After hibernating for the last few weeks...

After hibernating for the last few weeks and focusing on nothing but my nail polish database I finally left the house today and had a nice time. I guess I've gone on short walks near home a few times, but by and large I've been on my butt in front of the computer for most of that time.

Anyway, Shaun and I packed up Cub and went to the park. They had a lap around the walking trail while I skated for a bit; it was a lot of fun and I didn't fall (I also didn't try anything tricky or new), but I can tell that I am out of practice. I have gotta start making it a priority again now that the weather is beautiful.

After their lap, Cub and Shaun came to me at the skating area and I put my shoes back on and we all walked to the dog park area. Cubba went in and got his sniffs. A very excited pup ran between my legs. Cubba peed and then kicked for a comically long time. Like, ridiculously long. All eyes were on him before he was finished. 😂😂😂 Not long after that he was at the gate - ready to go. Dog business accomplished, I guess. 😂

Before we left I let my little Tort Baby out and he seemed to really enjoy exploring. He walked for probably 2 hours. I trimmed his beak some because it was getting long. He needs a bath and a little more grooming, but I'll get photos of his little sexy self soon. I've missed him so much and I'm happy he awake now.

Anyway, it's been a pretty good day and it was nice to move my body instead of sitting like a lump. I need to learn to be better at life balance. 😂😂😂 Well, I'm off for now. I hope you all are doing well! ❤️

Oh, to be this dog.

Oh, to be this dog. He was in Shaun's lap, but Shaun had to move so to make it up to this not-at-all spoiled mutt he wadded up a blanket as a make-shift pillow and stuffed it under his head and then tucked him in with a blanket. Shaun spoils the ones he loves. I guess being married to him is the next best thing to being his pet. 😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️

Today is Shadow's birthday...

Today is Shadow's birthday and I think he had a pretty nice day. We gave him a few small gifts, ordered takeout from a place he wanted to try, and watched the most recent Spiderman movie as a family. He was excited about that and it was fun to see him that way. 😊 Kira also made him this delicious homemade Hershey Pie and it was damn good. 

It's hard to believe that our not-so-little boy is 22; I'm grateful for the time with him, but it sure has flown by. Here's to 22 years and many, many more! Happy Birthday, Shadow! ❤️

I was chilling on the couch earlier...

I was chilling on the couch earlier and heard Cubba wagging his tail. I looked over and he was asleep. I wonder if he was dreaming about meeting that kid yesterday... He usually runs and barks and growls in his sleep. I hope that doesn't mean he usually has nightmares.

I'm sharing this again...

I'm sharing this again because it's one of my favorite things anyone has ever done for me.  I wore this polish the day we got married and still haven't gotten a great photo of it yet.  I am going to have to change that.  (It's not what's on my nails in the photo - that's just what I was wearing when he gave it to me.)

Happy 4 years of marriage to my favorite person - Shaun, of course!  I love doing life with you.  You've been my best friend for almost 14 years and those have been the happiest 14 years of my life.  Even if you hadn't asked me to marry you in such a creative and thoughtful way I would have said yes.

I wish I could think of something more thoughtful to say, but since we've had our date and I'm in a food coma over here my brain is a little tired.  😂 I'm glad you don't regret tying yourself to me in a legal way (I ask him about that periodically - gotta keep my finger on the pulse, ya know?)  I enjoy being your legal spouse, as well.  😂  More than that I love the life that we have been slowly but surely building for ourselves.  It's more amazing than I ever dared to dream.

Digest, my love.  I'll take you for ice cream later.  ❤

I was going to skate today...

I was going to skate today since it's been a while (among cold, snow, dust storms, and me hyper-focusing on my database I haven't skated in a few weeks), but Shaun woke up with a headache this morning and took an impromptu nap before we were planning to leave this afternoon.  The weather here was great (in the 50s with sunshine!) but it gets significantly colder when the sun goes down so I opted to walk at the park with Shaun and Cubba rather than spend the time putting on my skate gear.  That went pretty well.

There was a dad and little boy playing at the park and Cubba DESPERATELY wanted to meet the little kid.  The dad asked if his son could pet him and we were like "Yes!"  So we made new friends.  🙂  The little boy's name is Luca and he just turned 2 yesterday.  He was super friendly and reminded me of Shadow when he was younger.  Ah, my heart.  I got 2 hugs without even asking.  Cubba loved all over him and got a bunch of hugs and pets, too.  I don't know why Cub is so good with kids but he loves them.

After that me and Shaun and Cub picked up dinner at a drive-though and came home.  I love that Cub can go just about anywhere here.  I know it was just a drive-though, but we see dogs everywhere here.  In other cars, on walks, coming in and out of places... it's awesome.  They are just furry family members here and that makes my heart so happy.  It makes Cub happy, too, because he's a social butterfly and needs to make ALL OF THE FRIENDS - human or not.

I'm glad that spring is coming and really glad that the whole family seems to like it and feel safe here.  Shadow went on a jog yesterday.  He left from home and jogged to the nearby park and back.  That is not something we could have done at any place we ever lived in Alabama.  He used to walk barely down the street as a teen in Anniston to visit a friend and I was always so scared.  Here, so many people walk alone or with other people or dogs (or cats!  Yes, I've seen that.), or run, or cycle, or skateboard that it's not suspicious or creepy and I don't feel too concerned at all.  I love that and wish everyone could feel this secure.

Well, I'm rambling and I'm sorry about it.  I'm just feeling grateful for life here and it kinda spilled out of me. I guess I'll end this post now.  I hope you all are doing well.  ❤

We got permission to operate our solar panels yesterday...

We got permission to operate our solar panels yesterday so we're finally up and running! We have an app that tracks how much energy they're producing and it's looking like we're going to be able to cover most of our energy needs with solar power. Our power bill will be $8/month as a base operational fee from the power company plus whatever electricity we use from them.

Our last power bill was $224.00. We've been here almost 6 months and that's the highest it's been, but all 4 of us are home almost always so we've constantly got things turned on and running. I'm excited to see how much the bill will change over the next few months now that our system is operational. This is something I've wanted to be able to do for so long and I'm so happy it's finally done.