March 17

March 17, 2013

Today after church I started packing for my week-long fieldwork in South Carolina. I pulled out my big suitcase, and started laying out all my clothes on the bed. Killer always seems to know when we're going away without her, and she just cuddled up next to my clothes and moped. 

I threw my pillow in my suitcase just to get it out of the way, and next thing I know Killer's found a new spot to mope. Poor thing. I will certainly miss her and her daddy this next week.

Courtney

March 16

March 16, 2013

Just another typical Saturday. Brad studied. I took pictures of Killer. We made an awesome (and super healthy) smoothie, and then we counteracted it with a ginormous and calorie-filled burger with a huge side of fries.

 

Courtney

  

March 15

March 15, 2013

It was a gorgeous day outside. I didn't have class. And I spent the whole day making freezer meals for both myself and Brad since I was going to be away the whole next week. While I was in the kitchen, I left the back door open for Killer to come and go as she pleased. I hadn't seen her in a while so I quietly walked outside to see what she was doing, because I naturally assumed she was getting into trouble. I found her laying in one of our flower beds, soaking up the warmth that the black dirt radiated. 

 Well that was completely unacceptable. I couldn't have my sweet pup laying in the dirt. So I brought out some towels for her and laid them on the back porch. Before I could even call her over she came trotting to lay on the much more comfortable towels. She just laid soaking up the sun and getting her daily dose of Vitamin D for the rest of the afternoon, and I watched her through the open door as I worked in the kitchen. Perfect afternoon.

Courtney

March 14

March 14, 2013

Right next door lives a dog named Herb. He's a basset hound and loves to howl all day. Sometimes he escapes into the front yard through an open garage door, and usually when this occurs Killer also just happens to be out front as well. Killer really enjoys Herb's company, and Herb has quite the eye for her. Herb is a long dog with short stubby legs, and Killer loves it when he chases her around the yard, probably because he can never catch her. These two are just great friends.Whenever Killer is in the backyard and hears Herbie running around out there she immediately goes to this one place in the fence where some of the wood has broken away, and she and Herb can stick their noses through and greet each other. Occasionally I see Herb's little nose sticking through just waiting for Killer to notice him. Today I got a picture. I think it's so cute. Unfortunately, it's much easier to see this sweet scene in person, but if you look closely you can see Herb's snout on the other side of the fence.

Later in the afternoon Killer and I met Brad at the river and took a little walk by the waterfall once he was done with class. Killer loves loves LOVES the river trail. We usually let her off her leash when no one's around, and she really has fun running free.

I really enjoy days like these. I love that we live so close to such a beautiful trail that we can take our dog on whenever. I also love that I can just meet Brad after school and walk to a waterfall. I love how much fun Killer has running around, and I love how much she loves Brad. She is a daddy's girl through and through. I just love those two!

Courtney

March 13

March 13, 2013

Ok, so these first pictures were actually taken on March 10, but I just forgot to blog about them, so I'm doing it now. Being inspired by The Biggest Loser, we decided we would try and make spaghetti squash. They talk about it all the time on the show; we're never inspired to workout after watching, but we are inspired to cook. We bought a squash, we watched youtube videos on how to cook it, and we went to work. 

First, you cut the squash in half lengthwise. This is definitely the hardest part. These things are thick and dense and very difficult to cut. 

Then you place the two halves inside part down on a foil lined baking sheet. 

Cook for about an hour on 375. 

Pull them out of the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes.

Then go around the edges and pull the fruit out just tad.

Once you've gone all the way around you can just start scooping it out. It's really so so cool.

One of the videos we watched said you can just put it in a bowl with some butter and toss with Parmesan cheese. I'm sure this would be delicious, but we topped it with homemade marina sauce. I was beyond shocked at how it tasted exactly like spaghetti noodles, right down to the texture. We will definitely be making it again.

Ok. So now onto March 13. Nothing too exciting happened today, and by the time 9:00 rolled around I realized I still hadn't taken a daily picture to blog about. Brad decided he needed to feel a little smarter while studying, so he put on these fake glasses we love to play with. They definitely helped boost our studying power. Even Killer felt a little smarter.

Courtney

March 12

March 12, 2013

Tonight Brad and I caught up on The Biggest Loser. We really love this show, especially the first episode and the last episode. It's seriously so amazing how these people completely turn their lives around. I'm always awestruck at how different they look at the finale. Unfortunately, I'm never really motivated to get up and do something after I see the show. I guess I just workout vicariously through the contestants. Plus the whole yelling at you until you do what I want thing just doesn't really work for me. Anyways, after sending Amy home with half the pie we made and eating some more ourselves we had one slice left. So what did we do, we sat down and watched The Biggest Loser while eating apple pie and ice cream. 

 

Oh, and just for fun, here's a picture of Killer from earlier in the day. (Don't mind the orange Fanta is the windowsill. I was studying for my practical in the bed and that's the only way I could keep myself awake.)

 

Courtney

March 11

March 11, 2013

Today was one of the first absolutely gorgeous spring days we've had this year. I have a practical tomorrow that I really need to finish studying for, but I just couldn't pass up laying out in the backyard with my favorite pup. Granted I could have taken my flashcards outside and killed two birds with one stone, but seriously whats the fun of that? I'd much rather take pictures with Killer than study.

Killer just loves to be outside. More than anything. She'd sit outside all day and just watch the squirrels and birds and eat sticks if someone went out with her, but she gets a little nervous when we let her out and then close the door behind her. So usually what she does is whine to be let out then whine to be let back in 30 seconds later once she realizes no one has accompanied her out. Today she definitely got her fill of outside time with me.

