A walk down memory lane...

Here I am.  Whee. 

For those that don't know, our sweet family puppy Katie drifted off into eternal sleep on Monday.  She was nearly 16 years old, and had been struggling with a lot of joint pain lately, as well a just a general deterioration of quality of life.  I had known things weren't going too well over the weekend last weekend, so when my cell rang at lunchtime on Monday and it was Mom, I immediately knew why she was calling.  Mom said she was very brave, and didn't get the normal car ride jitters when she thinks she's going to the vet.  Despite the fact I knew it was coming sooner rather than later, and knowing full well what a great life she'd had, I was still surprised by my reaction.  Fortunately I was at home and I was able to get all the crying out in the comfort of my living room.  I couldn't imagine hearing that in my office.  Also fortunately, I have two pretty cool dogs of my own who immediately came to make sure I was ok.  Truman put his head in my lap and Cherry just sat quietly behind him.  Man I love my dogs.

Anyway, I have a giant box of old pictures that I decided to look through because I knew it would have pictures of Katie that I could post as a last "love you" to my sweet little girl.  I also found some gems along the way.  The quality of these pics is suspect at best because, well, they're old.  I'm sure you'll survive.

 Grand Theft Auto hooker walk anyone?

 Katie and Dad in our Frisco yard.  He looked confused even then.  ;)

 Leah has always loved pictures of herself.  LOVED.

I think this was an Easter party at KB (then KT's) house.

Country girl night- Trail Dust and dancing.  My definition of country girl was putting my hair in braided pigtails.  Try to resist.

My girl!

Probably one of my favorite pictures of her.  

"Singing along" to my saxophone.

:)

 Christmas Eve 2002 I believe.  She was so stylish with her festive bandanna.

We look good.

I loved that little dog.  And, I love all my friends in these pics who I am fortunate to still count among my best friends.  

Threat Level Midnight

In case any of you are not Office fans, the title of this entry is a shoutout to Michael Scott's epic thriller spy movie. It pertains to me for reasons I'm about to outline, so I'll only keep you in suspense for a minute.

Last week, I had a hearing in Waco.  (I know, meh).  My morning started when I woke up around 4am and left the house at 4:45am to drive to St. Louis.  Considering the ridiculous prices of checking a bag on any airline not called Southwest, I loaded my carry-on sized suitcase to the brim with everything but my computer bag and headed for security. 

I get up to the line, show my ID and boarding pass (the first time a boarding pass of mine has read Nicole Evans!), and begin the assembly line process of unloading all my bags, belts, shoes, and organs into the plastic tubs to go through the scanner.  I get through and start to take my stuff back when I notice that the conveyor belt has stopped and a small crowd of TSA folk has gathered to look at something on the belt.  With my suitcase not in sight, I assume that I'm about to get busted for not taking out every small bottle of liquid and putting it in a ziplock bag.  A TSA guy comes over and asks if he can look through my bag, and I politely oblige.  It definitely wasn't my liquids they were concerned with.

Apparently I have not used this suitcase at all since we moved to Columbia because as he's searching through the pockets he unzips one of the outer front pockets and pulls out....

Oops...that's funny there isn't it.  Right?  No?



My immediate reaction was to exclaim "Oh my gosh how did that get there!"  He said "I don't know- this is your bag."  Awkward.  I mean, this drill bit was a good foot long.  I literally didn't even know I owned something like that.  We don't even have a drill that will fit that!  (At least I don't think...I rarely have reason to use industrial tools).  I felt like what I'd imagine teenage boys feel like when their parents find porn on the family computer.  My face flushed scarlet and I started apologizing profusely while proclaiming over and over that I wasn't a terrorist, which did nothing to disinterest the small crowd of people that had stopped to watch this unfold, and the other small crowd of people that were waiting for me to move the hell out of the way so they could go on.  I got a few "you're so stupid" looks from some seasoned travelers.  After spending what felt like days trying to apologize and explain my way out of this, the TSA guy cracked a small smile and said I was ok.  He would just take the offending object and send my bag back through.  I hope TSA enjoys their new industrial-strength drill bit.  I probably won't miss it since it was in that bag unnoticed for who knows how long.

