11 Layers of Heather

LAYER ONE:
Spell your name with animals.
H- Hen
E- Eagle
A- Alligator
T- Tiger
H- Hippo
E- Emu
R- Rabbit

LAYER TWO:
Name: Heather
Birthday: April 20th
Nickname: Bean
Current Location: Work (whomp whomp)
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: dark brown
Right or Left: Right

LAYER THREE:
Shoes you wore today: my FAVORITE black flats from Target.. I could live in these things
Your perfect pizza: cheese from Papa Ginos, Buffalo Chicken

LAYER FOUR:
Best holiday: Christmas (love the hole season)
Most missed memory: Being a little kid

LAYER FIVE:
Pepsi or Coke: Diet Pepsi (the big ones from the movie theatre)
McDonald's or Burger King: Burger King - Big Mac
Adidas or Nike: Nike for looks and Asics for running (did I spell that right?)
Lipton Ice Tea or Hot Chocolate: depends on the season
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate

LAYER SIX:
Curse?: &^*^&*%% *&^*(&^ *&*(& I need to work on that
Do you sing?: I try - not very good tho haha
Want to go to college?: Just graduated and I think I'm good for now lol
Get motion sickness: If I sit in the back seat of a car or read in the car
Think you're a health freak: I try to be.. lately not so much - need to step it up pronto
Play an instrument: Guitar only lasted a few months

LAYER SEVEN
In the past month. . .
Drank alcohol: A little tooo much.. ugh
Gone to the mall: Of course!
Eaten an entire pizza: Nope--- would LOVE to
Been on stage: No
Gone skating: No
Made homemade cookies: Yes

LAYER EIGHT:
Have you ever...
Been in big trouble with your parents: ha ha all the time.. sorry mom and dad
Lied about your age: My life from 18-21
Used a fake ID: Not a very good one

LAYER NINE:
Age you hope to be married: Married at 22.. I always thought it would be later but when its right.. its right!
Number of Children: Two maybe three MAX

LAYER TEN:
In a girl/guy..
Best eye color: my husband has brown so I'm going with that :)
Best hair color : Dark
Short hair or long: Short

LAYER ELEVEN:
Number of people you could trust with your life: Seriously? Prob. 2?
Number of CD's you own: pretty limited amount thanks to my ipod/iphone and ipad
Number of tattoos: 3
Number of piercings: Just my ears.. tattoos were so easy but a belly button ring PETRIFIES me lol

How My Dog Is Preparing Me for a Child

I never really got those people who dedicated their whole life to there dogs/children. That was until we brought home Martha, an adorable black lab. My god you would think I actually gave birth to this fur ball the way I obsess over her. My husband and I have never really been pet people but I guess we still aren't just because our dog is pretty much our child.

HOWEVER... this dog is literally a CHILD. Well, hopefully our child doesn't eat the walls or rocks but to be honest I have heard weirder stories.

So my husband and I commute about 1-1.5 everyday to work and obviously this little monster can't be trusted within feet of anything that can be chewed so we have developed a little routine. Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays Martha is dropped off at Doggy Day Care for some fun time. (Yes I'm effing serious and guess what.. dog care is more expensive then child care. Needless to say if I decide to stay home when we have kids that will be the first thing to go.) Tuesdays and Thursdays the little beast takes over our downstairs "play room" and we baby gate her off from the rest of the house. You would think that this would be a good solution - NOPE. This little biotch eats the walls.. eats her bed.. pees on her bones and runs in her poop. She has a designated "waste" area that she uses when she is free and she is very much house broken.. she just chooses to express her anger with us leaving her home this way.

So ANYWAYS I get home from the longest day ever at work and Jake is driving home from NH so I am on my own to get everything all set with the dog, lunches for tomorrow and dinner. I have to scrub and sanitize the whole downstairs since she made the biggest mess EVER (she was especially pissed today because we had been home with her for the past 6 days due to the holiday) and while I clean up she is jumping all over me FILLED with energy and knocking everything over in sight upstairs since she is running around the house like a crazy person.

