Marley & Me

 I wanted to write about our dog Marley for our memory's sake. 

It was extremely difficult when we lost Manny. Coming home from Disney to an empty house was gut wrenching. I was on a search to help fill the void we were feeling. I don't remember the exact date I found Marley on Facebook, but I think it was on a Wednesday, four days after we got home.

This was the picture that stole my heart. After getting in touch with the rescue group, we set up a meeting to meet him. I can't remember a lot of details, but I do remember telling Maddy I had a surprise for her. She was extremely confused when we pulled up to someone's house. Once she saw the puppies, I'm pretty sure she figured it out. Marley was so adorable, and I knew he was the one for us. My mom went with us, and she fell in love with Marley's brother and next thing we know we are walking out with two puppies.

This is how they rode in the car.

I didn't know at the time, but my heart was not ready to get attached to another dog. I was still grieving and refused to get attached to Marley.  Over time he worked his way into my heart and now I can't even imagine life without him. Being a dog mom is hard. They are with you for only a short time, and it breaks my heart saying goodbye.

Marley is extremely smart and was eager to learn as a puppy. He went through puppy school at PetSmart. He did fantastic, it was me that struggled lol.

Marley loves his toys. He is the first dog I've owned that loves to play. One of his favorite toys was a purple bone that squeaks when it is pushed. He walked around the house with it in his mouth just squeaking it over and over. Sadly, he put a hole in it, and we had to throw it away. The look on his face was devastation when his bone went in the garbage. I felt so bad for him that we went out to get him a new one. They did not have purple, so we had to get him a pink one. It took him a while to love it like his purple one, but he has since broken it in.

Marley's other favorite toy is his giggle ball. Had I known he would pick up the hard ball and ram it into things, I never would have bought it for him. He looks like he is going bowling when he runs with it. 

He loves bed! When I get off of work he immediately runs to bed. Apparently, I go to bed a lot after work lol.

He loves getting to go to the park.

He also loves to bury his nose and snuggle up in blankets.

He hates wearing clothes but will suffer through it if it means he gets to go.

He always sleeps with a toy. 

He steals our pillows so he can sleep on them. He even has his own pillow, bed, but he chooses ours.

He loves Christmas time. He has learned through Christmas to get excited over any and all packages. 

One of our favorite things about Marley is he actually smiles.

What I'm Watching

 I thought I would do something a little different and share any shows and movies we watched in January. I see so many people asking for recommendations on social media, so I thought I would share ours.

• Grey's Anatomy
• All Rise
• 9-1-1
• Big Sky
• This is Us
• Law & Order: SVU
• Secrets of Sulphur Springs
• Flash
• Bella and the Bulldogs
• Bunk'd
• Malibu Rescue the Next Wave
• Pets United
• Pants on Fire
• Family Reunion
• Greater
• Chicago Med
• New Girl
• Journey 2
• Fuller House
• The Unforgivable
• Red Notice
• LMN movies

I'm sure there are things I've missed. Our watch list is probably more than most because we are home a lot. I get through my workdays by alternating between music and tv. Once Maddy is done with school she relaxes by watching tv.

Happy Friday!

Washington, D.C.

 We went to D.C. on July 10, 2018. The trip took about ten hours from our house. The drive was pretty boring and seemed to take forever. 

Is it even a road trip without posting to social media along the way?

Driving in the city was very interesting. The lanes went from going straight to all of a sudden, it's now a turn lane. The drivers honk a lot, but they do at least let you over when you have your blinker on. Siri struggles just about as much as I do in getting us to our destination. Trying to get to our hotel took a good thirty minutes of us circling around the block. 

We stayed at Hotel Herrington. The reviews stated the rooms were outdated but overall, it was a nice hotel. I chose this hotel because funds were very limited, and I knew we would need to walk everywhere. The hotel is .8 of a mile from the White House. With exception of the zoo, the furthest we would have to walk is 1.8 miles. The hotel has a parking garage that is about two blocks from the hotel itself. The front desk staff were decent. The rooms were very outdated. I saw a recent suggestion state to bring an extension cord if you stay there, and I one hundred percent agree. My phone charger did not reach the bed. My main issue with this hotel is the housekeeping staff. On our check out day they tried to come in our room. That was my fault for not putting the do not disturb sign on the door. When I opened the door, she chewed me out for not putting the sign on the door and demanded I put it on the door. I told her ok, but she would not leave until I put the sign on the door. I felt like a little kid getting in trouble by my parents and was appalled that a staff member would talk to a guest in the manner she was. She later realized when we brought our suitcases out that we were actually checking out. She was nicer to us and asked if we were checking out and I just shook my head yes and kept walking. The location of the hotel is phenomenal. Had we not had the incident with housekeeping I would stay there again. If we ever make it back to D.C., we will make sure to have funds to stay at the nicer hotels within the area.

