Happy America!

This weekend was a long, amazing weekend celebrating our country's independence, but it was not long enough! Even though I am halfway through the week, I don't know how my 4 day weekend escaped me already!? Anyways, here is a recap of what occurred this past weekend.

On Thursday, Danny and some of our friends headed to the Lake County Captains game.  This was our second summer going to "Thirsty Thursday" night at the ballpark (You can read our adventure from last year here.)  Thirsty Thursday is a night of 25 cent beers and baseball, however, we did not watch a single pitch of the game this time contrary to last time. 

On Friday, Danny and I had our annual fourth of July party.  We decided to buy a few more patriotic items (below) to add to our collection from last year.  The collection now includes a few flag varieties, matching puppy handkerchiefs, a patriotic clock, and Danny even bought a "Back to Back World War Champs" tank top.  We had a cookout and even made a fire later in the evening.

On Saturday, Danny and I had the whole day free so we decided to do something outside the normal routine.  It was the perfect opportunity to use our "Date Night" jar that my sister-in-law made us for our wedding to decide what to do.  We chose a few different ideas, but then ultimately decided on putt putt golf and a Mexican dinner.  At putt putt golf, Danny pulled ahead in the last few holes to pull off the win.  We are usually both super competitive with games like putt putt, but we put our competitive natures aside and just focused on having fun and enjoying each other's company.

DIY: Family name Frame

Below is one of the easiest DIYs I have done for our house so far.  This project cost under $20 and almost no time at all.  I had always admired the family name frames that you see at the mall.  These personalized frames can cost upwards of $100, but I will show you how to get the look without the hefty price tag.

I came across a Pin on my Pinterest board that had hundreds of different pictures for each letter (the site can be found here.)  I had fun picking out each letter and seeing which letters went well with each other-- I had 3 E's to pick out, so that was an adventure in itself.

After that, I went on a search for a picture frame with six spaces for each letter of our family name.  Some sites actually used separate picture frames, but I didn't like that look as much as having all of the letters in the same frame.  Luckily, I found this frame at Michaels and it was on sale too!

After choosing the perfect letters to fit in the frame, I ordered the prints from Walgreens and then fitted them into the picture frame and voila!  Now, it sits in our entryway and will represent our family for years to come.

My 250 day long break from Blogging

After 250 days of not a single blog post, I've decided to come back to Blogland. I was somewhat torn between the decision-- a part of me had enjoyed the break, but there was another part of me that missed the experience.  I took less pictures, found myself less motivated, and still searching for an outlet that blogging previously gave me.  Since this is my first post in 250 days, I wanted to update you on some of the big changes that have happened in my life since my last blog post.

Let's begin with one of the biggest changes to my life (and sanity).....

We adopted another puppy! Remember that cute little dog that we adopted from the Amish last year?  Well it was WAY too hard not to get him a best friend and life partner.  Below are the stats on our newest addition!

Zoey- the first week we brought her home

Birthdate: September 21, 2013
Adoption date: Mid-November 2013
Breed: German Shepherd, Labrador, Beagle mix
Likes: Raw hides, branches, and pine cones. Acting like a victim when her BIG brother plays with her even though she is the culprit.  She LOVES to cuddle and takes naps.
Dislikes: Thunderstorms, big bodies of water (Pool, Lake Erie, etc.)

We are so lucky to have a puppy like Zoey! It's sometimes hard to think she is still a puppy since Yogi (16 months old) is more hyperactive than she is...

Next is not as big as caring after another living creative, but it was a big step for me.  I have had a few physical changes in the last 250 days.  For one, I dyed my hair back to some form of brunette.  My real genes and the sun has kicked in to lightened it up to the point that I actually think it is my natural color!

Lastly in June, I underwent Parathyroid surgery to remove a parathyroid gland that was acting up.  In medical terms, it was extracting calcium from my bones and putting it into my bloodstream, making me hypercalcemic.  They removed the bad parathyroid and I have been fine ever since.  Luckily, I had no symptoms before surgery, just elevated levels of calcium in my blood.  It is actually a pretty rare condition for someone so young.  Most patients are way into their 60's or 70's because it can cause Osteoporosis and be a serious condition when you're older.  Luckily, they caught it early and I was able to have this pretty painless surgery to get rid of it.

A week after surgery with my bandage still in place.

I hope Blogland has been treating you well! I'm excited to be back!