Labor Day Weekend and Baby Andrew!

Well, this weekend was a long one!  Thank GOD!  I needed a break!  It wasn't too eventful, but relaxing and memorable.

I headed to P-town on Friday.  Kristin (my best friend) had her baby, so seeing him was one of the first things on my list.   I got into town at about 5:20 on Friday and went straight to the hospital.  Seeing Kristin and Duane and their new baby made me quite emotional.  It is hard to explain how I felt seeing him.  It was a special time for me.  Being friends with Kristin since I was 13 years old and being a part of her life all these years... and now seeing this new little person that her and Duane have created...  the only way I can really explain it is magical... and even that word doesn't do it justice.  I'm completely in love with Baby Andrew and I've only been around him an hour.  He is sooooo handsome and sweet.  Perfect in every way.

Aunt Kay and Baby Andrew :)

This picture pretty much sums up just how much babies like me :(  HAHA!

Daddy and Andrew :)

Aunt Kelli and Andrew :)

Watching Kristin and Duane with Andrew touched my heart.  I can already tell that they will be wonderful parents and I'm looking forward to watching this new part of their lives play out.

The rest of the weekend I spent with my Mom and Dad and the rest of the family.  It is always nice to get the chance to be with them.  As I've said many times before... they are missed more than they could ever know!

I headed back to Indy on Sunday since I wanted a day to just relax and get some homework done.  I did not take Remington home with me this weekend and I was surprised to hear how down in the dumps he was all weekend without me there.  Dan said he moped around the house the whole time I was gone.  I was of course greeted with kisses from my sweet dog when I arrived home.  Since it was sooo nice out on Sunday, Dan and I decided to take a run later in the evening.  We ran a full 3 miles!!!!  This was a huge accomplishment for both of us.  It was definitely the longest I have ever ran before and I'm actually surprised that I did it :)  It felt awesome though after it was all finished!  My new goal is 4 miles :)  

All day on Monday I worked on homework for school and also scheduling interviews for work.  It didn't end up being as relaxing as I had hoped... but at least I got stuff done that I needed to do.  This upcoming week is going to be brutal.... sigh.

HAPPY LABOR DAY EVERYONE :)

Baby Andrew has arrived!!!

My best friend Kristin had her baby last night!  Andrew was born on September 2nd at 1:48 a.m.  He was 8 lbs. 13 oz., 21 and 1/4 inches and most importantly... healthy!  I am so excited for them :)  Kristin was induced at 6:00 a.m on September 1st... so she had a long and hard delivery.

Congratulations Kristin and Duane... and welcome to the world Baby Andrew!

P.S.  Look at that full head of RED hair.  No one will ever wonder who his mother is ;)

"The Cove" Documentary and "Blood Dolphins" Mini-Series

I'm sure most of you have heard of this documentary about the killing and capturing of thousands of dolphins in Japan.  It was shown as a 2 hour special on Animal Planet on Sunday night.  Well, I watched it and let me tell you, it is one of the most awful things I have EVER seen in my life!  What happens is the Japanese herd all these dolphins into this cove off the coast of Japan.  Once they are in there they look at all the dolphins and pick out the ones that are the most beautiful and perfect. Those will be captured and sold all over the world to zoos and places such as Sea World where they will be trained and put on display for the public to see.  The dolphins that are not seen as perfect and beautiful are then dragged into a portion of the cove were the public cannot see what happens to them.  They are all slaughtered and then sold as meat.  There are so many dolphins slaughtered at once the the water is completely red because of all the blood.  It is truly horrific!!!  The documentary was shot through secret cameras that were placed at the cove in the middle of darkness.  People from the U.S. are trying to show the world what is done to these poor creatures so we can put a stop to this!!!

I would recommend that everyone take the time to watch this.  Yes, it is awful to watch, but we need to know what is happening in the world around us!!!  I am disgusted that people can actually do this.  Also, there is a new show coming on Animal Planet Friday nights called Blood Dolphins.  It shows what people are trying to do to solve this problem... as well as other areas in the world that this is happening.

I'll leave you with some video clips of the documentary as well as this new show...

The Cove



Blood Dolphins



After watching this, I refuse to go see dolphin shows of any kind nor do I even want to go to the zoo again. It also reiterated to me the importance of being a vegetarian.  I don't even know if I can bring myself to eat fish or eggs anymore. I know that I can't do a lot to help this cause, but I will do what I can...

The Big Two-Six!

This weekend was pretty good.  It was actually extra long for me...