I arrived safely in Dallas and picked up my sweet rental to drive to Waco.  I will say that, as one accustomed to renting cars the size of toys, I was impressed by my rental.  Every time I rent a car I have that moment of panic where I envision every possible fiasco that can happen because I didn't opt for the extra insurance policy.  This one was no different, but I put my faith in myself and I-35/Dallas drivers and headed off.  I will say that I-35 hasn't changed since I last drove it in my college days.  It's still and gridlocked, construction riddled death trap.  Anyhoo, I knocked out my hearing and picked up my favorite drink accessory ever- HEB jumbo straws, and headed back to Dallas (while fighting the urge to hop on Highway 6 South and head to the homeland).  While I was tooling along the highway headed north, I approached this hideously old and beat up looking Jalopy (Grapes of Wrath anyone?) pulling an even more hideous and beat up looking trailer with random paint buckets and boards rattling around inside.  I didn't like the looks of this situation, so I sped up and quickly passed him.  Good thing, because just as the trunk of my car cleared the front bumper of his truck, one of his trailer wheels, yes, the WHOLE WHEEL tire and all, came flying off, bounced across the left lane where I had just been, hit the concrete barrier in the median, and bounced back across the entire northbound highway.  The truck quickly pulled off into the grass and EVERYONE behind it had to stop to avoid the unpredictable and crazy bouncing wheel.  While watching this unfold in my rearview mirror I silently thanked my lucky stars and felt relieved that even though my faith in I-35 drivers was misplaced, my faith in my own driving abilities isn't.  So there.

Following my day of adventures, I settled in to a lovely dinner with lovely friends.  It's always nice to see everyone, and my goodness how the babies have grown! 

It did take me over an hour to get to my hotel in Bedford from Frisco because of the damn construction on 121 near the airport.  Curse you road improvements!  I was so frustrated I was near tears because EVERY single road was blocked off.  To passing motorists I probably appeared to have a severe case of Tourettes because I was just yelling at the road signs telling me I couldn't go where I needed to.  I'd be driving along some back road trying to get to the highway a different way and in the blink of an eye without warning I'd approach road barriers and my plan would be thwarted.  I pretty much immediately passed out when I got to my hotel, and after a long trip home Friday, slept VERY well Friday night. 

And that's that.  Toodles.

Man (and Woman's) Best Friend

You probably all know I'm an avid dog lover.  I grew up with dogs, and I have my own fur babies now.  First was Jenni, the delightful little fur ball of a Bichon.  I loved her as my first pet, but I think she was a bit wary of me from my toddler years when I'd pull her ears to get her attention, or any number of other childhood offenses.  It was a sad day when we took Jenni to the vet and said our goodbyes, and a big stone in our Ontario backyard still marks her final resting place. 

A few years later came Katie, another beloved Bichon. 

I begged and pleaded to get her, promising I would dutifully walk and feed her, and never let her be starved for attention.  I did some of the things I promised.  Mom picked up my slack.  Katie was my pal, my little white mass of furry love.  She pissed me off sometimes (I don't think I've ever been so mad at her as when she tore apart a Christmas present I had wrapped to resemble the Virgin Mary, with a tennis ball she obviously wanted serving as the head).  But, she made for endless laughs when I was growing up, and she's my little fur sister.

You guys know ALL about Truman and Cherry.  Anyway, a few weeks ago I stumbled across an article that made my cry in my office. 

Hawkeye

I was truly touched and amazed to see the picture of that beautiful dog paying his final respects to the man he loved more than anyone.  I read the original story on a different site, and I was struck by the comments.  Most mentioned how heart-wrenching the picture was, but a few caught me off-guard.  The comments were to the tune of "Who cares about dogs?  People get so worked up over a dog."   Boy did that get me fired up.  I'm obviously pretty passionate about dogs, and I get the occasional weird look from people when I talk about how much I love them and how they are equally a part of my family as any human.  I say this to anyone who questions the value of dogs, and I'll say it now:

Dogs are what humans should be.  Remarkably happy, unflinchingly loyal, unconditionally loving, endlessly patient, and forever trusting.  Dogs see the good in everyone- pretty, ugly, smart, dumb- a dog will be by your side. Not to mention they're just plain funny.  They can inspire side-splitting, snort-inducing (at least for me) laughter that rivals any joke or story someone could tell me.  Anyone that questions the value of dogs will clearly never live up to what humans should mirror in them. 

