Thursday, December 29, 2011

Our Baby Burney




On Christmas Eve, we had to make the hard decision to put Burney to sleep.

It all started with a UTI he had that would not clear up. He had megacolon in all three parts of his colon, so he could not get rid of waste as he should. 

The UTI caused him not to drink any water, since it hurt to go potty. I took him to the vet about 2-3 weeks ago and they discovered he had one. At that time he was 12 pounds. Joey and I were SO proud, since he has been sick all his life and always was underweight. That was the heaviest he had ever been. We thought the methods we were trying were finally helping with the megacolon issue. 

Then I  took him the Tuesday before Christmas to get fluids because I knew he was dehydrated. They weighed him and he was 10 pounds. He got fluids and I thought he would get better. We kept giving him medicine for the UTI. 

Saturday, Christmas Eve Joey and I noticed he didn't move much, was lethargic, and looked like he was in pain. So we decided to get him to a vet. Since our normal vet was not open, we took him to another great vet. 

They weighed him, he was 9 pounds. He lost 3 pounds in 2 weeks. The vet said he was 12% dehydrated and at 15% dehydrated cats no longer are alive. 

My poor Burney's temperature was also down to 96 degrees, where it should have been 101-102. 

The vet said that we could emergency hospitalize him, but there was no guarantee that he would make it and return to normal. 

Our baby Burney has been sick and in and out of the vet, getting procedures, all his life. So we had to make a decision. 

It was so hard to do. To make that decision. 

We hugged, held, petted, and kissed him. I told him he was such a good boy. Which he was. 

I did not choose to watch the procedure. I couldn't handle just making the decision. There was no way I could have watched. 

I gave Burney one last kiss and the vet took him.

I lost it. I just cried in Joey's arms. 

It was so hard to come home with that empty cage. 

We chose to get him cremated and Burney's ashes will be buried by his best friend, Yao. 

We miss him a lot. A whole lot. 



Burney was our little lion. 

We called him:
 - Mighty lion
 - Burnificus (not sure how that one started)
 - Burnificus the mighty
 - Burnificus the Maximus lol
 - Burney Wurney - I don't think he cared for this one!


Burney was such a good kitty! Everything he went through, every prodecure, every vet visit, every medicine feeding, he was awesome. I think Burney knew that we were trying to help. He was never mad at us for anything. 

Burney staring at me to get done with my Fruit Loops so he could drink the milk. 


Burney had such silly quirks!

- He was such a quiet kitty, such a sweet personality. After Yao passed away, Burney took to sleeping in the exact same spot as Yao did. As if to help comfort me at night. 

- He LOVED drinking milk. The above picture is him stalking my milk that was in my cereal bowl. He kept meowing at me and trying to crawl on me to get at it. 

- He loved tuna, of course...he's a cat, I know. But as soon as I opened a can, he thought it was tuna. He came running to the kitchen. He would meow like crazy. (Meowing wasn't something he did all the time)

- Burney chattered at birds. I LOVED this about him! None of our other cats did it. It was so funny, the first time he did it, we had no idea what the noise was. Joey figured out it was Burney watching a bird!


- Burney liked getting on top of the kitchen cabinets and watch me do stuff in the kitchen. Every once in a while he would jump over to the cabinets that hung all by themselves.

- He loved the ladder. We would get it out to use it and just keep it out for him. He loved sitting on the very top and looking down at everything. That earned him the title "King of the Ladder"

- Burney liked to scratch on the door frames. I have no idea where or when that exactly started. He just would reach up and scratch a little. He would do that to walls too! He had little claws, so it was really cute. 

- He was my bathroom buddy. Every morning he would stay in the bathroom with me as I would get ready. Probably because I would give him water out of the faucet. He really liked that!

- Burney was a shy cat. Each time the doorbell rang, it didn't matter where he was, he would high tail it to our bedroom to get under the bed. Burney didn't care much for Halloween. He wanted to watch the people outside but then they would knock or ring the door bell and he'd go running! It was cute!


- Burney loved to wrestle with Yao and Nemo. With Yao, they would kick each others heads. It was so funny! Nemo, well he would just jump on top of Burney. Then Burney would play. 


