The World's Worst Pet Parent

That would be me.

A few weeks ago, my mom, aunt, and cousin came to visit me & scope out my new apartment. They brought this little monster with them:

 
To be honest, I was a little worried about her coming here because she's had trouble adjusting to new places, things, and people (not that I was new, and neither was Sam, but still), and especially has had trouble adjusting to life sans other dogs. When Charlie died, it seemed like it was almost a full blown medical emergency, not going to lie.

My trepidation mostly lied with the fact that I when I work, I'm gone for around 14 hours (don't believe any nurse that says they are only gone for 12, it's a lie). Sam is here much more than me for now, but then school starts and then next year he'll hopefully be a lawyer somewhere, and that doesn't exactly scream "I have an 8-5 job!".

 Long story short, Miss Bella only hung out with us for about a week. It wasn't because she was stressed out, or because she was lonely and wouldn't eat, or walk, or generally live life. In fact, she was really good.

It was because I cried every night when I came home from work and she was so excited to see me she barked and spun in circles.

And how I couldn't leave her for more than 2 hours without wanting to rush home.

And the fact that our apartment (while plenty nice and big for the two of us at this juncture of our life) is about the half the size of my parents living room/kitchen area.

So I went home for a visit for a few days and had planned on taking her with me so she could see Albie. When we got to Smithville, she jumped out of the car and immediately started sprinting around the yard. You know she could smell home. And then she saw this munchkin: 

                                      

 And it was all over from there. He missed her, she missed him, and the way they were jumping all over each other I knew there was no way she was coming back to St. Louis in the near future.

Seriously. It makes me so sad and honestly I wish they could be with me all of the time. I would take them both in a heartbeat. If we had a house. And a yard. It's just not fair to Bella to be alone for so long when in Smithville, someone is home almost 22 hours each day. And Albert is there 24/7.

There you have it. World's Worst Pet Parent. Also, I'm pretty sure we're going to get a cat, which makes me feel like I'm cheating on my dog.

diy: {chalkboard wine glasses}

 Awhile back, I found this cute idea on (where else?) Pinterest.

I started out by taking some wine glasses that my aunt graciously gave me for free....

Do you spy my little helper?

and used some painter's tape to tape off the stem so that the barrel of the glass remained paint free. 

 Then, I wrapped some newspaper around the glass to make especially sure that the glass was safe.

 I then took my glasses outside to a well-ventilated area to spray the stems. My helper tagged along.

I used this Krylon Chalkboard spray paint which I found at Hobby Lobby. It was $7.99, but I used a 40% off coupon and got a good deal on it. Also, I hardly used any of it so it will definitely last me forever.

I then sprayed the stems on the top and bottom and let them dry a bit.

Albert really wanted to lick the glasses, but don't worry, I didn't let him.

And in the end, this was my finished product! They turned out just like the picture, and I found a chalk marker that writes beautifully at Michaels. Not that we host parties a lot, but I can't wait to use them some day (I already used them for my bff's bachelorette party and they worked well!). One cautionary note: do NOT wash these in the dishwasher after you've sprayed them with the paint. It will come off...and then you will have black flecks all over your dishwasher. Whoops!

spring break 2012

Sam and I had big plans for spring break originally (Austin, Nashville, Chicago were all ideas thrown around), but since we're both poor students, our crazy destinations were KC and St. Louis.

The gorgeous weather we've been having in the Midwest have made this week especially feel like a vacay, which is maybe why I'm having a hard time getting motivated to do all of the homework and fill out all of the job applications I should be working on. Instead, I've been watching a lot of movies, spending a lot of time outside, and generally avoiding the reality check I'm going to be hit with on Monday. Yikes.


We started off the week with one of my best friend's wedding reception at the National Airline History Museum in downtown KC. She got married out of town in November, and had her in town reception here this past weekend.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have pretty friends.

Friends for a long, long time.

What a handsome man.

The next day, Sam and I headed back to St. Louis to hang out for a couple of days.

On Monday, we went to the zoo because it was GORGEOUS outside. Unfortunately, we didn't look up the time or anything, and we got there at 3:30...FYI, the zoo closes at 5:00 on weekdays. We speed-walked through the exhibits, which was fine, because we've gone a bunch of times, and it was fun just to be out in the nice weather.

I don't know that I've ever noticed anteaters at the zoo before, but they are SO WEIRD.

