Love letter, love letter to Motley

(today I'm linking up for Blogtember with Jenni and hundreds of other bloggers. The prompt is to write a public love letter so someone in your life, not necessarily romantic)

Dear Motley,

I'm sure some of my readers will be rolling my eyes at who I chose to write this 'letter' to, but I want to put some thoughts and memories down on paper so I can look back at them later, and it seems like you would be the most fun to write about.

Before your Daddy and I decided to ever get a dog, I told him that I would name my next dog "Motley" and he didn't like the name. He would bring it up in conversation and ask people how dumb it sounded. Well, in November 2011 we started talking about getting a dog and when we had decided to go for it, you won out over "Maple" and your name was set before we ever met you.

I was open to all sorts of dogs but your dad was pretty picky on what he wanted. I guess you could take that as a compliment? He REALLY wanted a blue heeler and would not let that go! We almost went with an Australian Shepherd but we didn't want to fork over $300 for a dog so we let that one pass us by. 

One day I saw a listing for a 'blue heeler border collie mix' on Craigslist with the sweetest pictures of baby puppies (only 5 weeks old!). I called the owner immediately from the warehouse of my old job and asked a bunch of questions about the puppies she had. She was listing them each for a whopping $25 which was within our price range, and she had 6 puppies. I narrowed down the girls and then asked about each one of them. Ultimately, she told me that you were her favorite and that she would let you in at night to cuddle with her but the others stayed outside. I asked her to hold you for us until we could come pick you up on Friday.

Mark and I were both super giddy and we bought a crate and endless dog toys and treats for our new puppy. I left work early Friday and we headed out to Red Oak to pick up our Craigslist puppy. You were the last puppy left and she had saved you for us. When we got there, you were running around the yard like crazy and chasing your mommy. You reeked of smoke and were dirty. We gave the owner $30 and got back in the car. Your owners last words were "She's a biter!"

You were teeny tiny and slept peacefully in my lap the whole way home. We put you in the yard to play and the grass covered your legs! The next day, on Saturday, we took you to the vet. You were 6 weeks old that day and 6 pounds. You slept most of the time!

I had to set my alarm the first few weeks in the middle of the night to get up and let you out to potty. You weren't too difficult to potty train, luckily. We had bells by the door and you quickly learned to ring them to go outside. I would scoop you up with one hand because it was a few weeks before you could go up or down the stairs at our apartment!

Since then, you have been so much fun to watch grow yet still remain a puppy through and through. You are smart, playful, and definitely a biter. You writhe and tackle anyone that comes over, but only out of love. You are the snuggliest puppy I've ever had and you gladly curl up with me at any moment. 

Mark and I have made you the third member of our family and we both care so much about you! Even though you have an awesome back yard now, we still can't wait to get home to give you some love and cuddles. 

Your favorite thing to do is wrestle with daddy. You get VICIOUS and have learned his weak spot (funny bone-elbow). I can't help but laugh when you growl and try to take him down. You can't go a day without getting your wrestling in!

Momo, mots, motters, momosita, momosa, Motley, we love you so much! Thank you for being our favorite pup and loving us unconditionally!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

My first 'day off' and another Blogtember post

I'm putting aside the worries that I'll sound like an old diary post and saying that I'm sorry I haven't written! I only missed one day, but I know how miffed I get when one of my favorite bloggers (not that I'm anyone's favorite blogger by ANY stretch of the imagination...) skips a day or - God forbid - goes on vacation. It's not a good feeling. So, here I am, and I'll try to make this post extra good!

I'm joining up with Jenni today through her Blogtember linkup and sharing how blogging and social media has changed me.

Granted, I've only been blogging for about 2 1/2 months, but I can already tell the effect it's having on me. I started this blog with the intention of sharing parts of our home renovation, and look how far I've strayed in two short months! I have to say, though, that I'm happy with the organic change my blog has taken on. I like being free to write about what I want without the guilt of not sharing a DIY or house update every day. When I have them, I share them, and when I don't, I just use this space of the internet as my little place to share my thoughts! Pretty pictures, too.

I never thought of myself as the writing type. I've sworn up and down that I'm a more math-centered brain, and I still stand by that, but I won't shut out the creative writing side of me, either. I might feel like I'm stretching and trying to form decent sentences every time I write, but I think it's good exercise and I think this little bloggy here has helped me to come out of my shell a bit and just write what I'm feeling and thinking.

Blogging has also given me purpose throughout my day. I take more pictures, find a story in the little things, and even try to dress better in the rare chance I participate in a WIWW. I hope that the adventure continues to inspire me, because I need that to keep me going, blog or no blog.

