Weekend Recap?

I wasn't really sure what to title this post...but I guess it's a weekend recap.  My weekend was not all that exciting so I apologize for the less than exciting post in advance.

I'm a bad blogger...I didn't take pictures Friday or Saturday night while I was at the races.  I did not even take my purse along in the car since I didn't want to carry it at the track so of course my camera was left at home both nights.  It didn't even cross my mind that I would want it until I was at the track.  Of course because we live 30 minutes away running home to get it was not an option.

So without pictures I can't really give that great of an update because I'm sure none of what I'm saying would make any sense.  I had a good time both nights and enjoyed a few adult beverages.  Captain and Pepsi became my friend again. :)

Other than going to the races I did a whole lot of nothing this weekend.  Great thing to blog about huh?

I'll stop this boring post now before it gets worse.  I promise something more exciting soon!

Let's Go Racing!

It's finally Friday!!!  Gosh does it ever feel good to be able to say that.  I mentioned in a previous post that I've been working up to 5 hours of overtime per week and I won't lie, it's exhausting.  At this point in my life, and with the job I'm currently at I have a negative view on overtime.  The extra money is great, especially since I used a lot of money at Country Fest [post(s) still coming!] and I'm going to have to pay for tuition pretty soon.  But I'm going to be honest with you, I see overtime as more time to get upset that other people couldn't do their job right and I am now babysitting to make sure that it's fixed.  It sucks!

But enough of that negativity.

Tonight and tomorrow night my family, or at least parts of it (like my grandpa, aunt, mom, and dad) will be going to the races at the local quarter mile track.  We're going to the Larry Detjens Memorial race.  From what my mom told me about Larry Detjens he died in a racing accident, the guard rail came through his car and killed him.  A family friend who worked on his car had recently cut roll bars out of the car to make the car lighter, per Larry's request.  Talk about a hard thing to get over.  The late model feature is a 150 laps so it should be a great two nights of racing in memory of a great Wisconsin racer.

My mom and grandpa are excited to go tonight because of the autograph session featuring people like Dick Trickle (raced locally and went up to the big time NASCAR), Mike Miller, Ross Kenseth (Matt Kenseth's son), and local people who I grew up watching.  I remember being to embarrassed to talk to these drivers when we would go in the pits after the races but I always wanted their autographs.  I'm sure I won't be that way tonight.

I'll do my best to take some pictures so I can do a more exciting post about the races.

Tomorrow morning Bo has his first vet appointment (since we've had him) so I'll be getting up nice and early to go with my dad.  I'm anxious to see how much he's grown.  We haven't weighed him in a while so I'm curious how much he weighs now after we've had him for 3 weeks.  He's definitely growing fast though as he's getting taller daily it seems!

Enjoy your Friday people!

What are your weekend plans?

It's time to wake up!

Every morning when my alarm clocks (yes, plural) go off I think to myself, "It's time to  get up....oh I'll just lay here a minute longer..."

So, last night I had this awesome idea.  I made myself a playlist of a few songs that I could use as my alarm clock.

Good morning to you too boys :)

I forgot to make sure the volume was turned all the way up on my iPod, and when I reset my alarm on my iHome I forgot to make sure the actual alarm was loud enough.  I ended up turning my first alarm (5:30am) off because in five minutes I would be hearing my new wake up playlist.

Next thing I know my second cell phone alarm, third alarm total, was going off at 5:45am and I can barely hear my wake up playlist.  The boys were serenading me back to sleep rather than waking me up for the day!  But I know for tomorrow now because I'm not giving up on being woken up to those boys. ;)

My question to you is what is your wake up routine like?  Are you a snooze button user?  Do you ever sleep much later than you would have liked?

I did it!

As I was just browsing on Blogger I found the Import Blog link!! I just got done importing my WordPress blog to Blogger.

I still have some work to do with my pages and layout/look but it's definitely coming along.

If you go back and read any of those posts that were imported let me know if something doesn't work, or doesn't look right.

I'm off to go paint my nails Berry Naughty by Essie.  Thank you Alexis for telling me about this brand of polish, I think I'm addicted!

Catch up with ya later!

To convert or not to convert?