Burney was only 2 years old. He had some rough moments and some really great ones. If you don't know Burney's story of where he came from click here. I am still so happy and proud of Joey that he stopped and picked him up. 

Burney really was an amazing cat. I am just so happy we got to spend these last couple of years taking care of him. He was a blessing on our little family. 

Burney, our little lion, you are missed! We love you so much and you will always have a special place in our hearts!


Sunday, December 11, 2011

Woo Hoo!

YAY!

Tomorrow we have a guy coming to our house to start installing our new wood laminate floors (Pergo)!! :D

He will be ripping up all our carpet and replacing it with wood  while we are at work. (Don't worry, we know this guy and he is very trustworthy!)

This project was on the "one day" list since shortly after we moved in and we figured it would be a while until we got to do it.

We found a great sale on it about 2 weeks ago, bought it at .88 a square foot! Which normally it can go as high as around $2!

I am going to definitely take before/after shots. So those will be coming soon!

Meanwhile I'm gonna try to calm down my control-freak side of my personality and just go with the flow! Just being honest. I'm not proud of it. Joey graciously puts up with that ugly side and calms me down. Such a good man!

I am SO excited to get rid of that carpet though! 3 cats + carpet = yuck!

Can't wait to post the before/afters!

Night!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Wow!

Wow! The last time I posted something was in September!!! WHAT?!


Well a lot has gone on since then!

I've been absent mainly because I got a long term substitute teaching job! Meaning I go there everyday....I've been in the same class since October 3rd.

It is nice to have somewhere to go everyday and know each student :)


Let's see...since last time I was on....


  • We went to a wedding in New Orleans
    • It was my husband's cousin
    • Trip was 6 hours one way driving. Yikes! 
    • However it was worth it and SO fun!
    • After the wedding, which was in a park in front of a beautiful church, we did/had a Second Line
      • Basically we walked to the reception area (some blocks away) with a band in front playing music and the guests all had hankies we waved. 
      • It was something I would never do and it was fun!
  • Thanksgiving happened of course!
    • Lots of yummy food!!
    • We went to Joey's parent's house. (I don't think that's proper grammer, meh)
    • My mom and grandma joined us over at Joey's parent's house
      • This was awesome! One big Thanksgiving with both my mom's side and Joey's family
  • Black Friday
    • Yes...I participated in that craziness!
    • At first I was only going to go to Bath and Body Works (their big candles were on sale plus I had coupons!)
    • Then I kept looking in the ads. Bad idea!
    • At 11:00 my sister-in-law came over to go with me and my mom did too. 
    • We were in the line outside of Target at 11:30. We definitely  were not the first. Not even in the first hundred. 
      • I wanted to go to Target to get the Shark Steam Mop. It was half off!
      • I got one! :) Sadly, it hasn't been tested. It's still in the box. Sad, I know!
    • After that we headed to Bath and Body. 
      • I got 2 3-wick candles (normally 19.50 each- were 2 for $20), 7 body washes (Buy 3 get 3 free...used a free product coupon to get another one free), and the bag promotion (buy $40 of stuff get bag for $20) all for $56! Yay! 
    • Then Kohl's
      • BAD IDEA! We went for those plastic tumblers with the straws. They had them for $3. I got one of their big throws. We stood in the line for almost an hour. I only had 3 items! I seriously thought about just leaving. We didn't. I am glad I got the stuff. The blanket is awesome!!
    • Last was Best Buy
      • My sister-in-law wanted to get her boyfriend a present. The line was not bad at all by then. (2:30 am)
  • Went to bed after done shopping. Later that day we went to visit family in Galveston
    • Joey's family was down. I love hanging out with them! It is always a fun time! :)
  • The weekend after that was the Texas reception for the same wedding we went to in New Orleans. 
    • Dancing, food, a candy bar!
    • Fun times were had! 

That's it! I don't have pictures of ANY of it either! Fail!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I'm trying to get my house ready for Christmas! 

I promise it won't be so long to the next time I post! I'm hoping to take pictures of the Christmas decor and post before Christmas this year! :)

Have a great night!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

What I Wore Wednesday! (WIWW)

Hey Everyone!

Sorry I haven't been around for a while! I was going to link up last week, but my mom went in for a routine procedure Wednesday and ended up having to have an emergency surgery! We are hoping she gets out of the hospital today or tomorrow!


