Life Lately (And Some Rambling…)

So here’s what’s been happening in my world this month (in iPhone photos)… I turned 25! Woohoo, quarter of a century gone. Crazy, crazy. Sometimes I can’t believe it. In my head I think I’m forever 20 years old (and not Forever 21 because, I still can’t drink alcohol besides a few sips here and there). I celebrated my 25th birthday with a big surprise. The Wednesday evening before my birthday, Dave wasn’t working so we had plans to make dinner and stay in. As I began laying out the ingredients to start cooking, I got a call from my dad on the phone and at the same time, the doorbell rang and there was an aggressive knock at the door. I had no idea who it was (no one rings our doorbell, let alone late at night) so I told my dad I had to get off the phone to hesitantly see who it was. Low and behold, it was him, my mom and Poh Poh visiting from Connecticut and my sister also flew in from Wisconsin! My mouth immediately dropped and I was SO surprised! It felt like I was in a dream, you know the feeling? Anyways, I had to share this photo below because rarely do we get a “surprise!” photo. And rarely does my family keep a secret so, it felt super special. Also, please ignore my groutfit. I tend to dress like a slob (a comfortable one, at least) when I’m laying around the apartment.

Since it was freezing cold that week, we mostly stayed in and ate out. We had brownies, ice cream cake, cookies, more ice cream. It was an indulgent, sweet weekend. We also had friends over for a game night and it warmed my heart having friends and family together in one place laughing.

The morning of my birthday, Samson came in our bed for some snuggles. We don’t usually allow him in our bed, however, we made this new rule… birthdays only. So three times a year Samson’s allowed to be in our bed: Dave’s birthday, my birthday, and of course, Samson’s birthday. A special birthday snuggle is worth a sleepy selfie, don’t you think?

Speaking of Samson, he is growing SO fast. I can’t believe it. I was looking at photos of him from two weeks ago and he already looks like a giant compared to them. His legs and ears are growing so much faster than his body, it’s quite a funny sight. He’s learned how to do stairs this week. Which was major because we live on the third floor and my back was starting to hurt from carrying him (I know, old woman status). He goes up the stairs by doing the bunny hop, keeping his two legs together and jump, jump, jump. To go down the stairs, he uses his front legs to reach down as faaar as he can but he doesn’t move his back legs until he absolutely has to (he kind of reminds me of Buddy the ELF trying to do an escalator). It cracks me up! I hope he’ll learn how to do stairs properly one day, so he doesn’t have to try so hard, but for now it’s kind of cute and funny.

This month we also gave Samson a bath for the first time. I put on a bathing suite and hopped right in the tub with him. Only true, insane doggie lovers do these kinds of things for their pups. Surprisingly, he liked bath time! And after his bath he went hyper around the apartment, acting all silly. Here are some puppy bath pictures because, who doesn’t like a wet dog?

As you know, winter can be a such struggle for me, especially when it can go gray and cloudy for weeks on end. To help alleviate these bleh feelings, I started to do an adult ballet class. I look so forward to it every week! It’s THE best therapy, exercise, fun all mixed together in an hour and a half. When I was younger, I always wanted to be a prima ballerina. I did ballet for a number of years and trained my feet to go on pointe and then shortly after, I quit. Lacrosse, friends and sports teams sounded much more fun than a strict male instructor in tights. Let me tell you, I’ve always missed it since. It feels great being back in ballet class, at the barre, with a leotard and slippers on. I have a new appreciation for it, a more mature appreciation, but at the same time, I love that in class I feel like I’m 11 years old again. Do you have a childhood activity of yours that you would like to get back into?

Another fun tradition we’ve been doing every week has been “Girls Night”. It’s silly because really, I’m the only girl at girls night. Dave, Samson and I catch up on The Bachelor on Tuesday night. Not Monday (when it’s live), because we don’t have cable. It’s fun and I always look forward to it. A cup of tea, a box of cookies, and my two boys. Three I guess, if you count Ben (The Bachelor). Are you guys watching it? Who do you think he’ll end up with? I think Lauren B is a good match for him and that JoJo will be the next Bachelorette, but we shall see!

Ok, that’s enough of my ramblings for now. Since I’ve reached the topic of The Bachelor, I know I shouldn’t go much further, you’ll think I’m cray.