Love+Pets=Family

I don't think people seem to quite understand me at times. When I talk about my kids, and talk about them with so much love, people smile and nod and then start talking about their children.  And then if they are near my home I introduce them.  I bring them into my home and I call my children. My little girl Ava, and my little boy Louis.  Then I get a surprised look cause I failed to mention the most important part about my babies.  

Ava is my cat. Though I don't consider her a cat.  She is part of our family.  She is my oldest.  Her birthday is on Halloween.  Even though we don't know her real age, we just celebrate that day as the anniversary she came into our home.  So right now she is 2 years old, going on 3...we suspect she is much older, but she is our little baby and we don't care.  Andy loves this little kitty.  I remember when I met him, he told me he was never much of a cat lover.  In fact, I remember his friends saying something to the effect of "That man got A CAT?!  He must really be in love with that woman if he let her get a cat!" LOL  I guess so.  He does not show it with others but my man will melt every time he sees her.  She has that affect on him, and she is definitively a daddy's girl!

This is my favorite picture of them two...they are 2 peas in a pod.

Our little boy was born on February, 14 of 2011.  Louie came in to our lives so quickly,  and touched our hearts in a way you could not imagine.  I always wanted to have a pug, ever since I was a kid.  I watched the movie "Milo and Otis".  And I have been in love with them since.  When I found Louie, I knew he was a mix of Pug and Chihuahua.  But when I met him and he jumped on me and loved on me like crazy, we had an instant connection.  I knew he would be my baby boy.  So I took him home, snapped this photo and sent it to Andy while he was a work:

I texted him "It's a boy!"  Andy didn't understand why I would like such a tiny dog (he is a Black Lab guy).  I told him he would get used to it, and took him down to his work to show him.  Louie was so awkward as a puppy because he had not grown into his face yet, and Andy kept saying "Ankle biter, Ankle biter." LOL.  Louie was not one of those kind of dogs.  He was a like a real child:  He cries when he is hungry, tired or wants attention.  He watches cartoons, and he can even talk a little. Yes, I am serious he talks. He only says "no" and "come on" when Andy is not in the kitchen for dinnertime lol.  He is the best dog I have ever had, and definitely the smartest!

See- he grew into his face, and has the cutest underbite I have ever seen!  But I was right, Andy loves this dog, but he is a momma's boy!  

I have millions of stories, but I am sure it would be boring to anyone who reads my blog, so I will save them for our memories.  Some people think we are weird for sure, because we will tell them to go "find mommy or daddy" and they know exactly who to go to.  They are our children.  We can't have children right now, and don't know if we will ever be able to.  These two give us a chance to be parents even though they are not people like us.  It bring Andy and I closer together and creates a bond unlike any other, just like if we were to have a baby.    We are a family, despite what anyone else says.  We take photos together, play games together, and create memories together.  That's a family.  We are a family.

A very, happy family.

Taking one step at a time....

Wow.  It finally happened.


In case your wondering, yesterday was a wonderful day.  Andy had to work all day on Saturday so on Sunday we just laid around the house and watched movies.  I love these kind of days.  Cuddling with your one and only with a stupid movie on the TV is what creates great memories.


What makes it a greater memory is that sometime in the afternoon, I was on the computer checking my Facebook.  Minding my own business, Andy comes from behind me, grabs my left hand...I bet you can see where this is going.  He takes off my promise ring off my ring finger and slips another ring on my hand instead! It was a wedding band.  I ask him "Honey, did you get a bridal set?"  Andy "yeah."  Me: "That's good, cause this is the wedding band the engagement ring is the one you put on me."  Andy: "The one with the big diamond?  Well crap."  He retreats to the bedroom once again.  I'm still on the computer trying not to laugh like a little school girl.  He comes back, this time with the right ring, and slips it on my finger.  "Let's try this again." He says.  I laugh.  He says to me "I want to spend the rest of my life with you."  I smiled and we made out for a short time, lol.

I may be biased but this is the most beautiful ring I have ever laid eyes on.


Even though he proposed to me almost a year ago, this is the first time that I felt like I was really engaged to be married.  I cannot wait until we pay the venue and we have a date.  At this moment I am scared about setting one because every time we do, something bad happens.  


But we are saving money and should have the money for the venue by September (keep your fingers crossed.)  Andy texted me this morning and told me he got yet another raise! So slowly, but surely, we are taking one step at a time.  I have got the most wonderful man in the world and cannot wait to be his wife!

