Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Trick Or Treat!

Happy Halloween!!! I don't know about you guys but I think my little trick-or-treaters have to be pretty high up there in the 'Cutest Ever' category! This year Madison was a Butterfly, Ivy was a Ladybug and Grace was a Bumblebee. So cute!!!
My other little cutie was a Ninja Warrior this evening. Landon is always something very boyish. When he was 2 we got away with the cutest little dragon costume but ever since then it's been something along these lines. Haha! If I didn't know any better I'd think that was Kyle under that mask. #MiniMe
These three couldn't get enough of the Halloween festivities today. I opened a window and pushed a chair up against it so they could take part in the trick-or-treaters. The little neighborhood kiddos were more interested in the doggies than the candy!! Madison, Ivy and Grace loved it! I shut them off in the office so they wouldn't try to run out of the front door when I opened it and I thought they'd get mad at me for secluding them but they stayed in this spot all evening and soaked it up!!
Eventually the girls made it clear that they were tired of their Halloween costumes so we changed into our sequined Candy Corn sweaters. Couldn't you just die? Mom and I get a little too excited about making them match as often as possible!!
I'd say Madison, Ivy and Grace's first Halloween experience was a success! They looked so stinking adorable and I'm already excited about what Mom and I can come up with for next year. Happy Halloween everyone!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Fringe Benefits

This weekend was a good weekend. There wasn't much to it but that's sometimes nice. We decided not to go to the Little Rock game since it started so early. Instead we watched it at home. That game seemed like the longest game ever and this season has felt like the longest season ever. And I don't think it's because of our losing ways. It just feels like it's been a really long football season. I can't believe we still have 2 games left!!
One very exciting thing did happen this weekend. I found some new booties!! Now I'm not an impulse shoe buyer who has hundreds of pairs of shoes that you only wear a few times. I like to have good basics that I know I'll wear a lot. For the longest time I had tons of shoes that were every color of the rainbow--that's no longer my thing these days.
I love wearing a heel. It just makes my outfit seem to be more pulled together. However, you can't run around all day in 5 inch heels. So I knew I wanted a bootie with a short heel, possibly some fringe and definitely camel colored. I searched all over NWA for two days looking for this perfect shoe and low and behold I found it at my very last stop. Target!!! I feel like I hit the jackpot. They were just what I was looking for and only $34. Can't beat that! We're best friends already.
My father-in-law is moving (again) so yesterday I helped him shop for his new condo and today I helped him move in/get everything organized. That man has moved 5 times in the 6 years I've known Scott. It's so crazy to me!! He literally moves about once a year and has for over a decade now.
My Mom is on her way up here (again) and I'm helping her work the volleyball tournament in Alma this week. Obviously she's bringing Grace so the girls are soon to be overwhelmed with excitement. I love when they all get together.
By the way, ever since I've been home with the girls they have been perfect with the potty training. I'm able to catch them going where they're supposed to and reward them with a treat. They've for sure got it figured out and there have been zero accidents in the bonus room. Yay! Let's keep this winning streak up!!


Friday, October 26, 2012

Content


I spent my Friday doing my favorite thing ever---organizing my closet! Not that it needed much organizing. If you've read this blog for very long you know how I am with organization. However, I did decide to revamp my little friend up since winter is soon to arrive. If you follow me on Instagram (@kara2lou) you got a tiny sneak peek of what I've done. I love it! I've always said if I could be a professional closet organizer I would. (Anyone wanna hire me to organize their closet?)

Tonight Scott and I indulged by having pizza at Mellow Mushroom. After that we came home and watched our Friday night ABC shows. We're suckers for Shark Tank and 20/20. I know....exciting stuff. But really though, I love it. Content would definitely be a good word to describe life right now. As boring and uninteresting as it may be.
Now it's on to House Hunters International...

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Sweet Sixteen

This week would have marked my sweet little doodlebugs 16th birthday. I miss my precious angel every day and think about her constantly. I know she's in good hands right now and probably having the best birthday party ever filled with her favorite treat, ice cream!!! I love you sweet Holly. Happy Birthday Baby.

and.....cue the tears.

I feel like I haven't done an update on Ivy and Madison in a while. These two little munchkins are doing really good and getting smarter every day. They weigh just a little over 5 pounds now and supposedly they're done growing. Both girls are really starting to learn a lot of words. We still aren't 100% potty trained yet and it's really frustrating to me. I would say we're 96% potty trained. I'm kind of glad that I get to be back home with them because I'm going to spend a lot of time working on it these next few weeks so hopefully we can get it down all the way. I've started giving them treats again when I see them go on the paper. It's only upstairs where they have accidents. If I let them have free reign of the house they potty in the bonus room. If I block them from being able to go upstairs they do perfect. I have a feeling if I'm here a lot with them again they'll get it down fairly quickly. Here's hoping anyway.
We haven't had any chewing incidents recently so I'm hoping that phase is over with. I let them sleep with us at night once or twice a week. Usually on the weekends because we can sleep in longer. I don't mind them sleeping with us but I don't want them to always expect it. They still love each other so much and are the bestest of friends. It makes my heart happy so see them play together! You never see one without the other!!
Another thing that makes my heart happy? The view from my back yard. I love to sit on my porch (which is decorated super cute in Halloween/Fall Decor by the way) with Scott while music plays over the speakers and we indulge in a glass of wine.....or two. I love my house. I love my neighborhood. Life is good!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Free

