...RULED BY THE GIRLS.

I had a quick story about Bella. They know who "Uncle Curt" is, obviously. Well the other day Curt was in his room and I kept saying to Bella "I wonder where Uncle Curt is". She got a real excited look on her face and her ears stood right up. Then, I started saying "Where is Uncle Curt?" even though I knew he was just in his room. She got so confused and it was so funny. She was running into Curt's room, jumping on his bed, kissing him, then running back to me. Everytime she was looking at me like "why aren't you following me mom?" It was too cute. She was so proud of herself for knowing where he was but seemed frustrated I wasn't following. She did it several times and then finally quit, I think she got too frustrated with me. Curt had no idea what I was teasing her about but he knew she was up to something...so cute!


Dezi leads a rough life...


Ryan, Bella, Lizzie (Bella's toy), and Dezi all studying.


Dezi, who needs a bath, spends her days licking our couch obsessively, barking, or sleeping. Oh what a life.

...PROMOTING BODY WASH.

Ok, so I’m not really promoting body wash necessarily, but more recommending it. All my friends that know me well know I am addicted to Ulta’s body smoothies. These are seriously THE BEST body wash on the market!! You can find them at any Ulta, in the bath/shower aisles.

They actually say something like bubble bath, shampoo, and body wash (you can use them for all three, technically) but we just use them for body wash. They come in all different scents but the cupcake and chocolate mousse are by far the best. For spring/summer though, I picked up tangerine orange and pina colada, as pictured.

I will say though, that they are a little pricey. They are about 15 dollars for one bottle BUT you can usually get them on special, but one get one half off. And though they are pricey, we have figured out over the last few years that they DO last way longer than normal body washes so you actually get a better deal. The wash is very thick and you only need a few pumps as opposed to Dove or Suave. So in the long run, more money up front saves us money in the long run.

If your in Des Moines, or any area that has an Ulta for that matter, I suggest picking one up and giving it a try..it won’t disappoint!

...LOVING SPRING WEATHER!!!

I am LOVING this spring weather!! It is absolutely, positively, wonderful!!! I love everything about it--- the green grass, the temperature, the wind, the flowers, the birds coming home, babies being born...everything!!

I am in love with the baby cows on the drive to and from school everyday. Every morning, I look at all the babies and they put a smile on my face and make the drive so much faster. On the way home, looking at them reminds me of how long ago I was HEADING to school and how happy I am to be heading back. They truly are THE cutest thing and I always point them out to Ryan who doesn't seem to care. Poor little guys have no idea they will soon be ground beef for those of you that eat hamburger :)

Dezi and Bella enjoy this weather too. You can always tell when it is getting nice out because of how long they want to stay outside. Bella is a fast little mite and will go potty and usually dart right in the door. With the nice weather though, she is actually hanging around outside. Dezi, as always, gets her body right against the wind and holds her head high so the wind blows all her hair. At times, it drives me crazy!! I think she is more concerned about soaking in the breeze than she is doing her business but hey who said dogs can't enjoy a little sunshine too??

With spring comes cleaning..."spring cleaning". Today was the last day of school for us until Tuesday morning so spring cleaning will be in full effect. I have already made a list but the hard part is getting it done!

My spring cleaning:
-sweep/mop kitchen
-dust bedroom
-clean out the fridge
-clean the bathroom, tub, and shower
-clean out the hall closet
-organize my closet

wish me luck :)

...TIRED AFTER DOING NOTHING THIS WEEKEND. :)

Yep-you read that right, I did nothing this weekend!! As you probably know, Ryan works all weekend (literally) so I normally try to go out with friends or get housework of some type done. This weekend though, hardly nothing!

Friday night I did a little "spring cleaning" and cleaned the kitchen from head to toe as well as all of our laundry. Ryan has needed some new clothes for quite awhile and we talked about going shopping Sunday but with school on Monday I knew I needed to get homework done. So, Saturday night I spent doing homework...literally. I spent about 5 hours on homework!! I made lesson plans, wrote a Shakespeare analysis, read, etc. What a boring Saturday huh??