Friday... I decided to take a vacation day.  I am actually feeling pretty on top of things with work (right now) and I figured it would be the last time for a looonnnggg while that I got to take a little time off.  It was actually a nice day.  Dan and I got to take Remi to the vet together for his monthly appointment and we just hung out together.  We don't get a chance to do a lot of that because of our messed up schedules so it was nice to be with him.  Plus, he was leaving for Washington, D.C. for the weekend that evening at 3:30 so some quality time was much needed.  Myla and Valerie from work also took me out for dinner that night at Bravo!  It is one of my favorite places to go and I appreciated them doing that for me :)  It is always nice to feel cared about :)

Saturday... Mom and Dad came to Indy to visit me :)  I miss them so much and can't even tell you how much I wish they lived closer to us.  We didn't do a whole lot, but I love having them here with me.  We ended up having lunch at Oaken Barrel Brewhouse and then went to Lowe's to pick up a mum that I wanted to plant in place of a bush that we just ripped out :)  I hated to see them go :(  After they left, I went outside and watered all my plants.  I thought I would include some pictures to show you what a good gardener I've become :)

Here's my clematis that I thought I had killed, but it has started growing quite well again.  I have been taking good care of it since it started spouting new growth :)

Here's my new mum that I bought to replace the ugly bush that Dan ripped out for me :)  Dad helped me plant it!  I hope it makes it through the winter time :)

Here's my flower bed that is full of Vincas. They have done surprisingly well in this hot hot weather :)

Remember the orchid I have that had spouted a new leaf??  Look at that leaf now.  It's huge!!

 

This is the other orchid I have at my house.  I noticed that it just spouted a brand you leaf too.  Look closely... you can barely see it :)

After all the watering, I cleaned up the house.  It was pretty messy since I haven't done much with it for the past couple of weeks.  The amount of dog hair I picked up from the sweeper was soooo gross.  I guess that's what I get since I had two doggies in the house for a period of time :)  Anyways, I'm feeling so good now because my house is nice and clean for a little while at least :)  Then later in the evening Remington and I took a long walk after dinner.  He had been soooo good for me this weekend and he hadn't been out of the house in a few days so I'm sure he enjoyed going on a walk and smelling all the new smells :) 

Sunday... Dan made it home from D.C. at around 8 in the morning. Both Remington and I were happy to see him and glad he got home safe and sound.  Of course Remington showered his Dad with lots of kisses.  Below, Dan posted a blog about his weekend in D.C. Make sure to check it out :)  I spent the rest of Sunday getting my stuff together for school on Monday.  YIKES!  I'm taking 2 classes this semester which kind of freaks me out since usually I only take one.  I hope I can handle both of them and working full time....

Anyways, today is my 26th Birthday!  I cannot believe I'm that old!  However, I know I'm extremely blessed.  I have a wonderful family, husband, friends, job, etc.  I couldn't ask for a much better life :)  I'm so thankful for all I have :)  HAPPY 26 BIRTHDAY TO ME :)

8/28 Restoring Honor Event

FYI:

This post has been  done by Dan.

As some of you may know, I made a trip to Washington D.C. this weekend to attend the Restoring Honor event on Saturday.  I did not go with anyone I knew but it was one of those things where I knew I would be disappointed if I did not attend. I joined up with a group leaving from Louisville that had 7 full charter buses going.

The buses left Louisville at 7pm on Friday evening and we drove straight through to DC. We arrived to DC around 7am on Saturday. 

Here is our buses lined up with others trying to get into Arlington National Cemetery to park.

My Mother saw this segment on ABC that focused over Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor event and was very worried that I was attending a "hate rally" similar to a KKK rally. The message of the of the event was about restoring Faith, Hope, and Charity in each of our individual lives. The event was also about turning to God, regardless of your individual religion. It was about judging someone by the content of their character and not by the color of skin. Not once were politics mentioned.

Anyone who says that Glenn Beck is a hateful person is only distorting his words and taking him way out of context. If you actually take the time to watch his shows in their entirety, instead of a 5 second clip,  you would begin to realize that he is not spreading hateful rhetoric. 

The following video is just some clips put together while I was at the event.
 

In conclusion, I am very happy that I decided to go. It was truly an amazing experience. This concludes my likely one and only post on the Rhoton Family Blog. I will leave you with some more pictures from the event.

A shot from across the Reflecting Pool.

Here is a shot from where I was standing.

Here is a shot from above. They have not yet released the number of people in attendance but there were at least 500 thousand people. Wow!!!

Falling into Fall!

As the month of August ends and September approaches... I have felt the need to switch up the blog a bit with a new design.  I don't think I could have chosen anything better than beautiful Fall leaves :)  I love Fall the most out of all the other seasons.  The weather cools down, the leaves change colors, and I get to switch out my wardrobe a little bit..... ahhhhh... what a wonderful thing :)  So for the next few months, I hope you enjoy this new seasonal background :)  Everyone enjoy falling into Fall :)

 

We all know Remington will :)

Baby Andrew...

Well, as I've mentioned quite a few times before... MY BEST FRIEND IS HAVING A BABY!!!  I am so very excited for her!  The baby right now has 6 more days to make his grand entrance into the world and if not Kristin will be induced on September 1st.  I can't help but hope that Baby Andrew comes on his Aunt Kay's B-day... August 30th :)  Kristin has uploaded some pregnancy pictures to Facebook that I just had to share with the whole 2-3 people who read this blog.  Just looking at them makes me a bit emotional... I'm just so happy for the two of them!

Congratulations Kristin and Duane!!!  I love you both so very much!