The hotel provided maps of the city, which were very helpful. 

We had very limited time, so once we got our bags to the room we immediately went exploring. The main reason we chose to go to D.C. is because Maddy had been learning a little about the United States in school. She learned about the Washington Monument and how the United States came to be. We viewed this as a field trip and were excited to see in person the things we learned about in books.

The one thing we were not prepared for was how hot it was. Tennessee gets hot and has bad humidity, but D.C. definitely beat it hands down.

Maddy was disappointed in the White House. She expected it to be white, not a cement color. I tried to get us tickets inside the White House before we left, but I was too late in requesting. I have no idea how far in advance you have to request them, but a month was not enough time.

After seeing the White House, we ventured to the Washington Monument. It was so hard to get a picture of us with the monument in the background. 

We were thrilled when we found we could stick our legs in the water. The water was cold, but as hot as it was it felt really good. I could have stayed there the rest of the day and been fine. It was so peaceful there. 

After cooling down a bit we were ready to venture on. We walked to the Lincoln Memorial where they were having some kind of event. 

Maddy was beyond ready for a drink, so after watching for a little bit we went on to find a drink stand. I'm sure I sound dramatic, but the lemonade was a lifesaver. 

On our way back towards the hotel I heard the announcer state the Vice President Joe Biden and his wife were there. I immediately stopped to try to see him. Again, it doesn't matter how you feel about the people in office, it is not every day you are in the company of a previous Vice President. We couldn't see him, but we did hear him speak. 

Funny story time, although it may not sound too funny. We were carrying our lemonade on the way back. While waiting on the crosswalk light in front of the White House to let us go, I felt a surge of something cold and wet. I gasped and looked down to see what happened. Maddy was dying laughing. Her cup slipped out of her hand and spilled all over me. As I looked around us people were also laughing at the incident. All I could get out was the fact that I had no extra shoes, and we were going to have to wait to eat until I dried off. To this day we still laugh about that incident. The heat helped dry my shoes off, so we were able to get food.

I don't remember the name of this pizza place, but I do remember it was really good. I think this was &pizza. 

This was the Museum of the Bible. It is a three-story building. They have a small kid's area where the kids can run around and play. We did go to the kid's area, but I didn't get any pictures or videos.

On check out day we were going to attempt to walk to the Smithsonian's National Zoo. It would have been about a thirty-minute walk one way. Maddy was getting too hot, and we hadn't made it very far. At that point we decided we were just ready to head home.

We loved visiting D.C. There are places we still want to visit there and would love to go back during the Fourth of July weekend. 

Even though we weren't planning to visit all fifty states at this point, we are adding it to our done list. 

Get Stoked

 I have worked out off and on ever since I was in fourth grade. I feel like I have tried just about every workout routine there is. I signed up for Beachbody on demand in 2020. I worked out 3-4 days a week but saw little results. I follow Candace Cameron Bure on Instagram, and she kept posting her workouts with her trainer, Kira Stokes. After hearing that she is in her forties and looks as amazing as she does, I knew it was time to check it out. 

I signed up for the seven-day free trial and was blown away. I knew I had gotten extra fluffy over the years, but when I could barely get through the warmup, I knew I needed to stick around. I started using Kira's app in March 2021. I wish I could say I have stayed faithful to my workouts, but I have not. I can make it further than I could when I first started, but I still cannot do a full workout from start to finish. I've noticed changes in my arms. Kira loves to work the triceps.

Kira's workouts are very challenging, but they work. I feel so much stronger than I used to. My only complaint is she goes through three rounds of the same exercises. I get bored very quick, so I hate to repeat exercises. She does change them up each set, but it's not quite enough for me. I plan to stick with her app for a while. I can't wait to finally complete a workout start to finish. Once I achieve that goal, I will move on to trying to complete the entire stoked stack. 

When I first started out, I did not have her workout gear. I just modified the workouts as needed. Once I knew I was going to stick with her for a while, I ordered the stoked set. The stoked pro was not an option at the time. I have since added the stoked block, ab wheel, and jump rope. The stoked block allows you to go into a deeper lunge and man does it burn! The jump rope just came back in stock, so I haven't tested it out just yet. I have used the ab wheel and I've learned I have no abs. I am working hard to get some muscle back. I am excited to have found her because I like how I feel with her workouts. 

