Taking a minute to breathe...

Wow... that's all I can say. Things have been inexplicably crazy since I started spring semester. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm going for 12 hours straight! I am very, very lucky to have a husband who is helpful around the house when I can't be.

Speaking of my darling hubby, he spoiled me today. We went to Old Navy in search of a few items for me to wear to work, and left with $90 of stuff, every bit of it on sale! We even found a little pink collar for Daisy since her old one had seen better days. :-) Now both our dogs have Old Navy collars- can you say that about your pet? LOL!

On a more sad note, I have been thinking a lot about death these days. First, there was the shocking death of Heath Ledger, which reminded me that even though I'm young and healthy, you just never know. And then, Justin's grandma Leila took a turn for the worst, and she is in her last days now. I know that what I'm about to say is cliché, but I don't care. Life is short. So many of us take life for granted, and we never say or do the things we should. So today, take a minute to give someone a spontaneous hug, or remind a family member how much you love them.

More to come...

Love and Lattés,

Katie

Lipoma

Early this afternoon, Justin was petting our dog, Ellie, and he noticed a lump on her underside. He asked me to see if I could feel it, and I could. It felt like a round-ish mass, maybe a half inch in diameter, right under the skin. I immediately called the vet, and made the appointment for 4 pm. When I brought her in, Dr. King confirmed that it was a tumor, and after a biopsy that made Ellie bleed all over the floor :( the results were in. Ellie has a lipoma, also known as a benign, fatty tumor - the key word being benign. That was good news! The strange part is, our vet has never seen one of these in a young, healthy dog. They are usually found in overweight, older dogs. I was instructed to keep an eye on it and if it gets much bigger, it may have to be removed, but if it stays the same size, she can live with it forever without any problems. I am thankful it is benign, but I have to admit that it's a little nerve-wracking to hear the word "tumor" about my one year old dog. She's practically still a puppy!

Also, my vet made the comment today that Ellie has some characteristics of an Italian Greyhound.. after googling IGs, I do see some similar traits. Interesting!

Love and Lattés,

Katie

Hurry Home, Hubby!

My dear husband has been in North Carolina for work for the past 5 days. He was supposed to come home tonight, but at the last minute one of his supervisors asked if he could stay another day. So now he'll be getting home tomorrow night, which is fine, but I really could have used him around the last couple days. Things have been crazy around here!

First of all, last night Ellie ripped the blinds off the door. Somehow she got her paw stuck in the cord, got scared and sprinted across the room, taking the WHOLE set of blinds with her. So today before work, I rolled up the old blinds and took them to Lowe's to find a replacement set. The guy who assisted me was very helpful. He used a spiffy little machine to cut a set of blinds to make them the right width and even showed me how to install everything. So I go to work and have the busiest day yet, go out to dinner with my sister-in-law, and come home, ready to take on the challenge of the blinds.

So there I am, on my little stepladder, holding a power tool (nice visual, right?) and it occurs to me: The new blinds I just bought have to be installed in the top of the door frame, which means that if someone were to open the door, they would walk straight into the blinds, which would not be attached to the door like the previous ones were. GAH!

Obviously, I can't install the new blinds. So I have decided just to wait until Justin gets home to return these and purchase yet another new set of blinds. I give up.

Also, tonight Daisy came in the house with a piece of poop hanging off of her butt and thought it would be fun to hide, poop and all, under the couch. I had to coax her out with a broom, put her leash on, and take her outside to finish her, em, business. I brought a piece of paper towel just in case she needed help. (Another great visual, I know.) That was just another thing I didn't need to deal with today!

All this, and somehow I'm not completely disheartened.. maybe because I have a filet mignon in my stomach and because I know that the love of my life is coming home tomorrow night. Either way, a friend's recent miscarriage made me think of a Bible verse that has helped me through so much, so I'll end with that.

James 1:2-4: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perserverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature, and complete, not lacking anything."

Love and Lattés,

Katie

I <3 My Job

Yep, you heard right. I genuinely do enjoy my job! I am a student assistant at the University Technology Services information & software distribution desk. My job consists of talking to people, assisting confused students, answering the phone, and data entry. Doesn't sound too exciting, but add in several entertaining coworkers and a seriously cool boss, and it's awesome! The only negatives are that I have to dress "business casual" and since my wardrobe is limited, that means I have to wear skirts a few times a week, along with cute, but uncomfortable shoes, and my hair always has to be done.. also, there are a few wandering eyes in the building who make a woman want to walk around with her arms crossed in front of her chest. But what office doesn't have those?

