Life from the view of Tom

Well, life's been pretty interesting as of late...
Jenn and I are goin' to have a baby! December 5th we get to find out what it is!!!
At work things are changing around a bit... I guy who was on contract was canned early, the intern is doin' some pretty awesome work, and we have a new manager to help things move along.
Check out www.identityalliance.com for the current web-page of the company. Soon we'll have more stuff and cooler stuff.

Jenn has a new job. She's working at DeBrand's Chocolates, helping with the mail orders and boxing chocolates. Phoenix is taking it pretty good: he goes crazy for a short time when I get back... nothing too new... but then he's pretty good once dinner's done and all.

Another thing... I've started my own blog @ http://eharning.blogspot.com ... I'll still blog here, but some stuff, such as techy stuff will go there. It's also on the left-hand side of this blog.

We're Pregnant!

Well, the title of this post says it all, Tommy and I are expecting a baby around the end of April. We were not planning to have children for a couple years, but obviously God had different plans for us. We are working on figuring out finances, insurance etc... WHAT FUN.

I will post more later, I am approx 8 weeks along so we still have lots more fun to go... so far things have been pretty rough, cant wait for the 14 week mark when things are supposed to settle down so to speak!

Weekend and the basement saga continues!

It's been a long week....Tuesday the apartment complex started the epoxy process in the townhome next to ours. Within a couple of hours the smell was overwhelming, but I continued to just ignore the smell until about 4:00 it got to be too much. I went to our landlord to complain. Luckily for me, the complex OWNERS were in the office when I stopped by so they got an earful of my complaints. Kelly took my name and said "let me come up with some options and I will call you." The owners came over to check things out and made the ruling that the chemicals were NOT usable because they were too "potent" to use in people's living quarters. We got shipped off to the AmeriSuites here in Fort Wayne for two nights while they finished our floors - they decided to use latex paint instead of epoxy. The hotel was okay - would have been easier without the puppy, he does well but he does like to play and bark and you cant really have him doing that in a hotel room! When I returned home Thursday morning, I thought it was kind of strange that the windows to our townhome were fogged up. I went inside and the men were still working on the basement, and my house was less than 60 degrees!!!! I was slightly upset because we have "suffered" with the AC off the last month to save money and they had it that low for two days. Personally, I dont think there is any excuse for having it THAT cold, especially without the permission of the person paying the bill! Really was just the last straw - we are most definately looking for a new place starting in December!

And, after all this drama, the paint is already coming up off the floors....

On the upside we got away from everything this weekend and went up to Detroit with our puppy. We were only there for Saturday and Sunday but it was a nice break away from the clutter in our home. On Saturday we pretty much just relaxed around the house, minus a trip to CVS that left me with a toenail pretty much ripped off (*OUCH*) and dinner out. Sunday we got up and went to church and then breakfast with Tommy's family. The rest of the afternoon Tommy played games with his family then we took them out for chinese before leaving. After having to make several stops, we finally got home last night about 11:30.

We may have another road trip planned in the next week - we are putting lots of miles on my car and money into the hands of those wonderful oil producers! :-/

The funniest thing happened to Phoenix... obviously, as puppies get older they change, but who thought it could happen overnight??? When Phoenix woke up this morning one of his ears had miraciously flipped over into the "correct" position... lets hope the other follows suit soon, or he might be one silly looking dog. *new pics of Phoenix uploaded*

It's been proven, things come in multiples...

both good and bad. First, the bad - as mentioned before the basement of our townhome was flooded. It turns out the flood was due to a malfunction/failure of the sump pump so our insurance wont cover it and the apartment community's insurance will only cover their property. I think its great that renters have no way to protect themselves against stuff like this, its not our fault that they dont keep up on things around here. Well, we are still waiting for them to "fix" the damage to the basement. They decided instead of cleaning the carpet they would just rip it up and paint/epoxy the floors. We will see how that goes, right now we are stuck with everything from our basement all over the house and the smell hangs in the air. In addition, Tommy's power cord for his laptop died so hes in the process of looking for a new one. (On top of the fact that my laptop is STILL disfunctional as it has been since before the wedding.)

