A Little About "Us"

I have followed some of the blogs on my list for well over a year. I began my blogging journey in 2007 and it's a habit I haven't kicked, thankfully. I'm not too good at that habit kickin' thing anyway. What I'm realizing is that while I've followed several blogs and know about their background, I need to fill in the gaps about our lives as this has been a one way road since I began reading blogs.

I'll give a short summary of our last seven years together.... SEVEN years. Woah! Seven is my lucky number so I think that is an omen (or something) that 2010 will be great for us! I will surly go more in depth on many of these things I am about to summarize!

Brandon and I are "Highschool Sweathearts." I've always hated that title, by the way. I feel like it has a very negative connotation to it. People assume we were the clingy overly dramatic couple that was on-again off-again throughout the years. Ok, or I assume that people assume that. Maybe my assumption is off. Never the less, I'm certain anyone who knows us well will tell you that we're anything but that. In fact, Brandon and my relationship is the easiest one I've experienced. I mean relationship in general, not solely romantic. I'm lucky to say that I suppose. Anyway, we've been together since February of 2003, our Junior year of high school.

We graduated in 2004 and both went to community colleges around our home town. Brandon played golf all through high school and received a scholarship to a nearby CC in Tacoma. I went to the closer CC here in Olympia. I finished my Associate's in December of 2006 and we made a BIG move to the desert on 1/1/07. Arizona was full of promises for us. A big University for myself and golf courses galore for Brandon -- seemed like it would be so perfect! However, there were several things that brought us back to the Pacific Northwest. Our families were the main reason, though. Money was a second contender! Turns out, it's really expensive to golf all of the time and out of state tuition is even more expensive! Ha! Not to mention that this girl was BORN to be in the PNW. 119 degrees is not my cup of tea. Ever. Period. While in Arizona we had some great times, met some great people and learned to be a bit more independent. Brandon proposed to me at a gorgeous hotel in Scottsdale on December 16, 2007. We moved home the first week in February of 2008. We bought our first house in June of 2008 and were married in August. **WHEW** We were busy for the first half of 2008!

The latter half of 2008 brought some great struggles within my family that have lasted through 2009. We lost my dear step dad in February of 2009 and I still can't believe he's gone today. I've began back in school to finish my BA and we both work at Brandon's family's business. We're both essentially bartenders but we both do a little bit of everything around the place. Brandon does managerial type things and I can be found either cleaning or bartending/serving. I have grown to love the place and enjoy my time spent there. I also care take for a 8 month old little girl. She's such a doll and I love spending time with her!

Over the years we have acquired four animals. We only have three of them currently. Our first baby was Libby. She's quite the cat! She has quite the attitude but is a very beautiful girl. Next was Jackson, found running on Lindsay Road in Mesa, Arizona. He's an 8 year old Border Collie with quite a history. After Jack was rescued I received my very favorite *boy* kitty for Christmas in 2007. Riley was the perfect tabby with white toes and he was as friendly as any kitty could be. The last addition really wasn't an addition for me, but was for Brandon. Rainie is my family's pet that found herself homeless after my step dad passed last February. She's a 14-16 year old (we adopted her so we're not sure of the age) chow/golden retriever mix. She's a pain. I love her and I heard Brandon tell her the same today. Unfortunately, she is old and that comes with quite a few challenges but she can't control her age anyway, right? Let's just say that I wish I owned stock in Bounty and it's not for cleaning up kitchen messes. However, she has gone through just as much grief as the rest of us this year and I'm happy to announce she hasn't had an accident in over two weeks! I am sad to end the pet segment of this post with the news that Riley has been missing for over two weeks. I miss him dearly... all of his family does. Libby spent all of last week checking each room for him, meowing constantly. She hasn't touched his food dish and hasn't left our sides for every moment that we're home. I miss my favorite *boy* kitty. I say that *boy* part so I don't hurt Libby's feelings. She knows she's my favorite *girl* kitty. :) Anyway, I can hope that Riles will come home... but the odds are that he's in Kitty Heaven now and his Mama misses him. :*(

Yes, I am a crazy pet owner. All of my animals have several nick names and I talk to them all of the time. They are my (our) life, that is for sure. Spoiled as ever. I am the type of person that cries when those danged ASPCA commercials come on. You know? The Sarah MacLaughlan ones? Sheesh.

Now that I'm full blown crying over my cat's disappearance, I better go for now. I know that was a lot of information crammed into one post. But, I figured I'd try to catch everyone up really quickly. For now, at least.

Have A Beautiful Week!