As Katie nears the sunset of her 15 1/2 years on this Earth, I can't help but to feel blessed that she was my dog.  She was my friend.  She chased me around the house and the yard as I dissolved into a fit of giggles.  She rested patiently at the foot of the couch when I was home sick from school.  She worked herself into such a state of excitement everyday when I got home that her whole body would shake with her tail.  She couldn't get in enough doggy kisses.  And, most importantly, she nestled her head into my lap any time I cried and sat it out with me, never growing bored, never expecting anything of me. 

Truman and Cherry do the same.  Which is why I love them.  And that's why I'll always be a dog lover, and I will never understand someone who can't see how amazing they really are.

So to sum up, dog-haters can suck it.

Mamajuana anyone?

Mamajuana being this highly potent alcoholic drink native to the Dominican Republic.  They don't let you bring it to America.  It's quite intense.

Ok yes, we got back from our honeymoon about three weeks ago.  I'M SORRY.  I fail.  To be honest, I'm still not 100% caught up at work, but I'm getting there.  I have decided that I'm never going on vacation again.  I had about 120 emails when I got back.  Sigh.  Our honeymoon, however, was fantastic!

Here are some pics-

 

On the bus headed to the hotel.

 

Our welcome drink while we waited for our room to be ready.

 

I used the life out of that jacuzzi.  Afternoon bath everyday?  Why not...it's my honeymoon!

 

Our beautiful room.  Everyday had a new towel creation, courtesy of our maid.

 

Pool view from our balcony.  The ocean is just off to the left.

 

I pretty much always had some sort of vodka drink when we were in the room.  And we brought the rum home.  Caribbean rum is where it's at.

 

Walk on the beach the first evening.  One of the few pics of both of us, courtesy of a lady walking on the beach.

 

Love this lil guy!

 

Manny the cute sea lion.  I called him Truman while we were there.

 

 Manny kiss!

 

 This isn't Photoshopped.  The dolphin actually jumped over me.  Pardon my lack of paying attention to the guy taking the pics.  I was too excited.

 

Zip-lining through the jungles.  This was so much fun.  Hi Scott!

 

As you can see, the camera was hooked through my helmet.  So, these are the kind of pics I got of myself

 

Here comes Scott again!

 

The vantage point all week for me and my finger-toes.

 

Loved long afternoons reading on the beach.  :)

 

Snorkeling in the waters off our resort beached turned out to be one of our favorite things.

 

Dinner the last night.

 

Our home-bound airplane.

 

Bye bye Punta Cana.  

I obviously took quite a few more pictures, but these are some of the highlights.  We really had a great time.  I burnt my shoulders to a crisp day one on the beach (as did Scott), so we took that as an opportunity to take it easy most of the week. We'd do an excursion one morning (dolphins one day, zip-lining another), and then come back and relax with a fruity drink by the beach or pool.  We also took advantage of the food choices, eating at least once at all the restaurants.  My faves were the Japanese Hibachi Grill and Asadito Steakhouse.  Sometimes we'd have lunch and then go to the buffet just for ice cream.  What of it?

We made a few friends throughout the week at the resort.  We'd run into this other honeymooning couple almost every night at the lobby bar, so we'd chat with them before and after dinner.  We played in a poker tournament on Tuesday night.  I think it started with 19 players, so not a big tourney, but the top 3 made the money.  I finished 3rd- holla!  I knocked out some peeps, including my own husband.  People called me ruthless.  I call it winning.  We played in the tourney Friday night too, and in that one Scott made the money so that was nice.  The best part- having NOTHING to do most days.  We just did whatever we wanted.  Nap on the beach?  Sure.  Ice cream at noon?  Hell yea.  Sit at the swim-up bar for a few hours?  Yes.  Sleep 'til 11 or noon?  We've got nothing else to do!  It was, to use an unnecessary adjective, sublime.  

