Running thru life.... Clemson is a water dog!

Clemson you totally make me laugh.

Joe decided he was going to take a bath because his back hurt.

5 minutes later he had a friend with him.

=0)

This has happened 3 times in the last two weeks- what can you do other than laugh!

Running thru Life... Silence YOU DOG!

This weekend since it ended up being a relaxing, low key weekend, I stopped by our local dog store to pick up something I have been wanting to get Clemson for a while.  

The Quiet Spot.

aka... Pet Tag Silencer.

Now that Clemson has three tags- 

1 with his name and information, 1 with his vaccines, and 1 for the county,

he is like a jingel pup.  =0)

Except it is not Christmas anymore.  

Our neightbors use this product and love it.  

At first we we just had the 1 tag I did not see the point, but now I do.

You can hear him coming from all the way downstairs.  

So I called ahead to make sure they had them instock.

Walked in and looked thru the colors. 
The lady asked if there was a particular color I was looking for- 

Yes actually, do you have it in orange.

She went to the back and two minutes later I was pay $8 for it at the checkout.

I come home and placed it on Clemson.

Sorry no more Jingle Pup!

Running thru life... Year in Review!

I have blogged about this previously, 

but I thought I would share again since I have inspired a couple people at my job.

As you know, my husband loves photography.  

He has the big camera, big lens, big carry case.

We take so many pictures when we are travel,

and the first thing that he does when he gets home is upload them to his computer.

We came to agreement a couple years ago that each year we would make a photo book and also update the photos throughout the house.  

This way we actually get to enjoy the pictures that we take. 

This is something I work on thru out the year- quarterly.  

I spend about 30 minutes every couple months up loading photos and working on the album.

I use Kodak because I like there layouts, they offers you more options, and it is easy to use.

However, both Snapfish, Shutterfly can do the same.  

So I finished the book up after we came home from the UK, and then waited for a sale.

40% off photo books hit and I ordered it. 

Here it is sitting at the top along our pile of other photo books

1 Wedding

1 Honeymoon

1 2009-2010

1 Greece

Now 1 2011

Totally love this cover, during a Clemson football party at our house!

Summer fun!

 Manchester United Game with my Fam!

Fall times!

London

I have no idea why this picture did not auto correct.

I love this idea and will continue to do it.  

This year it was 60 pages (30 total pages front and back).

$35 with shipping included- NOT TOO BAD!

I got free shipping because I also ordered some pictures for the house, pictures as gifts, etc. 
Also if I had not waiting for a sale it would have been $$$$!

Running thru life.... Motivating my ass!

Lately I have had to try real hard to motivate myself to run.

Do not get me wrong- I will gladly run 3 miles 4-5 times a week.

But.... anything beyond that I am having to bribe myself. 

Monday I told myself if I ran 5 miles then I could take an afternoon Nap- it worked. 

Thursday I told myself if I ran more than 3 miles (ran during my lunch break at work so did not have so much time) I could relax Thursday night with painting my nails. 

I know- this is absurd. 

I am a grown woman.

I should not have to BRIBE MYSELF!

This is for my health we are talking about!

But I am just not motivated lately. 

I get running and then I start to think about all the things I need to get done- Refinancing, Taxes, Birthday gifts for so-so, schedule changes at work, etc. 

So while ready my book of the week

100 Habits of Happy People

One of the habits was:

Think about only 1 thing when falling asleep. 

This totally makes sense about sleeping. 

So while in bed last night- I thought (while I was trying to fall asleep) on how I am going to use this habit towards running-  1 thought and that is it! 

We will see how it works this week and will let you know. 

Running thru life... Early V Gift

My awesome husband got me an early Valentine's gift.  

I say Valentine's gift because I already advised him, because this gift is so awesome I do not expect anything for Valentine's Day (and I actually mean it)!

My Iphone.....4S!

To make a long story short, I was on my third Droid when it stopped working all together.  It would not make a phone call, the gsp did not work.  It was a nightmare!  After getting lost in the dark in Arlington one night while trying to make my way home around a terrible beltway accident and breaking down on the phone with my hubby because my gps was not work and I had to try multiple times to get my phone work- he walked into the Verizon store with me. 