But, in spite of my negativity about the above, there is good news, at least for me. My parents and sister found a place they will be living come the end of September. My dad's new job will be based out of Alabama, so they are packing up and moving for the second time in less than three years. I have seen a couple pictures of the place, and it seems very nice - its new construction so its kind of being built to their specifications as far as the finishing touches. They will close on the house September 29. Even more good news, I should get to see my mom and sister mid-September for almost a week - they are planning to visit Tommy and I on their way down to Huntsville.

With everything thats happened with our townhome and the issues we are facing, Tommy and I have been looking at our options for when our lease is up. We are going to check into buying a home and if that doesnt seem feasible we will find someplace else to rent, I highly doubt we will be in the same place in a year. I am a stickler for customer service and they have none!

Phoenix had a vet apppointment with a new vet on Thursday. I wasnt totally comfortable with our previous vet and this one is cheaper/closer. We are doing a wellness plan with Banfield Pet Hospital (associated with PetsMart) that will provide all necessary basic care and vaccinations as well as free office visits and two comprehensive exams a year (and so much more) and we will get a discount on services outside of what they cover; it will also be nice to spread the expected expenses out evenly. Unfortunately, Phoenix was subjected to some things he wasnt ready for - the over vet had never taken his temperature! He also got four different shots versus the one he had gotten previously. He wasnt a happy camper to say the least. The good news is that the vet gave our pup a clean bill of health and said he is in excellent condition. We go back in two weeks for two more vaccinations and will schedule his nuetering and microchipping for a couple weeks after that. In addition, because Phoenix is an aussie shepherd, we are having a test done to determine if he has a mutated gene that can cause problems with several drugs (including heartworm preventative, tranquilizers and pain meds). More information about MDR1 mutations can be found here.

We decided to enroll Phoenix in puppy classes because he has a couple quirks that we are having a hard time with - mainly hes not confident around new people and other animals. He's not aggressive, but he gets overly excited and hard to handle. It will also be nice because Tommy will be the "leader" during the classes so hopefully it will help him build a stronger bond with Phoenix. Right now the puppy is a "momma's boy" and tends to mind my commands and ignore Tommy. I can only imagine how frustrating that must be! We do have a couple of new pictures of him up on our Phoenix Pics Link :)

Thats about all thats going in Fort Wayne - life goes on, day by day... nothing too exciting. But, thats what we enjoy so much... :)

P.S. I will make Tommy post on here soon!

Can I hate Mother Nature?

I woke up this morning going about my day as if nothing was wrong... take the dog out etc. On my way out the door my neighbor comes out and asks me "Is your basement flooded?" I say to her, I don't think so, but let me go look... sure enough... it flooded. Granted we did have some heavy rain last night - approximately 3 inches, but I cant believe how bad it flooded. We basically got 3 inches of water into our basement... Doesn't seem like much but we lost a lot of stuff.

Unfortunately, Tommy isn't here so I am having to figure this out myself. Our losses: Christmas cards for this year, futon mattress, rug, Christmas stocking and tree skirt (color ran). Those are the big "in the trash" items, but some others got wet - our entertainment center, my sewing machine, our Christmas tree, Christmas decorations, all my clothing high school memoirs (parka, blanket, letterman jacket), my portable radio, 2 sets of luggage, Tommy's Golf clubs, and so much more.

Unfortunately our losses are not covered under our renters insurance - wouldn't you know, the one thing we need they don't cover. I am at a loss as for what to do, my house smells like mold/mildew even after they sent a carpet cleaner in to extract the water and spray some chemical stuff. I have the stuff from the basement ALL OVER my house and cant really put it back down there, especially now that I know the basements flood. I guess it could be a fluke, but I am just not sure if I want to take that chance again.

The water seems to have come up from the drain for the washer and dryer - I am clueless, but it seems to me that shouldn't happen?

I'm really bummed out seeing as how I had planned to have the house all perfect when Tommy got home so we could have a nice romantic weekend together. *sigh* I guess someone had different plans for me...

Tommy is on his first (of many?) business trips. He left yesterday morning and made it to Washington DC last night - he and his boss have meetings all day today and some meetings on Tuesday. Then, they will be in New York (I assume they will travel there on Wednesday) for more meetings. They are supposed to be back sometime late Friday night.

I knew when he got the job here in Fort Wayne he would have to travel, I just didnt think it would be so soon - I am not used to our place yet and its kind of scary being here alone! Thankfully, I do have the puppy and he seems to sense that I am a bit on edge, he follows me around and lays right at my feet.

