Mom-in-law's bachelorette party tomorrow night.  Not sure what to expect other than a party bus after a champagne and hors d'oeuvres hour.  I only know the bride and my sister-in-law though...  And supposedly we're going to a lot of small bars outside of downtown where the drinks are cheaper.  Hopefully there are no creepers.  Don't know how late I'm going to stay out... work on Friday a.m.

Wedding is on Saturday night in their backyard.  They've put in tons of work this summer touching up the landscaping and cleaning the entire house, inside and out.  It looks fabulous!!!  So excited for them both - 10 years being together and they are finally tying the knot :)

Legend has it that the Pembroke Welsh Corgi is an "enchanted" dog, and certainly this must be true! 'Tis said he was used by the fairies and elves of Wales to pull fairy coaches, work fairy cattle, and serve as a steed for the fairy warriors. Even today those people with keen eyes and understanding hearts may see the marks of the "fairy saddle" in the coat over the shoulders.

Loving my job at the NDMOA!  There is always something going on, often leading to some very busy days.  This weekend is ArtFest in Town Square and we are short staffed at the museum, so I'll most likely be running between the two sites.  We have quite a large volunteer following; however, most are unavailable due to summer plans.  So it makes things even more busy around here.

I generally work 8:30am to about 5pm and am literally exhausted when I get home.  If it's a really nice evening, I try to head out to do some yard work.  Our grass grows SO FAST!  To keep up I'd have to mow every third day or so.  I'm trying to manage once a week, because it takes so long.  Tip: don't buy a corner lot - so much more to mow and shovel.

Our flower gardens are looking okay.  I need to get some more cocoa bean mulch to really finish off some of it.  I've also been growing some coneflowers and phlox indoors that I hope will be ready to plant outdoors on Sunday or early next week.

We are going to be getting new windows soon, so that might mess up some of the flower beds, unless the contractors are extra careful.  New windows should be worth it though.  No more cold drafts and high energy bills in the winter :)

We recently celebrated Baylee's 2nd and Moo's 1st birthday!  It is crazy to think that we have had Baylee exactly 1 year from today!!! What a blessing she has been to us!  I remember showing T the cute corgi picture in the classifieds.  He said, "We should get her."  I was shocked, we were already planning to get Moo in July.  "Two shouldn't be much more work than one."  And so Baylee came to be ours :)  She has changed so much in one year.  It is exciting to see her grow in her personality.  Moo was born one year ago on June 3.  What an exciting day that was!  Our baby was born!  And she was so tiny!  The runt of the litter.  We had no idea what an Augi would look like, as there really aren't any pictures available online.  But she's a cutie!  She is complimented all the time!

Okay, enough babbling about my pups.  Enjoy summer time!

Passed my oral comprehensive exam :) Now just my Spanish final at 5pm tonight. Then I'm officially DONE! Hurray!

Baylee's birthday is next Wednesday. We're going to have a party for her, probably next weekend after graduation or on Sunday. If the weather is nice maybe we'll grill. I need to find a good recipe for a pot pie or dog cookies as a special treat for the 2-year-old birthday girl (and Moo too :). Ideas?

Get Friday and Monday off of work and school! I usually have Fridays off and very little on Mondays, but it's still exciting!

So... we got a dump of snow all day yesterday. Literally snowed the entire day. Oh why does this happen! I had weekend plans to plant some bulbs, rake the yard, and get the garden ready. Instead I spent the morning shoveling and day dreaming of nice weather... Those springtime chores will have to wait a few weeks now :(

The flood still continues down at the Red River. Water is so high! T and I took the girls to the top of one of the parking ramps last night to see over the dike. Wow. So much water - only the very tops of the trees are showing.

A history of our weather this winter:



Nice weather, please come soon :D

Hurray! Today I landed my first "professional" job at NDMOA. I am thrilled! My first interview with the director went great. There were 60 applicants and 12 interviewees. 6 were called for follow-up interviews with the staff. This part was tough - lots and lots of questions and not the typical "interview" ones :) I wasn't sure how it went. I mean... I really wanted the position, but I couldn't gauge what everyone thought of me. I was pretty down and blue when I got home. T took me out for dinner (new place in EGF, Little Bangkok) and ice cream (Culvers, had a coupon and had never tried their concrete mixers). The director left me a voicemail tonight at 5pm which I got at about 7:15. She said it was a unanimous decision. Hurray! I really had no idea, so this was a wonderful surprise. Even the girls knew something good had happened; they were all smiles. To celebrate we went for a long walk around the block in the nice (finally!) weather. They deserved it after a long day inside.

In other news, we got our outside faucet fixed and a pump connected to the central air to get rid of the excess water. We forgot to unhook our hose before the first freeze last fall and the pipe "burst" inside (don't worry, no water or damages). But after paying for the fix, we've learned our lesson :)

I bought bulbs at the store this week and hope to plant them next week or weekend. Dahlias! Very excited for these beauties. I also started some seeds inside that should be ready in 6-8 weeks for the outdoors. It's only been 3 days and they have sprouted :) I'm determined to have a beautiful yard/garden this summer. Last year we moved in too late to do too much.

Can't wait for the weekend. Heading to the hometown for some much needed R&R with the girls. I should be done with my scholarly project/thesis by Thursday, so I'll be free to destress a bit. Oh wow. It's 10pm and I'm exhausted! Nighty night.