Anyway, I'll leave you with this.  Much love all my blogger monsters!

 

L

Love the beach!

Toes in the water, ass in the sand...

Our honeymoon is less than 3 weeks away!  Punta Cana, here come the Evans...es?  I'm not familiar with pluralizing names that end in 's'.  It's not really my specialty yet. 

We are all booked and ready!  Seven nights at Majestic Elegance Punta Cana, all-inclusive, cannot wait!  In preparing for my adventure, I was reminded of a beach experience so long ago...

It was the summer of 2002, I was a wee 17-year old lass when Ratch invited me to go to Gulf Shores with her family for a fun beach vacation.  I said "uh, heck yes."  So off we went, on a very long drive.  Made a wee bit longer by SOMEONE who had just gotten his learner's permit and went 50 down the highway.  ;) 

So, we get there, and we immediately set off on beach adventures.  One such beach adventure that I was introduced to was night-time crab hunting.  As described to me, you get a flashlight, go out, and watch the lil crabs make their trek across the beaches before retreating into their crab holes.  Do crabs live in holes?  I don't know, but they go somewhere.  I feel like Snooki right now with my general earth knowledge, but whatever.  Anyway, I had this vision in my head of all these Sebastian look-alike crabs skittering along the sand, looking up at me with little Caribbean accents-"Pardone Madame, but eeuuu are een dee way of my crab hole."

Or, if it's a high-strung crab-

 "No, madame, eeuu are stepping een dee crab hole!"

Imagine my horror when I learned that the crabs on the beach weren't cute little Sebastian types, but practically iridescent WHITE crabs.  How are you supposed to see them in the WHITE sand?!  They are naturally camouflaged.  I guess point for evolution because they hide brilliantly.  I was not pleased.  In a fairly anti-climatic end to this story, I didn't last long.  I wonder if the crabs in the Dominican Republic look like Sebastian.  I hope so.  

I anxiously await being able to update my blog about my trip.  I promise.  

Oooookkkk.

I am status post lecture from Leah about my lack of updates (do you like my ability to mix in medical lingo??  I did that for you). 

I was completely unaware it had been almost two weeks since I last posted.  I guess I've been busy.  I'm quite relieved that it's Friday.  I had a busy week of hearings, meetings, and a brief due today.  Let's see...July 4th happened since I last wrote!  We grilled brats and corn with some yummy red potato salad (my favorite) as we watched baseball.  Then, around dusk, we walked over to the field near our house (which also happens to butt up to the ledge where Mizzou Arena and Faurot Field are).  The fireworks in Columbia were being shot off from the stadium parking lots, so we had a great view from our own neighborhood.  We took the dogs over, and it was just a big block party. 

I suppose we didn't really think the dog situation through.  They were fine, until the actual fireworks started.  At that point, Cherry lost it, and somehow wiggled out of her collar.  Once she was free she TOOK off running full speed back toward our house.  I sent Scott after her while I tried to wrangle Truman, who while not as panicked, was slowly making his way further and further into the brush off the walking trail.  My efforts to pull him OUT of the brush were useless, so I just sat there watching fireworks holding what looked like a leash to nowhere.  Once the fireworks started to pick up, Truman became more interested in leaving, so we started making our way back, all the while I was hoping Scott could find our little Usain Bolt safe and sound.  I came down our street to find him standing in the driveway.  Fortunately, all was well and Cherry had found her way home!  I've always heard dogs know, and I've seen the stories too, and Cherry did also.  Well, she was a BIT off, as she ended up in the bushes of a backyard across the street.  But still, pretty impressive!  Also impressive was that she literally jumped the fence to that yard to seek shelter. 

