~Volunteering~

The weekend before last, May 27th, 2012, Dustin and I volunteered at the animal sanctuary in Broken Arrow. We welded a fence that is used to house lions on one side and a tiger on the other. It was quite the experience. We were in the lion's home while they were locked up in smaller cages while we worked. A big tiger was on the other side though and he wasn't a very nice tiger! On several occasions, he growled and acted mad that we were so close. The tiger hates men in baseball caps or sunglasses so he wasn't too fond of Dustin. At one point, Dustin was within feet of the original fence, welding the new fence, when the tiger came up behind him and growled. Of course that scared the crap out of Dustin but it gave everyone a good laugh. We worked for about 6 hours (it was hot)! But we got quite a bit done. They really needed the help. Dustin works with one of the guys who run the zoo and they are all so nice. His wife takes care of the animals there. They all do it for free, no one there gets paid. And they work their butts off. After we got done eating, the people who run it and live there cooked us steaks and other stuff. It was so delicious. It was some of the best steak that we've ever had. Dustin says it's in his top 3. I'd say so, too. The man who cooked the steaks used a seasoning called Daddy Hingles or something like that, I will have to get some and try to make some steaks even half as good. After we ate, we got a free VIP tour, just Dustin and I. We got to interact with the animals. I held a baby lemur, petted a skunk, fed the lemurs, held a fennec fox (so cute)! And held a kangaroo. My favorite part was when we were looking at monkeys and the lady told me that one of them only likes blonde women with big chests. So, I walked by him and he loved me! Haha out of nowhere, he grabbed his cup and threw water all over me! He does it to hear the women scream, he likes that! haha, pervert monkey. The tour lasted for awhile and we left around sunset. It was a wonderful day for Dustin and I. We were happy to do something that we had never done before and would probably never get the chance to do again. When we got home, we went right to bed because we were both so tired. The next day was Memorial Day, so Dustin was off. We just spent time together at home that day and enjoyed the rest. Last weekend, Dustin took off on Friday and we went out to dinner that night at Mexico Lindo. We both got something called Mexico Lindo steak. It was sooo good and only 10.99. We love that place. Recently, I've been cooking a lot, trying out new recipes. They've all been good, Dustin loves them. Our favorite so far is texas toast pizzas (which happen to be the easiest and the cheapest). Today is Friday again and I just got done cleaning at my Mom's house. I'm about to get ready to go home and cook Dustin lunch before he goes to work. I may try to go fishing early in the morning when he gets off work. We were going to go to Hogs and Hotrods tomorrow but I'm not sure if that will work with Dustin's schedule. He needs to get some good sleep. Tomorrow night, I'm going to spend some time with Lindley. She's going through a hard time right now and I miss her! We used to spend all Summer together when we were younger and when we were like 16-17. I miss that. Now she's 19 and I'm 21 and we're going to have a sleepover. Haha, sometimes we just need to act like little kids again!

~Beautiful Angel~

Sadly, this past Saturday night, I got a message on facebook that I had been dreading. A neighbor had found Chloe, but she was deceased. She wasn't far away at all. In fact, she was just on the other side of the fence. I'll always miss her, but I know she's in a better place. She was a sweetheart and I miss her talking to me (she meowed all the time) and I miss those pretty blue eyes. She was very special and a joy to have, even if just for a few years. I'm working on making her a cross to put on her grave. Before I found out she had passed away, I got a kitten. I had been thinking about getting a kitten even before Chloe went missing. I had a cat named Ralph when I was younger and he was my favorite cat and the kitten I got looks just like him, except this one has a tail. I named him R.J. (for Ralph Junior), which might change if I find something I like better soon. He is ornery and sweet and takes a little bit of the pain away from losing Chloe. I'm not replacing her, though. She will never be replaced, just like Ralph will never be replaced. I sound like a crazy cat lady, which maybe I am. But I just love my animals with all of my heart. I know Chloe had a long and happy life.

