert for church Sunday.  I can't wait until a weekend where I don't have any plans.  What kind of dog should I get?  So many people I love are going through very difficult times right now. How can I help them?  Is it ever going to stop raining?  Oh my! Father's Day is Sunday and I haven't bought the best dad in the world a present yet.  I need to clean my house.  Did I wash the clothes I want to wear tomorrow?   

Psalm 46:10
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”

BE STILL 

BE SPEECHLESS

 

The Kids

I haven't posted pictures of my niece and nephew in a while.  Here are some that my sister-in-law sent me this week.

Laura graduated from her kindergarten class this week. Here, Kevin is holding the certificate where Laura won "Best Smile", however, you wouldn't know that from this picture!

With Kevin and Rana:

 

Here's the "Best Smile" in all of kindergarten:

 

Daniel is ready to go to the pool:

Daniel & Daddy:

Smile

So today I went to the dentist.  Everything was going great.  The hygenist told me that she could tell that I floss every day (I do) because my gums looked so healthy.  She said I had no tartar and hardly any plaque.  She told me my teeth looked great!  Then the dentist came in.  She examined my teeth and agreed that everything looked really good.  She said, "I just need to check your x-rays before you go.  Oh, there's a cavity.  There's a cavity."  I have 2 cavities.  How old am I again?  So now I have to go get my cavities filled next Tuesday.  Oh well, it could always be worse!  

Genesis 49:12
His eyes will be darker than wine,
    his teeth whiter than milk.

Getting Better

The past 2 weeks have been a blur.  I've been wishing the days away so that I can get over this poison ivy rash.  It is looking A LOT better and the itching is starting to subside but I have a few new patches that popped up today.  That is normal for me.  I bought a poison ivy wash called Tecnu.  Every time I play with Sophie I will wash with this special cleaner and, hopefully, I will be poison ivy free for the rest of the Summer.  I choose to look at the blessings in every situation and be thankful.  Hey, it could have been worse: 

photo from the Skin Rash Hall of Fame on poison-ivy.org

So I went to the ENT dr. yesterday.  He ran a few more tests on my ears; hearing, pressure, etc.  He says everything looks good.  He said he could refer me to an ear specialist but feels that they would have nothing new to offer me.  I have "pulsatile tinnitus" which is very rare.  It can mean very bad things but he feels that those things would have shown up on my MRI & MRA.  I'm going to trust his opinion and move on.  In the grand scheme of things....this is no big deal.  Just an annoying distraction that won't get me down!  

For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Psalm 108.4