American Idol - week eleven

Down to the final two, and America nailed it on the nose. Crystal and Lee were by far the two best contestants. First off, I can honestly say I like both artists. I would buy both of their albums...Lee reminds me so much of Daughtry and David Cook, and Crystal is just too original. I love it! Based on tonight's performances, I would have to say that Crystal definitely out-performed Lee. She is just a natural on stage and was so much more relaxed than Lee was. Regardless of who wins, they will both be successful. I am pulling for the hometown favorite, though!

Side note: I've been lazy lately, but I have a ton of pics of the house from the last few days. The deck is gone and today the ground was excavated and the concrete poured. So crazy! Stay tuned, you McNellis Madness fans...pics will be here shortly :)

Big Changes

What a busy 36 hours it has been for me. First of all, Jim came home on Friday. Yes, after not seeing my husband since January 30, he finally came home from his military training in Altus, Oklahoma. He had told me he was going to get in early Saturday morning. So I had planned to finish tidying up the house and take care of my errands on Friday night. Also, my mom had invited me to meet her at Abeulo's for dinner after work. So I pull into my driveway and I see my next door neighbor outside. I start talking to her and as I'm telling her about how Jim will be home the next day, she suddenly shrieks. Jim walks out of our back yard carrying 2 dozen roses and 1 dozen carnations (see above). There were so many flowers that I had to use two vases! I was so shocked and surprised to see him. He somehow managed to keep it a secret from me, and even had my mom in on it. What a wonderful way to end the week!

Of course, if you know us, we are always doing something around the house. So bright and early Saturday morning, our electrician was at the house disconnecting power to the kitchen. He was getting the house prepped for demo on Memorial Day weekend. In addition to that, a lot of our kitchen moved into our old bedroom for temporary storage. We are now down to just a fridge and microwave. That just screams, "take out dinners and microwave meals." But, we have to make sacrifices somewhere. Our excavator came and checked out our house and gave us the price for the job. We vastly underestimated the cost of that part, so the addition may take slightly longer to finish due to financial concerns. We'll see. Jim also went to Window World and purchased two of our windows for $75.00 a piece -- what a deal! I'm so proud of his bargain shopping.

We then spent most of the afternoon tearing out our deck in preparation for the work. Our foundation will be dug out on Tuesday and the brick will be laid Wednesday and Thursday. So crazy that this is suddenly happening. Two pics above is the before picture of our deck. Directly above is a view of all the crap that has now filled our yard. We are trying to salvage as much deck wood as possible in order to cut down on the cost.

This is where we ended on Saturday. Sunday will consist of digging up all of the plants (keeping them of course) and finishing off the deck. So sad because I really loved the deck, but I know it's coming out for a wonderful purpose. I can't wait till we have a bigger kitchen and more living space.

My parents came over at night and brought J & G pizza (a Sylvania favorite) with them. We celebrated Jim's birthday and he opened presents. Here is the new Buckeye hat from his father-in-law.

I got him a patriotic Under Armour sweatshirt and Cedar Point tix

Blowing out the candles on his cookie cake

Sloopy enjoying the new bed we bought to replace the old one that Grif destroyed...

American Idol - week ten

Ah, down to three. Casey, Crystal, and Lee. Two songs for everyone tonight; one personal choice and one judge's pick. Casey went first. His own choice; thumbs down. The judge's choice; I really liked his version of a John Mayer song. Then Crystal...Melissa Etheridge, good. Paul McCartney song that Ellen chose; even better. And then there's Lee. Gotta love Skynard and he definitely won the first round with that one. Simon's choice - Hallelujah - was incredible. So as much as I love Crystal, I have to admit that it was Lee's night. Had this been the finals, I think Lee would have won. But we still have one more week and I expect to see Crystal and Lee there competing against each other. I am excited to see all the footage from the hometown visits tomorrow on the results show. And I did notice that Crystal's boyfriend was rocking a Toledo Mud Hens shirt in LA tonight. Gotta represent T-town!