Now onto the outfit pictures. Some of these are from like 2 weeks ago. I didn't take pictures last week at all. Oops!

I wore this for my sister-in-law's b-day dinner (Aug 28th). 
Can you tell that I went a while without a haircut?! Lol!
- Shirt: old, JcPenny's
- Jeans: Levi's from Kohl's
- Shoes: Payless (liner inside is messing up, boo!)
- Necklace: Josiah's Nest shop

A Saturday hanging out. 
I love how the tank makes me look slim! :)
- Tank: Target clearance!
- Shorts: Kohl's
- Shoes: Payless

Wore this for a sub job on a Friday! It was comfy! 
- Cardigan: Charlotte Russe- on sale!
- Tank: same as above, Target clearance
- Slacks: Kohl's clearance (Docker's $14.99!)
- Shoes: Ssekos!

This is how I styled my Ssekos that Friday! 
I was trying something new :)

This was last Monday, for a 4th grade sub job.
I got a my hair trimmed! :) 
- Shirt: JcPenny's clearance (paid $2 since I had a $10 off $10 or more- it was $12!)
- Skirt: Worthington's from JcPenny's
- Shoes: Payless
P.S. Nemo says "Look at me!"



That is all! I hope you have a great rest of the week!
I am linking up to The Pleated Poppy!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

This Summer's Projects!

I just dumped all my pictures onto my computer! I found so many of things I wanted to post about, but forgot! Oops! 

Photos incoming!!

One three day weekend Joey and I decided to tackle our landscape! We had wood mulch that had been there since the house was built (2007). Needless to say it was looking pretty sad! The day or so leading up to the weekend we shoveled out the old mulch, the old ant mounds and bought dirt to level the beds out. 

I forgot to take before photos :( Just picture a flower bed with tons of weeds (since there was no weed barrier) and ugly old wood mulch! 
We decided to hire Joey's sister to help us! 
Such a good idea! 
She was so helpful and we got it done in a few hours!

We decided to go with rubber mulch, while it's more expensive, it lasts much longer than wood mulch!
After

Love my turtle from my mother-in-law! :)

Daisy was very interested in what we were doing!




My Summer mantel
- outer most blue jars: have wooden spools with colorful thread on them
- Middle blue jars: Tiny pebbles ( like aquarium kind) with flameless candles
- Tall jar: shells with a sea horse on top



One day I decided to rearrange the things on top of our kitchen cabinets. 
I thought it was looking crowded, so I wanted to simplify it!

Before:
(had an old cheese grater leaning against the flowers, but it got knocked down)



After:


SO much better! 
So far I have switched out the teapot (in the last picture) for a vintage percolator I got at a garage sale. 
I am thinking about switching out the pitcher (in the crate) with some cookbooks. 
Not sure if I'll like it, but I'm going to try it to see :)

While I was doing that I also decorated with what was on the counter. 
- Tray I redid! 
- Vintage recipe holder( from Joey's grandma)
What is that on the left you ask?

This:
I got an idea when I had this apothecary jar just sitting around being unused. 
It used to house a terrarium my grandma built for me. 
It got infested with flies.
Gross!

Anyways. 
I remembered seeing, on someone's blog, a glass jar being used to hold their dishwasher powder.  
I liked the functionality and practical usage with the decorative touch! 
So it stuck in my mental decor folder. 

Then that day I thought about how tired I was of reaching under the sink to get a tab each time. 
I also thought they were a nice pretty teal color. 
Then I remembered my jar! 
I decided to try and see what it looked like. 
Ta-Da! 
I really like it! I can easily access the tabs, plus I can see when we are running low! 


We had/are having a great summer! We got some projects done that needed to be done. I love working on projects with Joey! It makes it so much more fun when you are working with someone you love to be with! :)

Have a fantastic week!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

This weekend's To Do List!

