Beat Jason to it....

I beat Jason to it...these pictures seen on my blog first!



Yes Dakota, I know Jason is yours!

Which of these guys is bigger?

Snowmen in Evanston and Des Plaines beware! Dakota might steal your nose!

Face off! I think Bullwinkle will win!

My Big News

Well, I have HUGE news! I was offered a new job today! I will be the new Customer Experience Manager at the Old Navy store in Gurnee. Basically I will be the HR/assistant store manager kind of thing. I will still get to merchandise and play with clothes, but my main focus is training the associates and keeping the store at the level it needs to be!
It comes with a very nice pay increase, way better benefits, and tons more vacation....which all start the FIRST day I start! The drive will be kind of annoying, but it will be worth it I am told. My friend works for Old Navy and LOVES it and I think my boss will be the best boss I have ever worked for!
I am putting in my 2 weeks tomorrow at work, but if they don't accept it I might start as soon as Monday. If they do accept it I will finish my 2 weeks and then take my planned vacation and start on 8/20.

Thank you to everyone who has listened to me complain and cry about Carson's and my job searching....it will all end now!

Boring post...no pic's

Jason has the camera in Vegas so in the mean time I will leave a pretty flower to look at:-)

So last weekend I had an event with the Jaycee's called Bahai and Thai...it was a TON of fun! We visited the Bahai temple in Wilmette and actually got a tour from a girl who knows a TON about the religion and the history of the place so we learned a lot. Then we went to Thai Sookdee in Evanston and ate a TON. I highly recommend this restaurant...lots of choices and it is very reasonably priced.

I have pictures of all of this but once again the camera is in Vegas (I can't believe the camera (well Jason) has been to Vegas so many times and I have yet to go...sad) (((Whitney I think if I can get time off in September I will take you and Rachel up on the offer to go!))))

Then on Sunday I had a softball game and we won! We are going to be in the playoff's now so that is pretty exciting! Lacy and Dakota came to watch me play so I was distracted and didn't do too hot, but I did catch a ball and that was a first so I am happy!

Then it was back to work:-( I get to work all this weekend too so I am excited (not really)

Upcoming posts....pic's from Bahai and Thai, my new hair, and pic's from the upcoming regional which is being held in Des Plaines!

My short trip home

On my short trip home the first thing I did was to find Tigger so I could get in one kiss before the growling started....I got my one kiss and then she took off. This is the view I see of her most often...running from me:-)

The tomato's!!! I was able to take 2 home and 3 little one's and they were tasty! These guys need to slow down so next time I come home they will be all mine!!!

My mom's little garden area where my favorite tree used to be:-(

A pretty flower by the new porch....

The new porch! Mom is waiting for the people to come and seal the porch so she took the railings down but it has been over 2 months now.....:-)

My FAVORITE! The gazing ball! I never got one of these when I was little (gee do you think I would have broken it???)

The new "gazebo" or "casino" as Cole calls it!

And Tiggy again.

Osage Beach trip....late but none the less...enjoy!

MY ROCK! Growing up my family and I would always go to MO and my favorite thing was always the rock...it is so pretty and I knew we were getting close to getting there so seeing the rock meant closer to swimming time!

Cole welcoming us to the "lake house"

The view from the main balcony (there was one on the first floor too!)

The view from the master suite

The view from the living room

Living room #1

View from balcony inside to living room #1

Kitchen!

Clayton, Cole, and me on an indoor roller coaster...Cole didn't want to go alone so he wanted an "adult" to go with him (not really, I just wanted to ride the roller coaster and I was too old so I used that as my exuse!)

I couldn't get our seatbelt undone!

All of Cole's tickets from the arcade!

Dad vacuuming....something I have NEVER seen in 29 years!

That was our trip in a nutshell. I left out the henna tattoo because it is gone already and makes me sad to see it and I left out the bad one's of me of course!

Hometown Fest!!

Every year the Palatine Jaycees throw this HUGE production called Hometown Fest. We have live music, a carnival, and all kinds of booths set up. This year was a blast! Here are some fun pictures from other people since I didn't bring Jason's camera knowing I would be covered in beer since I worked at the beer tent a lot over 3 days:-)


Here is me being silly. I waved to Jim when he came up so he told me to do that again so I had to exagerate a little! Didn't realize he had a camera!
This is President Janet driving the tractor at tractor training! We had to take a class to learn how to drive a tractor for Hometown Fest...it was quite fun! Sorry, no pictures of me driving the tractor yet...they are being held hostage:-)

This is Cynthia and Jeff and Jackie's cute dog. I don't think Cynthia like's dogs too much:-)

This is CRASH a Dave Matthews cover band that we had playing on Monday night...they were really GOOD! Almost like being at a DMB show except there were no HUGE crowds of mean people wanting to start fights!

BOTTLE OF JUSTUS- This is my all time favorite local band...I have watched these guys since ISU (they all live at ISU) and they are awesome!

Well those are all the pictures for now of fest. I will post more as I get them and coming up as soon as Jason will let me upload the camera----our BBQ last night with Codie the lab, Shaka the wiener dog/lab mix, Dakota, and Lacy! Well I am off to an interview now!!! Wish me luck!

Zoo addition

How could I forget the other HUMAN that lives in the zoo???? Well, this is the only picture I could find of Jason that I have on a computer so you get to meet his cousin Geoff too.

Introduction

I will start with Lacy....a frequent visitor to our zoo. She has been staying with us for 2 weeks already and will be with us for 3 more (I think) but she is definitely fitting in just fine!

Then there is Dakota and her best friend Rocky....they share everything (except bones of course) and they LOVE to chase each other and play.

Tigger doesn't live at the zoo but she was my first kitty that I had on my own. She got evicted from my first college apartment so my mom was kind enough to take her in. Tigger used to be sweet and cuddly...now she only really likes my dad and brother Todd (sometimes mom) but she HATES me. I am lucky to get one kiss from her while I visit home...ususally it is all hisses and growls. Don't let this cute kitty deceive you....she is a TIGER not a Tigger:-)

Dakota is the cutest pup you will EVER meet. My mom doesn't really care for dog's but she LOVES Dakota. She will just sit and gaze at you with those eyes and she always looks so concerned....and BOY does she have energy! This is a picture from my Jaycee's K9 3K event that raised money for the Buddy Foundation (a no-kill shelter) Dakota was definitely the talk of the town that day!

This is Mercedes....the quiet one. When Jason and I were at ISU we went to visit my bosses new kittens and I fell in love with this little one. The mom was a stray cat and Dylan (my bosses son) had never held a cat before and didn't know what it meant when they purred so he told his mom he was going to name here Porche because her engine was going:-) So when the kittens came along he named them Cadillac, Mercedes, Mitzu (his dad works at Mitsubishi), and Truck! His dad tried to get him to name Truck somethine else like Beamer or something but Dylan was insistant on Truck! So Mercedes came home with us and turned into quite the sweetie...she is rather skidish and scared of a lot of noise, but she sure isn't shy to tell you when she wants something!

This is Rocky...hard to believe he started off so small! On December 12, 2000 I was studying for my Spanish final and I got a call from my friend Jeannie to tell me I was the proud new mommy of a cute cuddly tiny gray cat. Rocky came home on Super Bowl Sunday and instantly made himself right at home. He was so playful and he cuddled with me EVERY night. Over the years he gained a *little* bit of weight (19lbs now) but is still as playful and cuddly as ever. This cat has more personality than any cat I have ever met!

And this is me....I think I was seeing if my parents new camera worked...it did:-)