Gatlinburg, Tn

We just got back from an AMAZING trip to Gatlinburg, Tn. We rented a very nice cabin up in the mountains (which had some unfortunate neighbors, both human and nonhuman), and drove into town for some good ol touristish fun. We went to the world's largest aquarium, went to a Ripley's believe it or not museum, got a mold of our holding hands (see picture), mined for gems, mini golfed, did some good shopping, and sampled various treats and foot-long corndogs along the way! I am too tired to recount the whole thing but here are some photos!

AWESOME.

ONLY in south carolina :)

and they called the thing a rodeo....

So we went to a rodeo in town today.. I had fun but it was a little too redneck for Sandro :) Something about the opening prayer including the word "Athletecism" hahaha! OH and they had a flaming USA in the dirt as they sang the star spangled banner, hahahaha

But like I said, I had a good time. We saw a few boys get thrown around, saw a few MASSIVE pissed off bulls.. much better than staying at home :)

I took some photos with my blackberry... they aren't very good quality but in some you can see the bull bucking and the cowboy sprawled out lol. enjoy!

25 is the new 30

Man I feel old. I went out for some serious clothes shopping last night for the first time in... quite a while... since I started rotations? lol yea I know. I hadn't really been upset about my birthday next month, but after last night I'm feeling old.

I still kind of shop in the Juniors sections because..well.. the clothes are cuter, fit a little better, and are cheap! But man.. it made me realize how old I am lol. I tried on this scoop neck hoodie that would have been very cute on a high school student.. but once I got it on I thought..what is the purpose of a scoop neck hoodie?! Hoodies are for concealment and warmth! It just doesn't make sense to have the neckline on a hoodie be so low that you have to wear a shirt under it. Sigh. I also tried on a top with a little mini vest because apparently that's in now. I just laughed at myself in the mirror haha....

Oh well I suppose I will need to start shopping in the big girl section :) 25. man...this sucks. :)

In other news my thumb is still throbbing, however the bleeding has stopped. I showed it to Katie and Dad on oovoo and got a satisfying "EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOWWW!" reaction. Somehow having people acknowledge my pain makes me feel tough haha. Thankfully I have some vicodin and percocet laying around the house from previous surgeries/dental encounters so- I'm good.

Today we are taking Sophie to class number two.. should be interesting!

Rough

I'm having a bad week. Monday morning I get to work, and realized that I've lost my nametag somewhere. So I think no big deal, I'll just go get another one... OOOOHH NOOO. I have to go around and have a paper signed by all my bosses so that they know I'm stupid and that I've lost my nametag, I have to pay for a new one, in addition to the fact that I have to make a written report to security to get access into the pharmacy. Fabulous. The rest of the day was busy and cranky.

Tuesday- I am in the car, on the way to work when it hits me. I have left my BRAND NEW name tag at home. I turn around and tear the house upside down looking for the dang thing. Can't find it.. and I'm about to have a massive freak out.. so I wake poor Sandro up.. who somehow immediately finds it. Thank God.. on my way to work.

TODAY things were normal.. got to work WITH my nametag. All is well right? Well.. as I shut (well...slam) the car door I somehow manage to shut it on my thumb. I literally broke my thumb and cut my fingernail all the way from one side to the other. It is only attached to the skin below it. fabulous! I have gone through an insane amount of bandaids and motrin and have a massive blood blister. Maybe I'll post some pictures later.

I hope and pray that the worse is over :(

puppy class

So yesterday Sophie and I made the hour long drive into Greenville to start puppy classes! I've been trying to get her more comfortable getting into cars and going for rides- so that wasn't a problem. Getting out of the car in the Petsmart parking lot was a major battle! lol.. The poor thing, there were other people and other dogs, and cars going by and backing up! At the very least she was terrified! I literally had to carry her in.

Once we got in and found where we were supposed to be, I let her down and the poor thing tried to hide under a shelving unit. She was so scared and shaking like a leaf! All the other puppies were yipping and yawing and smelling and licking each other, but poor Sophie was absolutely overwhelmed lol. I had to carry her into the training room.

From that point on it got a lot better- she became comfortable in the training room. This is the first of 8 classes so this time we mainly listened to the trainer talk. The other puppies in the class were SOOOO CUTE !!!! there was a rotweiler puppy, a german shepard puppy, three malteses and a daushound (however that is spelled). I was really suprized that Sophie was by far the biggest (and not the oldest) dog there!

The class was ok, I learned that if Sophie doesn't want to follow me on the leash, I should just drag her slowly and not say anything like "oh come on sophie" in a whiney voice because then she feels like I'm scared too by my tone. We also were given clickers to help her learn when she's doing a good job... so overall a good thing.

After the class I decided to literally drag Sophie all over the store in an attempt to make her trust me. She had all her legs ramrod stiff, her toes all splayed out trying to resist in anyway possible. BUT after a few aisles she started to walk with her back legs and eventually her front legs and it seemed like it was working! yay!

Now that I've updated you on Sophie, I need to get to my homework- I'm taking an anticoagulation course for work and I have a monday deadline for homework. booooooooo.

OBSESSED!!

Alright, I am totally obsessed with the Twilight saga!!  I cannot wait for the next three movies :)