~Bad News~

On a somber note, I saw this with regret...my cat Chloe is gone :( Someone here let her outside and she wondered off and got lost. She was never ever an outside cat, at all. So she naturally got lost whenever she wondered off. I bet she just kept walking, trying to find her home. I put lost signs up of her all over the neighborhood, with no avail. I haven't saw her for two weeks and I'm just so heartbroken over it. The worst part is wondering if she is dead or suffering. Or if she suffered at all. The only thing that gives me hope is hope that she found someone who wanted her and is taking care of her. Although it would upset me because they won't give her back or let my know they have her, I would be happy that she is ok. I hate to think of my little angel suffering. She was so sweet and I always called her beautiful, because she was. I miss her so much. Now, after two weeks, tears still run down my cheeks when I think about it. I love my pets almost as much as I love humans. They are often worthy of more love than humans and they are more loyal than any human I've ever met. If by any chance I ever find her, I don't know if I will ever let her out of my arms. I know wherever she is, or sadly, wherever she might have spent her last moments, that she was wondering where I was and why I haven't saved her. The truth is that I've done everything I can to find her. I posted on every local lost animal website I could find, I put up posters, I let the shelters know, I scoured the neighborhood looking for her and shaking her treats. I didn't sleep for days after she went missing because I felt like I needed to be doing something to find her. If I had known then that I would be sitting here two weeks later without her, I wouldn't have believed it. I really thought I was going to find her. As hard as it is to see pictures of her, I want to put some up because I know I'll never forget her. She loved to talk, always meowing and rolling around happily.

My little angels. 

Sweetheart.

Beautiful eyes. 

I remember this, I had just gotten home and she was so happy to see me. 

She always liked to sit on whatever I was paying attention to. 

This night, she wouldn't let me sleep and it turns out, she wanted me to cover her up because she was cold. 

Always the center of attention. 

Sam and Chloe, I miss them both. 

~My Goodness~!

I just realized that it's been 21 days since I've updated this! I have been so busy with new projects that I barely have time to get on here anymore. To start off, I have started making jewelry. I don't know what inspired me to get into it, but it's become a passion of mine. I went to Hobby Lobby when they were having a Mother's Day sale, spent 80 bucks, and got a ton of stuff. I made a Mother's Day Bracelet for my Mom, Dustin's Mom, and Dustin's Grandma. I would've made one for my Nana but I didn't think she would wear one. I need to make her one anyway because it's the thought that counts, I wish I would have already though! I also made myself an earring holder out of a cardboard box, fishing line, clear finger nail polish, and a paper gift bag. It's hard to explain so I am posting a picture. I needed something to display my earrings and this just came to mind. On another subject, we've been fishing a little less lately, but have gone some. The Keystone Dam was so high up for awhile from all of the rain we got, and then it got too low. We tried it for awhile one night while it was up, and caught some sand bass. Dustin threw his cast net out trying to get a shad for an old man fishing, and caught about 100 baby catfish in the net. I spent about and hour afterwards cutting them out one by one, but I think they all lived. One night, we went with Dustin's coworker Thomas to our spot in Broken Arrow. We were hoping the water was up because we always catch big fish when the water is up. The water wasn't up but Thomas caught his first decent sized catfish that day. I went swimming with Brady, Brendan and his girlfriend sometime in the beginning of May. I went to Brady's Birthday party the day before Mother's Day, which was fun. I'm just trying to piece things together as I go because I like to use this as my diary with pictures :) I know that next to no one reads this besides me, which I kinda like. On Mother's Day, Dustin and I went fishing in the morning. I locked the keys in the car, which was really expensive to get unlocked :( Then we went to visit my Nana, who had babysat my adorable cousin Ellie the night before, so I got to see her too. We visited her for awhile before we went home and gave Dustin's Mom her present. Last week, Dustin was sick with a sinus infection and had to miss some work. I finally got his butt to the Doctor and they put him on antibiotics, which have made a huge difference. This weekend, Dustin and I went to Chanute, Ks to visit Skylar, who just came back from Air Force training in San Antonio and got to stay home for a few weeks before heading to Montana. We will miss him in Montana, but we will come visit! We had a great time. We rented a hotel room for 2 nights. The first night, Skylar stayed the night with us and we had a blast. Dustin really missed him! The next day, they went skeet shooting. I didn't go because I was at the hotel puking all day :( But I still had a great time. We both really like hanging out with Skylar. We came home on Monday and took Grandpa out to Logan's steakhouse. Then we came home and went out back to fish. Dustin ended up catching a good sized bass, but he threw it back. Harley and Gunner swam because it was hot out. Because I was in Chanute, I missed Blake's birthday party on that Sunday. I will get to see him on his actual birthday though, I'm going to get him a fishing pole for his birthday. I doubt he'll be real excited about it, but he has so many toys and needs a new fishing pole. I guess I'm just overly hoping that he's into that kind of stuff when he's older :) On another note, I didn't think it was possible, but Dustin and I have become closer lately. It's like our relationship is on another level than it's ever been lately. Our relationship has always been 'friendship set on fire' but lately it's just been even more. I can't explain it, we just have a really close bond. He is truly my best friend. He is the best thing to ever happen to me and I view his family as my family, and vise versa, I believe. I love how we have so many common interests and can talk and laugh like best friends. I also love the mutual understanding that we both have that is, although we love each other very much and know we will eventually get married, we don't want to do it anytime soon. We both feel like there's plenty of time to take those steps and enjoy living in the moment. We feel like there is no hurry, and want to take our time every step of the way. Here are some pictures of the jewelry I have made. 