Life Stinks...But then Starts to Smell Like Roses

So, it's been awhile. (actually with all the craziness I completely forgot to keep up to date with y'all) Anyhoo, as our journey started to move forward, it had come to a screeching halt.  So everything I had said in my last blog. Scratch that.  We have to start over..let me explain:


At the end of January everything changed. No ring. No wedding date. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Blah.  Andy went to change my spark plugs in my SUV and apparently did it wrong. On his way home the car BLEW UP. Yes, it BLEW up.  He found out it was a part, and needed to get replaced. Just 60 bucks, no big deal right? WRONG!  It still would not run.  We had the car towed to a guy he knew (after which I found out our May 29th wedding would be a no go...blow #1), and the guy still did not fix it, but thought I owed him 750 bucks.  And in case your wondering, yes I told him to F*#k off and took the keys and left.  So we took it to Firestone where they proceeded to tell us that the engine needed to be rebuilt. I vouched for a second opinion.  So once again, I had it towed to a Ford Dealership.  And Firestone was wrong! Never go there people, never lol. I was told that the wires in the spark plugs were switched (good job dear.).  $300 bucks for that. Great. So, I got it fixed...or so I thought.  Even though the dealership fixed the original problem there was still another one, every time I would stop, the car would die. I was out of money.  We did buy another car from a friend, which was where the majority of my wedding money went to.  Andy did not check to see if it was an automatic or a manual before buying it.  He gets in the car...calls me to inform me he just found out it's a stick shift.  I can't drive a stick shift! So, no car.


So after spending all the money in my car and buying the new one, which I still cannot drive...Rent time came! And guess what?  We were short..of course!! So what had to be done? That's right, my engagement ring and to be returned so we could pay for rent and for car repairs (blow #2).  So we have taken my car to 3 different people, and it's on its 4th mechanic now.  He thinks he knows what the problem is. Great. Still no car, no life, and nothing to look forward to.  I somehow managed to finished my semester of college..BIG Thanks to my friend Kaitlin, without her I would have flunked!


Hopefully I will get my car back, and my settlement from my car accident last year so I can buy a better car. As far as our wedding??? We still have that planned and hoping we will get married by the end of the year (eloping sounds good right now!)  And I have an engagement ring which is hidden from me until further notice..as he wants to surprise me with it.  And once we have our photos taken and our time, date, and place will be reveled to all.  Just pray for no more obstacles that come our way.

The Best Decision Ever

SO...I know it has been awhile on my latest blog post, so here is a another one to keep y'all up to date.  After me being bombarded with classes, being in the hospital overnight, and a pregnancy scare (oh boy!) things have settled down a bit.  But now we have Andy working 7 days a week for the next month, which he volunteered  for to help us make some more money.  We have been looking for homes to spend the next chapter of our lives in and we are making every effort we can to save money...which is pretty difficult considering planning a wedding, as we know that takes some money as well.
So, we decided on a venue. And a date.  And a budget.  Now theres just a few more extra stuff I have to get, such as my alterations ( I have dropped a couple of sizes) and just the little stuff and we are done.
Now you all may be wondering where and when we are having our beautiful little wedding...well, your not the only one!  It will be held a secret for the next 3 weeks, after we tell our closest friends and family. So yes, it is a surprise. Once we release our engagement pics, the details will follow.
This is the best, yet hardest decision we have ever made.  But it is what we want, and not what everyone else wants.
I am very excited about our upcoming wedding and this wedding will be what Andy and I stand for: intimacy, romance, and beauty.

Box Full of Wedding

I never realized how hard planning a wedding would be.  At first, I could not even start just because I did not know where to start.  The thought of it was filled in my head, giving me small anxiety attacks because I did not know where or how to start.  I had taken a break from it because it was stressing me out so much, but as the New Year rang, I decided that I need to just relax.  I am super excited to get married and I have wonderful  friends to help me.

My bff/maid of honor/lifesaver, Jessica, has been the most helpful. Back in October, she found my dream dress on Ebay.  Not only was it the dress (in my size) but it also had the veil, slip, tiara, and shoes.  It was more than half the price at the salon brand new.  So, I had to jump on it.  I would post the pic, but my wonderful fiance would look at it, and I have taken every step I can to make sure he does not.  The dress is in our closet.  That is the most challenging.  I have put this dress in there and made every effort to put it in there and so call "booby trap" it to make sure he does not take a peek.  He has done very well so far.  I'm proud.

The local craft stores have been my favorite stores over the past few months.  Hobby Lobby I feel is the best.  Almost once a month they have Wedding items 50% off.  I go in there and buy things I need for the wedding.  I am a so called 'crafty bride' I guess.  But it's fun.  I have my box full of goodies, and soon it will be more full than it is now.  