Helen, Georgia

 Our second state to visit was Georgia. We were supposed to go to Helen, Georgia with one of my friends, but I ended up having to work, and we weren't able to go. We decided to take a day trip while I had some time off work. We went during summer, and it was so hot! It reminded me of a smaller Gatlinburg, TN. There are trails you can hike, and you can tube down the river. 

The drive was pretty from our house. There were several pull off spots to take in the scenery.

We were ready to jump in with our clothes to cool off. 

This bridge reminded me of the Pont des Arts in Paris. I've never been to Paris, but I have seen the bridge in pictures and on tv. I would love to visit Paris someday. 

We ate at the Troll Tavern. We both enjoyed it, but thought the food needed salt. We sat outside and this was our view. 

I took a snippet of the menu. We both got the chicken salad sandwich. The heat ruined our appetite, and we really just wanted a drink. I saw someone ordered the burger and it looked and smelled good.  We would definitely come back here to eat.

My favorite store was the Christmas Shoppe. When we walked in it was like we stepped right into Christmas. Christmas music was playing, and all the ornaments were hung on Christmas trees. If I ever move to Helen, I may just have to work in the Christmas Shoppe.

We each picked out an ornament. Most of the ornaments did not have Helen, GA on them, so we picked out one more that did. 

After we visited the Christmas Shoppe, we were ready to head home. I still had to grab a few more pictures of the scenery along the way. I'm pretty sure Maddy was over it by this point lol.

Every place we travel, we always want to go back. Helen is no different. We would go back in a heartbeat. We still have lots of exploring to do, so it will probably be a while before we make it back.

Learning to Letter

I have always enjoyed handwriting. I think penmanship has been an interest of mine since third grade. While getting involved in the planner community, I learned about lettering.  I thought it would be something I could just pick up on my own, but it turns out I needed a little help. 

My parents got me this book for Christmas in 2020, and it has been extremely helpful. I haven't practiced as much as I should. 

By February I decided to try it out on my budget envelopes. These envelopes are from the Budget Mom, so make sure to go check her out. She really steps up the budgeting game. I was a little frustrated by how long it was taking me to learn the process. I almost gave up, but I love the look of it too much to give up. When I get frustrated, I take breaks and try again after I have had some time to chill.

I was pretty proud of Maddy's card. The 'M' is not an easy letter to draw. I have since learned when using an actual brush pen the 'M' is not as bad as it is with a regular pen. Most books do not spend a lot of time learning to connect letters. There is a little section on how to connect letters, but I needed a whole book on how to connect letters.

I tried off and on throughout last year to really nail it down but was not really succeeding. I realize now I truly did not practice enough. I found an Etsy shop that sold lettering practice sheets. Memories by Meyers sells this digital lettering practice set. I started at the beginning but was getting impatient because I just wanted to learn to letter. I didn't want to practice my cursive. I ended up taking a break from this workbook for a while. I think this is a fantastic learning tool, I unfortunately was just impatient. I have since picked it back up and am so glad I made the purchase. 

I recently purchased one more lettering book from Sarah Ensigns. Along with her book I ordered some smooth tracing paper, so I didn't have to write in my book. I feel like I now have all the tools I could possibly need in order to learn the art of lettering, and I have been practicing. My skill is still not where it should be considering how long I have been trying, but I finally feel like it is starting to click with me.

I spent Friday night practicing. I will share even though the quality is horrible. 

I am not an artistic person at all. I have read you don't have to be an artistic person to learn to letter. I've also read it does take some time to learn. I don't think you have to have all three resources to learn to letter, but all three have helped me in different ways.

 All three books I used start with learning faux calligraphy. For this step you really just need a pen or pencil. I also recommend tracing paper so you can keep your book for future use. Once you master faux calligraphy, you can move on to brush lettering. Every resource I have used all say to practice the basic strokes over and over. I definitely recommend this as well. 

I have not used a lot of different brush pens. I started with the dual tip Tombow brush pens. They are a large brush pen, and I have had some difficulty in learning to control my strokes. I have been using these Pentel pens and love them. 

I wanted to share my experience because I could not find anybody else struggling like me. I joined some groups on Facebook in hopes I could find encouragement, but they all seem to be on a higher level. Even if I never get the hang of it, it is at least a great way to relieve stress.