Dinner was fairly easy since we cooked up a 30 lb turkey on Sunday (I LOVE turkey dinner leftovers) but some how Martha finds a way to make it a living hell for me. She jumps up on the counters and tries to pull the turkey down (which thank god I gracefully saved) and while I'm trying to clean the floor which is now covered in turkey juice and Martha fur - the potatoes boil over and start going all over the place. Martha sees this as an opportunity to jump up and grab her big bag of treats on the counter and make an even bigger mess.

Now mind - you we took Martha to doggy kindergarten and tried to teach her to be an obedient and respectful puppy.

Her response: OH HELL NO.

She is kind of like her mommy - she marches to her own drum.

One thing is for certain - our dog is a fantastic snuggler and she loves her parents and we love her.

So quick overview of how my dog is preparing me for motherhood:

1. Before my dog I have never really had the responsibility of feeding, caring for and cleaning up anyone else besides myself - she is completely helpless and will never not need me to care for her

2. She poops non-stop and I always have to clean it up - OK my husband is really the main care giver in that sense

3. Her food is organic and effing expensive. Jake and I will eat mac and cheese just so this dog will get her healthy food for her over active stomach.

4. This dog will look at us funny and we will rush her to the animal hospital... we finally decided to get her pet insurance because it helps make her million doctor trips cheaper

5. Daycare - absolutely ridiculous for a dog.. NECESSARY for our sanity

6. We put on animal planet when we are cooking because it keeps her busy and she barks at the other dogs and birds on the TV. She's really not TOO bright.

7. We no longer plan trips to Miami for vacation.. we now go to pet friendly resorts on Martha's Vineyard or New Hampshire.. anywhere where she is welcome and we can keep her busy

8. No matter what she chews or how bad she is being or how much she pisses us off.. we adore her and couldn't imagine our lives without her

OK - I know I sound like a crazy dog person but really I'm not.

This dog just makes me so happy... no not all the time.. it's not like she is a purse or anything.

I know that once we start having kids our poor little Martha will have to take the back seat (I mean this literally as well as figuratively) and we understand that. But for now.. she is our little girl.

Martha the first day we brought her home .. Makes me so sad to see how much she has grown :(

Just lounging

All pretty from the groomers

Nap time

Martha's first vacation to Martha's Vineyard with her new "Baby"

To this day she drags this stupid stuffed animal everywhere - yes like a child
(Yes she is named after the island.. she is a Black Dog hellooo)

My First Post!!

I have been wanting to write my own blog for a while - have a place to vent and share my thoughts and memories and have something to look back on and reflect to what my life has been like before it completely flies by.

My husband and I have decided that we would like it to no longer just be "us two" and start to fill the rooms of our new house with BABIES. Its funny how I never really saw us being that kind of couple who gets married and instantly rolls out the strollers - but here we are. I am scare sh**less about what comes with the greatness of being a parent but I guess you will never know until you try. Plus, our spare bedroom should really be used for more then just box storage.

Anyways, today is a REALLY boring day. It is the Monday after Thanksgiving and the office is beyond slow. I'm not really complaining too much - I love when it's quiet. But I find days like this just tend to dragg and make it more painful to sit behind a desk. To be honest I have been focusing my day on trying to figure out our new budget. We are trying to pay off all our debt (lovely school loans and those magical cards my husband calls credit cards HAH) before we start adding more. Things I used to take for granted (like buying 3 types of organic rice to have sit in the pantry) will have to come to a screetching halt and I will have to learn how to become *GULP* frugal. This is a task in itself. Growing up I took finances with a grain of salt. I never cared ever. And now that we have bills, mortgages and all that fun stuff  - it is time to join the real world and start living in our means. Any tips you guys have would be GREATLY appreciated.

OH and we just put up the christmas decorations.. It's our first christmas in our house so I'm trying so hard not to go over board with buying every festive decoration in sight lol.

I'll keep you guys posted ;)