Luckily, Jess is to the rescue again, she has given me cute ideas for the reception, and is not only going to help me make them (or I should say help her) She has even taken the responsibility of making my cake.  God love her.  And she is going to hook me up with a local hair/make up stylist for the big day.  How awesome!

My sister makes flowers for weddings as a way of making extra income, she has taken the responsibility of making my flowers as well, free of charge.  And of course, I'm helping.    A trip to the local craft store once again to get the silk flowers for this occasion, and I am super excited. 

It's all starting to flow together.  Even though we are on a limited budget, I know we can still have a beautiful wedding and a reception that our guests will have a great time.

My first blog ever!

Hello blog world! I decided to create this blog to share my personal experiences with you as I am experiencing my most important mission thus far: planning my wedding.


Of course, I should start by introducing myself and how I got to this point of wonderful bliss.  I was born and raised in Missouri.  I was brought up by amazing parents that taught me morals and values, and of course, was spoiled rotten by them lol.  Having the parents I had made me want to have a marriage like theirs.  They have been married for 40 years, and still have love in their eyes, and makes me proud to say that this loving, married couple are my parents.  


Now, fast forward to 2008.  My friend Jeff introduced me to a phone line for singles, and that's where I began using this service.  At the time, I had no idea why I was doing this, as I thought that it would not get me anywhere, but on the positive side I could make friends and meet new and interesting people.  They were interesting alright.  After 6 months of sifting through the crazies, sex addicts and jerks I received a message in September of 2008, from a man who seemed pretty decent, and by decent I mean he sounded like a gentleman and didn't talk about disgusting fetishes that I would never partake in, lol.  This man left me a message to call him on his personal phone.  The weird part is that I would have never done this, NEVER...but I just had this feeling to call him.  So in the late evening of the crisp fall weather, I called this man.  I did not know it at the time but this was the best decision I have ever made in my life.


This man I spoke to was named Andy.  We became friends and talked for hours almost everyday.  We found things in common with each other and even found out we had lived 10 minutes away from one another.  I thought he had a sexy voice and seemed very sweet.  I felt like I could talk to him about everything, as did he.  We talked about our fears, past, and what we wanted in our future.  Eventually, we played with the idea of meeting, but I was nervous.  I have never been nervous about meeting anyone before-I was always ready for that, but this, was very, very different.


Finally, in October 2008, we met as friends but we were very drawn to each other, till this day it is very hard to explain what kind of force was bringing us together.  I never believed in fate until I met him, and I was hooked lol.  And on November 4th, 2008 we officially became a couple.  In June 2009, we moved in together.  This was a first experience for me, I had never lived with a boyfriend and it was hard at first because I had no idea how to act, so being myself was the obvious choice and I went with that, lol.


On our 2nd anniversary we toyed with the idea with marriage.  We were eating dinner that evening to celebrate our anniversary.  Andy said something to me that evening I would never forget.  "Honey, if I could marry you right now I would...but I can't.  I want to make sure you father approves before I do, and I don't think he will right now."  I realized that this man wanted to make sure he could take care of me for the rest of my life before walking down the aisle, I respected him more that day.  We never rushed into anything and I am so grateful he was always there to plant my feet back on the ground when I needed it.


Last year, 2011 was a year never to be forgotten. In January, I had turned 30, and was not happy about it to say the least lol.  In June of that year, I was in a bad car accident.  I was badly injured, but I had angels on my side because I walked away from the accident, very much in pain, but happy to be alive.  I lost my car that  day as well, a car I had bought brand new at the age of 25.  I cried over the loss, but my friend Vicki said to me "You can replace a car but you can't replace Sara."  Good point.


July got a lot better.  An evening of staying in with my honey, I was talking about what to make for dinner.  Andy looked at me and took my hand and asked me a question every girl dreams of:  "Will you Marry Me?"  The feeling I had at this point was totally unexplainable.  Of course, that could be the reason why I botched up the whole damn proposal.   Shaking my head "Your not serious are you?"  Andy nodding his head "Yeah I am, but if it's no...."  Of course I started to smile and said yes!


During a course of 4 months, we looked at engagement rings, and I finally found the one I thought was 'perfect'.  Christmas day rolled around, and Andy gave me the news:  he bought my engagement ring, but will get it when I least expect it.  Jackass. (lol)


So I have begun this journey of planning my wedding, which is to happen in the fall of 2012, which I will keep everyone posted on.


I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  That being said, let the countdown of becoming Andy's bride begin!!!