Our Piper Dog

Piper goes by many names:  Piperika, Boosey, Fauna, and Piper-dog.  She is the worst dog in the world, and we LOVE her.  We got her from the shelter when she was 6  months old.  Someone had taken her before, when she was 3 months, and had given her back because she chewed furniture.  Now, have you ever met a puppy that didn't?

She has chewed many, many, many things in this house over the past two years. The best was when we went to Disney in Fall 2008 and came home and saw the havoc.  One of my dearest former students, Emily, had kept Piper (and at that time we had another dog that we have since given to a better loving home--another story).  This is what Piper had chewed/destroyed:
1.  The corners of: the china cabinet, our dresser, antique child's table, boot chair, two over-stuffed chairs.
2.  She had peed on the floor numerous times.  Thank God for Emily, or it would've just been there.
3.  She ate two pillows off our bed.

This was after she had eaten over that past year:
1.  A patch of carpet underneath her crate.  She learned how to scoot out the under-tray.
2.  A couch cushion.
3.  4 brand new rugs.
4.  Probably the equivalent to a roll of paper towels.
5.  A sewing kit, buttons, needles, and all.  She didn't die.
6.  Two pans of brownies (you know what they say about dogs and chocolate? Not true.)

She also CANNOT be outside without a leash because she will run away and not come back for hours.  Trust me, nothing can lure her inside.  She's too smart.  She just comes in when she's darn good and ready.

We hated her for the longest time, but she is very endearing, because she's the smartest dog either my husband or I have ever had.  Her latest trick is that she is obsessed with a laser pointer.  The first time she ever saw it moved, she was hooked.  Now she thinks it's called "The Red Bug" and if you even say it, she'll look for the red bug for 20 minutes.  She tries to catch it by leaping straight up in the air and pouncing on it. Hilarious.

Piper is definitely one of those Marley and Me situations.  Very bad dog.  Funny dog, but very bad dog. 
But she's ours.

25 Things

I thought that I'd start out by doing a quick 25 things about me post...

1. When I got married, someone told me that I would have a good marriage if I put God first, Colby second, and myself third. What great advice! I now pass this on to everyone...
2. I love being Southern, and all things to do with it. I'm a little obsessed.
3. My Southern idols include: Paula Deen and her butter, Julia Sugarbaker (from Designing Women) and her attitude, and Jill Connor Brown (who writes the Sweet Potato Queens books) and her dirty mouth.
4. I teach drama, but I really hate going to see plays (I analyze them WAY too much--it's one of the pitfalls of a Theatre degree)
5. The best show I've ever done with my students was Quilters: The Musical. It was just amazing. I had a cast of seven girls, and they were the most talented middle school students I've ever had. I've never been as close to a group of students since, and they are all in 11th grade now.
6. I love teaching, but I REALLY want to be a stay at home mom.
7. I am dissatisfied with the public school system, and think about homeschooling my future kids one day.
8. My best friend at work is 10 years older than me.
9. I have one dog.  We used to have two.  But TWO worst dogs in the whole world was one too many...
10. I have a cat who doesn't live with us anymore.  We excommunicated him to my mother's house, where he is much happier.
11. My husband is the most wonderful man in the world. He is hilarious. For example, the other day, he came home with a 10 dollar bill, that his dad had given him for helping him move furniture, and he gave it to me because I "had saved a lot of money this month." I wanted to punch him in the face.
12. My favorite songs are the ones Colby has written for me. One when we were dating, one when we got engaged, another when we got married, and the most recent one "just because."
13. I adore cooking and everything to do with it. I have drawers full of kitchen utensils and tools...it's an illness. If you're hungry, you just come right over to my house. I'll feed ya.
14. Since my in-laws run a furniture store, all the furniture in our house is from their store. And no, we didn't get it for free. But it sure is an awesome deal!
15. I am as close to my mother-in-law as I am to my own mother. I know, weird.
16. I have a collection of antique linens that would put Martha Stewart to shame.
17. I love doing laundry, except for the part where you have to fold and put away the clothes. So I guess I love half of laundry.
18. My husband and I go to Disney World every year. He used to live in Florida, and so he's literally been hundreds of times. I've been to Disney with him 6 times. We never, ever, get tired of it. And we're going in December.  For the SECOND time this year.
19. I eat mostly organic food (I try to avoid the "Dirty Dozen"), avoid plastic containers, grow a garden, buy free range meat in bulk, and make EVERYTHING from scratch. I'm kind of obsessive about it. We're trying really hard to avoid all processed food.
20. I love birds, and have a collection. My husband says that once I get two hundred things with birds on them, he's going to start a really trashy collection--like wolves or eagles.
21. Put a baby in front of me and I can hold it all day long.
22. My New Year's resolution was to keep my house cleaner.  HA HA HA HA HA!!!!
23. I asked for a freezer for Christmas...and got one. It's so awesome!
24. One of my favorite memories of college is drinking Cosmopolitans and writing papers. Another is renting movies and eating pizza and milk duds on snow days. Good times...
25. I hate scary movies. Don't ask me to watch one.  No, for real.  Don't.

(One of my favorites at Disney...The (Extra Corny) Country Bear Jamboree!)

Happy Fall, Y'all

Well, fall is finally here, and I thought I'd finally start a blog, after being a ridiculously lurky lurker on everyone else's blog in the world. So here it is.  A place to document my life in Small Town, North Carolina, our journey as a couple, and our journey to have a child.  I hope that the four people who read this will enjoy it, and I hope you are filled with God's blessings!