 My husband has only seen me break down twice in the two years we have been together
1) When he took me on a rollercoster at Kings Dominon- Keep in mind I hate heights! 
Yes I starting having a panic attack while the rolle coaster was going up- not one of my finest moments
2) Stranded in Arlington

At the Verizon store I stood there (because I was beyond frustrated at this point to be here for what would be my 4th Droid in less than 2 years because they kept giving me refurbished droids - which SUCK!) while Joe talked and explained to the young lady our issue.  

She answered with well lets look up your accounts.  

The what came next was a miracle....

"Well you are actually eligible for an early upgrade, and Joseph has a credit on his account which we could use for Laura." 

We then walked over to the Iphones, I smiled and Joe said- "Let's do it!'

So that night he ordered me my iphone which came in the mail a couple days later. 

Joe ended up keeping his Droid because he really is not sure if he is ready for an iphone since he does not use his phone like I do.  

I am in love!!!

But it really does confirm that I have the best hubby every!

He used his credit towards my iphone which made is extremely affordable!

=0)

Happy Early V- DAY to me!!!

Running thru life... SAD!

Today I will be eating dinner by myself, taking Clemson on a walk by myself, all because my hubby will be starting classes again tonight.  It has been nice having a break with him home and helping, I totally love it!

But I have to remind myself- we are doing this for the greater good.
Yes I say we because I have realized it is a team effort.  He does the studying, the programing, gosh I can not even understand what is written on his whiteboard in his office right now, but I do the cooking, the arranging, the reminding, the finances, the day to day stuff.

It is frustrating at times, especially when you do not know when the end will be.
Maybe 3-6 years!! OMG that is a long time!  But 2 years have already gone by- we are vested!
We can do this!

So tonight while I eat my bowl of cereal for dinner, I will try to smile because it is for the greater good!

One day he will be Dr Hecker and I will be very very proud of him when that happens,
as I am proud of him now for working so hard at something I have no understanding at.

=0)
It is the price of greatness!!!

Running thru life...Growing up

It hit me last year that I am growing up.  

I have a career, a family, a home, and a life I love.  

I worry about work, weekly menus, schedules, finances, etc.  

So another part of growing up is making a Will!

Urrrrr

Not something that I was looking forward to.  

I looked it to multiple ways you can go about making a will:

1) Lawyer

Too expensive considering right now we just need something basic.

2) Online Programs

Too risky, I do not feel comfortable placing our information into a internet site. 

3) CD programs

Decided this was the best option for us. 

After deciding to go with a CD Program, I started researching which one would be the best options.  

I ended up going with Quicken WillMaker Plus because it got pretty good reviews and above people commented it was easy to use.
I ordered from Best Buy because we had a gift card from when we purchased our fridge back in October.
Cost:  $0 

 It was super easy.  

I loaded it and then it walked me thru step by step asking me questions and filling in the appropriate information.

It allowed me:

• Establish our last will and testament and stay in control of who inherits our property
• Specify our Health Care Directive and lay out our wishes for medical care
• Name a Financial Power of Attorney
• Describe our preferences for burial, cremation, memorials, obituaries and more
• Provide our executor with all the forms and instructions he or she needs to do the job, including checklists, letters, notices, claim forms and more

So finally, I did it this weekend.   

After about three hours of sitting in front of a computer, all the forms are done.  

Printed off.

Now I just have to find a notary to witness our signatures and then we should be good to go.

I know it is hard growing up but it is even harder making a will/advance directive/end of life decisions.  It was good process for me and my hubby to go thru to make sure we are on the same page.  I also loved that they had a pet section so we could make sure that if anything did happen to us that our family would know what to do with Clemson.


The Will Maker also has stuff for your children which we obviously did not have to fill out- but it is there.  

The other nice part is if for any reason some major changes, we can just change it in the program and get it re-notarized.

Here's to growing up!