I went inside to find her under the guest bed, which has even less wiggle room than the space under our bed.  Every time she heard the faintest hint of a boom, she took refuge.   That included while I was showering, when she heard one and felt like she'd be safest IN the shower with me.  We've beefed up shower security since the last time she pulled the plastic hooks down, but this time she just pulled the whole tension rod out of place.  So, conditioner-filled hair and all, I had to remove her from the bath area, fix the curtain, and continue my shower.  When I got out, she was sitting in the closet.  Needless to say, celebrating America isn't really her thing.  At least celebrating America loudly, because she seemed to be happy to celebrate when it meant scraps of hot dog.  Oh well.  Two consecutive July 4th freak-outs.  I think we'll spare her coming with us next year.  If only we could find doggy ear plugs in time...

And with that, I'm off to enjoy my weekend! 

I suck at this!

Ok, so a LOT has happened since I last posted.  My apologies for being such a terrible blogger. 

Since I last updated approximately two years ago, I suppose the biggest thing that happened was my wedding.  Yes interwebs world, I'm a married woman now.  I'm the old ball and chain.  The day was amazing.  For starters, it had rained pretty much all week, so I was dreading the possibility that it would rain on my wedding day.  I've heard it's good luck and blah blah blah.  I had a outside wedding.  Rain is NOT compatible with that.  Anyway, everyone came in for the most part on Friday, so we could have an impromptu bachelorette party.  Poor Sami and Ratch had their flight(s) canceled, so they DROVE to get here.  I was so upset that they had to go through all that but felt so blessed that they didn't even hesitate to jump in the car and get here by whatever means necessary.  If the car broke down they probably would have hitch-hiked!  Through this whole process, I was able to really see how truly lucky I am to have such amazing friends. Everyone who came made sacrifices and did so much to be there, and it meant so much to me. 

All the girls in town on Friday joined me for my bachelorette dinner and party.  (Shout-out to Leah for paying for my dinner- THANK YOU!)  We had a yummy dinner at Addison's and then made our way to Trops and the Piano Bar.  I didn't pay for a drink that night, and everyone went out of their way to make it special for me.  I had such a great time, and I was so happy that my work friends made it out too!

Saturday, we woke up to SUN!  No rain in sight!  It was literally a perfect day.  Warm, sunny, and just a hint of a breeze.  We made our way to the salon and got ready (Genesis Salon did an AMAZING job!), and had just enough time at the hotel to change before it was off to the winery!  We got there just as everyone was being directed outside for the ceremony.

Not wanting to keep anyone from getting a new drink, we kept it short and sweet.  Seven minutes from the time the first bridesmaid walked down the aisle to when we kissed.  We know how to make it happen.  After the ceremony, everyone enjoyed drinks and appetizers while we all mingled.  After that the wedding party took off for pictures while the other guests got to take a rest.  Then, dinner time!  Dinner was at the top of the Tiger Hotel, catered by Bleu Restaurant.  It was delicious.  So perfect.  Cake was delicious, drinks were yummy, and then it was on to the afterparty. 

Tonic Lounge was the site of the evening debauchery.  Shots were flowing, everyone had a drink in their hands at all times, and it was a blast.  A perfect evening for a perfect day.  Some got VERY drunk.  That entertained me.  You know who you are ;)

So, in light of the great day, I want to say thank you.  Thank you to my parents (and Scott's parents), for everything you did for our day.  Thank you to my Mom for every little detail she remembered.  Everything she did helped to make the day even better, and I'm so grateful for her thoughtfulness and insight.

Thank you to everyone who came.  I hope you had as much fun as I did.  And a special thanks to all my friends that traveled from Texas to be here.  It means more to me than you know.  To my bridal party, you guys are the shiz.  Leah- you did SO much for me.  You did everything to make me feel special, and I can't tell you how much I appreciated you being there.  Kelly- it wouldn't be the same day without my Aggie partner in crime.  Hopefully our bowl trip this year is somewhere exciting ;)  Ratch- what can I say.  Anything I could say here you already know.  I love ya. Sami- what can I say?  Again, I'm at a loss for how to best express what you mean to me and how much I appreciate everything you did for me.  I love all of you, and I'll always remember my wedding day and the friends who were a part of it. 

I'll post some pictures soon.  But, there are some on Facebook that you've probably all seen.  And, I will make diligent efforts to not suck at blogging anymore.  BYE!