Sunday morning Ryan and I got up and headed to Des Moines. I needed a few new shirts for school and he needed jeans and hair putty. We started at Jordan Creek where I got my shirts and his hair product and ended at Kohls. I only found a few things I liked at the mall (surprise, surprise) and the one I like the most Ryan says "looks like a peacock" haha. What a jerk. I have uploaded a picture..just to see what everyone else thinks..maybe it is peacockish, who knows. :)

At Kohls Ryan found a couple shirts, or should I say IIIII found a couple shirts for him and two pairs of jeans. His shirts AND jeans were all on sale since they were long sleeved and they have summer clothes in now. He loves buying jeans there because they are stylish and a lot cheaper than the Buckle or Abercrombie per say. If you haven't been to Kohls or don't normally shop there, I suggest it. They have great sales all the time!!

Ryan and I ended our day with a trip to Texas Roadhouse...Ryan's favorite. We ended up having a wait of about 30 minutes which wasn't fun, but once we sat down it was worth it. The food was awesome and our day was complete!! We got clothes, hair product, and food!! We came home, put our clothes away, pajamas on, and passed out!! Oh I love Sundays.

My peacock shirt :)

...CURIOUS ABOUT A STORY.

So, as you all probably know, I like to read!! In the last year though, my leisure reading has gone down about 300 notches. I am constantly reading for school (so much that I never even finish it all) so I feel guilty just reading for me. BUT when the time permits, I do sneak a little "me time" in :)

Anyway-Do you remember hearing that story about the NFL players that took a boat deep-sea fishing and it flipped?? It was around a year ago I believe. Well, Nick Schuyler, the one that survived, wrote a book. It's titled "Not Without Hope".

I first heard the story when it came out and then watched Oprah one day where he was telling his story for the first time on television. Not only was it captivating because its such a miracle that he lived but it also had me thinking...what REALLY happened that day? Its really got me thinking!!

I have not yet read the book but plan to this week over Easter break. Its very short, only a few hundred pages I believe, and will take me all of probably an hour to read! I will let you all know what I think when I am finished, but until then..look up the story if you haven't heard about it!

...HAPPY THE "FAMILY" IS EXPANDING!!

I have some exciting news..or rather, Sarah and Travis have some exciting news...they're expecting another baby!! This means I am going to be an "aunt" x2 in late October!! I say aunt and family that way because, technically, they are not my family (it is Ryan's sister and husband) but you get the idea :)

A couple weeks ago they came back home with some GREAT news. That Sarah was 5 weeks pregnant with their second child. So cute!! What they did was put Brody in a tshirt that said "I am going to have an important job soon..being a big brother!" Such a cute idea. Of course Brody has no idea what is going on but he sure did sport the shirt well :) I took a few pictures of him in it which I have included but he wouldn't hardly sit still long enough to take a good one.

Sarah and Travis still live a few hours away, and unforunately, we don't get to see them that often. :( They were/are trying to sell their house and hopefully move back sometime in the near future). We sure hope they do! My aunts, uncles, and cousins were a HUGE part of my life growing up and still are and I want that for Brody and "baby" as well!!

**THROWBACK THURSDAY**

My sweet Bella when she was only a pup...precious.

...RING SHOPPING!!!

YES!! You read that correctly! Ryan and I DID go ring shopping yesterday.

We have had plans to go (engagement) ring shopping for quite some time but with homework, schedules, time, etc it seems like we have never just said a set time. Well, Ryan made an appointment the other day for us to go and meet with somebody. I was actually quite surprised because he doesn't normally make appointments for anything (I do that!). But he got it set up and off we went!

Going in, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted. It seems like every girl just "knows" what she wants-not me. I knew I didn't want yellow gold and did want either a rectangular shape or a square but that was about as far as I had gotten. Well after hours and hours of looking, sorting, and eliminating...I have narrowed my search down to TWO!

The rings I have chosen are two VERY different styles. One is solitaire and the other is vintage. The solitaire simply has one diamond in it. The other has several smaller ones and then obviously the bigger one. I am literally 50/50 on these two rings (thats why I narrowed it down to these two) and have not yet sided with one or the other. They boths have their ups and downs but are both aaaamzing rings!!

We went to Iowa Diamond which is located in the Hub (?) Tower downtown Des Moines..it is on the 13th floor!! I hope their rent is free just for that ;). Anyway, the atmosphere is a lot different there than I expected. They have no show room at all. You go in an office type setting with a person and they ask questions, bring out rings upon rings, and take care of everything inside the office. At first, it was a little intimidating because I always pictured picking out rings to be looking at them through showcase glass with a million to choose from. That wasn't the case at all. In the end though, I do like this idea and setup.