Happy Birthday Griffey!

Today is Griffey's fourth birthday. I still cannot believe that the little puppy who tugged on my dress at the breeder's house is now four years old. How time has flown by, and I've enjoyed every minute with him. Griffey is such a good doggie...a protector, yet also a lover. He is surprisingly sensitive for as big as he is. Unfortunately for him, it rained most of the day here. So we were unable to go for a walk or get ice cream. We both spent time tonight doing one of the things we love most...napping. Pictured here are two of his presents; a badminton birdie and a rubber hippo.

Since I'm honoring Grif today, I wanted to post a few of my favorite pics of him over the years.

Toledo Zoo

In continuing with our mother/daughter bonding day, mom and I went to the Toledo Zoo after a brief lunch of Chipotle. Our main reason for going was to see the new baby polar bear. I must admit, I don't know if it's a boy or girl. But the little fluff ball went on display for the first time on Friday. What a cutie! The baby was not active at all, but was at least awake for a brief period of time while we were in the exhibit. Here are some of my other favorite pics from the day. I love our zoo!

Mom and baby

Nap time

Zebras

Baby Giraffe

Baby Louie...now 7 years old!

Happy Hippo

Sunbathing

Reticulated python eating a rabbit

Sorry if that last picture grossed anyone out. I have to talk about this because in my opinion, it was the best part of the visit. And no, I'm not a sicko or anything weird like that. I love animals and nature is absolutely fascinating to me. I've been to the zoo hundreds of times and this is the first time I have ever seen a snake feeding. We got there right as the rabbit (already dead) was in its sight. The way I look at it is, the zoo is totally unrealistic when it comes to how animals eat. When you see chimpanzees eating from a bowl of fruits and veggies, it just seems unnatural to me. And yes, I do understand that it is not realistic to have lions preying on a live gazelle or anything like that. Not to mention how traumatic that could be for the zoo visitors. So I guess that's why I was so intrigued by this event. I even shot 10 minutes of video footage before my camera wouldn't record any more. My mom and I put in about 20 minutes of watching this before she just couldn't take it anymore. Yes I did gag at certain points, but it was so amazing to see how a snake like that can unhinge its jaw. I felt like I was back in elementary school learning about animals, yet finally getting to see it for myself. It used its powerful body to squeeze the rabbit (of course in the wild, that would be how it kills the prey). I won't go into more details, but I am curious as to how long the whole process took. I would have to imagine that the python is now good on meals for at least 2-4 weeks. So amazing how nature works. I just hope I don't have nightmares tonight about it...

Bark in the Park

Every year the Toledo Area Humane Society holds a fundraiser called Bark in the Park. They have vendors and agencies that have "booths" set up, and there is a one mile walk around Arrowhead Park in Maumee. This will now be the fourth year that our dogs have participated. It's always fun to get out and see the different breeds, and the goldens love the walk. They always come home exhausted, which definitely held true for today. My mom accompanied me today and she took the responsibility of walking Griffey. Enjoy the pics!

Great Dane as a lap dog???

Griffey

The walkers

Mom walking Grif

Me walking the pups

Hydrating after the walk

Sloopy was ready to go home!

Me and the goldens

Crystal Bowersox comes home!

So if you live in Toledo and you haven't been living under a rock for the past few months, you are well aware that the American Idol top three finalist is from Elliston, Ohio (near Toledo). Friday was her day to come home for the hometown visit. She had events planned all day, starting with a radio interview on the River. Then an AT&T store visit, parade, mini concert, mini concert at fairgrounds, and appearance at the Toledo Mud Hens game. My mom works downtown, so she was able to watch the parade and first concert. From all the media coverage I have seen of this girl, she is so humble and down to earth. I believe she has a very successful career ahead of her and I know she is going to make the city proud! Here are some pics from the baseball game, where Crystal threw out the first pitch and sang the National Anthem. I heard there were over 13,000 people at the game that night...crazy!