Yay! It's Saturday! One thing about working all week 8-5 (well working 4 days, since I usually take a day off for errands) is that you really look forward to the weekends. Another thing is, housework waits till the weekend. Sometimes I can get some done during the week, it depends on the day, sometimes I can't! This week was a little crazy, so I'm using today and tomorrow to get our house back in order! :)


To Do:
- Dust living room and front room
- Vacuum front room
- Vacuum master
- Vacuum kitchen
- Vacuum living room and hallway
       ( I broke those down so I'll feel more accomplished by being able to check more things off! lol)
- Laundry - I usually have a schedule I adhere to, but it didn't happen this week!
      o Towels
      o Sheets
      o Joey's clothes
      o My clothes
      o Rags- cleaning towels
- Clean master bathroom
      o Toilet, tub, counter, shower
      o Vacuum floor
- Clean guest bath
      o Toilet, tub, counter
      o Vacuum floor
- Febreeze couch
- Flip couch cushions



Decor To Do:
- Fix front door basket. It has these flowers in there that were just put in there and surrounded by paper ( i  forgot to get some of that green floral foam). Needless to say, it really needs a makeover! **Edit: It looks much better now thanks to a little more flowers and ribbon!

- Move cute and unused cookbooks to inside crate that's on top of the fridge
- Swap placement of brown and blue chair in living room

Fun To Do:
- Spend time playing or snuggling with each kitty
      o Daisy
      o Burney
      o Nemo

- Get together with some of Joey's family for lunch today! - It was fun! The food was delicious!


That's it! I've already gotten some of these done today! I love being able to cross things off my list! :) Off I go to do some more!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

What I Wore Wednesday! (WIWW)

Things have been a little busy/crazy around here, so I haven't taken too many pictures to share!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! Our's has been a little hectic, but we have nothing planned for this weekend, so I am looking forward to that! :)

I am linking up with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy, of course! :)

Sometimes last week, I think Monday

I wore this to work, I loved the ruffles from both the shirt and on the shoes!

- Cardigan: Charolette Russe
- Shirt: Target clearance!
- Pants: JcPenny's
- Shoes: Payless

Friday
I had a few errands to run and then went to get a haircut!

- Shirt: JcPenny's (I really like that store- they have good deals!)
- Cami: Old Navy $2!
- Shorts: my sister-in-law's, she didn't want them, so I got them! 
Love it when that happens!
- Shoes: Sseko with my teal straps!
- Earrings (can't see): same as here...from a friend

I wore a lot of teal that day! It was fun and colorful! :)

That's it! 

Saturday I wore my bathing suit to the beach. My sister-in-law had her birthday party there with some friends and we were helping chaperon them.We went to CiCi's afterwards.  It was fun! :) 
This is the bathing suit I have: 

I love it! It hides the things I want it to! :)

I hope you have a lovely Wednesday! 

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Substituting, Nemo, and a Haircut

I haven't blogged in a while! Opps! Sorry, I've been busy! I started working at Joey's job 3 weeks ago. Then our weekends have been busy!

I like working with Joey! :) I get to see him during the day and I get to eat lunch with him everyday! I do little odd jobs. The first 2 weeks was like data entry stuff. Last week was shredding old things from the late 80's- about 1998. Yep...I was shredding stuff that was as old as me, and some older! 

School is about to start for Lamar, FBISD, and Needville. Which I will be subbing at all of them! Yay! I got a letter in the mail from Needville inviting me to their substitute orientation! I tried to get in in January, but since they are such a small school, they only do orientation once a year. I am so excited that I'll get to be a substitute where I went to school! 

 We also got a new kitty! His name is Nemo! He is all black, except for a little white patch on his neck. He also has a little smoky color on his tummy and legs. Nemo is almost 3 months old! We got him at CAP (Citizens for Animal Protection), which Joey's grandma help start! :) CAP had a little event that had animals 50-100% off! I was thinking about getting another cat. Then Joey saw CAP's advertisement, so we decided to go!
We found Nemo! 
(I promise I'm not strangling him in the picture!)

Nemo was free! 
Plus, CAP:
- neutered him for free
- gave him his first round of shots (minus rabies since he's little)
- gave us 30 days of pet insurance
- paid for the 1st vet visit
and
- gave us coupons and goodies for him
What a blessing that event was! So many animals were getting adopted! :D

Our biggest thing was it was really important to get a kitty that we thought would fit well into our home. 
One of the volunteers took out Nemo and let him look at the fish tank they had. He LOVED trying to get at the fish. So we asked to hold him. Nemo then fell asleep in Joey's lap.  He was the perfect balance. Crazy for Daisy, calm and snuggly for Burney! :)

The first days, there was a lot of hissing. Daisy was not mad...we figured out she was afraid of him! She wanted to get close to him, but when he looked at her, it scared her!
Burney hid. 