I have started looking for jobs even though I am not sure what I want to do with myself. My degrees are in Business and Economics but I dont really want to work in that cut-throat environment. Before college, I wanted to be the CEO of some big company, I know I have what it takes to do it, but I am not willing to sacrifice my time with Tommy and, in the future, our children. I have this feeling I want to be a teacher, but we obviously cant afford for me to go back to school right now and not work - so I am hoping to find something for a little while. If I could find assistant positions or something that would be ideal because it would allow me to get into the classroom and get a feel for whether or not its really what I want to do. I know its not easy, but it would give me the hours I am looking for as well as allow me to do something that really means somehing to me - work with and help children. I also considered looking into vet work, but more and more I realize thats not for me. As much as I love animals I dont think I could do the "dirty work."

The best part of all this is that because Tommy loves his job so much, he understands not wanting to "just go to work" everyday. He is supporting me in my quest to find my ideal job - I just wish it would be easier to get to where I want to be career wise.

While I struggle to figure out where I want to go with my career, I have been working hard trying to get puppy well trained. He does tricks and behaves for the most part, but he is still a puppy. Everyone had been recommending that I read "Cesar's Way" by Cesar Milan (hes the dog whisperer on tv). I received the book the other day and read it cover to cover in one sitting. Alot of the info is very basic, common sense, type advice; however, I think that reading the book ties up loose ends and will help alot. I can't wait for Tommy to read it when he gets back, I think it will help him a ton since he hasn't had much experience with dogs. I did look into puppy training classes at our local PetsMart, but was turned off about the training philosophies they were sharing with me. If this book doesn't help I will seek out private puppy lessons. While hes not a bad dog, I want a well behaved dog so that when we have children there will be no worries.

That's all thats been going on here, nothing too exciting... unfortunately work gets in the way of that. LOL

To Get Things Started...

Let's start off with a huge post to update people on whats been going on the last month since the wedding. Nothing can be said without first reviewing the wedding.

THE WEDDING:
The wedding was a big blur in our minds really, we remember the vows and some of the interesting "problems" that came up along the way, but we are really relying on our pictures to tell us the story of the day. All I (Jenn) remember is that I thought I would have more time to get ready and wouldnt be so rushed, boy was I wrong! Tommy and I had a very long day and I think that I can speak for both of us when I say, I am glad its all over with. Anyone involved in the planning knows it was a challenge, I cant count the number of times things got changed or went wrong. In the end, "all that matters" is that we are married...
Anyone that is getting married in the next couple of years: Don't hesistate to contact us if you need help on wedding ideas or need information on what vendors to use and which to stay away from!

