a few updates

I've felt like a few key parts to this blog weren't exactly the way I'd like them to be so last night I spent some time updating my little space.
I'm not sure if I'm completely finished but I like what I've accomplished so far

Over there on the right sidebar you'll now find all my social media buttons in one place.  From my Twitter and Facebook accounts to that cute lil' hanger icon for my Instagram shop.  I mean who else has a hanger social media icon?!  Came up with that one all by my lil' self!

Of course you might notice that I changed out the main photo over there from the mini "about me" blurb to just a plain photo.  I like that particular picture and it's rare that I like a photo of myself so I might as well let it take center stage.

Lastly my actual About Me page up there got a new look and although I think it still needs some work, it's a great start for now.


What do y'all think?

Is there anything else I could do to freshen up around here?

taking it day by day

photo of Bella from May 18, 2013

We've now been without Daisy in our lives for 48 days.  I'm taking it day by day and some days are better and some days are worse.  Most days I can't stop my mind from thinking about all the "what ifs" or "why her".  I can't even tell you how often someone asks "what happened" and I can't even get through the story without breaking down in tears.
Maybe one day I can blog the story of what happened in her last few days but I'm not strong enough to put it in writing yet.  Spoken words are hard enough on me but there's something so final about writing out all the details.  I just can't yet.

Bella has been getting better day by day but I can tell she has her bad days as well.  We got Bella as a puppy from a breeder here in Austin after I had moved here because I didn't like Daisy being alone while we were at work.  All she ever knew was Daisy being her "big sister" and I can't imagine how she's dealing with her not being around anymore.  She gets a lot of individualized attention now which I'm sure she's loving so much but it's still got to be a strange transition even for her.  She's become my snuggle buddy and I truly cherish all the one-on-one time we get together these days since I always felt before like she was closer to Allen than me.

This weekend I did spend a little time on rescue websites, specifically the pug ones, just browsing.  I can't say that I'm ready for another pug yet but it was fun to look at some sweet pug faces online.

My heart still hurts so much from the loss of Daisy since she was my first baby and I can't imagine loving or bonding with another addition like I did with her.  Even my bond with Bella is completely different than what I had with Daisy.  It's such a crazy situation that I wish I didn't have to go through at all but I am thankful that Daisy is no longer having health issues.

how my Honey got his name

I'm a very family oriented blogger and I know if you've been around here for any length of time you've seen me refer to my Grandpa as Honey.  It's the only name I've ever known him by and sometimes I have to really think to tell people his actual name when introducing him.  Allen calls him Honey, my Dad has even said some things along the lines of "Hey Honey, come look at such and such" while at a hardware store or other place (I'm sure the looks he got were hilarious) plus my Mom and aunts even refer to him more sometimes as Honey than they do Daddy.  To me this is a fun story because it's genuine and a testament to the amazing family I was blessed to be born into.

And it all starts with my brother.

So in the photo above from 1984 you can see Honey in the top left, then Gramma (taken from us by lung cancer last year), my Dad, Uncle Tim, Aunt Kay, Uncle Jay (we lost him in '98) and cousin Chris (born in '74).  Then bottom left you have Uncle Dorn, Aunt Linda, cousin Jessica (born in '84), my Mom, my brother (born in '81), me (born in '83), Aunt Suzi and cousin Amber (born in '84).  There were many more cousins to come in the years after but this is the best photo I could find to show you our family back when Honey became Honey.

My older cousin Chris was the only grandchild for 7 years before my brother came along so he then, as well as today, refers to Honey as Granddad.  He may slip up sometimes and refer to him as Honey but more often than not he's just Granddad to him.
However, after I was born (the 3rd grandchild), my parents moved in with Gramma & Honey for a while before they purchased a house on the next street over.  During that time we were always with Gramma and Honey while our parents worked and my brother was starting to talk and repeat everything he heard.
One day Gramma said something in her sweet southern Gramma voice to Honey along the lines of "Honey such and such and so on . . . "  My brother must have overheard her call him that so many times that it finally stuck with him and next thing you know he's calling him Honey too.  Then I start talking and by this time he's Honey and that's just that.

I know most people probably choose what they want to be called when they become grandparents but from what I know, no one ever tried to steer us away from calling him Honey.  I can actually picture how cute that is to hear a little kid call their grandpa Honey and honestly I can't wait for when my niece Alyson starts talking and we teach her to call him Honey too.  It's bound to be the most precious thing ever so I get why they just went along with it. 

Honey is such an amazing man and I wish everyone could hear the stories he's collected over the past 82 years.  It's hard to put into words what he means to me and my entire family but he is loved beyond measure.

Thursday things

-  If you haven't checked out my Instagram closet @PerfectlyJennsClothes then I suggest you do so today.  I'm adding 5 more items today and still have so many items left.  I'm willing to give a good discount on two or more items and every asking price includes shipping and the Paypal fee.  Shop my closet y'all!

-  I noticed yesterday that the carpet in our hallway from our kitchen to master bedroom was a bit wet but ignored it thinking that Bella had just left a piece of ice I'd given her there.  Then I left to run a few errands and came home to find that the entire area was soaked.  I opened the hall closet that houses our inside AC unit only to find that the floor of the area was also wet so I did what any girl whose husband knows nothing about anything besides weather and baseball would do . . . I called my Daddy!  After telling him everything that I knew he then concluded that it's most likely just condensation that could be due to our unit freezing up or working too hard/too long, etc.  Then Allen sent our brother-in-law Sam a few photos of our unit and he came to the same conclusion adding that it's most likely due to the increased humidity lately.  We're hoping that after submitting a maintenance request to our leasing company that they will send someone out to check on it today.  I can't imagine having AC problems in the dead heat of a Texas summer.  Or even a Texas "spring" since the humidity is so high and we're expected to be in the low to mid 90's all through next week.

-  This weekend kicks off Allen's summer baseball season so this weekend and next weekend are all day tournaments.  His schedule is already always busy but starting this weekend it's going to get even worse.  I do however love being able to go watch the tournament games because I love watching him coach.  Plus there's barbeque and I can get a little sun!

-  I know there are many of you waiting for me to post my cleanse results but I can't put off the inevitable any longer.  This cleanse was not my best and I'm very upset about it.  I ate everything I was supposed to and nothing I wasn't supposed to yet didn't get the results I wanted.  Maybe I will go into it all soon but I'm very frustrated with my results and almost want to do it again just to see what I can improve upon.

-  I started my Murad skin treatments yesterday and I can't wait to start seeing those results.  I get so many bumps that pop up on my chin and forehead so I'm excited to see if this system works for me.  I just need to train myself to do each of the steps twice a day!