Now, everything is MUCH better! Nemo tries to pounce on Burney...Burney just stares at him! Lol Daisy plays with him at times. Nemo loves those little bell balls and following us around!

We are working on where he's not supposed to go (counters) and his play biting. He likes to bite our hands/legs. He'll wrap his legs and arms around your arm and play bite. Then he'll lick, as if to say "I'm just playin'!"  He's just so silly! Nemo's motorboat is SO loud! :) He also meows a little as he walks around the house! I love it! 

Oh...and Nemo farts. Like a lot! Almost every time I pick him up, he farts! Joey picks him up...nothing. It's just on me. 

I love having a kitten in the house again! 
Nemo is so entertaining to watch! 
He's just so adorable! :)


 Other News: Friday I went and cut my hair off :) I was ready for something different. Plus, in this heat, my hair was always in a ponytail. So I wanted something that would be cooler!

Before:
I had a pretty long ponytail! 

Here's Nemo about to attack my legs.


After:
This is right after I got home from the haircut place!
I LOVE it! 
It is so much easier to care for!

Case in point:
Joey and I went to the beach yesterday. Joey's sister had her birthday party there. (It was fun!) 
We were there from 2pm-7pm.  Normally, my hair would be a huge, tangled, frizzy mess.

This is what it looked like with my new haircut:
Awesome!!
(I didn't get my hair wet, except the one random wave that got 1 side a little wet)

I like my hair crazy wavy/curly! 
I have yet to straighten all of it, but I'll try that soon and post a picture!


That's all the excitement that's been happening in our house! 
Have a great week!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

What I Wore Wednesday (WIWW)

Happy Wednesday!! I hope your week is going well!

Mine is, I have been working with Joey at his job doing little tasks here and there...and getting paid for it! :) I started this past Friday.

I am excited about my outfits for this week, since I got to wear my nice dressy stuff! Plus, I need to do laundry, so I got a little creative! :)

I am linking up to The Pleated Poppy. I love seeing everyone's outfits and the different things they come up with to wear!


Last Friday
I forgot to take a picture before we left.
I wore my Ssekos that day, so I took a picture that evening of how I tied them.


Daisy says Hi!




Saturday


My mom had a garage sale that morning that I worked at...I got a little sunburned.
That evening, we decided to go eat at The Cheesecake Factory! YUM!

- Sweater: Charolette Russe
-Shirt: gift from mom
- Jeans: Levi's from Kohl's
- Shoes: Payless
- Curly hair: Jesus


Sunday
Somehow my sunburn was almost gone! :)


Going to church, then the church BBQ afterwards!
- Shirt: Old Navy
- Skirt: thrifted (from Forever 21)
- Leggings: Target on sale!
 ( I cut off a pair of capri length to make them knee length.
Target did have that length, but stopped carrying it before I got me a pair)
- Shoes: Charolette Russe



Tuesday
Working with Joey!
I got creative taking a picture, since I forgot to do that at home.



- Shirt: gift from mom (Ross)
- Black cami: old...Kohl's
- Ring: Little Miss Momma!

I won a giveaway and won a ring of my choice and a pillow cover from Little Miss Momma's shop!!
I chose snow white so it would go with anything! I love it! It's so fun!
I am still so excited I won! Her shop is full of such beautiful and fun things!


Today- Wednesday
I took a picture before I left! Yay!


Please ignore the weird head tilt...that was an attempt to show you  my earrings!

Here's a better picture of my earrings :)

- Shirt: Marshall's
- Pants: JcPenny's
- Fun Green Shoes: Payless
- Earrings: gift from friend :)

Have a great rest of the week! 

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

What I Wore Wednesday! (WIWW)

Alrighty, I remembered to take pictures through everything going on!

We had Yao's passing, Joey had pnemonia (a not so bad kind...antibiotics killed it!) a birthday party, packing...it was a crazy week. Then last week was OneCamp. 

OneCamp was awesome! We had a great speaker, Sean McDowell

Now onto my WIWW! :) I am (of course) linking with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy!