She played and played with her golf ball and rocks and sticks and dirt, then I called her over and made her participate in this photoshoot. She looks miserable, but I know there wasn't anything she'd rather be doing :)

Courtney

March 10

March 10, 2013

Killer, almost daily, does this weird thing where she licks on her dog tags. She pulls her head down to her chest and licks and licks and licks on those things. I'm not really sure what she gets out it...maybe she likes the coppery taste of metal...who knows. We usually let her get in about 3 licks before we flip her collar around and put her tags on her back. 

Today she was licking, licking, licking, and she wouldn't stop when I told her to, so I got up and flipped her collar around.

After this happens she usually goes on her merry way and finds something else to do - chase squirrels, annoy us with her ball, just normal dog stuff. Not today. She just sat in a corner and cried. For a ridiculously long time. We tried to entice her with other fun things, but she just wouldn't have it. I guess she just needed some time to pout. Weird dog.

Courtney

March 9

March 9, 2013

In my program at school this is one Indian girl. Her name is Amy. We are friends. Amy grew up here in Georgia, but her parents are still very very Indian. Her mom knows a little English but mainly her family speaks Gujarati. It's quite exciting. Since Amy is so Indian she occasionally stumbles over American culture. Little sayings like "don't push my buttons" become "stop pushing my envelope" or "hippity hop" becomes "hoppity pop" and many other fun Amyisms I can't think of right now. I really should start writing them down. Well, this girl had NEVER had a taste of an apple pie before. NEVER. I just couldn't have that, so she came over, and we made one and she had an entire slice (not just a little taste). I found an awesome recipe on FoodNetwork.com, and we got to it.

 We made that pie crust and latticed it ourselves. Feel free to be impressed.

We threw it in the oven and played with Killer while we waited for it to bake. Here's the finished product. It was pretty dang good. If you don't have an apple pie recipe that you're just mad about, this one is for you. It was seriously the best apple pie I've ever had in my whole life.

 And I just had to include this ridiculous picture of myself. Just a few days ago in one of my classes our teacher gave us this little self-check questionnaire thing to fill out. It had statements like "I'm an active listener" or "I respect others' beliefs", and we had to say if we always, sometimes, or never did these things. One of the items said, "I pay attention to my facial expressions." Obviously, I don't. Don't worry, I put "never".

Courtney 

March 8

March 8, 2013

On March 18 I start my first day of my week long mental health fieldwork rotation. Due to the nature of the mental health setting, OTs don't wear scrubs to work. Dang it! The place I'm going to has a dress code. All therapy professions at their hospital (PT, OT, speech) wear teal and black. Know how much teal and black I own? Not a lot at all. So Brad and I have been on the hunt lately for some clothes that I'll be able to wear to fieldwork that are not only functional and comfortable but also professional. Plus, I don't want to spend a ton of money on clothes for one week. Obviously I'll wear them again, but still I just hate spending lots money on clothes.

On this day in particular we didn't find anything I thought was worthwhile to buy, but we did have fun in the dressing rooms - at least ones that Brad was allowed to enter in with me. Some of the stores we went into wouldn't let him come in with me. I mean, really, what do they think we're going to do in there?!

Courtney

March 7

March 7, 2013

Tuesdays and Thursdays I have two classes. One from 1-2:30pm and the other from 5-8pm. So I always run home and let Killer out, eat a snack, make dinner, and then head back to school. It was beautiful outside today so rather than make Killer look longingly at the squirrels in our backyard through the curtains, I opened the door for her and let her run wild. She loves to just sit in the doorway with the door open and watch the happenings-on outside. 

Later that night after my second test of the day, one of the girls in my class went through her locker and was giving away snacks and treats she had had in there since last semester. She had two ring pops left, and Amy and I quickly snagged them. They certainly made class after a test at 6pm more bearable.

Courtney

 

March 6

March 6, 2013

Tonight I had to study, like big time. I've been a bad student and an excellent procrastinator. So when Wednesday night came around, and I still had yet to study like I really needed to for my two midterms the next day, I went into crazy student mode.

Killer was very encouraging and thought her ball would help me learn anatomy quicker.

And my sweet and loving Brad was simply the best. I seriously love this man! Lucky him, he doesn't have any tests this week. I can't concentrate with any other noises going on around me. Brad wanted to watch netflix, but he also wanted to spend time with me even though I was being boring sitting on the couch studying. So the earbuds went in and there we sat, me studying and him watching netflix. We're so romantic.

 

This is our life, and I love it.

Courtney

March 5

March 5, 2013

After school I had to swing by the grocery store to pick up a few things real quick. Well that real quick trip turned into a lot longer, mainly because of the rain. It was beautiful all day. As I was leaving class it was showing signs of a sprinkle, more of a misting really. But as I'm driving to the grocery store, the flood gates open. I haven't driven in rain like this for quite some time. It was like buckets of water were being dumped on my windshield. At one point as I was driving through an intersection I was just hoping that I came out in the right lane on the other side because I couldn't see the road at all. Anyways, I get to the store safety and decided to sit in my car and wait just a bit to see if the rain would let up any. It didn't, and I eventually ended up running in using my broken umbrella as a shield, but I got this neat picture while I was waiting.

When I finally got back home, groceries in hand, I had to start studying - two midterms on Thursday.

That Minute Maid fruit punch and those carmel/cream bullseye things (plus a few more I chose not to photograph) kept me awake just long enough to finish all my flashcards before I decided to give up and go to bed.

Poor pitiful Killer pretty much begged for attention. I felt so bad I was ignoring her, but I promised we'd play this weekend. While I placed her duck just for this picture, she did  throw it up on the table and in my lap several times pretty much yelling at me to stop studying neuroscience and play with her. So sad. Hopefully all that studying will pay off.

Courtney