The guy started with solitaire rings (nothing besides the band and the one diamond). This was what Ryan had his mind set on when we went in. He always thought he wanted just a solitaire band with one diamond that stuck out. I bet we literally sorted through 400 of these. It sounds so crazy but they were all so different. I had only set about 5 aside by the time we were 3/4 the way done and to my surprise, the guy picked up the last one I set aside and told me it was the same ring I had picked out first, only a different plating. (That ended up being one of my two in the end) With that, I thought there must be something special about it so I stopped there!!

Actually, in all honesty, I think I got tired of looking at these about 3/4 the way through. I said something like "lets look at another style" and the guy just laughed and told Ryan I was bored with those :) Plus-if I had picked out the same one twice out of so many rings, I must REALLY like something about it, right?!

So after that he brought out displays cases upon display cases of more designed, vintage, etc. rings. Some were a little wild for my taste and others were magnificent. I ended up picking out three out of these but then narrowed it down to the one by the end of the night. One I had originally liked a lot but it was made up of two bands already and adding the wedding band would make it three...it almost over powered the entire thing.

So, after viewing so many rings, they bring out diamonds. I would like to have taken them all but of course you choose just one. We looked at several sizes and went over the "c's" and then left it at that knowing Ryan would ultimately make that decision.

So basically, out of the two rings I have narrowed the search down to, I have two very different rings; one solitaire and one vintage. Like I said earlier, I am in love with both rings, both for their own reasons! I would love to upload pictures and see what everyone thinks but the pictures I took are very bad :(. You can hardly see the ring's detail..it is just clear enough I can look at them daily to decide if one sticks out more than the other :)

Ultimately, Ryan will make the final decision. He will chose which of the two bands he feels suits us best as well as carat size. Those two choices are completely up to him and I will be happy with whatever ring he chooses; solitaire or vintage!!

Ryan and I made a very big step in our relationship yesterday and it was something to remember forever. Though we are not engaged (and may even go look somewhere else, maybe MN soon) nor planning a wedding anytime soon, it was a step in that direction and definitely something I will remember forever!!

...UPDATING ON MY LITTLE STINKER BUG.

Well, it's been 5 days since Bella's little accident and she seems to be doing well. Her stitches actually look like they could come out sooner than planned, but obviously I will have to call the vet to see about that. They are no longer red and look very good!

We did a good job (I think) watching her so she didn't lick them but she did a good job leaving them alone too! Dezi and her play pretty rough sometimes so I have found myself telling them not to on an hourly basis!! Dezi will often chase Bella until she catches her and then drag her by her back legs; this is a problem. They of course don't understand why I'm saying "no" but I'm trying to be careful!!

We haven't been taking her outside (because it has been so wet, muddy, and gross out) but instead placed more potty pads throughout the house. Normally, she just uses one and often times goes outside with Dez. Now though, she has four and she is taking full advantage of them!! I can tell her little heart breaks when we take Dezi out and not her, but I don't want to risk them getting infected or something. I do think, however, that she is the healthiest little thing alive!!

Here is a picture of her eating away at a bone!

**THROWBACK THURSDAY**

This is my grandma, Dezi, and I in November of 2005. Dezi looks sooooooo different!! I can't even believe it!!

...SAD, MAD, FEELS BAD, FRUSTRATED, ETC.

The girls have been getting groomed since they were puppies. We have literally been to several different groomers living in different cities and never really had a problem with any. We found one that we stuck with for quite awhile but when a new spot opened up in town and realizing the drive would be closer for us, I asked around about what people thought. I hadn't heard anything bad, only good because Rachel had taken Zoey (her dog) into get groomed there and everything seemed fine. Well, Bella needed groomed this time, not Dez so I made her an appointment for Monday morning at 8:15.

I had class so Ryan took her up there and dropped her off. He left his cell phone number with the lady for her to call when she was all done. Well, about an hour into it he got a call. The lady told him they "had an accident" and wanted to know if it was ok with Ryan if she took Bella to the vet!! She was already on her way (thank God) but wanted to make sure I guess. Apparently, she had cut her, right on her leg!! The poor little thing :( It was just sliced open..ugh.

Ryan sent me a text while I was in class, that said "call me." Instantly my heart dropped. I thought something VERY bad had gone on and I knew it was Bella. He told me what had happened and told me she was at the vet getting treated. Well, it ended up she had to have just two stiches. She got some pain medicine, an antibiotic, and has to go back in two weeks to get them removed. We also have to keep a close eye on her to see that she doesnt lick or bite them.