Mom and I

Riding in a Ford Mustang convertible

First pitch

Here's the video of her singing the National Anthem. Unfortunately, the woman in front of me with poofy hair got in the way a few times...

Toledo Pet Idol

So I am a little behind on this post. Every year for the past four years, the local newspaper has featured a contest called the Pet Idol. And every year I have entered one or both of the dogs in it. The first year, Griffey actually made it into the top 40. It usually comes down to who can get the most support for their animal, not actually the one who is the cutest. This year I entered both poochies. The pictures were published on April 25 and voting ended today, unfortunately. But if you would like to check out their pics, follow this link for pet idol. They are featured on page 8, numbers 188 and 189. I know I am a bit biased, but they are definitely amongst the most adorable pets that are featured :) Check back on May 16 to see which animals advanced to the next round.

Happy Birthday!

Today was Jim's birthday and unfortunately, it is now the second birthday in a row that we have not been able to spend together. Last year he was deployed to Afghanistan and this year, he is still at boom school in Oklahoma. So, I just wanted to post a few of my favorite pics of him. I love you so much, babe, and I cannot wait to celebrate many, many more birthdays with you. We will go to dinner and celebrate when you get home! I was lucky enough to win a $50 gift certificate on Tuesday to either Ciao, Zia's, or Real Seafood. I won a contest on 101.5 the River earlier this week. Finally my useless knowledge of music actually paid off!

Us in Mansfield on a C-130 flight

Ryan (also has a bday today), Jim, and Chris...this pic cracks me up!

Blowing out the candles on his 30th cake

Nathan Xavier DeVanna

Today we welcome another new member to our family. Nathan Xavier was born at 6:40 p.m. tonight to parents, Eric and Judy. He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces, and was 22 inches long. All is well with mom and dad. Congrats to the new parents! Whew, Christmas with my family is going to be busy this year. We are still anticipating the arrival of one more baby, as my cousin, Jenna, is pregnant and due at the end of June...

American Idol - week nine

This week's theme: songs from the movies with mentor, Jamie Foxx. This week proved to be a critical one, as the top three get hometown visits this week. Overall, I was only thrilled with Crystal's performance. I really think Casey needed to step up his game this week and failed to do so. Regardless of that, it should be either him or Big Mike heading home. Crystal and Lee are just too awesome to not end up in the finals together. And I am proud to say that after watching the show for the past six seasons, I voted tonight for the first time ever. Yes, I called ten times to cast my vote for Crystal [calls are toll free, right???]. Toledo has all of these events planned for her Friday; radio interviews, a parade, a three-song mini concert downtown, a visit to Ottawa County fairgrounds, and singing the national anthem for the Mud Hens game (mom and I already have tix!). So I'll be crossing my fingers tomorrow that she makes it thru again.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope that everyone out there had a terrific mother's day. I want to wish a happy first mother's day to some of my friends who are new first-time moms, as well as every other mom. I had to post a picture of the beautiful flowers that my husband had delivered to me at work on Friday. He sent me a Mother's Day bouquet since I am a "mom" to the two golden retrievers we have. I know what you all are probably thinking, but yes, I do consider Griffey and Sloopy to be like children. I'm one of those people. I could not love my husband any more than I do. Every time I look at these flowers, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be married to such an amazing man. Love you babe!

I had a packed day on Sunday. After church, my mom, dad, and I went to Abuelo's (my mom's favorite place). Then we headed to Tiffin to spend the day with my grandma, and to go visit my grandpa in the nursing home. It was a great day spent with family. By the time I got home, I had just enough daylight to give the pups a walk. Oh, and a side note on a previous post, Griffey's new Halti broke on Saturday. I noticed it after we got home from our walk. I was super irritated because we had only used it like, seven times. So needless to say, I still have the packaging and receipt and will see if I can get it exchanged at the store tomorrow.

This is the front of a card my "kids" gave me. Sooooo cute!