THE HONEYMOON:
After the stressful couple of days before the wedding, we were really looking forward to the cruise. Unfortunately we didnt get much sleep Saturday night after we got the reception hall and the bed and breakfast cleaned up, but we did make it safely to the airport. Despite our best efforts, we still almost missed our cruise - our flight sat on the runway for over an hour for the 15 minute flight from Flint to Detroit. We made the connection in Detroit with little time to spare, but we arrived safely in Miami with plenty of time to get on board. The lines to get on the ship were pretty long, but they moved well. It was a bit of work because we decided to handle most of our baggage ourselves, and 3 suitcases and lots of stairs/escalators is NOT fun! Once on board we found our room, dropped off suitcases and decided to explore the ship. I was very surprised by the size of the ship, but even more overwhelmed by the amount of people. Tommy says that it was NOTHING like this when he went with his family, so he was surprised as well.
Monday: Nassau Bahamas - We had arranged to do a dolphin encounter first thing in the morning, so we headed off to Blue Lagoon Island. I have loved dolphins my whole life, so this was an amazing experience for me. I would do it all over again, but maybe the swim program this time! After that we quickly walked through the straw market and stopped at Senor Frogs. On the way back to the ship we RAN to find the rum cakes I just HAD to have! :D There was a huge line to get back on the ship as this was our short day (7am - 2pm) and of course it decided to pour down rain!
Tuesday: Day at Sea - I dont remember specifically what we did this day, probably just wandered around the ship exploring. I think we went to a couple talks on shopping at the next two ports. We also had our first of two formal evenings at dinner - the food was stupendous!
Wednesday: St. Thomas - The first thing we did after docking in St. Thomas was browse a couple shops looking at alexandrite and tanzanite (both of which I love) and then we headed over to the Sky Ride. If I could take back one thing we spent money on it would be the sky ride, if I remember right it was over $40 for it, and all you did was ride up and ride down. It was way too hot to spend much time up there. However, at least we did get a couple of good pictures from the top! During our time at St. Thomas, we landed into a jewelry store and Tommy bought me the most beautiful necklace - its a "cultured" alexandrite pendant from the chameleon collection the main stone is 1.6 carats and there are three small diamonds accenting it! I also got an ammolite pendant from Ammolite by the Sea. In addition, Tommy bought some liquor to bring back, it was our bargain, I got jewelry, he got liquor! :) On the walk back to the ship we happened across a Wendys, and at that point we were SO thirsty we just had to stop, and of course its cool to say you sat staring at the ocean from the patio at Wendys, one of the best views I've ever had at a restaurant! LOL Somehow I managed to forget my shoes for formal night, and like a beacon in the night on the way back we found a payless!!!! I have never been so happy to see a shoe store, I was able to find shoes to fit my huge feet! That evening Tommy and I went to see a hypnotist after dinner, his name was Asad Mecci. While I am not sure I "believe" it, the people were quite amusing and it was a ton of laughs!
Thursday: St. Maarten - St. Maarten was beautiful! Tommy and I took the first water taxi over to the main shopping district and walked along the beautiful beach taking photos. We didnt do much shopping there, but we did end up with ANOTHER bottle of liquor! Mid-morning we headed back to the ship and sat by the pool until it was time to get to our snorkeling adventure, and what an adventure it was! Anyone who knows me, knows I am TERRIFIED of "fishy water" but I wanted to strech myself and make myself do things I wouldnt normally do. As we are getting ready, I start to have a panic attack and I was sure there was no way I could get into that water. Somehow, Tommy convinced me (maybe because I didnt want to look like a fool for wasting the money?!?!) to get into the water. I tried my hardest to snorkel like the rest of the group, but I just couldnt do it, as I would put my head in the water, I would see fish and other stuff and my depth perception must have been really off, because it looked like it was RIGHT THERE and I started freaking out... However, I DID stay in the water the whole time, and I DID try... so its a BIG step for me, maybe in 10 years I might actually be able to do it! Even though Tommy and I lathered ourselves with sunblock we both managed to get an ugly sun burn.
Friday: Day at Sea - Due to the prior mentioned sunburn we spent most of the day trying to heal. It was insane how quickly my sunburn progressed from painful to itchy to totally impossible to bear. After two trips to the "infermary" we found something that gave me at least a bit of relief and we got dressed for our second formal dinner on the cruise - I refused to miss it, no matter how much pain I was in! After dinner, Tommy and I went to another show on board the ship called "Far From Over" about the 80s.
Saturday and Sunday: Day at Sea/Debarkation - Another lazy day, not much to say here. I couldnt do much and spoiled all the fun, yay sunburn. Debarkation took place early Sunday morning and we spent a total of 8 hours on Sunday waiting at different airports to get home. I have never been so glad to see Flint, Michigan!

We had a great time on the cruise, of course it would have been nice to have less crowd, shorter lines, and no sunburn... but all in all, it was a great time.

THE PUPPPY:
The day after getting back from the cruise Tommy went to work and Jenn headed to Illinois to pick up their new puppy. It was an 7 hour trip each way but the puppy traveled well and has been doing well ever sense. Phoenix weighed 6.6 pounds when we brought him home and is now up to almost 9.5 pounds (hes growing like a weed)! He is already mostly potty trained (5 days accident free - woohoo!) and has slept through the night since the first night we had him! He is of course teething and has some puppy habits that we are working really hard to break, but hes a very sweet puppy and is a great addition to our family.

PICTURES:
There are links to pictures from the wedding, the cruise, our townhome, and our puppy! Feel free to browse at your leisure and let us know what you think.


LIFE AFTER THE MADNESS:
Tommy and I are just settling into life as a married couple. Tommy is loving his job and I am spending my days working on training pup so that I can find a job very shortly. We are still struggling to get everything "set up and organized" in the townhome, but its starting to feel alot like home and we can take some time to relax and enjoy our hard work! We finally got our checking account set up and spent 4 hours at the DMV to get our Indiana drivers licenses!

We hope that everyone is doing well and look forward to hearing from you in the future!