I just feel terrible. We should have kept going to the same groomer and never gone to a new grooming salon for convienience-- BAD IDEA AUDRIE. The poor little girl!! On a postive note though, Ryan said the minute she walked in the door she acted just fine!! She is running, jumping, and playing like nothing is wrong. She does know it's there because we catch her sniffing it but all in all, she's done really well.

Lesson to self: stick with what you know!

...BLOGGING ABOUT THE WEEKEND.

Well, I already updated and let you all know what I did Friday, so I will start with Saturday. Ryan had to work so I spent the day lounging around with him. That evening I went out to Ryan's parents to hang out for a bit. His sister and her family was back, and his brother as well as parents--the whole family!! I stayed about an hour and visited and played a bit and then headed back in town.

Rachel and I had been talking earlier in the evening and wanted to get a drink after dinner, so I went and picked her up and we headed uptown. Well, before you know it 9:30 turned into 1:30 and we were still there!! We LITERALLY were the only ones there so late!! We sat in the corner ALL NIGHT, by ourselves, just chatting. It was the not a typical "going out" experience but we had so so much fun!! We could talk for days!! Sometimes sitting in the corner just chatting away is what girls need :)

Sunday I attempted to sleep in and then had to get up and get ready to head to Cedar Falls. My Shakespeare class, which consists of only 6 people, were going to see Romeo and Juliet. To be honest, I did not want to go at all!! It was Ryan's night off, I don't really talk to anybody in my class, and I knew we'd get home late. BUT, you gotta do what you gotta do :) We left town around 5 and made it to the play about 5 minutes before it started. It was long, boring, awkward, cold, etc. We didnt leave Cedar Falls until around 11:30 that night and I didn't get into my bed until 2:30 :( It was miserable!!

So that was my weekend-some good, some bad!!

Brody and Curt

...LOVING LIKE CRAZY.

:) Just thought it was clever because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, this song right now..check it out!!

Lee Brice-Love Like Crazy

They called them crazy when they started out
Said seventeen's too young to know what loves about
They've been together fifty-eight years now
That’s crazy

He brought home sixty-seven bucks a week
He bought a little 2 bedroom house on Maple Street
Where she blessed him with six more mouths to feed
Yea that’s crazy

Just ask him how he did it; he'll say pull up a seat
It'll only take a minute, to tell you everything
Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse "I Love You"
Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense
Never let your prayin' knees get lazy
And love like crazy

They called him crazy when he quit his job
Said them home computers, boy they'll never take off
He sold his one man shop to Microsoft
They paid like crazy

Just ask him how he made it
He'll tell you faith and sweat
And the heart of a faithful woman,
Who never let him forget

Be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse "I Love You"
Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense
Never let your prayin knees get lazy
And love like crazy

Always treat your woman like a lady
Never get to old to call her baby
Never let your prayin knees get lazy
And love like crazy

They called him crazy when they started out
They've been together fifty-eight years now

Aint that crazy?

...LOVING SPRING BREAK.

For those of you that know me well, you know I ordinarily don't have much free time. Being on Spring Break though, things have changed!! I can't say I mind it :) The last few days I have cleaned my entire house, done more laundry than possible, and watched more TV than I do in an entire year!! I have LOVED every minute of it!!

I did go out last night with Emily for a tad bit, so I'm not entirely cooped up! Josh (her husband) was DJ'ing at a bar closeby so I headed on out there at about 10:30. Her and I just chit chatted and had a few drinks and then I headed home. It was nice to get out of the house, especially while Ryan is working!! Plus...who doesn't like to chit chat "girl style"??

Spring Break will end Sunday evening and the day-to-day will start back up, but for now...I have 24 more hours!! :)

**THROWBACK THURSDAY**

Every Thursday I am going to try to post an old (throwback) picture. Some may be WAY old, others may only be a few years!! Hope you enjoy :)

This is Ryan and I when we first started dating in 2005.

...GOING TO BE IN SCHOOL FOREVER!!

Well, I have some not-so-great news. I will be taking summer classes through June. Grrrr. I knew I would probably have to take a couple, but still..it stinks! I want to be done, done, done.

My degree will be quite different though (in a good way) than most teachers'. I will actually have an English/Language Arts as well as Journalism degree, and obviously the teaching license. This is both good and bad. Bad because my student loans will eat me alive one day! Good because if I didn't want to teach, I could potentially get a job using the Journalism or English aspect of my degree, which I have thought about often!