I should mention that I'm writing this at work.. I've been here an hour and twenty minutes, and have done maybe ten minutes of actual work. This job is so much like The Office it's not even funny! Well, okay.. it is actually pretty funny. :-)

Thanks to my bud Stephen for landing me this job. It doesn't hurt that he, Corey (my boss), and I are all avid fans of The Office!

Love and lattés,

Katie

Too Cool Not to Mention!

The most bizarre thing happened tonight! I was going to make pancakes for dinner, and a quick look in the fridge told me I didn't have any eggs. So I decide to make a run to Kroger. As I walk in, I realize I need to pick out a birthday card for my sister-in-law, so I start in the card section. As I'm standing there, absorbed in the abyss of Hallmark, I see a cart poke around the corner, and glance over to see my best friend, Jess! I know, it doesn't sound that bizarre.. except that we had gotten there at almost exactly the same time and both our carts were empty, and so we were able to do all our shopping together! Also, this Kroger is sort of out of her way, and it isn't very often she's in my area.. so I just thought it was pretty cool. It was definitely what I needed today. Justin is working in North Carolina, and today was a pretty boring, lonely day for the most part. Who'da thunk that grocery shopping would perk me up? :-) So thanks, BFF!


Love and lattés,


Katie

Meet Tassimo.

Well, here it is in all its glory: My Tassimo coffee pod system!

I got my Tassimo from Justin for my 21st birthday, and I use it every day. I just love it! It makes brewed coffee, hot tea, hot chocolate, lattés, cappuccinos, and chai tea lattés. The water tank has a filter on it so you are essentially brewing with purified water, and the pods are actually scanned by a little barcode scanner in the machine so that it knows how fast to brew (espresso brews differently than coffee) and whether the drink is made with foam. Pretty cool, huh?

Of course, I had to include my special mug in this photo. I got it from my sister-in-law this past Christmas, and it says "Dog Person.. Will beg for coffee." Isn't that cute? :-)

More to come...


Love and lattés,


Katie

There's a First Time for Everything...

Well, I decided to jump on the blog bandwagon, even though at this point my blog doesn't have a theme, like many others I have read. The thing is, I am currently in a somewhat awkward phase of life right now, and I don't seem to fit into any particular category. I am a 22 year old married woman, not to mention a 5th year senior at the University. Because Justin works full time, we're not really a college couple, and we're not entirely a working couple, so that leaves us in an odd place. We also aren't planning on having kids in the very near future, so that separates us from another clique of sorts. Don't get me wrong; I am very much in love with my husband, and I like where we are right now... but I have always been a dreamer, looking to the future instead of staying grounded in the present, and I constantly find myself daydreaming about things yet to come.


One important thing did happen to me over the past couple years; I developed a lifelong friendship with a girl named Jessica. We are in very similar places in life except that she is pretty much where I want to be in a couple years; she and her husband, Jeremy, have the most beautiful 3 month old daughter named Savannah. Jess and I met online, which is ironic because I also met the love of my life via the Internet. There's a longer story there, which I won't go into now; I promise, I have a "real" life outside of the 'Net! Anyway, the first time we (Jess and I) ever met in person was at a café called Jammin' Java. We have many shared interests, but the one that seems to come up most often is our love for coffee! I worked in coffee shops for years, and I very much enjoy a good cup o' java. Of course, lattés are my favorite. Soy caramel lattés with whipped cream, to be exact. But I digress. What I'm trying to say is that Jessica has been my best friend since I made the big move from Michigan to South Carolina, and if it weren't for her, I would go crazy!

If you know me at all, you are probably surprised I have made it this far without mentioning my dogs. They are our "kids" for now, until the real thing comes along one day, and they sure are spoiled! Daisy is a 2 year old Chihuahua, and we got her shortly after being married, which definitely added to the chaos of our new life together, but we made it work, and we love her to pieces! Ellie is our 1 year old Golden Retriever mix, and she is a total goofball, but also very loyal. Ellie is our rescue dog. We found her on http://www.petfinder.com/ when she was a fluffy little pup, and we drove 3 hours into the mountains of North Carolina to adopt her from a shelter. I don't know what we'd do without our dogs.. we both have a heart for animals, but especially dogs, and I have been known to help with rescue transports and strays whenever possible! Just call me the crazy dog lady. :-)

Well, that's all I have for now. Next time I'll have to introduce you to the first thing I think about every morning - my Tassimo pod system!

Love and Lattes,

Katie