Dogs

Barnes

For anyone who knows me, they probably know me as the person who could do without animals. Every now and then I'm okay with them, but for the most part, I'm not a fan. I know this makes me out to be a horrible animal hater, but truth be told every now and then I can find a soft spot for them.

Our family has quite a track record with dogs: Shelley (grandma ran over), Sheba (mom ran over), Festus (sadly ran away or was stolen...we aren't sure), Rocky (disappeared - I'm quite certain that my dad took care of him, if you catch my drift), Princess (only had for 2 days because she died from rat poisoning from previous owner), Lizzy (hung herself -- poor thing tried to jump the fence and caught her collar on the fence), Noble (cancer), Barnes, Molly, and Lady.

Three is the number roaming throughout our homestead these days. Barnes is a big, old German Shepherd. He has been a faithful and trustworthy dog. He's also top dog around here and is not afraid to tell the other pups when they are acting up.

Lady is actually my brother's dog. She is a 2 year old Lab and is a big ball of energy. She came to stay one weekend while my brother was going to be out of town and she hasn't left yet. She has learned her place with Barnes as he lets her know when she's crossing a line. She has also slowly learned her lessons with my dad and his garden, water fountain, and boots! She still hasn't learned to leave the horse alone though. We are always certain to lock her up if we have Fannie out and about. It's better for all involved! :-)

Over the summer, I did come to have a soft spot for Lady. I spent at least 20 mins every day working with her fetching skills and by the end of the summer, every time I'd walk outside she would greet me with her ball. When I pulled into the driveway on Christmas Day the dogs were there at the car and as soon as Lady realized I was home, she ran to find her ball! Smart little thing!

And Molly is the in-house cocker spaniel. I also have a bit of a soft spot for her. She is my mom's anniversary gift from a few years back and she's a fun little dog to have in the house. The trick with her is don't touch her until she's warmed up to you or you'll be sure to have a puddle near your feet!

Anyways...the whole reason I was telling you this was because today, I decided to try and talk Lady on a walk. Sounds easy right? I call my dad to see if he thinks she will even do it and he said it was worth a shot! (I'm pretty sure he was sitting at his computer laughing at me knowing exactly how it would go!) So I get all ready and head out to get Lady on the lease and give this a go. After about 10 mins and a lot of chasing I finally got the lease on her. Then I realized I would need to lock up Barnes or he would want to come along also. Needless to say, he was not happy!

I start to walk Lady and we aren't even half-way down our gravel driveway and all she is doing is chewing on the lease and jumping on me. All the while we are listening to Barnes howl at the fact that he was left behind. So we turned around. I put Lady in the cage, hooked Barnes on the lease and off we went!

Barnes was great. He didn't bark even once and he had about 15 different dogs barking at him. I think I could get used to walking a dog, but apartment life will not allow for such things -- probably better that way!

Maybe tomorrow I'll try Lady again, but I'm not promising anything!

Miss Z

I figured since I'm blogging again, I better update everyone on Miss Z.

Miss Z got a new little tricycle from Grandma and Bumpa. (I love that she calls my dad, Bumpa -- seriously the cutest thing) She loves that thing. We all took turns pushing her around the house, while she rang the little bell! It was the perfect ending to my very LONG, 12 hour drive home that day!

Z ended the Christmas season with 5 new babies! She loves them all but 1, the one that seems the most real! :-) She loves to rock them, feed them, change them. It's all so precious to watch. Her mom and dad are hopeful that this means she will be enjoy being a big sister come June!

This is a picture from a little earlier this fall. My family is in the process of rebuilding our family lumberyard which was destroyed in a fire this summer. (maybe another post will come about that!) My mom has been sending me weekly pictures of the progress. I love what this picture shows because I can just imagine my dad telling Z all she needs to know about the progress going on. I just love this!

Change

Photo Credit

Every year I THINK about all of the things that I would like to change in the upcoming year, and yet nothing happens. I've come to the conclusion that one of the main reasons I never follow through is because I never write the resolutions down. Well that is about to change! :-)

1 ~ Become debt free. -- Dave Ramsey and I are becoming BFFs right now. I'm almost done listening to his book, "The Total Money Makeover" and my parents gave me the book for Christmas so now the real and HARD work begins. I'm excited about it because I want that worry and stress out of my life, but I know it will be a lot of hard work which makes me a wee bit nervous. But as Dave says, "To be like no one else, you have to live like no one else."

2 ~ Become healthy (aka lose weight) -- Who doesn't have this for a yearly goal???? Ask my friend Nicki, this is my mental goal nearly every year and yet nothing has changed, but this is the year! She has done it and looks amazing! It will be just as hard as becoming debt free, but I'm just as excited about it. I'm not sure how I plan to share it all yet, but I need to do it!

3 ~ Blog -- The previous two goals will not be easy and certainly not on my own. So I've decided to break down some walls and put this part of my life out there for all to see. This probably is the scariest part for me! I'm not really much of a sharer, but I think for these things to really happen I need to be held accountable.

So, there you have them blog world!

January 1, 2011 -- HERE I COME!

Sisters and More

Jo, Jess, and I (Please, ignore my crooked necklace -- it bothers me too!)

This post has been on my mind for awhile. (School, work, busy weekend stuff just really slows me down!) Over the last few weeks, I've been running through my head the types of posts I want my blog to have. As we all know my blog hasn't exactly been very active for quite some time and the posts I've shared up to this point were only surface posts. They didn't dig down, they didn't expose who I really am. I believe there are multiple reasons for this 1 - lack of time/effort and 2 - I'm not someone who really share beyond the surface. Sure there are my few very close and dear friends that know the gritty details, and I by no means plan to share the grittiest of my details. (yet...) However, I think that for me I need to jump past my comfort of the surface and dive in deeper. Not for anyone else to know, but simply for myself.