This week has been one for the books. I quit my job yesterday and a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I have never been more stressed at a job before and it was solely because of my boss. Imagine Miranda from The Devil Wears Prada with a personality disorder mixed in.
The first day I worked there he warned me that he was "an asshole" but I blew it off thinking he was just trying to scare me. Then I started sensing something was off when a client who's also "an asshole" was on my books and he told me if I wanted to "cut his ear" that would be okay.
Red flags then went off when he told me that he wanted me to start cutting hair exactly the way he cuts it--which would also be the same style for "90%" of the clients. I've been doing this for 7 1/2 years and never has anyone told me I had to change the way I cut hair. That was beyond bizarre to me. So I kind of ignored it and continued to cut hair the way I always have. Of course not without having an hour long conversation with him informing him that all stylists have a different way of cutting hair and if he didn't mind I would like to continue to cut hair the way I always have. He said okay.
Then two weeks later he presented me with a document that said if I didn't start cutting hair the way he cuts hair I would be fired. He said he got to thinking about our previous conversation and didn't care how I felt and I would be doing it his way from now on. Obviously I had no choice but to sign it.
So I started doing it his way except he loved taking the scissors away from me in the middle of a cut to start working on it himself. He also wanted me to stand there and watch the way he cuts hair and tell me how to do it, even though I've been in this profession longer than he has. I just went along with it and even asked questions to make it look like I was interested in learning something new even though a lot of the time I wanted to tell him the many ways he was doing it wrong.
I could go on and on about his antics. One of the many things that blew my mind is when a girl came in looking for a job and her resume had "too much stuff about God on it." Something, I guess, he finds unacceptable so it was immediately thrown in the trash. It also never failed to floor me that many of his clients have a special name in the computer and that would be "Jackass." He loves to bash the people that are providing his income. How backwards is that? I only heard him say a nice thing about 1 of his clients the entire time I worked there. Everyone else is a....you guessed it....jackass. Especially if you drive a nice car.
The final straw for me came yesterday when I was in the break room talking to my Mom on the phone for maybe 2 minutes and he came back there enraged at me. He had the most evil look in his eyes and that's when I knew I just couldn't work there another second.
This guy is an extremely insecure individual. He has little man syndrome and feels the need to beat people down in order to feel big. He's only owned the barbershop for a little over a year and I can guarantee you if he continues to treat people the way he does, he will soon be out of business. I refuse to be bullied by my boss. I also refuse to be in a working environment where clients are bashed and made fun of before and after entering the establishment. His radio commercials are extremely inappropriate especially the one where he claims if you get your hair cut at Lews you can score some p***y when you get home. Joking that we should call our manicures 'hand jobs' didn't sit well with me either. And the fact that he has a picture of himself flipping the camera off on his business Facebook page says it all.
To say I'm so happy to be done with that place is an understatement. Working for him caused me anxiety and I dreaded when Sunday arrived because I knew I would have to be around him soon. It was like walking on egg shells every day.
For a long time I debated if I wanted to write about this or not given how inappropriate the content is. Ultimately this is a blog about my life and this has been my life the past few months. It's been miserable!!! I'm happy to wipe my hands of this and I most definitely won't be looking back.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Nubbins

What does your weekend look like? Mine looks like this.


Yep. I'm baby sitting!! We've got lots of 4-legged children in our house this week. Honestly, I think nothing of it. I think if someone only had 1 dog and gained 3 for a weekend they would find it crazy. But half of these in the photo are mine and an extra two just doesn't phase me. They say that's how it is with kids--going from 1-2 is hard but 2+ is no big deal. I totally get that. They're all good girls so that obviously makes it easier. Per usual, my girls are OBSESSED with Rose and love when she's here. Madison pounces all over (poor) Rose and Ivy stares in awe wishing so badly she could be her. This is Grace's first time to meet Rose and in total Grace style, she's just going with the flow.
That's not all that's going on this weekend though. Tomorrow night we have a big Halloween party to attend and I'm pretty excited about it. My neighbors are throwing it and since the day we moved in its all I've heard about. Apparently it's a pretty big deal and I'm kinda really big time looking forward to it. I'm going as the tanning mom and I'm not gonna lie, I'm super excited about my costume. I love that lady.