The bracelet I made my Mom, who loves the ocean. 

Bracelet I made Dustin's Mom. 

Our Mom's Mother's Day bracelets. 

Dustin's Grandma's Bracelet. 

Blue wrap bracelet. Really pretty in person. 

Just a purple/gold wrap bracelet and a leopard print macabre bracelet. 

The earring holder I made. 

The Bass Dustin caught. 

~Wedding Weekend~

This past weekend was busy but a great one! On Saturday morning, we went fishing out back just for fun. We don't usually catch any big ones in our pond but it's fun to try. We caught some perch and mostly just enjoy being outside, letting the dogs play. We were out there awhile from sunset until about 9:30 or so. Afterwards, we went to eat at Sonic. A little while later, we got ready to go to Brady and Amy's wedding. Their wedding started at 2 and we got there a little early, got to see almost everyone in the family. My Aunt Mistie and Kasie came down, which was really nice! It was nice getting to see them and see everybody. After the wedding, Dustin and I decided to try out the fishing at Bird Creek. We didn't have any luck, it's such a big creek that it's probably great on some days and next to no fish on the next. We left when it was about dark and went home to get ready to go out. We went to Magoo's to play pool with Taylor and had a blast. Dustin is usually awesome at pool but kinda sucked that day :p Taylor beat him once or twice! We stayed until they were closed and took Taylor home, then went home and crashed ourselves. We had been up for 33 hours straight. I only slept like 6 hours even though I had been up that long, I couldn't go back to sleep. So Gary and I went to the mall on Sunday. I went to exchange some clothes I got at DEB. Turns out there wasn't a DEB at the Woodland Hills mall but we still looked around a little, got Nori Japan, and drove to the DEB at Tulsa Hills. After that, we headed home. I brought Dustin and Grandpa home some Nori Japan, which wasn't nearly as good as usual. But that's okay because it's the first time I've ever had it and it not be perfect. Dustin and I spent the night inside just relaxing and he went back to work the next day. I went to my parent's house yesterday and today to visit. Today, I went through photo albums and took pictures of a lot of them. That's pretty much all of the highlights from my weekend, thanks for reading!

My newest nail-venture. 

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Been busy -and happy- lately! To start out, I recently discovered a passion for nails, weird right? I've always had a creative side and I love when I get to express that. Combine that with the fact that there's so many different things you can do with nails ,all the colors, rhinestones, designs, exc, and I just love it. And like everything that I enjoy doing, I just can't seem to enjoy it in moderation! Haha, for example, last weekend, I went to Walgreens and bought myself 28 bottles of nail polish. In my defense, they were only 99 cents each, which is an awesome sale. Plus, I got most of the colors that I've been wanting and it will give me something to do when I'm bored. Dustin also bought me a nail stamping kit which I use almost everyday. It has all these designs that you can stamp onto your nails;such as, flowers, zebra print, butterflies, and various girly things. 

Such a beautiful sight, how could I resist? 

Anyway, I could go on and on about nail polish and will probably annoy the Hell out of my friends on facebook with my over-excitement over my nail designs. They're messy but I'm definitely getting better at it. Growing up a Tomboy, give me a break :) On Sunday night, Dustin and I went out to Buffalo Wild Wings with Taylor and Greg. I barely ever drink. The last time I ever drank was on New Years Eve. I had two drinks, an apple martini and a red bull/vodka, and the room was spinning. Sad, I know. I can't even enjoy two drinks without feeling drunk. I didn't like it. I don't get why people enjoy getting drunk so much, I guess maybe they're bored? Or maybe they get a different effect, Idk. Haha. We went fishing last night after Dustin got off work, at the Keystone Dam. The water was WAY down, so Dustin walked down to the rocks to fish. Not long after, the sirens went off telling us that the water was about to be let out. So, Dustin had to hurry and get up to where the water wouldn't be going. Well, as he was coming up, he tripped on the mossy rock and fell on his side into the water. While I watched helplessly not knowing how to help him, because he had to jump down 5 feet of rocks to even get down there, and I'm clumsy. It felt like minutes passed before I realized he was okay, but in reality it was probably only a few seconds. My poor baby :( He wasn't hurt bad though, just ended up hurting later on. We caught quite a few white bass and I caught a 14 inch crappie. Which, if you're not very familiar with fishing, is a pretty good catch. I didn't stop smiling until we got home. 