Since yesterday I have been debating about what I want to really do with this blog and I've decided I want some of your opinions.

I currently have a WordPress blog and have been blogging there since February.  I'm currently on the fence about whether I really want to use Blogger instead of WordPress.  I think my only real reason for not just jumping into Blogger is that I started with WordPress so that's what I'm already comfortable with.  I am not saying the WordPress is better for me than Blogger.  In fact, I think Blogger might be more suited to me because (this is my opinion) Blogger is a more beginner friendly and not quite as serious of a blogging site compared to WordPress.  Blogger allows for easier personalization of your blog, especially changing colors and how and where things are laid out.

Sounds like I'm all for Blogger then right?  Well I would be except I don't want to lose the posts I've done on WordPress.  I've Googled and the instructions I found for converting WordPress posts to Blogger tell me I should have done this when I first created my blog.  Now the only way I know that I can convert my old posts is to copy and paste them individually.  I have no problem doing this unless I take the time to do it and then end up say, "Blogger isn't for me I'm going to go back to WordPress."

I'm sure those of you who use Blogger will say, "Go for it!" and those of you who use WordPress will say, "Stick with us!"  My friend Alexis who recently started up a blog (http://alexisanton.blogspot.com/) has used both Blogger and WordPress and votes Blogger.  But, she started with Blogger not WordPress, so does that make her biased one way or the other?  Maybe, maybe not.

Ultimately I know it is my decision as it is my blog.  I suck at making decisions on my own.  I always look for guidance from someone else. So here I am, looking for some guidance.

What are your thoughts about the situation I am in?

What should I do with my WordPress blog while I make a decision?  Do I keep posting and then convert those posts (if I decide on Blogger)?  I do have posts I've been promising to publish for a while now so it's not as if I have nothing to write about haha.

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions on this!

Making a move?

I am in the decision making process of making a move from WordPress to Blogger.  Check me out over there, read my post, and leave your thoughts and opinions for me!

Living and Learning to be Country Strong

Thanks blends!

Under Construction

I started following a few blogs and allowed people to see that I was following them so I figured I better put this out there.  This blog is currently under construction as I am just getting started, as in I signed up and started creating it last night.  I currently have a WordPress blog that I'm going to work on converting over once I have this blog set up and looking like I want it to.  Until I convert feel free to read my blog over at http://countrystrong21.wordpress.com/!

Any tips or suggestions of things I must include on my blog let me know!  I'm new to blogger so I'm still learning.

Update: I do not think I will be converting my WordPress blog over to Blogger.  One reason being there is no simple way to convert those posts to Blogger.  A second reason I'm now on the fence about whether I want to use Blogger as I've read some fellow bloggers who say they have trouble commenting on Blogger blogs.  I have enough trouble getting people to comment on my crazy blog (my own fault) so I don't need those few people to not be able to comment on my blog at all.  Decisions decisions to be made....

Camping Part 2

Better late than never right?  Right!  So, it's finally here. :)

I left off my last camping post with me going to take some more pictures and enjoy more alone time with nature and Bo.

As I was enjoying just sitting in nature I had some visitors.  At first I thought they were chipmunks but I was later informed that they are in fact gophers.

Can you see the visitor?

I was sitting in my zero gravity chair when I happen to glance to my left and spotted the little critter.  There was actually more than one and they served as entertainment for a while.  Bo was still enjoying the shade of the camper while sleeping so he missed out on all of the excitement.  Maybe that was a good thing though?

There it is!

My parents returned from the wedding after I stopped being entertained by the gophers.  We had hamburgers for dinner without ketchup! :(  My dad doesn't use ketchup so of course he didn't think to pack that for our camping trip.  I was so sad.

Even though the gophers were still scurrying around, including some tiny young ones, my dad and I found new entertainment in these crazy young people.



My dad and I were watching from our campsite to see if they would survive the strong current.  That sounds bad but it's the truth.  We thought they were crazy for being in there and thought for sure that one of them would fall.  Lucky for them no one did.

My parents left me again to return to the wedding reception.  I stayed outside in my zero gravity chair until it was dark.  This was my view.



I of course spent some time playing with that handsome little devil!

Isn't he cute??