Social media has played a HUGE role in my life over the last oh....8 years. Yep, I joined facebook when I was 18, before I even went to college. My sister was already in college and kept talking about Facebook and as soon as I got my acceptance letter and email from SFA, I signed up. Yes, children, those were the days that you had to be in college to use Facebook. After that it was MySpace, AIM, words with friends, and now Instagram. I chose (wisely, I think) to skip the whole Twitter thing. I know a lot of bloggers use it but luckily I haven't felt the need to fold to it, yet.

(one of) my first photos on Facebook. This was about a year in. I think I deleted multiple other albums, phew!

...and according to Facebook, this was one of the first pictures I was tagged in. Marked October 27th, 2005! Baby Diana...times two!

One of my favorite things about Facebook was having all of my photos on my profile and using it as a virtual photo album. That, of course, turned in to a massive amount of oversharing but I'm able to look back at a lot of photos and laugh or remember good times. My love of photos of course transferred over to Instagram: the perfect app for me. No, really. I love me some Instagram. It's easy to use, browse, and navigate and I LOVE IT. I do, however, mostly post photos of my dog and food, but it serves its purpose.

My first Instagram post! Yep, only been with this game for 40 weeks. 

Just editing a 'selfie' (new word in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, check it) to post a teaser for this very blog post! Talk about cheap advertising...

I think social media and blogging in general is starting a whole new generation. Everything is now literally in the palm of our hands and we tend to be adapting well to the never ending change. I can't wait to see what's next!

Blogtember Day 6 : Making the transfer

Ok, I'm doing it! I'm joining up with Jenni and chiming in for Blogtember!

Here is the prompt today: 

Day 6. Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn

This one is almost too easy. Yes, there was a big turn the day I met Mark, or the day I accepted my first job out of college, but I know for a fact that my life took one of the most drastic turns the day I decided to apply for a transfer from Stephen F. Austin State University to Texas Tech in the fall of 2006. (yep, I'm talking about my college experience again)

I was SO excited when I got the confetti-filled acceptance letter from SFA in 2005. I loved the campus, I loved the distance from home, and I loved the idea of starting new! I went in head first majoring in Interior Design. I had a good roommate, old friends and new friends, and I liked my classes. My freshman year I even rushed with a service sorority and got involved with them. I fell in love with the church and college group there, and I really liked the small town and all of the adventure there was to be found. 

In the summer of 2006, I came home to work a job at the YMCA. It was a ton of fun and I met one of my closest friends, Jessica, while working there. One night, I think I was browsing the internet for Interior Design or trips or something (I don't remember exactly) when I came across a Google image that linked to the Texas Tech Interior Design group. There was a class there that went on a yearly trip at spring break to different cities in the US. They did presentations and, needless to say, it sparked my interest. Seemingly out of nowhere, I started talking about a transfer. I mentioned it to my parents and they thought they brushed me off when they told me I should think about it some more and head back to SFA in the fall. I remember discussing it with my coworkers, too, even though there was no real 'plan' to transfer.

Fall started back at SFA and I dove in even more. I decided to enroll in the marching band, which is what I had done all through junior high and high school, so it was something I knew how to do and I knew I would make friends doing. I made a TON of friends that semester, lived in an awesome on-campus apartment, and continued having a good time in college. However, I noticed that the Interior Design classes seemed to slow down and not be very challenging, especially when we had a project to design pumpkins during the fall. (I'm still not sure what that was) Overall, though, I was still learning and having fun with my classmates. 

Then one night at 11pm during the middle of November (I think it was) I logged on to the internet, sat down for about 2 hours, and applied to Tech. I graciously told my mom that she "owed me $50". When she asked me why, I told her it was for the application fee to Texas Tech. I didn't really talk to her or my dad for about 24 hours, but something happened (I don't remember talking them into it) and they went along with my new direction. We quickly planned a trip to Lubbock for a few weeks later to visit the campus (nope, I had never been before!) and I loved it. I anxiously made the transfer in January 2007 and didn't look back.




we stumbled upon the carol of lights on our first visit, so I ended up going 4 years in a row! (yes, already decked out in Tech gear, and I still have and wear that sweatshirt!)


snow on the ground during our visit...

I get a lot of flack sometimes about not acknowledging SFA as part of my college experience, but it just seemed like a transition point to me. Somehow, I knew that Texas Tech held something better for me, and I was brave enough to follow through. I'm still extremely grateful for my time at SFA because I had a GREAT time, but I think I was supposed to stumble across Texas Tech, and I'm extremely glad that I did! By the way, I ended up going on one of those spring break trips! Tech ended up being one of the best experiences of my life; and I have friends, an insane amount of pride, and my husband to prove it! 





If I can offer any advice, I would say to put on a brave face and make a big change when you can feel it tugging at you. It will be hard, it might be scary (just ask about my first semester at Tech), but it will most likely turn out to be the best decision you made!