This really all came home to me a few weeks ago. When I was home in March, I had the chance to get together with my brother, a classmate, and oddly, an ex-flame. It was all very last minute and I thought about pulling out the "It's too late, I better pass" card as a way to avoid what was surely going to be an awkward situation. However, my brother assured me it would be fun and off we went. We ended up having a great time. We talked and remembered and laughed. It was enjoyable. (Somewhere during the night, I made a comment about knowing lots of girls that think dark men are attractive -- case in point, Taye Diggs! Yes...please!) Fast forward to a few weeks. I get a text message from said ex-flame letting me know that he had asked a few others about the dark men (Taye Diggs) claim and he was not coming up with the same evidence. I, of course, assursed him he must not have mentioned Taye Diggs name or was asking too small of a group. Needless to say the next few text messages were something a long the lines of...I've learned more about you in this little detail then I've known. At first I laughed, then I cried. He was right! (Sadly...one does hate to admit such things!) I was the queen of being friendly and nice to others, but I was not great at sharing who I really was.

With all that said...I'd like to welcome you to what will hopefully be the first of many posts that dig deeper into my being and thought process. As a side note, this could get messy and scary, mostly for me, but maybe for all of you also! And as a disclaimer, I don't promise that I won't slip in a few "surface" posts every now and then. I really can't help it...it's just how I am!

Without further adieu - My Sisters

Jess

First off, is that not the cutest Senior picture of her? Jo and I love it, she isn't sold on it, but it's just so her. That's how cute she looks when she laughs. I think I just love how natural it is...quite different from my very stiff and rigid senior pictures, but that's not all that surprising!

I've been thinking about Jess a whole lot lately. This girl is a mere weeks away from being done with High School. You can tell that she is ready, but it's been so great to listen to this girl all year. She has grown up in so many ways. For those of you who know her, you know that she has a knack for bring funny. As much as I do hate to admit it, she knows how and when to be funny. She's also about as random as we Ohlmann's come. She could be singing and pretending to direct a choir song like Prof Reim one minute and then belting a head banging and screaming to Sweet Home Alabama the next. You're never quite sure what you're gonna get.

That is what I love about her. I love that she is random. I love that she laughs at herself. I love that she doesn't care who's watching or listening, she just does. These are the times that I look at her and think about how it just doesn't seem fair that I can't be even a little like her.

One of the ways that I've watched her really grow this year is in connection with her friends. Jess has been always good at making friends, but these year, I have watched her stretch herself. She has finally taken a chance on people she had written off for the last 3 years and oh how amazing it has been. It's fun to listen to her and how she goes on and on about how great these people are and how she wishes she would have given them a chance sooner. I think part of this comes with age and maturity, but what a great thing to see in her. It makes me look at my friends and value my closeness with some and makes me want to rekindle or build on what I have.

Out of everything, the way that Jess has grown in her leadership abilities is beyond my comprehension. It still stops me dead in my tracks when I hear her say, things about how she loves getting a chance to see the campers come to campus. Or how she has taken the stand-out freshman basketball player under her wings to protect her from being the one the team is jealous towards. How great it is to see the Lord continue to fashion and mold these gifts in her.

Jo and baby Cooper

My sister, Jo, has always been the sweet, little sister who would do anything for anyone. But more than that she is the sister that never fails. You can count on her. I know that if I call her, she will call me back as soon as she's able. (Jess...not so much, but her live is quite hectic!)

One of the things that I love about Jo is ability to just be. She doesn't have to be the center of attention, she doesn't have to have a comment for everything, she doesn't have to be funny, she's just there. And more often than not, it's exactly what you need. She's the one that will give you a hug or even just sit with you when you need it. Her quiet and protective presence is all that you need for her. And what I love is that she doesn't give off the need to say anything. She doesn't make the quiet time see awkward, instead it feels right. Oh for a gift like that!

I think Jo would agree that this has been the hardest year of her life. Going to Immanuel was uber difficult for her. She would call me daily for the first month and just cry. Slowly it turned to a few times a week, then weekly, monthly, and now it's gone. I can still remember her at Christmas break...she was only a week into her 3 week break and she was ready to go back!! I couldn't believe it. Change is hard for Jo, but I love the determination that she shows. I, also, love that she isn't afraid to show that it hurts. I was homesick for much of my first months at school, but I did all I could to never show it! (Hmm...not much has changed)

The Lord has blessed me with two great sisters! I love how different we all are and yet how we just know each other so well. I can't wait to continue to grow with each of them and see our lives develop! God is great!

Back in Action

Please excuse my hiatus! It seems as though life has gotten in my way, but I'm going to try and get back into a good routine again. Plus, now that my dear friend has moved back to God's Country and I will hardly ever see her, I thought I should pick this back up again as a way to try and keep in touch.

Much has happened in these last 8 months. My last post spoke about the first day of school and I am just over a month away from being done with my first year of teaching! Time really does fly! Over the next few posts I will try and give a brief recap of what I've been up to since I've been away.

For now, I will leave you with the most recent picture of my dear, sweet niece, Z. Oh how I miss that I am not there watching her grow up. Although I do love listening to my dad go on and on about how cute she is and all of the things she does now. I'm not sure there has been a prouder grandpa! :-)

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"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18