Lots of Love

Aunt Melissa and Jackson stopped by yesterday. Jackson LOVES Abbey...and Abbey, well, puts up with just about anything. Now we have proof. In addition to the "soft pets" and kisses Abbey got from Jackson, she also got taste-tested.

Afternoon Walk

While Ron was planting corn yesterday, Abbey I ventured out for an afternoon walk when I got home from work. Don't you just love the colors of spring?

Who's Walking Who?

Lucky for us, we've got the the cutest little dog walker to take care of Abbey while we're gone...


I'm not sure where she get's her sense of style, but I guess a farmgirl has to have her carhart jacket, hunting hat, Hello Kitty boots, and Dora sunglasses :)

Enjoy Fall......

...because winter is right around the corner

Corn Dog

The One That Got Away

Last Friday Ron and I took off from work an hour early, went home, gathered up the fishing poles, Abbey, and headed for Homer Lake. Homer Lake is just east of Champaign-Urbana and a relatively short trip overall.

There's quite a few little spots to head to, but instead of veering towards our usual locations, we decided to try a new area on the lake. It was actually a great day for fishing. It was overcast, not too hot, and there was a slight breeze.



We did end up catching quite a few fish, but only one was actually big enough to keep. We threw everything back and just enjoyed some time outside of the office. Abbey enjoyed herself too. She would have preferred to just eat the fish right off the hook.

And while Abbey doesn't enjoy swimming (crazy isn't it - she's a Lab!), she did test out the water a little. She just couldn't figure out where those frogs were hidden and where all the noise was coming from.

We were out there for a couple of hours before the rain clouds started to move in. During that time, I missed out on a pretty big fish--maybe even "Catfish Hunter". Several times while we were there, we'd see a fish jump up and splash back in the water. He was mocking me, I just knew it! We called it quits just in time. On the way home we saw this farmer out planting beans, trying to get as much done as he could before the rains came.

On a side note, Adrienne might get a kick out of this -- the area where we were fishing....Timberdoodle Trail.

Whew! We're tired!

After a week of traveling, we're happy to say we've made it home and are here to stay for awhile. I have to say I'm pretty excited about sleeping in my own bed. I've got quite a few updates to share, but that will have to wait for another day. Until then, I'll leave you with a photo of Abbey tonight. I guess she's pretty happy to be home too. She's spent most of the evening doing nothing -- I guess a week on the farm wears a dog out. (Ignore our fanciful wall paper - it will be part of an intensive remodel someday. I'm sure you'll hear all about it)

Pack your bags

Well, Friday after work we packed an overnight bag for us, and all the food, toys, and treats we could find for Abbey and headed north. My parents are going to puppy-sit this week as Ron and I will be headed for Columbus on Monday for meetings. We're fitting a lot of stuff into the weekend - head to my parents on Friday, come back Saturday late afternoon, then its off to church on Sunday morning, Easter lunch with LD, Frieda, and family, and then try to get everything packed up to leave again on Monday morning early.

The trip to my parents is long, but we travel enough with our jobs that 3 1/2 hours doesn't bother Ron and I too much. Abbey on the other hand gets bored pretty quickly - I have to say that she is really a pretty good traveler but this is what we look at for the entire trip.

Be a good girl.........

After a night out with friends (and staying out later than we had in a really long time), we slept in on Saturday. Well, slept in until about 7:30, that is. We had quite a bit of stuff to get done and precious little time in which to do it. I was heading to Michigan on Sunday morning and getting ready to go involved a lot more than packing. Since I was going to be gone until Thursday and Ron would be helping his mom out most of the week, we called Grandma and Grandpa (my mom and dad) and asked if they could babysit (well, dog sit that is). Luckily they love our baby almost as much as Madison and will take Abbey whenever we need a place for her to go.

We met up with my parents for lunch and spent some time catching up, before swapping Abbey for some cupcakes and a casserole....just awful isn't - trading a beloved pet for some food? It was pretty good though. And Abbey loves being on the farm with the other dogs. Its much more exciting than our boring yard. Hopefully she's stays out of trouble.

We spent the rest of our day running various errands and also stopped at the craft and antique mall on our way home. After a long day, we spent the evening at home, relaxing.

I love 3-day weekends!

Yep, that's right. I have today off from work. Yay for President's Day! Most people have to go into work today, but I'm one of the lucky ones that get to sleep in, or at least I would have if Abbey would have had the decency to sleep in too. So instead, I was up early making plans for the day. I have to admit though, right now I'm not any more motivated to clean the kitchen than I was yesterday. I've been making small progress getting the house picked up, but not nearly to the extent I would like. We've been busy this weekend, so I didn't get all the time I intended to work on the house (I'll also admit that it felt pretty good to take a nap yesterday too!).

We also spent time this weekend running errands around town, paying bills, and overall getting caught up on some things with been drastically behind on. Barb has been in the hospital since Wednesday afternoon and its looking very good that she will be able to go home today. Hopefully the doctors have figured out what has been making her sick and unable to keep food down.


Abbey hates the vacuum cleaner; she spent some time outside Saturday morning moping while I cleaning. It actually looks like a spring day, and it was fairly warm for a couple of hours.

I'm putting cleaning the kitchen on my to-do list as well as getting some of our wedding stuff organized and boxed up. I'd love to be able to get our spare room in order, but that may just be a little too ambitious for today.

Abbey is going spend her day sleeping - What's everyone else doing today?

It's A Full House

Ron's uncle had knee replacement surgery this week. Chloe, their 1 year old black lab is staying with us until the weekend. Abbey loves the company. "Mom" and "dad" are great, but nothing beats having a four-legged friend around to play with. Despite their age difference (at least 5 years) Abbey has been holding her own against her younger and much more agile companion. There was lots of running and playing around the house the first couple of days, but I think Chloe has finally worn Abbey out, much to Chloe's dismay.

While we love having another dog around the house (and Abbey loves it even more), we decided we'd either need to get a smaller dog or a bigger house. Two labs in our living room = one Christmas tree on the floor.