The elephants are one of my favorite exhibits.

Sam's enjoying the exhibit!

Camels are also weird creatures.

Do they spit? Sam and I couldn't remember, and there were a couple of people debating this around us too.

Has anyone noticed how incredibly windy it has been lately? Although I'll admit, the breeze was nice while we were walking around.

The bears!

Apparently these penguins lives somewhere where the air is hot and the water is freezing, which is why they can acclimate so well to the temperature here. I'm not sure I buy it but it makes me feel a little better about penguins living in St. Louis.

 One day I got to have lunch with another one of my besties, J. You probably recognize her from earlier posts! I have missed her a lot. She's crazy busy because she's in nursing school as well...although our goal is to work at the same hospital so we can see each other all the time :).

 Since I've been home I've just been chilling with this little man. He's been following me around like a shadow. I guess he doesn't really understand where I went for 5 days. Sorry, babe. Bella doesn't really care that I was gone. Typical.

Today I've been staring at my homework pile and decidedly ignoring it. I've also been mourning Mizzou's loss in the NCAA basketball tournament (I picked them to win in BOTH of my brackets. Ugh). I've also been rejoicing in Duke's loss for the past few minutes, even though I picked them to go to the Elite 8.

I know I've been a total slacker in the blogging world lately. Really all I do is go to school, come home, apply for jobs (I'm up to 20 or so, so far), do homework, and lament about the fact that I should be doing more than I already am. I can't wait for this process to be over. If only I could have a glass ball to peek into the future so I'd know in 3 months or so everything would be figured out!

I do have some exciting events coming home (some more wedding events!) so hopefully I'll keep up on my blog posts so people will know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth :).

life lately.

Thank goodness for my iPhone. It's the only reason I have any photos of what's going on in my life lately!

So, through the lens of my iPhone...

I got this awesome new hat from j.crew on super clearance. it's so warm and fuzzy and wonderful.

I love pretty clouds and sunsets.

had a night out with some great friends (after a few hours of dancing).

woke up to this cutie staring at me and trying to hold my hand.

had breakfast in the lou with Sam...he was either intensely happy about this or trying to send me a signal about all the pictures I take...probably the former :).

hung out with these babes on a day off from school. they're besties.

I mean how does your heart not melt?

spent a LOT of time in the hospital.

sleepy bellsy

a ridiculous license plate I saw on my way to school.

he *looks* so sweet. he isn't really sweet when he's biting your head while you're trying to sleep.

Okay, yes, I take a lot of pictures of my dogs. I don't care. You know you think they're cute.

Albert

There's a new puppy in the house.

That's right. A new puppy. "Already", as I've heard 30239813 times.

I don't really feel like I need to 'justify' our decision to get a new dog so shortly after Charlie passed away, but I guess I'll try to explain a little bit.

Charlie was an amazing dog, as I've said about 45 times in the last month. He was the first dog I ever loved, and I miss him so much that I still get tears in my eyes if I try to talk about him. The other day I sat on our couch with black pants on and stood up and there was red hair all over me (our house isn't that dirty, but mannn dog hair clings to EVERYTHING). It's enough to set me off for at least 30 minutes.

So, as you're probably thinking, "If you can't even handle a little dog hair, are you really ready for a new dog?" Honestly, I don't know. Are you ever ready? We talked about it as a family and realized that while nothing could EVER replace Charlie, we had to think of someone else.

Yep, Bella. Home girl has been in a spirally into a deep depression. You might think that dogs can't get depressed--not true. Since the day Charlie passed away, she has been sleeping in his bed during the day. She won't come downstairs in the morning to eat (truly shocking because she used to steal all of Charlie's food, and his treats, and his bones...). She doesn't care about going for walks, which is ALSO shocking because she used to bark at me whenever I put my shoes in the morning because she thought she was going for a walk. The only time she's been happy is when another dog is around, which is rare.

Enter Albert.

 Home boy is SO CUTE. He's only 9 weeks old, and he's going to be Bella's new BFF.

 This is originally the coloring of Cavalier I wanted before Bella, even though I think she's super cute.

 Oh hey, I'm super cute.

 I look like a sad dog, but I'm actually not at all.

 What's up guys?

I love him already. So does Bella.

Also, I feel it's necessary to clarify he is not named Albert after Albert Pujols. He's named after King George VI (the king from The King's Speech). Obvi his nickname is Bertie.