July 3rd
This was for church 
Love how skinny this skirt makes me look! :)
- Shirt: old! From JcPenny's
- Necklace: Premiere Jewelry
- Skirt: thrifted! ($6, orginally from Target)
- Shoes: Payless

(Sidenote)
I went to Goodwill a few weeks ago. I went to find just belts for around my waist. I left with 2 skirts and 2 belts! :) 

- Purple Skirt :$6 (still had Forever 21 tag on it!)
- Gray Skirt: $6 (from Target)
- Blue elastic belt: .99!
- Reversible belt (it's black then brown): .99!
Total: $13.98



Monday
Lunch with my mom!
- Shirt: Target clearance!
- Shorts: Kohl's
- Shoes: my Ssekos!! :D

I ordered my Sseko's last Wed and had them by Saturday! 
They had a B1G1 free deal with their staps!
I got the teal and black ones. 
Learn more about Ssekos Here


Tuesday
For running errands. 
I love the comfy-ness of that shirt, but the fit is kinda frumpy. 
I'm thinking it needs a belt or something.
- Shirt: Old Navy clearance (last year)
- Capri's: Ross
- Shoes: Ssekos




I hope you have a great rest of the week! 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

RIP My Yao



This is a hard post to write.

Monday we went out to eat with Joey's parents to celebrate our birthdays. We came home from eating dinner to find that Yao had passed away while we were gone.

It was such a shock. He was perfectly fine that morning. We had snuggled with him and played with him just before we left.

He passed away laying on our bed. One of the spots he loved to be. He was 7 years old. We think he might have had a heart attack, but we are not sure.

I just hope it was painless. That he went to sleep and went peacefully.

Joey was so sweet and dug a hole so we could bury him. Joey picked a spot in the backyard so that I could see him from my desk.

I have never cried so much as I did that day.

I have gotten a little better. The mornings and the nights are the hardest.

Yao was my snuggle bug at night. He would sleep right next to me and let me hold him like a teddy bear. Then every morning he was there when I was getting ready.

I miss him so much and it is hard to believe he is gone.


Burney and Daisy seem fine. Daisy watched as we buried him. I know she misses him, she grew up chasing him around (until Burney came). I think Burney really misses his big brother though. They were best buds.



Yao was my first cat I've ever had. I could not have asked for a better one.

He came when I called, everytime I would call "Yao Man, where's my Yao Man!" he'd come running.
Yao would "talk " back to me. He minded me when I told him to.  He hung around me when I was sick. He greeted us when we came back from trips. Most of all he snuggled with me.
Just a good kitty...so good.

He loved playing with his stick. It used to be one of those feather sticks, which broke, but he loved playing with it anyways.

I am just so happy that the last morning and afternoon we had with him we played with him, let him snuggle under the covers, petted him and showed him love.


Some quirks of his I loved:
- He loved smelling hair. Especially Joey's!
- He liked being on Joey's pillow
- He smelled my straightener every time I used it.
- Every once in a while Yao would start meowing randomly from another room. When he did this when he was younger I could call him to let him know where I was. Later on, I think he was calling Burney.
- He loved drinking from the faucet.
- Each time we would let him outside he seemed to be determined to sample each piece of grass.
- He smelled the fridge when we opened it
- When he thought no one was watching he would just be so giddy playing with his bell ball toy. I loved that! If he saw me watching, he'd stop.
- When he was younger he would claw around the bottom of my mom's chairs. Zooming around on his back. It was so funny!
- The way he crouched ready to pounce on a bird outside.
- He would *lick, lick, nibble* on you. Like he had to clean you before he nibbled.
- He would drag his stick toy to you. Then he got to where he'd just sit on it and stare at you until you played.
- He was so interested in the shower. After I got out, he always wanted to go in. I kept telling him that it was  "kitty torture chamber" and that he wouldn't like it.
- Somehow this started...I'd tell him to lick my toe...and 90 times out of 100 he would.
- He answered to his nicknames Yao Man and Monster (gotten from when he was a stinker when he was young)
- His purr was so loud!
- He snored sometimes

He was so full of personality!






Yao will always have a special place in my heart. He is greatly missed in our household.

We love you Yao!