Poppies, Puppies, and Pearls: The Last Couple of Weeks....

I have been SERIOUSLY slack, and it has been insanely busy. The last couple of weeks have been packed with a ton of events and milestones. So this post will probably be pretty lengthy....I hope you enjoy!

My brother is officially out of the Army, well he is no longer active duty! He came home two weeks ago after road tripping with my dad and my cousin, Ron, all the way from Washington. Cole and I got to go and spend a night out with him and Ron. We ended up going to eat at Zesto's (a local burger/fried chicken joint) and went to see several bands preform at New Brooklyn Tavern...that place is literally a hole in the wall but it was definitely a good time. Cole and I are planning on going up to Pittsburgh to visit them in August and I am really looking forward to it!

The next day one of my best friends from high school got married! :) Cole and I got up early and drove four hours to Durham to watch him marry his lovely bride. My friend and his wife had been together for a very long time but since we live so far apart I had never officially met her, so I FINALLY got to meet her. They are absolutely adorable together and I am so happy they are now officially Mr. and Mrs.! Funny story about their reception.... it was in the parish hall of the church they were married in but they were able to serve wine. Cole went up to get a glass of wine for the two of us, and I kid you not the lady serving the wine carded him. Haha, he's got such a baby face...an attractive one at that. A kind little lady at the reception sat down and talked with us for a while about a bunch of things...the bride and groom, the food, Boston, the south....well anyways Cole got up to get both of us some more punch. When he walked away the little lady asked me

"Is that your boyfriend or your husband?"

of course I responded, "my boyfriend."

and she replies, " He is a very attractive young man!"

It was too cute, and of course all I could do was smile and say thank you, and of course tell him what she said later in the evening. I love when people inform me that they think he is attractive its such a compliment.

The monogram I hand-painted for Lee and Lauren, the newlyweds

On a completely new and random subject......Dusk has learned a new and exciting trick....well a couple!

Ok only one real trick....

BUTTTTT he has finally caught onto the whole fetch thing.

He now brings the ball back

opposed to stopping halfway and laying down like he used to do.

Anyways......

DRUM ROLL please!......

he learned....

HAND SHAKE!!!!

That's right my dog is now a GENIUS... he learned it in less than a week and his total list of tricks has now grown to a whopping count of 5.....Sit, Lay, Stay, Puppy Hugs and Hand Shake :) Hahah its not much but I am one proud mommy.

Ok now back to human events....

This past weekend Cole's best friend from school got back into town. His buddy joined the Coast Guard when he got out of high school and he is on leave for a couple weeks so he has been home visiting family and friends. Cole and I luckily were able to spend a lot of last weekend with him. We spend Saturday morning out on the boat with him and his family enjoying the beautiful weather and we ended up spending Saturday night with him, and we spent Sunday out on the lake kayaking and fishing too! It was a gorgeous weekend spent outside enjoying every minute of it.

Aside from hanging out with his buddy, Joey, we had a range day with the Offroad club out in the country on Saturday. Of course all the boys loved it, because what boys don't love shooting guns?! I got to shoot a couple of hand guns which was fun. No event is complete with out food, so we had some delicious homemade barbecue, and tons of tasty sides and desserts...I think I gained 10 lbs just from that meal!