Nail polish and fish in the same post, weird, I know. I have two sides to me; the super girly side, and the super tomboy side. I'd say they're both pretty split down the middle. Nothing makes me any happier than having my hair looking perfect (rarely), jewelry, clothes, or makeup. But on the same token, nothing makes me happier than going fishing, hunting, mudding, and hiking. There's ups and downs to both sides, and although some people tell me I can't be both, obviously I can! Here are some of my nail creations. Some are very messy because I'm not great yet, plus some black polish stained my cuticles and I couldn't get it off for days. 

Sinful Colors-24/7 with Sinful Colors-Feeling Great.

Polka Dots. 

First time trying so it's extra messy. 

~Fishing Weekend~

Dustin's back and head has been hurting him recently. He had to miss two days of work this past week because of them :( he's always had bad headaches frequently and they don't know why. He's even had to have a spinal tap. I pray it's nothing bad!    Saturday morning, we went fishing at the Keystone Dam again. We got there real early in the morning. It didn't take long before we were both catching them. We eventually ended up moving down the damn and we caught even more crappie on down. We caught one almost every cast. We threw a lot of them back because they were small but we still ended up getting a good amount. I love getting into crappie, they are probably my favorite fish to fish for! They may be tied with bass and catfish but it's hard to choose between those 3! lol. After we got home, Dustin hadn't slept so we cleaned the fish and took a nap. When we woke up, we cooked us some hamburgers and fish. I don't normally like fish at all. I wasn't raised eating fish because my Dad isn't a huge fan and my Mom just thinks it's disgusting. lol! So I grew up kind of thinking it was gross, plus I hated the smell. But, I absolutely loved the crappie! I don't know if it was the way we cooked it or what but it was delicious. I ate more than my serving :) We ate our fish while we watched Duck Dynasty, a show about the Robertson family in Louisiana who own the company called Duck Commander. We've been a fan of their products and we watch their dvds, so they made for a pretty good show. The show doesn't show much duck hunting but it's  still really funny. That night, there were supposed to be some really bad storms so we stayed home. The storms didn't happen until 6 in the morning, but we didn't know when they were coming, so I barely got any sleep that night. There ended up being a tornado warning in Skiatook and a small tornado, but Owasso escaped the bad parts of the storms. We had a plan to go to my Papa's if it got too bad. We had a scare though when Dustin went to WalMart to get some fishing line, thinking the storms wouldn't be here anytime soon, and while he was gone the tornado warning. I just wanted him to get back home and he didn't take his cell phone so I could tell him, so it was kind of scary. He got home pretty fast before I freaked out though :) We watched the weather until we were sure it was okay and then he played on the computer while I slept. He woke me up around 10 am and told me to get ready so we can go fishing. So, I got ready and we went to the Keystone Dam. We were thinking it might be good since we had just gotten a bunch of rain, but we were wrong. It ended up getting really crowded and we didn't catch much, so we left around 4. We went back to Owasso and took Blake fishing at the park. We also took Harley and Gunner.They all had fun. Blake caught one bullhead catfish before he wanted to go do something else. He played on the playground and was his silly self, dancing around and just being silly. We played fetch with the dogs and stayed until it started getting dark. We took Blake back to my parent's house and Dustin helped my Dad move his old ottoman out and his new coffee table in. They got new Italian leather couches that are beautiful and I'm jealous! ;) We visited for some time before we went home because Dustin was really tired from not sleeping much the night before. We went home and I made Dustin pb&js and we watched t.v. and tried to stay awake for as long as we could, but it didn't last long.  So we went to bed and that was the end of our weekend:) I'm excited for Tuesday to get here because I should be getting the clothes I ordered! 

The keepers. 

Blake's catch.