So, with that said, look forward to seeing me in American History:The History of American Baseball, Probability and Statistics, and Contemporary Leadership. :)

...HAPPY TO GET AWAY, GLAD TO COME HOME.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Ryan is now working 4 days a week. This is not only exciting for us but also gives us more time to do things!! With that in mind, Ryan and I went to Minneapolis the past few days.

Ryan worked Saturday night so we slept in until about 9:30 Sunday morning, the day we were leaving. We woke up and folded the rest of the clothes that needed packed and headed out the door. We only stopped a few times on the way up there... just to stretch out our legs and once to get drinks to take to the hotel. We took food with us to eat because my stomach gets so upset in the car so we didn't even have to stop for that, which was nice. The ride up there was smooth sailing and we made it there about 3:30.

The hotel we stayed at (Mystic Lake Casino) we have stayed at several times. It is one of our favorite places to go because it is so nice, relaxing, AND has the biggest casino in the midwest in the bottom of it. It is absolutely awesome!

I had made reservations for us that night at 8:00 at The Melting Pot so we knew we needed to get to our room, relax for a few minutes, and then start getting ready. That is exactly what we did. We left the hotel at about 6:45 because I wasn't sure how long it would take us to get downtown to the restaraunt and I didnt want to lose our reservations! Well, it turned out it only took us just under an hour so we were super early but we got parked and just hung out in the lounge waiting for table. Wouldn't you know that they were "running behind" and we didnt even get sat until nearly a half hour later?? Oh well!! Once we got sat and got started on our food, we were both happy campers. It was a long, tiring, day but the food was amazing (THE best meal I've ever had) and the atmosphere was so relaxing.

I was still tired from the drive up there and though Ryan wanted to gamble, I decided we should just stay in and go to sleep! Thank goodness I decided that because once I layed down, I was out!

The next morning we ordered room service breakfast (nothing beats that) and then got ready for a day out and about. We first headed to a dog store, Lulu and Luigi, to get the girls some goodies, and then made our way to IKEA and the Mall of America. Neither of us had ever been to IKEA but Ive always heard so much about it I wanted to have the experience. Our journey lasted a total of about 10 minutes; I was less than impressed--cheap is the only word I can think of to describe it.

It was, however, the perfect day to be at the mall (Monday) because it was so dead and quiet. We walked around, shopped a little, and then went to eat where we do everytime we are there..at the Rainforest Cafe. After dinner, we headed back to our hotel.

Ryan was insistant on gambling at this point and though I am not a fan of gambling, I decided to head down there with him and try my luck! I started with a 20 (I just like to play video poker games) and it ended up lasting me a couple hours. Ryan had spent (lost :) ) his money and was just watching me play so I decided to do "max bet" a few times to get rid of it and head back upstairs. With only 4 dollars left, I ended up winning $200!!! I know it's not a lot, but we ended up WAY ahead of what we had spent and hey---who doesn't like free money?!? So, with that, we got a snack and headed upstairs to our room!!

Ryan had seen several flyers about "the biggest indoor water park in America" located next to the Mall of America and was dead set on going there. Neither of us had remembered to pack our swimsuits and that was my excuse. Ryan offered to buy me a new one at the mall and with my constant "no" he then turned to guilt. He started saying to me "what, now you're too old to kick up a little water?" haha jerk. I still said no, but said maybe next time ;) I will admit, when we drove by it..it was HUGE!!

The next day we just packed up our stuff and headed home. We missed the girls WAY too much and even with Curt babysitting them, he said they were still very depressed we had been gone. They hadn't eaten or drank anything and were just sleeping all day :( Poor things. Curt sent me a message that said "Dezi has lost her will to live due to separation anxiety" haha. We arrived home at about 3:00 to 2 very happy girls!!

It is always fun to get away and not have a care in the world for a few days but getting home is also a nice feeling. We have two puppies who depend on us and a house that we love.

...NO LONGER TWITTERING.

Many of you don't have a twitter account or don't tweet at all so this will not affect you. For those that do, this may not affect you either :) BUT I did decide to delete my twitter account.

I like reading everyone's tweets and activities throughout the day (much more than on facebook) but decided I need to not put everything I do so out there. I AM going to be a teacher, and students from the high school where I do my hours have already tried adding me to facebook, so I decided to lay as low as possible. And hey-you can read my blog to keep up with me ;)