Speaking of ladies....these three got groomed today. Don't they look pretty?!!! I don't know why Madison looks like she weighs 97 pounds in this picture. It's just proof to us all that sometimes the camera really can catch a bad angle.
I've never talked about it because it's kinda traumatizing but in case you haven't noticed, my dogs don't have tails. I didn't realize it until I took them to the vet the day I got them and she informed me that their tails were docked. I just assumed they had tiny tails given they weighed 1 pound. Wrong. I cried at the vet and, like an idiot, asked if they would grow back. They don't in case you were wondering. It's okay. I can still see their tiny little nubbin wag and it makes me laugh.
That's all.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Houses

So I've noticed something about Madison. She likes closed quarters/a roof over her head. She loves getting under our furniture, covers and in her crate. I've even caught her buried under a bunch of pillows. So Scott and I decided we just had to get that little girl a house!! We both (don't let him try to tell you he didn't participate...he was so into it) scoured the Internet for a house for Madison and found that Walmart.com has THE BEST pet stuff.


I found the cutest little mini dog house so, obviously, I bought it and it arrived at our door last week and Madison is obsessed!!!!! Ivy loves it so much too actually!


I love that they love their little beds. Holly loved her bed SO much and I'm thrilled they share the same sentiment.
Mom decided to get Grace a house as well. We've got a little mini dog neighborhood going on in our living room and its rediculously too cute.


I think we need to purchase another house simply for the cuteness purpose. These three little ones......I really do love them. I have too many mini cuties in my life. I'm not complaining.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Dragging

I have been dragging all day. Scott and I stayed up until 3:00 last night talking!!!!!! I would definitely consider myself a night owl but 12:00 is my limit. Today hurt.


I have three Shorkies back. This is Mom and Dad's busy work time so we'll have Grace quite a bit for the rest of the year.
They're the three best friends that anyone could have so they love being together. I love it too. Grace feels like mine and I know she loves me so much too.
I can tell Ivy & Madison (and Grace) missed me over the weekend. Ivy has always been more of a Mommas girl so that didn't surprise me but Madison has been extra attached. She's one of those who could live anywhere and be totally okay with it so I've been surprised by her behavior. It's sweet!
I'm beyond exhausted so I'm off to bed. My eyes actually look odd. No more 3 AM chats with the hubby. All day I thought to myself 'this is what I'll feel like when I have a baby.' Prepping myself.....

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Woo Pig

So I guess I lied when I said I was back from a blogging break. My bad! For some reason the last two weeks have been so busy. I had a wedding shower party at my house last night and getting ready for it took up quite a bit of time. I've had guests stay with me this weekend and did the Razorback bit today. Anywho, crazy week again = no blogging. Ugh. Next week should be normal again. I hope. I get sad when I skip out on blogging in my little (public) journal here.


Ivy says Go Hogs! She and Madison spent the weekend at Pop's and Gamma's house. I'm meeting Mom in Clarksville to get the girls back tomorrow. I wonder if they've missed me. It's the first time Mom has taken them to her house without me. They're obsessed with my Mom so they probably haven't shed a single tear.
The movie 2016 is calling my name. Time to go.....

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

GIM

GRACE
I love bows. I love dresses. I love when my Momma puts me in pretty sweaters (preferably pink) and I like to get my hair brushed. I love anything that's girly. I think it's strange that I don't own a pair of pearls by now but I don't hold it against anyone.
IVY
I like pretty sweaters! The bows are okay. I don't love them but I don't hate them either. If Momma thinks they're cute then I won't argue with her. She tells me I look so pretty and I love the compliments so much. Even if the bow is uncomfortable it's okay because Momma says I look extra pretty with it in my hair.

MADISON
I don't wan't to be a girl.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Catch Up

Well hello there! I was in need of a blogging break but I'm back now so I guess it's time to play catch up.
Ivy and Madison have officially recovered from their surgery. Ivy has become a barker every since she got fixed and I'm soooo confused. She likes to pretend like there's someone outside on our back porch all the time. We now keep the blinds closed so that's neat. I didn't realize Ivy even knew how to bark. I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or not but it's definitely annoying and hopefully just a phase.
Grace is staying with us this week! We're just one big shorkie family here in the Johnson household. I put the girls in sweaters this week since it's finally chilly and they all look so cute!!! I can't help myself, I love a dog in a sweater.
This week was a pretty busy work week for me. Other than that it was pretty uneventful. Scott's 10 year reunion was this weekend but he opted not to go. His best friend, James, was in town for it and came over Thursday night to hang out. At midnight him and Scott decided to go to Waffle House. Gross. I, obviously, skipped out on that adventure.
This weekend we pretty much lounged around. I almost hate to say it but I'm becoming such a homebody. I used to live for getting dressed up and having a nice meal on the weekends. Now I enjoy laying around in my sweats, sitting on my sofa with my dogs, watching a movie and eating a delivered pizza or something. I'm definitely getting old(er).