Once it got dark we moved it inside the disgusting camper.  Oh yea, did I mention that we found out the AC doesn't work?  It was so hot that night nothing but clothes were needed for sleeping.  But while Bo and I were waiting for my parents to come back from the wedding we started watching NCIS Season 2.  Well really I watched and Bo slept because it was past his bedtime (9pm).  I counted Bo as another person so I wasn't drinking alone when I had my four Mike's Hard Black Cherry Lemonades.  Once my parents arrived "home" everyone went to bed for the night.

We woke up Sunday morning to the beginning of a few days worth of extreme heat.  Heat advisories were constantly on the TV and it was just plain hot.  We packed up pretty quickly following breakfast.  It felt so good to be in the truck with AC!  We made a pit stop at The Windmill for some ice-cream.  I ordered a chocolate milkshake and what I got was not what I was expecting.  They used chocolate ice-cream instead of vanilla with chocolate syrup to get the chocolate in the shake.  I'm not a chocolate ice-cream fan so this didn't really hit the spot but due to the heat I drank most of it anyways.

After our ice-cream pit stop we drove home and enjoyed the afternoon by lounging in the house because it was so nice after being in the heat for a whole day and a half.  It made me appreciate the fact that my family can afford central air.

And there you have it!  So sorry it took so long for me to get this posted!
dying
bugs

Upcoming Posts

Good morning blends!

I'm just going to come right out and say it, I've been lazy.  I have yet to type up my Camping Part 2 post or my Country Fest 2011 recap post even though I've been talking about doing them soon for quite some time now.

All of this laziness sparked a new post idea with some help from Navigating North, a new blog I'm following these days.  So that's been on my to-do list too since Tuesday and I haven't done that yet either.

Anyways, I just wanted to put it out there that I know I need to post everything that I've been telling you about, and I need to keep up with posting on a regular schedule.

This weekend is going to be the perfect time as I have no plans (other than what's on my to-do list) at this point.

Be on the look out for my Camping Part 2  post, Country Fest 2011 recap, and my Navigating North inspired post!

Enjoy your Friday blends!!

Ramblings In My Head

I would love to be posting the second part to my camping weekend but while at work I'm unable to upload pictures from my camera.  So here's a little something to hold you over until I get the post written up with pictures.

First of all Bo is on my mind.  He has sooo much energy lately and he's using it in the wrong way.  He's been biting my fingers, hands, and arms a lot lately.  I barely get him to let go and he's back at it again.  I've tried to hold his mouth closed and say "no bite" in a strong voice but that doesn't seem to be working.  I am open to suggestions!  I know he's just a puppy but seriously, I try to play with him using his toys that he is allowed to chew/bite on but of course he goes for my hand/arm instead of the toy I'm holding.  He does have a bone which he'll chew on it for a little bit but then seems to lose interest and is back to my hand/arm.  It's getting frustrating and makes me want to not be around him.  It's also frustrating to my brother who is home alone with him during the day so there is no escaping Bo.  My dad doesn't seem to have this problem, not sure what's different about him.  And my mom doesn't get on the floor to play with him a lot because of this problem we've been having.  There has to be a happy medium between Bo sleeping and being (as we call him) a terrorist dog.  What are you suggestions for teaching a puppy that people are not acceptable toys to chew/bite on?

Next thing on my mind is overtime.  My department is in a big collections push as a result of a big billing push.  Basically because the billing department has been told to "bill, bill, bill" for cash flow reasons, my department (credit/collections) is now being told to "collect, collect, collect".  I'm not opposed to the overtime pay, and it's not that I don't have enough work to fill my time, but it makes for long hours at the office.  Yesterday I worked 8.5 hours by only taking a half hour for my lunch break but wow was it ever a long day.  It took until 4pm to get into a rhythm on the project I was working on.  So, until 4pm the day seemed to drag by.  I put a post-it note over the time on my phone because it sits right next to my computer screen which means I constantly glance at it.  I even put papers over the clock radio that sits slightly behind me and is not in my direct line of sight.  When I can't look at the time the day goes by a little bit better.  If you follow me on Twitter you probably thought I was crazy when I posted a picture of my post-it note on my phone last week but I do it so I don't go crazy.  Do you ever have to work overtime for your job?  If so, how do you get through the long days?

