puppy luv!

and our newest family member - roscoe!

while barry and i were still stateside, my mum-in-law rescued a jack russell terrier while she was visiting kilarney, ireland. as it turns out and unbeknownst to my mum-in-law, she was preggers with a liter of 4. the little bundles of joy arrived in september and greeted me upon my return from the states. although we hadn't planned on having another pet, we both agreed to give one of the puppies a home. after spending time with all 4, i found myself gravitating towards one of the two boys. but before i could allow myself to become attached, we had to first introduce the pup to our lab roxy. i'll be honest, both barry and i were nervous. i could not love an animal more, but roxy can be unpredictable, and by unpredictable i mean, aggressive (as an admitted crazy canine mama, this is very hard to admit). with baited breath roxy and roscoe met, and although they didn't necessarily hit it off, no one got hurt. 

nowadays in true sibling fashion, roscoe is ALL about his big sister, and for the most part, roxy enjoys having a little sibling to play with. in addition to his given name of roscoe, barry calls him 'scamp', and i refer to him as my 'little man'. while he can be darling, cuddly and well behaved, he can also be rambunctious, tenacious and poorly behaved. the only thing i can compare it to is toddlers. you can't leave ANYTHING in their reach you don't mind going in their mouth. boundless energy. iffy control over their bodily functions. having said that, we love roscoe to pieces and he is the perfect addition to our growing family.

Now,
get prepared for some serious cuteness.....

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 note the disheveled look i am sporting

our little guy

he has already gotten so big! we really wish he would stop. growing already.

it has been adjustment walking two dogs, instead of just one. it is really nice when barry joins us, and he takes one of them. oh and the snow....they LOVE it. 

he looks so innocent. don't let those eyes fool ya. notice the lead at the bottom? roscoe has since chewed through it. razor. sharp. teeth.

Travel Diaries: Friends and Family in Florida

One of the blessings of being stranded Stateside while I await my settlement visa for the United Kingdom has been the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends. Barry had to return to England to start graduate school and Roxy flew over safely a few weeks ago. I miss them like crazy! Although it has not been easy to be separated from my little family, I have had to accept the situation and make the best of this time (albeit reluctantly!).

Barry and I are so fortunate to have great friends and family on both sides of the pond, and this unique time in our lives has allowed us spend time with them. I have had such fun with my AMAZING nieces - being an Aunt is the best - as well as my bestie, Jen and her family(including my Godson). In addition, I've been able to enjoy long visits with my Dad who lives in Winter Garden. This morning I had the unexpected joy of having breakfast with an old friend from Chicago and her husband. Had I not been 'stuck' here, I would have missed out on so many opportunities to connect with loved ones!

And I can't forget about the animals - they are our family and friends too! Below are some pictures of some of our loved ones from this trip.....

With my dear friend Michelle

 Roxy is SUCH a great swimmer!

 Barry had a lot of fun at the shooting range with our friend Phil. Turns out my husband is a good shot!.

I had the opportunity to spend sometime with my bestie's parents at a vacation resort in Orlando. Here is Jen with Brad, her stepfather.

 Isn't she darling?? We invited our friends Mary and Dan , as well as their daughter Kara over for dinner and a little swimming. Kara loved the water, and I really enjoyed spending time with all three of them!

 Friends Michelle and Elaine. Love them!

Yup, our friend Phil is really cradling their Boston Terrier Rufus. 

I was fortunate to celebrate my 35th birthday with friends, and with this AMAZING homemade ice cream cake made by my bestie (Thank you Jen!) 

 Barry is trying to teach my Dad how to operate his laptop.

 My two favorite men, and the smartest people I know!

 I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with these two crazy kids, Tori and my Godson!

Sibling moment on the Jetty in Fort Pierce, FL.

 This is one of my sister's dogs, or Roxy's canine cousins, Clifford, who is the most loving retriever!

 My niece Sydney with one of their cats, Ceasar! Their kitties make me want to adopt a kittie....

Last weekend my nieces, along with Hailey's beau, and I made vision collages. Essentially they are visual reminders of what we want 5-10 years from now. They turned out amazing, and we had so much doing them!

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Travel Diaries: Dog Beach

Walton Rocks Beach

One of my favorite places to visit when I lived on the Treasure Coast. Although it is called Walton Rocks it more commonly referred to as Dog Beach because it is the only beach in Saint Lucie County that allows dogs. I also like it because it isn't crowded and it tends to be quiet. Roxy LOVES swimming in the water, chasing the birds as well as digging in the sand, and I LOVE watching her enjoy herself!

