Autumn is among us!

Well, it has been a long time since this was updated! We have been two very busy people! Alex has finally received his diploma from the college that he finished in MAY... yes, that school is not the best at time. We are so happy because that is one hard-earned piece of paper! We bought a house, as many people know, and with the house came two dogs... I wonder how that happened!?! Raja and Buck have been such great additions to our household! Though Raja was suppose to be my dog, she quickly became infatuated with Alex and Buck became my protector. We had an incident a while ago with them, but the vet says that she thinks Buck was trying to fight for dominance, which is normal for male puppies in households with an older female dog, but Raja won. After a nice emergency vet appointment, our dogs are just fine and as lovable as ever. Raja used to have manors, but know she has her daddy wrapped around her paw. Buck has come a long way in training since we got him. I taught him how to shake (yes, I was pretty excited that I actually taught a dog something!), and he is fetching much better! He absolutely loves it when ducks fly over our house. The shock collar has done him wonders... seriously. He is a total mamma's boy and does not rest when dad is away because he has to protect me! I love it! When I am sick, it is so great to have two wonderful dogs cuddle with me and help me get better. Our house is just about how we want it though, finally. We still need to install some shelves for my million pairs of shoes in the closet, we need a garage door opener, and we need to fix the hail damage still. We are finally out of the clear though for painting and hanging stuff. We are so excited to spend our first Christmas there, with our dogs, of course.

I had my bowel obstruction a year and a half ago now. It seems like forever, but I still feel it everyday. My body has definitely not been the same since and it has been incredibly hard for me to adjust to the "new" life. I recently had a pretty big flare-up of my crohn's which landed me into the ER twice in less than a week. After about a month of the flare-up, I made the very hard decision to drop out of school in order to heal my body. Stress influences the Crohn's in vast ways. Removing the stress of school has helped a lot, however, I hate it! I always wanted to finish school and prove to myself that I could do it, but I just can't. I have come to terms with my fate which would not have been possible without a very loving and supportive husband! I think what I will miss the most is working at the prison. I have really enjoyed the learning experience there and the inmates were so awesome... yes, I said the inmates! They all know me as Raja's mom which makes my heart happy because Raja was so loved there and they all know that Raja is very well loved now. Those girls would defend me to the ends of the earth! I recently applied for an administrative assistant job at the men's pre-release which would mean great hours, paid holidays, and full benefits. Now we are just praying and hoping that I get the job!

Hunting season is among us now which means that, once again, I'm a widow because hunting took my husband for a few weeks. We haven't had any luck yet, but with my luck, I will be able to catch a deer with my car! This happened, for the first time, to me as I was driving to work last night. I came around a corner and was blinded by some semi-lights. Next thing I knew, there were two deer running out in front of me and I had absolutely no time to stop. It occurred in slow motion because I knew I was going to hit it. I may have even screamed, but I don't know. The poor deer was pushed by my car about 30 feet and when I finally was able to get stopped, the deer kept sliding for about another 30 yards, got up and ran away. If you see a deer with a bum, back, left leg and some serious road rash, that was from me! Luckily, I was very close to a town and it happened literally in front of the Sheriff's house. I drove to the closest bar and called for assistance. The deer was unable to be located to be shot, but thankfully my trusty jeep suffered very minimal damage... so much so that people were mad at me and didn't believe me! I was able to get a hold of my work whom called Alex for me just in case I did screw something up in my car! Sitting here now almost 9 hours later, it just feels like a dream. I am still in shock that I hit a deer. Buck saved the day though and barked until those deer ran away! Nothing messes with his mom ma! I will forever own a jeep now, one of the only cars still made out of metal. The good, good Lord was watching out for me yesterday! Thank-you God! Now if only Alex had my kind of luck with a rifle.

I am finally having my foot surgery in a week and a half and I couldn't be more nervous! "We will cut into the bone and place a metal rod in there to align the bone." Yep, I'm freaking out! I have to have both feet done, but I'm not brave enough to do them two at a time. I think I will save the right foot for the summer. Be praying for me and Alex because he does NOT sit well when I am in surgery. I think I am more nervous for him than I am for me!