And finally the last thing on my mind (but not on the bottom of the list of importance) is fitness.  I haven't been doing any sort of activity, unless you count walking around the yard so Bo goes to the bathroom.  Tonight, despite the scorching heat, I will be going for a walk.  I don't care how it gets done, with Bo and my parents, with just Bo, or alone but it will get done!  I've weighed Bo twice by holding him in my arms while on the scale, and then weighing myself alone on the scale.  While it's not the scale I usually use to weigh in and I didn't record my weight I still did not like what I saw.  Time and time again I say I'm going to kick my butt into gear to lose this excess weight but time and time again I'm not actually doing anything more than thinking about what I should be doing.  News flash to self you won't lose weight by only thinking  about what you should be doing, you need to actually do it!

There you have it, the ramblings that are going on in my head right now.  I'll be posting the second part to my camping weekend (with pictures!) soon and hopefully not too far down the road I'll be posting my Country Fest 2011 recap (with pictures!) too.

Camping Part 1

Hey there!  I hope everyone is having a good Saturday!  I am writing this while sitting in a zero gravity chair in the north woods of Wisconsin where I have no internet connectivity and no cell phone service.  It’s basically an unplugged two days of relaxation for me.

It all started yesterday at 5pm for me when I was able to take off my tennis shoes... 

And slip into my all time favorite shoes…flip flops!

Within an hour of getting home from work my parents, Bo and I were on the road north.

Can you believe how big he's gotten in just a week?!

Pretty impressive considering I had packed absolutely nothing prior to getting home.  I did make a list while at work.  

And then didn’t even have the list handy when I was packing.  A lot of good making a list does then right?  I haven’t wished I had something yet so I guess making the list was helpful because everything was fresh in my mind when I packed.

As I type this Bo is hanging out under the camper where it’s cool.

Just chillin' :)

It’s plenty warm and humid here so just sitting outside in the shade causes me to break a sweat but Bo doesn’t seem to mind as he’s been sleeping pretty much the entire time under the camper.  

My parents are off at a wedding ceremony right now so I’ve been able to just relax in the quiet and listen to the waterfall which is basically in our “backyard” for the weekend. 

I’m finding that I love this alone time with not only Bo but myself.  I can reflect or simply enjoy the fresh air and bugs.  Well ok so I’m not really enjoying the bugs but they’re part of nature so if I want to enjoy it I have to deal with the bugs right?

I highly suggest taking advantage of some alone time out in fresh air at a park, camping, or simply taking a walk.  So let me know where you’re enjoying nature this weekend!

I’m off to continue enjoying my alone time with some more picture-taking, Kindle reading, and maybe some picture organizing on my computer so I can finally get that Country Fest post up that I know you’re all waiting for!

It's finally time!

Yes you read that right, it is finally time that my surprise/secret (whatever you want to call it) is revealed!

As many of you know my family had to put our dog Duke to sleep in June.  The day after was weird.  We no longer had a dog in the house, or outside.  The first time in my 21 years of life that I didn't have a dog.  It was sad.

[caption id="attachment_206" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Duke after a grooming appointment 4/22/11"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_200" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Duke waiting for my mom to come up the driveway 6/3/11 (while he was sick :( )"][/caption]

No dog can ever replace Duke but we wanted a dog in our family again.  And funny enough the one thing my mom agreed to before she married my dad, he would always have a hunting dog.  So the topic came up the very next day about getting a puppy.

Monday (6/13/11) we attempted to contact Holly, the breeder we had gotten Duke from.  Her number was no longer in service.  I searched online but kept coming up with the same number.  So our search turned to the internet.  My dad and I were Googling like crazy.  We ended up emailing two kennels that night; one responded within 10-15 minutes with a video of his puppies and then shortly after called my dad.  We ended up setting up a time to come out and look at the puppies as there were four males available.

Tuesday morning at work I checked my email and was pleasantly surprised to see an email from the other kennel we had emailed.  I responded back requesting that he call that evening.

