Remember when...

... I used to blog consistantly?

... I bored readers with Foliage Friday?

... I bought a townhome?

... I adopted a puppy?

... I survived my 2nd annual Park Pride work program?

... I had 2 concussions?

... I managed to make it through my second summer at work?

... I lost the most wonderful grandmother in the world?

... I geeked out over the holidays and made my house look ridiculous with Halloween decor?


My, my. What a very sad year it has been. I can't believe it has been 10 months since I updated this poor blog. If you can't tell from the above list, it has been a crazy, insane, busy couple of months. I thought about writing specifically about each of the above points.... but I realized that would probably take me another 10 months. :)

Let's add some pictures to summarize the major points. And I will definitely expand on a few things. And I vow to be a better blogger!!


1. Soooo... I bought a house! It was actually a very exciting experience. After looking at well over 20 properties (with my poor parents, I can't really thank them enough for being so patient and going to EVERY property with me!) I fell in love with a townhome nearby. I was very lucky to also find a house that was in the final stages of a short sale. The previous offer fell through and I was able to swoop in without any of the bank mumbo jumbo. I closed on my little dream townhome at November 28, 2012 and moved in on December 30, 2012.

 One of things that I had to change before moving in was this silly window cut out on the second floor.  The windows were outdoor, and they really didn't go with the house.

My dad's friend was willing to come and tear out those silly windows and make my second room a loft. He also painted the entire house for me!

 Here is a shot of my house with the furniture moved in after my friend, Gina, and I moved it all in one night!

 My windows looked like this for quite a long time.... who knew window treatments were so expensive??

My most favorite part of my house is the fireplace and mantle. Well, I don't love the black marble on the front, but I just love having a fireplace. This is one of the fire times I enjoyed it last spring!

2. Shortly after moving in, I finally reached my second goal in life... adopting a dog! I could hardly wait a month after living in my new house. Again, I dragged my parents to 3 different adoption shows before deciding on an adorable little pitbull. Before I even started, I knew I wanted to adopt a dog from a shelter/foundation. There were SO many adorable, loving dogs that day.... but there was 1 little baby that captured my heart. It didn't bother me that she as a pitbull, I just connected with her! After filling out an application, having a home visit, and getting her spayed, miss Leia came to live with me for good! When she became part of my family, the vet estimated she was about 7 months old.

 This is a picture from her foster mom about a week before the adoption was final. Look at that face!!

 After a few weeks with me, Leia started to get very comfortable. This picture of her on my arm chair just cracks me up!

One of my most favorite pictures of Leia! This is basically her expression 85% of the time. She is probably the happiest dog I have ever met. She cracks me up every day and I am lucky to have her in my life!

3. I survived another busy season at work. And holy cow was it a busy one. One of my coworkers was let go in mid winter, leaving us with 1 less full time staff member to plow. We weren't able to fill the position until May. That was a good 5 months of me losing my mind trying to get everything parks related done... even the parts I didn't know. Then, in August, my supervisor left for another park district. We still haven't filled his position yet... so this summer has been beyond hectic. I don't have many pictures on my personal laptop of what I've done at work this year, but here are a few I got off my cell phone.

 

I have pots in a few locations around the district. This year I wanted to try a purple/green theme. This picture is right after I planted it, I wish I had a picture of them fully grown. I don't have ANY landscape design experience so I'm trying to teach myself as I go.

As I did last year, I planted mums throughout the district again this year. This is a spot at the shop I use to hold plants. When all the mums were delivered, this entire cage was filled up! It was an impressive array of mums.

I think that's all I've got for tonight. I wanted to highlight a few of the major points over the past 10 months. Of course, I will probably write more about my grandmother and my festive household decorations!

What would you like to read about? Anything I missed that you want to hear about?