Barry and I had the opportunity to enjoy Dog Beach a couple of times during my niece Hailey's visit. The surf was flat,the water was clear, and the sun was scorching! One of the highlights was discovering huge sea slugs washed up on the beach - they were very squishy!

Enjoy some pictures from our little family's 'happy place'.

She literally can't get to her 'happy place' fast enough!

 My beautiful eldest niece, Hailey, her beau, and Roxy.

 I interrupted my husband's reading for this Kodak moment. He looks thrilled. Roxy looks comfortable in the middle. Hailey is wearing my shades.

 Take note, my husband is smiling, not smirking!

 Roxy loves the ocean as much as I do, and is such a great swimmer!

 Don't they make a cute couple?

Ahhhhh, young love!

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Travel Diaries: Reunited and it feels soooo good...

Our little family is together again (and yes I consider canines family members, of course). We arrived safely last Tuesday night, and after visiting my father Wednesday morning, set off for my sister's in Hilliard, Florida.Barry tried horseback riding for the first time, and we learned how to play a new game (to us) called Phase 10. We enjoyed the quite country setting, and especially my family. Photos to follow soon! On Saturday we drove to the Treasure Coast where we will be visiting until the 24th.  

Now that Roxy is with us again all is right with the world. 

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Holding Pattern

On our 3rd date, Barry informed me that he intended, after flight school, to get a job flying for a commercial airlines in Jakarta, Indonesia (ok, so I thought he had said Japan, and for weeks prepared myself to move to Japan). Although our relationship was brand new, I had a feeling that we would be making this move together. I even balled my eyes out that night (after he left) at the thought of being separated from my lab, Roxy. Embarrassing, right? For the span of our relationship, we planned and prepared to move to Jakarta, a place that up until now I couldn't locate on a map! So many of our decisions revolved around going to Jakarta. And then there was the waiting, and MORE waiting. Finally, when we had lined up all of our ducks in a row, including obtaining our visas from the Indonesian embassy in London, just when it was beginning to sink in that we were ACTUALLY moving half way around the world, we got the call. Three days before we were due to fly out, as we were on our way out for a good-bye dinner with friends, we received news that halted our carefully made plans. Now,several weeks later,uncertain of our direction, we are still in a 'holding pattern'- an aviation term for being stuck in a plane and not going anywhere.  I wrote down a piece of scripture years ago that reads: 
"Many are the plans in a person'e heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21)Now, both my husband and I are natural born planners, we get a bit fidgety without some kind of 'course of action'. It is no surprise how crazy uncomfortable for us, not having a plan is, or knowing what God has in store. We are learning to embrace the uncertainty, and staying faithful that it will, in time, all work out. But jeez, its hard sometimes!


Last year, I was definitely not planning on living in England, with my husband this summer. So much for plans! These last 13 months have turned out better than anything I could have imagined or planned for. Maybe planning is over rated (wait, did I just write that?). My inner girl scout needs to feel prepared, and that's a lot easier when there is a plan. But life doesn't offer any certainty that our plans are going to work out, and we have to be prepared for that also. So, Barry and I don't know where we'll living 3 months from now, and even though we have a Plan A, B, C, and D (Canada!!), if it is anything like this past year it will be better than anything we could imagine, right(right?????)! Thankfully holding patterns don't last forever, and when the time is right Barry and I will set off for our unknown destination. 


In the meantime, we're heading back to the Sunshine State for a few weeks and reuniting with this girl:

I am OVER THE MOON HAPPY that our little family will be together again soon!! We plan to spend some time in Hilliard (where my sister and her fam live, picture woodsey!), the Treasure Coast (where I used to live and friends still do, picture beachy) and Orlando (my Dad resides just outside the city, picture Disney), as well as take a day trip to Palm Beach. We're really looking forward to spending quality time with our American family and friends, enjoying BBQs, Walton Rocks dog beach, playing games, shopping at Target (ok, this one is strictly for me, strangely Barry is not that interested in getting his shop on), Fort Pierce Farmer's Market, and soaking up the sunshine.  In addition, I'll be applying for a residency visa for the UK, and an International Driver's License (man, I've actually missed driving), as well as identify another nursing home for my Dad. Barry is planning to tour some Flight Schools (to potentially instruct at), and plot our future (no pressure or anything honey!). 


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