Again we set up a time to come out and see the puppies.  We were lucky that we could visit both litters on the same day which also happened to be my birthday.  Bet you were wondering why I was on the road when I mentioned it in my last blog weren't you?  ;)

Finally Saturday rolled around and we went to see both litters.  The first puppies we saw were much older and would be ready to be picked up the weekend of the 25th and 26th.  While the puppies were cute (but what puppies aren't?) they weren't what we were looking for.

We ate at Red Lobster between stops.  The second litter of puppies were much younger and wouldn't be ready to go to their new homes until mid July.  Even at a young age we were able to pick a favorite, boy #7.

We decided we wanted boy #7 by the time we got on the high way but waited to call them back until the next night.  We put a deposit down and then all we had to do was wait.

We were expecting to pick up our puppy, who we decided to name Bo, on the 16th of July until we received a call on June 30th saying they had miscounted how many weeks old they would be and we could actually pick Bo up on the 9th.

We were prepared with a new blue collar and leash along with treats.

And finally what you've all been waiting for....pictures!

[caption id="attachment_201" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Bo in the car on our way home :)"][/caption]

Bo weighed in at 12 pounds Saturday at our vet and already by Wednesday night he weighed 14.5 pounds.  He's growing up so fast!! :) or :( ???

[caption id="attachment_204" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Sleeping next to me on the way home"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_203" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="He decided he needed a new sleeping position"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_202" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Bo between my feet :) Love my puppy!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_205" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Sleepy puppy after hanging out in our yard. Much bigger than he's used to so he did lots more running around"][/caption]

Well there you have it!  My secret/surprise has finally been revealed and I posted all the pictures I have of him right now.

My parents and I are going camping this weekend so I'll be sure to take more pictures.  Sadly, I do not get cell phone reception or internet connection at the campground we're going to so I'll be unplugged until I get home.  I don't mind being unplugged but I would like to be able to do some blog posting while it's just me and Bo at the camper while my parents are at wedding.

Still to come my Country Fest 2011 recap!  Have a great weekend!!

You can't sip whiskey gotta drank it!

When I was trying to come up with a title for this post my new favorite song popped into my head and I thought it was kind of fitting.  The title comes from Justin Moore's song Hank It off his album Justin Moore.

So it's been a while since my last post about the Good News & Bad News.  A lot has happened and I'll do my best to summarize all of it without boring anyone to death.

First of all, that good news that I mentioned in my last post that I kept a secret from y'all will be revealed this weekend.  Get excited because I know I am!

Three days after my last post I celebrated my 21st birthday.  My parents and I were on the road so when we had the opportunity to eat a Red Lobster we jumped on it.

[caption id="attachment_195" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Red Lobster's wait staff singing Happy Birthday to me."][/caption]

Wow I don't know how I ever let myself leave the house like that.  Yikes!  But anyways, I ordered my first legal alcoholic drink and was carded for the first time, enjoyed some awesome shrimp, and some awesome dessert.  Red Lobster apparently does nothing but sing when it's your birthday.  No free dessert or anything, boo!

I went out with only my mom and my aunt that night for drinks.  We ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse and bar hopped our way home.  No, I didn't enjoy 21 shots but I still had a good time.

Following the birthday weekend I only had a three-day work week as it was time to hit the road to Country Fest 2011.  I don't want to say too much about it now since I have a post in the works with pictures!  But you can read about who I got to see here.  I will share that I fell in love with Justin Moore after seeing him at Country Fest :)

I came back to work on Tuesday, nothing exciting happened that week.

This past weekend I did some fishing with my dad, some farm work, and a lot of reading!  Oh yea, I got a Kindle for my birthday and have been loving it.  I just wish they had more free books haha!

Now it's Thursday night and I've been hoping and thinking it's been Friday pretty much all week.  Like I mentioned earlier my secret can be revealed this weekend and so of course I am looking forward to the weekend more than usual.  Anyone want to take a guess at what my secret is?

In a nutshell these past couple of weeks have been full of fun and not so much healthy living.  That's all changing this month though.  I've once again recommitted to leading a healthier lifestyle and using www.sparkpeople.com to help me.

What's coming up:

Surprise Revealed

Country Fest 2011

I'm getting back into the blogging world so if I've been missing from your comments section be prepared for me to make a comeback!  And if you're a reader of my blog I hope you come back too!